Bringing back the 80's

My daughter has her own sense of style.  At five she doesn't get dressed so much as assemble an outfit.  I love that she has her own ideas about what looks good and what doesn't.  From which hair band she wants to wear to the color of her socks.  A lot of pink and purple.  Very girly and a must have is accessories.  From the time she was very small she would dig underneath my bathroom sink to collect as many ponytail holders as she could.  Then she would sit on the floor and line them up her arm as bracelets.  Mind you she couldn't even say the word bracelet yet but she knew she liked them. 

This affinity for clothes and style did not come from me.  I am very happy in a t-shirt and jeans.  I wear what is comfortable and clean.  My daughter's love for what she wears is definitely something she was born with. 

Yesterday evening she came running outside in her evening outfit.  A sun dress with a small hoodie, pink flip flops and these purple leg warmers. 

She wanted to play soccer and practice kicking the ball into the goal and in her mind the leg warmers were just the thing to finish her "soccer outfit".  Gotta love it!  Spiral Leg Warmers (free pattern).  Hope you're having a nice Sunday!

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Baseball Season

Well it is that time of year again.  Baseball season.  We have season tickets to the local team and when baseball season starts it feels like summer is here.  Even if the games we attend for the next few weeks will mean a lot of layering and even more hot chocolate to keep us warm, just knowing it is baseball season means camping, the beach, and picnics are right around the corner.  With baseball season though comes a lot of preparation for a family of four (two of which are under six) to attend the games.  The games start at 7 o'clock and parking is at a premium.  So if you want to get one of the few free parking spots a person should at the game somewhere in the vicinity of 6:15.  Since the park is 20-30 minute drive from our house, depending on traffic, this doesn't leave a whole lot of time for dinner.

I try to do quick dinners.  Pasta dishes loaded with veggies, sandwiches and fruit, you know the kind of meals mostly everyone will eat quickly so we can get down to the stadium.  Sometimes though there isn't quite enough time for a full meal so I pack snacks.  Now I'm sure you can imagine how the same old snacks all summer long get old.  Coupled with the fact that I have an unexplainable love for ballpark nachos.  It isn't the chips that I love....it's the cheese sauce.  That obnoxiously orange, reminiscent of the neon from the 80's, crazy nothing good for you, chock full of chemicals, nacho sauce.  As far as I'm concerned the chips are only there as a vehicle to eat the sauce.  What a sad confession I know.  The mom who is always trying to cook fresh, nutritious food for her family is addicted to neon orange cheese.  Now since I would like to keep this addiction down and only have nachos a couple of times this summer I will be making lots of snacks to take with us and curb the junk food.

Enter Fruit and Pecan Granola Bars.  Yummy!  Super easy to make (I bet you have the ingredients in your house right now) and can easily be converted to gluten free, just substitute the 1 tablespoon of flour for a gluten free alternative.  I changed the sugar to 1/2 cup instead of a cup and they are plenty sweet.

The only drawback?  The kids love them.....guess I'll have to double up my batches :)

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Belated Happy Easter

Happy Easter!  So we decorated eggs.....

Set the table for a fabulous Easter Sunday brunch with friends and family...

Endured a hilarious easter egg hunt complete with winter parkas and hurricane force winds (sorry no pics).  We finally come to my deadline Easter knitting for my babes.  Easter bunnies for my kiddos and a pink button accessory so my kids can tell the girl bunny from the boy bunny.

A purple jumper for her and a red hoodie for him.  It's a fantastic pattern with more clothes for the rabbits to wear.  I was informed by a certain five year old that they really need socks because their feet were going to get cold.  Oh and wouldn't it be fun if they had hats with holes for their ears.  Oh and mommy could you knit....   I'm sure you get the picture :)

I used this pattern, scrap yarn and had lots of fun.  Well I had fun once they were done and there were smiles and thanks from my kids.  During the actual knitting?  Umm....you might have been able to hear a few naughty words from my bedroom late at night while I knitted as fast as my hands/abilities would allow to finish them.  Honestly it wasn't the knitting that was difficult it was the faces.  I don't even want to tell you  how many times I cut out wonky nose and mouth lines only to sew them back on just as wonky as they were the first time. 'Sigh', hopefully my embroidery skills will improve with time and practice.  Hope your week is going well!

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Food Revolution

Hello all!  Happy first day of April.  Trying to get over and check in with everyone has been tough.  So many projects and so little time.  I'm currently finishing up two projects for my kids for Easter.  I don't know what the matter is with me...I loathe deadline crafting.  Especially deadline crafting that must be hidden and knit in secret....  I'll share when they are finished.

I just wanted to pop in this space and pass on the link to Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution petition.  I'm sure you all have heard of the tv show that is airing right now but if you haven't, click on the link to get more information.  My daughter will be heading off to the big bad public school system this fall and as a result I am getting more and more involved in what goes on at said public school.  She will be brown bagging it for lunches I'm sure (she's incredibly picky) but it is appalling what is offered up as 'lunch' to kids in the school system.  I think most of you would agree that nutrition plays a major role in our health and that for kids to learn and grow and soak up knowledge they need more in their stomach than a questionable meat and something that resembles corn in color but little else.  I signed the petition and I hope it makes a difference.  Sorry for the soapbox gripe but sometimes things just spill over :)

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