Knit Wit on the Prairies

Bread Bombing?

2013-05-18T14:19:00.001-05:00

The following story happened not more than an hour ago and I still can't wrap my head around it.

This morning I gathered up my shopping list and re-usable bags and, like I do on many Saturday mornings, set off for my favourite grocery store to stock up for the week.

I pulled into the parking lot in the pouring rain and rushed to collect my bags and my shopping cart and hustled inside before I could get too wet. In my haste, I forgot to lock my car door. I remembered at the doorway of the store but decided I didn't want to double back to lock the car. Chances were very much in my favour that the car would still be there when I got back, and if thieves want the 27 cents in the ash tray, Holiday CDs in the console and random assortment of candy wrappers and bits of Sunday School crafts scattered around the interior of the car they are welcome to them.

I finished shopping and headed back out to the car to load up. After loading the trunk and returning my cart I opened my door and found four loaves of bread and a package of bagels sitting on the driver's seat. Huh??? I looked around. There was another family getting into their own car one parking spot over, but aside from that, there were no other people around. Where did the bread come from? Why do I have it?? What the heck am I supposed to do with it? Confused, I drove home with it.

There is a discount bread store across the street from the grocery store and that is where this bread came from. I wonder if someone bought the bread and thought they would toss it in their car on the way into the grocery store to finish their shopping and mistook my car for theirs? Did Someone spy the rusty minivan I drive and decide I need some charity? I do feel a bit guilty that I might have someone else's groceries by mistake, but what was I supposed to do?

Well, I guess we're having French Toast for breakfast tomorrow! (And the next day, and the next day and the next day.....)

Springtime is for Sewing

2013-05-15T15:00:00.000-05:00

Fresh off the sewing table: Simplicity Lisette 1893. I made view B. This fabric was part of the stash I acquired when I helped a friend clean out her craft room. I loved this floral print. I looked very hard for a pattern that would make the most of the gorgeous border print. I mixed in the plaids because I love plaid and I think the colours all play very well together. My girl is on the tall side for her age so I added three inches to the skirt when I cut it out so I may get more than one summer out of this dress.

This project taught me a lot. I got in over my head with the pieced bodice and hand-cut bias binding, but I persevered and learned a lot from those fiddly bits. I did not sew the zipper in as the instructions asked as I could not make heads nor tails of the directions. An experienced friend came to my rescue and showed me I was just over thinking the process.

Next up in the queue is a simple elastic-waist skirt for me. No fiddly bits!

Nurse, heal thyself.

2013-05-09T15:46:00.001-05:00

It happens so often now that no one looks up when I am in the kitchen and then I suddenly yelp and run out of the room.

I have it down to a science.

Once I am in my bathroom I grab a handful of toilet paper and press it to my wound, staunching the flow of blood while I grab my supplies. With the hand not bleeding I root through my cupboard and find the gauze squares, tape, and bandaids. I carefully open the packages and line my supplies up on my counter, maintaining asepsis as much as I can. I drop the TP in the garbage, flush my wound under running water in the sink and then fold a square of gauze into quarters. I press the little square to my wound, add another layer or two of gauze and tape everything up tightly. I run back to the kitchen and finish cooking dinner as best I can, keeping my injured hand elevated. I make sure to pick out any food I might have bled on.

The next day I will de-bulk my wound, carefully taking the gauze padding off with a little help from my trusty squirt bottle of sterile saline. I change the padding. Often a small square of gauze taped on with a bandaid is enough as my cuts seal up nicely overnight.

Since no one will take over cooking duties, I wear one of these when I have my big knife out now.

Nursing Moms

2013-05-08T16:31:00.001-05:00

Nope. I'm not going to talk about breastfeeding today. I am going to talk about nurses who are moms. Nursing school was great preparation for the trials and tribulations of motherhood. I know how much blood is too much. I don't freak out when kids start vomiting or spike a fever.(although I do wish I had a housekeeping department to deal with the sheets!) I learned how to get a baby on a decent sleep routine by working nights on a pediatric ward. (I also learned how to chart with my right hand while feeding a baby a bottle with my left--great practice for one-handed parenting!) I rarely get throw up on me since I can spot the signs a mile away and can easily dodge it.

I am sure my kids would tell you that having a mom who used to be a nurse is less than awesome. You see, I have little to no sympathy for a booboo. No one can pretend to be sick to get out of school around here. I need to see projectile vomit or a fever. Sniffles? Bye bye. Vague complaint of tummy ache? Walk it off.

My kids love climbing on things and then falling off. The first time Emmett did that he bit his lip. It's a good thing I know from experience that lips tend to gush so I quickly picked him up and gave him a freezie to suck on. The bleeding stopped in no time. One morning Richard tripped and fell and split his eyebrow on a door frame. I didn't want him taking up time in the Emergency Room for something not urgent so I cleaned him up and taped the wound closed so he could wait for walk-in to open to get sutures. When the time came to have them taken out, I did it.

I am sure my friends get tired of me harping about the importance of vaccinating their kids, but unless you have seen truly sick people, you have no idea how crucial it is. Also, woe is the civilian friend along on a play date with two or more nurses. We have no filters for what is too gross to talk about. Even though it has been years since I've donned scrubs and stethoscope, my gross filter has not re calibrated and I still love to hear a little shop talk from time to time.

So, this Nurses' week spare a thought for the brave souls who parent patients all day and then have to have patience to pull another shift with their own brood when they get home.

A memorable patient

2013-05-06T19:51:00.000-05:00

In honour of nurses' week I am going to share with you a story that I will never forget.

Once upon a time I worked in the float pool of the hospital. That means that when I went to work each day I had no idea where I was going to work until I was given my assignment at the beginning of my shift. I traveled from ward to ward, wherever they needed the most help.

One day my travels landed me on a surgical ward. General? Ortho? It doesn't matter. All that matters is that I was visibly pregnant and my patient was a young man who still lived at home and worked on the family farm.

I had been taking care of this young man from the time he came to the floor out of the recovery room, still groggy from anaesthetic. He was a sweet guy and very polite and co-operative with me. A dream patient, really. He had sailed through his operation and was recovering well.

At one point in my shift, right before I was about to step into his room with the BP machine to take another set of vital signs, a nurses' aide stopped me in the hallway and asked me about my pregnancy. She asked the usual questions: how are you feeling, any cravings, blah blah blah and then she asked how far along I was. I was not as far along as she guessed by looking at my growing belly. She then started to go on and on about how big I was and even had the nerve to ask me how much I weighed! I tried to extricate myself from the situation as quickly as I could. I walked up to my patient's bedside. He had overheard the conversation in the hallway and could see that I was a little flustered.

He told me not to worry. Cows show early and get big quickly when they are pregnant too.

I am pretty sure that young man didn't have a girlfriend.

It's Nurses' Week

2013-05-06T07:58:00.003-05:00

According to my Facebook News feed, it's the beginning of Nurses' Week. Once upon a time I was a nurse. Some of my friends are still nurses. Given that I am a stay-at-home-mom to three rather clumsy children, one of whom has some special needs, I still use the skills I learned every day. (Heck, I have a humdinger of a story about what happens when you give me a mandolin slicer that I will share with you later this week. It ends with me being grateful I know how make and apply pressure dressings quickly.)

There are a myriad of reasons I left the profession. The reason I give the most often is that I had too many babies in too short of a time span and the daycare fees cancelled out my pay cheque. Give me a couple of glasses of wine and I will tell you the rest of the reasons.

I am not here today to talk about that. I am here today to tell you how much I appreciate those who could stick with a career I could not. Unless you have done it for yourself you have NO IDEA what nurses do. None. Nurses handle literal and figurative shit every single day and there are few among us who could handle the level of stress they do all day every day. I couldn't.

I can tell you it doesn't take much to make a nurse's day. A sincere Thank you from a patient or family member will often do it. I am telling you this today because I bumped into a former patient yesterday. She was my cashier at the grocery store. As she was ringing me through she asked me "Are you Jennifer?" I said yes as I wracked my brain trying to place her face. She went on to tell me that I took care of her in the hospital once. In 2004. She has never forgotten the care I gave her. She made my day. I am going to carry that glow for a few more days. It's those moments that get you through the ones full of shit.

Have you thanked a nurse lately?

We can't all be Pinterest-Perfect

2013-05-04T12:08:00.000-05:00

Charlotte turned 8 yesterday. She is in such a hurry to grow up. She loves her birthday. Me? I suffer anxiety at the thought of planning a party, dealing with invitations and RSVPs (why oh why do people seem to think responding to an invitation is optional??) and the cake. The cake. Every year I think I should just take the easy (and expensive) way out and order one from the grocery store. Some years I do. This year Charlotte asked for a chocolate cake with pink icing. I thought to myself "I could do that!" Then I searched Pinterest. Pinterest. That mystical world where everything but preserves are put in Mason Jars and the world is carefully edited and filtered and curated into pretty little boxes. Everything has to be home made in Pinterest land. Everything.


Birthday girl

A quick Pinterest search for "easy" birthday cakes shows me pictures of cakes that are far from easy. Can beginners actually do this stuff?? If I tried to make that car or that airplane I would end up crying in a pile of cake crumbs before I knew it!! In fact, I have cried in a pile of cake crumbs. And then a fondant-proficient friend came along and turned those crumbs into something more closely resembling the cake I envisioned.

"Easy" birthday cakes?? Really??

This looks a little more doable...

Close enough?

Well, Charlotte didn't get a Pinterest-perfect cake. The icing is from a can and the writing looks like one of her brothers did it. The sugar flowers came out of a box in the cake-decorating section at the local big-box store.

Thankfully my kids don't care if their world is Pinterest-perfect. I need to stop caring a bit more too.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MY CHARLOTTE!

Living in a Bubble

2013-04-30T09:05:00.000-05:00

We spent this past weekend visiting my inlaws. For the kids, part of the fun of visiting Grandma and Grandpa is getting to watch TV. We don't watch TV in the traditional sense in our house--we stream it via the internet so there are no commercials interrupting the shows we watch. (tangent: you don't have to look very hard to find legal ways to stream movies and TV shows--Netflix and iTunes cost a pittance compared to a regular cable bill) When the kids watch TV at Grandma and Grandpa's, they (and I) are exposed to a barrage of advertising we are not used to.

This past weekend we spent most of our time on YTV. The ads on this channel are predominantly aimed at children and women. My kids mostly learned about toys they never knew they wanted and now feel they can't live without, and candy designed to horrify grown ups. I learned that with two separate beauty products I could reduce 17 different signs of aging. I learned that my kids need meal replacement shakes or they may die of malnutrition. So, kids need Many Things, and their moms need to stop aging so fast and feed their kids crap in between meals so they will be too full to eat real food at mealtimes and make the moms feel insecure about them not eating enough so they have to feed them more crap. I learned that I am a terrible housekeeper if I don't use disposable dusters and mops and spray my furniture with perfumed antibacterial spray. That sounds like an exhausting and expensive way to live. The only ad I found a bit amusing was the one that taught me my laundry would be cleaner if I changed toilet paper brands. Thanks for keepin' it real, Charmin.

Am I just more aware of the fact that commercials are designed to make me feel insecure because I don't see them very often? Do you get used to tuning the noise out over time? Does everyone just DVR and avoid the whole mess now?

I DO know that minimizing my exposure to TV ads has made me feel MUCH better about myself and my home. I don't miss having cable one bit.

Hurry Up, Spring

2013-04-29T11:35:00.002-05:00

According to the calendar, it's Spring Time. At this time of year I tend to put my knitting needles aside and turn my attention to my sewing machine. What has motivated me even more this year is a big bag of fabric I got when I helped a friend clean out her craft room. This friend used to work at a fabric store. She had good stuff. I had to stop myself at just one garbage bag full. This is the first project made from my new stash. I have the best friends!

Simplicity New Look 6122, view A in a slinky poly-cotton knit.
Things I learned:

take the time to hand baste the curvy bits to keep your seams from puckering. Drapey fabric can be tricky to control.
The Cheater hem is awesome. To finish the hem on this dress I cut 1/2" wide strips of fusible interfacing, ironed them on, turned the fabric on the interfacing and sewed. That little trick helped me recover from accidentally cutting the skirt about an inch too short. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to have the maxi length I wanted. Thankfully this fabric doesn't fray so I didn't have to roll up the hem twice anyway. The interfacing is adding a bit of weight and body so the dress will still hang nicely.
I had better luck with the straps staying put by sewing them to the bodice through the elastic in the back and then adding another row of stitches over the seam line created when the casing was sewn. This is contrary to the directions that say you should not sew the straps directly to the elastic at the top of the bodice.

Next up is a dress for Charlotte.

What are your crafty plans for the Spring?

Something on Pinterest Worked!!!

2013-04-24T21:08:00.000-05:00

Today's blog post won't cause the controversy that my previous post about bullying did. I will warn you, though--there are some graphic photos. Steel yourself....

My Kitchenaid Stand Mixer has been my loyal and steadfast kitchen companion for more than 10 years. In our decade together we have churned out countless batches of cookies, pizza crusts, vats of applesauce, mounds of grated vegetables and cheese, birthday cakes and cupcakes, and many other delicious things.

I had been noticing lately that my old buddy had been starting to sound a little off. She had been starting to strain when faced with thick cookie dough or a large batch of bread dough. Despite her showing her age a bit I was not ready to write her off. We don't throw things out in our house just because they are starting to slow down a little. We try to fix them.

Pinterest to the rescue!

A while back instructions on how to maintain a stand mixer showed up on my feed. Of course I pinned it, thinking it might come in handy some day.

That day came this past weekend when I mentioned to Richard that Old Red might need a little TLC. This is what happened next:

This will probably void your warranty.

This is the sludge that came out of the mixer. Gross!

All nice and clean and ready for fresh grease

The worst part was when Richard had to hammer a couple of rivets out. Hammering my mixer! My friend! It hurt!

Fortunately, the instructions I linked to are very thorough and Old Red was put back together and purring like a kitten in no time. If you want to try this for yourself, do it in a very well ventilated area. Richard actually moved outside after these pictures were taken as the fumes from the Varsol he used to clean the gears was really strong.

Have you had a successful Pinterest experience lately?

Accidental activist

2013-04-12T11:35:00.002-05:00

A year ago I wrote an essay about why I don't think wearing a pink t-shirt once a year is the best way to support anti-bullying efforts. You can read it here. You can learn more about the sweet gesture this day has stemmed from here.

Pink Shirt day rolled around again. My local radio station hopped on the bandwagon and asked people to post pictures of themselves in their pink t-shirts on Facebook. (I even noticed one of my own personal Jr High bullies decked out in her anti-bullying pink on Facebook yesterday)

I posted a link to my blog piece instead. It kind of took off like wildfire and I inspired a very big debate on the radio station wall. Here is a small sample of the comments I received:


Click to see this full-size

Click to see this full-size

My feelings about this day have not changed. I still feel like it is a bandaid solution for a much bigger problem. I still try daily to teach my kids not to be assholes, just like I said I did last year.
I got 1000 hits on my blog that day. That is a record for me. I also got a couple of new comments that I'd like to address here.

Brianna said: Actually in school I was told that we wear pink on that day to honor a boy who was beaten up for wearing pink. You seem so passionate about the bullying issue but you get offended by this little anti bullying thing? I don't understand why it is such a big deal that your friend would go out of her way not to support it. You're really weird you know that? Pink day was a fun day at school and it encourages boys to wear whatever colours they want. It made my brother feel comfortable about his image too. on I am not wearing pink today.

Brianna: I feel like the gesture the friends of that boy in Nova Scotia who was beaten up was very sweet. It was the sort of very sweet, personal gesture that the media seems to love to eat up and turn into a New Big Thing. It was fantastic for the friends of that boy to stand up with him and help him. I feel like it has become less personal now that it has been turned into a bandwagon. I am very passionate about protecting myself and children from bullies. Pink Shirt Day does not offend me, per se, but I feel like we need more than one day out of the year to address the many layers of issues that contribute to the problem of bullying. That was what I was saying in my blog post last year. I am very glad you had fun at school and that the pink shirt helped your brother stretch his wings and feel good about himself. I hope you and your brother can keep that energy going and keep the anti-bullying message alive for more than just one day this year. Yep. I am weird. That is probably why I was picked on so much in school. It took me a very long time to learn to love and accept my weirdness. Now I embrace it.

Cheribear said: It is so rare to see someone admit 'I am the parent of a bully!' - that is the problem I think. If we are all *anti-bullying' then everyone is against the bully. Nobody is owning that we are raising bullies, supporting bullies, and letting them get away with it. Anyone who has more than one child has probably witnessed their own child being a bully at home with their siblings. Is it much of a stretch to imagine your child exhibiting that *same* behavior in another setting - at school, on playdates, etc? The sooner that parents start admitting that their own children behave as bullies and addressing how to raise them not to behave that way, the better. Instead, we're just raising our kids to call out other kids on bullying and 'stand up against' bullying. Because none of *our* kids would do that. It's everyone else's kid! on I am not wearing pink today.

Thank you for your kind words, Cheribear. That is the hard work of parenting, isn't it? Admitting when our precious little snowflakes might have a little mud on them that needs taking care of.

I guess by not wearing a pink shirt I still inspired debate and conversation and I got people thinking about how they really feel. The pink shirt won anyway.

Pictures from a Kub Kar Rally

2013-03-17T07:00:00.000-05:00

If you are American, this might look like a Pinewood Derby to you. If you are not a Scouting Family, then Kub Kars (and Pinewood Derby cars) are little wooden cars Scouts design and build and race. In Canada, Beaver Scouts (the youngest members of Scouting) build and race Beaver Buggies while Cub Scouts build Kub Kars and the oldest Scouts build semi trucks. I was amazed at the creativity shown in the designs of the cars. Our boys didn't win any races, but Emmett took his losses with much more grace than Matthew did. Charlotte came to the races in her Brownie uniform since we had a Guiding Spring Tea to attend right afterward. It was a Scouting kind of weekend!

Oh Goody. Another Heavy Snowfall Warning.

2013-03-16T09:48:00.003-05:00

“It can't beat us!" Pa said.
"Can't it, Pa?" Laura asked stupidly.
"No," said Pa. "It's got to quit sometime and we don't. It can't lick us. We won't give up."
Then Laura felt a warmth inside her. It was very small but it was strong. It was steady, like a tiny light in the dark, and it burned very low but no winds could make it flicker because it would not give up.”
― Laura Ingalls Wilder, The Long Winter

At this time last year Charlotte tried to go to a winter camp but it was so warm there was no snow and the girls could play in shirt sleeves. This year the snow is still hip-deep in my front yard and there is more coming.

Winter will end eventually, won't it????

Goodbye, Google Reader

2013-03-15T18:56:00.001-05:00

If you are reading this on a feed reader you are probably aware that in the near future Google Reader will be shutting down. If you don't use a feed reader you have probably heard one or more of your friends whining about this online.

I was one of the many Google Reader users who ranted on Facebook over the the past few days and, through friends, tried to figure out which of the other feed readers online I should switch to. So far I have looked into FIVE readers. The following is a synopsis of my experience with four of them. If you could care less about feed readers, maybe check back another day. There is a Cub Car rally tomorrow so rest assured there will be cute pictures of my boys appearing with their handmade race cars soon.

If you are trying to figure out how you are going to read your blogs after this summer, read on. Maybe I can help.

My first step in choosing a new feed reader was trying to figure out what I needed beyond "But I want Google Reader to stay!!! I don't want to learn new things!!! I want everything online to stay the same always!!!! Wahhhhhhhhh!!!!" Here is what I came up with:

It had to be easy to figure out
The new reader had to be visually appealing and give me pictures with my preview
It had to be easy to add and delete blogs
It had to be easy to import my feeds

I checked out the following readers:
NetVibes
Brief add-on for Firefox
Feedly
The Old Reader
Newsblur

Newsblur I eliminated from the running immediately when I read that you only get 64 sites with 10 stories at a time with their free service. That simply won't work for me when I know there are a plethora of free sites to choose from.

I started by exporting my Google Reader Subscriptions and saving them to my computer.

Next, I gave NetVibes a try. I found it very easy to import my subscriptions. I liked the tabbed browsing option that gave me the option of adding my Twitter, Facebook and email feeds to the browser. The preview page is customizable with several options, including one that looks very similar to my beloved Google Reader. The "widget" option is cool if you don't need pictures as you can sort your feeds into a columns if you so desire. It is very easy to add and subtract feeds.

Brief is a Firefox app that is very simple in appearance. I did not find the controls as intuitive as the start page insists they are and I haven't figured out if there is a way to sort your feeds or not.( I had to figure out Live Bookmarks via a Yahoo message board to learn how to add feeds, for example) If you don't follow many feeds and like something you can quickly scroll through (and you are a Firefox user) This might be the feed reader for you.

I really wanted to like Feedly. It is the prettiest feed reader out of the bunch I tried. The magazine-style layout is really neat at first, but then I realized there was something sinister going on. I felt like it was choosing what to put on the front page based on the popularity of the blog so bigger blogs were being featured while those of my friends were being shunted down to the bottom of the list. I kept having the nagging feeling that I was missing stuff when I visited the site. I guess I like that list on my sidebar to go along with the preview page. Also, since you sign in to Feedly with your Google account I wonder what will happen to my subscriptions when Reader goes away, as I didn't import my .xml file to them--they just grabbed it from Google.

I signed up to try out The Old Reader based on good reviews from my friends, but I fear it is a victim of it's own new found popularity right now. I am currently 19659 on their list to import my subscription file. I wonder how long the growing pains will last with them. They have a cute mom-and-pop feel, but dude, I want a new reader NOW!

At the moment I am liking Brief and Netvibes the most, but I think Netvibes will probably win my ultimate feed-reading affections, especially since Netvibes was very easy to access from my tablet as well as my desktop. None of these readers are Windows phone compatible so I use Feed Reader Free on my phone.

Do you use a feed reader? Which one?

And now for a little musical interlude....

2013-02-06T13:02:00.001-06:00

Charlotte started studying violin at her old school last year. We have continued her musical education with private lessons since her new school does not have a violin program. She has shown some real progress this year with private lessons and I am so proud of her for sticking with it, even though practicing is not very much fun sometimes.

Recording this to "show my friends" was her motivation to practice yesterday.

Thanks for helping us!

I know, it's been a while.

2013-02-02T20:19:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year! Christmas and New Year flew by in a flurry of food, family and, unfortunately, illness. A horrid virus swept through the house right after Christmas and had us all flattened one by one. I am just coming up for air now.

I knew my energy was coming back when I decided last week that my kitchen cupboards and our home office needed to be sorted and purged RIGHT NOW.

This cuts into blogging time.

So, can I welcome you back to my blog with a story?

We tried to take the family out for a new experience. Our city is hosting a cultural fair this weekend and as it turns out, Richard is crazy for Ethiopian food so we took the boys over to the Ethiopian pavilion to experience some authentic cuisine.

Things I learned tonight:

I loved listening to the music being played in the pavilion. To my untrained Caucasian ear I heard hints of Egypt and India in the rhythms and instruments.

Ethiopian coffee is the best. Sorry, Italy. Your Espresso will always hold a place in my heart ever since my lovely in-laws gave me a gorgeous machine for Christmas. You force my eyes open all the way every morning,but the Ethiopian coffee ceremony is something very special and the coffee is so. very. tasty.

If only you could smell what is happening in this video...

In addition to coffee, I also enjoyed a Dragon Stout. Dragon Stout is a dark beer that was on the list of Ethiopian Beers at the bar at the pavilion. Upon inspection of the label I found out it is actually brewed in Kingston Jamaica at the Red Stripe brewery. Google told us when we got home that Ethiopia and Jamaica are connected through the Rastafarian movement. It is a strong but mellow beer. I have recently started expanding my beer horizons and surprised myself by enjoying stout as much as I do. (that is another blog post!)

Matthew caught on very quickly to eating with injera. I shouldn't be surprised. I beg him to eat with utensils all the time. For once, it was OK for him to eat with his hands! Emmett was very overwhelmed by the loud music, unusual food and general commotion. He spent the evening hunched over Angry Birds with the hood of his jacked pulled right over his head. Charlotte was away for the weekend so she missed the whole thing.

I'm a Bzz Agent

2013-01-03T14:13:00.001-06:00

From time to time I get free products to sample and review from a company called Bzz Agent. I was really happy to receive my latest shipment from Burt's Bees. I really like Burt's Bees products and this recent shipment did not disappoint. I was given two products from the Intense Hydration line to sample: the cleanser and night cream.

I am really picky about cleansers. They have to be strong enough to remove waterproof eyeliner and mascara but not dry out or irritate my sensitive skin. I was very happy to find that this particular cleanser is rich, creamy, non-drying and easily removes my makeup. The addition of clary sage lends a lovely gentle scent. This cleanser does not lather, but I have learned that ingredients that lather are ingredients that are usually the most drying to skin.

This time of year I cannot moisturize my skin enough. The night cream is very thick and rich but does not feel greasy on my skin at all. In fact, it absorbs very quickly so I can even use it under my makeup to give a nice, smooth base. I have found with regular use of this night cream I have not had to exfoliate with a separate AHA cream like I usually do in the winter.

I have shared samples with a few friends and all of them have reported they love how fast the cream absorbs and that it does not feel greasy at all, despite how moisturizing it is. They all liked the lovely light herbal scent.

If your skin reacts badly to winter you might want to try the Burt's Bees Intense Hydration Line out for yourself.

2012-12-16T19:51:00.002-06:00

Five Minute Tree Skirt

2012-12-10T13:53:00.001-06:00

Isn't my new tree skirt pretty? It couldn't have been easier to make. There is no cutting, sewing or gluing involved and only took a couple of minute and TWO things. Can you handle it?

It all started with this fabric. I bought several meters of it a couple of years ago and have used it in different ways in my holiday decorating over the years. Sometimes it gets wrapped around a banister, sometimes it gets used as a curtain valance. This year I decided to wrap the base of our tree in it. If you can't find this particular fabric in your area, any sheer fabric will do. The gold writing on this one does add an extra special touch.

The only other thing you need is a short string of white mini lights. I wrapped the lights in the fabric and then arranged the roll under the tree, fluffing as I went. The bulky fabric conceals all of the cords for my lights and adds a pretty backdrop for our Christmas train.

If you have a real tree please exercise extreme caution if you want to try making this tree skirt. Electric cords and water really don't mix. Also, I like to check to make sure the fabric isn't getting too hot where the lights touch it if the tree is on for long periods of time. Safety first!

Let the Season Begin!

2012-12-08T18:52:00.001-06:00

I love hoarfrost.

2012-12-02T14:34:00.001-06:00

I snapped this picture with my phone on our way to church this morning. Walking in hoarfrost makes me feel like I am living inside a black and white picture.

Is this thing on?

2012-11-23T14:58:00.001-06:00

I haven't forgotten about blogging. I have just not felt like saying much lately. I have broken out of my rut over at my food blog. Head over there to see what the photo collage is about!

Cozy

2012-10-15T18:14:00.002-05:00

Fall's arrival brought my knitting mojo screaming back. I finished a pair of socks that have been dogging me for far too long, cast on another pair that I am knitting along with another friend, and I made dinner late by finishing off this little vest yesterday.

The magical combo of fat yarn and big needles made this a pretty quick and painless project to knit up. The recipient couldn't wait to put it on.

I think I finished it just in the nick of time. I may or may not have seen a few snowflakes drift past my window a little while ago.

Not What I Was Planning

2012-09-27T20:25:00.000-05:00

Today I was going to show you some pictures of a happy boy frolicking in a pile of leaves. Or, maybe today was the day I was going to talk about my weekly ritual of baking bread for my family. Instead, you get a different story.

It all started earlier this week when Matthew complained that his ear hurt. I could see nothing wrong with it and he had no other signs of infection so I chalked it up to him getting whacked on the side of his head by a sibling and went on with life. A day passed and his ear was still tender but I could see nothing wrong with it.

Yesterday his ear was so tender we couldn't touch it so I decided to pin my boy down and take a good look. Lo and behold, I saw a stone lodged in there. We headed off to the walk-in clinic where as luck would have it, our own GP was working a shift. He and his nurse tried to get the stone out but it was stuck fast. Matthew was sent home and I was told to wait by the phone while my doctor consulted with a general surgeon at the hospital.

The surgeon here was not comfortable with taking the stone out, so very early this morning my dear friend Mindy and I took Matthew to a hospital an hour away that has an ENT doctor. We were told Matthew would be seen in between the ENT's regular cases. I resigned myself to the possibility of a long day. I was pleasantly surprised by only a one-hour wait in the triage area.

It was determined that the stone was indeed stuck very tightly and that the best way to remove it would be under anesthetic in the OR. We were shuffled off to the day-surgery ward where Matthew was prepped for his little procedure. This took about another hour. The anesthetist knocked him out with a little gas, the ENT got out his spelunking tools and the rock was removed. The whole procedure took four minutes. He woke up very quickly and in good spirits. After inhaling a popsicle in post-op and spending a little time monitoring vital signs we were on our way home shortly after lunchtime. With a pit-stop at McDonald's. Matthew needed a cheeseburger very badly after fasting all night and half the day.

I couldn't get over how nice everyone was to us and how kind and patient they were with Matthew. They all got a good chuckle out of him and his little stone. He charmed everyone he talked to.

Mindy is a superhero friend.

Waiting for the doctor.

The doctor left his cool toy behind!

Waiting some more

Waiting is easier when you can play with Mindy's phone.

Boo Bankie helps a boy be brave.

What all the fuss was about.

Why did he put the rock in his ear?? We asked him many times and he always told us that he "fell on it." I asked him again right after his operation and maybe it was because there was a little sedative left in his system, but it was then that the truth came out. He told me his teacher was talking very loudly and he was tired of it so he stuck the stone in his ear so he wouldn't be able to hear her anymore.

I told him next time he wanted to do that he should use his elbow instead.

Ten

2012-09-21T12:37:00.002-05:00

Then

Now

Happy Anniversary