MommyCoddle

rain dance

Ahhh, relief.
(my first attempt at using google video on the blog. Dad, are you impressed?!)

staying cool, staying sane

It's been so hot and humid here lately we've mostly had to hunker down(definition #1, NOT #3!) in the house. The heat hits you in the face when you walk out the door. Even hanging clothes on the line causes one to work up a good sweat. I hate being hot, heat sweating in odd places. And even though I love her to death, Elizabeth gives me lots of other places to sweat, too--a sweaty neck, sweaty crook of my arm, sweaty where her heads rests on my chest when she's in the pouch. Sometimes, I have to peel her off of me in order to lay her down in her crib.
Now, that I've spent a whole paragraph talking about sweat....
In order to stay sane and cool, we've been getting in to lots of art projects.

Emma has been figuring out how to draw birds, horses and turtles lately. And I've been working on the beginning stages of swallow mobile for Elizabeth's room.

And the staying sane bit of this post? Well, my sweet three year-old seems to be going through some difficult phases lately. I'm attributing them to "my newborn baby sister's not so exciting anymore, I'm now the middle child" feelings. She's become completely attached at the hip with me. I can't get her to go anywhere, do anything, without me. Even my best safety net--going down to the pool with my Dad's wife--doesn't work anymore. It worked last summer. It's all a bit exhausting.
And as of this week, she's become afraid of EVERYTHING when she's going to nap or bed. Everything. I really mean it. She hears every noise and sees every shadow--from me dropping something out in the living room, to a car driving by, to someone walking past her door, to the fan in her room making her sheets flutter. Usually, she can even identify the noise she hears, or why something looks scary to her--but admits she's still afraid.
And thunderstorms?? Forget about it. Yesterday afternoon she was so scared by a thunderstorm her teeth were chattering. When I walked into Elizabeth's room to pick her up out of her crib, Mary walked beside me with her hand stuffed in my pocket. Yup, this phase is exhausting, too.
But, I'm hanging on to that little word: "phase". Confident that it all will pass. Either that, or I'll pass into insanity. One or the other......

qoop and (finally) the recipe

In an email today, Melissa asked me if I had used QOOP to get prints of my digital pictures, and it reminded me that I had never written on here about my experience using their service.
I found them through flickr. If you click on the "order prints" link above one of your pictures, there at the very bottom is a link to qoop's services. It is easy to get an account and start using their print service.
The nice thing is that you can upload a few pictures at a time, upload any of your sets, or upload all of your flickr photos. Because my sets are so disorganized, I went in to flickr and made a "qoop processing" set.
I like the fact that you qoop lets you add a white or black border to your prints, which I love. And their website is very easy to use.
Their prices per print are cheaper than other services, if I remember correctly. But I thought qoop shipping was pretty expensive. I'm not sure how it compares with other online print companies, so maybe you make up those per print savings there. However, the pictures got to me super fast--two days, maybe?! Fast.
The quality is fantastic.

I did to go back and re-upload the pictures I wanted to print because I learned that "Flickr Uploader" resizes your photos automatically to a low print quality. If you don't know about that, or aren't sure how to change it let me know, and I'll tell you about it. But I know that made a difference in the clarity of my pictures.
All in all, I thought it was super-easy and super-fast. And it is nice to finally have some prints in hand. I forget how nice that is. They also offer other services like stickers and prints on canvas--both of which I'd love to try. They sound fun.

So, here's my grandmother's granola recipe. But before I give it to you, I have to tell you that my grandmother had fifteen children and this recipe probably is enough for fifteen children! She usually makes a batch each for Christmas and gives it out as gifts to some of her children who love it (hi, Dad!). When I make it, I cut it in half, but really you could probably cut it in half again. She has two GIANT stainless steel bowls (like commercial kitchen sized) that she makes it in. So just be ready....I'm giving you the full-sized recipe. You can cut it as you please:

Mix together:
5 pounds oats
A scant 2 cups of each:
  oil
  brown sugar
  honey
  wheat germ

She also adds whatever kinds of nuts she has on hand. Usually cashews, almonds, walnuts, peanuts. Add these before baking.

heat oven to 400 degrees. Spread granola onto shallow baking pans. Reduce to 225 degrees and place in oven.  Bake  for 1-2 hours, depending on the depth of your pan, stirring every 15 minutes. You are only baking until the oats turn golden brown. Turn off the oven and let it stay in the oven for several hours, until cool.

My favorite way to eat the granola this summer is over vanilla yogurt and berries or over vanilla ice cream--after all my children are quietly tucked in their beds. Doesn't everything taste better then?!
Hope you enjoy the recipe!

practical sewing, bedtime drama and the recipe

My creative life lately has been filled with very practical things--like sewing up a gaping and quite revealing hole in my husband's work-as in saturday outside, hard labor-pants, replacing buttons, and appliqued washcloths.  Which obviously means that my sewing machine is working now. Thank you for all your suggestions. I did almost all of them, so I really have no idea what worked. But new bobbin, new needle, rethreaded, screws tightened, dust vacuumed...it's working.

But back to the washcloth....it's a small part of Dan's and my attempt to work through some bedtime battles. The girls share a room now, and the struggles have been escalating since Elizabeth was born. It's call you in a million times, get all settled and tucked into bed then remember you have to go the bathroom, grumbling because your sister is talking, whining because your "tummy hurts", bad attitude, hyper-active, over-tired--you name it, we're experiencing it at bedtime.

When we first put them in the same room it was heaven. Dan and I would be dumb-struck, sitting in the living room waiting for the little voices to call out to us, but they never did. It was like they were so happy to be together, they didn't need us anymore. I guess the charm has worn off.

And really there's nothing worse than ending your day with them with these struggles and anger and frustration, especially for Dan, who's time with them when he gets home from work is already limited.

SO, we're making some changes around here. (how many times have I said that on this blog?) Starting with adopting my grandmother's (mother of 15, granola recipe to follow) strict bedtime philosophy. Many times since we've lived here on the farm with her, I've heard her mention how they would call the children in from playing at 7:30, even in the summer when there was still plenty of light for playing, and all the other neighbor children were still awake and available.
Granted, I don't have quite so many children to get ready for bed but we'd been letting bedtime slip later and later this summer and the kids were so tired...ugh. it was just horrible. So we've established a "time to come in" time--a tiny bit later than my grandmother's but still early by previous standards. And we've established a bedtime routine.

Part 1:
after dinner before before you can go outside, play, swim, etc, the girls must have three things on their pillow:
--pajamas
--a book
--whatever stuffed they are sleeping with

Then, once we come in, we have a bedtime routine:
1. Get on pajamas
2. Brush teeth
3. Wash hands, face (usually legs, feet and arms in the summer)
4. Go to the bathroom
5. Get a cup of water for beside your bed
6. Get in bed
7. Story
8. Pray
9. SLEEP

It seems like a lot of steps, but really all those bathroom steps flow together. I mean, we've tried everything but a real routine, so I'm hoping this helps. And we took down their bunk beds until further notice. (It seems to help mary to be able to see emma. She doesn't call us in as much.) And as I write this many of you are probably thinking, "Duh, molly, we all already have a bedtime routine, this is nothing new...", but I'm pretty sure we all still have a few bedtime battles that we fight each night. Ours has just grown quite a bit, lately.

So what does this have to do with a washcloth? Well, the day I introduced the new routine, we sat at the kitchen table and drew little pictures of all the steps--I never thought I'd spend so much time trying to teach emma how to draw a toilet...and then I gave each of them their own appliqued washcloth to hang on the hooks by the sink. Just trying to drum up some enthusiasm for the new routine, you know?!

It's day three of "Project Bedtime Routine" and it seems to be helping. Things seem calmer at bedtime. And I do believe that children like a little routine and structure and regularity in their lives. I do, too. I'll keep you posted on how this works. Parenting is contstant evaluation and adjusting, isn't it?!

+++++
So, this is really long. Thanks to those that stayed with me.
I think I"ll save the recipe for Monday. If you're desperate for it, let me know and I'll email it to you. I just finished up my jar of it and want to make some this weekend, too.

living 3 :: what I love

::last of the local berries with yogurt and my grandmother's homemade granola recipe::

::cool baths before naps with little girl undershirts and line dried towels in waiting::

giving

For Father's Day this year, I finally pulled together a gift I've been wanting to make Dan for quite awhile. He's always admired other people's silhouette pitures but I've always been intimidated by the idea of doing them. But thanks to some email support from a friend who's a pro at these, I put it together in time. I know he liked them, because by the time I got back from running a quick errand Sunday morning, he already had them hung in a prominent place in our house. 
The silhouettes were pretty simple to put together once I got them equally sized. Honestly, the hardest part was just finding the time to get it done. Mary, of course, picked up her silhouette and tore off the pony tail, so I had to redo,  and I was at the pharmacy buying black frames at 10:45 Saturday night. But it got done. And the girls tell me that I need to redo Elizabeth's silhouette when she has some hair. She's a bit boyish looking at this point, which is why I added everyone's ages below their picture.
We started our father's day with everyone piled in bed together, passing out cards and gifts to Dan. Emma is really getting in to gift-giving (and wrapping presents), so she presented him with the picture she had painted on Friday. (even though he'd already seen it)...
I can remember at Emma's age, walking around my house and picking out gifts for my mother from her bedroom. I specifically remember one year on mom's birthday, wrapping up her used highlighter pen and open bottle of nail polish remover to "give" her. But she still seemed thrilled--as was Dan at the "surprise" of getting the painting from Emma.

And speaking of giving, this lovely package arrived for our family unexpectedly last week. Michelle sent it 'just  because' and it was full of lovely gifts for me and the girls. Thank you, again, Michelle. It was so amazing all the goodies inside--you definitely "got" the girls...horse everything--tattoos, stickers, candy, and more:



for elizabeth:

and a handmade market bag for lucky me:

a list on a friday

1. I need to start shopping the back aisle end-caps at JoAnn's more often. Today, in a clearance section the girls got these stretched canvases, including paint for $2. They were so focused working on these. You know how dinner conversation goes quiet when a good dessert is served? It was like that. Total silence for almost 30 minutes. AND I found a speedball block-printing kit for $3. It has everything you need. I'm saving it for a rainy day.

2. Last night's dinner was really good. And the lemon yogurt cake was killer. I was short one egg and used vanilla yogurt instead of plain but it was still amazing. And I made the glaze too runny (I was baking with baby in the pouch, and basically one hand)--so I poked little slits in the cake for the glaze to seep in...double yum.

3. My sewing machine is doing this:

I've tried everything I can think of except for a new needle (which I got a JoAnn's today). Of course, I'm about ten stitches shy of finishing a simple diaper cover for Elizabeth. I hope it's the needle.

4. I got choked up in the petstore today when we stopped to pick up some goldfish food. Emma was standing in the bird room staring at the finches. She turned around, rubbing her eyes and said,"my eyes are watering I want one of these so bad." It was the most sincere, non-begging tears over missing having birds. We had birds when we lived in Wisconsin but gave them away before we moved. And she still talks about how much she misses having them. It's one thing when your children beg and plead for something just because it's new and different. It's another thing when there's sincere emotion behind it all. (maybe I'm just being a big softie...)

5. This week I found these amazing bedspreads at a little artsy spot just outside of Baltimore.

It's a small block of shops and restaurants tucked together in town...and it turns out is was a short two minute drive from the hospital where I ws going for all my prenatal checkups. (Although, for my pocketbook's sake, it was probably good that I didn't discover it until this week.) The bedspreads were only $19 and they are summery and light. But the thing I like the most about them is that this is the same place my grandmother gets them too and they remind me so much of her house. She mostly uses hers as tablecloths now, but they used to be on the beds up in the attic where the boys slept. I'm so nostalgic about things like this.

6. As I sit here typing, Emma is sitting on the arm of the rocking chair (rocking back and forth) eating cherries and spitting the pits into the trash can which she has pulled up beside the chair--and she's waxing on and on about why it is good that birds have their babies in the spring. That's my girl.

7. After a discussion with my husband the other night I think I've come to the sad conclusion that I'm going to have to give up pottery for awhile. I just don't have the time to get up to the college. I'd get myself a small kiln to work at home, but I just don't know what the electrical wiring is like where we live right now. I'm sad to see it go for now. But I guess everything has it's season and I WILL get back to it, somehow. In the meantime, I might work a little more on my bandsaw skills. I'd love to make a few more of these. and these.

8. Now, I'm the one waxing on and on....so, Happy Weekend All!
 

thursday: at my desk

It's been unseasonably cool today and I'm enjoying the chance to break out a sweatshirt and snuggle inside for the afternoon.  Mary is napping, Emma is horseback riding and Elizabeth just woke up from her nap and is now my sidekick at my desk.

Believe it or not, this is my third post of the day. The first two were for my other "jobs" on the side, (which I can barely call jobs because I enjoy doing them so much).

I did wander outside today to check on my garden after yesterday's storms came through. And I came home with an overflowing collander of spinach and romaine.

So tonight's dinner is going to be a chicken salad with greens from MY garden, eggs from my uncle's chickens, fresh bread and Molly's cake (thanks, hannah!)...I knew there was a reason why I stocked up on lemons at the store last week.

Oh, and  I forgot to mention that you've probably noticed the changes in my sidebar. I'm going to do my best to keep them more up to date this summer. And I hope that the "fresh inspiration" will be changing very frequently, too. I discovered this weekend that one can really drown themselves in flickr. There's lots of inspiration every where.

catch up post

Dan's mother is in town this weekend and with all this scottish blood on both sides or our family, we decided to go to the Scottish Festival held at a local farm museum. This photo is from the grand march of bagpipers. I love the bagpipes. They strike up such emotion when I hear them. This year, I managed to keep it together as I listened to them play. But when all the pipers gathered together in a cirlce and began playing Amazing Grace, I had to get away. The song brings back floods of memories because it was played at Dan's brother and father's funeral just a few years ago. It was funny how all of us, (dan, his mom, and I) all immediately turned on our heels and walked away when the song started. I knew I shouldn't even look at Dan, but when our eyes met we were both weepy.  Fortunately, we were able to laugh through our tears, but isn't it amazing how music can touch our lives so?

On a brighter note....my cousin has been in town for a few weeks, staying at the farm and she loaned me her digital SLR Sunday night since I THINK I'm getting ready to make the plunge. I caught these pictures of the girls calling to a deer grazing in the field across the road.

I love the pace of things here on Sunday nights. My family knows how to work hard, but they also know how to relax. Seems that everyone sort of lingers a little longer on Sunday evenings, enjoying the last bits of rest before the week picks back up again. I love that...
And so do the girls. I'm not sure an evening would be complete without a few scooter races down the driveway....

mmm bop{py}

Elizabeth was starting to get a little bored with the life of resting flat on the floor on her quilt. So yesterday I decided to gave her a little support and whipped up my version of a boppy for her. It's made from some fabric I've been hoarding for probably more than a year now and the under side used up that last big piece of some brown and white seersucker.
It's nice because it props her up a little bit so that she can see all the action going on around her and it helps control those flailing baby arms.

I also added loops on the sides in case I ever want to hang it up and out of the way on the back of her door, or if I want to add a few links of toys for her when she gets a little older.

I think she likes it.

And it's also good for viewing her favorite music box toy--which at this moment I'm realizing is basically baby TV....hmm. not sure how I feel about that.

And because it's friday and this heat and humidity is making me slap-happy, I leave you with some profound lyrical words, straight from the lips of Hanson (it gets really good in that last verse):

In an mmm bop, they're gone
Plant a seed, plant a flower, plant a rose
You can plant anyone of those
Keep planting to find out which one grows
It's a secret no one knows
It's a secret no one knows
No one knows

Mmm bop, ba duba dop
Ba du bop, Ba du dop
Ba du bop, Ba du dop
Ba du

In an mmm bop they're gone.
In an mmm bop they're not there.
In an mmm bop they're gone.
In an mmm bop they're not there.
Until you lose your hair. But you don't care.

morning and evening

morning: stream-wading and minnows in a jar

evening: a riding lesson and a piggy-back ride:

more of my favorites from the day...

just what we needed

It rained all day today and it was just what we needed--not only for the little row of tender seedlings in my vegetable garden, but also for my children. We needed to slow down this crazy pace of summer, even if just for a day. Summery days are full--multiple trips to the swimming pool, horseback riding, chalk art on the sidewalk and birdwatching--so it felt really good to slow down today.
I pulled out projects I'd been neglecting--a plum-colored cotton bonnet I'm knitting for Elizabeth, and fabrics to begin planning a small quilt made of scraps. The girls played contentedly too--dolls in wooden highchairs, Bible story dress-up and drawings tucked into little envelopes.

I even got the chance to give the old blog a makeover. It's still in progress, because I sat down to work on it way too late this evening. But I'm ready for a little change-up around here. Once I add all the pieces, I'll let you know. I wish I could say, "wait! I'm not finished! No peeking yet!", but I've already hit that "publish" button so bits and pieces are already showing up.

And you had to guess that this episode of dress-up as Mary and Joseph (they were both dressed like Joseph, but acting as Mary) wasn't lacking in good, "have to write it down" dialog from my two oldest children.

Mary(sitting in my rocking chair, with her doll at her breast) :
"I'm not pumping, I'm NURSING!
Emma: You can't nurse! that's not in the Bible!

Later on:
Emma, (dressed as biblical Mary, sitting on her rocking horse with her baby):
"what's my baby's name again?"
Me: Jesus?
Emma: Oh, yeah. Jesus.

Guess my husband's Bible degree isn't rubbing off on the girls...

Hope you all had a peaceful weekend too, and found a little time for quiet (and for laughter).

OPINIONS, please!

***edited to add***thanks everyone! I've always preferred matte finish, too...but for some reason when I was about to hit the "place order" button I choked and thought I'd better get some opinions first. I'll let you know how everything turns out with QOOP, so far it's been really easy!  happy weekend! stay cool.***

I'm about to order some digital prints from a new flickr processor--QOOP...but before I send ALL these prints to the printer, I need your opinion:

glossy or matte??

what's your preference?

thanks, folks!