The Best Cheesecake Ever. Ever.

Last night I made the best cheesecake I have ever made. Ever.  Well, it is the only cheesecake I've ever made, but it was really good.  Really, really good.  I read a blog called Whatever every single day and marvel at Meg's craftiness, the quality time she spends with her kids and her general awesomeness.  Plus she wears the cutest clothes, I wish I could shop in her closet.  Anyway, she is always talking about Pam's super delicious cheesecake.  Then I started seeing other people mention it on other blogs...all of whom read Whatever, I suppose.  Small world.  If all these people like it, it must be good, right?  I happen to love cheesecake, but since we almost never go out to dinner and when we do, we NEVER order dessert...let's just say it's been a LONG time since I've had any cheesecake.  And as I mentioned before, I have never attempted to make cheesecake before and was slightly afraid that it would involve far more skill in the kitchen than I am capable of.  But it was actually really easy.  Moo helped me dump everything into the Kitchen Aid.  I did discover that I need a new springform pan though.  Stupid one from Ikea leaked.  $4.00 pan from Ikea leaked, shocker I know.  Anyway, I over cooked it just a bit but it wasn't burnt or anything, just a tiny bit more brown than one you would get at a bakery.  But it was SO good.  This will be a recipe I make for company, surely.  Super easy, plus you are supposed to refrigerate it for a few hours or overnight before you serve it.  Perfect for company!  One less thing to make the day of!  Love that.  The only down side is that Toots and Daddy can't have dairy, so Moo and I are the only ones who can eat it...and she said she liked it, but I can't see her asking for it for dessert every night for the next week.  So this morning I took one for the team and had a slice for breakfast.  You know, so it won't go bad.  Sometimes it's hard work testing new recipes.  Really hard, tasty work.  Here is the link to the recipe:
Pam's Cheesecake featured at Whatever. Go check it out and while you're there, check out Meg's blog.  She's great, and you might find a new must read for your mornings.  You're welcome.

Norco Fair Time 2012!

 I love fair time!  I especially love our little Norco Fair.  It is this cute little fair that combines a Ranch Rodeo/Bull Riding competition with a regular old fair - carnies and all.  I hate the carnie part.  I will never ride carnie rides...there is something very unsafe to me about riding a ferris wheel that was not there half an hour ago.  Freaky.  And I'm not a big fan of rigged carnie games, although we do occasionally play them for the kids.  But I love the fair!  I love walking through the community competition building and seeing all the projects, canned and baked goods people worked so hard on.  You just know some little old lady has made that pie for every family party she has ever attended, and that there is a young woman working hard right now to perfect her recipe to beat that old lady next year.  I also love fair food!  I know, it's just a regular baked potato and corn on the cob...but there is something about the fair that makes it taste better.  The rest of the family had hot dogs with mustard, but I got a corn with butter and garlic salt (YUM!) and a baked potato with butter, sour cream, cheddar, chives and bacon (do I even need to say it?).  How could you pick a hot dog over those?  I will never understand men or children.

 The girls and I love the 4H level of the fair and always go to check out the animal entries.  We were a little late in the day, since we went after school, so we didn't get to see any competitions.  But we did get to look at all the goats, sheep, chickens and a few rabbits.  We saw a cute little group of middle school boys quizzing each other on pig parts for the swine competition the next morning and the girls spent forever trying to feed the cows some hay.  She wasn't having it, but just kind of looked at them and the hay they were holding while she chewed her cud.  Toots kept falling over trying to climb the little hay hill to get closer to the fence and the cow.

This year, Moo finally got to enter the Legos competition.  They have some fun community competitions for kids and the junior division is for ages 4 to 13.  Last year, Moo entered a drawing and a stick horse.  This year she entered a Lego Friends Treehouse.  She was SO excited to enter something in the lego category.  Each entry got marked with the number entry it was, Moo was number 11, so that they could be judged without the judged knowing who made them.  So when we saw them all out on the table and Moo didn't get a ribbon at first she was sad, but then she saw her number sticker and mistakenly thought it was her finishing place.  She said "Mom, I didn't win a ribbon but I got 11th place!"  She was so happy thinking she got 11th place, Daddy and I just couldn't tell her any different.  So if you see her, congratulate her on her 11th place finish.  I entered a hand sewn little mermaid doll.  The one Moo picked out the fabric for that I posted about a little while ago.  I didn't really think I had much of a chance because they usually have very specific categories like knitting, crochet, needlework, sewing, quilting, etc.  This year, all those categories were lumped together into just two - hand work and machine work.  Meaning that my hand sewn doll was competing against all the knitting, crochet, needlework and hand sewn entries.  I almost didn't enter it because last year there were some AMAZING knit afghans and a beautiful piece of needlework that I was sure would put me out of the running for sure.  But when I went to enter them, the ladies taking entries all comented on how cute it was and that gave me a little confidence that maybe I could compete for third if there weren't too many entries this year.  But second?  Never crossed my mind.  So yipee!  And even though this is a small fair, I'm sure if we lived out in a more "farmy" state, this fair would be a joke, I am still proud of my ribbon!  And it's already encouraging me to think of something great to make for next year!  Last year I got a first place for my zucchini bread in the silly category they added to the food competition for anything made with zucchini.  But I think this one means more because it's something I made.  I know I made the bread, but I don't know.  I don't know if that makes any sense, but I am more proud/excited about the second place in the sewing competition than I am at the first place in the zucchini competition.  And it just goes to show that I have NO idea what they look for in these competitions!  Last year I was sure my photo would win, didn't even place.  I entered the zucchini bread on a whim, since I happened to have a load of zucchini from my Mom's garden I needed to use up and was planning on making the bread anyway for the girls.  That got first place!  This year, I didn't think I really had a chance, but I thought Moo's cute little treehouse would place.  She didn't and I got second.  Like I said, no clue what they are looking for, these judges. 
Now to get thinking about what to enter next year...

How cute are these?

I was flipping through a magazine in Barnes & Noble the other day and saw these little beauties.  How cute are they?  They are made by Wolverine and called the 1000 mile boot (I think).  The article said something about their marketing during the Depression and that they could be worn for a thousand miles before needing to be resoled and that they could easily be resoled for a fraction of the cost of new boots - thus they were a great purchase.  They are still being made today and claim the same thing...but they are like $600!  Ah, the next time I find $600 lying in the street, this will be my purchase.  I would start wearing only skirts and tights with these boots - don't you just love it?

The new mermaid on the block

There is a new mermaid in the house.  The one with the pink hair is the one I made for Moo last Christmas (stocking stuffer) and the one with the green hair is the one I just finished sewing about ten minutes ago.  When I was getting all set up to make the mermaids at Christmas, I bought soft flannel in two skin tones (the pale ones above and a darker, tannish brown), five colors of corduroy fabric for hair and four colors of plain old quilting fabric for the tails.  I picked a more traditional look for the first mermaid because I was afraid that the girls wouldn't like them if I made them too funky.  But I let Moo pick the fabrics from my mermaid stash for this second mermaid and she went funky!  She really liked the "undersea flower" print (that's what we named it anyway) and was going to go with the pink hair again, but I suggested picking a different color so all her mermaids wouldn't look too much the same.  I thought she would pick the red or orange...something close to pink, but not pink.  But she picked the green and I think it's really cool!  I also used a tiny button as a hair decoration on this one instead of the rick-rack flower I made for the other one.  I think I like the idea of them all being totally different. 

Of course before this one was even done, Moo was asking for another one and Toots was begging for a number 2 too.  So now after a short break to let my hand muscles heal up (SO not used to that much hand sewing!!!) I will be making a number 2 for Toots.  Then I think I will make Moo a boy mermaid for Christmas and one for Toots...a boy maybe?  These are kind of quick little projects.  Three days max, if you spread it out a lot.  One day to cut pieces, one day to sew the parts and one day to sew it all together.  That's how I have to do it with the girls constantly needing me, anyway.  If I were alone for a day, I could probably make two in one day.  So cute and so fun for the girls!

Merida, Brave Merida

Moo and I had a date on the books a LONG time ago to see the new Pixar/Disney movie Brave when it got to the theaters.  We both really enjoyed it.  Moo because it was a movie about a strong, brave, adventurous princess and Mommy...well, pretty much for the same reasons.  I also liked the fact that this one did not end with her "living happily ever after" married to some prince and that it DID involve the MOTHER (for once not an evil step-mother or one who is MIA) and the entire plot of the movie hinged upon the mom/daughter not understanding the p.o.v. of the other.  Great.  Loved it.  Which lead us to this...

And this...

Moo decided she wants to be Merida for Halloween, so instead of buying the $50 costume at the Disney Store (no, that does not include the wig NOR the bow and arrow set) I made one.  We will either cave and buy the wig at Target or make the white headpiece she uses to cover her hair in the movie.  And I will gladly purchase the bow and arrow set because it is awesome to have something like that marketed to girls.  To make the dress, I just found a pattern for an angel costume (large bell sleeves and a giant bell body with an elastic neck), made it in blue and added a large gold band to the bottom.  Then I made a simple gold sash to tie around the middle and tacked it just a bit in the back because it kept coming just a bit undone and sliding down.  Since I just kind of winged it, it ended up being just about two inches too long.  But I'm going to wait to hem it until Halloween because with my luck, I'd hem it now and it would be way too short by then.  This kid grows like a weed!  Happy early Halloween!

In a funk

There has been a lot going on around here lately.  None of it too great, although I try to see the good every day.  It has been hard to see lately.  Family issues, money issues, kids acting up, little sleep because kids are now "learning" to share a room, summertime which means Moo is home 24/7 and is old enough to know that there is cool stuff to do out there but we are not doing it!  Ugh.  The Hubby's job keeps him busy - always busy, which means that I do a lot of this stuff - all stuff - alone. Recently, probably because of all the things mentioned above, it has been really hard for me to do it alone.  Some days I just want to crawl into a hole and let the dishes go unwashed, the laundry go undone and let the kids have a death match over the remote or doll or book or whatever it is they are fighting about right now.  But I don't.  I do what I'm supposed to do and remember that this too shall pass.  Soon enough Moo will be back in school and I will miss having her right next to me ALL DAY.  Toots will get used to sleeping in the new "girls room" and not cry out for me every two hours through the night.  Bills will get paid, things will get done.  It is not the end of the world even though it feels like it some days.  And I am not a martyr.  I take care of the house and the kids and the yard and the bills and the family stuff and everything else, but I am not the only one doing these things.  Even though it feels like that too sometimes.   And in just a little while, I'll be bringing home Gnomeo and Juliet (our new rabbits) and beginning a new adventure.  If you want to learn more about it, check out my other blog Cold Hands Farm where I post about all things rabbit.  So I do have that to look forward to.  This funk will go away.  It too shall pass.

A day in the life...

So I was just browsing the Internet, looking for a new blog to get attached to and I saw a post titled "What are you doing today?" where the blogger posted about what she was doing, then asked her readers to post in the comments about what they were doing or what a typical day was like for them. I thought it was interesting to read about how others spend their day. So I thought I'd post something similar, so here goes! Tomorrow is Saturday, so it's Farmer's Market Day! So as usual, Toots will probably wake up between 6 and 7 am. Then she and I will go out and I'll give her a bottle and watch some cartoons while we wait for Moo to wake up. Then it's breakfast time, get dressed time and figure out what's for dinner and do any necessary dinner prep time. Then we'll head out to the Farmer's Market for an hour. Then we'll head to the Sprout's nearby to stock up on organic baby food and maybe some soy ice cream for lactose intolerant Toots. Then we'll come home for lunch. After lunch, Toots will nap and Moo will work on her First Grade prep book and then watch a little t.v. I will do some chores in the afternoon, laundry, dishes, cleaning up, etc. Until it's time to make dinner. After dinner will be a little more play time, then getting everyone ready for bed, a story and a bottle for Toots. Then bedtime for the girls (who will shortly be sharing a room) and Mommy will finally get a little quite time. I usually have dreams of knitting or reading, but I'm usually so tired at that point that I just end up watching a DVR recording of Joyce Meyers or So You Think You Can Dance. And I usually fall asleep watching it on the couch. At some point I'll wake up because a child is calling, I'll deal with that, then tuck myself in and get ready to do it all again the next day! Well, that's my day, what does your day look like?

Farm Chicks Show

This weekend is the annual Farm Chicks Show. A place full of wondrous junk the likes of which I have never seen, and may not see for a few years yet. I haven't been able to make it because of the kids and the cost. It's in Spokane, so I could drive but that would add more time to the trip and with the girls I don't think they or Daddy could last that long without me. In fact later this summer I am going to leave them alone for 2 nights - we'll see how that goes. Anyway, I just wanted to give a shout out to all those ladies having a grand old time in Washington. I wish I were there!

Cold Hands Farm!

Hi everyone!  I just wanted to let you know that I have started a new blog dedicated to my new enterprise - Cold Hands Farm rabbitry!  The girls and I have decided to delve into the world of rabbits, namely French Angora rabbits.  I am buying a breeding pair, so that in the future we can breed them and sell their litters.  For now I will just be harvesting their wool to use and sell.  So exciting!  So come on over and read all about it at www.coldhandsfarm.blogspot.com!

Happy Memorial Day

Photo taken at a Colonial Days Festival, Spring 2011

We were a military family for a while and know how hard that life is.  We also appreciate those who gave their lives for this country and respect the sacrifices their families have made.  Happy Memorial Day, may we remember the fallen and honor the serving.

Childlike wonder

This is a photo I took just a few weeks ago of the girls staring at a big grasshopper stationed on the screen right at Toots level.  She's the one who spotted it, actually and said "Mommy, what's dis?"  Moo raced over, knelt down next to her and they just stared.  For about 10 minutes they were glued to the "screen".  I told them it was a grasshopper and that we don't like grasshoppers because they eat our plants, especially the my pretty Hydrangea which this guy is right next to.  I would have gone out there and tried to smash it, but I just couldn't get over how amazed the girls were at that bug.  Once it started moving they were even more interested.  Toots kept her grip on Moo the whole time. 

Summer Fun List 2012

Well, last year we jumped on the Summer Fun List band wagon and I really liked it. It served it's purpose as a huge inspiration for those summer days when you have NO idea what to do with the kids, they are whiney and don't know what they want to do either. All you have to do is look to the list! The list that you made when you HAD those ideas, but didn't need them and when there wasn't so much pressure to have awesome days planned out before breakfast is even over. So if you have kids, I would totally recommend making a summer list! We used a large piece of paper from one of the rolls of paper used on Moos art easel. Then, because my kids are young and love bright colors, I wrote "Summer Fun List 2012" in a rainbow of colors. Below that I draw an empty box followed by the fun idea so that we can check off the boxes as we do the things listed. I used a different color for each idea to give the list an overall rainbow effect. I would post a picture, but I'm still waiting for magic computer elves to come clean up my hard drive while I'm asleep. So to get you started on your own list, I'll share a few of the gems from my list. Toots is still too little to contribute, although we do take her into account and try to think of things she would enjoy. Mainly the list is a project Moo and I do together. So here we go! 1. Moo & Mommy date - Brave in the theater 2. Park hop day (spend the day going from playground to playground in our city) 3. Get ice cream at an ice cream shop 4. Make s'mores around a real campfire 5. See a fireworks show 6. Camping in the familyroom, tent and all 7. Enter something into the fair 8. Moo makes dinner 9. Try a new restaurant 10. See the Fresh Beat Band in concert That last one is a surprise for the girls. Moo likes them, but Toots LOVES them! We think they will be really surprised when we walk into the arena and the Band walks out on stage! I think I'm more excited about the surprise than I've been about anything in a long time. So fun! So you get the idea. I also have a whole bunch of stuff on there that is "educational" like writing a letter to a favorite cousin once a week (to practice our writing) and reading 50 1st reader books all by herself (can you believe they expect you to read by the time you leave Kindergarten now? Wasn't that a first grade thing when I was in school?). I also have a TON of ideas from Pinterest for crafts and projects and just general fun things to do...can you say DIY sprinklers or oobleck? Yeah, I'm not sure I'm saying that second one right either, just forget it. Anyway, have fun and make a list! Even a little one will help you out on those days when everyone says "I'm bored!" and you can just keep adding to it as you think of things! Our list last year had so much on it, we didn't get half of it done. Our list is pretty full this year too, but I'm going to try to do something on it at least every other day to keep the summer fun! Our summer is exactly two months long so I don't know if we'll get it all done, but the point is to have ideas there when you need them - not to force yourself into a crazy busy vacation! We are almost there, only a few days left for Moo and then it's fun in the sun for this family! I can't wait!

What is up with my computer?!?!

So I feel like it's been forever since I was able to post anything on here! I am having a serious problem with my computer and am having trouble fixing it. It seems as though I take a greater than normal number of pictures of my kids, which has filled up the memory on the hard drive. I have only had this computer for about 3 years and have NEVER had this problem before with any other computer I've ever had. Since the hard drive is full, I can do nothing - not even update my Firefox or create any new Word documents! Moo is about to graduate Kinder and I couldn't even contribute any photos to the collage the parent group is making because my drive is so full it can't even burn a disc! So I am typing this from my iPad, which is an odd experience since I don't think Blogspot was designed with mobile devices in mind. I have purchased an external hard drive, but now I have to figure out how to get everything off my hard drive and onto the external drive. And since the Hubbs is either at work,overtime or the gym about 95% of the time, it is hard to find the time to be in the study. My main problem with that is that the study is not Toots friendly. It is organized and clean, but I cannot be sure that she couldn't get her hands on a pin or scissors or Sharpies. So I try to keep her out of there and since it is on the other side of the house, I can't just head in there and leave her in the family room alone...blah. Someday I'll have a laptop and this will be lots easier. But now that I can manage just written posts on the iPad, I'll try to get on here more often to at least get some written posts up. Like I mentioned, Moo is almost done with Kinder! Then I will have a first grader on my hands, what?!?! I just can't seem to wrap my head around that. As soon as Moo gets out of school, we will be moving Toots into her room. The big girls will use the summer to get used to the whole room sharing thing and hopefully have it down by the time school starts again in the fall. We are also trying to wean Toots off the bottle and onto some big girl sippy cups. She has been resisting like crazy and won't even try to use a big girl cup. So that one might take a while. But it must be done! Hopefully I'll be able to update a little more if this iPad thing cooperates, so summer may be well documented this year! Yipee!

Homemade Non-Easter Easter Dresses

Well, I haven't posted in a while.  The Hubby changed his work schedule, which will be changing again at the end of the summer...so much drama...anyway, I'm basically a single mom- with someone sending her money to support the kids and herself.  So I don't get to blog as often as I like.  Someday I'll save enough to buy a laptop so I can blog from the familyroom, which would allow me to blog every day!  Can you imagine?  But for now, I have to wait until conditions are just right to go clear across the house for 20 to the only room in the house wired for internet access.  Frustrating.  Anywho...

Do you remember back in January I posted about some happy mail?  That I got a package of fabric that I had ordered from Hawthorne Threads?  Well I made dresses for the girls just in time for Easter!  Yes, I know they aren't exactly Easter dresses...but I let Moo pick out her own fabric, then I picked out something kind of complimentary for Toots and since when I ordered them I was not thinking of Easter, this was not an issue.  But since I had time and got a wild hair, I decided to bust them out in time for the holiday.  Plus I've always wanted to make an Easter dress.  Of course, it was freezing on Easter so the girls are wearing long sleeve shirts and Toots is wearing leggings too.  I promise the dresses are not as sloppy as Moo is making hers look.  I made Moos' first and followed the pattern exactly, gathered top and front pockets.  Then I modified Toots' little dress to be easier/faster.  I omitted the pockets because she doesn't need them and I actually like the cleaner look as opposed to the broken line the pockets make.  I also did pleats instead of the gather along the yoke.  I thought this would be easier, but I did have trouble keeping the pleats nice and neat while sewing.  It was a faster set up to do the pleats, but totally easier to sew the gathers.  A toss up, I think.  There is a little button at the top/back of the dress which I was proud of since I have never done anything with a button before.  The girls both seem to like their new dresses and I made them in sizes 7 and 3, so that they should last for a while ( I hemmed Moos' up after I finished it so that it would be the proper length.  The main difference between the 6 & 7 was the length.  It can be let out as she grows.)

Moo likes hers so much she wore it to Costco the day after I finished it.  A woman with about 5 kids all under 10 asked if I made it.  I told her I did, she said it was cute, then we went on with our shopping.  After I had a huge inner dialog about why she would ask that?  Does it look homemade?  Is that a good thing?  I thought it came out rather well and since Moo liked it so much I was pretty darn proud.  But boy did that lady ever throw me for a loop.  I never thought I would be bothered so much by something like that.  Now obviously, I don't care if someone else likes the way I dress my kids or whether or not their clothes come from my machine or Target, but I hope that kind of thing doesn't rub off on the girls.  I hope they always like wearing the things I make them.  I hope they always think of how much time and love went into those items...so much more special than a $10 dress from Walmart.  But I guess we'll see in a few years...

By the way, the fabrics are from Hawthorne Threads and the dress pattern is the Ice Cream Social Dress from Oliver & S.  In case you were wondering.

Baby loves Baby

Today's obsession is not mine, but belongs to Toots.  It is her baby, well Moos' baby, really.

Moo was not into baby dolls until she hit 4.  She still isn't really big on them.  She'll play with one for a few minutes, then get bored and move on to something else.  She's gonna be my career minded gal.  Toots, on the other hand, seems to love her baby.  At 16 months, she is all about pushing baby in a stroller, feeding baby, making me change baby's diaper...she hugs and kisses baby all the time.  She still carries it like a toy (see above photo, I promise I don't carry my babies like that) and will still drop it and run to the table if I offer her a snack.  But the other day she started doing something odd, but funny.  She dropped baby, on purpose, then made a noise that sounded like a tiny kitty meowing.  She looked up at me with a terribly sad face and said "Oh no, Wha happen?  Baby fa dow, baby kwyin!"  (that's crying for all you non-mom's out there).  Then she picked it up, still meowing, and handed it to me.  I did what I do for her and said "Oh no!  What happened?  Did you fall down?  Where is your boo-boo, let me kiss it...there all better!"  She smiled the biggest smile I've ever seen and said "Fank you, Daddy!" (Yes, she still calls me Daddy sometimes-I know, don't even start).  Then she did the entire thing over and over again, about 30 times.  Since then we have had to go through this little ritual daily and while it still is funny to me to see her little face make that terribly sad sympathetic frown and pathetic meowing, it does get annoying when you can't finish making dinner until baby's boo-boo has been kissed.  On the plus side, I actually got a picture of her smiling!  She sure does love that baby!

Moo's New Haircut

Before

After

 Haircut a la Mom.  I think she likes it, thank goodness.  I tried to talk her out of it for a long time because I thought she'd regret it since she LOVES having long hair to do fancy hairdos with.  But she's had her hair like this for about a month now and she really seems to like just throwing on a headband in the morning instead of me spending half an hour brushing through the long tangled jungle of hair before school.  She looks SO grown up now!  The before was taken right before Christmas, not too long ago but look at the difference!  I think I might try to keep it like this, even if it does make her look ready for college.  What do you think?

Happy Mail!!!

Look what I got in the mail today!!!  The elephants (sorry they are upside down) and the grey with little swirly dots are for a dress for Moo, the large and small pink dots are for a dress for Toots and the two tone pink is for a shirt for me!  I let Moo pick her own fabric - I was not expecting that one.  And I picked for Toots and had to go with the pink and grey dots because they were just adorable and I LOVE pink and grey together.  And the tone on tone fabric was a hard choice for me, I don't usually wear patterns that bright, but it was between this one and another, but this one was on sale.  Had to go with the sale!  And I think it will look nice in the pattern I have from Indigo Junction.  The girls will be the Ice Cream Social dress pattern from Oliver & S.  So cute.  I'll post pics when I complete them.  These projects will have to wait until I tackle the Hoarders paradise that is my craft room/office.  Every time I come in here to use the computer I'm afraid of being trapped under a tower of collapsing scrapbook paper.  I need to get this under control before I can begin any new projects OR finish any of the long term/pending projects I've got stashed around here.  But it was fun mail to get!

*Fabrics were purchased from my new favorite fabric store Hawthorne Threads!  Check them out, they carry some SUPER cute fabrics!!!

Stuck!

I have no idea how she did this, but while I was doing the dishes Toots climbed into one of her toy bins.  Then she couldn't get out again.  But she didn't freak out, or scream, or cry.  She just sat there and looked around.  After I noticed her situation, I grabbed the camera and snapped a few pics then asked her what she was doing.  "Stuck" she said.  That's all, just stuck.  Then she just kept looking at the toys around her and started playing with the cow right in front of her face in the above picture.  I slid the drawer out and pulled her out of it.  She stood there looking back and forth, from me to the drawer to me, then just went right back to playing.  She's so odd sometimes.