Saturday, September 29, 2007

Scattergories

I got this from fellow Ravenclaw blogger (and great human being!) Nelia.

Some of these were hard for me! I tried to make them about me as much as I could (see Occupation).

Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following...they have to be real places, names, things...nothing made up! You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question. Good Luck!

  • What is your name?: Hettie (Heather)
  • TV show: How to Boil Water
  • 4 letter word: Hook
  • Boys name: Henry
  • Vehicle: Honda
  • Occupation: Hasher
  • City: Hana
  • Girls Name: Holly
  • Something you shout: Help!
  • Drink: Hot Tea
  • Something you wear: Hat
  • Celebrity: Hank Azaria
  • Food: Hershey’s Kisses (you knew chocolate would come in somewhere!)
  • Something found in a bathroom: Hairbrush
  • Reason for Being Late: Holiday traffic
  • Cartoon Character: Hulk!

Anyone who wishes to do this, feel free and let me know so I can see your list!

Monday, September 17, 2007

Monday Afternoon Randomness & Catch-up

Just a quick blog full of photos more than words since I'm still recovering from my lame umbrella lever hand slicing accident! (Sliced open my right palm... ooowwwwy!) It is only about 1 1/2 inches long, but where it is is what is causing all the fuss... (if you're squeamish... don't look!)

What have we been up to?

Ocean impression by Em. These are some rocks and shells we collected on our trip to Leo Carillo Beach. We also stacked rocks, examined hermit crabs... made shawls out of seaweed and watching a surfing competition. Excellent fun!

After trashing my hand, Em was kind enough to peel the potatoes and carrots for Beef Stew. He is a natural and went on to do cucumbers also. Apples will be his next accomplishment for Thanksgiving pies I think.

When my hand is a little better, I'll have lots of Halloween goodies, trivia, pumpkin drawings and more!!

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

11 a.m. in the back yard

Nothing exciting... just a pic of my wee ones this morning. I love the look they're giving me!
Enjoy your day!

Sunday, September 9, 2007

Lists of Fives

Anyone who wants to do this, feel free... it's a fun way to get to know you!

5 jobs I've had:
1. Ice Cream Scooper
2. Pastry maker
3. Customer Service rep for Bank of America
4. Manager of a hair replacement salon
5. Laptop Support Office Manager

5 movies I can watch over and over:
1. Raise the Red Lantern
2. Princess Bride
3. All About Eve
4. Singing in the Rain
5. Scrooged

5 TV shows I love:
1. Top Chef
2. Heroes
3. Twilight Zone
4. CSI (the original one)
5. Good Eats with Alton Brown

5 of my favorite dishes:
1. My hubby's enchiladas
2. Homemade pizza
3. A giant salad with shredded chicken and homemade balsamic dressing with crusty bread on the side to dip into the dressing and an iced tea.
4. Is chocolate a dish? Chocolate in any way without nuts!
5. Sauteed mushrooms

5 places I've vacationed:
1. Carmel, CA
2. Wellesley, MA
3. Maui, HI
4. Guadlajara, Mexico
5. Kerry, Ireland

5 celebrities I wanted to marry when I grew up:
1. Andrew Ridgeley from Wham (age 12)
2. John Taylor from Duran Duran (age 13)
3., 4., 5. (can't think of any more)

5 sites I visit almost daily:
1. My email
2. Homeschooling site
3. Stumble
4. Simple Living
5. Epicurious

5 places I would rather be now:
1. On a peaceful planet
2. On an ecologically balanced planet
3. Sleeping
4. Visiting with family and friends
5. Crafting something

Friday, September 7, 2007

A favorite book

I received the book "You are my I Love You" by Maryann Cusimano (and beautifully illustrated by Satomi Ichikawa) as a baby shower gift for my first munchkin. It is a soothing, loving, wonderful book about a baby bear and dad (but it could be a mom too!) that starts out "I am your parent; you are my child. I am your quiet place; you are my wild."

And it continues throughout their day all the way past a dry towel and a wet bath... to the ending of... "I am your good-night kiss; you are my I love you."

I have read this book with my eldest over 300 times and now with my youngest over 100 times and I never get tired of it! Maybe it is that I really feel the love and emotion in the words of this book... maybe it is that I feel the love for my child... I don't know. But I thought I'd share it with you all.

What books do you or your munchkins love to read over and over again? Please share with me!

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Watering...

I cannot remember when, but some time ago, I read on my blog-friend Shereen's site about putting a bucket in the shower to catch the water that would usually go down the drain and using it for things like watering the plants. I'm talking about the clean, non-soapy water that passes you while standing in the shower... or you know what I mean!

Anyway, I thought that was such a cool and easy green idea! Since we've been having record breaking heat here in Los Angeles, our newly planted gardenia bushes are suffering a bit... so a little extra water would be nice for them. Em saw the bucket filled with water from my morning shower and asked me what it was for. The "reduce, reuse, recycle" motto is very well understood by him, so I explained that rather than waste the water, we were going to reuse it to give the plants a drink... he was immediately excited and jumping up and down and wanting to go out now now now to give the plants the water. "They're thirsty Mom!" he said to me. How could I refuse?



So out we went in PJ's and all to the front door and quenched the thirst of the three plants... he gave them each their share saying "here's some for you, and some for you and some for you" with a big grin on his face!

Just a fun moment to share. Thanks Shereen for the idea! I now keep a bucket in the shower to catch the water but also as an indicator of how long I've been in there.

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Pretty green scarf (and 1st day of school!)

I think 2/3 of the people on my holiday list will be getting scarves this year! It's a great way for me to master new stitches as well as use up the delicious yarn stash I've accumulated in the past few months... and of course, best of all, I get to give something personally made with love for each recipient of such an item.


This is a scarf I made for my mom. The yarn is a little scratchy, so I made it more of a stylish accessory than a keep-you-warm type of scarf. With my mom's red hair, these colors will stand out nicely on her I think. They yarn is from Italy and called Gedifra Fiocco (2005 collection #4072) and has a slight mermaid sheen to it. I crocheted horizontally single, single, half double half double and repeat until I got to 5 inches by 5 1/2 feet long (petite mom) and then added a 5x1 shell edge to give it a little ruffle.

The next scarf is for my munchkin and his love of orange. I was at a 50% off sale on Saturday and Em picked this pretty orange yarn... super soft! But, I have no idea what it is and there was only one skein, so I'll be making him a scarf and hat with this and some funky black yarn from my stash. I'm going to try to add either some bobbles or puffs to give it a bit of character.


I'm off to get Em ready for his first day of homeschool! Since this month is Child's Safety month, we'll be working on safety lessons --knowing how to dial, phone numbers, scissor care, kitchen care, etc. Also, our field trip this week will be to Leo Carillo Beach (named after the conservationist) to visit the tidepools and work on observation and counting.