The Farm Store

I know I've mentioned the farm store several times on my blog, so I thought I would share some pictures with you. I love going there, and so do the girls. They like to visit the cows and the chickens. I'm sorry I didn't get better pics of the chickens. They really are so beautiful--I love the light brown ones and the black and white striped ones. When we leave, Robin always says, "want chickens back, mom, want cows back." Ellie loves all the cats that run around the farm, too. The best thing about the farm store is it makes me want to cook.

Also thought I'd share this photo with you. Ellie and I have been making birdhouses out of Legos lately. Ellie likes to make them for our little owl fingerpuppet, which was a gift to Robin from our dear friend Schools. Hooty is his name.

Bunnies

So I got Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Crafts out of the library. There are lots of pretty projects in this book, but most of them are too fussy for me. I prefer simple stuff. I like the fabric guide in the beginning of the book, and the CD of patterns that comes with the book is really great.

I made these patchwork bunnies for the girls. The bunnies are based on the menswear bunnies in Martha's book. I made them from fabric scraps that Ellie picked out. They look kind of rough in places, but I guess that's what homemade stuff is all about. I always thought I was so bad at sewing because nothing I made ever came out perfect. I still kind of feel that way, so I have to keep telling myself it's okay. The beauty of it is that it's made by hand.

And now for something completely different. I am getting my new car on Wednesday. It's an '03 Honda Civic LX sedan. Very cute. Can't really go wrong with a Honda. Looking forward to turning in my rental--a bulky Dodge Avenger-police car-type-of-car. Won't miss it at all.

Robin's Birthday Party

Just a quick note before I feature Robin's birthday party--my car was totaled. So...we'll be car shopping this week.

Robin's party was a bit early this year because I wanted to have it before my sister has her baby next week. I tried to do a Maisy theme. I can't bear to go out and buy any party stuff--I feel like it's so wasteful--so I just made a few things. I made this birthday banner when Ellie turned one, and we've used it for every kid birthday party ever since--just change the name each time. I cut out the letters from Origami paper.

A few Maisy coloring pages...(guilty pleasure, I still love to color)

Maisy goodie bags...filled with granola bars, cereal bars, fruit leather, and organic lollipops from Traders Joe's. I love consumable party favors.



Vegan vanilla cupcakes (My Favorite Cupcakes from Alicia Silverstone's The Kind Diet cookbook) with Maisy cupcake flags.



Lemon thyme zucchini flatbread--a Weight Watchers recipe--with zucchini from the farm store.



Tomato, basil, mozzarella salad with tomatoes and basil from the farm store. I wanted to get the mozzarella from the farm store, too, but the cheese lady was late that day and there was no cheese to be had.

I made Maisy invitations, too, but I don't have a photo for you. And...we got a new camera today! Hooray! It's a Nikon Coolpix. I hope I'll have better photos in my future posts. Ellie dropped our Canon Powershot on the floor a while back, and it no longer worked after that. I've been using an old camera ever since.