2014 Summer Outings: Albany Tulip Festival

Bookstore Score

I know that I have gloated about our wonderful secondhand bookstore, but it really is amazing. If you live in the Middletown, NY area. Go there, it is cute, tiny and perfect! I love being able to walk in with pocket change and be able to walk out with entertainment for us and the kids. While this trip was not the bank breaking excursion that we have made before, when we ended up with more than $20 worth of books and not enough bookshelves at home, I was happy with this collection. 

These two were random pick ups that I figured would be read because there was nothing else closer to read but at least one of them has ended up on Grif's bed almost every night. So I guess they aren't too bad. I am also trying to start my collection in preparation for homeschooling. I am hoping that the US does not change too much in the next five - ten years, or the human body for that matter. I am hopeful on that front. (internal scream about planning homeschooling already!)

 

These were other random choices, I can barely turn away from old, hardbound books. If it is before 1950, I pretty much have to say yes, especially at a dollar a piece, I have even found a couple that were pre-1900. The Blue Fairy Book is one that I have on my Kindle (free downloads!) but I wanted a hard copy to be able to read to the kids at some point. They are just a collection of fairy tales, some familiar, some a little odd. The Forgotten Realms book was one that was a pure luck find. I had finished one of RA Salvatore's other books (remember that I am trying to finish the whole collection!) and there was an excerpt in the back for this book called Daughter of the Drow. I did not have this one so I figured that I would keep it in the back of my mind and try to find it. Lo and behold, not a week later we found it on the bottom shelf at the bookstore and I was thrilled.

I am dreading when we move and I have to find another bookstore with such great finds and such great prices. I also need to get my library card for our Thrall Library updated so that we can use that as a rainy day playdate. The library also offers movies, knitting lessons, games on the Wii and lots of other fun things that I really need to get more involved in! 

Upcycled Flannel Sheet

My latest sewing project was supposed to be done for Christmas presents, but alas life distracted me. On a thrifting trip in November I picked up this super soft and warm flannel flat sheet with a plaid (Tartan?) pattern. It was subdued and would be fine for a boy or a girl. I had planned on making pajama pants that all three kids could wear for Christmas pictures, then when that didn't happen I figured that I could also use it for a Celtic inspired Renfaire costume. Thankfully, I buckled and found my pajama pant pattern. Last year I had cut out each size into muslin so I could keep using them and that plan worked out well since I didn't have to play with the tissue paper pattern again.  I love being able to reuse things that I find at the thrift store. This sheet cost me all of $2 and I made 2.5 pajama bottoms from it. I used a McCall's pattern as the base and ended up cutting out a couple other pairs for the rest of the year, some in flannel for the cold and some in cotton for the summer. The hardest part of pajama pants is threading the elastic through the top hem, other than that, in total I spent two hours making all three. The kids were happy to get new pajamas since last year's were already two or three inches too short! 

On to the next project! 

After making three pairs of pajamas, this was all that was left! Well used piece of fabric to me

to help keep track of which pants are whose, I used fabric paint that I had and white fabric to make tags that I then ironed onto the back seam

Here is the label that was on the sheet. Twin sized, 100% cotton and made in Portugal!

Here are the three pairs of pajama pants. The two bigger sizes, I used the existing hems from the top and the bottom of the sheet. The infant pants were without a pattern and were not as successful, but next time!

Cap and E getting ready for pictures. E loves being a big sister and Cap loves the attention!

Prepping for the group photo that I had to have!

Our group photo of matching pajama pants and lots of Rogers' bellies! Hubby and I love this photo, it is too cute. 

What we did this Weekend!

We have been trying to unplug as a family, and do activities that are separate from the television or electronics, mostly. It is an attempt, not a perfect system.  But for an hour this weekend, we succeeded and went for a gorgeous hike. It was still bitter cold but beautiful with the new snow, the frozen stream and the pups coming along for the trek. 

Hubby's motion picture of Juniata jumping over our little creek

a neat ice cavern/bridge that was created over the water

a neat tree that my little brother used to call a dragon/rhinoceros tree

while out hiking, we didn't see much wildlife but we did see what was left of this dead crow hanging from a branch. Our guess is that a hawk left him there after lunch but we had fun guessing the story and talking about how life works

The kids, the dogs and I looking at seeds to collect for the new Hamsters to snack on

Hubby's art photo through the seed pods

Me pulling down a milkweed pod for Cap to touch and feel the soft down on the seeds. Even he seems to like to take little hikes in our woods and giggle at the dogs (and fall asleep from the rhythm of walking)

Handmade Holidays: Project 5: Tissue Holders

For some reason, I am sure that it was a good one, I had bought a 12 pack of tiny pocket tissue packs. I never use these tissues so I am pretty sure I meant to make felt tissues holders originally as well but I never got around to it. As previously mentioned, I have a serious goal of destashing and reorganizing my crafting life this holiday season, so I need to use what I have. I love working with felt, its great for crafting, for kids and its cheap with no fray! For the kids, and potentially for a couple adults, I made/am making some tissue holders. 

Here are a couple that I found on Pinterest, my not-so-secret love affair:

Boogey Monster

Teddy Bear and Kitty Kat

Bunny and Robot

Here are the two that I have finished so far: 

For my niece, a little Monster High-esque maybe with a button closure

For my nephew, I love the tongue!

My nephews present, I have to get a photo in that tiny gingerbread man!!! Don't forget! I also added a tag in case he wanted to attach it to his bookbag

Handmade Holidays: Project 3: Birdseed Ornaments

I have been looking for a couple of presents that I can include the kids on so I have been stalking Pinterest (again!) for a couple ideas. I found one, here , but of course I decided that this was the exact project that I wanted to do and then realized that I did not have all the ingredients. So we had to improvise a little and they did not come out as beautiful as the ones in the pictures. But the kids had fun making them, although next time I will use two separate bowls and separate molds so they each can have their own space, sharing became a little bit of a problem. Maybe even invited their cousins over and make a little buffet of different kinds of seeds and mixtures that they can add. We could also collect seeds throughout next summer and fall, throw them in the freezer and use them as well.  

We ended up using raspberry gelatin which turned it red and I have since found a few other recipes that may be a little easier to use. Overall it was fun, it took about forty minutes to make but we let them dry for a whole 24 hours. We may end up making more after the holidays since we have tons of bird seed, lots of hungry birds, and cold weather activities will be in demand. It was fun and will make a cute little present for family and their feathered friends on Christmas day. 

 

bits of bird treats and one to hang on the tree in a little tin foil cookie package 

while Brother and Sister were making bird treats (and let's be honest, squirrel and deer treats) Steven ate some sweet potatoes 

The Thankful Project: Day 3

Thank you again to Chasing Happy for hosting the Thankful Project. 

Today's topic is to discuss a place that you are thankful for. I was kind of unsure exactly what that even meant to me, so I took a bit longer to even come up with a list of places that I could be thankful for. 

As quiet and blah as it looks now, in the beginnings of winter, this I will miss.

When it comes down to it, as tumultuous as my childhood may have been, I think that the place that I am most thankful for is the backyard of my parents' house. This was, hands down, the place that spend the most time growing up. My father's somewhat extreme style of parenting during the summer, after my parents were divorced, was to send us outside at 830am, we were able to come inside to use the bathroom, to eat at noon, and then not until 6pm. We were left to, mostly, our own devices to amusement and to not injure ourselves. I can't imagine sending our kids outside now, unsupervised, for hours on end but my brother and I had no complaints at the time about it. 

Marley playing on a fallen tree during Hurricane Sandy, thankfully none fell
on the house, but we lost three trees.

Up until I was in middle school, my brother and I would pretend that we were Native Americans. We built teepees out of old sheets and giant branches that we pulled out of the surrounding woods, branches that were six to eight feet tall, all tied together with old clothesline and childish determination. We would collect acorns and chestnuts and poisonous red berries, pretending to eat them all. We would make bows and arrows out of yarn and shoe laces. We glued empty water bottles to the bottom of a piece of wood to make a raft to navigate the stream in our woods, treacherous as that stream was, we could have managed the two foot wide by six inches deep stream without the raft. Also, side note, Elmer's school glue is not water resistant, do not use it for rafts in the future. 

Then in sixth grade, I met one of my best friends, Ryn and we had history class together where we learned about Ancient Egypt and I read The Egypt Game.( I highly recommend that book, like insanely so, that and The Phantom Tollbooth) Then our native village turned into an ancient Egyptian palace. My little brother was a pharaoh, we made robes out of sheets, headdresses out of cardboard, memorized hieroglyphics, mummified a doll and buried her in my backyard under a dogwood tree, complete with turkey dinner and silver plated dishes. 
We fullfilled our Harry Potter fantasies by building a Hogwarts out of plastic milk crates and handmade wands and spellbooks. Under the pines trees we would relive all our favorite moments from the books and wonder why we never got a letter delivered by owl messenger. 
This was the yard that we had a pool in for a long time, that we were allowed to spend entire days in, until we were wrinkly and uncomfortable. A yard surrounded by woods that fed our imaginations, we created cities and towns, jurisdictions were separated for my brother and I, territorial boundaries that we were not allowed to cross, marked by swept up leaves and pricker bushes. 

As a mostly adult, I have our kids now play in the yard. We continue to have bonfires, whether they are legal fires or not, I am not sure still. James, the kids and I built a giant Wicker Man one year and lit him on fire. I picked flowers to weave in and out of the branches and we stared at the giant wooden man until he was ashes. My brother and I would try to keep a single fire going to weeks at a time, cooking hot dogs and waffles over the flame for our amusement. We had random gardens that never amounted for much food outside of the dozen or so tomatoes we would eat as soon as they ripened. We have always ate summer dinners outside, have hung hammocks between the trees to laze about. This is the first place that I ever "laid out" in the sun to actually try and tan. It was this yard that my brother was stung over two dozen times because bees hate him and he was a clumsy six year old. This was the yard that we had my two ever birthday parties in, one in first grade and one in sixth grade, were a girl stepped on a nail and it went through her foot in the woods. This is where we had my graduation party, where my grandmother parked her RV when my youngest brother, Colin, was born so she could spend time while my parents were in the hospital. This is where I kept my first ever pet rooster named Dani California and where he would chase Colin down because they were the same height. 

 This is the red maple that my brother and I would climb right before a thunderstorm to ride the storm winds in the branches before it started raining. And under these same branches, all lit up with holiday lights, is where I said yes to my wonderful and amazing Hubby when he asked me to marry him. 
So this yard, above all other places so far in my life, I am the most thankful for. 

Week in Review: Mother in Law Visit: Statue of Liberty

With the government shutdown, Liberty Island is now closed so I was so happy that my first visit to the Statue wasn't put on hold. We were able to visit the island the Friday before the shutdown and kept saying how lucky we were that we didn't plan the visit for the following week. MIL, kids and I had never been to the Statue before, Hubby had gone when he used to live in NYC in his younger years (Before Kendra). My family had gone when I was in the first grade but I refused to miss school to go see the statue, because I was that much of a nerd, even at six. We bought tickets in advance (they were more expensive then I really thought they would be) for 11am time slot but arrived there early and there was no problem getting on the ferry early. We decided to park on the New Jersey side instead of going into NYC, figuring it would make it easier getting home with minimal traffic. That plan would have worked except that we were so hungry when we left that we stopped at the first restaurant we could all agree on and then hit some traffic on the way home, but still ended up getting home early enough to have a normal bedtime. 

We took the ferry over to the island (which I am pretty sure is the only way to get there), they had a bunch of different ferries with names like: Miss Liberty, Miss New Jersey, Miss New York, Miss Ellis Island. We pointed out to the kids where all boats have their names and how each boat has a unique name. Ellis Island is still closed since they are repairing damage from Hurricane Sandy, but as the boat went by, we gave little history recaps on the island and Ellis Island. 

ferry at the dock before we left for the island

The weather was absolutely awesome, I wish I had packed a great lunch because the grounds were perfect for a family lunch. I had only packed some snacks so we wouldn't be starving while we there, but we could have spent another hour there just enjoying the view. I definitely would recommend bringing at least a sweater because the water makes it a little bit more chilly then the mainland, I took my sweater off on the island but I was also carrying around the baby and he is a little hot furnace. We even could have ate at the park from where the ferry left from and where we left the car. There was the old railway station there, built in 1913 that is super creepy but awesomely cool to take some pictures. The trip was awesome, easy to get to and other then the crowds (which you can't avoid at a huge touristy hotspot) and Steven sleeping through the climb to the pedestal, it was a perfect day trip. I was so happy to finally get to see this hugely important monument to our country.