Cafe' at home!

  This afternoon the boys and Megan were having fun playing restaurant up in our dining room and they were delighted when I told them we could still play restaurant for supper.

They had slid the big table to one end of the room and brought TV trays/tables up to have for Cafe' tables. Then they stuck a candle on each table.

  When I told them we could do this for supper the quickly set the tables with napkin wrapped silverware and straws in the glasses. Jonathan also got to work at making a menu while Aaron helped me make the supper.

 My parents stopped by to drop of and pick up some stuff and the boys begged them to join us for supper. They obliged which made our supper extra special. They got to share the big table while the rest of us sat in pairs at the little tables (Ken and I did get two slid together to accommodate our bigger plates).

  The boys carefully dished up the food and were the servers. Jonathan had also quickly made dessert with Grandma's help. We couldn't have a restaurant without dessert you know!

 A fun time was had by all. All the diners at the restaurant chatted together in a very friendly way. The servers took the middle table for themselves and had to eat last since they were busy serving.

Ken and I had a little "date" over by one wall. It was a fun change in routine. Something different in the middle of the winter. Having frugal fun like this works for me!

Cafe' at home!

  This afternoon the boys and Megan were having fun playing restaurant up in our dining room and they were delighted when I told them we could still play restaurant for supper.

They had slid the big table to one end of the room and brought TV trays/tables up to have for Cafe' tables. Then they stuck a candle on each table.

  When I told them we could do this for supper the quickly set the tables with napkin wrapped silverware and straws in the glasses. Jonathan also got to work at making a menu while Aaron helped me make the supper.

 My parents stopped by to drop of and pick up some stuff and the boys begged them to join us for supper. They obliged which made our supper extra special. They got to share the big table while the rest of us sat in pairs at the little tables (Ken and I did get two slid together to accommodate our bigger plates).

  The boys carefully dished up the food and were the servers. Jonathan had also quickly made dessert with Grandma's help. We couldn't have a restaurant without dessert you know!

 A fun time was had by all. All the diners at the restaurant chatted together in a very friendly way. The servers took the middle table for themselves and had to eat last since they were busy serving.

Ken and I had a little "date" over by one wall. It was a fun change in routine. Something different in the middle of the winter. Having frugal fun like this works for me!

Bright orange socks! {And random thoughts on doing things yourself}

 I just finished knitting something that I was kind of excited about- Socks! That seems like a silly thing to be excited about especially when I have knitted more complicated things like sweaters before but I guess that is just how I am. :-) I have wanted to make socks for quite a while but just have never done it before. Now however I can cross that desire off my list! These socks were just tube socks so I do want to try some socks with set heels so I guess I am not done with my sock making.

  Much of my desire to make socks stems from this passion of mine to "make it myself!" I don't like to use the term self sufficiency because I will never ever be self sufficient. I can do absolutely nothing without my God who created me and I desperately need other people too, however I do think it is fun to see what all I can make instead of buy if I need to.

   My parents have lived for much of their lives growing much of their own food, raising their own animals for meat,  milk and eggs. They also built (and we kids got to help too!) the house we grew up in, built much of our furniture, sewed much of our clothes and so on. It definitely made me to love being able to do things on my own as well.

   Do any of the rest of you remember all the scare around the turn of the century- going from 1999 to 2000? Ken and I were in college at the time (Fairly newly married and Mara had just arrived) and living near my Grandma in Iowa. There was a lot of talk about how the electricity might all shut off and who knows what all else. "It might be the End of life as we know it!". We heard a lot about this and weren't sure what to think about whether there would really be troubles or not but I certainly didn't ever worry about it. I know this is weird but I kind of got excited thinking about how we would deal with it if it should happen. And so just in case we decided to prepare. 

  We started a garden not only out back of our apartment but also at my grandma's and at another friends place nearby where they had extra room. We also stocked up on other food, toilet paper and jugs of water. It seems kind of silly now but honestly it was lots of fun (at least for me!) figuring out how we would be able to manage even if we didn't have electricity and stores weren't running like normal. My Grandma grew up during the depression and I think she had fun getting ready "just in case" too.

   I still like the idea of being prepared. And honestly news of hard economic times or other things like that don't ever worry me- I just feel a bit excited that maybe all of my preparations might get tested. After researching for years- I might actually have to do more "living off the land". Maybe someday I won't be able to buy socks at the store and I might need to make them. Well I'm ready! :-)  

  The socks ended up bigger than I had thought they would be at first and so I am the one who gets them. I think they would fit Ken too but I don't think he wants bright orange socks. I don't mind, I think they are kind of fun. The kids like them too, Aaron told me they fit him just fine- over his pajamas. Megan calls them her boots.

 I found the pattern for them in this book called "Kids Knitting" by Melanie Falick. It has quite a few simple and cute knitting patterns. And even though I am not a kid I managed to follow it too. :-)

 Have any of you ever knit socks? Do you have any desire too?

And I'm curious- Did you get ready for Y2K? Or did you even know anything about the scare associated with it?

Do you like to be prepared and do stuff yourself?  Please talk with me in the comments!

I am hoping to make more socks before to long. The kids all want their own pair. I am eyeing this pattern next.

Bright orange socks! {And random thoughts on doing things yourself}

 I just finished knitting something that I was kind of excited about- Socks! That seems like a silly thing to be excited about especially when I have knitted more complicated things like sweaters before but I guess that is just how I am. :-) I have wanted to make socks for quite a while but just have never done it before. Now however I can cross that desire off my list! These socks were just tube socks so I do want to try some socks with set heels so I guess I am not done with my sock making.

  Much of my desire to make socks stems from this passion of mine to "make it myself!" I don't like to use the term self sufficiency because I will never ever be self sufficient. I can do absolutely nothing without my God who created me and I desperately need other people too, however I do think it is fun to see what all I can make instead of buy if I need to.

   My parents have lived for much of their lives growing much of their own food, raising their own animals for meat,  milk and eggs. They also built (and we kids got to help too!) the house we grew up in, built much of our furniture, sewed much of our clothes and so on. It definitely made me to love being able to do things on my own as well.

   Do any of the rest of you remember all the scare around the turn of the century- going from 1999 to 2000? Ken and I were in college at the time (Fairly newly married and Mara had just arrived) and living near my Grandma in Iowa. There was a lot of talk about how the electricity might all shut off and who knows what all else. "It might be the End of life as we know it!". We heard a lot about this and weren't sure what to think about whether there would really be troubles or not but I certainly didn't ever worry about it. I know this is weird but I kind of got excited thinking about how we would deal with it if it should happen. And so just in case we decided to prepare. 

  We started a garden not only out back of our apartment but also at my grandma's and at another friends place nearby where they had extra room. We also stocked up on other food, toilet paper and jugs of water. It seems kind of silly now but honestly it was lots of fun (at least for me!) figuring out how we would be able to manage even if we didn't have electricity and stores weren't running like normal. My Grandma grew up during the depression and I think she had fun getting ready "just in case" too.

   I still like the idea of being prepared. And honestly news of hard economic times or other things like that don't ever worry me- I just feel a bit excited that maybe all of my preparations might get tested. After researching for years- I might actually have to do more "living off the land". Maybe someday I won't be able to buy socks at the store and I might need to make them. Well I'm ready! :-)  

  The socks ended up bigger than I had thought they would be at first and so I am the one who gets them. I think they would fit Ken too but I don't think he wants bright orange socks. I don't mind, I think they are kind of fun. The kids like them too, Aaron told me they fit him just fine- over his pajamas. Megan calls them her boots.

 I found the pattern for them in this book called "Kids Knitting" by Melanie Falick. It has quite a few simple and cute knitting patterns. And even though I am not a kid I managed to follow it too. :-)

 Have any of you ever knit socks? Do you have any desire too?

And I'm curious- Did you get ready for Y2K? Or did you even know anything about the scare associated with it?

Do you like to be prepared and do stuff yourself?  Please talk with me in the comments!

I am hoping to make more socks before to long. The kids all want their own pair. I am eyeing this pattern next.

Silly Putty Is Non-Toxic

Last week Evan went to bed with Silly Putty, unbeknownst to us. In the morning I saw evidence of the silly putty without seeing the majority of it. Evan told me he didn't put it in his mouth but I still did a quick google check to be sure Silly Putty was non-toxic just in case. It is non-toxic luckily. I figured that if he did eat it, it hopefully would pass in the next day or two.

When I was helping Evan to get dressed a little later that morning, he looked down and then I saw it.....


a wad of Silly Putty in his hair. After I laughed, I took a picture. I carefully trimmed it out of his hair with surprisingly little damage to his "stick-uppy" prone hair. I was glad to find it even if it was in his hair. We later found the other half of the silly putty stuck in his blankets but luckily I was able to get it off without much trouble.

So, Evan was right. He didn't put the Silly Putty in his mouth. :)