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In a medium bowl, mix eggs with oil and buttermilk. Stir in baking soda, wheat germ, salt and flour; mix until blended.
Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium-high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides, turning once.
1 Comments on Dad's Saturday Morning Pancakes, last added: 3/26/2011
Aw, that brings back memories. My grandpa used to play Monopoly with me when I was about that age. He had been a math teacher and he thought it was really important for me to learn how to properly give change. :)
I should have taken a before picture, because these two tees don't look too exciting. The boys had some cute pirate tees they outgrew - even pirates shouldn't have their bellies hanging out. I couldn't quite let go, so I chopped them up and reapplied them to some larger, plain tees. On the left I did a reverse applique, pinning the skull on the underside of the shirt and stitching around the bones and eyes with turquoise thread. The right shirt is a simple flag style (AKA rectangle). I left out a raw edge and sewed with red thread, changing stitches on my machine as a went, some zig-zag, straight, buttonhole style even. (click for close-up)
My sentimental self was so relieved not to have to part with the old shirts :)
4 Comments on T-shirt re-do, last added: 3/26/2011
Some things are so hard to let go of. My son Ray has a 12 inch square that is the only remainder of his favorite blanket growing up. He just couldn't let me get rid of the whole thing.
So this is a trick my sister Nicole taught me, I thought I'd share. It is so much cheaper than buying a tiny jar of coloured sugar. It is super easy, fast, fun and you can do any colour. I use gel food colouring and I love it because you don't need very much to make vibrant colours and there are so many shades! (not a sponsered ad I just like it).
So now for the instructions: Put the amount of sugar you want to colour in a plastic bag with a seal. Add a couple drops of colour
Mush it/shake it around. the colour will spread through the sugar in the bag
You might see dark coloured lumps - smush those into the sugar the lumps are just the dye.
If you trust the seal of the bag, it is a great thing for kids to help with - shaking up the sugar and watching the colour change.
It is ready when your colour is even. Isn't it pretty? Great for cookie decorating! It
0 Comments on Make your own coloured sugar as of 1/1/1900
We had a little Irish celebration in playdate form, right after school. Decorated sugar cookies, drank green apple juice - spiked with sparkling water, and hunted for leprechaun treasures in the basement. I hope everyone had a lucky day too!
2 Comments on St. Patrick's Day Party for kids..., last added: 3/19/2011
It's that time of year again - anyone had sick kids, sick husband and sick self? It's the one season I'm very against sharing. Keep your germs to yourselves I say. Hand-washing goes into overdrive and tissues come out to party. I thought the boys' teachers could use some defense against the barrage of germs they face on a daily basis. I was inspired by a vintage first aid kit like this one and this one.
Supplies needed:
a box - the size is up to you, an old check box works well, shoe box, even the box your Tylenol came in would work, check your recycling bin
Cover the box first. I centered the box on the felt, ran hot glue along the top edge of the box - smooth out as you go. Now fold the felt up on side - if you keep the hot glue only on the edges of the box it won't be lumpy in the middle as it drys. Cut straight lines at the corner and fold/glue the next side. You could use a felt red cross on top, but a glued the card we had potato stamped a couple of days ago.
I filled it with a super easy to make tissue pouch, Emergen-C, wet ones antibacterial wipes, Advil, throat lozenges, etc. If you do this I'd love to hear what you put in yours or any ideas you have for it.
3 Comments on Cold and Flu Survival Kits, last added: 3/12/2011
I love potato stamping. Here is a cute, easy get well card idea. It also helps to add some other things with card when dropping it at a friends. Home made soup is great, but I didn't get that far.
..more to come tomorrow.
1 Comments on Help is on the way..., last added: 3/10/2011
If you haven't introduced your kids to sushi, here is a great way to do it - Conveyor Belt Sushi. They get to pick their own food as it goes by and they actually eat it (with kid friendly chopsticks)!
C choose his plates based on how they looked. He determined he is a big fan of the California roll Tuna rolls. E surprised me and basically choose something if it's name sounded cool - like the spider roll below and the dragon roll.
For the non-sushi eaters there is usually other plates - this noodle salad was tasty, they also had edemame, Tempura and even some chicken thing.
My favourite was a veggie roll - this had avocado, cucumber and tofu all wrapped up. I do like spicy tuna rolls too.
This is how a ninja eats sushi apparently (oh yeah and it doesn't hurt to try a new food that comes from the land of ninjas, because if those guys eat it it must be powerful stuff.)
See the row of covered plates on the conveyor belt behind us? So much to choose from...half the fun was spotting what you wanted and grabbing it as it went by, we had to make a rule 1 plate per person at a time.
E's favourite after trying the dragon roll turned out to be eel (below). yep that's right, who doesn't like a slab of eel on rice?
As with everytime I visit Hawaii I have new great memories, a new store of Vitamin D reserves, fresh sun-kissed skin, and some extra love for my husband. Thank you Hawaii - Mahalo!
2 Comments on Mahalo Hawaii, last added: 2/21/2011
I have a slight obsession with church buildings, the older and more unusual the better. Something about the devotion and love that goes into building them and the worship there attracts me. Since it's Sunday, I'll highlight a few Hawaiian churches. This is only a fraction of the charming ones I spotted. Sweetly my family even stopped with me at the "Painted Church" to check out it's interior. A dedicated and rather artistic priest spent many hours covering it walls with murals depicting the life of Christ.
If anyone wants to point me in the direction of some local Seattle church highlights, I'd love it...and you might even hear a Hallelujah!
0 Comments on Church Lady Hawaiian Style as of 2/20/2011 8:56:00 PM
You got to love this surf shop, spotted after hours. If I were a dog, I would totally sleep on this step with my buddies. I wish I'd made it there during business hours to meet the humans that hang out here too.
Something so fun about the Big Island is all the different beaches, not just your manicured, dreamy white sand beaches, but fantastically diverse full of life, unique beaches. It seemed every beach had new and interesting things to offer...
Black Sand
Green Sand
2 Comments on Black Sand, Green Sand, last added: 2/20/2011
A farmer's market is one of my favourite ways to experience a new place. This one is especially fantastic in Hilo on the East coast of the Big Island. The Star Bakery had some super tasty treats and I don't know what most of them were called we just pointed and added things to our bill until our hands were full. E has one of my favourite pictured below - it is sort of a rice stick candied with a plum jam maybe, wrapped in a leaf - I wish I had one right now. The boys loved these treats that looked like doughnut holes on a stick
Some other highlights besides the fresh fruit and treats....
The cute lady in the aporn is making me a green papaya salad Ratana's Thai Food. This is one of my favourite Thai dishes and hard to find around Seattle.
There was a really fun booth of musical instruments, E loved trying on masks silly boy, C loved trying new fruits.
I never thought I'd meet a Portuguese doughnut (maladada) in Hawaii, but I am so happy to say I did! (Thanks Jenny for the tip) Hawaiian sweetbread is pretty great too! I'm not one to turn down a bakery stop.
1 Comments on Aloha Malasadas!, last added: 2/18/2011
I've been to Hawaii many, many, many times, and never had a malasada. Just two days ago a friend was talking about them. I will not miss out on them next time I go.
The sun-bleached, white coral is striking against the black lava rock. I think what I liked best about this barren stretch of road north of Kona was reading all the (generally) positive messages and memorials as we drove by. Better than spray paint. There were so many notes, these are the clearest photos I could get as we sped by and I wasn't able to convince my fellow passengers that it was worth a stop just for a photo.
1 Comments on Graffiti with Nature, last added: 2/17/2011
Generally I'm teased for being the crafty one in the family. However, don't let Luke's aloofness fool you. The sand stood no chance against these three. Luke created 3-D names for each boy and countless sand castle creations. Everyday on the beach is a great day. I have a smattering of posts coming up about Hawaii...just to warn you. Even though we've been home a week, I just swept sand from the laundry room today, trips tend to linger with you a while and I'm going to pretend I'm still in Hawaii for a bit longer.
4 Comments on Sand in the place where you are..., last added: 2/17/2011
Is anyone else over-run by these crazy elastics that get caught in the vaccuum cleaner, wept over if lost and provide lots of entertainment when spread all over the kitchen table?
For better or worse, my kids like these things and I needed them to have a place to contain them. Also they are not allowed to wear them during class because of the distraction, but they still like to take them to school to trade at recess. Enter the empty Laughing Cow cheese container. After making these with my own boys we've had several playdates requesting to make them too. I think I could trade them for some lunch money at the corner of the playground, they are pretty popular. (Also great for holding trading cards, hair accessories and any little things).
I used regular adhesive backed shelf liner to cover the containers. I also have discovered that the labels peel off fairly easily, which I would recommend before covering. Because the containers are paper anything sticks to them fairly well and modgepodging can make a creative cover.
To cover the sides, any wide tape works well, then slice in half with a box cutter where the container is already opened.
Once they are covered: decorate with permanent markers, stickers whatever. They more personal, the more easily identified. For a thin, light weight container, it actually holds a lot of silly bandz and stays closed in a backpack that is thrown around, stepped on and used as a soccer ball.
3 Comments on Cheese and Silly Bandz, last added: 1/24/2011
ah, very smart kristin. i might have to adopt a similar solution for these things. especially since today ava just spent some birthday money on silly RINGS... even smaller and more likely to get lost.
I was inspired by these cards by Ellzabelle on Twelve Crafts till Christmas. She has an easy tutorial her blog. I used some leftover scraps that were too cute to throw out, but I didn't know what to do with. I made about twenty of them while watching Desperate Housewives - it really is that easy... I cut out patterns from the fabric on the flowered ones, but I really love the cute cut-out shapes she did on her cards.
2 Comments on Valentines Day Cards with Fabric, last added: 1/21/2011
Lately I feel like my life is much like a stop motion film. Every time I blink something changes, moves or appears. I honestly believe that between the time E got dressed on Monday and the next time I saw him after school his pants were 2 inches shorter. Christmas, New Years Eve, all the holidays are a series of pictures, thank goodness I had my camera. We had great times and I hope you did too. I'm glad to have a new year and a "restart". You should be hearing a lot more from me and I hope to hear lots from you too!
For now I'll leave you with a bit of "Change". Let's be honest any film that starts out with LEGO is awesome. I have no relation to the creators of this film, but it feels like a synopsis of my life last year.
Oh and for the record, my one resolution from last year is still going strong - I am still Diet Coke free since the end of last January (except as it appears in this video)! Hurrah for kicking an addiction!
4 Comments on Blink, like a stop motion film, last added: 1/6/2011
Wow, that was one amazing video, especially when you think of how many frames were packed into that short min and a half! :)
Thanks for the suggestions on the book reviews. I will get on it right away. Your boys are in Gr. 1 right? I know I am lacking in that age group, so I will try to get a few more read alouds in that age (ish). My littlest son is 5 so I will "test" some of them out on him! :)
(for now, have you ever tried the "Olivia" the pig books? My son thinks the are so funny. He is even OK that the pig is a girl! And "Don't let the pidgeon drive the bus"...I will post a few on my blog soon.)
Christmas is such and fun and special time of year, it becomes easy to get too busy and forget to emphasize why we celebrate Christmas in the first place. The night the Savior of the world was born.
I don't know if anyone else if following this but I love the ideas on
Today she has a great idea that can be added to any advent calendar, I'm going to quickly print up her list and slip the activities into mine...what a great way to follow the example of Jesus and serve others.
0 Comments on Do unto Others Advent as of 11/30/2010 10:00:00 PM
Last year we had so much fun doing experiments with some of our Halloween candy, here's a recap. Honestly it's worth buying candy just for the experiments, if you don't have any left.
We have done these a few times, and really, my boys almost forget that it is candy. It is so fun to see the different stuff you can do with candy and the wonder that the kids get out of it. Amazing.
It 
2 Comments on Conveyor Belt Sushi - The fun goes round and round, last added: 3/4/2011
i love the picture of the pancakes and a smile in the corner! i will definitely try that recipe!