Ladybug Daydreams

Author: Wendy

The Only Purse I Don’t Hate

Posted by Wendy on June 20, 2013 3 Comments

I haven’t bought a purse in years. Whenever I feel like I want a new one, I just make one. I’ve tried several patterns over the years, but always come back to the Lindie bag. It was the first one I ever made, and to this day is the one best suited for me.

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It’s small enough that my family doesn’t feel the need to put all of their stuff in it but big enough to hold my stuff along with a single diaper for short trips out when I don’t need the full-on diaper bag I made.

So if you have even a little sewing experience (the tutorial is very well-photographed and clearly explained) and need a new purse, I highly recommend the Lindie!

–Wendy

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Posted in: quilting/sewing | Tagged: craft apple, diy, handbag, Lindie bag, purse, tutorial

Quilts for Kids

Posted by Wendy on June 19, 2013 2 Comments

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I’ve never blogged about Munchkin’s heavy medical issues from when he was younger – they all took place long before I started this venture – so with what I have to share today, the timing is right now.

About two weeks before he turned 3, he and Seahawk (who was 5 at the time) were playing; I was in the other room sewing. I suddenly heard a thump, followed by screaming. Seahawk came rushing into my room telling me that Munchkin had fallen off the top bunk (we’ve since gotten rid of the bunk beds – even now that they’re older, I don’t trust the safety of stacked beds). As I was hurrying down the hall to the kids’ room, I asked Seahawk if Munchkin was bleeding. He replied, “I don’t think so.” To this day I don’t know if he was lying to avoid punishment (it came out later that he was at fault in the fall – they were playing pirates, Munchkin was at the top of the ladder, Seahawk said “reach for the sky!”, and Munchkin did) or if he’d come to get me before the bleeding started. in any event, by the time I got there ten seconds later, his nose was hugely swollen and his face very bloody. Without further hesitation, I loaded the kids into the car and drove to the ER. Hubs was at a book signing that day; thankfully I’d driven him, so I had the car.

At the hospital, they decided to do a CT scan to make sure he hadn’t done any brain damage in the fall. The scan was inconclusive. There was a shadow there that they couldn’t identify. No one was sure whether it was bleeding on the brain or something less sinister. To be safe, they took us by ambulance to Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland for an MRI. I called my mom to come get Seahawk so I could focus on Munchkin. I also put in a call to my in-laws so they could pick hubby up and bring him to the hospital. As we were loading into the ambulance, the local hospital gifted Munchkin with a quilt.

Two MRIs, an angiogram, and four days later, Munchkin was diagnosed with an arteriovenous malformation, or AVM. basically, he had a clump of “extra” blood vessels in his brain. Eventually, they would have caused him to stroke.

There was a question with the insurance we had to resolve before we could schedule the corrective surgery. The only doctor in the state who was qualified to perform the surgery (he actually invented the procedure!) wasn’t covered under our plan. Dr. Barnwell and his staff took care of talking to the insurance company for us to explain the severity of the situation. The surgery, with the right doctor, was approved. The initial fall had taken place September 5, 2009. His surgery was October 21, 2009.

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This is his “after” MRI. I wish I could’ve found the “before” one at the time of this post; the difference is astounding. In the before shot, those white coils on the left side of the image (which is actually the right side of his brain) were a black muddle of misdirected blood.

So…

How does this relate to “quilts for kids”? That quilt we received as we were getting in the ambulance really stuck me, even though it hasn’t really stuck with Munchkin. Because of someone’s generosity, he received a lovely gift. I want to pay it forward, so to speak. I was given a bunch of quilting materials by a friend of my mom’s a few weeks ago, so I’ve used them to put together these 5 quilts. There’s enough for one or two more. When I get them all done, I’ll take them to the hospital for them to pass out as they deem necessary.

I won’t ever see the kids who receive them, and I’m okay with that. I just want the quilts to be a blessing for them as the one we got was for Munchkin.

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Posted in: Other, parenting, quilting/sewing | Tagged: charity, hospital, kids, quilts

12 for 12

Posted by Wendy on June 18, 2013 3 Comments

So, I finished the last four “Sunbonnet Sue” blocks…

You can see the first eight here and here.

March:

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June:

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This isn’t the June one from the book; I didn’t really like theirs, so I made up my own, which I really like :).

August:

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December:

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Now I have the daunting task of making sure they’re all exactly the same size (which they’re not right now…) so that when I put them all together with lattice between, it looks right. I’ll keep you posted on that step when it’s done.

–Wendy

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Posted in: quilting/sewing | Tagged: quilting, sewing, sunbonnet sue

A Bouquet for Dad

Posted by Wendy on June 17, 2013 6 Comments

First of all, happy Father’s Day to all the amazing dads out there. I was blessed with two (my real dad and my stepdad, who I lived with full time as he was married to my mom). My children are equally blessed with their dad; I couldn’t ask for a better father for them.

I saw this idea on Friday and knew it was perfect for the hubs this year.

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He needed new socks, and since socks aren’t a very “fun” gift, I decided we should at least present them in a creative way. Before we went shopping, I showed Seahawk and Munchkin the picture of the bouquet so they wouldn’t be “bummed” about offering a practical gift. My plan worked; they were super jazzed to help pick out the socks and then to roll them into roses and arrange them into a vase (well, mason jar) when we got home.

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We used a paper grocery bag to cover the gift since it wasn’t really something that lended itself to wrapping very easily. When hubs revealed his gift yesterday morning, his reaction was priceless. He’d never received socks in such a creative way before. He’s even decided to leave them wrapped up as roses except as needed, so we’ll have the “beautiful flowers” around for at least 10 days (I found a great deal on a 10-pack of men’s socks).

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I hope your fathers and children’s fathers had a blessed day as well.

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–Wendy

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Posted in: Other | Tagged: creative gifts, father's day, socks

Picture of the Week: Baby Firefighter

Posted by Wendy on June 14, 2013 2 Comments

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This fun riding toy is at our church. We spend a lot of time there, and on this day, Seahawk was pushing Small Fry around the hallways (we were the only ones there – hubby has his office at the church while we’re painting his home office). Small Fry was having so much fun!

As for not having any posts this week, I just couldn’t think of anything, and it didn’t seem worth it to try to come up something mediocre instead of waiting for something good to write about.

Happy weekend!

–Wendy

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Posted in: picture of the week | Tagged: church, picture of the week

Picture of the Week: The Lion Kids

Posted by Wendy on June 7, 2013 4 Comments

I walk to the store with the kids nearly every day. It’s not the most efficient use of time (or money) as opposed to buying big and freezing, but I don’t like not leaving the house at all on a day, especially as the weather gets nicer. I also don’t like walking without a destination in mind, so this is the system that works for us.

On the edge of the store property, there are two rocks that look just like those in The Lion King, and every time we walk by, the boys ask if they can climb on them. About every third time, I let them. Last night was one such time.

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I hope your weekend is full of God’s wonder.

–Wendy

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Posted in: picture of the week | Tagged: family, kids, playing, walking

Ups and Downs

Posted by Wendy on June 6, 2013 4 Comments

Nursing Small Fry hasn’t been as easy as it was with his brothers. I didn’t gain any weight when I was pregnant (none!), and my doctor said that when women don’t gain, it can take longer for their milk to come in. That was the case for me. We had to supplement with formula for the first two months, which was hard for me. I felt like I wasn’t providing properly for him. I know that’s ridiculous because formula is a perfectly acceptable form of infant nutrition. But it wasn’t acceptable to me. Feeding him formula felt like giving up on some level.

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I write about that today because he and I experienced something similar yesterday. He was sick.

But not really.

He’s 10 1/2 months now, and still nursing several times a day. I love spending that time with him, especially at naptime or at the end of the day when his eyes are droopy and he’s still. Yesterday, he would throw up violently every time he nursed. He was able to keep solids down and was happy as a clam all day. But there was that pesky vomiting that lasted about 20 hours.

I know in my head that it wasn’t my fault; he probably just had a tummy bug. But having him be unable to stomach the milk felt like a throwback to his early weeks when “I couldn’t provide fully” for him.

Fortunately, he was fine this morning and didn’t lose his morning “meal.” Mama feels better that way too.

–Wendy

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Posted in: parenting | Tagged: breastfeeding, breastfeeding complications, nursing

Homemade Ketchup

Posted by Wendy on June 3, 2013 2 Comments

We ran out of ketchup last week, and as I was writing the word on my grocery list, I thought, “I bet I could make that.” So I looked online and found a recipe that took two hours instead of two days and bought the ingredients instead of a bottle of premade. It was a bit more expensive this time because I only had about half the necessary spices, but next time it will be super cheap :).

So here we go. Recipe courtesy of JS Online.

Ingredients:
2 cans (28 oz each) whole tomatoes OR 3 pounds roma tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1/2 yellow onion, cut into chunks
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup sugar (more or less to taste)
1 stick cinnamon
2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp whole cloves
1/2 tsp celery seeds
6 black peppercorns
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp cayenne (more or less to taste)
1/2 tsp salt

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Blend the tomatoes, with their juices, along with the onion and garlic (half at a time so as not to overload your blender) until smooth. Pass the liquid through a mesh strainer, pressing with the back of a spoon as necessary. Discard solids.

*I don’t have a mesh strainer, so I skipped this step, and my ketchup is still delicious. It’s just not as smooth as factory ketchup. So know that if you opt out of this step, your ketchup won’t be ruined.

Pour tomato mixture into a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat.

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Continue simmering until it’s reduced by half. This will take 1-2 hours.

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Meanwhile, combine all other ingredients in a second saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve the sugar and turn off the heat. Let it sit while the tomatoes continue to reduce.

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When the tomatoes have reduced by half, strain the spices out of the the vinegar; discard the whole spices. Stir the vinegar into the tomatoes.

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See that black line in the middle? That’s my vinegar mixture :).

Continue to simmer the ketchup, stirring occasionally (but be careful not to let it burn!), until it is thick. This will take about 20-40 more minutes.

Taste for salt and spice, adjusting to your liking.

Let cool, then transfer to jars. The ketchup will keep in the fridge for 2-3 months.

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I got 2-16 oz jars (a repurposed Alfredo sauce jar and a new jar). And let me tell you, this stuff is delicious! And the best part is that you can adjust it to your family’s liking. For example, I left the cayenne out altogether, but if you like spice, you can totally use more. It’s a wonderful recipe. It does take some time, but it’s not all hands-on time. Pay enough attention to keep it from burning, but other than that, it practically cooks itself.

I hope you “take the plunge” and try your hand at homemade ketchup once you run out of the commercial stuff :).

–Wendy

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Posted in: cooking | Tagged: bbq, diy, ketchup, recipe, summer

This Moment: Walking

Posted by Wendy on May 31, 2013 Leave a Comment

Inspired by Soule Mama

A Friday ritual. A single photograph – no words – that a capture a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, remember, savor.

“If we take care of the moments, the years will take care of themselves.” ~Maria Edgeworth

If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a comment with the link for all to find.

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Wishing you blessings this weekend.

–Wendy

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Posted in: picture of the week | Tagged: picture of the week, siblings

Sourdough Bread

Posted by Wendy on May 30, 2013 2 Comments

I bet you thought I was gonna forget, huh? Lol. Since I make all posts from my phone, I don’t have them saved & scheduled; that’s why they’re not at the same time every day (in case you ever wondered).

Anyway, so sourdough bread… I love the stuff and have tried many times to make it at home, never with very good results. It’s always edible just never sour, no matter how long I leave my homemade starter out to ferment. I was reading a blog a couple months ago (I don’t remember which one unfortunately) and someone commented about Oregon Trail Sourdough. They have sourdough starter that they give (yes, GIVE) you for just the cost of a self-addressed, stamped envelope. So I sent off for a starter. I activated it as soon as I got it, and then just let it sit for a good long time. The trick with sourdough is that it takes way more planning than regular bread. Regular bread goes from raw ingredients to completely done in less than 4 hours; sourdough requires prepping the night before – sometimes 2 nights depending on whether you’ve had your starter in the fridge. Because of that, it took me probably a month between getting the starter and getting around to using it.

Here’s what my first step looked like. This is the starter, some flour, and water, which had to sit overnight before continuing to finish the dough:

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The other thing about sourdough is that you have to use glass or plastic, no metal. Well, I only have stainless steel mixing bowls, so it took me a while to figure out how I was going to make bread without buying a special bowl for the task. Then it dawned on me: the ceramic insert for my crock pot!

When you get to the dough stage, it looks just like any other white bread dough, so I don’t have a picture of that.

We’ve been dealing with plumbing issues in the kitchen (I haven’t had a sink since Tuesday…), and one of my loaf pans didn’t get washed before the sink fiasco, so I had to make half my dough into a loaf and the other half into rolls. Here’s the dough:

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And the finished product:

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The verdict? It’s a little bit more sour than regular homemade bread, but far less so than what’s at the store. I think I’ll leave my starter (it continues to grow, so unless I choose to get rid of it, I’ll never need another one) out of the fridge for a good week before I bake next time to see if I can a better flavor.

–Wendy

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Posted in: cooking/baking | Tagged: baking, diy, sourdough bread
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Welcome!

Welcome to Ladybug Daydreams! My name is Wendy, and I’m glad you’re here. I am a homeschooling mom to 5 boys. I write about homeschooling, homeschool curriculum, yarn (both knitting and crochet), and more! I hope you enjoy what you read.

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