Bubbles

04/22/2013

homemade bubble solution - myMCMlife.com

Have you ever made your own bubble solution? It’s cheap, very easy and makes awesome bubbles! I’ve seen a lot of pins on Pinterest with homemade bubble recipes but this is the one I tried. I cut the recipe in half and used Dawn dish soap and light corn syrup. I found it to be too thick so I added more water.

With one breath and a simple little 1″ bubble wand, I can make 20-40 bubbles! Ali is thrilled. We’ll never be wasting our money on the “miracle” watery bubble solution at the store again. I’m hoping to try this out with a bigger bubble wand soon. Even with my little wand, I can get a bubble about 4″ in diameter.

Usually we do bubbles outside but sometimes if Ali is well behaved in the tub (in other words, not soaking me with splashing…) I’ll reward her with bubbles in the tub.

homemade bubble solution - myMCMlife.com

Dog photo bomb! (By the way, Ali is not crying in the background, she’s gasping/laughing because of the bubbles popping around her face. No children were harmed in the making of these photos. 😉 However… Warning: it’s soapy and it will sting the eyes. She tends to get it on her hands from exuberant bubble decimation and then sometimes rubs her eyes.)

homemade bubble solution - myMCMlife.com

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4 Comments | Art, Art: crafts, Family, Family: Precious/Ali | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

Raggedy Ann Brown

07/23/2012

My mother-in-law recently made Precious a special, crocheted Raggedy Ann doll. She customized Ann with caramel brown skin, just like Precious. I decided she should be named Raggedy Ann Brown. That is, until Precious makes up her own name for her doll. I could hardly snap one picture of her before Precious made her way over to grab her.

She especially likes Ann Brown’s red nose…

and she likes to make out with her, giving her big open mouth kisses.

Thank you, Grandma K!

Leave a Comment » | Art, Art: crafts, Family, Family: Precious/Ali | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

Homemade Baby Food

01/24/2012

It sounds really complicated but really Homemade Baby Food is just fancy words for softened (steamed, baked, mashed), blended food frozen into small portions. It’s easy and it’s inexpensive. For Christmas, Precious got this wonderful Baby Bjorn bib that my friend recommended. It’s made from a stiff silicon-ish material so the food catching lip doesn’t collapse. Also, the neck is adjustable so it will fit for a while. Perfect for Precious’ reintroduction to solid foods. (We started on rice cereal at 4 months old but neither of us was really ready yet. Now, at 6 months she’s ready. And I am, too.)

She also got some great Oxo Tot baby food freezing containers for Christmas. Oxo is my all-time favorite kitchen gadget brand. This Oxo Tot freezer tray pretty much just looks like any old ice cube tray but it has a lid—a pretty green lid—with a special function. It’s curved at the ends so you can dump just one ice cube out at a time. Smart, huh? It makes 1 oz. portions. Perfect for introducing new foods. Once the cubes are all frozen, I’ve been popping them into freezer bags so I can label and date them.

The Oxo Tot baby blocks six pack tray and 2 oz. containers are handy for taking larger portions on the go. I haven’t seen these in action yet but the first batch of pureed carrots is freezing right now. So far I have made avocado, carrots and bananas for Precious. Next on my list are sweet potatoes, green beans, broccoli, apples and pears. I’m curious to hear from you: What were the first foods you fed your kids? What foods were their favorites? Did you make baby food at home, blend up whatever you were eating or buy baby food pre-made?

7 Comments | Art, Art: Cooking, Family, Family: Precious/Ali | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

Martina’s Childhood Favorite Toys: Handmade Barbie Furniture

05/31/2011

It would be hard for me to chose what my true favorite toy was but I certainly loved playing house. Thousands of hours were clocked playing with my Fisher Price Little People, you know the small, choking-hazard ones from the 80s? I had the tudor house, the SUV and camper, the hospital, the tractor, the school bus and of course lots of Little People. My mom still has these but she insists they stay at her house. She did, however, hand over the boxes labeled in colorful markers and glitter “Martina’s Stuff” containing all the handmade plastic canvas Barbie furniture gifted to me by my Granny.

I had forget just how many pieces there were in this set. Granny must have spent many hours making all of this for me. I feel very blessed that I had it. I didn’t get interested in Barbies until late elementary school days. My best friend Michele and I would set up huge Barbie cities in my basement and spent hours playing.

The two [barely] surviving Barbies have seen better days. Naked, chopped off hair, and both missing a hand due to a tragic dog attack. I think I’ll be on the lookout for some decent clothed Barbies at yard sales this summer.

Let’s go on a little tour of the Barbie house. Note, anywhere you see drawers or cabinet doors they’re functional! Here’s Barbie’s bedroom with a bed, rug, dresser with mirror, vanity chair and table, and a room divider screen:

The kitchen with area rug, china cabinet, corner hutch, stove and table with gingham tablecloth:

I love the blue vintage style stove with heart details:

The formal dining table with white lace tablecloth and 4 chairs:

The living room with area rug, fireplace, love seat with pillow, arm chair with matching footstool, coffee table, end table and floor lamp.

There is also an entertainment center for the TV, stereo and speakers:

I wonder if our kids will recognize this brown box with a picture on it as a TV:

Like Jason’s Definitely Dinosaurs, I’m really glad my mom saved this furniture for me, that it’s still in great shape, and that it’s pretty indestructible for our kids to play with. Too bad Granny hadn’t used her own house for inspiration and made this furniture mid-century!

19 Comments | Art, Art: crafts, Family, Family: Me | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

09/08/2010

Lately Jason and I have been buying whole chickens from the grocery store. They’re pretty inexpensive and we end up getting several meals out of one. We cook the whole thing in the crockpot with seasonings and fresh herbs sprinkled on top. After 6-8 hours the cooked chicken is tender and tasty and there is a bit of broth left in the bottom of the pot. After we’ve had 1 or 2 meals with chicken, I like to use the broth and the small bits of leftover chicken to make soup.

For Chicken Noodle Soup you need:

carrots (2) chopped
celery (3 stalks) chopped
broth/boullion
chicken (cooked & chopped up)
noodles
salt, pepper, bay leaf and/or other seasoning to taste

First I like to peel the carrots.

Then I prep the celery for chopping. I decided to cook the leafy parts of the stalks for flavor but left them whole so I could fish them out later.

Chop the carrots and celery up into small chunks.

Cut the chicken into bit-size pieces.

I added a bay leaf, 5-6 balls of all spice, a boullion cube and some water.

Then I added the carrots, celery, chicken, and about 1 cup of noodles. I recommend using bigger noodles than this. These fine egg noodles get so soft and don’t really hold their own in this soup.

Cook for a couple of hours and then fish out the bay leaf, all spice and leafy celery parts.

Done! I made this soup on the same day as the tomato basil soup so I decided to freeze all of it. In other words, I forgot to take a picture of the finished soup in a nice bowl.

2 Comments | Art, Art: Cooking | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt