7 Quick Takes (vol. 8) ~ Camels, Cards, and Cozies

I'm so very behind with posting, but instead of catching up, I'm going to distract you with a 7 Quick Takes post and adorable pictures...

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See... you've already forgotten that you haven't seen all the incredible family pictures we took over Christmas yet.  But here is a little gem to whet your appetite.

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And, I desperately need to do a Matthan update.  He changes so fast that I can't keep up.  Like, he's getting into stuff.  And no, I could not get them all back into the box.

52 Card pick-up is for amateurs... 500 Q-tip pick up is for the pros.

Some things don't change, he still loves books :)

Clearly I need to clean out my bathroom cabinets because it looks like I have little monsters living in there. :)

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Matthan is starting to get the hang of feeding himself and is starting to be more adamant about doing things himself.  But he has figured out that when it comes to spaghetti, it's more efficient to have Mommy feed him, and he begs me to feed him.

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I wanted to do as many homemade items for Christmas as possible.  I thought it would be fun.  I did have to cut some projects, but here is what I managed to do.

Coffee cozies for my sister and sister-in-law

Including their initial on one side

My grandmother gives out handmade birthday cards to all of the people in her Sunday school class and she mentioned that she doesn't have pretty envelopes.  So I made her envelopes.

Painted a Batman piggy bank for the nephew

And probably the one that I'm most proud of is the painting I did for The Hubs.  It wasn't this painting (that I haven't accomplished yet for lack of the canvas size we want), but I pulled this one off without The Hubs finding out.  It was inspired by a huge, very expensive painting that we saw in an art museum.

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Continuing with the homemade theme, I made envelopes a while back and wanted to have cards to go with them, but wasn't sure what I wanted to do.  I discovered embroidery cards, so I embroidered cards to go with my homemade envelopes.

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The Hubs and I noticed this year that our nativity set doesn't have a camel.  A friend of ours, who lives in Israel, sent us a Christmas package (more about this another time), and wouldn't you know it?  It had a camel!  We're delighted!

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I get such a kick out of watching The Hubs and Little Man interact in their unique way.  Little Man definitely loves his daddy.

King of the Daddy hill

That's all for today folks!  

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

7 Quick Takes (vol. 7) ~ Exploding Pressure Cookers and "Oh-wee-oh"

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My husband is a DIY type of guy.  He has made his own camping stoves, freezer bag meals, pasta, and a bread bag for me to hold homemade bread...just to name a few.  He is currently working on making his own flies for fly fishing.

He is convinced that there are few things that he can't learn off of YouTube.  And almost all things have gone really well.  (The bread bag didn't work super great, but that wasn't to his lack of skill in making it).  As a wife to a DIY guy, when he tells me that he's going to make/build/fix something himself, I simply respond with a nonchalant "ok" having full trust that he knows what he's doing, will figure out how to do it, or bring in someone that knows how to do it if he finds he's in over his head.

So the other day* when he approached me and said "I think I want to build a pressure cooker", he was surprised when I responded with an emphatic "No!".  I think he questioned me about my answer with something like "It can't be that hard to make one" to which I replied "NO!  Good, factory-made pressure cookers can explode.  You're not messing with a homemade one!"  He wasn't totally convinced.  And in case you're not either, I support my claim with YouTube.

(the real action happens at second 27)




He never made the pressure cooker.

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Speaking of DIY... our office/art studio (sounds cooler than craft room?) is currently taken over with dead animal furs and feathers.  The Hubs is tying his own flies which means I have to view dead rabbit head furs on his desk.  There is also bright-colored and sometimes glittery threads and beads that go along with this project..... and boys make fun of us for our craft stuff.  Sheesh.

Notice YouTube on the iPad

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My dad treated us to a day at Rock Ranch this past weekend (thanks Dad!).  I was hoping to have a full post up this week about it, but a certain sister, eckhem, has yet to consolidate her photos with mine in Dropbox.  So here is a sneak preview.

Matthan, Grandpa Jim, Lailey, Aunt Sarah, Maddox

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I've been searching for quick recipes that I can make on Sundays so that I can spend more time with my boys and less time in the kitchen.  This one was super yummy.  Combine bread, mozzarella cheese, pesto, and tomatoes for a very scrumptious sandwich.  If you want to put it over the top, broil the tomatoes (sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper first) for a few minutes on each side.  I highly recommend this step.

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Matthan amazes me every day with a new trick or a new word.  His newest word is "bunny", although it comes out "nunny" most of the time.

"nunny"

Our fish, Guido, gets fed on a regular schedule now because Matthan reminds us by saying his name "oh-wee-oh-wee-oh", sometimes shortened to "oh-wee-oh" and signing "fish" and pointing to Guido's bowl.

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Public Service Announcement:  If any of your material goods, especially your machines, make an odd noise, record the noise so that you can play it back for the repairman who thinks you're crazy when you try to describe the noise.

In a matter of a week, our immersion blender died, our toilet broke (quick $1, easy fix), and our washing machine broke (not quick, not $1, not easy fix).

Ever wanted to know what the inside of your washer looks like?

Last week the washer started making some slamming/sluggish/"kuh-CHUGG-ing" noises (that last one is a technical term in case you didn't know). Then, on Thursday night of last week it proceeded to make a screaming/screeching noise that made me question whether to call a washer repairman to fix it or our priest to come perform an exorcism on it.

the culprit

Of course it died with a load of diapers in it.  You learn the value of friendship when you have friends on call in case you need to use their washer for dirty diaper loads.  So almost a week and several greenbacks later, we're back in business.

Gutted and wash basin flipped upside-down

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~ Quotables ~

Me:  "Matthan!  GoooooooOOOO DAWGS!  Sic 'em!  Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof!   Woof!"
Matthan:  "Puppy!!"

Me:  "So, how long do you think you're going to grow your beard this time?"
Tim:  "'Til I can throw it over my shoulder like a continental soldier."

Happy Friday Everyone!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

*"the other day" in my blog world could have meant any amount of time ago within the last five years.

Bread Bag

I've started making homemade bread, and this has presented the challenge of storing it so it doesn't go bad before we finish it.  I was reading about various bread holders online (there are several options on Amazon...some quite amusing), and read something about a tweed bag being one of the best storage options.  I mentioned this to Tim, and his response was "Tweed?  I have tweed pants."  That set the following into motion.

He immediately went into our outdoor storage unit and pulled out this pair of tweed pants that he just happened to be saving for such an occasion...who knew?  I didn't.

My husband is a man of many talents.  Did you know he could sew?

He's also very good at removing stitches ;)  (This was one of those 1 in a million moments where I was right and he did it wrong anyway.  Yes, I'm gloating...No, it's not pretty...but it happens so rarely...so excuse my relishing)

And he produced a tweed bread bag for me.  I'll let you know how it works out!