Butter, blueberry muffins and haiku.

6.29.2008

Annie and I have been reading the Little House on the Prairie series. I've been meaning to do a few projects related to the books but haven't gotten around to it. One day while at the grocery store I picked up some whipping cream with the intention on making butter. Friday the girls were a bit squirelly and needing to be occupied,
"hey, do you want to make butter?, you know like Laura and Mary."
"okay mommy."



So a bit of cream, a ball jar and some good old-fashioned shaking and butter. Okay, It wasn't quite so easy, I accidentally dumped the first batch down the drain and the girls were pretty much done with the shaking by then so I got a good workout.





Well, if your gonna make homemade butter you better have some yummy homemade baked goods to spread it on. We made the best batch of Blueberry Struesel Muffins thanks to the Cooks Country Magazine. I love making muffins but they never feel like bakery muffins, these were better.

While we waited for the muffins to bake and cool we read a bit of Haiku-Dogku to be exact. They both loved the story and Annie loved figuring out the pattern of the syllabels-that girl and her patterns. As we daintly ate our muffins and butter, er, devoured our muffins we wrote some of our own blueberry muffin and butter inspired haiku:

Blueberry Muffins.

Hot from the oven. Cooling.

Homemade butter. Yum.

It's always the simplest parts of the day that provide the most satisfaction and anything that requires us to wear our vintage aprons is doublely good.

the -ing words

6.22.2008

"The present participle form of English verbs ends in -ing. Its most basic use is
to describe an action in progress, whether as part of a compound verb, an
adjective, or in a participal phrase." -from Ultimate Style the Rules of Writing

Isn't that what summer is all about? There hasn't been much blogging around here but our summer has been full all sorts of other -ing words. I'm feeling a bit tired from all of it. Maybe I need to do a bit of lazing and reading. Enjoy a bit of our -ing words in pictures.




::tagging and laughing



::performing



::driving

While camping...



::climbing



::running



::splashing



::playing



I'm off for a bit of cleaning, a little sewing and then some barbecuing....

kidmade news....

6.11.2008

A "green fish" submitted by the Dancing Robot family.

The Blowin' in the Wind Gallery is up. Such amazing work. Don't forget to check out the June kidmade challenge-Take Only Pictures, Make Only Art. There is a ton of inspiring links and this one is perfect for a lazy day at the beach or stroll through the park.

We're off to the zoo. I love summer.

Just a little post....

6.06.2008

Summer is officially here. School was out on Wednesday, the thermometer is registering in the high 80's and it's muggy. Summer in Chicago. This year we bought pool passes so I am hoping to put them to good use. The plan is to get all our "work" done before noon and then head out for some water fun. We don't have much else planned, maybe a vacation bible school and swim lessons at the end of the summer. I may be regretting this with the girls already driving each other crazy and Maddie more often than not in tears.
I have extended the deadline until next monday for this months kidmade challenge so if your looking for a little something to do with the kids you can check it out.
I haven't been doing a ton of sewing lately but a few projects have made it off the machine. The pillow in the picture was a gift for Annie's teacher. I had her draw a picture and then printed it on to fabric using this product and then added the strips. I am quite pleased with the way it turned out. It only took about 3 hours from start to finish, I think it takes me longer to pick the fabric. I know I saw a pillow like this last year around this time and filed it away for future use. Sorry I can't remember where. It was such an easy and satifsying project I think I may need to make a few more for our house. The family room could use a bit of color. I also love this one made by Jen.
So what do you all have planned for the long summer ahead?