A Week with a Baby Bird

I just got back from spending a week with my niece, E, who is officially a big sister. She is pictured above, giving a concert for me and Papa Bear, of the Berenstain Bear family. Periodically throughout every day we had to look for Papa Bear, and he was usually found sitting in this room. So, naturally, a couple of songs were sung. Heaven forbid if Aunt Di sat at the piano, though!

I had such a great time with E reading, playing grocery shopping, coloring, painting and squishing play dough. Her imagination is running at full blast, so it was amazing to see what she would some up with each day. There's nothing quite like reading with a little one on your lap, is there?

A Little Love

Check out this website - so much fun, and a great lead up to Valentine's Day. Perhaps the poor man's Valentine present this year? Very sentimental, fun and FREE! These hearts are few of the "more thans" I submitted. Here's the whole list:

I love you more than hotdogs with mustard.
I love you more than warm feet.
I love you more than homemade bread.
I love you more than reading.
I love you more than moonlight.
I love you more than common sense.
I love you more than underwear that fit.
I love you more than old movies.

What a fun way to spend a few minutes thinkin' about the one you love. See if you can come up with some good ones! Just email them in to love@paperwhite-studio.com, then check the site with anticipation to see your very own hearts.

Something Yummy

Well, I've been a little slowed down here, probably since iTunes software killed the mouse on my computer (ho boy, there was some gnashing of teeth). But I got that all fixed up and I'm trying to combat the winter blahs. How is it a lack of sunshine can just suck the energy right out of a person?

Well, here's something so easy and delicious, it's bound to cheer you up, at least a little. Homemade tortilla chips, baked in the oven.

It seems to me, there's always more tortillas in a package than can be used - then again, there's just two of us at home, so I imagine not all families have this problem. But if you do get a hankering for chips and salsa, and don't have chips, this a quick fix.

-Preheat your oven to 400, and slice up 3-4 flour tortillas into chippy shapes (more or less, of course, depending on just how snacky you're feeling).

-Coat a baking sheet moderately with cooking spray, then lay your tortilla pieces in one layer on the pan, pressing them down to make sure the bottom is coated in the oil.

-Spray the top of your soon-to-be chips lightly, sprinkle on some salt, and put them in the oven.

-Depending on your oven, and the thickness of the tortillas, they should come out golden brown, crispy and delicious in about 6-8 minutes. Seriously - that's all it takes! Make sure to re-coat your pan for subsequent batches.

Now, watch out, cause these are pretty addictive. I found they're particularly good with hummus. And since they're baked, you can feel not quite so bad about eating a boat load. We'll just pretend white flour isn't a carb rich food, agreed? I've never tried it with corn tortillas, but I can't imagine it wouldn't come out just as good.

Well, I feel more chipper already - ugh, bad pun not intended...

Threesies

Thanks to the magic of printable iron-on transfers, I made these onesies as a Christmas present to my upcoming niece. Now that I've made these, I want to make a million more! I just used copyright free clipart images (yay for no copyright issues!), printed, cut out and ironed on. The bear turned our perfectly - but peeling off the backing to the other two animals didn't go as planned, so I had to leave a little background on them. I think next time I'll add color to the backgrounds to make this an asset, instead of a glitch!

Oh, those little onesies are so tiny, people! It's pretty exciting to think they'll have a brand new little one in them very soon. I can't wait to meet the new little peanut!

Seven Random Things

I was tagged by Cheryl this week for a 7 Random Things post, so here goes! (Doesn't that picture make you long so very much for summer? It is soooooo cold and crazy windy here today, so a little flower love seemed the ticket)

1. I love old movies. I'd almost rather be watching TCM than anything else. I love seeing a glimpse of past culture, seeing what people found funny, sad, entertaining or riske a long time ago somehow makes that time in history more real. I also just love the sound of an old movie - modern movies just don't sound that way anymore.

2. I have a fear of toilets overflowing - seriously. When I'm stressed out, sometimes I'll have nightmares involving a toilet that won't stop overflowing. I'm not sure why exactly, but the arm chair psychologist in me thinks maybe control issues are at hand...Either that or the scary, old fashion power flush toilets in my grade school scarred me for life!

3. I was obsessed with horses as a kid. I would plead with God to just let me have a horse and a lot of my play time involved pretending to ride. I was actually lucky enough to take lessons in high school, and I'm pretty proud of having that particular skill. I haven't ridden since college, which makes me really sad, but hopefully some day I'll have a little extra money around for some horse time.

4. I the youngest of three sisters, and we all shared one room growing up. It was the half-story upstairs of our house, but still, the teen years were pretty rough!

5. I think Katherine Hepburn was just about the coolest lady ever. She's my favorite actress, and I love her strong will, no-nonsense next to the moments of softness she played. I can usually identify big time with her characters.

6. I love to plant gardens, but sometime around August, it just gets to be too much. The heat gets the better of me and I get super lazy, and the weeds take over. I'd love to have a beautifully maintained garden one day - hopefully I'll get a little closer with T's help this year :)

7. I love sitting in rocking chairs - we grew up with la-z-boys my whole life, so sitting still in a chair can be a real challenge for me! I think this might actually be behind the knee pain I'm starting to experience, come to think of it!


Since Cheryl and I share a lot of bloggy friends, and I don't want to double tag them, I've just got one tag-you're it. Anyone else that wants to play along, please do!

Katherine at A Book, a Nap, a Dog

A Thing of Beauty

Yes, there she is, on her maiden voyage - my spankin' new KitchenAid mixer. Oh happy day, I can now mix bread dough without paining my poor little hands. This wonderful vision was made possible by a lovely Christmas present from my parents and my sister K. Thanks guys!

So I made up some bread at the first chance, and it was so dang easy with this thing. My hands barely got floury people. The only tricky thing is knowing when you've got the right consistency or worked the dough too much or too little, since your hands aren't actually in it. Oh well, I'm willing to have a little adjustment period! This loaf came out beautifully, and was practically half-gone shortly thereafter. Yum!

Happy Day After Christmas!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Since I had an extra day off today, I thought I'd finally take the time to hop onto the meme train, and answer this holiday related one from Cheryl.

01. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Definitely wrapping paper - so many pretty designs, and I'm a sucker for paper folding, and making the stacks of boxes all neat and pretty and shiny.

02. Real tree or artificial?
Well, I grew up with artificial, and I have an artificial one I got for cheapo in college. The thing about them is you only have to buy the tree once. I do very much want to have a real tree, but can't seem to make myself part with the money this year. The real thing does look and smell so wonderful.

03. When do you put up a tree?
Just after Thanksgiving. I like having it up and enjoying it for a while. Why not have the extra pretty up for a good long time? :)

04. When do you take the tree down?
Usually just after New Year's. I'm usually ready for it, but it's sort of a depressing day. All the fun and prettiness are over, and the real long haul of winter has just begun. :(

05. Do you like eggnog?
My goodness, yes! Oddly enough, though, since I very deeply hate eggs. But usually if you add enough cream and sugar to them, I can be persuaded to love them. Not to mention bourbon.

06. Favorite gift as a child?
The first year Cabbage Patch Kids were super big, my parents worked together to make all three of us homemade versions. Three dolls would have been a lot of money. Mom did sewing and Dad painted the eyes on. When I think of the time and effort involved, and remember sitting outside their bedroom door as mom was tyring to hide and work on them, I feel really lucky.

07. Hardest person to buy for?
Probably my Dad.

08. Easiest person to buy for?
My niece! Good books are a very easy sell with her.

09. Do you have a nativity scene?
We did growing up. I don't think I'd have anywhere to put it, now....

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
I really don't know...Can't think of anything that bad.

11. Favorite Christmas Movie?
I have three! Charlie Brown Christmas Special, The Muppet Christmas Carol, and It's a Wonderful Life. Does Meet Me In St. Louis count?

12. Favorite Christmas Song?
That's a hard one to answer! I think my favorite carol is The Carol of the Birds, and my favorite secular song this year is Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.

13. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
Oh, stay at home fer sures.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
I can't remember if I have or not. I'm going to go with no, but that doesn't mean I never will, in an appropriate way, of course. :)

15. Favorite ornament or theme color?
I love silver and gold sparkly things! I also like a mix of handmade, "natural" looking stuff mixed in with the fancy things. Oh, and I super love my Victorian tree tinsel - it's thin, shiny twisted metal strips, so you can reuse it.


Well, what're your answers?

photo credit from flickr