Just Something I Made

Otherwise known as "Feature Me Friday." I just decided to change the name.

I have a few other projects to show you but since I just finished eating it for the second time, I am going to share a recipe for split pea soup.

We went to my Grandma and Grandpa's house for Thanksgiving this year and on Wednesday night they had split pea soup. My Grandma invited us to eat with them (we were actually staying with my sister Amanda) but I declined because I don't care for peas so I just assumed I wouldn't like the soup. Once we arrived, Adrian seemed hungry so, I gave him some soup to try. He didn't like it so I ended up finishing his bowl and boy was it good! This particular recipe had potatoes and it sort of reminded me of baked potato soup. It didn't taste at all like plain old peas.

This recipe comes from the T Family Cookbook.

Split Pea Soup with Ham (Tricia Johnson)

2 1/4 c. dried split peas, sorted and rinsed

8 c. water

1 c. onion, chopped

1 c. celery stalks, finely chopped

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 ham bone or 2 lbs shanks

1 1/2 c. carrots, cut into 1/4 in slices

Heat peas and water to boiling in 4-quart dutch oven. Boil, uncovered, for 2 minutes; remove from heat. Cover and let stand 1 hour. Stir in onion, celery, and pepper. Add ham bone. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 1 hour 30 minutes or until peas are tender. Remove ham bone; remove ham from bone. Trim excess fat and cut into 1/2-inch pieces. Stir ham and carrots into soup. Return to boil; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 30 minutes or until carrots are tender and soup is at desired consistency.

I also added cubed potatoes shortly after I added the carrots. Yum! Jeff was a little skeptical (he hadn't tried it at Grandma's) but he tried it and after a few bites I asked him what he thought. He replied rather enthusiastically, "I love it!" I'll definitely be making this again!



Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! I've always disliked that the Christmas greeting vanishes in the twinkling of an eye as soon as the day has passed. I say we keep spreading holiday cheer at least until the New Year! I hope you all had or are having a fabulous Christmastime! I know we did! There's really no such thing as a low-key holiday when we are with our families. Luckily for us, they live so close to one another (3.7 miles to be exact). That being said, it's also makes our visits more hectic. We count our blessing though, I prefer 3.7 miles over 37 miles! Like my mother-in-law said during this visit, at least we don't lose much time when we are traveling back and forth!
About half of my family made it for Christmas. With my family totaling 38 and counting (including spouses and their children) it gets more and more difficult to get everyone together at once! There were 19 of us staying at my mom and dad's house with an additional 6 coming and going at one point or another. Check the comments section later to see if I got any of those numbers right. ;)
Adrian opening coloring books on Christmas morning:

That last picture is as far as he went before he lost interest. He loved his tee pee though!

I'll show you a picture of the completed tent next week. I have it set up in his bedroom so he can play in it anytime he wants. He's been in it quite a bit!

More pictures next week! I actually took a decent amount this time so I have plenty more to share!

Feature Me Friday

Oh man, this whole keeping up with a blog thing is really getting hard this time of year! I think this will be my last post for the next week or so. We will be spending Christmas with our family. I, for one, cannot wait!



The only project I can show you right now is the garland above. I made it out of a men's t-shirt, it was super easy and fun and I want one for myself now! I gave that one as part of my gift for the ladies Christmas party on Monday. I used the tutorial here.

That's all for now! I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas surrounded by family and friends, laughter and lots and lots of food!

[she's] makin' a list...

> Grocery shopping without the little guy is super fantastic. Even if he is really good when I do take him. Thanks Kate!
> I hate making nisu, especially rolls (Finnish sweet, cardamom bread). For real. But I did because Jeff carpools with some coworkers that are nice enough to pick him up from our apartment on the days he doesn't drive so I can have a car during the day (they usually meet at someones house). I figure they could use some incentive to continue doing so.
> I have too much that I should be doing right now to actually type a real blog post.
> I made chicken pot pie for supper tonight and it took me until 4:15 to realize that I had yet to cook the chicken. A whole chicken because that's the only kind I buy. We eat at 5. Today we ate at 6:15.
> We also had bible class tonight at 7 which means that the dishes are still sitting in the sink.
> I just drank a cup of coffee and yes, it's after 10. I have sewing projects to work on so I'll probably be up for a while.
> Adrian has yet to fall asleep. I don't know what's wrong with him. If you know, please tell me. I suspect molars have something to do with it. In fact, Jeff just set him next to me. We'll see how much sewing actually gets done...

Fi-Five! (High five!)

It's been a while since did a post about Adrian, who is now 16 months by the way! Where does the time go? Each month is more and more entertaining at this age. He is very quick to figure out what makes us laugh. I wish I had pictures of all of his expression but usually the only one I get on camera is his 'cheeser' face which he does all.the.time. He just learned a new face; there is a bell hanging on our door handle that he always plays with, I walked in from doing laundry today and didn't realize he was there. He walked backwards away from me before turning around with his mouth in the shape of an "o." Jeff and I were laughing so of course, for the next few minutes he kept making the face. And of course, whenever he does something funny I purposely exaggerate my laugh (maybe that's where he gets it from) so he'll do it again.

Adrian has babbled incessantly for as long as I can remember. So often he will say the same thing over and over and you can tell he knows what he is saying. We have been slacking on the sign language lately. Mostly because I can usually figure out what he wants or anticipate his needs so there isn't such a need for signing. Besides that, he seems to have stopped at "more." No matter what it is he wants, he will sign "more," even when he says a different word aloud. I think it's confusing for him to figured out different signs when they are each done with two hands right in front of your body. He does say the words "hep" (help), "uppa" (as in, pick me up), "dent-do" (thank-you), "uh-hi" (Finnish word for hug which I don't know how to spell) and of course "buh-bye." I know there are more but I can't think of them right this moment. He also shakes his head and for the life of me I can't figure out where he got it. I think he may have learned it when we were out of town visiting because I don't think Jeff or I have ever shook our head 'no' to him. That is until now. If I tell Adrian to leave something alone he looks at me and shakes his head. Very exaggerated of course and somber as can be. How can I disagree?

He has still been doing fine with the Christmas tree. I mean, he still keeps pulling things off but it hasn't been too terribly frustrating. Maybe because it's kind of funny at the same time. He will grab an ornament with two hands, depending on how securely it's attached to the tree the hanger sometimes pops off. As soon as I move an inch toward him he takes off running in the other direction. Interesting, it's as if he knows he shouldn't be pulling things off the tree...He also pulls the garland off the bottom branches which I usually tell him to put back on the tree. If he listens I tell him "thank-you for listening to Mama," that is, if he doesn't tell himself "dent-do" first (signing the word as he says it, which actually looks more like he's blowing a kiss).

I have been trying to teach him what Santa Claus says but the best I have gotten out of him is "hm, hm" with his mouth closed. That's the same sound he makes for a dog barking, he won't open his mouth to make the noise.
I posted this on facebook already but, Adrian hasn't learned to use a spoon or fork yet. I have been giving one to him at every meal for the past 5 or 6 months. I usually guide his hand for a few bites at first and then let him be. He will calmly take the spoon out of the bowl/off the plate and set it on the table, never to be touched again. Well, unless he throws it on the floor later on. Although he hasn't mastered that skill yet, he suddenly knows how to drink from a cup. Very well, in fact. I didn't even know he could, I just decided to try it again the other day when he was already covered in chili from head to toe. To my great surprise, he drank without spilling once. The last time we tried, he tipped the cup too fast and spilled all over himself.
He still loves small spaces. (But don't all kids?) When we rearranged the living room for the tree we ended up with a little corner for his toys which was perfect. There is just enough room for him to squeeze into it and he's content to play for quite some time. Again, I can't wait to give him a teepee for Christmas!
I can't wait to see what the next month brings!

Feature Me Friday

Today's Feature me Friday is for something I made last year. I probably already showed you but I'm going to show you again! I had this brilliant idea to make ornaments for Etsy and a craft show that I never did. I basically got in over my head, each ornament took so long to make because I never did find the perfect glue that went on easily, with no mess, dried quickly, and held fast. Nevertheless, I did make a few sets and I loved each one, even if they weren't all 'me.' I never did sell them on Etsy and eventually took them off, I was so worried about shipping. I know I was overly anxious about it, people ship breakables! I just never did, and I have to say, shipping something made of fabric is a lot less stress!

I gave the above ornaments to my sisters (sorry to those who wanted a set and didn't get it!) so these pictures were shot to get a general idea of how they all looked.
The ornaments below are the only ones I held onto. They each belong to a set.

I have several sets of ornaments that have not yet been embellished. I'll be sure to show you what I do with them if I ever get around to making them! I'm thinking about paint, or feathers, or silhouettes, or fabric...

It's Beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

 (Warning, blurry photos ahead! And I'm still going to show you because I have no claims to being a photographer!)

I had wanted to put a tree up the day after Thanksgiving and we finally got one yesterday. I found a tree stand and Jeff found a tree. Then we made Lex's hot chocolate and decked it out. The tree that is, not the hot chocolate. (How many more times can I say the word tree?) We never put up a tree last year (ha, I said it again!) for whatever reason so this year I was determined to get one. (A tree.)

Now that it's up and fully decorated, or at least as much as it can be, I realize just how few ornaments I really have. I guess that's encouragement to start making all the decorations that have been swirling around in my head! I did make a few last year that were never displayed because we didn't have a tree. I absolutely love them, I just wish I had more! I was planning on decking the tree with chartreuse, teal, and turquoise only but Jeff insisted that we put some red in the mix. I'm glad he did or I wouldn't know how much I love that combination! Besides, it goes well with the garland that I made last year.

So far Adrian has been okay with the tree. Most of the ornaments are unbreakable or at least hard to break. He keeps pulling two particular ornaments off but other than that he doesn't seem too obsessed with the tree. I hope he'll get used to it and ignore it more and more each day although I'm not counting on it.

I gave Adrian some hot chocolate and he loved it! It's really thick so we used a spoon for him. He kept doing this hysterical laugh, he's becoming such a clown! This age is so fun!

Here's a video so you can actually see what I'm talking about (it's kind of dark):

Boy, that hot chocolate sounds so good right now...

I want to blog...

Really, I do! It's just that this time of year gets so busy! Like today, I ran to Goodwill to find a tree stand (I found one for $1!), and met a friend at the salon so I could watch her little guy while she was getting her hair cut (and so I could get my bangs trimmed). Then we went to the dome to walk, then I had to pick up groceries, and then I had to bring a sippie cup back to the store to see if the crack on the top was covered under the one year warranty (it wasn't). By the time I got home, it was the middle of the afternoon and I was starving. Plus, I had only done half of the running that I had planned. Of course, considering the time, I had to start making supper (a frankensteined version of broccoli cheese soup, still in the process as I type).
 I am a bit disappointed that I forgot to pick up more thread today in my hurry to get home and eat. I started sewing Adrian's teepee last night and got as far as I could before running out of thread. I am so excited to get it put together! I wasn't going to put a window on it but, now I think I will. I wouldn't want to miss Adrian's sweet little face peeking out! I plan to put a cover over the hole that will Velcro closed. I can't wait to show you the finished product!
A little update on Adrian: he is doing much better! He finally stopped throwing up, I'm still not sure what the was all about. Have you ever heard of kids throwing up when they are teething? I haven't but maybe some do? Either way, I've been giving him Camilia and it has been working great! He has at least two molars pushing their way up, poor buddy! Also, I think dairy might be the cause of his eczema. Bummer!! I noticed that the entire week he was sick, his skin was so smooth even though I hadn't put lotion or shea butter on him. Coincidentally, he hadn't had any dairy all week. Now that he's back on dairy, his skin is all scaly again. At least I know what is causing it now!

So sorry, what is this, the third post without a photo? Sadly, I have not taken a single picture this month. I will work on that!

reestablishing the flora

I'm still occupied with getting my little guy better so no Feature Me Friday today! Perhaps, tomorrow. Maybe I should change it to a Saturday feature...Or just get on the ball!
I really wish Adrian would get better already! He seems fine for parts of the day. He gets animated and talkative. Then, for other parts of the day, he's quiet and tired and snuggly. He has still been throwing up once a day for the past few days. I ran to the co-op the other day to pick up some acidophilus (per my chiropractor's recommendation). I had to ask someone for help because there were several different kinds but they all said 'keep out of reach of children.' The Health and Wellness guy told me he had something in the back for babies. I took it home, opened it, gave some to Adrian...and then, read the ingredient list. No acidophilus. Even though that's what I specifically asked for. Either way, it has plenty of probiotics and I can give it to him every day so it's good to have. Still, not what I was looking for. Then, I remembered that I had yogurt starter in the fridge. Sure enough, it has acidophilus! We'll have yogurt ready by morning, hopefully it helps my little guy! I also found some water with electrolytes at the co-op that I can give him instead of Pedialyte. No artificial colors or flavors. Woohoo! Bonus: it's cheaper than Pedialyte! Sweet!

Note: If you're wondering what the heck yogurt and acidophilus have to do with anything check out this link!

we're taking it one day at a time

These have been the events of the past few days:

Day 1: Adrian throws up breakfast...hmm, that's odd, maybe he just choked on his Cheerios and it made him throw up? (Crossing my fingers) By the time Jeff calls several hours later I report that Adrian has the flu. Jeff comes home early, also with the flu.
Day 2: The boys seem to be recovering, a little worn out from the previous days 'activities.' I'm feeling fine but have a nagging feeling that my turn is soon to come.
Day 3: I wake up feeling 'okay' but try to convince myself that if I sleep in really late the flu will pass me by. Hmph, right. It got me too. Adrian, who had been 'feeling fine' for the past 24 hours is now throwing up again. Boy am I glad it's Jeff's weekend.
Day 4: Jeff is completely better and now it's my turn to recover. Except Adrian doesn't seem to be getting better as fast as us. He hasn't thrown up all day--or had diarrhea--but he's not drinking much either. The day before he was begging for drinks and we could only give him sips and now he doesn't even want it...not good. Finally, after getting very little into his system all day, he throws up. We give in and Jeff runs out to get pedialyte and saltines.
Day 5: So far, so good. Adrian hasn't thrown up since last night and he's been getting plenty of fluids. He's more talkative and alert than yesterday. I'm still puzzled as to how he appears to have gotten the same flu twice. Let's hope he's really on the mend this time! I just hate when my baby is sick!!