Frogger + Pacman + Japan + Toiletries = Awesome.

I stumbled upon this tutorial while searching for a link to send a friend. Instantly, I knew I had to make this bag. I'm going away for my birthday weekend next week and am lacking in the awesome toiletry bag department. Actually, I have no toiletry bag at all, so this was a welcomed project.

The whole thing whipped up in about an hour. Though your time might be significantly less if you're not pausing to wipe yogurt out of someone's hair, changing dirty diapers or chasing children around the house trying to retrieve forks, permanent markers and other random hazards. Even with those distractions, I still ended up with a rockin' bag.

The instructions are straight forward, lots of photos and free. What's not to love? I will say this is fairly small. If you carry a small department store's cosmetics counter with you, you'll need to make a larger bag. I'm not judging, just forewarning. Fortunately, for me, my toiletry needs are simple and sparse; shampoo, spare contacts, toothbrush and deodorant. Easy peasy. And, dare I say, Japaneesy.

I got this fabric as a freebie when I ordered my last shipment of Japanese Lego fabric. It's imported from Japan, is a medium weight cotton canvas and just about the coolest thing ever. How can you not be drawn to the Frogger-Pacman-esque theme? The myriad of dots, stripes, Japanese words I have no idea how to read, and zigzags call out to the primal Eighties era crafter in me. Until now, it had sit in my stash being neglected. I just couldn't figure out what to make with it.

The inside is lined with a scrap piece of orange dots. The zipper was actually an 18" I cut to size and the tabs on the sides are grosgrain ribbon because I didn't feel like making them. I already have plans on making another for sewing stuff.

I love this bag.

We Love TMBG

They Might Be Giants has released some very cool, very educational videos and CD's over the past few years. I've been gobbling them up as soon as a new release comes out. I loved TMBG like a birdhouse in my soul since I was a teen. I'm so happy I don't have to wait so long to introduce my kids to these guys since some of their pre-Disney collaborated* music isn't completely suitable for kids.

It's funny, quirky, catchy and smart. And best of all, reasonably priced and available at Target. I just can't say enough about these guys and their place in our homeschool. The kids ask for it and never even realize they're learning. I realize it when Olivia (she's six) informs me that Everything is made up of mostly four Elements, Oxygen, Nitrogen, Carbon, and Hydrogen. Even Elephants. 

That's all on TMBG. Thanks guys, you've made me a happy homeschoolin' mama.

I've gotta go now, I've a date in Constantinople. I mean, Istanbul.

*FYI I have no idea who they did or did not collaborate with to come up with kids stuff. It's just the first time I knew they did other music was when I learned they did the theme for Higglytown Heros.

Easing Stress

I've finished the Managers of Their Homes book and went on to create our daily plan. It's a doozie of a task organizing six people for twelve hours of the day. But I did it, it's done! We now have a fairly large multicolored schedule posted that starts at 7am and concludes at 7:30pm.

It started out a little bit too big and an awful lot scary.

I'm the yellow and then it goes to the right by oldest child to the youngest. Yeah, I scheduled Max but it's all mostly free time, napping and eating. Dotted around the house we have smaller "charts" that show certain things. The livingroom one lists out 4 things to clean up and then ends with a vaccuuming. Upstairs in the hall is a morning and night routine checklist. Just a gentle reminder to the reading kids that we're supposed to do things like put our dirty clothes in the hamper and wash faces, brush teeth and go potty. Sounds silly? Sometimes, after they're all tucked in their bladders remind them if we don't do it before. When everyone is settling down for slumber, that one noisy kid getting up to pee by turning on lights, flushing toilets and yelling down the stairs "I forgot to go potty!" breaks the lull and reawakens spirits. It's not really fun.

People might visit and think seeing all the charts for cleaning posted with scotch tape around the house might be odd but I hope they ask questions. Even if one of these little charts helps me not have to fight with the kids, keeps them (and me) on task and gets the house tidier.

There is a weekly reminder (see the photo at the top) of what's supposed to happen on what days. Key words, people: supposed to. The schedule and supporting charts aren't a set in stone guide to our lives. Something that provides a rigid military functionality. No, these laminated or colored pieces of paper are simply tools for easing stress.

God knows I need it.

I'd make Bill Cosby proud

We've all had those 2-in-1 desserts; Apple Pie Ice Cream, Cheesecake Brownies, Cookie Brownies, Ice Cream Cake, and the like. For some reason, people have a compulsion to add a desert perfectly delicious on its very own to yet another singularly delicious desert therefore creating a sugary black hole of euphoric bliss. I think it's added a thousand pounds to my hips  teriffic.

While recipe hunting on http://www.tastykitchen.com/ I found yet another double-your-pleasure caloric wonderland dessert: Pudding Cookies by fellow blogger Double Dipped Life. O.M.G. Here they are fresh from the oven. Perfection.

I tend to get all worked up over desserts which is good because I need to expend much energy to counteract all the scrumptiousness I consume. That I can, in fact, actually bake worth a darn is both a blessing and a curse when a delight of a recipe, like the pudding cookie, falls into my slightly-sweets-padded lap. Easy to make, simple ingredients, quick bake time; we have a winner folks.

And just to make you drool a little more...

Home School Field Trip - Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI)

Yeah for science!!! And bigger YEAH for hands-on science that's air conditioned! Back in the day, I won't say how long but it was awhile, MOSI had a bunch of stuff in an open air corridor. They've changed a lot since then but it's still a great place.

I took the kids again, during Swaptember so we got in free which is good because the prices are right up there with the aquarium at $20 or so bucks a head. Parking is free. Though one thing that irks me is they keep having these touring displays like "The Body" at an extra cost. A while back it was extra to go to the Sesame Street exhibit, hard thing to take the kids even with a membership and have to pay extra (quite a chunk extra talking about paying for 5-6 people) to see what they really wanted to in the first place.

There was a bunch of MOSI that wasn't finished or held no displays. I think for the money they could have come up with something though what they do have is very nice. It's clean and the hands on displays have all the pieces excluding maybe one or two exhibits.

The day we went we lucked out and the gift shop was having a store wide sale. I bought a lot of Astronaut ice cream. Damn, that stuff is good. And they were having 20% off membership. I went ahead and got us a standard (minus the IMAX) family pass for just under $80. Yes, if we want to go to the movies we'll have to pay but with a membership it's discounted to about $6 a ticket which is cheaper than the regular theater and a good option for date nights.

The kids loved the freedom of MOSI. The only thing that irked me was in the Kids In Charge zone they had inflatables, like a ginormous slide and a room full of bounce houses. Sounds great, but not when you have to pay to use them, they have a silly height limit by seven year old barely passed and you're a solitary parent chasing after 5 kids as they run in all the directions on a compass rose in varying quickness.

Overall, it's a really nice, clean place to get some hands on fun and I look forward to enjoying more visits with my curious kids.

Home School Field Trip - Florida Aquarium

So far this month we've gone on two home school field trips. We hadn't done much this year with the new baby and only me at the helm so it's a nice change to get out and explore. Plus it being Swaptember (where we can get in free to other local places with our Lowry Park Zoo membership) it added a little bonus to get out and do stuff.

Last week we ventured over to the Florida Aquarium. If you happen to take this trip be prepared to ante up $6 for parking. This is the only place I know of, besides the major theme parks, that requires pay for parking. Though it is set right on the water; pretty prime real estate. Regular admission is about $20 an adult, a little less per kid. We've been here a few times and each time we've been able to see the whole thing in about 2-3 hours. Watching fish is like waiting for the grass to grow for my energetic bunch. So they're usually bounding from one exhibit to the next. If you have more mellow kids, this might be a great place for you to go regularly.

One thing that was disappointing was the splash zone was closed for practically the entire month of September, seems quite a coincidence it's maintenance scheduled for the same month a lot of people get in free...

We did manage to catch the penguin show which is pretty cute. Though it's hard for the little ones to be sooo achingly close to those black and white flappers and cull their tiny hands from trying to sneak a pat. The large viewing room basically gets some red mats laid out and the kids are told not to touch the red which the penguins make a run for it. The handlers are really well mannered, probably realizing a long time ago they needed lots of patience for this kinda lousy set up, and they answered the kids questions with enthusiasm. 

After we ventured around for a few hours we grabbed some lunch, though if it were any more expensive I'd have had to take out a small personal loan. Two kids meals and a sandwich set me back over $20. Oh, and the lovely fountain coke is NOT refillable for free, so if you're thirsty be prepared to chock up $2 each time. They don't allow outside food or drink in either which is posted at numerous intervals on your way in.

Channelside might be a nice place to grab a bite but don't go looking for anything cheap. If you're making a day out of it you could hop a ride on the Tampa Streetcar or tour the SS American Victory, All are within walking distance of the Aquarium.

Overall, the Aquarium isn't quite our cuppa tea but it's a nice distraction once in a while. It's air conditioned and wet when the splash zone's up which are both welcome breaks in the Florida heat.

Back on the cloth diaper band wagon

I've been using cloth diapers since pregnant with my third babe, Cordelia. I started because Alex and Olivia would get diaper rashes and terrible yeast infections (yes, boys can get yeast infections). I lived in the Orlando area at the time and a great gal Jan Z. introduced me to cloth. I can still remember the feeling I got when she told me about cloth; it was like a switch was flipped. Could it be that easy?

The funny part of this story is that Jan and I talked about this outside Chili's one mom's night out and I inadvertently stood in a red ant pile. If that wasn't enough of an attention grabber, as I drove home I started to feel funny. I ended up with the paramedics coming out to the house twice that night. One to give me benedryl and one to take me to the hospital. I had a terrible allergic reaction to the two dozen plus ant bites all over my legs and lost feeling in my mouth, arms and legs.

After I recovered, I talked to everyone that used cloth diapers and did a ton of research online. I ended up using the most expensive all-in-one diaper - Fuzzi Bunz. These come in great colors and were easy enough to use. They resist staining well and hold up over time. They also had a great resale value if in good condition. We used these exclusively and miracle of miracles, the rashes and infections went away. I'm not sure how they've changed over the years, it's been a good five years since I bought mine and they may have changed. For the better or worse, I don't know.

At the time we had a tight budget. Fitting in an order for cloth diapers and still maintaining 'sposies while I waited for the package, then get comfortable using them, was a little tricky. But we managed to get about 12 diapers, 6 for each child with washing every other day. I supplimented with disposables at night. This both cut down trips to the doc for meds and treatment of rashes and costs on buying disposables.

I had a love/hate relationship with cloth diapers since. Selling my stash when it was too difficult to maintain or we needed the money, buying it again when we found out we had a child with super sensitive skin and back and forth.

Max in his whisper wrap.

We're now on our fifth child, Max, and have two in diapers again; Emmy and him. While Rob's away money isn't as tight but he'll be returning soon and spending $50 or more dollars every couple of weeks on diapers just dosen't make much sense. So, I'm back to cloth but have changed things up a bit.

We're now using prefolds, which look like the Gerber baby diapers. I use unbleached indian prefolds. They're far superior to the Gerber ones, they fluff up very soft and are super absorbent. Folding can be tricky but there are lots of great informative sites and video's on YouTube.

To hold them togetherI use Snappi's. They're pricey but there's no way to poke a hole in you or the baby and you can reuse them after each change. I use one a day unless it gets gross and disinfect them in the dishwasher. You can find good deals on ebay for these too.

To hold it all in, I use a diaper cover. These aren't the same things you'll find at Babies R Us. These are polyurathaine laminated cotton or PUL matterial with velcro closures. They can come in a variety of colors and styles. We prefer the ones with leg gussets as it's easy to tuck in stray diaper pieces.

Emmy playing piano in her polka-dot Bummis.

I use some deliciously wonderful baby wipes from BatikBags on Etsy. She specializes in mama pads, cloth wipes and reusable breast pads. Excellent quality!

I also found another great Etsy seller Respire. She makes some wonderful pocket prefolds which take the work out of folding, great to leave with the sitter! She also sells handmade wool covers and patters for making your own cloth prefold fitteds.

I love the prices, service and selection over at Cotton Babies too and have bought almost exclusively from them this last run. They have some great diaper packages too.

So, now we're back in cloth diapers and I stay away from the ants.

Blog and Product props - Home-N-Stead

There have been a few blogs out there that really just grab my attention and nestled in with those are the great family over at Home-N-Stead. I found them while searching for homesteading links. They're a great big large family which I just adore.

They have some really cool kids. Nine homeschooled kids produced, edited and starred in their own DVD's. The trailer alone is enough to entice you to order. What wit and imagination! Dedicaiton and devotion! I'm waiting with baited breath for Indiana John to come out. It's really an inspiration to me and my kids that a little cooperation and hard work can make something so

fun. Speaking of cooperation, I'm also enlightened that this bunch work so well together, especially in a society that seems so eager to accept family seperation as the norm.

Heading over to the Home-N-Stead store I want to share my experience with their wonderful probiotic soap. This hand crafted soap has earned it's own permanent spot on our shelves. It rinses clean, is great for body and hair and lots of other practical uses. Cordelia, whom suffers from ecsema, has been able to use this soap exclusively with out any outbreaks! That in iteself is note worthy. I love being able to support other large families where and when I can, especially with things made from their hearts and hands.

Here's Emmy all Home-N-Stead soaped up

Their blog has a lot of great information on homesteading. The part of having the husband work at home for their home particularly got me and this is now a desire of mine. With our year long separation from Rob, I don't want to give his best part away anymore. Hopefully, within 5 or less years, we'll be able to fufill this dream. There's also really great information on building a home. These guys built from the ground up and all in the family had a hand. Total inspiration.

The forum is a great place to ask questions to many other like minded families. They have a great positive and supporting attitude. Overall, Home-N-Stead has a little bit for everyone. I hope you discover them and enjoy them as much as I have.

IKEA for the homestead

Who would have looked at Ikea and thought "I could get some great homestead stuff there" but

the uber-modern blue and yellow beacon is chock full of homesteading surprises. Part of the allure of Ikea is the design concept of working effectively and efficiently in small spaces; a

concept well in the heart of a homesteader. Like many fancy, overpriced city apartments, Homesteads generally run on the smaller side, combining work functions in single spaces. Homesteading and Urban life also parallel in economics; finding the least expensive and best usable item for the space available. "Going Green" is a concept that spans both environments

and is no stranger to Ikea. Limited packaging, reusable bags, and sustainably made products are inviting for any homestead.

But whether your homestead is city limited or rurally spread, Ikea has a lot of great items that

will assist you in your day to day. Here are a few of my favorite homestead items.

ANTONIUS

Height adjustable clothes dryer

$14.99

The best idea for hanging laundry on a rainy day. Spacing saving design; lower to hang clothes and raise up to dry, store it raised up and you can hang laundry virtually anywhere in your house without taking up valuable floor space. Some ideas are over the tub, over the kitchen sink, on a screen porch. Just remember that wet clothes can drip! And don't forget the clothes pins! IKEA also sells the best I've ever used, 50 pack for $1.99.

SYLLING

Fold-away guest bed

$79.99

This bed is great for guests, camping, sleepovers and rv's. Lightweight and easily stored. Would fit under a bed and hang in the back of a closet with ease, even with the matress. No need for a seperate sleep area for guests, cheaper than a Murphy bed and takes up less space. Plus the added benefit of being easily portable, take them with you when you go visiting or want to hole up with sick or expecting livestock!

NEKTARIN

Self-watering Plant Pot

$4.99 to $9.99 depending on size

I can't wait to get my hands on some of these pots! They're basically small "Earth Boxes". They have a pipe that goes down to the bottom chamber to provide water from the bottom up, encouraging the plants to shoot down firm roots to get to the water. The small is 9x9 and the larger almost 12x12 with indentations for carrying on the outside. These would be wonderful for an urban homesteader that has limited outdoor space and great for rural homesteaders to use in greenhouses and kitchen gardens. There is also a larger pot on wheels that is self-watering that runs $19.99 and is round.

IVAR

Wooden, Modular Shelving

Price varies

I can't wait to get my pantry set up with the IVAR system. A wonderful solid, untreated wood shelving system that fits virtually any space. The shelves are adjustable to 1" increments providing the perfect fitting space with little waste. Shelves vary from 17" to 33" lengths and 12" to 20" depths. Storage drawers, cabinet doors, corner shelves, clothes railsand shoe racks make this system virturally indespensable. The photo above isn't from IKEA, it's our diningroom wall set up with IVAR as shelving for books, homeschooling, kitchen tools and emergency supplies. As you can see, we used one desk with a trofast bin and rails to make a desk with pull out drawer and it's own work light.

We're considering using the IVAR for an entertainment center/bookshelf area, our final homeschool room, shelving in the shed and barn and the pantry/utility room.

Have fun shopping (I know I do!) and remember products can be used for more than one function!

I scream, You scream, I made ice cream!

I'm totally digging this KitchenAid ice cream maker! Bought it at Bed Bath and Beyond with a 20% off coupon. Came to roughly $65, three trips for 6 people to Coldstone approx $57 plus gas to get there. Once we get our family cow buying milk will be a thing of the past and will futher minimize our cost on making this delicious treat!

I'm reminded by hubby that ice cream is not healthy. Yes, I get that. BUT (and ice cream does contribute to big butts) making it at home is not only fun but a better treat option, as the ingredients are fresh and there are no additives (well, unless you add them). I could also use over ripe fruit to make sorbets and can use this machine to make butter (again something we'll be doing when that cow gets here).

I use the Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Book to make my base. I prefer sweet cream base #1 but they give you three to choose from so you can play around with background flavors and ingredients.

I make some of my own ice creams using ingredient lists from others I've had. The two that I've come up with are a mix between a Ben & Jerry's and a Coldstone flavor mix. I hope you enjoy!

Coffee Toffee Caramel Crunch

Start with sweet cream #1 base from the B&J ice cream book.

When you're mixing the base add in some instant coffee (I use decaf as ice cream is usually a before bed treat). I use the Nescafe Tasters Choice because it comes in 6 single cup packets and costs $1. This way you can add more or less coffee and easily save what isn't used or don't have a whole can left over when you're done. I make ice cream every 5-6 weeks so this makes sense for me as I don't drink decaf otherwise.

After, the now, coffee base has been put through the ice cream maker for about 25 min add in three heath bars (frozen and crushed up while in package works best) and a bunch of nuts. I prefer raw pecans but walnuts or almonds would be yummy too. Mix it up for a minute.

I use the Ikea 365 red lidded square containers to hold one batch of ice cream. They have see through lids which makes identifying ice cream flavors easy and are freezer and dishwasher safe. They're also fantastically affordable. Before you dump in the semi-firm ice cream add a drizzle of caramel over the top and swirl it into the ice cream as you scoop, this way you'll have ripples of caramel throughout instead of a part ofthe base flavor. Makes a difference, trust me.

Freeze for a few hours and enjoy!

Chocolate Covered Cherry

This is a little something close to Cherry Garcia but uniquely my own. I used to get the gang at Coldstone to make this for me but they discontinued carrying marichino cherries. Alas! What self respecting Ice Cream joint dosen't carry these iconic disturbingly red orbs?? They even have them in the ice cream accessory section at the grocery store and Target, making one believe that this is not just common but slated for use exclusively with ice cream! But, I digress, let's get back to making it ourselves, shall we?

Again, I started with B&J's sweet cream base #1. Just mix this up and run it through the machine for about 22-25 min. the firmer it is the more evenly distributed.

Drain a jar of cherries (the more cherries you drain, well, the more cherries in the ice cream unless your "helpers" are sneaking them) and chop 'em up (again the more you chop them, the more will be distributed. You like big chunks here and there, leave 'em more whole; some in every bite, chop 'em smaller.)

Add these (sometimes I also add the juice to give the base a cherry flavor) and a few handfuls of mini chocolate chips and let it whirl for a minute or so.

Then do the same thing with some chocolate syrup or fudge syrup as I explained in the other recipe above. Put it on top, "ripple" it while you transfer it by scooping to another container.

Yummy Yummy.

I hope you enjoy these recipes and are inspired to make your own ice cream at home! If you happen to try out any of the above, post a comment and let me know how it went!

K12 for Homeschoolers

We recently signed up for K12 for my oldest. He's in first grade and we've been "doing school" since before August. A lot of my time was spent organizing, researching and planning out what we were going to do and when. Honestly, just doing this for one child was taking up a lot of time! I couldn't imagine what doing it for 5 would be like but I knew that it wouldn't work well for us.

For the past oh, 18 months or so, I have gone back and forth with a company called K12 (you can find them at http://www.k12.com/). My public virtual school uses this program. We've been debating signing Alex up for this but really have little love for the public school system here. So, with this years tax return we signed him up for 4 classes using the consumer direct program and the monthly subscription. We chose Math, Language Arts, Science and History. The latter two we neglected quite often in our homeschool.

I have to say that I am extremely impressed with the program. Being a Military family on active duty orders we received 15% off the materials price. They will also have sales periodically for 10% off for everyone. Additional students receive a discount on the monthly subscription.

Alex did the math and language arts placements tests and scored higher than I anticipated. This really spurred me to get him involved in something more than what I was doing. Age-wise he's in first grade but he scored third grade for LA and 2nd grade for Math. The program is flexible enough that I could order the grade level he needed and still offer him Science and History at the first grade level.

I was really impressed with the customer service at K12. A few times my cell carrier dropped my call and K12 actually called me back to continue our talks. They were nice and friendly and when they didn't know an answer they got it for me. I spoke with numerous people there and they were all sportinig the same attitude. I recommend giving them a call and signing up through the customer service line instead of the internet ordering. They can help guide you much better and offer suggestions or products that you wouldn't be aware of doing the online version.

Once we got all signed up we waited 2 weeks to receive our materials. Whatever day you decide to start the online program will be your billing date, so we chose a date closer to the middle of the month to coincide with payday.

The online "school" is amazing. Everything is layed out so you can see exactly what you need to do for each day and each week. You can keep attendance and mark days off. If you miss a day the entire schedule is rewritten to show the day you missed and each lesson is moved forward automatically. I also liked that I could give the login and password to my hubby overseas so he could log in and get a feel of what we were doing and how he was doing in the classes. You can go ahead and do other lessons for the week and it will move them to the day you are on and move other lessons back to accomodate the changes. The program is very through so if there's a day that hubby or someone else will be giving a lesson everything is layed out and marked so they'd do exactly what they needed to for that day.

Right now he's doing things that are more teacher led, but starting in fourth grade he'll be doing more independent work through the online school.

Overall, this is a great program. My olny peeve is that you cannot add other things to the schedule. For instance, we have piano lessons and practice each week. It would be nice to be able to add that to the days lesson online to keep track of everything all together instead of having to do this seperately. Otherwise, it's a great program and I've already signed up my five year old for the same 4 classes and my four year old for LA and Math.

My Top 10 Playmobil Toys

If you haven't been introduced to Playmobil, you're probably not alone. So, please let me be the first to show off our top 10 Playmobil picks and welcome you to the fold. If you have been lucky enough to experience these tiny treats, I hope you enjoy the list.

At our house we have a morbid sense of humor that apparently genetically manifested in our daughter. For her birthday she picked out this lovely set. Now, while I am all for diversity and reality in children's play things I'm still not sure about this.

Yes, this would be a nurse/doctor lady with a baby in an incubator. This gets heavy rotation in my kids play so I've included it in my top 10 because they just love it so much. Granted, my first daughter wants to be a baby doctor so maybe this is her way to fantasize about being grown up.

This next piece is a darling. Though we don't own it because I can't find it in any of the stores here.

What gets me the most about this set isn't the adorable tiny bottles or the fact that there's even a teeny money slot. No. What tickles me the most is the mandatory recycling bin. After your little people quench their thirst they can rest easy knowing they're recycling those bottles instead of just chucking them in the bin. Now all we need is a guy to stand around to take the bottles and restock them in the machine. It's not magic you know, it's recycling.

Now, this wouldn't be my top 10 list if I didn't include this set. This is one of my favorites because of the sheer sillyness of the pieces. The bunny line is in it's own category and is far off reality but let us take a closer look at the pieces included...

This set is called Bunny school. I love the fact the teacher is wearing a suit and has a tiny briefcase and a pointing stick taller than he is. It speaks to true professionalism even amongst humans. Please notice the apparatus on the picnic table. What exactly are the bunnies learning about? Could they be learning about chemical compounds to create homemade bombs to come and overthrow the human Playmobil-ites? Or are they simply teaching the younger of their species how to dye the easter eggs laying on the ground behind them? I just love the tiny beakers in the attic of the mushroom house, the basket of carrots for their lunch and the extremely detail oriented picture on the blackboard. This reeks steriotypical bunny-dom and I love every stinkin' piece of it.

What park/zoo/hardware store would be complete without the hot dog vendor. While the above made my list for the silliness, this set makes it for the oddness.

The oddness isn't in the bicycle powered hotdog stand, it's in the creepy vendor. The scruffy hair, mustache, wierdly shaped hat and sloppy looking apron would make me leery to buy dogs from this guy. If I was hungry enough, I could possibly look past those things but I'd have to stop at the blue shoes.

Who doesn't love camping? Let me rephrase, who wouldn't love camping in THIS?

This is possibly one of the coolest Playmobil toys that is actually affordable (the trains and planes are cool but over $100 is pushing it for me) at about $40. What the photo doesn't show is that the top lifts off and there is actually a sleeping space for everyone. That kind of attention to deatil is what has drawn me to these toys. Check out the lovely depiction of picturesque vacation-ism on the side of the camper. This is one of those details that you actually do see on RVs, yet, how many of us would think of taking a camper to the beach? Someone, somewhere did a survey of old people that can afford to buy campers and figured out they usually go to Florida when Rv-ing. I mean, what else do we have here in Florida besides sunsets and palm trees that would subliminally coax a snow covered retiree into a lease? While we can't afford one, we can live vicariously though Playmobil and go camping in style anyway.

Ah, farm life. While others may think farming is a quiet, peaceful oasis Playmobil knows better.

In a quick glance at this set you may be lulled into the cuteness of it but taking a closer look you'll see that this is a more realistic depiction of farm life than it may seem. Check out the plantable and harvestable carrots, the baby animals being raised for food, the fully functional watering can filled up from the manual well, the children working and not playing video games or whining about having to feed the cow or take carrots to the science bunnies. The Heidi-esque landscape is a winner for me; this family takes lemons and makes lemonade. And we can't forget the sickle in the corner which could always be borrowed by the ghost.

Here's another favorite because of the realness of it. One of the reasons we love Playmobil as grownups is because we can relate to the honesty of the characters. Barbie is just too perfectly fashion and romance driven to move us. No. Give us a crappy wedding reception under a pop up tent, folding tables and an open bar and we're much more in our zone.
I love that the main feature of this isn't the cake with tiny wedding topper, three (yes, three) presents or caterer (when at a wedding like this though, he's called the barbeque technician) it's the drunken wedding guests and the prefilled blue margaritas. This is probably the only place a guy with a brown belt, black shoes and a windbreaker with a tie could score. He's obviously jobless, can't afford to get his pants tailored or a haircut for a wedding for christsakes. Then again, the lady with the horrible spotted giraffe dress with white shoes isn't doing much for me either. I really hope it isn't after labor day.

These sets can help grownups teach the finer points in life. Such as, that one lousy, drunken lay can result in this.
Being a single mom isn't the end of the world, it's actually an improvement in some cases but throw in the fact that neither parent has any kind of dressing skills and you end up with a kid that's a genetic color coordinating disaster. They all seem happy enough but that's because they don't know any better.

Now for another acessory. This is a definate must have for the following people

1. anyone with viking playmobil

2. anyone with a loose understanding of pirates

3. anyone with boys

4. grownups that have a cubical (you can rain paperclips down on people and they'll never know it's you)

They call this a sling shot but really people, it's a trebuchet. This is a wonderful addition to teaching simple mechanics to your kids. Plus it's just really, really cool. I especially like the burning vats of oil. Those will cause some serious damage.

Here's the last set on this list (I'm sure I'll have another playmobil list at some point). I really enjoy the piping on the moms pants and the color coordination of the mother and androgynous child.

Playmobil a mobile play.

Mother: come on child, lets get this wagon to the picnic site before the cut up watermellon leaks all over

child: just a minute mom. I want to finish my bag of yellowy round things

(drops bag of round things)

oh no! My round things in my bag!

mother: I'm not giving you any more

(hears leaves rustling and small squeeky, chittery noises)

What is that?

Child: It's a herd of wild domesticated squirrles!!! They're after my round things!

Mother: Don't be afraid, they react to fear. Just put your arms up and smile and slowly back away. We don't want them to attack, move too fast and your loud, mismatched clothes might attract them.

That's it for the list. I hope you've enjoyed it and discover some of the joys of these teeny toys.

Another day, Another quilt

I continued making another quilt by pulling out these Pumpkins gone Wild fabric I had in my stash. I bought this last year in hopes to make some coordinating clothes for the girls but alas, that never came to be.

I am still in the learning curve with quilt. I ended up messing up the back and having to fudge the sides to make it work. I realized this after I machine quilted the entire top, middle and bottom. So this is another quilt for Max. I'm working on my skills though and thing the binding came out much better this time. This is also the first time I machine stitched the back along with the top and middle. I'm not sure how I feel about it.

Here is the quilt top. It looks peach but it's not, it's orange.

And back. I added a little decorative touch. I just feel like the solid plain colored backings are just no fun!

The back stripe also looks crooked, which is might very well be but I'm going to blame it on the crooked floor.
All these quilts have planted a bug in me and I went to the store today to pick out some fabrics to make a quilt for my niece and one for my best friends little girl that is going through cancer treatments right now. I thought her own personal snuggly to take back and forth from the hospital would help comfort her (she's three).

Baby, It's cold outside.

In my ever expanding endeavors, I have been inspired by some great artists on Craftster.org and have tried my hand at quilting. The beautiful BabyLock I won about 6 months ago has had a good number of features poorly neglected considering it's a Quilter's Dream machine and I do not quilt...until now!

I go this wonderful pattern (yes, I needed instructions) from Oh, Fransson for the Simple Modern Baby Quilt which she sent me super quick (I am a instant gratification kinda gal). I recommend buying it if you have little clue to quilting but want to try. She also has a new one called Mixed Tapes quilt which is again, lovely! The instructions were easy to follow as long as your toddler doesn't throw them in the air, you don't quilt the printed instructions onto the back of the quilt, or you use the stapler for it's intended purposes. You could always print them again if you have any problems.

Here is the first quilt I put together, it's for little Max.

Top of quilt, sans binding

Close up with meandering quilting.

The back is cream chenille. I added a little decorative applique to give it a lil' somethin'.

And Emmy, being a good big sister and stealing his blanket.

Which brings us to quilt #2, the Emmy quilt. I saw this great quilt on Craftster and though I didn't have instructions I managed to piece together this quilt using 6" wide strips of varying size, 2", 3" and a few 4". It was so great to make because I had everything on hand! I dug out my scraps and cut up more than enough for this quilt. I had the pink flannel on hand and the left overs of the chenille from Max's quilt.

Quilt front with binding.

Close up of top with meandering quilting. I got a lot better at it this time and it's fun!

And the back. I appliqued three seperate 6x6" squares to make more fun (or is it funner?).

I hand sewn the binding on the back of this one instead of machine stitching. Once I got down the rhythm it took me less than an hour to do this crib sized quilt. I won't go back to doing it on the machine but I will make sure I have a nice relaxed time doing it.

My girls really enjoyed this quilt because I used scraps that I had left over from making them clothes. So they were so excited to see fabrics they were familiar with and could point out what I made them with which fabrics. I'm working on a third quilt now and I'm really excited to add this new art form to my collection. It's a great way to use up scraps depending on the quilt you make and they're a nice cozy treat when it's a little chilly.