Paper Cup Poet

pouf re-do

I picked these ottomans up at Target a few years back for about 15 bucks each.  They really come in handy, especially when we have parties, but as you can see they look a little sad.  I was debating on how to cover the stains:  tie dye?  fabric markers graffiti?  dye with Ritz color?  applique?  Give up?

I had been saving this Ikea fabric which I love so much for a curtain, but then decided to make little capes for my poufs.  My very nice mom in law helped me sew them, since I am the worlds worst seamstress.  We didn't have enough fabric to go all the way to the ground, but it's all good because they pop off easy and can be washed! 

I need to get back to Ikea for more of this killer fabric.  It makes me crazy.

Other things I desperately require:  one excellent banana bread recipe, a laptop, time to think, more sleep, candles, a vacation and one of those super strict British nannies to come and whip my toddlers into shape.

sushi friday!

 i know its usually cake or candy on friday, but I couldn't resist my two year old trying to grab his sushi with chopsticks!  He didn't make it and just went right in for the roll sans sticks.  In his world sushi must be eaten with many, many Ritz crackers. 

**List of loves**  cooler weather, a swimming pool for the patio, my new bookcase, typing out my wedding vows and then printing them, iced tea, Skinny Cows and sharing a Bob's roll from I love Sushi in Rocklin with my son.

hand held pie

 we have great affection for the genius concept known as hand pie here in this house.  Yesterday, April and her friend Joseph made strawberry ones.  They are 4 and I let them do the whole thing themselves - hence the creative shapes.  April ate two proclaiming them yummy and Joseph took one bite and said, yuck.  He doesn't like jam apparently!

Last year I wrote about blackberry hand pie's for Sacramento Parent Magazine:  http://www.sacramentoparent.com/In_This_Issue/08%2008/Let%27s%20Go%20Blackberry%20Picking.htm .  The blackberries are from this wonderful farm in Auburn:  Amber Oaks:  www.amberberries.com.  They are killer.  Totally pesticide free and thornless and huge and juicy!  We will back at least twice this year, somewhere between June/July/Aug when they are ready.

Are you PIE or CAKE? 

sage walnut pesto

 oh the awesomeness.  Made like regular basil pesto, except swap the basil for sage and the pine nuts for walnuts.  I tossed it around penne pasta with leftover chicken and topped it with fried (in cinnamon and olive oil) sage leaves.  Oh. The.  Awesomeness.  Is awesomeness actually a word?

There were no leftovers, but next time I will try it on a grilled chicken sandwich topped with tart apple slices. 

I just checked the Urban Dictionary for awesomeness:  1. An unmeasurable amount of awesomenimity something can produce.

Also: 1. to be awesome.

3.  Sage, walnut pesto.

all the pretty horses

 we live in the country now (sort of) due to a road closure.  I drive by these pretty gals every day now.  There is nothing cuter than that baby horse. 

 See.  Today I yelled to Marc "pull over I've got to snap that baby!"  There is another baby at the farm across the street too.  April calls the light colored horse the princess horse. 

This one had an itchy face. 

Life is funny.  When they closed our road I was outraged (as were all my neighbors)..we now have to drive 10 minutes out of our way through farm land.  But lately, it's been creeping up on me and darn it if I don't kind of like it.  There you go.  Every morning we say good morning horses, cows, sheep, everybody and we ride the bumps and we laugh and the whole thing is pretty serene.  I think I like it so much because the kids think its a total adventure.  And now I can see it too. 

Horses and children, I often think, have a lot of the good sense there is in the world.  ~Josephine Demott Robinson

upside down cake

 sorry, no candy this Friday, only cake.  Bobby Flay's blueberry/lemon upside down cake that is.

It's in the oven now.  Tomorrow we will have a little party with grandparents and eat it with rib-eyes and salad. 

It is so lovely to have Marc home for a few days.  I slept in, walked, baked, shopped, crafted, well...all my favorite things. and it's only Friday.  Excellent.

**sparkling weekend to you**

garden update

 when you are married to an engineer, stuff like this pops up in the garden.  It's made from pvc pipe and is nurturing heirloom strawberries.  A taller one was asked if it could be moved to be less prominent from the kitchen window.  This is the struggle in our marriage:  one person could not give a hoot about aesthetics, and one person is crazy mad about the way stuff looks. 

a funny thing about our side yard.  I didn't even realize he had planted grapes and horseradish.  Horseradish?  I know.  Again, I blame the engineering factor.  Dont' get me wrong, I am very amped to make homemade wasabi paste and possibly wine or grape jelly.  But he planted these one night in the dark wearing a headlamp so as not to alert me to their existence.  Hm.

This is April's garden.  I am very happy to see sunflowers popping.  We had sunflowers at our wedding and their seeds which symbolize fertility have proven very fruitful. 

Before the seed there comes the thought of bloom.
-   E. B. White

london bridges

 April and some neighbor girls playing London Bridges in the playhouse in Santa Cruz last week.  My mom and I couldn't remember this one?  Who falls down?  Is this at all related to I see London, I see France? 

Funny things they say:  On the car ride to Santa Cruz, Ryan had a loud tantrum.  April shouted to him, "Ryan!  Control your temperature! 

After having a few bad dreams, I put April to bed the other night and she said, "mommy, I don't want to close my eyes"  Why, I asked.  She said, "because I don't like the movie."

Then, yesterday, April informed me in whisper mode, "mommy, when I grow up I am going to be a writer and write articles."

***Sigh***

paper hands

 we made these over Christmas.  This is me.

my mom strung them inside the kids playhouse. 

This one is Grantie (Great Auntie)

These are my parents.

 This is the playhouse.  It's in my parents backyard in Santa Cruz.  It has among other things, an ocean view out of it's side window.  Incredible.  They love it so much.

Inside is a latch hook rug I made in junior high!  Yep, my mom keeps everything.

What we remember from childhood we remember forever - permanent ghosts, stamped, inked, imprinted, eternally seen.  ~Cynthia Ozick

tile table and tatami mat

 My $25.00 box of Heath Ceramics seconds tile has finally made its way into a coffee table.  It only took me a year.  The legs are Ikea and were so cheap...I think the whole table came together for about $100.00!  I am happy-ish with it.  I say ish, because it's so heavy I cannot move it alone and the kids have already chipped it and insist upon standing on top of it.  Dang those kids!

This is what April made me for Mothers Day.  I have a deep place in my heart for my kids hand prints.  I love the sushi roll mat (tatami mat?)idea...those clever preschool teachers!  She said to me, "mommy, it's my hands, but its a garden." 

**Did I tell you I met Guy Fieri?**  I did a little research and am happy to learn he is an Aquarius!  So is Ryan.  They are the humanitarians of the planet, you know.  I am totally done boasting about meeting a celeb now.  Totally.  Done.