Toy Rambling.

 I have no idea what I'm blogging about today. I find all these pictures in my files and I have no idea why I take them or what to do with them.  So, here I go, I'll be rambling. 

What I want to know is am I am not the only mama on the planet who is constantly rotating, changing, putting away, setting up and organizing kid toys?  I hope I'm not.  I know kids play so much better with not too may toys out and about and when the toys are presented in a non jumbled way, but I sort of take it to the extreme.  I swear the toy set up at the beginning of the week doesn't always look like the toy organization by the end of the week.  I have four shelves to kid tables and oodles of wooden boxes and baskets and I constantly rotate.  And then I get excited about my new set up and take a picture?  I'm really quite ridiculous. I've shared some playsets and I could go through the archives and show you more, but trust me, I'm just silly.  

Case in point...

In one week, this very shelf went from something similar to a grocery store type like this...

to a puzzle center.

To misc. city.

Guaranteed it will be something different by mid week. And then I get excited about this new bamboo set of silverware.  It cost just a few bucks, a perfect play utensil set (I sanded it down some after this pic). I have no idea why I took a picture of it, but here it is (along from the pottery I made when I took a class...I am a complete failure at pottery making).

 So then I take a picture of the shelf I put them on?  I've really lost it.

 I could go on and on about my crazy tactics... 
But, what really doesn't seem crazy at all is taking pictures of the kids enjoying what I create for them.  I just love love love watching them play.  I could sit for hours watching them.

I told you that was rambling.  And off I go to re-organize....

Spring/More Winter

The calendar says it's supposed to be spring.  It says that and then we get another foot of snow to add to the seamless white blanket already present.  I am usually a go with the flow, happy go lucky, I love winter anyway type of girl.  Not this year. I've grumbled. I've roared.  I've snarled at winter.  I'm done, done, done with winter is what I've been saying.  I want grass between my toes, my fingernails crusted with dirt, dirty kids, my hair snarled from the wind, my skin a golden tan.  I want to see what's planted out there...I hear there's asparagus and I know there's many, many perennials.  I want to start my adventure in discovering the secret gardens of this old farmhouse.

But then, because I'm an outside person, I spend an hour suiting everyone up (it's not really an hour, but it feels like it, doesn't it?!) drag these two kids outside....and you know what?  It's really not so bad out there.  It's actually quite...um...beautiful.  There, I said it.  Snow in March can be beautiful.

 And the icicles.  Oh the icicles.  What an awesome wonder they are! 

 And I really don't want it to warm up too quickly and miss all the sugarin'.

Did I mention we boiled down some.  Beautiful syrup, it is indeed. Perfect topping for ice cream and perfect accompaniment for newspaper reading.

  Alas, it's not spring.  But there's still much to enjoy in March, even if there's still snow.

Brownies (Yes, another one)

Brownies. How I love thee.  I think it's best to have lots of good brownie recipes.  I mean, I wouldn't want to tire of just one recipe.  Besides, having many means I can make brownies more often.  I mean I wouldn't want to make the same recipe twice in a week.  It totally counts as a different dessert if I alternate recipes, don't you think.  Okay, maybe not. Maybe I'm just a connoisseur. There's wine connoisseurs, right?  Those who sample and know a lot about wine.  I find brownies far more important than wine...so I shall call myself a brownie connoisseur.  That sounds like an important job, I'm happy to step up to the plate. Okay, I'm rambling.  Here they are.  They're good.  Really good.

The recipe is adapted from here.

Brownies (Yes, another one)

1 cup butter
2 cups dark chocolate chips
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
 5 eggs
1 tsp salt
2 T cocoa powder
1 1/4 cup flour


1) Melt butter and chocolate chips
2) Mix in sugar, brown sugar and vanilla.
3) Add eggs until just combined (don't beat them too much!)
4) Add salt, cocoa powder and flour until just barely combined (don't beat them too much)
5) Spread in a greased 9x13 pan.
6) Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Enjoying...

Today, I am....

Enjoying these two.  Along with a wonderful group of ladies.  We're having our own homemade pizza party later, and I can't wait. I hope your day is beyond fabulous.

Their daddy...

I love their dad.  Without a doubt, 110%. 

 He warms my heart and makes me laugh. 

 I just can't get enough of watching him be the awesome dad he is to these babies of ours (notice they're dressed as twins!). 

 Good thing I think he's handsome because EVERYONE says they both look just like him.

I love them, all three of them, that's for sure. And it's the weekend. So I'm going to go ahead and have the best weekend ever with my three blessings.  I hope you have plans to do the same.

An Upcycled Wool Dress

I must confess, I started this project in October, when sweet girl was 3 months old. At that point, although I hadn't told you, we knew we were moving to this big farmhouse.  I thought she could use some warm items, guessing we'd have a cold house.  We did end up with the cold house, and I never finished.  See, I do procrastinate some!

I found it and thankfully I could do some alterations so it will fit for a bit. It was supposed to be a dress, but now it's sort of a dress shirt. It's a vintage pattern I bought for $0.50 at a thrift store and the fabric is a thrifted wool skirt.


 

 And...here's the model.