Link Roundup, Mamas and Babies Edition

This week has been kind of a whirlwind! I finished (I think - unless my dad brings more apples) canning applesauce on Monday and had Bible study, Tuesday was chiropractor appointments, Wednesday was a trip to Lincoln (our state capitol, 2 hours away), Thursday I had to do garbage and sewer billing for our little village, and Friday I had to work and hit a rummage sale (I picked up some good deals! - I took photos, I'll get the post up sooner or later, I hope. Oh, and this morning, Goose and I went to our little town hall to help set up for a potluck our church is having tomorrow. Whew!

My trip to Lincoln was for the annual meeting of the Nebraska Friends of Midwives. It's always good to see everyone that I only get to see once a year and in my inbox, and there's lots of hugging and a few announcements by those who are expecting. (Maybe I should have been rubbing their bellies for good luck? :>))

Regardless, I managed to sock away plenty of links to share.

MAKE
Don't think I'm giving up on my baby leg warmers but this is a great tutorial on how to turn a dollar store scarf into baby legs at Obsessively Stitching. Crazy cute!

This is quite a concept - Everyday Mom's self-binding receiving blankets. This could be a great way to showcase two super cute prints on flannel.

You Can Make This has a link to a neat tutorial on a no-sew knotted handkerchief bag - cheap and functional do well around here.

Homemade cleaner recipes fascinate me, but I seem to loose the recipes before I can try them out. (Not so with the vinegar and peroxide which I still love but I digress.) Littles Rule the Roost (heh on the name!) has a post on homemade cleaning wipes that I'd really like to try. (the theory is quite similar to my homemade wipes) Yes, I have read the posts on using rags instead of paper towels, but I get so grossed out when I clean bathrooms that I really prefer disposable stuff. Plus we burn our trash, so it's an entirely different environmental impact than going to a landfill. (Welcome to country living.)

I've only set foot in a Pottery Barn store once that I can remember(in New Orleans), and I did think they had some cute stuff. Pretty much all out of my price range, though. Enter knock-offs! These twine balls at V and Co are easy but still look great.

EAT
Mmkay, this has been at the top of my "to make NOW" list since she posted it, but I never seem to have everything in the house at once that I need (i.e. I used the last of the whole wheat flour on waffles tonight). And you have to start it the night before you'll bake it - planning ahead isn't always my strongest suit. Regardless, I WILL be making this multigrain sourdough bread from Sarah's Musings. Can't wait to see if I can get it to turn out!

I don't think it's a secret that I get a huge kick out of Alton Brown of the Food Network. I have his baking book, and his cooking book might make a nice Christmas present (or this one cough*cough) - anyway, here's his recipe for waffles. Of course, when I made waffles for the freezer earlier today, I forgot that I had this bookmarked. So. I'll try them next time. :>)

Passionate Homemaking has a great lineup of recipes for homemade pizza. [and it's another of those blogs that I keep clicking onto and finding great stuff . . . which means it won't be long until I break down and subscribe. :>)]

This is a very interesting sounding recipe for rice lasagna at Three Ladies and a Dad.

Donna at Mom's Frugal has me chewing on my arm just looking at pictures of the chocolate angel food cake. I didn't even know there was such a creature, but it sure sounds good, doesn't it??

This blog name reminds me of our farm: Chickens in the Road. :>) I really like this recipe for dry cream soup mix though I'm still pretty cautious on dry milk powder. I just don't think that it's that good for you. (But is it better than all the preservatives in the canned cream soup? I dunno.)

DO
Goose is quite a ways from getting online, even supervised. Danielle Bean, though, is a mother of 8, so she knows of what she speaks when she discusses one way of supervising kids' online time.

Here's a great post on keeping toddlers busy while homeschooling at the Homeschool Classroom that would also be great for, you know, keeping toddlers busy in general.

LEARN
I love reading blogs, but when I actually know the person, it's all the more fun, isn't it? Paula, mother of 7 and fellow Nebraskan, blogs at Modern Motherhood, Vintage Values. My favorite posts so far include sibling rivalry and (imagine this) potty training. Did I mention that she homeschools, too?

My poor house plants. I used to really have a green thumb with them. Then I got cats that eat plants and had a baby that probably would have tried to eat them. The plants got relegated to the basement under a fluorescent light, and they're slowly dropping, one by one. For the remaining die-hards, here are some houseplant care tips at Tipnut.

Happy surfing! Hope everyone is having a good weekend -