Monarch Post

thrifting, stitching... and staring contests

Last week while I was at the thrift store hunting for fabric and wools I found these four little charmers.

Mini dutch ovens.

Aren't they the cutest things ever?

75 cents each and RED!

Score : )

And here they are topless. Ha.

So I washed them up and made dinner for four with them.

Shrimp, crab and broccoli alfredo.

It was a hit.

I think it was part recipe and part novelty with the kids.

I boiled the noodles and fresh, chopped broccoli together.

I used cooked, tail-on, medium sized shrimp that I broke in half after removing the tails.

And a can of crab meat.

Two chopped green onions.

I used a packet of dry alfredo sauce mix and followed the directions- (the cheapie mix packet.)

Mixed everything together, sprayed the dutch ovens, filled them and then sprinkled the tops with a three cheese blend of  Italian cheeses, Parmesan cheese, and paprika... in that order.

Baked them at 350 for twenty five minutes.

And while they were baking I chopped up a few avocados and a mango.

This is what happens when you go to San Diego on vacation...

still craving the seafood, avocados, and mangos.

I had never tried diced avocados with mangos before our trip, but they are wonderful!

And if you've never put them together, well, you just should.

The flavors are so complementary together... I swear I heard them telling each other how much they liked each other before I ate them.  Ha.

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Anyway,  there's my fancy schmancy dinner recipe of  the week for you.

(Call Paula and Martha and tell them to move over ; D )

The breakfst scene goes like this every morning at our house.

Jesse likes to eat breakfast in the recliner while he watches Sportscenter... and I let him.

Winston sits in front of him and gives him the big staredown for some of his breakfast.

He never takes his eyes off of him the whole time Jesse is eating.

It's too funny to watch.

Sometimes Winston has success with his puppy dog eyes...

and sometimes he doesn't.

This wasn't his morning for leftover success.

Bummer.

I worked all Wednesday on Etsy items ( yes, I'm still stockpiling for a re-opening someday...)

I started crocheting teensy little primroses and then couldn't stop, because that's what happens when I crochet. My brain apparently likes endless repetition when it comes to winding thread around a tiny needle. (Too bad it doesn't like endless laundry repetition-wouldn't that be awesomeness?)

But they'll all eventually get used... they'll get used as decorations for different crafting projects- baby balls, children's totes, barrettes, and stuff.

I also designed a nd crocheted patterns for a little girl's drawstring purse and a sock monkey purse in red. They are finished except for some trimmings, so no photos yet.

I have so many things almost finished- I seem to work better that way... jumping from one project to the next gives me more ideas and energy than working on one thing at a time...

Aren't they sweet and springy?

I stumbled on my first real sight of spring last week... I saw swiss snowdrops peeking out from under brown dead grass while driving through town the other day... what a sight for winter-weary eyes. I blurred up a little and  I think I even exhaled when I spotted them.

The first signs of spring always surprise me...  it's surprise, delight, and relief for me to see that just when I've decided that maybe God forgot to do spring this year, God has decided to prove me wrong- again.

And I am really okay with being perennially proved wrong :D

I felt that same surprised-by-snowdrop-happiness-thing this morning when Sophey pulled this artwork out of her bookbag...

Isn't that just the sweetest piece of construction paper art?!

Love it.

 ********************************

Okay, I'm off to finish the last  Christmas, er, birthday shopping trip of the Henderson March Madness birthday season.

Three birthdays in one month feels like like a mini-Christmas season around here... crazy.

(And I say that every year here. Sorry.)

Saturday is Jesse's birthday and he's having a party with friends at Boondock's- the local fun center, followed by pizza and a sleepover at our house.

We also have two Cinderella ballet recitals for Sophey this weekend- one tonight and one on Saturday.

Corbyn's band is on the radio tonight with an interview and a live sperformance.

(90.0 KRCL if you are in Utah...)

Oh, and a wedding reception to go to on Saturday. Whew.

I gotta run...

See you next week and have a great weekend everyone!

XOK

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday magic stones

Last month in our church's Sunday School the topic was love... how could it not be for February? (Yes, I know it's not February anymore... I'm still catching up here, but this was too sweet not to share.)

I planned a lesson using the story of the stone soup. If you're not familiar with the story it's about two hungry travellers who come to a village and have nothing to eat- and no one in the village will give them anything to eat. One traveller finds a stone and declares it a magical soup stone and throws it into a big pot of hot water... he says it will turn to soup, but also tells the villagers it would taste better with a carrot, then a potato and on and on... finally convincing the villagers to share the little they had to make soup for everyone. It's a great story of sharing, caring, and the transformative power of working together to create community. I ordered this version of it from Amazon.  The illustrations are amazing and the story reads very well. When I read the story I stressed that love is a verb also and not just a feeling, and that we can show love by sharing- even when it's only a little we have to share, it can lead others to also share and care more too, and that's one way that  love is tangibly multiplied.

I made a big pot of stock for the stone soup the night before  with broth, tomatoes, and cabbage and potatoes. Then I steamed all sorts of other veggies and put them in snack size plastic baggies for the kids to add to the soup when we read the story at church. I washed a big clean stone too, and took it to add first to the soup. (You should have seen the look on some of their faces when I started reading the story and threw the stone in the crock pot broth- ha!)

And I don't have any photos of reading the story and the kids dumping their baggies of veggies into the stone soup... because it was all I could do to keep everyone's attention and make soup and teach the lesson... even with my two adult helpers, it was a little crazy. But the kids liked the story and making the soup- I think it captured their imaginations. My favorite moment was when it was one little boy's turn to dump in his baggie of yellow squash, he said very enthusiastically, "Oh great!  I LOVE squash!"

We finished making our soup, and left it to simmer in the crock pot to serve and eat with the rest of the potluck dinner after church and then headed to our art room to make magical stones of their own to take home.

Kids are the best. I love being around this group of kids and getting to see the world through their eyes... they are fresh from God and they teach me so much... like being in the moment, not following any "art rules" and being truly, truly pure in heart. Some of them just melt me with their insights when I "teach" them... and they will never know how much they really teach me...

The colors made me think of spring and Easter eggs...

It's fun to watch how different everyone's art turns out when they are all working with the  same materials... sometimes it makes me want to be an elementary school art teacher...ummm ya,  sometimes.

Blow dryers are great to speed things up when you are on a tight schedule!

After their paint was dry they added puffy stickers from Michael's.

And then they finished their magical stones with a quote from the gospel of John:

"LOVE ONE ANOTHER"

(and that after all is the really real magic :)

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

Okay, I am off to the craft room for an all day and all night long creating day...

I hope I can be kid like and live in the no-rules creative moment today.

 

Have a happy Wednesday everyone!

 

XOK!

 

the DIY party planner

Saturday we had a birthday party for Sophey's eleventh birthday.

It was the easiest bday party ever... she did almost all of  the work!

She wanted to throw it herself and she wanted an art party.

So art birthday party it was...  I took orders and shopped for it.and the week before we shopped together for party favors, plates and cups.

She likes polka dots too... except in pink, of course.

The cute party treat buckets are from Hobby Lobby.

The ceramic cupcakes were ordered online... I need to ask her the website and I'll add it to the post later- I've lost the address.

She had five girlfriends over- two others couldn't make it... but a half-dozen eleven year olds is a perfect size for an art party.

The girls painted away for over an hour... with lots of talking and giggling.

The cupcakes were already kiln fired... I sprayed them after they were painted with a gloss sealer, so they would be ready to take home after the party.

Painting butterfly suncatchers was the gathering activity.

Hobby Lobby 2/1.00 specials!

Sophey spotted a cupcake art palet on Pinterest somewhere, drew up a pattern and asked her Dad to cut it out of wood for her... so he did :)

She baked the cupcakes and iced them for the decoration and dessert.... and made up the games to play- Bingo and a treasure hunt through the house.

I just sort of hung out and blog surfed... tried to look like a cool hands-off Mom and helped when I was asked to help... very different for me... but it was so easy and nice for a change.

It was the best three hour birthday party I never threw... can't wait to see how she throws her own bridal shower someday- ha! ; )

What was your weekend like?

XOK!

San Diego

It was a wonderful time away... San Diego is a pretty special place in my book.

I'm so sorry it has taken me this long to get back here. I came home, hit the ground running, but somehow I felt like I got terribly behind... and I'm just now (almost) caught up with everything that's been waiting for me and that I needed to get done when I got home.  All the laundry, restocking the fridge, emails... running and shopping for the next child's birthday, two days down with migraines, and a re-do on my hair weave that all in all took eight hours because somehow my hair decided to turn a shade of Madonna-strawberry-blonde that I was so not after. I would have cried about the hair if I'd been eighteen... Post vacation frazzled. Does this happen to you too (apart from the Madonna strawberry blonde hair thing) when you get home from a vacation? I have felt discombobulated since coming home. Paradise is wonderful, but it's tough to come back to snow and winter after sunshine and flowers... and it's snowing like crazy in Utah lately (long sigh here). 

Anyway, I won't bore you with the rest of the details of my funky last two weeks, but I will tell you that San Diego is a great place to eat seafood and also mango anything: like mango, avocado and ahi tuna appetizers (yum), mango ice tea (yum), mango salads (yum), mango mojitos (oh yes indeedee, yum) and mango sorbet (yumx2)... I know this because I ate/drank them all : ) 

And if you've already had a lime mojito before your husband orders you a mango mojito at  dinner (because he finds you charming when slightly tipsy), you might find yourself making a mango sorbet mango mojito float with your mango sorbet dessert and your leftover mango mojito...  and then you're husband might get a little embarrassed and then you can say, "what, you ordered me the drink!" It's possible, just sayin'.

Apart from the episodes of "mango mania" we also went to La Jolla, found the nicest little grocery store, bought yummy food, packed a tote with the food (in the trunk of  the car) and had a picnic for two on the beach. ( This was a rare non-mango event). 

It was so so beautiful on the beach. Perfect temps. Perfect breeze. Excellent company : ) 

I would have had more photos of beach walks, but I decided to just use my iphone on this trip and not knowing what I'm doing with it yet, managed to take lots of videos when I thought I was taking photos. One video episode was five minutes of walking along the beach filming a fanny shot of Mike. I had a giggle attack on the hotel bed that night when I saw what I had filmed.  

So last iphone photo of the trip for you. I took it on the sly, all sneaky like...

After lunch on Coronado Island and just before leaving to go home, we shopped for souveneirs and then stopped and listened to a jazz band that was playing. While we were listening along came this husband and wife, strolling hand in hand, dressed identically down to their shoes and up to their hair... they had even dyed their hair the same shade of fire-engine red. ( I could just imagine her saying, hey honey, I've got half of a bottle of dye left over still...) I thought they were pretty eccentric and began to think a few things that weren't all that nice. Mike laughed and said they were probably from Ohio (since  married couples dressing like identical twins is popular in the Midwest for some strange reason and we do see married look-alikes when we go back to Mike's hometown in Ohio. I know, weird huh?)  But then these two elderly, identical love birds started to dance... and they danced that sweet, slow, fragile dance that old bodies that can't move very well anymore seem to always dance. Gingerly they touched each others fingers in the air and twirled each other underneath their arms... stopping to clap for the band at the end of every dance... it was the sweetest thing ever to see. 

 I looked at Mike, and told him I just took back every crumby thing I had just been thinking. He nodded his head and agreed.

And I thought it was the perfect ending to a very romantic and mango-filled trip : )

 

******

(P.S. back sooner next time- pinky promise! XOK)

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

daffodil shopping

I found bunches of daffodils in the grocery store the other day.... only $2.99 for a clump of yellow golden sunshine :D  I bought three. It's February (we all know what that means) and flowers/daffodils become my new necessity- not a luxury, in my mind anyway.  Oh, we need bread and milk to feed the children... nah,  just some daffodils for the kitchen table... that's what we really need ; )

They smelled HEAVENLY every time I walked past them for about three days...  I wish they lasted longer. They are just maybe my favorite smell in the whole wide world. Right up there with newborn babies  slathered in baby lotion... and my husband slathered in Ralph Lauren Polo cologne... (which would bring me right back to why I birthed those babies of ours in the first place, but then that would be a whole 'nother post, and that's just TMI).

Anyway... 

WOW on the daffodil smell.  

(Good job, God. Thank you.  ; )

I worked in my craft room most of the day- between doorbells and running ibuprofen to the school for a kid headache. (The life of the mom.)  I finally came up with a very sweet butterfly fabric pattern with black polka dots and appliqued floral fabric wings. I haven't taken a photo yet- I think I'll  need to make a few more first.

I also art journalled and that was good.

Sometimes I feel constrained by sewing, and it was very freeing to just doodle around with pens and fabric and paint... haven't done anything like that in so long. I'm always telling myself I'm too busy to just doodle for no reason, but it really does help the creative process along. It's like exercise- I'm too busy for that too I think, but when I exercise I know it helps me in so many ways.

Today, I'm off to  hit the thrift stores looking for yellow wool sweaters to make into daffodils for my annual Easter basket-making marathon. I can't find any anywhere. Last week I found these three pinky ones and that was all I could find.

And I am also going to exercise in the mall...  yes, the mall... because  wiggling,  jumping up and down, and sucking in my gut qualifies as exercise ( in my mind) while trying on  jeans in a tight dressing room. Right?  Of course it does... yuck.

But I need a pair of straight leg jeans for the weekend. Mike and I are going away to San Diego for a three whole days (alone). 

And I am so excited.

Have a happy weekend yourself!  K.

 

 

lately...

Mike brought home a bouquet of the most beautiful, bright roses for me-

 for no particular reason, (which in my book, is the best reason : ).

Weekend waffles.

We like to throw shredded cheddar cheese on the top of the batter,

and then add a couple of strips of pre-cooked bacon before the lid closes.

Don't laugh until you try it...

and yes, syrup.

It's amazing.

ballet pics and a recital are on the way... the tutus have landed.

Greta has become the rule enforcer lately.

Sophey hates getting up in the morning,

and now Greta sits on her bed and barks and barks...

and doesn't stop until she gets out of bed,

then she shuts up and leaves the room. Funny neurotic dog.

Winston, on the other hand, couldn't care less.

He is not a morning perso dog.

He really isn't an afternoon dog either...

 He is an "Oh, it's ten o'clock at night, I think I'll go out and bark at the moon" kind of dog though.

Corbyn is not a morning person either, even though he makes it to work at the coffee shop by 5:00 am now.

He can't always hang without his afternoon siesta.

We made Oreo pops for coffee hour after church one Saturday night.

I've seen these around lately and we had to try them out.

Double stuff Oreos with sucker sticks pushed into the cream middle.

And then dipped in white chocolate bark.

Add sprinkles, refrigerate and that's it.

Simple and sinful.... such a great combination... especially for church- ha, ha ;o

And I made the speediest little craft project I think I've ever dreamed up.

I found these "love" signs when I cleaned out my craft room.

They were left over from a Girl Scout project last year.

They were white and ready for a coat of craft paint,

 

and then outside for a coat of Krylon spray adhesive

followed next with glitter...

Shazzam. Voila. etc...

Ten minutes flat and they were happy new Valentine's decorations : )

(Aren't you just so glad you stopped here... instead of heading to Martha's? ;)

 
Piano recital number Sophey picked out... she says this all the time.

I think it's her anthem, and I think it's great.

She made Valentine's in school last week and this was her own verse...

And our Valentine's baby, Corbyn, celebrated his 21st birthday on Friday.

We bought him drum covers for the drum set he got for Christmas.

Do you know where the drum/jam band area is now in our house?

It's in the basement.

Did you know that that area of the basement is directly below the kitchen?

Oh yes sirreee it is... and I know it for sure ;)

How did this happen... I want to know.

He was just a lil' guy last week.

Pushing his Fisher Price wagon around the house,

storing gold fish crackers in his pockets for later, or in his fat cheecks, like a chipmunk.

Sigh...

It happens when you blink.

I have tried to savor their growing up,

but you know, I would try even harder if  I had it to do all over again...

 

 

Do you do anything special for Valentine's Day?

We don't do a lot. Little things. Little decorations.

But I like Valentine's Day.

It seems there are two camps in the Valentine's Day world.

Some people don't like it at all, and others love it.

I think anyday that people show a little more love and kindness in the world can't be a bad thing...

Wow, that was deep... pffff.

 

Okay.... I am off  to the craft room to (hopefully) be creative for the afternoon  : )

But I'm stopping to make the kids heart-shaped pink pancakes for dinner.

 

Mike had to be in New York this week, so we'll celebrate this weekend.

He sent me the cutest text this morning with these hearts- clever guy.

<3 <3  <3  <3  <3  <3  <3  <3  <3  <3  <3  <3  <3  <3  <3  <3  <3  <3

beautiful day

Last fall after Ainsley and Jeff's wedding I said when the photographer posted her wedding photos I would let you know...

Well, looks like they are posted now.

Better late than never, right?!

(Scroll past the first blog entry, Ainsley's wedding is next.)

So here's my eye candy prescription for you today-

especially if you live in Utah on this gray, February day.

Wishing it was seventy-five degrees and glorious today, like it was this September wedding day!

Brrrrrr.

Stay warm, friends!

XOK!

(Such gorgeous photos... I want to take a class from Terra one day)

I sewed me some Valentine's Day luv...

I feel like I'm always driving lately...

two more Dr appts this week, still working on my bum foot...

kid chaffeuring, ballet ( two nights a week), a baseball tryout,  fabric stores, etc.

You know how it goes, I'm sure.

 

But today I got to drive to a favorite happy place of mine and drop off

my freshly sewn Valentine hearts :D

It's been pretty gray and dismal weather wise lately.

And gray just isn't my favorite color, you know?

But I finished up my hearts and they are cheery.

And so is the sweet children's and mom's shop I sell them at...

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But my computer is uploading s.l.o.w.l.y again tonight.

So I will love you and leave you with lots of cheery photos

(and less words).

for a February day.

The white hearts are from a recycled bedspread.

And the flowery ones are made from a thrifted pinecone hill pajama top.

The polka dots and paisley are new fabrics.

The beads were from a vintage necklace.

 

I took lots of photos, because it was fun : D

 

 

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

and now for the shop... stinkin adorable today!

 

*ALL TUCKED IN*

There.

Are you cheerier now...?

Good.

Mission accomplished ;)

 

XO!

blessed day

Today was the best day.

It was wonderful to have a day at home ALL day in my studio.

But last weekend was not so wonderful.

Sophey had the stomach flu all Friday night, so major sleep deprivation on my end.

Oh, and a giant snowstorm with Corbyn driving home in it from the other end of Utah.

(Just to throw in a little extra excitement for me.)

And Mike has been in Europe the last two weeks...

so it's been me pulling all the shifts around here for quite awhile.

But today... no sick kids... no Dr appts... no drama...

until homework time, but that's another story.

AND I slept nine hours straight last night!

Hoorah!

 

I had  TIME

a fresh mind

and fabric

and candles

and quiet

and new scissors,

cutting crisply.

Happy heart day.

I've almost finished seven hanging hearts for Valentine's sales.

When I found this paisley at Hobby Lobby last week I was so excited to use it.

LOVE IT!

So far I've made hearts, a sock monkey skirt, and dress with it.

And then I made another dress.

They are looking very cute (if I do say so myself :)

I looked at the quote I have glued on my sewing machine today,

and I thought ya... I am so there today.

I sewed a lot of seams

but the day felt seamless

and lovely

and can I dare say holy?

It really was somehow...

It really was.

XOK.

uh...stuff

Hey! I'm here... with yarn...

and uh... January excitement :)

The last two weeks I've been cleaning and organizing the house

and dropping off loads of stuff to the thrift store...

and... then going into the thrift store to see what "needs"  to be taken home...

'cause that's what I do :)

 

The yarn is for an afghan I AM going to make this year for THIS HOUSE.

I never finished the last one I started, didn't like it.

I decided a good way to stay organized would be to tape a piece

of  yarn to the labels so that I would know the brand if I need more

since I'm making up my own pattern.

I'm thinking of something like this one here.

 

I spent one nine hour day cleaning my craft room.

It was  scary in there...

I should have taken a picture of the before,

but I was too embarrassed,

and I didn't want to scare you. ha ha.

It's nothing fancy and I won't be in the pages of Where Women Create anytime soon...

but this is a happy place for me.

and it feels SO GOOD to be in here when it's really clean.

Not perfect, but much better.

Cute new red wicker baskets courtesy of  Michaels after Christmas sale.

(What is that fabric doing hanging down the back...hmmm.)

And cute new fabrics to round out my stash... heaven.

I've started making complete sock monkey outfits.

This is one basket of materials gathered to make a monkey and designer outfit. :)

(I'll show you the finished outfits pretty soon... getting there.)

tabletop inspiration.

shelf top inspiration.

I started prayer art journaling in the mornings too...

I'll tell you more about that later.

Clarity.

I like that.

In other news,

our warm, snowless winter finally ended.

It is FREEZING COLD today!

Soup has been on the menu around here lately.

White chicken chili from a mix last week.

I've never made white chicken chili, so I played it safe with the mix.

It was good.

Too spicy for the kids, but not me.

I like it hot.

And I've been stopping for lunch lately at my favorite fast-food Mexican place.

Heat right now in any form is good.

Lizard art, hot pink cacti, and purple booths:

It is the tackiest, craziest looking place you've ever seen-

and exactly why I like it...

 that, and the great add-on bar full of jalapenos, salsas, and killer chipotle salad dressing.

I picked Winston and Greta up from the groomers one day after lunch at the crazy Mexican diner.

And no, he did not have Mexican leftovers- this is his normal,"whoo-hoo I'm going for a ride!" look.

I was so happy when I saw their fur/color coordinatedpolka dot bandanas...

Probably weirdly happy over that.

I hope that's just the designer in me...

Or it's just the weird in me :) 

And while were on the subject of weird.

My feet win.

They are homely.

But I would be fine with homely now, if they were just working...

The left one is the normal one-

ya, the one with the big gap and the second toe heading west.

It's inherited

from my Mom's side...

the Warner toe.

(You'll see it everywhere at family reunions- serious :)

Three of our four kids have it too...

Definately a dominant gene.

(Leftover from my monkey ancestors tree-climbing days, I guess ;)

 

I have been to SIX  Dr. appointments (two podiatrists and one chiropractor) in two weeks.

Apparently, I have a predislocated second toe (the bruised one).

I woke up with it like that one day,

without injuring it.

(The bruise is from acupuncture.)

The podiatrists are telling me I will have to have surgery to correct it...

But I'm giving the chiropractor a shot at it for awhile.

If it's not better by March, I'll have the surgery.

It's slowing me down right now,

by evening I am just done

and I've got my feet up.

YUCK.

And that was probably just TMI, but it's life- right?

 

Except for the bad feet scenario,

I have the best feeling about this year...

I'm not sure why,

But I think it's going to be really great...?!

Mike woke up the other morning  feeling just the same

and I'm hearing other people say it too.

Bring on 2012!

I'm excited to grow my business and to grow as a creative person...

I think the vision thing is finally in place for me.

It's about children, gardens, life, creating, spirit,  joy...

why did it take so long for me to get it?

S.L.O.W. learner...

 

How about you?

What are you thinking/ feeling about 2012?

 

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

Okay, I'm stopping here for now...

It's taking me forever to load photos for some reason,

and I need to get to work.

No Dr. appointments today-

I have the day to spend in my craft room.

(YAY!)

HAve A HappY FRIDAY,

XO!

 

(P.S. the blog is under construction... I'll have a new one in awhile, but the zinnias are kinda cute for now, aren't they?)