Laowai

recent posts

  • HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY

    It makes me so happy to be part of the club that gets appreciated on this day. And I know it’s trite but I have to say that the longer I am a mother the more I appreciate mine. Here are some photos of mommies and their babies that I found irresistible. 

    I found the photos on the LIFE Magazine archives on Google.

  • HINTS

    I found this cute card to leave for your husband. 

    The older I get the more I feel like just asking for what I want from Brian. Ooooh – that didn’t sound nice. It’s not that he hasn’t gotten me many, many nice thoughtful gifts over the years. I guess it’s just that he already provides me with everything I want and the things that don’t cost anything feel more valuable. A little note or some grocery store flowers, some yummy dark chocolate or some indulgent solo sewing time. Also, I think Brian hates thinking of things to get me – so it’s a win win.

    This little hint card is so clever – you can check: jewelry, a massage, to sleep in, breakfast in bed, a housekeeper, to win every argument, a new pair of cute shoes, a love letter, pretty flowers, a quiet shower, a picnic, sex, or no sex.

    Ha ha. Can I check several? Go here to download and print it for yourself.

    The card was created by the obviously talented Jenn. Her blog is called Ambrosia Girl.

  • Banana Bread Pie

    I found a super easy recipe that’s great for using up ripe bananas. It’s called Banana Bread Pie – it comes out gooey on the inside with some yummy brown caramelization around the edges. The recipe said it’s good with some vanilla ice cream – but we discovered last night that butter pecan ice cream goes great too.


    Here’s the recipe:

    Banana Bread Pie

    2 very ripe bananas
    1/2 cup biscuit mix (like Bisquick)
    2 large eggs
    1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
    1 Tbsp. butter; melted
    1 tsp vanilla

    Place bananas in a large mixing bowl and mash with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until well blended. Pour the mixture into a 9 in pie plate and bake at 400 for 25-30 minutes. The pie should be caramelized on the edges but still a little soft in the center.

    Thanks to Julie Thompson of Jane’s Apron for the recipe.

    And here are a couple photos from our nice walk yesterday. Hope you had a nice weekend too!

  • CHURCH RUMMAGE SALE

    I love church rummage sales. I love the old people that are eager to smile and help. I love the ladies with their crumpled packing materials and their PAID stickers and their well used cash boxes. I love that I can spend $28.50 and come away with things that make me so happy.

    Things like an old Fisher Price barn with some people, animals and a fence. This is straight out of my childhood so being my sentimental self – I had to have it. It’s actually quite beat up, but that’s OK – if we can get some more play out of it before it crumbles I think it makes the little barn smile. 

    Look at the little illustrations and decorations on the barn. Much more painterly and dimensional than the hard edged decorations on our Playmobil house (which I love too).

    Here are the people and the chickens that I am in love with. I would have paid much more than $2.00 just for these little chickens. I might have to keep them all to myself.

    I love that Bea’s collection of people and animals don’t match. I think the variety makes for more creative play. I remember playing with my Playmobil people and adding little bits and bobbles from other toy sets that I had. Here’s some of her little menagerie.

    And then I bought this dresser which we absolutely do not have room for right now. But I stood there in the beautiful church and thought about how I know I’m going to need some more furniture like this soon. And it’s much more sturdy and attractive than IKEA furniture. It’s even less expensive than something from IKEA. I knew I would remember this little dresser and regret it if I didn’t take it home with me. So now Bea’s room is an even bigger crowded mess. Someday the dresser will have room to breath and it will be useful and it too will make me happy.

  • OH THIS IS SO VERY GIRLY

    Have you heard of Betsy McCall? She’s a paper doll from McCall’s Magazine. She was introduced in 1951 and was created by different illustrators all the way through to 1961. I think Bea is a little young for this, but in the future I am so excited to print out a bunch of these so we can play with them. To learn more about Betsy McCall or print her, along with her fabulous outfits, go here. This makes me so appreciative of classic toys. And it also makes me excited for the new season of Mad Men.

  • MORE BAKING

    Bea has been baking Play Doh birthday cakes and singing Happy Birthday to Jenna lately.

  • SERIOUS BUSINESS

    Making mussins (muffins) with Daddy is serious business.

  • OLD FASHIONED DRUDGERY

    I stumbled upon a photo of my chair on a blog and I decided to learn more about it.

    Here’s the chair I have – only my real chair is in storage in my mom and dad-in-law’s basement – and it looks a little more beat up than this one. 

    I learned that the chair is called the Ironrite Health Chair. It was made in Detroit around 1938 and it was made to go with an ironing machine. The kind with a big roller. Like this:

    Then I came across a really amusing video from 1946 that shows how to use the machine. Apparently it removes the old fashioned drudgery from the life of the woman featured in the movie. But then they show her ironing her husbands boxer shorts and sheets and frilly gathered curtains. Uhhhhg – I cannot even fathom the amount of time my grandmothers spent on housework. Did women really iron their husbands underwear?

    If you want to watch the movie it’s here – it’s called Making a New Day out of Tuesday.

    And now I should go because there is a big basket of laundry sitting next to me waiting to be folded.

  • WET WEEKEND

    We tiptoed through the mud to see the new pigs and lambs at our nearby farm. Bea has trouble pronouncing F so it’s a “harm” according to her. Look at those curley pig tails don’t they make you smile.

    We also spent this rainy Sunday counting the number of times Bea asked “what are doing mommy?” We got to 50 just before noon.

    Posted by kathymariechapman on April 26, 2009 at 05:59 PM | Permalink

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  • A TASTE OF SUMMER

    It seems like it has turned from winter to summer overnight. We’ve been running around in our bare feet and we had our first outside dinner of the year. Ahhh – feels good!