Only One Word

There's only one word I can think of to describe what has been going on around our house these last few weeks....

FUN!!!

It all started a few weeks ago for our friend Owen's 4th Birthday party. Miles tried out the pool, with mixed results.

He did love kicking and kicking and kicking his little legs in the water. I think we have a natural swimmer on our hands. :)

And what kid doesn't look stinkin cute in a floppy, protect his skin from the bright hot sun, baby blue, fishermans hat?
Miles loves being outside. And swimming is fun, but to beat the heat, sometimes you just have to get out of town. So we did. Twice! We loaded up the Rav, grappbed some of our friends, and headed to Flagstaff to go camping. Miles did GREAT, and loved the great outdoors. And he loved sitting around the campfire in his chair, just like his daddy.

(His hair is just a *little* out of control. But I think it is so cute all fuzzy like that. It sticks up in just about every direction. Grandma might have to give it a little trim when we visit next week.)

We had so much fun, we decided to do it again the next weekend. I've realized its nice to go places with friends, because I can get a very rare picture that actually has ME in it. Even if it is with my SWEET visor, sunglasses, and camp hair. Atleast there is proof I was there. For once.

I also took Miles to a play date last Wednesday to the Peoria City Splash Park. He is too little to fully enjoy running through the sprinklers. But he did like splashing the water that was already on the ground.

And I loved how cute he was in his little swim suit, rash guard, and funny as heck hat that keeps the sun off his neck, but kept flipping up in front.

You might be wondering....How can I even STAND having a little boy so cute? Well, the truth is, I just can't!! I just want to hug him and love him, and pinch his little chubby cheeks all day long.

Oh....and fill my hard-drive up with millions and billions of pictures.

Here's a couple more. Just in case you didn't get enough. I know I never can.

Laughing with me....

Or laughing AT me. Either way, I'm okay with it. :)

A while ago (the beginning of May) my Friend Tiffany told me about an Apron Swap she was doing. I make an apron, and send it to someone who signed up for the swap, and then someone sends an apron to me. I thought it sounded so fun. And I thought it would be a good chance to stretch my very limited sewing skills and try something new. I told my Mike about my great new find. His response? "why???"

"Why what" I said.
Mike: "Why are you making an apron to send to someone else? If you want an apron, why don't you just make one, and then keep it."

I figured this was just my overly logical husband COMPLETELY not understanding how fun this would be. So, I called my mom to tell her about it. Her response?

"Why?" "Why would you make and apron and send it to someone else. Why don't you just make an apron, and then keep it?"

Okay, Okay.....Maybe I'm the only one who looks forward to getting surprises in the mail. That's REALLY the reason I thought this would be so fun. So, I signed up.

I did have my hesitations. Let's just say...I've never been a very "lucky" person. I just knew it would be my luck to end up with a swapping partner who never sends an apron. So, I decided I would just buy double the fabric. Then I could make one for someone else AND for me. I'm such a little smarty! :)

The theme was "Summer". So I picked out some fun, flowery Amy Butler fabric, bought a pattern (because I wanted to learn how to use one) and went to work. My mom helped me do the first one while I was in St. George. It was my "practice", and I gave it to Rachel while we were there. It was cute. And I was proud. But I wasn't fond of the pattern, so I went at the next one on my own.

I've been working on it for a few days, and was ALMOST finished. All I had to do was attach the front pocket to the apron. And PRESTO! It would be complete. So, I pinned the apron in place and started sewing. This is what it looked like before the sewing began.


So I was just sewing right along and thinking....Wow. This pocket is a little harder to sew than I imagined. For some reason, it just seems "thicker" somehow. Wierd. And I just kept sewing. At LAST, I finished my last stitch on the pocket, snipped the threads, and pulled out my apron to admire my handiwork.

There was only one problem. The apron didn't look quite like I had imagined. This is what the front looked like.




If you can't tell, while I was sewing the pocket on, the whole top of the apron had been tucked under, and was now sewn to the back side of the pocket. So basically the apron was folded and sewn in half. And to make matters worse, I had DOUBLE top-stitched the pocket on. That means TWO ROWS of stitches were holding my apron in half.

go ahead. Laugh. I understand.

So, after puffing out my cheeks to hold in the curse words, I went to work unpicking, and unpicking, and unpicking.

and let me just interject here that I have to do all my sewing during Miles' nap-time. That makes the time available to me to do crafty things very limited. Hence the mental curse words.


So I unpicked my stitches, re-sewed the pocket, and worked with the fabric to get all the little "holes" left by my stitches to go away. And I ended up with this pretty little thing.


It gets dropped in the mail tomorrow. A whopping 5 days before the deadline. And I am proud of myself for not procrastinating completing it until the very last minute.

And incase you are wondering, I still haven't received MY apron in the mail yet. (The deadline to send is june 9th, so there's still time.) But no worries. I have the apron I will make for myself already cut out.

I've been sewing almost every day since I've been home from St. George. Thanks to my Mother-In-Law for letting me use a SWEET vintage Singer 401a sewing machine. It was the machine she learned on, and I L-O-V-E it.

Awhile ago I mentioned something about an Etsy shop. And I have been working my fingers off trying to get things ready. It's only taken me about 3 months longer than I thought. :) And there's still a little more. The problem is that as soon as I make something, someone I know wants to buy it, or I have a shower to go to and I take it, before I get it photographed and uploaded. But I finally DID photograph a few things. So, here's another (not so sneaky) peek.


Diaper and Wipes holder made from the "Dick and Jane" series fabric by Michael Miller. LOVE this, and I'll have lots of combinations of the fabric available.

Baby changing pad, topped with super easy to clean Vinyl dot fabric by Michael miller. Changing pad is lined with a thin cotton batting for a little "cush for babies tush", and backed with solid blue or red durable cotton fabric. I am in love with this. I just gave one at a baby shower, and already have a few requests for some more. I have a super cute brown and pink flower pattern for little girls that will be making its way to the shop soon too.

And here we have a nice big, slobber proof, baby food proof, smear whatever you want on it, and just wipe it up, easy peasy, "shirt bib". I should have posted a picture of the back. But you can put baby's arm through the arm holes, and the bib sleeves help keep baby's clothes clean. The pocked on the bottom helps catch drips and spills before they stain pants. Made from the same laminated fabric as the changing pad. Just wipe with a wet cloth, and thats it.

And I think this is my very very favorite. At approx. 20"x24", this super snuggly blankie is the perfect size for the carseat or stroller. Babies can't help grabbing hold of the soft minky fabric on front. (comes in red or blue), or snuggeling next to the vanilla satin lining on the back. Blankey has a layer of flannel in the middle for extra softness. And the best part is I can customize any of the items with any of the fabrics. Like the blankey, but want a blue minky center with the Dick and Jane word fabric instead of stripes? No problem.

And there's so much more! But I just couldn't help but show these off a little. They aren't in the shop yet. I'm still working on writing all the descriptions, pricing and uploading. But SOON. Very Soon. I have more styles of Bibs, big blankies, burpcloths, rag quilts, and nursing covers too, in a variety of fabrics for stylish moms and babies. So Stay Tuned!!! I can't wait to finally, finally, finally be making a little progress. Mike doesn't have class tomorrow. So, I'm hoping to get a little extra help on the baby wrangling front to take more pictures and get things uploaded. So, if you have a shower or something you will be going to in the next few months, keep me in mind! And ofcourse, my wonderful friends and family will be getting a very nice discount! :)

strawberries, pectin, and hypothesis...

These past months, I have been up to all sorts of things. Cooking, baking, sewing and such. I have been learning to be domestic. And while I have really enjoyed becoming, in my mind, what I always pictured I would be as a "home-maker", this is all new to me. I am in uncharted waters here. You see, I have spent the majority of my adult life training to become one thing. A Scientist. Seriously. For nearly a decade, the bulk of my educational efforts have been spent learning how to interpret an electrophoresis scan for Multiple Sclerosis. Or, detecting and identifying antibodies in the blood bank so the surgeon will have compatible blood for the emergency heart surgery going in 20 minutes. Or looking at peripheral blood smears for abnormal cells, to tell the doctor the patient has Leukemia. (really sad) Or that he doesn't. (really happy)

I have always loved science, and loved being a "lab rat." I love my job. But now I only work a few days a month. And I think lately, my scientist self has started feeling just a little neglected, and a little overrun by domesticity. :) This became glaringly obvious to me while I was at the grocery store the other day.

I was shopping for pectin. WHAT????? Yeahhh...I was shopping for pectin because my domestic self noticed that strawberries were on sale for $1 a pound, and thought it would be nice to make some home made strawberry jam. And to make jam you need strawberries and......you guessed it. Pectin.

So, I was perusing the pectin selection (say THAT fast 5 times) and found a few things. The first one I saw was this.

A pectin classic. I've used this before to make freezer jam (with mixed results). It's pretty simple (you have to boil the pectin, but thats not so bad), and is relatively quick. But then I saw THIS....
Two things stood out to me. First, just how yummy the picture looked. And then second, the words "No Cook." And then then words "Fresh, Delicious, Easy." Hmmmmm...... My neglected scientist self instantly began designing an experiment to prove if the Ball pectin really IS fresh, delicious, and easy. And I also wanted to scientifically prove which pectin produced better tasting jam. (my taste buds are pretty darn scientific). So, I bought both, headed back to the produce isle to double up on the strawberries, and headed for home. (Oh...and I also bought some of the plastic Ball freezer jam containers. Mike asked me why I bought these new conatiners when I could have just used tupperware we had at home. My response? "These are cuter." And in my defense, I was planning on giving some of my finished product to the neighbors, so the containers SHOULD be nicer than the old cottage cheese tub that has been used and washed a hundred times.)



ANYWAY.................

Back to the experiment. My hypothesis was:

Ball pectin will be easier to use and will produce fresher and tastier strawberry jam than Sure-Jell pectin.

I KNOOOOOWWWWWW what you are thinking. I am a science dork. But we've already established that. So, if you want the results of my delicious experiment, you are just going to have to keep reading.

Here is basically everything you needed to know (according to me and my tastebuds) about making strawberry freezer jam.


I started with the Ball pectin because I was anxious to try it out.

Ball Pectin

The instructions seemed simple enough. First, cut and mash strawberries. I needed to smoosh up 4 cups of these.

I used a potato masher as oppossed to a blender or food processor. But I like my jam a little on the "chunky" side. If you don't, just mash it up more. Simple. The buying guide on the bag said I would need about 4 pounds of strawberries. (Each of the containers is a pound) So, thats what I bought. But it was WAY too much. I found that ONE pound of whole strawberries = TWO CUPS of mushed strawberries. So, I really only needed 2 containers of the delicious fruit and not 4. Ohwell. More to eat later.

Next, in a seperate bowl, I added the Ball pectin to 2 cups of sugar. Atleast I think it was two cups of sugar. I'm writing this after the fact, so I don't remember EXACTLY...It could have been a little less than 2 cups. But just look at the instructions on the bag. (you could also use Splenda as an alternative.) I mixed those together, then added my 4 cups of fruity goodness. I stirred for 3 minutes to help the sugars disolve. And then I used a wide mouth funnel to make filling my cute jars easy, scooped the mixture in, and put the lids on.

The package says this will make approximately 5-8oz. jars. (or 40 oz. total) But I filled 2 of my big jars (16 oz each) and then 2 of my small jars (80z each). So, if you do the math, that equals 48 oz. or 6-8oz. jars. Ending up with extra jam always makes me happy.

Finally, just let it sit out on the counter for 30 minutes to "set" a little more. And that's it! It was as easy as that. There really was no cooking. And the whole thing took about 10 minutes. (Well, except the letting it set for 30 minutes part. Obviously.)

And this is what it looked like.

And the taste???? Was SOOOOOO good. It was sweet, but not too sweet, and not too sugary. It tasted more like real fruit, and not like fruit syrup, like some jams do. D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S. I knew it was going to be pretty hard to beat, but I gave it a try.

Sure-Jell
I opened the Sure-Jell box and found a double sided page of instructions. So, I was already a little annoyed. I finally found the recipe I needed for strawberry jam. Be careful, because there are TWO. A recipe for cooking the fruit, and a recipe for not cooking the fruit. I chose the recipe for not cooking the fruit.

So, this time I only needed two cups of mashed strawberries. And FOUR cups of sugar. Yup....Four. That seemed like a lot. Compared to the other jam, there was twice as much sugar and half the strawberries. I was already less than impressed.

So, I added my 4 cups of sugar to my 2 cups of strawberries. Stirred it all together and let it sit for 10 minutes for the sugar to start dissolving. This would be a good time to cook your pectin.

Sure-Jell pectin has to be boiled with water. I don't remember HOW much water, exactly. But I think it was something like 4.25 cups. Or maybe 1.25??? Whatever the amount was, I'm sure It was EXACTLY measured out, very scientifically. :) Just check the directions. So, you add the pectin to COLD water, and stir it until it boils. Boil for 1 minute, then dump into your sugar/strawberry mixture. Stir this around until all the sugar crystals are dissolved, and then put into your containers.

The instructions say to leave it out at room temp for 24 hours to let the jam set. But Scientist Sarah is extremely skeptical of leaving ANY kind of food out of the fridge for 4 hours, let alone 24. So, I left mine out for a half hour with the other jam, and into the fridge it went.

24 Hours Later-Conclusion

So, I waited a whole day before trying the jam again. And I definitely had a hands down favorite. The Sure-Jell was 'okay'....but turns out my hypothesis was correct.

According to my taste buds, The jam made with ball pectin was pretty much the best jam I have ever made. (I know, I know...there's not much competition for the best jam I've ever made.) But if you are craving something fresh and fruity, like I was, you should definitely give this a try.

And, because this TECHNICALLY was a science experiment. I had to put my newly found domestic skills to good use and make home-made honey whole wheat bread.

YUM!

Summer?

Well, they say its summer here. Triple digit temps now. But frankly, thats not really my idea of a nice summer. For me, Summer here starts around January and goes through April. I want to go back to January. :)

In honor of the triple digit week we had and will continue to have until next October, I decided to brighten up the blog a bit. Get in-tune with my summer self, so to speak. I played around with the HTML codes last night. It was a crazy thing to do. But I was soon addicted to changing EVERY number in the code to see what it would do. Yes, I'm a computer dork. and I am obviously not afraid to admit it. I played until 1:00 am, at which point I decided the numbers would still be waiting for me later. I have more I will be adding, so check back for some fun.

About the things I will be adding.......

I have been working really hard on a little "project", and am almost ready to get everything up and going. I wanted to wait until everything was perfect before I said anything. And I STILL do. So, I'll just give you a teaser and say someone will be having a fully stocked ETSY boutique, full of completely irresistible items, up and running very soon. Hopefully by the end of this week. It was suppossed to happen last week. But obviously, It didn't.

That's it for now. And since this is kind of a boring post, here's a little something to make it worth your while.

Romer Look-alike Meter

Alright....It's settled now, once and for all.

Miles looks more like.........

I guess that explains why half the people say he looks just like me and half the people say he looks just like Mike. well there's no wondering any more who is right. They all are.

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Geneology - Free genealogy

ABCs

Tagged by Jen....so here we go

A - Attached or Single? Attached
B - Best Friend? Mike of course
C - Cake or Pie? I’ll take both. At the same time.
D - Day of Choice? Saturday….its a special day. It’s the day we get ready for Sunday. Just joking. Actually, it’s the day Mike is usually home from his various rotations.
E - Essential Item? A Soothie baby binkie. I don’t leave home without one. Or two, or three.
F - Favorite Color? Right now I’m really into blue and green
G - Gummy Bears or Worms? Worms, hands down. They are bigger, better, and more delicious
H - Hometown? Evanston Wyoming
I - Favorite Indulgence? Buying digital scrapbooking kits. They make me happy
J - January or July? January. I live in Phoenix people. July is not pleasant
K - Kids? One little (Miles) and one big (Mike)
L - Life isn't complete without? My family. Love em.
M - Marriage Date? December 28, 2004. Just over 3 years.
N - Number of brothers and sisters? 1 Sister, 2 Brothers. And 2 wonderful sisters-in-law.
O - Oranges or Apples? Oranges
P - Phobia or Fears? The Dark. Its scary
Q - Quote? “I can’t wait ‘til tomorrow….because I get better looking everyday.” ha ha ha
R - Reason to smile?

How could I NOT smile at this everyday???

S - Season of choice? Spring. I love the flowers, the green grass, and the new baby animals.

T - Tag ……No one! Ha!

U - Unknown fact about me? I hate salsa and beans

V - Vegetable? Corn on the cob and spinach salads

W - Worst habit? Starting projects and not finishing them

X- ????

Y - Your favorite food? Chocolate fondue. Yum!

Z - Zodiac Sign? Scorpio

Appreciation

Since I've been away from home, (a whopping two weeks) I have spent time with my family, with Mike's family, and a lot of time with Miles. We've done a lot of fun things. But being away has certainly made me appreciate my sweet husband Mike. At the end of the day, when Miles is tired and cranky, and I'm tired and cranky, and everyone else has gone to bed, I sure miss Mike stepping up and saying, "here, I'll take him. Why don't you sit down and relax." What a life saver. Being away has certainly helped me to appreciate how much he does to help me out. I don't think I tell him enough. He definitely deserves a shout out. so.....

Thank You Mike!!!

I couldn't do it without you. We miss you and love you, and will see you next week. Wahoo!!

And you know what else I have come to appreciate? People who photograph babies! it's not as easy as you might think it would be. See????

Woah man....I was sure getting frustrated. My mom bought Gabe and Miles matching outfits. so cute. I envisioned a fun photoshoot. I envisioned myself snapping away, capturing masterpiece after masterpiece. I envisioned myself being a professional photographer. My coaches growing up always encouraged me to "envision" myself singing the solo, or making a basket, or doing a tricky dance sequence. I was told this would improve my performance and help me to achieve the things I had imagined. This technique, OBVIOUSLY, does not work for photography.

But, I have thought a lot about this. Sometimes the perfectionist in me just needs to let go. I was looking at Mike's baby book last weekend. I've never seen it, and I was so excited. The pictures were old (well....29 years old) and they were yellowing. They would by no means be considered a masterpiece. But I was just so excited to see them. It didn't matter. And I realized that it's more important to capture the memory. In 30 years, would Miles rather look at old, yellowing, non-masterpieces, or would he rather I put a note in his baby book saying:

Dear Miles,
I tried to take pictures of you, but they never turned out as beautifully as I wished they would. So I deleted them. Sorry.
Love Mom.

The choice is obviously, well....OBVIOUS! of COURSE I want pictures of my baby. If his face is a little washed out, or he has a little "red eye", or the backgrounds are dark, or the shots composed porely.....who cares!!! Those things will get better with time. And practice. But for now, I am happy to have captured the moment, and have the ability to look back at those moments and smile. Even if my prints never hang in a gallery, they are masterpieces to me.

a little boy

and his Daddy. How cute!

So, it has been awhile since I have posted. I've been up to something. But i'm not telling. Atleast not yet anyway. I'm really excited about my latest and greatest venture, so expect some more fun info in the next couple of weeks!

But until then, I thought I would share a few of my new picture faves of my little family. I FINALLY ordered the new camera lens I have been wanting. And last saturday was the first day I experimented with it. So fun. I still have a lot to learn, but I notice little improvements everytime I "practice." And that makes me :)

We went to the "mountains" by our house last Saturday. "mountain" here is a relative term. They are more like little hills that have hiking trails and such. So we took advantage of the beautiful, sunny, not hot enough for my shirt to stick to my sweaty back, Phoenix weather, and went hiking. Miles loves hiking. And I was so excited to use my new lens and my camera remote to take some cute pictures. But....alas. I am always reminded of how forgetful I am. Or atleast how many things I have to try and remember when leaving the house with a baby. I remembered sunblock, a hat for Mile, the baby bjorn, water,my camera, a backpack (for all this loot), picnic lunch, my camera remote, diaper bag, and so on. But I forgot my fun new gorillapod. So, you don't get to see any pictures of my bright smiling face. So this will have to do.

In all honesty, I doubt I would have been too excited to be in the pictures anyway. Because you see, I didn't get "ready" for the hike. What do I mean, I wasn't ready? I mean, I wasn't READY...no cute hair, no make-up, no photo-op worthy outdoorsy hiking outfits. Flash back about 20 years. Or 19, Or 10, or 3. My mom would always yell to me, as she was waiting for me to get "ready" before we went out on some big family fun activity, that getting ready wasn't necessary. Afterall...."This isn't a fashion show." Oh yes....and these timeless words of my mother have continued to curse me since the first time I heard them. Whenever I agree to grace my outdoor loving husband with my presence on these fun familiy hikes, I hear these words echoing in my mind. And I think, "that's right. it's NOT a fashion show. No hair or make-up needed." end of discussion with myself. I usually follow it up with a convincing "besides, I'll be wearing sunglasses anyway." Now, flash forward an hour, when we have hiked our way to the top of our little hill-like mountain, and we are looking out over the Valley and its family photo time. At this moment, I am KICKING MYSELF and thinking....I should have gotten READY!!!!! We take the picture, I cringe at the sight, and promptly promise myself that I will a). bury the photo within the depths of my computer hard drive. Never will it see the light of day. and b.) I vow to be more picture presentable the next time we go. Just a little something for you to look forward to for next time.

Did I mention I am in Evanston? I am staying for 3 weeks. yes...nearly a month. I have Miles here with me to visit his grandparents, and poor Mike is home alone with Marlee. So these pictures are for him. Hopefully he won't miss Miles too much. We love you, and we'll see you in a few more weeks!

Carrots and more Carrots

Miles has been learning to eat "food." First we tried squash....loved it. Then peas....loved that even more. Now its carrots. Well.......Take a look for yourself.

He has figured out he can grab ahold of the spoon, and fling carrots everywhere by letting go. He also thinks its fun to put his mouth around the spoon and blow out, sending his food splattering all over his face (and all over me too, I might add) We have carrots carrots everywhere. Tomorrow we're moving on to green beans. Wish me luck.

I think I was the same age the last time I could do that

Miles has a new chew toy. And it didn't cost me one penny.