A Sun Hat for Lily

We're getting ready to take a trip to Spain in a few weeks, so I decided to make Lily a sun hat and started searching for some tutorials. I found two more awesome/harder ones I want to do, but I started with this simple one from the blog Grossgrain Fabulous. It is actually a Prudent Baby Tutorial, and they have a lot of wonderful, easy to follow tutorials for beginners.

This is only my third attempt at sewing. I started with pillow cases, then a dress for Lily, now a hat. It is getting easier each time and I am following the instructions a bit easier at last. If you have ever thought about starting, do it! It really is so fun and not that hard once you sit down and make yourself try it out a few times. I bought the IKEA sewing machine, a real basic machine, but it works great for me. It was only 60 euros.

This hat was pretty easy. Only took 1.5 hours and that was with a mess up (had to pull out some stitches). I increased the size of the petals by about a half inch since Lily has a big head and is going on 15 months, and it fits pretty perfectly. Not too loose, so she can't pull it off too easily, and it doesn't fall off when she bends over. 
 
My only problem is finding fabrics right now. We have a store on base, but they only carry cotton. They had two canvas cottons (the green and yellow you see below) total. I thought  heavy weighted fabric would work better for a hat, and I'm glad I used it.  Whats nice is that the canvas is double sided, so technically the hat is reversible. I want to try some knits for some future projects. I finally bit the bullet and ordered some ribbon and fabric online. Can't wait for it to arrive! I have plans for so many free tutorials I found this week online!

Yes, she is trying to eat the lilacs. She eats EVERYTHING!

On our way to get ice cream.Hmmm, maybe a button on top would look cute...

Transformation Tuesday - Cardboard Boxes

Been a busy weekend. Both kids have been under the weather and are still a bit sick. Fevers, runny noses, coughs, and super duper tired. Lily went to bed at 7:30pm the other night and didn't get up until 10:30am! We had to wake her. Crazy. They both seem to be on the mend now thankfully. I've lost some sleep but hope to catch up by getting to bed earlier each night this week. We'll see if that happens. I always tend to start projects after I get the kids to bed and it is so hard to pry myself away from them!

Anyhow, time for another Tuesday Transformation. The video from the my Thursday post inspired this one. Upcycles for Cardboard Boxes! Enjoy :)

1.Make a Play Kitchen. Parent magazine shows 12 great ideas for toys (including cars, car ramps, castles etc).

Source: Parent

2. Make a Cereal Box Gift Bag

Source: Glue Arts

3. Organzing Bins

Source: Positively Splendid

4. An adorable cardboard box themed birthday party!

Source: On to Baby

5. Make a Chandelier in any color you want!

Source: Etsy Blog

A Kids World

Is the world I want to live in.

What a magical video about a boy and a box. I want to show this to Cooper and grab a box this afternoon. Sure inspired a bunch of creativity in me! How about you?

PS: For some more awesome videos, check out Design Mom's Olive Us episodes. I just love this one and this one.

Real Food - Quiche Recipe and what we're eating this week.

I'd always thought Frank and I ate pretty healthy. At least tried to. But after reading up a bunch on "Real Food" (this Real Food website got me started) I realized we weren't quite as healthy as I had hoped. I started really looking into the whole movement and even have a few books at home now on the topic that I am devouring at night, trying to learn as much as I can on the subject. When I went through my cupboard, I couldn't believe all the products that have ingredients that I don't even understand in them. I had blueberry muffin mixes that didn't actually even contain real blueberries! So ridiculous they can even advertise their products as blueberry muffins. So much sugar in EVERYTHING! So, we purged. And decided to plant a ton of veggies and fruits in our garden.

Broccoli just cut from our greenhouse.

My grocery bills have not gone up at all, and in fact went down. Although, I do find that we are having to go to the grocery more often to buy fresh produce. We aren't totally only eating real food at this point, but, we're doing a whole lot better and I'm having fun trying out new recipes. I have also been MUCH better at planning out our weekly menus.  So, I thought I'd share in our process of converting to a real food diet and some of the recipes we enjoy along the way, as well as our dinner menu for the week. I'd love to hear from you all if you have some great real food recipes to share or information out there for me on the topic!

May 6th to May 12 Menu

Monday - German Organic Pfefferwurst with Organic Broccoli and Potatoes

Tuesday - 2 Quiches. 1 Vegetarian and 1 with Nitrate Free Natural Bacon. Large Salad for a side (with carrots, zucchini, tomatoes, dill, cilantro, apple, cucumber in an olive oil/honey/sesame seed dressing chopped up super fine).

Wednesday - Leftovers (soccer game night and home late)

Thursday - Wild Caught Salmon (not sure how I'll prepare it yet), green beans, whole grain couscous. 

Friday - Homemade Pizza night! I'll prepare the crust Thursday night. 

Saturday - Chicken Shawarma Greek Pitas with fattoush

Sunday - Dinner out for Mothers Day 

Quiche Recipe
I used this recipe for super easy whole wheat crust. Turned out great! So easy!
Bacon Quiche:  I added organic whole milk, a various blend of cheeses (about 2 cups worth of cheddar, Swiss, mozzarella), 4 organic eggs, and crumbled nitrate free bacon.

Vegetarian Quiche: I added a blend of cheeses (2 Cups worth), 4 organic eggs, cooked organic broccoli I chopped up, and tomatoes chopped up. Salt and pepper and whatever other spices you love (cayenne, garlic, basil, you get the idea). You could do spinach, peppers, onions, etc.. So many veggies will work.

Here they are in my tiny German oven

I made three crusts since I thought it would be nice to have a good pie for dessert. I precooked the crust for 10 minutes at 400 degree, and then filled it up with a bunch (probably about 4 cups worth) of mixed berries (some were getting mushy in my fridge, the others are organic cascade farm frozen berries). No sugar needed! That white stuff you see is whole wheat white flour.

I'd always used Pillsbury Dough Pie Crusts in the past. I checked out the package ingredients and was not impressed and couldn't believe all the additives (see below). Not buying that ever again. The whole wheat crust only took me 5 minutes to make and was so much better tasting!

The Power of Slow

This weekend, our climber friend Thomasina was in town training for the World Cup Climbing competitions, and stayed with us a night in Grafenwoehr. Cooper and Cedar, Thomasina's adorable six year old daughter hit it off perfectly once again. They are two peas in a pod. Saying goodbye that evening was no easy task.

At Veldensteiner Castle in Neuhaus an der Pegnitz

Thomasina, while staying with us, graciously downloaded a podcast for me from a program called "Sounds True: Insights at the Edge".  I am forever grateful! They are awesome! So, the first one I listened to was "The Power of Slow", where Tami Simon interviews Carl Honore, award-winning journalist, author, and pioneer of the “slow revolution.” I listened while preparing two quiches and a berry pie with homemade whole wheat crust. Yum. Such an enjoyable evening.

Anyhow, I hadn't really heard of the slow revolution, but it totally makes sense and affects so many areas of our lives.  In the interview he talks about how the world got stuck in fast-forward and how we are now  trending towards putting on the brakes. He does a good job in defining the slow trend. It is not doing everything at a snail's pace, but finding the right balance with everything and being present. Finding balance, slowing down in every area of our lives to lead more fulfilling lives. The areas covered include slow parenting (my favorite), slow cooking, slow food, slow problem solving, slow work, slow sex, and a slew of other areas.

Slow parenting definitely is something I want to be better at. In an interview with Lisa Belkin for the New York Times, Carl talks about how the "consumer culture has reached a kind of apotheosis in recent years and the net effect is to create a culture of soaring expectations: we now want perfect teeth, perfect hair, a perfect body, perfect vacations, a perfect home – and perfect children to round off the portrait." Parents have their kids watch Baby Einstein, Baby Mozart , enroll them in foreign language classes, and a gazillion other programs to ensure they are successful. But all this has backfired we're starting to find out. Thus, the slow trend. "Slow parents understand that child rearing should not be a cross between a competitive sport and product-development. It is not a project; it’s a journey. Slow parenting is about giving kids lots of love and attention with no conditions attached."

Slow cooking and slow food is something I just recently joined in on. I found the blog 100 Days of Real Food and decided I wanted our family to eat as much real food only as possible. From buying food that is created in a slow, sustainable environment (think free range, organic) to making healthy meals and trying to eat together without interruptions. Getting more enjoyment out of eating.

I could go on and on in each area, but you really should listen to the podcast and hear it straight from the expert. However,  I really like the statements he makes at the end of the interview so I'll divulge. Carl explains how the slow movement is really a state of mind and provides 3 tips on how to slow down in this fast paced culture/life.

1. Do less. Less is more. Prioritize all you do, then cut off a few things at the bottom. The fluff. The Power of Slow is connected to the Power to say No. You can't do everything, so do what you value most in life.

2. Turn off the technology more. Pick a certain time each day to turn it off and have moments off the grid.

3. Identify an activity that puts a brake on you to help you enjoy slowness. Carl does Yoga. For me, its climbing. The simple act of getting outside in the woods, looking for bugs with my kids is awesome. Gives me a breather. Climbing and long hot bubble baths.

So how about you all? What area of your life do you think you need to slow down the most? What helps you slow down? Looking forward to checking out more of these podcasts in the evenings to come while I prep meals and so glad Thomasina downloaded it for me. I never would have taken the time ;)

Stopping to play with Forsythia.

Few things sweeter in life than kids holding hands