March, 2009 | Crafty Dad

Son No. 1 Brings Home a Baby

Posted on March 20, 2009 Written by Mike 3 Comments

Oh Lord no….not a real baby! It’s his weekend project for the HomeEc class all the 8th graders have to take. His name is Samuel and he’s a cute little guy. He ‘came to life’ late this afternoon and was very hungry. DS1 says, “When is he going to stop eating? He’s been eating for, like, twenty minutes.” LOL! I replied, “Hmmm, babies are like that. You’ll just have to see what happens.” DS1 rolls his eyes. I’m lovin’ it!

Baby Samuel. DS1′s Weekend School Project

I think this is an excellent way for teens to find out what a TINY slice of baby care is all about. DS1 has to feed it, burp it, change its pants (that’ll be a good one!) and make sure that Samuel’s head is supported. Samuel has his own car seat and a ~~makeshift~~ ugly diaper bag.

Baby Samuel after his first feeding.

Ahhhh, I remember those days.

DS1, DS2 and I have a barbershop appointment in the morning. We will have to take Samuel along for the ride. I can just see the funky looks on the old codgers’ faces at the barber shop. DS1 is going to be red-faced with embarrassment for sure. But…life is tough sometimes, you know? Me: Oh, I am looking forward to this weekend project with great anticipation. Really, I am.

I‘m sure that DS1 will be a great dad.

Filed Under: kids, projects, school projects

Spring Is In The Air

Posted on March 20, 2009 Written by Mike Leave a Comment

Tulips in the landscape border at home (last Spring).

It’s official: today is the first day of Spring. And boy are we ready for it. It has been a long, long winter my blogger friends. Too long if you ask me.

Sping is official not so much because the calendar says so, but because the Robins and Red-Winged Blackbirds are back. Their lively morning and evening songs tell me that warmer weather is on the way. And the daffodils and tulips have popped up from their winter homes once again. Amazing stuff when you think about it.

Right now it’s a brisk 29 degrees outside, but I have great faith that the cold temps will soon be a thing of the past and I will once again feel the warm sunshine on my face.

Wishing you a very First Day of Spring!

Filed Under: rambling, Spring

The Wearin’ of the Green

Posted on March 17, 2009 Written by Mike 1 Comment

Happy St. Patty’s dad bloggers! Are you wearing green? Or…do you enjoy being pinched?

The wife and I started the day out with McCann’s Quick Cooking Irish Oatmeal. It’s good stuff. One cup of oatmeal to two cups of milk made PLENTY for the two of us. I added raisins, flax seed, a sprinkle of sugar and a bit of milk to my bowl. Yummy. A great way to start any day!

Enjoy your day and may the Luck of the Irish be with you!

Learn more about this fun holiday here.

Filed Under: Cooking, Food

It Takes a Village

Posted on March 16, 2009 Written by Mike Leave a Comment

Yes….and some days it takes slightly more than a village. You have days like these, too, huh? Yeah. Thought so.

Just another manic Monday. Almost over. Looking forward to Tuesday.

Photo credit: Helio (on flickr.com). By Creative Commons license.

Filed Under: rambling

Football Cards For Sale

Posted on March 12, 2009 Written by Mike Leave a Comment

Hey bloggers! Just a quick heads-up: Little Guy (my 8 year old) is going to be putting lots and lots of football cards up for sale on eBay. He will have some ‘sneak preview’ pictures on my blog in the next few days.

Gather your kids and grand-kids around so they can take advantage of this great opportunity. Prices will be great and shipping will be more than fair.

Hope you can stop by.

Thanks!

Filed Under: kids

For the Love of Babies and Baby Bibs

Posted on March 9, 2009 Written by Mike 1 Comment

Hey….I have another reason to make baby bibs. My cousin Amy had a baby girl justa few weeks ago. Her name is Mya (that’s A-M-Y with the letters re-arranged). How cool is that?

Here’s my Little Guy holding Mya at the

birthday party we attended on Saturday.

And this is “Mr. Teenager” holding her.

It’s great to have a new baby in the family and it gives me great pleasure to make some itty-bitty baby bibs. Here are the three that I made and gifted this past weekend.

Hearts, Frogs and some Japanese Fabric bibs.

A closer look.

Filed Under: bib, kids, parties

Green Smoothie

Posted on March 9, 2009 Written by Mike 3 Comments

Several weeks ago I bought a VitaMix blender. Wow! Talk about commercial grade. That baby is built. And very powerful.

I bought the blender because I KNOW I don’t eat like I should. And…I came across a lot of information on Twitter and the Web about Green Smoothies. They are full of vitamins and minerals and they are super quick to make, and they taste good too!

So….I pulled out my credit card, dialed VitaMix’s toll-free number and bought one. The customer service rep was great. Within two days, it was on my doorstep. Like magic.

Here’s my recipe for a great-tasting Green Smoothie.

6 whole strawberries (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 – 1/2 cup of fresh pineapple
1/4 cup frozen mixed berries (strawberries, raspberries, etc.)
1 banana (cut in 3-4 chunks)
1 cup spinach leaves (or kale)*
1 cup ice cubes

Add to VitaMix blender in order listed above.

Have blender set on variable speed. Turn on blender and quickly increase from 0 – 9, then switch from variable to high for about 1 minute. You may need to use the plastic push-stick to make sure all the ingredients get down into the blades so they are pulverized and blended to a nice smooth consistency.

Turn the machine off and pour yourself a fantastic, healthy smoothie.

*I’ve made smoothies with kale and spinach. I prefer the spinach. Kale has a stronger taste that you have to hide with all the fruits. But hey, you be the judge.

VitaMix has tons of recipes on their website, and there are lots of other sources for smoothies on the web. Just search for “smoothie” or “green smoothie” and see what I mean.

Enjoy!

P.S. The VitaMix makes the BEST chocolate milk shakes, too. Just ask my boys.

Filed Under: Cooking, recipes, VItaMix

Two Very Creative Blogs

Posted on March 5, 2009 Written by Mike 3 Comments

Leave it to the one-and-only Martha Stewart and an ex-MSL magazine executive (editorial director) to come up with some really clever blogs.

Martha’s blog has gone to the dogs (literally). Her two French bull dogs, Francesca and Sharkey now have their own dog blog. Yes, it’s true. Go check them out.

Another Martha Stewart original. It’s a “good thing”.

And…staying with the animal theme, Margaret Roach has launched (no pun intended) a Frog Blog. Hop on over and see what I mean.

It’s a Frog Blog!

Enough of these witty little quips. I better get some work done.

Have a creative day. Seriously: go make something.

P.S. I have a second-cousin who turns five this weekend. I’m making him a sports-themed tote bag out of some re-purposed kiddo curtains I found at the thrift store yesterday. I really hope my idea works. If it does, I’ll be sure to put a photo or two here for you to see. If it flops? Pretend like I never mentioned this, okay?

Filed Under: blogs, Margaret Roach, Martha Stewart