"Feels like -14" I'm super excited to go out today unsure emoticon

Happy Valentines Day!

The homeschooling group that we're in held a Valentines party for the kids at the Bloomington police station.  The boys were mostly excited to actually be at the police station, haha!  But they enjoyed the treats and games, too.  There are a few kids with allergies so we made these cute little cards with pencils and glow sticks.

They got this book at the library and Phin wanted to reenact the cover:

Happy Valentines day to you!  Hope your day was as sweet as this little face!

just do the thing

Oh my!  It is hard to find motivation in the bitter depths of February -- my friend just shared this and it's perfect 

Here is what I've been doing, instead of the THING

books, books, books

Last November I read the book, "The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up" and I loved it!  I immediately set to work and went through my clothes first.  On one hand, it was very very difficult for me because I do have clothes that I love, but that haven't fit me for several years.  This stirs up a lot of angst, to say the least. But I pushed through and was able to get rid of a lot of things that had made the cut in the past.  I really love her idea of touching each item and asking if it brings you joy.  I am not incredibly minimalist so I am sure that I kept more than other people would, but some of the things really make me happy, so they stayed.  My closet is arranged in a lovely rainbow and my drawers are organized in happy stacks and sushi rolls.  So today I decided to tackle books!  We have books stashed all over the house!

And there were even more!  I decided to go down to subcategories: children's, young adult, cookbooks, music books, and the rest.  Here are all of the adult (not that kind of adult) books out on the two sofas in the library.

And the funniest was finding this cleaning book stuck in the back of the very top shelf!

I ended up getting rid of over 200 books!  Some I was surprised to sell for quite a bit on Amazon and some were donated to bring joy to someone else.

wake up, it's 1984

My six year old just got really mad about something and then hit the three year old. I told him that if he was frustrated, maybe he could hit something else, like the couch. Three year old pipes up, through his tears, "Or the cat!" "No, no, not the cat." I say. He looks confused, "But can we yell at the cat? You yell at the cat when he scratches the door." I am under constant surveillance.

a pretty boule

I've been trying my hand at baking bread using the sourdough starter that Carol gave me in September.  She told me that she got it from her neighbor who has had it passed down from an ancestor who crossed the plains with it in 1850!  I have been using rye flour and a slow rise method that is supposed to lower the glycemic index.

This was my best loaf yet -- isn't it pretty?  The recipe I use says to bake it covered in a dutch oven at very high heat for half the time and then lower the heat and remove the cover so that it will be crusty on the outside and chewy on the inside.  This bread is seriously so good!!!!  But I don't think it is helping my diet in any way, shape, or form.

Phineas' Rainbow

My little Phinney saw me making blankets for all of his older siblings and started asking me when I was going to make one for him.  I hadn't necessarily planned on starting another so soon after finishing Ibby's, but he was so earnest that how could I refuse?  He really likes rainbows, so I chose to do this one from The Purl Bee.  They sell a kit, but it was $1 million, or $780 to be exact.  Either way, prohibitive.  So I set out to find 42 colors of yarn -- not merino wool, not hand-dyed -- being different colors was pretty much my only requirement.  I soon found that this project was not achievable using only local sources so I carefully perused the colors available at the Wool Warehouse in the U.K. and hoped for the pixellated, internet funny colored, best.  I ordered everything on Dec. 23 and I can't remember exactly when the very large parcel arrived, but as soon as it did I got right down to business.  It is actually a bit embarrassing that I was able to finish the whole thing in about a month -- I truly did manage to make dinner most nights and keep up with laundry!  I just tried to have it on hand to work on some squares wherever I may be -- except church.  I still refuse to crochet there, even though I am just sitting there... hmmm.  Maybe someday.  I get so impatient when I'm working on things -- I just want to finish as quickly as possible!  I refuse to comment on the number of korean dramas consumed during this time.

::rainbow in embryo

 ::rainbow in stacks

 ::rainbow grid

 

::together at last

 

 ::happy boy with his rainbow!

*update I thought I should add which stylecraft colors I substituted for the ones offered at Purl Soho.  I also have a chart that I made if anyone is interested.

✽ candy floss ✽ fiesta ✽ bright pink ✽ fondant ✽ soft peach ✽ pomegranate ✽ raspberry ✽ shrimp ✽ lipstick ✽ matador ✽ claret ✽ gold ✽ spice ✽ copper ✽ camel ✽ saffron ✽ sunshine ✽ citron ✽ lemon ✽ bright green ✽ lime ✽ meadow ✽ petrol ✽ sherbet ✽ spring green ✽ aspen ✽ turquoise ✽ aster ✽ teal ✽ cloud blue ✽ royal ✽ denim ✽ silver ✽ grey ✽ graphite ✽ bluebell ✽ lavender ✽ wisteria ✽ violet ✽ plum ✽ magenta ✽ clematis ✽

The yellows and the greens were the most difficult to match, I thought.  And some of the ones I thought I would use with the pinks I ended up using with the purples.