Even my makeup and toiletries aren't safe

Nothing is safe. Especially when you have a toddler. Double especially when you have two toddlers. That (and my general forgetfulness to put anything I don't want broken far far away) has led to an increased level of "Kids trashing my things" posts.

Most recently, Grabby McGrabberson (Son) managed to get all this down from my bathroom counter.

Then used my favorite mascara, Waterproof Lengthening & Volumizing Mascara from e.l.f. to draw on my cabinets.
He did not enjoy it when he was handed a wet wash rag and told to clean it. Luckily, it came off quickly and easily and (maybe) he learned his lesson.

S'Mores from the 3 year old's perspective

This is Daughter's pictures from out s'more adventure.

her campfire

wow, I wish she would have taken this picture BEFORE we got graham cracker crumbs all over the floor. Or at least waited until after Husband swept them up!

one of the sticks and ooey gooey marshmallow goodness

in the nutella jar

an out of focus view of a finished product

this kid loves taking pictures with her feet in them!

I'll have to do a whole series of feet pictures one day.

Food Day Friday: s'mores in the livingroom

Thanks to the camping episodes of Olivia and Ni Hao Kai-Lan, Daughter has been talking about all things camping more and more often (except for her EXTREME need to sleep only in her bed, I think she'd have a great time)

Husband and I got the kids a 4 person tent for Christmas and it's currently in our back yard. The kids LOVE it. Husband keeps telling the kids that he's going to build a campfire in our yard. And I keep telling everyone, "no, we are not building a fire in our yard. You can use the grill if you want a campfire." kill joy mom. That's me.

Last Friday, Husband and Daughter were talking about camping so I gathered some supplies and called Daughter into the living room. (poor Son, he'd been asleep for an hour by this time. He misses all the late night fun.)

Our roaring campfire.

(or two pumpkin spiced candles I got on clearance after Thanksgiving)

our s'mores ingredients. Nutella, marshmallows and graham crackers. Plus, kabob sticks (the nutella was a perfect substitute for chocolate bar!)

Daughter loved roasting and blowing her marshmallow. But what she loved best was shoving "raw" marshmallows in her mouth!

I can't tell you how many times I said, "when the mallows flaming, you stick it on the chocolate and cover it with the other end." Ah, How to Make a s'more 101. Thanks, The Sandlot. I still love you.

Daughter took some pictures with her camera too. I'll post her perspective tomorrow.

A newly acquired mug - broken

I got this mug at registration during J-Day. Yay. I was excited for a new favorite coffee mug. I really liked that the inside was black. Plus it had this really cool stirring spoon that fit into the handle. I must not get out much because this was the first time I'd seen a coffee mug like this.

And here it is broken. (only the spoon luckily)

All it took was a little slip of the mind (putting it too close to the edge of the counter) and Grabby McGrabberson (Son) who gets in trouble daily for trying to get things off the counters, had it. And dropped it. sigh.

To make matters worse, the two main pieces of the spoon don't even fit together cleanly ... or really at all. There's middle pieces missing that I never found. So I can't glue it back together.

On the upside at least it was only the spoon. I might have shed tears if it'd been the actual mug.

Wordless Wednesday: Old Cahawba

The garden is planted (and other fun)

Hurray. Sunday we got the garden planted (except for 3 melon plants that will go in at the end of the week) I was really excited. We were outside for about 4 hours. (and who wasn't wearing sunscreen? yep, that'd be me.) I'm a little pink. Aloe and Advil. Ginger Husband is RED.

Here's the major highlights:

These are the Juliets I started from seeds. There are 8 (but one looks puny and may not make it) I saved enough space for 4 of them in the garden (but I may only plant 2 or 3). So if anyone wants the others, you're welcome to them. If you don't have space in your garden or even a garden, they'd be great in one of those big over sized plant pots and a tomato cage. If these turn out half as well as last year's Juliets, you'll be in for such a treat.

EDIT: My mom has asked for one.

Son and his rock standing beside his tomato plant. He picked out his Husky Cherry Red plant and his green cage.

Daughter and Blue Bear with her Husky Cherry Red and her red tomato cage. I was proud of her. She'd spotted a pink cage at Marvin's, but we got the less expensive one at Lowe's and they didn't have pink. She took it in stride and picked out red because "red it favorite too"

2 of the 4 Rutgers.

Instead of making our own cages, I opted to buy a heavier gage cage than what we previously had. Hopefully, it'll last more than 2 years like the old ones. They sure are heavier and more sturdy so that's a good sign.

The three cucumbers at various stages of growth. Husband piece milled the dividers this year so we wouldn't have to buy more wood. We salvaged as much of the old wood as possible. Then he used weed eater line and some plumbing strap for the rest. I'm interested to see how the line holds up. It's certainly cheaper than wood.

2 of the 4 Homesteads. The only way I can tell the two varieties apart right now is I planted them on opposite sides of the yard (and wrote down which kind went where!!) They look pretty much identical. I'm excited to see how they change as they grow. And of course, how the fruit looks.

The 4 store bought Juliets. ( I actually only bought 3 but one pot had 3 stems in it and I was able to separate 1) The other green sprigs you see are onions. I had decided not to do onions but I saw these at Lowe's and decided to give onions one last try. I'm hopeful they'll be huge. Or at least big.

1 of the Livingston Musk Melons. The other 3 are still pretty tiny, so I dug their hole and will probably plant them Friday.

The 2 blueberry bushes the kids have been begging for (they're Elliotts) Husband moved the blackberries to the back of the box so they could be supported by the fence and not cages. They haven't handled the move well. Fingers crossed they make it (for the love of Husband).

the blue berries already have a few green berries on them and Daughter is obsessed with them. "I just want to sit by the blueberries."

It was Husband's idea to lay the weed mat. Last year we had so much trouble keeping that area weeded. We got a good deal at Sam's and it was easy to put down.

The rest of the garden that I didn't take pictures of (because, well, it just looks like dirt now) includes the yellow squash (Early Golden Summer Crookneck), the zucchini (Black Beauty Zucchini Squash), carrots (Carrot Parisienne, those were the free gift from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds), fennel (Fennel Di Ferenze) and butternut squash (Waltham).

I've already decided next year I want pickling cucumbers. The kids LOVE pickles and I think they'd love the growing/pickling/canning/eating process.

Son spent a lot of time hauling around rocks. The places Husband dug for the tomatoes were ROCK-Y. Son has been reaping the joys of lots of extra rocks in the yard! He'll fill up his bucket on one side of the yard, carrying it to the other side and begin again.

showing off his rocks.

what I've been sewing: wonky log cabin squares

Just what I need- one more thing to get obsessed about. Yet, here I am. obsessed. With a rather expensive hobby.

I'm not good at it, but I pretty much love it. (Just like bowling and tennis)

I've been pouring over quilting blogs and following ones I like left and right and I found this tutorial for wonky log cabin squares on Tallgrass Prairie Studio. I loved her color choices and I thought if I added a little blue, it'd go well with Husband's birthday present that he decided to hang in our bedroom.

Off to Hobby Lobby to see what their 30% off fabric sale had to offer. We couldn't find a pattern combination of red/white/black/blue that didn't look like an interpretation of an American flag. So, I gave up on that idea and asked Husband to pick out a fun whimsical pattern he liked and then I would pick the other patterns/colors to go along with it. He picked the blue circle pattern and then we worked together picking out everything else. Well, Daughter picked out the pink. (of course. She calls it "swirly whirly favorite")

I've finished about 10 12x12 squares so far and this is a sampling of them.

a close up to get a better view of the pattern on the white.

The white is definitely a more flimsy fabric than the rest and I wish I would've noticed that when I was picking out the fabric. I would have gone with something that more closely resembled the rest.

There's not any kind of priority level on the squares. I mainly been working on them when we sit down to watch the Soprano's (thank you again, bham public library. We love your dvd collection) Between cutting, designing, sewing and ironing, I can get 1 square finished per episode.

I haven't decided how big it's going to be. I bought 3 yards each of the material, so I might just see how far that gets me in squares. Wal-mart has a black flat sheet that I'm going to use for the back and one border with be the grey with black polka dots. (I'm thinking about a second border too but I haven't really decided on a final look yet.)

EDIT: I wrote this post about a week ago. Since then, I finished the front (last night). I used 12 of the squares and the grey/black polka dots for the border. I need to measure it so I know what size black sheet to get for the back. Plus, I want to use Warm and Natural Batting. And I'll have to wait on a coupon for that! The front is a little larger than my serenade blanket (ie, a regular size fleece throw). I figured that was about all I could handle with my standard machine. And I've got enough material left over that I can make another. So that's exciting. I really like the way all the fabrics look together. I'll probably post both fronts when I get finished with the second one.

Church Sign Sunday: Snead, AL