Busy, busy, busy!(again!)

It has been super busy around here lately.

It seems like there is always something going on...

... and mostly my free time is being spent on my daughter's book, if I'm not re-rolling toilet paper, changing diapers, or building castles with blocks or sheets and chairs...
I haven't gotten many more replies.. but I have talked to most of the people and they say that they are coming. Right now, I am writing out my own cards. I have a lot of things I want to tell her, so my thoughts will be interspersed with everyone else's.

I am feeling a little overwhelmed because I so want for it to be nice... I just want to make it worth keeping around...

I am also struggling with having a bit of a selfish period going on right now.
I want to do things for me... and it feels strange, to me and my family.
I spend a lot of time doing things for other people... and I enjoy it... but lately I just want a little space. I have been feeling so very nostalgic lately... maybe it's facebook and hearing from all these old friends... or not really friends friends... whatever that means..
or maybe it is Emily's birthday and thinking about how much it changed my life forever.

I feel very blessed that she came into my life. I love her so much and I am so proud of her. I sometimes worry that I take too much pride in her, but I don't know if that is possible for a mother. She is on a path to great things, and I hope that when I am done with this project she will feel the love that I am pouring into it.

On a completely selfish note- again! I am going to talk with an artist about my newest tattoo tomorrow. Funny enough, it is the father of one of my daughter's friend. I like his work a lot! I actually saw a piece of his up in the studio that Emily and I went and screen printed in last week. She has been working on a project with her art teacher, (who I really like a lot! she is her teacher for her focus classes during her one day a week at gifted). There is a new children's hospital that is almost done being built here in the Burgh and some of the kids work is going to be up on the walls. The kids did Warhol-esque prints in vibrant colors, in a two by two square, and Emily and I helped to print the outlines of the toys that were on those prints, in different colors to make them really pop from the screen...

it was really fun! We laughed and co-operated and maybe we'll get to go to the presentation to see them up on the walls, because that would be cool.... fun stuff!

Anyway, sorry that my posts have been lacking.
I miss it when I am gone.
I think of twenty -two different posts daily! : )
I just can't make it here, unless I'm being an insomniac... like now!
We have also been fighting off a very persistent infection.. that hasn't gotten a good hold, but is stubbornly lingering! Oh and there was that thing with the ER again! Emily needed it this time... long story.. she had an unknown virus that caused her to break out in hives and then have this awful rash over her whole body... red raised, puffy eyes,crazy itchy... poor thing. She needed steroids and it took a few days before it helped completely... now she's doing MUCH better....

there is never a dull moment in this house, I swear!
so here's a few pics to show what's been going on around here!

mmm... a spur of the moment cauliflower/sweet potato/ garbanzo bean soup. it was super tasty and the kiddos dug it lots! It was sort of sweet because the stock I made that morning had so many carrots in it (I save all my scrubbed outside peels, butts, and veggie leftovers and make a stock every week out of it...for my weekly soup). I used it to my advantage though and made this curried soup. good stuff.

This was the scene from Valentines Day, after Al got home from work. We made the kids bags... a movie, a little candy, and handmade cards from us.

And everyone made a card for Al, with construction paper, and hearts I cut out that they glued on, and some stickers, markers and crayons, too!

so sweet!

the kiddos digging in...all decked out in red! : )

Emily requested some Aloo Gobi with the rest of the cauliflower I had, so I made some from this recipe on Allrecipes, of course with a few modifications, such as adding a half a pound of tofu cubed, and only 1/2 a head of cauliflower. I make this all the time and the kids go nutso for it. I love this recipe... and I love my kids! I love that eat so many different things.

Some rockin' beef stew I made with a pot roast cubed, browned, and simmered for hours, with carrots, onions, potatoes and celery... with the edition of some Trader Joe's Bread. YUM!!

Today I am thankful for good food, good times, good friends, and good memories.

I am thankful that my kids eat my wacky food.

I am thankful that we love and respect each other around here(most of the time!)

Wow- How about some holidays!?!

Well, when I started this blog I had great plans... and some of them have worked.. just not actually ON the blog!! : )

The main purpose was to help myself be aware of the good stuff... and there has been so much of it lately, I have really just not had time to come on here and talk about it!

I have done so many fun projects and had so much joy that I couldn't even write about it...

I wanted to tell people about all the cool crafts and have nice pictures... but instead I just enjoyed them myself...so sorry for going away, but I'm trying to come back...and I did take pictures...so maybe I'll put some of them up at a later date.. time will tell!! : )

Our Christmas was great! We had a good holiday around here... we just took down our tree tonight. We had it for over a month. I loved that tree and I was a little sentimental about taking it outside... but tomorrow is recycle day and our tree is getting recycled..so it's all good!

The best part about not having the tree is having a lot more space to play... which around our casa es muy importante!

The holidays are always busy...

We have Al's mom, Donna, over Christmas Eve for dinner, which this year was an apple,/cranberry/cornbread stuffed pork loin(which the hubby made by himself while I was finishing gifts!!... way to go AL, it was awesome!!), veggies and mashed potatoes and gift exchange.



Then we have our own christmas morning here at the house.




and THEN we go to my sister's for the afternoon and dinner.


this is a picture of the girls before we left for Auntie Suzie's house... looking sweet... of course!









a picture of the hubby and Yazzle Dazzle... ok his name is Yaz... I just like to add name flair! ; )


Sophia opening some jammies!









Roscoe playing peek-a-boo .. his very favorite game!

This is a picture of the kids just hanging out and coloring.... and the baskets that my sister got from us with all my handmade jellies, plus another one with cookies, crackers, cream cheese, pumpkin bread, and a pomander! : )


PLUS this year my mom who lives out in the desert across the country, decided to visit the day after Christmas!



My mom and my sister, and her daughter Josie at dinner.




I caught Chet smiling... he hates picture taking.. but I got him!! : )















We had them over to dinner at our house... luckily, Emily was staying out with my sister because as you can see we have a very weeny table! I like to think of it as cozy... : )
oh, Al made Chicken Broccoli Alfredo..YUM!!!

















some loving before we headed home, from my sister's...

It was so very nice to see them(my mom and step-dad)... it added to the stress, but it was totally worth it! She had never met our son.. it had been 3 years since we had physically seen each other. We see each other in pictures and email and phone conversations... but, of course, it isn't the same. Now, truth be told, when I moved away it took a little while to really wish we were closer... but as we get older I think we relate to our parents more and more.... at least that has been my experience. I can see how some of the things she needed to do for herself, were just that, not malicious things against me, but selfish(even neccesary selfish acts) , and we are afterall just human! Now, I think that my mom is pretty cool... and wouldn't mind seeing her a lot more often. It did take over 2000 miles and about 8 years to feel it this much though!! : )

Two incredibly cool things happened during my mom's visit.
1) My mom told me I turned out alright.
2) I had an epiphany about love.

Now some of you might not get how big of a deal it was for my mom to tell me I was cool... but the short story is... we struggled a lot to come to terms with each other's personalities for a long time. We had rough teenage years, which turned into an interesting relationship when I became a mother at 20.... and which now after time, talking, and growth (on both of our parts) has become a mutual respect for each other. I have always loved my mom... but I actually like her a lot now...and that's a great feeling! It was especially nice to hear her say the same to me... in a crowded room with everyone around and no one, maybe not even my mom, realized what a big deal it was when she looked me in the eye and said "I don't know, kid... I think you turned out ok... you turned out pretty damn good if you ask me.." i actually got misty over it. Ok I had had a beer, but honestly that's pretty flipping nice coming from my mom! : ) It's funny it actually reminds me of when the farmer says to Babe..."that'll do pig... that'll do..." there's just more meaning when people don't say as much sometimes...(did I totally date myself with that movie?)

and on to the second thing... not the first time I have thought this, but it hit me incredibly hard during her visit.
LOVE- the down low on love is simply this...it makes people better when it is right. My love for my husband has, at times been hard, at times been euphoric, and has by far changed me more than any other love in my life. That's saying a lot because I have been a mother for almost 14 years now...and the love that I feel for my children is unexplainable(except to other parents)... but the love for my kids is an extension of myself... the love that I have for my husband intertwines me with him... in a completely different way. I can't explain really what I mean, but as much as sometimes I want to throttle him ( oh yeah, there are definitely days) I honestly can't imagine my life with out him. I could do it... but I wouldn't want to.

I think that my stepdad and mom have the same thing. He has mellowed her in a way that I never thought possible. He is to her what my man is to me... and it's a beautiful thing. I never got to know him well. I wasn't around when they met, already on own, but I always thought he was good for her. Seeing them together was just nice because they compliment each other so well.

I guess I just realized that I love him too... for loving my mom the way he does... she's a bit of a handful that woman!

man... I think things got away from me!
I meant to just come on and say a few words, but now three days and nights and many pictures later... here we are!
...the point was just to get back started on blogging again...
I guess that's why I do this.. I have a big mouth!! :)

I have A LOT of craft-tasticness to share with you all. I'm not sure when I will have time to put them all up, but I will be on again soon. Now that the holidays are settling down, I will have more time again! (I hope!)

Did I mention that it was also my birthday?..... on New Year's Eve?
oh yeah, and that I actually won Pam's Give-Away!
...beautiful scarf, right?




















For my birthday I went out with my hubby... and we had a blast!





I actually BEAT him at darts(that HAS NEVER HAPPENED!!) We went out the night before to avoid the crowds, because I am getting old : ), and also because I am selfish and like my birthday to be about me and not the entire world starting a brand new year!(I know I'm needy like that!!)




The second picture is at the site of our very first kiss...long story, I'm sure I'll tell someday, but we were not dating, and didn't date for another 6 months, but I for one walked away from it thinking about him in a special way from there on out... and I get a little sentimental about that first kiss. I was dating someone else(that I actually really cared for) at the time...and had never done anything like that before (kissing someone when dating someone else)... I cried the rest of the night, because I felt so bad...AND because I felt that kiss from the top of my head to the bottom of my toes...and wasn't sure what to do with the situation...
well, it turned out ok in the end, we'll be having our 5th anniversary next month... it just took a little while for the right things to happen. But I still maintain that I knew from that first kiss. The hairs on my neck still stand up when I think about it! : )
Ah, love...and the things we'l do for it!!

My birthday being on New Year's Eve has always put a lot of pressure on the day for me... it's just a little heavy to have two significant times be on the same day. The new year is my new year, no second chances... this is it.
Sometimes, I get sad about my birthday, and getting older, but for some reason this year I can say...
I'M THIRY-FOUR AND OWNING IT!!!!
as you can tell by this late night photo...yeah, that's right I AM a delicate flower... what?!?



I hope that everyone had a fabulous holiday season, and has the same feeling of good things acomin' in the new year!!


Tonight I am thankful for family.
I am thankful for the opportunity to get a little closer to my parents.
I am thankful that I kicked Al's butt in darts!! : )
I am thankful that we truly enjoyed the holidays this year!
I am thankful that I turned 34 and not only wasn't sad about it, but ROCKED IT OUT!!
I am thankful that I finally got this post done!
(so what if it's three days later, right?)

Give-aways!

Hi everyone!
I have three cool give-aways to tell you about today!
The first one is from Pam at Pam-Fried Family Life.
She is giving away a beautiful handmade grey scarf that she made. It is lovely. Click on her name to take you to her post that tells you all about it! : )

The second one is from Jen at Buried with Children. She is a funny Mama of triplets and another cute little man. She is giving away a Christmas CD, a box of Truffles(YUM!), AND a $25 Target gift card! Click on her name to read her post all about it!

The third is from Daisy Quilts. She is giving away a whole bunch of stuff, to celebrate her 1 year anniversary! Some of the things she is giving away are a bag(there's a picture... it is SUPER cute!!), 2 hanging decorations (ornaments or whatever you want them to be) and a pincushion, as well as some added goodies. Click on her name to go read her post all about it, too! Or you can just click on the link on the side of my blog. (maybe...I'm in the process of figuring this part out still!!)
Good luck to everyone who chooses to play!
Have a great day!! : )

I am thankful for others generousity!

Pomanders!

Every year we go to my sister's for Christmas.. that's the way it ended up as far as breaking down the family holidays . We have my mother in law over for Thanksgiving. Al's brother and his people take care of themselves... and the rest of the family lives far away..so it's not generally too complicated.

When everyone is over at my sister's for the afternoon and dinner, we usually try to have some kind of craft.... to occupy us and keep the tv off... or even better have the kids watch some tv(it's Christmas for goodness sake.. it's ok!) and let the grown ups have a glass of wine and chit chat over crafts... fun stuff....


Well, one year we made pomanders... and I was hooked! I was the only one who finished the whole way(it actually took me a few days to get the supplies to finish!)... and I still have it hanging up. I love the smell so much!




A pomander is a preserved piece of fruit, often an orange, but you can use apples or lemons as well. They are preserved with cloves... and also some additional spices and oil... but it's the cloves that keep them from going bad and have such a heavenly odor. They have been around for ages, as room deoderizers... think pre-glade or febreeze!


Well, the next year my sister gave me a bunch of supplies to make some more, because it was fun, but cloves can be outrageously expensive. So, I finally made some last night for Christmas! They need 3-6 weeks (sometimes even 6 months they say!) to cure... but I am hoping for good luck because the last one I made didn't take too long... we'll see.


I thought that I would show everyone my process and see if I couldn't inspire others to make them because they are just so cool! I know I'd love to get one as a gift!
here we go!

How to make a Pomander



This is what you need to get started, I'll tackle the spices a little further down!


A few fruit of your choice. I decided to use clementines because I love them and they are smaller... less space to fill. I was being ambitious and went for 4 but 3 was my limit for one sitting. I've read to use thimbles, for the pushing part, but don't own any... if you have some I think it wouldn't be such a bad idea to pull them out!


Atleast 2 bottles of cloves, you need alot of them. These are nice ones(from my sister) but I've seen cloves at the dollar store now..and that would help make these more affordable gifts!



A bowl to work over to contain the mess, I found the clementines to be much juicier than the orange I used before(which time will tell if that makes a longer drying out period. My head says quite probably will take longer... but unknown because they are also smaller..)


A rag to clean off your hands, if necessary. The fruit bleeds, and better out than un since you are essentially trying to dry it out.



You also need something to stick holes into the fruit. I used a push pin, it had a nice little grip to hold and it felt right to me. Use whatever you see fit... crochet hook, fork, nail...whatever!


And finally a ribbon to tie around the fruit, so that you can hang it...and make it look festive, if you want.

I get a long peice of ribbon and put the fruit, topside down, around middle of it, then pull the sides up and cross them to go up the middle of each half you just made, to make 4 even spaces, like when you tie a present. Tie the ribbon on the top and just leave the extra for now.






At this point, you should anchor the top (and bottom) with one clove in each section to help keep the ribbon from moving around.









Use your push pin to make holes for each clove. You want to fit as many cloves, as close as possible, with out tearing the skin underneath, plus the pomander shrinks as it cures, so leave a little wiggle room for that. You'll get the hang of it after a few times..and trust me you'll get LOTS of practice!




This one is about halfway done and you can see that quite a bit of juice is in the bowl... there was also a good amount of juice running down my hand...you WILL find every hangnail, or cut on your hands, but atleast the citrus is an antiseptic, right?




This one that has been completely covered... HOORAY!
But you are only halfway done, at this point.

If you are going to make more than one, put this one in a bowl and start another one. When you have finished all the fruit you are using, then it is time to mix up the additional spices.
Here's what you need for the spice rub:

1 tablespoon of ground cloves

1 tablespoon of cinnamon

1 tablespoon of ground nutmeg

1 1/2 tablespoons of ground Orris Root.

(you can also use Sandalwood Oil, instead if you want. My sister ordered this container for me from an apothecarey from Chicago, but I think you local co-op or herb store might have it.)

4 or 5 drops of Orange Essential Oil

A brown paper bag

I used my mortor and pestal because I had all these lovely fresh cloves on hand... you can use ground powder from the store if you want to!

Put all the spices on a plate, I ground fresh nutmeg and used about half a nut(is that what it's called?...I really don't know!)

Then mix the spices together, and put a few drops of Orange Oil into the mix. Being the stinky hippie that I am, if I was making these for myself I would also add a drop or two (not much) of Patchouli Oil as well, but since my sister is getting one and she thinks it smells like stinky hippie...I refrained this time.

Then you take your fruit and roll it around on the spices until they are nice and covered.

Then you put the pomanders and the extra spices into the brown paper bag. Put your bag in a cool dark place. Check on them everyday. Roll them around in the spices and check for mold. If you get mold, throw it away (I know it's sad... but you have to do it!) I have never had a moldy one, but I have had a friend who did.





It can take anywhere from 3 weeks to 6 months, to cure. The last time I made one it took about a month. Although truth be told, I'm not exactly sure because I put it under a dresser and forgot about it for awhile... but I didn't even have the spices or a bag... just the orange under there. I hope that someone else makes some. Let me know how you like it if you do! : )

Today I am thankful for pomanders!
I am thankful for a thoughtful sister.
I am thankful for fun crafts, that make me happy!

Leaf Windows

I know that I missed coming on Thanksgiving and being thankful... but I was and it was a great day with the family, so I didn't have time to come on here! I figured there were others holding up the thankfulness torch on that day!! : )

Thanksgiving was just a few days ago and now it is Christmas time everywhere!
I feel the pull and excitement of it more this year than I have in awhile... Sophia is at an awesome age, she is old enough to believe in the magic of it, and seeing that in her makes me feel happy and young and magical again myself.


SOOO... before I start getting into winter time activities and crafts, I have to show you the fun project we did with leaves.


We love going for walks in the park and playing at some of the wonderful parks here in the 'Burgh. I'm not from here, so I think that I appreciate the beauty of Pittsburgh more than some people who have always lived here. The desert is beautiful in a completely different way. But. I love the leaves changing and feel so lucky to live in a place where the kids get to see the change in the seasons.
I LOVE FALL!!


While we were going on walks together, we would pick up leaves that we thought were pretty. I would bring them home and put them in big books to dry out. I ended up with a good amount of leaves from different kinds of tress in all different colors. I put some up around the house in doorways, and the kids made "Leaf Windows".




Now, the truth of the matter is that this craft takes way more work for you than your kiddo... but it is super cute and the older they get, the more they will do... but I think it is worth it because they are awesome keepsakes! I love it when I get out Emily's old daycare stuff... it's funny actually because I've noticed that it's as much work to do it at home for two kids as for 15 at pre-school.. the extra supplies you need don't take that much more time it's the preparation you need that takes the time! : )
anyway, if you want a fun fall idea:


How to make a Leaf Window

what you need:

a bunch of dried leaves

non- toxic glue

a wet wipe-up rag( to catch any random messes,

we use cloth diapers)

see-through plastic

{ I used the bags from our diapers... I save everything, maybe to a fault...

and am always trying to use things as much as possible.

I was going to use saran wrap until I thought of these,
but think it would have been hard with Roscoe because it is so thin.}

1. Ok the first thing you do is cut two peices of equal plastic, for each window. I cut the half of a bag(from the diapers we use) into two peices(that way it was already pre-matched).

2. Then you get your table together with your supplies, a wipe-up rag, and wrangle your kids into seated positions!

3. Next , it is time to let the kids pick their leaves. I put some glue all over the plastic so they could just push the leaves onto it. This was Roscoe's first experience with glue.. and he did great!! Sophia did a good job too, they made me really proud! They had fun and so did I!

You can see that at the end Roscoe decided he didn't like the glue... but that is what the rag was for so no biggie!

The time the kids took doing this was about 5 minutes -tops! Then it took me a couple of nights to make the frames. I made them from old cereal boxes(see -crazy keeps everything lady!!). Just cut strips from the boxes and glue the obnoxious sides together and you get a nice brown(fallish even!) colored frame. Then hang them in the window. When the light comes through them they look really pretty!



I think I'd like to add some more color to the frames... with their names and also let them color around the frame... but I wanted them up before I wanted to put up snowmen...so up they went!

I am thankful for fun!
I am thankful that my kids will actually sit and do "centers" at the house.
I am thankful for my adorable children!
I am thankful to be home and able to spend an entire day playing with my kids, because they rock!

Sock Puppets

Well, today is going to be my first post. I hope that this works out the way I see it in my mind. My hope is to use this as a tool to be as thankful as I can be. Times are tough, in a lot of aspects in my life, but I want this to be about the good stuff, because there IS a lot of good amongst the frustrations, and sometimes it's easy to foget that! As I sit here being thoughtful of my hectic and not too fun day... I realize that I barely played with my kids today...and that is probably why it was crummy. My hubby's days off are often crammed with chores we need to do together, instead of enjoying our time as much as I'd like to... but on to the positive... starting with some Sophia lovin'!!!

Tonight after bathtime, instead of going straight to bed for stories and songs, after Dad got her little brother to bed. Sophia got to make sock puppets with Dad and Mama! She got a kit for her birthday from an awesome friend of ours. So tonight we pulled it out and had a blast together! Sophia went nuts with all the pre-glued felt pieces... it was truly enjoyable!

Sophia's Superfantasico Puppet!

I have good intentions of doing a lot more crafts than we end up doing...and tonight was a reminder to make it a higher priority! It is difficult with Roscoe being so young, but I'm determined to figure out a way to do more, because it was by far the highlight of my day! I LOVE all the felt wackiness on her puppet!! And I like how my "dragon" turned out too! Right now they are all in bed, in the empty tissue box that she claimed for them... to sleep in for the night.


Al's puppet




My dragon puppet


So tonight:
I am thankful for sock puppets!! : )