Gingerbread House 2012

Here is my tip for easy gingerbread house assembly with small children:  The night before you want to decorate the house, hot glue it together.  That way the next day you can get right to decorating and it won't fall apart.  Works every time! 

Happy Hannukah!

A Completely Crazy (Maybe, Partially) Wish List

I have these crazy day dreams.  They involve farm houses and fields.  Vegetable gardens and fruit trees.  Bee hives, chickens, and goats. In these day dreams I don't have an outside job.  There are lots of dogs milling around, it is always spring or summer and I still have all the luxuries of modern life; so, in short, there is not a lot of reality on these daydreams, but that is what day dreams are all about.

Anyway, I thought it would be fun to put together a completely ridiculous wish list to go along with my daydream:

All American Pressure Canner -- For canning low acid foods that are not safe to can in a water bath canner

From Amazon.com

Big Bereky Water Filter -- Even in my daydreams and I skeptical of the water quality

From Amazon.com

Weck Canning Jars -- Because they are pretty and I will need to preserve my harvest

Weckjars.com

Alexandria Chicken Coop & Run -- For the chickens of course

From Williams-Sonoma

Bee Hives -- For the bees of course

From Williams-Sonoma

Hand Crank Grain Mill -- Because I will be milling my own flour

From Williams-Sonoma

Semester Break Plans

There are 2 weeks left in this semester... 2 weeks... and then a blissful 3 weeks off.  An extended break between the fall and spring semester is a perk of working in higher education, a perk I appreciate fully.  I try to use the time off to get projects finished around the house and here is what is on the docket for this year:

1.  Re-organize the pantry.  I know the space is being poorly utlized I have to find a way to remedy that.
2.  Take the train table out, bring the art table in.  Nate is pretty much finished playing with his train table (not the trains, just the table) so that is on its way out and a child sized table and chairs will be taking its place.  This and #1 will require a
3.  Trip to Ikea
4.  Clean the carpets.  Not fun but much needed.
5.  Do crafts with Nate, get outside when possible, MOVE, set up playdates, relax and enjoy my family.

Holiday Baking

For some reason I am not really in the mood to do any holiday baking.  This is seriously out of character because I love to bake all the time... who knows.  Anyway I will be doing some and here is what I have planned:

1.  Peanut Butter Fudge
2.  Maple Walnut Fudge
3.  Pitzells
4.  Peppermint Bark

And I think that is going to be it.  

The stitches are out!

I had the stitches taken out of my finger today which means that I don't have to wear a bag over my hand in the shower anymore! But still no doing dishes... the doctor was very specific about that... ;)

Before:

After:

36 (Completely Random) Things About Me Now that I am 36

1.  I bite my nails
2.  I pick at my cuticles
3.  I LOVE chicken Tikka Masal
4.  I am afraid of squirrels
5.  I have watched Gone with the Wind over 40 times
6.  I really like watching the Walking Dead, but it scares the Bejeezus out of me.
7.  I am 100% convinced that a hand is going to shoot out from under the door to my crawl space and grab at me.
8.  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Nate's malapropisms. My favs being "munchball" for "Munchkin" and "whip" instead of "whisk."
9.  I love playing scrabble and Words with Friends even though I lose every time.
10.  My favorite animal is a river otter
11.  My favorite books are the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon
12.  I think I am addicted to Target
13.  I am way too impatient to sew.  I sew all the time but cut corners and make a ton of mistakes
14.  I got my first set of stitches from an accident when I was 35
15.  When I was pregnant I craved OJ and Lemonade constantly.
16.  I have on more than one occasion laughed myself into an asthma attack
17.  I make wonderful bread from scratch
18.  Despite my best efforts my house is never truly clean
19.  As much as I profess being green and recycling, sometimes I just want things gone so I throw them in the trash
20.  I don't like being "mean mommy"
21.  At 5:00 am I would like to outsource my parenting to... well to anyone who would take it
22.  I am currently trying to brew my own Kombucha
23. I am not a morning person

24. I am not really a night person either
25.  I think I have a few good hours in the middle of the day ;)
26.  I am working to instill a sense of charity in Nate
27.  Snickers baby... the only way to go
28.  I learned how to ski once but never practiced the skill
29.  I taught myself how to knit
30.  I have fired a gun
31.  I don't like planning birthday parties
32.  My reader is a strange mix of mom blogs, craft blogs, and doomsday prepper blogs
33.  My ipod has way more Ke$ha on it than I would like to admit
34.  I have never been further west than West Virginia
35.  I still understand enough spanch to get the jokes on Sabado Gigante
36.  I actually still have penpals... and we have been corresponding for 20 and 21 years

The Holiday Season

So the "holiday season" is upon us.  Christmas is still 22 days away but Chanukkah is a mere 5 days (uh oh) away.  I have taken down the Thanksgiving decorations, but I haven;t put them away yet... maybe tomorrow and I certainly haven't decorated for Chistmas or Chanukkah yet, maybe that will happen tomorrow too.

I was able to get my cards written and mailed... that is a feat for me.  I have a thing with cards and usually dread the task, but this year I made it easy on myself.  I bought the cards on clearance last year, I am not putting any kind of picture in them, I am only sending card to those people who sent them to me last year.  That last part cut the task down quite a bit. 

I am not stressing about it.  The tree will get put up.  The candles will get lit.  The present will get wrapped (maybe)... It will be all good.

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 30

I am thankful that the light and festive feeling of the Holiday season is upon us. 

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 29

I am thankful that I was encouraged to learn and be curious.  I am thankful for lifelong learning and for my deep seated desire to grow and learn new things and skills.

Happy Birthday To Me!

Oh my god I'm 36!

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 28

I am thankful for the generosity of others... for birthday wishes and birthday cakes, birthday presents and cards.

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 27

Today I am thankful for playdates that burn off some of Nate's boundless energy.

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 26

Again I am thankful for a wonderful family.  A mom who will drop everything a run when I call with an emergency and a hubby who picks up all the slack when I can't hold up my end of the bargin... like when a finger is out of commission.

Oopsie!

So this morning I decided to empty all of the trashcans in the house.  Not really a big deal, it is something I do every Sunday.  I started with the trashcan by the washer which happen to contain the broken pieces of my big pasta bowl.  I picked up the big pieces and put them in the bag. While doing this one of the pieces sliced through the plastic and I though to myself, "um... who would have thought that would be sharp?"  Then I turned the trashcan upside down to dump it into the bag.  A Piece of broken bowl that was wedged into the can unlodged and landed on my pinky finger... Ouch!  "That is going to be a bad scrape" I though to myself.  When I pulled my hand out I was rather shocked to see that it was not a scrape, but a huge chuck on my finger that had been cut out.

CRAP!

I ran upstairs to get Jon and pretty much lost all of my common sense.  He had to tell me to put pressure on it, to elevate it, to sit down.  When I did finally sit down the situation kind of caught up with me and I started to have an asthma attack.  Jon got me my inhaler and we staved off the attack.  Then I could feel myself starting to pass out (pretty sparkles in the air!) so I laid down and got control of myself.

I sent Jon to get dressed and called my mom to come watch Nate so I cold go to the hospital.  It usually take her 20 minutes to get to my house but today it took her 11... go mom! 

I really didn't want to spend 8 hours in the ER with sick people but I didn;t think I really had a choice, then Jon remembered that a new urgent care facility had opened up in the shopping center around the corner from the house.  Brilliant!  We went there and in 1.5 hours I was stitched up and on my way home.

 Here is my finger after being cleaned out and stitched up.

 And after being mummified

Truly, the worst part of this experice was having to get a tetanus shot.  They hurt for so long!!!  So I am stitched and wrapped for 10 days and then hopefully everything will be back to normal.

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 25

I am thankful that there are Urgent Care centers that serve as viable alternatives to the ER.  (More on that later)!

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 24

I am thankful for day of rest and recuperation.  Days when you can spend most of the hours in your PJs with your hair unwashed and no one cares.

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 23

I am grateful that my wonderful hubby takes every black friday off so that I can go shopping with my mom.

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 22

I am thankful for my family

Happy Thanksgiving!

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 21

I am grateful for people who look at a pile of old books  about sex and think, "Hey Molly could use these in her Archives." Because I <> use them in my archives.

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 20

I am grateful for co-workers who will make me a sweet potato pie for my birthday!

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 19

I am thankful for my Neti-Pot and Muniex DM (I have a cold)

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 18

I am eternally grateful for indoor plumbing and potable water.

Science Experiments

Nate loves to "do science experiments" (whatever that means to a 4 year old) and I like to sit and enjoy a hot cup of coffee every once in a while. 

So on Tuesday while we were both off I set him up with a science experiment that went over like gangbusters and I got to enjoy this:

(I lead an exciting life I know)

Supplies Needed:

jelly roll pan or 11"x13" pan filled with baking soda

4 or more cups or mugs filled with white vinegar and different food colorings

1 medicine dropper

Tell your kid to suck up some of the colored vinegar with the medicine dropper and squirt it in the baking soda.  Watch him paint for hours!

This is a great rainy/snowy day activity.  You can teach science, color combinations, and fine motor skills all at the same time... and you can drink your coffee while it is still hot.

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 17

I am thankful for my smart, funny, stubborn, strong-willed, creative, mischievous little boy. 

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 16

I am thankful for modern, female controlled contraception.  I do love children, but I do not want to have more than one.  I am eternally thankful that we have methods for controlling reproduction, because a baby-factory I am not.

5 Things for Friday: Things I don't get on Pinterest edition

1.  Ring Holders specifically designed for you wedding & engagement rings -- I have seen these on Pinterest and I just have to ask "who takes their wedding and engagement rings off?"  Now, in all fairness it would take an act of god to get my rings off my finger right now, but show of going in for surgery, they NEVER came off my finger before.  Want a good holder for your wedding/engagement ring... how about your finger?

2.  Wedding Boards -- Now, I completely understand a wedding board... back in my day we used a scrap book, but I get that.  But have you seen some of these?  They are completely ridonkulous!  These women/girls are pinning away micromanaging every single teeny weeny facet of the day... down to how the guests are going to dance, what the best man will say... You know what I never see?  a marriage board.  Hey ladies... the wedding is one day... the marriage is supposed to last a life time... you might want to pin a little more about that.

3.  "The Bucket List" Phenomenon -- I understand that people have dreams and ambitions.  Things that they hope/want to accomplish in life. However, you can't "Bucket List" everything.  The wedding bucket list, the summer bucket list, the toddler years bucket list, the crafting bucket list, etc.; is in my opinion, taking it just a little bit too far.  Maybe spend a little more time doing the things on this list and less time listing them obsessively.

4.  Thinspo (Thinspiration) -- This was such a controversy, the Pinterest actually made people take down their Thinspiration boards.  if you don't know, these were boards people used to inspire them to be thinner and usually contained pics of severely anorexic women.  Now I get self improvement and even wanting to lose a few pounds but when you have only pinned pictures of women's body parts and not a single picture of a whole woman, I have issues.  Our society has trained everyone to objectify women.  Not to see them as a whole, or even as the sum of their parts, but to actually see them AS parts.  Breasts, face, Butt, legs.. not a whole person.  When I see woman after woman pinning the same body parts in the same objectified way, I want to go into their board and pin a picture of a brain... because that is the part that seems to need the most work.

5.  The OBSESSION with putting things in jars -- Now I love me a mason jar.  They are great for canning and preserving, they are handy for storing things, but not everything needs to be baked in one, gifted in one, drank out of one, eaten out of one, etc.  There are other kinds of containers that should be explored.

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 15

I am thankful for the Internet.  Without it I would not have met my wonderful husband or be able to keep in touch with so many of my far off friends.

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 14

I am thankful for free speech, without it my job as a librarian and sexologist would be very difficult indeed.

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 13

Today I am thankful for convenience food.  Although I love to cook and I love to cook from scratch, some days that just ain't going to happen.

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 12

I am thankful to be part of a wonderful professional community that rallies to support its own.

3 Junky, chemical filled, delicious foods that I will highly recommend to anyone

Betty Crocker Hot Chocolate Cupcake Mix

I found it at Walmart.  I have not seen it anywhere else.  They are so stinkin' good!  It makes 12 cupcakes, which is perfect in my opinion, especially if you are just making them to have in the house and not for a party.  They are a milk chocolate cake with mini marshmallows in them and they come with a mix for a marshmallow frosting.  LOVE THEM!

Kid's Cuisine Popcorn Chicken

I haven't actually eaten the chicken, but Nate has and he likes it.  What I really like about this TV-Dinner for kids is that the peaches are not your typical canned peaches in heavy syrup.  Nate didn't want them, so I took them to work in my lunch and they taste like REAL peaches, not canned.  Fresh peaches in peach juice... they were great.  If they sold them separately, I would buy them for myself and not share with the kids.

Entenmann's Mini Cakes-Raspberry Crumb

 

I found them yesterday in the supermarket and bought them.  Maybe it is the PMS talking, but I am seriously craving raspberry Entenmann's raspberry anything.  These are good and less sticky/sloppy/messy then the raspberry danish.

 

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 11

I am thankful that there are people who willingly risk their lives to protect our county.  Today I am thankful for military personnel, veterans, and their families.

A Month of Grattude -- Day 10

I am thankful for modern medicine.  Even though I know that in the future we will look back and think all of our current treatments and surgeries are barbaric and backward, but right now, I am thankful that I don't have to drink tonics of urine and dung or have my baby in an iron lung.

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 9

Today I am thankful for coffee.

Happy Veteran's Day

What I Wore...

Although this was not the first outfit I had in mind for today, I am very please with the way this one turned out.

Dress (Eshakti) / Tights (Gap) / Boots (6pm.com)

The only difference is that my dress is plum (but I couldn't find a picture of that).

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 8

I am thankful for my friends.  Old and new, close and far, real world and virtual support, friendship, love, and solace.

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 7

I am thankful for the food in my pantry.  Specifically that it is plentiful and that I can use my extra to help those who are not so lucky.

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 6

I am grateful that I live in a country where it is my right/responsibility to participate in the electoral process.

Happy Election Day!

Did you?

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 5

I am grateful for a wonderful husband who can always make me laugh.

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 4

I am grateful for the roof over my head... even if it does need to be replaced.

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 3

I am truly grateful that my mother volunteered to be my nanny/daycare/Montessori so that I didn't have to leave my baby with strangers. 

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 2

I am grateful that I have supervisors that have faith and trust in my professionalism and good judgement.  It just makes this go that much more smoothly.

A Month of Gratitude -- Day 1

I am grateful for electricity.  Working electricity.  In the wake of Hurricane Sandy it seems like half of my friends and family are still without power.  I an truly grateful that ours was restored in 4 hours. 

My Halloween Style

Although I would love to come to work in costume, it really isn't the most professional thing to do, so I refrain.  I do flaunt my own Halloween style nonetheless:

Black dress pants/ white 3/4 sleeve T-shirt/ orange scarf

Awesome studded skull flats

Halloween lampwork beaded bracelets (made by yours truly)

Happy Halloween & A Blessed Samhain

 

Blessed Be!

Fall Used to Be My Favorite Season...

I used to love fall... okay, actually I still do love fall, but for some reason this year, the beginning of Fall is the beginning of the insect invasion.  Seriously, people, I am under attack.  Two days ago there was a milipede by the dogs' bowls.  Last night there was a HUGE centipede on teh wall in the family room that I had to wack and them hack at with a magazine. 

This morning was the worst.  This is what I found in my kitchen... THIS!!!

OH MY GOD IT WAS HUGE... like big enough that I could see eyes and fangs!!!

I killed it, probably by screaming so loud, and then took it outside to photograph, lest is rise from the dead in some zombie spider form.

Ok, Fall... one more insect incident and you and I are through!

Baby Shower Decor

My aunt held a baby shower for my cousin recently.  Although it was her third baby, it had been so long between the second and the third that she had gotten rid of most of her baby thing.  It was a small shower, mostly family and a few of my cousin's neighbors.  I was in charge of decorations and favors. 

My first stop was, where else... Pinterest and boy did I find some cute ideas there.  The theme was "nautical" and I was looking to keep it classy and inexpensive, so I decided to go with flowers, and banner for the food table, and a cake banner for, obviously, the cake.  I found a printable nautical flag alphabet banner and stung the paper flags in some jute twine that I had.  I found some small galvanized buckets at Goodwill that I thought would be perfect for the flowers that I bought (at the produce outlet no less... for $9). 

And finally, I whipped up a cute little cake banner with some ribbon scraps, bakers twine, and bamboo skewers.

The mama to be was thrilled and I was pleased too.

I Conquered My Fear

well one of them anyway.  I am still afraid of squirrels and horror movies, but I am no longer afraid of water bath canning.  YAY ME!

My mother has been telling me for years that it is easy and nothing to be scared of, but sometimes a girl has to learn these things on her own.  Plus, if you read all the canning web sites it is botulism this and death that. 

Anyway, I bought the big granite wear canner and have canned strawberry jam, apple perpper jelly, tomato puree, raspberry vanilla jam, and kosher pickles.

I don't have pictures of them all, but  here is the strawberry jam

 
and the tomatoes and pickles

Of all the things I have canned, I have had everything seal except one jar of pickles.  Which I stuck in the fridge to mature.

Happy Anniversay!

Thanks for putting up with me for 8 years!  Love you!

Summer Crafting

I did squeeze in some crafting this summer...

I made this adorable sushi necklace

I finally (why did I wait so long???) bought a rotary cutter and mat and whipped up this pillow from a thrifted cashmere sweater

I decided that I was tired of throwing away unused (i.e. dry) night time pull ups, so I decided to try my hand at making reusable night time trainers for Nate.  They were easy to put together (I used the Trimsies Trainer pattern, and bought my supplies here) and they looked fantastic.  Unfortunately Nate REFUSED to wear them, so I sold them all on DiaperSwappers :(

Finally I started sewing pillowcases.  They are so easy to sew and come together so quickly that they are truly a nap-time project.  I use these directions for my pillowcases.

Rosh Hashana Challah

For Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new year, the challah is round.  This year, instead of just coiling the dough around itself I would look for a way to braid the challah in a round.  I went to Pinterest, my go to source for just about everything these days and found these instructions.

Source: easy-diets-that-work.com via Molly on Pinterest

It was easy to do and made a BEAUTIFUL round braided challah

I'm baaaack!

ok, so I took a few months off from blogging and it was really nice.  Sorry, but I didn't really miss it.  Anyway I am back with a few changes.  First of all you might notice the new look to the blog... I like the books, I am a librarian after all. 

I will also be focusing less on "being frugal," because, as my hubby keeps says "You're not frugal!!!"  which is the truth, I'm not... I want to be, but I'm not.  I do some frugal things, but not because they are frugal just because I like going them or because they are better for the environment. 

So anyway, stay tuned... I promise I will not go that long without posting again.

Shoe Clips!

Do you have a pair of shoes that need a little revitalizing?  May I suggest shoe clips! 

I found 2 cocktail rings at Pier One that were on the clearance rack and just screamed at me to put them on shoes. 

So I bought them, detached them from the ring part, glued them to two heart shaped paper clips that I had (I was completely unable to find shoe clips, or even clip-on earrings, at any of my local craft stores) using E-6000 industrial adhesive and Viola!  New (or revamped) shoes.

Freezer Paper Stenciling

There are a million freezer paper stenciling tutorials all over the web (for example here, here and here), so I am not going to recreate the wheel, but I do want to share my first freezer paper stencil project. 

It was so easy to do and worked so well that I think I will be doing a great deal of stenciling in the future.

New Hair

I decided to change things up a little, so instead of my usual purple streak... now I have a teal streak.  I am embracing the punk rock teenager I was too chicken to bee when I was a teenager...

Crockpot French Dip Sandwhiches

I have been craving a hot roast beef sandwich for a while now.  When I found a bing hunk o meat in the freezer I knew it was time to make them. 

This recipe is super easy, only calls for 3 ingredients (aside from the beef) and best of all, cooks in the Crockpot so you don;t even have to think about it.

1 big hunk o beef (I think it was a rump roast @ 4pounds)
1 can of beer
1 can of beef broth
1 can of french onion soup

-- Trim the fat off the beef if there is any.
-- Put the beef in the cock pot.
-- Pour the other ingredients over the beef.
-- Put cockpot on low for 7 hours

Slice thin, put on roll, dip in juices, broth and beef... ENJOY!

Easy (and Cheap) Chalkboard Wall Art

Chalkboard paint is all the rage right now and why not?  It is fun to have the power to turn anything into a chalkboard.  I decided to hop on the bandwagon and create some chalkboard wall art.

1.  I found this, brand new, framed print of Audrey Hepburn at Goodwill for $3.  I never intended to hand it as is, but I liked the frame and that was well worth $3.

2.  Disassemble the frame.  Flip the print over and cover the back with the chalkboard paint according to the directions on the bottle.  For me I did 2 coats, let it cure for 24 hours, and then rubbed it with chalk.

3.  Create your art.  I like the scrabble like affect of our names to building off one another.

Total spent $10... $3 for the frame and $7 for the chalkboard print.