SBE Craft It Forward

I rarely post about scrapbooking on this blog anymore but I think this is such a cool idea (and a great opportunity to win $500 for yourself *and* the charity of your choice!)

Craft It Forward is a special program that BHG Scrapbooks Etc has launched to encourage scrapbookers, cardmakers, and papercrafters to craft for a cause and make a project to give to a charity or someone in need.

Each month, they offer a special project at craftforward and ask people to upload their creations on their web site for a chance to win $500 each for themselves and their charity. You can use the suggested project or come up with something appropriate for your selected charity on your own.

You can see a sample of the April project to the left. For detailed instructions on the project, ideas for possible recipients and details for entering the monthly contest, be sure to check out the craftforward site.

(wouldn't this be a fun seasonal service project for a classroom, scouts troop or church group?)

And just as an added incentive to play along, I'd love to send a goody box to a randomly selected participant. Just link me up to your project in the SBE Craft it Forward gallery by April 30th for a chance to win. I'll select and post the winner May 1st!

very happy

• that c and I got away for a night ALONE on Saturday. yay for free hotel nights (one benefit off a job that requires a lot of travel) and vegetarian restaurants (delish!) boo to an internal body clock that drove us from the hotel bar where we were enjoying some live jazz at 10 pm and maids knocking on the door at 9 am.
• I finally broke Izzy of her night time light requirement. now to work on Jake.
• baseball season starts in 9 days.
• she shares her amazingness
• that I discovered this gem of an add on for my gmail
• to have carved out some knitting and reading time lately (also happy to live so close to our wonderful little library!)
• that I knew better than to jump on the "yay! spring is here!" bandwagon. Since we have a winter storm warning for tomorrow.
• parent teacher conferences are tomorrow and I never have a need to worry about how they will go. my kids are rock stars at school. wish it would carry over to home!
• my yearly physical is Saturday. not happy to have it. happy that soon, I can forget about it for almost a year. and happy that we have insurance that pays for it and lowers our rates because we get it.

9 years

I was totally remiss in not wishing my husband a very happy 9 year anniversary yesterday :) Hopefully, if all goes according to plan, we'll be in Maui a year from now!

This is my very favorite picture of him ever, ever, ever and I wish I had taken it myself. (You'll forgive me my momentary lapse into mushiness for this one? It doesn't happen often)

Happy anniversary C!

yesterday, after school

I had this waiting for the kids as a treat. It was much easier than the Nutella cupcakes I had planned (that I WILL be making this weekend - yum!) Can you believe they've never had a Twinkie? Tragic.

On a somewhat related note, Zack came home with a certificate and new book for constructing the "sturdiest Valentine mailbox" in his classroom - am I the only one that finds that hilarious? I almost feel like we cheated as I couldn't find a shoebox and used an Amazon box instead. Is it cheating if I didn't realize there even was such a contest?

Hope y'all had a lovey-dovey day :)

today:

• marveling at the fact that jake is old enough to be learning multiplication and cursive and that zack is old enough to be writing short stories in school.
• izzy smells like pickles and is watching an arthur dvd from the library.
• finishing up a classic that I hadn't read before.
• thinking about ordering some of these (I can't kill these, right?)
• steeling my nerves to try sewing a fabric backing on the knitted baby blanket I made for zack's teacher...due with her first in less than 3 weeks.
• waiting patiently for the new laptop I had to order - grrr :(
• thinking I should go pick up a gift for the birthday party zack is going to on saturday.
• happy that the sun is out! even if it is butt-ass cold.
• looking forward to our roasted veg and salad dinner as I eat my ramen lunch.
• thinking I should print out the mini valentines I made to sneak in the boys' lunches this week...I made one for every day this week + monday and have yet to include them. want them? download here.

you see?

how she just grew up *snap* like that?



The long hair and sassy attitude. She spent the night at my parents' house last night and wore that backpack all morning in preparation for their arrival. Doesn't miss me a bit. Nope. Not one iota! Ungrateful monster. Hmph.

So, hey. I want to start a garden. We kind of loved our CSA last summer but the winter CSA has been less than spectacular and has kind of turned us off of it. I love that it introduced us to some new stuff that we wouldn't have used otherwise but there was also a fair amount that I don't' want to continue using. Tell me what to do. Seriously, don't laugh at me or tell me how woefully lazy I am for even considering it but tell me, is this a fairytale solution?

OK, short post as I've been alone, ALL ALONE, for the past 4 hours and have just 2.5 hours left. Off to find something to do that can only be done when I have the house to myself! Not sure what that will be just yet but there must be something!

sayonara numero dos

Do you see what I did up there? How I mixed my languages? Just trying to keep you on your toes, my friends.


And the best part? He didn't SWALLOW it this time (we never did locate the first lost tooth...would you have searched for it?)

made me happy

Just organizing and backing up photos today and I ran across this photo. I took it in June of 2009 and I just think it's the sweetest thing. I don't remember seeing these birds last year...I wonder if they broke up? Probably, he cheated on her. Or her, on he. Or maybe one of them kicked the old bird bucket. Maybe they retired together and took up permanent residence in Boca.

Whatever.

Just made me think about relationships and what makes them work and not work. Carlos and I work. We have our disagreements but we resolve them with respect. And we're stronger for them. And they are few and far between.

Mostly though, we share things. Interests. A strong belief in our children and their potential and how to guide them. A desire to spend time together. And apart.

We appreciate each others strengths and compensate for each others weaknesses. He has an uncanny ability to step in with a hug or a diversion or some sugar just when I need it. I hope I do the same for him.

Guess I'm feeling a little weepy missing him while he's traveling for work. I'll be better tomorrow when he's home again :)

So anyway, I hope the birds are happy. We do have some rather frisky (and fat!) squirrels that seem to have taken to the place. We welcome non-destructive animal pairs of any type here in casa de hernandez.

adventures in vegetarianism

So, I know we haven't talked much in the past year+ but I've been eating a vegetarian diet now for close to a year with the rest of my family joining me for the past 8 months or so.

I'm not some crazed advocate so I'm not going to bore you with the details of the hows and whys but I know a lot of people like to do a meatless meal once or twice a week so maybe on occasion, I'll share a meal that we particularly like.

For the most part, we don't eat a lot of meat substitutes. We mostly stick to a large variety of vegetables, grains and beans. When we do eat "meat-like" we don't really go for tofu based substances but those made with vegetable proteins and the like. I'm trying to be very responsible about this because it's my kids' health and I don't want to cause any deficiencies that will hurt their immunity or health. So far, we all seem to be holding up pretty well ;)

THIS meal though - yum. It looks like meat, it has the texture of meat and it tastes like meat. It's not vegan, it's not low sodium, it's not low fat. It's probably the LEAST healthy meal we eat but it's still better than the real thing in a lot of ways so I don't feel at all guilty working it into our meal plan every couple of weeks. It would work in any recipe you use meatballs in. Everyone loves it (except for Zack, who has been subsisting on a steady diet of sandwiches and yogurt and fruit for years anyway.)

(apologies for the less than stellar photo)


I've adapted this from a cooks.com recipe - a few changes that make them much better ;)

1.5 C italian bread crumbs
1.5 C almond meal/flour (I use bob's red mill - I buy it in bulk from amazon - much cheaper than the grocery store usually!)
1.5 c. grated colby cheese
1 chopped onion
1 t garlic powder
4-5 eggs
a couple of shakes of worcestire sauce
1 pkg. (1.5 oz) pot roast seasoning

Mix everything together and form into balls (I get about 35 1" balls) and brown in a pan before baking for 20 minutes at 350.

I make a simple gravy from onion soup mix, low sodium/low fat cream of mushroom soup and water to pour over them while they bake but like I said, you could easily substitute these into any other recipe that calls for meatballs.

sharing of a crafty nature

I went perusing my blog last night at some older (I mean baby Zack era) posts and got all verklempt. I simply love that glimpse of what our life was like in past years. So why is this so hard for me to continue? I'm trying, really. And seriously, I HATE visiting favorite blogs and seeing all of the "sorry for the lack of blogging, I'll try harder" posts. Just DO it - don't tell me about it. But here I am doing it. More as a reminder to myself that anything.

So, digging into the photo archives, I thought I'd share a couple of things I made for Christmas...since the gifts have been gifted and the photos taken :)

First up, some yarn that I dyed for my mom. In *my* favorite colors - green with just a hint of blue. I'm dying to see what it looks like knitted up (go mom, go!)

And a shawl knit for my aunt/best buddy Jaimie...in the softest tweed imaginable.

And a scarf for my grandma.

I feel like I'm forgetting something but my photo editing mojo is kaput for now so, we'll call it good :) Have a great Tuesday!

so, to sum up

We're halfway through the first month of the new year. Just like that.

Over the past month we've had flu and earaches galore and sinus issues and a finger lancing [blurgh] and lots of fights and lots more good times. We've lost a first tooth (and promptly swallowed it...don't worry, there are two quickly following the brave leader) and spent a very first night away from home and mommy and daddy (she did wonderfully well and asked daily to spend the night at grandma and grandpa's AGAIN.) We have karate (ahem, pardon, Tae Kwon Do) and tennis lessons and daily homework x2. We're picking up speed and I'm fairly certain I don't really like it.

I've tackled 365 and amazingly enough, am 14/14 so far (go me!)

I still love parentheses and ellipses.

I still have lots of weird and random thoughts but have yet to stumble upon the formula that allows me to share them here on a regular basis.

Once again, it's January which means I have a serious boner for purging and organizing. (that word still makes me giggle like a 12 year old. sorry I'm not as sophisticated as I may appear :p)

I'm still knitting and occasionally sewing and reading lots and scrapbooking once in awhile (pretty much all digital now...that stash of scrapbooking goodies is high on the purge list in lieu of the yarn and fabric stashes which sadly, can't be stored on a hard drive.)

Me and my camera were on a break for awhile when it was out of commission with a serious case of broken-shutteritis and now, even a month or so after reuniting, we still haven't rediscovered that comfortable groove we inhabited once upon a time. So, my photos have a heavy tendency to be blurry and over/underexposed and there is just only so much our therapist, Photoshop Elements, can do to help us out. I'm wondering if the super talented Allison will be able to permanently resolve our intimacy issues and allow us to be comfortable together once again.

So, just saying hi to the blog.


(I do have other kids too but I so rarely see them during the daylight hours - oh, and this one is a ham!)

my girl

We get to have a lot of good one-on-one time now that both boys are in school.

Some days, we get together a handful of times throughout the day and read or play for a bit and then she returns to the trucks and pencils and books that occupy the rest of her time.

Some days, she's a little leach firmly attached at the hip for the majority of the day.

Some days she takes naps...others she doesn't.

Some days, we spend the morning running errands and going to the library and grabbing a coffee and a milk.

Some days, she wears her PJ's all day (and makes me jealous that I can't do the same.)

She loves to sing Christmas carols, Big Time Rush and Queen.

She likes to count...1-2 and 7-8-9.

She dances unbelievably awesome.

She colors in the lines (ok, and also on the furniture and walls but we're working on it.)

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse + Dora + Elmo + Thomas = winners.

Dislikes diaper changes (yes, still.)

Talks in full on sentences that blow my mind.

The other day, I marveled at the fact that in every child's life, you start by measuring their development by all their "firsts." And then, at some unknown point, you look around and realize it's really all the "lasts" that you missed that act as subtle reminders of how fast they are growing and changing. When did we stop closing the bathroom doors? When did we stop putting the garbage up high so she couldn't dig for treasure? When did we stop closing the baby gate at the top of the stairs?

OK, sappiness over I've got work to do and a baby to play with.

Later, friends!

my counter kicks ass

A completely unintended benefit of the new island and countertop we added a couple of weeks ago: wrapping presents! Just a big, open space for spreading out and getting crafty. No more backaches wrapping presents on the floor or bed. Both of the boys share a downstairs bedroom so I have lots of recovery time if I hear one of them up and about while I'm wrapping. I wrapped all 24 holiday books in under an hour (ps, Target $1 spot wrapping paper is PERFECT for this)

I was already happy with our little mini reno but now I'm in love.

Aren't you glad I'm back with these thought-provoking posts?

sweaters and sneakers

The other day, Izzy laid in bed with me and watched Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. I was glad to have an excuse to watch it and the boys never would have watched for so long or with such intensity.

God, it was cheesy. But I couldn't stop smiling...not for even one second. I loved a lot of shows as a kid. I think maybe Captain Kangaroo and Pee Wee's Playhouse ranked right up there as well but Mr Rogers was the best. And still is.

I can't think of any other show that was so gentle. That taught respect and a desire for knowledge and neighborliness in such a thoughtful way.

The one we watched though had a Big Bird mention...how could I have watched so many episodes of MRN and never noticed the Sesame Street Crossover?

My Fred Rogers love renewed, I just added this to my reading list. I think everyone should read it :)

So, it's been almost exactly a year since I updated this thing.

A lot has changed. Even more has stayed the same.

I've been thinking for awhile about coming back to it. Composing posts in my head but never putting pen to paper as it were.

Then today, as I went about my day, I had this overwhelming sense of deja vu. I popped over to the blog and it all made sense looking at my last post. So, it was obvious to me that this would be the day that I made an attempt to revive some semi-regular updating.

LAUNDRY...NEVER ENDING | RAKING LEAVES | WORK MUSIC

THE LONG AWAITED RELEASE (WHICH WAS READ AFTER SCHOOL COVER TO COVER) | WAITING FOR SCHOOL TO LET OUT
DINNER...YUP | SILLY IZZY IN THE BATH | PENSIVE IZZY IN THE BATH
POTTY TRAINING | CHECKING HOMEWORK FOLDERS | THE NIGHTLY RITUAL

Maybe it was the gorgeous fall day; far too lovely for early to mid November. Maybe it was the pinch as blisters set into my hands. Maybe it's because a couple of weeks ago, I picked up that brown sweater that I'd started last fall (intent on finishing AND wearing this Thanksgiving!)

Whatever it was, nostalgia brought me back. And all of the coincidences that led me back, also made me decide immediately that DQ for dinner was an absolute.

Maybe tomorrow, I'll think about updating that banner, huh?

saturday in pictures

I so rock at this blogging thing.

• a couple of people asked about how I made these fabric pinwheels
  for Izzy's birthday. seriously, they were so half-assed but it's cute fabric and a pinwheel - how could I go wrong? I was going to try to cobble together some sort of tutorial but I haven't had the sewing machine out once since the party soooo, I stumbled on this tutorial and I haven't looked at it but I'm positive it's 1000% more thorough than anything I could come up with so check it out if you're interested!
• YAY. I bookmarked her work forever ago and even made my own yarn wreath last year...this year though, it'll be much better thanks to this tutorial!
• and if I make one of those, I'm going to need one of these
  as well.
• I bookmarked this tutorial
  awhile ago and want to make it badly but I still haven't figured out where to put it. If I have to, I'll put it in the damn laundry room.
• I made this recipe that Rebecca shared. Make it. Now. So delicious. I just made sauteed onions and brown rice rather than the green rice and we wrapped it all in a tortilla. YUM.
• I'm obsessed over this blog. I keep going back and studying all the details. So cool.
• Halloween was a success even though I completely wussed out on the preparations...store-bought costumes, no pumpkin carving (though we did make it to the pumpkin patch in mid-October) and no decorations. The kids could not possibly have cared less about all the stuff I *didn't* do though. Star Wars costumes + candy out the ears makes them happy. Izzy and I shared a box of Nerds while C took the boys out.

OK, there was more but I started this post more than 24 hours ago so that's all you get for now :p

Peace.

september 29: made me happy this morning :)

september 25: having a baby girl flipped my long forgotten estrogen switch

september 24: fuzzy fo