Author - Lorri

Pinterest Win: Shower Grout

I love me some Pinterest! Have you heard of the blogs that feature Pinterest fails?  They are kind of funny, but sometimes it seems like the person was deliberately trying to fail. I have to admit, there are a number of pins that I’ve seen that make me think, “Yeah, right.  There is no way I’m going to pull off those projects.” But I’ve actually tried some of the other ideas I’ve found. So I thought I’d start a series of posts highlighting my Pinterest Wins.

To start us off  is the idea to use cotton coil (found in beauty supply stores) and bleach to clean shower grout. The original idea can be found here: Getting Mold Out of the Shower.  I rarely use bleach at all – it stinks and it can ruin anything it touches.  But showers sometimes need that level of help.  Like mine…grout beforeSo I did pretty much what the original link said: line your icky shower grout with cotton coil and gently pour bleach over the cotton coil.  Here’s a hint from me- get a cheap squeeze bottle to help control where the bleach goes.  Use a Q-tip to push the cotton right up against the grout.  Wait a while, check the progress, remove when done.  That’s it!  It works because the cotton coil keeps the bleach in constant contact with the grout, instead of it running down the drain.

grout after

What do you think? Easy and cheap, that makes it a Win!

I ended up getting cotton coil through Amazon.com as an add-on item after I’d forgotten for the bazillionth time to stop by Sally’s Beauty Supply while I was at Target (they are in the same parking lot).Grout Collage1

Strawberry Pie Goodness

Yum!

Note: This is a repost from June 2007.  This recipe for strawberry pie is just too good not to share again!

My Mom is a Baker, with a capital B. There were always baked goods in our house. I think her love language must of have been Baking Sweets. Luckily, my Dad’s love language appears to be Eating Baked Love Offerings.

Of all the things that my Mom baked, one of my all time favorites is her strawberry pie. One of the major advantages of living in California is that it is a veritable cornucopia of strawberry goodness. Philip and I had the good fortune to live in the same region once during strawberry season, taking advantage of the bounty with many a pie.

Suzanne at Blessed Among Men and Kristen of Small Treasures hosted a Strawberry Festival on June 27, 2007  on their cooking blog The Virtual Kitchen.  In honor of the occasion, I shared my mom’s strawberry pie recipe. Besides, any opportunity to combine SAT vocabulary words and overused blogisms into a phrase like “veritable cornucopia of strawberry goodness” is too good to pass up.

My Favorite Strawberry Pie

Print
Strawberry Glace Pie

Strawberry Glace Pie

Ingredients

  • 1 pastry shell (frozen from the store or make your own)
  • 8 cups medium strawberries
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons cornstarch

Instructions

  1. Bake pastry shell according to directions/recipe.
  2. Meanwhile, remove stems from strawberries. Cut any large strawberries in half lengthwise; set aside.
  3. For glaze, in a blender container or food processor bowl, combine 1 cup of the strawberries and 2/3 cup water. (*note from me-if you don't have enough fresh strawberries, you can use frozen strawberries for the glaze. Just make sure you defrost them first.) Cover and blend or process till smooth. Add enough additional water to the mixture to equal 1 1/2 cups.
  4. In a medium saucepan combine sugar and cornstarch; stir in blended berry mixture.
  5. Cook and stir over over medium heat till mixture is thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 2 minutes more.
  6. Cool for 10 minutes without stirring.
  7. Spread about 1/4 cup of the glaze over bottom and sides of baked pastry shell.
  8. Arrange half of the remaining strawberries, stem end down, in the pastry shell.
  9. Carefully spoon half of the remaining glaze over fruit, thoroughly covering each piece of fruit.
  10. Arrange remaining fruit over first layer.
  11. Spoon remaining glaze over fruit, covering each piece.
  12. Chill for 1 to 2 hours.
  13. Eat up the whole thing or the filling may begin to water out. It still tastes delicious, though.
https://themacandcheesechronicles.com/2013/07/05/strawberry-goodness/

 

Pinterest and Pumpkin Girl

We let Pumpkin Girl get a Pinterest account.  I am so glad we did.

She’d been saving pictures from the internet that she loved and she always shared her favorites with me.  One day it dawned on me that she would really enjoy Pinterest.  I was right.

As a condition to her having an account, I follow all of her boards.  I love the insight that this gives me.  The quotes that she finds inspiring, the tons of ballet pictures, the cute animals – all of these things that have meaning to my sweet daughter.  Sometimes she tags me to make sure I see something.  Other times she’ll ask if I saw a pin and she’ll make a point to show me.  It is just one way to connect with her through technology.

One of my favorite of her boards is the one she calls “Things me or my family have done.”  I especially love the captions she writes.

pinterest Collage 2

 

Pinterest Collage1

Another is her “So me” board.pinterest Collage 3

Technology can seem so cold and impersonal, but this is one instance where we have used it to become closer.  A small glimpse into Pumpkin Girl’s world that might not be accessible to me.  I’ll take it!

*Please note that Pumpkin Girl approved of this post.

 

 

Owl Puffs

I haven’t done a lot of knitting since I hurt my thumb.  It is mostly better, but it likes to act up now and then.  But before that, I made these little owl puffs.

OwlPuffs2

Oh, the cute!!

They took less than two hours to knit, stuff and put on the eyes.  The instructions said to embroider the beaks but after about 5 tries, I gave up and used felt.  Because really, ain’t nobody got time for that.  And how much do you love me for saying that? The yarn is I Love This Cotton (from Hobby Lobby) in Spring Ombre and pink. I gave one owl to Pumpkin Girl and the other I sent to a friend.  The pattern if free on Ravelry here: Owl Puffs!

These little guys are everything that makes a good summer project -  FREE pattern, quick, easy, cute results.  And the yarn was cheap but soft.  Doesn’t get better than that!  Mad owl making skillz, I has them. (Loving me again, aren’t you?)

 

A Month of Instagram – June

June Collage 2

1.  I guess the box was better than the toy inside.

2. and 3.  First s’mores of the season

4.  Playing Mr. Potato Head with daddy

5.  Selfie with baby.  No duck lips.

6. Mr Potato is all set for Disneyland

7.  Helping Boo do pushups

8.  What kind of person would draw a mustache on the baby?!?

9.  Bip and Pipsqueak watching videos in Bip’s iPad nook.

Efficient Summer

Heat Miser with MinionsIt’s summer.  Blech.  I’ve said it many times before, but I am not a summer person.  Too hot, too sweaty, not enough air conditioning.  Shorts make my knees look chubby.  It’s like I’ve got Heat Miser and his minions dancing around my house. And apparently, my state now has a tendency to burst into flames.

But I will make the best of it.  I have decided to be Efficient this summer!  I am going to Get Things Done!  I have…A Plan, and it’s a good one.

Mainly it is sitting on the back deck, drinking iced tea and hanging out on Facebook.

Ok, not really.  Summer of Sloth II is Boo’s plan, which I delight in thwarting daily. My Efficient Summer Plan involves having one focus area for each week of summer.  Like so…

Week 1. Basement, Round 1
Week 2.Work on the blog (have you noticed?), work on projects with Bip
Week 3 Refine the housekeeping schedule, such as chore assignments. Pumpkin Girl projects
Week 4 Basement, Round 2, Work on projects with Bip
Week 5. Home Ec with the kids
Week 7. Prep for coming school year, Pumpkin Girl Projects, prep for upcoming cruise
Week 6.  Craft Room, Projects with Bip
Week 8.  Home Ec with Kids.

I’m on week 3 now.  I’m sure my minions are extra thrilled with this one!  Too bad, we wouldn’t want them living the Life of Riley now, would we?  Or having me talk to the walls?

So basically, I’m getting to all the need-tos and should-haves that have been building up, along with tackling some projects that I’ve promised to do with or for Pumpkin Girl and Bip.  Also, they decided they wanted to learn to cook and bake.  Or I decided, I can’t remember which.  And that pretty much takes up the summer.  I might have one more week in there, depending on when Pumpkin’s dance studio starts their Fall schedule.

How about you?  Anything as thrilling as I have planned?

Buh bye, Google Reader

Dissatisfied-SmileySo yeah, Google Reader is going away. I find that to be super annoying because I don’t like change when things are going well. But this being a rather minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of life , I will adapt.

Actually, I already have. I’m using Feedly now, which has an app for my mobile devices or I can read on the big computer by logging into their site.  If you are using Google Reader, you need to find another way to get your blogs before July 1. Feedly is nice and easy and will import your Google Reader feeds without much fuss.

 

Passporter’s Walt Disney World guidebook and giveaway

*note: The giveaway is over and the winners have been notified*

So…you’re going to Walt Disney World! A trip of a lifetime, right? An expensive trip of a lifetime! You want to get the most out of this vacation, spending your money wisely while enjoying all that Disney has to offer.

You do a search for Disney planning and you are instantly overwhelmed by the choices. What the heck is an ADR? What is a touring plan? Are these paid planning sites worth it? Who has the time to cull all of the tips out there into one cohesive document?

You slowly step away from the computer and wonder if this whole Disney vacation is going to be entirely too stressful even just to plan.

I get that. PassPorterCoverIt can be stressful. Disney is expensive. And crowded. And hot. But there is help. (Well, not so much for the heat.) Let me introduce to you Passporter. Passporter is the Ultimate Disney Planning Guide. If you’re like me and prefer to sit down with a book, highlighter and sticky-note flags, you will love Passporter. Passporter has planning guides for Walt Disney World, the Disney Cruise Line and Disneyland. This week I am focusing on their WDW guide.

Passporter’s Walt Disney World guide takes you through everything you need to know to plan this trip of a lifetime. They review all of the on-site hotels and resorts, all the rides, all the restaurants. They walk you through all the dining reservations you may need. They include touring plans of all the parks and explain why you even need them. If you are still in the pre-planning stages of your trip, they have a crowd chart to help you decide when you might want to go. (And you know what, I take it back about the heat.  There is a chart of average temps in Orlando by month.)PassPorterResort

We are Disney People, but we go mostly to Disneyland. So when we were started planning our first trip to WDW in 2007, I was pretty clueless. I turned to Passporter’s Walt Disney World to plan our whole trip. We went with my cousin and his family – four adults and 5 children who ranged in age from 2 to 9. Using the advice in the Passporter guide, we were able to plan an enjoyable vacation for everyone.  Even after we had arrived, we decided to try a character meal and out came my Passporter to help us decide which one.
PassPorterRestaurant

What else can you possibly need? Full color pages? Got ’em. Worksheets for your notes and travel details? Yep. Fold-out maps of each park? Oh yeah! Tips for teens? Tips for tweens? Tips for kids and toddlers? But of course! Not only that, these tips are for kids, by kids!
PassPorterRides

It really can’t get any better, can it? How about built-in folders (called PassPockets) for you to store tickets, receipts and other paper souvenirs! And each folder has space for you to log your day, confirmation numbers, money spent and thoughts for your next trip.
PassPocket

Can you see why I love Passporter guides?

I have 3, count them THREE, WDW Passporter guides (spiral bound) to give away. These guides are the 2013 version, which have been expanded for use all through 2014.  There will be 3 winners, each will receive one book.

You can find the easy to use entry form at the bottom of this post.

Contest will run from June 20, 2013 until June 26, 2013 at 11:59 PM, MDT.  Winners will be notified by email and have until June 30 to provide me with a mailing address or an alternate winner will be chosen.

Oh, and Passporter provided me three free copies of their Walt Disney World guide book in return for this review.

You can visit the PassPorter.com site where you will find a whole community of  friendly people who can answer your questions as you plan your trip.  You can also check out all the other books that PassPorter publishes, most of which are also available as e-books.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

First Communion, Bip’s Turn

Last month it was Bip’s turn to receive his First Holy Communion. Our sweet, funny little guy was a bit nervous and excited – just like his mama!  He seems so much smaller than Boo was at his first communion, but Bip wore Boo’s old suit, so apparently they are the same size.

He didn’t really want to wear a suit at all.  But after much glaring and threatening…er, sympathetic nods and patient understanding…he agreed.  He felt better when he saw that some of the other boys in his class wore suits, too.

BipCommunionBanner(r)

It was Pentecost Sunday, so the church was still bedecked in red from Confirmation two days before.  Funny enough, I made my first communion on Pentecost, too, all those years ago.BipAndFatherCommunion

Here we are at the Our Lady of Lourdes grotto at our church. Let us focus on how nice we all look, and not on the fact that Pumpkin is taller than me.

FamilyMaryGrotto

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