Studio Apartment For rent- again.

If you know anyone looking for a place, send 'em our way. Our renter is breaking her lease and we need to rent the studio again. Here's the specs and some pics. Thanks!

Cute East hills lower level studio apartment on Lake Dr. Close to Downtown Eastown, Bus lines, restaurants, entertainment and Colleges. This unit has a great layout, large storage closet in living room, large closet for clothes, fireplace, big front porch. Rent includes ALL UTILITIES!!! Gas, electric, water, trash removal, off street parking, and WIRELESS INTERNET!!! This is really a great deal, it saves you money every month and you only have one check to write. No gas bill to budget for in the winter. Your housing costs stay the same every month. This is a great location and a great house to live in. Great neighbors! There is a nice backyard with a big picnic table and a garden area.

Email or call Jen (616) 301-3757.

Available immediately. Various lease options available.

sewing for me!

I apologize for the lack of posting lately. Things have been so crazy and our family has really had a hard time getting into the swing of things in the new year. We seem to have contracted every virus on the planet in the last few months. Lily has been struggling with her school routine, especially riding the bus and the Baby has been worse than ever about sleeping at night. She is doing better now, and I think that it is due to the fact that I have weaned her totally. She seemed to have entered a new developmental stage lately and it just kind of worked out. She will be 18 months old this month, can you believe it? I can't!

I promised myself as I was sewing night and day before Christmas that I would make some things for myself in the new year. I have been living up to that promise this week so I thought I would share a couple things. Sorry the photos are not the best, I was in a hurry and I couldn't figure out any other way to photograph my skirt with me in it except to use the photobooth on my computer.

I made myself a new purse last weekend:

and I finished a new wrap skirt today:

So stayed tuned to hear more about our gluten free cooking, sewing, the toy swap, those crazy kids of course and most exciting, the spring growing plans!!! Anyone else out there planning a garden?? What are you growing? Interested in sharing seeds and planting together??

Banana Bread

We have been making lots of gluten free banana bread lately. For some reason no one eats the bananas I buy lately, so I just mash them up and make a loaf when they turn brown. Gluten Free Baking is always kind of inconsistent it seems, but we usually have very good results with this recipe. It's another one from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook and we just substitute the flower with our gluten free flour mix.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp salt

1 egg

1 cup mashed ripe bananas (3 medium)

3/4 cup sugar (or less, 1/4 cup is enough)

1/4 cup cooking oil (e.g. canola oil)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1/3 cup cranberries (optional)

1/3 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Preparation:

Grease the bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides of an 8x4x2-inch loaf pan; set aside. In a medium mixing bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Make a well in the center of dry mixture; set aside.

In another bowl combine the egg, bananas, sugar and cooking oil. Add egg mixture all at once to dry mixture. Stir just till moistened (batter should be lumpy). Fold in nuts, cranberries and chocolate chips.

Spoon batter into the prepared pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 50-55 minutes or till a wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove loaf from pan; cool on rack. Wrap and store overnight before slicing. Makes 1 loaf (16 servings).

From Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book

Handmade Toy Swap!

Bird and Little Bird is hosting a swap of handmade toys and children’s items to raise awareness about the problems caused by the CPSIA. If you’d like to participate, just e-mail Anne (birdmail AT gmail DOT com) and be sure to let her know if you’re willing to ship internationally. February 10th will be the deadline.

Read her blog post here for more details. She made Mr. Fox, pictured above, so maybe you’ll end up with something as adorable. I am not sure what I will contribute, but I'll post a pic when I do.

Have fun and support handmade!

Welcome to the World...

Our good friends Stacie and Sunny just had their 3rd child. He's so stinkin' cute I just had to share the photos I took with you all. Babies are by far my favorite thing to photograph, especially when they are brand new!

Ayo Emmanuel

January 9, 2009

Watch the slide show to see even more of his cuteness!

your being watched...

by a pink Eskimo spy!


Lily got off the bus today, came in the front door, grabbed her binoculars and went straight out the back door to spy in the backyard. Thanks to Amy (who had just stopped over and was being spied on) for taking such a cute pic, so I didn't have to go out in the cold!

Happy New Year! and back to the real world.

Well, it has been a very busy holiday season. We have had lots of fun, but it has been sooo busy. Rich was off work on vacation since Christmas Eve. We celebrated Christmas 4 days in a row with all of our family (one of the many joys of having divorced parents) and then felt like we needed to run away for a bit, so we spent 3 nights in our camper out on the farm. We managed to stay pretty warm and came home feeling a little recuperated. We have also been battling colds and sore throats, so that has taken it's toll. We spent a couple days at home resting and trying to kick the sickness, then yesterday we went to a hotel to swim, play and celebrate my mom's birthday. It was fun. It was all fun, but I am ready to get back to our normal routine. I am ready for the girls to go back to school tomorrow and I am ready for Rich to go back to work. :)