Last week Chloe asked me if she could be the one to take the photo of the day and I asked her what she wanted to take pictures of. "Oh just pictures of the kitchen" was her quick reply, so these are shots taken from a three foot, five year old perspective. Going clockwise, 1) Eiffel tower, it is a memento of the trip Steve and I took. Chloe moved it and walked in different directions to get the perfect angle. She took the picture taking process very seriously! The green is from a glass that Steve's Grandmother gave to me. I have a few other pieces of the depression era glass and am always on the look out for more. 2) The top of our fridge. The copper teapot is made by a traveler (they no longer want to be called gypsy or tinker) over a hundred years ago. I had read so much about them before our trip that it was rally really cool to drive past one of their camps and then later to find this piece in an antique store. 3) The curtain above the sink. 4) My messy hutch, with the Niger and Irish teapot on top. I am currently looking for a heavy primitive wooden hutch to replace this one. 5) The back door . (keep in mind these are Chloe's shots, I have no other explanation.) 6) Flowers in the window. They are in vintage milk bottles from my Grandma. 
This is my fourth attempt at finding the worlds best playdough recipe. We made ALL different kinds. You might wonder why I would not just buy it. The store bought does smell nice and there is a wonderful satisfaction of opening the jar and sqeezing the brand new playdough, but it does not stay soft for very long. At church there is a boy who is allergic to store bought playdough, a lady in the church made him homemade playdough and it stayed soft for over six months. I asked her for the recipe but too much time had passed she could not find it. That is when I began my search find my own recipe. 
The very best playdough! 1 cup flour 1 cup water 1/2 cup salt 1 Tbls. baby oil 2 Tbls. cream of tarter 1/4 tsp. food coloring 1 Tbls. vanilla 1 tsp. rose water (opt) Whisk for 1 min. over med/high heat in a frying pan Use wooden spoon and stir for 3 mins. Transfer to floured work surface and knead for 3 mins Store wrapped in cling wrap. It smells so so so good and is the softer than you can imagine! 
On the way home from picking up Eowyn we saw this house and I asked Steve to stop so I could take a picture. This is my absolute dream house. I would love love love to live on some land with a very old stone farmhouse, where in the living room the fireplace takes up the whole wall and the rooms are filled with primitive antiques. Oh it just makes my heart sing. Maybe this will be my mansion in heaven! 
Last week our little town had an ice festival. One of the events was a magic show at the library. Chloe was called up as a volunteer to help him. It was so funny to see that she was not shy AT ALL even though there was a packed house of kids watching her. How is she ours? Steve and I are both shy, Jeff and Eti are shy, but Chloe just busts out on the scene, full of life. 
They also had Jazz music which Steve and I constantly debate over. I love Jazz and listen to it quite often along with blues but he and Jeff are against me saying that it does not follow a pattern and is not "real music". They complain so much that I hardly listen to it when Steve is home. But he did stay and let me listen to this little band, where they had a large bass, a pianist and this funky little guitar player. 
In the window of the Benetton store, it is so "teenager" that its funny! For the rest of the day if one of us said "I love you" the other would say "4 like ever". 
Eti and Coco got their face painted . I snapped this shot of us looking in a shop window. | 
