Bread and Cream

This posts sounds like it's going to be about the two yummiest things (besides chocolate) that get in the way of my efforts to lose weight. But it's not about that. It's actually about Kyla and her latest projects... a project about bread and a project about cream!
These pictures are from her Science Fair Project this year. Her purpose was to find out which of 4 different breads molded fastest. She found out that the her samples without preservatives molded much faster than her samples with preservatives. One brand of bread never molded in the entire 18 days of her experiment. That's some preservative in that bread! It turned out to be a fun, interesting experiment and project. She presented it to her class, at the school science fair and at the county science fair last week...

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Then for her 4H meeting last week, she did a demonstration on how to whip cream. Ahead of time, we made 4 graham cracker crust, chocolate pudding pies (the easy way). Then she whipped the cream at the meeting, giving details of the best method to use and tips for the best whipping success. Then she served the pies with her freshly whipped cream on top. Very Fun! We even had an extra pie to bring home and share with our company at home. Here is a picture of Kyla doing her presentation with our wonderful 4H leader Suzanne, holding her poster...

That night at 4H, we also watched a demonstration on 'tips for using a sewing machine', 'how to sharpen a knife', and 'a history report on Abraham Lincoln'. I've said it before and I'll say it again... I love 4H! Where else can you find such a practical, useful, and fun way to engage your kids in real life learning in such a non demanding way? It's just that!

As a side note... We finished Little Britches by Ralph Moody the other night with wet eyes. Thank goodness we could pick up the next book and continue reading... Man of the Family. I've never read this continuation of the series and am enjoying it along with the rest of the family. It is very refreshing to read true, life stories of people that lived in difficult times and situations and came out better for it. The back of the book says...

An affectionate portrait of ranch-town folk who knew how to help without humiliating, and a warm but ungushing tribute to a remarkable woman who deplored her inability to give her children everything, yet gave them much. Man of the family is everything that Little Britches was, a heart-warming, frank, completely delightful narrative. Some readers may even like it better. etc, etc...

If you are interested in knowing all the other books in the series, you can find out about them here or here.

A One-derful Birthday!

We couldn't get her to smile for the camera. This was all very serious business!

Here is a slide show of Melita's party...

And a couple of cake-eating videos. That brought a smile...



The presents were also a lot of fun! Thanks everyone!
Can't believe our smiling baby is one now!

Here's to another wonderful year with all the love our hearts can hold,
Alison

Ahhhhhhh.....

Last week I put pigtails in Lita's hair for the first time. I'll try not to go on and on about how cute she looked in pigtails...
But they were pretty cute and we just kept looking at her and exclaiming how cute she was and how we couldn't stop looking at her. But I'll try not to go on and on about it...
But they were so cute that we put her hair in pigtails again on Sunday and enjoyed another day of looking at her and saying how cute she looked.

And I realized they can be kind of distracting when I'm trying to tell her "no". I'm sure the pigtails already have me wrapped around their little finger.

I think we should refrain from doing pigtails every day. They are so very cute. So, anyway, I'll try not to go on and on about the cute pigtails...

Wearing pigtails is like having a party on your head!

Yes, they were cute and I'm thinking we'll have to tone down the excitement over the pigtails before she gets too much older and knows were talking about her and her cute pigtails.

But we are enjoying them for now.

Okay, I'll really stop going on and on about it now.

Happy Wonderful Wednesday,
Alison

A Happy Valentines Day 2012

♥♥♥Party♥♥♥

Thank You Auntie MaryAnn for the party and the bag of cute Valentines stuff! Thanks Caitlyn for helping with the party and the sweet gifts for the kids. Thanks everyone else for the neat cards and gifts. We♥you!

Valentines celebrations started early here and I think it's going to go late too. That's okay with us...

♥♥♥Alison♥♥♥

Mod Podge Coasters and Pinterest

I had seen this idea one time on a blog somewhere and filed it mentally in my brain so someday I could make them. But my brain doesn't always remember things very well, so in December, I was ready to make some of these for gifts, and I began my search for them and couldn't find the post or the blog anywhere! I did a quick google search and luckily there were many places that had tutorials on how to do these. Now I want to share them with you...

These would be great gifts for anytime. Here is what you will need...

tiles(Lowes for around .17), felt, foam brush, mod podge, tacky glue, gloss sealer(optional) and pretty cardstock

Begin by cutting cardstock squares that fit the top of the tiles, leaving a small edge around the perimeter...

With the mod podge and your foam brush, glue each piece of cardstock to the top of each tile...

Glue down(with the mod podge) any edges and corners and then let dry...

With the foam brush, apply mod podge to the surface of the tile and around edges. Smooth and let dry. After each layer is dry, apply another layer until you have six layers...

Now, cut the felt into square pieces to glue to the bottom of each tile coaster. Glue down with tacky glue and let dry. Make sure to glue down any loose edges and corners...

This makes a nice finished, no scratch back to your coaster...

In the end I decided not to use the glossy sealer on these. I tried it on one of the coasters and I just didn't like how it turned out. But FYI... If you don't use the sealer, it's important to let the mod podge cure for 17 days before using it for hot stuff.

These turned out to be great teachers gifts too. I really liked using mod podge. Hmmm, what can I do next?

So I was invited to join Pinterest a long time ago and really wanted to use it. I knew it would help me keep and organize all these fun ideas and yummy looking recipes that I see and want to try. My brain isn't very dependable at times. Anyway, I finally figured out how to get signed up without having a facebook account. So, I'm "pinning away"! So many fun ideas, so little time, eh?

Happy crafting,
Alison

Table Food for Baby

This little food grinder has been with me for all 4 of my kids. Before I had Lita, I looked into getting and electric Magic Bullet grinder or something similar. Then I realized I would have to find a place for it on the counter or in a cupboard. I would also have more little pieces to wash and find a place for all of them. It was also more money than I wanted to spend when I already had a blender. I quickly decided to use my little Happy Baby Food Grinder again. It's easy to use, easy to wash (in the dishwasher), easy to store and easy to bring with me when we go to eat out. The best part is that she can eat whatever we're eating and I know that she's getting good nutritious food. Yes, I do break open a jar of food every now and then when were having hamburgers or something like that. I'm pretty sure she already knows the difference. ;)

The little munchkin turns ONE in a few days and she's WALKING! More to come... someday...

Happy Weekend everyone,
Alison