Twiggie Makes by Candace Grahl

Taking a cue from my super cute, super fun bloggy pal Amanda, a top ten list featuring ten things that have been occupying my mind a lot lately. Prepare to be amazed at my level of genius and mental dexterity.

1) Sushi. Seems like I’m hearing/reading about it a lot, again, and I have never tried it. Honestly, it sounds disgusting. I don’t have texture issues, like some people do when it comes to foods, there’s just something completely unappetizing about sushi. And I will try anything trendy, I will, I’ll sell-out with the best of ‘em but this I just can not fathom putting raw fish down my throat. And to anyone who assures me it’s good, I won’t call you a liar, but I will shake my head vigorously at you until you concede and confess you’ve made it all up.

2) The Holy Spirit. After watching this video, I really felt the Lord pushing me to learn more about the Holy Spirit. Now, before those of you who do not care for this kind of stuff tune me out, listen to me for just a second. I truly believe that we are much more spiritual than we give ourselves credit for. I believe that we were created to be inhabited by the Spirit of God. I also believe that He impresses on us much more and more frequent than we think he does, and if you don’t believe me, watch the friggin’ video already and tell me it doesn’t touch, move, or inspire you in some way to think maybe, just maybe, I’m onto something. Go on, I dare ya.

3) My new tattoo. Love it, love it, double-stamp-no-erases, love it. Just wondering if it’s location was the best spot to place it. Can’t go into all the details here as to why it is what it is, where it is, but with summer approaching and all the long-sleeves I won’t be wearing, I’ll be seeing it all day and wonder in fifteen soon-to-be summers from now, when I can’t hide it behind long-sleeves, will I think that wasn’t my brightest idea that day.

4) Conner’s recent neediness. We started potty-training and while he has once again knocked my socks off and amazed me with how well he just rolls with stuff, he’s also been so, so needy. He’s not a needy child, never really was. He’ll have moments where he’ll want to be held a little longer but then he’s off to do something else. But since we’ve potty-trained him he wants to be held all the time. Where I used to ask, “Conner, you doing okay?” and he’d say, “Yeah!” and keep playing, now he’ll come over and in a very soft, yet very whiney voice say, “I wanna hold you!!!!!!!” I know acquiring new skills can make children uneasy and so I’m trying to be patient and reassure him that we’re so proud of him, but I’m truly hoping it’s nothing more than I’m neglecting to see.

5) Canned Cream cheese icing. I sometimes wake up thinking about it. Slathered on animal crackers, cookies, pretzels. It is my healthy-eating kryptonite.

6) So You Think You Can Dance. May 21 is the season premiere and I am so. stinking. excited.

7) Marathon training. I feel like a little hamster on a wheel whenever I get on the treadmill now. Always with the running. It never stops. And I’m only up to a little over four miles at a time. And I have to do that six more times! It would not surprise me if after I’m done I never run ever again unless someone is chasing me. And probably not even then, I’ll just roll over and play dead for the worst of it.

8 ) An unexpected bill. I am trying to be a friggin’ Houdini with our budget to accommodate this beast and it’s not working. I’m working on not stressing about it because as Dave Ramsey says, they may not make the cut this month to get paid, but it’s still stressful being in charge of the finances, yet not the one providing the income.

9) Scrapping. I am jumping into the world of scrap booking. I have fought it but every time I open the boys baby books I gag at the sea of pale yellow and baby blue and think how I want something much more personal for them. But something like that does not jive with my laziness in that area so I must do something about it. So any readers who are into it, I need some tips or websites for doing clean scrapbook pages. I don’t like lots of “busy”. Drives me nuts and it hurts my brain to have to read all of it and sift through it mentally just to look at a picture.

10) Having another baby. Hear that obnoxious banging noise? I’m pretty sure that’s my biological clock tick-tocking away saying it’s time to spit out another child. My goal was to be done by the time I’m 30, and since I just turned 28 that seems feasible. But me, well, the ol’ gal just ain’t what she used to be and says it’s time for one more and then hang the sign on the door and close for business. One of my good friends is pregnant with her third and final baby and I find myself jealous at the fact that she will be done. Her family will be complete and this time next year how easy it will all be for her and how it will continue to get easier. And also, Max is almost a year old and he’s losing his baby-ness by the day and it’s killing me. Knowing that we will have another it’s hard to not hit the fast-forward and just get it done already. Have the last baby, get my boobs fixed and press on with our complete family of five.

That’s all. See, told you you would be amazed.

My poor, poor, neglected blog. How I have such good intentions to post here and yet days turn into weeks and as I’m checking my email one last time of the night, I see a bookmark for you and still…nothing. *Sigh* The only really sad thing is that I just don’t have time to blog. And that’s not really sad but exciting. Spring is quickly turning into summer, my boys are getting bigger and we are finding ourselves having so much fun together that I don’t really realize how much I miss writing, baking, crafting. All of those things are graciously taking a seat in the back and I couldn’t be happier. There are moments where I pass by the studio and see my stacks of fabric or colored pencils, waiting to be tinkered and visited with, but then usually I am summoned by a “Mamamamamama” of one adorable little baby or an infectious giggle of another little boy who wants me to spin round-and-round with him. I want so badly to blog, to share, to inspire, to create! It’s just not the time. Not today, at least. My crochet hooks can wait. My piles of stamps and paper that I really do want to dive into, cut and paste and ink up…they can all wait as well. What can’t wait is the fact that my babies are growing up. And what I really want to create is more time with them. Since that can’t be done, most everything else gets put aside. Not for good, just…not today.

I hope that those of you who were so excited about my coming back to blogging are not disappointed. I feel like a reservoir of creativity is building and building and that is because of all the time I am spending enjoying my life and living each moment to it’s fullest. I hope to soon bring projects and tutorials so you too can take a little bit of what I’ve learned and create something beautiful and all your own. But if I can’t inspire you that way today, I hope to inspire you to slow your pace and look around you. Who, not what, needs your attention today? Is it you? I hope you take time for them and in doing so feel an overwhelming sense of peace and happiness and joy. I hope you have a wonderful and blessed weekend!

Things here are tooting along nicely. We spent last week in the Smoky Mountains with my in-laws and I have come to a rather harsh reality that vacation is not vacation when you have two little ones to tend to. It’s just being away from home without the comforts of home. But we did have a wonderful time with the grandparents, uncle, aunt and cousins and of course just getting away is always nice.

Now we’re back and jumped into the Easter weekend with both feet. I’ve recently taken up baking again (having a baby while also having a busy toddler side-lined just about everything for a few months there) and forgot just how much I love it. Mixing and stirring, cutting, shaping, all with very defined rules and structure. It totally gets me and my need to have rules. If I wasn’t such a tomboy I think I could completely embrace etiquette in every facet of my life. Conner loves to bake with me and sits up on the stools and watches me and we talk about what I’m doing, why I’m adding *this* and why he can’t stick his finger in *that*.

He loves to watch things go into the oven looking one way and come out looking completely different. His favorite thing, hands down, is decorating cookies. It’s very simple - I bake them, slather on the icing and he meticulously places the sprinkles. And he is so hyper-focused on this task, it cracks me up. He will calculate where everything will go and his expression will look like this is more of a chore than something of fun. Yet when each cookie is covered and done and ready to be eaten, he will look up with those big blue eyes of his smiling and say, “That was so much fun! I want to do it again!”

I’ve also been experimenting with scones lately. I’m not that big on scones since I love biscuits - big, buttery ones - and I love super-sweet pastries. I don’t like the in between. But I found a recipe for blueberry-lemon scones, so I thought I would give a crack at it.

I don’t know much about baking scones but one thing I’ve read over and over is not to overwork the dough, which is great because that makes it much easier. The only part that I did not enjoy was grating frozen butter. That is not as easy as it sounds. However, it makes them very moist since it spreads the butter evenly across the dough. You can also replace the blueberries for cranberries and orange for lemon and those are delicious as well. Anyways here’s the recipe and enjoy!

Blueberry-Lemon Scones

2 c. all-purpose flour
1/3 c. sugar (reserving 1 tsp)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
8 tbsp unsalted butter, frozen
1/2 c. dried blueberries
1 tbsp lemon zest (from the rind)
1/2 c. sour cream
1 large egg

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a medium bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Grate butter into flour mixture on the large holes of a box grater; use your fingers to work in butter (mixture should resemble coarse meal), then stir in blueberries and lemon zest.

In a small bowl, whisk sour cream and egg until smooth. Using a fork, stir sour cream mixture into flour mixture until large dough clumps form. Use your hands to press the dough against the bowl into a ball. (The dough will be sticky in places, and there may not seem to be enough liquid at first, but as you press, the dough will come together.)

Place on a lightly floured surface and pat into an 8-inch circle about 3/4″ thick and sprinkle with 1 tsp of sugar. Use a sharp knife to cut into 8 triangles; place on a cookie sheet about 1 inch apart. Bake until golden, about 15 to 17 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes and serve warm or at room temperature.