Felt food

I really love pretend food. Always have. Playing grocery store was probably top of my list as a child. Which is probably why I love felt food so much. It looks pretty realistic, and has that aura of homemade that makes it seem so special. So I've tried my hand a few felt items. None of my stuff comes from a pattern, I just kind of make it up. It probably shows, ha! But I do scour the Internet for websites with pictures, and then go from there. This is made from cheap felt, not the nice wool felt, and it is partially machine sewed, and partially hand sewed. My stitches are never straight, my technique is sorely lacking, but by golly, if my kids don't think I'm awesome. What a confidence booster, especially for a non-crafter such as myself.

Here are some of my previous, uh, creations:

In case my handiwork is even worse than I imagine, this plate includes pancake with butter, fried egg, and two chocolate chip cookies.

This is the product of today's labor:

Lovely loaf of bread and a carrot. I should probably make more carrots to have a bunch. Maybe tomorrow. I also have a cinnamon roll in the works, and plans for tofu stir fry, pumpkin pie, green beans, and maybe, if I get really ambitious, a "peelable" banana.

Gross fact of the day.

So I read an article on MSN.com about common food additives. The first delight was about strawberry yogurt. Come on, don't ruin yogurt for me. But ruin it they did. Apparently, when you have something that's nice and pink, like, say cranberry juice or strawberry yogurt, they get often get that scrumptious color by adding ground up bugs. Oh yes. You heard me. But it gets worse, if that's possible. The Dactylopius coccus costa bug from Peru likes to eat red berries. A lot. And where does all that color from the red berries go? Into the stomach & larvae in the female bug, of course. And what better way to make your food look deliciously appetizing than to crunch a bunch of those suckers up and put them in your favorite foods. Delish, no?

For those of you who are worried, the FDA is soon requiring manufacturers to label their packaging to let consumers know if they have six-legged creatures in their cuisine. This particular variety is called "Carmine" or "cochineal extract." Sounds innocent, doesn't it? Well, I checked out our container of HEB Strawberry yogurt before making the kids their smoothie today, and guess what?
Do you see it in the corner there? Carmine. AKA bug guts & larvae. Yum.


And being the good mom that I am, I paused before pouring half a container in the blender. How can I in good conscience feed my children squished bugs? I gave a little laugh, and kept pouring.

Happy Birthday, Papa!

Anyone who will roll around with you in the hallway of a hotel must be a pretty good guy. We lucked out and got a great Papa for our family.

Happy birthday, Dad.

A little piece of sanity

If you're a mom, you probably know that place when you feel like you're only partly human. It could be because you get stuck in your "cave," surrounded by mounds of laundry, dirty dishes, and general filth. It could be because you usually eat moderately identifiable food that you've scavenged from the back of the fridge because you've given all the "good" leftovers (those that are less than 2 days old and likely not a carrier of salmonella poisoning) to the kids for lunch. Or it could be because your conversations throughout the day consist mainly of either yelling about the necessity of cleaning up toys that cut deeply into the foot when not noticed, or the value of not dumping five boxes of cereal on the floor, or trying to explain why mommy has to take "happy pills" (I love you, Excedrin) when we get out the instruments basket. Well, this mommy was getting to that place. The worst part about that part-human place is that the longer you're there, the further back you crawl into that dark, dank space.

Today, I broke free! If only for a couple of hours. We met some friends at a park we've never been at before, and everyone had a great time. The boys came home with scrapes all over their legs and big smiles. Sofia loves any opportunity to socialize. And this mom became a little human, getting to talk to another semi-human mommy for a while. So thank you, Carlson Fam, for hauling us out of our shell for a while!

Blast from the past!

My parents met us up in KC for my 10-yr reunion, and whenever my mom sees the grandkids, she always brings "new" toys to entertain them. Imagine my surprise when I returned to the hotel room to find Sofia playing with my forgotten-favorite-game Alphabet Land! My mom was going to let us take it home, but the box was pretty mangled. Well, after I got home, I was thinking about it, rather nostalgically, and thought, "What good is ebay if not to give you the remanents of your youth?" So I found one, and bought it. I don't know who's more excited, me or the kids.

Goodbye, shaggy boys!

The boys have been long overdue for a haircut. I have been slowly watching their handsome features disappear.... first it was the forehead. Okay, I can deal with that. But then it was the eyebrows.... then the ears..... the pupils of their eyes. When the hair started to interfere with their eating, I figured it was time.

Oh, Sam....


Handsome Ben...

Sofia got her bangs trimmed, too. Tomorrow I'll try to get some pictures of the results!

Doughnut Day

Often when I take all three kids to HEB for grocery shopping, I'll stop by the bakery to let them each choose a doughnut to eat at home. It keeps them occupied while I bring in the groceries from the car. And I wouldn't want to leave myself out either, of course. My boys, though, don't really understand how to eat doughnuts. They choose ones with frosting & sprinkles, usually. Of course, since that's the best part, they start with that. They end up eating it from the top down. Which makes for some pretty interesting cleanup.

Then..... and now.

Ah.... Midland Adventist Academy, Class of '99. This last weekend was the 10-year reunion up there in Shawnee, KS. My whole family made the trek so I could see most of my former classmates.

What a strange feeling walking into the building that I spent most of my time in 10 years ago. I had my three kids with me, but somehow I still felt 17. And to see my classmates, and schoolmates, and their kids. Well, it was an interesting juxtaposition.

Eight of the 11 students in our class showed up for the weekend. Susan, who has two kids and has been married for almost 10 years, Carlos Mott, who looks exactly the same as he did 10 years ago, Tasha, still the unofficial leader of the class, trying to get everyone together. Carlos Prieto, still asking how my sister's doing, Mikey, as full of mischief & teasing as ever, but now a father and preacher. Seth, the other preacher in the class, with the content and powerful delivery of a sermon that amazed me, Dean, still the same, yet all grown up with two boys of his own. We missed having Doug, Tesha, and Brandon.

It was a great year, and this was a great weekend. Thank you to my classmates for giving me a place in your ranks. See you in 10 years!

Ambushed!

I hate figuring out what to make for dinner.

This is exactly what I was doing when I thought I heard a knock on the door. Surprise! My friend Jessy was standing out there. Now, Jessy is a friend we know from church (and college) who doesn't live next door. She lives like 30 minutes away. Not including rush-hour traffic. And Jessy is not a lady who is bored with her time. She's got 4 kids, ranging in age from 5 years to just over 1. So what was she doing in my neck of the woods? Apparently she's been keeping up with the illnesses my family is accumulating (probably because her family has had more than her share these past few weeks--you can't even imagine) and she understands how "interesting" life gets when everyone's sick. So she brought us food! Ready-for-the-oven casserole, fresh produce (need more vitamins!), and even fresh-baked bread! Ahhhhhh...... dinner!

Hail, hail!

No wonder our dog was howling a couple of minutes ago. I heard one crack of thunder, then BOOM! Hail away! Our poor van. Ours is technically a two-car garage, but yeah. Poor van.

The object of my affection

This is Ben.

This is Ben sleeping.

That whole sleeping thing didn't really happen last night. He was up essentially all night coughing. Since he shares a room with Sam, I brought him into our bed. Since Filipe earns a paycheck by going to work every day, I took him downstairs to sleep on the couch with me. He didn't go for that. In fact, he did not want to go anywhere this tired mom suggested we go to sleep at 1:30am. I finally asked his opinion (what took you so long, mom?) and he pointed to Daddy's office.

Smart little stinker. How did he know that he wore mom down so far that she would be willing to do nothing short of sleeping by her toes hanging from the balcony, as long as he would just stop coughing and sleep?? He chose the one place he consistently gets into trouble for playing in, and chooses there to have a rest. So yes, we went into Daddy's office at 2am, lay right on the carpet next to the piles of paper on the floor and had a little rest. He still was coughing like a maniac, but at least he wasn't getting angry.

After about 45 minutes, when I figured he was here to stay, I went to collect at least a down throw and a throw pillow from the couch to give a bit of protection from rug burn. And that is where we spent most of the night. I love my Benny!

P.S. Took him to the doctor today, turns out he has two ear infections, and possibly a sinus infection. Hurray for antibiotics! So hopefully, between that and the Benedryl (dr. approved) he might actually get to stay in his own bed tonight. And Mom can go hang by her toes.

P.P.S. Unless, of course, that pesky little fever that Sam started complaining of at 6pm tonight turns ugly. In that case, I better get the blow-up mattress ready in the office.... it's going to be another long night.

Ah, the weekend

At least I had the decency to get sick on a weekend when Filipe could help out. Even though he was sick, too. We've just been a house full of germs these days. Nothing too serious, coughs, runny noses, fevers in some cases. But we're on the road to recovery, I think. At least I hope so, judging by the loads and loads of laundry I know have to catch up on.

Even with all the yuck here, we still found good times. Here's Sofia, our Resident, checking the boys' vitals:

Escaping from the germ-trap we call home:

And of course, when you're sick, nothing beats bathtime:

The Twins Strike Again

This time, a bowl full of black beans. I guess they couldn't wait any more for lunch. I could make a book of this stuff, you know. But they'd probably rip it up and put it through the blender before mixing it with some dish soap and eating it.

You know you've lost touch with the adult world when...

all of your children are napping, but you realize you are still singing along to the Bob the Builder soundtrack--and enjoying it!

Chili, anyone?

Last year our church had a chili cook-off. Filipe made some, but ended up not taking it. Sofia and I went together, and there were only 4 or so entries. So this year, Filipe decided to contribute again. Now, Filipe's method of chili-making does not include opening a can and dumping it in a pot. Oh no. He's a serious chili maker. He makes his own gluten from gluten flour, seasons it, grinds it. He uses dried beans, and creates his own seasoning combination. The first interesting part is that it never is the same twice, since he doesn't use a recipe. I admit to snitching some before the event, and yes, it was delicious. The second interesting part is that he does not make small quantities. Especially since there wasn't too much of a turn out last year chili-wise, he thought he'd do his part to make sure the church school (who was sponsoring the event) had enough food.


Well, aparently that's what half the church thought. When I arrived to drop ours off (Sofia was sick, so we didn't stay), our was pot #9. When I went back a couple of days later to pick up the leftovers, this is what we came home with:

The menu for the next month? Chili dogs, corn bread with chili, chili bean haystacks, chili on rice. . . .

Road Trip Austin

I got to go to Austin all by my lonesome yesterday--yay me! I ran some errands, stopped by to see my Grandma & cousin in San Marcos/NB, then did a little retail therapy at Garden Ridge, Target, & Ross. Good times. Here are a couple of random shots from my good times.

The Ants Go Marching One By One.....

Hurrah! Hurrah!

This weekend Filipe went with some guys from church on a backpacking trip to Big Ben National Park, otherwise known as Barren Desert Wasteland. I enjoyed looking at his pictures, but I'm glad I wasn't there. They're probably glad I wasn't either.

They hiked,
they slept,

they ate,

they took many many pictures of the sunrise,

they encountered many lovely creatures of nature, such as this Mexican Jay:

And like this lovely furry fellow:

Yes, that would be a bear. A bear cub, I believe. One of four cubs. Oh, and don't forget the mama bear. Let's just say I'm glad to have my husband back, and he's not part of some bear's scat.

And they made it to the top. Looks like he's having fun, eh? Such a handsome fellow. Filipe's ready to plan for the next one!

Dead air

So I haven't posted for a couple of days. I blame it on the fact that Filipe took my camera on his backpacking trip to Big Bend. Just thought you should know. Peace!