Bites of Bliss

How lucky am I?

2011-03-07T14:23:00.000-08:00

Sweet Valentine

2008-02-14T09:05:00.000-08:00

Little P wanted to make her Valentines for her class this year. So we came up with these:
We used Dove Milk Chocolate hearts for the nose. We used pink for the girls along with a ribbon and silver for the boys. She loved them!
Mr. Fantastic spotted this for me a little while back. I almost think the eggs tasted better simply from being heart shaped!
Hope you all have a great Valentine's Day!

TIny Hamsters and Sewing Lessons

2008-02-11T10:49:00.000-08:00

So Little p wants to learn to sew, I have been teaching her the basics for a while and now she wants to try them out on these:
I found this book on Ebay:
I have wanted to buy one of these books for quite some time, but seeing as though I don't speak Japanese or read it for that matter, I have always been leery of being able to follow every last detail that I would need to know to complete these super cute crafts.

But since this one was a really, really, inexpensive one and it's shipping was free, all the way from Japan I couldn't say no.

As you can see, we had no problem with very clear pictures!

Boots loves his! And his little hamster has lived quite the adventurous life so far, including piloting a helicopter,
Boots has had it easy, while he had momma to do all of the work for him to produce such a fun little playmate,
Little P is slaving away, pricked fingers and all to make one of her very own. That's my girl, sometimes effort doesn't mean as much until blood is shed, then it is a real accomplishment.
She is sooo my kid.

Well Wishes for a Happy New Year

2008-01-28T10:31:00.001-08:00

I came home the other day to this:
It contained all of this:
Note: There were two pieces of chocolate, but...
Need I say more?
There was note, and this is what it said:
How sweet is Jennifer, over at The Felt Mouse? I feel very honored to receive such warm wishes from you! All the best this year right back at cha'!
This was lovely to look at! And so much fun to put together. And how incredibly considerate you are to send the batteries needed with it! Did you know that my supply of AA batteries was almost completely depleted from the holiday season?

Public Market Thursday

2008-01-17T10:20:00.000-08:00

My friend and neighbor Sue and I have decided to make a little time to head to the public market each Thursday morning. It's getting harder and harder for us to find time to see each other, and both of us are very careful about the freshness of the foods we purchase. So this idea fills both of those niches. How very sad it is to have to double schedule things to be able to make time! But it works for us.

So today with the temps in the low twenties, we grabbed some gloves and our canvas shopping bags and set out to find some homegrown goodness...

Our first stop is always this enclosed market that sells fresh and dried herbs, and all sort of extracts. Today I needed vanilla, and I love the fact that is is made right here in Rochester.
Then it's on to the pastry man, he has these HUGE cinnamon roles for $ .50 each,
is there anything that is $ .50 each anymore??? But aside from the price, they are INSANELY good!!! Today he also had this bag of three small focaccia breads for $1.00.
I see sauce in our future!

We also found some local honey,
Some veggies, Little P has been asking to try parsnips.
This looked so funky I had to ask what it is,
It's celery root. I have to say that I am not so sure I could eat this. It doesn't look very appetizing!

This looked funky too:
But I didn't ask about it! That's an interesting phrase on the outside of a place that makes fried dough. For those die hard Soprano fans, this is for you.

I didn't buy any of these today but how beautiful is this to look at?
We did stop at the cheese dude and I bought some pepperoni sticks, for Mr. Fantastic to snack on, and some parm cheese, about a pound and a half for... $3.00. Gotta love that!
Last but not least, we stopped at this hole in the wall place called, Juan and Maria's Empanada Stop. They have breakfast sandwich and a drink for $1.95.
We stop every time we go and I think that I look forward to that way more that I should!

A toasty, I love You

2008-01-13T08:25:00.000-08:00

For Christmas Mr. Fantastics parents got me a ton of fun kitchen stuff, and I love it all!
They bought be quite a few silicone things to try. I am still amazed that it doesn't melt in the oven! They found this:

A Cathedral Bunt Pan... Mr. Fantastics favorite cake in the whole world, a Cinnamon Cake, is made in a bunt pan, he is ecstatic, mostly because he gets to eat more cake!

They also got me these:
Dinosaur cookie cutters, they are just too stinkin cute! And Boots loves dinosaurs so much he can't wait to have dino cookies!

They also found this:
First you stamp the bread:

Then when you toast it, "I heart You", shows up! They kids loved it.Thanks Geea and Trampa!
I am not totally sure where they got it, but you can buy it here. And that store, Perpetual Kid has some of the coolest stuff I have ever seen, where else are you going to find these, come on, you know you want them!

Big Love for Elf Shoes

2008-01-11T16:08:00.000-08:00

I love, love, love the ornaments I made for Christmas this year. In the months leading up to the big event I tried out at least a dozen options for ornaments. I had some specifics this year that I was hoping to fulfill. I really wanted to sew something, more specifically hand sew something. I wasn't sure what until I saw these:
(picture taken from Allsorts post)
Immediately smitten, I went out to buy the most gorgeous wool felt that I could afford. And at $18.00 a yard, it wasn't a ton! Thank you so much to Allsorts for this amazing pattern! It was entirely too much fun to make.

I made a small army of elf shoes, its sort of tradition to give ornaments out to our siblings and over the years I have tried to always make them myself. I also make an ornament for Boots and Little P each year so that when the time comes for them to grow up and move out on their own they will already have ornaments for their first tree.

My one regret in the whole process is that I didn't take a single picture until tonight, and that is only of the last two sets that are awaiting a visit to my best friend and my gorgeous new niece. As many times as I walked past the 20 or so sets and they made me grin I never took a picture, I can't believe it! Anyhow these are it:The red pair does not have their buttons or their ribbons yet, but you get the idea!

My niece picked out these two fabrics when she was here from California in December, I am making a tote bag for her.
I LOVE the bobby pins! Too cute. Now what to make for me???

Lucky

2008-01-08T17:55:00.000-08:00

If you live in New York, more specifically in Western New York, the weather the past few days has been really, really enjoyable. There is nothing like a nice 65 degree break from the snow to make you throw open the windows and want to start spring cleaning!

And I did, until Boots got home from school and wanted to take a walk and enjoy the weather. The dust at my house far from my mind we walked and talked all about school and their new science experiment. He is loving predicting the outcome of things, the excitement of waiting to find how it is going to turn out is almost more than he can take! Today they tried to clean pennies with a variety of things, he was beside himself that lemon juice does anything other than make things taste different. He truly loves school and I am not so sure I have ever seen a more eager to learn 4 year old.

Listening to him get so excited over telling me what he learned I was brought back to one thought. This is why I am home. I loved every single word, driving the point into my brain, this is why Mr. Fantastic and I work so hard to make it all meet up. These are the moments that quiet the uneasy side of me. I couldn't be more in love with the fact that he has so much to share that he can barely get the thoughts out, and that he is excited to share them with me. Me...I feel so blessed to be that person. I love, love, love my life. I am so lucky to have this boy to call my own.

Space Boys and Zombies... What more do you need?

2008-01-05T17:21:00.000-08:00

I made this lovely Space boy for my nephew for Christmas. It is a pattern from Wee Wonderfuls, it comes in a booklet along with the pattern and instructions on how to make a robot for him as well. As you can see, I only got the Space Boy finished, oh well, there is always his birthday. Maybe by then Space Boy could use a companion.

On the flip side of cute and boyish, I recently made this Zombie girl, also from a pattern from Wee Wonderfuls.
It is actually the undead form of Olive from her make a long story pattern. I realize I completely destroyed her sweet and wholesome idea with slightly decaying flesh and exposed wounds, but a girls gotta make things her own somehow.
It was made for an incredible artist friend of Mr. Fantastics who has done a tremendous amount of amazing work for him for Jesus Hates Zombies. I wanted to do something special for her and I felt that anything less than homemade and original simply would not do! So I made her a red hoodie in honor of Lauren and sent her on her way.

Cookies and Mexican Cocoa

2008-01-04T06:46:00.000-08:00

We had grand plans to go to the Public Market yesterday. It is something that everyone that lives here should do at least a few times a year. We try to go as much as we can and yesterday seemed like the day, the sun was shining, the kids couldn't wait for hot donuts and hot chocolate (one of the glorious things about the outdoor market here is the FOOD!) And until I looked at the thermostat holding steady at 7 degrees I was fine with going.

But since it's not good for anyone to walk around in single digit temps, we decided to stay home and heat up our kitchen to stay warm.

The kids made, Mexican Hot Chocolate, with a pinch of chili powder and cinnamon.

Boots loved it! So did Little P, but she politely refused a picture!
Then we decided that we would make Jam Thumbprints, we used Barefoot Contessa's recipe. Yummmmmm!

The coconut was a nice toasty change from normal thumb prints. Thanks Ina!

100 % Awesome

2008-01-03T13:46:00.000-08:00

While browsing through Target yesterday I came across these:

They are called Mighty Muggs.

Boots decided that Dad could not live one more day with out the Boba Fett

So we scooped him up and brought him home, little did we know that when Mr. Fantastic opened him up we would find that he is actually made from:
I wish every toy was!

New Year, New Ideas

2008-01-02T06:20:00.000-08:00

It has been a very hectic couple of months. There hasn't been much time for anything extra, including blogging. But I am going to try to make an attempt to post every day this month, minus yesterday. New Years classifies as a freebie don't ch'a know?

Christmas was great, the kids loved loved loved seeing their Grandparents and Aunt K and her whole family. It was a blast having all of the kids running around the house. Our little nephew got a leaf blower for Christmas, have you ever seen any thing so freakin' cute???

When he wasn't using the little vacuum he was using this, I had a very clean house by the time they left!

We spent the day yesterday at home with the kids, it was Mr. Fantastics last day of vacation, so we decided to try to make it as relaxing as possible. Part of it was spent trying to put together these puzzles that Aunt K gave Boots for Christmas. Now these are the coolest damn things, and he LOVES them. But you need a engineering degree to put together the tortoise! They all went together eventually and he loved every second of it.

More tomorrow!

Ta Tas and Cupcakes

2007-10-14T07:57:00.000-07:00

I took Boots to the dentist the other day, and while I was there looking through a magazine I saw an add for this onesie.
I thought it was cute, and thinking of my new nephew, wrote down the web address to order one for him for Christmas. After I got home and looked it up here I found that not only do they make cute children's shirts, they make clothing for the whole family! They are a smaller company committed to helping financially support breast cancer research. They give 5% if their gross sales research. Every item, every sale, every year. From their launch in 2004 they have donated over $100,000 to the fight against the disease. Love it, look forward to Save The Ta Ta' s christmas presents this year!

In that same magazine I saw this:
Who doesn't need one of these? It makes a giant cake shaped like a Cupcake!!! Can you stand it!!! I found it for sale here. I think I need this pan, I am not sure when the hell I am going to use it, but I am certain that I will eventually!
This is the picture I saw it in originally, how could you not fall for this immediately?

On the Halloween front, I am up to my freaken' elbows in costumes. Little P is going to be a poodle skirt wearing sock hop girl, but it won't actually have a poodle! It will have a cat. But you get the idea. Boots is going to be a Ninja, it took him forever to make up his mind and I am still not certain that this is what we will end up with. Mr. Fantastic and I are going to a Halloween party this year at a friends house, so I have my plate full with those costumes as well. So my sewing machine has been going non stop for a while now! I will post pictures when I have more completed.

I did want to show you these:
I bought them at Wegmans, For $1.95 each. They are tooooooo cute. And for that price I couldn't help but to buy one of each!

By the way, we bought a new car... not quite as fun as buying Halloween decorations but we are thrilled with what we got.

I Think I need to join some type of support group.

2007-09-30T13:40:00.000-07:00

For those who can't help but bake, for those few people who are so drawn to it at times it keeps them up at night.I think a support group isn't a bad idea. Hi, I'm Miss Bliss and I can't stop baking!

I can waste many an midnight hour pouring over my cookbooks and old recipes, looking for ways to reinvent my favorite things. I have made more scones lately than I care to admit. However, I have diligently baked them up and given them away. This really and truly is the only way that I am not going to end up being 300 pounds!

I do have to say that although I rarely find a combination for scones that I don't love, these were incredible. These are not my recipe though, I borrowed it from Tyler Florence's Real Kitchen cookbook. I am stock piling recipes for when Mr. Fantastic's whole family comes for Christmas. Then I can bake to my hearts content and never have to give away a thing, because I am lucky enough to have a house full to consume it all. Mr. Fantastics mom loves her some blueberries, so Geea, these are for you!

Blueberry Lemon Scones

Makes 8 scones

Scones

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the blueberries
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 Teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons sugar
5 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into chunks
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup fresh blueberries

Lemon Glaze

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 cups confectionery sugar, sifted
Zest of 1 lemon, finely grated
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 400.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Using 2 forks or a pastry blender, cut in the butter to coat the pieces with the flour. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center and pour in the heavy cream. Fold everything together just to incorporate; do not overwork the dough. Toss the blueberries in some flour to help prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the scone when baked; then fold them into the batter. Take care not to mash or bruise the blueberries because their strong color will bleed into the dough.

Press the dough out on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle about 12x3x 1 1/4 inches. Cut the rectangle in half; then cut the pieces in half again, giving you four 3-inch squares. Cut the squares in half on a diagonal to give you the classic triangle shape. Place the scones on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until beautiful and brown. Let the scones cool a bit before you apply the glaze.

Mix the lemon juice and confectionery sugar together in a microwave safe bowl. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Add the lemon zest and butter. Microwave it for 30 seconds on high. Whisk the glaze to smooth out any; lumps and then drizzle the glaze over the top of the scones. Let it set a minute before serving.

There is a note above this recipe in the cookbook straight from Tyler himself that says:

This is a side note to all the guys out there. If you bring your woman warm blueberry scones for breakfast in bed , you'll thank me later.

I had these made the night before so all Mr. Fantastic had to do was roll out of bed, turn on the coffee maker and throw these in the oven. He is still thanking Tyler.

Can't Sleep? Make Scones

2007-09-19T05:42:00.001-07:00

As most of you know, I don't sleep much. And fall tends to be one of those times for me when I sleep even less. The minute that chill hits the air I find myself up to my elbows in busy work. It's mindless, and it's usually comforting. I find both of those qualities in baking.

However after a recent sizable weight loss, if I bake I have to give it away. I cannot take the chance of being left alone with a dozen or more fresh baked scones! So bake them I will and then I proceed to pack them up and give them away, I give them to the bus drivers and the neighbors, I send them to work with my husband. All I really needed out of that was the comfort and the activity late, late at night. I don't need the hundreds of extra calories that I would mindlessly consume throughout the day if they were sitting in my kitchen.

Now that I confessed that I am absolutely weak against the power of the baked good, I have another confession, I LOVE those horrible processed cakes called Devil Dogs. They are totally a guilty pleasure for me, and I haven't actually consumed one in many, many years. And the reason for that is if I buy a box and leave it in the cupboard, I will not be able to stop myself from eating the entire thing. Maybe not in a day but in a ridiculously short amount of time. So I simply do not buy them. I avoid walking down the same isle as them at the grocery store. I go to great lengths to insure that my exposure to them is limited and always in plain view of the public. I know, it sounds more like an affair than a confection, but sometimes, in life there are things that you just cannot resist. So you avoid being in a place, time or position that could make things less than platonic. For me that is the snack isle!

Chocolate Chip Scones

4 cups plus 1 tablespoon flour
2 tablespoons sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
3/4 pound cold unsalted butter, diced
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup cold heavy cream
3/4 cup chocolate chips
1 extra-large egg beaten with 2 tablespoons milk or water, for egg wash

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Combine 4 cups flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, the baking powder, and salt in an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Blend in the cold butter at the lowest speed and mix until the butter is in pea-sized pieces. Combine the eggs and heavy cream and quickly add to the flour/butter mixture. Combine until just blended. Combine the chocolate chips and 1 tablespoon flour and then add to the dough and mix quickly. The dough may be a bit sticky.

Dump the dough out onto a floured surface and be sure it is well combined. Flour your hands and a rolling pin and roll the dough out to 3/4-inch to 1-inch thick. You will see lumps of butter in the dough. Cut into circles with a biscuit cutter. Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

Brush the scones with the egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the outsides are crisp and the insides are done.

(Adapted From Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa Raisin Scones) Give credit where credit is due.)

Don't Eat My Baby

2007-09-17T06:56:00.000-07:00

I really can't stand snakes. I am not a super girlie girl when it comes to the creepy crawlies. Spiders don't bother me, reptiles are not my favorite things in the world to see, but I can deal with them. But snakes, oh my god, I just can't even think about them with out my skin crawling!!!! So when we went to a birthday party this Sunday for a cousin, and The Reptile Guy was there, it was less than calming for me.

Boots has no fear when it comes to these things, as you can see...
Little P remained on the porch safely out of harms way for most of the show! She looked as mortified and sickened as I felt!
But I do have to say that the kids were absolutely riveted! The age range of kids there was from a little over one to about 14. They were all completely enthralled with the whole experience, as were the adults that were there. And as grossed out as I was, I still managed to learn something. The handlers were incredibly knowledgeable and very patient and personable. When everyone was done petting the reptiles they were given antibac and a small snake as a thank you for following the rules.
So on the ride home when Boots declared that he wanted them at his birthday party, although I felt my heart skip beat at the thought, I agreed, thinking at least it's educational. We'll see how brave I am in March!

The Long Awaited Bus Ride

2007-09-11T15:48:00.000-07:00

Thank you all so much for showing the huge love and appreciation for the undead ! Never thought I would say that in this blog! But having done so, I still find it amazing the support you can find in the people that read your blog. I for one, was surprised at the overwhelming amount of e-mails I received in response to the advertising of the book. And the well wishes! I just adore you people!!!! So thank you all so very much!
Okay, on to the first day for Boots. As you might remember he started a private Pre-k this past January. He loved it. It was only two days a week and only an hour and 1/2 at a time. And it was being taught by a woman he knew. All of these things were adding up to a wonderful two days for the boy. My hope from that was that he would gain some independence and be able to experience a class room setting as well as understand the role of teachers and students. He, like most children in this setting thrived. So when it came time for our districts Pre-K program which is 1/2 day Monday through Friday. They also bus the Pre-K students. I am not sure if this is how it works for most schools, but that is how it is done here.

We went to see his class room and meet his teacher a week before he started school along with the other 16 students and their families. I knew right then that any concern I had was totally unfounded. He loved the room, loved the teacher, loved the assistant (whom had Little P in another class last year and adore her and was waiting to get Boots) he couldn't wait to sit and listen and learn. Some of his classmates were hesitant to leave the leg of their parents to explore the room, Boots, on the other hand was almost always a step a head of me! I realized looking at his huge smile and almost insanely contagious excitement that he was in fact, going to be just fine. And boy was he more than ready for school.
Then came the best part, he woke up about three hours too early, bubbling with anticipation not for what the first day of Pre-K might bring, but for the long awaited bus ride. He had spend the last three years watching his sister get on the bus every morning and happily skip down those steps every afternoon. And that, my friends was what he was truly waiting for.
He boarded that bus with just the slightest turn to wave and say good bye smiling the whole way.
There was not one tear shed, not by him any how.
What happens after the bus pulls away is not pretty, not for lots and lots of mama's. I was no exception last Thursday morning. Mr. Fantastic took the day off to see both kids off to school which is yet another thing I LOVE about this man. Little P started a new school as well, but we will talk about that tomorrow! So he was there to help mop up the ridiculous trail of tears that led back into the house!

And at 11:20 on the dot I was pacing the end of that drive way like it was my job. I was more than ready to know that my baby was fine, to hear all about his day. And last but certainly not least, to know that the bus ride although exciting for him, and nerve racking for me, went fine. You see, he has never ridden in a car with anyone that would not sacrifice them self to save him in a heart beat. I do not know this bus driver and I was fairly certain that sel sacrifice was not part of his job description.

However he did arrive home, safe and sound, declaring that this was the best day of his whole life, all four years of it!

Tickets to Hell, I have mine, do you have yours?

2007-09-09T17:13:00.000-07:00

As some of you may or may not know, Mr. Fantastic has spent nearly the entire last year working on, writing for, and publishing a anthology called Jesus Hates Zombies. It also the amazing work of 16 artists on 17 stories. It's been a serious labor of love for him and I couldn't be more proud... So if you want to check it out, click here for the official site.

The cost of this huge, 138 page bound graphic novel is $17.00. plus $2.00 in shipping, and we will ship it anywhere for that one low price. Pre-orders are being taken here.

Thanks for checking it out. I have tons and tons of posts to catch up on. Including Boots first day at pre-k and that first bus ride. Thanks for reading!

Pancakes for Us

2007-09-04T06:59:00.000-07:00

I am on a bit of a food quest as of late. I am bored. Bored, bored, bored. I think you get the point. So I have decided that we will start branching out to other cultures. As some of you know I LOVE Nigella Lawson. Not only is she incredibly talented, she is incredibly real. A quality that I am highly in favor of. So when she said that she could make pancakes that tasted like cheesecake, I decided those must be worth trying. And they were!

First you get all of your stuff together.
You make the strawberries and set them aside, I forgot to take pictures of that part!

So then you make the main part of the batter, and yes that is cottage cheese you see in the batter.
Then you get out your three egg whites
And whip the hell out of them, but not to the point of meringue, more like a light foam.
Then you fold the egg whites into the batter.
Then on to the griddle they go. I used a 1/4 cup measure. The Mickey Mouse ears are optional.
Then you smoother them in the strawberry sauce (recipe below!)
End result is happy kids, who ate cottage cheese and eggs with no added oil and no butter or syrup. Every little bit helps!

Cheesecakelets

Recipe courtesy Nigella Lawson

Serving suggestion:
2 cups strawberries, chopped into quarters
1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 to 1 teaspoon sugar

3 eggs, yolks and whites separated
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon best-quality vanilla extract
1 cup cottage cheese
1/3 cup all-purpose flour

Put the strawberries into a bowl and sprinkle with balsamic vinegar and sugar. Stir before covering with plastic wrap and leaving to steep while you make the cheesecakelets.

Mix the egg yolks with the sugar, beating well. Add the vanilla, cottage cheese, and flour. Then, in another bowl, whisk the whites until frothy with a hand whisk and fold into the cottage cheese mixture.

Heat a smooth griddle or nonstick skillet and dollop the batter onto it make cakelets of about 3 to 4 inches in diameter. Each cheesecakelet will take a minute or so to firm up underneath, then you should flip it and cook the other side, and remove to a warmed plate when ready.

Turn the strawberries in the ruby syrup they've made and squish some pieces with a fork at the same time. Serve with the hot cheesecakelets.

Apparently It's Not So Bad

2007-08-30T16:58:00.000-07:00

Little P looked at me this afternoon after receiving this amazing gift from Gee and Trampa,
and declared that this whole broken ankle thing wasn't all that bad. Yeah, my girl is no dummy!

She has been waiting for the Felicity doll to go with Elizabeth doll that she also received from her grandparents for her birthday. American Girl dolls are an extravagance that is a wonderful thing to wait for. It makes when you do receive something like that all the more special.

She did manage to make it all around Target today on her crutches because she wanted shoes. She is soooo my kid!

I found some insanely good deals lately and thought I would share them. I bought these at Lowe's, for $1.00 each.
They were $12.00 each and they are much larger than they look. In fact they are larger than the fabric bins that go in the storage units and these were seriously cheap!

I also found these baskets, they are soft sided and really, really light weight for $3.00 each at Joann's Fabric on clearance.
They are huge! And they could not be more perfect for the color, size and the price.

Musical Couches

2007-08-29T10:08:00.001-07:00

This is how my poor Little P had spent the last few days, different couches, different colored pens, the same damn position!

She has actually adjusted to it fairly well. At this point we are just hoping that by the time school starts, which for us, is a week from tomorrow, that she will be able to stand putting weight on it to be able to use the walking boot instead of her crutches. Let's hope!

I did have time to run to the fabric store for a little sanity. I may not have found sanity neatly packaged, but I did find these:
Aren't they beautiful? I have no idea what I am going to make with them, but I knew when I saw them that they were coming home with me.

Boots is seriously concerned about his sister. In fact, he won't leaver her side. If she is in the family room, he's in the family room. If she has made her way to the living room, he is there waiting for her. He isn't bugging her to play, he seems to be very content building up a troop of transformers off in his own little corner.
He just doesn't seem to want to be away from her. I have to say I find this incredibly comforting.

Broken Little P

2007-08-28T05:08:00.000-07:00

Some times things just don't go according to plan. We have spent the last few weeks getting Boots and Little P ready for the start of the school year.

New sneakers - Check
New Clothes- Check
Every school supply that a 3rd Grader could ever need- Check
A new broken ankle- Check!

Wait... what? Who put that last one in there, oh yeah, Fate.

Yesterday Little P had a friend over from a sleep over the night before and they were playing in the house. Now, anyone that has spent any amount of time in this house recently had heard me warn both of my children to stop jumping down the last few stairs. I have no idea why, but apparently they simply cannot step down those last few steps. I was in the middle of one of those warnings when Little P threw caution to the wind and jumped, there was a disgusting crack and then my tan Little P turned as white as a ghost, and then came the scream. Now anyone who has never heard the scream I am talking about, count yourself so lucky. I personally think there is nothing worse.

So after an afternoon at the pediatric orthopedic she has two fractures in her ankle and a new set of crutches! Thankful they gave us the option of a casting boot verses a traditional cast.
She would have had to be re casted several times, due to swelling and wear. This way, its the same for stabilizing the break and when she can bear weight on it she will be able to walk in the boot.

You just never know what life has planned.

Linen is Beautiful

2007-08-26T16:06:00.000-07:00

I was recently at a garage sale looking for one of these:
And not finding it. However it had this huge table piled high with embroidered linens. There were quite a few that were in bad shape, but I found this set of twelve dinner napkins with the most gorgeous rose embroidered in the corner of each, in perfect condition.
I couldn't resist getting them. And for $2.00 for twelve why would I? Now I just need to throw a dinner party so I can use them!

I also stumbled across these beautiful linen hankies.
They are trimmed with the most delicate lace, and there in the corner is a perfect E. My best friend is having baby girl in a few more weeks and her name is going to start with an E. I have a few things in mind to make with them. it will just take some brain storming.

I do have to add that when I see things like this at garage sales or at estate sales for next to nothing it tugs a bit at my heart. Someone took great care in hand stitching those. There was a lot of love and time spent on them and to see them on a table marked at a insanely low price with no one left to love them and keep them tucked away safe and ready for her next dinner party is a little sad. For now they are washed and pressed and tucked away in my linen closet for some special occasion, the start of new memories for us!

New Space for Boots

2007-08-24T19:49:00.001-07:00

It has been forever since I last posted. I have been really busy. For one thing we redid Boots room. Now I know it's ridiculous that it has taken us this long to do something fun for the boy. We are both fairly creative people, Mr. Fantastic is a graphic designer for Pete's sake! And yet that did not prevent the poor boy from living in a white box for the last four years!
We decided to replace the windows in his room about a month ago, and with that change the motivation to actually decorate started to flow. We decided to go with a simple geometric design that he would grow with. And that leaf I bought from Ikea was going to fit into that scheme if it killed me!
The shades were a nightmare to make, but I LOVE the end result! And the room is still missing a few finishing touches that should be done with in the next week or two when I have thirty seconds to sit down and sew! I will be making a triple sized denim bean bag chair with velvet piping and head and foot board covers, also in denim. With little boys is there any better of a fabric than denim? It actually looks better the more you beat it up!

He as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle tv that has speakers on the sides, I was determined to be able to close it away when it was not in use. So I found a heavy duty draw slide kit and made his armoire a little entertainment center.

He loves it! Thank god, because I spent a fair amount of time while I was painting trying to convince him that no, he did not need a dinosaur, jimmy neutron, transformers room. I was praying that when we were done he would be able to rest easy in a room that was made with him in mind.

That having been said I have a habit of checking on my kids, sometimes several times a night. I don't sleep well anyhow so as long as I am up, I check in on them, at some point in between me looking in he woke up and turned on his light. So in seeing this I went into turn it off and this is what I found...
Apparently his is quite comfortable in his new digs.

Ikea, how I love thee!

2007-07-19T13:59:00.000-07:00

While we were on vacation, I had the fantastic opportunity to go with my amazing sister in law to Ikea. We do have them here in NY but that would be New York City, not upstate NY and the closest one to me would be in Canada.

So we shipped the older kids off to the grandparents house to play and we took my nephew and my oldest niece with us for some shopping and a bite to eat. I was told that if you are going to go to Ikea you need to have the Swedish meatballs. And who am I to argue!

So off to Ikea we went. I love the way they market the store, everything is set up in "rooms" and you can see all of the things that are normally huddled together in sterile packaging out at work in the possible perfect environment for you. I do have to say that I would enjoy shopping ALOT more if more stores were set up this way. And for those of us with the impossible can't make up your mind for shit hang up, this helps!

I didn't really consider much in the way of furniture while we were there, mainly because I had to fly home and how the hell was I suppose to get a new dresser on the plane? The kids section was so much fun! This began my new plan for Boots room, it was born out of this:

And then we had lunch, and as promised these were absolutely the best Swedish meatballs I have ever had! And then on to more shopping, all with out leaving the building... Genius.

Anyhow I managed to keep my glee under control until we got to the kitchen section, then all hell broke loose! Every corner I turned revealed something else that I needed. The dishes and the glassware, were amazing, again, I can't tell you how disappointed I was that I had to fly home. I found this:
for measuring and had to have it, so I put it in the suitcase on the way home and prayed and as you can see, it did indeed make it home safe and sound. I am now kicking myself for not doing that with the vintage star light martini set that I saw!

Life is Unpredictable

2007-07-17T08:41:00.000-07:00

Okay, so life has been insane here, kids are out of school, new jobs are being taken, trips were thoroughly enjoyed, loved in fact. Lots of cookies have been baked, and the cooler temps have been enjoyed right down to that 50 degree mark at night. I guess I needed the break. But I have lots and lots to write about so stick around if you want still want to read...
The sand at the beach was amazing!

Is it gonna end soon?

2007-05-18T12:25:00.000-07:00

Well, my excuse for not updating is surprisingly not blamed on my inability to figure out how to do everything that I have to do in my life and still have two seconds to rub together to for the things I want to get done. No, not this time. This time it is sick children, knock down drag out make you want to cry for them kind of sick. First it was Little P, she came down with a stomach bug earlier on in the week, it lasted for way too long and the poor little thing was so fed up. I don't blame her one bit. We thought as we had a day of rest in between that Boots by some grace must have skated past this one. No such luck. So here he is eating a Popsicle, being a unbelievably well behaved little boy considering the night he went through.
Yes, he is wearing mittens, how else do you eat a Popsicle when your a little too chilly from having a fever?

Last week, Little P went to the eye doctors. She was very nervous that she might need glasses. I was almost 100% sure that she was going to get them even before we went. Being as nervous about it as she was, I kept that piece of information to myself. The eye doctor told her that indeed she would need them and that if she was lucky, the problem would correct it's self in a number of years. She was a bit on edge about how they would look on her. When we went yesterday to pick them up, she could hardly stand the wait. I have to tell you that they are absolutely perfect for her, they are the perfect shape and size for her little face.
And best of all, she loves them, yup, she L-O-V-E-S them. Whew, thank god for that!

Shiny things make me happy!!!!

2007-05-09T12:04:00.000-07:00

Today I bought this...
Not to impressive, but why, are you asking yourself, would she be excited about cleaner? Well for two reasons actually, it satisfies the super obsessive cleaning part of me to purchase any product who's sole reason for existence is to aid me in the whole one woman cleaning show I run here. And the second reason is this:
We decided after many, many, many, well just too many years with a grill that has been on it's last leg for just that long, that we were indeed ready for a little more style, ease and beauty. I saw this a while ago and thought that we should have it, the very image seemed to plant it's self in my brain until the need to own was far to great for me to resist. So here it is, and the reason it is in the kitchen is because that is where we put it together, and it doesn't have a cover yet, and I am sooooooo NOT putting this gorgeous shiny piece of stainless steel out on the deck with out something between it and the group of birds that seems to live a few houses over!!!

One Tough Cookie

2007-05-08T05:41:00.000-07:00

Some times life is much like a cookie, it might be all sweet and fulfilling but then it starts to crumble and leaves a big ol' mess all over your floor....

I have to figure out how to use the time that I actually do have more efficiently. I recently started a new job. I LOVE this job. It allows me to still be with my kids and not miss a moment there. It happens to be the perfect job for the time being. I just have to get better at the whole juggling act. I am finding that the whole "free time" idea is a load of crap for me at least. But between working, the kids, the calender, Mr. Fantastics calender, preschool running, the gym, the house, the laundry, (the list goes on and on) I was finding that I didn't have two seconds to think.

Notice that I did manage to find some time to type to you today, so I must be getting better at it somehow! Hope you are all managing your own craziness better than me!

Back for More

2007-04-25T05:57:00.000-07:00

It's been forever since I have updated, so if there is anyone still reading this is a little of what we have been up to.

We got this fort from Cranium.
The kids LOVE it! Boots can easily construct all sorts of cool things all by himself. The pieces are magnetic and very user friendly, so hours of enjoyment would not be a trite saying here!

I found a whole new obsession in Nigella Lawson books! In particular this book:
In which, she has a recipe for Emergency Rice Pudding, which we tried,
It was worth every calorie laden spoonful! And I didn't even curse her name as I was on the elliptical for that hour straight!

We celebrated this beautiful woman's 85th birthday! She is amazing, and lovely and I cannot begin to tell you what she means so me!
We learned how to make homemade marshmallows, from Ina Garten, better known as the Barefoot Contessa.
They were perfect pillows of marshmallowy goodness, and I am going to have to say I am going to have a hard time buying those bags full of rubbery stuff at the grocery store now that I know what they can taste like fresh! And Boots pretty much made these all by himself. It was that easy.

We played catch and rode scooters with our cousins...
Boots found out the joys of bubble beards!
And last but certainly not least we received mail from Hong Kong!
Since some of the Scooby Doo gang figures that Boots plays with all of the time have become casualties to the puppies, an arm here, a part of a foot there, we went on a hunt to find new ones. This was much harder than you would think. There are ALOT of figures out there but not the ones we needed. We finally found them on E-bay. And they arrived safe and sound from Hong Kong having cleared customs. The gang is back together again, and Boots couldn't be happier!

Just how old are you?

2007-04-05T15:29:00.000-07:00

So today I felt older than dirt. Let me explain. I was driving Little P and Boots home from a quick run to the post office when we got into a conversation about computers. I was explaining that when I was her age computers were still a bit to big and expensive for normal home use, and now you can use your cell phone to surf the net. She cocked her head to the side and said "Were there TV's when you were a kid?" I stammered a bit and then realized that at 8 years old she must not have a real concept as to how long things have been around. So I explained that of course they were, they were widely owned by the 1950's. Not thinking that I needed to point out that in fact, I am not older than dirt and was born in 1976. She quickly smiled and said, "Oh, does that mean that you had cars then too?"

Until that point I had been feeling relatively good about my new appearance, and I was carded 5 times this past weekend visiting a casino. I mistakenly took that to mean that I appeared around or perhaps younger than 21. I am now thinking that it simply meant I looked shady!!!

However, while I was at the casino I spotted these,
Chocolate Dipped Peeps. Knowing my kids were going to love them I bought them some. Is there a bigger sugar rush than a sugary marshmallow peep covered in more sugar and topped off when chocolate? It's got to be better than espresso!

Anyhow, because the kids will be on Spring Break next week, I felt that the preschool teachers could use a little pick me up. They work hard, and it seems that their class grows more every other day so Boots and I packed up these to take to them.
He had so much fun picking out the bunny pens and the chocolate bunnies for inside. They were tucked full of goodies that they would be able to enjoy. They are really great ladies so I am more than happy to give them little gifts now and then.

What? You mean it's not here yet?

2007-04-04T15:28:00.000-07:00

Thank you so much for all of your lovely comments about my bunnies! I have had a ball making them. Sometimes it takes a project that you really enjoy to catapult you back into the creative masses! On that note here is the little boy bunny that I made for my nephew, Little Man:
To go along of course with Magoo's precious pink bunny.
I sent them off priority today to CA, last minute anyone???

It just so happens that today was the arrival of Gee and Trampa's Easter baskets to the kids, along with gifts from Aunt K and the fam. Among the landslide of goodies this lovely, sparkling tiara was a gift from Aunt K.
Little P could not be happier if she tried. She promptly removed her head band, placed the tiara on her head and declared that she will wear it from now on. She should, it suits her!

Boots, whom we have a hard time convincing to get out of his pj's every day recieved these:
How stink'in cute are these!!!! He also got a superman puzzle that I could not get a picture of, because he whisked it off to his room immediately to put it together. That boy loves him some puzzles!

They also got Happy Feet from the grandparents, they are out of their mind excited. Boots was a penguin for Halloween because of this movie!

Our kids don't get candy very often. They don't ask for it, so we don't give it. I am not opposed to it, it's just not something that we have in our house. But Boots is a bit of a chocoholic. He LOVES chocolate, and it's fine with him not to have it, but if it is offered to him the boy is not going to turn it down. See for your self:
I was going to say, "Don't you wish chocolate could make you this happy?", but the truth is, it does. I haven't had any in a long time, that doesn't mean that I don't crave it like mad!!! All that means is that I have better things to do with my time than be on the treadmill.

Bunnies on the Brain

2007-03-29T11:32:00.000-07:00

I think by now you know that when I set my mind to doing something, I will not quit until I get what I want. Now this can be bad in some cases. But not in this case, I simply couldn't resist making these little bitty bunnies. I even had a hard time stopping blanket stitching during Lost, I tried to stick to the commercial breaks, but it simply wasn't enough time!
The parts were T-I-N-Y... not that I expected anything different.
The embrodery was fun. I haven't done much of that so this was a good tiny scale to do it on. Mistakes are not so visible when they are that little!
I just realized that this last pic looked really sadistic, I assure you I did not behead the Easter Bunny's baby.

See, here she is safe and sound AND whole. And bonus, she has a tail. Come on, what little baby bunny doesn't have one of those?
It turned out to be the perfect mini size for my Magoo's Big Footed Bunny.
Who, by the way finally has a face! (The bunny, not my Magoo! )
As Mr. Fantastic pointed out yesterday I must have bunnies on the brain. I was showing him a few treasures that I happened upon while I was at the fabric store the other day and I showed him this:
It was on clearance for a less than a buck. I mean, look at him, how stinkin' cute his he??? And for a dollar? I wasn't going to say no. And for the record I am not a huge fan of kit stuff. Not in general, but for myself, I don't like the limitations. However I do look to see what there is out there, you never know where you might find an idea. And there are an awful lot of insanely creative people that make those kits, so browse I will, idea steal I will (and give credit where credit is due of course), and buy for a dollar, you bet I will!

Mmmmm Pie, kind of ...

2007-03-26T19:26:00.000-07:00

I started down the bunny trail today in an attempt to make the super cute Big Footed Bunny.
Everything was going smooth until I ran into The Big Foot. We had a few go rounds and in the end I won. It was a struggle, but this little bunny, although she has no face yet, does in fact have two, count em' folks, two feet.
I just love the tail! The dress was easy as pie to put together and will get further embellishments tomorrow. This sweetie little bunny is for my amazingly talented niece whom we call Magoo. Magoo loves little things, and so does Little P. So when I saw this:
In a book that I stumbled across I knew I would be making the little blanket wrapped babies for these bunnies to have as dolls. (click on the pic to see it bigger) Can you stand it???

I did manage to make a pie today, Lemon Meringue to be exact.
I have been craving this something fierce. But with all of that time at the gym, I am not about to undo it by eating pie. So I opted for a low fat, low sugar version. Pipe down with the gasps, and whispers of blasphemy. I know, I know, I know. I commited pie sin, but can you blame me? I can't be expected to really give up pie... But I am not doing another hour of cardio on top of the time that I am already there! I just want to have my pie and eat it to, and I haven't tried it yet, who knows how it will actually taste.

What else did I do today you ask? Let's see, um....OH YEAH, I picked up this ginormous mess like twelve times!!!
Do you even under stand how may dinosaurs are suppose to be IN the bucket??? It's a good thing Boots is ultra cute or he would have been headed for the dungeon today for sure.

What could they be?

2007-03-24T15:20:00.000-07:00

Just what do you think I could be making with these?
Or these?
Or what about these?
Bunnies, bunnies and more bunnies, Big Footed ones to be exact!!! Thanks to Hillary over at WeeWonderfuls being her insanely creative self, and cranking out that pattern! I can't wait to sink my hands into this fantastic baby flannel. Perfect for such things that will be loved and hugged and be carted around don't cha know? Just in time for you-know-who to come hop, hop, hoppin down the bunny trail!

Mail for me!

2007-03-23T15:21:00.000-07:00

This sooooo deserves another post all it's own!!! I finally get back home after running every where within twenty square miles and I go out to get the mail. I half heartedly open the box expecting the usual crap, crap and bills and I find package for me. When I saw the return post I let out a little squeal! What a fantastic unexpected surprise! Look at the plethora of goodies Jennifer, over at The Felt Mouse sent me!!!

First there are these cutie pie little food picks, I LOVE these!
The Monkey is my favorite.
When she posted about these picks I declared that I MUST find some all my own.
Well I never did, and somehow members of the blog friends network know all because they were wrapped in tissue waiting for me to open them!

She also sent these fantastic flat head pins, and with all of this sewing that I have been churning out I can guarantee they will not sit around gathering dust!
The cutest little strawberry print candy cups. I think these scream to be filled with a glorious chocolate truffle...
These are so sweet they make my teeth hurt!

Jennifer, you are fantastic and I just adore you! Thank you so much for making my day that much brighter!

Cotton Candy Like Me

2007-03-23T10:37:00.000-07:00

See I told you I would get it done!
I made some time this morning after playing pirates with Boots of course to sit down and hand sew. There is a huge difference in hand and machine and I am not just talking look or control. I get so much more gratification with hand sewing something. Well, that pretty much only holds true if it turns out like I want it to. But you have so much more control over detail and there is something to be said for holding a hand stitched item in your hand. I have a few things that my mom made that are entirely by hand. They are wrapped in tissue paper and stuck away. Partly because I want to care for them properly to make sure they don't have any unnecessary wear. And partly because it still stings to see them.

And there is more big news here... we have Ladybugs!
They hatched a few days ago. When they were first hatched they were a pale butter yellow and as the hours wore on they darkened into their signature berry red. The kids have been loving watching them. We are just waiting for a day to be warm enough to release them. From what I understand if you release them in the yard in the morning they will be likely to stay there for the duration of their life. If they will keep the Aphids from killing my trees this summer I would be more than thrilled to release them what ever time they want!

And by the way, yesterday I had one of those moments when I had some idea that I might be doing something right. After finishing up the dolls and handing them over to the kids, Little P who had been waiting rather patiently for hers to be done, held hers up to her face and inhaled deeply, I giggled a little and said, " What on earth are you doing?". She turned to me and said, "She smells like you, like cotton candy, and that makes me love her even more." God, I love that kid.

Finally Finished

2007-03-22T16:08:00.000-07:00

I have been so busy with what I am doing that I haven't had time to write about it! So I finally finished the kids Make a Long Story dolls.
Little P wanted her doll to have a bun, so here it is, and I gotta say I think I really dig the way it came out!
Boot's Boy has a backpack,
He really wanted it to have some Scooby Doo somewhere, so I found this fabric for the lining.
I cut out the acorn backpack for Little P's doll
I will get to it when I have three seconds to all strung together to actually sit and do some more!

I did have time to teach myself to make fried dough!
This may seem simple to many of you, but for me this was a huge feet! For two main reasons, 1) I don't eat or make fried foods, I didn't even really know how to fry something.... 2) Until very recently I didn't know what fried dough was. I had never had it, it wasn't something I was planning on trying, but it smelled good, and so I thought, "Why not?". Since Mr. Fantastic hasn't been feeling his best lately, I thought he might like this beloved favorite of his, and I guess I did alright, no one dropped dead and they all had a serious sugar high for a while!

Happy St. Paddy's Day

2007-03-17T08:57:00.000-07:00

Looks like our regional Leprechaun representative, Shamus O'Mally made his annual visit last night. This time he not only left a note, but he also felt that the children were well behaved enough receive some of his hard earned gold. It's magic gold don't cha know... it turns to chocolate.... and some special shamrocks, straight from somewhere over the rainbow. Gotta love Shamus...
After one gold coin each, they were ready for breakfast, and on the menu happened to be Shamrock French toast with green sugar sprinkles. I only got a before, they ate them too fast to get an after...
I personally think that Shamus felt more at home with finding our home grown shamrocks upon arriving. I will talk more about these tomorrow!
Shamus was a dear and also left something for us this year. A new cut glass shamrock wreath.... Looks like he knows my taste.
And you might notice from the last pic, somewhere from beyond the land of the Leprechauns someone thought to bring back the sn0w. Not such a thoughtful move on their part...

Hope your St. Paddy's Day is as colorful as ours!

Good Luck for a Buck

2007-03-14T18:08:00.001-07:00

I spotted these cute little St. Patrick's Day Grow Kits at Target in the dollar bin. I tossed two in my basket and thought, " Who couldn't use a little more good luck for a buck?"
The kids have planted,
And watered these tiny little pots o' green with such care. And they have been rewarded for their efforts with tiny little green sprouts.
I gotta say I am kind of shocked, I never thought they would grow....

We could use a bit of good luck in the next week or so. I have always been one to go out there and get what I needed instead of waiting for it to come to me. Who knew luck was something I could actually get my hands on, and for a buck... that's good luck already!

Give the Boy a Book

2007-03-13T07:30:00.000-07:00

We love books at this house. We have bookshelves upon bookshelves filled with them, every topic, every size, every level. We have college text books right along with basics shapes and numbers. I think you get my point that we heavily support the fundamentals of reading in this house. Not only do we support it, we actually practice it, a lot. We both have stacks of books on our bedside tables, at times so high they threaten to topple over. Our children seem to have taken on the same love of books.

Little P is in second grade. They have a certain level that the school system determines that they should be reading at by the end of the second grade year, she is well past that level already and is constantly asking to go the library. At that request I promptly take them both. I want them to love reading like we do. I want them to be able to get lost in a really good book. I want them to read and love reading forever. There is something about the poetry of words that can bring out emotions like nothing else. I love that our children love that. Boots is just now finding his way with books. He has always been read to, from the time that he was born. And he has always loved it. Most recently his favorite story teller is his sister. He will sit quietly listening to her make up a story, running around the room finding props and changing her voice for different characters. I think that a love for reading also nurtures a creativity that can sometimes get lost. The hours of pretend play that used to be, are now some times replaced with hours of video games and television for this nations children.

I am not saying that my children don't watch tv or that they don't play video games. They do, they enjoy them. But more often than not they are playing some kind of make believe reenactment of a story or a book that they read recently. Oh sure, I still get the "I'm bored, there is nothing to do...." whine every once in a while. But not as much as some parents hear it. They seem to be able to make their own fun.

So when our children express a love for a certain kind of book we try to find one or two, or six that fills that need. Boots loves pop up books. But here is the criteria, they have to have a story. And they have to do something other than just pop up when you turn the page. He likes when there are pull tabs to pull and wheels to turn and paper flaps to flip up, so when I saw this book I knew it was for him.
It also fit him perfectly because the kid likes scary stuff.
He doesn't find it scary, he finds it interesting and cool. Am I a little concerned that he draws zombies over bunnies and one of his favorite movies is the first Jurassic Park? Do I think we are nurturing a little Rob Zombie? Not really, and if we are, at least he will be creative....

N.S.E.C.T

2007-03-13T07:09:00.000-07:00

Boots got some seriously cool stuff for his birthday. These are one of the coolest. They are Nsect, saw them before Christmas and decided that he would like to ask Santa for one. Well Santa couldn't find one then.

Low and behold I was walking through a store about three weeks ago and on the top shelf with no apparent organization were three of these lovely creatures. I just happened to glance up at the right time and they caught my eye. I managed to get one down and saw the price tag, $125.00, in turning it over to look at the back I noticed another tag, a clearance tag. They were marked at $10.00. I did a double take. Yep, it said $10.00, I bought two.... We figured that the kids would play with them together, and we were right. They shoot nerf like darts, they can pick up things with these scary looking pincher's in the front, they are a surprising amount of fun. What we didn't bank on was that they would join forces and team up against us! I should have bought that third one, who knew I would need reinforcements!

Cupcakes

2007-03-13T06:36:00.000-07:00

I have a serious love for cupcakes. I happen to think that they are the perfect dessert. I am not a big fan of the jumbo cupcakes. The smaller the better. They are meant to be bite sized. So for Boots party I made these.
They are white cake with cherry whipped cream filling and marshmallow frosting topped of course with a cherry. These were SWEET! I don't know if it's because I haven't had anything like this in a LONG time, or it was just that sweet. But they are almost all gone and I made a ton so they couldn't have been to difficult to choke down.

For the past few years Boots has wanted these for his birthday...
They are frog cupcakes from Wegmans. There are a few places here that make them and only around his birthday are the available. Oh alright, they are available around St. Patrick's Day. But I like to think of them as being special for Boots! Anyhow, he loves them and it looks seriously cruel when you load them up with candles...
And I have to admit the eating process of this particular cupcake seems a little barbaric.....
But gross or not, this did not stop the boy from devouring it!

Bus or Birthday ?

2007-03-13T06:16:00.001-07:00

Boots had his party at school this past Thursday. There are 12 children in his class and it is difficult for them to get time to eat a snack along with the other activites that they plan for the small amount of time that they are there. So Boots decided that he wanted to give his friends gift bags. We took a trip to the party store and picked out all sorts of wonderful stuff to fill the bags with. Pencils, bouncy balls, bubbles, a snack pack of animal crackers, erasers, a balloon,oh yeah... and a whistle. Those parents are going to love me!

These are what they looked like all ready to go....
I tried to get him to pick a little birthday tag, but he insisted on the bus. And who am I to argue with the birthday boy?
On a side note they were originally hanging out on the dining room table for the night, until I heard a rustle of paper and a bang. I got out of bed, it was around 12:30 and Merry, our 5 pound kitten had taken one the bags and was running down the steps with it. Now I think the bag was bigger than she was, so it was all sorts of awkward for her to run away with. She was trying not to trip on it and falling down every other step because of it... I got the bag back completely unharmed but decided to put them in the back of the car for safe keeping.

We have Pupa....

2007-03-13T05:44:00.000-07:00

The lady bugs are in the second stage of development, we waited and waited and waited for it and now we get to wait some more.
This stage is only a few days and then they emerge as Ladybugs. They normally eat Aphids, but since I didn't happen to have any of those lying around the recommended food for Ladybugs whom are held captive is raisins. How raisins and a nasty green bug that eats your trees are the same I will never know, but that is what we have ready for the big awakening.

Guess who got a New Bike?

2007-03-13T05:41:00.000-07:00

Boots is the proudest bike owner around. The California grandparents sent the coolest Spiderman bike ever! He is still getting the hang of it in the kitchen until it gets warm enough to venture outside with it. And if it keeps up with these temps,( in the low 60's today) that will be soon!

Birthdays Galore!

2007-03-02T05:33:00.000-08:00

Things are a little on the crazy side here, so I haven't had much of a chance to update. March is one of those months for this family. Boots birthday is right in the beginning, followed exactly a week later by Mr.Fantastics. In between there is our nieces birthday, and this is big one, she is turning 13! Then after Mr. Fantastics is Gee's birthday. Then we have to get ready for Every One's Irish Day! I have a little project in the works for that too, but it is at the bottom of a very large pile of stuff I should have gotten to yesterday. On a side note this is the second year I have attempted to make time for this project for St. Patrick's Day, so don't hold your breath!
Mr. Fantastic is turning 30. So naturally he was a little spoiled by the presents he received. He DID NOT want a party and made that very clear. And in doing so he upped the value of his gift considerably! We generally go big or go home for each other's birthdays. We don't do Christmas presents for each other or Valentines day or any other holiday for that matter. And we celebrate our anniversary quietly and with the kids so we kind of figure it is the one time a year that we really get to go all out for each other. And personally I think that birthday's are a really big deal.

My mom always made a huge deal out of our birthdays. We do the same thing for our kids. Make no mistake that does not mean that we buy them a three ring circus or that we spend an obscene amount of money on another toy. It means that we truly celebrate their births. We talk about when they were born and what makes them so special. We spend some time looking over pictures of them as babies and how they have grown. They always want to know some special story about when they were young or when they were born. They get to have what ever they want for dinner, no matter how insane I think it is. We always spend that day together. I hope I am always able to do so. I am so honored and in love with the idea that they are ours. That we created and are raising these beautiful children. That makes Mr. Fantastic that much more special to me. He gets more excited about the kids birthdays than the kids themselves do!

So he has been talking about wanting a XBOX 360 for a while. So that is exactly what his parents got him. It is the kind of thing that he would never buy for himself. So the kids and I got all sorts of stuff for it. Like an extra wireless controller, and a wireless router, so he can play on line, a game, a fan for the system and a skin for the system, which by the way is insanely cool, see?
So, if it's not yet Boots birthday, and Mr. Fantastics birthday is a week later then, am I completely ruining a surprise by talking about it? No, the little brat's parents sent the gift already and he opened it, WITH their blessings. He didn't even have to wait until his birthday. Pushovers!!! So we wrapped up our gifts and surrendered those as well so that he would have the whole package. Now he doesn't have much to open on his actual birthday. But I still have a surprise tucked away. He's not gonna sweet talk me into giving it up early, no way. I am not falling for that bull. See, I can be tough!

Ladybugs for Boots

2007-02-27T06:00:00.000-08:00

Boots loves bugs as I may have mentioned. So he was out of his mind excited when he opened this yesterday.

We have had butterflies from the same company, Insect Lore, and it was such a wonderful experience that Aunt K thought that Boots might like to see the life cycle of a Ladybug. Aunt K and her family thoughtfully sent Boots the whole Ladybug experience for his approaching birthday.

The Lady Bug Dome, complete with live Ladybug larva.
The Ladybug book, so we know what is happening and what it means.
And last but certainly not least, the life cycle recreation models, other wise known as bug toys!
He must have laid on that floor for two hours yesterday, peering at them through the little magnifying top. Aunt K your the best!

Bug Books

2007-02-26T06:58:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday of this past week we watched Boots and Little P's cousin. It worked out perfectly, the kids were getting restless with each other, and having a cousin here to play is always guaranteed fun.

He has a reputation in the family of being able to get into a lot of trouble, quickly... Now this is not to say that anyone thinks he is not the best little man around, they do, and the fact that he is so stinkin' cute helps ease the fears quite a bit. However, I have watched this child many a time and never once had to lock my doors to prevent him from escaping, or had him scale any of the gates in my house in a Superman like single bound. So I personally think that he is a ANGEL!!!!! And no one will ever tell me differently!

Look at this face, how could he be anything but perfect!
Boots has a new obsession. These books.
We owned an older version of the Alphabet Bugs book. It had lived a long, hard life and was missing a few key parts of the alphabet by the time it caught Boots eye. Once I saw that this was not a passing fad and he wanted nothing more than to read this book, every night with half of it missing, I went to go buy it. There was nothing sadder than hearing him say "Well when we get the new one I will see what ___ looks like', about what ever part of the book was missing!

Well no bookstore in town actually carried it, I could order it, but then it would take at least 10 days to get it. Which by the way, was better than Amazon, with a minimum of 14 days. So I placed the order and on our way out Boots spotted the Easter Bugs book. He loves the pop up part. I mean LOVES it!!!! So with that in his hot little hand he was more than happy to wait the 10 days until we could pick up the other one.

This is finale the of the book, this giant Easter Basket filled with bugs! Too cute!
With Boots turning 4 next Saturday I was thrilled to be able to add a few more of these books by David A. Carter, to his birthday presents. How cute are these?

Bed Bugs, Birthday Bugs, Bugs In Space.... there is a huge list, check them out at Amazon.

Evander and I

2007-02-25T14:01:00.000-08:00

Have you ever had one of those days when you knew from the minute your feet hit the floor that you should just not bother getting out of bed. I hardly ever experience that dread, but I did yesterday. And apparently for good reason. I got up with the intention of a little solo road trip to tend to some family business and remembered that the leather tire zippy thing that goes over your tire on the back of your car was off from when we had to change the tire a little while back. Being as neurotic as I am I set it in my mind that the cover was going back on the tire before I left. I mentioned this to Mr. Fantastic, who told me, with no defined reason as to why, it is not going to fit. So out in to the garage I went. After some serious refusal to move I decided that perhaps a pair of pliers would help convince the stubborn zipper to hurry things up a bit. After all I had a minimum of two and a half hours ahead of me to even get to my destination. So I grabbed a pair of pliers that were circa 1970, complete with rust and no sissy rubber grippy things for the handles. Did I mention that they weighed about 8 pounds? All of this should have been a clue to put them down and walk away. But I am determined, and when I set my mind to something, hell or high water I am going to get just that. After one final adjustment I gripped that zipper with the ridiculously large pair of pliers and gave it a yank that would have freed the sword from the stone. Instead of some magical moment of it all working, the zipper top broke, the pliers flew back and nailed me above the eye and I pinched some funky nerve on my back. What a freakin' wreck.

I do realize defeat when I see it. I was starring it in the face. I walked back into the kitchen, and was washing my hands when Mr. Fantastic points out that I am bleeding. I quietly turned to him as he was starring at the blood trailing down my face and said, "If you value your life at all, the words I told you so better never come out of that mouth, so help me god." With that threat I walked to the bathroom to see what I had done to my face.

It never didn't get much better. All day was kind one problem after another, not exactly stellar, but I suppose they can't all be. I iced the cut over my eye and I only looked like Evander Holyfield for a little while. And I made myself to the gym today thinking that if I worked out, perhaps it could loosen what ever I had done to my back. I talked with my trainer a little and she advised me on a few more stretches than I normally do and tada I feel much better. This had better not be an indication as to what my week is going to go like!

Sweet Treats

2007-02-20T11:16:00.000-08:00

You know how the other day I told you that I hate to spend money on vacuums? Well, this is why. The one we bought less than two weeks ago just died. No reason, no warning, just died. I was so mad I could scream. We waited a long time to buy one that we thought would hold up. So when we did purchase one we didn't go cheap. So after I spent the entire morning with the vacuum completely taken apart and all over my kitchen floor with no luck of finding the reason for the very abrupt death, AND spending over 45 minutes on the phone with the makers of this machine, I had had enough. I put it back together, threw the kids and the repackaged vacuum in the car and took it back. I then proceeded to drive to every store I could think of to find a suitable replacement. I mean lets be honest here folks, I have two children, three dogs, and two cats I cannot go with out a vacuum for more than a day. So along the way I found these treasures:
Two, yep I said two shirts for me. That has to be some kind of record. I NEVER buy things for me, and if and when the rare occassion does occur it certainly isn't more than one thing. But I loved these and they fit into my jeans and tee shirts life perfectly, so now they're mine!

We found Boots some Spiderman finger paint... Can't wait to see what a wreck this is going to be.
And Little P some gel pens, check out the concentration...
And lastly I read this article in the local paper about a small bakery is in our town. It's Jackson's Bakery in Greece, they have been on Stone road for 60 years. I didn't even know we had a bakery this close. So told the kids as we were running all over the place that if they were really well behaved and didn't give me anymore of a headache than I already had we would take a little trip to see this old town favorite and perhaps pick out a special treat for after lunch.

It was everything a little small town bakery should be. The smell when you opened the door was a cross between instant comfort and insane hunger. There was case after case filled with cupcakes and cookies, pecan bars, cakes of every size and filling, danishes, and breads and rolls, cannoli I could go on and on. Everything was selected and placed in perfect little white bakery boxed and tied with string.
The lady who helped us has been working there forever and was the sweetest woman I think I have ever met. She told me that the cupcakes we picked out, she made this morning herself.
More assurance that they will be worth the extra 30 minutes I am going to have to be on the treadmill!

Mr. Fantastic, being a good Italian boy loves him some cannoli's, so these are for him.
Little P immediately set her heart upon a cream puff that was sprinkled so delicately with powdered sugar that it looked like lace.
Now I have more sewing to do, I have dolls to finish and back packs to make, and sleeping bags to put zippers in... Oh and I still have to drive to the gym after we put the kids to bed tonight... I need more hours in the day!

The Stuffed Undead

2007-02-19T11:24:00.000-08:00

I haven't had much time to sew lately, and truthfully I have missed it. So this weekend I surfed on over to Wee Wonderfuls and bought myself the Make-A-Long Story downloads, and they came with a bonus pattern each. Gotta love that! I have pined after them for a while now, and I decided that I no longer wanted them, I NEEDED them. Hillary, you are so talented, I need to sing your praises. Not only was it fun, it was easy and it was just the kick I needed to feed my creative monster, thank you so much!

After a quick trip to Jo-Anns, my arms full fun patterned flat quarters, I was ready to sew, sew, sew. And sew I did! I figured that since I would be making three assembly line process was the best way to go. I was all set to stretch everything out across my desk when Pippin put a little kink in my plans. I mean honestly who could move this????
Needless to say once I did get started it was hard to stop. I had to force myself to go to bed! But not before I fully completed one. It just happened to be a Zombie, for you know who.... this was before I finished stitching the skull on the shirt.
Here he is, all finished, ready to haunt someones dreams.
Cweeeeepy as Boots said. On to the ones for the actual kids! I will post pics when they are finished. The kids are both off from school this week, so free time is seriously limited, but we have a few things planned to keep every body happy and out of trouble, and hopefully a few minutes here and there to stuff and stitch! Stay tuned!

Valentine's Day Part 2

2007-02-19T11:17:00.000-08:00

Since the kids didn't have school on Valentine's Day, they both celebrated with their classmates on Thursday. They both dressed for the occasion.
I am not sure she could love this skirt any more. She would live in it if I would let her!
Boots made us the cutest card,
Here it is with his blurry thumb print! Tell me that is not super cute!

Confession

2007-02-15T06:00:00.001-08:00

I suppose I should fess up. I have been keeping a little secret from you. I have been on a little mission of sorts. I decided a few months back that I was done being voluptuous. Some call it fat, I called it voluptuous. I gained weight with each pregnancy and of course with each year. And before I knew it I didn't recognize myself.

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't near a dangerous number, or ready for a Jenny Craig commercial but I wasn't the tiny body that I used to be. So I felt that I was in the right place to make this decision to get into much better shape. I was comfortable with how I looked, but I wasn't thrilled. And this was not about how much I weigh. That is just a number. What it is about, is how I feel. And I was starting to not feel so great. So before the holiday's I had some objectives to loose some of the initial weight by drinking lots and lots of water, walking and watching what I eat. I didn't give myself a time limit. I have become comfortable with the fact that it took a long time to put that weight on, it is not going to come off over night. I was really diligent with that, and it worked. I lost 35 pounds. Some times I feel as if I am surrounded by people that have never had to worry about extra weight in their entire lives. I think that is why I haven't mentioned it until now. Any one that has been on this mission knows how hard it is, if you haven't, you just don't know. It's that simple.

I had decided that once I reached a milestone with that, I would join a gym. I would consult a trainer and would get into a routine. Routines work for me, I have them in every other aspect of my life. So it will work for me with this. I am pretty hard on my resolve. Once I decide something I am not turning back until I have in the palm of my hand what it is that I am after. So I am there at the mercy of a trainer for at least an hour a day, every day, Monday thru Friday, with classes on the weekend. I DO NOT back down, I DO NOT give up. It goes against the very grain that is my core. I think that this is one of the only times in my life that my pride will help me.

When I was young, I made some very poor health choices. I know this. I admit this. I am not proud of this. But that is why now, after all of these years I am ready to tackle this safely and slowly. I don't have unrealistic expectations. But I do have high ones. So, if I am not blogging as much it is because I am literally working my ass off! I read so much about you all, I feel as if I know you, and your struggles. Some are not that far off from my own. So if you are in the same boat your not alone, and good luck to you!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2007-02-14T13:13:00.000-08:00

We started out our Valentine's Day with a foot of snow!
Mr. Fantastic was less than loving the snow about the second round of snow blowing!
When I was little we always got a little surprise waiting on the table before breakfast on Valentine's Day. I am not talking big presents here, just a little something special. So we carry that on with our children. They spotted these puppies at Wegmans weeks ago.
I bought them and tucked them away waiting to stuff them into their super cute stripped bags.
We were greeted with squeals of delight as soon as they woke up and ran to the table. These puppies, Peppermint and Vanilla Chip were at their sides all day. ( By the way, could these be any more my children, they named their dogs after food! Flavorings in fact... I don't know if I should be proud, but I am! )

As you may have guessed, school was closed due to the insane amount of snow and super cold temps, so we decided to bake for fun. We made Valentine's Day cupcakes,
And I love the smell of baking bread so we also made Porterhouse Rolls, they were delicious....
To top it all off, Little P and Boots received a special chocolate filled surprise from Gee and Trampa...
Hope your day was great too!

Little Devils, gotta Love em'

2007-02-12T05:39:00.000-08:00

Little P has so many cute tops with hearts and flowers and lace to choose from for Valentine's Day I couldn't even begin to count the possibilities. Boots on the other hand, loves V-Day, but there isn't really boy attire out there that I would buy. So I look a page from Mary's Book on how to dress your little dude for special occasions and snagged her idea, ya gotta scroll down to the V-day shirt... (hope you don't mind Mary!!!).
It was quick and easy and will work great for his class on Thursday when they do their card exchange and party. Throw a long sleeve tee on under it and we are all set to go.

I do have to say that I am tempted to make one for my nephew, my oldest brothers son. Simply because it fits his personality so well. He is cute as all get out, but he's got this insane streak in him. I love it! We were at my middle brother's house this weekend for a really, really late holiday get together, and I watched that adorable little boy stand inches away from my middle brothers bull dog, and scream his name in his face, over and over and over. He is so my brothers kid.... In fact my youngest brother was standing next to me at the time and said, Gee, is there any doubt to who his father is? Needless to say there is a reason for that statement. My oldest brother is a bit on the high strung side. And not to mention that his son is a mini me is I ever saw one. So it's crazy to look at this little person and see my brother so clearly... In the last minute sweep of the house before we left I forgot the camera. So no pics... But it was fun, actually it was a LOT of fun. Like the kind of day that your sides and face hurt on the ride home because you laughed so hard.

Spring Fever or Wishful Thinking...

2007-02-08T06:29:00.000-08:00

I have been on a bit of a clutter free kick lately. If I was like that all of the time, then there would be no need for the insanity that happens when I suddenly feel the need to throw everything in sight away. Thank goodness I do have some internal ability to stop myself. To some degree anyhow. Boots room was the object of choice yesterday. I have been thinking for some time now that he doesn't have enough fee space in his room to play.

We as a family embrace the fact that we have young children, and that with these lovely little people comes a plethora of stuff. Our house will never be picture perfect. We have toys in almost every room some how. We have tried to make our home as organized as one can with two little ones running around. We have a beautiful armoire in the living room. People remark on it when they see it, that it looks rustic and like it belongs. What they don't know is if they open it, they would be greeted with a sea of plastic tubs containing every possible action figure ever made, and very carefully perched pile of games and puzzles, endless marbles and magnetics, the list goes on and on. My point is we make no attempt in trying to hide the fact that children live here. We just try to make it less of a headache to put things away.

Boots has a closet in his room that he does not use. We have lived in this house for four years and that closet has hardly been used for much of anything. It has sliding doors which make me nervous. I see pinched fingers every time I look at them. We decided that we would see what could be done with closet organizers. We also needed to remove some furniture, so the dresser seems a likely candidate. By putting all of his clothes in the closet and using the rest of the drawers in his armoire, it should free up the space we were looking for. I love that dresser, it was my great grandmothers, but have no fear, it will be going into Little P's room. Her dresser is huge and it's beautiful. But as soon as it gets humid, forget it, what ever you put in those drawers you better not need until fall. The wood swells and the drawers are not coming open for anything. We learned that lesson the hard way this past summer...

So here is the closet now,
I am still figuring out if I want to make a gauze curtain like thing with tab tops and dinosaurs stitched on it. I have some time to make that decision. We won't be painting until after the new windows are in, so we can decide then if it needs something. One thing is for sure, I will not be putting those doors back up.....

While I was tearing down the closet rod and yanking out nails, boots was busy coloring with this:
Aunt Jenn got them these for Christmas. Gotta love color wonder!!!

Crap , crap and more crap

2007-02-06T06:51:00.000-08:00

Well everything is just going to shit over at our house. First the vacuum dies, which I have to say was kind of a blessing. I hate to spend money on vacuums but I am kind of a neat freak, as much of one as I can be with two kids and three dogs! And the old one was far past it's prime. So we bought a new one, bag-less this time and I have to say I love it. I was definitely grossed out the first couple of times I vacuumed the house though. I just kept going until I was only taking out a reasonable amount of crap out of the canister. Well reasonable by my standards anyhow!

Then the tv decided to start to giving up as well. We were just not thinking about getting a new tv right now, so taking that hit sucked, however, I will say in spite of myself, it is GORGEOUS!!!!!!
So we make this major decision to not only buy a much better tv than we had, but a stand as well. And this is what my kids are thrilled about...
the box. It figures...

And when it rains it pours so, to add to the crap that is falling apart list; windows. We need to replace the windows in Boot's room. It's freezing in there in the winter, and ridiculously hot in the summer, the bad news is the window guy came last night and they are a custom size so they will take between 6 to eight weeks to get in. The good news is once they are in, they can be installed in one day. After signing that contract last night and handing over that check I wanted to hide the rest of our bank account.... For fear of the next thing to break!!!

It is too much, let me sum up!

2007-02-01T16:27:00.000-08:00

Today was one of those days. The kind that you have to drag yourself out of bed and inhale that first cup of coffee, oh okay, the first TWO cups of coffee. Then your tolerance is low and your stress level is high. I had about enough when I finally got back home this afternoon after picking Boots up from class. I went out to get the mail and look what the lovely and talented Felt Mouse sent!!!!!!
Love it!
It was stuffed full of lovely treasures! It was definitely the pick me up that I needed today!
I will have to hide the bell,
from a certain someone, I am not naming names here, but she has recently found herself in a boat load of trouble every time I turn around.
I know that she looks innocent, but do not be fooled. Beneath the fluffy fur and the adorable purr beats the heart of a small recking ball.

In more good news, Little P has finally kicked the cough that has been keeping her and I am sure her cat up for the last week! The antibiotics with the steroid chaser worked and there is no need for her to have breathing treatments. Thank goodness for small favors that she has managed to not come across another cold!

Love is in the Mail

2007-01-28T16:10:00.000-08:00

I may have mentioned that I never did get around to Christmas cards, oh well! We thought that a Valentine's Day card would kind of fill in for this year. I found these pre-made cards a while back and thought that if I stuffed them with a little note and a cute picture all would be forgiven. So I stamped up a storm,
And went through this ridiculous afternoon of taking pictures for this project. That didn't go as well as I had hoped. In my head I saw visions of well behaved children, puppies that sat regardless of where they were placed, perfect lighting. Well that all went to hell in about 5 seconds, so plan B was to just keep taking pictures and hope for the best!
These are a little hard to see in the picture, and they are my favorites so here they are a little closer!
I can't believe that I didn't take a picture of the whole thing put together... oh well. I guess at that point I was happy to have them finished and off my desk.

Taking it in Stride

2007-01-23T07:52:00.000-08:00

Things have been a little hectic to say the least. So if you feel neglected, I am soooo sorry! I am anxious for things to slow down, and to warm up damn it, when I got up this morning it was 10, that's right... I said freakin' 10!!!!! Now I know I live in New York and that shouldn't surprise me, however the weather has been so amazingly mild that I wasn't quite ready for the drop!

So after I got Little P on the bus for her super exciting day of snow shoeing and a dinner theatre of High School Musical for lunch, ( so technically that doesn't make it dinner theatre now does it?) I settled down to do some puzzles with the boy. He loves him some puzzles.

I am shocked he did not choose the Spiderman fighting with Venom one, these were a nice change of pace!

He also got The Happy Feet Game for Christmas, so we hauled it out today for a test run. It came with these super cute little eggs with feet, love them!
It was fun, I have to admit. I think that most of the joy for me came from hearing him make up his own songs. He is too funny! He is also learning about being a good sport, this is more difficult than it sounds. He has this insane competitive streak in him. So from the time that he was little we have always coached him to cheer on other players and to tell everyone good job and to take a loss in stride. Well today I saw that this was pretty much all for nothing, as he was nearing the finish line and I was still stuck back at the Zoo, he turned to me and said, " You'd better move it mom, or your gonna be toast, and not the buttery kind! "
He loves , and I mean loves to win, and that is what he did. I guess I should be thankful that he didn't spike the penguin and do his victory dance.

Antibiotics and Coco

2007-01-16T07:17:00.000-08:00

My poor Little P is still sick as a dog. As it turns out, she has severe bronchial pneumonia., Sounds like fun right? She has been really patient waiting to get better, and yesterday she had finally had enough. After six solid days of having a fever and feeling sick she was DONE! I don't blame her one bit. But now with three doses of antibiotics in her, maybe we can turn a corner soon, or in the very least stop the constant fever hike. She is getting damn sick of Motrin. She did eat last night for the first time in days, so I will take what ever improvement there is!

So with her being sick and with the constant stream of laundry and wiping down every thing I can find with Clorox, I forgot to tell you... Coco is here! We picked her up at the hospital on Sat. She has adjusted very well and is an absolute princess. I have never seen a dog so happy to hear her name. And the stairs are not posing a problem, which is a relief.

Here she is in all of her three legged glory!
Because of the spay she does have to wear a cone when she sleeps, so she will be space puppy for a few more days. Can you stand it?
And last but certainly not least, I give you Boots the Tattooed Boy! He is so damn proud of this tattoo it's not funny!!! What can I say? Like father, like son.

Poor Little P

2007-01-12T09:49:00.000-08:00

Little P has been sick for a few days now, so my time consists of administering medication, disinfecting everything I can find and trying to get her to eat. If you have ever met Little P, convincing her to eat has never been a problem. We have joked from the time that she was very little that she would grow up to either be a food critic or a chef. This girl loves everything about food. But short of some orange slices and a tiny piece of potato this morning, she is not interested in anything that I try to sell to the girl. Not even her favorite combo or meatballs or in this case turkey balls... and pasta. Different pasta, different sauces, this girl loves them all. She is normally a huge fan of Swedish Meatballs, so after a quick little trip to the store, whola.....
Not one bite passed the lips of my sick little sweetie. Poor Little P, let's hope this passes quickly, so she can be back to her kitten chasing, super drawing, non-couch ridin', school lovin' self.

Taste Test Approved

2007-01-10T06:57:00.000-08:00

Since my family is big on eggs, any way they can get them, when I saw this dish I knew it was for them. Not to mention the fact that I have been dying to find several uses for these type of dishes, so I could justify owning them. In case you can't tell, it's three eggs baked with a little cream and butter and loaded with herbs and parm cheese on the top... Yummmmm!

I used Boots and Little P as testers this morning to see if they would like it. Apparently it's a keeper. I did try some and it was warm and delicious with lots of flavor and the toast was killer.
Hope you have such a nice start to your day as well...

Independence

2007-01-09T12:10:00.000-08:00

Today Boots had his first day of Pre-K classes. It's like a private program that is a stepping stone for the 1/2 day, every day Pre-K in our school district which he will be attending in the fall. He had a blast. He got to be the special helper for the day, so that was extra special for him. I expected very little fuss when I was going to leave him and I got even less. He kissed me good bye and said " Okay, I will see you soon Mom, go do your thing..." I couldn't even argue. No tears, no second thoughts, well at least for him. But what I do in the privacy of my own damn car is my own damn emotional business.

Could he look any happier? Did I mention this is on the way to class?
No Fear... at all. I am so proud!

The Craziness Continues

2007-01-08T08:36:00.000-08:00

Hi there! How was your weekend? Ours was busy as always. Jenn and I went to this insane garage sale at the Monroe County fairgrounds early Saturday morning which, incidentally, was right next door to the gun show. Apparently you can haul all of the crap that you acquired at the garage sale over to the Gun Show with no issues, but you cannot first purchase a fire arm and use it to help sway the vendors to the price you want over at the garage sale, I know it seems unfair, but them's the rules.

We didn't find much, but we had a great time catching up, sipping our coffee and listening to people haggle over a dollar item. I have been on a bit of a milk glass hunt as of late, and I found this pitcher...
When we left we stopped at Christmas Tree Shops on the way home. If you have never been you have no idea what you are missing. This place is huge and well organized and contrary to the name, not even remotely filled with Christmas crap! We spent forever walking up and down every isle, entertaining the hell out of each other. We both managed to leave before we were broke. I found this for a dollar
It's so cute, and I try to buy one new decoration per holiday, per year. So what I do buy is worth it.

Christmas cards just didn't happen this year, and my plans to send out New Years cards kind of fell through too. So I have a new plan, it will involve both children and three dogs... And will use these...
On Sunday we had a bit of a puppy party, meet Coco:
She will be coming here to stay very shortly. The woman who is currently fostering her also brought over her Japanese Chin, Yoshi.
The foster is a lovely lady, whom we invited for dinner and play time. I made a Clementine Pie, with a shortbread and coconut crust, I have to say this surprised me, it turned out to be the right combo of crunchy and smooth.
Coco has been over to play a few times and is right at home. So yup. The crazy house is about to get crazier!

Is there anything more manly than bubbles?

2007-01-03T05:01:00.000-08:00

A while ago Boots spotted this in the store and since he loves baths and Superman we bought it.
Doesn't he look Supermanly? Bursting out of his chains by pure muscle power...

Wait...What's this? In this testosterone soaked packaging does that say Berry Scented?
Apparently he fights for Truth, Justice and the Berry Way...

I'm French and Native American, what the Hell do I know about Bricole?

2006-12-31T08:26:00.000-08:00

When I married a nice Italian boy, I knew the day would come when I had to learn one of the family recipes. The kind that are passed down from generation to generation. The kind that are talked about with such relish, and passion you have to remind yourself that they are talking about food. These recipes never touch paper, you just learn by what you see. There is no real system for measuring other than, a pinch of this or a dash of that. These are the kind of thing that take you back to a certain place and a certain time in a heart beat. These are also the type of thing that vendettas are built on. So you kind of take a risk when accepting to learn this art.

Mr. Fantastics Aunt, whom I love lives with Grandmama, whom I also love. These are some strong, no nonsense women who are so full of life and love they are about bursting at the seams. It is a extreme pleasure to spend time with them. And very shortly they will be moving much, much closer, so we are all thrilled at the idea of more time together. But I digress, back to the recipe, Mr. Fantastics Aunt made Bricole pronounced (bra-shole). Mr. Fantastic had one bite and practically begged me to learn how to make it. He asks so little, who am I to refuse a man his rolled steak. So I made the call, I wrote it down, relax, to destroy later of course. Then I shopped, I don't eat red meat so this was interesting.... And one tiny question sparked the attention and stories of about twenty people behind the meat counter which compelled them to tell me about their grandmothers recipe and how each one is different. So one short trip to the store, became a hour long story telling session, but just like any other Italian tradition, the food always follows. Out came the coffee and cookies, and some how two glasses of milk materialized in the hands of my children whom were sitting patiently, listening to the stories. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon...

Finally I headed home with my bags full of ingredients and my head full of advice and I managed not to totally screw it up.... See?
I made a turkey one too, not bad....
By the way there is a perfectly good reason why I haven't been posting as much, and here she is:

Pippin is NEEDY!!!! Every time I sit down to write to you all, she insists of having some of my attention. Honestly, who could refuse this???

2006-12-29T07:38:00.000-08:00

I took a little break due to the holiday, it was nice but I missed you, so I am back. And this happens to be my 100th post. So I am going to tell you a few things about myself...

I love the color Grey.

I read really fast, therefore I read A LOT.

I always have my toenails painted. I distinctly remember being in the moderately early stages of unstoppable labor with Little P, sitting on the steps painting my toenails...

I always wear a Indian Head Dime either around my neck or on my ankle.

I am a creative person at heart, if I don't feed that part of me, I feel numb.

I have saved every drawing or piece of artwork that Little P has ever done.

I am running out of room for all of the boxes that hold that precious artwork!

I like the fact that once I make up my mind- It's not going to change.

I am not so in love with the fact that I have a hard time making up my mind. Anyone that has ever been out to dinner with me, knows this fact all too well.

I have eaten a lot of Cotton Candy in my life, and I still love it!

Not too long ago, one of my oldest friends and I had a falling out- it kills me every day.

I am mending ties with my own two BFG's, little by little.

I wear glasses to read, Mr. Fantastic loves them.

I have a thing for the rain.

I actually like driving.

One of my favorite movies is Fight Club.

I really loved my first car, it was a silver Volkswagen Gulf, with a moon roof. Loved this car!

I have a decent thresh hold for pain, so if I am reaching for the Advil, I need it.

I don't sleep much.

Not sleeping much, allows me to get a ton done!!!!

So that is enough about me for now, to all of my blog buddies, tell me your weird traits... I promise I won't judge.

What do you mean, I only have ONE week left?

2006-12-18T09:42:00.000-08:00

I am seriously running out of time. I finally decided on a ornament and here he is....
It's pretty simple, clean lines, not a ton of painting and most importantly still homemade, I mean that still counts for something right?????

Here are the ornaments I made two years ago for everyone, all of the cousins got one, I started cross stitching in September.

This one was for Little P ...
This one was for Boots....
And this is one of a set of ornaments that Mr. Fantastic received last year, so a new addition to our tree this year...
Little P went with her class to see Charlotte's Web this morning, she was so excited.
They have been reading the book at school and she had read it before, it is one of her favorite stories. So when they announced that the whole class was picked to go to a special screening, she couldn't have been happier! Boot didn't seem to want to see it, I asked a few times if he wanted to go to, and got a flat no. I can't wait to hear if she had a great time. I have a ton of baking to do and I still have sewing to finish so I wish you all more time or at least hope that you are doing better with your time than I am...

Oh and one last thing, knowing that I don't have much in the way of attachment to material things I do have to say this, there are certain things that just make my heart flutter.

This is one of those things:
It has my name and a Christmas date stitched on the back. It was made by my mom. When I left home and found my own place, she gave me a box of ornaments. One for every year of my life, all hand made, all by her. Every year when I put it on my tree, it makes my heart flutter, just for a moment. I do the same thing for my kids, every year. There is something about the time and energy and love that goes into something like that. I will do the same as long as I am able, my hope is that my children's trees are overflowing with memories, and they get that same joy of getting them out every year.

Some times when the pinch of the season is here, and I realize I have bitten off more than I can chew, I often mutter the words, why do I do this to myself? When I haven't slept for days and the 11th hour is looming over me and I am certain that I cannot stand in one more line, and see one more rude holiday shopper, I remember that box, and the hours she stayed up so late stitching and painting and beading and how much I love getting them out every year, and how much I cherish each and every one of them. It's kind of silly really, how an old box full of ornaments, can bring me back to what is really important.

Kitchen Trees

2006-12-11T09:02:00.000-08:00

This year we bought a insanely huge 12 foot Christmas tree for the living room, it is lovely. We decorated it on Sunday with the kids, that is an interesting experience. We kind of reserved the whole weekend for decorating and getting ready for this amazingly fast approaching holiday. I have had it in my brain that I would like a secondary Christmas tree in the kitchen of a while now.

We are fortunate enough to have a ton of space and very, very high ceilings. So last year I bought these ornaments in the hopes of using them this year.
I fell in love with them immediately. As I have mentioned before I am definitely a country girl at heart. Not in the paint everything that awful blue, load my walls up with shelves and fill them with knick knacks and stencil until I can't see straight kind of way, but in that rustic old log cabin kitchen filled with gingham and hammered tin kind of way. And our house is very modern in feel and design, so it normally doesn't fit with that scheme. I am not a frilly girl, so when I have the opportunity to have it feel even warmer with out adding a ton of shit I take it.

So here is the tree in the kitchen. Yes that is a frog on the top. Little P wanted it there, so there it stays.
I bought these angels a number of years ago,
I have just been waiting for the perfect setting to use them in, this year is their year, I am sure of it. More decorations to come!

Hooper the Red Nosed Reindeer

2006-12-10T07:04:00.000-08:00

Hooper was not nearly as amused as we were... He could care less about holiday cheer!

Fraggles Make Everyone Happy

2006-12-07T04:48:00.000-08:00

I bought this shirt a while back. It was cute and fun and who the hell from my generation doesn't know who the Fraggles were? So I was wearing it yesterday when Mr. Fantastic says, Oh yeah, we have the first season on DVD of that.
When that happened, I don't know. But it was a fun little surprise for Little P and Boots, whom had read the books and seen and old VHS tape with a few odd episodes on it. They sat mesmerized for the better part of an hour and a half. Jim Henson, yet again, keeps them entertained, there is nothing violent or wildly inappropriate that I need to keep a sharp ear out for, I remember spending every Sunday night watching The Muppets with my brother. I distinctly remember laying on the floor in the den with a bowl of popcorn and some apple cider, watching Kermit sing the blues about how hard it is to be green. There isn't really anything like that on now, not to the level that The Muppets were, every week, high quality and on normal TV. For those kids out there that grew up like me with three maybe four channels. Entertaining for kids and for parents, gotta love that!

Update

2006-12-04T11:28:00.000-08:00

Okay, so it is going to be a very busy two weeks. On Friday my youngest brother called me with the news that he was engaged and getting married, "When?" I asked, "In two weeks," he answered. It is obvious that they are not fans of long engagements. I will be traveling back home this weekend with Mr. Fantastic to see the family, and see my youngest brothers new house. Then I will be making the trip back out on the 16th for the blessed event sans Mr. Fantastic. He has to work, so I will be attending the festivities solo.

Unlike the last wedding disaster when I was struck with the overwhelming urge to make my own dress, I have a killer dress, appropriate, but killer. I think every woman should own one of those, a dress you feel great in, and look even better in, that travels and wears well, and you have to have at least one pair of amazing shoes to go with it. All of that covered, I am more than ready to attend the event.

My in-laws will be in shortly after the wedding and that definitely reminds me that Christmas is a mere 21 days away! And I am seriously behind. However this is what I am currently working on...
Little P received and American Girl Doll for her birthday and now she is terribly interested in dressing this doll. However with the outfits going for a minimum of $30.00 a piece, she isn't going to have a over flowing closet anytime soon. However I came across these patterns on sale for 99 cents each and I am in the middle of making items for Elizabeth to wear. Mostly out of my scrap material bag. They are so tiny they don't really require a lot of material or time. So she should have a large box of clothing by the time that Christmas arrives.

I have also narrowed down my choices for ornaments. As soon as I make a decision and make a trial one I will take pics so you can see to. I will take into account the advice that it should have glitter....I am a huge fan of snowflakes and white on white ornaments, maybe some iridescent looks too. We will be getting a tree soon, and it will be a big one. We have incredibly high ceilings in the great room, and so when I haul out the ornaments to decorate I will gather up the ornament projects from the past years and give you a little peek.

Awareness

2006-11-30T07:20:00.000-08:00

There are certain moments in life when you realize just how much time has passed. And they are scary. Sometimes I would rather walk around in ignorant bliss, not realizing the years that have slipped by me. I guess for a number of reasons,I suppose one of which is making me realize how old I have gotten! Sometimes when you stop to reflect on how many years has passed you realize just how much you missed. Or how much people have changed, both good and bad. There is a great deal that I have missed in the last 10 or 11 years. I wish I hadn't. But the reality of it is, I did. I guess I feel that time has a way of making things seem different than they were.

Eight years ago today, I called to wish my mom a happy birthday. We had just gotten home from the hospital with Little P, who was a whopping 5 pounds at that point. I remember the day being unusually warm for the end of November in New York, at least 65. It was sunny, and gorgeous. We talked for a few minutes, I remember feeling odd, that this was the first birthday that I had not been with her in my whole life. As we were saying good bye, she stopped me in mid sentence, and very quietly asked me what my name was.

My mom would have been 55 today. Brain Tumors are a under researched medical problem. When she was diagnosed, she was given a 5% chance of survival. We were able to have 14 months together, and I am unbelievably thankful for every moment. The research is not supported enough, and there is such little known about the origin and rate of growth of specific types of brain tumors, due to the inability for exploratory surgery because of the locations of the tumors in so many patients.

Duke has The Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center . They strive for a cure, actively researching every moment. If you have ever had this effect your life, you will understand the frustrations that follow the diagnosis. There is a lot of uncertainty where traditional cancer treatments are not effective or quick working enough. The rate that brain tumors can grow is staggering. The doctors at Duke reviewed my mom's case, they were supportive and personal. I would support them to continue their research so more people have a bigger and better fighting chance. My mom was a fighter, right up to that last breath. She would want more people to be better educated about this. Early warning signs are easily overlooked in so many cases or even misdiagnosed, click here are some examples. Take a moment to read, be educated, be aware, be around to celebrate as many birthdays as you can.

Little P's Birthday

2006-11-29T07:11:00.000-08:00

Little P's birthday was wonderful. She is the most appreciative little girl I have ever seen! She was so excited for what she got, and never once did we hear "but I asked for..." She was all thank you's and smiles! She was ridiculously happy over the cupcakes, not my finest, so you will not be seeing them here! I still reserve the right to censor, and apparently pink kitty cupcakes are not in my repertoire of things I do well....
This is the robe that I was making for her.
She has been wearing the same one I made for her a number of years ago a lot lately. A subtle plea for a new one? Who knows, but it worked, so now she has a new one to keep her cozy for a few winters to come.

She is in love with American Girl Dolls, this is Elizabeth:
A gift from her California livin' grandparents. She started talking about wanting a American Girl doll a while ago, and as chance would have it, one of the last trips that brought the grandrents home, they brought her these:
Furthering her want for a doll of her own. So I went on-line and ordered a catalog that she could brows through, and that she did. She would lay on the floor in her room and pour over the pages armed with a pink marker, agonizing over what to circle, it was almost painful to watch. But alas, she decided on one, and low and behold it was in her hot little hands on her birthday, I am not sure I have ever seen her smile like that.

She also got these, both the dog and the cat for her doll.
Her super cool Aunt K and family got her the Bratz styling head, she loves Chloe, so this was huge! And it comes with makeup and nail polish... oh man the messes you could make are endless!
Dinner went really well, as promised she got lobster, thank goodness for Sam's Club!
Her other request was twice baked potatoes, before:
After:
I think those were influenced heavily by her dad.. very sneaky... She went to bed a very happy pumpkin, declaring this the best birthday yet!

Flowers for Little P

2006-11-27T12:54:00.000-08:00

Boots is feeling like junk, so he has taken lots of baths lately.
Steam does wonders for little ones. He was having the best time with the bubbles. And I have a feeling that he didn't need as many baths as he was taking, it was just so much fun how could he say no?

Little P has begun to receive her gifts for her birthday tomorrow. The ones that come in the mail we usually let her open them when they come. So a few days ago she got these:

Illustory, considering how much the girl loves to write and draw, this was perfect! You get to write a story, draw all of the illustrations and then you send it in to this company, and they send you back your very own, hardcover book. Pretty sweet!
And this game, I have never heard of it, but kind of being a country girl myself, pigs kind of sound like fun....
And today when she got home from school she was greated by these:
Her first ever delivery of flowers. They were from my Aunt and her family, whom Little P just adores!

I have to finish up with her present, which I will be hand sewing on tonight. Thank goodness it's pretty much done. Talk about last minute....

Sweet or Creepy?

2006-11-26T05:35:00.000-08:00

So I made this apple pie for Thanksgiving. When I was making the face before I put it in the oven I thought it would be cute. When it came out of the oven all hot and bubbling, the look turned , " I will come alive when you sleep and kill you, " creepy.... Not exactly the look I was going for!

Tomorrow

2006-11-24T06:22:00.000-08:00

I figured out long ago that time is not a guarantee. I cannot say," Oh, I can do that tomorrow," and feel okay about it. It hangs over my head like a lead balloon, because do we really know for each and every one of us that tomorrow will come?

Don't get me wrong I do say that about doing the dishes when Boots tugs at the bottom of my shirt and says Momma, come nuggle with me in my cuzzie chair.... You bet, those dishes can wait. Or when Little P wants to read to me and I am cleaning. Once again the dust will definitely be there tomorrow but her urge to read me The Littles, may not. Or when I am folding laundry and Mr. Fantastic appears in the door way with a movie in one hand and popcorn in the other, do I tell him, Not now, I am folding towels? No, I shut the dryer, off the light and enjoy the time.

If life has taught me anything it is that taking time for granted is dangerous.

If it's important, do it.

If you really feel the need to say something, say it, don't wait, you may not get that chance again.

Be impulsive, it can be lots of fun, it can also be the most honest you have ever been.

Be true to yourself, how ever you can. Even if it's just a little bit every day.

It's sad to say, but I feel sometimes people go through the motions of living. They do what they do because it's socially acceptable, or expected, or worst of all, easy. But in that they can obliterate who they actually are. At times I also fall victim to this, at times it is unavoidable. But I refuse to live my life that way.

I am have been blessed firsthand with the knowledge that life can change forever in a single moment, sometimes in a simple word. So I try to live everyday to the fullest, I love every moment with my family, I am thankful for friends, both new and old. I am thankful that I get insane feelings, that overwhelm me to the point of not breathing, because that means I am alive enough to feel them. I am thankful that who I love, I love deeply, so far beyond the words. I am thankful that sometimes I have the guts to act on what I feel, purely, that is rare. I am thankful for unexpected phone calls. Is there anything more fantastic than hearing a person's voice that you care about. There is something deliciously soothing about certain voices. I am thankful for more time, every day I get is one more to enjoy. And I will take as many as I can get.

Name Change

2006-11-20T18:22:00.000-08:00

After a trip to the vet today, we find ourselves with a little name change in order for the little ladies of the house.

Formally Lewis, now Pippin.
Clark now happily answers to Merry.
Sorry ladies for the mix up!
They may be making a little trip into Little P's school for a day before Thanksgiving treat! I will have to take pics if they do! Speaking of Thanksgiving, we will be with family this year and I have been asked to make dessert. So I will be making an apple pie and this:
Does it seem to blasphemes to not have actual pumpkin pie? I mean this IS pumpkin? The pic is not the best but it's called a Pumpkin Roll with Vanilla Cream and Caramel Glaze. It sounds good, all except the caramel that is, but since I will be sticking to eating real food with no real room for dessert I will put it on there as an extra deterrent for me! What will you be making this year for turkey day?

Could We Get Any Crazier?

2006-11-19T12:07:00.000-08:00

Okay, it's official we are CRAZY! A while back we lost Hopey.
Not like can't find her lost, but lost her to the great tuna can in the sky. I took it a little harder than I thought I would, and said then and there that we would not have another cat in this house. And I meant it. Because we didn't get A cat, we got TWO cats. So there, see it's all about semantics. Usually I am pretty hard on my resolve. If I decide something I have taken a long time to come to that decision and I am not bending on it. This however was a half hearted attempt at protecting everyone from more loss. However, with out loss, you don't have gain, so may I introduce you to...

Lewis
and Clark.......
Who could say no to these faces? Well obviously we didn't. And I have to be thankful for Mr. Fantastic on this one. Turns out he really wanted another cat, and he listened to me when I said no, and waited ever so patiently for the perfect opportunity that even I couldn't turn down. Sneaky little devil. He told me after looking at these two little balls of fur with trouble written all over them, "Well, at least we are crazy together."

We will be in for an interesting holiday seeing as though kittens LOVE ornaments and trees! But that should also make it fun. And that I wouldn't have any other way.

Bread, Glorious Bread

2006-11-16T05:39:00.000-08:00

In the continued effort to drop pounds and not starve, I have become addicted to these.
Father Sam's pitas. I stuff them with pickles and brown spicy mustard, I know, gross right? But I love them! I get the mini wheat ones and Boots is now just as addicted. It's just enough actual bread to curb the craving but at 100 calories each, I fail to see what I can complain about!

Today

2006-11-13T09:32:00.000-08:00

I was away this weekend. I am hardly ever away from my kids or Mr. Fantastic, I was thrilled to roll back into town on Sunday. So Boots and I have spent the whole morning playing, building large cities with hordes of blocks. Gotta make up for lost time ya know!
Little P and I had some time this morning before she went to school and I have a special snack planned for her when she gets off the bus!

A few weeks back Jenn and I went to a Hidden Treasure Sale, it is kind of like a garage sale, it's in empty houses, and technically it's a business that does it, so when you go, you pay tax. It's strange, I know, but you can find some really great stuff, and most of the time you forget all about the tax when they tell you that everything is half off.

I found this
I love milk glass, there is something about it that takes me back to being little. My mom had a lot of it, so did my grandmother. I used to love to see the table for Easter, looking so clean filled with milk glass bowls and dishes. I always keep my eye out for it. I pictured this filled with daffodils, my mothers favorite flowers in the spring... Can't wait.

Countdown....

2006-11-08T06:08:00.000-08:00

My Little P will be 8 in 20 days, she has been on the count down for a while now. I am not sure I have ever seen her this excited for a birthday. She has already decided on her birthday dinner, which is very considerate! Since I will be shopping for and making this dinner it's kind of nice to know a head of time. She wants lobster.... yup my little 8 year old Little P is requesting lobster for her birthday. And since the rules are you get to pick what ever you want to have for your birthday dinner, I will be making just that.....

She would also like a sleep over, with 6 little girls. That we can handle. I am sure it will go better than their previous sleep overs!

I realized a while ago that I hadn't posted a pic of Boots as penguin.... so feast your eyes on this!
Have you ever seen a happier penguin? And he lasted the whole night this year, I think his sister was ready to throw in the towel before he was!

I am still trying to come up with an idea for ornaments this year, every year I make sets of ornaments for the fam. It started out as a necessity gift, when my sister-in-law and her husband were just starting out and really didn't have any ornaments. Now it's just part of tradition. So got any great idea's ? Send them my way!!!!

Complete

2006-11-05T10:31:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year again. Fall, every year makes me want to go home. I usually don't, because I am well aware that what I want, isn't there. But that doesn't stop the desire. The cold in the air brings on the restless nights, the chill to the bone that invades my body, but is not because of the weather. This is the time of year that I think back on my life. I am happy with most of the choices that I have made. I lead a very lovely life, a mostly full life. But there are parts missing, parts that try as I might, I cannot fill in.

I am a person that believes in fate. Everything happens for a reason. Even the crap we don't want to happen and can't explain. Because supposedly in the grand scheme of things what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. I can say I think this is true, I have a will like iron, and my pride will kill me one day, so how true does that actually make that statement? Make no mistake about it, I don't think that being incredibly prideful or super strong willed is anything to brag about. I could do with being a little more passive. I blame some of it on my genetic make up. I am French and Native American. If that isn't an inherently fiery will I don't know what is.

I not good at displaying emotion. Well, I am not good at displaying emotion correctly, how's that? Better? Good. Anyone that even knows me just a little knows that I just shut down when I feel overwhelmed by an emotion. I have fought all my life to not be ruled by them. But feelings are so different from people. I can walk away from people if I want to, and quite often do. Feelings haunt me, they follow me for so long I almost forget the actual event that made the feeling in the first place. But that feeling, it's like scar tissue, it's thick and mean looking, an angry red that fades over time, but never completely goes away. I have mentioned before that I think people in general mishandle trust. I have incredible issues with this, so for my 30th birthday present to myself, I will be creating my own scar tissue, my battle with trust etched into my flesh.

I asked a good friend of ours to draw me a full back tattoo. I gave him a few things that were very important to me, and sent him to be creative. What he came back with is breath taking, and for me, emotionally overwhelming.
It is ready to be redrawn by our tattoo artist friend. It will have longer wings, they will go 3/4 of the way down my back, the detail in these are amazing, I am so in awe.
The trunk to the tree will be thinner and a little more feminine, a little more wispy. But the blocks are broken and crumbling and perfect in every way. I have waited for a long time to find a safe place to put roots down, and here in this life, I have it.
My decision to continue to alter my body is in my own way a way to make myself deal with things I'd rather walk away from. Tattoos for me are sort of a road map of my growth as a person. I believe in permanence, I would never put anything on my body that I didn't feel completely connected to. This is for me, and me alone. There is something about that ink sweeping over your skin, the intensity of it is indescribable. The act it's self requires a great deal of trust, again an experience for me.

Nothing seems to change my desires to return to where I came from, it does however makes me more aware of what it is that I am hoping to find from going there. I miss that part of me, and I never want to forget it. Who I was then is why I am who I am now. Unlike so many people I know, I don't want to forget the past, I want to learn from it. Perhaps if I have a permanent daily reminder of growth and freedom and trust, I will feel differently, more fulfilled.... more complete.

Dear Santa

2006-11-03T07:16:00.000-08:00

Boots has a new obsession, he loves boats and castles and pirates and knights. Well they are kind of the same type of thing sort of. They all carry weapons and have entirely too much chaos surrounding them.

He plays endlessly with this:

He has a bunch of Playmobile pirates and treasure chest and doubloons. Hours of fun.

Yesterday he saw a comercial for this:
He immediately decided that he needed to write to Santa right away and fill him in on his new desire. It was only the second of November.... that leaves me with 53 more days worth of desperate notes to Santa....

Happy Halloween

2006-10-31T07:23:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween!!!! The kids were thrilled to wake up this morning and put on their long awaited wearing of their Halloween clothing...

Here they are:

I found this shirt, it's very fitting for me!
Little P's costume is done! And it was actually a lot of fun to make.
Here is the tail and a close up of the fin...
Here is the top, before the addition of the nude bodysuit top.
We went to get pumpkins last night, I know, talk about the 11th hour! But there hasn't been good weather lately, lots of rain and gross days and yesterday was perfect so we went, talk about slim pickin's.....
Boots managed to find a little pumpkin just perfect for him!
They painted their faces on this year, too cute! Boots wanted his to look just like the cookie jar I bought here.....
Close enough I guess, and Little P loves cats so it was no surprise when hers was a black cat face in honor of the day!

Then we went to Little P's school for her party and parade. Here she is in all of her shimmery glory! As you can see there is a nude colored shirt that the bodice is sewn to, it's warm and it's appropriate for a young lady.
Here's hoping you all have a great Halloween too!

More Hours Needed!

2006-10-27T11:06:00.000-07:00

Hi there! I'm up to my eyeballs in sequins and mermaid tails. I will take pics and write more when I have a two seconds to think.....

For now, here is another pic I took recently
I sent it to Mr. Fantastic at work, hopefully it made his day....

Boots on Trial

2006-10-23T11:20:00.000-07:00

I bought these spiders years ago, and they have managed to survive many Halloweens up to this point. When I came into the kitchen last week and saw this :
I had a few questions in regards to be beheading. I asked the obvious suspects.
Wanna guess who I think is guilty?
I will have to let you all know how the trial goes...

We have added a Light Up Boo lantern garland since I first posted out Halloween pics. Isn't is cute?

Rainy Days and Retail Therapy

2006-10-22T11:44:00.000-07:00

Things have been really nuts around here this weekend. My parents in-law came in from CA on Friday morning for a whirl-wind wedding trip. Mr. Fantastics cousin got married on Sat. The reception was a ball! The bride and groom are some of the most real people you will ever meet, so it was a blast. The in-laws headed back to CA very early this morning, in the cold, wet, rain. So we decided today would be more low key day. We did make a quick run to Target to get a few things we needed and ended up getting more than we intended, but retail therapy is a good thing some days!

I found this for $4.00!
Couldn't pass it up, and see this time I took a pic when I WASN'T wearing it!

I loved this,
It's a cookie jar and it's too cute. It didn't have a scar though, what kind of Frankenstein doesn't have a scar?.... And for me Sharpies are kind of like duck-tape they fix almost anything, I colored in a scar myself, much better!

The kids found these cool magnets, that they both loved....
After leaving target we decided to head to Barnes and Noble to check out a book Mr. Fantastic had been wanting. We found some Halloween books for the kids,the book for Mr. Fantastic and this for me....
I can't wait to try it out, the pics are beautiful and there are a million cupcake recipes, and anyone that knows me at all knows how much I love cupcakes, they are the perfect dessert..... they are... and that is the end of it.

Oh, and Little P went to a birthday party this weekend for her friend Jessica. She had a cooking birthday party, all of the girls were given their own aprons, chefs hat and they had a blast making their own pizza's and decorating brownie hearts. When they left, instead of giving the girls bags of candy and plastic toys that never even last the ride home, each girl was given this:
It is a small oven mitt, with a matching pot holder, a whisk, a set of measuring spoons, a little packet of blank recipe cards one candy necklace, a little thing of bubbles and a small bowl scraper. I thought this was such a great idea, and so much more original than the standard goodie bags. Little P can't wait to whisk up some eggs in the morning!

Silly Putty, Silly Dog

2006-10-18T06:37:00.000-07:00

So last night we are eating dinner and Mr. Fantastic looks down at our pomeranian Brody and makes the weirdest face. Miss Bliss, he said, what has your dog gotten into? Now of course, he is MY dog when he has done something wrong, he is OUR dog when he is the perfect angel that he normally is. See the logic here folks?

So I call him over to me and see that his wonderfully soft and normally beautiful mane is all green and in one large clump. Upon closer inspection we figure out that he ate silly putty. What he hell he saw in silly putty that tasted good is beyond me. However, he must have only actually ingested a tiny bit and the rest was a gooey, sticky mess in his fur. After having a rather stern talk with Boots about silly putty never leaving the kitchen table, we proceeded to try to solve the problem. So after Mr. Fantastic held him in a towel while I used vegetable oil to get it all out he was in desperate need of a bath.

Doesn't he look traumatized???
Good, maybe next he will think twice before eating something that takes the print off of news paper.

On to happier news, while I was on a run to Target yesterday I found this:
It was a mere $10. That's right only $10, I loved it! Little P is the warmest little girl I have ever met in my life, so until it is the dead of winter this is about all she will need. She got new gloves, a scarf and a ear warmer to go with it. And it's pink velvet, I am certain for her, it just doesn't get any better!
She is happier than she looks, ....... honest.

Door Bell Treats

2006-10-17T12:39:00.000-07:00

We received a visit from the Phantom Ghost last night. Poor Boots, he was walking up the stairs to go to bed when the door bell rang. Anyone with dogs or even a dog will tell you that is the trigger for massive barking. So there he was, minding his own little buisness heading for his bedroom when the door bell went and the dogs were barking and running for the door, the poor kid jumped three feet in the air and high tailed it for his room, I happened to be coming out of his room to get the door when he saw me in the hall, I guess he figured that he wasn't going to waste time going around me, so he drove for the floor and at lightening speed crawled through my legs to to the safety of his room promptly slamming the door behind him. By the time I got to the door I was laughing so hard I was crying!

When I opened the door there was no one there, but I found this:
It had a note with it, that said it was a Phantom Ghost spreading the Halloween cheer, and for me to do the same to two other houses that needed some extra fun. After some coaxing, Boots decided to come out and see the surprise on the table. He was so excited at the idea of doing a special Halloween surprise for someone else. I thought for sure he would be stoked at the idea of a big basket full of candy sitting in front of him. Don't get me wrong, he loved every last bite of the chocolate covered marshmallow pumpkin ! But I have to be honest, all of that took a backseat the excitement of doing something fun like this for someone else. I have to say, I am one proud momma. Little P was asleep at this point, long day at school, so she kind of missed out on the initial excitement of it, but she was thrilled when she woke up this morning to a smiling pumpkin face packed with goodies to investigate!

According to the instructions, you have one day to leave your treat for some other wonderful recipients to find, so off to the store we went. We found all of this Halloween Goodness!
Some details of pic are:

Some black Jack-O-Lantern votive holders with tea lights and some cute stickers...
Who doesn't need a new orange back scrubber for Halloween??? Maybe then, they would feel like making cookies!....
I've been waiting all of my life for some Skull straws and Mummy torch light, haven't you?...
Glow in the dark vampire teeth and Spooky M&M's, you never know when you might have to bite someone and then offer them a treat to apologize....
I love what you can find for a dollar... I would wear this everywhere, just because I could.
Maybe not these, it might depend on the day.
I did decide to put a little note in with each basket, because a few of the things are wrapped in tissue and tucked into the baskets. Here are the notes:
We are suppose to deliver the bags by the dark of night and here lately, that is anytime after 7 pm! So the kids and I will be delivering them tonight!
Here they are ready to go....
While we were out secret Halloween shopping Boots spotted these:
He loves bugs, his eyes lit up so much you would have thought it was Christmas...He has been playing with them all afternoon, and having a fair time trying to scare the pants off of his sister...

Mermaids and Nerds

2006-10-15T08:05:00.000-07:00

Someone is going to be a mermaid for Halloween this year. It took FOREVER for her to decide on fabric that she liked and the style that she is interested in, but finally we have come to a decision. Yeah!!!!
We are making the tail of course , but not the little halter top thing, number one, it's October in New York, and number two, Little P is a lovely almost eight years old. Nope, not on your life. So she will be in a body suit with large purple seashells sewn to it with lots of shell necklaces and a lovely shell crown. It also needs to be easy to put on for school, so this will fit the bill nicely.

And I got a few new shirts for work a couple of days ago, I LOVE this one.
It is a lovely life, when I can consider tee shirts and gauchos work attire!

Let it Snow!

2006-10-13T12:45:00.000-07:00

This morning we woke this morning to dusting of snow all over every thing.
Most of it was melted by mid day and it was actually nice this afternoon.
We live about an hour away from Buffalo that is apparently in a state of emergency. So much so that the airport and the thru way going to and coming from there were closed. There are tons of people without power and it is projected that the power will not be restored for several days. Crazy what an hour will do!

Rain, Rain, Go Away

2006-10-11T09:40:00.000-07:00

If you are in New York today, specifically western New York state, I'm sorry.
It's cold and wet and definitely not go out side and play weather. So we decided that it was time for the apple cooking to begin. So first we made apple sauce. I make it in the crock pot. It's easier, I don't have to watch it every second and it makes the whole house smell fantastic for hours!

We selected,just which of our gorgeous, handpicked, home grown apples we were going to sacrafice to the cause.
And cut up about three pounds of these huge 20 ouces ones.
We then sprinkled on 1 cup of sugar,
Lots of Cinnamon,
And nutmeg, I am a big fan of nutmeg, so if I am going to use it in something, I am going to do it right. Get your self one of these,
They are easy to find, and the difference is incredible. And it takes forever to go through even a few actual nutmeg nuts.

Turn the heat on low and in about 4 hours it will be done. At that point you take a potato masher or even a sturdy whisk and mash up the apples to what consistency you like your apple sauce to be. It will keep for a week or so in the fridge and about 6 months in the freezer.

We also decided that today was the kind of day that homemade chicken soup was invented for. So that is simmering on the stove now.
Full of veggies and white wine and lots of spices and of course chicken, it smells good in my house today! Come on over, we will save you a bowl!

By the way, is anyone interested in an adorable dog, he doesn't eat much, only three or four foam stickers...
And some shoe laces !!!!!!!
He has no idea how lucky he is that he is sooooooo cute!

The Cold Hard Truth

2006-10-10T06:31:00.000-07:00

Boots was playing this morning with his silly putty , he sat quietly for about 3 minutes and then the questions started. He's three, that is what I do all day long is answer them to the best of my ability. So when he asked me what trust meant I gave him the best answer I knew that he would understand. I told him that trust means you know a person will never let you down, and you feel safe with them. He said," Do you trust everyone Momma?". I wanted to lie and say yes of course, and I kind of did. I told him I trust the right people. He then went back to playing with his silly putty, bored with our conversation. I was then left to think about trust and how I really feel about it.

In my opinion,there are two types of people in this world. There are the people who will trust until given a reason not to, and those who will not trust you one ounce until you have earned it. I am the latter. I am not proud of this fact, and I have unfortunately been this way all of my life. But not with out reason, I have tried to give trust out first, it never works for me and I am done getting burned. I have had my disappointments, everyone does, I just never forget them. I will not put my self in the weak ass position of being a victim. Not for something that I can control. I am accountable for every decision I have ever made, good, bad or indifferent, I own them all. Which also makes me sole owner of my choice of information that I put out there. I often find myself envious with just a hint of curiosity of those people who are open and accepting, I am a very private person, I just can't open up like that. It feels like major exposure to me. What are you doing with a blog then, you might say, well I can censor every part of what I put out there. And I do, it's my security, and if you don't like it, then stop reading. If you respect my need and right for privacy, but also recognize that I want to share some of my life with you, then by all means, read on.
I want to point out that I am not a vengeful person, nor do I dwell on crap in my past, but it does linger from time to time. This is why I never go back to where I grew up, I'd rather leave all of that there. Not to be confused with me thinking that I am better than that. Some things are just too painful to face, so cowardly or not, I do not go back there. Life is not black and white, there are so many shades of grey to explain why I am who I am. Recently someone who knew me a long time ago commented on something I said to them as being nice in a me kind of way, as much as I tried to forget that comment, it is burning a hole in my skull. I would love to know what he meant by that, however I will never ask. See, not all black and white, shades of grey and a little color now and then.
I do want to give my children the best possible example of what to learn by, and I suppose I do show them that, even if it's not entirely true to my own way. Let me explain, when ever Little P meets someone new, I encourage her to get to know her new friend, and she immediately regards them as friends. I don't know if it's the age or what, but she always describes new people she has met as a new friend. Again, a characteristic that I think is very admirable, but a little scary. When I meet people, I am immediately on guard. See the HUGE difference?

I want them to grow up respectfully careful but not super guarded like me. I don't want them to miss out on relationships or experiences that they will need to grow later on, because I have coached them to protect them selves to an extreme level. I think there is a certain amount of openness that you need to possess at some time early in your life. It almost makes it so later on when things go wrong, you can pick your self up and go again. If you are not already set against the world, it makes it easier to think you can fix it.

I am quick to set people at arms length away. If you wrong me, I will never forget it. I can however forgive it, but that still doesn't put you back where you were before. In fact, that quickly places you over there with all of the others I have disowned. And once I have made that decision, I will never let you in close enough to harm me again. I understand that is not by definition forgiveness, well with me that is as close as you are going to get. I realize never is a very permeant word, and I have meant it every time I have said it. Do I think that perhaps this is a little harsh, and not leading by example is wrong? Yes, I do, however I am not comfortable with the carelessness that people treat trust with. I have worked to hard and to long to earn it with the people that I feel are important to me to disrespect them and the bond that we have created. On the other side of that, if I have ever told you that I loved you at any point in my life, I have and still do mean it with every fiber of my being. I am just as passionate about the depth it takes to really love someone, as I am about who I trust.

It is so important to me to give them the best possible starts in life, they are amazing and I am honored to be a part of their lives. I just hope that I am careful to not have them be too much like me.

Black Hats and Boobs

2006-10-09T15:31:00.000-07:00

Today we finished up decorating for Halloween and fall in general. The kids made these today, they had a blast...
Here is the wreath for the door, I love it.
This is the dresser that I was painting here.... all finished with new drawer pulls and all decked out for Halloween.
When you first come into the kitchen this is the angle that you see...
Here is our fire place, we have not found a mantel yet, so leaf garland fills in nicely for now.
Little P is making the best face here! She cracks me up, and poor Boots, he is practically lost among the cobwebs, I think I may have to dust!

I put up curtains, today. I am posting two pics, one with flash, one with out, so you can see details and so you see that my walls in my kitchen are really not super sunshine yellow...

I'm still not sure if I like them. I didn't want to cover the incredible molding that we put up. I love how clean the lines are, and as you all know I am not a frilly kind of chick, so it has taken me 2 years to choose curtains that would work for these windows.... Yep, still not sure...

And I have found a shirt that pretty much sums me up in one word...
Sorry for the boob shot, but I happen to be wearing it. And I am not normally a read my boobs kind of chick, but this was too perfect not to buy.

You too can own death...

2006-10-08T10:12:00.000-07:00

The last of the festival pics, drum roll please...

There are these crazy squash that look like Geese.... They are a little wrong, I mean how could you, really, hack off the neck of this thing to cook it??? Savages...
After the market we wondered into a shop on Main Street, there we found the coolest cards... I loved this one.
I am still kicking myself for not buying this bag...
Wanna new boyfriend, parents, girlfriend? Or perhaps you would like to melt the one you have... these are for you,
We soon found ourselves in another type of shop that shall remain nameless and addressless (Is that even a word?) And there we found these.
Slightly vacant, haunting, and rather dead looking. And for a rather obnoxious price tag you too can hang death on your wall.
We decided it was time to head back home, on the way we stopped at Tops for some water. Turning into the parking lot we found this....
One way??? What the hell way is that, and exactly where to?

After all this ice cream was definitely needed.... Abbotts is a wonderful thing!

More Time

2006-10-07T16:50:00.000-07:00

Today we went apple picking, we were going to go yesterday, but Little P just wasn't up to it. The kids loved picking their own apples and eating as they went.
He wore his red boots and there was no amount of convincing that I could have done to try to talk him out of it. When it was all done and we were back at the main store the kids got hot donuts and cider.
The whole thing screamed fall.

I finally finished the curtains for Little P's room.
The poor thing, her room is such a work in progress, and has been a little torn up for a week or so. I just haven't had the chunks of time that I need to finish everything!

This is the what the paint ended up looking like.
This is her night stand. I painted it to match her new bookcase.
I hauled out the decorations for fall yesterday and they are still stacked nicely in the corner of my kitchen, I need more hours in the day to get everything I want to done. If any of you know where to find that, let me know....

Catch Up

2006-10-06T07:01:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the absence, things come up, or down in our case. We have been COLD here for a few days. The thermostat was on the fritz, making it crazy chilly in here over nights! And the computer happens to be in the family room, which is in a much chillier part of the house. And if you sit at it for more than five minutes your fingers start to become numb, so no major blogging going on here! After a visit from Isaac Heating and Cooling, we are good for the winter!

Little P is off from school today and Monday. She is also sick, so there won't be any major events happening this little vacation. We will be apple picking today. The fresh air will do her good. And just think of all of the pies and crisps, turnovers, apple butter, apple chutney, candied apples, dried apple slices, apple cake, apple pumpkin bread,.... the list goes on and on and on. I'd better stop before I sound too much like Bubba in Forrest Gump.

So back to last weekend, here is the rest of what we saw....

This is Cindy's Pies, as you can see.
She even has her own parking just for pie customers only.... she was a trip....
While we were still at the festival we learned that you can purchase custom caskets, just the thing I thought we would find at a craft festival.
We saw these supper cute, fat little animals, I am not one for these type of things, they are of no use to me, however they were so cute I couldn't stand it, and I really had to fight to find a reason NOT to buy them.
I found this for Jenn, it's perfect. Anyone who knows anything about me knows that I don't deal well with trust, so those who have my trust better be in this for the LONG haul, and Jenn at 25 years and counting definitely is!
Meet, Dora, I am sure she needs no other introduction.
Walking down the street looking out at the vines the smell was just too wonderful not to buy fresh grapes...
Then we went to Bob n Ruth's. This place was small town in a package. Our waitress was about 90 and witty as hell. The food was great and we laughed our butts off the entire time.
I still have more to show you, some creepy sculptures and some other great finds, see you tomorrow ( I promise this time! )