diaper swap

I participated in a diaper swap this past weekend in St. Joseph, Missouri.  It is only 1hr and 15 from the house so Mr. Miller and I drove up early Saturday morning.  Mimi graciously helped with the little guys.  For you that are curious as to what a Diaper Swap is, I describe it as a “Craigslist of Cloth”.  You get to find gently used or new items, meet like minded parents and just look at different types of cloth diapers that are out there.  As Aubrey says, “Cloth Diapers are not just pins and plastic pants”.

This Swap was put on my Aubrey Turley of Bumper Covers.  She did a great did a great job.  It was well put together and so welcoming to both sellers and Mama’s looking to score some wonderful cloth.  I didn’t sell a lot but some, I have even finished a special order taken post swap.  I did a lot of networking and spent a morning with some very sweet Mama’s.

 

Here is a little bit of my recent handy work.  I am loving my new space.  Some of my appliques are shapes found on fabric scraps and the others I just free cut whatever I am thinking of.  Each one is unique. 

what’s cookin’?

Some old favorites this week!  Using corn noodles on Tuesday, found them at Trader Joes and they are so much better than rice noodles.

Sunday

Boy Scout Blue and Gold Banquet

Monday – Cub Scout Meeting

Pizza

Cesar Salad

Tuesday

Beef Stroganoff over Corn Noodles

Green Beans

Wednesday

Pioneer Woman Simple Perfect Chili

Fritos

Carrots with Ranch

Thursday

Chicken

Macaroni and Cheese with Broccoli

Friday

Tuna and Rice Casserole

Salad

Saturday

Salmon with Raspberry Chipotle Sauce

Grilled Asparagus

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

garden dreaming

I am trying to get my garden plans together.  We have had such a dry and mild winter I wonder how it will affect the harvest?

 

We will be putting in our potatoes soon.  We are going to try the vertical method again this year.  We realized what we did wrong 2 years ago and are willing to give it a try again.  Pinterest has become my latest obsession and I have a board dedicated to my gardening dreams.  I found this website and it answered my questions quite well about potatoes.

We will be making good use of pallets this year from Mr. Miller’s back lot.  We made a trellis last year for the green beans and it worked great.  We had beans well into October.  I found this very cool idea for my cucumbers and lettuce.  I already have the framed chicken wire from last year. 

There are so many things I would love to plant this years.  I can’t wait to get my hands in the dirt.  Henry and Cameron have been “digging for worms” already in the beds.  Secretly I love that they are already turning the soil for Mama.  They are having fun and making my life, at least for my back, a little easier.    What are you planning on growing this year?

oh the things children say…

 

Have you had those moments with your children when you know what you heard come out of their mouth and his makes you go “hmmmmmm”? A very Arsenio Hall moment happened last night while Mr. Miller was helping Cameron with his homework.  Cameron had an assignment for religion class.  He had to decorate a cross and on the back side he had to write how he was going to get closer to Jesus and/or work on during the Lenten Season.  As his parents we had to discuss this with him and answer his questions.  You wouldn’t think this would be to difficult for us considering Mr. Miller is the son of an Episcopal Deacon.  Here is a brief recap of the conversation between Cameron and Mr. Miller.

 

Mr. Miller:  “As a family Cameron we are going to give up eating out during Lent.”

Cameron:  “ Does that include McDonalds?”

Mr. Miller:  “ Yes , son that includes McDonalds or any fast food.”

Cameron:  “But why?”

Mr. Miller:  “ During Lent we give things up as a sacrifice.  Our sacrifice is to honor our Lord and his ultimate sacrifice he gave us. ” (I was impressed at that moment.)

Cameron:  “ Why don’t we eat meat on Ash Wednesday and Fridays now?”

Mr. Miller:  “ Well it is another sacrifice to symbolize when Christ fasted for us.”  (Are you impressed Deacon, I was again at that moment.)

Cameron:  “ So in other words Dad, fasting and Fast Food is the same thing?  Thanks for clearing that up for me.”

Mr. Miller:  “ Maybe we should call the Deacon.”

Henry had a moment too this morning, never a dull moment here.  I was fixing us some eggs after we took Cameron to school.  Henry loves to help me cook and he is fascinated when I crack the eggs on the side of the pan.

Henry:  “Mama are you hatching the eggs now?”

Me:  “ I am cracking the eggs.”

Henry:  “Nope I am pretty sure you are hatching them right there in the pan!”

what’s cookin’?

 

Trying to still keep meals under $100 for the week.  Barely squeaked by this week at the store with $92.79.  Had to buy a few paper products and stocked up on some seafood for the Lenten season.

Sunday:  Ahi Tuna with Avocado, Lime and Cilantro, Brown Rice, Salad

Monday: Pioneer Woman's BBQ Meatballs  (I used GF Oats and Rice Flour) , Mashed Potatoes, Corn

Tuesday:  Chicken Nuggets, Macaroni and Cheese, Peas, Applesauce

Wednesday:  Tuna and Noodles, Broccoli

Thursday:  Homemade Pizza, Salad

Friday:  Black Beans and Rice with Shrimp, Apples

Saturday:  Spaghetti, Green Beans

coming along

Well things are coming together finally in my new “Green Acres Closet” headquarters.  I love my new work space!  I am still tweaking a little bit but it is so amazing to have the room to work, move around and have things organized.  Still a work in progress but it is becoming my sanctuary quickly.

 

Fabric and finished product has a new home.  I need a few more bins and it will be wonderful.  Below I have the start of organizing all the wool or my sweater collection.  I need to get sewing more to make room for the ones that are on the felting table by the washing machine.

As for a cutting table I went from this in my dining room,

to this amazing table Mr. Miller found for me.

My machines are happy in their new home too.

most amazing tuna

We have been experimenting a little with fish here at Green Acres, you know lent starts a week from today. I wanted to make it a little more interesting than the usual cheese pizza, mac and cheese, fish sticks and so on.
I had bought some Ahi Tuna steaks last week at Trader Joes. Last Friday evening I visited the University of Google, I plugged in Seared Ahi Tuna and this is what it gave me, Pan Seared Tuna with Avocado, Lime and Ginger. Tyler Florence is brilliant! I had all the ingredients except fresh Ginger so I just used the ground. It was so good. I am going to use this with Salmon on Sunday when Mimi comes to town.  It has a little heat and the sweet just makes it better.  I served it over brown rice and we had sautéed spinach on the side.

finally!

This is what we looked outside and found this morning.  Wahoo!  Finally some snow.  Good for the morale at Green Acres.  Mr. Miller will be selling the ice melt today.  I get a day with my boys due to the forecast of freezing rain coming in and to top it off it is now officially a pajama day!

::this moment::

 

 

~ a brief moment from our lives that warms my heart…

brothers

"We're brothers, we're brothers..."

Cameron often sings a little tune every since Henry was born. It always starts out the same and sometimes the following verses change. It always ends with a big hug.

I love how my guys play so well together despite the 5 year age difference. Oh they have their fighting moments too, but they really do love each other. I feel so blessed that they will always have a best friend, team mate, confidant and protector in each other.

We have been having some crazy January weather and now its the 1st of February and we are still in the 50's and 60's here in Kansas City. Crazy. Where is the snow. I know most people hate it but I love my seasons plus I like it for Mr. Miller's business. Snow and ice melt play an integral part in his numbers this time of year and he has a ton of it in the warehouse. Could we just get one big snow please? I actually bought these two monkeys snow pants this year and I would love to see them in the yard building a snow fort. I guess I will have to settle for sand castles this week.