i'm in the midst of a blogging debate with myself.
should i blog for the public?
should i blog for family and friends?
how much privacy should i have?
i've been toying around with a bunch of different options, so i have a lot of "inactive-ish" blogs while i figure out what level of privacy i want to have.
thanks for understanding.
Peanut and I are taking a trip from Illinois to Baltimore / Virginia this weekend. I'm kicking myself that I didn't buy her a seat. What was I thinking!? Flying solo (Mister's staying here) with a toddler on my lap? Who will want to nurse at every opportunity since the proximity will remind her constantly... Note to self. Spend the money next time! Of course, I'll have to since we have no plans to fly again before her 2nd birthday, but still!
I was envisioning this trip last week and realized that my diaper bag, as much as I love it, was not big enough to contain snacks for two flights, books, a dvd player, changes of clothes for both of us, sippy cup, enough toys to distract her, etc... So I made a new one. This was my first bag, and definitely a challenge for me. I'm usually a curtain sewer, with the occasional venture into baby clothes.
I learned a lot of new things in the process: fusible fleece is awesome, magnetic snaps are easy to install and look cool, bias tape isn't that intimidating as long as you have the proper width for your project, and a heck of a lot about why my threads were looping. It didn't usually mean that I needed to adjust my tension, it meant that I threaded my machine with the presser foot down! How did I not know that you weren't supposed to do that? So I really got past something that had been bugging me during my last few projects. It's not perfect, but I'm pretty pleased with it.
It has oodles of pockets - one for:
So this morning I was discussing our "get-ready-so-we-can-go-to-church" schedule with the Mister. As I'm down with a sinus infection, I thought a nice steaming hot bath sounded fabulous, so I could relax and steam out my head at the same time. So I mentioned that I thought I might take a B-A-T-H and that since I'd just given Peanut one a couple of days before that I didn't think she needed to get in with me.
This was all fine and dandy until I'm standing at the foot of the stairs and said "Hey, Mister, I'm going to go take my B-A-T-H now..." and from the kitchen I hear a delighted yell "BAFFF!" and in comes Peanut, racing to the bottom of the stairs rapidly signing bath over and over...
Of course she got in with me for a little after that. But seriously. All I did was spell it!! Mister's theory is that she's associated the sound of "B-A-T-H" with the delightful experience that goes with it. My theory is that we have an extraordinarily precocious twenty-one month old.
She opened up the Notebook Experiments to anyone who wanted to join in, and I couldn't resist! Here's the first one that I tried... Amy from Mom Advice listed it in her 6.26.08 Notebook, and the original post is from Laughing Purple Goldfish Designs.
I told you that I am in the middle of making a tshirt rug, which entails cutting up dozens of tshirts into long strips, sewing them together, winding them into balls and then crocheting away. I've tried a couple different techniques of cutting them, but many techniques left little flaps on the strips when I turned corners, and then those flaps stuck up out of my rug. Not exactly what I was going for! I came across this technique of cutting diagonals and I'm sold! I'm using a rotary cutter so it goes even faster...
Here's some pictures of my "yarn" before and after it gets rolled into balls. I'm also including a picture of the flaps on the "yarn" that are now a thing of the past... and for kicks, a picture of the rug in all it's tininess. =)
I made these tonight - the only thing I did differently was to use 1/2 Rice Krispies and 1/2 Cocoa Krispies. They're cooling, so you'll just have to be patient until I cut into them and let you know how they are!!
So I have been tweaking a recipe for a while now, and think I finally got it to where we really like it - it's a dairy-free Mexican casserole that we call Taco Pie for brevity. =)
Taco Pie
1 lb ground beef
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 can pinto beans, drained
1 cup cooked rice
3/4 cup salsa
1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix
1 egg
1/3 cup water
1 cup cooked corn, cooled
Preheat oven to 400.
Brown the ground beef in a large skillet. Drain off the excess fat, then add the taco seasoning according to the directions on the package. Set aside to cool.
In a medium bowl, mash the pinto beans (I use a hand mixer to get a super smooth consistency). Stir in the rice and salsa. Set aside.
In another bowl, combine the corn muffin mix, the egg and the water. Stir until almost combined, then stir in corn kernels. Set aside.
In a glass 9x9 pan, spread the bean and rice mixture evenly. Top with the ground beef mixture. Spoon the cornbread over the top - it doesn't need to be perfectly even. Bake at 400 for 25-30 minutes or until the top is crisp and golden brown. Enjoy!
