My Little Daisy

Maggie is a Daisy Scout. She has enjoyed the meetings; she wishes there were more meetings to attend. She likes to help in the kitchen. Her latest skill is "mincing". She says "I want to mince! " all the time.

Christmas 2010

We had a great Christmas morning. It was our second Christmas in our new house, and our first Christmas with Sammy. The girls took their time opening gifts and we enjoyed a breakfast of cinnamon rolls.

Lunchbox solutions and Sisterly Moments

As I pack 3 lunches each day for school, including my own, I am always searching for inspiration (thank you to Wendolonia and your great blog) and easy solutions that are cost-effective as well. One great strategy is as follows:

I place 2 baking potatoes in the oven the night before and use the "Automatic Oven" feature of my range. I set it to bake the potatoes starting about 5:15 in the morning and take them out around 6:30 when they finish. I take the pototoes out of their jackets and mash in a bowl with salt and butter. Then I pack them into 2 pre-heated thermoses (thanks again to Wendolonia for instructions on preheating thermoses) with a dollop of sour cream and pack the thermoses into my lunchbox and my 8th grader's lunchbox, along with fruit, crackers, and cheese.

My 2 daughters are beginning to lose some of the sibling rivalry lately (knock on wood) and they also enjoy some quality time together frequently (again, knock on wood). We are looking forward to spring break in March; last year we enjoyed watching "Gone with the Wind" together and are ready to watch it together again soon; I am searching for more great classics we can all enjoy.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. This photo taken by my sweet hubby on a recent morning, very candid, sans makeup, hair, and wardrobe.

Sitting at the Soda Fountain...

We are so lucky to have an authentic, old-fashioned Soda Fountain right here in our small town. Sadie, Maggie, and I visited the fountain after school this week to celebrate Sadie's accomplishment at UIL competition. She placed First Place in UIL Spelling for 8th grade. Way to go Sadie !!
More about the Soda Fountain: It was completed last year and is located inside a tea-room type restaurant. The owner worked at a soda fountain in our town as a teenager. That fountain was built before 1900 and he used a picture of the original fountain to construct this one. It is authentic and awesome! The sodas are mixed when you order; not bottled previously. We love our town; it's as close to Mayberry as any I have seen.

We're a Crafty Bunch

My favorite stress-reducer is sewing up a new outfit or two for a member of my family. Right now, I am working on Simplicity pattern 5484 for Maggie using the materials you see here. I am almost finished with the top and pants. The pants will sport fabric appliques made from the accent fabric, which I love by the way. I used a zigzag stitch to topstitch the appliques to the pant legs, and a wonder-under type product to iron them on first. The pants are an elastic waist made from a good quality denim with shiny threads throughout. Maggie needs elastic waist pants whenever possible to help keep them up on her little body. I should finish this outfit tonight and hope to have pics soon of the finished product.

My crafty hubby built this nifty bird feeder and hung it from the front porch. We have enjoyed watching the bluebirds, the cardinals, Carolina chickadees, and wrens, along with the abundant sparrows.

I hope to start blogging daily or near daily on this blog space. Please feel free to share in comments!

New Year 2011

January 9 snowfall was beautiful. Maggie "lost" a whole day last Friday, sick at home and sleeping.
Christmas 2010 pictures to come soon!