Wow. Friday already?!! It’s been such a different week without the girls here. Glow and I had quiet breakfasts and lunches together and we would do some dancing and playing. Also, I was able to get lots done and all laundry is washed and put away and no one is allowed to get anything dirty ever again. This is the second time in my life when this miracle has happened and the first time was just a month or so ago! See, miracles do still happen and can happen more than once! Lots of things got done over here, but we miss the girls like crazy. It’s weird having silence during the day. Very strange. The noise will be back soon enough as their vacation ends tomorrow!

This week’s learned and links…

I love silence. I rarely get it, but with the girls gone, I didn’t put any music on because I just liked hearing nothing. Though, I can’t wait to have those little voices back again soon.

Glow stood up for a couple seconds without holding onto anything. So cute!

I like this post (via the littlest). Edit ruthlessly.

Been following my baby sister on instagram so I can see my girls throughout the day!

Homeschool stuff is ready. We start next week. I am sure I confuse some of you, but they homeschool, but attend a local school once a week for enrichment classes with other homeschoolers.

French Breakfast Donuts?! Yes, please. Making it next week for sure.

Excited for the vintage sale tomorrow! I can’t wait to meet some of you!

Someone get this cute vintage gold clutch. Amazing!

I loved hearing about your various familial personalities! Some of you are game players, readers, community get to knowers, and fellow crafters. Everyone is so different and it’s cool to learn from one another.

Have a great weekend friends! It’s been crazy hot here, so I hope it cools off a bit.

Seafood Medley. This is one of our meal staples. Ben is typically the one who makes it, but this week I did. It’s fast, delicious, and always turns out great. We saute the seafood in some chili garlic oil, then put it on top of some whole wheat spaghetti, lightly drizzled with more chili garlic oil. Then we top that with a lot more red pepper (yes, we like it really spicy!) and parmesan cheese. Yum!

New Orleans Shrimp Pizza. I took out two balls of dough for dinner and didn’t want to make two of the same pizza, so I looked up another one that might have spice and did it. I didn’t follow the recipe exactly, but this was definitely another pizza that will be made over and over again.

Spicy Garlic Shrimp Pizza. The next pizza, I just put the garlic chili oil (we make tons so we have it ready when we need it) with mozzarella & shrimp on top. When it’s out of the oven we usually sprinkle with parsley, but in this case I used garlic chives from the garden.

Malaysian Chicken Curry. Virginia, owner of Addiah, saw my cry for curry last week and told me about Malaysian Curry. I looked up some recipes and tried it out. Oh man. It was so spicy! Not because I doubled the chili powder, but because of those little red chilies that I sprinkled on top for garnishing. This was really good, but the chicken was a bit dry because I cooked it too long. Though the reason I did that is because the potatoes were still firm. Next time, I would put the potatoes in first and let them cook for about 10 minutes before I put the chicken in. There is only 2 tbsp of oil in this recipe and it doesn’t call for a coconut milk or heavy cream, so this is a really healthy curry. Though it lacks the creaminess, it still is really good. Definitely will try this again!

Week 8/20 – 8/24
Monday: Turkey Tacos
Tuesday: Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate the first day of school, just like we did last year!
Wednesday: Spicy Salmon
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Sushi

If you have any other good curry recipes, do share. I would love to try more out!

I miss the girls. Yes, they drive me nuts, but I love them so much. It’s so different not having them here.

I am sure you wonder, “Do the Cakies kids really like doing those crafty things or does their mom make them for the sake of the blog because my kids can’t sit still and just “craft” for hours on end?!” The answer is… yes, my kids really like making stuff all day long. We do plenty of projects together and they do plenty on their own just because they like making stuff. It’s just their thing.

True can last longer when it comes to making stuff, Brave will stop way before True does. Soul doesn’t really care too much about making things just yet. She kind of just walks around the house. That’s her thing. When we’re at my mom’s house, Soul just walks around. If we’re at my MIL’s, she just walks around. She is really funny that way.

Ben and I are always amazed at the things True and Brave come up with. We wonder if more nurture or nature comes into play. When I was a kid, I loved drawing. I would draw for hours on end and my mom would put me in drawing classes and buy me tons of drawing books. Ben was a maker too. He remembers making random things from oatmeal boxes for his parents and buying beads to make necklaces and bracelets (this was even in high school).

I surround my kids with opportunities to make things because it feels natural because that’s what I like to do. They do take dance classes and will soon take music classes, but we have yet to try our hand at any sports. Ben grew up playing sports and I hear he was quite the soccer player. Oh man. If my teenage self saw his teenage self playing soccer, which would be impossible seeing how I am seven years younger, I would definitely have been sending him secret admirer notes all the time. I’ve seen his soccer and football pictures, he was one really hot dude in high school and he just got even hotter as he got older! Anyhow, we try to encourage whatever it is we see our kids show interest in without overloading our already full schedule.

So yes, my kids really do like making things! It’s just a part of our family personality. Tell me a bit about your family personality… is it camping? Outdoor sports? Trying new places to eat together? I would love to hear what kinds of things your family really loves doing.

Don’t forget this Saturday is our vintage warehouse sale! I will be selling some of my vintage furniture and some vintage kid and adult clothes (I will even have stuff for dudes!). I will also have my last dollhouse pillow on hand and some wool felt boy crowns. My friends will all have great stuff too! Misha Lulu will be there with her pretty dresses, 3 Ring Circus with her load of vintage for wear and for home, Salvage Life no doubt will have pretty dresses, and We Love Citrus will have wonderful paper goods! It will be a great sale folks and I hope you stop by and visit! RSVP here, so tell me, are you coming or what?!

Wowzers! These fresh tomatoes from the garden are all wonderfully fantastic. Store bought tomatoes cannot even compare. We’ve had a couple good harvests so far and love each and every one. It’s been our best tomato season thus far. They don’t last very long in our house because we all eat them up so fast. We are all tomato lovers over here!

How about you… do you love tomatoes?

Last week, when I made this top, I made this one too. I still had some linen leftover, so I set out to make something else. I love the polka dot pattern popping up everywhere and thought it would be fun to make my own spotted little concoction.

Directions:
1. Mix one part MS fabric medium to two parts paint. 2. Start dotting your fabric with the *round enamel sponge. NOTE: I did one line at a time and would stagger the dots as I worked. Put some paper underneath your fabric because the paint will bleed through a bit. 3. Allow paint to completely dry. 4. Iron your fabric to heat set the pattern. NOTE: Pre-wash your fabric before you start your project.

Then, using some of the other shirts as a guide, I cut up the fabric and sewed my top. I originally put bust darts, but it made the dots look funny so I took them out and instead did some bottom slits on each side. I showed Ben when he came home and he totally thought the dots were already printed on and that I just sewed it. I wasn’t particular about getting everything exact and I love the different variations in color and smudges. It is totally what I was wanting. I’ve got another top I love added to my wardrobe!

*I used Plaid brand Folkart Enamels sponge in 5/8”. This sponge is typically used for painting enamels on jewelry. It isn’t as spongy as a regular round sponge, so it is more solid when pressed down.