Awesome Stuff

For weeks I had struggle with my kitchen, there just wasn't enough going on there.  I knew I needed some curtains but I just couldn't find any that I liked.  I looked online for some good fabric, but I didn't want to order it. What if I didn't like it when it arrived?  I didn't know what to do, and I had kinda given up on it.  I was at JoAnn's Etc. one day and came across some black and white demask fabric that I loved.  I thought it was good as any to go in my kitchen.  So I grabbed some matching green fabric and was all set to come up with some sort of curtain.  The cutting table was a nightmare, there were tons of people who did not understand the concept of taking a ticket and waiting your turn.  So I stood there for a long time. (Please insert Jeapardy music.)  On a rolling table there sat some brand new unwrapped bolts of fabric.  And within that pile there it was.  Have you ever had fabric speak to you?  This one did.  It plainly said... "Here I am, I am everything you wanted for a kitchen curtain.  I am you in fabric!"  I agreed and threw down my damask and green fabric and wrestled with the pile to obtain my perfect fabric.  After finishing the veil for Leora (which matched her dress perfectly) I started designing and making my curtains.  I was going to put some piping in towards the bottom, but I couldn't find the perfect color.   

So, these are our new addition to our kitchen.  I love this fabric.  I got an interior design mag in the mail, and in it, there was a chair upolstered in the very same design.  I also saw it somewhere else, but I can't remember where.

On Thursday it rained all day long.  It didn't stop until about 7, and even then it wasn't really stopped.  I loved it.  I let Baby play out in the rain for an hour, I noticed through the quads these two beautiful reds.  The leaves are really starting to change out here.  It is getting gorgeous. 

Baby loves to play with all the monster toys available.  Even if his bum gets soaked.

Everyone needs a cape and some monster feet.  He actually kept the cape on for about 45 minutes.  And he loves he slippers.  I found them at a Carter's outlet store before we had him, I just loved them.

Have you ever made something and thought... "That was amazing!"  This was one of mine.  I had some soup at Panera the other week and thought about it for days.  I had to ave it again, but I didn't want to go out.  I found a recipe online and tweaked it to my own personal taste.  Broccoli cheese soup.  It was divine!  I had some crescent rolls in the fridge that needed to be cooked so I lad them flat on the sheet and baked them with a little cheese on top.  It was so good.  The recipe called for 16 oz. of cheese, but Brett doesn't like a whole lot of cheese in soup so I only put 1/2 c. in and put extra on the table.  It didn't even need the extra.  It was soooo good.  Creamy, smooth, and delicious.  I know a lot of you out there are wondering about the broccoli thing.  Yes it is true, in my younger days I didn't not have an affinity for broccoli.  But now I really love it.  Especially with some lemon on it.  But don't worry, I haven't changed all that much.   I still detest peas.  And that will never change.  Recipe to follow.

Jenera Broccoli Cheese Soup

2 Tb butter

1 Med Onion, chopped

Saute and set aside

Melt 1/2 c. Butter on stoveon med. heat.  Add 1/2 c. Flour.  This is the roux.  Cook it slowly until barely golden, do not burn it.

Slowly add 4 C. Half and Half whisking constantly.

Then add 4 C. chicken stock.  Stir and simmer for 20 min.

Add 1 lb broccoli that has been cut into bite size pieces, and 2 c. carrots that have been julienned (cut into thin strips.)  Let this simmer until tender.

When vegetables are tender, remove 2 cups and add to onion/butter mix.  Place in a blender or food processor and puree.  Then add it back in with the rest of the soup.  This helps to thicken the soup.  Some people puree the whole thing, but we like chunks so I only do a little bit.

Season with salt (if needed) and white pepper.

Add 1/2 c. (or more) grated cheese stir until melted right before serving.

Serve with croutons or bread or whatever you want. 

I said it was delicious, not healthy.  But it could very easily be a vegetarian soup.  Some people add nutmeg, hot sauce and mustard. 

Mr. Fish

This is our new pet.  Mr Fish.  Baby says hello to him everytime we enter his room.

We think he is a pretty good lookin' fish.  However, he doesn't really eat, so he may not last a whole lot longer.  Not my fault if he won't eat.

At church last week, it was announced that a woman was in need of borrowing a veil for her upcoming wedding.  I told her that if she couldn't find one to borrow, I would make her one.  She gave me this look that reminded me of a puppy and said... "you will?"  So I told her I would just mak her one anyway, no need to try to borrow a veil.  She said told me her dress was lavendar and she was so excited.  I have never made a veil before, nor a purple one so this was going to be interesting.  It is actually looks prettier than it sounds, and it will look lovely against her skin.  So, this was my project this week.

I hope she likes it. 

This is baby's new habit.  He loves to pull all of his books off the shelves and rifle through them.  It is so fun to watch him look at the pages and turn them.  He doesn't really like to sit and listen to a book, unless it is a dinosaur book, but he likes to read them himself.  He is pretty independant. 

A Good Day

Today Brett got home early, so while Baby took a nap, so did Mama.  It was awesome!  When I woke up I decided it would be fun to go to a movie, so we went to Wendy's for dinner, then Shrek Ever After at the dollar theater.  I love it when a movie is better than you were expecting.  I was pretty stoked that we were only paying 2 dollars a ticket, but when it actually turned out to be funny, it was just a great feeling!  There is this part in the beginning when a little fat kid says to Shrek... "Do the roar!" in a nasally irritating voice.  It came out of nowhere and I am glad we were the only ones in the theater because I was howling with laughter.  Since there was no one else there, we let Baby run wild, it was great.  It was really nice to get out as a family.  After the movie we headed over to Abbott's frozen custard.  They are all over the place here so we thought it would be good.  It wasn't just good, it was delicious!  It was like corn fed Iowa custard!  We let Baby have a kids cone which was the size of a regular cone.  He loved it, he took a bite and went... "MMmmmm!" He ate the whole thing and the bottom portion of ours.  He was a mess, but it was so worth it.  Unfortunatly, we didn't have the camera.  I need to remember to take it with me always, but we sat and enjoyed it.  It was a great day.  Some of what has been going on in our little life, Baby is trying to talk.  He already signs some words so communication is going great, but now he is actually sounding thing out.  Like "soft" which he says..."saaaa"  and "done" which is "dah."  And See Ya, which he says "Sssss while he waves." And mommy taught him a cool word in the car today.  "DUH!"  He said it perfectly!  I laughed really hard, but Brett didn't want me to encourage him. It was really funny so I might have to.  As for the things he signs, he says Fish, More (which also means please, drink, and whatever is in your hand give it to me NOW,) Thank You, All Done, Good Bye.  He gives wonderful hugs, slobbery kisses, and rubs noses.  He loves his bear, and when he is ready for bed he points to his bed.  I love my little boy.

Where is Baby?

Can you find him? 

I came down the stairs to find my baby had gone missing.  I started to panic, until I saw two little feet attatched to the cupboards.  It was perfect, I only wish he could say... "Daddy's gonna kill Ralphie!"

You say... "Has anyone seen Baby?"  Then baby pops out of nowhere to surprise you.  It is quite the game and it can last forever.  He also likes to play this while wrapped up in the curtains.



My little conductor.

As with most kids they have toys, some kids have better and bigger toys than others.  Here at Whipple Park, if you leave your toys outside, they become communal property.  Its great for me, I don't have to go out and buy he expensive cool toys that always light up little kids faces, and yet, my child still gets to play with them. 

I don't think some people would like that, but here its kinda expected for toys left outside.  It is a wonderful place to live though.  There is lots of room, kids, and toys for Baby to play with.  Today he decided not to take a nap, and was wholly enoyable (totally being fasicious!)  I love my baby, but when nap time is messed with the day just goes to pot.  We usually put him to bed at 9, but at 7 he still kept running into everything and actually hurting his head (most of the time it doesn't seem to hurt him cause he still does it.)  So I put him down at 730.  He was pretty mad but what was I supposed to do?  I thought that if he didn't stop crying after 15 minutes we would go for a walk, but he fell asleep.  I went to check on him and at first I couldn't see him in his crib.  My heart sank, I thought... "Oh no!  Not only can he climb out of his crib and has entered a new phase that I am totally not ready for and he landed on his head and is dead on the floor!  What a great Mom."  But then I did notice two cute little feet poking out of the blanket.  Phew!  I just hope he sleeps until at least 7 tomorrow morning.  We got some blackout curtains hoping that would help him stay asleep until 830.  It worked the first night and got me all excited, but it was just a tease.  It hasn't worked since. 

I dunno what we were thinking, but we got Baby a pet.  Can you believe that?!  A pet for an 18 month old.  This is what happened.  We decided it would be fun to get a little tank pet, a lizard , a frog, or something.  We went to PetCo with our son and started to look around. I had put Baby in the cart and we headed off.  While looking at the adorable fire bellied toads there is a ton of commotion coming from the cart.  Jumping and wailing, and thrashing about.  We look down and our baby is freaking out about a tank about 15 feet away full of GOLD FISH!  The wailing-squeals of glee.  The jumping-Baby stomping his feet.  The thrashing-Baby signing fish as fast as he can, over and over and over and over..... Brett says simply... "I guess he picked what kinda pet HE wants."  It was the cutest thing in the world.  We got a little Betta fish that we lovingly have continued to call Mr. Fish.  (Pics coming soon.)  He is in Baby's room (insane I know.  Someday he will be tall enough to actually grab the bowl, but not yet.)  He gets so excited to see Mr. Fish, he will stand in front of the bowl and wave (saying Hello, he is actually getting really good at saying Hi.)  I just love it.  Actually picking a fish and what kind of apparatus to house him in was a challenge, but it all worked.  Here's a plus, if you have a betta fish, you can just pour spring water in the bowl and you don't have to chemically treat it.  Its great!  I know this was a long post, and i don't blame you for not reading all of it.  But, I think our life is pretty fun!  TTFN!  Tatta Till Next Time... oops.

Catch Up

Dedra, this one's for you.  This is our new living room.  It doesn't always look like this, usually toys are thrown all about because Baby really likes to dump out his toy bucket.

Lately, baby likes to pull up a seat.  It doesn't matter what it is, justas long as he can climb into it.  This particular chair if you cannot tell, is an oval dutch oven.  Comfy!

Playing at the museum of play.  The car entertained baby for a long time.  It was really nice to be able to sit and watch without chasing.  Can you see who is in the backseat?  (Here's a hint... C is for cookie and the other one has a pet named Dorothy...)

Just being super silly.  Baby's personality is really starting to develop.  He loves to be SILLY, and he is a big big tease.  It is so much fun.

For Labor Day we went to Letchworth.  It is the "grand canyon" of the east.  Baby was playing on a giant chair next to a dam.  It was a pointless dam because it looked like a random concrete wall.  The gas station lady swore there is water down there, you just can't see it.  I don't know if she meant it was invisible water or what, but the giant chair was fun.

These were some of the falls.  Isn't it gorgeous?  We are really excited to go back in the fall when the leaves have changed colors. 

Family Picture

This is the new member of our family.  She is delightful! It is possible to do the dishes by hand all the time, but very time consuming.  So the investement in her was completly worth it.!

Lake Ontario Beach

We took a trip out to Lake Ontario Beach Park where we got to walk down the Pier and walk on the beach.  The pier is about 1/2 a mile long, so it was a nice trek.  There were motor boats and sail boats coming in and out.  It was really cool to watch.  It gave you the feeling of being at the ocean, when you weren't.  The water was roped off because of high levels of poloution in the water so we couldn't swim, but we could play in the sand.  Which was super soft and hot.  Baby didn't care how hot it was though.

So cute!  We buried his feet and would ask him... "Where are your feet?"  Then he would pull out his foot to show you he still had them.  It was so fun.  On our way back to the car we decided to let Baby take a ride on the carousel they just have at this beach/park.  We were so in luck, all rides were free that day.  The carousel was built in 1905 and had been restored beautifully.  There was a pipe organ playing some on the verge of obnoxious music while the carousel would go around.  Brett and I both agreed that pipe organ music, is kinda creepy.  The horses had tails that were made from real horse hair, and the paintings were magnificent.  We had a really fun time.

We Love the Rain

Did you ever make "soup" outside right after it rained?  I used to, so when Baby started playing in this puddle, it reminded me of when I was little.  So fun, but messy.

Can you believe Mom let and encouraged me to do this?

Is there anything sweeter than this?

This is a given.