she and whim

The boys are doodle bug (and general animal) loving fanatics. Now that spring is here, they are on the hunt every day. They miss their doodle bugs at night or when they drop them and can’t find those little guys again. My favorite was when my youngest came shuffling out of his room the other morning, shoulders stooped, and I asked what was wrong. He said in his little 2 year old voice, “I miss Sweetie. She was my doodle bug last night. I dropped her on the deck and she fell down the crack. *sigh* She was a wife.” :D And he shuffled to the kitchen all sad. So after all this heartache, we decided to make some doodle bugs to keep in the house to play with too, just in case we need an emergency buddy.

We had to do serious doodle bug research for this project, so we decided the best doodle bugs were at the park! So we headed out…

…only to find a hungry tree that gobbled them up! After a quick escape, there was lots of exploring, playing, and finally some doodle bug hunting. Then we found one!

And don’t even think about taking that doodle bug away – or that cheetah in his pocket. :)

The next day I made a quick pattern (that you can use too). It’s just a simple line drawing in 4 sizes (a dad, mom, kid and baby, as requested by my guys). I cut the grey fabric from the pattern, then cut strips of striped material and sewed them to the bottom of each grey piece. Then I stitched them together leaving a hole at the bottom. These are the bugs, some inside out and some partially stuffed. I like the striped fabric, the black being their many little legs :)

And action shots of the fellows… one serious and the other, not so much.

After they stuffed them, I stitched closed, and then Mr. 5 year old drew the stripes and eyes on with a grey fabric marker. I’m glad we made so many because 4 have already disappeared!

We also made a set for their cousin’s 2nd birthday. Hope he enjoys them as much as my guys do :)

Yay for doodle bugs!!

{design © claire sneau : for personal use only}

Swedish Wafle Day is almost here! This Saturday, March 25th!! Yes, it’s a real reason to make waffles! :) And here is our favorite swedish waffle recipes from our 1947 swedish cookbook (given to me by my great friend, Candy)…

CRISP CREAM WAFFLES

1 1/3 cups flour

1/2 cup water

1 3/4 cups heavy cream

3 tablespoons melted butter

Beat cream stiff. Sift in flour, add cold water and stir until well blended. Then carefully stir in melted butter. Heat waffle iron slowly; brush generously with butter. Pour in a few tablespoons of batter and bake until golden. Place on rack to keep crisp. Serve with coffee or as a dessert with jam and sugar. (We have ours with real maple syrup.)

And for my sweet one with allergies and my gluten and lactose intolerant hub – it’s Van’s gluten-free waffles – yum! Am I so thankful for them (the waffles and my guys)!

Happy Swedish Waffle Day!

Mr. Handsome (5 yr old) got his new specs last week!

I asked if he could see so much better and he said, “Mommy! I can see your eyes so clear and I couldn’t before.” Melt my heart! xoxo

Spring has sprung here! And did we have a downpour last night – I was so thankful (and surprised) everyone slept through the thunder. The kids recently decorated our front windows with their Crayola Window Markers (and some of the wall by Mr. 2 year old, but we won’t count that). I love that their doodles were so springy. We’ll be keeping these up for a while!

Here’s Isaiah 40:31!

“but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

I’m excited about our kids learning this one. It’s their Pop’s favorite verse, AND my most favorite band, MuteMath, has a song that goes with it perfectly. It’s Peculiar People and you can play it below. Did you know that my man and I went to their Dallas concert?! It was fantastic! Every time I see this pic I can’t believe I was actually there! :)

	Mute Math – Peculiar People
	Found at Genius MP3 Music Search Engine

{design © claire sneau : for personal use only}

Maybe I’m alone, but when I want to remake a yum recipe, it’s a pain to go find it in all my cookbooks and cooking magazines. And sometimes I flip through my cookbooks and find one I completely forgot about. I’ve bookmarked, torn out, and copied recipes elsewhere, but that took loads of time and wasn’t very organized. Does that happen to you?

But then I had an idea for this recipe finder where I can scribble down the recipe name, location, page, and some notes! Now I have a quick reference to find those great recipes my family keeps wondering if I’ll ever make again ;)

The header is blank so you can categorize however you’d like. Maybe a “chocolate” category is better than just “desserts”!

I printed on bright white, smooth, 80# cover (card stock) and used my round corner punch after printing. You can also paperclip your various pages, or punch a hole and use a post screw to keep them all together.

I hope this helps you get those “nummies” (as my youngest calls it) whipped up and on the table!

Let me know how it works out for you, or if you have any suggestions. :)

{design © claire sneau : for personal use only}

Our family has been memorizing Bible verses for several months. Every week or two I pick a verse (sometimes influenced by an upcoming holiday) and design it to be relevant with the content. Every word is on a separate piece of paper and I hide them around our living and dining room… then each kid takes a turn finding a word! Then my oldest gets her Bible, looks up the verse, and they all help put the words in order. We use poster putty to stick each word on our front door. I love this because they are all able to participate (my kids range from 2-9yrs), it’s a game, the design helps make memorizing easier, it promotes great discussions, and best of all, they’re hiding God’s word in their hearts! And I’ve made it digital so you can print it too. This week’s verse is Psalm 32:8! “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.”:)

I print on 80# cover (card stock), smooth, bright white paper, and cut out with my Fiskar scissors.

P.S. In the past I’ve handwritten and cut each image/word out freehand. I’ll re-do our past verses in a digital format later, and post so you can have those too. :)

{design © claire sneau : for personal use only}

I became an aunt (for the 4th time!) last December to sweet baby Hazel. She’s my sister Cate’s first baby and she’s a cutie! (See more pics of the quilt and Hazel on Cate’s photography blog.) They live in Denver so I made her a crib quilt that shows their love of the mountains. There’s a climbing wall in her nursery! You can never start too early ;)

I hope she has fun finding the little feet under the tent flap! xoxo