Homemade Hummingbird Food

Today we made homemade hummingbird food and I am looking forward to watching the hummingbirds come and enjoy.  It was such an easy thing to make so I thought I would share how.

Homemade Hummingbird Food
4 cups of water
1 cup of sugar
hummingbird food container

Place water into a pot.  Buddy loves measuring things and the water was no exception.

Bring the 4 cups of water to boil.  I did this part and kept Buddy and Sweetpea out of the kitchen.  Once the water is boiling, turn off the heat to keep too much water from boiling out of the pot and messing up the 4 to 1 ratio. 

Pull the pot off the heat and measure 1 cup of sugar into the water.  Stir until the sugar is dissolved.

Cool completely in the refrigerator and pour into the hummingbird feeder.

Hang up and enjoy!

Motherhood is a Calling

Desiring God has a blog post that I think every mom should read...so enjoy!

Motherhood is a Calling (And Where Your Children Rank)

Life Science Lesson

First off, I have to apologize for my absence from blogging this past week.  Our church had our Vacation Bible School last week and, between preparing for each night and VBS itself, I decided to take a small break.

This past week though, our family made the awesome discovery that a hummingbird has made a nest on our wind chimes and is currently waiting on eggs to hatch.  Buddy has loved watching the momma bird sit on the nest from inside our front door and wanted to know why she flies away when we go outside.  I can't wait for little baby hummingbirds to hatch and to show Buddy as they grow.  Sweetpea is even fascinated by the birds as well.  Here is a close up picture of the nest.

 We couldn't get any pictures of the eggs since the nest is too close to our roof to get the correct angle but, trust me, there are very small eggs inside the nest.  I have to laugh at this photo though because as Jon was taking the up close photo, the mama hummingbird came swooping in towards Jon and almost flew into his head.  We all went back inside fairly quickly and she immediately sat back down on her nest.

I think this is such a great life science lesson as we get to watch this nest first hand.  Hopefully Buddy and Sweetpea enjoy this as much as I will!  I promise to update when we have baby hummingbirds!

Rice Bag

I recently finished making Jon a rice bag for his back and he is loving it.  A rice bag is an easy and wonderful way to help ease muscle aches.  It is not very fancy but it serves a great purpose and I would not have survived the later months of my first pregnancy without one.  Here is how to make one for yourself.

Materials needed:
1 lb or larger bag of rice
about a 1/4 yard of fabric

First decide how large you want your rice bag to be.  Normally when I make these, I make them about 12 inches by 6 inches but Jon wanted his to be larger.  His rice bag is 20 inches by 10 inches which is quite huge, but just what he wanted.  Cut two rectangles that are the same size.

Second, match the right sides together so that the bag is inside out.  Serge stitch three sides completely.  Stitch the fourth side most of the way but leave about an inch to fill with rice.  Turn the bag right side out.

Third, using a funnel, pour the rice into the bag.  The bag should not be completely full as you need room for it to bend and flex.  In the smaller bags, I use approximately one pound of rice but for Jon's huge bag, I used five pounds.  Tip:  If you do not have a funnel, twist a piece of paper into a funnel shape and use that to guide the rice in.

Fourth, stitch the bag closed, making sure that the openings are completely closed.  I serge stitched the entire top of the bag just to be on the safe side.

Finally, heat the rice bag in the microwave and place on your back or wherever you have aches and pains.  Enjoy the nice lasting heat!

Meeting in a Parking Lot

Today, Sweetpea had her 15 month check up at the doctor.  This meant we had a pretty hectic morning of trying to get everyone up and dressed and out the door.  It also meant that I was pretty short tempered with Buddy and Sweetpea when they wanted to play instead of putting on clothes and shoes. 
Sweetpea had a great appointment and as we were in the parking lot headed to our car, a sweet lady smiled at me and said "Enjoy them now while they are young and soak it all up."  I then noticed she had tears in her eyes and I stopped walking. 
She smiled through the tears and went on to say that her 21 year old daughter is in the hospital fighting cancer.  They need a miracle for her to make it through this.  She looked at Buddy and Sweetpea and talked about her daughter at a younger age.  I told her that I would be praying for her and her daughter and tried not to tear up myself.  This woman that I just met turned and said, "You are a great mom, I can tell.  Just keep up the hard work and enjoy them through every moment."  She then walked away back inside the hospital building.  I put Buddy and Sweetpea into their car seats and kissed both their foreheads. 
Each time that I felt frustrated this afternoon, I took a deep breath and remembered this short conversation. Suddenly the little frustrations weren't so bad and I stopped and prayed for the daughter going through cancer treatments.  I needed that big reminder today to cherish each moment with my children and I know that this will stick with me for a long time to come.

Fourth of July

Happy 4th of July!  I just wanted to share the crafts that Buddy and Sweetpea made to celebrate and decorate our house.  First, they colored the 3D Stars from DLTK's Growing Together.

Both had lots of fun coloring red, white, and blue although Buddy did ask why the white crayon was not working. 

Here are the finished stars standing on our kitchen table.

 Buddy made the Salt Absorbing Fireworks from I Can Teach My Child.  He had fun helping make the glue designs and sprinkling the salt.

 But he was most excited to squirt the colored dyes all over the glue.  The paper was soaked but very colorful. 

I hope you have a Happy 4th of July!

4th of July Healthy Popsicles

Today, Buddy, Sweetpea, and I made Red White and Blue popsicles to help beat the heat this Fourth of July weekend.  The best part about these treats is not only are they yummy, they are also really healthy. 

Here is how we made them.

Red White and Blue Popsicles

What You'll Need:

Plain Yogurt

sliced Strawberries

Blueberries

sliced Bananas

Sugar

Popsicle molds

Food Processor

Blend yogurt and banana in the food processor and pour back into bowl.  Blend yogurt and strawberries in the food processor with a little bit of sugar to taste.  Blend yogurt and blueberries in food processor with a little bit of sugar to taste.  Pour in layers into popsicle molds. 

Freeze...it took ours about 5 hours to completely set up.

And enjoy!