Some Crocheted Snowflakes

Here are some crocheted snowflakes I made this year. I recently took some pictures of them. I have been trying to get them all stiffened and dried this month, so that I don’t get stuck in December, since I can usually only block 6 at a time on my board.

Please see my post blocking crocheted snowflakes for instructions in how to block a snowflake, so that it will be stiff and ready to hang on a tree.

Both snowflake patterns came from the Leisure Arts book called 99 Snowflakes.

Crocheted Snowflake #86

Crocheted Snowflake #50

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Scentstories Review

(edited 11/18/08 to update information)

I have had a Febreeze ScentStories player for several years. I have really enjoyed it.

The ScentStories player is an electronic device that plugs into the wall and sits on a counter or tabletop. I think you could also put it on the floor. You buy scent disks which each have five scents. It “plays” each one for a little while. It does this by rotating the disk and warming the scented area on the disk and blowing the air out with a little fan. It will quickly fill the room with scent, and then change the scent after about 15 minutes.

The whole family has liked having ours. My only complaint has been that the disks don’t really last a long time. They don’t last over a year. They get dried out and you need to buy a new one. This wasn’t so bad, but the last time I looked for them at my supermarket, they were gone.

I found out that now Yankee Candle is selling both the players and new scent disks that use Yankee Candle scents. I ordered some for my player. Right now, we are using “Give Thanks.” It is excellent. Everything I would expect from Yankee Candle. It really fills the room with scent. I use it in the kitchen. It definitely fills the kitchen. We have an open floor plan, and the scent is not really strong enough to completely fill the dining room, living room and kitchen, but that is a pretty big space to fill.

Stretching a boxed dinner

I have been noticing that a box of mac & cheese does not go very far at my house. A while back, I decided that adding other foods to a mac & cheese meal is a hopeless cause with my kids. The three of them can finish off a box really easily, and they do not appreciate other foods being added to their mac & cheese meal, either in or out of the actual pasta serving.

I do not know if the weight of the box has changed, but today I noticed that when I opened the box, it is only halfway full of pasta.

So I took a bag of plain elbow macaroni, and used some of it to finish filling the box. We cooked that, using the package directions, but I added a bit more milk.

The kids loved it, and I even got a serving. And there were leftovers! Amazing.

I usually think boxed mac & cheese is too salty, but this actually needed salt. Once I added a bit of salt, it was great. The kids did not add salt to theirs.

Easy recipe: Tortilla Soup

In order to resist the tempation to pick up fast food when I’m busy, I’m getting together a list of recipes that are “almost faster than drive-thru.” Tortilla soup was the first one I tried, and it was very easy and delicious.

Tortilla Soup from Cans

1 can whole kernal corn

1 can chili, no beans

1 can black beans

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can chicken broth

1 4 oz. can green chilies

Mix all together in large pot on stove. Heat almost to boil.

Top with shredded cheddar, sour cream, and serve with tortilla chips.

(I used frozen corn as I don’t keep canned corn around — we don’t enjoy it. I also made broth from Tone’s Chicken Soup Base that I keep in the fridge.)

I am going to try and keep these ingredients together in my pantry so this soup can come together in just a few minutes.

Pumpkin Carving Contest

I just found out my brother has been featured on the new Halloween portion of the This Old House website!

They are having a pumpkin-carving contest where people can send in photos of their pumpkins. He is not in the contest, but there is a link next to it that says Best Pumpkin Carvers on the Web. He is one of the featured pumpkin carvers there. His name is Scott Cummins.

His pumpkins really are the best ones on there, you can see if you agree with me, however. More of his carvings are on his webpage, Pumpkingutter. So far, he does not have any new ones up this year, but I think he will soon. But you can check out everything from the past few years on there, and read his FAQs while you are at it!

The Bible study that I’m doing…

Earlier, I mentioned that I joined a new topical Bible study at church. It is called Keepers of the Home and you can visit the website for more information.

It is a very interesting study. It is based on the book, A Woman After God’s Own Heart by Elizabeth George, but they mix in different skills sessions, such as cooking shortcuts, organization, entertaining, and some other things. It is different, but really good. Several ladies at our church took it last year when it was offered, and they said it was very life-changing. It is written not only to stay-at-home-moms, but also to working moms, empty nesters, and newlyweds.

I am not taking it at the original site, Henderson Hills. They have DVDs and guidebooks so that you can hold your own KOTH study at your church.

Freezer Bags

I try to reuse my freezer bags if I can. I always throw them away if they’ve held raw meat, but if they have held tortilla chips, a sandwich, or muffins, they can definitely be used again.

It is difficult to find a place to dry them. Especially if I don’t want them out in the kitchen on display.

Here is what I’ve learned to do. If I just have one or two bags, I toss them into the freezer after washing them. The water freezes on them, and when I’m ready to reuse I can just shake the ice into the sink. Now I have a nice dry bag!

If I have several bags at once, I make a “bag of bags” for the freezer. One bag holds all the rest and I just seal up the bag and throw it in the freezer.

Kind of different – for me

I joined a new Bible study at church on Wednesday nights. It is kind of different for me. It is a women’s Bible study, and up until now, all the women in the  Bible studies I went to were either in my stage of life or older. The majority would have kids that were grade-school age on down to pre-school and/or babies. Then there would be the older moms with teenagers, adult kids, and a few of the more mature ladies with lots of grandkids and great-grandkids.

Maybe that was just the time of day. Up until a couple of years ago, I would go one morning a week. So that would have to be the stay-at-home-mom type of study.

Now this one is in the evening. I am sitting around with lots and lots of ladies I have never met before. There are about five moms like me, that have grade-school kids or preschoolers. A couple of them homeschool, as well. All the rest are the young-marrieds and about-to-be-marrieds.

On the first night, we were supposed to go around the room, introduce ourselves, and tell what we do and a little about our families. So we are telling about our kids, etc. Every single one of the ladies who has no children yet said almost the same thing: “We don’t have kids yet, but we do have a little dog, a (name the breed) and he/she’s our baby. Really, we just treat him/her like our baby! tee hee hee!”

I know how it is with pets, but I just had to laugh when it was all over. There is quite a difference between a baby and doggie. Really, no matter how sweet you are to your baby dog, no matter how you spoil him/her and how many hours you spend taking care of him, there is no way it compares to an actual, human baby. No way.

Speed reading

I have a long list of books to read. Some I really want to read, some I think I need to read. Many are homeschooling books. One of those that is sitting on my end table in the living room is Dr. Ruth Beechick’s You Can Teach Your Child Successfully. Good, but very thick. Then I have two or three chapters a week in a book that we are reading in a Bible Study at church. That one has some homework with it. That is in addition to my daily Bible reading. I had also started another book by Dr. Beechick, Heart and Mind, when we were away for the weekend a few weeks ago and I haven’t had time to pick it back up. I also have been enjoying the Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O’brian, but that is just for fun reading, so it gets put on the back burner pretty often.

That is a lot of reading, so the other day I checked out yet another book, this time on speed reading. I think it would help to increase my speed, since I don’t have a lot of extra time. Right now, my best speed is 400 words per minute. That is when I’m distraction-free. I’m sure that I’m quite a bit slower than that most of the time, when I have a baby to worry about and frequent interruptions.

I’m already noticing that these books do not address the problem of multiple distractions. They keep saying things about quiet rooms, reading lamps, etc. Nothing about proper lighting for the bathroom!