Boo Boo Bears

As a little girl, I remember my mom sewing "corn bags." She took denim and another heavy, striped fabric and created a little pillow shape a bit larger than a half sheet of paper. It was filled with field corn. Mom made many bags and gave them as Christmas gifts to relatives that year, along with instructions about putting them in the microwave and creating a heat pack, or storing them in the freezer to use as a cold pack.

I still use my corn bag as an adult, as do my 2 children when they have tummy aches. Well, one day I was thinking about how the corn bag was a bit large and heavy for my little ones to carry around, so I decided to make smaller bags and fill them with dried rice. As I thought more about it, I decided that a heart or a bear shape would be fun. That is how the boo boo bears were created.

I am not an expert sewer, and so I was pretty proud to come up with this idea and then make it actually happen the way that I wanted it to happen!

The kids love their bears and sleep with them every night. We warm the bears in the microwave for a minute, and they snuggle their warm friends to sleep. Maybe we should rename them sleepytime bears...

I also love that they are recycled from daddy's old pair of jeans. Earth-friendly and cheap! These bags are pretty basic to make, but I would be happy to explain in more detail about the whole process if someone needs more specifics.

CSAs and Peppermint Tea

Have you heard of CSAs? It means Community Sustained Agriculture.

I love my CSA! We pay for a share of the crops and receive a good bushel-sized share of locally-grown organic food each week. This year I am loving the addition of the fresh boquets of flowers and the pick-your-own items.

The kids are crazy about making peppermint tea with the mint leaves. It is so easy and is a very refreshing, caffine-free drink.
Here is the recipe:

Peppermint Tea

Very hot water
15-20 mint leaves

Steep for a few minutes. Remove leaves. Drink cold.

How simple is that! I have been using my 8 cup measuring bowl to heat water in the microwave. The kids pull the leaves off of the stems and place them into a bowl. I dump and stir the leaves into the steaming water where they steep for a few minutes. After fishing out the leaves, we fill our glasses with ice and pour in the tea. Then it's time to drink the cold, minty goodness. Ahhhh!

I will try to attach a picture (that includes the peonies from the CSA as well) of the mint leaves steeping in the hot water...

I did it! :)

Construction Season Has Begun!

Well, I have offically started a blog. Yea! I am currently reading some amazing blogs that I will tell you about later. Right now my focus is to figure out how to complete the design and settings and to figure out how to run this thing! Always a life long learner, and this is one of my current endeavors...
Please visit again, as I will eventually have something to share. :)