A Busy Week and One Noisy Night

This past week was a full one. Emily and Bobby each had an eye appointment. Emily had her after school class  and church. She had an orthodontist appointment. And she and I attended cook book club where this month's theme was apples and pumpkins. Emily tried a new recipe for chocolate chip pumpkin bars, and to be perfectly honest, both of us were wondering if chocolate chips and pumpkin was going to be a good combo. To our surprise, they were really delicious. I mean the kind of delicious where you can't stop eating them.

This time around there were some leftovers, so Bobby tried them as well. He suggested they would be better with the addition of chocolate butter cream frosting, and since chocolate butter cream frosting is divine, I think we might just try that next time!

I also started work on some microwave bowl potholders. My sister had asked me to make six sets of the soup bowl size for her coworkers last month, and they loved them so much they asked if I had any available to purchase for their friends and family members. I use an eight inch square I made from cardboard to make sure my fabric and 100 percent cotton batting are the correct size. I then sew a piece of fabric and a piece of batting from corner to corner making an x. Next, I fold the fabric/batting piece in half and sew darts that are 1/2 inch by 1 1/2 inches. When I have two such sections don in alternating fabrics, I place them right sides together and sew around the edges leaving a small opening on the last side so I can invert them. Lastly I sew the opening shut by hand.

Mixed size set I made for my mom when she was still with us.

You can find the tutorial I used here, but you will have to change the measurements like I did if you want the shape to be right. The eight inch is for a soup bowl and definitely keeps you from getting burnt when you reheat something like chili or soup in the microwave. The ten and twelve inch  size works for serving bowls of larger sizes.

And last but not least, I read a picture book called One Noisy Night. This is a touch and feel book which is always fun for kids. All throughout the book there is a fuzzy little red stocking cap for the kids to feel. It belongs to Little Hedgehog, or does it? To find out, you'll have to read this story about Hedgehog, Fox, Rabbit, and Badger and the noise they hear in the night. The beautiful winter scenes make this a perfect book for this time of year.

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week for another exciting episode, same crazy time, same crazy channel. Also be sure to drop by Literacy Musings Mondays for more great blogs as well as my personal website Fun With Aileen where you will find more on reading, writing, and my very own chapter and picture books. And finally, you can find me on twitter  @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days.