Livin' the Life

Ahhhhh. It's fall in Moscow! That was a good ahhhhh as fall in Moscow is a beautiful thing.

For those of you not familiar with these parts it might help you to know that the Moscow in Idaho is pronounced with the long "o" vowel sound at the end so that it rhymes with Idaho. Anyway, we have hard fake wood floors on a cement foundation. My feet needed squishy slippers and it's just about cool enough too!

I was thinking of my slipper felting crew the "Twisted Sisters" back in Kansas the whole time I worked on them! Pardon the lint. They were felted with a load of towels haha. My next fall projec was a fall print skirt! This was what I texted my sister to check on the length. Pardon the boxes and such. We're in between stages, and let's face it, creative projects take priority. 

For my skirts, I have formulated a hybrid of all my favorite features from various patterns. I use the waistband (-interfacing) and pockets from this pattern. 

I use the skirt body from this online tutorial. (Front panel=waist/2+10 rounded to 25. Back panels=waist/2+5.5 rounded to 20) It made the most effective use of my fabric. (1.5 yds main fabric, .5 yds pocket and waist lining plus extra) Two yards is about the right amount for this project. Next time wee small ones ask when they're to use math I encourage you to reference this. 

This skirt was great for Mondays golf outing. Luke plays and I walk with him. As we go by tee boxes I collect the colorful broken bits. Like some people collect sea shells at the ocean! 

I'm also getting pretty good at removing the pin (flag) at the appropriate time. Since everyone in Fresno has been enjoying the Big Big Big Fresno Fair, I made up some of those blue ribbon winning snickerdoodles I used to make when I was 9 and we have been enjoying devouring them at an alarming rate. 

You know you're helping with primary math when all you see here is "array" and "multiplication." Today I got locked IN our apartment. We knew it was sketchy and I knew as soon as I flipped it I was stuck. 

The handy man came, went through the window and they figured out a teeeeemporary solution. They said "we'll order the part and next time this happens we'll switch it out." 

....Wait. Next time?!?!?

One of the greatest things about this region?! Bomb.com onions. They're firm and flavorful and yum. 

Meet my mushroom, onion, provolone burger. I made the patties with minced onion, garlic and spinach. A grab of salt and pepper. A pour of Worcestershire sauce. Some paprika. 

Om nom nom nom. Sooooo good. Seriously. 

Also seriously, this local honey from the Entomology family! Spoonful a day-ing. Can't wait to reap the rewards in lesser allergies! (For reals. This works. We did it in Colorado.)

After the amazing burgers tonight? Bike ride. Sunset. Sigh. My muscles burned the way the should when you haven't ridden in a gazillion years, but no but bruises no achey spots. That bike fitting really seriously did the trick. 

Are we living the life or what?

WiP Wednesday- Pom-Pom's, The Scoop, Upside Down

I'm working on a hat that channels a certain Sesame Street character and therefore requires two pink and purple pom-poms. 

 I had an excuse to use my handy dandy pom pom maker which is always a treat!

 I'm just about done with the hat!

I made some chocolate chip cookies this afternoon. 

I love this Oxo Good Grips Cookie dough scoop. I can set it down on the counter and it has a nice rest so that the dough covered scoop doesn't touch the counter.

 While we were gone this week my seeds were feeling neglected and confused. Because the weather was YUCKY (snowy and grey) I planned to leave them on top of the fridge where they were likely to stay the warmest. Unfortunately they didn't get any light either and the plants started growing upside down. With a little sun today they seem to be recovering fairly quickly.

The seedlings who were further along seem to be having a bit tougher of a time bouncing back. Cross your fingers for them.
The last WiP is that I had a meeting Tuesday morning that went pretty well if I do say so myself. We'll see what becomes of it!
I'm linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced and WiP Wednesday!

Gingerbread

My interest in gingerbread began this October when I decided to imitate some skeleton gingerbread men I saw on pinterest. I was in charge of the teacher snack the week of Halloween so these were snack and I brought a crock pot and mulled cider! It was tasty!

 Then I found this gingerbread tissue box at Target! (It was November.)

 Then I made some gingerbread to take to California for snacks!

 Below is the evolution of my gingerbread girls. They went from the syrup lady to kind of cute!

I was trying to get Luke to let me host a gingerbread night at the golf club. So then I decided I better make a sample to see what I would be getting myself into. It turned out pretty cute!


Next year I think I'm going to try to make one that looks like our house!
Through all of this I discovered and stuck with Eileen's Spicy Gingerbread Men recipe which I found on allrecipes.com. It was pretty tasty and sturdy enough for the house too!

Last Week

Last Monday Aunt Maggie, Uncle Mike, Tanya, Kim and I all made the trek to Merced to have a delicious dinner at Dad and Cheri's new house.



Cheri made a great dinner with some much enjoyed special touches!







I've been dealing with many car repair adventures which have given me a chance to do some knitting!



And I squeezed in working on these lanyards Saturday morning. I like em! I'm contemplating the idea of making ric rac twists too!



I am loooooving 5th grade and my purse is often as pictured below. Full of books to share! We sometimes do book clubs at lunch!



Also why I love 5th grade: Girl Scouts!!! My cookies are here!!!!



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Guest Blog: Sweet Tooth

This story begins with our friend Laura whose brother is graduating from dental school next week. In preparation for celebrating his accomplishments, Laura wanted to bake themed cookies—teeth cookies to be precise.

So we set out on a mission today to find a tooth-shaped cookie cutter. Shouldn’t be too hard right? WRONG!

First we marched to Sur La Table to scour their expansive collection of cutters. Twenty minutes and two dollars later, we had Texas Longhorn and Texas state shaped cutters but no tooth. Disappointed but not discouraged, we headed to Michael’s. On the way, Val called JoAnn’s with no luck and even called GW School Supplies thinking that people throw “Teeth Parties” for kids who lose their first tooth. If you can imagine, GW did not have a tooth cookie cutter. Shocker.

After Michael’s failed us as well, we took more extreme measures. We headed to Lowe’s in search of a thin strip of metal for Matt to shape into our own molar. A few of Val’s tools, some patience and a little muscle later, this is what Matt created.



Not bad right?! Who knows, if Matt’s hospital administration career doesn’t work out, he might have a career in cookie cutter creation.

Once it was done, Laura had to come over for a practice run. Mind you she didn’t even bring a rolling pin and Val had already packed hers away, so we used a peanut butter jar. It was a creative day all the way around.







After a successful dry run and a full night of rest, Laura woke up early the next morning to start baking the real deal.



Even Laura's Dad, DDS, got involved. He made some, well, artistic additions to his cookies resembling actual dental problems Laura’s brother may face in the near future. The one below is an abysess. Let’s hope eating these delicious cookies doesn’t cause one of those!



And so our sweet tooth adventure comes to an end. If anyone is looking for a tooth cookie cutter, just let us know!

--Laura, Matt and Val