sunday photos

Honestly. I have no explanation.

suddenly sundress weather (and a happy little giveaway!)

I was planning on making sundresses for Ellie and Josie, just not this soon. I looked at a number of patterns on You Can Make This, Etsy, and even the pattern books at the fabric store, but nothing caught my eye. I had a particular dress style in mind, so after a little brainpower and a few sketches, this is what I came up with...

 

Kyle commented on the "peek-a-boo" opening in the back.  I designed it more as fresh air vent. Everyone likes a little free air flowing down their dress in the middle of July, right? 

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I agree with Frog Princess...we do need a giveaway! Leave me a comment - something you're happy for on this St. Patrick's day. (Oh...by the way... HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!)

I'll draw a name on Tuesday morning!

Frugal-Lisa Friday

I know it's only mid-March, but with temp's in the 70's the past few days, who knows how soon it will be for berry season this year. My friend Renae sent me this tip in an email yesterday. It's a good one.

Last year's berries. They look so red and juicy!

Well, with fresh berries just starting to hit farmers markets, we can tell you that how to keep them fresh!  Here’s a tip I’m sharing on how to  prevent them from getting there in the first place:  
Wash them with vinegar. When you get your berries home, prepare a mixture of one part vinegar (white or apple cider probably work best) and ten parts water.  Dump the berries into the mixture and swirl around. Drain, rinse if you want (though the mixture is so diluted you can't taste the vinegar,) and pop in the fridge.  The vinegar kills any mold spores and other bacteria that might be on the surface of the fruit, and voila!  Raspberries will last a week or more, and strawberries go almost two weeks without getting moldy and soft.  So go forth and stock up on those pricey little gems, knowing they'll stay fresh as long as it takes you to eat them. 

the things we do on sick days...

We climb trees.

We run with sticks.

We bother our sister.

We pose like a supermodel while in said trees.

We practice getting down "all by myself!"

We spend some quiet time with our
favorite neighbor dog, Daisy.

I promise, that if you look closely, Ellie has bubbles of green 

snot coming out of her nose. Miss Josie probably could have 

gone to school, but it was "V" day. Who needs the letter "V"?

Plus, it was 75˚ in the middle of March. Enough said.

playing hookie

Yes, we're playing hookie today. (Ellie and Josie are.) They've both been struggling with a spring cold. Yesterday they were coughing, sniffling, and being chased around with Kleenex trying to avoid the nasty snot-down-the-lip look. Yum.

I made the decision, after listening to coughing all night, that today we'd stay home from school. Then I watched the morning news and saw that today would give us "record breaking March temperatures." 75˚...bonus.

As I type, the girls are outside playing. I know, I know. Sick day, right? Usually when they stay home on a day I have to work, they are spoiled with too much TV on the couch. However, when at 10am they were both staring dreamily out the dining room window at the sun-filled backyard, how could I say "no" to a little fresh air?

I'm hoping this balmy March air will blow away some of those germs. More vitamin D - it's got to be better than TV, right?

it's all fun and games...

...until you have to get up at the "old" 5am.

What a gorgeous Sunday. Ellie spent the night at Grandpa and Grandma Payne's, so Kyle, Josie and I went out for breakfast, ran a few errands in Muskegon, then came home and spent the day outside.

Josie and Daddy went for a walk in the woods, rode the go-kart, worked in the yard and ate popsicles.

I went for a long run with my running-buddy, Amy, followed by our now "annual" first run of spring bottle of champagne. (And yes...that's Amy icing her knee. Ugh!)

We grilled sausage and peppers for one of our favorite pasta dishes and stayed out until dark, enjoying the spring-like weather and soaking up as much vitamin D as we could.

The only problem with all of this is that thanks to the time change, 6am rolled around way too fast Monday morning for Kyle and I. It took a lot of cajoling to get Ellie and Josie out of bed at 7:30am. Last night the girls were in bed by 7pm, with the parents not far behind.

I'd have to say that it was worth it. I'm ready to start enjoying the weekends in the backyard. Welcome spring!

sunday photo(s)

solar flair, equinox, who knows...

I'm not sure what the explanation is, but for some reason we were able to stand our slanted broom up by itself yesterday. Of course, we looked online for the reason, and there are many theories. We're just not sure what to believe. It was kind of strange-cool-creepy though.

off to a great start

I didn't wake up this morning until my alarm went off at 7am. No one woke me up last night because they had to go potty. No one woke me up last night because they already went potty, just not in the toilet. Kyle wasn't tossing and turning, flipping the TV on at 2am and therefore interrupting my sleep. I slept so hard last night that there were fabric creases on my face when I looked in the mirror.

To top off this dreamy Friday morning, I made waffle batter last night. Not just any waffle batter, but batter to make the lightest, crispiest, most delicious waffles for breakfast. (You can read the original blog post about them here.)

It's now 9am, the girls are in school, the house is quiet, and I'm off for a Friday morning run. (Thankfully these waffles are so incredibly light, they won't weigh me down) *wink*

Marion Cunningham’s Raised Waffles (from Orangette)

Ingredients
1/4 cup warm water
1 (heaping) teaspoon dry yeast
1 cup of warm milk
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/8 teaspoon baking soda

Directions
The night before: 
Pour the water into a large batter bowl. – because of the yeast, the batter will rise to double-volume overnight, so choose a large bowl! Sprinkle the yeast over the water, and let it stand and foam for 5 minutes Add the milk, butter, salt, sugar, and flour, and beat until blended.  Cover the bowl (not air tight) and let it stand overnight at room temperature.

In the morning:
Preheat your waffle maker. Add the egg and baking soda, mix well. Pour the mixture into your waffle iron (1/3 cup is perfect for ours.) Cook on medium-high, or until they are golden and crisp.

Enjoy!

i've warned them...

Trust me. I've told them that they'll regret having 90% of their pictures show faces like this...

They are cute though, regardless.