inspired #7

to MAKE..

the lychee ripple @sprinkle of glitter

Lychee is one of my favorites- both the actual fruit and things flavored like it. This drink is vodka, raspberry cordial, lychee juice, and lemonade. Personally, I'd skip the pomegranate seeds and maybe add a lychee instead of a strawberry.. to make it truly lychee-y.

to MAKE..

fried pickles and spicy dill pickle mayo @a beautiful mess

I've only had fried pickles once, but they were good- even if it seemed like a few went a long way. I think it would fun to make my own, and maybe even use the kind of pickles I refer to as "cold pickles" and are usually found around the deli meat. They are the ones that have to stay refrigerated, even before you open them (because they haven't been cooked)- Claussen and Nathan's seem to be the major brands around here. The "other pickles" are the ones you find in the pickle aisle.

to MAKE..

inside-out carrot cake muffins @zoom yummy

Love carrot cake. It is definitely in my top 5 of cake favorites. Possibly because I'm a vegetarian, I don't know. And then I accidentally found this, inside-out carrot cake muffins. And now it's on my list of things to bake.

to MAKE..

diy welcome mat @i spy diy

I'm not sure what in the world I'd want mine to say, but I really this idea for a welcome mat. Tape it, apply letters, paint, and then iron it to seal the paint on. Done.

Re: nights of lost sleep #1701-1708

Basically.. my children have it out for me. I care for them and love them 24 hours a day.. I blow their noses, read them stories, make their food, buy them endless juice to drink.. and they are plotting to destroy me in their free time.

There has never been a point in their lives that either child has had a reasonable, consistent bedtime, and that's just the way it's worked out. It's not a huge deal, it's mostly my problem, and I just live through it and move on to the next thing.

However, for the last week, Noah hasn't been interested in going to sleep until 2 or 3am. (Except that one night he went to bed around 11pm- only to wake up a few hours later. And then stayed awake for another 3 hours.) When I let him sleep on the floor he stays asleep usually, but if I move him into his bed he'll wake up after he's done with his "nap." When that happens, I quickly take him into the living room, put him back on the floor, and he is immediately back in dreamland. Instantly falling back asleep and staying that way is the only good part about it- as long as he gets to spend the night there on the floor.

It feels a lot like we've reached a new level of weird.

At the same time, Lily has started waking up for the day between 5:30 and 6am. After she comes to wake me up in the living room (where I sleep on the couch next to Noah sleeping on the floor), she screams at me "wake up mommy it's morning time!" every time I fall back asleep for a few minutes. She often flings back the blinds to show me the daylight outside. I don't care what the sky looks like outside, 5:30am (after going to sleep at 3am) is most certainly not "morning time."

I'd also like to point out that it's only me she does this to.. and never her father. She never feels the need to point out the time of day to him. He must already know. In his deep.deep.sleep.

So, one day last week, when I took her to school, after only getting 2 hours of sleep, I explained to her what was happening. I inquired if she and her brother were trying to kill me. She said "heh heh. No." (That's right, she laughed!)

I don't believe her.

what we did

1. The first window garden harvest happened. Two purple beans.
2. Lily's latest masterpiece. Usually there is paint everywhere and she makes a ridiculous mess. And I spend more time setting everything up and cleaning up than she actually spends painting- but not this time. Makes me think that letting her paint more will be fine. Which is probably what she wants me to think.. and then bang!- worst mess ever. Children are super tricky. Mine are anyway.
3. The best of the horrible fireworks pictures I took. I didn't bring my DSLR and then Noah had zero interest in being held, staying still, or looking at the exploding lights in the sky. Oh well. You all know what fireworks look like right?
4. Cloud shark.
5. The second window harvest happened as well. Another two purple beans. I can practically open a farm stand.
6. My sunflower plant died out of nowhere. I don't want to talk about it.

More gardening

I have already harvested two purple beans from my garden and there are at least another 5 to 10 green beans still growing. Not the biggest harvest ever, but the biggest one for me. I love watching how fast these vegetables grow.

A few of the tomato plants are 5 or 6 inches high, but not showing any signs of fruit yet. I can only keep my fingers crossed. All the plants are strong and still standing tall on their own, even in their smallish pots.

Last year I planted a lot of sunflowers. And they all went crazy growing curved and twisted around, got to about a foot tall, and then one by one died- without ever flowering. This year, I planted about half what I did last year and three have made it to July. Two are doing okay (about 4 inches tall), but the third one..

.. is getting ready.

The cucumber plants are flowering like mad and I'm hoping that means tons of delicious home-grown cucumbers are in my future.

I also noticed for the first time today, that my poppy plants actually have a bud. It's supposed to be red, but I'd take any color.. just so glad they are still alive.

And there is my tiny, tiny strawberry plant. Don't let this picture fool you, the pot is actually less than 2 inches across. I suppose at this point, I will just try to keep it alive for the season and then look for a good place outside so next year.. strawberries. For real.

There are also several pots of other things that, hopefully, will be flowers. And I think I'm also growing clovers? You never know what kinds of bonuses you'll get with potting soil I guess.