a number of things

wordless wednesday :: mockingbird nest

    

summer painting

It's no secret we dig watercolors around here. To such an extent, I was getting a bit tired of setting up all the necessary paraphernalia each and every time a watercoloring whim struck someone.  Then one day, while reading this inspiring post over at Bonny Glen, I had an idea.  

  

Rose's Kit

Why not take Lissa's idea of having watercolors at the ready, and combine it with the notion of a nice, compact watercolor travel kit. Now I am very aware that this is not a new idea and is done by many.  But ours are not really "travel kits", so to speak (though of course they are perfect for painting on the go also!), but more like every day individual kits to foster more artistic independence around the house.

 

Collin's Kit

These little kits have really made watercoloring something all the kids can do on their own with minimal mess and clean up.  Even the four year old takes out her own little set, mists her colors to wet them and begins painting either with a small container of water or or a waterbrush.

 

Anna's Mini-Kit (Because she loves all things mini. :))

Speaking of waterbrushes, I originally bought a couple for myself, but as it turned out they are fantastic at keeping the water-mess to a minimum for the 4 and 7 year olds.  Also, after our initial sets of cheap dollar store paints were used up (in no time flat), I followed the suggestion of Lori from Camp Creek and upgraded to Prang sets for the younger kids.  These are great (and for less than $4 a set!) and even come with a white segmented lid so that they can mix colors just like mom.

  

Anna's Full Kit

All of each kid's supplies (except their watercolor journals) fit neatly into a 97 cent zippered pencil case for easy storage at home and a quick grab for travel. So easy and organized!

File this under 'why on Earth did I not think of this before'. :)

  

lemon pound cake

This is our new favorite summer cake recipe.  I actually made it twice last week. It's not at all conducive to loosing those after-baby-pounds, but it is so very good.

The recipe below is only slightly altered from the one in this cookbook (which I find quite inspiring):

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Lemon Pound Cake

• 1 cup butter
• 1/4 cup oil
• 3 cups sugar
• 5 eggs
• 3 cups flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon lemon extract

Beat butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed; gradually add oil, beating until well blended. Gradually add sugar, beating well.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add flour to butter mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour.  Mix just until blended; stir in lemon extract. 

Pour batter into a greased and floured bunt cake pan.  Bake at 300 degrees for 1 1/2 hours or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes; remove from pan and place directly on wire rack.  Brush Lemon Glaze on sides of cooled cake and spoon over top, a little at a time.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar.  Serves 10 - 12.

Lemon Glaze

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup lemon juice

Combine ingredients in a small bowl; stir until sugar dissolves.  (I warm it slightly so the sugar will dissolve quicker.)

   

wordless wednesday :: biggest brother & littlest sister

    

thrifty loot

 

I found this sweet basket, the four saucers, glass punch cups and white napkins all at my local thrift store this weekend (for $3!).  The miss-matched silverware is from a thrift-trip a few months back.  This whole pretty pile is going into the playhouse after its makeover. 

 

Here is a glimpse through the playhouse door in its current state.  We are attempting a major transformation on a very tight budget. "Shabby Chic" is the goal. (don't laugh!) We even ordered this little number to help us with the look.  We'll see.... :-)

    

bench Monday

 

I have been wanting to post a bench Monday picture for quite a while, and this crazy-busy week seemed like just the time.

Down here in south Louisiana, the gardening season is in high gear with all its pulling, plucking and harvesting.  I have lost count of the jars of pickles I have canned and the Roma tomatoes are getting ready to give me a run for my money. Add to this my recent in-laws' visit, the classes at the library for the summer reading program, frequent geocaching trips and the fact that I promised Anna and Rose I would give the playhouse a makeover (what was I thinking?!) and you have a very full next couple of weeks. 

But it's a wonderful kind of busy...  the kind that involves the whole family. 

Have a fabulous summer day!

  

paper dolls are fun

Don't you think so?  Rosie certainly does.  She has been requesting some for quite a while now, and thinking they might be a good summertime project, I finally got around to making the first of them.

Meet Lucy Ann!  She was drawn and water colored with much input from Miss Rose and a hefty dose of inspiration from 1930's era children's illustration.  We thought some of you might like her too, so we made up a little PDF for you to print out until your heart's content.

 

She comes with two outfits ready-to-wear and two ready to color!

Now that I look at them both, I think I drew Lucy to look just a tad like her proud owner...

...especially with that cute new summer hair cut. :-)

  

geocaching

We started geocaching as a family a little over 3 years ago, along with letterboxing.  We all love the thrill of a real life treasure hunt!

Geocaching brought us to places in our general area that we would probably never have visited if it were not for the hidden cache.  I also just love the way so many of the caches have a mini history or geography lesson tied in with them.

But, with another baby in the family once again (and a baby who is not fond of her car seat, at that), the trusty GPS was gathering more than a bit of dust. 

Then a few weeks ago, my dad began to take an interest in geocaching and started bringing Noah (and then Anna) along with him. This is the perfect arrangement for right now; the big kids get to go and I don't have to get the little ones out into those sometimes hard-to-get-to places. :-) This is going to fit in perfectly with our Summer Unschooling.

(The above photos are from the kids' & grampaw's most recent excursion... their first multi-cache!)

    

sketchbook: Mother's Day time

Ahh... It felt so good to pick up a pencil and brush again.  To mix the paints and watch the colors blend.  I haven't done any of this sort of thing since before Lilly's birth and I was, frankly, having withdrawals.

When Chip and the kids asked me what I wanted for Mother's Day, I told them that all I needed was time to doodle.

And doodle I did!  For inspiration, I kept going back to this beautiful book.  As I told a friend recently, just looking at it makes me want to break out the watercolors and forget all about the laundry. One of the first things I did was research a few of our common local birds and paint their eggs.

Since I cannot paint near as much as I would like right now, I am really enjoying these Cathy Johnson videos as well as her ideas for travel watercolor sets.  So inspiring!  

"My View"

I know one day, I'll be able to do this more often...  As my sweet friend Dodi reminds me, this is but a season.  And what a beautiful one it is.

(P.S. ~ And yes, if you are wondering, Lilly has nursed herself to sleep in the sketch above. :-))    

   

wordless wednesday :: sisters

  

Lilly sewing

 

I actually squeezed in a tiny bit of sewing last week!  It was total therapy for me and new pants for Lilly. 

Inspired by this soulemama post a bit back, I dug into my stash and whipped up a few pairs of cute girly pants for Miss Lilly.  Ah, so much fun.  Now if I could just figure out how to manage a good dose of drawing or painting...

 

peppermint for tea - part 2

Ok, so 3 or 4 days have passed and my mint is now dry and it is time to remove it from the stems. The easiest method I have found for doing this with mint (it will vary from herb to herb) is to pick off the top leaves first so that I have a bit of stem to hold onto, and then simply strip the leaves off by running your hand down the stem.

There always seems to be a few willing helpers for this little task. The smell is heavenly!  You can crunch / crush your leaves up a bit more if you like, but I don't usually bother. (The larger leaves do require a slightly longer steeping time, however.) We store all of our teas in labeled wide-mouth quart jars, but any airtight container will work just fine. Just make sure they are stored out of direct sunlight. A cupboard or pantry is just perfect.

You can of course brew your homegrown tea in the same manner that you would brew any loose leaf tea, but I personally love using a French press. These are meant for coffee, but work extremely well for loose leaf teas.  Simply put in a nice, big, heaping spoonful of peppermint (above I have added a bit of homegrown lemon balm for a yummy blend) per cup and add boiling water.  Steep for 15 - 20 minutes push down the plunger, pour and enjoy!

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According to The Green Pharmacy, these are just a few of the things that peppermint is helpful for:

• Breathing Difficulties
• Colitis
• Gastritis
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome
• Muscle Pain
• Sore throat
• Coughing
• Nausea
• Stomachache
• and even hiccups!