Hearts and stuff.

A little Valentine's Day spelling fun with the Hoffbros!

We decided it would be fun to "dress up" for dinner. I made a dinner that I knew no one would complain about (which adds to the romanticism) and we had candlelight. What you can't see is that their ties match their sweatpants :-)

Doesn't Vladdie look like one of the Weasley kids? 

Serious and handsome. Seriously handsome .




We had a really lovely Valentine's day and hope you did too!


A few things that have been said lately, that I will record here so I will remember them:
***Vladdie has really been increasing his vocabulary,  and he has been using words like auspicious lately (plus many other words that were even better,  but I can't recall because I have become incompetent) . Ollie was hitting him and he knew he shouldn't hit her back,  so he called out for help by saying,  "help! I'm perishing! I am perishing!"


***I am not sure why,  but Wolfie is suddenly very polite. But in true Wolfie style,  he takes it too far by saying thank you a million times about 4 inches from your eyeballs or says,"thank you" for you saying, "you're welcome" and it goes on and on. Still,  I admit it is nice. Today I tried a new pizza dough recipe,  which was a flop (we had grilled cheese instead) but he stops me and says, "although I don't like pizza and won't eat it, I want to take the time to compliment you on your pizza. Don't you think that is nice?"  The development of empathy is always so much fun to watch. 

Some things you want to remember

Wolfie and Vladdie are our resident artists. Vladdie is constantly creating drawings, buildings, creatures, heroes, sculptures...ahem, messes. :) But today I want to talk about Wolfie. Wolfie creates with words. And words, words, words. One thing I want to remember is how he is always creating imaginary books, movies, tv shows and video games about his life, but all in his mind. There have been a few drawings, but mostly these fantastic adventures are fleetingly enjoyed as he shouts them out with every hop of his hoppy ball. Although this is sort of a lame version of his normal telling (ruined by the presence of a camera, probably) I wanted to snatch a little of it up to remember it. Here he is talking about the show of his life, Wolfie's Adventures: season 1, episopde 2. In this episode he is abducted by aliens. But don't worry, every episode in his life has a happy ending. And that little thought warms this Mama's heart.
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The Makings of Christmas!

If you know my family, then you know we are always making something. Christmas really puts this in overdrive. Here is a sample of some of what we made. I made a few pairs of fingerless gloves (knitted) but didn't snag any pics. Boo, I came up with the pattern myself,  so I will try to write it up and make another pair (maybe for me?!) and post it.
    Boy were these fun to make! I hope some of my crafty friends will share what they made this Christmas.

A knitted hat to Vlad from Mommy

A gnome home with mushroom rattle for my niece,  Mae. The gnomes are knit,  but the rest is crocheted. 

A big,  beautiful Christmas doily made by my Mom. Gorgeous! 

A dollhouse for Ollie Bean. My mom made it for me when I was little. Then I painted it for Jas. Now Matt fixed it for Ollie in the same colors as our house!  He made a little furniture for it too. There is more we want to add,  then  more pics will follow! Can you believe my Mom made this from scratch? She is a d. i. y. beast! 

Old school bomb with fuse for the bros,  knitted. 

Crocheted pincushion 

My favorite gift wrapping this Christmas,  done with upcycled packing paper from a delivery. 

Had to make Ollie a gnome home too! 

Matt took a wooden,  thrifted salad bowl and carved it into a yarn bowl. I love it! Now my yarn doesn't roll across the room while I knit. 

Some ankle socks,  knitted for myself! Claus is vacationing inside for the winter,  so I had to put him to work hauling my socks. 

Gift bags made from old t-shirts

A time bomb with removable sticks of dynamite. Matt recorded a sound button in the clock! You must check out the video of it here

A stocking made out of t-shirts. The inside is red. Of course this was for the tractor loving Brandon. 

Here are some t-shirts that Matt made by creating a stencil from freezer paper and painting the shirt. I think he outdid himself! 

Link for Wolfie

Megaman for Vlad 

A thumbdog for his Mama

And for his Dad,  Dennis Kucinich! 

I didn't take a pic of the grenade stuffie I made,  but I did take a video. (click here) Matt recorded another sound button and it has already seen a lot of action! 

Last,  but not least,  the boys did their first embroidery as a gift to their talented Grandma Kathy. Subscribers, Click for video


I hope you fit a little handmade into your Christmas! I would love to hear what some of you made too!



P. S. Must give props...

The gnomes were from this pattern:
http://plainandjoyfulliving.blogspot.com/2009/02/fun-knitting-gnome.html

Gnome home was based on this pattern:
http://yarrrn.blogspot.com/2008/02/gnome-home.html

The grenade:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/mills-bomb-grenade

The old school bomb :
http://shoshanaknits.blogspot.com/2012/06/happy-bomb-knitting-pattern.html

The mushroom rattle was based on :
http://tomacreations.wordpress.com/2012/03/03/amigurumi-super-mario-mushroom/

The pincushion:
http://www.hookedonneedles.com/2009/08/crocheted-pin-cushion-pattern-english.html

The time bomb was my own on-the-fly pattern.

I always use Ann Budd's sock book. Swear by it!

http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Started-Knitting-Socks/dp/1596680296/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357700431&sr=1-3&keywords=ann+budd

Mistaken identity

Today I was taking my compost out to the back yard.  We recently had a robbery on the railroad tracks along our yard,  so when I saw a police car out front,  I stopped to be nosey. I asked if he was looking for evidence. The officer replied that he was looking for me! I was wearing all black and wandering around my yard,  so he was making sure I wasn't a burglar! This is the time of year for a lot of daylight breakins and he wanted to be sure our home was ok.  Super nice guy. Then Wolfie ran out in his socks to see if I needed any ammunition, or maybe he could release the cop car's parking brake to cause a distraction allowing me a clean getaway. Oh,  I hope this kid uses his powers for good.
Vladdie documented the interrogation in crayon.

fa la la la

Decking the halls,  and ourselves apparently!

Around these parts

:: cooking chili from fresh tomatoes tonight,  no leftovers which means it was gooooooooood. The cornbread was excellent and I couldn't figure out why it tasted so different. I have been making it with whole wheat flour for a while now,  so that couldn't be it. Same old cast iron skillet. Hmmmmm. Oh yeah,   never added the corn meal! It was corn-less corn bread! A giant pancake basically,  lol. Well,  people were ready to fight for the last piece,  so,  again,  it must have been good! 

:: hearing Christmas carols galore! I can't get enough of them. I am catching the kids singing them too. Vlad was singing an original carol to his friend and I overheard bits and pieces that involved shooting down terrorists and playing some air hockey. Could be a little more Christmas-y, but then again,  everyone's a critic. 

:: needing lists and notes to remember basic things because my mind is going on multiple channels. Ah,  to be young and well-rested 

:: thinking about Christmas cookies. I must start tomorrow or I will never get any made. 

:: doing my gift shopping online and with handmade. Lots more to make but most of my buying is done. Oh, but the wrapping! 

:: making gift bags out of some old transformer t-shirts and they are rad! Even the drawstring is made from the old shirt. 

:: keeping up with home schooling even though there is a huge lack of focus around these parts. We are needing a Christmas break big time.  Soon,  soon, soon... 

:: loving the changes we made to the bathroom! And especially the guy that made it happen! 

:: wanting to get the house decorated but needing to get it straightened up first. 

:: plotting when to schedule my next work day. And dreading the way it will make my feet feel (like they might explode). 

:: feeling happy that Matt helped me make our Christmas cards. I love working on projects with him! 

:: preparing to write in the cards and address them. Seriously preparing,  like finger pushups and wrist stretches.

:: looking forward to seeing my brothers soon! and Margret,  which is a treat! And Zaki,  (the doggy nephew) for the first time! 

:: Loving the sound of Wolf playing the piano. It is so exciting to watch

him learn. 

:: enjoying my newly painted table. It is a cheery yellow and makes me feel happy. And reminds me of a super sweet guy that spent most of his vacation painting stuff for me. 

::Feeling so happy with the yarn bowl Matt made me from a wooden thrift store bowl.So cool!

::Excited to finally have made a pillow from a 1975 cloth calendar I have been holding onto for awhile.

:: putting a little love in every stitch while making presents. I love to think about the person I am knitting,  sewing or crocheting for and have happy,  loving thoughts about them while I work away. It leaves me feeling happy and that is such a good thing. 

Another Duh moment in the kitchen.

We LOVE fresh squeezed lemonade in our home. I have used the leftover rinds for scrubbing, freshening up my disposal and feeding my compost bin. But now I have another use, saving dried lemon zest for flavoring my cooking. 

I start with squeaky clean lemons. I use my smallest feature on my wonderful multi-faceted grater and grate to the pith.

I spread it out on a glass plate and pop it in the microwave for 30 seconds once or twice depending on how many lemons I have done. Then I let it sit on the plate for a few hours in my gas oven (not on) to be sure the moisture is gone. Simply pop it in a jar and you are done. I recommend opening the jar from time to time and sniffing. Heavenly! 

Here are some muffins we made with our zest and our homemade yogurt!

Here is a link to the recipe I used, Lemon poppyseed muffins.  I used my plain yogurt, so I added a teaspoon of lemon extract. I have cast iron muffin pans, and they give the muffins such a nice crisp bottom. I totally love that, and as you can see, so does Wolfie, my assistant in the kitchen!