What I Won last month...

Yes, I won a price from the “Fashionable Fabrics” which was featured on “My Bit of Earth”. I ordered some more I love fabric and an avid collector. However, I am determine during this year to add some quilts for the family and the TV room. 

I have my eyes on some really cute doll quilts that I would like to make for little Nicolette. That remind me of another project that I need to work on. I am eager to get my hand son these beautiful prints.

These precut fabric could be fin to work with. I am looking forward to work on some really cute projects. The red and white printed fabric is so cute and the big bold floral print is adorable. I cannot wait to start these projects.  

Tiny red riding hood fabric is out of this world. It is so cute. I have bought few things for myself this holiday to embark on projects with fabric. I just have to see how to balance all and keep the sanity!

Holiday Gifts and Canning...

This Holiday I embraced the good life in canning. I purchased the whole nine yards last Summer. But, I did not had much growth in our yard to can. I was not sure that I could take on canning the fruits. 

I was mesmerized by our neighbors canning abilities and continues to help her this past Summer. I was drawn towards the weck canning jars, I guess towards the beauty of the simple mason jar and the fastening mechanism. I felt like I spend a fortune for them. 

This Holiday with my buzzing schedule I decided to make a Sri Lankan pickle to share with my new staff members at school. I embraced the idea and started to make my first batch. It was a success with the help of my neighbor and with few friends. I could not can the entire batch due to liquid requirement. My pickles did not had much liquid but it was delicious. The ones which did not can was consumed entirely by the family members. 

I was able to hide a little bit for myself! I might work on this project this summer for gift giving. 

Holiday Baking...

It was a whirlwind at my house this year baking the holiday goodies. I felt so good to share the bounty with friends and neighbors. I baked a handful of variety of cookies this holiday. One of the special request was to bale oatmeal cookies with no chocolate chip cookies from my oldest. 

Little one will munch anything sweet that she can lay her hands around. However she was was a great help this year from mixing ingredients to baking little tiny cookie balls. She was happy to be around her moma and help around. She was also thrilled to offer the cookies to neighbors around the block. Little Nicolette refused to take afternoon naps during the holiday baking. 

 We made some awesome tarts including key lime, almond, and lemon. Our little plates looks very festive this holiday with all of our busy schedule. At the end it feels so good to SHARE!.

Merry Christmas...

This is really ironic, I did not grew up with christmas trees but we knew friends and families who celebrated the magical holiday. I even went to school with a nun to study about Montessori. I remember in some occasions i would go to the church and study with the nun or complete our work. I did look forward for this, because they had so much order in the church every nun had a responsibility/duty to perform. 

I enjoy having lunch and evening tea at the church because it was always so beautiful. When we move to US I learned about a bunch of holidays that I was not exposed to in Sri Lanka.

Now, I mark this magical holiday with no family ties but for the mere joy of celebrating it with my children. My son, sells the Christmas trees for his troop. We bought our tree from his troop and decided to hang decorations. Little Nicolette had her own almost pink Christmas tree and was elated with JOY! I overheard that she did not want to got to school even though no one is at home. I caught her staring at her tree in her room. I am a Buddhist but we enjoy this Holiday with joy!

We do not have a traditions set forth. This started with a small tree during my first couple of years of teaching and I decorated these two trees every year ever since, perhaps I might have skiped this tradition for couple of years due to moving and so forth. Any ideas for stocking stuffers... for a teenager. 

Enjoy!

Children's Artwork.

I love little Nicolette's creations. Whenever I am working on a craft project she is always eyeing it around. Lately she wanted to paint with me with acrylic paint. I wonder why?

I bought these tiny bird house and it was sitting around. I wanted her to work with this in Spring thinking that a little birdie will make a home. But it was the time, she really wanted to paint with me. She wanted it to be red and black reminds me the post boxes around the streets in Sri Lanka where you can drop mail.

I wanted to get a whole lot and paint them to add to our christmas tree this year. I might take on it.

Enjoy!

Painting...

I always wanted to get my hands around painting. I wanted to take some heavy duty painting classes hopefully this Summer. However, my trips to the craft store has always wanted to me to roam around the paint aisle. I know I am a person who will work with shades of colors. I have done a project with children long time ago at school with shades of colors.

The availability of canvases are mind blowing. The little frames are so beautiful and cute at the same time. I purchased these at the local craft store. This is the end product after painting. I am afraid if this is going to be a newfound love. 

I am not complaining though... I do enjoy it very much... I am working on incorporating this to a very new place.

Enjoy!

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!