Life...

A lot has happened since I was last active on this blog. At the end of February I found out that I was expecting another little baby. This pregnancy was very difficult for me involving a lot of sickness and tiredness. I was finally feeling better towards the end of summer and then started having unusual complications. In the end, our little baby Peanut was born eight weeks early. She spent 31 days in the nicu into different hospitals and had a major gut surgery. We have been home now for seven weeks and are still struggling to establish a good eating routine. Through it all, which I will tell you more about later, I am so thankful that both of our lives were spared.

 So now, my Pumpkin and baby Peanut are not even 13 months apart in age. I am hoping to begin blogging again to help me establish a new vision for thriving in my new, lovely, crazy life!

Chalkboard wall

I finally got around to finishing my chalkboard wall. Replaced it right next to the kitchen so I could keep shopping lists on it, and so the girls could play while I work. Are used rest oleum chalkboard paint. It took five coats to create a nice smooth surface. So far it has been a fun success.

Homemade refried beans

Made homemade refried beans! AMAZING! Simple, easy, tasty...even dh like them. We both thought they were more fresh and flavorful. Here's the recipe. I forgot to take pictures during so....I'll add when I make more.

Recipe

4 cups cooked pinto beans (about 11/2 c dried beans)
1 c onions
1/2 c butter
1 tsp chili pepper
1 tsp garlic
1 tsp pepper

Directions
Cook beans in crock pot. Sauté rest of ingredients together. Add to crock pot of beans and cook on low for 2 hours to allow flavors to combine. Mash beans with a potato masher. Enjoy!!!

Generational Differences

I watched a team dance competition number of  YouTube. The message of the dance was "We don't care how much you know, until we know how much you care."

Such an interesting saying. At first I agreed without giving it a second thought. But then I put it into the perspective of things that I have been trying to understand and work through in context of the older generation. I don't think that our grandparents would initially agree with that sentence.  They do value knowledge and experience and want to be valued for their life experience. 

I heard two grandparents discussing the woes and unteachableness of the current generation in sprouts a couple weeks ago. They kept lamenting the fact that this generation is failing and no one asks for their opinions. I couldn't help but being afraid to ask them. They didn't seem to have any solutions except....we did it differently.

 I don't want to just feel like I"m doing everything wrong and the only way to fix it is to revert to the past....which is impossible.

I do want the help and advice that is only learned though the experiences of life. I want to have friends and mentors that are on the latter end of their fight with life. I need their perspective. But I also need hope! I need a vision on how to thrive here, now, in this generation, with its complications. 

So, grandparents....we might not show it well, but there are a bunch of us that want to know what you know...but we filter who it is important to learn from by know who it is who cares.

Homemade shampoo

Tried homemade shampoo again. In the past I followed the baking soda and vinegar no-poo method with negative results including greasy hair and lots of dandruff even after 2 weeks. So this time I decided to try one with some natural soap in the recipe...here's what I did.

Recipe

-1 gallon tea (I used lemon green tea, 5 bags)

-1 cup castile soap

-1/2 cup baking soda

-1/2 cup aloe

-1/4 cup xanthem gum

-optional essential oils 

Start by main the tea then allowing it to cool. Stir the xanthem gum in a cup of water before adding it with the rest (to decrease clumping). Then adding the rest of the ingredients.  Allow to sit for 24 hours to thicken. 

Finished product....

The results. I've been using this shampoo for about a week now. I've found the shampoo doesn't suds up much and that my hair is more oily but I'm not sure if it is just because it is adjusting to the fact that not as much oil is stripped off. I'll keep trying it for the whole 3 weeks to let my hair adjust. 

Jesse Tree-fiery furnace

When my friends decided to do a Jesse tree I signed up for two ornaments so I could have two complete sets. Here is my second one. The Fiery Furnace. 

I started with clothes pins, felt, pompoms, and twine.

I drew faces on each of the clothespins, cut out fire from the felt, tried to twine to the right size then followed this pattern.

1.pull a clothespin from each card

2. Glue orange and red fire together then to the front of the clothespins. I filled in the gaps with glue too

3. Thread twine through hole in clothespins

4. Glue pompoms on top of clothespins

Here are all 25 finished and lined up.

One up close....

Overall I like how they turned iut. It was fun and pretty fast. I would maybe add googly eyes next time..... we didn't actually use the tree this year because bg is too young. Next year though....can't wait!

Knotted knit headband

This is a tutorial on how to make this simple and beautiful knotted headband.

start by making six strands of knit yarn. Each of my strands where about 20 inches long and I wouldn't go any shorter then that.

You make normal knit knit yarn by pulling on it.

take three strands and make then into a ribbon shape.

Lay the other three on top like a smile.

Place the right side of the ribbon over the smile and the left side of the smile under the ribbon loop.

Take the right side of the smile and slide it under the left side of the smile and back over the loop I  the ribbon.

Hold onto all the ends. Pull tight evenly.

Fold in half and stitch all the ends together.

Enjoy a beautiful knotted headband!