My Favorite Drink

I poured my favorite drink today and then I thought I'd take a picture of it. So in case you want to try it, here's the recipe:

1 glass (or plastic cup impersonating a glass)
lots of ice
ibc cream soda (it's caffeine-free unlike A&W)
heavy cream (yup. that's right. not half and half)

Fill glass with ice, pour cream soda over that, then float heavy cream over that. The cream sits at the top, but will get mixed in with the soda eventually (but I try to prolong the separation for as long as I can by taking slow sips). When you take a sip there's the crispy sweet of the soda mixed with the mild, fattening goodness of cream.

What a great combination... you'll have a heart attack and a diabetic coma all at once. You're welcome.

More Onesies, Burp Cloths, Etc.

First, Zoe is all better. Thanks to all you well-wishers. And I scored some chocolate at the dollar store the other day, so I'm good. I mean, Zoe thanks you for helping her get better! Actually, I got sick too, and slept most of Memorial Day while Josh and the kids slaved away in the yard. Josh calls one of the sago palms "Cousin It" and they gave him a big time hair cut. He'll probably blog about it. Anyway, I'm all better, too. By the way, did you know that Twix Java is out? As if that candy bar needed any more incentive to eat it.

Second, Sarah and I are totally addicted to the Ting Tings lately (their song "Shut Up and Let Me Go" is in an ipod commercial). We did Gwen for a while, and we still go back to her in the car, but now when I walk by Sarah's room I can hear "Imagine all the girls... ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah" blaring. Josh knows what we like and turned us on to them. But it's a good thing Sarah has him to also expose her to a variety of really great music. She eats everything up that he teaches her. She has a drum pad that she practices on, she learned a song on the ukulele, and yesterday I heard her playing the electric bass. I gotta figure out how to do the hyper text (and be cool like Juli and Angry Asian and Homemade by Jill and Josh) to link to the video he posted. **I know how to use the link button now!! Check out my girl playing her grandpa's Kamaka. (Thanks papa'!)

Now for the crafty pics...

First set has really soft yellow felt with bunnies that a friend (M) gave me in a big bag of fabric scraps she didn't want anymore. I only had a little left and I really wanted to make something the baby could touch, so I made a soft toy. B is for baby, burp, bunny or Bailey (name of the baby that is coming in October... yeah, they already got her name). Then when you flip the burp cloth or the soft toy it's a D for Daddy. (Or a q or a p... you get the idea.) The socks will probably fall apart... I didn't stitch around the hearts because the fabric is stretchy and I'm just not savvy enough on the sewing machine to do stretchy. So it's just for looks.



The next set is more of the same with some extra touches. I sewed ribbon on one edge of the fabric on the burp cloth. I made a hair bow clip with the same ribbon. And then I got an original thought for the socks. I crocheted pieces of fabric to the edge. It's really easy to crochet the edge of socks and I've seen people do it with chain stitches and beads for little girls, but beads and babies don't mix (as if pieces of fabric can't get caught in a baby's airway). I have no idea if these fabric pieces are secure enough. Who knows what will happen when they get washed. So it seems that these socks are for looks, too. I predict that the baby I made this for will have an outfit for each day of every month and year and so will only need to wear the socks once anyway... heh heh. This set has one other piece coming so I'll post it when I'm done.




And that's all the pics I have for you today.

I want to thank Josh's Grandma for buying me this sewing machine years ago... without it I would not be able to escape into a craft world. And thanks to Josh's mom for taking the time to teach me how to sew... one thing I remember is that "spit" is one of the tools of the trade. And then the German lady I took a class from when I was pregnant with my first baby... she deserves my thanks, too. She helped me learn how to make stuff from a pattern... kind of.

Now that the kids are older, I am able to help them make little sewing projects, too. Sarah made a soft bookmark out of the fabric scraps after cutting out a pattern for a shirt we're making for her. (She said, "Now I just need a book to put it in.") Who knows if we'll be able to make it through this pattern and still be related to each other. We've already had little spats just cutting out the pieces. Uh, Mom... What? I don't know if this is the right line. Did you cut it already? Just a little. Why didn't you ask me before you cut it if you weren't sure?

Baby Onesie & Matching Burp Cloths

Before Zoe monopolized my day and night by being sick, I managed to make these less-than-perfect-but-still-cute baby gifts.

I used Wonder Under to get the fabric squares ironed to the front and back of the onesie. Then I zigzag stitched around the edges.


I like the banana-butt... inspired by the onesie I bought in a store for my nephew. (Front said "I heart Mommy" and back bottom said "Mommy hearts Me".) I got the onesies from Target, they are Circo brand... much nicer than the Gerber ones. I got the cloth diapers at Target, too, and these pics were taken before I ironed/stitched some squares to the opposite end of the fabric encased end. So... they got cuter, but you'll have to use your imagination.

I'm Sick, Send Gifts

Look at this sad picture of Zoe. Her first experience of a fever and she's only four months old. Makes you want to send chocolates, huh? Anything to ease the pain... well, she'll get some eventually! It'll just be processed through the mommy milk factory first. Purely for her benefit.

My first video post on youtube!

Zoe has been eyeballing her feet for weeks. Today she managed to reach them on her own. Here's proof!

Random Events of the Day

I am recovering from the craziness of last week. I got some work done in 15 minute intervals with Zoe awake and in 30 minute intervals with her sleeping. Can't complain because she sleeps through the night... and I have stayed up in the wee hours to get work done without interruptions. Luckily, I'm past the need for that this week.

Seth is also home with us today because he had a fever yesterday, stayed home from church, and then threw up in the evening. (Thanks a lot, Nancy! We caught your flu bug.) He has been parked on the couch ever since. He slept there and woke up with a tummy ache this morning. I gave him Motrin and water and then he threw up again (in the toilet, thank the gods... the toilet gods). So... I 86'd the water. I've been giving him cups of ice and that seems to be working. I threw in a few Saltines a couple of hours ago because the poor boy hasn't eaten anything for two days. He kept it down, so I just now gave him a few more. He has had a huge dose of TV today. I'll probably keep him home one more day.

I had already offered to pick up the Kindergartners (my Seth and Susie's little boy) for this week, but had to call Susie to let her know that I couldn't today. I left messages, but wasn't able to get her, so I decided that if I didn't get a call, I would still go and get her boy rather than leave him stranded there, the last boy standing.

Right before it was time to leave, I was holding Zoe on the recliner. She was in my lap, but really on the seat and I was holding her there. All of a sudden she turned to the right and puked down the side of my arm into the corner of the seat. Eww. I cleaned that mess up and then sat her again on the recliner thinking nothing of it. The next thing I know, there is a huge fart and I'm covered in poop. She got my shirt, my shorts, the string tie on my shorts, down the front of the recliner which channeled a nice poop waterfall onto the floor ending in a yellow pool on the carpet. With two minutes to departure, I had to change and bathe the child in hyper speed mode. I finally got out the door and was relieved to find out that Susie's husband came to the rescue. Whew.

Back at home, I realized that I should take Seth and Zoe (now very sleepy) in the car to run errands. I needed to turn in Zack's Twilight Camp forms before the deadline. It's a 3-day Day Camp for Cub Scouts and they needed dates of immunizations on the medical form. While I was looking for his immunization card, I found a birthday card for my niece that I was supposed to have sent two months ago. OOoops. Karmen's birthday was in February. I was sending it late back when I put it in this particular bag... and so today I was doubly aware of needing to run errands (even with a sick boy in tow). I decided I would get my Auntie of the Year trophy out later to polish it.

Did you know that Sonic has the best Fresh Fruit Strawberry Slush? You can get them for half price during "Happy Hour" from 2-4pm. I got one today (Route 44 oz. size, of course) since I was in the car and the baby was sleeping soundly in her car seat and the timing was right in the middle of Happy Hour. I think this is the third one I've had in the last week and a half. (Timing has been good all these times!) If I was Diabetic, I would have to give these up. No amount of protein can make up for the sugar and carbs in this icy beverage that is perfect for combating the oncoming Texas heat of summer.

I'm almost done with my crocheted edge blanket. I did two burp cloths and got the first line around the blanket. It's bigger and takes longer, but once the first line is done, it goes quickly. I'm going to give it away to a friend who just had a baby girl. I could keep it for Zoe, but she's too big for it now... plus I'm really not a burp cloth kind of gal. I only use them when I remember to. Same with bibs. Zoe is a slobber monster and I noticed that I keep taking pictures of her with wet clothes. If I were to put a bib on her it wouldn't look so bad.


This picture was taken last night when I was grilling dinner. The kids were playing Sequence and were in charge of keeping her happy since I was covered in bug spray. What a happy scene I came across with them all hanging out not killing each other. The Bumbo seat was given to us by the Pyrcz Family along with a bunch of other life-saving baby things... the swing, the bouncy seat, the bungee door jamb thingy that we're too scared to use but she's still too young for anyway. We love the Pyrcz's.

I bought another huge bag of Deer Corn on the way back from Port A. My plan was to buy it on the way down (but we left too late going down) so that I could share it with Josh's mom and grandmas. Once this big bag is opened, you gotta use it or lose it... lots of critters show up in a half used bag. They don't sell it in smaller bags, but you can't go wrong with $5 bucks for a 50 pound bag. I made a bunch of Corny Bags to give as Christmas gifts last year, but you can always use more than one. I might post the instructions and poem later. I should probably get permission from Brooke since I stole the idea from her. Anyway, the bag is sitting on our dining room table waiting for me to have some time to give it some attention. Any of you locals want some? Send me a 100-page essay telling me why I should share with you. JUST KIDDING.

Gotta go. Kids need to eat.

Sunday Dress

This post goes out to Auntie Sig. She sent the dress and the shoes (one of three pairs--holy moly!) and Zoe wore them to church yesterday. This picture was taken after church since it was such a nice day. By the time I remembered to take the pictures, Zack was the only one still dressed in his church clothes, so he held her for the little shoot in our front yard.

Thank you Auntie Sig!

Getting Her Feet Wet

Here are pictures of Zoe's first time at the beach.

Grandma Niki lowered her down to the sand to stand her up, but she hiked her feet up like she didn't want to be put down. It took a few seconds to finally get her standing in it.

Josh said that the close up picture of her feet was a microcosm of her getting her feet wet in life.











p.s. don'tcha love the strawberry outfit?? it was a bday present for me from susie.

Light by Josh

My girl reprise

We did it! We introduced Zoe to her grandparents and great-grandparents on Mother's Day weekend. Here's the picture I wanted to take.

For Moms with Pre-teens

Sometimes I pick books off the shelf in the kids section of the library (I'm not a snob about what books I read) and I love going to the Book Fair at my kids' school. It's very easy to justify that you're supporting the school when you buy books there. There's also the guilt trip you give yourself about helping your kids read more and how can they do that if you don't buy them books? We do hit the library quite often, so I'm avoiding the truth that the big puppy dog eyes work on me--or more like cat eyes if you're Puss in Boots in the Shrek movies. My point is, I usually spend more than I should, but all on books--we don't do the posters and trinkets and pencils and really awesome impulse items that have no place being at a book fair.

Well, I found The Sea of Monsters at the school's book fair a couple of years ago. It looked cool and I thought Sarah would read it. She didn't. So when I decided that I would read it, I was bummed that it was Book Two of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. I had to wait and get the first book from the library.

When I did get it and read it, it was pretty dang good. It had lots of action, was heavy on the sarcasm (Sarah loves reading these parts back to me and then laughing), and is an introduction to mythology. (I like Homer's books and my 9th grade English teacher, Mr. Peebles had a lot to do with that. He was such a great teacher.) After reading the first book, I moved on through the series, getting books three and four from the library also. Still, Sarah didn't read them.

And then a couple of months ago, I banned her from reading the Harry Potter and Eragon books. I think she has read all seven of the HP books at least 5 times each. She has read Eldest nine times. She lives in these books and I wanted her to expand her horizons. And I think it is working.

Desperate for something to read, Sarah finally borrowed The Lightning Thief. She then raced through the other three books, borrowing them from the library like I did. The second she read the last page of the fourth book and closed it, she began counting down the days for when the next book would be out. She acted like she was in pain because she couldn't stand to wait even another minute.

The fifth book of Rick Riordan's series came out two weeks ago (the same week as The Host--and I noticed that in my previous blog I put that it came out last week... I've been so busy that I lost a week in my internal clock... I'm jet-lagged without even leaving my own time zone) and I bought it for her along with book one, three, and four to complete her collection. Aren't I an awesome mom? Now she's reading them over and over again...

I foresee another ban in the future. If you have a kid around 11 years old who needs something to read, I highly recommend this series.

Incidentally, when I was surfing through Rick Riordan's website, I picked up on another series by Erin Hunter since he claimed that she was his son's favorite author. I also found the Inkheart series which I checked out, read and found it really creative. I couldn't get to the first of the Warrior books by Erin Hunter, so I offered to let Sarah read it first. She surprised me by reading Into the Wild even though I suggested she read it.

We went online and requested the next two books through our library and she can't wait. Again.

I Read The Host

I really enjoyed this book by Stephenie Meyer. I'm not going to really review it because I don't want to give anything away. I just wanted you to know that I read it... nah nuh nah nuh nah naaah! The book came out last week, I got it a couple of days later and didn't put it down until I finished it the next morning.

This did feel different from the Twilight series, so go get it! Unless you already did... tell me what you thought!

Creative Juices

I'm back on deadline with my day job and all I want to do is make stuff. Several of my friends are expecting, and in my internet wave riding adventures, I found Jill. She posts her creative projects a la Martha Stewart on her blog and I just love her style. I want to make dolls (even though I don't particularly care for dolls and cut the hair off all my Barbies when I was a little girl), burp cloths, and cloth baby shoes. (All of these are on Jill's blog... I've added her to my faves, so check her out.)

In addition to the projects of my new virtual BFF (whether she likes it or not) I'm crocheting the edges of blankets and burp cloths. The proper way to get the holes around the edges is made by a hemstitching machine—a very rare and very expensive machine. You can send your fabric off to someone who owns one of these machines and they'll send it back with perfect holes perfect for crocheting. I paid just over three bucks for a winged needle and have developed my own process of zigzag stitching and crocheting in the holes made by the winged needle. It requires a little more umph to get the needle through the hole, but I think I like the results. I'd rather pay in sweat than dollars. I'll add a picture so you can steal the idea from me and get your own creative juices flowing. Then we can neglect our day jobs together...
Oh snap! I probably should watch what I write because I got a call from my boss today and she announced that she had read my blog. Well, maybe that was just a one time thing since it was a post dedicated to her... anyway, I'm getting off right. now. to. go. get. some. work. done. yeah. that's right.

Feliz Cinco De Mayo

I actually made enchiladas for dinner tonight. I didn't do it on purpose... we just happened to have all the ingredients for it and then while I was making them Sarah said, "Cinco de mayo food?" and I was like, "Yeaaahhhh."

We also thought about "Auntie Lana" (who I like to call Lana Lang) since it's her birthday. Happy Birthday Lana!!

Hasta.

Free Hugs

If you have been to josh's blog lately you will have noticed his infatuation with the Sick Puppies (it's not just all about Emma Anzai and how she rocks the bass and goes off on stage and how she really is a very accomplished bass player). He drove to Austin with his buddy to see them in concert (and not just take a picture with the band and then cut everybody out except for him and EA and then write Josh hearts Emma all over the dang place) and came back with a t-shirt for me sporting the "Free Hugs" sign on the front. If you're confused... I'll post a link to the video. Long story short... Sick Puppies recorded a song for a dude holding a "Free Hugs" sign. It's actually very cool.

So I went to the mall on Saturday wearing my "Free Hugs" t-shirt in public for the first time.

Hang on, first let me give you a little background. The first time I put on this shirt, Zoe splashed me with spit-up. The second time I put it on, I splashed oil on it and immediately had to take it off and hand wash it so it wouldn't stain. And the third time I put it on was Saturday. Josh said, "Be careful, you might get hugged wearing that shirt."

Lo and behold, I'm walking through the mall pushing a stroller with the three older kids in tow, and I glance up and the most unusually dressed person steps in front of me with arms spread wide. It took me a split second to realize what was happening and with a big smile I said, "Do you want a hug?" So I did! I hugged the guy with spiked hair that I wasn't sure was a guy or girl. This wasn't just a lean forward-barely-touch-and-then-lightly-tap-his-back kind of hug. I hugged him the way I would a good friend, and we held it long enough for it to be heartfelt and before it got too creepy. And then I simply continued walking without looking back. I was laughing and incredulous that someone actually got my shirt. My kids must have thought I was nuts.

Later, Zack reflected my own thoughts by saying, "Was that a guy or a girl?" Sarah said, "It was a guy! Of course it was a guy!" and Seth said, "With spikey hair." So that's all I remember about the encounter. Sarah said that he worked there because of the logo he had on the front and back of his shirt. I'll have to ask my friend Julie if the description fits anyone she knows since she works there, too.

Well, here's my picture wearing the shirt on the same day I got my first hug (because there may just be many more encounters in my future, who knows?), laugh it up, watch the vid and tell me what you think!