Playin' hookey

We've been homeschooling pretty hard for the last five weeks.  Today we ditched the books and headed to Houston for a day at the park and zoo.  

I completely believe that taking a day off every now and then to refresh your spirit is a very good thing, especially for busy mothers.

And watching this little face delight in all around her definitely restores my soul.  

Coming home sweaty and smelling like elephant poop...not so much!

For those in the area, the Houston Zoo hosts free admission to the zoo after 2pm on the first Tuesday of the month through May.

For large families like ours, it's the only way we get to go!

Check out all the great activities at the Houston Zoo HERE.

Being Cinderella

A rare date night for us old folks!

It was a birthday celebration for a dear, dear friend of ours.  Lovely dinner, music, dancing, dressed to the nine's....it's been a long time since we've done any of that! 

Then the midnight bell rang,

and the fairy dust got washed off. 

Of course today, Sunday, I will be a football widow and it will be back to the usual cooking, cleaning, schooling, working....

well, you get the idea!

But it was sure fun being Cinderella while it lasted!

And a note to my Prince Charming:

You'll find that other glass slipper underneath the three piles of laundry in the mud room, I think the dog has been slobbering on it!

40 Days for Life

Because if abortion isn't wrong, 

then nothing is...

Find out what you can do in your community,

40 Days for Life

We're doomed!

After dinner one night, we all had a hankering for some chocolate. I wanted something quick and delicious, and after a brief scouring through Pinterest, I found it...

BROWNIES IN A MUG!

1/4 cup flour 

1/4 cup sugar 

 2 Tbsp cocoa (natural, unsweetened) 

Pinch of salt 

Pinch of cinnamon 

1/4 cup water 

 2 Tbsp canola oil or vegetable oil 

(NOT extra virgin olive oil, it's too strongly flavored) 

1 to 2 drops vanilla extract 

1 small scoop of ice cream or 1 or 2 teaspoons heavy whipping cream to serve

Place flour, sugar, cocoa, salt, and cinnamon in a microwave safe ceramic mug. Stir with a fork or spoon to mix well and break up any clumps. 

 Add the oil, water, and vanilla to the cup and stir until the mixture is smooth and there are no lumps. 

Place in microwave and heat on high until the mixture is cooked through, about a 1 minute and 40 seconds for a 1000 watt microwave. You may have to experiment and adjust the time for less or more powerful microwaves. If you don't know the power level on your microwave, start with 60 seconds and increase until the brownie is done. It should still be moist when cooked through, not dry. 

Let cool for a minute and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a teaspoon or two of whipping cream poured over.

Chocolatey, but not too sweet.

Easy enough that the kids can make it!

Yup, we're doomed!

Hurricane Mary

Hurricane Mary strikes again!

I put together this cozy little reading nook for our toddler, Mary Grace, in hopes she'd pull out a book for us to snuggle up with and read.  I envisioned quiet moments with me reading to her and helping her to develop a love of books. 

She loves books alright!  

She LOVES throwing them off the shelves, she LOVES coloring in them, and sometimes she LOVES ripping out a particular page to show me.

  

Yes, Hurricane Mary is definitely rocking my boat at the age of 23 months!  Maybe it's because I'm raising a toddler at the age of 44, maybe it's because of working and homeschooling that I'm exhausted most of the time, or just maybe it's that red hair of hers that makes her so wiley!

I often think of all that I went through to get her here 

(you can read my story HERE.).

 I think about how she has her father wrapped around her little finger.

I think about how her older brothers are her happy minions.

 I think about my life and all the wonderful blessings we've been given...and then I think to myself,

Yes, I can weather this beautiful storm
but Lord, give me strength!

For your viewing pleasure...

This weekend I downloaded the Lego Movie Maker for JP and Dan. They were literally locked away in their room for HOURS giggling and making movies. 
 I promised them I would show their creations on the blog, 
so without further adieu,
 here is the world premiere of their very first Lego movie:

And grab some popcorn while you watch this super feature:



 


By the end of the weekend, the boys had created several really cute movies.  I like that they were exercising their creativity and story telling abilities instead of just vegging in front of the TV and Wii all weekend long.

Best of all, the app is FREE!

So if you have budding Spielbergs in your house 
or Lego-maniacs like mine, definitely get this app for hours of creative fun!

A quick weekend project

I spent the better part of my weekend recovering from working and caring for our five extra house guests from the week, but I did find some time to do a little therapeutic sewing.  I have been wanting to make this adorable reversible wrap top for quite some time so I dove into my vintage sheets scrap pile and thought the floral print was perfect for the project.

It's a reversible, kimono style, wrap shirt.  I didn't make this one reversible because I really like the sheet print and wanted to keep it simple. 

And even though there is a spring/summer look going on here, I can't wait to make more in fall/winter prints.  I think this little wrap will be perfect over a long sleeve onesie as the weather turns cooler.  I think I'll make future versions with buttons, though.  Mary Grace really likes to undo the pretty bow at the side!

And how adorable are those flutter sleeves?  

I could eat them up!

 (as well as that little red headed model!)

To get this free pattern and tutorial for yourself, 

visit Jess at Craftiness is not Optional.

It's a boy!

...and another boy, and a little tiny boy, and two cute girls!

My dear niece is having some really serious complications with her pregnancy so the Creamer clan decided to host their cousins for the week to give her a rest.

  

Yes, we have ten kids in the house this week! 

Things are certainly....lively to say the least.  My master plan is to completely exhaust them during the day so everyone will be begging for bed by 9pm (hopefully, without exhausting myself in the process).  

So far so good, but please say a prayer for us and my dear niece.  She's got a long way to go and a heavy cross to carry.

Back to (home) school

We started back to homeschooling yesterday.  It was pretty easy to slip back into our routine, and to tell the truth, I think the kids like their days structured, too.  Our first day went pretty smoothly we started off with kolaches from a local bakery, delish! 

Then onto our school day:

Discussion of current events

Catechism/Bible study

Math

Spelling

English

LUNCH BREAK

History

Science

Daily chores

We also have two new students in the Creamer family, Doug and Ryan now are enrolled at WCJC!

Ryan is studying cosmetology (note the purple hair), and Doug is going to become an EMT/Paramedic.

Ryan is not quite sure what he wants to do yet, and I'm a firm believer that you don't have to have your whole life figured out at 19. So for now he is in cosmetology. He will have a trade skill he can use to earn income while figuring out what he wants to do in life, plus, FREE haircuts for the whole family for life!  I'm totally down with that!

 Doug says he feels "called" to become a medic, so who am I to mess with a man's calling?  He's seeing how tough it is going back to school at a late age.  He's also doing it while working a full time job and a half and tending to the needs of a large family.  Oh, how I wish he had found his "calling" 25 years ago!

So education is the name of the game this year in the Creamer household.  Big plans and big changes coming....I hope we are up for the challenge!

Pray for us!

Pallet Art

The other day I was browsing through PINTEREST and came across an adorable piece of pallet wood art.  It was a rustic American flag painted onto the pallet.  We have LOTS of pallets and I knocked out the above piece in about 15 minutes.  

I put it on the side of our storage barn to weather.

I love it!

But then Kyle shows me up one....

 He made a Texas flag with the Texans Bull.

Football fever has officially taken over the men of the house.

Yes, it's that time of year again,
*sigh*
GO TEXANS!

#FootballWidow

Saintly Sewing

I was looking for a quick sewing project to keep myself occupied on a recent trip to Dallas.  I came across some adorable saint patterns on Waltzing Matilda's blog.  Kyle re-worked the St.Clare pattern into a St.Faustina image and voila:

I was embroidering this sweet little saint in no time!

I pondered whether to sew the image into a pillow or quilt but finally decided Mary Grace would enjoy her more as a doll.  So I found a scrap of material and stitched a small quote from our beloved saint...

Mary Grace loved it right away!

I was so happy because you never know with toddlers.

I see many more of these sweet saints in her future, maybe in the form of a quilt next time.

St. Faustina, pray for us!

If you'd like to download one of her many patterns, 

check out Waltzing Matilda's blog HERE.

Some quick summer sewing

Y'all know I love quick, simple, easy patterns,

 especially when they're FREE!

That's just what you get when you download the

Oliver and S Popover Sundress.

(sizes 2-8)

It is the perfect little dress for girls on the GO!

(and for busy mamas who can only sew during naptime)

I love the little bias ties at the shoulders, very girly, indeed.

The pattern also gives you tips for adding embellishments, like placing a strip of rick-rack or lace underneath the front yoke.

These little dresses are so simple that I'm able to cut and sew 

about three of them in an hour.

Which only fuels my obsession that Mary Grace needs new dresses for holidays, family get togethers, outings with friends....

...or just Tuesdays.

Candy Roaster Pie

We finally harvested some of the candy roaster squash that I blogged about HERE. 

These squash are HUGE as you can see!

I sliced one in half, scooped out the seeds, and roasted it in the oven for about an hour.  The flesh was gorgeous, sweet, and not as stringy as pumpkin.  One squash gave me six cups of puree which I promptly made into pies.  
I also saved the seeds so I can grow these again next year!

The pie was a big hit!

Who says you need a fork?

This is a girl after my own heart!

Candy Roaster Squash Pie

2 cups candy roaster squash puree

 1/2 cup sugar 

2 eggs 

2 Tbsp. flour 

1/2 cup evaporated milk 

1 tsp. vanilla 

3 Tbsp. melted butter 

Your favorite pie crust

 Stir all ingredients together, then beat at medium speed of electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Pour mixture into unbaked pie crust. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 - 55 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

 

The best (and easiest) homemade tomato sauce EVAH!

For years I have made tomato sauce the same way. I spent the greater part of a day blanching, peeling, seeding, chopping, and laboriously stirring over a hot pot so the sauce wouldn't scorch.

By the time it was time to eat, I was exhausted.

 NEVER AGAIN!

Thanks to Pinterest, I've found the easiest and most flavorful sauce to use with my homegrown tomatoes that requires little effort at all!

First start with your tomatoes. 

I used some of my homegrown sauce tomatoes combined with some gorgeous slicing tomatoes that my in-laws grew.  You really can use any type of tomato, even little cherry varieties.  Cut up enough tomatoes to almost fill a 9x13 baking dish or pan.

Add one large rough cut onion, about 10 cloves of garlic, and some torn basil leaves.  Sprinkle generously with sea salt, fresh cracked pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil.  

Mix thoroughly with your hands.

Place pan in a 425 degree oven for 45 minutes to an hour.  

What you will get is perfectly softened, caramelized goodness!

Plus, your house is going to smell amazing.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer the tomato mixture to a food processor or blender.  

Add one can of tomato paste and one tablespoon,

 or more, of balsamic vinegar.

  

Pulse to desired consistency.  

Add some of the juices from the baking dish if you'd like your sauce a little thinner.  

Pour sauce into a crock pot and cook on low the rest of the day.  The longer you let the sauce cook, the sweeter the tomato paste becomes.  Season with additional salt, pepper, and herbs to taste.

  

Here I added one pound each of ground beef and sweet Italian sausage.  I also added a generous pinch of oregano and chili flakes.  

I didn't even break a sweat making this wonderful sauce,

and did I mention that it makes your house smell amazing?