Want to Learn Geography?

Geography has never been my gift. Really the only Geography class I've ever taken was in 7th grade and 1) it was pretty much coloring 101 and 2) our teacher was really cute (Mr. Coe for any other Clifford Smart grads) and he was frankly distracting!

Anyway, I've always been sort of embarrassed when people start talking about places in the world. I've tried studying maps but it just didn't seem to stick. When I was a new mom my girlfriends and I even planned to get together and learn geography while the kiddies played. But... we only got to Africa (which was where we started... and we pretty much ended up talking about other stuff).

As my boys have gotten older I have been on the lookout for games/tools to help them learn about continents and countries... and my search is over. After a bit of research I ended up with the Leap Frog Globe from Amazon. I've read reviews from people who found them at Sams or Costco for a steal. I bought this one over a year ago and I LOVE it! It has a fun game that you can play by yourself or with others. Within a couple of weeks I could locate places like New Caledonia, Georgia, French Guyana... My kids really like the music feature. You touch a country and a song from that land is played. Our favorites are mostly the African countries but we also love Oman and Scotland. One day I was quizzing Daniel (without the globe) and asked him to name the country between China and Russia. I was looking for Mongolia but he hesitated and said "Well, it could be Mongolia or Kazakhstan." I checked the globe and he was right!! So worth the purchase right there!

As Lucy enters her toddler phase I find that I can play with the globe less and less (she is obsessed with turning it on and off and on and off... and yanks on the pen- yeah that's her hand in the picture). So if you have a toddler you may want to hold up but seriously this globe rocks! The bad news: I got mine for $90 and read about people who found them for $50 at Sams but this year's model is $180! What gives?!

Pillow Project and this is why I'm crazy

I've been wanting to make new pillow covers for the ones on our couch downstairs but couldn't decide how best to match my crazy quilt. I finally settled on Amy Butler's Optic Blossom (mostly because I had a yard of it on hand). I played around with a bit of embroidery and applique- neither is my specialty but it was sort of fun to work on for a few nights. Still finishing up the second one...

Oh and this is why I'm crazy. I think I'm counting 8 started projects on that table (and that doesn't include 6 canvases on the floor...:O

I forgot how much I love singing in a choir

Since college and kids I haven't done very much singing. Many of my favorite memories are tied to music. I still have the music to "Set me as a Seal" from my 10th grade year in high school. I remember our choir teacher, Ms. Keefer, passionately telling us to think about the words as we sang. At state, our tiny little choir rocked that song!



At some point in high school I sang in a women's choir. We did "A Prairie Woman Sings" by Eugene Butler- it was beautiful. In college I just took choir as one of my classes. It was wonderful to sing with such a huge group. For Christmas we sang a song called "Little Babe." I've lost it along the way and need to find it- it's beautiful. Several years ago my family sang my mom's arrangement of "When Joseph Went to Bethlehem." Curtis and I have pulled that out many times and sung it together. What a great song.



I haven't sung in the choir at church much because it's just another thing to do. But I decided to try it out a few months ago. It's not without it's frustrations, but I didn't realize how much I had missed singing! I mean, I sing ALL the time. I'm one of those minivan moms that you laugh at while driving because I am totally rockin out in my car. I sing in the shower, I sing with my kids, I sing while I'm cleaning... (you pickin' up what I'm puttin' down?) But there is something really special about singing with a small group of people who also love to sing.



For Easter this year we sang "My Shepherd Will Supply My Need." I had heard this song before but it wasn't until I was singing it with the choir that I really listened to the words and melody. I LOVE this song. You can hear it here- I like this video because the lyrics are printed as it plays. But I will post them here just for fun. I love music. I think it is one of God's greatest gifts to us and it softens my heart like nothing else. (PS: The last line is my favorite)

My Shepherd will supply my need

Jehovah is His Name;

In pastures fresh

He makes me feed,

Beside the living stream.

He brings my wandering spirit back

When I forsake His ways,

And leads me, for His mercy's sake,

In paths of truth and grace.

When I walk through the shades of death,

Thy presence is my stay;

A word of Thy supporting breath

Drives all my fears away.

Thy hand, in sight of all my foes,

Doth still my table spread;

My cup with blessings overflows,

Thine oil anoints my head.

The sure provisions of my God

Attend me all my days;

O may Thy house be my abode,

And all my work be praise!

There would I find a settled rest,

While others go and come;

No more a stranger, nor a guest,

But like a child at home.

Because I needed another cathedral quilt project...

I sewed these little handbags for my neices a few months ago. They each used 6 cathedral quilt squares and came to gether pretty quickly. If I do it again I will just use binding tape on the sides so I don't have to finish off all of those half squares on the sides- that was a little time consuming! If you want to do some cathedral squares but not a whole quilt, this is a great project!

Apricot Kolaches and Willa Cather

We read "My Antonia" for book club last month and I decided to make some kolaches for the discussion, as they were mentioned a few times in the book. My sister, Jenny, discovered these when I was a kid in Michigan. We made them several times and they were SO yummy. Last month when I went back to Michigan for a visit, my sister Lisa and I went into a bakery. ahhhh! Since leaving MI I have yet to find any bakeries half as good. (This is probably a blessing in disguise as I'm pretty sure I would LIVE there if there were any close to me.) The smells brought me back to my childhood. It helped that they had made fresh Pączkis (pronounced poonchkies) for fat Tuesday. YUM!

Anyway, here's the recipe for anyone interested. They're simple to make and not too sweet. I just used apricot jam instead of cooking up dried apricots.




Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened

6 ounces cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons white sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup dried apricots

1 1/2 cups water

3/4 cup white sugar


Directions
To make Filling: Combine apricots and water in heavy saucepan and cook covered over medium heat for 10 minutes or until apricots are soft. Cook UNCOVERED 5 to 10 minutes or until most of the water has been absorbed.

Mash apricots, stir in 2 tablespoons of sugar and let filling cool. Set aside.


To make Dough: Cream butter and cream cheese until fluffy; add 3/4 cup sugar and beat well. Add flour and mix well. Shape dough into ball and chill 1 hour.
Turn dough onto well-floured surface, working with only half the dough. Roll into 1/8 inch thickness and cut into 2 inch squares. Spoon 1/2 teaspoon of apricot filling into the center of the square. Bring four corners to center, pinching to seal.


Bake at 400 degrees F for about 15 minutes. Optional - you may baste with butter halfway thru baking period.


Optional - drizzle LIGHTLY with powdered sugar/milk frosting if you desire sweeter kolaches.



FYI, I thoroughly enjoyed "My Antonia." I read it a few years ago and liked it even better the second time. I love Cather's descriptions of the Nebraska landscape. She can make grass sound beautiful! Her female characters were strong and she showed how critical their work was in farm life. There's more but I gotta sew.