The Dabblist

Gracie Flys

One of the blogs I follow, The Paper Mama, posted a DIY on creating a GIF in Photoshop. And I just happened to have taken a series of pictures yesterday morning of Gracie jumping onto the bed. So, using her tutorial, I created my very first GIF! So fun! I think I might be doing many more of these in the future.

 

 

Family Favorite - Spaghetti Dinner

My girls are very picky eaters. Could probably be considered problem eaters. It is common with children on the autism spectrum and those with sensory issues. There aren't many dinners that I make that they will eat, but spaghetti is one of them.

In an effort to get away from processed spaghetti sauce, which has lots of sugar in it, I found this recipe in an issue of Good Housekeeping. It uses all fresh ingredients and then throws it in a crockpot which is awesome! I put it together in the morning and have it slow cook for six hours. It is SO GOOD!

You can get the recipe HERE. A few changes that I make is that I use ground turkey and panko bread crumbs. I currently use Muir Glen canned tomatoes which are great, but I hope to one day grow and can my own tomatoes.

We pair it with garlic bread and top with parmesean cheese. LOVE IT!

 

Weekend Happenings | Part Two

This past Saturday our family got to go visit an Alpaca Ranch, called Shiloh Springs. It was AMAZING! The owners are so wonderful! Some of the nicest people we have ever met and they have such a passion and devotion for what they do. 

And the Alpacas are so beautiful and sweet.

Before I tell you more about our visit, let me talk a little bit about what brought us there in the first place.

I have recently fallen head over heels in love with crochet. It was something I always wanted to learn and so I did and I haven't stopped crocheting since. It is really relaxing and I love taking yarn and turning it into something useful. I started thinking about yarn and researching it online. I currently crochet with acrylic yarn because it is more affordable than natural yarn. When I saw my first skein of handspun yarn, I knew I wanted to learn how to do it. So I did more research and it eventually led me to learning about Alpacas. I have to say yarn made with Alpaca fleece is divine. So soft and so beautiful. When my research led me to Shiloh Springs Ranch, I contacted them to see if I could come visit. After Saturday, that was all she wrote. My husband said he could see the look in my eye. I have already scheduled another visit for this week, by myself, and they are going to teach me everything they can about Alpaca fleece. I am so excited!

And I purchased my first book on learning to spin yarn as well as a drop spindle. Oh yes, I am going to teach myself to spin yarn!

The picture above isn't epic on a photography level, but it is epic on a whole other level. Gracie is a very independent girl at home, but when we go out in public she is unusally attached to me. She requires that I carry her everywhere, all the time. It's tough on me because she is heavy. When we arrived at the ranch, we were led into an area and then the female Alpaca herd was let into that area with us. They came streaming in very quickly and before I knew what was happening, Gracie was out of my arms and running in the herd. She was grinning from ear to ear. It was the most amazing thing to watch. She just ran into the herd and joined them. She looked back at me, as if to say "look at me mommy".

It was a good day. 

Weekend Happenings Part One

What a fantastic weekend! Two in a row! I feel like a lucky girl :)

Thanks to some awesome friends I was able to take Ava to SeaWorld this weekend. A special day with just me and her. (John will be taking Gracie on her special day, just the two of them, in a couple of weeks). I about died when I saw the ticket prices posted, so I was definitely thanking our friends all day long for providing us with passes. 

We only went to one show, the Shamu show. Ava was really drawn to all of the aquariums so we walked the entire park and visited each one. She loved the tide pool and the kids area.

On our way to SeaWorld via Instagram

The underwater viewing area at Shamu's tank. The orcas were providing entertainment for Dining with Shamu.

A self-portrait while we waited for the Shamu Show to start. Realized right after I took this that little miss Ava had touched the lens with her cute finger. I will pretend it's sunflare. 

The show! I think I will remember the look on Ava's face, when she saw this, for the rest of my life.

She loved the aquariums!

We went to the Elmo 4D show but left pretty quickly. Ava preferred to be singing at the top of her lungs instead of watching the movie.

Climbing!

Musical interlude!

The seals were really loud - we loved them!

On our way to the tide pool.

Tide pool!

Love my squigee!

One last stop at another aquarium and then we hit the road.

I didn't even make it out of the parking lot before she fell asleep.

It was a good day!

 

Breakfast for Dinner

This is one of our favorite family traditions and one of the only meals the girls will eat. Well, they mostly eat the bacon and some waffles. Never the eggs. 

I told my husband I was doing this old country style and after frying the bacon in my favorite cast iron skillet, I cracked the eggs right into the bacon grease. I sprinkled them with sea salt, cracked pepper and paprika. Yums.

Waffles in our belgian waffle maker are the best! We received this from some friends as a wedding gift. It is one of our most used gifts. I use this recipe from The Food Network, but used sprouted whole wheat flour instead of white all purpose and coconut nectar instead of sugar. Amazing! And much better for you.

You just can't go wrong with breakfast for dinner. 

Teacher Appreciation

One of the mom's in Ava's class, came up with a bunch of ideas for gifts to DIY and give to the teachers. When I saw this idea, I knew I already had all of the supplies and could pull it off. 

I gathered some decorative paper (I used paper from my Studio Calico kits), a paper cutter, some plastic 5x7 frames (I got mine at Target for 99 cents), post-it note pads, ribbon or twine, a hole punch, scissors, a circle punch, a heart punch and some double sided tape.

I cut my paper to the size of the frame and inserted it into the frame. I adhered the post-it note pad to the front of frame. I just pulled off the backing and stuck it on. I then cut myself three lengths of twine and tied them around the top of the frame. My paper was double sided, so I punched a circle and a heart from the scraps and flipped the circle to show the back side of the paper. Adhered the heart to the circle with the double sided tape and tied it to the twine. Done!

Now the teachers will have a cute display for their post-it notes. And when that pad is gone, they can just put another one up there.

Now I am off to brainstorm end of year gifts for the teachers.

My Mother's Day

Mother's Day was several days ago and I am still basking in the sunlight that graced that whole day. It helps that I have visual reminders of it all over the house. 

My girls made me some beautiful gifts at school. 

Ava made this bracelet and a card.

Gracie made me a beautiful flower. I have it proudly displayed in my studio.

My mama came up that day and we went to Goodwill where I found some great children's books. My favorites as a child. I was so excited to add them to the girls collection.

We went shopping and I finally found the most perfect dress for my sister's wedding in July. I love it so much!

And my mama got her old Elna sewing machine refurbished for me! It is 38 years old. Can you believe that? And when I pulled it out of the case and saw the little sticker that I had put on there so many years ago, I was whisked right back to my childhood. Memories of all her sewing adventures that I witnessed as a child.

It was a great day! 

Creative Spark

I haven't been happy with my photography for a long time. Haven't felt the spark that I used to. But recently it seems I have found that spark again. And it feels really good!

I am enjoying shooting again. I am enjoying editing again. I feel like I am finally falling into a rhythm here on the blog.

I think I might have figured out what I want to be when I grow up.

I will be visiting a farm this weekend to see if that instinct is true.

 

Simple + Sweet

The other day I tried Chobani Strawberry Banana Yogurt. It was delicious! But it was very high in sugar. Did you know that "low fat" products are usually high in sugar because they need to make it taste good? 

I say go full fat! Especially with your yogurt. It's really good for you.

So, I decided to recreate this yummy dish at home. It's so simple to do. Almost too simple to mention, but I loved it so much I thought I would share.

I took some plain full fat greek yogurt and mixed about a teaspoon of 100% maple syrup and some sliced strawberries and bananas. And I am telling you it is fantastic and much better than the store bought variety.

I have been enjoying it as breakfast, but it can be a snack or dessert too!

And it's completely customizable. I have tried it with some organic strawberry preserves stirred in. Raw honey would be wonderful, especially with a sprinkle of sliced almonds. Divine!

More Gracie Fashion

These are the images I took of Gracie last Thursday. The only reason she is wearing a purple daytime shirt is because I needed to do laundry so we dressed her in that for pajamas the night before. One of her most favorite things to do is bounce when listening to music, whether it is from the radio or one of her toys. 

Gracie is wearing...

Top: Purple T-Shirt from Walmart

Bottoms: Pink Polka Dot leggings from Target

Circo Socks from Target