Last Week In Photos

 living room tent...

 ...perfect for apple snack and homework. it's still up.

 they really are pals.

 fun with three pairs of glasses...

 ...before 7:30am! start the day rocking, right?

 we had a surprise visit friday morning from not one but THREE adolescent deer. they walked through our yard, watched the highway for a few minutes and then went to the woods again.

 monday = library, followed by lots of reading.



Prolonging the Onsie (or No-Sew Baby Shirt Alteration)

Having long skinny babies can pose some specific challenges when it comes to sizing. As anyone with a skinny baby knows, most brands cater to the butter balls. Garanimals, Cherokee, and other cheaper brands tend to run wide. Circo, Carters, and Old Navy are better, but if you get them second hand they can get a little stretched, too. This is not really big deal, and honestly having clothes a little baggy on some kids is better than having tight clothes on many.

But, you do have those days when the drawer is full of the short wide onsies that you were given, all the favorite shirts are in the wash and you wish there was some way to make these work.

So this is my experiment in "making it work"

The snaps don't fit over the diaper anymore, so just snip them off, very close to the trim.^^



Make a short slit only as high as the top of the leg trim. Remember to keep as much length as possible.^^



For an almost dolman effect you can then tie the two front tails to each other and ditto with the back. This makes a relaxed shape with a cinched bottom. This can make it very skinny around the waist so put it on your kid first and then play with it.

You can also tie a knot in the end of each tail for a kerchief bottom.

Let me know if you come up with anything else. Please.



Gotta keep these babies cool!

How To Dismantle A Coconut

Find one that is heavy for it's size. Shake and listen. It should have a lot of water inside and the three "eyes" should be hard, not crumbly.

 Punch a hole in two of them. We used a chisel, a vice, and a hammer, but I've also just put a nail through and then pulled it back out.

 Invert over a glass to drain all the liquid.

Place on a baking sheet and in a 350* oven for about 25 minutes.

 Or until it splits like this ^^

Once it's split this is all the high-tech, heavy duty gear that you need. In addition to cracking it for you the heat also pulls the flesh away from the shell so it's easier to remove it.

 

This is one of the few fruits that are never out of season.

Enjoy!

Potato-Leek-Dill Breakfast Casserole (Dinner Story)

...Or anytime casserole. This turned out way better than I was even expecting. I brought it to our Kingdom Hall spring cleaning on Saturday and once one person tried it was gone in about 15 minutes. And it was sitting next to a pile of homemade blueberry muffins and doughnuts.

I was going to make it for dinner tonight so that I could take a picture and show you how pretty it looks straight out of the oven. 4 o'clock hit and I had to have dinner ready early because Spencer was being picked up for b-ball at 5 o'clock. I reached for the potatoes and had forgotten that oh I don't have any left.
Ok. Instead we'll have breakfast sandwiches on english muffins, add avocado, cheese, salad, it's a healthy dinner... English muffins are in the freezer!
No problem. I have a coconut in the oven (more on that later), I'll put them on the baking sheet for a couple minutes to thaw... Ok. Eggs are fried, muffins are toasted, lettuce torn and bowl'ed. (sit down)
Where are the forks...? (sit back down)
Oh yeah, ketchup for London. (sit back down)
Ok, salt and pepper...(sit back down)
4:40. We are sitting down calmly. Take a breath, say a prayer.
Spencer jokes "... And then the phone rings..."
I say "... Or the coconut explodes."
But we get through maybe five bites. London is actually eating everything on her plate. She has no pants on for some reason but oh well.
Then she stands up and starts pooping. In her high-chair.
While cleaning this up, the phone rings!
But the coconut never exploded.


Potato-Leek-Dill Breakfast Casserole

3 medium potatoes peeled and thinly sliced
3 leeks, rinsed, white parts thinly sliced
1/2 tsp dried dill, divided
1/3 to 1/2 cup grated cheese (i used romano, very yummy)
6 eggs
1/3 cup milk
salt and pepper

Boil potatoes in salted water for 3 minutes. Rinse in cold water and set aside.

Saute leeks in butter or olive wil 1/4 tsp dill, salt and pepper until soft.

Butter a 9x9 pan and lay potatoes in the bottom. Sprinkle with cheese and add leeks.

Mix eggs and milk and pour over leeks. Sprinkle top with left over dill for effect, you may not need all of it.

Bake at 350 for about 25-30 minutes. It will be lightly browned when done.

p.s. our evening passed peacefully...