Sew Lovely {Simple Baby Blankets}

Recently I've really enjoyed sewing up a few super simple and sweet baby blankets!

They are the perfect gift with a little book or toy for a favorite little one.

After doing some hunting around online for a few baby blanket tutorials I found this post {from Liz via Momtastic} most helpful. Find some cute + soft fabric, pin away and sew a strong edge to hold it in place.

Honestly, so easy... and all the babies who I sent these out to for Christmas apparently LOVE them and their mommas gave rave reviews... {think of phrases like "can't leave home without" "cuddles with just before nap time" + "so easy to toss in the car on our way to grammies house"}

We all enjoy an easy to do sewing project for babies that we love, right?! I think I'm going to attempt a bigger set for a few toddlers I know :)

::A Quiet March::

Shhh... it's been so quiet around here. 

All month. I guess I took an unplanned break from the blog.

{I've decided to approach this year with more calmness and not to worry about getting to everything all the time. Whatever I'm doing must be important and everything else will have their time to be center stage.} 

Today I felt like writing. So here I am tucked away in our study. Morning light and a few local song birds welcoming the day. Seems like I waited for the perfect moment.

Hope your March has been the happiest! :)

a refreshing stroll

At the end of the work day last Friday I was in no mood. 

No mood for productivity. No mood for thinking. No mood for working late.

I needed to do all of these things. And I was afraid to make the escape I so desperately craved.

The only thing I could think about was being in the sun. Breathing fresh air. Clearing my head.

So I did something about it.

I took a walk. And I had to walk towards town. Because if I walked towards home... I would have curled up on the couch instead of returning to my classroom and finishing my work.

It was the best choice I had made in days. Exactly what I needed. Sun, fresh air, clear head. A walk through town.

So was the coffee drink I ended up purchasing when I was half way done with my walk. 

Exactly what I needed. 

Ok so... a walk through town, with a stop at the coffee shop, then right back to school.

A refreshing stroll... exactly what was needed.

Hope you're having a happy Monday!

Put Up + Away {Canning for a Winter Day}

I love saving summer's produce for winter. 

Seeing beautiful food in my cupboard gives me great joy. 

The work takes time. But it is good work. Important work.

And we always enjoy eating the jams, salsas, ketchups {and etc!} that much more when the weather turns cold.

I've pulled out a few of my favorite canning resources and have been stealing glances at the pages, willing a bit of summer into my mind... these winter days have me missing berry picking and tomato chopping!

Three of my favorite canning books:

Putting Food By  by Greene, Hertzberg and Vaughan

Put 'em Up by Sherri Brooks Vinton

Homemade Living: Preserving & Canning with Ashley English

Some favorite recipes links:

Chunky Salsa

Apple Butter in the Slow Cooker

The Dayton Beer Company - in Kettering, Ohio

I will start this off with a small disclaimer. We have gone to the Dayton Beer Company several times now. Each time I left I felt like I wasn't quite getting the full picture. We've enjoyed ourselves there each time, always finding great beer with maybe one of the pints tasting just like my husband's homebrew. With this consistency issue coming up in at least one pint each visit I felt like I couldn't post until I had a better picture of this establishment. I may have to update this as we visit in the future. 

First impression: Surprising. One wouldn't expect a local brewery and tap room to be in a small shopping area next to a gas station and video store. Once you head inside it is has a relaxed feel and we've found it to be a great place to kick off the evening with friends.
Service: Great. Peter is friendly and he works hard. He will talk shop with the customers and recommend brews. We've not been disappointed by his recommended pours.
Prices & Other Notes: The tap room is for adults. With screens for sports watching and brews for drinking, there isn't really anything there to draw attention for all members of mixed age groups. It is perfect for hanging out with friends. 

Food: There is not really food on the Dayton Brewing Company menu. There are snacks (i.e. chips and pretzels and sometimes hot dogs). It is so laid back you can bring in some food if you are starving.

As for the beer:

Honey Cream - not super sweet but very tasty. This was probably my favorite beer that I've ever tasted at The DBC. 

Also if you can't head to The DBC Taproom try out their brews at these locations {click link here}. 

We plan to continue to visit The Dayton Beer Company. We've heard of equipment upgrades and praises about Peter always helping out other local brewers. We like to support that. Even if we might sit thru one brew that isn't exactly our favorite during our visit. My recommendation - ask bartender or the loudest group in the room their favorite beer of the night. You will be happy you did. 

Packing Real Food for Days at Work

With my recent return to daily adventures with a classroom of children {a.k.a. full time teaching} I'm so grateful that my husband and I started to figure out last year how to prepare food that he enjoys eating while at work.

Because a while back when I was doing a daily commute that I'm truly embarrassed of, working over time, and barely keeping my head above water we weren't packing lunches. As in, I'd grab a can of soup or a box of crackers to keep at work and munch when possible and he would go out to lunch daily. Sounds unhealthy and expensive... well, we've made it a priority to figure this out and now we have a the skeletons of a system to pack appropriate meals for the two of us and our work days. I thought I'd share in case it gave some new ideas to some families while packing.

-Breakfasts & Morning Snacks
At the beginning of the school year we made smoothies, muffins, and breakfast bakes to eat in the morning - whether we eat this at home or take to work. This meant some preparations over the summer. We hit up a few you-pick berry farms and froze berries, chopped super ripe bananas. I try to keep coconut milk on hand.

Recently we've been making containers of already prepared veggies and cooked bulk sausage to throw together a quick breakfast right before we head out the door.

When I have an extra few minutes and nothing else prepared I find that fruit and oatmeal is great too. Oatmeal isn't my husband's favorite, so he prefers something with a little more protein or a little more jam {toast is just the vehicle for jam, right?!}.


-Lunches & Afternoon Snacks
We typically pack our left overs from dinner for several of our lunches each week. Other days we might make a sandwich or a super tasty salad. I round everything out with fresh fruit, trail mix, no-bake energy bites {we love this recipe from Ali with Gimme Some Oven}, or other easy prep seasonal side dishes {i.e. different types of potato salads, black beans & brown rice, cucumber/tomato salads, fresh salsa & tortilla chips, quinoa based sides}. Many of these items I can prepare one evening at the beginning of the week or over the weekend so we're ready to go on Monday. Sometimes I make a big pot of soup or chili on Sunday that will only be eaten for lunches that week. And to save time in the mornings I scoop up lunch sized containers when it is finished cooking {less things to do in the morning - hooray!}. Then the only thing left to do is gather all the goodies into our lunch bags!


Need a few reasons to pack your lunch? We realized that when packing our lunch we save money - at least $30 to $40 a week. We typically enjoy the food that we are eating more than what we might pick up at a deli. We also found that we created less food waste since we would eat the food we cook (just because it was so convenient since we already spent the time to pack it up).



Need more inspiration? Check out this link of lunch prep tips and recipes from Lisa at the 100 Days of Real Food blog:

10 Recipes to Freeze for School Lunches

around these parts {indoors}...

Oh my. This winter. 

Can I get a "don't you know it, sister!" or maybe a "put a dry log on the fire"?

I love the winter for spending time indoors. Something cozy, calming, like...

making spaces, curling up with a great book

knitting and crafting

movie watching and wine drinking

game nights with cocoa

But really, I could take a few degrees warmer. Just enough for a quick hike with my cabin-fevered pup. Or a longer than five minute outdoor recess at school.

The great thing is, these sub zero temperatures really do limit us to the indoors for creating, organizing and cleaning {we've recently created some awesome closet storage!}. But sometimes I'm just too cold+tired to get my butt out from under a quilt to really get to anything. I think it has to do with the cabin-fevered children I hang out with all day {outside energy + outside volume = rainbow looms, clay work, watercolors, and marathon reading for my elementary kiddos... with the occasional run around the playground because the winds have died down - I mean, we're talking stilt-walking-down-the-halls-stir-crazy folks}

But lets consider the positive, shall we?

The afternoon warmed up a few degrees yesterday. We took advantage of it and made an awesomely tall snowman. Other than the fact he scared me and my pup this morning when we went outside we think he is pretty dapper. 

Hope your week is wonderfully happy!