Finished Origami Mobile

Earlier I posted about making an origami mobile for Aubrey's room and I finally finished it! Aubrey was really pleased with how it turned out. :)

Total Cost:

About $5-$10

She loves it!

Steps:

1. Fold your paper cranes. I used origami paper and scrapbook paper. The scrapbook paper was harder to work with because its thickness.

2. Gather your supplies (needle, thread/floss, 1 pack of small beads, 2 dowel rods, paint, hook)

3. Cut your dowel rods to the desired size and paint them whatever color you want. I painted mine white. *I wish I had used flat dowel rods instead of rounded ones. You can also use wire.

4. Thread the floss through the paper crane and secure both sides of the crane with a metal bead (picture below).

5. Secure the dowel rods in a T-shape and hang the paper cranes from the rods.

6. Balance the mobile by moving your paper cranes farther in or out on the rod.

7. Cut excess string and hang from a hook on the ceiling.

Here are the instructions I found online and followed.

Supplies

Crane with the floss threaded through

Finished product

Origami Mobile

This awesome paper crane mobile on Etsy has inspired me to make an Origami mobile for A's room.

Photo: Julie Dye Craft, Etsy.com

I also found the best video instruction on how to make the paper crane on YouTube.

Here is my first attempt at the infamous Paper Crane. Not too bad!

Photo: Me

I can't wait to post a pic of the completed project!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all of you dads out there!

First-- Happy Father's Day to my Dad! He leads by example, provides, loves, gives sound advice, and is a great movie buddy. I love you dad!

And to Weston- amazing husband and father:

You are the provider and spiritual leader for our family. You cook, fix things, change messy diapers, sing funny songs, and pick out pink hairbows and headbands. You lay out tiny pajamas and diapers every night and Aubrey lights up when you walk in the room. She is so lucky to have you for a father and I couldn't ask for a better partner. We're the two luckiest girls in the world!

Happy Father's Day! We Love you!

Cooking for Baby

I'm not much of a hippie when it comes to baby things. I stopped breast feeding at 6 weeks, we use disposable diapers, and I push Aubrey in a stroller instead of wearing her in a sling. But one granola thing I have enjoyed is making baby food! I'm thankful to my sister in law for encouraging me to give it a try.

Most everything we have tried so far comes from this cookbook. The recipes are simple and easy to make and Aburey loves her dinner every night!

What I have learned is that you can steam (or boil) almost any fruit or vegetable and puree it in the food processor. Then, toss it into these cubes to freeze into 1-2 ounce portions. You can also use ice cube trays-- but I've found that they are more prone to freezer burn.

After it has frozen, just put the cubes into a freezer bag and label with the name of the food and the date. You can keep it into the freezer for up to 3 months.

I normally spend about an hour making baby food every 2-3 weeks and that gives us enough food for several weeks. It's so easy!

Some of our favorite things have been- Apple and pear puree with cinnamon, summer squash and zucchini puree, sweet potato, creamy carrot puree and peas. Our next adventure will be asparagus risotto, green beans with mint, and whipped cauliflower.

Bon Apetit!

The Big Move

Hello world, I'm finally back! After a few weeks without internet and a crazy busy work schedule I've finally found the time to update the blog.

We had a LOT going on leading up to the move. The week before we left for Louisiana I had to travel to the UK for 4 days for work. I was worried we'd never get everything packed and ready in time!

We hired a moving company to come pack up our house for us and it was the BEST THING EVER! Seriously, next time you move have someone come pack you up. It eliminates about 90% of the stress of moving. They packed absolutely everything in a matter of 3 hours and they packed it really well. I came home from work to find our whole house in boxes. Then two days later we left for Louisiana!

Our house in boxes / Making the big move

Welcome to Louisiana!

Living in Shreveport has been a welcomed change for us for a few reasons:

1. It only takes about 15 minutes to get ANYWHERE!
2. We actually live close to people we know and they stop by and visit. So different from life in Dallas where we lived a good 30 minutes from all of our friends and family.
3. Southern hospitality and generosity. Neighbors and colleagues greeted us with "Welcome to the Neighborhood" cookies and a friend came and mowed our yard for us our first week in the house.

Cookies from our neighbors.

Jordan Smith mowing our yard. Now that's a good friend!

I love our new house and we're slowly but surely getting unpacked and settled in. My favorite thing about the house is our back yard, and the Spring weather has been wonderful for enjoying time outside with Aubrey and the pups. The dogs don't know what to do with all the open space! They chase each other around the yard and then take a break to sun themselves on the grass.

Enjoying time with Aubrey outside / Beautiful flower in our back yard

All in all life in Shreveport in Shreveport has been wonderful! We feel so blessed that this is where God brought us and we're excited for all the new experiences we'll get to have in this place.

How do you like your eggs?

I'll take mine poached.

My sweet husband made the most wonderful breakfast on Saturday morning.

On the Menu:

Biscuits with Poached Eggs and Bacon

The eggs were perfectly poached, thanks to W's new single egg poachers from Williams Sonoma. If you've ever attempted to poach an egg, you've probably discovered that it's pretty difficult. These egg poachers are awesome!

The finished product was Ah-Mazing!

Surely you've got eggs in the fridge. Make some coffee, fire up the stove and poach some eggs! For breakfast or dinner, whatever suits you. Let me know how it goes.

Here is the best "How To" I've seen.

Birthday Nosh

One thing I'll miss most about Dallas is the FOOD! If we had all the money in the world Weston and I would definitely spend the vast majority of it enjoying yummy food.

My foodie friend Brooke had been raving and ranting about a fantastic place called Nosh. So when Weston's birthday came around we decided to give it a try. Per Brooke's recommendation, we requested a seat at the Chef's counter and ended up having one of the best meals and most fun dining experiences ever.

Being at the chef's bar was like being inside an episode of a Food Network show. We watched them prepare gourmet food, got to know the people next to us, and even snacked on some free munchies- courtesy of the chef. Our food was amazing!

Here's what we had:

A look into the kitchen from the chef's bar

Appetizer: Kobe Beef Meatballs on a crostini

My food: Braised Veal Cheeks with Black Truffle Grits and Brussel Sprouts

Weston's food: Crispy Duck Confit with Leek and Cauliflower Mash

Banana's Foster Cake with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

We also had a Lobster Bisque Soup and Lobster Fritters (not pictured). Everything we tasted was amazing! We were able to watch them prepare most everything on the menu and it all looked fantastic. I was especially intrigued by the mac and cheese and the foie gras and chicken liver paté.

My Recommendations:

Make a reservation

Sit at the chefs counter at least once

Check out the chalkboard (that's where they write their daily specials)

Ask your waiter for recommendations

Have fun!

It really was a great experience! Go check it out and let me know what you think!