August 17, 2009

friday favorites ( on a monday )

August 17, 2009/ molly balint

Hello and wow. I started this post on Friday, and now it is suddenly a new week. I survived what was being called the "hottest week of the Summer". Phew. Our house is pretty bearable for having no air-conditioning, but there were a few days there that I was pretty pathetic. I hope we're over and done with that. My brain fries in this heat and humidity.

Because it's been awhile, a few favorites and discoveries to share with you!

The butterfly traffic in my garden. I keep wanting to pick some blooms to bring inside, but I hate taking them away from the butterflies and honeybees.

Seeing my oldest on the soccer field.

Petite Pattern Book - Simple & Natural and Free Style Scraps - Girlie --books from RAM publications.

They are great little books full of patterns and drawings--and each book comes with a CD tucked in the back cover, so all the designs and artwork are yours to use! (for personal use only, of course)

Make stationary, design your blog banner, create cute labels for your child's schoolbooks, print onto fabric. The ideas are endless. Such a great little resource to have tucked away. I love mine.

Penny Leaver Green sewn pictures.

Bird Jam : I've written about it before, but it still is getting a lot of use in this house.

A new food blog : Under the High Chair

Vroom Solo: Okay, I have to confess, this was sent to me for a review. But if I didn't really love it, I wouldn't share it here. It's like a miniature central vac for any room of your house. It tucks under your counter, inside a cupboard, wherever is convenient, and has a retractable hose. I have mine in our upstairs laundry room/bathroom. Between the lint and junk that falls out of the dryer, the number of haircuts that I give in that room and all the traffic, it's probably one of the places I vaccuum most often. And of course, the vac is never close by. This is such a convenient little gadget (with incredible sucking power). I really, really like it.

A Cetacean Study by enormouschampion

A good reminder, for me, for all of us.

Happy Monday, friends!

August 07, 2009

swimming in the deep end

August 07, 2009/ molly balint

Last night after dinner, we ignored the dishes and headed down to the stream. I've been itching to take Ruby down there for quite awhile, because I had the feeling she was ready to really enjoy the water. To really swim. The last time I'd been down there with her, she was still pretty shy, only exploring the shallows, not ready to swim in the depths.

Last night, was a different story. Before we even made it to the stream crossing, she was already in and completely wet.

Then Dan started throwing her a stick, just barely into the deep water. She went bounding after it not even phased when her feet stopped touching the rocky bottom and she started to swim.

She'd bring the stick back to shore, stand as close as she could to the nearest human and shake.

Then she'd sit there whining. She'd look at Dan. Look at the stick. Look upstream where she wanted him to throw it. The communication was uncanny. Over and over and over again he played with her. Deeper. Farther. Bigger sticks.

She never tired.

We gave in first.

"We" meaning--me, Dan, Emma, Mary. Elizabeth could have stayed all night.

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I'll back later this afternoon--power blogger that I am---with a review and giveaway. Stay tuned!

August 04, 2009

Life in motion

August 04, 2009/ molly balint

A few weeks ago, I was sent a FLIP Ultra HD to review. I have to admit, I've been a bit covetous of them for quite some time. The stick it in your pocket, your swim bag, take it anywhere, aspect is so appealing to me. And sometimes, it is nice to see little glimpses of life in video form. I know in a few months, a few years, my children and I are going to really enjoy looking back on these little bits of our daily lives.

I also discovered that not only is it ridiculously simple to transfer my videos from the FLIP to my computer, it is also ridiculously simple to add music to my movies--a great way to drown out the whining and bickering siblings, and the dog barking in the background. And anything, set to music, just seems so much more romantic, doesn't it? I mean, put Elizabeth to a soundtrack and I'm practically drawn to tears.

And for the record, the washable paints? Not so washable. Darn. I loved that dress.

Untitled from molly balint on Vimeo.

And of course, a little tribute to our Mallard ducklings. Who are really no longer ducklings, but more like teen-aged ducks. We finally moved them out of their pen and give them free reign around the yard each day.

I have to admit, when Dan brought the ducklings home several weeks ago, I was a bit miffed. Ruby had just gotten back from the ER and I was feeling like I had a full plate. But there is something about ducks that is just so much fun. I think the best part is that it is so easy to make them happy. Water? They just can't help themselves. They love it. And it is so easy to give it to them. We decided that it is time to invest in a kiddie pool. I think they've outgrown the storage tub, don't you? They've certainly outgrown coming into our upstairs bathroom. Soon, we might let them in on the little secret that there is a cool, flowing stream just a short walk away. But we have a feeling they might never return.

Untitled from molly balint on Vimeo.

more information on the FLIP Ultra HD can be found here.

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The winner from Katie's last post :

Lucky number 5, Susan is our winner! Please email me at Katie at DesignerDigitals dot com and I'll send you out the download links!

Thanks for all the wonderful comments this past week!

July 09, 2009

let the counting begin again

July 09, 2009/ molly balint

Last week, the girls and I stopped in at my aunt's farm for a quick visit. We were bringing her dinner, giving her a night off during her week of wedding prep for her son's wedding reception that would be held at their farm.

I'll have to bring her dinner more often.

When we drove home, the car doors barely shut. Though we only showed up with a casserole and bread, we came home with a quart of blueberries, two dozen eggs, a bale of straw, and five hens.

It felt like an episode straight out of the beverly hillbillies--chickens squawking, straw flying out the car windows, barefoot kids munching on blueberries, and the smell, oh we won't talk about the smell.....

So five new girls came to join little old Henny Penny. Who suddenly thinks she's top dog around here--and puts on quite a show when the food comes out. But I'm sure she'll settle down, eventually.

The new girls are a somewhat scrappy-looking bunch. Blondie back there was broody at her old digs, and took a lot of pecking while she guarded her "nest". The others lost a few feathers during their couple days in confinement, as they learned the ropes of their new digs.

And Elizabeth, the apparent self-proclaimed chicken farmer, always manages to keep things interesting.

On the second day of the chickens' arrival, when we were still keeping them penned so that they would settle into their new home--Elizabeth was found out in the chicken coop. We were getting ready to leave for dinner and when she came over from the coop, I assumed she was checking nesting boxes for eggs.

Little did I know, Miss Smartypants was opening the door and letting all the new hens have a premature taste of freedom. Catching them that evening, as dusk fell and fox-hour arrived was quite "interesting". There were brooms and hammers and possibly even a few four letter words involved....possibly.

The new girls still haven't learned the ropes of getting their picture taken. They didn't grow up in front of the lens, like Henny Penny. They don't know that when I cluck at them, they're supposed to pose and hold still. But since they're already giving us eggs, and we're counting again, I'll let it slide.

June 30, 2009

a good 20 minutes

June 30, 2009/ molly balint

I stepped outside with my camera yesterday, while I waited for the grill to get hot. Within just a short window of time, maybe twenty minutes, I was able to capture little snapshots of our life. I love looking at them today, and realizing all the activity that can happen in just a short span of time. Sometimes, it's nice to capture it and hold it together all in one place....for me they tell a story. And they remind me of little benchmarks in time-- the ducklings daily excursion outside, the last chicken--who keeps close to the house, a new technique for swinging, an upgrade from nakedness to underwear, the agony that is sharing the swing with your little sister, a patient favorite kitten, a rare, still moment between two four-legged friends.....