Whew!

It's been a long month so far!

Pre-school is starting this fall and the list of forms to fill out, meetings to attend, and necessities to pick up just keeps growing bigger and bigger! My sister's wedding was this past weekend and in addition to helping her plan and organize, I also catered the rehearsal dinner. I have also started on a giant handmade Christmas project (that may or may not actually be finished by Christmas), and am working on items for the rest of the people on my list, which seems ridiculous in August since I'm usually a last-minute shopper. Not to mention the day-to-day stuff. No complaints here though! I love having a million things to do - it's nice to feel needed and challenged.

Now that the wedding is done I feel less urgency and stress in my life. It went off perfectly, and everything was beautiful, of course. I'm so glad I have a new brother-in-law making my little sister happy! And I'm really happy that they're done with the stresses of planning a wedding. They're off enjoying their mini-honeymoon now, and I hope they're getting the relaxation they need.

Last night I finally got to meet the other mommies in Kirah's pre-school class, and now I'm even more psyched to start school! They are all so nice, and I know we're going to have a blast this year.

I can't tell you much about the Christmas surprise - you never know who might be reading. But I can tell you that it is driving me crazy trying to order one of the components from the UK over the phone! Time-zone differences and cell phone company restrictions are frustrating things.

Well, that's what's going on with me. I hope anyone reading is having a much more relaxing summer than moi!

Check back soon, I'm back to blogging!

IKEA 2011

The IKEA 2011 catalog is out!

IKEA is one of my favorite stores for cheap and interesting pieces for our home. Most of our large furniture is from the store and I'm always drooling over their ridiculously low priced knick-knacks and things.

Aside from the new catalog offering plenty of eye candy for me, the children's pages are adorable.


Wouldn't it be great to have a cute little wardrobe just for dress-up clothes?


How much fun is a bunk bed with a tent?!


Their toy prices just beat the pants off of the high end versions.

Looks like hubby is getting talked into a shopping trip in the near future!

Curtains

We have been playing behind our bedroom curtains a lot lately. Kirah says we're "ghosties" and she likes to bring all of her musical instruments so that she can make "ghosty music". I swear, the games she invents for herself are a million times more fun and creative than anything I could come up with for her.

As you can see, our curtains are getting quite tatty from all of these ghosty games. The cats like them too. Good thing Ikea has them for cheap. ^_^

A birthday picnic

As promised, here is what the tissue flowers I was making last week were for:



Birthday hats!



Seester's birthday is today, but we celebrated on Sunday. She wanted to have lunch at Golden Gardens park and play on the beach all day until it was dark enough for a bonfire. I put together some picnic snacks and a few beach-friendly birthday decorations, including the hats.


Gah! Dirty hands and a frosting mustache!

It was a great day at the beach - overcast, but very warm, so no sunburns for any of us! Hooray! Little Kirah was fine from 11am until 5:30 at night when we finally decided it was time to get her home. I can't believe she lasted so long! The rest of the party stayed for the bonfire later.



Looks like Seester likes her hat, no?

You can find directions for the tissue flowers here, and a birthday hat template here for the cones.

More paper....

Playing around with more tissue and paper flowers. These ones have a purpose this weekend, but you'll have to wait until Monday to find out what that is!



The matroyshka doll was reclaimed from my mother's house this week. It was given to us by Russian pen pals our family had during the 80's and 90's. Nice to see something again that I loved as a child.

Paper flower art

I've been playing around with paper this week. I was throwing away some old magazines and got a little crafty with them. What started out as experimenting with making a few paper flowers turned into a full-blown wall art project.

I apologize for the awful pictures of my dimly lit apartment!



The garland is made from a crazy amount of paper, cut into little flower shapes, each taped individually to the wall. The larger flowers surrounding the mirror are layered paper circles, cut imperfectly, and held together with brads. They are taped on also.



It is difficult to see the flowers in the vase, but they were made by this technique.

Just something fun to beautify my living room in the time before the Halloween decorations go up.

Squashghetti

I am a bit undecided as to how I feel about sneaking vegetables into kids meals. On the one hand I want my daughter to learn to love veggies, not just because they are good for her, but because they can be really tasty when prepared well (and hey, we're vegetarian - what else are we going to eat??). But on the other hand, she is QUITE a picky toddler right now, and I worry about her getting enough healthy food.

I try to strike a balance between giving her recognizable vegetables and resorting to sneaky tricks. There are some things that she just won't eat, like greens, so occasionally I'll blend a little kale in with her tomato sauce, and she'll never notice the difference. Sometimes you do what you gotta do.

One tactic I am a fan of is to make veggies fun and kid friendly without denying the fact that they're veggies. I like the idea of the classic spaghetti squash, scooped out of the shell and served with marinara. It's silly in a way that kids can understand, and it looks enough like the real thing that they might even take a bite. So when I saw this recipe for Aglio e Olio with summer squash I decided to give it a try.


Plate and fork from Skip Hop

I didn't use the recipe, just the basic idea, so I'll post what I did here, and by all means, use whatever you have on hand. Kirah is fine with a little spice, but if your child doesn't like hot food leave the pepper flakes out.

Squashghetti

1 package fresh vegetable flavored noodles from an asian market
2 crookneck squash (any long summer squash is fine)
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, smashed
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
salt & pepper to taste

Boil noodles as directed on package, reserving 1 cup of cooking water.

While noodles are boiling use a julienne peeler to slice squash into long "noodles". Work around the outsides of the squash, stopping when you get to the seeds.

Heat olive oil in a skillet on medium heat. Add red pepper flakes and smashed garlic, letting cook just until garlic becomes fragrant - do not allow to brown. Add squash, beans, and salt and pepper. Add cooking water, slowly until you have just enough to make a sauce, but not so much that it will be watery. Allow to simmer, stirring regularly for about 5 minutes, being careful not to overcook the squash.

Drain pasta and toss with squash sauce. Serve with Parmesan cheese if desired.


We'll also be trying to increasingly popular cauliflower "popcorn" this week, so if it turns out well I'll be sure to post my recipe.