Leftovers...

I am glad that the leftover turkey is entirely consumed by us. We were really creative to use what we had at home. I had many projects planned. Every little bit of time help all of us to create in someways. Having simple easy meals was a winner for all of us. 

This was an easy fix;bean rice, taco mixed turkey, lettuce, onions, chillies, and tomatoes could be just the right thing for a meal. 

What did you do with leftover turkey? 

Less time in the kitchen preparing meals means more time for family and projects. Puzzles, Painting, Sewing, Gardening, and Whatever comes in between. Holiday being just around the corner, gift giving, and visiting friends could be sometimes stressful. 

Free Time...

I love creating free time for my children. This help them to relax, unwind, organize, and to create. I have to be honest I get bored watching TV for a long time. I can do for few hours after a while it get really get under my skin.

I see this happening to my youngest, she get bored after watching TV for a while. She would go back to her room and begin to build with her block. This is sometimes really amusing what she would do with the blocks. This is a collection which was passed down to her by her brother. She loves them deeply and continue to amaze me with her creativity.

I was able to snap few creation she created using her block. Do you encourage free time to your child. What do you provide your young with to create.

Enjoy!

Planning ahead...

In order to get few things in the house I need to be organized. How I accomplish that by planning ahead as much as I can. I plan my meals on Friday night, get them prepared if possible on Friday if not on Saturday. Sometimes the cooking can take over some of my time and energy. The meal plan includes a wide variety from pizzas, pastas, curries, soups to some Asian dishes.

Lately I have been cooking Salmon as a Sri Lankan curry dish. It has been a quaint a dish in our household. Additionally, I have been cooking chicken and some other vegetables as well.

I have to admit, I love coming home to a meal after work. I usually unwind with a cup of tea or for an early dinner.

How do you plan your weeks menu... I would love to hear.

Enjoy!

Completed...

Balancing work with family life, school, and crafts needs creativity. But my hands and mind work together find few minutes work and finish projects. This is the season for fleece and there are so many projects. 

I bought the fleece from the ruminant rack last year. Its being a while and finally I made this cute little no sew blanket. Nicolette still enjoys her naps at school and a warm blanket would certainly take her to the deep slumber. She refuses to wake up but she also falls a sleep little later at school comparing to home. 

I might keep one in the car on our way home from work so she can rest for few minutes. 
This is a very time friendly blanket to make for busy moms.

Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving...

Thanksgiving is one of the few celebrations I celebrate with my family. I had joy making every single dish. Little Nicolette can understand and appreciate the true meaning of Thanksgiving. 

We finished all of our last minute shopping on believe it or not on Wednesday morning. Kids had half day at school on Wednesday. I was able to score few things I wanted for my shop as well as for home this Thanksgiving. Turkey was in on Tuesday with the rest of the Thanksgiving menu. 

Nothing fancy but my usual menu with an abundant of desserts. I made a lattice apple pie and very happy with the results. It was delicious with a little bit of ice cream and caramel sauce. Extra tart went to the neighborhood gathering after thanks giving meal. It was a fun gathering and was a huge collection of desserts.

I could not get to the green beans this year... but enjoyed the Brussels sprouts with pecans and ham. The sweet potato dish was a hit... it was sweet and crunchy with its topping. 

We shared this poem with children at school and it really touched my heart. i thought I would share with everyone. Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your loved ones. 

The year has turned its circle,
The seasons come and go.
The harvest is all gathered in
And chilly north winds blow.

Orchards have shared their treasures,
The fields, their yellow grain.
So open wide the doorway-
Thanksgiving comes again!

Enjoy!

Fleece...

It is the season for this wonderfully soft fabric. The fabric stores are loaded with this beautiful super cozy fabric. I was motivated to make cowls. However, I do not think I originated this idea. I am sure there are zillion patterns out in the web. But this is my idea and I kept few practical things in my mind. The age of the child wearing and the activity level of the child. 

This cowl originated with these principals. I wanted to have a few in my hand so little Nicolette can be cozy outside when she play in her school with style. 

I wanted it to be a little loose so she can move it around instead it been so snuggly against her skin. This fabric could get warm I was afraid she might not want to wear them at all. If she is running around she could get warm pretty quickly. 

I decided to make them a little bigger so she can manipulated her cowl when she wants to instead of she taking the whole thing off. Now it is light and airy but definitely keeps her neck and chest area warm. 

The fabric patterns can drive a person crazy. I could not decided what I want luckily the time factor was on my side so I had to narrow down my choices. I picked these for my trial lot. I am planning to make more of these. Could be very cute gift during holiday season. 

Little Nicolette was happy to model... 

My temporary cowl alternative until I get my fingers wrapped in yarn... then its another story.... 

Enjoy!

November...

The hustle of holidays is just around the corner. The neighborhood ladies are getting together for drinks I am looking forward for this event. As the hurricanes retrieves, communities are getting together to help people, and people are getting ready to start their work. 

I cannot be thankful enough for the month of November. I am thankful to have my loving family and warm house to sleep. I am thankful for drinking water. I am thankful to the roads that leads work is not flooded. I am thankful for the children who are eager to learn and discover in my classroom. 

I am thankful the for the month of November and I do not think I can squeeze all that to words to simply explain how thankful and grateful I am for this month.

Enjoy! 

Jack O Lanterns and Halloween Decor

Finally we carved a jack o lantern and it looks great. The kids are very excited and the candy can make them so giddy they easily forget their little chores. Carving the pumpkin is a new experience for little Nicolette.

We did use a template this year too lazy to be creative. I took all our old decorations to spice up the hallway. My oldest is getting dressed to eat at a certain restaurant. It has been a tradition to get dressed for Halloween in our little family. 

We will be thinking about the people around the world as we trick or treat around the block.  

Enjoy!

October...

I have not been blogging for almost a month. I am a working mom and have been running a pretty busy and tight schedule around the house during this month. October came in a FLASH with good news and some bad news we embraced both with LOVE.That is exactly what we did. 

We took a long road trip almost to the middle of the country, yes to the state of MO for a reason, and a very good reason.

We did not stop by to take pictures, I do regret it sometimes though; during this trip every minute was precious to us. We had a great time together as a family and learned sometimes it is perfectly alright to STOP and see what is around us. 

We ate so much restaurant food we almost got sick. October was definitely in a FAST track this year. This is my very first post for this month. I am glad it is over.

Quote of the day “ acknowledge the connection of all beings 

Enjoy!

Knockout Roses...

I do love my rose garden. It is in its early stage proper way to say is that the plants are still very young. I notice that my plants really took off during spring and then produce flowers and did nothing noticeably. 

I am sure they were growing new roots and working hard on sending shoots out. However, I did not notice anything significant given the weather this summer. 

After the commute I enjoy walking in my yard sometimes this could be a stress reliever depending how you admire your garden and your style. I guess I have evolved to be more naturalistic gardener. 

I notice some of my rose bushes are in the height of producing flowers all of a sudden. After the short stroll in the yard I decided to get my camera to capture the changers around the garden that I have missed. 

I do like getting back to routines and creating time to do the things I loved the most. Getting rest peeking back into my comfort zones. I would love to hear how you manage your busy schedule for things you love. At the end I am going to re schedule myself to take care of these wonderful knockout roses for the long winter. 

Quote of the day “Love your roses"

Enjoy!

I am thankful to my Garden...

Our experiment garden has provided so much to us with little sun it had. I am so thankful for what it provided us this summer. The bounty of salad leaves, green chillies, endless tomatoes I enjoy during my lunch, beets, basil and other herbs; I am truly thankful. 

I remember how excited I was with Nicolette to plant the seeds in the little pots inside and get them outside during the month of May. We followed the planting calendar from our neighbor in order to decide what is the best time to plant. 

The tomatoes are amazing and keep producing under the shady patch. I will take this to another level next year I promise. I have been cutting them and topping them off on my cottage cheese for lunch with some crack pepper super easy snack to enjoy. 

Quote of the day “ love each day equally"

Enjoy!

Morning Glories...

I have an eye for unusual stuff. I just look at them in a different way. Last spring I bought seeds for this morning glory plant from the local nursery. 

Not only me; my lovely neighbor as well and for our surprise it did not took off during the growing season. They were kind of pricy and we were disappointed as well. I decide to nurse them any ways despite the fact of poor performance. I wonder from where that instinct come from. 

Remember the climbing pole we built for the wines and thinking this will take off. However, at the end I decided to grow the beautiful clematis next to the pole. 

After the labor of love I plant them in my back yard and did not bother to do anything for the front yard morning glories. Then one day I walked outside to dump the compost bowl and I notice this and was thrilled to bring my camera to capture the moments. 

This particular morning glory has a very light color to the plant I would say a lovely lighter green. I was simply elated to discover this. I know morning glory is not a  perennial but I enjoyed this late bloomer very much.

Quote of the day “look at a problem as a test"

Enjoy!

Botany 101

I believe in teachable moments. I did not know the history about it but I now know a little about it. This was a fun evening in the yard. I harvested a cereal bowl full of grape tomatoes from our experimental garden.

While I was there I notice something. My tomato leaves are being attack by a some kind of a bug and I saw it was attached to the branch and carefully removed the bug from the tomato tree and slide it into a jelly jar. 

My son who was preoccupied with his thoughts suddenly notices the bug but he continued with is story. Then he stops and yelled “Oh! my gosh, it is a bug. I acknowledge and continued listening and suggest why don’t to take the jelly jar with the bug inside and do some research and rest was history. He was online, pulling all kinds of books from the home library, and working on finding all kinds of information to educate us. 

I have a feeling we are going with this new finding a place we have not being before but I know it is going to be FUN. 

Quote of the day “take kids on a wheelbarrow ride"

Enjoy!