smells so good

We got a krumkake maker for Christmas - thank you so much Nana B and Papa T. We even were given permission to open and use it early - thank you! The girls loved rolling the krumkake, and discovered the new favorite dessert in the house - krumkake with vanilla ice cream. Oh, yeah! Incredibly good, and I love that there is a good job for the girls too.

First batch made today, after our disappointing viewing of the Nutcracker. Made up for it completely. Emma made some nice drawings to give to a few teachers this week, with a bag of krumkake. PS - Sophie calls them Krum - Krackers.

Allow me to introduce you

This is Elsa Doll. I made her for Sophie, for her birthday. She is modeled after a doll that I found on another blog and etsy. I just couldn't justify the price tag, but I really loved the doll. So, I decided to make one. First, I drafted a pattern (sketched one on graph paper, and then drew lines for cutting). Then, I headed out to the shops to collect the materials - I already had the right fabrics, but I needed some carded wool for stuffing and the right wool felt for her face. Really, that's it. She's sweet and Sophie loves her so much. She tells me all the time: "Mom, I really love my Elsa Doll." I think she knows what that means to me, because really - she tells me this all the time. She knows.

Elsa is starting to look a little sad. She has some dirty spots on her body that need washed. But, to get her away from Sophie long enough - well, it just hasn't happened. Maybe we can get her cleaned before her grandparents arrive.

Emma asked for one too. I made her one, and she likes it but she has Teddy and she hasn't shown it the same love as Sophie does. I also made one for a niece of mine.

I need this tutorial...

...and this is the best place to save something. So, for those who are curious, it looks to be a great little quilt tutorial that I can see putting to use. Especially now that I have finished Andy's quilt, and a couple little ones for the girls' dolls... it makes sense to make something like this. The simplicity of it is so attractive to me right now. I can see it in a lovely green on one side, and soothing shade of pink on the other with a really fun binding... and tucking a little girl into bed with it each night. Oh, that means I would need to make two. Okay. But, Emma's would probably be a little more colorful. Funny, that is just how I would describe my girls - Emma is certainly a very colorful little one, and Sophie - yeah, I would use the word fun. Wouldn't you?

http://katiedid.squarespace.com/katie-did-journal/2009/1/27/quilt-how-to.html

Have a good weekend. For us, this is week 3 (and the final week for now) of birthday party overload. One each day, and then we are done. I think I will be taking a vacation next weekend.
Oh, and - Andy was planning to take Emma to the pool party on Sunday, but he can't get his finger wet...so guess who has to go swimming? Yep, don't I sound excited?

Behind the scenes

It's not so easy to see what these are, but they are unicorn lollipops in white with purple shimmer. I made these today as a goodie for Emma's party. We went to the bakery supply store called Decorette, not far from home and Emma found this mold and was super excited about it.

Her birthday is less than a week away. She has asked for lemon cupcakes with lemon frosting in purple. I didn't have a lemon recipe, so I searched the internet and found one to try. Since I wanted them to actually be good, I had to make a test batch today. The lemon frosting was made in pink out of convenience and she seemed okay with that.

I just love that I could easily make these look like the cupcakes we have had in the past from the fancy cupcake shops around town. They also remind me of a Dairy Queen ice cream cone. Fluffy goodness - oh yeah!

Inspiration...

There are some talented people in this video.

http://songshoppodcast.cathymarcy.com/song-shop-episode-03

I am trying to come up with a goodie to give the kids at Emma's party and I really don't like the dollar store ick. I have been inspired by this video to at least look into the cost of making about 15 of these from scratch... anyone out there with other good ideas... please share!!!

In the meantime, get busy swinging those hips... hoola hooping is fun!

A birthday, a couple days late...

We have had a long weekend here. Emma got a little sniffle again (seriously, it is always a little sniffle - not even enough to warrant a day home from preschool) and it turned into an all-night coughing fest. Not much of a fest, but no one slept - except for Sophie. We put Emma in the bath at about 12:30am, set up the humidifier and gave her the inhaler and some delsym (which she vomited up, from the coughing intensity). Then we called the on call nurse service our pediatrician provides (they are wonderful, they actually pick up the call right away instead of waiting for a doctor to call back an hour later). We spent twenty minutes in a closed bathroom with the shower on super high heat for steam. Another dose of the inhaler. Some warm water. Sleep, on my lap in an upright position. Random coughing the rest of the night. Everyone slept until 8am - at least an hour longer than normal in our house. Today, she insisted on going to preschool, mostly because she didn't want to miss a day with her new friend Erika. She seems fine during the day. It's the night that really gets us. Hopefully, tonight will be more peaceful.

But the title, well...

Happy Birthday Nana!!!

I am glad that I forgot to share these pictures a few weeks ago when Emma and I made the pizzelles, now they are a special treat. Emma asked all about them and I kept telling her how you and Papa would do it. Like when she was growing impatient with the cooking time - "Well, Papa would sit at the table for hours baking these and he never complains." She also learned that Papa likes the crispy, slightly browned pizzelles - after wondering why we were keeping them. She learned that Nana had to give me this recipe at least twice now and that you used to send me big coffee cans filled with pizzelles before I decided to make my own. She only knows the anice flavored variety - why mess with perfection, I say! Lastly, Emma and Sophie are true pizzelle lovers - we finished off one batch in barely a week. There will have to be another batch in our near future...

cookie baking Sunday

Emma knows that you should always look your best. Even when you are baking. I'm pretty sure that is why I am not in the picture with her - I was still comfortably snuggled in my pj's covered in black bears. But, not Emma. She spent some time twirling then quickly switched gears to help me bake these delicious little beauties. Oh, and we have moved on. Tollhouse is no longer our favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. We have become big fans of the recipe in Martha Stewart's cookie book. Love it. We also use the 68% cacao chips from Ghiradelli. They are so rich and amazing. Andy (who isn't fond of messing with good recipes) has praised these everytime I make them. Martha sure does know her stuff. I love Emma's sense of style.

Last weekend...

We got up Saturday morning and decided that if we were planning to make jam this year, it had to happen then. So, we headed out to Albeke Farms in Oregon City and picked some berries after breakfast. We all picked raspberries together, then Andy and Emma headed off to the marionberries while Sophie admired the baby peaches on the trees (she wanted to touch them all, and really wanted to hold them). Then Sophie and I picked a few blueberries to add to our yogurt while we waited for Andy and Emma.

Sunday morning after breakfast, Andy introduced Emma to the fun of homemade jam. She definitely had a good time and today she is appreciating the hard work with her first piece of toast with homemade jam. Delicious.

Homemade is best

Sometimes, it's not practical though.
In this case, it is.
A friend shared a sample of hers, and it was great.
I checked Craigslist and found a new one for $15 (how could I resist, it sells for $50?).
We now make our own yogurt. It's divine.
Ours is plain, for the sake of smoothies. We then add agave nectar for sweetness, some raspberries and a few mini chocolate chips and commence enjoying. It's really good. And so simple to make. Unbelievable. I think it costs less than one dollar to make seven servings.
So worth the $15 investment. Yummy.

Hey, I have lots more to share this weekend. We have had a really busy week with no time for computer play, but soon. I am making a couple of things right now, for the girls and Emma is in Zoo Camp all week. More details coming soon...