Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Roles

I thought I'd give you some insight into Butter's Humor. He's a pretty funny guy, likes to make himself laugh (gets that from his mom) and often makes adults laugh. We had a dinner with friends and one of the boy's name is Dash. Butters was saying goodbye and he said, "Bye, Dash Potato!" This got big laughs, b/c it sounds like mashed potato and now Butters calls everyone a potato. If you call him one, he wrinkles his brow, "Hey, I'm not a potato!" He also woke up the other morning singing, "The itsy bitsy spider, climbed up the giant meatball!"




The other day we were hugging and he told me I was like his bed, "You are like my bed, mama." "That's so sweet, is it because I'm warm and cozy and I keep you safe?" "No, because this" he pushes his hand into the rolls of my stomach, "feels like my pillow!" Hmmmm, are you sure it doesn't feel like six pack?






The Other One has been rolling all over the floor. I'll put her on her belly and turn my back and she's rolled over several times and moved about 6 feet across the floor. She's got the hang of eating now and has had pears, apples, sweet potato, carrot, yogurt, banana and tomorrow we'll try avocado. I made a batch of baby food over the weekend, I promised myself I'd try not to do more for the first than for the second. I scooped out sections of sweet potato in between bath and bedtime and everything else, but it got done!

Okay, one last role-my role as a mom. Today, Butters and I made cookies. We usually bake something every week. These were from teff flour. It's an ancient Ethiopian grain that is super high in protein and iron, Husband made injera bread once and we had lots of teff remaining, he made a whole spread it was very impressive. Ever since then, teff flour has been falling out of my freezer, so I saw this easy recipe and we made this up quickly. Butters helped with every step, including licking the bowl, the spoon, the dough and the baking sheet.

My friends and I have been talking about preschools and homeschooling, someone asked me if I teach Butters anything and I shrugged it off, like, no, not really. I think women tend to diminish their work at times. *Unless you are Monica's ex-boyfriend's wife! But, actually, I'm constantly teaching him. I'm trying to teach him things that he won't see yet in school. We watch birds at the bird feeder, I don't tell him bird starts with the letter B. I ask him if this bird looks different from the others. How are the smaller ones getting the bird seed? Do they have the same beaks, etc etc. I'm also teaching him how to meet new people, how to hold scissors, Bernoulli's principle, why you shouldn't eat dirt, don't lick the window, blah blah blah. I also let him play and just have fun.

The cookies today gave me a chance to teach him something very important in life. How to dunk your cookie in milk!


Recipe for vegan Teff Peanut Butter Cookies (from Bob's Red Mill):


Turn oven to 350. Mix 1.5 c teff flour and .5 tsp sea salt, set aside. Blend 1/2 c maple syrup, 1/2 oil, 1 tsp vanilla, and 1 c peanut butter. Add in dry ingredients. Roll into balls, use a fork to press down. Bake for 15 minutes. They are a little crumbly but super high in iron!

Friday, April 18, 2008

I'm just so cute



why don't my aunts visit me more?

Snow in April!

The snow started falling during preschool today, about noon, it still hasn't stopped. At least 3 inches already. It's looking wet, probably won't last the night. We are all enjoying it in different ways.
Some of us watched from the window.








Some of us ran around crazy-like.







Some of us just did what we would be doing if the sun was out like it should be in mid-April!







Meanwhile, my family in the mid-west experienced an earthquake! If you still don't believe our actions are changing the climate...then go ahead and vote for McCain.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Crafy Update


Time for an update on all things crafty! After finishing Friend's sweater, I felt lost, like after you finish a good book-I had nothing fun on the needles. I few project floating about, but nothing big. Not even a pair of socks. That problem has been remedied.
I sewed a bill holder from vintage fabrics of my grandmothers. I made button holes on the top, this was fun on scrap fabric until it didn't work on the real thing! I also learned a lesson called, 'Why you should put a hot iron on a plastic pin head.' But, I think my aunt should at least be impressed that I did press the fabric first!





A friend gave me some cotton yarn, she's given up on learning to knit (poor soul). So, I made an ugly shopping/beach bag for her! I looked at a number of patterns, but they involved seaming, ugh! Why would you sew lace??? So, this is a round cast on, yarn overs, button holes for the handles and an i-cord bind off, made up as I knit. I think I'll do another with a lace pattern.







Socks for JAD, since she loves my blog. They look like a mess, it's 2 socks on one long needle, knitted at the same time. Very fun. I'm liking this method, both socks will be the same size and done at the same time.







Casted on for Lotus, a tank top for ME. Hoping to finish this for the summer, if the warm weather ever comes back. I'm using Frog Tree, a cotton silk blend that got BELOW WHOLESALE. Sweet. This is more complicated, I'll work on it in the passenger seat on car rides and at night when no one is on my lap.




And finally, a craft by Butters. These are rock people. I saw a rock people craft kit for sale and figured out a much cheaper way to do it!

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

You Just Never Know

We spent nearly 4 hours at the Pacific Science Center with my friend from San Fran. We had a blast: Dinosaurs that move and growl, helicopters to fly, a tide pool with animals to touch, butterflies that you can watch as their tongues lick fruit and even emerge from cocoons. We tried to smash glass with a bowling ball, we saw how a toilet flushes, we looked at crazy mirrors, saw a giant talking fly. We drove all the way into the city and saw the colorful inhabitants of Capital hill and the space needle. After all this, what does butters tell his dad we did?






"Mommy got a coffee and I got a chocolate pudding." T asked me if we were at Starbucks all day.


PS. Sorry if my last post was a little odd. It's hard to have coherent thoughts these days. I'll stick to cute photos and short stories!

Friday, April 11, 2008

Shoe Store Story

We did a lot this week and I'm tired (pronounced as in Loretta Lynn's famous rhyme-"....cuz we worked hard. At night we sleep, 'cuz we were tired.) I think I forgot how to have fun, sometimes I get so stressed out trying to get everything together. I should be having fun, I'm at the zoo with two great kids, friends and it's a nice day out and I'm not at work, but I guess I have to have some stress in my life or I create it. Still, our week was pretty full: I took Butters to the Y for a swim with just the two of us (Baby E was in the child watch). We met up with friends at the Zoo and Jump Planet, had school, ran a thousand errands and finally, bought some summer shoes.

Butters was an excellent shopper, he has excellent taste in women's shoes. Unfortunately, that's what he kept selecting for himself! I like to say that he has no gender issues (a quote from an old friend in San Francisco, who would also say, 'gayly forward' instead of 'straight ahead,' one of my other favs. Back to my story...) I show Butters his size and let him look at the shoes, which are a mix of boys and girls. "I like these!" He's holding black patent leather shoes with a rhinestone buckle. "Okaaaay, weeeeelll, those are for more dressing up and you need some summer shoes." "These are cool," he says. This time, he's holding ballet flats covered in multicolor glitter. I told him those wouldn't hold up well at the beach and pointed him towards the Lightning McQueen car sandals that light up.


The thing is, I'd be overjoyed and extremely proud if he did decide to be gay (hopefully by that time I can see him get married and still get some grandkids. Half my family just rolled over in their graves or rolled their eyes right then!) But, I don't want him to be teased. I didn't want to stiffle him, black patent mary janes are not the best for the summer! I never said, those are for girls or these are for boys, but I did feel like I encouraged the more masculine choice and afterall, he is, in fact, a boy. But if sparkly shoes would make him happier, maybe I should let him have a pair. In the end, we got the McQueens and he loves them. I got some black semi-dressy shoes and Baby E got a pair that will make Drandma D very proud (you can see them in the photo, don't make fun of my pants!) And I suppose I can say Butters has no gender issues, but other people in this world still do and I don't want him to be unhappy from their reactions, we do need to show our faces in Kentucky this summer!

Thursday, April 10, 2008

So Big

and yet, so little in that high chair. Starting to get the hang of eating, hoping she'll get the hang of sleeping a little better!












Went to the zoo today!

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Happy Birthday, Friend!

I finished the sweater for Friend! There are a number of reasons why this is the perfect sweater for her and why you should take the time to hand knit!

1. It's made from ecologically friendly wool-Cascade Eco, in a dark chocolate brown. She's vegan, so this isn't a milk chocolate color.
2. I made waves of ocean blue color work in the top section to remind her of the ocean. The blue yarn is Manos, made by a women's co-operative in Uruguay.
3. It's long, just like we are.
4. It's a sweater. Friend lives in Maui and is trying to decide where to go next, I'm trying to convince her to move closer to me! She'll need the sweater here.
I made a vegan cookie cake and we celebrated her birthday with friends from Senegal. Butters got to eat on the floor in the traditional style, but it was a little too distracting to sit still. He played well with his new friends. We drank hibiscus juice and enjoyed peanut sauce and black eyed peas. They are pretending to eat the cake in this photo!

It's rainy this week, we are off to go for a swim at the Y.

Friday, April 4, 2008

Tulip Fest

There are amazing fields of color which are about to explode about 20 miles north of us, the Skagit County Tulip Festival.

Right now, though, the mud is waiting to deliver tulips, but it was worth to drive up with my friend and see the daffodils. I'll never forget that shade of yellow as long as I live! I'll also never forget how muddy Butter's pants were, he slipped and fell. (I had spare clothes, Friend was impressed at my Momness.) I'm breaking a unwritten rule-wearing 2 hand knitted items, but if Zimmerman can do it, so can I!
We also visited Cow Town, which has cornered the marketing business. It sounded so nice, A 104 year old barn where you can touch the animals-pet baby cows, bunnies, cats, etc. The kittens had eye infections and the place was stanky. They wrote in their brochure, "An enclosed water fowl aviary." Read: chicken wire and some ducks. Butters walked right up to the full grown cow, he's not afraid of anything, I hated asking him not to touch anything, so we just washed his hands really well after. We fed a potato to the cow, I was squealing and acting like a total city girl, but did you know a cows tongue is nearly 2 feet long! And practically prehensile! I got some funny video on that one.
We've had some sunny weather, which allowed Baby E to put her feet in the grass and the sun for the first time. With Butters I probably would have put sunscreen on him for the 5 minutes it took to get a non-moving foot pic, but with her, I'm a little more relaxed!
We'll go back north to see the tulips later this month, but this time we'll bring boots.

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Socks, done


I finished a pair of socks for Butters, they'll fit him next winter!








I used leftover yarn from the socks I made his grandpa for Christmas. This is how much yarn I had after 4 total socks. I was holding my breath! I can't believe I made it. For my non-knitting friends out there, this is like having 1 second left on your cd when you burn a mix. Or, finishing up a seam and using the last of your bobbin thread. Pulling into the gas station on empty. Yeah, that close! I thought I was going to have to give it a different colored toe, I don't like to undo knitting. Next up on these same needles, a pair of socks for JAD, who is a huge fan of NKOTB and their reunion! I can't believe I lost my voice over those guys...

A special shout out to my lovely canine model. Get outside and enjoy the sun, everyone!

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

I Scream

Butters said he had a sore throat. He made ice cream with fresh strawberries with Daddy and we put some in Popsicle molds. The pain was gone! (P. Mookie, I know how you like how he always has food on his chin, so this post is for you. Fuzzy head Baby E photos are coming soon.)