This month’s theme is The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Last week we played a sorting game I made with my new lamniator

Our craft last week was Plant pals. Of course I was lame and forgot to take pictures (I think)

This week we read the book again and then we made thumb print caterpillars and hand print butterflies. Thanks to my friend Helenanne’s tip clean up was a breeze! Oh you want to know the super awesome paint clean up trick? Dishsoap, yep, just mix a little in with the paint (won’t affect it a bit) and BAM…Mess Be Gone.

Here are too many pics just so you can see our fun!

Someone is very excited that her friends are coming over.

Trying to look innocent.

Sitting on our friend Jaydon

Let the fun begin!

Reagan waiting for me to finish picture taking so we can get messy!

Look what we made!

The Time Out step got a little busy at one point with a double occupation by wowsers, look at that brilliant mess!

This is a fun corduroy that has been curing in my stash for years.

First we made salt dough (aka Homemade playdoh) which is super easy and extra messy!

Excuse my messy microwave. Clearly I need to make banana bread.

Then we made handprint keepsakes which I baked to harden. Do you know how hard it is to get a good handprint from a toddler? This is 3 decent out of 50 attempts…each. We will paint their name and date and give them to family members.

Up next is out painting project. This was fun…and a complete mess!

Exploring the table I set up. Oh, what’s this? Reagan had already pitched her egg carton on the floor.

The mess started developing rather quickly once we got started.

This is the completed activity. I must confess I was very surprised how focused and engaged in the project they were. We must have painted nearly an hour. Afterwards a bath was very much in order. I forgot to get a picture of Jaydon’s caterpillar finished but basically it was John Deere green and yellow which is fitting for a tractor loving 2 year old!

We finished with a bit of finger painting before our bath and snack.

My goodness, I love being the mama to a toddler!

I got this idea over at Pinterest. Are you addicted yet? I am.

As I sit back and reflect on the year that just passed and make plans for the new year ahead I find myself praising God for His mercy and grace. I am blessed beyond what my human head can comprehend.

My goals for this coming year are rather simple. I wish to put God first. First in my thoughts, actions and intentions. I want to be open to Him so He can use me as a vessel to shine His light in this dark world and do His will.

I want to live and parent intentionally. What I mean is I don’t want to let life pass me by, or let life ‘happen to me’. I want to plan and act with purpose. I want to be an active planner and participator in my own life. I have several things on the agenda to make sure I live in this moment, here and now.

I want the rhythm of my home to be simple and creative. I will rejoice in the frugal, I will create with reckless abandon.

I will find light in the darkness and I will radiate happiness. I will let He who created all shine through me.

And I will blog more….

Also the laundry is wayyyyy backed up so I needed something in bulk!

This is so easy to make I am shocked more people don’t do it. Especially considering the price and ingredients in commercial detergents.

Here’s what you need

A box grater

A pot

A stirring spoon. Please note if you are using plastic which is porous you shouldn’t use it for cooking. I got this out of my fabric dying stuff. Any cheapy stirring thingy will work so take a trip to the dollar store or find a nice stick in your yard.

A five gallon bucket with lid. I got mine at the bakery department at our grocery store. It is the bucket the icing comes in (ick, so glad I make mine from scratch). They charged me $1. But if your bakery won’t part with their lard icing buckets than any hardware store would have one pretty cheap.

Fels Naphta, washing powder and Borax. All three can be found in the laundry soap aisle and are super cheap. Double bonus…you can use the borax and washing powder to make homemade dishwasher detergent! Seriously, the Fels naptha is like 97 cents and the other 2 boxes are less than $3 bucks each and you only need a little so it will last you a crazy long time.

Directions: I did not invent this, this recipe is ALL over the internet. I’m just sharing with you so you don’t have to hunt it down. You’re wlecome

Grate the fels naphta with the box grater into the pot. It smells yummy (don’t eat it, unless you have a cussing problem. It’s soap) Add 4 cups hot water and stir over medium heat until it is all melted. Pour the melted soap into your 5 gallon bucket (which I have sitting in the bathtub) and fill half way with hot water. Stir. Add 1 cup washing powder and 1/2 borax. Stir to disolve. You could also add any essential oils if you wanted to scent it. Fill the bucket the rest of the way with hot water, cover with a lid and let sit over night. It will turn ino a gel which on occasion may need a stir. 1/4 cup per load for a regualar top loader washing machine. 1/8 cup for a fancy HE front loader.

Enjoy, Please leave a comment and let me know if you tried it!

In keeping with the simple, meaningful family rhythm we are trying to have in our home we decided to keep the focus of Christmas on little family traditions, doing nice things for others, special foods and most importantly the birth of Christ. We wanted the gift giving to be small and not extravagant. That is actually hard to do, especially with a first child. It would have been so easy to go over board as I kept seeing so many neat things she would have loved. In the end I edited it down to 3 gifts (like the Wise men brought) and a few simple stocking stuffers. I also did this for Michael.

I dyed lots of playsilks in rainbow colors. Playsilks are great for imaginative play. They can be anything the child dreams up! A super hero cape, a blanket, a tent, a doll sling, a table cloth or a million other things. I dyed some 11×11 hankie size to put in this wooden tissue holder I decorated. Reggie loves emptying the kleenex or wipes box so this was a big hit.

I found this little wooden sorting game on Etsy. It also has a scoop to practice those fine motor skills. This is also a nice addition to our play kitchen. Acorn soup anyone?

Michael loves the wooden bus and the peg people. Reagan and him played for a good long time. We may need to work on not throwing these little guys all the time. Kind of hurts when you get pegged with one.

Here first reaction…at first I thought she was excited but then realized she was irritated at something..

It seems her new gifts where getting in the was of her morning piano playing! She bangs on the piano first thing every morning. It’s the best way to wake up!

She loved her new doll cradle! It has been a huge hit! Margaret knit her dress. Isn’t it gorgeous!

It came with the cheapest bedding so I had to make it a cute replacement.

This was just a plain wooden tissue box holder I scored at Hobby Lobby for like $2. A quick paint job and piece of scrap paper and doodads and it is a cute container for all the playsilks. Not too shabby for under $4.

All in all it was a top notch day. I hope you had a beautiful holiday with the ones you love.

Christmas is in 3.5 days and I have the following things on my to do list. Christmas dress and dress coat for the wee one. Matching Pajamas for the Merry McKissick clan (ok, the three of us) Write out Christmas cards (procrastinate much?) Decorate wooden tissue box to hold playsilks.

MMMMMM, so what did I do today?

Let’s see, I reorganized my kitchen. ReFeathered my diningroom. Hauled in and unpacked 5 boxes from my garage. Cleaned the wee one’s room. Had 5 different visitors drop by at 3 separate times. Read the book ‘No, No Noah” 8x and made fudge.

I also invited 9 people to my house for a Christmas day feast.

Waiting to do my sewing until Friday night will make it more fun right? Who doesn’t love a challenge?

2. As a result of number 1 I had to postpone a much-needed trip up to WI for a marathon sewing day with my BFF Margaret.  As a result of number 1 and number 2 I am currently in a FOUL mood. It is snark city over here. I had to remind myself to be silent if I ain’t gonna say anything nice. I also had to stay off Face Book since I tend to type snarky also….(We actually have an offical reason to be making a quick trip but that falls under “Pastorial Duties” which is a title I do not wear while in a 50 mile radius of my BFF. So Michael has an official duty, I was just tagging along)

3. My table is laden with delectable and yummy baked goods I was preparing for our little trip. You would be tempted to over indulge. Why would you want to avoid them you ask? Please see number 1.

My baking is good but not worth getting the stomach flu over.

Moving on. I have been sewing. Lots actually. Here is a recap from the last month or so.

I actually made two of these. One for Reagan and one for Naomi (my BFF’s daughter)

Also made two of these but I have to stop doing that since Reagan gets all of Naomi’s hand me downs. It’s going to start looking like the poor girl never gets any new clothes.

This is a bad picture of a very adorable set of clothing. It is all mix and match. There are 2 long sleeve knit tops, a sleeveless ruffle top, brown corduroy pants, brown leggings and a patchy skirt. This was for Naomi’s brown month at preschool. I actually made 3 of the ruffle tops and 3 of the skirts for Reagan and another friend’s daughter. This is my favorite fabric collection and I used nearly every scrap.

Just a few of the wardrobe combos

I can’t remember if I showed you Reggie’s fall coat or not. I made 2 of these also.

I love the lining fabric (obviously…its a different colorway of the same fabric as the brown outfits)

The other one I made is cupcake inspired.

Thanks for looking and hopefully I will have some Christmas sewing to share soon.

I will leave you with a pic of the cutie. She is growing so fast.

Excuse her dirty, I just finished lunch face and her creepy baby. She loves that thing (does she look familiar Emily?)

In honor of the Lentil recipe I posted previously (have you tried it yet?) I have a french onion soup mix recipe.

3/4 cups instant minced onion

1/3 cup beef bullion powder

4 teaspoons onion powder

1/4 teaspoon crushed celery seed

1/4 teaspoon sugar.

Mix it all up together and store in an airtight container. I use a mason jar. 5 tablespoons equal on of the packets.

I am super thrilled to be making my own dishwasher detergent. The ingredients are very cheap so it saves me a ton over buying commercial. Also it is much more earth friendly.

-1 cup washing soda
-1 cup borax
-1/2 cup citric acid

-1/2 cup kosher salt

Mix it all together.

Add vinegar to the rinse aide compartment and a couple of tablespoons powder to the detergent cup. Viola

We have been on a hot cocoa kick in the evenings. Michael claims it is relaxing but I know he just likes to eat the marshmallows.

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1 cup powdered french vanilla non-dairy creamer

1 cup dry milk powder

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Mix together and store in an air tight container. 3 heaping spoons full in a mug and you are good to go. I have seen a couple of recipes that call for a package of instant chocolate pudding but I didn’t have any on hand. I will try that next time.

I find all my spices and ingredients at the Amish bulk food store which is kind of out in the country but the prices and selection is amazing so it is worth the trip. If you haven’t located the bulk food store or an amish market you should certainly do that.