Life is just a bowl of cherries!

Our tiny little tree has given us great cherries this year!

In honor of these little gems, I made up some napkins for my Mom-in-love, using some of the vintage buttons in her Mother's collection.  These were inspired by Martha (genuflect and cross your self).

Time for a Dairy Godmother sing-a-long!

"Life is just a bowl of Cherries"

Life is just a bowl of cherries
Don't take it serious,
Life's too mysterious
You work,
You save,
You worry so
But you can't take your dough
When you go, go, go

So keep repeating "It's the berries."
The strongest oak must fall
The sweet things in life
To you were just loaned
So how can you lose
What you've never owned

Life is just a bowl of cherries
So live and laugh,
Laugh and love
Live and laugh at it all!

Dress refashion

I decided to try my hand at refashioning a dress.  I didn't get extreme like some of the ladies out there, such as New Dress A Day.  But I did change a neckline slightly, radically take it in and messed with the darts.  Here is before:

Grandma's poor dress, it looked so nice on her, not so much on me.  But the potential was there for a little summer dress for kickin' it in the backyard, etc...

After!  Much better!  I need to dig around for an appropriate belt, but I just grabbed one I had handy.  I may try tightening it up a little more and forgo the belt.  But my sewing machine is what I like to call a B!^@H- @$$, and I was going to throw it out of the window if I didn't stop for the evening.

strange garage sale finds

For the low, low price of $2 I am the proud owner of a viking helmet and a very ornate brass hookah.

Note:  I am not condoning smoking in any way shape or form, however I am all for sticking things in your nose as long as it does not result in an emergency room visit.

Healthy , cheap kid's snacks? Sure!

      It seems that I can't go a day without reading somewhere about how you can't eat healthy without a large grocery budget.  I just haven't found that to be true.  I am sure that many of my friends and family members have healthy, yet frugal foods that are go-to staples in their homes.  Since summer vacation is here, I am putting out  some ideas of snacks that are kid-friendly, inexpensive and healthy and encourage anyone to comment with their own suggestions, in an effort to dispel this myth of healthy food being expensive.
      ---My go-to decadent sweet is to get a bag of frozen berries and dump them in a bowl with a large tub of vanilla or plain low-fat yogurt poured on top of them.  My kids like it, but not as much as me!!! Granola sprinkled on top is for special occasions!  If you really want something amazinfg, try it with frozen cherries.
     ---A great homemade healthy version of  slushie-- Blueappleberry slushie!  Put ice cubes in the blender, cover with 100%apple juice and a handful of frozen blueberries.   Blend until smooth enough for sipping through a straw, Yummy!
    --- Hot air-popped popcorn with a smidge of butter and/or parmesan cheese sprinkled on.
     ---Homemade popsicles made from juice, especially orange juice.  Anyone remember the "Timer" PSA's on saturday mornings? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaVWM1mqG74
                                          
--- "peanut butter pops" is just, ummm, peanut butter eaten directly from a spoon.  It is supremely good.

---fruit salad sounds like a pain to make, but 1 banana + 1 apple + 1 orange or some grapes = easy yummy in the tummy.

---frozen edamame.  I buy a big bag at the asian grocer for $1.39.  Simply boil, drain and lightly salt.  Then have fun squirting them out of the shell and eating.  Plus, you can show your kids this video

     I do the majority of my shopping at Aldi's which has super cheap staples, produce and frozen fruits and vegetables, with a limited selection, but good quality.  Recently I found this product, which I think will be great or the long car trip we have planned.

Fruit leather in strawberry or raspberry flavor, with 50 calories each.  But just look at the ingredients!

And they taste great!  Much easier than making your own, which I like to do, but takes some time and is not so easily transported for outings!  I also think these were less than $2.00 a box, but can't remember an exact price.

    I look forward to other ideas from people.  It is so easy to get stuck in a rut with cooking, especially for kids.  I know that people are feeding their kids foods that are healthy and inexpensive, it is time to share ideas!  

The next installment of "My kids say the darnedest things"

  Once again I am logging some of the things the boys are saying, simply because I'm too lazy to ever dig out baby books and fill them in.  There, I've said it.
---Wolfie and Vladdie love playing with water, especially a sprinkler.   While doing so, Wolfie implores us to squirt him by asking me to "shower me with love, Mommy!"

----At the store, Wolfie said, "There is Daddy!"  I told him that Daddy was still at work, so that couldn't be him. He responded, "That must be Daddy's perfect compliment, except he was disguised in wedding clothes.   He had a jacket and pants and fancy shoes and NO HAT!"  the no hat part was accompanied by butt shaking while his hands made silly gestures at the top of his head.  He was immensely pleased by this combo of movements and repeated this often, delighted more and more by it.

--- Wolfie ate an entire ice cream cone in one bite.  When I told him I didn't believe him, he told me "It is a present."  I was confused, until it occurred to me that he was trying to say,"It's a gift!"

---Vladdie reports, "I am a baby genius.  With soft hair.'

...and there you have it!

oh how the garden will grow!

I am loving this weather and have the green thumb fever goin' on!  I can't keep out of the dirt!

My chicks and hens are growing like crazy this year!  I have loved these since I was a kid, so they have a lot of sentimental value for me.

My first lettuce garden, complete with red leaf, freckled leaf, radicchio
 and arugula.  We will see if I picked a good spot.  I have basil in there too, plus another bed full of swiss chard and a huge oregano plant that is trying to take over the neighborhood.

This year I have 2 tomato plants in pots, and one in it's usual spot.  We will see how the ones do in pots.

Little tomatoes starting!!

I love portulaca!  tiny plants with multiple colors, so pretty!

MUD PIE TIME!

I hope you find something to plant, some place, because there really is nothing like it!

Isn't This Great???

     For Mother's Day, my Mother-in-love wrote a wonderful poem for me!  It is so awesome, I must share it!

SUPERMOM

Look! Up at all hours! She's a lady! She's a honey! She's SuperMom!

Faster than a speeding Hoff Bro!

More powerful than a Snow-Plow Locomotive!

Able to leap Tall Laundry Baskets in a single bound!

Up and about in the Early Dawn to silence that Beeping Horn on the street!

Making Tasty Meals 24-7-365!

Karate-chopping Chard in the garden, and all the while

Re-purposing June Cleaver's aprons

Into Fabric Pearls fit for a goddess!

Yes, it's SuperShan--Subtle Siren from Planet Medina,

Who came to Earth with powers and abilities beyond those of Mortal Moms!

SuperShan, who can change the course of babies' tears,

Who can bend knitting needles with her bare hands,

Who can make her hubby's heart light with laughter and love,

And who, disguised as Dairy Godmother, mild-mannered Mommy of a great Lakewood family,

Fights the never-ending battle for Cake, Cleanliness, and the Hoffman Way!

This poem copyrighted @ The Daily Panic, Cleveland Heights, Ohio, 2010. All rights are irrelevant.

*All opinions expressed herein are subject to a totally unbiased and unsolicited Mother-in-Love who admires said SuperShan in more ways than one,(!) and who wishes her hogs and chickens this Mother's Day and every day.