Cabin Fever

Today was such a  l o n g  day.  It was raining and we didn't go outside.  I was going to just take a walk with our umbrellas, but then it really started to POUR so we canned that plan.  One day of staying inside has given us all cabin fever...how did we make it through the winter??

So last week I bought this cute fabric to make shirts for the girls.  I washed and dried and ironed it and had it all ready.  I traced and cut out the patterns and then cut out the material to start putting it together.  And then.  And Then!  I realized I was supposed to cut on the fold (duh!!).  It hadn't stated that in the instructions, but it did say it on the pattern I traced.  You say, "But Shawna, you have made this mistake before.  I thought you were supposed to make mistakes and learn from them."  Perhaps these mistakes have to be repeated several times before I can learn from them!  So I ended up going to JoAnn's the other night and buying some fabric for Pnut's shirt.  I was able to salvage Pilly's since her pieces are a bit smaller, and I actually like the new fabric for Pnut more than I did the other so that is good at least.  *Sigh*  Someday, when I'm in heaven, I will no longer make these silly mistakes.

And here we have Pnut with her pet cat Fuzzy who is sitting in a cardboard box.  Aren't they too sweet?

Some Like It Vintage $50 Gift Card GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Some Like It Vintage $50 Gift Card GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Mango Coconut Rice

First of all, the naughtiness started early this morning, before she even had breakfast:

Secondly, we made this rice today.  Pnut is totally on a coconut kick, even though she has never eaten any before.  I think she just likes to say it.  So, I will give you the recipe, and then I will tell you about it because I have lots to tell!

This is from The Deen Bros Cookbook on page 14.

1 T olive oil

1.5 c long grain rice

1 14 oz can unsweetened coconut milk

2/3 c water

1 t salt

1 large, ripe mango, peeled and cubed

Heat a large saucepan over medium heat with oil.  Add rice and stir around to coat.  Add everything but mango and bring to a boil.  Stir often!  Add in mango.  Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for about 20 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed.

Remove from heat and fluff with fork.  Place a dry dish towel between lid and pan and allow to steam for five minutes.  Eat.

This was not anything like I expected.  It was salty.  It was weird.  It was not sweet.  I guess I should have assumed that as there was no sugar in it, but it really was not good.  The girls loved the mango before we put it in here, and then they didn't really want to eat it.  I guess I was expecting something more like a rice puddingish dessert.  I made this one with rice and milk and raisins one time a long time ago, and that is what I was thinking of with this.  My recommendation would be to omit the salt and add about a half a cup of sugar in instead.  We put sugar on ours, and it did help.  The salt was just too much.  And there wasn't even that much salt in there!!  

Another thing...I don't know when it happened, but some rice burned to the bottom of my pan.  I was trying to stir often before simmering, but apparently that was not enough.  I am not sure if it happened during the 20 minutes of simmering, but you aren't supposed to remove the lid when rice is cooking so I didn't want to do that.  I am still working on getting it cleaned out.  I just soak and scrape, soak and scrape.  Am I disgusted?  Just a little!

On a happier note, we added about a tablespoon of cinnamon to our pancake recipe this morning, and it was awesome!!  Next we want to try adding cocoa powder to make chocolate ones.  That makes me a little more nervous:)

Well, now that I have that all out, I have a new Food Network magazine to read and Scribblenauts to play.  Have a lovely weekend!

We Love This Weather!

We ventured out to the park today in the beautiful sunshine.  I was afraid it would be soggy, which it was a little, but the mulch was mostly dry, and the tennis court was totally dry.  There were quite a few children who came after we were there for a little while, and Pnut wanted to go over to the tennis court instead of staying on the playground.  We went over than and ran around.  They were birds and I was a dragon who ate them.  Nice, huh?!  Basically we just took turns chasing each other.  Then Pnut and I lined up on the white line and were trains, Pilly didn't want to play.  We probably looked slightly crazy as we ran around flapping our arms, but it was fun, and I love to hear them giggle!

Now, on to the cuteness:

I wish I had an outfit like this.  Pnut is funny because every time we go to the playground, she tells everyone about her shoes.  She loved these pink sparkly ones!

I am going to work on their shirts tonight.  I have to trace the patterns and cut them out first.  That is always fun.  Have a great night.

Flirty Aprons GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Flirty Aprons GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Why Joel Needs to Shave

On the 8th of March, it was six months since Joel last shaved.  Today, as a sign that this is out of control, a Mennonite boy asked him what denomination he was.  It is well past time to shave.  Not that Joel sees it that way, but it is sure clear to me!

Joel brought home the Deen boys' (Paula's sons) cookbook yesterday, and I am really excited to try some of the recipes from it so hopefully soon I can share some with you. 

I got some fabric to make shirts for the girls from one of my new books last night.  I am hoping that will come together quickly, but I haven't really studied the directions yet to see how difficult it is going to be.  Hopefully not too much.  I wash and dried the fabric today and now I have to iron it.  Boo!  It is never as flat and smooth!

Today was a pretty low key day so there is not much to report.  The playground is still drying out so we couldn't go there.  We read five, yes five! Charlie and Lola books today.  I like Charlie and Lola but five is a lot!

Shower Gifts

Surprise!  Carolyn's bridal shower was this weekend, and I had volunteered to make the prizes for the shower gifts.  I wanted to make something fun that people would like instead of a notebook from the dollar store as per the norm that seems to permeate showers:)  So here is what I came up with at the suggestion of two very creative friends I have:

I had to make eight prizes so I made four mini banana breads and decorated a towel to go with each of them.

I don't even know which one was my favorite!  I really liked all of them.  

I also made lavender sachets with the lavender I was finally able to find last Tuesday night!  If I couldn't find lavender, I was going to have to do them with peppermint.  Even though it smells good, it is just not lavender.

So I made four sets of four of those.  I wasn't sure how well they would go over, but they were liked as well:)

Now Pnut wants some for her drawers and I do too so I have to make some more.  

It was a wonderful shower with a lovely (and delicious!) lunch and a fun time to see some friends I haven't seen for a while.  It was also fun to see Lyn's face when she came through the door.  I had just seen her the night before and we were all "see you next week!"  Ha!  Joel and Eric took the kids to McDonald's for at least two hours.  What good husbands they are:)