2 days old!

Here's Mama Mixie.

She's doing a great job taking care of the 8 little ones!

She is still chewing off fur & covering them up.

And then
making sure they stay warm in the nest.
This little one {which I nicknamed Skunk due to the stripe on her back} takes after her Mama and tries to leave the nest.



They are all squirming around alot more now.
None of them have yet opened their eyes {I know this may be awhile yet}
Still haven't caught them feeding {which must be a sight!}
There are 5 brownish black ones & 3 white with polka dots.
Alot more than we originally thought.
We may have already found a home for 2 lucky ones but they will be with us for another 2 months or so.
So exciting!

the babies are here!

So we woke up to find Mixie nesting furiously.
She was collecting straw and carrying it to the enclosed part of the hutch.
Then she was chewing her fur off & carrying that to her little nest.
Matt went online & read that when bunnies start nesting it could be days or hours before they deliver.
As I was taking the video I noticed that Cocoa was getting in her way
so
Matt separated them.
It was immediately after Matt nailed the separating board to the hutch
she delivered.
How's a few minutes from nesting to delivering?
The kids were here waiting for the bus
so we let them stay home to watch her deliver {school can wait}
We agreed to get a male & female so the kids could witness the whole birthing process.
What an exciting way to start the day!

It looks like there are 4 bunnies. But there might be 5.
2 are brown like Cocoa & 2 are polka dotted like Mixie.
How's that for a genetic lesson?

3rd Annual Cookie Exchange

3rd Annual Cookie Exchange

Ready for cookies?I know I am!

Here’s how it will work:
1. Sign up for what cookie you will be making before December 1st, 2009. You can call me or send an email. To check if anyone else has already signed up for what you wanted to make you can check it out on my blog (http:/scrapstudioj.blogspot.com). First come, first serve.

2. On December 4th I will email/call you to tell you how many swappers we will have. This will be the number of how many dozen you will need to make.

3. Make your cookies & have fun!

4. Pre-Pack your dozen cookies in separate containers (Ziploc baggies, ect) as this makes swapping so much easier. Then bring a container large enough to carry your cookies home (you will bring home the same amount you brought with you~ unless you eat them before you get home. hehehe)

5. Make a copy of your cookie recipe to share.

6. Plan to bring your cookies to my house for the cookie swap night on Monday, December 14th at 7pm sharp. We will exchange cookies, maybe eat a few, & have a cup of coffee/tea while sharing our recipes. Please try to make every attempt to be there as it can get very confusing trying to swap for those that aren't there.

Please note that last year EACH person brought 15 dozen cookies. This is kind of time consuming and having an easy recipe is essential. While we thought we would have too many cookies in the end, we all agreed that the 15 dozen cookies we brought home were enough to share with the family and give out for gifts. No one said they ended up with too many (at least they didn't tell me).

Don't be afraid! I promise. Hope you can join us.

Jenny- Peanut butter rice krispie treats with chocolate
Rachael- Lemon drops
Sue- M&M cookies
Anita- Mound bars
Kathy- Chocolate covered pretzels
Melissa L.- double chocolate chunk

what the gift giving season is about

So for 3 years now,
we have been making all of our holidays gifts for family and friends.

Some people think it's to save on money
but I disagree
You still need to buy the supplies
Unless, of course
you have an abundance of crafting supplies on hand {blush}.

What you do need is thought, planning, and hard work.
I keep a folder on my computer all year round
with tutorials for projects I think would make good gifts.
Gifts for boys is always a hard one to get ideas for.

Last year the kids were very discouraged
they thought we should have started BEFORE Halloween.
I reminded them that handmade gifts are
more thoughtful
than just buying an item from the store.
They grumbled
but they made their gifts too.

So just 2 days ago
Gavin was talking to me
and he says
"I saw a really cool peace bracelet on a friend today at school.
I think Scarlet would like one.
That's what I want to make for her but I don't know what color."
I told him to be a detective to find out her favorite color
(it changes week to week).

I had to tell Matt how proud I was,
Gavin was thoughtful,
thinking about what she would like.
He considered that it was something he could make for her himself.
And for a 10 year old boy to consider a bracelet...
well, I was shocked & surprised.
And I felt that he really understands what gift giving is about now.

I encourage you to at least try to make one gift for someone on your list.
I promise they will cherish it more than anything that can be bought in the store.

One of my favorite sites for ideas:

Best of luck!

Halloween {a wee bit late}

Here's our ghostbuster, Coraline, & monkey

the beautiful leaves in the front of our house

ghost pancakes from Grammie

and my very favorite: candy apples

It's been a very hectic week with mid-terms, fevers, and all the regular stuff combined.
I hope to be back to blogging
as I've got a few tutorials I took some pictures for
and
I'd like to share my jelly presentation with everyone.
I'll be back...

If you can...

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposter's just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn out tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son.
-Rudyard Kipling

fish and apples

We decided to take a mini vacation to the New England Aquarium this week-end. It was just as much fun as the first time we went {which was so long ago the kids didn't remember}

The week-end before we went apple picking. And I finally found something that Gavin loves to help with:

peeling apples

which I turned into apple pie filling

I took the peels and cores from that to make jelly which still hasn't set up but I'm thinking I didn't boil it long enough. As for the jelly with honey~ it was a bit runny. I'll need to fine tune that recipe too.


And here's what I grew in my garden last year.
Seems some of the seeds that were knocked over from the greenhouse made it into my garden.
I can't wait to carve into it!

Happy Leif Erikson Day!

cleaning out

the garden while giving the bunnies some space to run around.

I thought they would be nibbling but they were too busy digging holes.

I used to hate thinning plants since it felt like I was killing something we could eat but now the bunnies eat them & I don't feel bad.

They LOVED the radishes.

The garden just tuckered them right out!

I am so in love with these guys. If I had known how sweet they were I don't know if I would have gotten any kittens...

these past few days...

{and in no particular order}

taking samples of apple tree diseases for a project

made mini pumpkin whoopie pies

lost a whole hive of bees

Team green is no longer with us & we have no idea what happened.

Now we are busy with jarring honey & my kitchen counters are covered in beeswax!

studied plant tissues & aced my quiz

{this is the actual picture I took from the lab}

went apple picking with the fam

working on scary concoctions with the kids to decorate our front porch

harvested a few carrots that ended up being nibbled on by our sweet bunnies

made 2 types of grape jelly
one with natural pectin and
another with honey
for another school project

lately

enjoying the beautiful fall days at a local amusement park

anxiously awaiting the arrival of our raspberries

picking grapes from both of my sisters' back yards

to use in a school project

can you guess what I'll be teaching my fruit science class?