What I'm Into... November Edition

In this issue:

The Thanksgiving Tree
The Laptop Bag
Homemade Parfaits
The Easiest-Ever Salsa Chicken
Operation Christmas Child

The Thanksgiving Tree

Ann Voskamp put up this project for November on her blog. I thought it was beautiful, it looked easy to do, and it looked like a wonderful way to bring the act of thanksgiving into our home.

I grabbed the kids and took them on a nature hike to find sticks on the ground (and what kid doesn't want to be given the mission of finding good sticks?!).

 We put the sticks in the only large vase I had and cut out the leaves from the print out. Addy helped.

Can you tell we are just learning how to use scissors? :)

I used ribbon and glue dots to stick the leaves on.

Every night when we gather around the table, Addy picks a leaf, Michael reads it, and then one of us offers up something we are thankful for. We record it on the back of that leaf.

Precious, right?! I am so glad we did this.

Want to do it too? Go here!

The Laptop Bag

I really wanted a bag just the right size for my little netbook. So I made one. Before you go thinking I am this amazing crafter or asking me to make you one, know this: it is full of mistakes. I am learning through this whole blogging process that I am not actually all that into crafting. I suppose sometimes I just need a tangible way to deal with stress and making some kind of something just helps. This was right before I went to the Allume conference... I was nervous... So I sewed a bag. There's just something therapeutic about sewing in straight lines. Does anyone else relate?? 

Cheesin' it in front of some city art while in Harrisburg. I think the bag suits me :)

That said, somethings about it turn out pretty awesome if I do say so myself. :) I used scrap fabric: fleece leftover from this project from last year and a retro-print cotton. I used two pieces of thick ribbon that I sewed together to make it double strong. So, besides needing to buy the ginorous button that I simply had to have, the bag was FREE.

Want to know how I made it cushioned and sturdy enough for a laptop?

I hacked into an extra one of these plastic boxes... I just cut the plastic pieces to size and added a piece of craft felt to either side. 

I'd show you the inside, but let's just say it's already full of my mess stuff. I also use it as a purse. It is lined in the retro-print and fits my laptop, a composition notebook and my wallet--things this writer-girl needs to have on her person at almost all times. :)

Homemade Parfaits

(Warning this paragraph contains just a minor bit of "mom-talk") So I wanted to wean my son and finally get him sleeping through the night. He was not doing either very easily. At 15 months old, I was having trouble getting him to drop lower than 4 feedings, and he was still waking up 2 times a night. The doctor suggested trying yogurt instead of milk. Yogurt is heartier than cow's milk but still contains all the wholesome dairy nutrition a growing boy needs. I tried giving him yogurt for breakfast and yogurt before bedtime. I won't say it worked like a charm... it still took a whole lot of foot-down determination to get him to wean and sleep through the night... but it definitely helped.

I have this great annoyance with store bought yogurt. Fruit and yogurt is great, but why,why, why do they need to add extra sugar on top of the fruit?? Fruit has natural sweetness!

So, I buy a tub of plain yogurt (32 oz), add a tsp. of vanilla and a tbsp. of maple syrup to the whole tub and stir. I now have hardly sweet, vanilla yogurt. A perfect backdrop for fruit and granola!

I add some frozen strawberries slightly thawed, cut them into the yogurt with a spoon, and sprinkle a tbsp of granola on top.

Delicious. And the Jed-man LOVES it.

The Easiest-Ever Salsa Chicken.

I found this here. Easiest. Yummiest. Dinner. Ever.

Place 4-6 Chicken Breasts (Boneless and Thawed) and 1 Jar of Salsa into your Crockpot... and let the magic happen. 6-8 hours later, pull super tender chicken apart with a fork, use for tacos, burritos, taco salad... the leftovers in your saturday morning egg scramble, in quesdillas for the kids lunch the next day... whatever, however.

Easy.

By the way, I use extra mild picante sauce and my kids like it. It's not too spicy for their young taste buds. (I spoon the "good" salsa on top of my taco because I like some spicy).

This is PERFECT if you have a large amount of people coming over. Two words: TACO BAR. :)

Operation Christmas Child

What's the best way to teach your child how blessed she is and how much we have to be thankful for??

By giving to someone else in need.

We packed our first OCC shoebox this year. I let Addy pick the gender and age for the box recipient. So naturally, the box was packed for a 4 year old girl (who hopefully loves pink and princesses).

By signing up online (just click the picture), we were able to pay for the box's shipping and get a special label so we can find out what country our box ends up in.  I am looking forward to teaching her about that country during our preschool time.

Addy was super excited to drop this box off. This mom heart is feels all warmed-up knowing I am teaching my daughter how to be a giver and how to love. Now I just gotta deal with the whole "Christmas is tomarlow, Mom?" "No, Baby. That present is going really far so we had to drop it off now. Christmas is still a ways off." I have a feeling this is going to be a frequently recurring conversation for the next, oh, 40 days. :)


What are you up to? Any cool Thanksgivingish projects to share? Or super duper easy crock pot recipes? Leave 'em the comments.


By Grace,

Amanda