Tag: children

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2 Crochet Baby Blankets

I seem to be on a roll these days crocheting baby blankets. I started this blue and white one before Christmas and then moved on to this grey one. They are both beautiful but I have to admit that I prefer the blue and white one. I have no idea why, well, it might be because I was using a new pattern with the grey one and had to frog it back 9 rows a couple of times.

2 Crochet Baby Blankets 2 Crochet Baby Blankets 2 Crochet Baby Blankets 2 Crochet Baby Blankets

I do like the almost houndstooth print of the this grey blanket. I also like that it could work with either a boy baby or a girl baby. This makes it a perfect gift for someone that doesn’t know which gender they are having.  They are both crocheted out of soft acrylic yarn and will wash well. You will be able to find them at ChocolatesBabyShop on Friday of this week!

These are also crocheted out of my stash and will make items 16 and 17 for the Use Your Stash Challenge. So I did make progress last week and things are marching on with the challenge. I also spent some time carefully cutting out some quilt projects. I was being careful of my back so I didn’t get much sewing done but I am working on other projects.

I started a new baby blanket yesterday and I have made good progress. I hope to get it finished this week as well. It is in shades of purple. If you are following me on Instagram you have seen that it looks like this.

2 Crochet Baby Blankets

The colors are a bit off as I took this photo with my cell phone after dark. Which really changes how the colors look.

Talk to you later,

Karen

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Jam and Jelly Making

Last weekend we made jam and jelly. The jam is cranberry cinnamon and the jelly is apple. It is a family job with pretty much everyone pitching in. I started the cranberries in the crockpot. Here the cranberries have just been added to the crockpot with brown sugar and cinnamon. The big lump in the middle is the rock hard brown sugar. I have to admit that I didn’t measure it out but just dumped it in.

Jam and Jelly Making

We used our son and daughter in law’s juicer to skip the big long process of cooking the fruit down and then hanging the fruit in the jelly bag. It sure simplified the whole process. We bought a case of apples together and split the jelly and the leftover apples. It all worked out super easy. I was showing my daughter in law how to make jelly as this was her first or second time making jelly. She loves apple jelly so the first batch was apple. We had a leftover pomegranate that we juiced with the apples so that is the lovely rosy-yellow colored jelly.

Jam and Jelly Making

Jam and Jelly Making

Isnt’ it beautiful. The deep purpley red is the cranberry jelly. I tweaked a recipe to come up with it. The basic recipe is this one for cranberry butter. I doubled the recipe, sprinkled 2 tsp of cinnamon (instead of using a cinnamon stick) and then cooked it on high in the crock pot for 5 hours before we put it in the juicer. Then I prepped it just like any jelly. I added 6 cups of sugar and the sure jell. I’m pretty sure that next time I will leave out the sure gel as it is pretty firm but still good.

Jam and Jelly Making Jam and Jelly Making

I don’t own a juicer but I am going to think about purchasing one. It simplified the jelly making and speeded it up by several hours. It is not the way my Grandma made jelly but I know she would approve as it sure saves a bunch of work. We didn’t have to peel the apples before we juiced them, or boil the apples until they produced juice. The flavor is fresher and tastes more like fresh apples.Jam and Jelly MakingWhere did we buy a case of apples in the middle of January? We bought it through Bountiful Baskets.

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

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The New Lab Puppy

It was a busy weekend here as I know it was busy at your house as well.  We had a great time at my Mom’s. My brother was down visiting and we had an incredible time working together. My mom has recently moved to a smaller home in the area. She had tons of things that all needed to find a new home and we had a great big huge sale to help her get rid of them.  We arrived on Friday afternoon and the garage was stacked with boxes of things. We all pitched in and by Saturday afternoon her garage was swept and empty. Simply an incredible afternoon was had by all. Here are a few action shots of the one thing we came home with. Kids can sure talk you into things that you were pretty sure you would never do again, like have another lab puppy in the house. They simply chew everything up for years and years.2014-10-25 13.27.31 2014-10-25 13.30.14Our daughter put a collar on her before we decided she could come home with us. Her owners were ready to give her to a new home. She just wandered up to the garage in the middle of the sale and lay down on the dog bed that was for sale. She made herself at home and slept pretty much all day. She was tired after howling under our window most of the evening on Friday. After a bath and a visit to the vet, she is now named Daisy and seems much happier. She just needs some extra food for a little while and she should be doing great. She didn’t cry too much last night but seemed to settle down pretty quickly.2014-10-26 17.43.01-1So, we are adjusting to having Daisy at home, and while one of the other dogs is a bit jealous I think things will settle down pretty quickly. I am not getting much crochet done with a new furry baby in the house that seems to need constant attention. Here is a pretty picture of her face.2014-10-26 11.56.27Daisy is very content and so are we. I hope to get back into the swing of things later this week.

talk to you later,

Karen

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I’m Hyper – Procrastinating This Morning.

Today: quite frankly I am procrastinating, I am hyper – procrastinating! I’m not even sure if that is a word. According to Merriam Webster’s online dictionary this is the definition of Hyper

Full Definition of HYPER

1 :  high-strung, excitable; also :  highly excited
2 :  extremely active

and this is the definition of Procrastinating.

pro·cras·ti·nate

verb \prə-ˈkras-tə-ˌnāt, prō-\

: to be slow or late about doing something that should be done : to delay doing something until a later time because you do not want to do it, because you are lazy,

Ouch, that hurt! It is how I feel though. I am intentionally lazing around and resting. The weeks have been filled with RUN..Run… Do this and do that! I need down time, my body craves it like I used to crave quiet (when I had four little people in the house.) I have done some of the chores that were screaming for attention yesterday; laundry and some picking up. I have some unpacking to do and some dishes to do. I have yarn I bought yesterday that I can’t wait to get my hands on. I have a bunch of photography for the Etsy shops and then some Christmas gift creating to do.

hyper-procrastinating

I have tons of things that have to be done, some errands and so forth but I am being a procrastinator on purpose. I’m not thinking or planning or scheduling. I am not considering the clutter in my house. Well, yes I am but I am ignoring it willfully. I am doing something incredibly difficult for me to do; sitting. I know that I will have to jump up and go and do before long. Chores, errands,  sewing, crochet and life calls, but for this little while I am going to sit and rest. I am adding white space or margin to my life. I have not had a chance to do this since our vacation in August, or at least it feels that long ago. Do you remember when I talked about margin? I have had two cups of coffee in bed and then some poking about on the internet with no specific purpose, a little thinking about this or that, and I ordered a music book for my daughter.

hyper-procrastinating

I have been taking stock of my life. Looking at what is truly important and while I haven’t reached any conclusions I do have some renewed purpose. I think I am back on track and headed several degrees into a better direction. You remember geometry class where you learned that a degree off of the right direction would put you miles away from your destination. Life is like that as well. So I am puttering into the right direction again. The photos are from our vacation this past summer. The last time I got to sit and just be. I am ready for a bit more of that time off.

Talk to you later,

Karen

 Well, if you want to read what I wrote about Margin you can find it here: http://www.chocolatedogstudio.com/2014/02/04/margin/

PS. It is now Friday and I wrote this on Thursday. I am still procrastinating. I guess rest is what I need to do right now in between life as wife, daughter, mom and chauffeur.

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Waiting on Ideas to Hatch

Everyday is a new day!  It has been a long week so far and it is only Sunday! Last week we took 2 kids to college and dropped them off. We then drove the quiet 5 hour drive home. It was quiet and it IS quiet now. We also took the leaf out of the table and it now sits four quite comfortably or five if you really like each other!  We raise kids to be independent and then we are sad when they finally are! So this week, I am concentrating on the one chick left in the nest. I am thinking of things like Christmas gifts, the Etsy shop, things I am thankful for and what I want to do with this blog!

Waiting on ideas to hatch
Hatching Ideas

 

 

Like these eggs, I am waiting on the right time for my ideas to hatch. There are so many things that I would love to do but I just don’t have the time. I am getting to take a painting class this year with my daughter. I will show you my work as I go. It has been ages since I have really painted and I am completely self taught.

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

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The New To Do List!

Here is my to do list. I’m back from vacation and we are in our Autumn back to school schedule. So, to be organized here is my to do list for the week. This is the shop to do list, not my personal to do list. I have also been running through my pinterest business pins and working on my blog.

  • Works in Progress 2014-08-24 20.47.21-2

This blanket.

IMG_5668

and this one

 

2014-08-19 16.47.19-2

 

and this one.

  • I have about ten coffee press cozies cut out
  • I have 25 felt Christmas Stockings to cut and sew for a cousin.
  • A wide variety of baby hats, blankets and a couple of new items.

So life is busy and I need to get to work!

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

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Family Identity

Do you have a family identity? It used to be a popular thing to talk about. It is a pretty basic concept. What does your family stand for? What does it mean to be a _____________ (put your last name in the blank)? When our kids were small it was pretty simple:

Stewart’s take care of each other.

and

Stewart’s tell the truth.

(I had to work pretty hard on that one.)

Stewart’s wash their hands and use their manners.

(another one we had to work hard on.)

Then it became more difficult as time went on and the kids got older.

It became things like:

Stewart’s do hard things, they don’t give up!

Stewart’s do not leave projects to the last minute before they are due!

Those are also incredibly hard to teach and I am still working on learning them myself. Though, I think the last one was more of a self preservation teaching than a family identity or motto.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/192862925/vintage-1970sbe-prepared-embroidered

 

 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/181484340/do-what-you-can-11×14-print-of-theodore

I have been thinking about this family identity thing because our home school group has suggested that we come up with a home school mission statement for this year. Public schools, private schools, colleges and universities do this all the time with slogans and mottos. I have been thinking about it. We are close to the end of our homeschooling years and I don’t think that choosing “I can’t wait to be finished” is a good choice for our home school mission statement. I really don’t want our sweet youngest child to think back that Mom couldn’t wait to be done with teaching her. That is NOT a good end to a season of life. I know that there is something more challenging and uplifting that I could use if I think long enough.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/151666214/educating-the-mind-without-educating-the

I think family identities, mission statements and mottos are good things. They serve as guidelines. They can help you keep on track and remind you of why you do what you do and who you are. I’m still thinking about ours for the year, if I figure it out I will get back to you.

Talk to you later,

Karen

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Looking Back…

I wrote this about a month ago. Believe it or not everything that I was worried about has been handled. All of the things that I thought were worthy of worry are now solved, resolved or handled. Shall I share the outcome of each of these worries.

I am starting to push the panic button. In the next month we have a ton of things happening.

  • The college girl comes home with all of her belongings  She is home and everything is great!
  • Sr. recognition Sunday at church for our graduating senior Done and over!
  • High school graduation for our youngest son Graduated!
  • Our 26th wedding anniversary Celebrated and wonderful!
  • Memorial Day, a day which we now try to put flowers and remember those who have passed away and those who have served in the military. Done
  • I need to get a child ready for camp
  • send her to camp
  • I have two kids needing to find summer jobs They both found jobs on their own without my interference!
  • feeding all of the people that will be here this summer I have two extra cooks and meals are getting accomplished daily!
  • find out about my foot in the boot and what needs to be done. The boot is gone. I am mobile and taking up the rhythms of life again!

I guess I am discouraged by the busyness of life. I need to take time to remember that these busy times are sweet family time. We will once again all gather around the table and share stories, insights and food. It seems that my family places importance on food as it gathers us all together.

Yes, we do place importance on food as it is hard to get all of us together at any other time.

2014-05-23 15.19.28

 

I hope you and your family find some sweet family time this summer!

Talk to you later,

Karen