Paint a little bird house!

I love to teach the kids to care about animals and our environment. One day we went to Michael's to get some art supplies and T spotted unfinished wooden bird house! Since we already have one in our backyard, that was given to us as a gift by some special kids, T had a plan in mind!

One rainy day, we grabbed our art supplies and painted away!

We used acrylic paint so it doesn't wash off outside. B looks just like a real artist holding her palette!

Since we were a bit too late this year to hang it up for the birdies, we will enjoy it on the porch as a decoration. I love the colors!!!

Look who came back

This nest has been next to our bedroom window for years now and mommy American Robin keeps coming back! And it seems like this year they are expanding their house ;-) She has been sitting on her eggs for days now and yesterday was the first day we saw babies sticking out their necks looking for food.

The kids are very excited to watch her coming back with juicy  worms and caterpillars. Another great lesson in nature!

Potato pancakes

This has been one of my favorite meals when I was a kid growing up in Czech Republic. This is my grandma's recipe:

You will need:

4 large potatoes, peeled and grated (fine)

1 large egg

1 cup of all purpose flour

2 bigger garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons of marjoram

1 tsp of salt

oil for the frying pan

Mix all of the above ingredients together (no oil). Add more flour if needed until you reach this consistency. If I put a bit too much flour, I add a little bit of milk.

Heat up some oil and transfer some of the mixture onto the pan in whatever shape or size that you like. My grandma used to make giant pancakes that spread over the whole pan. I like the smaller size better, the kids can eat it easier and the size doesn't look so ovewhelming. 

When the pancakes look golden brown (such as those on the picture below) remove them and serve them warm with sour cream and pickles on the side. Sometimes my husband asks to eat venison sausage with it.

Bon Appétit! 

Rosemary

This year I was so excited to buy my first rosemary for my herb garden! Here, I placed it towards the back of my herb garden into a beautiful blue pot, which gives it more of a mediterranean look. It is right on the edge of our fish pond and it is framed on one side by yellow ornamental grass called Carex Trifida and on the other side by a hosta.

Rosemary tends to grow taller so you should place it towards the back of the garden, especially if you have it in the pot. Also keep in mind, if you live in a place with cold winters, that you will have to bring it inside. I put it in the pot right away but I know people who just dig it up at the end of the season and transplant it into the pot then. However I know that any plant can only take so much change so I would recommend putting it into the container right away! 

Rosemary is easy to grow, you just need good air circulation, good drainage, and sun.

I love using rosemary in my Italian dishes, such as grilled chicken breast or lamb. 

Healthy breakfast smoothie

I am always looking for some healthy breakfast tips, so my kids can get in the good stuff at the beginning of the day. This time, it was my kids who came up with the ingredients for this yummy smoothie!

And the ingredients are:

Banana

Pineapple chunks 

Apple juice

Frozen blueberries

Sounds easy, doesn't it? The kids always like to make these smoothies by themselves.

We use Magic Bullet, which is a kitchen appliance I cannot live without! You can use regular blender as well. Put banana in first, then pineapple chunks, and mix. Then add just a small amount of apple juice and mix for a very short time (2 seconds).

It's time to pour it in!

Kids decided to mix some frozen blueberries in and eat it out of a bowl with spoon. I drank it out of a cup. It is also yummy with fresh raspberries or strawberries!

Lily of the Valley

This flower with tiny bell-shaped blooms, pointy green leaves, and amazingly strong smell is one of the first signs of spring. I used to walk miles to get it, now it grows in my backyard and I can't wait to pick a small bouquet that will fill our house with it's distinctive aroma! 

The plant does so well in shady location and it functions as a great ground cover. Watch out, it spreads very easily, which could be a great thing but also it could be difficult to contain or get rid of it if you needed to. 

Did you know that the flower has a Christian legend behind it? It is also known as "Our Lady's Tears" and it is said that it sprang from weeping of the Virgin Mary during the Crucifixion of Jesus. 

For me, it brings me back to when I was a little girl, spending weekends in a small cottage in a middle of a Czech forest. I can imagine the smell of the morning air after a spring night rain. Putting on my rain boots and walking next to my grandpa up the hill, old leaves crunching under our feet. When we reached the top, we could choose any direction and we were sure there would be tons of lily of the valleys everywhere. Somehow it became a small competition among the people vacationing in the same spot as we did... Who will get out there first and brings the biggest bouquet!? Everyone wanted a piece of spring in their living rooms. 

 Now, I live thousands miles away from this magical place, yet, the beautiful smell of a small bouquet of the lily of the valleys, sitting on top of my table, brings me right back to those days of simple childhood joy. 

Meet our girls!

Here they are! Our nine girls, the best we have ever had! 

We have 4 black Australorp chickens and 5 brown Isa chickens. They are so tame, letting us hold them, pat them, and one of them even follows us like a dog around the yard.

The kids love them too. They chase them, pat them and I often find them inside their coup playing school, house, and petting ZOO. And the girls are such great sports! What else could you wish for!

Oh yes, how about some eggs? Aren't these beautiful? Both of the breeds are such good egg layers! We get at least 7 eggs a day!

Our visit to the barn

Since my hard drive crashed, I wasn't able to keep up with my posts. Luckily my husband doesn't need his computer tonight so I am catching up on both blogs. 

Last week we took a trip to the Arabian Knights Farm. My very good friend Gabi volunteers there on the weekend so she was so nice to invite us and let us get up close to some beautiful animals!

Here T is being bugged by the "bosses of the petting ZOO". Apparently they are not suppose to get up there... Now you know who is the boss!

T giving a back rub to the boss! 

 

T learned how to feed the horses.  

 

He wasn't a bit scared even of the bigger horse. This is BJ taking a carrot. The carrot was big so T was allowed to feed it to him by just holding it between the fingers. B wasn't so brave and so she is hardly pictured on these...

This guy was the best. Llama and his name is Chris! Isn't it awesome!

We had some time for extra fun in the barn!

And a picture I really like! This is T and Nightlight.

Kids always enjoy a trip to meet some animals. They make amazing connections. B needs a bit more warming up to do. I hope we will be back soon!

I am linking to the the very inspiring It's a Boy's Life Blog Field Trip Friday :-)

Don't you love when Cinderella lives in your house

I love how little kids still like to clean. My kids' favorite cleaning activities include this spray bottle and also our new vacuum cleaner. There is nothing cuter when little B gets dressed up in her most beautiful dress (this one is actually her Christmas dress), tells me that we will pretend she is Cinderella, and starts cleaning. That gives me the cleaning bug!!!

 

 When T spots his sister having fun, he joins in immediately. This time he even dropped his "Cars 2 movie" (That's what he calls the story he makes up when he plays with his Cars characters - and that is a big deal)..

I sure should take advantage of this till it lasts. I wonder if he will give up something later on in life, to come and clean with me ;-)

Organizing my junk drawer

I am trying very hard to organize my life these days... And one of the main areas, my kitchen, is the first on my list. I posted pictures of organizing my pantry before and next up is the junk drawer! 

Here is the way it was before (now you understand the need):

 

 I had to first empty the whole drawer, purchase some small containers that would fit in it and decide which way to place them. This is the winner!

 

Next was to decide what should stay and what should go! I kept the most important things that I need at hand most of my days, such as - pencils, pens, permanent markers, erasable markers for my fridge calendar, toothpicks, gum, computer cleaner and sponge, scotch tapes, white out, paper clips, pins, measuring tape, tissues, matches or lighter, some houseplant food sticks, flash light, and some tools. Take a look at the difference!!!

I hope you feel as good as I did after I was finished! Now, of course, I will have to repeat this soon again (that is what happens when you have tiny people in the house try to help themselves to things in the junk drawer ;-)

Some Garden Wisdom

"All gardeners live in beautiful places

because they make them so."

Joseph Joubert

Shoe shopping with B

Yesterday, while the boys spent some quality time biking around the neighborhood, I decided to take B on a girls-only shopping spree, to get her some new (and fancy) shoes! Let me tell you, it is amazing how little girls get somehow pre-programmed to LOVE shopping. We spent two hours in Target, looking through toys, clothes, and shoes (and we bought a vacuum cleaner for mommy on top of that - yes!) and she couldn't be happier the whole time. T would have been bored out of his mind but not B. She kept on running around picking things and putting them in the shopping cart. It was very funny! And she ended up taking it like a champ when I told her that we are not able to buy the entire girl clothes section, together with all the Barbies... and bathing suits ;-)

But she LOVES her new shoes!!!

My herb garden

First let me say that I am very excited about this year in my garden! One of my ongoing projects is my herb garden and I think I am finally bringing it to the finished stage this year!!!

This is, by far, my favorite spot!

 

And this is my work in progress!I have decided to place my garden by the pond in the back of our yard. It gets enough sun and it looks very pretty there!

You can see parsley, some mint, thyme and sage there right now. Inside of my glass house I am starting basil, oregano, parsley, cilantro, dill, and chamomile (which I am super happy about growing this year. I want to make some more chamomile oil from it again). Only few more weeks and they are all coming out here! I am planning on putting rosemary into the blue pot, which means it will be probably switching places a lot, depending on how much the rosemary will grow. Right now the blue pot looks great where it is!

I will be going now to browse the web for some new info!

Happy herb gardening!

Lilac muffins recipe

Every spring I get very inspired by the flowering lilacs that grow in our front yard. Last year I made the lilac jelly and this year I wanted to make the lilac muffins. Here is the recipe:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup milk
2 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup lilac blossoms

Preheat the oven for 400 degrees... baking time will be 25 minutes.

Rinse your lilacs and try to get out all the green parts that sneaked in. Then mix together the butter, egg, sugar, and milk.

 In a different bowl mix flour, baking powder, and salt. Put this mixture in your mixing bowl and let it do it's job. When everything is well mixed, fold in the lilac blossoms.

 

Fill up the muffin cups about 3/4 up and put in the oven. Oven times may vary so keep an eye on them. Here they are!!!

I like their taste. They are not too sweet and taste almost like european style busquits. I got this recipe from the always lovely Dana at the Roscommon Acres blog. Thank you!

Easter Baskets

 

 I came home from work at midnight but nothing can stop me from putting together some cute little Easter baskets for my munchkins.

I think one little girl will be very happy!

 

And I am sure one little boy will be very excited about his gifts from Easter Bunny!

 

I used material I had at home to cover the inside of the baskets...

 

And you will love this! Did you know what is hiding inside this plastic egg? I made this myself today! What a cute idea I got from my friend!!!

 Do you like this homemade Easter grass? I made that tonight as well - all you need is paper shredder and some colorful paper!

Happy Easter!!!