Happy Birthday to Wolfie!

My little guy turned 7 today! He really wanted a surprise party, so His GrandHoffs slept over and joined with all of us in surprising Wolfie when he woke up (very, very early) this morning.


(click here for crack of dawn surprise partying)

After a pancake breakfast celebration, Wolfie received another surprise...a pie delivery! To the kisser!  He loves practical jokes, so this was right up his alley. But, it really surprised him and took him a moment to know what hit him.




(click to see the pie + face = yummy. Yes, he and Vlad then ate the whipped cream)


Per request, Wolfie had a Bowser Jr. cake, made by Mom (the easy parts) and Dad (the artistic and difficult parts)
 
(Click to see his video of his sweet birthday cake)

It was a wonderful day, just spent at home with lots of time to play with new toys. We finished up with watching a great movie together... and Wolf had a shower, because the kid smelled like redi-whip.

Fifteen Things About Our Vacation

We had such a great vacation visiting my Mom in Florida. The only thing I would change about it was saying goodbye. We could have stayed forever! Quick, someone resuscitate my Mom! *smacks paddles together and yells, "Clear!"* Just kidding! But she did make our time there extra nice and we really miss her! Here are a few key vacation facts:

 1. 1 minivan, 4 adults, 2 kids in booster seats and one toddler in a car seat. 20 hours of driving each way to get to my Mom's house in Florida. No video games, ipods, dvd's. No children were harmed (much) in the making of this vacation. Miraculous.

He's touching me!!!

(Subscribers: Click here if you can't see stupid video of me losing my mind)

 2. At our first stop, a prison van pulled along side us and out came prisoners with shackles on all four extremities, loads of neck/facialish tattoos, orange jumpsuits and personal guards. Wolf ran out of our van right over to the prison van and started chatting up the guards. I almost died.



(Subscribers: click here if you can't see rest stop tales video)

 3.  I apparently only get inspired by deadlines and whipped up a new fave outfit made from a Martha Stewart tablecloth (skirt) and a garage sale maternity dress (shirt).  I cranked it out the day before we left because I had a dream about the shirt.

4.We had a full bottle of milk break open and dump all over me, the seats, the purses and the van's carpet. Mind you, it was very hot out. Potential for stink was rising exponentially.

5. It was so nice to see my Mom! She is an excellent hostess and has a beautiful home, complete with carpet scrubber and upholstery attachment. Stink factor returns to within normal limits. Whew.

6. Did I mention she has friends with a pool?



7. We went to Homosassa Springs and visited our favorite rescued manatees. We braved Lucifer the hippo's "splatter zone" once again. We like to live dangerously.





8. We also visited Tarpon Springs, home of our favorite Greek restaurant and even more favorite Greek bakery, Hellas. And oh yes, I finally got my baklava! As I said, we like to live dangerously.

Opa!

9.We met two more of our vacation food goals-- Sonny's bbq and Thai Cuisine. I can't wait to go back! Jas became inspired to make Thai iced tea and her effort was greatly appreciated by all of us. It turned out perfect.



 10.We played Quiddler at night and munched on a sensational dip my Mom made. Um yeah, I did gain 10 pounds.


(Click here for quiddler video)

 11. Olivia had her first dip in the Gulf at Pine Island. I love driving there, you expect  gator to come across the road as you cross the swampy part. The houses up on stilts (fancy houses on stilts) are fun to look at and  I wish I could go inside and see what they are like.



12. Turns out that pop-its are fun, no matter how old you are. I like how each kid has their own style. Olivia's arms bounce several times after each throw, Vlad likes to cluster pop-its for effect.Wolf likes to throw them at people (arrrrgh!) and me, I like to squeeze 'em.


(Click here for pop-it video)

 13.  If you don't have a crazy neck pillow for the car ride, get one. Now. I made some for our last trip and got them back out. They are useful props for making Abe Lincoln beards and Hedwig and the angry inch wigs. Know what's better than a neck pillow? Hotel rooms after 10 hours of driving.




14. My Mom got a smartphone. Then she married it!



15. We tried out my homemade sunscreen and it worked great! Tutorial soon to come! No burns.

Just a simple summer's day

I am...

:: congratulating myself on weeding all my flower beds but one.

:: feeling sleepy after one of those days where I keep meaning to sit down and rest, but there is laundry, then bread to bake, then weeds to pull, etc... 

:: enjoying the cooler weather while out in the garden. So much more comfortable.

:: loving Farkle!

:: remembering to count my blessings. And appreciate the people I have around me.

:: thinking about making birthday cakes!!!

:: wondering what to make for dinner--tomorrow. why am I thinking about that today?

:: hoping for nice weather for the annual birthday bonanza.

:: anticipating lots of good company in the coming week!

:: listening to my Anglophile children say things like, "I say, what-oh!" and "old chap".

:: running to the store tomorrow for more watermelon. Must have watermelon!

:: watching Microcosmos. You must see it if you never have.

:: drying clothes out on the line and loving how the wind whipped those wrinkles out.

:: looking for the perfect vintage breadbox. Oh it is out there, just waiting for me.

:: wishing for more hours in the day.

refilling the squirt gun from the solar fountain

The bench that was just occupied by Wolfie reading a Dr. Diaper and Captain Underpants book.

veggies and flowers, and even more flowers waiting to be planted.

hydrangeas and rose campion. Nice combo.

Time to hang the laundry

ooooooh, I love that vintage green daisy tablecloth!

(Inspired this excellent blog http://www.soulemama.com/soulemama/2012/06/-right-now-.html)

Creeper madness-- how i spent sunday

Somehow, I was abducted by my children and held for ransom. I would be released after I made them each a "creeper" plushie. They play Minecraft with their Dad and fell in love with the exploding creepers in the game. This is what they look like

 And they say, "Ssssss, boom" as they explode. I found a tutorial at Instructables which was quite good. I had enough green fleece and stuffing left from other projects so I didn't have to buy any. But, we decided our creepers should have sound, so we got recordable craft buttons. We recorded creepers in action and put the button in the body. Now our creepers really do sssssss...boom!

just hanging out.

Luckily, they liked them. I would have exploded myself if they didn't.

DIY Mint Extract

I have a ton of mint! So I decided to try making mint extract (for cookies, naturally. mmmmm, cookies.)

I picked and washed the mint and plucked the leaves from the stems. I muddled the leaves by crushing them with my fingers and loosely packed them in a jar. I poured in 80 proof vodka and covered all the leaves, leaving none poking above the surface (it would rot and ruin it). I labelled it with the date in 30 days so I will know when it is done. I capped it and will try to remember to swirl it around every so often.  

In a month, I will strain out the leaves and hopefully have delicious mint extract to use in my baking. Stay tuned for the results in one month...

DIY Easy Dishwasher Soap

I had been using DIY dishwasher soap for a little while, but wasn't thrilled because I wasn't sure of borax on my dishes and because it was hard to get borax and super washing soda for a great price locally. Then I read this post by My Healthy Green Family on a borax free recipe. I was ecstatic! I tweaked the recipe and I am so pleased with the results! This new recipe is CHEAP, the ingredients are easy to find and it works crazy good. My dishwasher even became cleaner! I like to make my recipes as simple and inexpensive as I can, without compromising the end product's effectiveness. Some people like it a little fancier and might want to add essential oils or follow Free Range Mama's recipe for citrus vinegar. I use plain white vinegar in my rinse-aid compartment.  I advise finding out if you have hard water or not. A few years ago, I read my dishwasher's manual. I discovered that I needed to fill both of the soap compartments if my water was within some limits for how hard or soft it was. A call to my water dept. revealed that I did indeed have hard water. So, I double the citric acid to compensate. I also need 2 tablespoons per load. Here is my recipe:

DIY EASY DISHWASHER SOAP

1 cup Baking Soda

2/3 cup Citric Acid (use 1/3 cup if you don't have hard water)

1/2 cup salt

Simply mix them all together in an airtight container, and it is ready to use. Again, I need 2 tablespoons per load, but if your water is soft, maybe you need one.

The only drawback has been that after about a day, it seems to want to clump. I think that the next time I get something with a pack of desiccant in it,I will throw the pack in. For now, I use a fork to break it up, and after that initial clumping, it seems good. Also, please note that I used plain old baking soda and plain old salt. I ordered my citric acid online. Amazon has good prices, as does http://www.bulkapothecary.com

     I encourage you to try this! I actually get excited when I open my dishwasher and see everything glistening. Happy to wash dishes? This stuff must be miraculous!

p.s.  I am on a DIY spree! I apologize for the abundance of DIY posts coming, but I find it really useful to save my recipes this way.

What's growin' on?

Well, planting season has started and everything here is getting going! This year, I've added more fruits and veggies. I like to fill my yard with edibles. It is truly a joy to appreciate the sights, smells and tastes of your garden. I was shocked to see our "Wolfie Tree" (each child had a tree planted in honor of their birth) has plums on it!!! Six years and suddenly we have plums! I even forgot it was a plum tree! Yeah for cool surprises! Let's check out what's growin' on at the Hoffmanhaus...

Baby Basil, awww, how sweet. 

My neighbor gave me strawberry and raspberry plants. It was 90 degrees that day, so we will see how they do and if their new home is sunny enough.

I scored some veggie plants for 25 cents each! They were bedraggled, but we will try some T.L.C. This little guy has a wee little cauliflower head growing. Will the chipmunks eat all the leaves off? Hmmmmm.

Rainbow chard and kale, pretty and tasty.

A colorful spot that the butterflies like, dianthus, snapdragons, marigolds.

I really needed a hose guide, but I wasn't paying for those cheap plastic ones ever again. I "planted" an empty olive oil bottle and it works great! The green glass is much prettier too. Did I mention it was free?! I added a pretty stone given to me by my Father-in-love and transplanted my chicks and hens around it. I love it!

Lantana, a new plant for me. Pink and yellow in the same flower! I swoon! The butterflies like it too. If it does well, it will be a new favorite and will get put in every year!

I have many lavenders and they are blooming like mad! Truly a favorite because they are beautiful in the summer, but I dry the flowers and enjoy them all winter too.

Lettuce, mesculin mix, arugula and some pepper plants. The salad is out of this world!

Pineapple mint, apple mint and chocolate mint make their way in a sadly neglected patch. I hope to get it snazzier this year.

The mulberries are ready! The kids love to pick them. This year they are extra sweet!

We are losing some, but the larger peaches are hanging in there on Olivia's tree.

Some of the raspberries from my neighbor. Good neighbor's are wonderful!

I made two small rock gardens this year. this one has chicks and hens and portulaca. And hose guides :)

Rose Campion, I love to float these in water with some marigolds and Zinnia for a centerpiece. Neon pink!

I threw some of the berry plants into a pot. These had large berries on them! We will see how they do...

I added a second rain barrel this year! Next year, I hope to add a third possibly. I like that this one has a spigot on the barrel. On my original barrel, the turn off valve is at the end of the hose. Overzealous gardeners have been known to "accidentally" pull the hose off the barrel. That sucks.
I hope you are all growing something this year. Even a pot of chives will give you a thrill when you chop some into your meal and think, "I grew that." I love when kids come over and my boys invariably give them the "you can eat this!" tour. It really surprises kids that you can eat so much of my small yard. It makes me feel good to see my guys proud of all their plants.