Beyond Binkies, Code and Make-Believe

Spontaneous Gardener Strikes Again

It's spring break.  Today was better than yesterday.  The weather was fair enough to break out the bulbs.  I enlisted our daughter and her sweet friend to help.  I gave them very little instruction and they did great. It gave them a chance to work on math skills (measuring depth and width) and biology by learning bulb logic - pointy side up.

We learned an additional skill - not too close to the house.  This is where I came in.  My husband was a bit... flustered. I took this to mean that I should go out to review and revise the planting.  I finished the remaining bulbs for a total of 103.

We added some more plants to spruce up the courtyard, side yard and more.  I was supposed to be finishing a project for a client, but was completely distracted.  So, I shifted hours and took the gardening break with my best helpers. I'm so glad I did.

I did have to soak my hands and scrub since I failed to put on gloves.  It's easier to create a Flash movie with clean hands.  I finished on time and the client (Wade Perry) is happy!

The Hungry Caterpillar Turns 40 Today

I had no idea this colorful character was 40 today.  Why didn't I have this book as a child?  That's right, we didn't have a lot of books and didn't read much.  That's a very different story from how we are with our children.  Here are some articles to celebrate the occasion:

Miss Savannah and the Camera

http://www.susanfinch.com/photos/ssfphotos1/ - I thought you would enjoy these.  We're so happy to have some sun and blooms!

Daisy, daisy, set the table

Some are losing faith in our youth and their ability to carry themselves in social situations that involve people over 40.  Don't despair.  I had my faith renewed tonight while having the honor to help some Daisy Scouts earn their first Brownie patch. 

The girls will be "bridging" to become Brownies in June.  They had to choose one project from the Brownie book.  We parents decided manners would be a good start.  We were all pleasantly surprised. 

Pumpkin Pecan Oat Coconut Muffins

Our son was craving pumpkin muffins. It distracted him from gingerbread, so I went with it.  I found this recipe just in time and modified it to suit our preferences. I hope you enjoy Pumpkin Pecan Oat Coconut Muffins for Austin.  The instructions are extra detailed for my friend, Carolyn B.

Coraline - just who is the audience? Not us - not your children.

I am devouring a Carl's Jr. Famous Star.  We skipped dinner because of the timing of the movie Coraline.  We had a date tonight to celebrate six years of marriage. We had the sitter and a plan for a late night dinner.  Our timing was off so we skipped the dinner part and picked up to go.  This would be alright except that we'd really like Henry Selick to return the two-and-a-half hours of our lives we spent at his movie.  He owes me an anniversary celebration.

RECIPE Healthy Cookies - cherries, oats, honey, almonds

Working with what's in the cupboards keeps my recipes simple since I haven't made a real grocery list in 10 days.  Rummaging through I managed to create some great cookies thanks to Costco.

I creamed one stick butter - real butter. I don't substitute when baking.
1/2 cup  honey - it was starting to crystallize so I heated up the little bear for 20 seconds
1 diced Red D'Anjou pear
1 egg - baking - don't use egg beaters. If you must, use three egg whites instead.

Added:
1 cup Red's almond meal
2 cups oats - not quick oats - rolled.
1/4 teaspoon salt to bring out the nuts
1 cup chopped almonds
3/4 cup dried cherries
1 cup dried cranberries or craisins.

Mix.

Bake 1 tablespoon size lumps at 350 for 15 minutes. I ALWAYS set a timer that won't shut off automatically. Otherwise, I get distracted and then the "bacon timer" reminds me that I have been remiss in my baking project.

Gotta go - popcorn is about done so we can watch Big Bang Theory and 2 and a Half Men recorded

HINT:
Always keep bags of nuts, dried fruit and oats around for quickie baking frenzies.

Peanut or almond butter can be substituted, but be sure to add 1/4 cup veg oil if you do this or your cookies will get too crumbly and won't hold together.

The Bench is Ours

Careful what you bid for - you may get it. Thank goodness I only won one of the items we were bidding on.  We're all celebrating.  Our daughter was telling everyone at church that we won the bench.  They looked at her sideways until she explained while pogo-sticking as she told of the entire creation of the bench.

We procured the bench at the school auction.  We hunter-gathered and hauled it back. We're really tired of moving this thing.  We'll let it rest in the courtyard for a few months before we decide the final location - exactly.  Spring will mean filling in the courtyard behind the bench with something wispy and tall - oh - and low maintenance since I seem to kill everything.

This started out as a way to create a great auction project to raise money for our school arts programs.  Tom built the form from scratch with a plan he found on line.  The children in our daughter's class created the butterfly tiles.  We're fortunate to have a lot of glass and a small kiln at school.  We came up with butterflies because they take fewer cuts and the children could decorate them with frit (glass boogers and crumbs).  We fired them in two firings and added the edge pieces. Our four-year-old helped me with the edge pieces. He's particularly fond of the Eric-Carle-inspired caterpillar in the front.  We will treasure this always.

I think I'm most grateful that we don't have to go through a variation on this process again due to losing THIS one at the auction.  Whew!