D's big day

this past week we celebrated D's birthday. there was a lot of secret preparation and it turned out to be a very sweet day.

of course we had our traditional fruit "cake", a platter of delicious fruit with candles. i started this tradition for D a long time ago when it seemed that he was getting so many birthday treats, cake at work and sweets from family. D loves fruit and this was a nice thing that i could do that balanced out the sweets. now bee loves it and helps me every step of the way. 

this year bee did most of the arranging and we added a bowl of fruit dip. the dip is just cream cheese and this yummy natural marshmallow cream (like fluff) mixed together equally. 

bee and i worked on a few gifts for D together. i decided to make a freezer paper stenciled t-shirt and bee was pretty psyched on the idea. she copied me every step of the way and made her own stencil. i cut it for her, but she did the painting.
bee used her stenciled fabric to make a mushroom bag for D. morel season is upon us! bee even tried the sewing machine for the first time.

for my t-shirt, i printed out a picture of a morel that i found online and traced it. i highlighted the details that i wanted to use for the stencil and then cut them out of the freezer paper. i followed the instructions in the creative family. basically the instructions walk you through the tracing, cutting and ironing on a fabric. the box of freezer paper also has some very simple instructions on it. i first used an orange paint, but it looked too faint, so i did a few coats in white. you can still see a bit of orange peeking through, which is ok, i guess.

D seems to like it. i think he feels cool in it.

bee is also very cool and tough, she would like you to know.and yes, that is marshmallow on bee's face, she did a lot of sampling!

27 days later.

we started planting our seeds on april 2nd. we planted the first round and a few days later planted a few more things.

and today, 27 days later, the seeds have sprouted and started furiously reaching for the sun. they are busting out with strong roots and begging to be put in the ground. this weekend they will find their new home, along side the spinach sprouts and climbing peas that are already doing their thing.
i just love this time of year. 

duke of cuke, a knock-off, a recipe

it's summer here! we are on our fourth day of a little heat wave. it's summer in april! and i love it. this past weekend we worked on the yard, got the sprinkler out, ate on the deck and just generally felt happier. after the kids go to bed D and i have been just milling around outside, picking up toys and doing little chores. it just feels good.

over the weekend D and i went out to celebrate D's birthday. we had a nice long and relaxing dinner and then went bowling, D's favorite. at dinner i adventurously ordered a drink called "the duke of cuke". it went along well with my skirt and no tights on the first day of the heat wave. the drink was fantastic and we tried to duplicate it at home with good results.

the recipe:

1 c. cucumber juice

4 shots of gin, we used sapphire 

2 T sugar syrup (sugar dissolved into water, about 2 T: 1/4 c. water)

if you have a juicer, great! if you don't, like us, you can improvise. we put 2 of those long cucumbers in the blender until it was pulverized and then put it through a cheesecloth bag. it worked beautifully. 

add all of the ingredients to a cocktail shaker with some ice and shake it.

pour over ice and garnish with a slice of cuke

makes about 3-4 drinks.

april vacation: part one

it's april vacation this week for bee. we didn't have any big plans for the week. i figured that we would just have a relaxing week, enjoy not having to get dressed by eight and do some special things. i decided that i wouldn't make exercising a priority for the week, and just have a break, have some fun.

monday started off beautifully. bee and i had a swimming date with one of her friends who we don't get to see enough of because of schedules. we had a lovely swim and then spent the rest of the morning playing. 

right at the end of the morning, just moments before i was about to give the five minute warning, henny took the littlest tumble from maybe two feet up. i scooped him up and hugged him for a bit. it was totally your typical fall, but henny's reaction wasn't. he was just crying and crying. i assumed that he was just tired out so we started gearing up to go. when i put him down to put his shoes on, i noticed that his left arm seemed to be kind of hanging there. i thought for sure that i was dreaming it up, but then another mother said that she noticed it too. i imeadiately started freaking out inside and bee and i ran with henny to the car. i sat him down in the car and called the pediatrician. they said to bring him right in to the office. 

as i sped to the doctor's i was anticipating the worst. i felt like i knew that his shoulder was dislocated. i just hoped that they could fix it quickly. 

when we finally saw the doctor she determined that it wasn't his shoulder, but that something was going on with his elbow. it was either nursemaid's elbow, or it was broken. she tried to pop the ligament back in, which is the remedy for nursemaid's, twice. it was horrible to watch the doctor twist henny's little arm, which was already in pain. both attempts didn't seem to work, so we were sent to the hospital for x-rays.

poor, sweet henny was so patient through the whole thing. sure, he cried on and off, but he mostly was just a quieter, sadder version of himself. he also fell asleep in our arms so many times throughout the whole ordeal.

of course once we got to the hospital is was a waiting game. waiting for the thorough check in at radiology, the x-ray, the call from the doctor for the results. and then the results of the x-ray were inconclusive! we ended up having to have the hospital pull henny's x-ray so that we could take him somewhere else to be seen. of course they were not happy to have us leave and they did not make it easy. 

finally, we went to an urgent care office and had excellent treatment. i was a little nervous at first. by now we were about 4 hours into the whole thing and had NO answers. i felt like we were grasping at straws. but the final doctor we saw felt convinced that it was nursemaid's elbow and tried the relocation again. and it worked! almost as soon as she twisted his arm and tried to pop that ligament back in, he moved his arm. i'm not much of a hugger, especially of strangers, but i wanted to snuggle with that woman! she was our hero! 

so, that was the first day of vacation and i feel like i am still recovering form it a little bit. i'm still on edge with henny, who is still feeling a little pain. through it all bee has been just amazing. she was with me for half of our hospital adventures, until D came and brought her to a friend's house. she made me so proud with the way that she totally put her own needs second. she didn't whine, she just sat coloring and chatting with me. she tried to comfort henny and told him he was brave. 

when we got home, around dinnertime, we all enjoyed some well deserved ice cream. and later that night, when i was overcome with love for bee for her compassion and maturity, i told her that i was going to spoil her all week  and that i planned on giving her ice cream every day of vacation.

so, that is the focus of april vacation. a lot of relaxing, some good family fun, plenty of loving and ice cream every day! and today we found the cutest way to treat ourselves, mini ben and jerry's, perfect for the kid's to split. as henny would say, "yummy yummy"!

pinata '09: a tutorial

this year, we once again made a pinata for easter. i felt like i sleep-walked through the process, exciting as it was. it was so fun, especially to watch bee, who did almost 50% of the work. but i think this was probably the 20th pinata that i have made in my life, plus that time when i taught a class on pinata making. so, my hands simply went through the steps, just like they had so many times before. 

the steps are as follows...

give yourself a good week for the whole project.

gather up your supplies: a balloon, about a weeks worth of newspaper- half ripped into 1" strips, half for lining your work surface time and time again, elmer's glue, flour, water, masking tape, a metal clothes hanger, paint and whatever else you can dream up to decorate the thing.

begin your pinata by paper-mache-ing over a balloon. blow your balloon up nice and big. 

make your paste by combining about a 1/4 cup of elmer's glue, 1/2 cup of flour and about 3/4 cup of water. the paste should be thick, but not too thick. think tomato soup.

dip strips of paper into the paste and layer over the balloon. keep going until the whole thing is covered. you can leave the balloon knot out if you want. i would recommend it.

let the pinata dry for a day or so. leave it by a heater or in the sun to dry quicker. 

add another layer on to add strength.

give it another day to dry.

add any "parts" to make your pinata look like what you want. you can just use newspaper to make the basic shape of your parts. use masking tape to secure the parts. use as much masking tape as you need. go wild with it.
add another layer of paper-mache, including a good layer over your new parts. 

let it dry.

now you can fill it up! if you left the balloon knot open, you can slice into it in the shape of an x. then you can pry it open a bit and fill it. put anything you want in there. i put eggs with little prizes in this one. but, the eggs broke, so i wouldn't do that again. 
now you can also fashion your hanging device. i used the balloon knot as the top, which i recommend to simplify the hanging. if you have a hole already at the top, insert a bent hanger into the slot and tape it like crazy. 

next paper mache over the holes and any tape with several layers.
next up is painting and decorating. you can use paint for sure but also feathers, sand, glitter, fabric, yarn or anything else you can dream up.

bee painted ours like a blue bunny.

grab some rope, a tree and a whiffle bat and you're off! oh and don't forget a group of spunky kids to whack the thing!

and if you're wondering, the whacking part looks something like this:

notice the smile. it's fun!

my buddy

i know that bee isn't going to be small forever. i think that being at home with the kids and being immersed in their every move has allowed me to understand more completely how to savor it all. maybe i'm wrong, maybe i would feel the same no matter what. but i feel like i have a deeper understanding and value of the rapid pace in which our kids are growing up. maybe that is why i choose to spend so much time with them. i know i am not going to get it back. i know that i am lucky to have this opportunity. i am thankful every day.

as bee inches closer to five years old, things are changing. her friendships are more important to her. she is way more independent. i am mindful of this and try to give her space, while still smothering her with love every chance i get. 

sometimes when i pick bee up from school and i am a bit early i can catch her and her classmates playing on the playground. henny loves it, the more playground the better. as i approach the playground, i smile at bee, but i don't want to disturb her play or god forbid, embarrass her.

one day this week i walked up to the playground and bee just came running to me. it was like we hadn't seen each other in years. bee gave me the biggest hug and then went back to playing with her friends. when it was time to go in, she walked in with me and grabbed my hand. 

as we held hands walking down the hall, another kid asked bee to be her partner, holding out her hand to bee. bee responded to her, "my mommy is my partner."

my heart was so full at that moment. i wanted to go in each classroom we passed to announce what an amazing kid i have. 

i am so grateful for this time. i am so grateful to be able to enjoy each moment at a slow pace and to have the mindfulness to know how big these small moments are and how quickly they will pass.

spring bag!

on sunday i grabbed a few hours at the sewing machine and whipped up a new bag for myself. i had been dreaming about this bag. i wanted something big enough, probably messenger style and with some simple touches to make it unique.

i found this tutorial and followed the measurements for the most part, and then assembled the bag my own way. the tutorial says to make the straps and the middle piece in two pieces. that would be good if you didn't have a long enough piece of fabric, but i did and i think it looks more finished. 

i sewed the flap piece with a few fun fabrics patched together. the outside is brown linen, lined with interfacing and the inside is yellow duck cloth. i put a few pockets on the inside. 

here is a full body shot of the bag. pardon my serious look and strange posture, i don't know what is wrong with me. nice bag, though!

it's good to live in my house today

today i defied all odds. i exceeded all of my own expectations. with D away for a few days, and me holding down the fort, i managed to maintain a high quality of life. this came as a great surprise to me. when D goes away my plan is always to pace myself, stay busy and aim low. but somehow this afternoon i got a burst of culinary energy and created quite a delicious homecoming for D, who arrived home at dinnertime.

first bee and i made a french yogurt cake. i found the recipe in a homemade life. the book is lovely and very quick to skim through. the recipe is on the orangette blog, it's a tiny bit different, but not much. we used orange juice and zest, instead of lemon because it's what i had. the cake is great. not too sweet, nice and crispy on the outside. wonderful.

while we were baking the cake, i had a pot of black beans going on the stove. when it got closer to dinner time i whipped up a tortilla pie. this is so easy, so so so easy. i think it will become a go-to quick dinner. i found the recipe in the everyday food cookbook, which rules. i made the pie without many of the tasty ingredients, to satisfy the little taste buds in our house. D and i spiced it up with some green onions and salsa.

it's good to be us today. and lost is on tonight! be better!