an interview... how exciting!

i am excited and honored to have my first interview posted on spry sprout!  miranda graciously asked for an interview... and who was i to turn down this crafty new mother?  go on over and learn a little more about me & my craft.  and learn about miranda, too!

star wars reusable baby wipes by spry sprout

miranda is amazing with all she accomplishes with a little guy just arriving a month or so ago.  her creations for babies are wonderful.  looking for a gift for someone having a baby... this is your shop! or maybe you have a little one at home and could use something for yourself... again, check her shop out. i bet you find something you just must have!

thanks for checking it out.  thanks for visiting my blog.

happy wednesday!

~ julie

inspiration location: little league baseball

keep it movin', keep it movin'...

i was out wondering around my town and looking for a spot to eat a picnic kinda lunch... i passed the little league fields where we used to spend quite a fair amount of time.  those were fun days & evenings. 

can you picture the players all excited about getting up and hitting?

it was empty when i was there... not much happening yet during the day since the kids are all still in school.  but, as i walked through the area, i could hear the kids talking, picking on each other, laughing.  i could hear the coaches helping to encourage the boys & girls to hit a good one or to catch that fly ball.

dugout & parents benches...

i can hear the parents cheering for their children.  jumping up and down when they made a great play.  talking to the other parents about too much homework, the weather, how they spend most of their time driving their munchkins from one place to the other and don't have much of a life themselves anymore...  i miss that.  it was a time when we socialized on a regular basis with other parents because we all wanted to see every great moment in our kids' lives. 

hit it over this fencing... home run, baby!!!

time flies by, and it is hard to believe it has been probably 6 years (or more?) since we spent our evenings eating hotdogs and popcorn at the fields.  yeah, there were times when we thought the coaches weren't playing our kid enough... or when our sons weren't paying attention to the game, or a few parents might get a little carried away with the game... but, these are fond times.  the moments you cherish as a parent... 

i remember when they installed these lights and we got to have NIGHT games!
the players thought they were major league when they got to play at night.

maybe your son or daughter didn't/doesn't play baseball... maybe it was soccer, volleyball, tennis, or swimming.  maybe it is ballet or chess.  but, no matter, we love those moments when we can encourage our children to step out in the world and try something on their own.  when they learn to compete and be a good winner or good loser.  to embrace the game. 

outfield distractions...

my youngest son will be graduating from high school in about 4 weeks.  we still try to go to any event he is involved in.  we hate to miss their accomplishments.  i am not sure what next year will bring for us... but i am pretty sure we will still be those parents who show up at their 'kids' events so they remember that we are proud of their hard work, that we want to see what they are accomplishing. 

a lonely ball waiting for the players to arrive and pick it up

where do you go with your children, nieces/nephews, next door neighbors?  or maybe it is your parents who you go see in art shows, sporting events, plays? 

isn't it funny how these powerful memories can make you smile and shed a tear all at the same time?

happy monday!

~ julie

in the kitchen: quinoa porridge with blueberries & pecans

quinoa porridge? porridge, really?  i know, i wasn't sure about this when i read quinoa.  quinoa for breakfast? in a porridge?  ... but,  kevin's photo looks delicious. and i am a sucker for almost anything with blueberries in it. that's just a fact.  so he has lots of good recipes on his blog closet cooking!

i like how the blueberries turn the milk purple. yum.

well, my husband wasn't feeling well... allergies, cold, some mix of those?? i thought a warm healthy breakfast might be just the ticket. it couldn't hurt, right?

this dish was so yummy! the maple syrup really added a perfect flavor to it. i added a little sugar because i forgot i put the syrup in at the beginning of cooking... so mine was a little sweet... i like sweet though. it would have been just fine without it though.

pecans sprinkled on top. 

i really like steel cut oatmeal, too. it is chewier than regular oatmeal (which i think is kind of mushy). the quinoa had the same texture as the steel cut oatmeal. i bet you could make the same recipe with oatmeal if you wanted. i thought the nuts & blueberries added a nice flavor to it as well. because spring is here and we still are having chilly mornings here or there, i enjoy a warm breakfast to keep the chill away... this was the perfect dish. plus, i get tired of the same things over and over. this gives me a little inspiration about what i might make on those mornings before summer hits, and smoothies become the breakfast of choice. give it a try...

i know this would be even better with fresh from the farm blueberries! oh, i might have to make this in late june when we go out picking blueberries... even if it is hot outside! 

let me know what you think about this porridge recipe...

happy monday!

~ julie

hobo bag, take 1

i discovered bags, the modern classics: clutches, hobos, satchels & more by sue kim. i love this book of handbag patterns. so far i have copied all the patterns onto tracing paper so they are all ready when i get my fabrics picked out... and i have made the hobo bag for a friend.

hobo bag made with fabric from sweetwater

i added some pockets on the inside.

i think it turned out rather cute myself. lots of polka dots never hurt anything. *smile*

i thought it needed something on the side and wasn't sure what to do, but ended up making a fabric flower and centering it with a wonderful red button i found at the store last week.

lovely fabric flower.

i have decided that i would like to try two fabrics on the outside paneling of the bags, so i will be designing a modified version of this bag this coming week. i promise to post some photos once i am done.

on a different note all together... my daughter and her husband bought their first house last week and we spent all day saturday helping them prep the wood floors by sanding, cleaning, sanding the moulding, and painting one of the rooms... we stopped there only because the day was drawing to a close... there are other rooms to be painted, but that will be this week. do you remember getting your first home? are you still living there? are you dreaming of that? it is exciting... even when it's your daughter's. it is the cutest house. i think it is cottage-like. i think that is what i will call it... their cottage.

 happy friday!

~ julie