Children's Book of the Week!

Great documentary! It'll send you on a quest to find more videos of extremists like Phillipe Petit, or in this case; books! 

I had no idea there was a children's book based on his wild "stunt" of walking between the twin towers. I am always searching for children's books about New York City and was lucky enough to stumble upon this!

Children's Book of the Week!

Oh boy, I slacked off last week with choosing a children's book! 

So this week I chose a book and let Van pick any book. He chose the book his Dad has read to him every night this week; 'The wolf who cried boy' so he has clearly enjoyed it.

The book I chose stuck with the theme but is told by the Wolf. It is a really cute story with fantastic illustrations! 

On the topic of this theme; Since we've moved a few months back, Van now has a tree in our back yard to climb. Just about every time he is back there climbing he yells for help. At first we'd run to his rescue thinking his foot may be stuck or a branch is weak. This became old real quick.. So I set out to the library for this book to teach him that yelling 'HELP!' will eventually lose its urgency when you yell it for no reason. Well, with that we've read just about every version of this book and he still yells help. Only difference is we don't RUN to his rescue, just glance over to see him smirking at us. Cheeky Monkey...

Fresh Baked White Bread

I wished five lucky ladies a 'Happy Mothers Day' with a fresh baked loaf of bread and a jar of raspberry jam! The bread was a success in our house! I made three loaves before finally giving another five away. We went on a strenuous 5 1/2 mile hike today in hopes to shed some of that gluten! 

As for the jam... I used a recipe with pectin for the first time and ended up overcooking my pectin which never set leaving my jam in more of a syrupy condition. I'm not actually complaining because that "syrup" dripping off a piece of cheesecake or warm slice of bread was heaven. But this jam will never make it to a peanut butter sandwich. What a shame..

White Bread Recipe

3/4 Cup of Warm Water

1 Package of Active Dry Yeast

1 Teaspoon of Salt (I used Sea Salt)

1 1/2 Teaspoons of Sugar

1 Tablespoon of softened butter (or Vegetable Shortening)

1/2 Cup of Whole Milk

2 Cups of Flour

(and an additional Cup of Flour to grab from if your dough is still sticky after 2 Cups)

In a medium bowl add warm water and yeast. Stir until yeast is dissolved.

Add salt, sugar, butter and milk to the bowl and stir.

Adding your 2 Cups of flour until dough is formed, adding flour as needed.

Your dough should not be sticky when added to a floured cutting board (or countertop). 

Knead your dough and place in a buttered bowl (turning over so both sides are greased) for 60 minutes, covered with a clean towel.

Preheat your oven to 375.

Punch your dough and turn it out onto your floured surface kneading for the second time. 

Form your dough into a loaf shape and place in your buttered baking dish for another 30 minutes. 

Covering again with a towel.

Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

When you remove your bread from the oven the crust will be hard, once it has cooled it will be as soft as your average white bread.

Since this bread is so easy to make and so delicious, I recommend making extra loaves to share!

Enjoy!

Skin Soothing Soap

I've always had that sensitive Irish skin and used mild store bought soaps and stayed away from perfumed lotions and most skin products. 

A few years back I started dabbling in soap making with melt and pour soaps. Purchasing different essential oils, minerals and exfoliants like almonds and avocado seed. Well, I've yet to take the plunge into   soap making from scratch.

I've made soothing shave soaps, exfoliating body soaps and have just made a batch of aloe soap for Vans best friend. She is only five, and has been handling eczema like a champ. But now I've pushed my way in to her parents battles to rid their daughter of itchy, uncomfortable skin. I believe what I've read; that with diet this could really decrease eczema, eliminating most (if not all) dairy. Her family found out on a recent trip to DisneyLand that a whole lot of Vitamin D does the trick. But having a picky eater and obviously not being able to have her in the sun at all times some other solutions need to be found.

So with that, I've put together a batch of soap for her in hopes that it'll (if not diminish the disorder) sooth her baby skin. This recipe is trial and error, I've used it myself and have had happy results. I follow up my showers with Gold Bond lotion and have been pleased with the results. I'm excited to also try using this soap after my own Vitamin D baths this Summer since the base soap I used is Aloe.

I warn in advance the ingredients I've used are not common household items, they can be easily found online or less easily found in stores. If you are lucky enough to live near stores that carry essential oils, or better yet soap making supplies you will be in luck!

1 Lb. of Aloe Vera Melt & Pour Soap

30 drops of Evening Primrose

1 Tablespoon of Coconut Oil

10 drops of Vitamin E

20 drops of Lavender Essential Oil

1/2 Teaspoon of Bentonite Clay

1/4 Teaspoon of Benzoin Powder

*I separate these two ingredients because they give the soap a very mild exfolient and if you are using this on raw skin or very sunburned skin you may want to leave these out.

Combine these ingredients in a pot over medium-low heat and stir constantly. Once your soap is completely melted I would leave this over heat for about 5-10 additional minutes before pouring into your molds.

Molds could be anything from candy molds to (a sanitized) baking pan, but Michaels carries quite a few soap molds and stamps. Previously I used silicone meatloaf pans and cut my soap into blocks. This created a nice size bar and the soap slipped right from the silicone with no effort. 

Your soap will take a few hours to set, be patient and leave overnight.

I hope this reference will help, each ingredient was chosen for it's soothing effect on skin.

Almond Coconut chip Cookies

So, these are almost primal.. If you replace honey for the sugar you should be alright. We only had raw cinnamon honey so I've put regular ol' honey on my shopping list and we'll report back,

In the meantime, we made some deliciously coconutty cookies. If you haven't any almond meal, grinding up 1 1/2 cups (12oz) of almonds will do the trick.

1 1/2 Cups of Almond Meal

1/4 Cup of Coconut Oil, chilled (not liquified and warm)

1/4 Cup of Sugar (or 1/3 Cup of Honey)

1 Egg

1/4 Teaspoon of Salt (We used Sea Salt)

1/2 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

1/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1/4 Cup of Chocolate Chips (We used mini's)

1/4 Cup of Shredded Coconut

Preheat oven to 375.

Cream your oil and sugar (or honey) until smooth.

Mix in the egg.

Add almonds, vanilla, salt and baking soda. Once combined fold in your chocolate.

Line your baking sheet with parchment paper and scoop out your batter evening, flattening slightly with the back of your spoon.

Bake your cookies no more than 15 minutes until golden brown.

Try with chocolate almond milk or just some delicious cows milk!

Children's Book of the Week!

With Maurice Sendaks so recent passing; I felt it only necessary to honor him this week,

Although he did not write this cute book, his illustrations are unmistakable and so familiar to most people who grew up reading 'Where the Wild Things are' and 'In the Night Kitchen'.

With our frequent visits into New York City lately this book is doubly applicable for us.

Any book about a young boys freedom will surely find its way into our story pile.

One of my quests is always to find books that will stir up a conversation with Van, whether it be about an animal he has never seen, a place he has never been or a journey he'd love to embark it is fun for me to hear what he thinks about after reading a story. The excitement he has when seeing places he's been in a storybook is the best.

Happy Reading!

Ted talks to Kids!

If you've been listening you will have noticed that we are big fans of Ted Talks in our house.

Even a topic that may not normally interest you will have you intrigued and enthralled when it appears on one of these short webisodes.

So, in my journey on Netflix to find more reality crime documentaries I somehow stumbled upon THIS; Ted Talks for kids. Since Van has already retired for the night I will sit with excitement until tomorrow evening to pop some popcorn and curl up as a family to get informed! From puppets to parrots we'll learn fun little lessons; hopefully about journeys and discoveries, passions and experience!

The link I posted is on Netflix, hope you'll be able to view some!

Anorak Test Run

Sewing has been real popular in our home lately and I wanted to share what Guys been working on..

Using the Green Pepper Pattern he made an anorak jacket in a few hours!

He has been wanting this pattern for awhile and finally bought it, along with some less expensive ripstop nylon from the local fabric store. This test run was necessary since he'll be ordering a waterproof, lighter ripstop nylon for the final cut. I've been trying to encourage him to add a great flannel lining.

On this jacket Guy used elastic on the wrists, velcro under his chin and a sport zipper on the chest.

I'll post photos of the final cut, with the front pocket, drawstrings and the whole nine yards.

We really recommend Green Pepper, Guy has used their patterns in the past to make vests and socks.

Using cardboard to trace your pattern onto can prolong the life of your patterns for the future; making templates is always a recommendation!

Stay tuned for photos of the final cut!

Rocketship landing!

Two great people in my life just had their first baby after being together for 19 years!!

They were surprised to find out in the delivery room that they had a boy, The entire time they referred to their kid as 'Rocketship'. And, well this week he landed.

Totally excited about this little dude, he's got an awesome life in store.

So in his celebration I crocheted them a bag, maybe a not-so-average diaper bag.. I used 100% wool, added some pockets and washed the crap out of it. The end result; a wonderfully tight felted bag! Originally I had planned to needle felt this rocket but have been obsessing over hand stitching lately and took a different route.

Although I don't have a pattern to share since I act too spontaneously on my crafting, I wanted to post this idea. I used felt squares from the fabric store and cotton thread and just stitched away. I believe that I used a double threaded blind stitch for the bulk of the pieces which I think gives a real homemade feel to the project.

In the photo the appliqué is actually on the black bag, and hanging from the straps is a wool felted yellow star. I'm pretty happy with the results. I need to get my camera out to take more clear photos, but in the meantime my phone will do..

Happy Stitching!

Children's Book of the Week!

There isn't much reading in this book, but it did get Van into some Yoga positions!

He has joined Guy and I at a yoga class when he was younger, but too young to join in. Although, I am sure that he recognized what we were doing.

To keep up with a theme, youtube has a bunch of videos to watch with your kid and practice. We are currently looking up some kid yoga classes to take with Van which should be a great time.

Namaste.