Winnie's DIY Play Kitchen

We fit into that widening category of folks who are broke.  We live with Jake's parents and spend about 90% of our money on food.  We don't get to go shopping or out to eat often.  We don't go to the movies. BUT, we have a wonderful life where we need for nothing, nor want for anything.  We are blessed with wonderful family, friends and creativity.  We spend our time loving each other, and laughing with one another.  We have made a commitment this year to buy nothing new (unless we absolutely must).  It's more than just a fix for our money problem.  

We have boycotted Walmart for about two years.  We believe that Walmart is a huge problem in the United States that will continue to monopolize the consumer industry and take small businesses out of the scenario.  They will continue to replace the good jobs that they destroyed with part time, minimum wage jobs.  I honestly could go on and on, maybe that's a different blog post for later.  And I'm not trying to make you feel guilty for shopping at Walmart.  Honestly. ;) 

So we shopped at Target and I remained blissfully ignorant...by choice.  But it was just a matter of time before the facts and evidence of Targets corruption came spewing out into the open and I could no longer close my eyes.  I was devastated.  Where would we shop?  We chose to vote with our dollars and I was no longer willing to vote for Target.  

That's when we thought of our no new things idea.  Everything you need has already been made.  It already exists.  Even "new" fashion is a recycling of older styles.  Why not sport the real deal?!  

So here we were at Christmas and I knew that I wanted Winona to have a play kitchen.  I also knew that a new kitchen ran about $100.  Why not make one?  Exactly the way we wanted for much less.  And so we did.  Or mostly Jake did.

 We went to our local Habitat for Humanities Restore and picked up this old cabinet for $20.  What a deal!

 The refrigerator is painted with chalkboard paint so Winona can make out her grocery list.  Right?

 Meet Roy and Bunny.  They are regulars in her kitchen and she makes sure they never go hungry.

 Something we did buy new was her dishes.  Ikea has the most beautiful play kitchen dishes and cookware.  They also have quite beautiful felt food.

 This is the inside of her fridge/pantry.  Does this feel like Cribs yet?

 Oh that's just some broccoli being rinsed off in the sink.

She is in absolute heaven and I think this year is going to be a lot of fun with our new resolution of sorts.  Next year Jake is already planning on a doll house!  EEEEK

What are some resolutions that you made for this New Year?

A Little Catching Up {Photo overload}

We are back!  Things got really busy and I had to step away from the blog for a few months but we are back and running. (Yay!)  I feel as though so much has changed and I have grown in so many ways in the past few months.  We have made some incredible friends and life has gotten much busier lately.  We have had to minimize our media usage to make room for much needed family time.  We also finally got rid of our family room television!  Woo hoo!  It was something we had been working up to for over a year.  We replaced it with a beautiful (new to us) vintage stereo/turntable system that my parents gifted us for Christmas.

Fall passed us by much too quickly but we did make room in our tight schedules to relish in the autumn color and participate in fun, family festivities.

 I wish I could find the picture that we took last year right here.  She is SO much bigger now.  

 She was a garden knome for Halloween.  AHHHH it was a cute overload.

 Winona and her friend Soli.  

 These beautiful people are my parents.  My Dad and Stepmom came up to see us for Christmas and made our holiday!

 She insists on wearing these boots quite often.

Somehow, I managed to take very, very little pictures.  But I did get this gem of a photo!  We (mostly Jake) made Winona a play kitchen for Christmas.  It was from Santa.  She also got the beautiful table and chairs.  I will be doing another blogpost on the kitchen.
We are planning on making this year the best so far.  I have a lot of "resolutions" to be more positive, loving and self sufficient.  So here's to a New Year that makes 2011 hold his head in shame.
I hope your holidays were filled with loved ones, laughter and joy.  Happy New Year!

Family Portraits

We got our amazing pictures back today, taken by my dear friend Jeff.  He's an amazing photographer and an awesome friend.  He is also one of my oldest friends.  Not as in old man, but longest time. =)

I will be taking a little hiatus from blogging.  I will still blog when I find the time, but I have been feeling a bit overwhelmed lately.  If I want to continue to strive to be a supermom, something has to give.  Unfortunately my blog is on the bottom of my priority list these days as I am currently preparing for an art show at the beginning of November.  My posts will be a little more sporadic.

Consider these photos as my sincere apology.

Fashion Weekend

I am calling this post "Fashion Weekend" because it is going up so late.  We were out of town and just got back.  I didn't expect to be home so late....blah blah blah.  I slacked and its just now going up.  AWFUL!  I thought I'd extend beautiful Averie's Fashion Friday to the entire weekend!!!  

Averie's stepmother is a friend of mine from living in Atlanta.  We have both moved on from there now. Tiffany is so stylish and it surely shows in her picks for Averie's sweet wardrobe.  I am SO jealous of her Van's collection.  I have a feeling there are more where these came from.  Introducing Sweet Averie, and her Awesome stepmom, Tiffany:

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Hi.  This is Averie Luella.  She gets her beautiful middle name from her grandmother.  I take complete responsibility for Averie's wardrobe (with the help of Aves herself and her Dad's approval of course) because I can't stop shopping for her.  My husband says I have a problem.

My name is Tiffany.  I am a hairstylist at a salon called Alchemy and my husband, Todd is a numbers guy.  We live in Orlando, Fl., but couldn't be more removed from Disney.

Aves is mine thru marriage. :) Her father and I have been together since Averie was just a year old.  Since Aves has lived with him from the beginning, she immediately became a constant in my life that I wouldn't have any other way.  A purple coat and a tiny pair of Vans were the first thing I ever bought for her upon our first meeting and it's all been downhill from there.  The boots Averie is wearing have basically become her house slippers.  They are constantly appearing on her feet.  Other than that, she's pretty much a sneakerhead just like her Daddy. :)  Enjoy!

Monday

 Top & Shorts: Target

Jelly Sandals: Gap

Tuesday

 Top: Target

Skirt: Gap 1969

Sneakers: Nike AF1

Wednesday

 Top: Zara

Leggings: Nicole Miller

Sneakers: Vans x Hello Kitty

Thursday

 Tank Top: Zara

Tutu: Grandma

Boots: Target

Friday

Dress: Zara

Sneakers:Vans

Thank you Tiffany and Averie for contributing.  Winona's got some nice fashion idols!

Ginger Buttermilk Pie

Okay, So this pie is da bomb!  No.  Really.  When I first heard of a buttermilk pie, the idea of it was strange.  The reality of it is uh-maze-ing!!  Jake has me make it for cookouts and dinner parties quite often. The only downside is I rarely get to eat as much as I'd like!

 Ingredients

2 Tbsp flour

1 Cup Sugar

3 Large eggs, beaten

4 oz. unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 Cup cultured buttermilk

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp ground ginger (I use 1 1/2 in my pies)

Premade pie crust or homemade pie crust

Preheat oven to 425° F.

 Combine sugar and remaining 2 tbsp of flour, add the eggs, melted butter, buttermilk, lemon juice, and ginger.  Mix very briefly.  Don't let it get frothy.

Pour filling into pie shell and bake for 10 minutes.  Reduce the temp to 350° F and bake about 20 minutes longer, until a fork comes out clean.  Let cool for about an hour and serve at room temp.

For some reason I didn't snap a picture of the final products.  Booooo.

Craaaaaazy Girl!!

Afternoon at the Shenandoah Valley Discovery Museum

 It has been a rainy mess here for days and days.  We really felt like we had been cooped up in the house for way too long, so Saturday we took a trip to the Shenandoah Valley Discovery Museum.  We had been once before but Winona was still crawling so it wasn't nearly as much fun.  This time she was able to roam freely and play til her heart content.
They have many different rooms.  One room is set up with a ton of roller coaster attachments and a couple hundred balls.  She really loved this room because she really loves balls.  (hehe)
There is another room with a Native American yurt-like structure made of tree bark.  Inside the yurt it is set up so that you can play and pretend you are an Indian!!!  There is a little fire and beds with animal skins.
My favorite room is the hospital room with hospital beds and xrays and xray illuminator.  I love to hold the x-rays up and try to diagnose the broken bones.

Obviously we were really into the mirrors.  Winona thought it was so cool that there were so many "Mamas" and "Papas".

Overall, we had a great time.  It was well worth it for the two hours that she ran around and got some energy out.  We will surely be going back.