Just Make Stuff

G3: June

This month...

• Sean took a 300+ pound tree stump out by himself.
• Mac got his brace off.
• We got to visit with my dad and my eight year old sister.
• We found a new favorite cookie recipe. Sean has made at least six batches.
• I have grown a little herb garden.
• We purchased two tons of gravel for a backyard project.
• I made 10,000 phone calls/emails for the cheer team. I might be exaggerating slightly.
• Sean ran the Pendleton Mud Run and placed 53rd out of 3,175 participants and 4th in his age group.
• And of course that's not all the running he did...he ran another 119.5 miles too.

{G3 is a end of the month wrap-up for our little family}

Cook//Make//Wish: 07

These greek tostadas sound really, really good.

Wish I could fill our yard with these super cute patriotic jar candle holders. 

Fabric covered notebooks...imagine all the fun pattern combinations you could come up with.

Cook//Make//Wish posts include three recent favorites discovered via Pinterest.

A shoe milestone...

Mac was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when he was about fourteen months old. He didn't walk until after he turned two. By three years old he had his first AFO (ankle-foot orthosis). The brace helps anchor his foot so he doesn't pull up on his toes when he walks. It also has meant he needed two different size shoes. A couple of times a year, after a brace check, we have been at Nordstroms surrounded by shoe boxes trying to get the correct mismatched pair. Nordstroms has been the only company that has been consistently willing to split sizes for us. This was fine when he was little, but for the last few years having his shoe choices severely limited has truly impacted Mac's fashion loving ways.

Since an endocrinologist confirmed last fall that Mac is done growing (he is exactly five feet tall), he knew the day was coming that his orthopedist would let him out of the brace. He was so excited for today's appointment and sat on the examination table almost beaming with hope. Sure enough, he was told he could try not wearing his brace for the next six months and we will check back to see how he does. 

Within a couple hours we were sitting at Nordstroms again and surrounded by shoe boxes, but only because Mac had a lot of choices. He has wanted a pair of Toms  forever, but the brace wouldn't begin to fit (although we tried). Today he got his pair. 

Well Wishes...

Just a colorful hello.

Well Wishes is a homemade card shared every Wednesday.

Two additions...

The backyard now includes a few colorful flower pots and two tons of gravel. I shared a before photo last week...I'll have to wait for the after photos to explain what the heck we did. 

Weekending...

An Angels game with a fireworks show...more backyard planning and shopping...strawberry shortcake trifle to take to a cheer team welcome barbecue...making two hundred patriot head wreaths to sell at an upcoming cheer fundraiser...and a little time on the front porch. A busy, but good weekend.

Recipe Buttons...

One of the way overdue blog organization projects needed around here was fixing up the recipe section...now all you have to do is click a photo to access each category.   

Chopped Salad with Creamy Green Onion Dressing

In my one night a week Intro to Sociology class this past semester I offered extra credit to students who wanted to bring in a snack for everyone to enjoy during our class break. I brought in snack for five classes and the other ten were arranged by groups of four or five students. Usually it was some candy, drinks, chips and other snacks. All of sudden, three weeks before the end of class, one group brought in a huge tray of pasta, homemade cupcakes, six pizzas and a salad. The pasta and salad was made by one of the guys in the class and I was completely taken with the combination. The class laughed at me as I wrote down the ingredients, but I knew I needed to make this. He served it was a ceasar dressing, but since I like to make my own I concocted a creamy green onion dressing.

Dressing Ingredients

• One bunch of green onions
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• Drizzle of buttermilk
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon red wine vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Salad Ingredients

• 8 cups romaine and iceberg lettuce; chopped
• 1 cup garbanzo beans; drained
• 1 tomato; chopped
• 1 ear of corn; boiled and cut off the cob
• 3/4 cup shredded Monterrey jack cheese
• 3/4 tortilla chips; crushed
• 1 avocado; chopped

Roughly chop green onions, including the white portion, into a food processor. Add mayonnaisse, a drizzle of buttermilk and blend. Add garlic powder, salt, sugar, red wine vinegar, and Dijon mustard and blend again. Check to see if the dressing needs any additional seasoning, pour into a container and store it in the refridgerator at least a couple hours in advance. Combine all salad ingredients, adding crushed tortilla chips and avocado last. Toss with dressing and serve immediately.

All better...

Thanks so much for the encouragement on the treasurer situation and for the tree stump removal ideas.

After two straight days of work, Sean managed to get it out and the hole is filled. Now we need to find gravel for phase two of our crazy backyard project.

Tonight Mac went to spend time with his Dad's family, so Sean and I went for one of our favorite dinners and sat on the beach for an hour. If that can't make everything better, nothing will.

Well Wishes...

The birthday card I made for my niece a couple weeks ago. Hooray stamp is from Whitney Rae Paper.

Well Wishes is a homemade card shared every Wednesday.

Not our best day...

Sometimes you have a day that just pretty much blows...today was one of those. 

I offered to run a cheerleading booster board errand for someone in an attempt to help a little. It resulted in them abruptly quitting their key position because they decided I was "controlling" and did not trust them. Not going to lie, that stung a lot. 

While I dealt with that, Sean fought for hours on end with the tree stump that will not even hint at budging. We won't discuss that this backyard is supposed to host the 4th of July in a couple of weeks.

In the grand scheme of life struggles these are far from truly important. Unfortunately, sometimes it can be all too easy to forget that in the moment they are occuring. Just grateful that tomorrow is a new day.

Herbs...

The original owners of our house left behind a few things when they moved to Oregon. One of those items was a turquoise wheelbarrow with a red wheel.

We have used it as a planter for years and it is looking pretty rusty and worn-out, but I still cannot bear to part with it. Therefore last weekend it was just filled with new little herb plants.

Sweet basil, mint, pineapple sage, rosemary and chocolate mint.

My plant care track record is not terribly promising...and the chocolate mint is already looking pretty sad, but hopefully in a few weeks the old wheelbarrow will start overflowing with a thriving little herb garden...hopefully.

Freshman Year...

The last day of school is here! I snapped a photo of Mac on his way out the door and couldn't believe when I looked back at the first day of high school...poor guy looks so nervous.

Thankfully his first year went well. He barely knew anyone when he started and has made some good friends. His dedication to schoolwork paid off with a 3.6 GPA and he is a scholar athlete after his participation on the cheer squad...I am totally bragging, but we are just super proud of him. 

We all finish up school today and cannot wait for a little summer vacation before Sean starts summer school and Mac has daily cheer practices at the beginning of July.

Here is Mac on the first and last days of school in 2010 and 2011.

Craft-a-thon...

My eight-year-old sister arrived last night from Oklahoma with my dad who has a medical conference in San Diego. The plan was for them to spend the night with us before my dad left for the conference and then have Bailey go to my sister's since she is here to have fun with my sister's three kids...her nephew and nieces that she is only a couple years older than. Granted her other nephew, Mac, is twice her age.

Bailey and I spent the morning together and ended up making half a dozen different crafts. First, I introduced her to mixing watercolors, since I had given her supplies for her birthday.

Next was a Father's Day gift for dad. She painted a frame with a photo my sister snapped last night at dinner of Bailey and her nephews and nieces. 

Then she painted some kraft paper to wrap the gift in with lots of ribbon.

Earlier in the morning Bailey mentioned the "stay" canvas I have hanging in the guest room. She said when she saw it she thought to herself, "I need to have Nora teach me how to craft like that". So we gathered supplies to make her a canvas...how could I not after she said that?

And then I got out a craft supply I haven't touched since right around the time Bailey was born. Beads came out for some bracelet and earring making.

As you can probably see...we had absolutely no fun at all.

Well Wishes...

A Father's Day card for Sean's Dad. 

Well Wishes includes sharing a homemade card every Wednesday...I did this in 2010-2011 and recently started it back up.

New favorite..

There was a cookie recipe I discovered a couple of years ago and thought was the best I'd ever had.

Then I found these cookies.

Sean made a batch on Friday to take to dinner at a friend's house. Then he made two more batches last night to take to work. I will not admit how many I have eaten. The brown butter and sprinkling of salt is just way, way too good. 

Clean Color...

Somehow I am lucky enough to have a friend named Erin Cobb. She emailed me years ago telling me that she liked my blog...which meant so much to me. Then about a year later I discovered, read her entire blog, and emailed her to tell her how much I loved it. Erin kindly pointed out she had sent me an email before...and I had completely forgot. How awesome am I?

Thankfully Erin didn't hold my forgetfulness against me. We got to meet in early 2011 for dinner at our house. And we were able to meet-up for breakfast in Rockefeller Plaza in August 2012. I think that might mean we need to make sure we see each other sometime in 2013. 

My point in sharing this little story is to actually tell you about one of Erin's photo editing tutorials, Clean Color. She is retiring it this week and it is being sold at an amazingly discounted price.

In the first 10 minute of watching Clean Color I learned more than the previous six years I had spent editing photos. I use Erin's tricks and tips with every single photo I edit to fix lighting and make colors a little bit more exciting. Since the skills Erin teaches have been so integral to me, I couldn't let the retirement of such a terrific resource happen without recommending that you give it a try.

Now I am off to email Erin to see if she has any travel plans out west in 2013...good thing she is much better at remembering emails than I am.

Sunday evening...

The last one of the school year included planting an herb garden and a grilled dinner...can't wait for summer vacation to start later this week. 

Cook//Make//Wish: 06

It's not really cooking, but a meat and cheese platter would make a light and easy dinner.

I wish our backyard had lots of green, shade, and gravel like this one.

How fun would it be to make washi tape polka dots?

Cook//Make//Wish posts include three recent favorites discovered via Pinterest.

Housewarming...

We have friends that moved into a new home this week and I could not resist putting together a little something. This little basket almost has me wanting to clean...almost.

Basket//Brushes//Basil Dish Soap//Lemon All-Purpose Spray//Washcloths

Well Wishes...

A stamp, watercolor crayons and so much cutting my hand cramped up.

Hey June...

Oh my goodness gracious I cannot waste a minute of you or your summer partners July and August. I always make grandiose summer plans for all the projects I will do...the never ending to do list that I will annihilate with my endless productivity. 

This summer is pretty simple. Continue to learn the approximately million details involved in running the cheer leading booster board. Plan Introduction to Sociology, Sociology of Women and Sociology of the Family as well as I possibly can. Get on the %$&(*# treadmill to sweat out the stress of the aforementioned items and try my best to keep a clear, organized brain. Just three things, right?

Okay, summertime, work with me here...and please leave me a little time for craftiness.

Family Dinners...

My sister has started a little family barbecue tradition over the last few months. I bring a couple side dishes or dessert and she is in charge of grilling. This past weekend it even included her homemade cobbler with blackberries picked from their yard...a family night together does not get better than that.