Tutorial Tuesday!

Welcome to Tutorial Tuesday - If you are new here, this party is to showcase your weekly tutorials. What counts as a tutorial? Anything to Teach Me Stuff counts - a recipe, a kid's craft, a DIY project, how you got your baby to sleep through the night ... I'm not picky.

Check out the Stuff I Learned last week...

Please... (this is the part at the end of the commercial when the announcer talks real fast)

* Link up using the link to your actual post (not your general blog address) using your name and a the subject of your tutorial to generate interest.

* Add my button or a clickable link back to this post so everyone can join in.

* Visit and comment with all our friends. Show them some love! Meet some new friends! Learn something new!

Ready? Teach Me Stuff!

Please... (this is the part at the end of the commercial when the announcer talks real fast)

* Link up using the link to your actual post (not your general blog address) using your name and a the subject of your tutorial to generate interest.

* Add my button or a clickable link back to this post so everyone can join in.

* Visit and comment with all our friends. Show them some love! Meet some new friends! Learn something new!

Ready? Teach Me Stuff!



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Stuff I Learned

Chevron Swing Top:


Butter in a Jar:


Root Beer Float on a Stick:



CLICK PICKS (this week's most clicked links):

#1 Summer Activities for Kids

#2 Dishwasher Detergent

#3 Headband Headquarters

A Storm is Brewing - Feedback Friday

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Have you heard about "Storm"? It's a baby...I say "it" because "it's" parents have decided to raise "it" genderless. No one knows what "it" is except "it's" brothers, the midwives who delivered "it", and "it's" parents...and none of them is allowed to divulge the secret until Storm decides it's time.

Storm's parents have decided to raise their 3rd child genderless, not sharing the sex with others, as "a tribute to freedom and choice", believing they are giving Storm and their other children the "freedom to choose who they want to be". They believe the many choices parents make for their children are "obnoxious".

Both of the family's older two boys prefer long hair in braids or curls, love pink and purple, wear sparkly studs in their ears, and fingernail polish and are often presumed to be girls. The children prefer not to go to school because of the discussions their appearances spark. So, the kids are "unschooled" at home - a version of child-driven homeschooling with no books or tests driven by the child's curiosity and questions.

After reading the book X - a fabulous child's story, a book about raising not a boy or a girl but an "X", Storm's parents decided to try it out on their next child.



It's Feedback Friday...

What do you think of the notion of genderless child rearing?

Do you think that telling the world the sex of a child shapes who it is in a negative way?

Do you think a child can grow up this way with a more firm sense of self?

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Wood Floor Cleaner

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My wood floor seemed to be developing a subtle haze shortly after it was cleaned lately. I think my spray on cleaner was creating some build up. So, there is only one thing to do...and it involves getting on your hands and knees!

Add a mixture of 9 parts white vinegar and 1 part warm water to an empty spray bottle and spray and scrub the entire floor surface with a terry cloth rag every few months or so to avoid cleaner build up.

Within minutes the vinegar smell will disappear and your floors will gleam!

.

Tutorial Tuesday!

Welcome to Tutorial Tuesday - If you are new here, this party is to showcase your weekly tutorials. What counts as a tutorial? Anything to Teach Me Stuff counts - a recipe, a kid's craft, a DIY project, how you got your baby to sleep through the night ... I'm not picky.

Check out the Stuff I Learned last week...

Please... (this is the part at the end of the commercial when the announcer talks real fast)

* Link up using the link to your actual post (not your general blog address) using your name and a the subject of your tutorial to generate interest.

* Add my button or a clickable link back to this post so everyone can join in.

* Visit and comment with all our friends. Show them some love! Meet some new friends! Learn something new!

Ready? Teach Me Stuff!



<center><a href="http://www.HopeStudios.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/ss202/hopestudios/2-2.jpg" /></a></center><br />

Stuff I Learned!

Chalkboard Art Gallery:



Outdoor Shower:



Stenciled Wall:



Choosing Fresh Fruit

CLICK PICKS (this week's most clicked links):

#1 No Sew 10 Minute Tee

#2 Fat Quarter Quilt

#3 Cloth Napkin Secrets

How Smart is Your Phone? Feedback Friday

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While visiting my brother and sister-in-law over Easter, we found ourselves in a store and needed to know the movie times for later in the afternoon. My sister-in-law forgot her phone and asked me to look up the movie times.

I asked her if she knew the MoviePhone number and she said, "Just look it up!". I said "I can't!" She said "What do you mean?" and I answered "I can only call people on my phone!" She looked confused.

We were facing a clear technology gap here! Well, I just got a text from Verizon telling me I qualify for an early upgrade to a Smartphone.

It's Feedback Friday, so tell me...

Do you have a Smartphone?

What do you use most of the apps for - to play games, check email, what?

My Last First Communion

The rain here in Pittsburgh stopped long enough for my Munchkin's 1st Communion this weekend! I couldn't help but cry as I watched the children process down the aisle two-by-two looking like little brides and grooms.



We posed for some quick (awkward) family photos then ducked inside before the rain, for a late lunch.



Are you entertaining a large group this spring? Here is my menu that fed 27 guests:

Spiral Sliced Ham and Rotisserie Chicken Salad- from Costco for mini-sandwiches.

Aunt Marie's Dinner Rolls- 2 pans

Tortellini Salad

Juniper's Potato Salad

Strawberry Spinach Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing
**Toss spinach, sliced strawberries, pecans, and feta. Dress with poppy seed dressing.

Fresh fruit tray

Sour Cream Chocolate Cake with Cream Cheese Buttercream.

Cream Cheese Buttercream
- Sky High Cakes

12 ounces cream cheese, slightly chilled

1 stick + 6 Tbls. (7 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup confectioners sugar, sifted

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup water

3 egg whites

1. Place the cream cheese the bowl of your electric mixer and beat on medium until soft, fluffy and smooth. Add the butter a couple of tablespoons at a time mixing until smooth. Mix in the icing sugar and and vanilla beating until fluffy. Set this aside.

2. Combine the granulated sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat stirring to dissolve the sugar. Continue to cook the syrup without stirring until it reaches soft ball stage.

3. While the syrup is coming to temperature add the egg whites to the mixer bowl with the whisk attached. As the syrup reaches temperature set the mixer going on medium/low. Slowly pour the syrup down the side of the bowl, avoiding the whisk. Once all the syrup is all in increase the speed to medium/high and beat until the meringue has cooled to body temperature and a stiff meringue has developed.

4. With the mixer on low add the cream cheese mixture by the spoonful. Once all mixed in increase the speed to medium and whisk the frosting until fluffy and smooth.

Do You Neti?

I have been so sick this week with some sort of cold/flu that has me down and out! I don't like to take lots of medicines, so my Neti Pot is saving me!

What is a Neti Pot, you ask? It's this little teapot looking thing:

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I got mine from CVS Pharmacy, but most health and beauty sections carry this item today.

Though the neti pot is new to us, it actually began in ancient India many centuries ago.

A neti pot cleans your sinuses, relieving pressure and congestion from colds and allergies. It kind of reminds me of when I used to spray saline up my baby's nose when they had a cold.

You add the little salt packet, fill the neti with lukewarm water, insert the spout in one nostril, then tilt your head to the side. The water will travel up into your sinuses and back out the other nostril, clearing everything in it's path.

I saw my first neti pot on a show with Dr. Oz and only just bought one about 6 months ago.

Do you neti?

Tutorial Tuesday!

Welcome to Tutorial Tuesday - If you are new here, this party is to showcase your weekly tutorials. What counts as a tutorial? Anything to Teach Me Stuff counts - a recipe, a kid's craft, a DIY project, how you got your baby to sleep through the night ... I'm not picky.

Check out the Stuff I Learned last week...

This week, I showed you how to make a Breakfast Smoothie that will help you stick to your diet.

Please... (this is the part at the end of the commercial when the announcer talks real fast)

* Link up using the link to your actual post (not your general blog address) using your name and a the subject of your tutorial to generate interest.

* Add my button or a clickable link back to this post so everyone can join in.

* Visit and comment with all our friends. Show them some love! Meet some new friends! Learn something new!

Ready? Teach Me Stuff!



<center><a href="http://www.HopeStudios.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/ss202/hopestudios/2-2.jpg" /></a></center><br />

Breakfast Smoothie

The Big Guy and I have fallen off the wagon! Diet wise, that is. Whenever we need to straighten out and get back on track, the first thing we turn to is our Men's Health Abs Diet Smoothie recipe for breakfast.

This smoothie is so filling and healthy, and it really helps us to start our mornings in a healthy way. This recipe makes 2 servings so you and your spouse can share!

Abs Diet "Halle Berries" Breakfast Smoothie

Men's Health

1/2 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt
1 cup milk
3/4 cup oatmeal, cooked and cooled
1 cup frozen berries
2 tsp. whey powder
6 ice cubes

Add all ingredients to blender and blend blend blend! Makes 2 servings.