Potted Herbs

Every time I buy herbs at the grocery store I always tell myself I should really have my own at home. Grocery store herbs can be expensive and no matter what, they always go bad before I've finished using them. We only have a couple of windows that get full, direct sunlight. One is over our kitchen sink and one is blocked by a desk that always manages to get filled with papers, kids toys and art supplies. Now, I am not an organized person and I am not a crafty person. I'm always amazed by the talented people who are either one or both of these things. In fact, I've been to the craft store more this past month than I have in five years. Turns out, even if I "mess up" my crafts it doesn't matter. They're just for us anyway! Today, I not only cleared off our cluttered, window stealing desk, but I also bought herbs and made labeled pots. I admit, I kind of took the easy way out and bought grown herbs and didn't plant them from seed. I'll be doing that outdoors with vegetables and honestly, I really just wanted the instant gratification. I had seen lots of cute ideas for herb pots, but my mom sent me a picture of pots with chalkboard paint that caught my eye last week. So, today Franky and I picked out our herbs, buckets and chalkboard paint at the hardware store. I used painter's tape to section off the part where I wanted a chalkboard and got to painting. I let the paint dry for two hours, removed the tape and Lilia chalked on the labels. It was really easy to do (again, coming from a non-crafty person) and it really brightens up the room. Plus, no more wasting store bought herbs! Now if I can just find a place for all of the papers and toys I took off that desk...

Moving and Metamorphosis

All of our caterpillars had made their chrysalises and last night the last (slacker) finally made his. This meant that today was moving day! Our caterpillars were in a little cup so they had to be moved to the butterfly sanctuary AKA mesh basket. They all formed their chrysalises attached to a piece of tissue paper that was on top of the cup. Today we removed the paper, safety pinned it to the side of the sanctuary and voila, a butterfly oasis! Franky and I put a cotton ball soaked in sugar water at the bottom of the sanctuary so the first butterflies will have a food source. After they emerge, I'll also put some sliced oranges in the bottom so they'll have something to drink. Now, the amazing part. The caterpillar doesn't just "sleep" and grow some wings and antennae. The caterpillar digests itself, turns into ooze (ooze, I tell you!) and then forms into a new insect, the butterfly. You can read about it in more detail here, at Scientific American. You will never look at a butterfly in the same way again! Really! Okay, it's quite possible that you might not get as excited as me. After all, I've been caught several times staring at the caterpillars and now, I'm in chrysalis inspection mode. Also, Fran may or may not have thought I was an intruder, with a flashlight, at midnight, staring at my little friends. Don't bother asking him. He won't remember. Moving on, we will be anxiously awaiting the arrival of our Painted Lady butterflies and I'll be sure to update!

Community Supported Agriculture

On tonight's menu (store bought)

Happy Earth Day! So, lately I've been thinking more about where our food comes from which has led me to do some research on Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). Primarily what CSA refers to is buying food that is seasonal from local farmers. This is essentially like buying food from a farmer's market, but in this case it is either shipped to your house or you pick up your package at a local drop off area. We are starting our first garden this year, however I'm not quite sure how many vegetables we'll end up with. I decided to take the plunge and today I signed up for Irv and Shelly's Fresh Picks and ordered one Fresh Picks Box in the double size. Irv and Shelly's (as well as many CSA's) also offer local dairy and meat as well as not so local fruits and veggies if you want to supplement. The option I liked about Fresh Picks is that you can order weekly and end your order at any time. So, if I suddenly gain a green thumb and grow lots of home grown veggies in our garden this year, I can stop or postpone my weekly order. I placed my order today and I can expect our first box to arrive on Friday. I just bought lots of veggies from the grocery store so we are on a mission to eat them before our box arrives later this week!

In other news,  we have a caterpillar update! For those who have been following, almost all of the caterpillars have formed their chrysalises. This week we'll be moving them to our butterfly sanctuary so they'll have room to break out and spread their wings. Excitement all around!

Chicago Wolves

About a month ago, Lilia came home with a ticket for a Chicago Wolves game from participating in floor hockey in P.E. Honestly, in the past I probably would have unintentionally forgotten or would have been reluctant to cash in on it. It's amazing how my mind has started to change ever since I started this daily challenge.  I've truly started to look at things in a much different way. I almost feel like I had blinders on before, but now I like the hunt of finding a new adventure. This time around when Lilia brought home her ticket, I went online and bought three more to go with it. I had heard that Wolves games are really family friendly and today that rang true. The pre-game started with fireworks (!) and a light show to get the crowd going while they announced the lineup. They even have a section where kids can pick out free poster boards and markers to make their own  rally signs. Above all,  I would say that Lilia's favorite part was the food (proving once again that she does take after me.) The fact that people were walking up and down the aisles carrying huge trays of snow cones and towers of cotton candy was enough to make her near faint. Cotton candy and popcorn was quickly gobbled up by both kids. Fran and Franky even got caught cheering on the jumbo tron! In my world, that officially makes them famous. Food, fireworks and fun. What more can you ask for?

Glitter Night Lights

We leave a light on for both of the kids at night, but last night Franky insisted he was still afraid of the dark. I was scrounging around  trying to find something else that lights up to to avail. I thought about an idea that I saw on Pinterest called "fairies in a jar" that involved glow stick liquid and glitter. Sounded fun, but I really wanted something that would last longer than one night. So, we took a trip to Michael's this morning to pick up Mason jars (after my last experience, I am now obsessed with them) glitter, Elmer's clear school glue and flameless candles. When we got home, I squeezed glue into the jars and tried to cover as much ground as I could. The kids poured a good amount of glitter into the jars, closed the lids and shook them up. It took a couple of rounds of glue and glitter shakes, but I think they turned out to be really cool. We poured out the excess glitter and let them dry for a couple of hours with the lids off. By the time nightfall rolled around we were able to put in the flameless candles and close the lid for the final effect. As you can see in the final picture, they cast a nice, warm glow. I wasn't sure if the glitter would be too opaque for the light to shine through, but that clearly wasn't the case. Needless to say, the kids are proud of their work and are actually excited to go to bed. Winning for all.

Peanut Butter: The Key to Happiness

 What better thing to do on a cold Friday night than eat peanut butter? Well, maybe other people do fascinating and exciting things on a Friday, but I'll take peanut butter. And wine. Similar to many families, we quite enjoy our peanut butter. In fact, Fran once told me that he hoped he never had to choose between me and peanut butter. So yes, we take our peanut butter consumption seriously. Thanks be to George Washington Carver. (Don't question my history. I'm giving this one to GWC.)  I had heard stories that Whole Foods has a magical machine where you, an everyday average person, can obtain a tub of delicious, fresh peanut butter with the flick of a switch. I told Lilia about this wondrous contraption and we've been talking about it ever since. (I think this post is really demonstrative of how cool of a family we are.) Tonight was the night. We went to Whole Foods and walked directly to conquer this beast. I grabbed a plastic cup, flipped the switch and gathered the paradise. Luckily, I still have some of my whole wheat bread left from a couple of days ago, which was the perfect vehicle for this peanutty delight. It was a delicious dessert and I'm sure it will be on the breakfast menu. Consider me a convert.

Message in a Bottle

 The Chicago area has been experiencing a tremendous amount of rain and the kids and I wanted to head to the beach to watch the storm waves. Normally, Lilia and Franky spend beach time searching for rocks and shells. This time, I thought about how fun it might be to throw a message in a bottle into Lake Michigan. I had always wanted to do this and granted, in my mind it involved an ocean and a ship, but hey, a gigantic lake is good practice. Lilia was really excited about the idea, but she did express concern that a pirate might find it and then he'd have our address.  A valid concern, but I reminded her if we saw a guy with a beard, parrot and peg leg hobbling up the driveway, we would just lock the door.  After that we just did pirate impressions and all hesitation was forgotten. The message in the bottle reads, "Greetings, if you find our note, please contact us!" along with our names and address. You never know, it might end up getting kicked right back up on the shore, but we'd like to think that it will travel far and end up in the hands of someone who will actually connect with us. So, if you live in the Great Lakes region, please be on the lookout for a lime juice bottle. We'll be waiting.

Lilia took this photo-not bad for a 1st grader