A Quick & Fun Valentine Craft

Valentine's Day still feels so far away, but it's really not too far - next Wednesday is February 1st after all! I don't usually decorate, or really do anything for Valentine's, but I saw this idea a few weeks ago on Pinterest and thought it was cute!

First, I cut some felt rectangles. 2 from each colour. I didn't measure, just made the biggest pieces possible from the felt I had. Next, sew a seam down one long end of each pair of rectangles. Turn the felt so the other 2 long sides are matched up, but the shape of the tube is a heart. Make sense?

Once you have all your heart tubes sewn up, cut them into about 1" pieces, so you end up with this: 

Then I strung them all together with thread, like so:

(yes, I probably should have changed the thread in my sewing machine, but I was too lazy, so it stayed black!)

Viola! Hang up your cute little Valentine garland!!

Our Weekend + A First World Problem

First, my first world problem: all my library requests came in at the same time! Better get reading!

Second, our weekend. We met up with some friends on Friday night for dinner. Enjoyable. On Saturday, we babysat this little round-headed cutie pie!!:

Henry (his bro went to Grandma's house)

And has some other friends over. I made this Moroccan Vegetable Pie with Chickpea Crust from Canadian Living. Delicious! Make it! (My crust was a bit tough, but it tasted good. You could make it with store bought crust and it would still be good!)

Source: cbc.ca via Erica on Pinterest

Next, this little dinosaur had his 1st Birthday!

This is part of Johnny's birthday present from us. (I made it. Dan helped.) A dinosaur on a trolley! 

Helen liked it :)

John liked the boxes.

And his new sweater.

Getting strapped in for cake! It takes the whole family. John smelled more delicious than usual after he got wiped down from eating his banana pudding chocolate birthday cake. Kid smelled like chocolate! 

How was your weekend?

Taking Stock

Luckily, Dan & I were able to make it to a grocery store before Snowmagedon 2012 hit too hard. Still, this got me thinking about my pantry staples and what meals I could really make if we were housebound for a week (which, basically, was this past week), and then I got thinking about pantry staples, and how I never consistently have all the ingredients I need for something!! Can you help me out? What do your pantries always contain? I know it really depends on what kind of food you cook, so this may be an exercise in futility, but I am curious!

 I do love my pantry!

Things I always have:

 - eggs (This is kind of cheating. Eggs are a fridge item, but since there are a kajillion eggs pretty much out my front door at any given time, I thought I would include them.)

 - flour

 - sugar

 - baking supplies (baking soda, powder, cornstarch, cocoa, oats, etc)

 - pasta

 - rice

 - canned soup (tomato & mushroom)

 - frozen veggies (corn, peas, broccoli & cauliflower)

 - frozen fruit (bananas, strawberries, blueberries)

 - crackers

Things I always need/want and never have:
 - chicken stock (I really do buy this, but then I use it up and never have it on hand. I should learn to buy 2 at a time)
 - ginger (not ground as a spice. Is there even a way to have this "fresh" without it going gross?)
 - canned pineapple
 - pasta sauce (as a dry mix or a jar)
 - potatoes that aren't baby potatoes
 - chickpeas
 - beans (again, something I do buy semi-regularly, but then use up and don't replace as I should)

And what about your freezers? Like I wrote above, I keep some frozen fruits & veg, but I would much prefer to buy fresh meat, so I tend not to stock up on proteins very often, unless there is something good on sale. And don't get me started on frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts. Ugh. I don't want to eat that!

So tell me, what am I missing? What are your go-to meals when the fridge is bare?

Reasons I Love my Family

This afternoon Dan called home and wondered if I could possibly bring his ski boots down the road to the farm. You know, the regular footwear choice for doing farm work in 7" of snow. 

When I arrived at the farm, Matt & Kori had the quad out, Helen was perched on the GT racer, ready to the pulled by the quad, and Dan, Tom and Christine were building up the snow jump, and adjusting the bindings on an old pair of skis. 

It was totally delightful to see them fly through the air (and land...or not!). To hear Helen try to convince us all that she knew how to ski already and could go over the jump. To go inside to drink tea & visit with my sisters-in-law. To kiss and snuggle a cute baby one year old. 

The most perfectly enjoyable snowy afternoon.