The Boots....At Last!

I set out to start crocheting about a month ago.  In a short period of time, it took over my thoughts and free time.  Actually, it took over a lot of my not-so-free-time too.  The dishes, the laundry, the grocery shopping, and even the children, were at times ignored so that I could pursue the craft.  The past week and a half in particular was overrun with crocheting.  Working that needle in and out, and in and out, only to undo hours of work because I hadn't done things just right.  I wouldn't necessarily recommend doing a somewhat tricky project with no instructions after only learning the art recently, but this is a case of do-what-I-say-not-what-I-do.

I am happy to report that my crocheted boots are [mostly] finished.... at last!  I say mostly because it is my utmost desire to put a rubber sole on these so that I can wear them outside "around town."  Of course, the secrets of soling shoes seem to be well-guarded and thus I have had an extremely difficult time trying to figure out how to do such a thing, and in particular, where to procure the products.  But, as of about an hour ago, I think I have some promising leads in that area.  I hope they will be soled within the week.  In the meantime, I guess I will just have to sit and pine over my awesome boots.  I don't want to wear them, since I'd like to keep the crocheted soles as dirt-free as possible to prepare them for rubber soling.  Yet, after about 30 hours (!!!!) of work, I long to enjoy the fruits of my labor....

So, here are some glimpses of my effort.  And for those of you who don't do any needle crafts, please, please, don't think I have done anything amazing here.  If you want amazing, look here: http://osbornfiber.com/.  Now that is amazing work.  What I have done here is clumsily crochet my way through something that for experts, would probably have taken less than a day to complete.   I like to think that once I'm more proficient, it will take me 1/3 of the time.  We'll see.

Today I'll be spraying the boots with a couple coats of water repellent made especially for fabric, again, so that they will be fit for outdoor use.  Let's hope all goes well.  And after that, it will just be waiting until I can get my longed-for rubber soling sheets..... oh the anticipation is killing me!

Chocolate Andes Mint Mousse

At last!  Another blog post!  I sure have missed posting over the past months.  Life got crazy there for a while, but hopefully some calm has come.

It's a good sign that at least some calm has returned that I have been back in the kitchen daily cooking up delicious dinners and desserts. The desserts, in particular, have been on the rise lately--and my taste buds have definitely been loving it.

Here's a new one that I came up with that is light, yet tasteful and superb.  (And when I say "light" here, I'm talking about texture, not calories.... though, I suppose you could do some substituting to get it down to a more low-calorie delight.)

Chocolate Andes Mint Mousse

*This mousse would work wonderfully as a layer to a trifle or as a filling to a pie*


1 cup Andes mints candies, chopped + more to garnish
6 eggs, separated
1 1/2 cup heavy cream
2 TBS sugar
1 tsp. peppermint extract




1) Using a double boiler on the stove, melt the Andes mints and 6 egg yolks.  (Make sure the yolks get frothy to be considered "cooked".)  When finished, place bowl in cold water to cool while you prepare other ingredients.


2) Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites until stiff peaks have formed.  Put into another bowl.


3) Using electric mixer, beat heavy cream, sugar and peppermint extract until thick.


4) Fold the egg whites and then heavy cream into the chocolate mixture in small batches, working carefully.


5) Once mixed, pour the batter into desired dish.  If you are making a pie, pour 3/4 of the batter into the pie (tastes especially delicious on a chocolate cookie crust) and freeze for at least 2 hours--use left over batter to decorate the pie.  If you are making a trifle, simple place batter in fridge and use when needed in your trifle layers.  Garnish with more chopped Andes mints.



When I made this mousse, I put it in a pie crust but only put it in the fridge.  It did not hold its shape well, so decorating it was something of a disaster.  I think the freezer method should (should!) work out a whole lot better.  That being said, it was amazingly DELICIOUS and so I had to pass it on for all of you to try. :)  Happy eating!

Heat is Work and Work is Heat

Oh, my son.... he's four years old now and loves to talk in jibberish just for the fun of it.  Of course, it's always pieces of truth that he's heard elsewhere that he strings together to make nonsense.

Tonight, at the dinner table, to the end of a string of randomness, he adds, "heat is work and work is heat." Oh dear, I thought.  This is what happens when my son sits and watches you tube videos of physics with my physicist husband...

And so, my son and husband sat at the table singing "heat is work and work is heat"--a song that my son is still, half an hour later, singing by himself now as he finishes his dessert.  Great.  Well, at least he'll have some fundamental science down before he heads to Kindergarten in another year.  Just enough to amaze his teacher and confuse his classmates.

For those of you who would love a little physics running through your head in the form of a catchy jingle, have at it.  Hope you enjoy it as much as the men in my house. :)

(Feel free to only listen to the soundtrack here--the video is not that important, only the song... :-P   )

Something fun for our first day of snow!

Here is a little project we set out to do on this wet and snowy day....


LET IT SNOW! :D

Sleep Deprivation

Hand-in-hand with a newborn come frequent diaper changes, regular feedings, tiny cries, and, the real kicker, sleep deprivation.  With your first child, the sleep disruption comes as a shock more than anything else.  No matter how much someone tells you about it, you're still not prepared for the ever-interrupted REM sleep.  With subsequent children, you're more mentally prepared, and the focus becomes how on Earth do I cope with this loss of sleep while caring for (insert # of children here) children.

Not only is the lack of sleep difficult, but I find myself struggling with one of life's most basic functions when I'm lacking my normal slumber: social pleasantries. I just can't seem to hold regular conversation or act as a person usually would.  I keep talking when someone else is trying to get a word in.  I don't answer when someone asks a question.  I ignore people I know just because I can't think of something to say to them.  I stare into space when people are talking to me--not hearing a word their saying.

Of course, when the person finally recognizes my failure as a receptive listener or conversationalist, they bid me adieu.  During this time, I take the opportunity to profusely apologize for my lack of social skills and promptly blame it on my newborn bundle.  I'm not sure that this is always a good enough excuse, but it's my excuse nonetheless.

And so, in proving my point, I'm now finished this post.  I've said something.  I've now awkwardly ended, probably a little too soon, and now I'm off to care for a newborn between sleeping spells....

Bug Time Again!

Yesterday we had the opportunity to watch a cicada emerging from its shell.  While taking a stroll on the nearby college campus, my son excitedly told me he saw a cicada shell walking.  I turned to tell him that this, of course, couldn't be the case, when I realized that he was indeed seeing a living cicada within its shell.  It was an eerie sight--it looked very dead and yet very alive at the same time.  We took it to Daddy's office to get an explanation of what exactly what going on.  Turns out, we found this baby cicada just in time to see it breaking from its skeleton!  Here's a little photo journey of the exciting process...

Breaking Free

 My husband was very concerned that left in that position, on the bottom of the container, the cicada's wings would not properly form.  So, he helped it out onto the porch rail so it would have more space to grow...

 See the little wings it has to start!

 Watching the wings puff out and form was an amazing process.  See here as they continue to expand.

 Hard to believe that large bug came out of that SMALL shell!

 It took over an hour, but he was finally free and his color started darkening.  (I have no idea if it's a he or she, really, so don't take that comment as truth in regards to gender.)

 And that's the last I saw of it before my one year old daughter brushed him away with a stick into the grass below!  He was too camouflaged to be found thereafter.

17 months or 17 years??

My daughter is almost 17 months old, but sometimes it seems like she's 17 years old instead.  I don't know where she gets these ideas, but let me give you an example:

"Oh, hey friend!  Yep, I'm just about to do my workout. Sure, we can still talk, 

just let me get set up here..."

"Let me just put you on speaker phone so I can hear you better."

"Is it working?  Can you hear me okay?"

"Oh, yeah, this is just my morning routine--gotta get my exercise in, ya know?"

"I'll go ahead and start with the leg-lifts...."

"...Then on to the push ups....Umm, there's some guy over there totally watching me. This is weird."

"Uh, you know, I think I'm going to have to do this later..."

"Oh, no problem--we can still keep talking...go on, what were you saying?"