Spring up ahead- let's go!

Until today, I'd been itching to get out of town to a sunnier climate, and I'd found a list of kid-friendly towns that included San Antonio. I've been to San Antonio on a quick work-related trip, but I got to see the Riverwalk and the outside of the Alamo. I'd love to go there, or just anywhere warmer than thirty-two degrees, which thankfully now includes Nashville for the next couple of days.

http://www.parents.com/fun/vacation/10-best-cities-for-families-to-visit/?page=1

Oddly, this list doesn't include Flemington, New Jersey. What's there? Only the newest fascination at our house: Northlandz, the world's largest model railroad! My husband found a link to a video there, and we've watched it at least seven times in three days.

http://www.fastcocreate.com/3026454/see-sonys-amazing-pov-of-the-worlds-largest-model-railroad

When the photographer of miniatures guesses that you'll be "quite eccentric," odds are good he'll be right.

And there's an organ.

Since seeing the video, I've watched several others and read reviews; consensus seems to be that it's a fun place that's just this side of creepy. It's only a thirteen hour trip. It's also an hour from the Liberty Bell, so we could go there, too, if we had time.

Winding thru Winter: Love and salt dough

Bitty and I played in the snow one evening during January's crazy polar vortex weather. I'm not about to go outside in freezing temperatures, so I got around a half cup of flour, poured it on a baking sheet, and put the baking sheet on a towel in the floor.

He had fun running his trains and his snowmobile through the flour. The snowmobile was in its element and saving the trains, since they all hate their snowplows. Eventually Little Bit looked like he was breaded and about to be fried, with even his forehead covered in flour.

After his bath, I took the flour that remained on the sheet, added a bit more, and made an easy salt dough. I found a recipe from Rainy Day Mum that uses the microwave to dry- and it works! 

http://rainydaymum.co.uk/the-quickest-ever-salt-dough-recipe

I made some rustic heart ornaments, using a butter knife to cut and shape the edges. A pencil made the holes at the top; one got a little smaller in the microwave. 

I would have allowed the ornaments an additional twenty-four hours to dry, but they got a much longer drying period in my craft room with our busy schedule. When I had a chance to get back to them, I gave each piece a coat of red paint, then had some fun with different techniques and finishes. 

The hearts got a blue print with painted bubble wrap, grey in the "inset" heart, some mod podge, and a polyurethane spray finish to add shine and remove the mod podge tackiness. 

The snail shell got some grey and gold splotches before I gave it a thin coat of blue. I really like how the colors show through for a mottled look. 

Winding thru Winter: Spaghetti Bake

Until now, I've had a problem making small amounts of spaghetti. When it was just me and my husband, I could never get the sauce to noodle ratio right; we'd always have more of one than the other. Then Little Bit came along. He loves spaghetti, so I mix the entire jar with the whole pound of pasta.

That leads to leftovers. There aren't many leftover dishes less enticing than spaghetti. I realize there are some who disagree, who love the way the sauce soaks into the noodles. But just the way it comes out shaped like the container and looking like some sort of organ makes me want to order takeout.

Spaghetti was the (smallish) bane of my existence. But no longer.

I found a recipe for leftover spaghetti lasagna that has changed everything spaghetti-related.

 http://allrecipes.com/recipe/left-over-spaghetti-lasagna/

The original recipe poster over-hypes it a bit; it's solid, but you won't see it on the Palm menu anytime soon. The thing I love about this easy recipe is that you can make it as you store your leftover spaghetti. Dinner is topped with mozzarella, covered, and ready to go for the next night or two, with very little time spent in prep. Extra time is always appetizing!

Corny, I know.

Okay, I'll stop.

Winding thru Winter: Perfect is the Enemy of Good

I saved Little Bit's baby food jars in my old closet at my parent's house for this project. At first, I'm sure I couldn't recycle them- they were Bitty's, not just some wine bottle! Later, after some Pinterest-ing, I found that some crafty folks were making adorable baby shower favors with them!

The one I had picked out had a mod podge top, but I was slammed at work almost three years later when I needed to break out my skills. When I began decorating with my mom, I had some ribbons from my stash and some stickers that I ordered and had sent ahead.

The jars didn't look like any that I'd seen online. I worried, even as they were filled with Hershey kisses and packed into a box. I asked my husband what he thought about them. "Free candy," he replied.

Oh yeah! They're cute, not as I'd envisioned, but still covered in ribbon and filled with chocolate. Not too shabby (or maybe shabby chic?).

Winding thru Winter: Celebrating with friends and bacon

Yesterday was my little sister's baby shower, so I had a wonderful time with friends and family. And cake. The cake was adorable and delicious, and the games were lots of fun. We played a variation of "telephone" with index cards and drawings. It was so funny, I'm considering the board game version, Telestrations.

http://www.amazon.com/Telestrations-Telephone-Game-Sketched-Out/dp/B001SN8GF4

I also took the opportunity to make an intriguing appetizer, the bacon-wrapped cracker. Due to the sheer amount of bacon involved, I doubted it was the best thing for me and my husband to nosh as we watched a movie. There were several different variations of the recipe, but I tried the Pioneer Woman's, with sprinkled parmesan cheese between the bacon and club cracker. It was awesome!

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/12/flashback_1981_-_holiday_bacon_appetizers/

And I'm sure I've mentioned that I love my knitting loom. I created a baby headband using a pattern from Caring Caps, and I knitted matching flowers for the diaper cake.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yu2mgnLUHeM

I covered the seam with pink and white flowers- I'm sure I'll get lots of pictures once my niece arrives!

Bitty had a great time with his grandparents while my husband and I partied. When we got back, he'd watched 2011's Little Engine that Could, loosely based on a book that he's had no interest in up to this point. The animation and the addition of the Nightmare Train got him saying, "I think I can, I think I can!" 

Winding thru Winter: Cacti and bright times

After a tough week, my parents came to get Bitty so my husband and I could celebrate our anniversary on Saturday. I knew he'd be having fun, but I didn't know I'd be getting midday pictures of him playing in the mud! Needless to say, he had a great time. 

We did, too. Our first stop was Wendell's on Charlotte. Inexplicably, it was our first visit there. The fact was obvious to everyone there as we walked in and stopped, and a waitress invited us to have a seat from across the room. We were instantly labeled as newbies, but the omelet, great home fries, and good, free-flowing coffee swept away any initial unease. 

http://www.nashvillescene.com/nashville/wendell-smiths/Location?oid=1206367

Some shopping and driving around, then home to relax before dinner. I took the opportunity to complete my new favorite looming project. 

Looking forward to sunny times ahead!

I knitted a ball on my blue knitting loom with a two over one e-wrap method. The ball is twenty rows, with the last few rows knit in a simple one over one e-wrap. I have found that reducing the yarn at the end produces a smoother finish.  

http://www.ehow.com/how_4692508_ewrap-knifty-knitter-loom.html

The Caron yarns in soft green and sunshine look so natural, so perfect for this project. 

I cinched up the top and stuffed the ball, then pulled it together and tied the bottom. I spread glue around the bottom and side of the flower pot. Then I attached another piece of yarn to the bottom of the ball and draped that piece of yarn inside against the adhesive. To keep that yarn in place and provide a base for the cactus, I stuffed plastic grocery bags tightly into the pot. 

I finished the look with grey eco-felt cut and spread around the cactus. I like the simple look, but rocks or little desert animal figures could be added to the pot, and the pot could be decoratively painted. 

Winding thru Winter: Citing authority milestone

I don't know if many other parents would be as impressed as I was yesterday when my babysitter called me laughing about Little Bit. It's always disconcerting to see your sitter's number at work, but this was well worth the initial worry. 

She has a stash of Dum Dums lollypops on the counter in full view (I guess kind of an "eyes on the prize" thing for the boys). My son asked for one, and she replied that he could have one after he finished his lunch. "My pah-wents want me to have one," he attested. "And they want one, too."

Cute and scary! He knew he didn't have much weight to throw around. My husband and I, both attorneys, appreciated his ability to cite authority. However, it was a tad inaccurate! Bitty is no officer of the court. 

The worst part? You know we wouldn't have seen that second lollypop.