Green Jello

One cute baby

This is my sweet nephew already reading the newspaper at 6 months old. The chicken in the back was hatched from eggs they bought on Ebay, which are now laying these:

You can buy anything on Ebay.

Summertime

Lemonade -

1 cup lemon juice (about 6 lemons), 1 cup superfine sugar, 6 cups of water. I saw a recipe that adds 1/8 teaspoon of salt to remove the bitterness, but I have not tried that yet.

Then some cotton candy for some more sugar?

James is so proud of his shiny coat of lead paint...

Another lead paint recall, this time on various Thomas trains sold between January 2005 through June 2007 (1.5 million units). Of course, these toys were made in China. Chinese made toys now represent 70-80% of the toys in the U.S., and are responsible for 60% of the product recalls annually.

The CPSC is understaffed, so the toy industry is mainly self regulated. So, unsafe toys can be in your home for years. I am tired of the irresponsibility of these companies, whose only concern is the bottom line. I think we should stop buying cheap, throw away toys and avoid those made in China or other countries who seem to think a little lead is a good thing. Start buying handmade toys, toys made in the U.S. or other European countries, or make your own. You can purchase a lead test kit here. Maybe it's just time to declutter and simplify.

Summer Swap

This is the package I received from my Swap-Bot partner. The theme was misc. summer items-there is a cute wind chime in this mix, but it did not photograph well. I just joined Swap-Bot, which provides a place for people to create swaps and then randomly select partners for each person who signed up for the specific swap. If you love receiving mail, this is something fun to do.

Felted Bees

This was my first attempt at needle felting. I used this kit from WoolPets, sold on Etsy. It wasn't too difficult, but I hope future attempts involve less finger stabbing. I still have to make some baby bees to go with the mama and papa.

Soldiers' Angels

We adopted a soldier through Soldiers Angels and this is the package we sent him, a 4th of July theme. I have enjoyed participating in this program, and it does not matter how you feel about the war, you are making someone's day a little brighter. Many of the soldiers adopted do not have family members, so they do not receive letters or care packages. It makes me feel better picking things out for an individual rather than sending boxes of things or just writing a check.

Leaving your mark

This is a scanned copy of a watercolor my mom painted. When someone dies, it's the handmade items that you cherish. I think that is why I am drawn to crafting - trying to create a memory or just leaving a small mark. When she was alive I would have ignored this, but now when I look at it I see how beautiful it is.

Why I hate commercials

My vision of my son's childhood involves toys like this-

A sweet little boy playing in the stream with his little boat....but my son wants this for his birthday -

What is that? Really. "Oh mom it's an alligator that shoots the cars in the air and then they race." The boat is from Magic Cabin, the other thing is here. 

Summer Solstice

Ah, summer....I am going to try to post a picture a week of summer scenes, like these-

Oh, and wear dark pants....

I will admit that in the past I have tried weird diets - the one where you eat tomatoes all day and then cabbage, but these new diet drugs sound awful. The new Alli drug's website mentions that you should wear dark pants and bring a change of clothes...that you may have loose stools and very foul smelling gas. No thanks, you can read about it here.