Living in Harmony

I’m famous!

AttachedMama — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 06:12:49 +0000

Okay, I’m not really. But I was interviewed for The Homeschool Co-op site. I’m really feeling like I want to start blogging more again. There is so much stuff I want to write down and remember and blog about and I don’t. I’m going to try to blog at least once a [...] Related posts:

Toddler Mei Tai

AttachedMama — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 07:44:52 +0000

I have been meaning to make an advent calendar this year, but procrastinating. I finally sat down to do it tonight and realized I didn’t have all the material I need. The fabric store was already closed, but I had all my sewing stuff out and a chance to sew, so on a bit of a whim I decided to make Fiona her own mei tai. Meredith has one that her aunt made her a couple of years ago, and Fiona loves it. She’s started to become really interested in wearing her own baby around. We’ve been improvising, but she needs her own!

So that’s what I did tonight instead of making an advent calendar. I kind of followed this pattern, but also used some of the directions from some larger mei tai tutorials and the dimensions are different. I also had some charm squares and wanted to experiment with making a bit of a patchwork design.

I’m mostly really happy with how it turned out. I will give it to her for Christmas so I don’t know how it will fit (I think it will be really big, but oh well). The straps are much wider than on Meredith’s. I also put the shoulder straps at way too big of an angle sideways, but didn’t really realize it until most of it was sewn together. Next time, I would put the straps much more upwards. I have more material, maybe I’ll have to make another.

It’s reversible. On the other side is another fabric that goes with the blue. It doesn’t match the charm pack at all but I figured since only one side would be showing at a time that wouldn’t matter.

Sleeping

AttachedMama — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 18:59:00 +0000

Some older photos for Wordless Wednesday of some strange or awkward looking sleeping positions my kids have had!

My new hobby

AttachedMama — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 07:13:23 +0000

It has been less than a week of blogging every day and I’ve already had to cheat once and barely made it a couple of times. I don’t think I’ll make it the whole month, but at least it has gotten me back into writing. I do have a whole bunch of posts from over the summer that I would like to publish. Mainly just pictures and comments about our day-to-day life. I may end up just posting those each day.

I thought I’d post a couple of pictures of one of the things that has kept me really busy and away from blogging though. Woodworking! I made Meredith a bed. I used this plan. It really wasn’t as hard as I’d expected it might be and she loves it. I think it looks really nice in her room, though it still needs to be sanded and finished. Once that’s done, we’re going to move it into the smaller den area of her room and turn the bigger room into her play/living space.

Long term, if it holds up well, we’ll likely turn it into the top part of a bunk bed (hence the footboard and headboard being the same height). I also made this which we will hang above the bed once it’s in the smaller room so she can have books readily accessible.

Baby scrapbook

AttachedMama — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 17:03:00 +0000

I have set some goals for myself as far as scrapbooking. Meredith’s is still not done. Neither is my wedding album. I’ve since started digital scrapbooking, which is easier and more realistic with children, because I can sit down for twenty minutes and get a bit done and not have to worry about set up or putting things away. So I’ve been working on Fiona’s which is digital. I actually started it over a year ago.

I would like to finish all three of these, though I’m not sure what a realistic goal is. I can finish a spread in one session of working if I get a good chunk of time, but that doesn’t happen a lot. A full double spread a week is probably realistic, which means over a year to finish what’s left on all three of them. Anyway, here are some of the ones I’ve been working on recently for Fiona’s (click for bigger images).

I might change some of the backgrounds and/or paper still, but I’m just glad to be getting something done! I am using this “My Sweet Baby” collection to do the book and bought a cute scrapbook I’ll eventually put the pages into.

Waldorf Doll

AttachedMama — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 06:20:00 +0000

I plan to make the girls each a Waldorf doll for Christmas. I am ordering the supplies this weekend, and hoping they will get here in time that I can actually get them done for once! I want to also make them wooden furniture for the dolls. A friend of mine recommended trying out this tutorial first to get a feel for doll making, so I tried it out tonight.

I’m pretty happy with the way the doll turned out. I just used scraps I had laying around, so it’s not a “true” Waldorf doll using only natural materials. But it is stuffed with wool and it is soft and cuddly. As soon as Fiona realized it was a doll (as I was getting the head sewn on), she wanted to play with it, so I rushed getting the head sewn on a little bit and it ended up a tad crooked, but otherwise I’m pretty happy with it. I don’t have a long needle for embroidery so the face was a bit tough to do, but I’m happy with how she turned out. Stuffing the head wasn’t as hard as I imagined it might be (though this one is only one layer of “skin” so I didn’t get to try making a nose) and the entire thing start to finish only took me about an hour.

Fiona was so enamored by it that I didn’t get any good pictures, so this side ways, fuzzy one will have to do. She took possession of it as soon as I’d finished sewing on the head (I barely got the needle out of it!) and before I had a chance to do the waist tie, and even nursed to sleep holding tightly to her. Meredith asked if I could make her one, but specifically requested a bigger one. Good thing that is the plan for Christmas! The tricky part will be finding time to make them with no kids around. She also has a handmade doll from her aunt that she used to play with a lot that I think I may dig up again.

Baby chicks!

AttachedMama — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 15:29:48 +0000

Back in September, we had one of our hens go broody. I tried a few times to stop her but she was very insistent, so eventually I gave in and put a few eggs under her. I had read on Backyard Chickens that with a mother hen, chicks should be fine even at this time of year. It being our first time, I didn’t move her out of the nest boxes soon enough and the other hens were still laying eggs in her box, so she ended up with about 12 eggs at one point. She also kept leaving them and going back on the wrong box, and we’d find her little nest full of cold eggs. I did eventually move her into a dog kennel inside the coop.

I had the date the chicks should hatch marked on the calendar but wasn’t expecting much. The day came and went with no chicks, and we were trying to decide the best way to get her off her nest full of eggs. Then the next day I walked in the coop and heard cheeping. Despite the eggs having gone cold more than once, she managed to hatch out four chicks over the course of three days, though one was born with a weird bump and she ended up dying unfortunately. The other three are doing fantastic though. It is really amazing to watch a mama hen raising her babies. She keeps them warm, protects them from the other hens, leads them around to food. It has been so much easier doing it this way than inside the house, though we haven’t done a full integration yet. If she’s out with the other hens I make sure I’m right there with them. The other ones mostly leave the chicks alone, though our Barred Rock did peck pretty hard at one and a few of them have gone at the mama.

They’ve mostly been sticking to the coop, but it’s been nice out and they’re getting a bit bored locked in a dog kennel all day, even if it is a big one, so I brought them outside to run around for a bit.

Mama ventured out first to look around, but then the babies followed soon after. They’re around two weeks old now.

Meredith wanted to name them water names, because she decided they like water. So we’ve called them Calypso, Neptune, and Doris. In the above two pictures the other hens were around, and mostly leaving them alone, but then I wanted to go inside and didn’t want to leave them out unprotected yet so I put them in our fenced off garden area.

I threw a pumpkin in with them, and it was pretty fun to watch them go at it.

I went inside for a little bit and came out to check on them (though we can also see that area from our window), and discovered all the other hens standing watching them as if they were watching a movie.

Though a little later we watched a crow swoop down at them, which freaked mama out and she went running. I had a scary moment when I ran out there when I couldn’t find one of the babies, but she was hiding near a log. I ended up locking them back up in the kennel again for a day, which is too bad because they really enjoy running around. The area is way too big to put any kind of cover over though, so I’m going to have to think of something else or just risk it. The cubes we used for the chicks last time have been repurposed as book shelves so won’t work, but we have some scrap wire I could probably bang together into some sort of makeshift tractor for them. Then I can even put them with the other hens and let them mingle but they’d have a safe place to escape to too.

This chicken thing is turning out to be a lot of fun and a good learning experience for us all. We’ve learned so much about chicken reproduction and how they raise their babies through books and, of course, watching it first hand.

Burritos (Good for Freezing)

AttachedMama — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 15:53:20 +0000

Before Fiona was born we cooked and froze a whole lot of food to have for the post-partum period. It was one of the best ideas ever. I highly recommend it to anyone who is pregnant if you have a deep freeze. We filled ours to the brim (the picture below was before we had finished) but had enough meals that we didn’t really have to cook for about 6 weeks afterwards. We also made some lunch and snack foods that were easy to pull out and throw in the oven.

One of the recipes I get asked for the most is the one for the burritos we made. So rather than constantly retyping it I am just going to post it here so I have somewhere to direct people to! I believe the tortilla recipe is originally from my friend Annie and the yam and bean burritos are from another friend who does not have a blog. The refried bean burritos I believe we just got the recipe off the internet. I have them written down in Evernote now and didn’t think to write the sources for them. We quadrupled (or maybe even more) the recipes, so we would have lots. It was a lot of work but with two of us working on it it didn’t take too long and they are so worth it. The tortillas are amazing.

Tortillas

360 ml (1.5 c) unbleached flour
120 ml (.5 c) whole wheat flour
5 ml (1 tsp) sugar
7.5 ml (1.5 tsp) baking powder
5 ml (1 tsp) salt
75 ml (5 tbsp) shortening, lard, or unsalted butter (shortening/lard is better and butter will make it “poof”)
180 ml (.75 c) hot water

In a large bowl mix together flours, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut in shortening or butter until pea sized balls form. Slowly add hot water while mixing with wooden spoon. Knead with hands for a couple minutes when dough is stiff and hard to mix. Shape with a ball and put in a bowl covered and let rest 1 hour.

Line a baking tray with parchment and set aside. Pinch off a bit bigger than golf ball sized balls of dough and roll in hands. Dust lightly with flour and set on sheet. Finish with rest of dough. Let sit for another hour.

Lightly sprinkle flour on counter and roll out ball of dough into a thin circle. You can put these aside with parchment stacked in between but I usually cook and roll out at the same time. To cook heat an oiled cast iron pan (or non stick skillet) over medium heat. Turn tortilla when you see bubbles form underneath and finish the second side when it’s golden. Keep warm until serving.

Makes 10-12 smaller tortillas

Yam and Bean Burritos

2 medium sweet potatoes
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 19 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed (or use dried beans that have been soaked and cooked)
1 cup stock
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp ground mustard
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
4 large flour tortillas
1/4 cup of salsa

Boil sweet potatoes in large pot. While potatoes are cooking saute onions in medium sauce pan until translucent. Add black beans, stock, garlic, chili powder, mustard, cumin and salt; simmer, uncovered over med-high heat for 15 min. Drain water from sweet potatoes, return to pot and mash with potato masher. Set aside. Once bean mixture is done, mash with potato masher and set aside. Spread tortillas on counter. On each tortilla put: 1 tbsp of salsa, 1/4 of the sweet potatoes and 1/4 of the beans. Roll up each burrito and serve as is, or bake in oven until crisp.

Refried beans

1 onion, peeled and halved
3 cups dry pinto beans, rinsed (I think we used half black beans and half pinto)
1/2 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped (optional)
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons salt
1 3/4 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin, optional
9 cups stock and/or water

Directions

Place the onion, rinsed beans, jalapeno, garlic, salt, pepper, and cumin into a slow cooker. Pour in the water and stir to combine. Cook on High for 8 hours, adding more stock as needed. Note: if more than 1 cup of stock has evaporated during cooking, then the temperature is too high.

Once the beans have cooked, strain them, and reserve the liquid. Mash the beans with a potato masher, adding the reserved liquid as needed to attain desired consistency.

To make bean and beef burritos, we browned some ground beef and added garlic, onions, taco seasoning, tomatoes, and chili peppers before rolling them into burritos.

We wrapped all the burritos in pairs in tin foil, labeled which kind of burrito was in each, and froze. When we wanted to eat them we put them in the oven with the foil loose until they were warm all through.

Happy Halloween!

AttachedMama — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 23:42:48 +0000

It has been a while since I posted anything. I keep meaning to post and have lots to write about, but then I wonder where I should start. Back in the summer where I left off, or from where we are now, or somewhere in between? Well, it’s NaBloPoMo this month and it seems as good a time as any to start writing things again. So I’ll try to post something every day but make no guarantees. But at least I will post something again.

I’ll start off easy, here are the kids last night for Halloween. We went out with a friend and her daughter. Meredith and the daughter get along really well and they had a lot of fun running around. Though there weren’t a lot of other trick-or-treaters around. I think maybe next year we’ll check out one of the events instead: a bonfire maybe.

Meredith decided back in September that she wanted to be Little Red Riding Hood and Fiona should be the wolf.

The cape is handmade by my mom. I’d like to make both costumes eventually but Meredith kept changing her mind and I didn’t want to commit to anything before she’d decided for sure, so didn’t have a lot of time. I didn’t get a fantastic picture of them together unfortunately.

We also carved pumpkins to put at the end of our driveway, even though we were pretty certain no one would come trick or treating around here because of the size of the properties. The pumpkins themselves were fun to do though. Meredith carved hers mostly on her own, I just helped with the mouth/teeth.

Today we…

AttachedMama — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 03:53:07 +0000

We had a busy day today. I got woken up by a strange sound. It took me a few minutes before I realized it was a rooster crowing! I’m not sure which one it was, but one of the roosters has finally found his voice. I joked with Kris that the hens were behind and needed to get on the laying already.

A little later in the morning, we saw a baby deer outside. He was by himself, no older deer anywhere to be seen. Hard to tell from this picture but he was tiny.

Then we met up with a few friends at the beach. There, the kids found a fish backbone.

Later a baby bird, which they thought they were helping when they found it on the ground all alone and brought it to us. We could hear poor mama screeching away at us and it was pretty neat watching the reunion when we returned the baby. Lots of learning about baby animals and birds and what to do if we think an animal might be in trouble. Anyone know what type of bird this is? I thought maybe a mockingbird because they were on the ground, but the baby doesn’t really look it and the mother stayed too far away to get a good look at her.

Us and one other family stayed pretty late on the beach. Fiona napped in the sand.

While the other kids built themselves a fort using scraps they found around the beach.

Just as we were leaving a family showed up with a cool looking dragon kite and let the kids play with it for a while. Unfortunately I didn’t get a great picture of it.

Home again and I went out to the chicken coop and found two eggs waiting for me there! They weren’t in the nest boxes though, but in a corner on the ground which I only check every few days. It was really hot yesterday so I’m not sure if the eggs are actually good to eat, but now I will definitely be checking every day!

I took a picture with a toonie for comparison’s sake, but as I was uploading the pictures thought I should have taken a picture with a store-bought egg. These first ones are pretty tiny, which I expected, but the shells are definitely nice and hard. I can’t wait to crack them open!

And now, we’re all tuckered out and it’s time for bed. Good night!