DPP: Day 3

Driving Miss A.

We got a new ride-on toy for our birthday! 

Ladybug Party

Yesterday, we threw a ladybug themed birthday/baptism party for our girl.  I did it on a budget, and I hate buying useless overpriced decorations and paper goods, so I made what I did buy disposable count.  I thought I'd share some of what I did with you!

 

 Ladybug cups:  Red paper cups from the dollar store.  

Round white labels leftover from another project run 

through the copier at work with the lid open=black spots.

 If you have a girl, jumpers are super easy to make.  

I just traced one onto doubled fabric, sewed up the sides and the shoulders.  

This perfect fabric was from JoAnn's.  I used less than a yard.

 I whipped up this bib last thing, 2 pieces of white flannel stitched together.

A number 1 cut out of jumper scraps, sewn on.

Ribbons attached at the top to tie on.

 Red tablecloth + back plates and bowls = ladybug tables.

Those are plain white napkins in the center.

I think the colored ones don't work well, and white 

fit in with my color scheme.

 

Guestbook:  Red stamp pad, sharpies and a  blank page from her scrapbook.  

(Plus baby wipes for cleaning off thumbs!)

We did a similar guestbook for our wedding, but the thumbprints were leaves on a tree.

 

 Ladybug cupcakes:  Red frosting (for some reason it looks orange here) 

Spots = upside down chocolate chips pushed into the frosting.

Another idea I had, which I will certainly do again, was to put a bunch of prints of photos out on a table for everyone to sift through and help themselves in lieu of favors.  This  was especially nice for grandparents who don't quite get the concept of a photo sharing website.  We always order multiple prints to share, but don't have a great way to share them efficiently with family.  This worked out great!

I didn't go overboard with decorations, as you can see, but the theme was evident, and nobody really notices decorations anyway, in my opinion.  If you're wondering about a menu, I served:

• Chili (which, unintentionally, fit the theme, as I use black beans in a red sauce!)
• Butternut squash and black bean soup 
• Coleslaw
• Apple Waldorf Salad
• Corn muffins
• Appetizers: Taco dip, buffalo chicken dip, artichoke dip, and a veggie tray.
• Dessert:  Cupcakes (chocolate and vanilla), apple pie, cheesecake.
• Drinks:  Boxes of iced green tea with honey and lemonade (from the grocery store) and a jug with a spigot of water from the grocery store.  

DPP: Day 2

This girl turned 1 today, and got baptized!

We are so blessed!

December Photo Project-Day 1

On the eve of my girl's first birthday, I am finally coming back to this space.  It's been a whirlwind year!  To try and reconnect with blogging, I've signed up for the December Photo Project 2012.  I'm going to (try!) to take and post one photo a day for the first 25 days of December! Here goes nothing!



Day One:

 My girl received this wonderful bell carousel as 

an early birthday gift.  I'm mesmerized 

by the whirling colors and 

relaxing bell tones.

Checking In...

Well.  Three and a half months can sure get away from you!  I kept intending to blog as I continued to can and prepare for winter and our little arrival, but finding 20 minutes to sneak upstairs to write about it proved more difficult than one might think.  Anyway, our little bundle of joy arrived right on her due date:

Adelyn Rose

12/2/11

4:13pm

4 lbs 14 oz

18 1/2 inches long

The entire month leading up to her birth was not what I had envisioned for us at all, but one thing this little girls has taught me is surrender and acceptance!  More on the birth story later.

In other news, I did manage, in those past few months to put up more beautiful things in jars: chicken stock, cranberry sauce, cranberry jelly, apple sauce, apple jelly, vegetable stock.  

My husband's aunt generously cleaned out her basement and donated all her old canning supplies to me.  The neat thing being that she lives in Canada, and many of her jars are vintage Canadian Mason jars!! 

I apologize for the scattered nature of this post, but I wanted to get in a quick update on things before the baby wakes up! 

Canning Galore

I've had the last few days off from work, and that's given me the time and energy to do some more canning!
After a trip to see my grandparents Friday (and a deal scored on a half-bushel of tomatoes) and a trip to the market I was ready to go:

It took 9 1/2 hours but I ended up with: 

9 pints of salsa
8 half-pints of sweet relish
6 pints of pasta sauce
6 half-pints of tomato jam
1 pint of pizza sauce

1 jar of salsa for the fridge
1 jar of tomato jam for the fridge
1 container of diced bell pepper for the freezer

Dinner:  BBQ chicken with corn zucchini and tomato salad.

Also, my mom scored a box of heirloom tomato seconds at the market for free, so I plan on making ketchup with those today and tomorrow!

 My kitchen, mid-project.  Not too bad, but kind of chaotic!

My friend Lindsey came over for some help with Klezmer music, 

and then I put her to work! 

(No worries, I fed her dinner also!)

Phew!  Next weekend I hope to put up some peaches and crushed tomatoes.  And maybe one more batch of salsa...We'll see!

24 weeks and growing!

Catching Up!

It's been forever, I know.  But every time I think "I should blog," I sit down to realize that I don't have anything to say.  So.

It's been a wild ride these past months, with the big news being that we are expecting our first child! I am 23 weeks along with our little one, and we are eagerly anticipating her arrival! (Yes, it's a girl!)

On that note, it took a little extra time to get the garden in this year, as I wanted to expand it and needed more help than in past years:

My husband, brother, and grandfather using the 

oldest rototiller in existence to till the new garden space!

With the garden getting in so late, I felt behind in all my preserving for this year.  Today, I sat down and took stock of what had been done so far, and to my surprise, it's not too shabby!  (Partially thanks to a marathon canning session yesterday with a friend: http://moonlithill.blogspot.com/

Here's what we got so far:

8 pints salsa

30 oz raspberry vinegar

500 mL garlic scape vinegar

3 jars (half-quart?) pickled asparagus

3 8oz jars cherry balsamic preserves

6 half-pints rhubarb chutney

8 half-pints strawberry jam

3 pints raspberry jam

1 pint red&black raspberry jam

2 half-pints blueberry-maple conserve

2 pints apricot jam

2 pints black&blue berry jam

4 half-pints apricot-plum (and a peach!) jam

7 half pints jalapeno jelly

In the freezer: (including some preparations for when baby arrives!)

2 tubs pesto

1 quart garlic scape puree (in cubes)

1 quart chili

1 stuffed zucchini

1 pint caramelized onions

1 dozen pancakes

1 pan stuffed shells

4 quarts blueberries

2 quart bags of multigrain bread slices

1/2 quart green beans (for baby food!)

1/2 quart peas (also for baby food!)

1 cooked sweet potato (again, baby food!)

So I guess being unproductive wasn't really what I was up to, although it certainly feels like it sometimes as I am learning each day to live with this new experience of pregnancy!

As I put up more foods, I will *try* to update counts here!

To answer any lingering/burning questions:  We are due December 2nd.  I am feeling very well, although I tire more easily than in the past.  The baby's room is NOT ready...hopefully more progress on that as the weather cools.  We are not naming her before she is born, we will have a list of names to choose from, but would like to meet her first!  I have not had any strange cravings, just a taste for fresh fruits and veggies, which could be also due to weekly farmers' market trips :)