A New Home

Monty found this woolly little critter in Grandma's yard the other day and, of course, it had to be adopted as a pet. I didn't want the poor thing to die and I thought it would be pretty neat if Monty could see it transform into an Isabella Tiger Moth (I did my research!), so I decided to build a small habitat for it. I did this on Tuesday of last week and it's still alive, so I think I'm safe posting this and saying it will work.

I used an old plastic fish tank with a lid on it. It's pretty good sized, probably 12 inches by 6 inches and about 8 inches high. I found a special little spot next to the barn that had several different types of lawn weeds (clover, grass along with two other annoying plants that people spend a lot of money to get rid of...not us, though, we welcome lawn weeds!). I wanted to give Wing-o (that's the caterpillar's name) a variety of plants to much on. I dug down about three inches so the roots would have some dirt to live on. I placed the hunk of lawn in my container, gave it some water and found a couple of sticks in the yard.

Wing-o's new home is now on Monty's dresser and he's very proud of keeping him safe at night. And that, my friends, is how to create a caterpillar habitat for a 3 year old!

Spring! (kinda)

I've started my lettuce garden! Lettuce is a cool weather crop, but due to Indiana having crazy snow storms in April and the fact that there is about 9 feet of M U D everywhere, I was unable to start my lettuce garden in the beautiful garden box that Other built.

However, with the handy help of a 3 year old and some egg cartons, we're starting the garden in the house. I received some seeds from an amazing gardener. He said "It's lettuce." I have no idea what kind, other than the romaine strips that he gave me. Romaine seeds often come embedded in these clothy-papery strips. I planted them in the top part of the egg carton.

Once my seedlings are big enough and I'm sure it won't snow again, I'll transplant them into their proper home. The best part about lettuce is that it's great early in the spring, but gets very bitter during the summer. I'll rip it out come June, plant some corn and green beans, and then rip those out in late September and plant some fall lettuce to have all the way through November (snow pending, of course!).

We'll see how it works! I, and my tortoise, are ready for some fresh lettuce!

RRR

I've had a blessing of an amazing idea come over me and I must share it! This could already be happening, and if it is then awesome! If not, I hope I can start a little trend.

The idea? RRR.

Triple R.

Relax. Read. Recycle.

I love to read, and I read a lot. Therefore, I have quite an accumulation of books. However, unless a book is really really good, I usually only read a book once.

So, my dear friend Traci is going to help me with my glorious idea. We're hosting a party. Everyone invited brings a book that they already own and have already read. Each book, upon arrival, is numbered. Everyone present draws a number and finds the matching book and takes that book home to enjoy themselves.

It's a win-win situation! You would be able to enjoy a wonderful evening with friends who enjoy reading. You would get rid of a book you may never read again. You would get a great new book that one of your fantastic friends enjoyed (so you'll probably enjoy it, too!). PLUS it's the ultimate form of recycling. After all, who can bear to throw away a book...or even put it in the recycle bin? No. Way.

Now, I've been an active participant for years in passing books along. I've given away and received several books...I'm just going to make a party out of it. A Triple R party!

The Snake Made Us Do It

Sometimes my family makes me smile just because they are there. Other times, my family makes me smile because of the hilarious antics that happen in my home.

The other night, for example...

Monty needed some help in the bathroom. As he was sitting on the pot, he looks up at Other and says:

"So, Dad...can you tell me the history of snakes?"

That's right. The history of snakes. I was in the living room and I overheard this conversation, which made me laugh. A lot.

After much laughter, Other debated on what to tell him. I decided to inform him of the Christian creation story, much embellished (to tell you the truth, I practically turned Adam and Eve into Superheros with God being the Superhero mastermind. It was genius.)

So once creation was explained, I got to the snake part.

Long sigh from Monty.

"Finally...you're to the snake part."

That's right. He sighed at my awesome story. All the kid wanted to hear about was snakes. He was totally serious about it. Turns out, he really just wanted to hear about the different kinds of snakes and which ones have poison. Then Other and I had a debate about the most poisonous snake in the world.

Other says water moccasins.

I say King Cobra.

I'll Google this.

In crafting/baking news: nothing is new. I have a rockin' turtle stool waiting for a cushy cover (but I can't find the staple gun). I've done several baking creations, but always forget to take pictures. Sad.

I'll have something soon.

What's Boston good for?

Boston Cream Pie. Mmmm.....

I found these delicious little cupcakes in Martha Stewart's magazine and I had to give them a try. I made them for a function for our middle school youth group at church...and they loved them. (Which is good...I thought they might be a little too much for them and they wouldn't appreciate my hard work. But they did.)

You can find the recipe here: http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/boston-cream-pie-cupcakes

I've always had issues with gnashe glaze. It just doesn't work out for me. However, I had to kind-of make up my own recipe. I didn't have any heavy cream, so I just used milk. I actually like this a lot better. It didn't seem to be quite as runny and it got harder (but not too hard) quickly. It made for the perfect topping for these individual little cream pies.

The recipe as a whole was very simple to make. I put everything together from start to finish in a matter of a few hours, which worked well while doing laundry, tending children, etc.

This will probably come out wrong.

So I've been doing some late-night blog reading lately about people and their travels through life. These people are strong...they are blogging about losing their children and how these experiences have made them more understanding, more blessed people. And it makes me feel guilty.
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I told you this would come out wrong.
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I feel guilty that I have two perfect, beautiful children. They are full of personality and life and love. And it makes me think...How did I ever ever ever get so lucky? Why have these other good people had to lose so much? And could I ever do that?
I don't know.
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This was my initial response to all of my reading. Guilt. Then I got to thinking about it. I think that the real crime comes when parents look at the smile of their baby and don't realize how amazing that is. The true guilt should be put on the shoulders of people who have children and don't see that they are a little person...don't see that as important.
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So I've concluded that the lesson to be learned from this online community is to feel that pain of what could have been, but to be thankful, not guilty, for what has been given. Feel the wonder of parenthood. See the magic of your children.
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This post may be a little...I don't know...sappy...lame...whatever. But I had to get it off my chest. I actually cried while reading about the lives of people I'll never know. And that, my friends, is the amazing part of being a human being.

Onion Soup

Yes, I know...I know....it's been forever. I had my Internet taken away and now I have it back again, for good this time (cheer!).

I've been busy. So busy, in fact, that I also haven't had time to post on my blog and I also haven't taken pictures of the amazing things I've been doing.

My newest adventure is bread baking. I'm doing pretty well so far. I've tried three different recipes and I simply love it. All of it. The smell. The kneading. The eating.

Which is what inspired the above picture. Onion soup. Beautiful Traci decided she needed it one evening. I don't really enjoy French Onion Soup, but every now and then it's alright. Plus, I had a few pieces of home made bread that were perfect for it. And, let me tell you, I make a mean French Onion Soup. If you're nice and ask I'll make it for you sometime.

It had like an infinity of cheese on it. Good cheese, too. Oh it was delicious.

Up next: a turtle plant stand that I'm turning into a stool for Monty; baby shoes; cake!