my lil family

Just a few informal Easter portraits.

four-and-a-half

Little Man's four-and-a-half "birthday" flew by in March.  I intended to write a post about then, but somehow I overlooked it until this week.  Here is a little interview I did with him.  It wasn't one of his more articulate days, but that's okay.

Me: What are some of your favorite things?

Little Man: Just that I'm four-and-a-half.

Me: What is your favorite color?
Little Man: Orange. Mom, I like all kinds of colors.

Me: What is your favorite food?

Little Man: Uh...sweet onions.

Me: Sweet onions?

Little Man: Yes, sweet onions that you cook. And oranges, Mom. And apples. And bananas. Aaaand the last one is chocolate.

Me: Mmmm...chocolate is a good one.

Me: What are your favorite toys?

Little Man: My big dump truck and my monster truck from Christmas and my Duncan [train] and my Lightning McQueen.

Me: Anything else?

Little Man: Aaaand...no.

Me: Do you like to do art projects?

Little Man: Yes.

Me: What are your favorite things to make?

Little Man: That's all. Actually...I don't know.

Me: Do you like to color?

Little Man: Yep.

Me: What is your favorite thing to do with dad?

Little Man: Watch him play his two new [computer] games.

Me: What else?

Little Man: That's all!

Me: What about golfing?

Little Man: Golfing too! The other day we had fun.

Me: What is your favorite thing to do with me?

Little Man:Watch you paint your toenails and put your stickers on them.

Me: What about Brother? What do you like to do with him?

Little Man: Share my toys with him.  And Brother shares his toys with me. That's really good.

Me: Yes, it is! What kind of things do you like to pretend together?

Little Man: Like I'm being a penguin. A sea penguin. Do we have a veedio [video] of sea pengins?

Me: We checked one out from the library a while ago.

Little Man: Can we watch it?

Me: Well, no, because we had to take it back.

Me: How about Sweet Pea?

Little Man: Play with her.

Me: How do you play with her?

Little Man: Sweetly. And share my toys with her.

Me: Can you tell me about some of your friends.

Little Man: Kaitlyn, Tyson, and Decker.

Me: What do you do with them?

Little Man: Play.

Me: Can you tell me what your favorite thing to do outside is?

Little Man: Play in the sandbox.

Me: What about stacking firewood?

Little Man: Good. It's kinda hard. The big ones, very big ones are hard.

Me: But are you strong enough to pick them up and stack them even though they're big?

Little Man: I can't pick them up all the way, but I can pick them up part of the way. And I can roll them too.

Me: What do you think of your new room?

Little Man: I think it's cool looking.  Even though it's tiring up on the top bunk, I think it's pretty.

Me: Why is the top bunk tiring?

Little Man: Because of the aliens.

Me: What aliens?

Little Man: In the little holes.

Me: You do know that aliens aren't real, right?

Little Man: Yeah.

Me: What is your favorite thing to wear?

Little Man: My moose shirt!

Me: Do you want to tell me anything else you like right now?

Little Man: No. But can I play PBS kids?

monday menu

homemade pizza topped with

pepperoni, black olives, mushrooms, grape tomatoes,

parmesan, white cheddar,

and chopped up mozzarella string cheese

because it was the only mozzarella at our store that week

(and yes, string cheese included, it was amazing)

At the moment I am batting a migraine, so nothing really sounds good, but the menu must be planned the the grocery list written because food must be cooked for the rest of the week, so I am plugging on.  Hopefully the time I actually get around to making this stuff it'll sound better than it does right now.

M-ginger lime stir fry over rice

T-sweet potato black bean chili and bread 

W-tuna melt sandwiches

Th-my adaptation of broccoli-quinoa casserole

F-grilled chicken, orzo with parmesan and basil, and green beans

What are you making this week?

freezer paper stenciled t-shirts

Freezer paper stenciling has fascinated me for quite a while now (here is a pretty good tutorial).  I was finally able to try it out last month and discovered that freezer paper stenciling really is just as fun as I thought it would be!

I got a set of ten little pots of Tuilp brand soft fabric paints for $2.99, and like any good Montanan I already had freezer paper on hand.  I used paint brushes I already had and solid colored shirts from the kids' drawers, so in addition to being super-fun, freezer paper stenciling was thrifty--the best sort of project!

I free-handed a cute flower design for a  girly onesie for Sweet Pea.

I used a fabulous robot template

I found a while ago for the boys' shirts.

I wish I had taken more photos of the process,

but I was having too much fun.

Plus I had two small admirers

who were extremely eager to see every step

and who wouldn't have been thrilled with photo delay.

Brother chose bright blue paint for his robot.

And Little Man chose red.

(Yes, I know it's blurry;

he was flapping his arms and bobbing his head,

making it difficult to photograph him.

Did I mention

that he's being camera shy right now?)

Apparently the camera is easier to face with your sister by your side.

The boys are delighted with their "new" robot shirts (Sweet Pea hasn't really expressed an opinion about her flower), and I've definitely gained some awesome points for making something so, well, awesome.  I'll say that this experiment was a smashing success.

alpaca yarn hat

Remember the alpaca yarn

that was given to me?

Well, the boys' alpaca yarn hats are finished!

Brother was so delighted with his,

trying it on and taking it off again and again.

Isn't he a cutie?

Little Man is equally cute in his brown hat,

but he's been going through a camera-shy stage,

so I have no photos of him in it yet.

mostly vintage flannel baby quilt

The quilt top is pieced from an assortment of sweet yellow, turquoise blue, and pink vintage baby prints, a vintage turquoise blue solid, and a contemporary yellow solid.  It's all super-soft, snugly flannel.

The backing is a charming pink and green plaid flannel that I bought at my local quilt store. (I will cry if they ever go out of business.)

The quilting is a new free motion pattern that I came up with after spotting this pretty ring on Pinterest. (You never know when inspiration will strike.) It turned out well enough that I'm eager to try it again, but not so well that I'm bored.

The completed quilt is really and truly as unsquare as my picture makes it look.  Ooops.  The colors are charming and the design is nice, though.  Plus the mama-to-be who received it loved it.  All of that considered, I think it would be pretty silly to stress about the edges not being perfect, so I won't.

(Please forgive the funky formatting on this post; I'm having nightmarish troubles with Blogger and layout today. Ugh.)

monday menu

[mocha and magnificent caramel roll from a cute little shop in Billings]

With the warm weather we've been having, I'm thinking that my soup-and-hot-pasta-dominated-menu days are coming to an end.  I enjoy the warm weather, but I'm so much better at making comforting cold weather food that part of me dreads the hot days on the horizon.  (I guess it's a good thing I live in Montana and not Arizona, right?)  Here's my menu for this week (and I'm not abandoning my comfortable hot foods yet!):

M-hard shell beef tacos

T-hearty chicken stew with butternut squash and quinoa (new recipe) and homemade bread

W-french toast and fruit

Th-garlic-ginger chicken, soba noodles with sweet ginger scallion sauce (another new recipe!), and roasted broccoli (based on this recipe)

F-brazilian style beans and rice

What are you making this week?

a custom calligraphy

Several years ago the siblings teamed up to make a family crest

as a gift to Benjamin's parents.

The oldest brother drew it,

the middle brother decorated it with celtic knotwork

(you can see some of his work here),

and I added the family name and motto in calligraphy.

(In case you wondered, Benjamin is brother number three.)

Longer ago than I want to admit,

Benjamin's mom requested a coordinating calligraphy verse

to display with the family crest.

I finally prioritized finishing it last week.

I am not comfortable with this script,

but am fairly satisfied with how it turned out.

I left plenty of margin because the middle brother

is once again going to add his celtic knotwork.

We hope to be able to surprise her with

the finished art

for Mother's Day.

Perhaps next time we visit

I'll be able to take a photo of the completed work.

set of two custom calligraphies

Benjamin has a lovely aunt who likes my art.

Not too long ago she commissioned a pink and brown bag,

and this year she requested a set of calligraphies

featuring two of her favorite sayings.

Putting these small, elegantly whimsical pieces together

was pure delight.

I'm looking forward to seeing photos

of how they look, all framed in their new home.

another I Corinthians 13 calligraphy

I still love this design.

It remains my best selling calligraphy,

and in spite of some near tears moments

(I hate making stupid mistakes)

I really did enjoy making this latest version

for a customer who wanted to give it as a shower gift.