Sunday, November 30

just a little note....





(You smiling yet???) HOw can you not? She absolutely loves the park. This was taken eariler this year with our MOMS Club... we took our bikes to the park. What a grand day. Can u tell, I see it written all over her face. She does have a grumpy face too you know.




Sorry some of the colors are all wrong for this background. I was forced to change it because it read Happy Thanksgiving. I picked out the Christmas theme that I want but I'm not really ready to commit to the holiday just yet.








Lets enjoy fall for all that its worth. YOu are welcome to pull up a chair anytime... if you come now you could enjoy these cookies with me. Maybe even dunk them in your coffee. Do you know that Myla likes coffee? Horrible. But I relish in the thought of the day that she and I can sit at the kitchen table with a cup of joe and chit chat. This is something I do with my mom and my nanny. Sometimes it is us all together, and now with the distance between us, its cute my grandmother will purposely fix a cup of coffee and go out to her swing to chat with me on the phone.

Myla's coffee now consist of ruffly 6-8oz of milk in her sippy cup... a splash of creamer and a dash of coffee. And she always tells me, 'not too hot mommy'... and I tell her...'Be careful, go slow."




She says..."I bigger, now"

I say... "You are bigger now"

she says..."I bigger' n ToeToe"

I say... "Your bigger than Corbyn?"

she says..."Uh... huh... I bigger' n ToeToe"

I say..."Oh..."

Wednesday, November 26

random elements...

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I was most proud of the cranberry sauce. I had no idea that it was so easy to make.


We made two more pumpkin pies Thanksgiving night.



HOpe everyone is having a blessed holiday weekend.
take care.


Tuesday, November 25

here I am... hiding under a rock...

So, I guess I have totally blown NaBloPoMo . Oh well... its not the first thing that I have started and not finished.

With good reason... I think anyway. Over the weekend, Friday night actually, Corbyn developed pink eye... both eyes... and Myla's been congested for quite a while, it was into the 11th day. So a Saturday doctors appt was just what we had...each had their own doses 2 and 3x's daily. I have disinfected every square inch of this house... multiple times. Even the pillows were washed, dried, and then put into the sun for the afternoon.

I do feel like I am back on track though... we even walked to school to pick up Corbyn ... it has been quite pleasant out...


I made 2 pumpkin pies this evening in order of getting ready and in the mood for Thankgiving... recipe here if you want to try it... (it really is the best pumpkin pie, ever. My kids will tell you so. My husband too. Did I mention that it was really easy???)

But I have been baking AND I have been working out... both really good signs for me.

take care and i hope to be back soon.

(p.s. please say an extra prayer for my sister in law, she is really having a tough time right now and needs all the positive energy sent to her ...she doesn't really see how great she can be... )


so with that said... take care and be very thankful for all that matters to you... be thankful.

later.

Sunday, November 23

pass it on...



take this video as you will. I thought it was beautiful. Simple.

Hope to inspire you. Be thankful this week and every week.

later my friends.

Monday, November 17

Kitchen Poetry:: 5

I love this little table. I wish I could sit here.


Vintage doll furniture


And fix breakfast in here.

Vintage doll furniture


I could read a book near here.

Vintage doll furniture

hopefully more time tomorrow to post... later...

Sunday, November 16

lazy maisy's.....

We are a family that likes to hang out together, at home. We are home bodies. I would love to live in a small town with lots of land... and be at home... with my family.

Today... we all woke up late. The kids had these, but in strawberry. The parents had pumpkin cake.

Football was on ALL day. That is a given. I watch a little. After 10 years its starting to leave an impression on me... if I could just sit through the whole thing.
pushing the kids around...


Myla is still feeling out of sorts. We took a steamy shower and her nose was just pouring. Using squrit of eucalyptus oil really helps out when you have a child with a cold. And it last nearly forever it seems because you only have to use a spot.

rose garden with the pavers...

They jumped on the trampoline. They made limeade juice again. Played with playdough, homemade playdough. (toot toot)...thats my horn ;) just kidding.

We clipped coupons. I organinzed my coupons... again.

WE all took a nap. Except for Corbyn, he played with Legos. We have a nice set up for naps. Me and the little girl go to my bed... Dad falls alseep watching football on the couch (its his favorite thing to do in the whole wide world) and Corbyn plays on the floor next to him with

We moved Corbyn's furniture around in his room.

We had breakfast for dinner. Pancakes, eggs and bacon. Very yummy.

And then I cleaned the kitchen. Monday morning is no good to start with a sink full of dirty dishes, pots and pans.

Off to get the kids settled.

Have a great night.

(p.s. Maisy is now one of Myla's favorite. Corbyn still gets caught watching it... but thinks he's much too old for it.)

Saturday, November 15

Kitchen Poetry::4

mom is great....

I can't help but make pumpkin cake. Next week pumpkin pies here we come, we're just warming up.

take care

Friday, November 14

thoughtful friday...

(this picture was taken in Georgia, at Mimi's, across her little wooden bridge, near the bamboo, looking up)


Summer or winter, day or night,

The woods are ever a new delight;

They give us peace, and they make us strong,

Such wonderful balms to them belong;

So, living or dying, I'll take my ease,

Under the trees, under the trees.

--Richard Henry Stoddard




Today I had a great time in my son's class. I do wonder however, what else is out there in the way of education. I was a little alarmed by the amount of parent participation... one little girl hasn't completed her homepackets in two weeks. Even her school work for that amount of time was still in her folder. THis is one of the first things that my son WANTS me to see when he walks in the door. Its part of our routine. And who knows there could be all sorts of things going on in their life and who am I to judge. She is such a cute little girl and, well I invision all parents being as 'into' school as me... wanting to do everything I can to help him prepare to succeed all on his own. Oh well... more on that later... just wanted to get that off my chest. later.

Thursday, November 13

I'm starting to slack....

Yesterday we had fun at the park. And today we are sick with a cold. Monday it was the boy and now its the girl's turn.

So no picture for Kitchen Poetry... not much of a post for NaBloPoMo... no time for even linking those two because I am so tired that I am about to pass out typing this. What is happening to me... its only 7:48pm....

Tomorrow I volunteer in Co'b's class... ALL DAY!!!! Wish me luck.

Wednesday, November 12

Wanda Sykes, you go girl...



Wanda Sykes... I love her. Listen to her take on the bailout...I know that its a little late, but wanted to humor you.

Tuesday, November 11

Kitchen Poetry::3



Co'b was out of school yesterday with a cold. Today was a holiday. This morning was really chilly in the house and as usual my family snuggles up to keep warm. We love the fall/ winter weather. The past two mornings have been great to just have our pj's on and not have to leave the house. It reminded me of all the mornings that we use to have... I miss them. Though we love school and it has been a great adventure thus far... I miss it being just me and just the kids.
Yesterday the kids picked bags full of limes and lemons from the trees in the backyard... this morning Co'b put them in a bowl for the dinning room table. It looks nice. I love a centerpiece.
He took six of them and squeezed juice for him and his sister. Myla passed and stuck to drinking her water. Corbyn however, added a little water and drank it all.
As we speak I am making homemade bread. Well the bread machine is anyway. A honey oat loaf. I can't wait to slice it up and add butter. I thought about whipping up a little honey in a small bowl of butter to serve with it. This is my third use of the bread machine, and the first for actually baking it IN the machine. I can't wait to see the results. Its so easy.
Well take care... and remember your Veteran's.

Monday, November 10

Kitchen Poetry::2

Today was one of the first really chilly days... that lasted all day, not just morning and night. Around lunch time I was pondering all the cold weather food that I could fix for this evening... and what would be easier and better than tomato soup and grilled cheese.




Campbells all the way. Though I have always been interested in making my own, I never have. Yet. A little salt, a little pepper and a little Italian seasong...its umm..uumm.. good.

I am very lucky, it is one of the few things that my husband and I throughly enjoy and the kids do too.

I remember at the hospital, hours after giving birth to my son, I was starving. It was around 4 in the morning and I had just finished nursing him and thought that I would walk down to the kitchen that they had for the patients and their spouses. (we had such an amazing experience) Mario had asked me to bring him back ceral, Frosted Flakes to be exact and milk (he had already been and knew the inventory)... I walked down the hall and I couldn't believe my eyes... there were miniture size cans of tomato soup (I even remember thinking they were cute, it must have been the hormones!!!!!) I poked around the cabinets and found stryofoam bowls and plastic spoons... and heated it up. Yes in the styrofoam bowl, shame on me. What was funny about this was the look on the nurse's face who passed me on my way back to the room... minutes after 4 am and she sees me carrying a steaming bowl of tomato soup... two small milk cartons (one for me, one for hubby) and a single serving bowl of ceral... she just smiled and I smiled back. That was it. But, back in the room while I was eating my soup it was like pure heaven and sweet home contentment... nothing could have been better at that moment. It was warm and cozy all the way down.

inside cover of Magic Chef...

If I fix it, it has the ingredients mentioned earlier, and I add water. If hubby fixes it, its the same spices and he adds milk. We both love each others, but we still fix it different ways. And well the grill cheese is just an awesome excuse to dip your crust into the soup. Umm... Ummm... good I say or rather, we say...

Copyright...1936...14th edition

This is a book given to me from my mother in law. She had given me some really cool items and this vintage cookbook is just one of them. There are more pictures of this book and another from the 1940's on my flickr page.

Well... I will see you tomorrow...have a good night with big dreams.

Sunday, November 9

Sunday with the family.... plus..../Kitchen Poetry ::1

Well it started off with these two being very cute and adorable all snuggled together in 'big comfy' (the blanket has its own name) on the couch watching cartoons.

brother and sister watching cartoons...

Then we had breakfast. Last week my friend Julie mentioned that her friend's mom, when she was a little girl, use to make them Mickey Mouse pancakes... what a brillant idea, it had never even occured to me to do that. Easy I thought. And it was, but a few had some wonky ears. (so this is my first post for Kitchen Poetry as seen here at Simple Sparrow.

? MIckey Mouse pancakes...

Then... we headed off to the zoo. We love the zoo. And with the great weather we are FINALLY having, it was even better. The first stop was the tree house... Pie Pie had such a great time inside... this was us.

we went to the zoo...

The kids love to watch any and all animals... but this visit the ducks were the most special.

we went to the zoo...

we went to the zoo...

we went to the zoo...

we went to the zoo...

we went to the zoo...


we went to the zoo...

We had a great day with no rush. And to top the great day off, it rained. Yes!!!!!

Saturday, November 8

HOw to make a MUMMY tutorial:

Items needed: (all the items were purchased at Walmart)

*I bought 4 yds of an off white, very thin fabric (off the $1 a yd table)... this was plenty for my 5 yr old.

*I used gray sweat pants and a long sleeve gray t-shirt.

* 2-3 rolls of iron on adhesive tape, ultra hold.

If you plan to 'dye' the fabric... I would recommend doing it before you cut the strips (I had a huge ball of a tangle mess... and had to iron each individual strip... ugh...)


STEP ONE:
I made little snips with the scissors about 2 or 3 inches apart... and then pulled and ripped into strips.... it gave the fabric a torn look... here are the piles below.


Halloween costume in the making...


STEP TWO:
I started from the bottom... (follow the directions on the tape)... iron tape on the pants...let cool... peel off paper.... lay strip of fabric down in place... iron again.... let cool to set before pulling too much...
(at first it was a little awkward, but quickly I got a system... because you have to let the strips cool before you could peel and get started on the next step... I started ironing on a couple of strips at a time... see below)


Halloween costume in the making...


STEP THREE and FOUR and FIVE:

Iron, flip, iron, flip.... I would take a strip, start the end on the inseam, iron and then flip the pants over... and iron it on the back... then would flip it back over and raise it a bit and iron that side. Around and around I went.

(I also left some long pieces hanging randomly on the pants and shirt for a more 'mummy' look. And some of the long strips in turn were tied together, there is one at the bottom left leg, with a little knot.)

Halloween costume in the making...

If you can tell from the picture, the entire strip isn't ironed on... just the width of the tape per strip... that allowed the strips not to look so stiff... they were soft and flow(y).

Halloween costume in the making...

Some parts were a little tricky. Like the neck of the shirt. I didn't want it to be to tight to fit on my son's head. I made sure to keep the buttons undone (there were three little buttons up top) and made sure the strip was loose that went along that area) Also, notice the pants have pockets? Well, I didn't cover those up...(he wanted to keep his scary pointed teeth in there) so I just left that area with long strips or or about and inch or two left hanging.)

This was my work space... I sat here for quite a while on two different nights. Hubby and I watched t.v., well he watched I listened.

Halloween costume in the making...

And here is my little mummy... my scary mummy. (he did not want to be cute.)

Oh no... a scary zombie mummy...

This costume was very forgiving. After doing and covering up with strips... I would take random smaller pieces and fit them in wherever they were needed.

We had plenty of strips left over... which we wrapped his head... and had a couple drap over his arms.

Trick or Treat...
Happy Haunting!!!! (and good luck)

Friday, November 7

Thoughtful Friday....

thoughtful friday...


If ever there is tomorrow when we’re not together.. there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we’re apart..
I’ll always be with you.-- Winnie the Pooh
(these pictures were taken early this year, around March, I think.)

Thursday, November 6

another special NOvember day in our family...

Both are named Mario... both celebrate November birthdays, 2nd and the 6th, both are Scorpio's (thats easy), but they are both the same Chinese zodic too, The Dragon (not so easy, their years just happen to line up)... father and son.
(Myla totally thought that the little Batman in this picture below was her brother... sorry sweetie... its your daddy!)
I know that I have more pictures of them together at this time and I really wanted the one where my hubby turned 21.... maybe this will call for an update....


Happy Birthday Papa B!!!
We miss you oh so much!




If you don't know the story of a half decorated cake, then you can read a little about it here.





The picture above was taken this year. (I couldn't get the kids to participate in a really great and awesome picture... part of why dad is smiling so big... they don't always take direction so well. It looks like the big one is after the cake and I'm not so sure what the little one is taking curiosity in...)


And the picture below was taken last year. My husband is such a handsome guy and this is by far one of my favorite pictures of him with the kids. Why? Because, I know Mario like no one else and that smile that he is wearing in this picture is of the upmost geniune and happy faces that he has. I love him very much... can you tell?



Have a great day!!!!

Wednesday, November 5

a little something simple...

It seems like the last few weeks I have been riding high on emotions.








Each week I have been faced with some sort of startling news. The kind of news that drains you almost instantly and you seem to think of it constantly or consistently might be the better word.




I have been able to check one off the list (it involved my mom and a lump) and it can magically erase itself from my worry box.
So if you haven't talked with me lately... no worries, as usual I start to hide in my shell a bit until some of the clouds have passed.

Also, the lady that called about Rah Rah... didn't turn out to have OUR cat, just another 'gray' cat. So the search continues. The hope continues.

Tuesday, November 4

here I am...





trying not to miss a day in my personal challenge.

I enjoyed the outcome of the election tonight... but not so much of the way the media decides to cover it.



take care

Monday, November 3

day before election...



The editing is a little weird at points... but all in all I thought this was a great collection of things Obama has said and stood for.

Its a touching story of 'hope' and how loving your children and giving them the best education possible, despite their background, they could potentially be qualified enough to run for something like the President of the Untied States. How very proud his family must be of him to reach this point in his career. That being said, even if he doesn't win the election... I am glad that I have gotten a chance to witness his vision through his speeches and debates and it helps I think open my eyes in being a better citizen myself.

Sunday, November 2

Novemver 2nd is an important day in our family.

NOw how would I be getting off to a good start... it's 10:00pm and I haven't posted for NaBloPoMo.

Well I have an excuse. Today is a holiday for our family. Today is my husbands birthday.

We have been battling it out on Mario Kart. This was a gift to Dad from us.

I need to post pictures from the day but will have to come back to update. I am excited to say that I kept up the tradition this year for hubby's cake... remember? if not...check it out... last years turned out much prettier than this years... oh well. I'll post pics from our special day later.

take care

Saturday, November 1

whats your focus?

I have been wanting to participate in something to keep me posting. Earlier this year I did 30tinymoments and it seemed to keep me focused on small things in life and to let go of the less mundane parts of life. So, while visiting a friend's blog I realized that this was going on and so here I go joining her... (and hopefully you if you want to!)

whats your focus??

what do you see when you look at this picture? the sheet, or possible the story behind the sheet?

or maybe even.....

whats your focus?

the tree?

While yes I was having fun when I realized with just a switch of just less than an inch of space the picture came out completely different... even the capture of light in the sky, made it washed out and then such a saturation of blue color with the tree as the subject. Anyhoo... that is not at all why I took the pictures. (that was just a bonus!)

its better half is gone....

The whole reason I took the picture(s) was because these are/ or use to be my favorite set of sheets. The fitted sheet was literally used until the thread was just were too weak to withstand another use. These sheets deserve a farewell, they were the 'softest' sheets ever.

I love these sheets, did I say that already? I am keeping the top sheets and the pillow cases of course, but the bottom sheet is toast.

The real focus... my real first post for NaBloPoMo, is the fact that even said in the pictures above, you can take the same picture from a couple different angles and create a completely different story. So, for this month I plan to look for those areas in my life where I could look at a situation from a different prospective. (not to mention I will probably take tons more pictures... especially with the beautiful weather we should start experiencing here in the desert.

take care.