Spring Colors

Spring has been a little late to Minnesota.  Last week, about the third week in April, we got snow.  Yuck.  Then we had a bunch of rainy drizzly cold days.  Needless to say I am ready for warmer sunnier weather.  I caught part of The Nate Berkus Show yesterday while I was nursing Colby-and for the most part the show I find is very trivial with average designer tips-but yesterday I was inspired by a segment about using bright, bold paint colors.  Here's some colors I would love to incorporate-including pink-which is strange because I generally dislike the color but maybe it's a mom thing. Enjoy.

Homemade Baby Hat

Just a fun little project for an ever growing baby head.  Colby's head has grown so much that his hands barely can reach the top of it.  I can only imagine how silly we'd look and how big our heads would be if they were in the same proportion.  I made this hat real quick out of an old t-shirt sleeve.  I basically just put it on him until if fit just right.  Once I get some cooler knit fabrics I'll give the hats another whirl. 

(I personally think he looks like a little thug jailbird, hopefully this won't influence his career choices)

How To Grow A Pineapple-Or Try To

I am full of thrifty-ness and I feel a ping of guilt every time I throw something away that I know I could use down the road at some point.  Even worse than being thrifty is my strange feeling that plants deserve to live just like people and I feel like a murderer when I don't try to save a plant from winter or another calamity.  Due to this my house is filled with annuals that I couldn't leave outside to let die.  My cats also sometimes attack my Christmas Cactus plant and break off "branches" and these branches will sprout roots and grow if you soak them in water-therefore I have about three different pots of Christmas Cactus and the number is way down because I pawned a few off as house warming presents.  I discovered my feelings about plants were different from everyone else when I worked at a home with kids with psychiatric disorders.  This one kid was a hoarder and he took the trash out one day and returned from the bin with a little spider plant in a paper cup.  He had pulled it out of the trash with the explanation that it was going to die-the other staff were upset with him for taking things out of the trash, but I completely understood his drive to keep the plant and I let him keep it so it would grow and thrive.  Now onto the point of the post, my mom also has a green thumb and showed me one time how to grow a pineapple from the top of the fruit, and ever since then I feel guilty when I throw the gorgeous green top in the trash.

1.  Buy a whole pineapple from the store, cut off top.
2.  Peel the bottom layers of leaves off until you have a "bulb" about one inch long. (See Pic)
3.  Set somewhere dry like the top of fridge and let air out for a few weeks.
4.  Put bulb in water-like in a jar or cup and wait.
5.  In  a few weeks roots will start to appear and let these grow until they are at least an inch long.  Sometimes the bulb will rot off and usually if you can just pull off the rotten part and you will see the roots.
6.  Plant your new plant in a pot with well drained soil.  Don't over water or it will rot. In a few years you should be able to enjoy fruit although I have at least a three year old plant that has yet to produce, but it makes a good conversation piece.

Happy Easter

My husband and I for quite some time have been saying we should go to church.  Pretty much since we moved in together five years ago every Sunday we have felt guilt about not getting up and going to church. Now that I'm a mom, I realize that church is great and so is God (or the idea of him/her) but the most important thing about church is community.  It is a place where you feel welcome every Sunday and share experiences.  Also, one of my priorities right now is to raise a well rounded child that has plenty of socialization, so self centered as it may be, I'm going to church for him. An added bonus is when, unfortunately one of our pets die, there will be the consolation that the cat or dog has gone up to heaven. 

Easter Sunday brought us to a little church in a little town fifteen minutes away.  The church was built in the 1850's and it had magnificent wood work and stained glass to admire during the prayers and sermon.  The pews were half empty which was rather disconcerting considering it was a major Christian holiday-part of the reason I wanted to go on Easter was that the church would be packed and we could slip in and out unnoticed, so wrong I was.

We were greeted by some strange ladies.  One gal was sitting at a table before church during their little brunch time-and the first thing she says to us is "did you hear about the new pastor."  Now, I should have left it at that, but being curious I had to ask what happened to the old one-he quit five weeks ago.  Perhaps she was a novelist and could see my intrigue, knowing there was a mystery to solve she knew I would return to get the scoop of what the congregation did to make this pastor quit.  Hopefully in a few weeks I'll have the answer.

Another old lady hobbled over to us with a few missing teeth and admired Colby.  Then she continued to share that she adopted one child, had one child and lost five children, but after that she fostered over two hundred children.  I gave her a small applause and a bouquet of flowers for her good deeds. 

Next week plan on venturing to the big city church...Hallelujah! (such a strange word)

After Another Hiatus...

After a long pause...we are finally returning.  Lately I've been preoccupied with trying to get Colby to napping and entertaining the excited grandparents.  As always Spring brings lots of busy weekends full of family gatherings for birthdays, Mother's Day, baptisms, and friends visiting.  This Spring I'm hoping to take Colby out exploring the great parks and lakes of Minnesota.  My husband and I have also been attempting to complete the P90X workouts.  We've made it through the first 90 days and the hour to hour and a half workouts are starting to take their toll-leaving little time in the evenings for anything.  The work outs seem to be working and I can definitely see more muscle and definition than before.  I haven't lost any weight but I don't think I can truly expect to lose any eating cookies, chocolate, and carb rich food all day.  I'll leave you with a quick picture of my almost 3 month old son Colby.  Enjoy.