Pumpkin Patterns

If you still have pumpkins to carve check out this link for hundreds of patterns and ideas.
Here's our creation.

Get Batty

If you haven't yet, make sure you go visit No Time for Flashcards and pick out a cool craft (Halloween or otherwise). We had fun making bats today. Click for instructions.




At Cali's request we replaced the teeth with smiles. Then we used all the black scraps to make lots and lots of spiders: cut large ovals for bodies, smaller ovals for heads, thin strips for legs let your toddler glue as they wish. Cali chose to draw her legs on, giving her spiders just one leg each.

No More Mr. Mike

Back in the late 80s I fondly remember spending hours recording myself and my older brother (when he had nothing better to do) on our Playskool Mr. Mike cassette tape recorder with attached microphone. I couldn't tell you what we recorded but I remember it being highly entertaining at the time. I decided it would make a great present for Cali this year. The girl loves to talk, often creating elaborate stories and crazy made-up words. Well I started looking and found out pretty quick they are no longer in production. If you're lucky you can find one on Ebay for say $69+. I guess cassette tapes are a bit hard to find these days. One of those "if only we had kept it" gems.

So I hadn't given up completely on the concept but decided I'd forgo the original. Tonight I came across this new fridge gadget by LeapFrog and decided it would do the trick.

Its really nothing like Mr. Mike other than it will record and playback her voice, but I sure had a lot of fun playing with it. I think she will too. Check out this amazon link for the description. PS They are on sale at Target this week.

Free Online Class

Hooray! My first online scrap class, I'm so excited. The best part: it's FREE and I know I'll learn something wonderful. Click above to register for yourself. Scroll down til you see "Register for FREE Stories In Hand Class."

Chalk Ridge Falls

I wish we had gone here sooner! Check out this awesome hike today. The trails were nice, wide, clean, lots to explore. The kids LOVED the waterfall and it was so much fun to watch their excitement and joy. We couldn't believe what a beautiful place this was so close to home. The water was cool, clear and refreshing. As for wildlife we went in the evening so as dusk came we saw lots of deer (some only steps away), then two armadillos, lots of small fish in the streams, and a few teeny tiny frogs. I'm sure we'll be back many more times. If you live near me click for more info.





PS The pics are with our Kodak EasyShare because there's no way I was taking my Rebel hiking, much less into a waterfall.

Trail Mix

Well I've finally caught up on my rest after the horrendous sleepless night in the ER (see previous post), so we're ready for another hike. This time we're going armed with some delicious homemade trailmix.



Our Trail Mix

1 box Cascadian Farms Organic Granola
1/2 can lightly salted mixed nuts
craisins
golden raisins
plain cheerios
pretzel sticks
plain m&ms

No measurements necessary just dump in what you like til it looks about right. Enjoy!

Case of the Missing Button

I'll try to make this brief... Thursday night Cali was supposed to be going to sleep but since she took a good nap that day she was still awake at 9pm when I heard her start to cry. It was unusual so I went to check and she told me she had put a button in her nose. Great. After much hysterics on her part and us fumbling through books and the internet and a call to a friend trying to figure out what to do we finally went to the ER. She insisted it was in there and I believed her (although she said it wasn't when we mentioned going to the doctor) but we couldn't see it anywhere.

So I take her to the ER to at least find out if its really in there. We arrived around 10PM, the waiting room was very much full and I do not exaggerate one bit when I say this: WE WAITED FOR 9 HOURS TO BE SEEN!!! Cali didn't fall asleep until 3:30 AM and I eventually nodded off for a bit sitting up in the small uncomfortable chair. She was the very last person out of everyone that had arrived the night before to be seen. That's not counting the 3 or 4 families that finally gave up and left by 4am.

So finally the doctor sees us, lo0ks and looks and looks in her nose. She wasn't fond of the idea but really did a fantastic job of staying calm and still to let them look. (She was promised a popsicle for her cooperation). He really did try to find it. It was nowhere to be seen. She said it was still there, I believed her. Doc said best thing was to just wait and watch and see, no use poking around to find something when we have no idea where it is at. I agreed. He offered to do a chest x-ray. I declined. We were beyond ready to go home and it seemed unlikely to help.

Fast forward three days. She has said at various times that it is... on the right side, on the left side, it came out, it went back in, its a button, its a bead, its still in there, it feels better... So we didn't know what to think. Dave started to think it was a "pretend" button, but I still believed her. I thought maybe it had worked back far enough to drain down her throat. It wasn't bothering her and there was no unusual discharge. Well finally today after lunch she was coughing and sneezing (she's had a cold all week already) and I went to blow her nose and guess what came out.... a tiny red button!

Pesto Pork Roast = 5 min prep

This is by far the fastest, easiest, most delicious recipe ever. It will not take more than five minutes to create and its only 3 ingredients! Ready??

Set up your crock pot. Plop in a Pork Loin Roast, spread the top with Pesto sauce, dump a can of diced tomatoes on top. Cook on low at least 5 hours.

That's it. Really. I serve mine with brown rice and sprinkle a little Parmesan on top. The leftovers are great on a toasted sandwich roll too.

Just Practicing

Played around with the manual side of my camera today. I wanted to get a shot of this little creature hanging out on my Rosemary.


The ones of the kids are on about f/5.6 - f/6.0 with 200-400 ISO and auto white balance. Taken in the early evening shade of our backyard.

Bluetooth

Dave is trying to keep me up to speed with technology lately. We found a nice Bluetooth headset on Clearance at Target the other day then last week he scored two Bluetooth stereo headphone sets for 75% off at the PX. So I've had to figure out how to get them connected to my phone, how to turn them on/off, adjust the volume, answer calls etc. Now I'm getting used to them and its been nice to be able to talk hands free while I get some chores done or listen to music while cleaning up or even use them when I go out for a walk.

Back to Basics

One of my all-time favorite activities is to go hiking. Well its a little tough to do with a 20 month old and a just-turned-3-year-old so last weekend we finally invested in some Kelty packs. Today was the big day we got to try them out. We knew exactly where to go - Dana Peak Park. Our old stomping grounds from before Cali was born. The summer of 2005 we spent several days a week there. We only hiked a few times (I was pregnant with Cali already) but we spent tons of time on our boat, swimming in the cool clean water, picnicking at the pavilions, wading at the shore, and the guys tubing. So many fun memories there. Unfortunately last summer we had too much rain and the lake flooded so much it completely destroyed the park. All the pavilions, outhouses, the entire RV park, even the guard shack were wiped out. The park is still closed and will take a long time and a lot of money to return to its former glory. As of now you still can't even drive up to the park, the closest you can get is about 2 miles from the usual entrance. So that's where we parked and for the first time since the end of summer 2006 we were able to walk up to the old park entrance and see the main part of the lake where we spent so many happy hours in the past. We didn't go to the main park area because we had already walked a mile past a "Park Closed - No Trespassing" sign and then saw the guard shack attendants RV was there so we snuck down a trail to the back end where the boat ramp is at. Then around a little spit to a nice rocky little shore. Roundtrip we probably did at least 4-5 miles. The weather was perfect: sunny but not hot, a nice breeze. We saw two people on horseback, one boat nearby, and about 4 cars in the parking spot. As for wildlife we saw one squirrel, one little green frog (I actually caught it for a minute), some minnows in the creek, a dead fish head, various birds & hawks, two deer on our way out, and a whole variety of butterflies and grasshoppers.








And just because I was curious... Calories burned: 720 (but that's with a 10-20 lb load, my load was more like 30-35 lbs). Click here for calorie burn calculator.

Noodle Necklaces

I almost forgot, but I just found these pictures on my camera...

Noodle Necklaces

Noodles (uncooked)
Paint
Brushes
Cord

Have your kids paint the noodles, then let them dry. I happened to be feeling quite clever this day when I thought to use our old bottle drying rack thats just been stashed under the sink forever. While the noodles dry wash up all the paint (my kids' favorite part!). Once dry thread them onto a cord, tie a knot and there you have your own noodle necklace. Sorry I didn't get pics of the finished product. Great manual dexterity and hand-eye coordination project.

Empty Ribbons Spools

I recently emptied a bunch of my ribbons into a big clear jar and had a pile of empty ribbon spools. Now I'm not one to throw something like that away so I finally got around to Googling it. Turns out I could sell them on Ebay, freecycle them, or make these nifty little mini albums.


I think I'll try that 3rd option. Click here for full instructions.

Laugh Kookaburra Laugh

I really couldn't tell you where I ever heard this song but the only line I remembered is the "laugh, kookaburra, laugh" and there happened to be a Kookaburra in our new library book today so I had to look it up. Maybe this can be our new bedtime song, I'm running out of creativity for Cali's nightly request of "Hush a by, don't you cry, mommy's going to buy you something." That's a whole other story. Anyway here's the complete lyrics if you must know and if you go to the link you can listen to the music for it and see alternate verses.

Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree,
Merry merry king of the bush is he.
Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh, Kookaburra,
Gay your life must be!

Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree,
Eating all the gum drops he can see.
Stop Kookaburra, stop Kookaburra
Save some there for me!

Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree,
Counting all the monkeys he can see.
Laugh Kookaburra, laugh Kookaburra
That's not a monkey, that's me!

Good Things....

Yep, that old cliche good things come to those who wait. First off we've been talking about getting a nice big counter top of sorts for my craft area. We like all the selection at IKEA and looked several months ago but held off. We went to IKEA on Monday and they just happened to have the exact counter top I wanted in the "AS IS" section for 50% off. We checked out the "leg" options but decided Dave could custom build some for the same price. I didn't think of this til we got it to the office but we just laid it on top of my old desk for now. It's fantastic and worked perfectly for my usual scrap night with friends. Cali was actually the first to scrap on it and she approves too.

On a smaller note I was looking for a nice brown sweater-jacket for "winter" (in quotes because this is Texas we're talking about) and saw one for $35 at Target, well I didn't get it then on Monday found one even better at the Espirit outlet for only $15. I just love a good deal!

Google Street View Maps

Go check out the new feature at Google Maps, it shows real photo views of a given address or turn by turn photo views of say which exit ramp to take or when to stay in the left lane. Its not 100% complete for all areas but our house was on it. Have fun seeing the pictures of your home, your friends houses, your favorite hangouts, your old stomping grounds...

Go to http://maps.google.com/, type in the address or ask for directions to a location then click on the "Street View" button in the upper right of the map. The little bubble that points out your location will show a little picture of the location click on it to see it bigger or even make it full screen. The picture of our house even had our cars in the driveway at the time! Crazy.

No Time for Flashcards

Just found this very cool crafts/activities site via Kidletsmum who visited me from her blog You Can't Diaper Their Faces. Tons of fun activities for the little ones. Check it out!

http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/

Our Next Pet

This little guy is now on our list for potential pets. We went to the Pet Store just for fun the other day and they had a whole terrarium full. They were a lot of fun to watch, especially the one who was using his Spidey-skills to scale up the corner of the tank. Then the others that Cali urged to jump into the bowl of water - and they did! So Cali convinced me that we should get Diego a Fire-Belly Toad for his 3rd birthday (just like she got her fish). Of course she had to know what they eat so I googled it and found a good Wikipedia article here. Sounds like they'd make a fun pet but I would DEFINITELY keep it in the cage at all times. PS It says they eat "anything they can stuff into their toothless jaws."

French Fries = Potassium

I saw a couple places this past week how healthy potatoes can be for you. One was an add for something like the Idaho Potato Commission saying that a white potato isn't just a bunch of bad white starch, that it actually contains more potassium than a banana. Then somewhere in the paper I read how boiling potatoes can deplete them of most of their nutrients and that FRIED potatoes actual have more of the nutrients still in them! Unfortunately there's way more fat too. The solution: boil your potatoes whole rather than cutting them up to keep more nutrients intact. Click here for full nutrition facts, you might be surprised.

Kodak Buy 25 Get 25

My friend Dana got this one in her email. Kodak Gallery has Buy 25 4x6 prints get 25 free. Must be in the same order and only good for one set. This one is good until Oct 14th, use code BOGOPRINTS.

1 Cent Prints

Snapfish is offering 4x6 prints at a penny a piece thru October 11th. I know I'm stocking up! Use code FALLPENNY08 at checkout. They even have a 110% satisfaction guarantee.

ETA: This is for the first 50 prints, then they are 9 cents each after that. Still a great deal! I uploaded my 50 today.

Tarnatula V. Water Hose

Today I learned you can not kill a "tarantula" with the watering hose. Yes, I had another friendly little creature outside my front door today. Click here to recall the last one and link to the photo of him if you dare. This one was bigger... much, much bigger. We got some fake spiders from the $1 Store and have them thrown around our front walkway, at first glance I thought it was one of those. On second glance it was bigger, much more detailed in coloration, and not made of rubber. It was on our Welcome mat. I must have just stepped over (to go out to the car) and D had just followed behind me too. It wasn't til we wanted back in that I saw it. I only had D's little baby sandals in my hand. The sandals were not big enough to kill this spider/tarantula, the spider/tarantula was bigger than D's size toddler-6 Tevas. I had flash backs of the awful popping sound the last one made when I smacked it and couldn't bring myself to do it again. So I grabbed the hose instead, thinking I could drown it or maybe injure it with a strong spray. No luck of course, just washed it into a corner along the siding where he crawled up inside and hid. Not only was it not dead, I now did not know where it went. I grabbed the bug spray instead and sprayed off that corner and especially across the threshold into the house. I kept checking back to see if he'd reappear and I'm happy to report he showed up quivering and near-dead this evening. Dave finished him off with his shoe and disposed of the remains. *Shudder*

Balancing

I was trying to memorize this new Laurie Berkner song on the drive home from Austin this evening since Cali has turned into part Billy Goat.

Balance Beam

Balance, balance, balance beam
I am balance, balance, balancing
on my balance, balance beam

One foot, other foot in a row
I can do it fast or slow
Frontways, sideways
Always my way
on my balance, balance beam...

**Ok so I couldn't find the actual lyrics or even a youtube of the song so this is my best guess of the first two verses without having the CD in hand**Click here to hear a clip, scroll down then play track 16**

SBF

A gorgeous day at Sweet Berry Farm.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Tips: Don't fill up your tank before you go, we got gas for only $3.18! Definitely stop by Johnson Park if you have time (see previous post for link). Beware it hasn't rained in a long time so it is VERY DUSTY. Definitely get some Pumpkin Ice Cream -- even if it means everyone gets to eat dessert before lunch. They open at 8:30 so leave home as early as possible and stay as long as you can. You won't want to leave without at least catching a hayride.

Marble Falls

One of my favorite day trips in this area. The area is just beautiful. We first drove through on our first roadtrip to California almost 3 years ago. The next fall just after Dave first deployed his unit hosted a group trip to Sweet Berry Farm's Pumpkin Patch. We've been back many times since for both the spring pick-your-own strawberries and the fall pumpkin patch. They have horses, donkeys, goats, chickens, a hayride, a maze the shape of Texas, old-fashioned homemade ice cream, and more. Check out the website.

Last time I used our handy dandy GPS to find a fantastic park nearby. Click to see/find Johnson park. Also, we love to go a couple blocks past the turn-off to the farm to Lake LBJ and eat at Chili's right on the water. Its so beautiful there.

Well its that time of year again and I'd love to go camping too, especially in that area so I was doing some more research. I found this, too bad the kids aren't old enough. Click for more on Post Oak Farm.

Meet Georgie

We've been telling Cali for several weeks now that we would get her a fish for her birthday this year. Well we hadn't gotten around to it for the big day but the next day we were in the shopping center with PetCo and she wanted to go in there so she could push Baby Cali around in the mini shopping cart and we figured we'd scope out the fish tanks, etc. again. Well we took one step in the door and she said... "Oh! We can get my fish now because I had my birthday yesterday!"

So, here's Georgie

PS The funky brown thing in the bottom left is a plant bulb.