ready to go to gramma's

creative saturday

I've amassed a collection of latte sleeves...

And now...guerrilla art!
I block out the logos with stickers, paint, words, glue and paper, etc.
(I'm not finished with these yet.)
Then...I sneak them back where they came from. :)

I worked on my LOVE painting while JoyBoy napped. When he woke up, he wanted to paint too.

Working on his LOVE painting.

This will be his first art show!

We had fun with the tunnel that's attached to the fort/tent we got him for Christmas. :)

Me.

A sneak peek at our new kitchen floor! Jason did an amazing job!

My sweet, funny boy.

happy friday!

Kaemon Ze was so excited when he saw the alligator at the Children's Museum -- he thought it was a dinosaur. :) "It's a dinosaur!" he exclaimed! I let him ride in the joy of that knowing for a little while before I told him it was an alligator (other kids were calling it an alligator) and showed him all the alligator parts (eyes, tail, etc.). He loves alligators and crocodiles, so he seemed okay with that.

Ringing up the produce in the kid-sized grocery store.

Waiting and waiting for his turn to drive the bus...

...and waiting... poor guy. There were a lot of kids vying for the driver's seat.

I noticed that the driver's seat in the ambulance was about to be free, so JoyBoy dashed over.

Talking on the CB like it's a phone: "Hello? Hello?"

He LOVES driving!

Two happy boys!

He was very sweet and shared the driver's seat of the ambulance when other kids came by. Then he dashed back to the bus and more or less commandeered the wheel. Luckily, the other kids didn't seem to mind being driven around.

The tongue is a key component to driving a big bus.

The tongue helps circumvent the large, heavy wheel.

The tongue...it's always there when you need it.

We found the face-painting tables and mirrors.

He painted his own face...lucky for me, he didn't paint his whole face red like the girl next to him. :)

Playing with the lights.

JoyBoy heard a daddy tell his son, "Let's go play with clay." Kaemon Ze said, "I want to play with clay!" I said, "follow that daddy." Once in the clay room, he did not want to leave!

I think we spent a good hour here...he loved it so much.

Later, after enjoying a brought-from-home lunch, he dove into the Dig Pit.

My beautiful JoyBoy.

Zzzzzz....

our own nekkid chef

Ever wonder how Jamie Oliver got his inspiration to the be the "Naked Chef"? Maybe he started off like our little guy; stirring eggs in milk to (help mama) make scrambled eggs.

And yes, the stove was off. :)

my sweet boy

Smooches for his big Tyrannosaurus.

I love this one, especially.
I asked him, "What's in your pockets?" He put his hands in them (with a little assistance) and said, "Money!" Ha... wishful thinking son!

funny thing happened today

I was walking to the Post Office and had the thought that, like it or not, I've noticed people respond more positively to me when I'm at my ideal weight. A few memories flashed in my mind including that of favorite barista who was often complimentary of my appearance (but not in a creepy way or that would ruffle Gloria Steinem's feathers).

Fast forward a few years and one baby later. I'm heavier and the compliments from the barista have stopped or at least shifted. Now he says, "You washed your hair!" Ummm...thanks, dude. (I told him that's such a "guy" thing to say.)

So there I was walking and for some reason, noting this differentiation in how I'm received (then vs. now) when all of a sudden this van turns in front of me and I get a..."Heeeey Baby!" I look up, surprised, and wouldn't you know it...it's my barista! Made me laugh out loud - both the wolf call (which, would make Gloria Steinem's feathers ruffle back in the day) and the synchronicity of manifesting that within moments of thinking about it. Plus it'd be just like my barista to step out of a box you just put him in. Too funny. Maybe he noticed that I'm 15 lbs lighter and getting my "hot" factor back. Yeah...that must be it.

When I got home, I stepped out of the car and my husband wolf-whistled at me! Ha! I told him, "that's the second one in an hour!"

CLEARLY...my hot factor is returning.

back to the days of our grandmothers

Last week, as we were prepping for the arrival of our new refrigerator, I was pondering whether we could easily live without our microwave, as we have limited counter space in our kitchen (and I am wondering how microwaving food is affecting the DNA structure of the food we consume...).

I posed the question to my Whimsy Guy: "What do you think about not having a microwave...at all?" Admittedly, my hubby was not too keen to just let a perfectly working appliance go (and he hasn't seen any studies that validate my concern about food degradation). So, I let it go.

We decided to put the microwave in the hall, on the dresser (creative use of space, no?). I think it would have worked out, but we didn't get a chance to find out. When my Whimsy Guy plugged the microwave into it's new location, it stopped working. Simply ka-put.
I had to shake my head and smile at the Universe. "Just because I said I was THINKING about living without a microwave doesn't mean I meant RIGHT NOW!" Talk about instant manifest! So...until we hear back from the ONE repair shop, we've been living without a microwave for a week. Let me tell you, it's taking some getting used to.

We're having to adjust how we cook and how much time it takes to prepare things with a stove top, oven, and toaster oven. We are getting a sense of how it was for our parents and grandparents, before they got microwaves. It's a slower way of cooking and enjoying, that's for sure.

Jason was working hard laying down our new kitchen floor (photos coming soon) and blasted through the lunch hour. When he finally decided to get a bite to eat, he pulled out frozen left-overs to heat up...and then realized without a microwave, he was still a good 20-30 minutes from lunch. He put his lunch in the toaster oven and went back to work. Poor guy. Slowly we are adjusting to the need to pre-plan a bit more.

margarita recipe

Last year I offered to share some of the recipes from the
Mexican Cooking Class we took in Cancun.

Here is the recipe for the yummy margaritas we made:

1 cup tequila (reposado)
1/4 cup orange liqueur (controy)
1 cup water
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon lime zest, finely grated
2/3 cup sugar

Optional garnishes:
1/4 cup coarse sea salt
1 lime wedge for each glass

Mix all ingredients in a blender with ice (but obviously, not the garnishes).

If you like salt on your glass: spread the salt on a shallow dish; rub the rims of the glasses with a sliced lime; dip each glass and shake off the excess.

Servings: 4 (serve in martini glasses just to be contrary)

Smiles: many

maybe he's serious?

My hubby's asked me twice in the last two days if I want to film a music video with him...I think he might be serious. :)

a few more shots from the shoot

what i'm reading now

Can you tell what's on my mind? :)

he made me laugh

When I left my office today,
I found a tiny magnetic near the handle of my car door.
I love my husband's vote of confidence. :)

morning love via e-mail

Kaemon Ze was playing with is T-Rex and his velociraptor this morning before he left for Gramma's. The dinosaurs were talking to each other and I heard one dino say to the other, "Welcome to my home." Wow! I've never said that...where did he pick that up? :) :)

Once I was at the office, I got this e-mail message from Gramma this morning:

Good morning sunshine!

Your little guy is eating breakfast and watching "the momma T-rex movie" :p .. he says "Hi momma, I LOVE you!!"

Have a wonderful, spirit-filled day!

A few minutes later, I got a call from that wonderful hubby of mine who told me that on the way to Gramma's, he heard Kaemon Ze counting in the back seat. He counted all the way to 11 before he became inaudible. That's fun! We love that our son, "goes to 11!" (Pop culture reference.)


Later that day, I got another smile-inducing e-mail from Gramma:

This is just amazing...

KZ asked if he could have a fruit snack, so I let him get one (he knows where they are and how to reach them). He brought the package to me and I opened it for him. He ate them and enjoyed figuring out which animals they were.

A few minutes later Katie came out and KZ asked me if he could have a fruit snack. I said he already had one and could have one later, but not right now. He asked again, and again I said not right now.

He got up and went into the cupboard and brought a package out anyway. We talked about whether he had permission to have it or not, and he agreed he didn't. Katie suggested a time out, but I wasn't sure that was the right way to proceed and didn't say anything. KZ kept looking at the fruit snack package in his hands. Suddenly he went back into the kitchen and put it back in the box! Both Katie and I thanked for doing that, but offered no other reward. He seemed satisfied and was off to other fun stuff.

Wow. I mean, that's amazing behavior for any child, let alone a 2 year old! I don't think you can teach behavior like that, that comes from living in an environment of trust, respect, and honor. Congratulations to you both!

a nice compliment for any mom

As I mentioned on my Friday post, I took JoyBoy in to get his 2-year photos done (he hasn't been professional photographed since July of last year!). I took a few of his dinosaurs as props and he's wearing a hand-me-down dino shirt from Sara. :)

He was really good for the shoot. It probably helped that the photographer made burp sounds that made him giggle and giggle. The photographer thanked me for bringing the dinosaurs.

When we sat down to review the shot, the sales gal told me she had a chance to glance at them and said I was going to have a hard time choosing. The gal who processed them came around to see them again. Well, the sales gal was right; it was hard to choose. They loved that I brought the dinos, too.

As we went through them, she/they/we were ooh-ing and ah-ing. They were really fun (and good). Of course you do wonder if they don't, to some degree, ooh and ah fairly frequently to sell more, but they seemed genuinely interested. "I'm going to have to order some samples for the store," said the sales lady, several times. I finally asked what she meant. Basically, she wanted me to sign a model release to allow them to make prints for the walls, sample flip-files, and possibly for snail-mail flyers. In return I would get a free sheet of photos. I admit, I was flattered and saw no harm, so I signed model release. Considering they see dozens upon dozens of kids a week, I thought that was a nice compliment. :)

Here's a few from the shoot. I'll post more another time.