Mariannes Motifs

Free Book from Barnes and Noble Summer Reading Program

Barnes and Noble has a great Summer Reading program for school kids.  You download a summer reading "passport" and have your kid keep track of 8 books they read over the summer.  Then they bring it in to BandN and get to pick out a free book.

My son Ben did this last year and this year I have TWO readers to take part.

Vivian Maier Street Photographer's Work Discovered

She was constantly taking pictures, which she didn't show anyone.

via vivianmaier.blogspot.com

Seriously, you must look at these pictures. Astounding.

Reclamation Scarf

This is the triangle shaped "reclamation" scarf I knitted.
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Restaurants : Emeril's New Orleans | emerils.com

Emeril's 20th Anniversary Cookbook!

It's an exclusive collection of many of the best-loved recipes from Emeril's, from Barbecued Shrimp to Banana Cream Pie to Sazaracs - there's something for everyone in there...and best of all, it's FREE!
Download the Emeril's 20th Anniversary Cookbook Here

via www.emerils.com

Here's a nice freebie to celebrate the 20th anniversarry of Emerils cookbook his New Orleans restaurant is offering a free pdf of the cookbook.

Pumpkin Patch

Art by Ben, age 6.

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Panko Crusted Chicken Tenders

Tonight's dinner was hormone free organic type chicken tenders done "shake and bake" style with whole wheat panko bread crumbs and herbs and spices. There was a lot of essence of Emeril going on there.  On the side was Parmesan noodles and peas. Believe it or not everyone liked this meal.

I even caught little guy eating peas and big guy might have eaten maybe like one pea.  LOL.   Sometimes you have to just take what you can get with kids.

Yay for food that doesn't make you feel like you are ready for writing colon cleanse reviews. It's nice to be able to make a quick and easy meal that is from stuff you already have in the house.  Plus I think this was pretty healthy, other than maybe the white starchiness of the egg noodles.

Happy Earth Day

This iris popped open overnight in our front garden.
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Saturday Chit Chat

Today was a good day for cheap fun.  Hubster took the kids to the free Lowes "Build and Grow" kids clinic.  This week was bird feeders.   Then we went to Costco and got staples and lots of free samples.  After that I broke out the hot air popcorn machine and the kids had popcorn and watched movies.

I bought enough groceries for a week's worth of home cooked dinners, and snacks for the kids. I started the laundry and did the dishes.  Dinner was turkey and cheese roll ups from Costco.  Pretty good day all in all.

I am almost finished with my "Reclamation" triangle shaped knit scarf.  The problem with a triangle scarf knit this way is it starts out with three stitches and every row it gets one additional stitch so it has a 90 degree angle triangle shape.  Well the problem comes in when you are almost done and each row is SO LONG.  I am totally wanting to be done with this very sienna colored scarf.  But I really want to use up all the yarn and make this as big as possible so its more like a shawl.  So I am plodding along.  Whew!

My social life is pretty mellow.  I may not have a lot of invitations, and I may be spending my evening knitting and watching Big Band music on PBS, but you know what - I am perfectly happy this way.  We did have lunch with Melissa and Ryan and that was a very nice bit of conversation over lunch.

Hubster went out to watch "The Clash of the Titans" so I a home alone and enjoying the peace and quiet.

Because Wimpy Immature Cheese Would Never Do

Spotted this at Costco...

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Jennifer Knapp Comes Out

The heartbreaking thing to me is that we're all hopelessly deceived if we don't think that there are people within our churches, within our communities, who want to hold on to the person they love, whatever sex that may be, and hold on to their faith. It's a hard notion. It will be a struggle for those who are in a spot that they have to choose between one or the other. The struggle I've been through—and I don't know if I will ever be fully out of it—is feeling like I have to justify my faith or the decisions that I've made to choose to love who I choose to love.

via www.christianitytoday.com

I really feel for gospel singer Jennifer Knapp, who quit the music business after burnout and fears of being outed as gay.

I am also really proud of her for coming out and coming out with a new album. I've never heard her music but this story makes me want to. Jennifer, there are a lot of loving inclusive people out there outside of the evangelical movement. And perhaps your honesty can help create some inside of the movement as well.