Fernandes--Party of Five

Keepin' busy

2010-09-13T19:42:00.000-07:00

Now that Sofia's in school, me and the boys have found new ways to entertain ourselves.... Don't judge.

We're expanding our family!

2010-09-02T15:15:00.000-07:00

We have a new honorary member of the family. You see, there's this cat. He just showed up one day, and refused to leave. I told the children in no-uncertain terms that we would NOT be feeding him. Filipe's very allergic to cats, so indoors is out, while the HOA does not allow for outdoor cats. So the cat would just have to leave.

Well, he didn't. We went for probably three weeks with no feeding. He subsisted on at least one bird and perhaps a bunch of lizards. When it became very obvious that he intended to stay, Filipe bought him some food. So how he's kind of our cat. I intended not to name him either, but the kids did that before I had the chance to put the kibosh on it. So, without further ado, allow me to introduce,

Catback!

You like the name? Sofia came up with it. She said that's his name because he's a cat, and he keeps coming back. So catback it is.

As a side note, if anyone locally is looking for a VERY friendly VERY tolerant cat (imagine the kids dumping mulch on his head, and he just looks around), let me know. We technically can't keep him, but I'm telling anyone who asks that he's not ours.

Little Drummer Boy

2010-08-18T06:50:00.000-07:00

Thank you, craigslist. Now my intensely obsessed Ben can drum to his hearts content. And I can turn down the volume! I'm hoping that it will save my mixing bowls some wear-and-tear.

I believe in miracles!

2010-08-16T16:42:00.000-07:00

So I finally bought a new camera. Nothing fancy, but lightyears better than what I had. One whose flash works (miracle!) So to get back in the groove, here's our day today:

We had our friend Kylie over for an all-day playdate, and found out it's her birthday! We picked up some cupcake mix & frosting from the store, invited some friends over for a little party.

Sofia had a great time playing dress up

And by the end of the day, had made a friend.

On the Move.....

2010-04-04T06:16:00.001-07:00

I know it's been FOR-EVA since I've blogged, and to my two faithful readers who have noticed, my apologies. The short version is that we have been getting the house prepped to put on the market tomorrow. Yes, we are going to (try to) sell our house, in an effort to downsize our life a bit. Just a re-ordering of priorities. We had the photographer/videographer come over to our (miraculously clean) house for a photo session on Friday, and I'll be able to share the pics with you tomorrow, I think, when we go live. So until then....

For every action....

2010-02-11T12:37:00.000-08:00

There is an equal and opposite reaction.

This afternoon I got the rare inspiration to get the kitchen cleaned up. Not spotless, mind you, as evidenced by the dishes in the sink, but I got all the counters wiped down, the dishwasher running, and even swept and mopped the floor.

Now before you start to feel jealous, or have the undeniable urge to title me Domestic Queen of the Universe, let me show you the equal and opposite reaction happening upstairs.

This is the symbiotic relationship we have.... I clean all day, the kids destroy all day. If it weren't for them destroying, I wouldn't have to clean. If I didn't clean, they would have no inspiration to destroy. The cleanest room is the most enticing. Punks.

Split personality ahead....

2010-01-14T09:12:00.000-08:00

So I've decided to divide myself. Oh yes. This blog, Party of Five, is going to be reserved for my family-type postings. All of my crafty business (such as it is) will now be posted on the other side, Crafty Like a Fawn. You can catch my first crafty posting about my dresser re-do, over there right now.

I'll have links to both sides, but feel free to check both out :) thanks, ya'll, and peace!

Grandbaby alert!

2010-01-13T20:21:00.000-08:00

I've been getting complaints from a certain Grandmother that there is a lack of pictures on my children lately. So, so satisfy her-who-will-remain-nameless, here's some loveliness for you....

Sam:

Sofia on the run....

Sofia at her Children's Choir Christmas program:

A backseat photoshoot with the boys, Sam:

Ben:

Sam:

Ben:

Just keeping it real, ya'll....

Almost too big for a ride on the Daddy Horse...

Game Night....

Ben contemplating his next move....

Sam's dealin'

Chistmas Eve dinner

In the Christmas PJs

Sam loves his Jelly Belly ball

The kids playing their new (to us!) V-Tech game from our friend Ivanir

Ben:

Sam:

Sissy Sue

Bathroom update

2010-01-13T19:23:00.000-08:00

So this has been a long time in coming. When we first moved into this 1990 house, the kitchen had been updated nicely, but the bathrooms, not so much. The kids' bathroom was wallpapered in blue country floral, and the floor was dingy, yellowing sheet vinyl flooring.

The cabinets were that pink-toned light colored oak or something.....

I had already repainted the doors from that nasty contractor beige to a nice crisp white, and changed the door handles from brass ugliness to satin nickel.

We had also already replaced the toilet with a two-stage-flush water conservor (that we got free--yes, free!--from our water company. You never know what you'll find on your utilities' websites in the rebate section. We scored two really nice toilets. Love it!) but still had those rental-quality towel bars.

Oh, and the yellowed plexiglass under the light fixtures has cracked, so we just had a gaping hole there for a couple of years.

Yuck. The masterbath was also papered, a nice pink something-or-the-other, and when we (tried) to take it down, it was awful. They had not sized the wallpaper, and had put it up directly on the drywall. So that came off in chunks. Nice. I did not want to go through that with this one, so I researched painting over wallpaper. Not ideal, but best under the circumstances.

I ended up priming with an oil-based primer (didn't really like it, I hate cleaning with mineral spirits. It was also very thin to apply). I did this because if you use a water-based primer, it could at some point loosen the wallpaper underneath, and then you'll have peeling, painted wallpaper coming down on you in the shower. Not fun.

I then painted two coats of Oops! paint from Lowes. After I stood back and looked at it, I hated it. I had gone from 1990 floral blue to 1993 Florida peach. On the can, it had looked more brown, but no such luck on the walls. I tried to live with it, really I did. For several weeks. I couldn't take it any more. I didn't have any budget left for real paint, so off to the shed I went. I found a lovely gallon of partially used tan left over from another part of the house... not peach, this time! I painted the cabinets dark brown, and voila!

You can see that I also framed out the plate mirror.

A fun new shower curtain

And because I believe that every member of the family should contribute to household projects, Sofia did the tiling ......

Didn't she do a great job??

Linking to Transformation Thursday at Shabby Chic Cottage

A sneaky peaky....

2009-12-28T14:19:00.000-08:00

Got tired of my blushing pink bedroom. When I saw two gallons of oops paint at Lowes, I grabed 'em. Here's a peak, because the room isn't exactly clean yet.

Oh, and I lack curtains. And bedding.

All in good time....

The Lumps Don't Lie....

2009-12-25T11:23:00.000-08:00

Santa knows me better than anyone...

And I got not one, but TWO lumps of coal in my stocking.

Fortunately for me, Santa must have been feeling sympathetic this year, because he tempered that bad news with a Lowe's gift card.

I guess Santa really does know me best after all.

From floral to festive in one fell swoop

2009-12-07T13:41:00.000-08:00

Remember when I did my botanical wall in the living room? Love it! Looks so pretty with those natural prints.... but definitely not Christmasy. It stood out like a weed with all the other decorations around. But I didn't want to take them down after all that hard work. And there's also those nine nails in the wall to think about. So what to do?

Make it Christmas! After careful calculations, I determined that "Christmas" has exactly nine letters in it. Don't ask me how I figured it out, it's complicated. You'll have to take my word for it. Originally, I was going to buy some scrapbook paper, but when I was at Target, I found these delightful rolls of fun wrapping paper in the dollar spot. So I bought a bunch of those, put them with some I had on hand already, and was ready to roll.

I printed out the letters to make a stencil on Word. I used Courier New, because it was easy, fun shapes.

I then traced the letters on the back of different wrapping paper, cut them out, and glued them on contrasting paper. Easy!

Now my wall looks like it belongs to the festive room!

Linking to Trash to Treasure on Reinvented

Not as dramatic as planned.

2009-12-06T11:15:00.000-08:00

I found this fabulous chair at Goodwill the other day marked $6.99. I grabbed that sucker and hauled it around the store with me, not trusting its fate to the hands of another. My original plan was to sand & paint it black (surprise!) and reupholster it with the black & white damask from my laundry room. But as I ran my hands over it, feeling for rough spots I would need to fill in, the chair almost cried in my palm. You see, the wood was lovely. Not in perfect condition, mind you, but so rich & good. I know I like my spray paint, but I have no illusions as to the profession nature of my abilities. I instinctively knew that by painting her, I would cheapen her. So I decided to leave the wood & just reupholster her.
I found my fabric today in the Red Tag Clearance bin at Joanns. $6/yard, and some quilting batting later, and this is what she looks like now:

So while she may not be the dramatic transformation I had planned, the colors actually look really nice in my neutral living room. Welcome home, little lady!

Laundry Room Makeover

2009-12-01T08:40:00.000-08:00

My husband doesn't understand--it's the Laundry Room, for cryin' out loud! Why bother making it look good? I'll tell you two reasons:
1. I spend a lot of time in there. Seriously, folks. Three little ones? I practically LIVE in the laundry room. And doing laundry every day is bad enough, I don't want to have to suffer it out in an ugly room.

2. The laundry room is small. With limited time and a more limited budget, it's hard to pull a whole room together. I don't know of any room in our house that I am fully satisfied with. But since I'm doing a very small room, it's a lot easier to get more of what I want done. And a disclaimer: I'm not completely finished. There are a couple of areas that I still need to work on, but it's a whole lot better!

So, without further ado, here's the way the laundry room started out:

Yes, have a good look at all that clutter--shoes and bags of clothes to share on the floor, my DIY supplies piled on the counter. Yikes. And take a lood at those cupboards! I do NOT love the pink wood. Ugh.

So I mentioned in this post that I didn't like my new coat rack blending in with the walls, so I decided to paint them. My color scheme was inspired by this wall art I picked up a while ago at Hobby Lobby, but never put up because it didn't match:

You can see my cabinets peeking out, can't you?

Okay, okay, here's the new look of the laundry room:

So a couple of things happened here. Obviously, I painted the walls & cabinets. The wall color is one that the previous owners had left in the shed, so it was obviously free. The cabinets was from a gallon of Ooops! that I had picked up from Lowes months ago for $3 because I loved the color. But since I'm generally a neutral (read: boring) decorator, I hadn't used it. But I LOVE it on the cabinets! The rugs were stolen from the master bath, and are not permanent, but I like the look for now.

You'll also notice the curtains:

I did buy that material specifically for that window. I bought a yard (way too much) for 50% at Joann's, I think it was about $13/yard. The curtain rod was left over from the boys' old room. I'm thinking of spray painting it black. In front of the window is a silver metal hang bar for clothes--hideous! I thought about taking it down, but there's also the wood supports on the side that would look odd all by themselves. So I used some of my extra fabric to make a little cover. I just sewed a long tube and slid it over. Didn't even hem the ends, just tucked them it. Awesome.

I also did the electical covers with more extra material:

I used Mod Podge and cover the light switch cover and two electrical outlets.

This is above the cabinets, and I'm not toally satisfied with it yet, but it's a start.

The birdcage is $3.99 from Goodwill, and started out like this:

The plate was $3 from Ross, and the plant was comandeered from elsewhere in the house. I don't like the plant up there, though. Looks a little too 90s for me. So that's a work in progress.

Also a work in progress is the lighting. Currently, there's this:

Beauuuuuty, Mate!

I'm thinking if anyone is interested in getting me a Christmas or birthday present, something like this might be nice:

But you know, whatever ;)

For your pleasure, here's a quick review.

Before:

And After:

Birthday lovin'

2009-11-23T15:12:00.000-08:00

My boys are three now. Okay, well they've actually been three for almost a week. You know how that goes. So here are my big, grown-up boys:

Sam, cheesin' it up for the camera

Ben, who won't stay still

Ben, King of Cradle Roll

Sam depositing his coins into the Sabbath School cake with the charming assistance of our own Miss Victoria.

My sweet boys, it's a miracle we've made it this far, and we've only called 911 once! I love you as a pair, but I love you so much more individually... despite your genetics, you are two distictly wonderful boys. Please make it to your fourth birthday ;)

nature's bountiful harvest

2009-11-22T13:05:00.000-08:00

We found a surprise in our sadly, sadly neglected garden.

Goodwill Rescue, Part III

2009-11-19T18:08:00.000-08:00

I wasn't planning on a part III, you know. I was so happy when I turned this

into this:

And now I can't get my copy to the left margin. Fantastic. I guess we're going verse style today.

Anyhoo.

I was very pleased with my pretty little coat rack. It's been very useful in the laudry room, too. Perfect for hanging the dress shirts and such right from the dryer.

The only complaint was that the lovely porcelain white color kind of blended in with the softly green walls. But what am I to do, repaint the walls a different color just so it stands out more? That's just crazy talk.

What I did was paint the laundry room walls, the cabinets, AND the coat rack, to make it stand out more.

I got skillz.

And I'm super excited with the result. But since I'm still trying to finish up the accessorizing of the laundry room, I'll give you a sneak peak, via the redux redo coat rack. Here she is, in all her cranberry glory:

We'll hopefully have full laundry pics soon!

I'm linking up to Transformation Thursday

Also linking to Mustard Seed Creations Before & After Party

So do I go to detention?

2009-11-10T07:03:00.000-08:00

I've been playing blogger-hooky. I've been working on the kids' bathroom, and I was going to post about that, but turns out I hated the color I painted it, so it got a re-paint. I still have to do the floor, and a few other little projects, then I will post some pictures.

Until then, I thought I'd show you just how unenthusiastic my kids are about taking photographs. They were all sitting on a bench I recovered (thank you, Goodwill!) when Sofia asked if I would take their picture. Since this never happens, I ran to grab my camera. Silly mommy thought that since she asked for the picture, she would pose for the picture. No such luck.

Yes, this is my three lovelies looking happy for the camera. No amount of begging, pleading, silly voices, or entreating would induce them to smile. But at least they sat there. And didn't cry. That's a step in the right direction.

I'm so happy, I could spit.

2009-10-06T21:36:00.000-07:00

Well, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, knowing how I detest body fluids. But I am very pleased with myself.

You can see in this picture that I have many blank, empty, LARGE walls in my living room. Actually, in my entire house, but that is not the point. The living room is where we hold our weekly vespers program, it's the first room you see when you walk into my house. And it's bare. I can't use the excuse that I'm still settling in, because we've lived here for 3 1/2 years. I'm just design-challenged.

But I finally decided to do something about it. It all started with this stack of frames:

Five of them I found at Goodwill for $.98 each. They had some 70s flower photos in them. Ugh. The bright orange and green ones used to hold alphabet cards that spelled the twins' names in their nursery. They've been sitting in my closet since the boys moved to their "big boy" room. So what am I going to do with all these odd frames? Spray paint them, of course! They turned out to be exactly the same size, even though the styles were slightly different.

So now I have a bunch of black frames. What do I do next? Wait for a few weeks for inspiration to strike, that's what. Finally I decided to do a patch of botanical prints. Problem was, I couldn't find any. I found a few free ones online, but our color printer got fried by some lightning the other night, and I didn't really want the hassle of printing them somewhere else. So I looked at Barnes & Noble for a botanical print book instead, you know, the coffee table kind.

No such luck. They didn't have anything to mention. Bummer. I looked around online for some books, but when you can't really look inside to see, I wans't going to risk not getting the full-size prints I needed for this project.

But today was my lucky day. I went out while Filipe was home on a conference call, and on my way to Borders, decided to stop by Half Price Books first. I went over to the Gardening section, and SCORE! found a reference book of wild flowers of America, with 400 full-color, full-page prints! Oh, I was in heaven. And better yet, the book was only $7.98!

The hard part was choosing which prints to use, although I suppose I can switch them out at will.

Anyways, I used a scalpel (yes, we have those around here) to cut out the pages I wanted, used one of the backings of the frame as a template to cut the picture to size, and got everyone lined up.

I took the pictures downstairs, got a big sheet of paper (really it was four sheets haphazardly taped together) and laid the frames out in their grid. I spaced the frames, measuring and squaring carefully, then traced around each frame. I then measured and marked where each of the hanging thingies goes. I found this method on this blog and it really worked well for me.

I then taped the paper grid to the wall, using a level to make sure it was all good.

That was the end of the hard part. Now I just tapped in my nails where I had marks, and hung my frames. They came out even! I was so excited.

And now I'm in the process of rearranging the furniture in the living room. I just can't leave well enough alone. But I am happy with this project because it was very difficult finding large art to go on this wall, and because this project was so awesomely cheap-- a grand total of $15.68. Can't beat that, folks.

And now I've finished rearranging the furniture, so here's a view of the room now:

looking from the dining room....

looking from the front door....

Yes, I think I'm one step closer to that homey living room I'm going for. Now I need some valances or something, maybe. And a few end tables. And maybe another soft chair. Yeah, that ought to do it.

I'm also participating in Transformation Thursday on The Shabby Chic Cottage

Happy Anniversary,

2009-10-05T16:43:00.000-07:00

My Love.

You know what I like ;)

Happy Half-Dozen.

An odd sensation....

2009-10-01T06:30:00.000-07:00

So I happened to find a link of my Goodwill headboard rehab to a blog in Instanbul. Thanks for the link! But let me tell you, it is the strangest thing to see your projects featured in another language. I kind of wish I knew what they were saying.... anyone here translate whatever language they speak in Istanbul?

Honest Scrap Award!

2009-09-25T11:49:00.000-07:00

Sarah over at Chickie Momma Crafts bestowed this honor on me this week! She does some great dresser makeovers--I'm always excited to see what she's done next! I'm a bit baffled that she would consider my blog inspirational, but thank you for this honor!

Here's how the Honest Scrap Award works:

1. Say thanks and give a link to the presenter of the award.
2. Share 10 "honest things" about myself.
3. Present this award to 7 others whose blogs I find brilliant in content or design, or those who have encouraged me.
4. Tell those 7 people they've been awarded Honest Scrap and inform them of these guidelines (consider yourself informed!).

Now, for the 10 honest things about myself.....

10. I love paying bills & balancing the checkbook (assuming there's enough money!)
9. I have moved ten times, not including between apartments to houses in the same city.
8. I'm not a very good long-distance friend.
7. I like to bake... muffins, quick-breads, brownies, fudge, pie, cake... you get the idea. But I rarely eat what I've baked (does that frighten anyone else but me?)
6. I have never tasted alcohol.
5. I have three small children, including a set of twin boys, and sometimes they really drive me nuts.
4. In heaven, I am going to have a beautiful singing voice. I just know it.
3. I married my first and only boyfriend (6 years next month!)
2. I have never had a career objective. Still don't.
1. I am very passive agressive... just ask my husband!

Thanks for muddling through all that! And now, difficult as it is to choose.... here are the 7 fellow bloggers I am inspired by!

The Nester at Nesting Place
Deanna at Just Deanna
Jessy at Mou, Ye, and Other Thilly Sings
Amanda at Imperfectly Beautiful
Serena at Nap Time Crafts
Dana at Made
Megs at She Wasn't Pretty

Thanks, ya'll!

My first feature!

2009-09-24T10:11:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Someday Crafts for featuring my headboard laundry rack this week! She finds some of the cutest stuff to post on her blog... gives me lots of inspiration!

Goodwill rescue, Part II

2009-09-23T21:15:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally decided the fate of my ugly Goodwill headboard.

I thought for a while to use it in my new guest room/sewing room as an actual headboard, but I just wasn't digging the idea. So, when I saw this post on Centsational Girl, I knew this was the answer. I have been needing something to hang the dress shirts and stuff that comes out the dryer before I take it upstair to hang in the closet. Perfect fit! And this solution also has enough hooks to put the kids coats on, too. I'm so pleased with how it turned out. For a recap, here's how it goes:

Find cheap, ugly headboard at Goodwill.
Avoid husband's glowering looks as to why you would buy a cheap, ugly headboard at Goodwill while trying to reassure yourself some good will come out of this (pun intended).
Sand/prime (forgot this step, actually. Regret it)/paint the ugly sucker.
Look at it in the garage for a couple of months, trying to figure out what to do about it.
Saw the legs off.
Attach coat hooks.
Attach D-rings to the back.
Hang (the rack, not yourself).
Look confident when your husband notices.

So thanks to Centsational Girl for the idea.... Everything told, this project cost me less than $20! Unless you count the fact that I now feel the need to revamp my entire laundry room... That could add on a few $$.... Stay tuned :)

And Trash to Treasure Tuesday (a little late) at

And Transformation Thursday at *The Shabby Chic Cottage*

Easy changeable wall decor

2009-09-20T15:15:00.000-07:00

I got this idea originally from here. I got a shadow box from Hobby Lobby (50% off) and a medium paper punch from the scrapbook section. I raided the recycle box for some colorful paper, stuck on some 3D Zots (glue dot things) and voila! a fall wall art project. I will likely trade out the leaves for butterflies or something when the seasons change. I might also use scrapbook paper, with more of a solid or very small design in order to really make the shapes pop. But this makes me happy for now!

Instilling fear into my offspring

2009-09-02T19:31:00.000-07:00

Every time I pull out the spray paint (which is getting ridiculously often), my daughter gets this look of fear in her eyes that makes me think she's expecting to be next!

I did a couple more projects this last week, and here are the before & afters:

A lovely, flawless table I found at GW, only $7. Loved the wood, too. But I have a bit too much brown/neutrals in my living room (and the rest of my house really) so this little friend was turned to.......

Black! I know, you're surprised, aren't you?

Also went to Salvation Army today and found this cute little box thing.

It has the nice garden-y cutouts and frosted glass inserts. I took out the inserts, gave a nice coat of Valspar's Porcelain, and voila!

A lovely tray to hold my bathrom clutter. On a side note, the Valspar doesn't seem to give as good of coverage as the Rust-Oleum stuff does. Anyone else notice that?

Can't wait to see what's sprayed next.....

I'm linking to DIY Day at

And Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Chic Cottage

Work in progress

2009-09-02T14:49:00.000-07:00

Got out my spray paint again.... Today's find is a "Family" thingie from Salvation Army. First time visiting in this town. I liked it, it had nice stuff, good prices. Nice and clean, not too cluttered. Anyways, it is nice and heavy, no chips. It's just gold. Don't love gold. And since this fella's destined for the fireplace, it needs more contrast with my neutral walls..

Hello, black.

The Aftermath

2009-08-30T18:18:00.000-07:00

We had a 4th of July style party for our friend Audrey, celebrating her U.S. Naturalization. I will post pics of the actual party, but here's the aftermath, even after they helped clean most of it up....

But it was oh-so-worth-it.

The Smell of Sabbath

2009-08-28T14:29:00.000-07:00

Waiting to go in....

Just coming out....

Made-from-scratch (we're talkin' down to the wheat here, my friend) whole wheat pizza & cinnamon buns. Oh, yeah. Sabbath is a day of CELEBRATION! Feliz Sabado!

I'm upping my game...

2009-08-26T19:54:00.000-07:00

So I found this little piece of ugly at a Goodwill a while back, labeled "end table." And I'm sure it one time was, in all it's 70s-style leggy form, faux-nail-trim-head glory. This little piece was crying out for help. I wasn't entirely sure what kind of help I personally could render, but I bought 'er anyways.

Lucky for me, I found these two little pretties at an antique/used furniture store up the road aways....

And no, the cute little lady was not part of the deal. She came at a hefty price 4 1/2 years ago.

But I digress.

I saw the vision of what that sad little table was destined for..... a desk for my two fellas! And since I've had so much fun with the black spray paint lately, I pulled it out again, to the dismay of my daughter. "Aren't we going to paint something a different color? How about pink? The boys like purple!" Poor lass. Black is the color of the week.

Well, a few coats of primer & paint later, and this is what we come up with:

Oh, yes, and I added the green stripes using some craft paint I had left over from doing the boys' nursery. I will eventually stencil Sam & Ben's names on their respective chairs. Sofia was insistent that the chairs needed to have some green on them, too. Stripes, wiggly lines, something.

Here's a picture of the boys enjoying their "new" furniture:

Quick Change

2009-08-24T13:02:00.000-07:00

I got a little carried away with my can of black spray paint. After yesterday's adventures, I couldn't stop. So I gathered my collection of random glass jars. I use them to put in pasta, dried beans, rice, all my dried goods. I'm too cheap to buy real containers, and these work great. They just don't look so great.

So I gave all the lids a nice coat of black, and now they look like the (almost) belong together! I kind of think they look like a crowd of waiters at a nice restaurant, ready to serve. Maybe it's just me.

Oh, how I love spray paint!

2009-08-23T19:54:00.000-07:00

I'm not one of those people who walks through a thrift store, sees some ugly piece of random junk, and thinks, "Oh! what beautiful lines! I think that would look great after a fresh coat of paint!"

But the other day, I was walking through Goodwill, I saw some ugly gold colored bowl thing, and I thought, "Oh! what lovely lines! I wonder if that would look better black?"

So I bought it.

$1.99.

The lady at the checkout, who apparently owns an antique shop, said it's soapstone, or something like that. It's fairly heavy, and it really does have nice lines. And since I'm new to this whole spray-paint-everything-including-your-own-mother game, I thought, "why not?"

Hot dog, do I like spray paint! I gave this little fella one coat, and some of the gold still shines through. I was about to give it another coat when I realized I totally dig the antique brassy thing happening. So I left it.

I put some fruit in it for the picture, but I'm hoping to make some decorative balls soon to put in it for my mantle. My sad, sad mantle. But he's going to be a little happier now, thanks to my $1.99 Goodwill find!

Longest post EVER

2009-08-20T19:48:00.000-07:00

So we're back from Brazil. Oh, it was good. It was very good. It's winter down there, so we went from 105 degree days here in Texas to the 80s... and it was good. I know better than to give a play-by-play of our entire vacation, particularly since most of it involves family members you don't even know, but I will post some pictures from the highlights:

Here's me sleeping on part of the 16-hour trip to Rio. Thanks, Filipe. And P.S., the kids did SO WELL on the plane rides and everything. Remarkable. I was so relieved.

Here we are filling up with Natural Gas. Do you see that first number? $12.78? That's in Reais, which is approximately half the value of a dollar. So we filled up our take for about $7. Rock on.

Here's a hazy shot of some of the favelas, or slums, of Rio. This is actually a nicer part. When we were near the "real" favelas, there's no way you would slow down enough to take a picture. Or even bring out your camera. Seriously.

Along with the strange, foreign sites, you still can find glimpses of home.....

Can I just say how terrific my whole in-law family is? When we arrived at their house at 10pm Friday night, exhausted, dirty, and jetlagged, we walk into the back courtyard to find this--the kids personalized playground! They had everything ready for the kids to play, and they LOVED it! You can see how they even painted a "texas-themed" mural on the back wall with the kids' names on it. How thoughtful was that?

Brazil is a third-world country, and it amazes me every time I go how different their lives are from ours here in the U.S. There's much I envy them. Here we have Filipe's Tio Sylvio (uncle), opening a coconut from his tree on a sharp rock. No fancy kitchen gadgets here.

We took a mini-vacation up north a bit to Guadapari. Oh, what a lovely beach. And the day was absolutely beautiful. The kind that makes you want to lay down in a hammock with a cold drink and a good book, or just some sunglasses, to take a nap.

See how relaxed and smiley I am? It was such a freakin' beautiful day. Perfect.

This is their version of "fall colors."

This is some random old man walking down the street. And no, he didn't forget his pants. You may or may not have heard that in Brazil, men don't generally wear swimming shorts. They wear sungas, or Speedos. It does take a bit of an adjustment.

Here's the bird cage at a pet store in town:

We drove out to Filipe's grandpa's "farm." This is the house he's in the middle of building.

This is the view from the front porch. Amazing.

Sofia even got to hang out on the horse for a while. I asked if they had any helmets or knee pads, but they just looked at me like I was crazy.
Back in Filipe's city, Campos, they have a city park that also has a mini amusement park. I felt like making the sign of the cross before I climbed on the caterpillar roller coaster. It was some kind of bumpy ride. The kids LOVED it!
While driving, I got some shots of the crops they have there.... here's sugar cane:
And a banana plantation:
They also have coffee, coconut, eucalyptus, and so many more.

We also got to visit another "farm" of an uncle. He has lots of peacocks.
Also at this farm, they like to take in street dogs. His aunt has a very generous heart. Would you like to see the dogs' kennel?

Let's take a closer look at the materials used to make this stray dog kennel....

Yes, that is lovely decorative slate tiles. See, the thing is, in Brazil, they have an abundance of natural stone. So much so that EVERYONE has granite and marble all over their house. I'm serious. You may go to a little hut with mud walls, but the kitchen, bath, and all flooring will be a shiney, beautiful tile or granite slab. Incredible. Also interesting is the beautiful architecture you will find EVERYWHERE. The kind of stuff people here scavange at thrift stores to find. Authentic "shabby chic," if you will.

This is Filipe cooking a TexMex dinner for some of his extended family. They were intrigued by the idea of tortillas. We took down corn & flour tortillas and salsa, and made a little burrito dinner.

Here's all 5 sisters (Filipe's mom & aunts) playing jump rope. Pretty awesome, actually.

But this was the real reason why we came to Brazil. The lovely lady in red in the middle is Filipe's Grandma. We haven't been to Brazil as a family for about 4 years now, so she had never met our beautiful boys. We figured now was a good time.

Transparency

2009-08-20T10:54:00.000-07:00

I told the boys they had five minutes until their nap. Sam informed me that was going to "hide in a good spot so you.... can't find me!" As he ran away, he shouted over his shoulder, "In the blue couch!"

In case you haven't heard....

2009-08-09T20:03:00.000-07:00

I'm chillin' in Rio for a while. As in Rio de Janeiro. As in Brazil. Oh yeah. Go ahead, be jealous. I'm not offended. I would be too if I weren't the one in balmy Brazil right now. So this is why I'm not too intense on getting blog postings up. Seriously... blog post v. buying popcicles from street vendors with my kiddos..... blog post v. tanning (burning) on the beaches of Brazil...... blog post v. more fresh fruit than you can imagine. So yeah, I'm taking a break. You're lucky you're even getting this much! I'm trying to take pictures, but my camera is acting up. I'm not happy. But we'll see how it goes.
Tchau, meus amigos, eu vou pra praya amanha, e eu nao vou escrever mais agora. Eu tou cansada, e eu vou dormir. Boa noite pra toda! Beijos!

Like Mother, Like Daughter

2009-08-04T13:49:00.000-07:00

I was packing Sofia's activity bag for the plane trip, and I ran up to her room to get some art supplies. What I found was this:

Apparently she repurposed some green houses to store her colorware in.... in a moderately OCD fashion. Oh, how I love this dear child.

Welcome to my couch!

2009-08-03T09:00:00.001-07:00

What, not enough pillows, you say? My husband begs to differ. He almost had a stroke when he saw me hauling bag after bag of fairly ugly throw pillows into the house. But he doesn't seem to realize, there's a method to my madness. Our current throw pillows came with the couch/loveseat three years and two toddlers ago, so they are sadly deflated. I have also been collecting clearance Christmas and Fall material from Joann's to make some throw pillow covers. And these bad boys were on clearance at Kohl's for $1.99. That's right, two bucks, folks. So I scoured all sections of our local Kohl's bedding department and found nine of them. Plus I had a 15% off coupon. Score! So coming soon to a couch (or three) near you will be a festive assortment of fluffy throw pillows, just in time for my favorite season.

Strange thing is, my husband is still not impressed.

What happened here?

2009-08-02T20:33:00.001-07:00

This looks much worse in person. Trust me. This is the result of too many things happening at one. First of all, I'm not a neat-n-tidy housekeeper, particularly in our bedroom. But it's even worse because we are housing all of my sewing/crafty projects in our room while I'm trying to get the new Guest Room/Sewing Room prepped and painted. And on top of all that, we are in the middle of trying to pack for our almost-two-week visit to Filipe's family in Brazil. We leave on Thursday, but we're getting a head-start on the packing in the hopes that we will forget fewer items. The downside is that we have more time to fill up the bags to capacity. You know, I really do think I might need my running shoes in Brazil. On the beach. In Rio de Janeiro. Right.

This room will be clean again. Well, I say "again" like it was clean to begin with, but we all know how accurate that is.

Oh, feelin' old

2009-07-28T18:16:00.000-07:00

Sofia's CD player, which is well-love from all-night CD playing, is not functioning properly. It finally got so bad that tonight, she just couldn't go to sleep because it wouldn't play past the first song on any CD. So I got the inspiration to play some cassettes for her. I dug around in the office closet and came up with some Kings Heralds tapes for kids. The good stuff. I brought them into her room, and she looked at me, looked at the cassettes, and said, "What is that?"

I explained what they were, and that the music playing on them was what mommy listened to when I was a little girl. The understanding dawned on her face, and she said, matter-of-factly, "So that's what you listened to when your CD player wasn't working."

Apparently, the concept of the non-existence of CD players in my childhood had no place in her logic. I imagine it's the same look on my face when my dad told me that VHS did not exist in his childhood. What, no Blockbuster? How is that possible? And I'm sure nowadays, kids would say, "What's VHS?" Don't get me started on Beta. Or DOS. Or Atari. Good Heavens. When did I get so old?

Today's Happy Image

2009-07-27T20:37:00.001-07:00

is brought to you today by Hobby Lobby....

I am so in love with the fabrics they have there right now. I honestly wanted each and every lovely scruptious bolt to come home with me. To do what, I haven't decided yet. But something marvelous. Or even just to look at. Love the colors, love the patterns, love the design, love the POTENTIAL!

Sometimes, you get what you pay for

2009-07-27T20:17:00.000-07:00

Let me be very clear here. I love the Target Dollar Spot. I know the items there are usually of questionable quality, but come on people. It's a dollar! But I particularly love this time of year when they pull out the educational goodies. Sofia has been interested in learning the names of states lately, so when I saw this little lift-the-flap book, I was delighted. I'm going to take you on a little tour, give a little quiz, and see how well you know your states......

Here we have the states of the North East. I will admit, I'm no geography jock, but the NE states in particular are shaky for me. Let's start with that nice little blue flap in the upper left corner... do you know what state that is?

If you guessed Connecticut, you're right! I don't think I guessed Connecticut. I think I said Delaware. Moving on.

Ah, the great states of the North. See where my finger is pointing? That nice little blue state? Do you know what that one is?

If you guessed Illinois, you're.... wrong? Wait, I didn't know Georgia was in the North. Hmmm..... Moving on. Let's turn the page.

Wait a minute. Didn't I just guess this one on the previous page? This looks suspiciously like "Georgia." Oh, well. Maybe this time I'll get it right. Did you guess Georgia, too?

Dang it! Wrong again! It's really Arizona, of course. The great Arizona of the North. What a terrific learning tool.

When I looked for the lovely state of Texas, it wasn't included any where in this book. Maybe we really did leave the nation... Go Lone Star!

I'll just say, if you got 100% on this quiz, maybe you better head back to 1st grade geography... I know I'm checking into entrance requirements for myself.

Mama's big boys

2009-07-20T20:27:00.000-07:00

We moved Sam & Ben into a different room and took the crib sides off of their beds. They are so proud to be sleeping in their new Big Boy Room. Oh, and they lovelovelove the firetruck sheet sets their oh-so-talented mommy made for them. I found an easy tutorial here for the bottom sheet, and I just modified it a bit to make a fitted topsheet and a pillowcase to match (haven't finished those yet....). I'm on my second set of sheets for them, and it's easy, and they feel super special to be able to pick out the material themselves. Win-win!

Saturday afternoon at the Fernandes House

2009-07-18T20:24:00.000-07:00

oh yum

2009-07-17T20:25:00.000-07:00

This was one of the items on the table at Friday night vespers.... my first jelly roll. I'm so proud.

Is it true?

2009-07-17T20:20:00.000-07:00

Did it really rain? Sofia's face says it did!

Enchilada Lasagna

2009-07-17T10:11:00.001-07:00

So here's the final product, and I know my food photography skills are painfully lacking. So believe me when I say it tastes WAY better than it looks.

With that said, this is a super easy meal that even the kids ask seconds and thirds of. It's kind of different every time I make it, because there's no recipe. It's basically enchiladas, but I very much dislike rolling up enchiladas, so in this version, I just layer it. Read on.....

Ingredients:

1 can enchilada sauce

corn tortillas, white or yellow (about 24)

1 lb. ground beef or 1 can Vegeburger

1 1/2 cups day-old rice

2 cups cheese (or more, depending on your affinity to cheese)

sour cream for garnish

You start with ground beef (in our case, a can of Worthington Vegeburger. Otherwise, for those of you who are carnivores, about a pound of ground beef, cooked and drained.

This is the best part--add old rice. Not moldy-old, but day-or-two old rice that's too dry to eat by itself. Add in, oh, about a cup or a cup-and-a-half. You also see I've added the enchilada sauce, about 2/3 of a can.

Add about a cup or two of cheese, and cook it all together until it's nice and bubbly, and the rice is tender.

Meanwhile, spray a 9x13 casserole dish and coat the bottom with about half of the enchilada sauce you have left in the can. Here I am using the store brand, but I really prefer the Rosarita brand. Yum.

Then, layer your corn tortillas in the bottom of the dish. No need to cook them in butter or anything, just slap 'em on in there.

Then just layer half of your meat mixture, you can add more cheese if you like, then another layer of tortillas, the rest of your meat mixture (and optional cheese), then a final layer of tortillas.

At this point, I would usually be adding the rest of the enchilada sauce from the can over the top of the bare tortillas, but guess who forgot to save some. So if you didn't forget, do that. Then sprinkle cheese on the top of all that.

Bake at 350 for about 30-45 minutes, and voila! Easy, delicious meal that you may or may not have leftovers of.

Oh, and P.S., the rice in the top picture is also old rice, I just added some of Filipe's homemade salsa and cooked it for about 5-10 minutes until the rice was tender. Perfect Spanish Rice!

Picture this

2009-07-15T17:01:00.000-07:00

What do you suppose this picture is of?

Is it:

a) modern art

b) World Championship Competition for Pick-up Sticks

c) Ben

If you answered "c" you know my kids! I'm thinking of renaming my blog "What did the boys dump out today?"

Teaching Consumerism

2009-07-15T09:56:00.000-07:00

Sofia has been begging me for several days to take her to the "toy store" so she could buy something with her own money. Since we've been learning about money this week, I thought it might be a good idea.

So today, she got her money, put it in her wallet, put her wallet in her purse ("just like a mommy!") and we went to Target.

Gotta love the Dollar Spot.

She perused the aisles, trying to find something that was just right. She made her selections (some blueberry lotion and a flower clock), then we headed to the cashier. She had a moment of panic when faced with the reality of engaging with a stranger, but I knew how much she had looked forward to it, so I pushed her into it. She gave the very nice lady her cash, and got some coins back. She was silent until she got back to the car, THEN and only then did she break into a smile.

Here's to teaching a four-year-old about the joys of spending.

P.S. The pictures are awful because I had to be sneaky, stealthy, and quick. She hates pictures.

Cooked Goose

2009-07-14T14:34:00.000-07:00

That's what we felt like, anyways, as we fed the ducks at the duck pond with our friends.

I also felt like we owned our own daycare center, with 7 kiddos between the two mommies. Quite the parade!

Goodwill rescue, Part I

2009-07-13T18:42:00.000-07:00

So you may have noticed a few blogs down there on my list.... I LOVE those crafty, thrifty, decory (I know, not a word) bloggers. They are downright inspiring. I want to try virtually every project they show, especially the ones with tutorials. But I'm not really much of a follow-through kind of person. I like ideas, not action. And I generally don't have the materials on hand, or the know-how to use them.

But a few weeks ago on a "mommy only" trip to town, I came across this headboard at Goodwill. It reminded me of a project I saw here on Centsational Girl, one of my all-time favs. And she's a huge proponent of spray paint, which I've never used, but have been flirting with lately. So I took this little $5.99 diamond-in-the-rough (I hope) home and stored it in the garage.

Keep in mind this is a first-time project, so I may have done some steps wrong, or skipped them altogether, but I'm pleased with the outcome. Here's what I did:

1. Sand the ugly little bugger. I just used a medium grit sanding block, and I wasn't especially thorough in the little groovy turny things, which may have hampered my paint coverage in the end, but it's not too bad.

2. Wipe it down, make sure all stickers & dust is off.

3. I used Valspar's Porcelain White in the Satin finish. It's white, but not too white, but not too beige.

4. I gave it about 3 light coats, when all was said and done. I don't know if priming it first would have reduced this, since I was painting over a dark wood, but whatever. This is me watching the paint dry.......

5. Oh, yeah. I'm done.

So it's all nice and painted now, and I have to decide what to do with it.

Soon we will be switching the boys' room and the guest room for a variety of reasons, but this means that I will have the "new" guest room/sewing room as a blank slate for me to decorate any which way I please. So I bought some new paint, Frosty Mint, or something like that. A lovely shade of green. And I don't know how this is going to fit, but I'm going to make it. I haven't decided if I'm going to use it as an actual headboard for the bed (that's why I left the holes in the legs, in case I need to attach it to the bedrails. Otherwise I would have puttied them and painted over them. Still might have to. We'll see), or perhaps some kind of decoration for the wall. Maybe attach upside-down hanging bundles of dried flowers? I'm thinking pretty cottagey/shabby chic kind of look.

Any ideas?

brave little flower

2009-07-13T18:31:00.000-07:00

I was on my way back from taking out the trash this evening when I noticed this little guy. Apparently, he escaped the jaws of my lawn mower more than once, judging by his height. He grows just enough into the too-much-dirt-so-there's-not-much-point-in-mowing-there patch. Grow tall, brave flower. Grow tall.

My heart longs for thee, oh Pacifier!

2009-07-09T13:52:00.000-07:00

The boys chewed holes in all of their pacifiers, so we're trying (again) to call it quits. They did fine yesterday, but today's a different story. I put them down for their nap around 1:00, same as usual. Within 45 minutes, they were still jumping and screaming and giggling, so I went to check on them. Sam had moved his crib next to the changing table, and had emptied the drawer of all of the diapers and the entire box of wipes. Oh, mama was not happy.

The shenanigans continued for more than two hours. Finally, all was quiet. I gave them about 20 minutes to be sure, then I snuck in to see the damage. This is what I see:

Notice anything missing?

Yes, they had taken off their shorts as well as their diapers and deposited them on the floor. Little punks. So now I get to anticipate washing sheets after they wake up. And we get to go through the whole process again tonight. What a blessed day.

Happy 4th!

2009-07-04T14:16:00.000-07:00

Need some input!

2009-07-03T12:04:00.000-07:00

Okay, so about a year ago we installed drawer pulls and cabinet knobs on our kitchen cabinets. Looks great! Problem is, now I'm thinking of replacing our kitchen faucet & light fixtures. When we chose the drawer pulls, I picked the satin nickle because it matched the door handles we replaced throughout the house. But know, when I'm thinking faucet, rubbed bronze is stuck in my head. So I went to Lowe's and picked up a rubbed bronze set to see which I like better. The satin nickel makes the kitchen look sleek and more modern. The rubbed bronze makes it a bit more elegant (I think), and maybe matches the dark stone in the countertops.

Here are the choices.... what do you think?

Two minutes

2009-07-01T18:08:00.001-07:00

TWO minutes. That's seriously all it takes..... I'm actually kind of surprised they didn't hit the bookcase. That was probably next on the agenda, minute six.

I'm not generally a fan of gratuitous nudity, but this was too tempting....

Aren't they precious?
This was moments before they squeezed the entire bottle of bath wash into the tub.

Two minutes. That's all it takes.

I love the public library!

2009-07-01T09:52:00.000-07:00

I finally got my act together and skulked in to my local library to pay my $28.79 fine. Normally I'm very good about returning library materials on time. The month of May was the exception. The bulk of that fine was a replacement fee for a DVD the kids lost. I'm guessing it ended up in the trash. I love 2-year-olds. But after that was taken care of, we were free to roam the free books & movies. The kids got some good movies & books, and mommy got a couple of goodies too. I can't wait until naptime!!

Never give up hope

2009-07-01T07:12:00.001-07:00

Sofia has never been the girlie-girl. She rarely plays dress up, despite having some lovely frocks to do so, she loves to rough-and-tumble with her daddy, have races with her friends, and fights with her brothers. So it is no surprise that taming her wild-child hair is consistently a source of friction for us. Ever since before she could speak, she has resisted all forms of hair management. We have been taking baby step, trying to acclimate her to looking domesticated. First, we convinced her to let us put barrettes in. Then, about a year later, the pony tail ("kitty tail" to her) was introduced. But she has been fiercely opposed to braiding her hair. I do not know why. I cannot think of a traumatic moment that may have scarred her memory. And we have tried every technique, every possible person, from older "girlfriends" to Aunties, to Grandma. NO ONE has been able to convince her even to try it.

This week, we have had highs in the 100s, and her hair has been completely unmanageable. I have tried barrettes, kitty tails, everything. Nothing could keep it under control. Finally I told her that she could either let me braid her hair, or we were going to cut it off. At least I gave her a choice!

Tearfully she submitted to the braids. I did one on each side, and she was CUTE!!!! Of course, I wasn't allowed to take pictures. But at least we made that step, though by force.

Well, today as we were getting dressed she ASKED for a braid! Anyone who knows Sofia realized how monumental this is. Not only did I not have to force her, she asked for it, and she LET ME TAKE HER PICTURE!!

This may be the most stubborn child I have. No amount of coercion, bribing, pleading, tearful weeping or threatening can make her do something she doesn't want to. But then, BOOM! out of the blue she will do it, pretending all the while it was her own idea.

Without further ado, here is my braided beauty:

Ice cream break

2009-06-30T11:11:00.002-07:00

Me & the kids ventured out today to enjoy a Baskin-Robbins ice cream break. The kids couldn't believe their good luck!

Sofia had Strawberry....

Ben had Lime Daiquiri.....

And Sam chose vanilla.....

And mom had some strawberry-lime daiquiri-vanilla ice cream.....

Eve's Curse

2009-06-30T07:43:00.001-07:00

"And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel." Gen. 3:15

This verse ran through my head a few times this weekend. It was the weekend of trauma in the Fernandes house. It started out with Filipe on Friday. He knocked a glass over, instinctively tried to keep it from falling to the ground, but impaled his thumb on a piece of glass. Result: 4 stitches.

Sunday morning the fun continued with Ben. He was playing in the guest room/sewing room when he somehow got ahold of my rotary cutter, flipped down the safety guard (apparently not child-proof) and slice his index finger on it. It bled like a geyser, and for some foolish reason, I didn't take him in to get stitches. Poor little dude. It's still trying to start healing

Speaking of heels, later that morning I caught my foot under the glass door to the back porch as it was swinging shut. Result: pain, suffering, and the gnashing of teeth. Oh, and a nice-sized bruise and lump along with the gash on my heel.

I thought the party was over, until this morning Sam did a nose-dive onto the corner of a wooden puzzle in Sofia's closet.

So now I'm waiting to see what fate has in store for Sofia. I'm just hoping it won't require a visit to the ER.

Free paint!!

2009-06-25T15:12:00.000-07:00

So I found out on one of my favorite blogs, Thrifty Decor Chick, that Glidden paint is giving away a FREE QUART of paint! Awesome! I love free! Even if I didn't have any immediate plans to paint, I do now. So if you want to get your paws on some (only while supplies last, or until July 2) head over to Glidden, choose your color, enter your info, and voila! Free paint on its way!

For those of you who are dying to know, I chose Steel Blue... I'm thinking of doing the master bedroom. Although I really do adore the pukey pink it currently is sporting.....

Never doubt a four-year-old

2009-06-25T14:17:00.000-07:00

As I was vacuuming Filipe's office (yes, it's time for his annual cleaning), Sofia came in from playing on the back porch.

Sofia: Mom, is it going to rain today?

Me: No.

Not an unreasonable answer, considering we live in south Texas. I don't want to give her false hopes.

Sofia: But Mom, I felt something wet fall on me! I think it's going to rain!

Me: Maybe it was bird poop.

Sofia then paused, brow wrinkled in concentration, I would guess imagining bird poop in her hair.

Sofia: Noooo!

So she leaves the office, potentially traumatize from the idea of fecal matter falling on her head.

She comes back two minutes later.

Sofia: Mom!! It IS raining! Come and see!

So we go outside, and sure enough, there are some raindrops falling on our head. Not bird poop at all. After staring at the strange sight with a look of wonder on my face (after all, we DO live in south Texas!), Sofia gives me a dirty look, and tells me as only a vindicated 4-year-old can do:

Sofia: See, I told you it was raining.

My deepest apologies.

Soft baby blocks

2009-06-24T14:00:00.000-07:00

I made a cute little soft baby block (about 5") using a tutorial from londonmummy. The blocks were left over from my mom's Christmas gift, and the animals I heat transferred from the material from Sofia's nursery curtains. I'm not satisfied with the lumps, but my kids love it! I'll probably make up a batch or two to give as baby gifts. I'm thinking shapes for the next one.

Important lessons.

2009-06-21T09:12:00.000-07:00

So I made Sofia a nice little tiered skirt last night. She saw the scraps of curtains/dining room seat covers and told me it would make a perfect skirt for her. So after the kids went to sleep, I got to work. Everything went pretty good, actually. I had several different scraps to work with, and had just the right amount of fabric.

I got a little too pleased with myself, I think.

As I sewed the bottom tier together, I noticed something a bit odd. It didn't seem to be the same color! That's when I realized that all the tiers, except for one panel for the bottom tier, was cut from the same scrap. That last panel was cut from what used to be the top of the curtains.

Apparently, sun fades fabric differently at the top than at the bottom.

Curious.

What's also curious is the multi-shaded aspect of her cute little skirt.

Oh well.

At least I finished it.

And maybe with a few washings, everything will fade to the same shade.

I can always hope.

Observation of the day

2009-06-04T17:27:00.001-07:00

Sofia: Mom, your bum is bigger than mine.

Thanks, Sofia. Thank you.

Where's that Cookies 'n Cream ice cream?

My husband, the Chef

2009-06-01T18:06:00.001-07:00

Our friend Audrey is having a birthday party tonight, and Filipe won the Rock-Paper-Scissors game and got to be the family representative there. Since she is Brazilian (as is Filipe, duh), we are contributing some Brazilian goodies to the spread. Filipe came home while the kids and I were at another friend's 4th birthday pool party and started cooking. He left as we got home. And this is what I come home to.

Add to this scene of loveliness the smell of the deep fryer.....

How is it that I lose out on the party AND get the stinky, dirty kitchen? Well, like my mom would say, "Life's not fair. Get over it." So, I'll clean up the mess, then treat myself to some cookies 'n cream ice cream from the freezer. That sounds fair.

Budget Curtains

2009-05-29T13:34:00.001-07:00

I've been living in this house for three years, and have yet to put up curtains in the living room. It was only very recently that I even had a rug or coffee table in the living room. I'm not a big fan for spending money (love craigslist) so I had to come up with something inexpensive that didn't look cheap. So here's before:

And here's after:

These were the expenses:

2 5'9" x 8'9" Canvas drop cloths------ $20 (total)
black wooden curtain rod-------------- $9 (Walmart clearance)
3 packages curtain hooks--------------$15
____________
Grand Total $44.00

Yay! Love bargains. I still have one window to do in the living room, then I will be happy. The canvas has a lovely texture to it, and I really like the black curtain rod & hooks. All in a day's work!

Cheap toys

2009-05-27T08:48:00.000-07:00

You may have heard that I am cheap. Well, here's another example. I really dislike going to the toy store, or even Walmart, and paying ridiculous sums for toys that will break within a week when subjected to my crew. Thanks to Family Fun magazine, I found some toys that were as cheap as dirt (or close), and as indestructable as rocks.

Oh, right. They are rocks. Silly me.

Granted, my version may not be quite as creatively painted, but my kiddos don't know the difference! Actually, Sofia got to help paint some while the boys were sleeping, so she thinks they are beautiful. Doesn't take much, does it? And I'll be adding to the collection as inclination strikes.

P.S. Ignore the dirty window in the back.

The dress that was a shirt.

2009-05-26T13:42:00.000-07:00

I let the kids choose some fabric from Joann's a couple of weeks ago, promising them a very difficult pillowcase out of the deal. The fabric has been sitting in "Mommy's Workroom" since then. Until now. I thought I would get adventuresome and try a shirt for Sofia. I have the patterns, but have been afraid to use them. But I buckled down, ignored the layout for cutting that the pattern gave (it made no sense, after all) and started cutting after the kids hit the sack. Everything was going along swimmingly... I even got the elastic neck done right. Then it was time to hem the bottom.

Something didn't look right. I had made a size 5 for Sofia (a little large for her, given the measurements on the pattern, but I thought she could grow into it) but it didn't look right. It was wide enough, bordering on billowy, but the length wasn't even going to cover her bellybutton! I checked the picture on the package, just making sure that I didn't grab the Princess Jasmine version by mistake. But there was no mistake--the pattern was just too short for Sofia. I threw the unfinished shirt onto the guestbed, stalked out the door, and was just about to flip off the light when I stopped.

There, sitting neglected in my pile of remnants (I'm addicted), there was a little scrap of yellow. This particular scrap was all of about 12 inches, and had been passed over many times for previous projects because it was just too small. But for this, it just might work. You can't really tell in the photos, but it's yellow with little white daisies, and the ladybug material has little yellow & white daisies on it as well. What a match!

I gathered this little piece of sunshine (my first time doing a gather. Newbie sewer here) and attached it to the shirt. Looks good! But not quite finished.... so I cut a strip of the original material to put at the hem, maybe making it look like this is what I intended in the first place. And it turned out okay! It's still a little baggier than I would prefer, but Sofia likes her wiggle room.

I finally finished the darn thing around midnight, hung it on her dresser where she would see it first thing, and went, finally, to bed.

P.S. She liked it.... although you couldn't tell by the pictures. She has the strongest aversion to photos of any child I've encountered. Ever since she was an infant. Seriously. To get these pics, I had to bribe her with ice cream.... and that wasn't enough for a smile! Sigh.

I love Japanese fabric!

2009-05-25T21:14:00.000-07:00

So I peruse several crafty-type blogs on a regular basis (obsessively), because I love watching others creating beauty for me to covet. One of the advertisers of one blog is This and That From Japan and let me tell you, I FREAKIN' LOVE THEIR FABRICS!! Now, if only I could: a) afford them; and b) figure out what to make out them I would really be in business!

New Orleans

2009-05-19T18:43:00.000-07:00

One of Filipe's old co-workers invited us to his wedding this past Saturday night in New Orleans. This happened to coincide with my mom's visit to Texas (okay, okay, we begged her to come down so we could escape for the weekend). So Saturday afternoon, she dropped us off at the airport, on the way home from our church's camp-out (more on that in another post) and away we flew.

We went through some really beautiful clouds... I wish I had the equipment or the know-how to capture it better, but I guess there's only so much you can do out the window of an airplane. They looked like they were just boiling up, white ones starkly contrasted with gray, irritable ones. Very beautiful.

Here's swampy Louisiana:Here's the view from our hotel: downtown New Orleans.The wedding itself was very traditional. Very New Orleans traditional, that is! Instead of your standard organ or even piano playing your traditional wedding march, we got this guy, playing something that doesn't have written music, playing the jumbo-trumpet (I know there's an actual name for this instrument, but I'm at a loss as to what it might be, so jumbo-trumpet it is). It was actually very cool. And the reception featured a live, rockin' New Orleans jazz band. It was very dark & very LOUD, so it was difficult to get a good video clip, so this is the best I've got right now:

You can also tell by the wedding cake how "New Orleans" the wedding was--they even decorated it with the fleur de lis!Sunday morning we drove around downtown New Orleans, and of course Bourbon St. Man, is that place a haven for sins of all flavors! We even found a venue where you could go to watch "Love Acts." Eww. But it was kind of neat to see the places that I've seen in movies & stuff. I almost expected to see Ashley Judd hanging around (I love Double Jeopardy). But I don't really have any pictures of this part, because it was raining like, uh....... well, it was raining a lot.

On Sunday afternoon we went to the Nineth Ward, one of the places that got hit the worst by Hurricane Katrina. Now, I know this place was no beauty before hand, but it was really strange how it felt as thought the hurricane was there just a short time ago. Most of the uninhabited houses (and there were lots--I wish I knew the percentage of occupied to vacant houses. I'm guessing 1-4) were obviously incredibly damaged, but also still retained the X markings from directly after the hurricane, indicating when the building was searched for survivors, and if there were any casualties in the house. You can see it on the left side of this blue house, including a "R.I.P" marking next to it. Pretty sobering.

Lots of houses & lots were just completely overgrown, like this one:

But there were also several newly-built homes, right next to the abandoned ones. Kind of a strange juxtaposition:

Not only are there abandoned houses, which I'm sure contain extremely unhealthy levels of mold, mildew, and who the heck knows what else, but some houses even have methane warnings still posted on them:

Eventually the rain let up, so we decided to return for a stroll through the French district. They were having a nice little Farmer's Market/Swap Meet. Such lovely produce, but.........Me like the candy store!

We also went to the St.-Someone-Famous-But-I-Can't-Remember-Who Cathederal. See the ominous sky?

Also met Andrew Jackson:

Loved this banana tree, with the flowers half banana-ed. I will admit Filipe made fun of me for finding this interesting!

We had a little bit of afternoon left, so we decided to head about an hour out of town to visit some plantations we saw advertised in a brocure. On the way, we were driving about sixty on a nice little two-lane highway, when I glanced out my window at the edge of the marsh next to the road. "There was an aligator!!" I exclaimed to Filipe. Surprise! He didn't believe me. I had been teasing him ever since we were on the plane that I would find an aligator on this trip, so he was sure that I was pulling his leg. I tried to express how seriously honest I was being, but it took a bit of convicing for him to turn the car around. We drove back to the spot where I was sure I'd seen a gator, and, Hello! There was the gator, not 20 feet from the car. Filipe tried to make me get out of the car to get a picture, but I think my camera has a satisfactory zoom!!

So we drove for about 1 1/2 hours, and finally found the plantation we were looking for. We walked up to the ticket counter. We read "$15 per person." We turned around and walked back to the car, and headed 1 1/2 hours back into town. I'm so cheap. So here is a picture (from the gate) of the plantation we never went to. Lovely, isn't it?

We had such a great time just hanging out, no stress (okay, well, not too much) doing the tourist thing. Last year we went to Charleston, this year it was New Orleans. I think we may try the Florida Keys next year. That is, if Grandma's up to another round with our kids! WE LOVE YOU GRANDMA!!

Pictures coming soon!

2009-05-19T10:46:00.000-07:00

Just returned this morning from our excursion to New Orleans.... good times!! I got some fun pictures, and will post them soon! In the mean time, time to put the boys down for their nap!

In the Hood

2009-05-12T19:00:00.001-07:00

Whipped up a couple of hooded towels for the boys last night. They've been using the same towels I recieved as a gift when they were newborns. So I figured they deserved an upgrade. And by the way, they chose the colors!

Who made the beautiful rainbow?

2009-05-12T14:59:00.000-07:00

I did!

Okay, well I know these are a poor substitute for the real thing, but our Sabbath School class has been having to share, so I made a few more. Sofia really enjoyed helping me stack the felt color strips... and listening to me yelp when the hot glue escaped onto my fingers.

Confused yet?

2009-05-12T14:36:00.001-07:00

Our shaggy boys got cut today.

Here are my sweeties before

Sam:
Ben:
Now here's the boys after Sam has been cut. Makes it easier to tell them apart, does it?

Here's the fellas after:

And I don't mind telling you it's now rather tricky for ME to tell them apart! I have done several double-takes. I guess I have to make sure they're always wearing different colors. So for those of you who have trouble figuring out who's who, good luck!

Mother's Day '09

2009-05-10T18:51:00.000-07:00

I did get the required breakfast-in-bed treatment today, but then it was off to Guadalupe River State Park for some family fun!

playing catch-up

2009-05-09T13:10:00.000-07:00

Obviously it's been a while since my last post.... so I'm going to do a superspeed catchup post that will contain a few highlights of the past week and a half.

First off:

My father-in-law and husband started a remodel in my garage. We got rid of the old kitchen cabinets that looked like they were useful and a clever use of un-needed cabinetry, but were in fact a huge waste of space. They then built me some lovely floor-to-ceiling shelves so I can keep all my garage goodies in boxes and out of the way. Happy! That completes phase 1.

I also had a lovely girl's night out with my girls from church.... that is, after I found the place. I have the worst sense of direction God could have given me. If there is an option to go left or right, no matter which I choose, I should have gone the other way. It doesn't fail. My friend, Dear Abby, diagnosed it one time for a writer (not me), it's called Directional Dyslexia. A serious (okay, not) condition. Anyways, a little shopping center 20 minutes from my house took me very close to 1 1/2 to find.... after driving all over several sides of San Antonio.

I got there 15 minutes before the shops closed, but was still on time for our reservations at Bin 555, a lovely restaurant where we dined on the porch. For dessert I had s'mores--can you believe it? After feeling like a grown-up, eating miniature goat-cheese grilled sandwiches with tomato marmalade sauce, naan flat bread with hummus, and pommes frites (haha!) I have campfire dessert. But it was good, and it came with live fire! And although much of our conversation centered around our children's and pets' body fluids (my apologies to the people sitting at the next table), it was a much-needed connection with other moms pretending to be adults for a while.

The next day I headed up to Michigan where my sister graduated from Andrew's University with a BA in Communication & Spanish, after which I traveled down to my parents' house in Kalona for a little R&R. There's so much I didn't do there, I don't even know where to start. Let's say I had a fantastic time being 17 again. No kids. No husband. No responsibilities. No curfew. No cooking. Lots of Lazy. I went through a bunch of old memory boxes in the attic.... man, was I really that much of a drama queen in high school? How immature! Oh, right. I was in high school. And although it was good to get away, it was awesome to get back to my babies & my hubby. Dorothy had it right--there's no place like home.

I was pretty sure the kids would be devastated with their mommy gone. This is how bad it was:

So I think Daddy buying them a pool helped. But I guess there was also a little of this going on:

So that made me feel a little better (isn't that terrible?).

I got back late Tuesday night, then Wednesday Filipe reminded me we have to get the kids' Brazilian passports for our August trip. That requires a trip to Houston, which is where the closest Brazilian Consulate is located. So I packed up our bags, and we left town after the boys' nap. The trip normally wouldn't be all that dramatic, if it weren't for the fact that our portable DVD player mysteriously stopped working. And brilliant mommy didn't bring alternative entertainment. So they made some entertainment of their own.

We stayed the night at a hotel, then in the morning Filipe went to a couple of hospitals to get some work done while we were there, and I took the kids to Hermann Park. The boys almost posed. Sofia was having a "day."

And don't be fooled by the cloudy atmosphere.... it had to have been 99% humidity--it was awful! And that was at 9am! I had rivers of sweat running down five minutes into this adventure, which is why we stopped by the fountains next.

We went to the playscapes next, and I did manage to sneak in a picture of Sofia. Boy, did she give me one dirty look afterwards.

And last, but not least, cooking for Friday night worship. I made Prosage (fake sausage for all of you non-veggies out there) cheese muffins, Chunky Apple and Raisin Bread, Banana bread with chocolate chips, and Taco Turnovers for dinner. Oh, yum. This batch of recipes was a good one!

So now you're all caught up, I think. Maybe I can stay on top of it better now. Next adventure: Guadelupe River for Mother's Day!

Naked-love Sandwich

2009-04-29T14:01:00.000-07:00

Ben does not tolerate shirts with buttons on them. Simply refuses to wear them. Odd, I know. But Filipe's mom is visiting this week, and she wasn't aware of this particular quirk of his. So this morning, she got him dressed in a nice red striped polo. How she managed to get it over his head without him noticing the buttons is beyond me. But by this afternoon, the jig was up. He pulled down the collar in the front, got a good look, and scolded most fiercely, "No buttons!" He would not desist until the offending shirt was removed. Since it is pretty warm today, I took it off, and told him he could be a naked boy for the rest of the day. Who needs more laundry, right? Well, as soon as Sam saw the freedoms Benny was enjoying, he staged his own protest. So off his shirt came.

The key to this next part is that the boys are not frequently shirtless. Really, only when we go to the indoor pool at our gym.

Those bare-chested lads ran their hands over their milky white tummies, looked at their mirror images (each other) and giggled. They ran toward each other and gave eachother a nice bear hug, rubbing their shiney little bellies against eachother, giggling like schoolgirls the whole time.

Of course, by the time I grabbed my camera, Sofia wanted in on the action. So here we have our naked-love sandwich.

Cheapest Mama on the Planet

2009-04-26T16:57:00.001-07:00

My kids have been begging for a pool. So I got them one.

Cradle Roll Memory Verse

2009-04-24T13:34:00.000-07:00

TRANSLATION: "Children, obey your parents in everything."

I'm impressed with my younger self!

2009-04-22T07:34:00.001-07:00

So in my quest to de-mite our bedroom, I donated my down comforter to Goodwill. And was left with a bare bed. I didn't really feel like spending money on a new cover, so I raided my closet to see what I could find.

I found Emily. Yes, this is Emily, as in Dickinson (I was always destined to be an English major). I made this quilt while I was in high school, I think. I decided I wanted to make a quilt, found a pattern, then thought, why make a twin size when I could make a King size? So make a King-size quilt I did.

As I pulled this out of the top shelf of the kids bathroom and laid it on my bed, I started really looking at it. And imagining what it would take for me to make something like this today. Man, I must have has some free time! And it amazes me that I was able to stick with the project. Granted, I sewed the top piece, then sent it to my grandma to bind and tie, but that was still a whole lotta sewing! And the pieces actually match up nicely.

So I want to thank my mom for helping me get started with that, my first (and maybe only) very large project. I vaguely remember going with her to choose the coordinating fabrics (is anyone surprised that I chose green? I didn't think so) and to explain how to piece it all together. Apparently, some of the lessons actually did take.

Where the battle begins

2009-04-21T11:32:00.000-07:00

Over the last several years, Filipe has developed mild allergies. In spring and fall, he'll get a bit sniffly and sneezy, and we'll wonder if he's about to get sick. Well, this year, he really broke loose. Within the space of a week, he was nearly incapacitated. Sneezing, congestion, runny nose, itchy/watery eyes, the works. It got so bad he let me make an appointment with an allergist. He came home looking like he had endured an interview of torture. His back was covered with little welts where they tested him for what seems like every allergy known to man.

Our lucky boy came up positive for lots of seasonal allergies, and fun things like dust mites. Good times. He was prescribed an entire battery of meds, some of which are helping a bit. But he still has such a hard time overnight, I've started the Battle of the Mites in our room. I've stripped the bed, washed everything in hot water, I'm getting rid of my fluffy down comforter (sob!) and will get some mattress & pillow encasings.

I dusted, I vacuumed. I've laid our bedroom bare.

Watch out, dust mites. You don't mess with my man. This means war!

Some place hot just froze over.

2009-04-20T14:33:00.000-07:00

I actually completed my first apparel project! I started this pair of pants quite some time ago, was interrupted when the boys woke up from their nap, and never seemed to finish it. So today, I finally finished them! They are a pair of pants/capris for Sofia, but you know how she is about photographs. So I got Sam to model them for me (don't worry, baby, I'm saving up for your therapy).

They are made of out a stripe corduroy that I love, and granted, it made the pants a little retro, but hey, you learn as you go. These pants have side pockets and an elastic waist. I'm so happy to have them done. No guarantees she'll ever wear them, but I tried. And I just might try again, given the proper inspiration from a visit to the Walmart material section.....

Government Canyon State Natural Area

2009-04-18T12:00:00.000-07:00

Filipe and I made an executive decision to skip Camp Meeting this year and have a family nature day instead. We packed up the kids & a lunch, and headed off to Government Canyon State Natural Area. It was a beautiful day for a hike, nice and cool. It was a little muddy from the rains last night, but that made it even better in the boys' opinion. We watched for mountain lions along the way (the ranger had warned us about a sighting they had last week) and found all sorts of caterpillars, lizards, flowers, and ant hills. Good times. We also had a great picnic at the picnic pavilion. Next time we'll try to hit the Visitor's Center. The kids came home and hit the hay--right after a much-needed rain-shower!

Fun AFTER the rain

2009-04-17T14:14:00.001-07:00

As much as the kids love rain, I think they love after the rain more. And after they're done playing in the after-rain mud (making pancakes & waffles today, they tell me), they get to play in more rain--this time in the shower.

New Recipe--Pasta Primavera

2009-04-17T10:01:00.000-07:00

Yum yum! Here's a quick, easy, moderately healthy recipe for Pasta Primavera:

2 cups broccoli florets

1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed mushroom soup, undiluted

1 large carrot, julienned

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 garlic clove, minced (I just used some garlic powder)

1/8 teaspoon pepper

3 cups cooked spaghetti

In a large saucepan, combine the first seven ingredients. Cook, uncovered, over medium heat until vegetable are tender, about 12 minutes. Stir in spaghetti; heat through. Yield: 4 servings

I can send you the nutritional information if you're interested. Otherwise, eat and enjoy!

Further signs of ADD

2009-04-16T07:29:00.000-07:00

I have realized I am a literary polygamist. I have at least three books that I am currently in the middle of reading. This was never my way before. I was religious about finishing a book to the last page before beginning a new one. What changed? Perhaps I am so worried that I will never have time to complete one book that I panic and pick up the next one. Ahh... I never thought of myself as a cheater. But here I am. This is what is currently on the docket: ScreamFree Parenting (anyone think I really should read this one cover-to-cover??), The Bible Jesus Read, and Divine Prophecies Fulfilled (a very interesting 1922 book about Ellen G. White & her prophecies). And I'm sure there are several others that are not privileged enough to be on the night table.

All in a morning's work

2009-04-14T11:12:00.000-07:00

Out with the old....

And in with the new(er)!

I got tired of the striped velvet on my dining room chairs, so I pulled down a chocolate brown microfiber homemade curtain panel I've had since we got married, and perfomed a little cosmetic surgery. I'm pleased. I'm glad it didn't cost anything, because I'll probably feel like changing it again in about a year. That's just the way I am. Filipe's lucky we're legally bound to each other....

Family Day

2009-04-12T15:48:00.000-07:00

So we're trying to figure out the whole holidays thing and what kind of traditions to start with our family. We're a little undecided on Easter & the whole Easter Bunny & egg hunts and such, so this year we just kind of made it a family day. We headed off to Sea World, hoping most of the rest of the world was safely in church or hunting for eggs. Originally, we were planning to go to the beach, but the forecast had called for thunderstorms & such. Well, we had some rain overnight, but Sunday morning was bright blue.

The were very few crowds at Sea World, it was pretty much walk-on for any of the rides. The kids had such a good time.

Filipe chasing the boys through the pirate ship tunnels....

Easter Egg ride.....

Sam getting in trouble....

The boys were riveted to the Cannery Row Caper show

9-1-1

2009-04-09T14:01:00.000-07:00

Well, I've aged about 5 years in the last 45 minutes. After the boys woke up from their nap, I put on their socks and shoes and sent them to the backyard to play. I then put on Sofia's socks & shoes, and went out with her.

The boys were gone. Really gone.

I ran over to the side of the house to check the gate, but it was closed. I thought maybe they snuck inside and are eating toothpaste somewhere upstairs. Did a quick check in all the usual hang-outs, but with no luck.

By this time I'm really starting to panic. I think maybe they somehow got the gate open, went out front, then closed the gate, so I run out front and do a quick scan up and down the street. No toddlers running and giggling with glee. I run back out to the backyard--still nothing. I grab the phone and dial 9-1-1 as I'm re-checking all the rooms inside.

After giving the operator my information, she dispatches a police officer and I stand outside, pacing furiously. I stare at the face of each driver going by in their car, trying to see if they are looking at me like they know I've lost my children. I'm sure someone has seen two little boys running down the sidewalk, and can tell me where they are. But no one slows down, no one brings my boys home. I can't leave the house, because I have Sofia there, and just in case the boys really are hiding somewhere in the house or in the back. I do sprint across the street and up the other street, checking likely places the boys would be, but I can't see any sign of them.

It seems like forever before the police officer arrives. She takes a description of the boys, and tells me that she will be there day & night until they are found. They will send up the helicopter immediately, because of the age of the boys. I'm relieved and panicked at the same time. A helicopter? Day & NIGHT?? But she goes to call the info in, and I run back to the house to do another check. I send Sofia up to check their favorite hiding spots, because by this time she's feeling scared and needs a distraction. I run out back again to do one last check.

After I had called 911, I called Filipe, who was driving home from Houston. He had mentioned checking to see if they had crawled through the fence somehow. So when I went out for my last check, I had that in mind. I checked the outdoor shed, behind the shed, and by the garden. That's when I noticed one of their Tonka dump trucks sitting in the back corner of the yard. Right next to one plank of fence that was pulled slightly out. I ran over there and shoved the two loose planks aside.

There were my two boys, sitting in our behind-us neighbor's yard. Apparently, they have a Barbie ride-on jeep that the boys thought was very cool. I had to do the "count to three" trick twice before they reluctantly scooted through the fence. As Sam passed through, he looked up at me with his big brown eyes and said, "No time out Sammy. No time out." Don't count on it, kid.

I hauled those boys out to the front porch and sat them down, and went down to the police officer to let her know I found them before they sent up the helicopters. She came over to take a look at them just as another police officer arrived. The boys were very excited to see the police cars. Me, not so much. But we told the other officer the story of where they were, and they took my information down and left. As they got back into their cars, Sofia looked at me with disappointment and said, "oh... I thought we were going to get to ride in the police cars." Not unless they're taking me to Child Protective Services, I thought.

So that was my adventure for today. My heart is just now returning to normal, whatever that is. So the moral of this story is The toys are always more fun on the other side of the fence.

The End.

Messy fun

2009-04-08T12:27:00.001-07:00

Had a good time at a birthday party today... what perfect weather! I had planned to take more pictures, but alas, was too busy chasing Sam and Ben. And I mean that literally. Little monkeys.

Snow Day San Antonio

2009-04-07T14:56:00.000-07:00

We had a crazy cold front come through here.... It almost covered our car.

Then again, it almost covered our kids, too....

Crazy San Antonio weather....

Ah, the romance

2009-04-06T07:43:00.001-07:00

I do love a good wedding.... congratulations, Raul & Charisse!

That's what it's all about!

2009-04-01T20:09:00.000-07:00

We had a playdate at my friend Kim's house today. She had knee surgery and has been housebound for a while, which explains why she was so happy to see us.... at this point, she would have welcomed Dick Cheney!

Well, after a great time, we had to go home. The boys had been behaving so nicely all morning, but the minute they knew we were leaving, the facade was broken. They went crazy cute, running all over, laying on the floor giggling.

Well, they say a picture is worth a thousand words, and my dear friend Kim was good enough to catch the antics on film. Thanks. So. Much.

Ha!

Here's my boys, being so good....

Then the good times begin....

And what you can't see is that none of us are wearing shoes--I gave up!!

Miracle

2009-03-31T15:32:00.000-07:00

My daughter posed for a picture!! And of course, by "posed," I mean didn't run or scowl.

Game night

2009-03-31T08:11:00.000-07:00

We had a houseful (and then some!) Saturday night for our game night/birthday bash. We celebrated Rob's and Elissa's birthdays, and had lots of fun playing games, and, of course, eating!

Devastating Loss

2009-03-23T07:43:00.000-07:00

You may have seen on the news about the plane crash in Montana, with 14 confirmed dead, 7 of them children. Well, a family of four that we knew in Paradise, CA, was on that plane. Brent & Kristen Ching, and their 2 children were going for the last ski trip of the season. If you could pray for the Mautz & Ching families, I would appreciate it. May God give peace to them in this time of loss.

After-hours Art

2009-03-21T18:55:00.000-07:00

When Sofia takes a nap during the day, she usually gets to stay up a little later than her brothers to do "big girl" activities that Mommy is afraid to do during the day. Tonight she got to make pictures with a paint set Aunt Julie got her for Christmas. It has fun shapes & animals made out of sponges. Very easy painting! Sofia had so much fun, she made three pictures: one for mommy, one for daddy, and of course, one for herself.

Life at the Cozy Cone

2009-03-20T10:18:00.000-07:00

My kids are moderately obsessed with Disney's Cars. Today Sofia's project was to create Cozy Cones to sleep in.
My apologies to the couch.

Signs of a neglectful parent

2009-03-19T15:55:00.001-07:00

I swear I have beds for them upstairs. They prefer the cupboard, really! Besides, they've always wanted bunkbeds.

Rub a dub dub....

2009-03-19T15:46:00.000-07:00

Good day for a scrub!