Motherworldly

Homemade Ice Cream--Take 1

2011-12-28T11:06:00.003-06:00

Big Daddy is AWESOME! I have been begging and pestering and whining for an ice cream maker for months. So guess what I got for Christmas! Well, technically I got it a week before Christmas, but you know, he's a punctual guy! I keep up with this other blog, "Gina's Skinny Recipes" and she got a new ice cream maker awhile back and the sorbets and ice creams and frozen yogurts she has been posting have been making me crazy! I researched the model she's using and it looked like a nice machine so.... BAM!

The Cuisinart Pure Indulgence Frozen Yogurt/Ice Cream and Sorbet Maker! How's that for a mouthful!?!

Well, needless to say, we had treats galore over the Christmas holiday (pies, gingerbread, chocolate cookies, sugar cookies, rice krispie treats, etc...) so I opted to hold off on the ice cream making until after we had eaten all of that other fattening stuff! But last night I couldn't stand it anymore, so I fired it up! I remembered to put the bowl in the freezer the day before, so it was ready to go. For our first shot, I decided to go for a simple, no-frills vanilla. I figured that was the best way to gauge the texture and flavor. We mixed the ingredients, poured them in and 35 minutes later, we were rewarded with this....

Smooth, luscious, creamy, vanilla ice cream! The Monkey Man and I had ours with pumpkin pie, Big Daddy had his with pecan pie and the Piglet, well, she prefers her vanilla with Midnight Moo chocolate sauce and rainbow sprinkles! I am very pleased with our initial attempt and now I am brainstorming for new flavors. I think coffee or green tea gelato sounds awesome! Or Irish Cream! I did notice HEB had blackberries on sale last week, that would make a killer sorbet! Ahhhhh, so many desserts, so little time!

Did I make the cutest little clothespin dollies?

2011-12-21T09:50:00.000-06:00

Why yes. Yes, I did!!! I was wanting to make something sweet for the Piggy for Christmas. I had originally intended to make the little wooden peg gnomes, because she LOVES "Gnomeo and Juliet", but as fate would have it, I couldn't find the little peg dolls anywhere in town! I have seriously been in every Jo-Ann Fabric, Hobby Lobby and Michael's in a 20-freakin'-mile radius of my house! (Apparently I should have ordered them online!) But I did find the little clothespins, so I started brainstorming a bit and here is what I came up with...

First of all, supplies. I used wooden clothespins, soy-based paint (that was a neat find!), self-adhesive craft foam, poms-poms, cross-stitch thread, ruffled ribbon, and a hot glue gun.

I attempted mermaids first, so I turned the clothespins to where the slit was at the sides and painted the lower portion for the tail. (Sorry for the crappy pic, lighting wasn't the best.)

Then I added a little bikini top, the face and embellished the tail.

And yes, I even added little belly-buttons! Next step was to add hair and construct tail fins. I had my mom-in-law cut the fins out of sparkly, self-adhesive craft foam. You need two for each tail, so you can stick them together. Once they are stuck together and your dolls are dry enough, slide that foam into the slits at the bottom of the clothespin. We cut the hair out of cross-stitch thread and used a dot of hot glue and pressed the hair into it. Then embellished as desired. This is final product!

They're SWEET! Right? I felt so inspired and confident after I finished these little cuties that I decided to whip out some ballerinas too! Pretty much the same deal, except the slits faced forward. I painted little toe shoes and used ruffles and pom-poms for the tutus. I also painted the hair and added some pom-poms for buns and/or little hats!

OK, the one with the orange poms makes me giggle! I LOVE them! I do think for the next batch, I will paint the bodice in a way that leaves an unpainted area for little arms. But hey, for a first try, these turned out pretty damn good! I can't wait to see my little Piggy's face on Christmas morning! I am also looking forward to making the next batch with her. She would have SO much fun with this. And once we figure out the gnomes, I'll be sure to post about them as well!

Here's hoping you all have a wonderful holiday season! Keep warm and safe and love one another!!

Cranberry Lovin' from the Oven

2011-11-21T12:54:00.002-06:00

It's the time of year when I start hoarding cranberries. Ocean Spray, Dole, whatever, I buy at least one bag every time I go into HEB or Costco. I have to get enough to last me the whole year! Now I'm not that into cranberry sauce or cranberry Jell-O or anything like that. I just happen to have an unnatural love of cranberry bread! Cranberry coffee cake rules too, but that's another post! Anyway, we just baked a fresh loaf today and I thought I'd share. The recipe I use is from the Ocean Spray site. There are a couple of things I omit from this recipe, because nuts and orange peel do NOT float my boat, but you can choose for yourself!

Cranberry Bread

2 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 c. orange juice
1 tbsp. orange peel (I leave this out, not a fan of the zest!)
2 tbsp shortening
1 egg, well beaten
1-1/2 c. cranberries (fresh or frozen), chopped
1/2 c. chopped nuts (optional)

Oven on 350*F. Have a greased loaf pan ready.

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, & baking soda. Add OJ, peel (if you're using it), shortening and egg. Mix until you're sure the shortening has been well distributed. Stir in the cranberries and nuts. Pour into the greased loaf pan.

Bake for 55-60 minutes. Check it at 55, do the toothpick tests. Cool on a wire rack.

This is what ya get...

Now if that ain't some serious love in a loaf, I don't what is!! ENJOY!

What's on the Menu: Cauliflower Soup

2011-11-15T19:18:00.002-06:00

Soup seems to be the menu item of choice these days! What can I say, we got rain today and the cooler temps just made me crave soup! And hey, lucky me, I had a head of cauliflower in the fridge! Anyway, talk about a quick easy dinner, this soup can be made in about a 1/2 hour tops! It's full of flavor, so much so even my kids like it!!

I found the recipe on the "Taste of Home" website. I pretty much follow the recipe except I add turkey bacon!!! It kind of defeats my dreams of going veggie 2 nights a week, but it's SO good with the bacon!

What you need:
1 med. head of cauliflower, broken into florets
1 good-sized carrot, shredded
1 stalk of celery, chopped
2-1/2 c. water
2 chicken bouillon cubes
3 tbsp. butter
3 tbsp. flour
3/4 tsp. salt (I use a little less since the bouillon is so salty)
1/8 tsp. pepper
2 c. milk
1 c. shredded cheese

In a large pot, combine cauliflower, carrot, celery, water and bouillon cubes. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 15 min. or until cauliflower is tender.

In another pan, fry the turkey bacon! I chop mine up into small pieces.

Set aside the bacon until the end.

In the bacon pan, melt 3 tbsp. of butter. Then stir in the flour, salt and pepper. Whisk until smooth. Add the milk a little bit at a time. Boil over medium heat, cooking and stirring until it thickens slightly. We're not shooting for gravy here! ;) Turn off heat, add the cheese and melt. Stir in the bacon bits and SERVE! I like mine with a nice dash of Tabasco!

Enjoy!

Attack of the Dreaded Mom-Mom Birds

2011-11-10T15:58:00.000-06:00

You ever see the movie "Finding Nemo"? Do you remember the scenes with the seagulls? "Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. MINE, MINE, MINE!!!!" I have a similar pair of birds in my house. I call them Mom-Mom Birds.

Mom, where's my Nerf gun?
Mom, I pooped!
Mom, can you fit Lego Darth Vader into your nostril?
MOM, where are you?
Mom, are you in the bathroom?
Mom, the dog's licking my shoes!
Mom, what's your favorite type of meatball?
Mom, the Mega Nerf 3000 with pump-action, air-pressure bullets is the one I want, but not the one with the blond kid on front.
Mom, do you remember 3 years ago when we went to that one place that had the pumpkins and you wouldn't buy me ice cream?
Mom, why do you have to go color your hair?
Mom, can I go to work with you?
Mom, I sneezed 19 times in a row!
Mom, can you sneeze 19 times in a row.
Mom, can I have some milk.
MOM, I spilled my milk!
Mom, would you ever kiss Daddy on the mouth like that?
Mom, can we go see the Taj Mahal?
Mom, can we go outside to play?
Mom, we don't want to play outside anymore!
Mom, did you know that the Lego Millenium Falcon is like 500 bucks?
Mom, where are my sweat pants?
Mom, do I really have to clean my room?
Mom, what do you call a fish with 10 eyes?
(Mind you this is all before 9 am!)
Mom.
Mom.
Mom.
MOOOOOOMMM!!!
MOM! MOM! MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM!!!!
Mom do birds pee or poop or both at the same time?
Mom, why don't you have freckles?
Mom, the dog ate my horse.
Mom, come here! You've gotta see this!
Mom, that anole had two tails!!!
Mom did you know that caterpillar poop is called frass?
Mom did you know that frass rhymes with ass?! But you can't get mad at me because ass is another word for donkey?
Mom, what's for lunch?
Mom.
Mom.
Mom.
MOM!!!
MOOOOOOMMM!
MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM!!!!!!

Mom what's for dinner?
Mom do I have to eat it ALL?
Mom, can we have candy for dessert?
Mom do you like Lemonheads?
MOOOOOOMMM! I don't want to brush my teeth!
Mom, why do we have to go to bed now?
Mom, can we please stay up a little longer?
FINE MOM!
Goodnight Mom!
Mom, I love you.
Mom, can I have a drink?
Mom, I forgot I need to go potty.
Mom, I'll see you in the morning.
Mom, do we really have to go to bed now?
Mom, what's for breakfast in the morning?
Mom, are you still there?
Mom, I can't find Bear Bear is he with you?
Mom, you're not gonna leave until I'm asleep, right?

Eventually, the crazy Mom-Mom Birds drift off to sleep and the Mommy bird listens to the bliss of silence.

At least until 5 am when the little Mom-Mom Bird wakes up. Mom, can I get in bed with you? Mommy bird lifts her wing and lets the little bird into the bed where she goes back to sleep and all is quiet and peaceful again until the Mommy bird hears the patter of feet and opens one eye to find Big Mom-Mom Bird peering over her, looking quizzical. Whispering it says, "Mom, can I go downstairs and watch Suite Life?" Then Little Mom-Mom bird rubs her eyes and it all begins again....

Mom, can I watch kid shows?
Mom, I want chocolate muffins for breakfast.
Mom, is Daddy already at work?
Mom, what is your favorite Harry Potter movie?
Mom, I got markers on my PJ's.

I think I may have to pass a new rule in the land of the Mom-Mom Birds. For 30 days everyone must address me as Queen Hesperia Listerwalken Picklepantalones. No abbreviations, no exceptions. And if you can't call me by my full moniker, then you are not allowed to address me at all! And I shall revel in the silence!

Oh shut up, I can dream, can't I?

What's on the Menu: Tomato Basil Soup

2011-11-09T10:18:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite meals is grilled cheese sandwiches paired with tomato soup. I was raised eating Campbell's Tomato Soup, and never really thought to change it up, but then I had REAL tomato soup at a restaurant not too long ago and was like, HOLY CRAP. I have been eating canned swill for years, I NEED to find a decent tomato soup recipe in all haste. So I started pawing through all of my recipe books and index cards and found exactly diddly squat on the tomato soup front. Found a great recipe for Mulligatawny soup, but that's another entry. Finally, I happened across an old "Mothering" magazine article from 2007 that had several different soup recipes and lo and behold... Tomato Basil Soup.

What you need:
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. butter
1 small onion, chopped
2-3 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp. salt
2 c. chicken or veggie stock
1 14-1/2 oz. can chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp. honey
1/4 sour cream (although I almost think it should have been more)
1/4 c. fresh chopped basil
ground pepper

Heat oil and butter in a pot over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and salt. Saute until translucent. Add stock, tomatoes, and honey. Simmer for 15 min. Let cool a bit. Put half of the soup into a blender with sour cream and blend until smooth. Transfer to another pot. Blend the rest of the soup and add to the first half. Warm the blended soup. Serve with fresh basil and ground pepper. This recipe makes about 4 servings. Serve with hot bread or a nice grilled cheese sandwich!

Kid Shit

2011-11-08T17:45:00.001-06:00

Fact: Kids accumulate shit. LOTS AND LOTS of shit. This shit, at one point or another, seeps out of the designated "kid shit" areas and receptacles and somehow completely and utterly takes over your entire house. Those of you that have kids know all too well what I'm talking about. For those that don't have kids or those that soon will, here is a little rhyme just for you!

Kid shit on the desk.

Kid shit on the chair.

Kid shit on the sofa.

And kid shit on the stair!

Kid shit in the downstairs bath.

Kid shit in the hall.

Kid shit in the master bath, the most sacred room of all.

Kid shit in MY CLOSET.

Kid shit on the lawn.

Kid shit in the dining room.

All day long!

There is no room for our stuff.
Ain't no way that it can fit.
I'll need a bigger house
To store all this freakin' shit!

-Little Mama

What's on the Menu? Broccoli Cheese Soup

2011-11-08T13:28:00.003-06:00

It's the time of year that soup becomes a major staple in our home. 1) It's economical. 2) It's pretty quick and easy. 3) Soup effin' RULES! I pity the fool that doesn't dig on soup! Today's offering is Broccoli Cheese Soup from my super, totally awesome "Treasury of Christmas" cookbook. It is a thick, creamy, and luscious soup that is always a big hit in our house!

What you will need:
1 small onion, diced
1/4 c. butter or margarine
1/4 c. flour
3 cups water
**This recipe calls for 2-10 oz. packages of frozen chopped broccoli, but about 6 cups of fresh can be substituted.

4 chicken bouillon cubes
Worcestershire sauce (pronounced Were-shur-shur-shire in our house)
About 3 c. of shredded cheddar
2 c. half and half

In a large pan, cook the onion in the butter until tender. Add the flour and stir until it becomes smooth. Add the water slowly, then dump in the broccoli, chicken bouillon and Worcestershire sauce. Cook over medium heat until soup has thickened and broccoli is tender. Usually about 10 min. or so. Add cheese and half and half. Do NOT boil. Stir until cheese melts and serve. See? Easy-breezy! Leftovers can be refrigerated, but I don't know about freezing. Obviously, I eat mine with plenty of Tabasco Sauce! Yummy!

I'm BAAAAAAAACK!

2011-11-08T13:06:00.000-06:00

Truthfully, I was never really gone, just extremely busy! Turns out homeschooling two kids is a crap-ton harder than homeschooling one, especially when the 2nd child has a COMPLETELY different style of learning. I am confident that we will at some point hit a bit of a groove, but at this moment, it just ain't there. Add in all of the extra-curricular activities like sports, dance, science classes, bowling, park days, Ukulele Society meetings, etc... Did I mention travel? Yeah, we still do a bit of that, in fact October was crazy. Oh and Halloween?!?! Yeah, Halloween is the one holiday of the year that I embrace fully, so preparation for that was insane. I also have that little photography business and a husband that recently gained a large new client (HOORAY) but has become MIA because of it (boo). Throw all of this madness together into 24 hour daily increments and you can see how blogging has not been on the top of my list as of late!

I know... Excuses, excuses, excuses. So I will try to be much more diligent in my posting. I have had several requests for some food entries as it is now fall (well, for most of the US it is now fall, for Texas it is some sort of weird alternate universe) and I have been posting a lot of pics of soup and such on my Facebook page and inquiring minds want to know how they too can have yummy Green Chile Corn Chowder simmering on their stoves. So I shall do my best to keep up a little better. I can't promise daily posts and hell, it maybe two weeks between posts at times, but I promise to make the effort! I do love blogging and sharing stories and pictures and I hope you all enjoy reading along!

PSA: The Great Slime Fiasco of 2011

2011-08-25T19:59:00.002-05:00

For those of you that don't know, my daughter is THAT kid.

I decided after this particular incident that I should post about it, because after all, one of you might have one of these kids as well!

OK, first off, what do you get when you mix this...

with this?

ONE BIG FREAKIN' NIGHTMARE!

"Look Mommy! I have a hat made of slime!" Oh joy! In case you're wondering what slime is, it is a mixture made of water, borax and GLUE. And does it easily come out of soft, fine, little girl hair? NO. No it does not. I have to say, I felt so sorry for her. My first reaction was, of course, to be angry, then all of a sudden this rush of giggling came over me and I howled like a damn hyena with tears streaming down my face.

This was not helpful.

It was also not helpful that her big brother was laughing himself into tears as well. So I had to chase the child around the house (with slime drooping from her head) to try and explain that it wasn't HER I was laughing at but the SITUATION. Needless to say, she did NOT think this shit was funny in the least.

First instinct, call mother-in-law. She used to be a hairdresser, she HAD to know how to remove slime. She suggested putting on tons of thick conditioner to hopefully help the goop slide out. Made perfect sense so we tried it.

I was able to start slowing scratching some of the top layer off, but the stuff underneath was so stuck in the hair it was unbelievable and the conditioner wasn't even touching that. At this point I was almost certain that a shaver and a buzz cut were in the child's future. I called Big Daddy to get him surfing the web to see if he could find a solution. He is the King of Google. Seriously, that man can find anything, anytime on Google! I hopped back in the shower with the girl to try to work some more of this stuff out. Shortly, the Monkey Man came upstairs with news. So what did Big Daddy discover on the internet?

That's right, Baby! MAYONNAISE! Turns out vinegar can break up some the bonds of the glue, but I was too scared I'd get it in her eyes. Mayo has vinegar and oil, double whammy! And although it's gross, it's manageable. So I slopped it on and started working it in. I was able to start pulling big chunks out after a few minutes, then I started in with the fine tooth comb. Slowly but surely, the slime started loosening up and I was able to comb the majority of it out. Then I shampooed a couple of times and conditioned really well and this was the end result...

Slime FREE!!!! I don't think I've ever loved a condiment so much in my entire life! GO MAYO! So remember, if you have one of THOSE kids and they get slime in their hair, it's all about the mayonnaise!

Escape to the Mountains: Evening at White Sands

2011-08-15T10:41:00.002-05:00

OK, I admit it, I love White Sands. Seriously. LOVE. IT. And I had the most grandiose plans of taking the Piglet's 5 y.o. pics at White Sands in a sweet little sherbet colored dress with her hand-painted Japanese parasol. Oh the pics were beyond amazing... in my head. Mother Nature, as it turns out, had different plans! We arrived late afternoon and it was still too hot and too bright to take good photos. White Sands is one of those places that you have to get early morning or sunset pics or everyone is over-exposed and squinty. It really is very bright there in full sun! So we just pulled out the saucers and let the kids and dogs run free and wild, hoping that the sunset would be awesome and I'd get some great pics of a little freckle-nosed girl. As things started to cool down, I set off with the camera to just shoot scenery. The big, puffy white clouds were awesome!

My feet are always happy and well-exfoliated at White Sands! ;)

The kids were enjoying sledding the dunes.

In case you're wondering, they heavier the saucer is, the faster it sleds down the dunes, hence the bucketful of sand all over my kid! Big Daddy snapped a quick pic with my girlie! I kinda love her!

It was the dogs, however, that REALLY enjoyed White Sands with the complete and total reckless abandon that only a dog can understand! And they're off!

Well hello Roddy!

And yes, Nigel too!

He got hot though, and Big Daddy had discovered that the sand under the surface was damp and cool. I have NEVER seen a dog that was even remotely OK with getting buried in the sand. But he LOVED it!

Roddy got hot too, but he wouldn't let us bury him, so he just panted...

and PANTED!

They finally mellowed out just as the storm started rolling in.

Can you see the rain in the background? So awesome! I have to admit, it was a bit of a pisser to have our evening cut short, not to mention the fact that glorious photos of the girl were not to be, but hey, New Mexico has been hit by this drought as bad as Texas and I was beyond thrilled to see the lightning and smell the rain! It finally started raining, COLD, life giving rain right as we were piling in the car. It was beautiful! So I forgave Mother Nature for screwing up my photo shoot! Besides, we all had fun playing in the sand and that's really what it was all about anyway! I hear that October is the best time to visit White Sands, so I think next year we'll plan a dual trip to take in Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque then head to Ruidoso for a week to enjoy fall in the mountains! Counting the days baby, counting the days!

Escape to the Mountains: Little Hummers

2011-08-12T11:38:00.001-05:00

Those of you that have been following along with my blog for awhile know that I like to travel! And I also like to post full-blown trip logs of my adventures. Well, the fact is, now that the kids are a bit bigger and we have so many commitments, it is really hard to sit down and knock out a full trip log chronicling an entire week in one sitting. SO... I have decided to break things down in smaller more do-able increments! I hope you still enjoy reading them!

Our family doesn't have the cash flow to travel to wonderful, exotic locations. It's hard to save up for big trips on a single income! But we are so lucky to have our little cabin in the mountains of New Mexico! It's strange, we've been going there for years (and by that I mean close to 20 years!) and we have done everything there is to do in and around Ruidoso, but you know what? I have NEVER grown tired of this place. I mean really, how could you? Fresh, pine-scented air, cool mountain temps (20* less than the hell we call home in Central Texas) and abundant wildlife. Not to mention a deck that just cannot be rivaled! We spend most of our time sitting on the deck waiting and watching and RELAXING.

Some of our favorite cabin visitors are the hummingbirds! As soon as we arrive, we make up fresh nectar and hang out the feeders and within an hour we have hummingbirds out the wazoo! Big Daddy took it upon himself to try to get some great pics of the little beasties, and I can say from experience, it is WAY harder than it looks! But I think he did a great job, check it out!

If you ever wondered what a hummingbird tongue looks like, click on this pic!

Can you get any sweeter?

And then came the fattest little hummer we've ever seen! This little thing was beyond plump! Not sure if it was just well fed or maybe a female with eggs? Either way, too cute!

Coming in for a landing!

Our second morning we had the fortune/misfortune of finding a hummingbird on the ground. My mom found the little thing flopping around in the driveway. We picked her up and my mom tried to warm her while I mixed up some fresh nectar.

She ate well and started trying to flap her little wings. She just couldn't seem to take off though. We think her wing may have been broken. We allowed the kids to hold her gently, I mean after all, how often does a kid get to hold something that small and delicate. It was like holding a cotton puff in your hand.

After a bit, we fed her some more and I settled her in the lower branches of a tree.

We're not sure what became of her. I went back to the spot and walked around the area about an hour later and there was no sign of her. Not sure if she died or if something got her, or if by some chance her wing wasn't broken and whatever the problem was, she was able to work it out and fly off. We are all hoping it was the latter, and honestly, as far as my kids are concerned it was. The Piggy was in tears over our little guest and I was in tears seeing my sweet girl broken hearted. All she wanted was for this sweet little bird to fly away "to be with her Mama and Daddy and her friends". Both of the kids were terribly concerned about her and although I know death is a part of life, I figured optimism was the best choice in this case. So we are hoping "Little Hummer" is flying around Ruidoso visiting every flower and feeder in the upper canyon!

But on a happy note, the rest of our time at the cabin was spent observing and enjoying probably a hundred of these little beauties! They swooped around, buzzed our heads when we got too close to the feeders and spent endless hours chasing each other around and away from the feeders! Those little Rufous Hummingbirds are quite the territorial little farts! Stay tuned for more adventures!

Padre Island or Bust!

2011-06-27T11:23:00.000-05:00

Last week was the Piggy's 5th birthday! I can hardly believe it! A couple of weeks ago I asked her what she wanted for her birthday, and she told me she wanted to build a sand castle! And so began the planning! At first we were thinking of South Padre, but it is SUCH a long drive and the hotel we wanted was booked. So we settled on a place on Padre Island up by Corpus Christi. A win/win really as Corpus had several nice activities to add to our itinerary.

The drive out was nice, it actually RAINED the night before we left, so everything was overcast and a bit cooler and you can't beat that for traveling weather! When we arrived, everything was still pretty cloudy. We were too early for check-in, so we drove around the island a bit, trying to get a feel for things. We stopped by a pier, since the kiddos have never seen a pier, much less been on one. We were shocked to find out that this particular pier wasn't FREE! You had to pay $2 a head to get out on it! We paid it, just so the kids could experience it, but what a crock! The kids were impressed by all the fishermen and the seagulls, not to mention the churning ocean water. Since a storm had recently passed through, everything was wild out there. It definitely gives you a healthy respect for the ocean when you see it like that. After getting our fill of the pier, we cruised around on the beach, letting the kids get their toes in the sand. They LOVED it! The Piggy was all about the soft sand and the Monkey Man was all about the cool water! It started to rain again, so we packed everyone up, headed to the hotel and got settled. We were all hungry, so we perused the Island guides to see how the restaurants rated and decided to go to Doc's. It was a nice looking restaurant on the bay with a great view and it was supposed to be affordable. Well let's just say, this restaurant was the worst mistake of our trip! The margaritas were mediocre at best, the crab cake appetizer was cold inside and our main dishes were LAME! And if that wasn't bad enough, we were out something like $85 for this crappy meal and we only ordered 3 entrees! The one thing that was good was the sourdough bread, but unless you want to have a great view and only eat a basket of sourdough bread, I would steer clear of this place! Serious two thumbs down! We would have been much better served spending $15 at Sonic and calling it a night. On the bright side, by the time we got back to the hotel, the sunset was gorgeous!

The next morning we got up early to head to the beach. Sadly, the Piggy had a rough morning and stayed back at the hotel with Big Daddy while the Monkey and I went to explore the Padre Island National Seashore.

The Visitor's Center was REALLY nice here. The rangers were very informative and more than happy to talk birds with the boy for a half an hour! There was a little store, nice restroom facilities complete with showers and changing rooms, and the beach itself was so much nicer than the other beaches we saw on the island. Since this is a National Park, you have to pay a fee to get in ($10 for a 7 day pass), but it was well worth it for the facilities and the cleanliness of the beach. It was still early and still overcast when we made it down to the water, and it was pristine and there was hardly a soul in sight, other than the seagulls.

The boy decided to test out the water.

We found tons of little clams under the surface of the sand. They were so pretty and we both just loved watching them burrow back under the sand when a wave would uncover them!

After about an hour of exploring, I couldn't stand it anymore, I had to head back into town and get the rest of my family! It just didn't feel right without them! By the time we returned, the sun was starting to peek through the clouds.

We munched our picnic and then it was time to explore and have fun! By then the sun was out in full force and life was good!

Here are some of the things we found... This is a crab hole.

I felt the need to tell everyone to shut their crab holes quite a lot that day!

This is a Portuguese Man O' War that was washed up on the beach.

Luckily no one touched it's tentacles and therefore no one had to get peed on! And just as an FYI, supposedly vinegar and/or meat tenderizer helps with jellyfish stings as well, which may be less messy than trying to pee on your foot!

There were sandpipers galore.

And a beautiful Great Blue Heron that seemed to just be hanging out watching what everyone was doing. And can I just say those are some BIG damn birds!

We found ourselves a sweet, little piece of real estate, not too close to other folks and not too far from the Visitor's Center with all the facilities.

The umbrella was one of the best purchases I made before the trip ($19.99 @ Costco), along with the boogie boards. Now if you remember from earlier, the Piggy wanted to build sand castles for her birthday. Well as it turns out, the Piggy likes the "idea" of sand castles, but not so much the actual work! Here she is contemplating her game plan as she goes over the blueprints in her head!

You've got to have the appropriate tools!

But reality set in fast and she lost interest in her sand castles and decided to go explore the water! So Mama decided to build a sand turtle instead!

And just as a side note, the Visitor's Center at Malachite Beach has Kemp's Sea Turtle hatchling releases throughout the summer. If you are lucky enough to be in town during a release date, you can call a hotline the night before to find out if the release is happening and then show up the next morning at 6:30am to witness the release! We had hoped to see one of these, but none of the clutches were ready for release during our stay. But for anyone interested in sea turtles, what a great opportunity!

The Monkey Man was all about learning how to boogie board, so he and his father decided to head out and try their luck in the waves.

At first he needed a little help, but before long he was goin' solo and that is pretty much where he stayed ALL DAY, which is amazing because I tried it and after about 20 minutes of getting the crap beat out of me by the waves, I was EXHAUSTED!

I made a new friend, well, maybe not a friend exactly, he laughed too much and I'm pretty sure it was at my expense!

I was in love with the pelicans, so cool and so graceful, at least in flight.

And yes, I admit it, I caught crabs at the beach! I didn't mean to, but I just couldn't help myself!

Isn't it pretty with its bright blue legs? It was a very nice crab, and it didn't even try to pinch me once! I caught a sand flea too, but for some reason didn't take a picture of it, go figure?

Late afternoon we called it quits, we were all a bit burnt and crispy and completely worn out! So we showered and packed up to head into town. The girl at the Visitor's Center had told us that if we wanted to see dolphins we should head over to Port Aransas where the ferry is. So we took that little drive up Mustang Island, found a little pier off the beaten path and sure enough... dolphins!

I was so happy because it wasn't just adult dolphins, there were BABIES! They were no more than 2 or 3 ft. long and they were flipping around and splashing and just being kids! Sadly, none of the photos turned out that well, they were just TOO fast and TOO crazy! We did, however, get to see a pelican up close and personal!

Have I mentioned how much I adore pelicans?

We ended up having dinner at The Parrot, The Peg and The Patch in Port Aransas. It was a cute little burger joint with outdoor seating and good service. The teriyaki burger with pineapple was by far the best! Poor Monkey Man had to endure me stealing bites throughout the meal! A much better deal than stinky, ol' Doc's!

The next day was all about Corpus Christi. We got up early and headed to the Texas State Aquarium. The kids LOVED the dolphin exhibit!

And Merlin the otter!

But the highlight of the day was the escaped Harris Hawk! This bird was NOT about to come down and cooperate and the staff were running around like crazy trying to nab her. Because of her antics, the Bird of Prey show had to be canceled, but in all actuality, we got a bit of a show anyway watching her interact with Grace the Bald Eagle who was NOT happy about this hawk who kept landing on her enclosure!

And for those that haven't been to the aquarium in awhile, they have a very nice little splash pad that the kids enjoyed immensely! On our way out of the aquarium, I stopped for a quick pic of the Lexington.

I wish we could have gone on board to see it, but alas, the fiasco at Doc's didn't leave us with the budget to see it. Maybe next time.

We headed back to Padre Island for some souvenir shopping. I mean really, who can resist shopping in a place with a ginormous plaster shark for a doorway?

Later that night we headed to a Corpus Christi Hooks baseball game at Whataburger Field where we managed to get front row seats right next to the home team dugout and it was Friday Night Fireworks! Did you know that Corpus Christi was the birthplace of Whataburger? I didn't, but I do now!

The next morning we planned to get up and head to the beach for one last hoorah, but Mother Nature had other plans. It was pouring! So we packed up early to head for home. I was bummed we didn't get to make one last sand castle and I didn't get to shoot one particular photo, but hey, Corpus has been in this drought too, so badly in fact, that many of the local birds have left due to the lack of fresh water. So we were happy that they were getting some much needed rain. Now if we could have managed to get it to follow us home!

We had a great time and we really did it up for my baby's birthday. I hope she will remember all the fun we had. I learned that my girl is a total beach bunny (she takes after her Mama!) and my son has more stamina and energy than should be humanly possible! I also have a new found love of the Texas Coast. Years ago, we visited Port Aransas and I was stunned to see a bunch of rednecks with their trucks backed up on the beach swilling beer and tossing trash everywhere and being that I was fresh from Oregon where the beaches are amazing and people actually pack out their trash, I was SO turned off. I mean obviously, it has been 7 years since I set foot on a Texas beach! But Padre Island was great, the National Seashore was beautiful and clean and I will be looking forward to going back soon!

Now THAT'S a bean!

2011-06-06T12:54:00.000-05:00

I am so glad someone clued me in on these little beauties! The vines seem to be doing well, even in the 100* heat. The flowers are open when it's cool in the morning and I started noticing actual bean pods about a week ago. They are now about a foot long! I still have to wait though, 18" is optimal! I expect to harvest this weekend! It's about damn time!

The Unexpected Guest!

2011-05-31T11:23:00.000-05:00

Before I get to my visitor, I just wanted to share a couple of finds from the garden today. Who knew yard long beans produced such a lovely flower?

Not me! I'm used to the white flower the black-eyed peas produce, which is pretty too, but nothing compared to this gorgeous purple! I can't wait until the entire vine is covered in flowers!

Purple seems to be the theme today as I also discovered my first little bunch of fairytale eggplant! Aren't they sweet?!? I see curry in my future!

But as cute as the eggplant are, they just can't hold a candle to this most welcome visitor in my garden...

I can't believe I actually saw this little guy! It was less than an inch long, but I'm thinking must still be pretty lethal as it was licking some juicy, buggy morsel off of its little front legs! More power to it! I hope it has many brothers and sisters living on my tomato vines and throughout the garden! Something tells me they could do a helluva lot better than ABC Pest and Lawn AND they use totally organic methods! ;)

Summer garden is shaping up!

2011-05-25T13:33:00.001-05:00

I went out to water this morning and what did I find?

Hehehehehehe! Actually three of the 6 tomato vines have baby tomatoes and I'm SO excited! I don't know why I was so surprised and mean look at these big, beautiful things! The one in the back is almost as tall as me!

So far, eggplant is growing and flowering well, my burgundy okra is flowering (we found 3 little okra this morning), chives are kickin', parsley is out of control (which is good because I wanted there to be enough for me AND the caterpillars!), the regular okra is growing well and the Chinese green beans (aka yard long beans) are already to the top of their tepees, not sure what happens now!

A close up of those gorgeous beans! Now let's hope they produce as well as they grow! My goal is to have a freezer full of green beans by the end of summer!

Black-eyed peas are doin' their thing as well. Have I mentioned lately how much I love my little garden? I've gotta say though, this drought isn't helping! First we had a sucky winter that damn near killed off that season's garden, now I'm fighting with this drought. Note to the gods of weather: Please send some good drenching rain at least twice a week for the next 4 months. We would greatly appreciate it if it were just rain. No hail, heavy wind or tornadoes. Thanks in advance!

California Adventures--Seal Beach

2011-05-23T12:21:00.004-05:00

You know, I almost have to laugh when I refer to my time in California as an "adventure". Other than my aunt taking me on the long drive to Malibu to visit the Getty Villa, I spent most of my time hanging out in coffee shops playing on my iPad, farting around downtown Seal Beach, meandering through the streets taking pictures and swooning over glorious gardens and funky little cottages with million dollar price tags. Nothing terribly adventuresome there! But then again, this WAS the first time I have been away from my kids for more than an evening by myself. So although I wasn't windsurfing or sky-diving, I suppose the "adventure" was finding myself again! I think sometimes people don't realize how hard it is to have that inner dialogue when you have kids constantly interrupting that and jamming the signal! It was an "adventure" in peace and quiet and in not having to worry about someone else's needs. As a stay-at-home mom, I can tell you, those moments are PRICELESS! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my kids big time and I certainly don't regret my decision to stay home with them, BUT it really was so incredibly nice to just have a few days to do what I wanted to do without worrying about who needs to go potty and who's hungry or tired or grumpy.

Welcome to Seal Beach, California! It's a sweet, little town nestled in between Long Beach and Huntington Beach with a thriving downtown, a beautiful public beach and California's second longest wooden pier and the PERFECT place to laze around for 3 days!

"Slick" the mascot

The Seal Beach Administration Building (Blue skies and palm trees, gotta love it!)

Granted, most of the kitschy little cottages have been bought, torn down and replaced with McMansions, but there are few of the 50's, old-school cottages. They are of course my favorites!

And although I adore the cottages, this particular beachside beauty caught my eye. I'm trying to talk Big Daddy into springing for it, but I have this gut feeling the answer's gonna be no. :( And in case you were wondering, this IS one home!

Almost every house has a little garden and the stuff that grows there in that mild, salty air is incredible! Some things I recognized like lantana and roses, but most of the stuff I had know idea what it was, but the streets were just full of color!

I mean really, I haven't seen a rose like this since I lived in Portland.

And the ice plant on the beach!

Downtown has lots to offer, funky little shops, lots of restaurants, and we can't forget the Red Car Museum!

I also adored Brisa's Old Town Garden. If I could have, I would have bought the place out! I haven't seen plants that green and gorgeous in years!

There were a couple of antique shops, and I just couldn't resist a picture of this. I was thinking how cute that thing would be in my backyard with baskets full of petunias or geraniums!

And did I mention the pier? The longest wooden pier in California? Needless to say after walking to the end and back with the heavy ocean breezes, I was a bit winded! So cool though!

And what is the beach without seagulls?

Isn't he a beauty? This was a lucky shot though. He flew off moments later!

At the end of the day, I started walking home around sunset and turned for a last look at the beach for the evening and couldn't help but get a shot of the pier in the far distance with the beautiful, wind-blown palm trees and the moon rising... just stunning. California was definitely a nice change of scenery!

I hope you have enjoyed my little photo journal of Seal Beach. I will probably annoy you with another couple of California posts before it's all said and done, but what can I say, I love to travel, I love to take pictures and I love to share my adventures! Does anyone know how I could get a job with the travel channel?

California Adventures-The Getty Villa

2011-05-16T12:14:00.000-05:00

Up on a hillside in Malibu there is a most magnificent museum called the Getty Villa. The Villa is modeled after a Roman country house, the Villa dei Papiri, in Herculaneum which was buried by Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. The museum is entirely dedicated to arts and antiquities from the ancient Greek, Roman and Etruscan cultures.

The view from the parking lot was breathtaking! I do miss the ocean!

The wall along the path leading to the Villa was lined with the most beautiful pink roses that smelled AMAZING! And since I was on vacation with no kids, no hurries, and no timelines, I did truly stop and smell the roses!

How's this for a fine welcome?

This is the Outer Peristyle and seriously, it was so beautiful and so peaceful all I could think of is how much I would love to just come for an hour a day to read in this garden! Stunning. (And please, click on the photo to get the full view, you won't regret it!) I love the statue of the drunken satyr on the rock!

There were two long, open corridors surrounding the peristyle with beautiful columns, inlaid floors with mosaic tile and glorious ceilings. I couldn't keep from hearing that quote from "Jurassic Park" about how they "spared no expense"!

Here is a view looking out toward the ocean from the steps of the Villa.

Another one of the many halls with decadent floors, paintings and ceiling detail. They really didn't spare any expense! And although I would not have liked being the person that laid all the mosaic tile (pic to come momentarily), I would have loved to help paint this place! What a cool job!

Of course there was an herb garden, I mean what country estate wouldn't have a proper herb garden, not to mention the grapes. I hear later in summer the grapes are amazing and drape over the entire garden.

Oh yes, in addition to all of the amazing gardens and architecture, there was art! Fancy that in a museum! There were every day items such as pottery, oil and perfume jars, weaponry and armor and statues, amazing statues like Venus.

And the busts of emperors like Augustus.

One of my favorite pieces was called "The Victorious Youth" which according to their information is one of the few Greek bronzes that have actually survived. You will have to forgive the crappy quality of the photo, as this room was small, had strange lighting, flash photography was obviously not permitted and I was tripod-less! But the piece was so amazing that I still had to share. They found it in a shipwreck!

There were funerary pieces, I particularly liked this lion!

This coffin was amazingly intricate.

Now just look at the detail on the ceiling! Little animals and birds, flowers and butterflies, so beautiful! (You'll probably have to click on the photo to see it more clearly.)

And remember the mosaic tile I was talking about? Here is the floor in the atrium. Each piece was maybe a half inch wide!

Once you passed through the atrium you went into the Inner Peristyle. The columns were so pretty, not to mention the wonderful tiles on the roof!

They had an amphitheater where, in summertime, they have classical drama performances. Wish I could have experienced that!

Speaking of mosaic tile again, the fountain in the East Garden was incredible! So colorful and detailed!

And last but not least, one of the last things I saw... the view from the upstairs balcony looking out over the Outer Peristyle. Please could I just live here for a week? I even promise not to swim in the pool!

I would like to thank my auntie for taking the day off and fighting the traffic on the 405 so I could see this place! It was lovely! And although I enjoyed not having to call after the kids and worry about potty breaks and snack time, I did wish that my Monkey Man could have been there. He is a big fan of the Greeks, Romans and Etruscans. But most of all, I would HIGHLY recommend that if you are ever in the Los Angeles area, you really should take the time to see this place. The entrance is free, but an advance, timed parking ticket is required (I think it runs around $15). SO worth the effort though! I hope you enjoyed my little photo tour of the museum and although I posted quite a bit, it is truly just a taste of what was there! Oh, and the restaurant was nice, affordable and made the BEST peasant bread ever!

Little Stinkers

2011-05-15T21:27:00.001-05:00

My aunt has interesting neighbors. They have serious attitude, they are terrible troublemakers and worst of all... they STINK! But you can't hold a grudge because they are just cute to boot!

The culprits...

Minding their manners and trying very hard to look sweet...

Realizing the jig is up and making a dash for it!

Yes, I was outside with them and no, I didn't get sprayed! ;)

Very Tweet Little Birdhouses!

2011-05-05T10:07:00.000-05:00

This year we have had oodles of birds around our property. The Monkey Man spends many of his mornings out front with his field guide and trying to identify them all. He is especially fond of the blue jays that seem to be considering making the nest in the ligustrum bush their home! As it turns out, last weekend the folks gave both kids little birdhouses to hang in the maple tree. These things are so cute! They are obviously meant for smaller birds, so maybe we'll get some finches or sparrows that like them. Whether they get occupied or not, they are just super sweet hanging in the tree! They are made from all recycled materials and are 100% recyclable themselves, which is always a good thing. If you think they're cute, they are by a company called "Tweet Tweet Home"!

Beet It!

2011-04-07T14:14:00.003-05:00

OK, sorry about the dumb reference to a Michael Jackson song, I just couldn't help it! Anyhoo... the other day I really hit the gardening jackpot! I was out watering and checking on things as I REALLY need to get the summer garden going but I still have winter garden stuff going strong. I decided to pull a beet or two, just to see how they were doing and you know what? They were doing FINE! So I pulled a big ol' bunch of them!

Just look at that beautiful red! To die for! I washed them up and trimmed off the greens, which I'll be serving for dinner soon. Can I just say that I LOVE beets and turnips for this very reason! You can eat the leaves AND the roots. Super. Food. Awesome.

I popped them into a pot of boiling water for about 30 min. (40 for some of the bigger ones). Then as I rinsed them in cold water, the skins just came right off and I was left with beautiful burgundy beets! So I let 'em cool off so I could slice 'em and then EAT 'em!

And oh HELL YEAH, they were awesome! I have been nibbling on them periodically or serving them on every salad I eat! They have a nice bite and the texture puts those icky canned ones to shame! Now I'm on the lookout for the perfect beet salad!

Our First Cecropia!

2011-04-05T18:32:00.000-05:00

Last year I was good and remembered that my bug dealer has a much better selection in the fall, so I called him up and got all sorts of new critters for this year. As you saw earlier, the two polyphemus moths emerged the same evening and they were stunning, big moths, but today, the Granddaddy (or in this case Grandmama) of all moths emerged! Meet Hyalaphora cecropia, the largest North American moth...

Had I managed to get the ruler straight, this moth would have almost a 6-inch wingspan! Impressive girl! This one has shown a very mild temperament, she didn't seem to be scared or mind being handled. The Monkey Man is completely in awe over her! And honestly, so am I! Here she is in all of her grandeur hanging out on the boy's knee.

The wing pattern is really striking. But it's her body that I am amazed by. She is fuzzy beyond belief and her abdomen has such amazing color. The next photo isn't optimal, but it's REALLY hard to get a photo in focus when the moth is "shivering" (making rapid wing movements when agitated).

The striped pattern is so cool. And was I kidding about the fuzziness?!?! The underneath portion of the wings are beautiful, but again, the body has such incredible color and patterns! She's all polka-dotty!

And what about the face? Is it the face only a mother could love? Nope, this moth is just about the sweetest looking creature I have ever seen! Just look at those big, black eyes and the feathery antennae! And the fuzzy orange legs!! Beyond cute! Click on photo to see EXTREME close-up!

We are holding on to this little lovely until well after dark. We need to release her when the birds are asleep and the bats are less active. And as always, I am humbled by the beauty of this little animal. I wish her the best of luck and I hope her pheromones attract a big handsome boy and they make lots of baby cecropias! We need all the beauty we can get in this world!

Garden Gone Wild!

2011-04-01T10:56:00.000-05:00

I really need to be planting my summer garden this week. Technically it should have been planted two weeks ago, but what can you do when your beds still look like this?

Who knew that collard greens had such beautiful flowers? I have the happiest bees right now and THAT makes me happy!

The beets and kohlrabi are thriving! Although I think the beets may be close to harvest, I saw one beet that had about a 2-3" diameter yesterday! YUMMY!

Lettuce and spinach? Why yes, I have just a little bit!

Luckily my nursery people say I can plant tomatoes amongst the lettuce and spinach and still probably get yield for another month before pulling it! Hooray!

I give up on this one! I think I will just keep this bed for herbs this summer. The onions are going strong, the cilantro is out of control (it's the big bush on the left), parsley is making a comeback (and I have to have lots of it for my parsley worms) and I am finally getting chives! So I figure I'll work basil in there somehow and life will be good!

You can't complain when your garden looks this good and is producing this much (I swear I could feed four families out of my garden) but I really wish I had a little more space so I could be planting the next season's crops. What's a girl to do?!?

Night of the Polyphemus

2011-03-28T17:03:00.000-05:00

As many of you know, we purchased cocoons from my bug dealer in Canada last fall. They have been overwintering in my veggie crisper since October. A couple of weeks ago, when the threat of freezing was over, I removed them from the crisper and have been patiently waiting for them to emerge. Last week we were graced by the tiger swallowtail. It was SO pretty and delicate and was off like a flash when we released it! I had been told that the moths would probably take 5-8 weeks to emerge. Looks like that was a bit of an over-estimate! Last night while putzing around in the front room I noticed one polyphemus moth at the top of the enclosure drying its wings. When I took a closer look, I saw the second one! It had obviously just emerged and crawled up the enclosure as it hadn't pumped its wings up yet. So we observed it for about a 1/2 hour until its wings were fully expanded, then we took them both upstairs to check them out! These are seriously some of the prettiest moths on the planet! Photo was taken on a black t-shirt!

To get an idea of its size, here it is in my 4 year-old's hand.

I was only able to get decent photos of one moth. They were both females, which usually means they're pretty mellow, but one of them was just antsy beyond belief and I put her back in the enclosure as not to stress her out or wear her out. I wanted to get a good shot of the underside. You can tell it's a female due to the large abdomen and the skinny antennae.

The last photo is my favorite, it really shows how incredibly beautiful this creature is! She had a wing span of about 4-ish inches and she was magnificently colored! I mean really, look at how black the black is and how vibrant the pinks are!

As always, I feel so lucky to have spent some time with these amazing moths. After we took some photos and each of the kids got to check them out, we took them out front to the maple tree to release them. Usually the females don't fly too much as they are so heavy with eggs, but in the time I came back inside to grab the flashlight and the camera, they had both flown off. I guess our accommodations weren't up to their standards! So I wished them good luck in finding handsome boys and laying healthy eggs!

Now we wait for the last 3 moths. We're really looking forward to the cecropia as it will have at least a 6" wingspan! We can't wait!

Cardholder for little hands

2011-03-27T14:18:00.000-05:00

If you have small children, you understand how hard it is to play a card game with them because they can NEVER hold the cards right and then they get all mad, and well, you know the rest! So thanks to a suggestion from a family friend, I now have a solution!

You will need two plastic lids (cottage cheese or small butter dish size), a pair of scissors, a stapler and some scotch tape.

First, cut the rim off the lids. Then staple 3 or 4 staples in a row about 1/3 of the way up from the edge. Take a couple of strips of scotch tape to cover the back of the staples so no little fingers get cut by the staple ends. Then... Viola!

A perfect way for little hands to hold cards! Happy gaming!

Greens Gone Wild!!!

2011-03-09T09:52:00.000-06:00

I had to do some much needed garden maintenance yesterday. Everything is really out of control, in a good way! All but the turnips. For some reason, aphids went nutso on the turnip greens and they were wilting, and drooping and turning yellow. Needless to say, turnip greens are not in my future! And sadly, I had to make the executive decision to pull all of the turnips. I needed to get them out of there so the aphids wouldn't spread to everything else! Many of the turnips were not fully mature, BUT, they are young and tender and when mixed with some carrots, sweet potatoes and maybe parsnips they will make an awesome side dish! This is my puny harvest!

Aren't they pretty? I can't wait to see how my beets and kohlrabi turn out!

I keep telling people to PLEASE come to my house and harvest some lettuce, spinach and greens and so far no one has taken me up on it? WTH? I mean seriously, FREE, organic greens. Any of you reading this, the offer still stands! As you can see, I'm not kidding. I really do have greens coming out of my ears!

Lettuce and spinach

Beets and kohlrabi

In case you're wondering, beet greens are great wilted down with red onions and a splash of vinegar. They also kick ass fresh in a salad. Kohlrabi greens are very similar in taste and texture to collard greens. I don't have a pic of the collards but they too are out of control and beautiful!

Did someone say cilantro?!? Who knew it would turn into a BUSH!?!

So seriously people, come get some greens! I will probably start pulling things around the first of April so I can get my summer garden in. And by then the lettuce will be wilting and full of snails!

How to make a fairy house AND a happy girl!

2011-03-07T10:14:00.004-06:00

"When the first baby laughed for the first time, the laugh broke into a thousand pieces and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies." -James Matthew Barrie

And so it is that we have fairy folk that are in need of some prime real estate! Miss Piggy has a love affair going with fairies. And really who can blame her? They are beautiful, little creatures with wicked smiles and mischievous ways. Remind you of anyone in particular? She had begged for fairy houses at Christmas. She found some in a catalog that were made of felt and were approximately $30 a piece PLUS shipping! And they were ridiculously small. Then a friend of mine recently posted about a fairy house kit she had purchased to build with her daughter and it was amazingly cute with the rocks and acorn shells and moss. I got to thinking, why couldn't I fashion one of these? I mean hell, I've got a glue gun. I've got sticks and rocks. I've got some leftover silk flowers and floral moss from various projects. So off I went for the perfect form for the main structure. I debated using old oatmeal boxes that I've saved for projects, but really wasn't interested in painting it or gluing paper around it, so I headed to Jo-Ann fabrics to see what they had. As it turns out, they had just what I was looking for and they were only $3 (and I had a coupon)!

I gathered all of my tools... forms, matboard, silk flowers, floral wet foam, small tree branches, moss, scissors, nippers, box cutter, glue gun and a small bit of ribbon for embellishment.

First thing I did was cut out a door and window, then I glued the form onto the matboard. While that was drying, I took off the lid and decorated the "roof". I chose to use leaves and small flowers.

I made sure that the fairy had a nice little bed of leaves to sleep on in her new home. Luckily fairies are pretty modest when it comes to furnishings as they spend most of their time out and about playing tricks on folks!

I took sticks, cut them down to size and glued them, as well as some silk leaves, around the house. Then I glued some ribbon around the edge of the roof. As it happens, I found the most perfect little bird in some of my art supplies and the Piggy LOVED it! Now the fairy has a pet!

I thought bluebells would make the perfect doorbell!

Now it was time to make the fairy a garden. Fairies, according to my daughter, LOVE flowers and they need to have smooth rocks to use as furniture in the garden. So I made a path out of sticks and I glued some brown and orange leaves (that had obviously fallen from the trees in the fall). Then I glued a small rectangle of wet foam under the window and proceeded to fill it with colorful flowers so the fairy would have a nice window box! Piggy decided there needed to be berries there too, since fairies prefer to eat ripe berries. Next I glued a ton of moss all over the matboard. And the finishing touch was adding some smooth, black rocks to the garden. Here is the finished product WITH the happy fairy! (Feel free to click on the pics to see it in more detail!)

Side-view

Now we have a happy fairy and a happy girl. She loves it! From what I understand there are other fairies that will come to live here soon. So I guess I better tackle the tower next weekend so we have room for everyone! And in case you were wondering, the cost of this lovely fairy house was just under $12. Granted I had some of the supplies, but really you could use just about anything. And the supplies I did buy will make MANY more fairy houses!

Once the tower is done, our next project will be to build some fairy houses in the garden. I hear it is good luck to have them there! Maybe they can summon some dragonflies, lacewings and ladybugs!

Middle-aged Mutant Ninja Chicken

2011-02-23T17:23:00.002-06:00

I have crappy knees. I'm not sure when this happened exactly or when I came to this revelation, but I'm not happy about it. It's bad enough that I turned 40 (which reminds me, I should probably update my little "About Me" section), anyhoo... It's bad enough that I turned 40, but to have to admit that I have ARTHRITIS in my freakin' knees too?! What a load! I went to the Ortho doc who sent me to physical therapy and it helped a lot, but still the creaking and crunching and popping in my right knee were about to drive me nutso, so I sucked it up and went in today for an injection of SynVisc. SynVisc is a fluid made from the combs of roosters (I'm crappin' you negative here) that supposedly will help supplement the synovial fluid in my knee joint, basically allowing my knee to move freely without rubbing and scraping against stuff.

The needle stick wasn't too bad, the gelatinous fluid going into my knee joint, yea, I could have lived without that. It was a slow process to get almost 10cc of fluid in there. And about half way through I heard AND felt this audible crunchy POP! I almost fainted. It didn't hurt, but the sensation was thoroughly foreign and henceforth a little overwhelming. I managed not to pass out, but I was definitely a little ooky and nauseous for awhile. I was able to leave on my own and drive home, but ICK.

Since I've been home, things have gotten a little strange. I'm beginning to wonder if something went wrong. I felt the need to pile things up on the couch and sit right in the middle and wait.

And wait.

And wait.

Then I jumped up and ran outside and started to scratch madly at the ground. And when I saw that beetle, I just couldn't help myself! It was disgusting, really crunchy and bitter, but what could I do? I seem to have perpetual "goose bumps" and my skin is feeling really scaly and dry! And if that weren't bad enough, I have more than once felt a strong urge to peck my kids in the head. HARD. And let me just say, if you know what's good for you, you won't be eyeballin' me today! But, you'll have to excuse me, I see a big fat caterpillar climbing up the window outside and that sucker is MINE! Pa-CAAAAAWWWW!

What's on the Menu? Mulligatawny Soup

2011-02-15T10:53:00.001-06:00

I seem to be on a food kick lately! Eh, who am I kidding, I'm ALWAYS on a food kick! I can't help it, I love to cook and I love to EAT! Last week, I was under the weather, some stupid cold or something. Anyway, I was looking for a soup. Something hearty and tasty and nothing brothy and thin, I wanted stick to your bones, nourishing soup. So I started digging through my recipes. Lo and behold, I came across an old recipe, from my Portland days. Honestly, I haven't made this soup in eight years! An anesthesiologist I had the pleasure of working with in Oregon gave me this recipe after we had a soup-themed potluck one day. It was so tasty and amazing and I was raving about it and trying to figure out what the starch was in the recipe as I knew for sure it wasn't potato. I thought maybe it was turnip or parsnip or something along those lines, boy was I ever surprised to find out it was little green apples! Had someone informed me of that at the beginning, this little country girl would have never put that soup in her mouth! Apples in soup, CRAZY! But nobody told me until later and I am thankful for it! So don't be squeamish! Chop up those little apples and TRUST me, you won't regret it!

Mulligatawny Soup--courtesy of K. Lalwani

Before you begin, cook some rice! You'll need about a cup of cooked rice at the end of the recipe.

Saute the following:
1/4 c olive oil
1 chicken breast cubed
1/2 c onion
1 large carrot, sliced
2 stalks celery, diced

Add 1-1/2 tbsp. flour and 2 tsps. curry powder, cook for about 3 minutes. Pour in 32 oz. chicken broth and simmer for about 30 min.

Add and simmer for an additional 10-15 minutes:
1 medium tart apple, diced
Between 1/2-1 c. cooked rice (I use closer to a full cup)
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp. thyme

Immediately before serving, stir in 1/2 c. heavy cream.

All I can say, is this is one of those recipes that got lost in the little box of recipes. I can guarantee, I won't make that mistake again! Enjoy!

The Big Chill-2011

2011-02-04T17:13:00.006-06:00

We have SNOW. In Central Texas. Really.

The whole city is shut down. And I'm not kidding. Over this much snow...

I mean it is so pathetic that the Monkey Man rolled his eyes and said, "Whatever. We can't even make a snowball with that! Can I just play Wii?" I had to practically force him to put on his coat and go outside so I could at least get one picture of him in this monumental meteorological event!

The Piggy was a smidge more excited. She was, however, pretty bummed to find out that this, like the Ruidoso snow, was NOT snowman snow. She was able to make little snowballs to pelt at me, but they fell apart mid-air so it was more of a snow shower! As it turns out, trampolines are fun in the snow!

And although this measly bit of snow was fun for my daughter, it almost made me cry. For those of you who weren't in Texas, you might not know that this particular storm was preceded by about 2 days of well-below-freezing temps with lots of wind and wind chill. I did my very best to cover the garden and shield it from the nastiness but when I peeled the frost barriers off this morning to shake off the snow and let the garden get some much needed sun, I found utter desolation. :(

I'm thinkin' those peas ain't coming back! The onions, chives and cilantro MIGHT make it, but I'm not holding my breath. The collards and turnips didn't fare much better.

Some of the lettuce might pull through but anything around the edges looked like this...

So sad. But what is worst of all, is I was left with a whole bed of "dead beets". (Pah-dum-pump--PSHHH!)

See, I'm so distraught I'm making tasteless jokes! So I'm glad everyone got their snow and their day off but I personally think the "Great Blizzard of 2011" can bite my ass!

What's on the Menu? Corn Chowder for a cold evening!

2011-02-02T14:20:00.001-06:00

OK, it's cold outside and my pantry is severely depleted since I was out of town all weekend. The last thing I wanted to do was go to the store in 17*F with wind to boot! Obviously I wanted to feed my family something warm and stick to your ribs, but what to make?!? I opened the freezer and saw that bag of frozen corn and I knew exactly what I was going to fix! Creamy Corn Chowder! Nothing hits the spot like a good soup!

This is a Betty Crocker recipe that I tweaked a bit to suit my taste! You gotta love Betty!

4 slices of bacon (I use turkey bacon, more meat, less fat, just as yummy)
1/4 c butter
1 onion, chopped
1 stalk of celery, chopped
1 small carrot, shredded
2 gloves of garlic, minced
(I added chopped red bell pepper, about a 1/2 of a big one.)
3 tbsp. flour
3 c. chicken broth
3 c. frozen corn
2 medium potatoes, cubed small
3 c. half & half (I only used 2 cuz that's all I had!)
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 bay leaf
Salt and Pepper to taste

Cook bacon in a large soup pan or Dutch oven until crispy, remove and crumble. Add butter, onion, celery, carrots, bell pepper and garlic to the pot and saute until tender. Add flour, stir well, cook about 2 minutes. Slowly add broth. Stir in corn, potatoes, half & half, herbs and seasonings. Heat to simmer. Cook about 15 minutes until potatoes are tender. Add in the bacon crumbs. Serve and enjoy!

I served the chowder with fresh popovers! It was awesome! I'm thinking Tabasco might have been a tasty addition, but we were out, so I don't know for sure!

Ode to My Thirties

2011-01-24T11:15:00.006-06:00

Good bye to my 30's! You were AWESOME, so much cooler than my 20's! Don't get me wrong, my 20's gave me a college education and the absolute LOVE of my life, both of which I'm thankful for each and every day, but it wasn't until I met you that I truly hit my stride.

Right off the bat, you gave me the most amazing gift of all, the gift of motherhood! It's funny, I spent my whole life swearing off motherhood, but 6 days after my 31st birthday I met my Monkey Man and it was all over! I knew at that moment that this would be the greatest adventure of my life and I embraced it with every fiber of my being!

Four years later I welcomed the Fiery One, and although at this point you had armed me with a bit of motherly know-how, you slapped me square in the face with a hard reality. Everything I thought I knew about parenting didn't mean DICK with the second child!

Once she arrived you showed me a GREAT deal about patience and boy, have I ever needed it! But more importantly, you taught me how to laugh.

Because honestly, it's a very thin line between laughter and utter breakdown and like the song says, "It's better to laugh than cry!" You taught me more about self-sacrifice than I ever really wanted to know, but at the same time gave me the wisdom to see that everything I have sacrificed for them has been worth it 100-fold! In the end, they will be my greatest accomplishment!

You gave me a sense of purpose and level of confidence that my 20's never could and it was beyond liberating! But you gave me that confidence with a level of self-control that I didn't possess in my 20's to keep me out of trouble and I thank you for that! You helped me see that it was pretty cool to be ME. You showed me that it was OK to be proud of my accomplishments, even if the only thing I accomplished that day was a load of laundry! And seriously, you have to be proud of yourself because at the end of the day, nobody else really has the time to give a shit and if you have to wait for the validation of others, you're gonna end up disappointed and sad!

You helped me embrace my body! Although I had an amazing physique through my teens and 20's, I was too stupid and too self-conscious to know it! It's probably for the best as I could have been wicked dangerous otherwise, but it wasn't until I gave birth to two kids that I realized that this was it. This was the only body I would ever have and I might as well enjoy it! So I adorned it with artwork that celebrated my life, the life of my two kids and the memory of the two that never came.

Who cares if my boobs are too small or my hair is too damn frizzy or my thighs have cellulite? I'm healthy, I'm happy and thankfully my husband is an ass man! ;)

You taught me that every day counts, it sounds totally cliche' but it's true. Time is fleeting and sadly, children grow up in the blink of an eye! Thankfully, during this last decade I embraced the media available to me to help me remember. I write and I take photographs of EVERYTHING! I'm sure I drive my kids and family crazy, but someday they will be able to look back on my journals and blogs and photo albums and remember all of the fun, stupid, silly, ridiculous times we had together. And no matter how mundane my day is, I try to look back and remember one amazing thing that happened, whether it was a horrible knock-knock joke told to me by a zealous 4 y.o., or witnessing my 8 y.o. work his first long division problem or even something as simple as watching a butterfly flit through the garden, it all matters, it's all important and it's what LIFE is all about.

All of this being said, I can't say my 30's were perfect. You showed me a level of loss that I had never experienced before and rocked my foundation. You introduced me to my mortality and forced me to shake hands with it. You rubbed my nose in humility more than once and you gave me more wrinkles, gray hair and cellulite than I ever hoped to have! You also showed me that I really can't do squat about any of it, bugger all! So damn it, I'm gonna own these wrinkles, I earned them! And the gray hair? As long as my follicles will take hair color and I can lift that bottle to my head, I will battle those until I'm 80! I'm going to appreciate EVERY single day! I'm going to hug my kids and play with them EVERY day! I'm going to scratch the ears of two little pipsqueak dogs EVERY day! And I'm going to tell Big Daddy that I love him EVERY day!!!

So here's to my 30's! I raise a glass in your honor!

It's been an amazing ride and I thank you for everything you have taught me and for the woman that I am today! I will never, EVER forget you! Now I believe I see your sister coming down the road, I know she's been traveling for a long time and I should prepare to meet her.

To be continued...

New Year's in New Mexico

2011-01-17T18:14:00.000-06:00

I haven't done winter in New Mexico in YEARS! But this year my mom-in-law decided she needed one last hoorah before going under the knife for a knee replacement. So we packed up the kids and the punky, little dogs and headed to the mountains!

You have to understand, the trip to Ruidoso is about 10 hours, so if anything goes amiss, it's a real pain in the butt. Luckily for us, the trip was pretty smooth! The sweet little doggies were GOOD travelers!

Aren't they sweet?!?! The kids did pretty well too. There was some whining, an occasional grump and a serious onslaught of "Are we there yet?" "Are we there yet?" and "How much longer 'til we get there?" But once I started replying, "No we're not there yet and we won't be for another 6 days!" They finally chilled out.

First stop was Roswell. Every time I go to the mountains, I take the time to stop in and visit my grandmother who, in case you were wondering, turned 94 years young this year! She is a hoot! She is feisty and crass and can tell you dirty jokes that would make you blush! I took the opportunity to get some good photos of her with the kids, with me and just by herself. She is awesome and I absolutely adore her! I can only hope to be as cool as she is when I'm 94!

Well, one thing I can tell you about that part of New Mexico in winter... it is COLD! When we woke up Sunday morning in Roswell it was 16*F with winds blowing! My two little dogs damn near froze to death going out to pee! You see there is nothing to block the wind in the plains and it seems 20* colder than it actually is! We were definitely ready to head to the mountains where there was snow, but warmer temps and less wind!

As soon as we arrived and got unloaded the kids just HAD to put on the heavy coats and gloves and get in the snow! Who can blame them? Poor little kids have only seen snow a handful of times! We bundled the dogs up too, yes, coats for my poor nekkid canines! Here's the Monkey Man rescuing poor Roddy Ringo from the frigid snow! Nigel, on the other hand, was totally game!

Sadly, this snow was NOT snowman-making snow, nor was it snowball-making snow, so there was some serious disappointment there, BUT it was perfect for snow angels...

and SLEDDING! We had a pretty good slope going in front of the house and things were going great, until the Monkey Man went a little too fast and zinged out in the road right in front of pick-up truck! I think I am still recovering from that particular adrenaline rush! But that didn't stop us, we determined quickly that the neighbor's house had a GREAT slope, plenty of room and no one was there! We had a blast!

Upon arriving to the cabin, we became aware that the telephone was not working, which is a problem since there is NO cell phone service in the canyon! So we started looking through the house, to see if we had an old phone lying around to make due. And sure enough, we came across a big, black dinosaur of a rotary phone! The kids had never seen one before, much less used one and it was so funny to watch as they were tethered to the phone, not able to walk and pace around! Not to mention the fact that the Monkey Man didn't realize that the buttons on top of the phone will hang up the call. He accidentally hung up on folks quite a bit! Here's the Piggy giving it a test run!

We made a new friend! Her name is Daisy and my kids were SO in love!

This poor, little dog was followed, picked up, snuggled, kissed, and hugged practically to death. We hope she didn't mind too much! We did our best to keep the Pipsqueak Boys warm and toasty. You can tell that they lead such a hard life!

But my absolute favorite part of this visit was the amazing wild animals that graced us with their presence! One morning, while doing the breakfast dishes, I looked out the kitchen window to see these guys walking through our backyard! And by all means, click on the photo to get a better look!

Now I've certainly seen elk around Ruidoso before, but this was the first time I ever saw them in town and on our property! I grabbed the camera and headed up the hill after them, keeping a reasonable distance and large trees between us at all times. I'm not stupid and would prefer not to get gored by a pissed off elk! They were HUGE and gorgeous and thoroughly majestic in every way. I felt so lucky to just share space with them for a short time! Totally awesome!

We had plenty of deer stop by as well! I recognized some of the females from our visit in the summer, but the babes had gotten bigger! They all looked plump, their fur was thick and clean and they seemed well-fed and healthy which always makes me happy!

Here's one of the sweet babes! Seriously, this little guy just oozes cute!

It's time for your close-up my deer!

You talkin' to me?

Another sweet little deer!

I really do just love these guys!

They each have such different personalities. Some are skittish, some are totally brave, others are kind of punks, some are timid and mellow. And this my friends is why I love our little cabin in Ruidoso SO much! I can't think of a better place to spend time with my family!

It was a wonderful trip, full of family, friends, good food, lots of games, naps and snuggly blankets. The only downside was a sickly little Piglet the last 2 days we were there. I guess too much time sledding in the snow and cold was just too much for her "delicate" Texas disposition! But we made it home, we had a great time and we're counting the days until we go back!

Raspberry Tartletts

2011-01-14T09:47:00.000-06:00

And no, we're not talking about a band of 6th-grade hussies dressed like Britney Spears! This is one of those recipes that eluded my attention for years! A friend of mine, an anesthesiologist at Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland, used to bring these little lovelies to work on occasion to share. She and her daughter would make them and I could have just eaten the whole plate! They remind me very much of my favorite jam-filled shortbread cookies (which I have yet to master). Anyway, I was searching for something to bake, as it's been cold in the house and I was looking for an excuse to have the oven on. I was tired of chocolate chip cookies and banana bread so I started rifling through old handwritten recipes and came across this one! So without further ado...

Raspberry Tartletts from Angela K.
(the EASIEST recipe you'll ever see!)

What you will need:
1/2 c butter
6 oz. cream cheese
2 c flour
raspberry jam

Oven set to 350*F

For the crust:
Mix butter, cream cheese and flour either in your Cuisinart or by hand. Roll the dough into small balls and drop into an ungreased mini muffin tin. Take any object you can find (I used the butt end of an IKEA ice cream scoop) and press the dough down forming a little well for the jam. Cook the crusts for about 15 minutes, then remove, add a dollop of jam into each tart. Make sure to add enough to make it yummy, but not so much that it will spill over. Pop them back into the oven for about another 10-15 min. You want them to be lightly browned. Cooking them for awhile first THEN adding the jam keeps the jam from completely evaporating. Cool on a wire rack and enjoy!

Sneaky Weasel

2010-11-26T17:23:00.002-06:00

There must be some sort of developmental milestone that makes all four year-olds go crazy and start stalking their mothers and fathers and siblings and even their poor, unsuspecting dogs! For the past four days there has been a sneaky little girl hiding behind doors or under the bed or behind the couch. Every time I am pre-occupied with work or laundry or dishes, I catch a glimpse of the little weasel slinking out from under the dining room table, trying as hard as she might not to giggle and draw attention to herself. Once she feels sure that she's reached an optimal range, she shoots up, grabs me by the leg, and hollers like a banshee, "RRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHRRRRRRRR!"

Then she sulks off dejected because I didn't jump out of my skin, only to come back 6 minutes later to try again! You would think she'd just get tired and give it up, but she persists. I am beginning to wonder if all this cloak and dagger stuff would just fade away if I gave her what she wanted, that one good, blood-curdling scream to make her think she's succeeded. But something tells me it would only fuel the fire! So for now, she keeps shrieking and I continue to assure her that she was CLOSE to scaring me. We'll see how long it lasts, but I seem to remember the Monkey Man stalking me for months! It's a good thing I'm not terribly jumpy or my life would be really sucky right about now! ;)

10 Things

2010-11-25T11:49:00.000-06:00

These are the 10 things I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving.

1. I know it's probably a given, but I am so thankful for my little turkeys! My kids amaze me, they make me laugh every single day and they absolutely make me want to be the strongest, healthiest, most awesome "me" that I can be!

2. I am thankful for my Big Daddy. He is my soul mate and my best friend, truly the rhyme to my reason! My kids couldn't ask for a better Daddy and I couldn't ask for a better partner in this crazy journey through parenthood!

3. I am thankful for my home. It may not be the dream home on 5 acres with a studio over the garage, but it's warm, it's safe and it's ours. And in a world where so many people don't have a home, I am eternally grateful for mine!

4. I can't believe I'm saying this, but yes... I am thankful for two little crapweasel dogs! They are small, obnoxious, barky and occasionally they pee on the carpet, but they are awesome companions and loyal, little lap-warmers and I'm so happy we were able to give these two little sad-sack dogs a second chance at the good life!

5. I am thankful that my husband has a good job with benefits! Do I really need to say anymore?

6. I am unbelievably thankful that I have found something I love to do and I'm getting the opportunity to go for it!

7. I am thankful for my family, both near and far.

8. I am thankful for amazing friends! Each and everyone of you bring something special to my life!

9. Again, I know it's cliche', but I'm thankful for my health. All I want to do is spend a long, healthy, happy life in the presence of my beautiful family and friends!

10. And last but not least... I am thankful for sweat pants and flip-flops! Life would be so uncomfortable without them! ;)

Happy Thanksgiving to you all! I hope you are spending a wonderful day, eating yummy food and spending time with those you love! Gobble, gobble!

How to make a platypus

2010-11-18T12:23:00.002-06:00

Or at least a fairly decent version of one! So here's the story... we have a little friend who is about to celebrate his 6th birthday. He LOVES Australia and REALLY loves platypuses (or is it platypi?) He is having a big Australian Adventure party and we wanted to stick with the theme. We shopped around for a nice platypus but had no luck. Ty makes a platypus Beanie Baby, but it's pink and doesn't really look like a platypus. So the kids and I put our heads together and brainstormed. The Monkey Man suggested that since I make costumes and I, not too long ago, made them monsters, why couldn't I make a platypus? So I dug through my Halloween stash of polar fleece and lo and behold tan and brown for the perfect platypus! Now I will warn you ahead of time, this was not intended to be a serious replica of a platypus, I was wanting him to have to whimsy and silliness. So without further ado, here is how you make a platypus!

Step 1. Make a pattern. I used leftover posterboard from Halloween and made a ridiculous sketch of said platypus, minus the beak and flippers that would be fashioned later. I sewed around the body, leaving the head open to add stuffing.

Step 2. Stuff him! I used regular Poly-Fil for stuffing. I had an old pair of chopsticks that I used to poke the stuffing into the necessary spaces. There was a great deal of poking and patting and whacking. The kids thought I was a little weird!

Step 3. Once you're done stuffing him, stitch the hole in the head and cut out flippers and a beak. I sewed two pieces of fleece for each flipper and the beak. I doubled the fleece on the flippers just for thickness, I left the edges raw. I did put a small amount of stuffing in the beak.

Step 4. Attach beak and flippers. I hand-sewed all of these. I wanted to make sure they were super strong and secure. Look! He's beginning to look like a platypus!

Step 5. Pick out and attach eyes. The kids wanted button eyes. They thought he would be much sillier if they were different colors. So there you have it! The finished product made us giggle! Step 6. Have children give the platypus a good squeeze so he'll be full of love for his little boy!

We wrapped him in a raffia bow and I penned a little poem for the occasion... (names changed to protect the innocent!)

There once was a boy named Bobby
Who loved animals and critters and such
He especially loved Australia
And its majestic PLATYPUS

We searched high and low for a creature
That was soft and fuzzy and plush
But much to our sadness and sorrow
There was no majestic PLATYPUS

So we came up with a plan and a pattern
And with fleece and thread and fuss
We worked very hard to make you
This majestic PLATYPUS

We hope that you'll love him and keep him
And he'll be a special friend to trust
Because after all there's no creature as loyal
As the great and majestic PLATYPUS!

I would like to wish a fine Happy Birthday to our wonderful, little friend and we hope that he enjoys this platypus and he has as much fun playing with him as we had making him!

Westcave Preserve

2010-11-12T10:34:00.009-06:00

On Monday, the kids and I met up with our Campfire group for a guided tour of Westcave Preserve. I have been in Austin almost 8 years and have heard of this place, but we have never made it out there, so I was excited to finally see it. I can tell you, I was NOT disappointed! What a beautiful place! The Monkey Man had asked on the way out if the preserve actually had a cave, but I told him that I was pretty sure it was just a name since the preserve is west of Bee Cave. I was wrong! There is actually a cave! We were so excited!

The hike itself was lovely. The trail was thin and rough and steep at times, we had to go single file much of the way. This would NOT be a hike for someone with mobility issues as it is not paved and definitely not wheelchair or stroller accessible. However, the trail was completely under the canopy and on a warm November day you just couldn't have asked for a more pleasant hike!

We started our tour with a talk about the watershed and conservation followed by a game about local wildlife. The kids had loads of fun with this one! I was a bobcat!

Then we had a quick picnic and gathered to start our hike. While we were gearing up some of the kids noticed this little Texas Spiny Lizard! Isn't it cute?

Then we were off down the trail. First stop was a lookout point where we could see the Pedernales River.

And of course, I came across a cool, dead tree! :)

As we got a little further into the canyon the scenery began to change from live oaks and scrub brush to delicate ferns and moss.

Then we came to the waterfall. Granted, since there has been very little rain over the past few months the waterfall itself was nothing more than a trickle, but it was really pretty!

We were able to walk up behind the falls to look out and the kids were able to see evidence that this part of the world had once been under the sea as there were seashells in rock above our heads along with layers of limestone and shale.

Then we got to enter the cave! OK, so we're not talking Carlsbad Caverns here, it was just a small, primitive cave that was VERY damp and drippy! The tour guide called the water droplets that landed on our heads "cave kisses". :) Here is a shot of a small group of stalagmites.

Honestly, this picture makes me think of the Bog of Eternal stench in the Jim Henson movie "Labyrinth"! Hee-hee! There were quite a few baby stalactites, they were pretty much still "soda straws". The tour guide mentioned that this particular cave had a lot of green algae present and if you looked close you could see algae at the end of the stalactites, which we could (sorry though, it did not translate into decent pics). She asked if we could see what was different about the stalactites with algae and I noted that they were curved and she said, "Yes, they are curved because of the algae fighting to face toward the light at the entrance of the cave." OK, so that was one of those mind-blowing, super-awesome discoveries! I geeked out about that all afternoon! There was a group of nice columns

and here is a view looking out of the cave entrance. Notice all of the algae on the formation.

I managed one last shot of the waterfall area on the way back out. Stunning isn't it?

It was a great hike, I highly recommend it! This place is a preserve, so you are not allowed to just hike around willy-nilly. They offer weekday guided tours for youth groups and few guided tours on the weekend with a maximum of 30 people per tour. The tour guides are very motivated, friendly and knowledgeable. They say this time of the year is pretty slow and the groups stay small. But because of them only offering guided tours a certain number of times every week, humans have not impacted this area as much as most of the state parks. There was no litter, just a beautiful, clean preserve with clear water and big cypress trees! So if you haven't been, take the trip and go explore! It is well worth the hour and fifteen minute drive out there!

Jack-O-Lanterns!

2010-10-28T09:20:00.000-05:00

I LOVE HALLOWEEN!

Brazos Bend State Park--Trip Log

2010-10-20T11:25:00.005-05:00

Yes, finally, the long awaited Brazos Bend Trip Log! Sorry for the delay, but that's what happens when you come home with the flu! I am feeling much better now and I'm ready to take you through my adventures at one the coolest parks I've been to!

We arrived on Friday afternoon with our car loaded to the max with camping gear, kids and dogs! And as soon as I saw the sign, I knew this was gonna be a GREAT weekend! We headed into the Ranger's station, selected our campsite and made our way through the park. Sadly, when we claimed our spot, some old geezer from Houston came by and informed us that his church group had already reserved that spot. But with a call to the front offices we were able to clarify that the spot was ours and life was good and we immediately started to set up camp!

Ah, Home Sweet Home! We found a spot for the doggies. "Sit boys, sit! Good Doggies!"

By the time we were situated, it was time to get a fire going and cook dinner! We had steaks cooked over the fire, a green salad, baked beans and some sourdough french bread! Yum! I don't kid around with camp food, we eat GOOD when we camp! Once the fire settled a little, it was time to bust out the marshmallows! Nothing beats S'mores on a camping trip! I've got to tell you, just sitting there, snuggled in a blanket with my kids, enjoying the fire and the noises of the night, it was heaven. Seriously.

At one point, Big Daddy went to the facilities and came back with a trio of teenagers who were nice enough to show us a GARGANTUAN bullfrog they had pulled out of the swamp! That thing was probably about 18" from head to toe! And like an idiot I was so mesmerized by this thing and I was enjoying watching the kids so much that I totally forgot to get a camera. I guess sometimes I need to realize that I can't snap a shot of EVERY thing we do or see!

One of the more interesting things I noticed about this park was the sheer number a certain type of spider. These things were huge, at least 3-4" long with webs that went between the trees. This little lovely was located about 15 feet up in the trees above our tent!

I would like to take a moment to acknowledge a guest photographer on my blog. Several of the photos, including the one above, were taken by the Monkey Man himself! I couldn't be prouder!

We eventually headed off to bed, enjoying all of the sounds around us, the croaking of the bullfrogs, the hoots of the owls and very late at night I heard coyotes and they were CLOSE. It made me reach out and make sure all kids and doggies were safe and snug within the confines of the tent! We woke up to crisp, chilly morning air and discovered that SOMEONE had tried to get into our cooler that night!

Pesky raccoons! Oh well, they tried, but because we were smart and wedged it under the bench of the picnic table they weren't able to crack it open! After a hearty breakfast of scrambled eggs and sausage, we got dressed, got our camera gear and headed out to explore the park. One of the first things we saw was this sign...

and all I could think of was, "Ummmm, OK?!!" It was quite apparent that this was some seriously swampy terrain.

I was completely enamored by the Spanish moss in the trees. This shot made me think of a scene from "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil"!

And we all know my infatuation with old, dead trees. This one was scrawny, but so cool nonetheless!

This shot was taken early in the morning and I was just amazed at how breathtaking this portion of the swamp was! I'm so glad we stopped at the watering station for a drink!

As you can tell, the scenery was breathtaking, but what amazed me even more was the wealth of wildlife here. And I mean in your face wildlife! There were no fences, no enclosures, just paths and nature. So let me show you some of the awesome critters we found in the span of just one afternoon!

Turtles!

Hawks!

Whistling ducks!

Yellow-crowned night heron

Amazing dragonflies were everywhere, but hard as hell to photograph!

Egrets that flew silently through the morning fog.

White ibises

The above, particularly cool and interesting shot was taken by the Monkey Man, there is no photo editing on this shot. It reminds me more of a painting than a photo. Click on it to get a better look! SO cool!

And of course one of the biggies of this park, is the Golden Silk Spider and it rules the whole place. There are webs EVERYWHERE! And the webs are HUGE! What an incredible arachnid!

But the one we all came to see was the American Alligator and did we ever see a few! We saw Mama Gators,

and baby gators, (this one was a little over a foot long, so about a yearling)

and BIG, DADDY GATORS! He was probably about 12 feet long and all hauled out on the shore sunning himself!

And did I mention there are no fences or enclosures? I had to keep a short leash on dogs and kids both! After spending a good deal of time hiking, I took the kids over to the Nature Center to learn more about the animals we had seen that day. It was small, but what it lacked in size it made up for it with well-informed, very friendly docents who discussed the local wildlife. We were even treated to some up-close, hands-on experiences!

Here's a Mexican Milk Snake.

This particular snake is NOT native to the park, but they keep him on hand as a way to educate people on the coral snakes that ARE native to the park. Next we got to pet this girl...

She was all shiny and soft since she just shed her exoskeleton about 3 days before! And last but not least, BABY GATOR!!!

This little twerp was about 2 months old. From what I understand, they try to catch a lot of them after they hatch. They raise them for about a year until they are a little over a foot long, then they release them back into the wild to give them a little better chance for survival. It had a wonderful scaly little back and the SOFTEST little underbelly! I don't generally think reptiles can be classified as cute, but this little stinker was CUTE!

We headed back to camp for Piggy naptime and Big Daddy took off to get in line for tickets to the observatory for the Saturday Night viewing. We had a nice dinner of Chicken Tortellini Pasta Salad and then we packed up the kids and the dogs and headed over to the observatory.

Poor, little pipsqueak dogs had to hang out in the car. Luckily as the sun was going down the temps were lovely and the breezes were blowing, besides, after all the hiking that day, these dogs were POOPED and all they wanted to do was sleep! It was still light enough to get a decent pic of two of the telescopes.

As it got dark, a large group of amateur astonomers began to set up. They each focused on different things and allowed the public to come and look through their telescopes. They were more than happy to discuss things with the kids. They pointed out some of the major constellations and one guy had his scope trained on the bottom of the Northern Cross which was so incredible. It was actually two stars, one blue and one yellow and I had to go back 3 times to look because it was so cool! After having nice chats with all of the amateur astronomers, it was time for our orientation, then up to the platform to wait our turn for the big scopes. We started with the 36" telescope where they had it trained on the M-15 cluster. The Piggy, being the shortest was allowed to go first as they raise the floor and drop it according to height! Afterwards we headed to the smaller scopes, which are 14" and 18", where we were treated to we the M-16 cluster and Jupiter with 4 of its moons! The kids liked this the best! You could actually see a dark black band which was a storm. Totally awesome!

And that my friends, concludes our Brazos Bend adventure (at least the exciting, blog-able stuff). The rest of the time was spent playing games, roasting marshmallows, having glo-stick dance contests and just having a wonderful time together as a family! If you are wondering whether I would recommend this park, I absolutely would, UNLESS you have problems with spiders, snakes and large reptiles!

Who-hooooooos on my chimney??

2010-10-17T08:54:00.001-05:00

A wonderful thing happens at my house when the weather starts getting chilly at night, we get OWLS! The past few nights we've heard their calls in the distance, probably over in the field across from our neighborhood. They have steadily gotten closer. On Friday night we were treated to the telltale hoots coming down our chimney. So, armed with a spotlighter, we all headed out to see what we could see and lo and behold, one of our great horned owls! It seemed a little smaller than the ones we normally see and quieter too. I'm thinking it may have been a young one. But either way, I sent Big Daddy in to retrieve the camera! Great horned owls are cool! They are even more cool when they hang out on your chimney, undisturbed by your light and let you take pictures! Thanks little owl!

Great Anticipation

2010-10-06T14:22:00.002-05:00

We are two sleeps away from our big camping trip! We found all the gear, checked to see if everything was in good order, went to the store to make sure we have plenty of batteries and plenty of water. I have been excited about this trip for WEEKS! And just where are we heading? Brazos Bend State Park! I have been wanting to go to this particular park for a couple of years now. It boasts a large array of critters such as North American River Otters, gray fox, spoonbills and of course a large population of American Alligators!!! (Needless to say, children will be monitored closely and pipsqueak dogs will be leashed or tethered in full view at ALL times!) Another big perk is the George Observatory. It opens every Saturday night for viewing through the 36", 14" and 18" telescopes! The Monkey Man is really looking forward to stargazing! In fact, the kids can hardly contain their excitement about this trip! The park sounds amazing, the weather is going to be phenomenal and I can't imagine a better way to spent my weekend! You can keep the swanky hotels in Vegas, just give me a tent, a campfire, some marshmallows and big blanket in which to snuggle with my munchkins and I will be in paradise!! Needless to say, cameras are charged and packed and ready for action. I can't wait to get out there and "shoot" something!!! ;) The Monkey Man will be in charge of one camera as it will be his "assignment" to take photos and write a journal about what we see and what we do on the trip so when we get home, he and Big Daddy can compile the official "Brazos Bend Trip Journal"! I can't wait to see things through his eyes! So we bid a fond farewell to Austin and the ACL Fest, you all enjoy the madness! I will be enjoying the crackle of the campfire and the croaking of the bullfrogs!

A Garden Beauty

2010-10-05T10:31:00.002-05:00

I was in a pretty piss-poor mood when I went out to clean my car. The world was seeming like a pretty ugly place. Then I happened to look over and see this little lovely hanging out in my bulbine and all of a sudden life seemed a little softer and nicer! Sometimes it's the little things.

What's on the menu? Aunt C's Chicken Supreme

2010-09-28T17:03:00.004-05:00

Just an FYI, if you don't have a problem with canned condensed soups then this will be a great recipe for you! If you have issues with canned soup, just stop reading now! As many of you know, this is my first month of hardcore budgeting and menu preparation. After the first two weeks, I was struggling, trying to find some interesting meals to make as I'm not in the same mindset as my son who could seriously eat meatloaf every week! I was flipping through cookbooks and my handy-dandy recipe notebook and came across a recipe that was given to me almost a year ago by our wonderful Aunt C. formerly of Amarillo, TX and now residing in the DFW metroplex. She served it to us while we were stopping over on the way home from New Mexico and it was AWESOME!! So I thought, what the heck, let's see if I can pull this off. So here goes...

Chicken Supreme

1/2 stick margarine
1-1/4c brown rice
1 can cream mushroom soup
1 can cream chicken soup
1 can cream celery soup
1 can beef consumme (as you can see, I didn't lie about the soup!!)
1/2 soup can of water
1/2 c slivered or sliced almonds
6-10 chicken breasts (I actually used 4 large breasts that I cut into pieces and pounded down a bit)
Parmesan cheese

Melt margarine in large roasting pan. Spread uncooked rice on the bottom of pan, stir in the almonds, then lay chicken on top of rice. Heat soups and the 1/2 can water in a pan, then pour over the chicken and rice. I jiggled the pan a little to make sure it dispersed throughout. Sprinkle the top with parmesan cheese and bake uncovered in a 275*F oven for 3 hours. Then... ENJOY!! Oh yeah, there was totally enough to have for dinner the next night!!

Good Sam Dogs!

2010-09-21T09:15:00.006-05:00

Sunday morning I bathed little dogs. I clipped and pedi-pawed their toenails. I slicked down the Nigelito and brushed Sir Roddy and they were HANDSOME! Why did I take all the time to groom and primp two little pipsqueak dogs on a damp Sunday morning? They had a job to do! The boys and I volunteered to help out a Girl Scout who is near and dear to us who is working toward her Silver Award. She and two other girls organized a Pet Expo where Girl Scouts from three different levels were able to obtain their Pet Care badges. As it turns out there were close to 70 girls that participated!!! I don't think these dogs have ever been petted so much in their entire lives! Other than Roddy barking his face off at the first group of girls (I think he was a little intimidated by 20 something pre-teens) the dogs did GREAT! Nigel was calm and patient and Roddy was just excited and wanted to lick everyone in the face! I think one or both dogs would be great candidates for the Canine Good Citizen Training so we could visit Senior centers and such! It was a great day and the dogs and I were happy to support one of our favorite Girl Scouts! Here is a quick shot of the boys, waiting patiently for their next group of admirers! ;)
That'll do boys... that'll do!

Operation Sun-Dried Tomato

2010-09-13T08:22:00.008-05:00

Too many tomatoes, too many tomatoes!!! And not to sound selfish, because I have been giving away tomatoes to neighbors and friends all summer, but I can tell the cherry tomato vine is on it's last leg and I just somehow wanted to preserve these little beauties so I could enjoy them. I have worked hard this summer and deserve to now hoard the bounty! I froze a bunch last year, but they immediately turned to mush once added to a recipe and no one likes mushy tomatoes. So I thought, hmmmmm. What about sun-dried tomatoes? Is it even possible to do this at home without a dehydrator or a desert? Because even though Austin is hot, it's MUGGY and I'm sure anything left outside would turn into a moldy mess within hours! But sure enough, the clever people that post things on the internet came to my rescue! Sun-dried tomatoes in the oven!!!

First I washed and dried luscious, little jewels of tomatoes!
Then I sliced them all in half and sprinkled them lightly with sea salt.
Next I popped them into the oven on 200*F and forgot about them!
About 4 hours into it, a most intoxicating aroma came wafting from my oven, I decided to check them and stir them around a bit to ensure even drying.
I returned them to the oven and began checking on them periodically and about 2-1/2 hours later I was rewarded with my first sun-dried tomatoes!! Just like tart little tomato raisins with such a burst of flavor! Awesome! I started picking out the ones that were done and returning the others to the oven. All in all, to get the entire batch done, it was about 8-ish hours. But they turned out perfectly dried and insanely yummy! And being that every website I perused stated that setting them in oil at home is a BAD idea due to high possibility of food poisoning, I decided to be satisfied with my little tomato raisins and call it a day! Here is a look at the finished product, ready for use in pasta or pizza and can be stored in the pantry for at least a year (not that they'll even last that long)!

Hurricane Piglet

2010-09-11T20:07:00.006-05:00

Yesterday Hurricane Piglet rolled through town leaving a trail of devastation and destruction in her wake.

Eventually the storm made landfall and thankfully lost all intensity!

The entirety of Saturday was spent clearing the wreckage.

Home Economics-Dog Biscuits

2010-09-09T13:35:00.011-05:00

After giving the kids a month off, it was time to get our little homeschool academy up and running again! The kids put in a concerted effort Tuesday morning, so we decided to take a well-deserved break from bookwork and delve into what I like to call "practical chemistry and home economics"! The fact is, the dogs were out of treats and we don't put the dogs in kennels without treats. We also need the treats for training purposes. And sadly, dog biscuits were NOT in my grocery budget this go around. So what do you do when you need the dog biscuits but your budget doesn't allow it? You pull up a recipe online and make them with your kids! After all, dog biscuits are made with things normally found in your pantry like flour, oats, and in our case peanut butter!

First you preheat your oven and mix all the ingredients. I allowed the kids to measure everything out (taking the opportunity to discuss fractions of course!). Once mixed, we rolled out the dough and the kids started cutting out the individual biscuits.
And yes, in case you were wondering, we do occasionally cook in our underwear here!

As you can see, we made quite a lot of biscuits! Thank goodness we only made a 1/2 batch!
We popped them in the oven and waited.
While in the oven we discussed mixtures and chemical changes due to heat. Once done, we shook them off the pan and let them cool on a wire rack and observed how they had changed. And yes, those are squirrel-shaped biscuits because the kids thought it would be really funny since the dogs are always trying to get at that pesky squirrel who taunts them from the fence!
We also took some time after it was all said and done to determine the cost effectiveness of making our own biscuits vs. buying pre-made ones. We made approximately 200 dog biscuits for $0.86 vs. $3.99 for a comparable sized bag of regular flavor Petsmart Grreat Choice biscuits or $11.99 for peanut butter flavored Mother Hubbard Biscuits. So not too bad! And the recipients of said treats didn't complain a bit!

What's on the menu? Chocolate mini muffins

2010-09-03T09:42:00.008-05:00

I have been such a good girl, sticking to my planned menu and I have to admit, it's kind of nice knowing exactly what you'll be cooking and what you'll need to do beforehand to prep for the meal instead of flying by the seat of your pants! However, this morning came and I was UNIMPRESSED, to say the least, with the prospect of toast or oatmeal. I have been sick for two days, eating bland crap and the last thing I wanted was more bland crap! So. Doo-do-do-TOOOOOOO!

Chocolate chip mini muffins (Oh yeah!)

1-1/2 c flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 c sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 c milk (I use powdered milk to save real milk, 1/3 c powder into 1 c water = 1 c milk)
1 egg
1/3 c melted butter
chocolate chips

Grease your muffin tins and preheat the oven to 350*. Combine all of the dry ingredients then add the milk, egg, butter, mix well. Add chocolate chips to your liking. I like mine fairly sparse, so the chips aren't just one big blob in the muffin. Pour batter into greased mini muffin pans, bake 15-20ish minutes until they are golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

These are so easy to make, the kids LOVE them and it makes enough to have for snacks later!! Enjoy!

OH the irony!

2010-09-01T17:53:00.003-05:00

September 1st people, day one of "Re-vamp My Life 2010" and I woke up with a sore throat. Hmph. Did I school two children today? Nope. Did I go to my physical therapy appointment or even do the exercises? Nope. Did I follow the planned menu? OK, sort of, instead of chicken salad I made chicken soup, so I get a few points there! So what did I do today? I let the kids play Wii and watch movies until they turned into little hyped-up, cross-eyed, brain-dead zombies!

Sigh.

And people wonder why I never make New Year's resolutions!

Gearing up... BIG changes ahead

2010-08-30T12:23:00.006-05:00

Do you ever have those times in your life when you just NEED a change?!? A change of address, a change of style, a new haircut, a new job? Yeah, well, I'm having one of those times! I need a change of lifestyle! I'm tired of being TIRED. I'm tired of being POOR. I'm tired of BAD HABITS. And mostly I'm tired of feeling completely over-whelmed on any given day with my life! But you know what? I'm not gonna bitch about it, I'm gonna do something. In fact, I'm gonna do a lot and what better time to start than September 1, 2010.

1. After about a month of down time, I will start the kids up with school. This will be the Piggy's first year with "real" school, and the Monkey Man will be cruising into his 5th year of homeschooling (since I started him at 4). He's an old pro now! And lucky for me, he has the ability to be self-directed, doing some independent study while I work with the Little Miss. I'm sure it's going to be a bit of a learning curve for all of us, but especially me. Time management is key and I'm not the best at it!

2. The kids will start all of their activities! Last year I was pretty lax with things, but they are craving more activity and interaction with their core group of friends. So... they will both be participating in a homeschool sport and skate class, Campfire, bowling, and Nature Nights at the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center! The Monkey Man will have a monthly science class through the Austin Nature and Science Center as well as weekly science experiments at our local library! The Piggy will take a few of the Nature Center classes as well as a weekly arts and crafts class at the local library! And can I just give a big shout out to my library for offering cool things for my kids FOR FREE! Hooray! We love free! We will definitely be a busy bunch of beavers over the next few months, but that is exactly what they need!

3. I am starting a new menu program to hopefully cut down on our grocery bills!! I admit it, I shop for what sounds good to me at the time, I make sure I have all the staples and I wing it almost every day for every meal! I have a couple of things in mind when I shop, but end up having to go back to the store for little things like cilantro or broccoli or mozzarella cheese! It never fails and it adds up! We have also spent entirely too much $$$ eating out. We are pretty good about eating evening meals at home, but I have planned poorly for outings and errands and have had to grab food on the fly, and there are times I don't plan well for leftovers for Big Daddy to take to work for lunch. It's a huge problem. So not only am I planning for dinners, but lunches and breakfasts as well to hopefully cut back on that unnecessary spending! This is going to take A LOT of planning, and I'm going to have to FOLLOW THROUGH!! It's crunch time and I need to get our monthly budget under control! Mostly since we now have two kids participating in activities that require money and a home business we're trying to launch. Every single dime counts now.

4. This will be the first month implementing our cash only program. From now on, I will budget a certain amount of cash for groceries, kid activities and family entertainment. It is SO much easier to go out and just throw it on the card and deal with it later, which is what bites me in the ass EVERY time! I will now pull cash out every two weeks to deal with the various activities and the groceries. Bills of course, still have to be paid online, but I have those budgeted at this point and know exactly when things will be coming out. One tank of gas per paycheck, unless there is a specific scheduled outing that takes us out of town (like a camping trip or a tour of the Bluebell Ice Cream Factory). So this household is on lock-down for spending for at least the next 6 months to a year! We will have to get a headstart on XMAS shopping this year and get pretty creative with how we pull it off! Fun, fun!

5. Health is a top priority! I will be continuing with my physical therapy as my knees have been feeling SO much better. They're not perfect, but I feel as though I'm not compensating as much and I can climb stairs now with minimal issue!! I NEED to keep this going! My kids deserve to have healthy active parents! I am instituting the evening walk at least 5 nights a week! Big Daddy and I are both on portion control at meals and I'm trying very hard to cut back on the country-cookin' and focus more on healthy choices. I have never fed my family a lot processed, packaged crap, BUT I do have a tendency to fall back on the old stand-by meals that I ate as a kid as they are cheap to prepare and make enough to have leftovers the next day! Maybe it's just time to get creative and re-vamp those meals! I am hoping at some point to purchase bicycles for the entire family. It would be nice to get out and ride the trails! I mean seriously, with Lance Armstrong here, you KNOW Austin has some cool biking trails! Obviously healthcare is expensive so now is the time to get pro-active. The old saying "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" makes SO much sense to me, because honestly, I don't have the time or $$$ to be sick!

6. Burn the TV! Haha! I say this as on the same day I sign up for a free trial membership with Netflix! But we are seriously cutting back on screen time in this house. Obviously a large part of my homeschooling involves the computer and educational programming, but it's the junk TV and games I'm worried about. The kids will each be allowed one hour of screen time a day (they can choose for it to be a movie, the Wii or some non-school related computer time). Once a week we will have a family movie night and Big Daddy and I are going to implement the hell out of the DVR and record the 2-3 shows we love like "Modern Family" and "House" so we can watch late-night TV after the kids are in bed! I'm not saying there can't be exceptions, but night time needs to be family time, not sit-on-our-asses-and-watch-the-boob-toob time! I have a feeling this is going to be the hardest goal of all. My kids are TV watching, Wii playing, computer junkies! And I'll be the first to admit that sometimes all I want to do in the evening is veg on the couch and watch HGTV until I'm damn near comatose, but really? I can't find anything better to do, like read a book or play a game with my kids? We're definitely gonna figure this one out!

Now that I'm reading through this post, these goals seem SO lofty! Is it even remotely possible for me to pull this crap off? I don't know, but the only way we'll find out is if I jump in and try! And since September is the kick-off of our school season, it seems like the perfect time to kick off some smarter, healthier practices in our home. Wish me luck and I'll keep you posted, that is if I don't keel over in the process!!

Not-Back-To-School Weekend Extravaganza!

2010-08-27T09:03:00.029-05:00

Last weekend, while everyone was getting ready for school to start, scrambling around at the outlet centers, looking for back-to-school fodder and taking advantage of the tax free weekend, WE were in San Antonio celebrating our "Not-Back-To-School Weekend Extravaganza"! We dropped the doggies off with friends then hit the road! We got to San Antonio just in time for lunch and happened across this awesome little "mom & pop" shop.
Chicago dogs and Philly cheesesteaks to DIE for! And yes, that's the Philly, with mushrooms, onions and chopped cherry peppers. OH HELL YEAH! So if you are ever in town, and have a hankerin' for a good dog or cheesesteak and you want to support a great local biz owned by a nice woman and her son, then head over to R&B's located on Austin Hwy in the Alamo Heights neighborhood. It will be worth your time!

After we completely stuffed our faces (cuz we seriously ordered WAY more than we should have) we headed down the road to the Witte Museum to check out the Dinosaur George exhibit. What fun! Life-size, animatronic dinos! Obviously the T-Rex was cool, but it was the sponsor sign that really cracked me up! The other part that intrigued me was the model of the "adolescent" T-Rex. They are now thinking that young T. Rex's were covered in a fine layer of down until they reached maturity and shed! How freaky is that? It's like baby T. Rex's were almost cute and cuddly like baby ducklings! Awwww! Can we get one for Easter?
The kids excavating a velociraptor in the "dig site"!
The beautiful view from behind the Witte.
The Monkey Man wanted to try out the "SkyCycle" which is a bike that coasts along a wire that is counter-weighted to keep the rider from falling. He felt like a daredevil!
Obligatory tree pic! You know how I feel about cool, old trees!
The kids checking out their surroundings!
Once we had our fill of the Witte, it was time to make our way to the Riverwalk and check into our hotel. This particular Drury used to be an old bank. The reservation desk is at the teller windows, the old mail and deposit boxes are still in place, the lobby is quite grand with gold crown moulding, marble floors and walls and giant chandeliers! The elevators were so cool! The hallway to our room looked like and even smelled like an old bank building! All of the doors had what seemed to be frosted glass windows like an old bank would have had, but when we entered the room we saw they were solid wood, just the illusion of frosted glass on the exterior! The rooms were very nice and the bathroom was gorgeous! AND when we checked in we asked if we could get a room as high as possible, so they set us up on the 19th floor with a Riverwalk view! The kids were thrilled to look out the windows and see this... After we got everything settled, we suited up and headed to the rooftop pool, yet another BIG deal for the kiddos. "MOM! A POOL! ON THE ROOF!!!!!"

Cowabunga!

Another Drury perk is the 5:30 Kickback and Happy Hour! Snacks, hell damn near a meal, sodas and popcorn for the kids, and 3 free drinks for the growed-ups! I had a particularly happy hour!
Then it was time to hit the Riverwalk. Big Daddy duck followed by his little ducklings! We treated to the kiddos to the Rainforest Cafe. Personally I hate that place, it's way over-priced and the food is nothing to write home about, BUT the kids LOVE it. AND they have cute t-shirts. After paying way too much $$$ for mediocre food, we continued on our tour of the Riverwalk as the sun was setting. We were almost back to the hotel when Big Daddy heard live music and we followed his ears to a wonderful little open air plaza behind the hotel. There was a jazzy/bluesy band playing old standards and the night was beautiful! I left the kids with Big Daddy and took off with my camera to explore! I came across the San Fernando Cathedral, all lit up and gorgeous!
Then I couldn't help but snap a quick one of the Tower Life Building next to an almost full moon! SWEET.
The kids started to poop out, so we headed back to the hotel to raid the vending machines and call it a night. We had to be up bright and early to make it to Schlitterbahn in time to get a good table in the shade! The rest of our day was spent splashing in the water, hurling down slides and playing with wild and reckless abandon! At least until we were all sunburned and completely exhausted!

And this my friends, is how we spent the weekend before school started! Have I mentioned lately how much I LOVE homeschooling?!?

What I love about Ruidoso...

2010-08-23T13:35:00.014-05:00

-We are lucky enough to have a family that is willing to share this little bit of paradise with us!
-We get to marvel at the stunning New Mexico skies!
-We have awesome neighbors!

Rufous Hummingbird (this particular little dude rules the roost with an iron wing!)

Mule deer

Mountain Blue Jay

There are 3 species of woodpecker around the cabin, this one is an Acorn Woodpecker and it's the largest of the three. The other two are Hairy Woodpeckers and Downy Woodpeckers.

Bitchy squirrel! This thing chattered and bitched at me every time I went under its tree!

Female grosbeak

Chipmunk! I love these guys! Most of the photos I have of them are of their tails as they fly out frame at the last nanosecond!

-We have some rude neighbors too, but even they're pretty awesome!

"Ummm, excuse me, but you are a little too fat to be climbing on that rail!"

"Ummm, hello! That's our trash! Could you please stop tearing it up and put it back where you found it!"

-Ruidoso happens to have the best cherry cider I've ever had!
-We get to take advantage of all the fun stuff the area has to offer! (But I'll have to touch on those in upcoming posts!)

My Obsession with Old Dead Trees

2010-08-20T11:59:00.008-05:00

I'm not exactly sure how it started, but I have had somewhat of an obsession with huge, majestic dead trees for years! Each one seems to have its own energy. And I always wonder, what happened to them. Did they die of old age? Was there a fire? A drought? Lightning strike? Infestation? How did they become the skeletons of the forest? During my recent trip to New Mexico I found quite a few of these wise old trees and felt privileged to take their photos and share them with you!

On the road up to the Sierra Blanca ski slope.
On the way down at sunset.
The following photos were taken at Grindstone Lake just outside of Ruidoso.
This was something I had certainly never seen before!

And although this was not the most impressive dead tree I ever saw, what was sitting on it was beyond impressive!
Old dead trees RULE!

First Dollar

2010-08-18T08:00:00.004-05:00

It seems kind of silly, but what the hell? I made my first official dollar this past weekend with my photography business!!! It felt great and I'm gonna frame the damn thing! My aunt suggested that I should get one of those shrines that you find in Thai restaurants to promote my prosperity! If you know where I can find one please let me know! But for now, I just feel lucky that I'm moving forward with my business and it's something I LOVE! I always swore to myself that when the time came to re-enter the workforce that it would be on my terms, doing something that I enjoy. So SCORE!

So what do you on a Sunday afternoon in 100* heat?

2010-08-17T19:35:00.012-05:00

You adopt a Muppet!
Welcome Sir Roddy the Kissyface (aka Rowdy Roddy)! He came to us through From the Heart Animal Rescue, which is the same rescue organization that we went through when we adopted Otis Potis. He was found running scared on the shoulder of Highway 71 out by Bastrop. A good Samaritan pulled over and literally scooped him off the busy road. She planned to keep him but sadly her Borzois decided he looked like a rabbit and tried to kill him, so she contacted From the Heart and they agreed to foster him. I noticed his pic a couple of weeks ago, but we weren't ready to adopt before our vacation. When I got home and saw that he was still available I inquired as to his temperament and house-training, both of which checked out. I took the kids to see him at a FTH remote where boy and dog bonded immediately! I talked Big Daddy into taking Nigel and the kids down to check him out the next day. Approximately 2 hours after arriving, we were headed home with our newest addition!

He is certainly NOT the type of dog I would have necessarily chosen for myself, except for that face! I've never been a fan of wire-haired, ankle-biters, but when you've got another dog and two small children, you HAVE to go for personality and temperament and he surely fit the bill! He's a fun little guy, just enough of a puppy to be bouncy and fun, but old enough not to be a complete shit! He's pretty small, less than 10 lbs but he has spunk. Then again, he's a terrier, they're known for spunk and moxy! Sadly he came to us full of fleas and worms, but that's been remedied and all is well. Now if Nigel can get a grip and realize he IS the dominant dog and Roddy isn't challenging that, things will be fine. I suppose I can't expect them to establish pecking order in 2 days! To close, here is my favorite picture to date, Sir Roddy the Froggy-Legged!
Oh and have I mentioned how great it is to adopt! Support your local shelters and rescue organizations, they are full of wonderful dogs in need of homes!

What Nigel did on vacation...

2010-08-09T16:17:00.024-05:00

I had someone recently tell me that if you posted pics of your pet on your blog, you would instantaneously lose all credibility! Well I say, "Bah wizzers on you guys!" Nigel went from a sad sack shelter dog to a much-loved part of our family and if I want to post pics or stories about him, I will. Why, you ask? Because Nigel rocks! So without further ado, this is what Nigel did on vacation!

He slept the entire way to Ruidoso.
The first thing he did was chase one of these...
He hung out in his "spot".
He spent some quality time with his Daddy! Awww.
He chased one of these...
He hung out with his boy.
He played in the creek.
He kept an eye out for trouble!
And he REALLY wanted to chase one of these, but we didn't let him!
He laid low in the tall grass.
He raced in the white sand,
and played with his girl
and he was happy!
He basked in the glory of his surroundings
and left his mark on the world!

He kicked back and relaxed with his Mama.
Then he slept all the way home!
The End. I officially have no credibility!

And now a sunflower!

2010-08-09T16:11:00.003-05:00

Last week I had some sunflowers that were beginning to bloom. I leave town for a week and this is what I come home to!
Every flower is now in full bloom and even with some caterpillar damage and 100* heat, they are still magnificent! And they are attracting bees like crazy! Love it!

Garden greatness!

2010-07-29T20:37:00.010-05:00

It hasn't been quite a month since my last garden post and it's amazing how things change in such a short time! Remember I was worried about my corn and sunflowers? And so happy that they were actually knee-high by the 4th of July? Well, 25 days later and this is what we have...
Knee high? Hell, the sunflowers are at least 8 ft. tall! I have never seen anything so big and beautiful! I do, however, have a small infestion of caterpillars, GRRRRRR!
I removed three leaves with large colonies like this and then sprayed the whole plant with garlic water. Caterpillars supposedly hate this. I also sprayed my corn silks with a healthy dose as well!

And what about those lovely, little black-eyed pea and okra plants?
They're HUGE! The okra is over 7 ft. tall! I have NEVER in my life seen okra plants this big! I mean they aren't really even okra "plants" any more, they are TREES! They are finally producing and I think I will have enough to make a pan of fried okra this weekend! Woo-hoo! The black-eyed peas are really putting on as well. I harvested enough last week to make a full pot! We shelled them then I put them in a pot with some turkey bacon, garlic and a smidge of butter. They were firm, yet tender and just bursting with flavor! Lucky for me, the vine is covered again and I'll be making another pot this weekend! Have I mentioned lately how much I love my garden?!?

Almost a sunflower!

2010-07-29T20:34:00.002-05:00

Getting old bites!

2010-07-28T13:50:00.004-05:00

OK, I'm not even 40 yet (at least not quite) and I'm falling apart! My eyesight is tanking, my fingers hurt when it rains, I could swear I'm having hot flashes and my knees are KILLING me! I always had high hopes of being one of those MILFs with a hot bod and an attitude! (The attitude I've got!) Sadly, the knees, not to mention the kids, have kept me from the serious exercise I need to achieve that rockin' MILF bod by the time I'm 40! Time is ticking away and I'm getting desperate. Desperate enough to see an orthopedist. I went in yesterday to have my knees examined and XRAYed, fun, fun! I was pretty sure I knew the diagnosis, after all, my ENTIRE family has arthritis. So you can imagine how shocked I was that my sore and crunchy knees were not arthritic! I was quite pleased to hear this, but then started to get a little nervous. If it wasn't arthritis, what the hell was it and how the hell do I deal with it? As it turns out, I have puny quads! Yes, you read right, PUNY QUADS (and that's a quote, thank you very much!) It turns out that a lot of women my age with young children have this problem. You spend your time running after children and not "Sweatin' to the Oldies". AND we also have a tendency to squat down or kneel to deal with our rugrats therefore exacerbating the problem. That problem being this, my "puny quad" does not keep my patella raised up out of the joint properly, so it settles into the joint cavity and begins to rub (hence the crunchy, nasty, snap, crackle, pop sounds). Kneeling and squatting makes it worse.

Good news? NOT arthritis and the prognosis for full recovery is good!
Bad news? Intense physical therapy 3 days a week for 4 weeks with a possible MRI to be scheduled later!

OK, I don't mind DOING the therapy. I do mind having to pay a co-pay everytime I go! That's close to $400 in one month! Not to mention the $50 I spent to see the specialist yesterday and the other $50 I'm going to have to spend to see her after the PT. Wow. I don't know how people with serious injuries can afford it? I guess worker's comp or disability? Sadly, motherhood doesn't offer worker's comp, so I'm kinda screwed! I'm hoping the physical therapist will work with me and maybe we can work out a more do-able schedule that will be beneficial, but I can actually afford and they can teach me what I need in order to continue at home. I'm keeping my fingers crossed! I find the whole thing totally ironic though. I can't exercise to the extent I'd like to because the knees are killing me, but the knees are killing me because I haven't been exercising to the extent that I need to! Whatever. Getting old sucks! I feel like a 30 year-old in my head and in my heart, it's just my body that isn't cooperating! I guess it didn't get the memo!

What's on the menu... Makeshift Rice Frittata

2010-07-26T11:03:00.003-05:00

The kids wanted pancakes for breakfast but I wasn't really in the mood for syrupy sweet this morning so I started to rifle through the fridge to see what my options were. I had leftover rice from stir-fry, various veggies, spinach and cheeses, and of course eggs! So I grabbed the rice, mixed in two eggs, shredded some spinach and a little colby jack cheese, sprinkled in some salt and pepper, then slapped it all into a non-stick frying pan. After a few minutes on each side I ended up with this...
And it was YUMMY!

Almost there!

2010-07-24T20:37:00.005-05:00

We've got a name! We've got a website (not that it's up and running at this time), and we had our first "official" photo shoot today! I had the great honor of photographing my friend's brand, new, week-old baby boy! He was tiny and lovely and I couldn't have asked for a sweeter subject! And everything went well! I'm going to spend the next 6 months working my ass off, honing my skills. Goal is to be up and running by the first of the year! It feels so great to be making progress!

Crazy thing? I think I finally know what I'm gonna be when I grow up!

Plight of the Stay-at-Home Mom

2010-07-22T08:31:00.029-05:00

I'm a mom. Actually, I'm a stay-at-home mom. And if you really want to get technical, I'm a homeschooling, stay-at-home mom, which means I truly am with my children almost 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I have had a few interactions over the years that made think I needed to clarify a few things about being a stay-at-home mom.

1. I am an educated woman.

When you chat with me at a party knowing that I'm a stay-at-home mom, then look genuinely shocked that I hold a degree and make little comments like, "Wow! You spent all that time and money to end up just being a MOM?" you are insulting me AND my family. Just because I chose to opt out of the 9 to 5 rat race doesn't make my intelligence level substandard. Besides, there are definitely times as a parent that you are REALLY glad you had some chemistry and biology under your belt! It's important to know that freezing a shirt with gum stuck to it will allow you to successfully remove said gum and save that favorite dinosaur shirt, not to mention knowing that Purell will take ink off of a microfiber couch, so ha-HA, wasted education my ass!

2. Motherhood IS my job.

When you are having a conversation with me and I make mention of my children, it is rude to sigh and roll your eyes. Why is it that I am supposed to sit there with baited breathe to hear about all of your endeavors in the world of business, marketing, computer programming, etc...? Since when is your job so much more exciting or important than mine? Do you really think, in most circumstances, that I give a hairy rat's ass about how you landed the Corwin account? Or what the asshole in human resources did to piss you off today? The answer is NO, but the difference between you and me, is I seem to understand that your job is important to YOU and because I consider you a friend, I am happy to hear about it. Well, being a mom is MY job, and my job is just as important to me as yours is to you, so have a little courtesy. It's called mutual respect, you should give it a try.

3. My life is not Bon-Bons and soap operas.

As a childless person you seem to think that just because I sleep until 7:30 or 8 am, have the opportunity to blog on occasion and am usually still in my pajamas at noon that I have it so easy. I DESERVE to sleep as late as my children let me because I was likely up until at least fucking midnight folding laundry, finishing dishes, reading books about teaching my child how to read or maybe, just maybe, having the luxury of taking a shower in peace! The reason I'm in my pajamas until noon is because I haven't had the time to go upstairs and change since the kids have been up! I have cooked their breakfast, done the dishes, watered and harvested the garden, fed the dog, broken up at least 3 fights, checked my to-do list AND the kids' assignment list, set everything out for them to get started with school, tried to pick up the downstairs bathroom, started a load of laundry, read stories to my little one, made a grocery list, found a lost huggy for a desperately distraught child, supervised tooth-brushing, gotten them dressed, started preparing lunch, made a loaf of bread, etc...! And I realize that you too do laundry and dishes and whatnot, but you don't have a whiny 4 y.o. attached to your hip or an 8 y.o. that needs your help with long division, or a butt to wipe or marker to clean off the couch and the wall or milk to soak up off the floor and clean out of the cracks of the table, or 40 pounds of gear, your purse, your keys, and two kids to load up EVERY time you have to go somewhere! And believe me, I have it easy compared to my friends that have 4 or 5 kids!

As a childless person, you have the ability after your 9-5 or whatever your hours are, to sit for a minute, regain your composure, maybe go workout, take a shower, relax on the couch and catch an episode of your favorite sit-com, have a leisurely dinner, maybe go have a drink with friends, and get to bed at a decent hour. I know you have commitments and you have stress, BUT, the bottom line is, you have time for yourself on occasion, you have peace and quiet, time to recharge yourself and hear yourself think. And generally, when you are off the clock, you are off the clock. I am on-the-job and on-call 24-7 for 22 years with no pay, no retirement benefits, no insurance benefits, and no paid time off or sick days. So please explain to me how my life is so cake compared to yours?

3. Feminism and motherhood are not mutually exclusive.

I personally find it liberating that I CAN make the choice to stay at home. I chose the traditional role. Did I do so because I was forced into it by our patriarchal society? Ummm, no. I chose it because I wanted to be the person to raise my kids AND because financially speaking, Big Daddy had a job with a higher salary and good benefits and his hours were not as erratic as mine and didn't include call time. And I know we could get into the argument that he makes more money because he's a man, and blah, blah, blah, but the fact is, he just chose a career in a higher paying field!

But here's what's weird... I am applauded by women in my grandmother's generation for my choice, but it seems to rub a lot of women in my mother's generation the wrong way. Like I have purposely thumbed my nose at all of the hard work they did and chosen to take a step backward in the evolution of women's rights. And honestly, I am taken aback by this! The idea that I have let down women all over the world by choosing to stay at home to raise my children makes my heart sad. In my bones I know that my greatest accomplishments are my children and because of this I want to dedicate my life to making them good, caring, open-minded, conscious individuals that will be responsible citizens of this planet. And if a large part of my identity revolves around this, so be it. I'm not ashamed, I make no apologies and if given the opportunity to do it again, I would in a heartbeat! So if feminism can't reconcile that, then feminism needs to evolve, not me.

4. Motherhood was my choice and I wouldn't get off this crazy ride for anything!

By becoming a parent, I have chosen this life. I have no desire to make excuses or whine (at least not a lot!) ;) Yes, I complain on occasion about working myself to sheer exhaustion (you try keeping up with a manic 4 y.o.!) And I admit that my life, at times, has a level of tedium that makes me want to just bang my head into the wall. And I do walk a fine line between sanity and complete mental and physical breakdown. That being said, there is nothing else in the world I would rather be doing! I may not get monetary compensation, but I get hugs, kisses, pictures of various blobs and lines that I decorate my fridge with, I get to see two children experience the world, I get to play on slides, swing on swings, catch butterflies, raise caterpillars, sew Halloween costumes that are the envy of the neighborhood, bake bread, take awesome pictures, garden, travel, make tortillas, snuggle with freshly bathed kids and read bedtime stories, meet other AMAZING stay-at-home mamas and for the first time in my life feel like a part of a community and truly know what it means to be happy and fulfilled! And just for the record, I'm not saying you have to be married and have kids to be fulfilled, that would be stupid. I'm just saying that it was good for ME. I am recently in contact with a lot of old high school friends that I haven't heard from in 20 years (thank you Facebook) and most of them are FLOORED, to say the least, that I have chosen this life. After all, I was voted most likely to be a rockstar, and you know what, I AM A ROCKSTAR! I am a rockstar of a mom!

Thanks for letting me set the record straight on some things! I hope the next time you have the opportunity to sit and talk with a mama that maybe you'll understand the person you're conversing with a little better. Just because we stay at home and raise our children doesn't mean we're stupid, it doesn't mean we're not interesting (in fact some of the most creative and brilliant women I know are stay-at-home mamas!), and it doesn't mean that we're incapable of having fun! I mean think about it, you've got to have a helluva sense of humor to do what we do day in and day out! So here's a shout out to all of you mamas, we totally ROCK and don't let anyone tell you any different!

P.S. I wanted to make sure that workin' mamas got a shout out for being the badass bitches that they are too! You gals definitely have my respect and admiration!

Super Summer Reading!

2010-07-13T13:28:00.005-05:00

I would personally like to thank Barnes & Noble, Half Price Books, Borders and the Austin Public Library system for encouraging my kids (and me) to read more this summer! The Monkey Man is a good reader, but he was a little hesitant to jump in to a full-blown chapter book. So I told him I would enter him in the summer reading programs IF he agreed to read only chapter books at his grade level or above. He agreed and in about a month and a half he has completed 13 books! I personally committed to an extra 30 minutes of reading to the Piggy everyday and she is SO happy! Three of the programs (B&N, Borders and the library) offered free books as the reward, so the Monkey Man picked up 3 new books, and not crap books either, he got "The Lightning Thief", "39 Clues-The Maze of Bones", and "The Ranger's Apprentice"! Of those three, Miss Piggy could only participate in the library program due to her age but she earned "Froggy Goes to Bed" which makes her giggle! Half Price Books doesn't give away free books, but they give you $3 coupons that you can use towards purchases, which in their store is a pretty big deal! So with a minimal investment of about $12 Piggy got 4 new books and the Monkey Man got 4 new books. So all in all, we managed to get 12 books for about $12!!! I mean how can you beat that? And although I'm so excited to get some new books in the house, I am even more excited that my boy is reading like crazy now and really enjoying it! Long live summer reading programs!!!

Knee-high by the 4th of July!

2010-07-06T09:30:00.016-05:00

You know, I've been pretty worried about that second batch of corn that I planted, it's been looking kind of puny! My mom told me that it should be fine so long as it was "knee-high by the 4th of July". Well, as of last week, it wasn't. Not even close. And then there was Hurricane Alex and the lovely bands of rain it sent our way! In a period of about 5 days my corn (and my sunflowers) went from being about 8-10" tall to this... Knee-high Baby! Knee-High! So I WILL be getting a nice late harvest of corn! And as impressive as that may be, it is the corn in the other bed, the okra and the black-eyed peas that are going all Amazonian on me! The corn, obviously in the background, and YES, that's okra in the foreground! OKRA! It's HUGE!
And below we have corn on the left, eggplant in the front and my GORGEOUS pole beans on the right! The corn has ears and silks goin' on and the green beans are starting to flower!

And let's not forget those beautiful black-eyed peas! I've been harvesting a few pods a day for about 4 days! I can't wait to cook 'em!
I am just so stunned at my garden this year! And I totally wish I could brag and say that I've just got mad gardening skills, but that's not the case at all! It just happens that Mother Nature has been kind to our area this year with milder temperatures and RAIN! You just can't take for granted what rainwater provides that tap water does not. So I'm just enjoying the ride and getting the biggest kick out of watching everything grow and flourish, and of course, eating vine-ripened tomatoes hasn't been too shabby either!

Happy 4th of July!

2010-07-04T11:40:00.003-05:00

In honor of the 4th of July and the fact that gingerbread should be made way more often than at Christmas time! Thanks to Big Daddy and the Piglet for their expert sprinkling skills!

You know I'm a sucker for butterflies!

2010-06-29T15:01:00.005-05:00

You have to admit, it's a beauty! It was getting a drink at the pond. The kids and I were mesmerized!

The carnage...

2010-06-29T14:51:00.002-05:00

The culprits!

First it was the hornworm, but he died. Problem solved. Then it was the stink bugs. I'm still battling those little bastards, but what do you do with a couple of peckish birds?!? And it's not like I'd mind so much if they just ate off of one tomato at a time, but these little peckers take a stab at EVERY single tomato that gets close to being red! I'm now having to harvest them when they are barely orange and let them ripen in the window. Kind of detracts from the whole "vine-ripened" thing! From what I'm reading online, it seems as though most birds don't normally go for tomatoes and such unless it is HOT and water is scarce. So my options are:
1. Net my tomatoes, but they could still probably peck through the netting.
2. Buy a scary, plastic owl, which will probably work for the cardinal, but mockingbirds are just too stinkin' smart for their own good and will laugh at my owl!
or
3. Buy a freakin' birdbath!

Big Daddy asked me last night, "Isn't it cheaper to buy tomatoes at the store than spend all of this damn money on birdbaths and shit?" I suppose he's got a point! :(

A Table Fit for a Princess!

2010-06-29T08:52:00.011-05:00

This past week, my little girlie turned 4! We spent the entire week celebrating her birthday, it was great! We went out for burgers, played Putt-Putt, had milkshakes and of course threw an AWESOME pirate party complete with bouncy castle, cake pops and sprinklers under the trampoline! Amidst all of this craziness though, I had a very, important task. She needed a new table and chairs for her room. She is to an age where dress up and tea parties are just a way of life! When my neighbor moved, she left me a set of 4 little chairs, but no table. I was on the search, but no luck! All I could find was cheesy plastic tables or $80-100 solid wood tables! I just wanted a small, functional table that could be refinished, nothing fancy and nothing expensive. I posted on Craigslist and Freecycle with no luck. As a last ditch effort, I posted on my homeschool list and lo and behold, I got an email! I should have known from the beginning to post there! Homeschoolers are generous beyond belief and when they are done with something they want it gone, PRONTO! So I was off to Pflugerville to pick up a little table! It was a very LOUD table, but it was a really sweet shape and my brain was going a mile a minute as to what I was going to do with it.

Here's what I started with...

I sanded the crap out of the table and all 4 chairs! Boy that was fun! ;-p

Primer was applied to all pieces. I had to use an oil based primer because I couldn't determine whether the previous paint on the chairs or the table was latex or enamal AND the table has a metal edging piece. And just as an FYI, primer STINKS (literally).

Then it was time to paint! I chose a light lavender for the top, darker purple for the legs and a nice aqua blue for the chairs. In case you're wondering, the color scheme came from her new quilt set! She has decided to leave the pink in the past and progress to purple! Sadly, I neglected to photograph this particular step! It was cute, but I needed to tie the blue chairs in with the purple table, so it was off to Hobby Lobby to find some do-able stencils. I'm not great with stencils so I needed to keep it SIMPLE. I found the perfect set with flowers and butterflies (which coincidentally are found on the new quilt!) So after a couple of test runs on paper, I took it to the table and chairs. Here is the finished product! It's only a smidge different from the original!

Close-up!

So for a little over $40 and few days of hard work, my little Piggy has an original table fit for the princess that she is! And in case you were wondering, she LOVES it!

My own little "jam" session!

2010-06-28T09:50:00.005-05:00

Here's the deal, I LOVE homemade jam! I am also LAZY! Who has time for full-blown canning and preserving? And in my case, a big enough kitchen!?! But I REALLY want fresh jam, especially when strawberries abound in the markets! As usual, I hit the internet looking for recipes. I will be the first to say that Martha Stewart annoys the crap out of me, BUT in this instance, she pulled through for me! I found a recipe for Quick Strawberry Jam and talk about EASY!!! It takes 10 minutes and has 3 ingredients! That is MY kinda recipe! Now this is not the type of jam you can toss in a jar and store in your pantry for a year, this is fresh jam that must be refrigerated and eaten within 2 weeks, but as seriously yummy as this stuff is, you won't have a problem doing that! I personally enjoy it on fresh-from-the-oven bread! Mmmmmm!

What's on the Menu? Fairytale Eggplant!

2010-06-28T09:03:00.008-05:00

So here they are in all of their glory, all whopping 4 inches of them! Aren't they just the cutest little things you ever did see?!?! I just want to pinch them they're so cute! Well for about the last week or two I have been picking at least 2 a day, but since they are so small, I had to save up awhile in order to make a decent-sized dish. I finally managed to harvest enough to do something with, but then I was like, how do I cook these adorable little eggplants? The search was on! I can tell you, there aren't a lot of eggplant recipes out there that don't involve the big fat black beauty eggplants and lots of breading or oil! But finally I stumbled across a lovely blog called "Figs with Bri" where she actually had some recipes for this particular variety of eggplant! Woo-hoo! I tried her Thai-inspired meal of red curry with a side of fairytale eggplant. It looked lovely and I was intrigued, so I tried it out! Here was my finished product, not as pretty as her dish, but tasty nonetheless! I personally made my curry with chicken and I left out the jalapeno from the eggplant so the Monkey Bunch would actually eat it! I also peeled my eggplants as I hear that eggplant skins can cause digestive upset and that's the LAST thing anyone needs in my house! But I have to say, the eggplant was tender, tasty and absolutely not bitter! I'm not a fan of the black beauty eggplants, but I'd eat these sweet little dudes any day of the week!

Now that's what I'm talkin' about!

2010-06-15T08:46:00.002-05:00

Picked yesterday morning...

Eaten for dinner!

And yes, it was as juicy and luscious as it looks! I'm thinkin' I LOVE summer!

Here we go again!

2010-06-11T16:04:00.011-05:00

I went out to beetle around in the garden this morning. Black-eyed peas--lookin' good, okra and corn--gettin' tall, tomatoes full of juicy fruit, ripe for picking, then I saw it...

POOP.

Lots and lots of it! And where there is bright, green poo, there is usually a LARGE caterpillar responsible for it. So I looked up and what did I see?

Yep, that would be a GINORMO tomato hornworm, aka Five-Spotted Hawkmoth, aka Manduca sexta. The reason I know this, is I have done this before! In the summer of 2008 we made the "Journey with Ernie"! As usual, I suck at killing things. And honestly, even though the caterpillar is a menace to my garden, the moth is beautiful! Have I mentioned I have two kids that LOVE caterpillars? So where is this beast now? Yep, on my dining room table in a little container, denuding all of the tomato leaves I have picked for him and pooping up a storm. And in case you think I'm kidding... This is only after about 4 hours in the container! Seriously, hornworms are nothing but eating, pooping machines! And because this little beast is such a ravenous boar, he has been lovingly named "Pig" by the Piglet! So now I have "Pig" along with a black swallowtail chrysalid and 5 other black swallowtail caterpillars. They are all eating me out of house and home! And yes, you can just refer to our place as "The Bug House"!

I finally got all my ducks in a row!

2010-06-08T15:16:00.001-05:00

Literally!
Took the kids to the duck pond today and just couldn't resist posting this pic!

Red River Gorge--Sky Bridge

2010-06-07T16:28:00.015-05:00

And so the adventure continues! As you may remember we had driven through Nada Tunnel into the Red River Gorge. We made a stop at the Gladie Historic Site and had a lovely, leisurely picnic. Then we were back on the windy roads to discover Sky Bridge! We had intended to see Natural Bridge as well on a different day, but as you will discover later, copious amounts of rain put the nix on that! But for this day, the sky was blue and the breezes were fair! And we were even on the right road!

We parked, packed up water, kids and dog and headed down the trail!

Before long I came across one of my favorite things to photograph... a dead tree! I know, it seems morbid but the skeleton of an old, majestic tree is just so cool! Every single one I have photographed has been beyond distinct, its shape seems to tell its story.

This is the top of Skybridge.
You have to walk over this in order to get to a place where you can see the bridge formation from underneath. Can you say, "Look Ma, no rails?!?" And yes, it was enough of a drop on either side to make you splat like a watermelon if you fell! It was a little daunting with an obstinate 3 y.o. and a nosy dog, but thankfully we all made it across without becoming buzzard bait!

The rock formations that you followed to get to the bridge were impressive!

And so was this nest! I don't know what kind of bird it belonged to, but I'm pretty sure it was a BIG one!

Then we were rewarded with the awesome view of Sky Bridge! I LOVE natural arches!

It is so incredible to think of how this thing was formed and how many thousands of years it took! Just AWESOME! Can I get a "Hell yeah!" for Mother Nature? We messed around in the rock formations, played with some doodle bugs and the kids found a nice area of soft, chalky sand where they managed to get most superbly dirty!
And Nigel was just happy to take a break!
Then it was time to head out. I came across yet another amazing tree... Isn't that thing gorgeous?

By the time we made it over the bridge again, a certain little Piggy was too pooped to pop, so I had to pack her little arse back to the parking lot. She did pretty good though and I was happy to give her a lift!

Nothing says summer like...

2010-06-04T09:23:00.008-05:00

HOMEMADE STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM!

It was hot, it was Memorial Day and it was time to try out the ice cream maker that I was given last year! I debated on flavors. Should I just try vanilla? The recipe called for bananas and that would be yummy. The Piglet is a chocolate fan! But after perusing the fridge it became apparent that this batch was going to be strawberry, which ironically happens to be MY favorite flavor anyway! ;) The recipe is awesome, no cooking and it's ready in about a 1/2 hour! So here is the basic recipe (it's SO easy!), so experiment and enjoy!

4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 12-oz can of evaporated milk
1 pint of Half and Half
2 tbsp. of vanilla
Add fruit as desired. I added a cup or so of strawberries that I ran through the food processor. You mix these ingredients well with a whisk.
Then you pour it all into the container of the ice cream maker. You fill this container almost to the top with WHOLE milk, it took almost a 1/2 a gallon for mine. Drop in the paddle, close the lid, drop the container into the bucket,
and as I found out later... turn the motor on THEN add ice and rock salt! Otherwise, if you add the ice first then turn on the motor, the ice gets stuck around it and the motor does nothing but whine! Anyway, make sure the ice cream container is spinning away in the bucket of ice and rock salt and let it go for about a half hour. My machine is nice, it automatically turns off at that time. So I checked it, tasted it of course and determined it was done! The finished product was well worth the effort! Not bad, right?!?! And there was absolutely NO high fructose corn syrup or cellulose gum or guar gum or salt or food coloring! I love making things from scratch!

Chrysalid

2010-06-04T09:11:00.006-05:00

Unfortunately I have to start with some bad news... Crazy Cat died. He hung himself upside down and proceeded to turn completely black and soggy, like a little bag of ink (ICK)! At first I thought the discoloration was part of the process, but then BIG CAT did this--
This happened within a 24-hour period of time. It just stopped on a branch, attached a piece of silk to itself (if you look closely you can see it), leaned back a little and within 24 hours went from caterpillar to chrysalid! So amazingly cool. Now we play the waiting game! We still have Little Cat cruising around in there, eating ravenously and last night we discovered Puny Cat another teeny, tiny one! I just have caterpillars taking over my house!

And the transformation begins...

2010-06-03T09:58:00.008-05:00

Well for two weeks I have been feeding ravenous "parsley worm" caterpillars. Sadly, one of them died, but the other three have successfully denuded 4 parsley transplants!

I have really been hoping that they would just do their thing because I can't afford to keep buying transplants for them! Well, my wish has been granted! Two of the three remaining caterpillars seem to be starting their transformation. Fat Cat, the largest of the three, has climbed up a stalk, leaned back and produced some sort of silk that is holding it into place. It still looks just like a caterpillar though. This isn't the best pic in the world, but it's hard to take them in the enclosure.

But Crazy Cat, the medium caterpillar, has done something weird. It's grabbed ahold of a stalk with one foot and is now hanging upside down. And honestly, it looks kind of gross! I am hoping it didn't just keel over and die! But I thought this with my tomato hornworm a couple of years ago because they look like they are dying when they are turning into a chrysalid. So hopefully this little guy is alright.

You'll notice the orange things coming out of it's head? Those are what produce the nasty stench when you spook them!

Little Cat is still cruising around and eating parsley. I hope he will follow suit soon. Keep your fingers crossed that each of these little guys make a successful transformation into some sort of beautiful swallowtail butterfly! I will post more pics of the different stages.

Summer Garden 2010--Full tilt!

2010-06-01T09:14:00.006-05:00

Well things are really taking off in my little garden this year! Hooray! The eggplants are going crazy already!

The corn is about 6-8" tall and the green beans are climbing like crazy!

The black-eyed peas are doing great and the okra isn't as big as I was hoping by now, but they're doing OK. I did have to pull one up due to aphid infestion (stinkin' aphids!) And I need to hurry up and get something for the green beans in the back to climb or they or going to get into trouble!

The zucchini and squash all perished (stinkin' squash borers!!!) It really does seem that there is just no cure for the little bastards so I am officially DONE with cucurbits! No more wasting time and energy on squash, melons, or cucumbers. I know when I have been beaten and I surrender! So, in their place, I am planting a late crop of corn and Mammoth sunflowers! And I may see if there is something I can plant in between the corn.

On to better news though, the Tomato Wilt Tragedy of 2009 is not showing signs of resurgence. My cherry tomatoes are doing well, I'm picking around 5 a day. I have had to start picking them a bit early though due to a mischievous mocking bird that likes to come and take ONE peck out of all the red, ripe tomatoes! So I've been picking them a little orange and letting them ripen in the kitchen window. All four of my plants have fruit on them at this time, but so far, the over-achiever is my Solar Flare vine. This thing has approximately 20 big, fat, tomatoes hangin'! It is such a wonderful sight after witnessing the deterioration and death of all my vines last year and I will be so happy to partake of this beautiful vine's bounty!

More adventures in KY--Gladie Historic Site

2010-05-26T08:29:00.014-05:00

We decided to take advantage of a beautiful, sunny day to go explore the Red River Gorge. So it was back onto the twisty, curvy roads running along the Red River. As it turns out, the "Gateway to the Red River Gorge" is this...
Nada Tunnel!

A 13' X 12' X 900' unlit, hole in the side of a mountain! This is one of those tunnels that would make a skittish driver such as myself have a bit of a panic attack! Luckily my mom was driving. I don't know what happens if a car in the opposite direction wants to come through... maybe play Chicken?!? To make this particular section of our drive even weirder, there was someone WALKING through it! We damn near ran over him! I mean what the hell? Walking threw an unlit tunnel wearing dark clothing? He obviously had a death wish! Or who knows? Maybe it was really just the ghost of the guy who blew himself up trying to thaw frozen dynamite when the tunnel was being built in 1910! Either way, I can just say, my claustrophobic ass was really glad to finally drive out the other side!

We made our way over to the Gladie Historic Site and Museum. The museum had loads of info about the Red River Gorge, its history, geology and archaeology. Very cool stuff! But my favorite part was the restored 1880's cabin.
Can you imagine living someplace so gorgeous? All I wanted to do was lay in the soft grass with my kids and watch the clouds pass by! This place was perfect, mostly flat and grassy around the cabin, with mountains and rock overhangs behind and a little creek! This very easily could be my fairytale homestead! It had a big barn,

some beautiful dogwoods,

and what Kentucky homestead would be complete without a still?

After touring the homestead, my little bunch was hungry. So we found a nice sunny spot to enjoy a picnic! This little guy decided to climb onto my fork...

So I ate him! ;)

We really enjoyed our time here! It was beautiful! I took one last photo, a view out toward the creek and was just stunned at how amazingly green this part of the country is! None of the photos in this particular entry have been enhanced, this is just what Kentucky looks like!