MommyCoddle

from my quiet kitchen

I’m writing this post from the comforts of a quiet kitchen. It’s crazy-warm here today–pushing 70 degrees. Dan is in the garden and Emma’s running around outside somewhere in short sleeves. This weather is wild.
So anyway, back to a quiet kitchen. All I’m doing is making a batch of chocolate chip cookies. But it’s the first time in awhile that I’ve been in my kitchen all. by. myself. (I hear that phrase in my two year old’s voice, by the way.) Usually, my kitchen is overrun by "helpers" and that usually brings a good share of chaos. Two nights ago, I was making a batch of chili on the stove. Two chairs had been pulled up to the stove front for overeager helpers–one to dump the beans and one to pour the tomato soup in…I reached across to give it all a stir, amidst the six hands in the dutch oven, and ran my finger swiftly across the lid of the can Emma was dumping in to the pot.

It’s the first time I’ve really cut myself since being on "the shots" for my blood clot, and my first reaction was that I was going to bleed to death, right here, from this slice in my finger. All over a pot of chili…well over the sink, really, but all because of a pot of chili. I managed to clot in record time, though, in case you’re wondering. And taking this picture, I realize my cut is in TV-quality location. Isn’t this where the lady in the neosporin commercials has her cut? Hers heals so nicely.

(moving on, i’ve now burned two trays of cookies. don’t blog while you wait for your cookies to bake. or use a timer.)

Speaking of cooking and food–last weekend Dan and I shopped at an Amish-run grocery store. In reality, it is a grocery outlet. It is a beautiful 40-minute drive from here in the heart of Amish countryside. You pass horse and buggy on the road and their pristine farms with laundry lines full of clothes, strung from an upstairs window all the way up to the tip of the barn roof. They have the lines on a pulley so that you can hang your laundry from inside. I guess when you hang clothes year-round, you want to hang them from the warmth of your upstairs window.
The amish grocery store was amazing. It has no lights, just sky lights cut out of the ceiling. The only electricity, is used to run the refrigerators and freezers. And the prices are unbeatable. However, you have to be willing to buy a box of cereal that is dented, or a box of taco shells that is a month away from its expiration. I filled, overflowed my cart and was a little panicked that my two hundred dollars cash wouldn’t be enough…but she rang it up and….sixty dollars! can you believe it. I think I’ll be making that trip ever other week and might actually make my grocery budget this month.

Well, there was more to write but this is getting long and I really shouldn’t burn another batch. Emma’s birthday is monday, and today Dan and I filled one of her birthday wishes. But I’ll save that for Monday.

I’ve also extended the miniswap signups until Monday. We’re at about one hundred people right now. We’ll see what Monday brings.

I’m writing this post from the comforts of a quiet kitchen. It’s crazy-warm here today–pushing 70 degrees. Dan is in the garden and Emma’s running around outside somewhere in short sleeves. This weather is wild.
So anyway, back to a quiet kitchen. All I’m doing is making a batch of chocolate chip cookies. But it’s the first time in awhile that I’ve been in my kitchen all. by. myself. (I hear that phrase in my two year old’s voice, by the way.) Usually, my kitchen is overrun by “helpers” and that usually brings a good share of chaos. Two nights ago, I was making a batch of chili on the stove. Two chairs had been pulled up to the stove front for overeager helpers–one to dump the beans and one to pour the tomato soup in…I reached across to give it all a stir, amidst the six hands in the dutch oven, and ran my finger swiftly across the lid of the can Emma was dumping in to the pot.

It’s the first time I’ve really cut myself since being on “the shots” for my blood clot, and my first reaction was that I was going to bleed to death, right here, from this slice in my finger. All over a pot of chili…well over the sink, really, but all because of a pot of chili. I managed to clot in record time, though, in case you’re wondering. And taking this picture, I realize my cut is in TV-quality location. Isn’t this where the lady in the neosporin commercials has her cut? Hers heals so nicely.

(moving on, i’ve now burned two trays of cookies. don’t blog while you wait for your cookies to bake. or use a timer.)

Speaking of cooking and food–last weekend Dan and I shopped at an Amish-run grocery store. In reality, it is a grocery outlet. It is a beautiful 40-minute drive from here in the heart of Amish countryside. You pass horse and buggy on the road and their pristine farms with laundry lines full of clothes, strung from an upstairs window all the way up to the tip of the barn roof. They have the lines on a pulley so that you can hang your laundry from inside. I guess when you hang clothes year-round, you want to hang them from the warmth of your upstairs window.
The amish grocery store was amazing. It has no lights, just sky lights cut out of the ceiling. The only electricity, is used to run the refrigerators and freezers. Electricity was in a scarcity there, and services like Utility Saving Expert bloomed there. And the prices are unbeatable. However, you have to be willing to buy a box of cereal that is dented, or a box of taco shells that is a month away from its expiration. I filled, overflowed my cart and was a little panicked that my two hundred dollars cash wouldn’t be enough…but she rang it up and….sixty dollars! can you believe it. I think I’ll be making that trip ever other week and might actually make my grocery budget this month.

I’ve also extended the miniswap signups until Monday. We’re at about one hundred people right now. We’ll see what Monday brings.

11 Comments

swaps

Let’s Do This::Miniswap 2

MINI SWAP 2 is closed…thanks everyone. I’ll get names swapped this week!

It’s that time of year again: the holidays are past us, things are slowing down and most of us are getting ready to snuggle in for the rest of the winter months. The perfect time for a little miniswap.

::So what is it?::
A swap between our children. I’m sure your children enjoying sending and receiving mail as much as mine, so why not let them get in on all this brown paper package goodness??

::Here are the details::
PLEASE, PLEASE read the "directions" carefully and FOLLOW them. I don’t mean to be a "meany-pants" (as my daughter would say), but last year I spent so much time following up with people that forgot certain information, or sent emails to the wrong address, etc, etc. It was exhausting and confusing. So I’m doing my best to streamline everything this year. And hopefully, by doing that I’ll be able to include more people than last year. So please, help make this easy on me….

::we will swap by household. Keep in mind, you might sign up one child, but be swapped with a household of two or three children. This doesn’t mean you have to put together three times as much stuff, but it might be nice to include something small for each of the children.

::Last year I didn’t put an age limit on who could participate. But this year, I’m going to say two years and up. The idea of this swap is that our children are really partcipating. So I am going to put a minimum age. Please use good judgement about where to cap it off at the older end. (And just for the record, if you were my partner and signed up your four year old, but there was a 12 month old toddling around your house, I’d want to know so I could include a little something for him/her. I wouldn’t want to leave those babes out all together. But I’ll leave that up between partners.)

::The swap is open to anyone, so please be willing to ship overseas when you sign up.

::I always try to be budget-conscious. Try to keep the bulk of your swap goodies in the handmade or hand-me-down category. Last year my partner passed on gently used books, a stuffed toy and other goodies (among other fantastic things)–and my kids loved it. And the sentiment behind her children wanting to pass on a special toy to another child was priceless.This swap is not meant to break the bank.

::Ideas of things to include? you can check out the flickr group here Or, leave a comment after this post of some of the highlights from last year. I’d love to hear and I’m sure others would, too.

::Please include a postcard or small map showing where you’re from. (I forgot to do this last year. oops.)

::Ship packages by February 5. I know the longer I have the more time I have to procrastinate. I figure one month is do-able?!

::Want to join? Here’s what to do:: (this is the important, follow-the-directions part!)

Send me an email at this address: miniswap(at)gmail(dot)com
Please put "miniswap sign up", or something similar in the subject line
Include your name and your child/children’s names and ages.
I will leave the address swapping up to you and your partner.

The following week, I will contact one of the two partners with the swap names. It will be up to that partner to contact the other family involved. I’ll post here when I’ve sent out emails so you can be watching…

I will take names until Monday morning. However, I’m going to put a cap on the participants at 150. I think I managed about 100 last year. And if all goes smoothly, I think I can handle fifty more. I HOPE??!!! So friday or 150, whichever comes first…

And please, help pass the word on your blog, too.

Alright, please forgive the overload of details. I’m just attempting to keep this slightly organized. No "meany-pants" intended!!

And check back here for more updates and details.

Have FUN!!

**************

And here’s the code, if you’d like to copy and paste a button into your sidebar:

MINI SWAP 2 is closed…thanks everyone. I’ll get names swapped this week!

::So what is it?::
A swap between our children. I’m sure your children enjoying sending and receiving mail as much as mine, so why not let them get in on all this brown paper package goodness??

::The swap is open to anyone, so please be willing to ship overseas when you sign up.

::Ideas of things to include? you can check out the flickr group here Or, leave a comment after this post of some of the highlights from last year. I’d love to hear and I’m sure others would, too.

::Please include a postcard or small map showing where you’re from. (I forgot to do this last year. oops.)

::Ship packages by February 5. I know the longer I have the more time I have to procrastinate. I figure one month is do-able?!

::Want to join? Here’s what to do:: (this is the important, follow-the-directions part!)

Send me an email at this address: miniswap(at)gmail(dot)com
Please put "miniswap sign up", or something similar in the subject line
Include your name and your child/children’s names and ages.
I will leave the address swapping up to you and your partner.

And please, help pass the word on your blog, too.

Alright, please forgive the overload of details. I’m just attempting to keep this slightly organized. No "meany-pants" intended!!

And check back here for more updates and details.

Have FUN!!

**************

And here’s the code, if you’d like to copy and paste a button into your sidebar:

17 Comments

sewing projects

the best kind of sewing

Really, I could never sew for a living.
I realized yesterday, as I was happily stitching along on a project for my cousin’s birthday, that my best sewing comes when I’m inspired by who the gift is for. The reason I say I couldn’t sew for a living is because part of my realization yesterday was that my best work happens when I’m sewing with a specific person in mind. Yesterday it was my four year-old cousin. (yes, you get cousins younger than your own children when your father comes from a family of fifteen) He’s a soft-spoken, chubby-handed little boy in gold, wire-framed glasses who knows more about tractors than most grown men. He’ll drool over glossy Case IH literature like some kids drool over chocolate frosted cake.

So in the final hours before his party (and in the final minutes trying to take three pictures by ugly overhead light), I became inspired to make him a tractor to lay his head on, to usher him off into his own, personal, machinery dreamland. And I tell you the project couldn’t have gone more smoothly. Each piece of fabric fell into place–the colors, the prints. Not a stitch (well maybe one or two) fell out of line. It just came together perfectly. And not because I think I’m the end all of pillow-makers, but because I think that when I’m sewing from my heart everything falls perfectly in to place.

22 Comments