Cool Finds

I just have to share with you the things I've been drooling over lately.

Spool Dollies - Check out her whole collection,
the faces remind me of the original Fisher Price dollhouse dollies.



Felt Sugar Cookies...Yummy!



The most amazinng Cake Clippies by Goldilocks - so unique!



Cookie DoughThese look like so much fun!



Learn to Sew Lacing Cards - I was inspired to find these after seeing that my best friend brings these for her daughter to enjoy when waiting at a restaurant. What a great idea!



Fisher Price Clock - So cute and vintage.



Fisher Price Record Player - My aunt found one of these for us last Christmas. The girls really love it but probably not as much as I do. This one looks to be in really great condition.



Fisher Price TV - So fun to see that this is still available.



Lite Brite - I would play with mine for hours. Can you tell I was a child of the 70's? LOL



Beauty and the Beast Doll - One of those dolls that flip from one to the other, I think those are just the cutest!



I have one more awesome find to show you but I'm gonna wait until it's inspiration piece ends on eBay in about 6 days. I can't be outbid you know...hehehe.

"You My Beast!"

Princesses are a big deal at our house. E has gotten quite proficient at putting her own Princess dress on. She is often seen running around the house masquerading as Belle or Cinderella. The other day she came in to her room where I was putting away laundry and exclaimed "I'm Belle, Momma! You my Beast!" So of course I dropped everything and danced the afternoon away with her. A got in on the action too as Cindy.

The cupboard behind E in this first photo is soon to be painted the perfect shade of green. Thanks Jenn for the inspiration!









A girl's gotta have shoes.

Oh Deer!

Looking out our living room window I saw an unexpected sight on Friday afternoon. A Momma and Baby deer were sauntering through our backyard. I was able to open the sliding glass door and sit on my kitchen floor and enjoy the show. I don't think Momma noticed me until the last photo. I've heard that they come to visit often, but have only seen them a few times in the 9 years we have lived here. We have cetainly seen their mischeif when they ate all the corn and tomatoes that we planted in our tiny veggie paradise though.

We live about a mile up from the MN River Valley where they live full time, and I'm always surprised to see them darting across a road, or like today, wandering the neighborhood in broad daylight with plenty of noise and people around. This Momma and Bambi look-alike are welcome back anytime. I just wish the girls had been awake to see them. They did get to see the fox that came to visit a couple of weeks ago.

Spring, Glorious Spring...

So while the girls were snug in their sleeping bags,

in their beds, I snuck out to take some pics

of our amazing crabapple tree,

on it's prettiest day of the year.

Now, to bore you with my favorites...

Look at the sun sparkling through the tree.

I didn't even have to manipulate that!

Soon...my pretties!

I wish this one was bigger so you could see the water droplets.

LOOK...LOOK...LOOK...

Oh my! Have you seen the new fabric line by Sandi Henderson of Portabellopixie? This line is just so scrumptious, I want it all! I'm having a hard time choosing which ones I love the most. I sure picked a bad time to take a break from sewing.

I hear that Heather Bailey has a new line called Pop Garden coming out too. I haven't seen the prints other than in a quilt she had at her booth at the Quilt Market this past week-end. no I wasn't there, but I've been reading all about it on Jona's blog.

I just love yummy fabrics. Oh and have you seen Tanya's new collection for Grand Revival? it's called Ava Rose and it looks like it mixes beautifully with the several prints I already own of her current line called Barefoot Roses. I can't wait to drool over these prints too.

Chicken Wild Rice Soup

MN has got to be the wild rice capital of the world. You can't drive up North without seeing a dozen signs along the way advertising wild rice for sale. I've been cooking up a storm again for another family that just had a baby. It's been really windy here and a bit chilly so I've been in the mood for my favorite soup. I hope they don't mind, given that it's actually spring here now and we typically eat this in the fall. But honestly, who can resist Byerly's famous Wild Rice Soup? I bought their cookbook just for this one recipe. I actually made a triple batch today, which I usually do, it seems a shame not to make a full pot of it since you are going to the trouble of cooking wild rice, which takes for-EVER!!! This soup freezes well and of course it's great to share with friends or neighbors. Surprise someone in your life with a homemade pot of thsis delicious soup today! Ok, well tomorrow will be just fine since you probably don't have all the ingredients on hand.

Wild Rice Soup
6 Tb butter
1 Tb minced onion
1/2 C flour
3 C chicken broth
2 C cooked wild rice (leave 45 minutes to do this beforehand)
2 C cubed, cooked chicken
1/2 C finely shredded carrots (just buy the pre-shredded in the bag carrots)
3 Tb chopped slivered almonds
1/2 tsp salt
12 oz can evaporated milk
Snipped fresh parsley or chives for garnish

Melt butter in stockpot; saute onion until tender. Blend in flour; gradually stir in broth. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil; boil and stir 1 minute. Stir in wild rice, chicken, carrots, almonds and salt; simmer about 5 minutes. Blend in milk; heat to serving temperature. Garnish with parsley (only if you are eating this right away). Amount: 6 cups

Oh What Fun!

I just had to come and share our best week-end in a long long time. Friday night we went out to buy tricycles for the girls. We found the cutest little-girl bikes with training wheels and realized that they were actually easier for them to ride than the tricycles they tried out first. Then they each got a new pair of sneakers for summer, that light up when they walk. They are soooo cute! And the girls adore them.

Saturday morning we went to the MN Zoo which we love to do. We probably make it out there twice a month. Our favorite part hands-down is the farm at the Zoo. We packed a picnic lunch and ate it on the long walk to the farm. We stopped to see the horses that were close to the fence eating dandilions and one of them decided to relieve himself. Then the cutest thing happened (I know, I'm biased), E started shouting and clapping "Yea, good job!" Can you tell that we are in the midst of potty training?

Saturday afternoon Dave set up the tent while I went out and bought pink sleeping bags for the girls and then we all slept outside in the backyard. We had a bonfire and roasted marshmallows (which were not a big hit). It was quite cold, low 50's, and super windy with mostly a full-moon. I hardly slept at all, worrying about whether the girls were warm enough and thinking about how is it that it's safe to sleep in a tent in the backyard when it's not safe to sleep inside the house unless we have checked to make sure all of the doors are locked?" Hmmm...still working on that one.

Sunday we went to Church and then to lunch with friends to celebrate the dedication of their little guy in Church that morning. Dave put the bikes together during naptime while I finished laying the mulch down in all of the flower beds (glad that's done!). Oh and let me just say that I went and bought 16 more bags of mulch all by myself on Sat. I even loaded them all in the back of the Explorer on my own. Of course all the while, secretly hoping that someone would take pity on the pregnant lady and offer to help, but at the same time proud that I was able to do it all by my lonesome. Ahhh...the little things in life.

Then the girls got to ride their bikes for the first time in our driveway. I was really surprised at how they tackled the task so differently. E got frustrated very easily and there were many tears throughout the process. While A (with the pony-tail) kept saying over and over "Don't help me! Don't help me!" Hmmm...wonder where she gets that from?

Here are my favorite photos from the afternoon.









It's never to early to start learning how to fix your bike.

Dandi-flowers

We Love Mud!

I have listed today a custom twirl skirt made to match Gymbo's new Palm Springs line. Please join me in supporting Mud and her children. There are many wonderful auctions up right now in support of Mud, you can find them all here. 100% of the proceeds will go directly to a fund set up for her children. My heart and prayers go out to Mud's family!

Click here to visit my auction.

How Does Our Garden Grow?

Why, with the help of two little girls of course!

Yep, that's my Mother's Day card. The girls picked out the BEST

singing cards and couldn't wait a week to give them to me

(or play with them).

If you think A's knees are dirty, you should see her socks!

She really got in to her role as Master Digger.

What are we planting? Cucumers, Carrots, Tomatoes,

Cantaloup, Beets, Pumpkins, Sweet Peas and Shell Peas

Maybe this year we will actually harvest everything from

our garden! We often forget about it, or just plant too many

tomatoes to actually use. If that hppens gain this year

I will just have to can some salsa now that I know how.