Seriously...

He makes me smile.  His check fluff reminds me of our bun, Simon.  Check out all of Veronika's other creations on her Etsy site.  There are so many cute little guys.  The businessman cat has so much personality too.  

Kids Project for Valentine's Day

The snow is here and we've been stuck in the house for 7 days now between Ava being sick and now the weather.  I've pretty much exhausted my ideas of things to do.  I'm hoping that tomorrow we can venture out into the winter wonderland to expend some of her energy.

Today, I got together a few materials for Ava to make her own Valentine's for her friends.  Here's what you'd need to make these too...

*Some festive scrapbook paper shapes.

*A glue stick:  This was the first time that Ava has used a glue stick and now she's obsessed!  She glued these flowers for almost an hour.

*Crayons or markers if the little artist decides to add a splash of color.

*Some photos of the wee one to make them even more personal.

I let Ava do these all by herself.  She picked out everything from the supplies I gave her and she went to town creating.  It's amazing what a little glue, paper and crayons can do for a budding 2 year old artist.  

For another easy Valentine idea, check out this post from last year.  The fingerprint hearts are super easy for little ones under 2 to make their own art.

Winter Storm

elde

We're preparing for a winter storm here in St. Louis.  From the way people act, you would think we are going to be under 6 feet of snow for weeks with no power, heat or food.  What's predicted is ice followed by up to a foot of snow.  Don't get me wrong, that is significant but stores are out of bread and milk because people are so worried.  I, on the other hand, am trying to plan plenty of activities for the next couple of days to keep little Ava busy while keeping my sanity.  We're making Valentine's tomorrow and played with play dough making robots for over an hour today.  

During nap time I was doing a little Etsy browsing and discovered these little lovelies.  Don't they look so warm and snuggly?  Perfect for waiting out a winter storm while having hot tea by the fire.  

My Old Self

For a long time now (we're talking a couple months...at least), I've felt the way on the inside that poor sick Ava looks on the outside.  I've been crabby, tired, moody, lazy and outright not nice to my poor husband at times.  I was nit picking at everything and worrying about things that just don't matter.  For those who know me, I'm generally a go with the flow, low maintenance kind of gal.  It was getting to the point where I couldn't stand to be with myself.  That was my normal.  I had been in that funk for so long that I started to think that's who I was all the time.  I was so used to being crabby that I couldn't remember what the old me used to be like and maybe she was just gone.  I didn't want to think that but that's where my head was at the time...she's gone.

Luckily, the past day or so I've had more energy, played more with Ava and our sweet bun, Simon.  I've planned meals and found new recipes to try.  Thought of tons of things that I have to make/sew for Ava and the new little guy.  Gotten tons of baby gear cleaned and ready to go and it feels so good.  I'm not that moody mom I thought I was.  It's just those darn hormones and being ridiculously pregnant.  I am so happy to have a glimpse of my old self that I don't care if she's not all the way back just yet.  I know in time she'll be back to stay and for that I'm thankful.  

Printable Valentines From Etsy

$4 each from Green Apple Paperie

$3.50 from Monkey Moo Moo

$5 from Studio 30 Baby

Valentine's Day will be here before you know it.  Here are a few printables from Etsy that I came across.  Cute, cute, cute!

I've got a sick kiddo again so we are laying low and enjoying some Max and Ruby on TV while cuddling.  These slow days are kind of nice sometimes.  I'm soaking these up before I'm on mommy duty around the clock with a newborn. Stay healthy out there!

Book Club: The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

For our January meeting we read this lovely story, The Thirteenth Tale.  Margaret, who works in her father's book store, one day receives a letter from one of the days most famous writers asking her to write her life story as she's dying.  She has told her story to many other journalists before but they have all been just that....made up stories and lies.  She is now ready to tell the truth and it's Margaret she wants to tell.  This is a mystery of sorts that tells the tale of deep family secrets, a mysterious ghost, a governess that disappears, an abandoned child and oh so much more.  

I wouldn't say it was a page turner as far as mysteries go but I was definitely interested throughout the book.  There was a charm to the writing that I really enjoyed.  There were a good deal of ideas to sort out at book club too which made for some good discussion.  If you are an occasional reader then I would maybe pass on this book.  If you are a true book lover then I think you would like this one.  If you read this and enjoy it then I would also check out The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.  Another mystery dealing with books and authors.

Next month:  The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

I'm thinking this one will lead to some great discussion...we'll see!

Recipe: Blueberry Coffee Cake

Sorry about the unexpected week long break.  Sometimes time just slips away from me and the blog is the first thing to go.  To make it up to you here's a simple little recipe that I made a couple times over the holidays.  Once for a light Christmas morning breakfast and then again for our New Year's Eve shindig with friends were we served breakfast for dinner in our jammies.  I've made this recipe with blackberries and blueberries and both are yummy.  The blackberries however are heavier and sunk to the bottom so the end result was not as pretty but still very tasty.  This isn't your traditional coffee cake recipe with the crumbly brown sugar topping but definitely worth trying out.

Blueberry Coffee Cake

Serves 8

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

¾ cup granulated sugar

6 tablespoons butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg

1 large egg white

1 1/3 cups low-fat buttermilk

Cooking spray

2 cups fresh blueberries (1 pint)

turbinado sugar (optional but adds that great crunch on top that I love)

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife.  Combine flour, baking powder, soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk.

3. Place granulated sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended.  Add vanilla, egg, and egg white; beat well.  Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix after each addition.

4. Spoon half of the batter into a 9-inch round baking pan coated with cooking spray and parchment paper covering the bottom.  Sprinkle evenly with 1 cup of blueberries.  Spoon remaining batter over blueberries; sprinkle evenly with remaining 1 cup blueberries.  

5. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes then sprinkle top with some turbinado sugar.  Return to over for another 10 minutes or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean.  Cool in pan 10 minutes on wire rack; remove from pan.  Cool completely on wire rack.

Source:  Cooking Light, May 2008