SAY WHAT?!?

Bug and I were talking the other day. I love teasing him about how hunky he is getting - for real girls - right?! I asked if girls still chase in 3rd grade. He confessed that at the beginning of the school year he was being chased regularly by a group of girls. Some boys in his class took note and dubbed Cristian as a "chick magnet". He seemed to wear his title with a smug sort of satisfaction. I was not aware that I had been living with THE GREAT CHICK MAGNET OF THIRD GRADE.

Autographs will be made available upon request.

CabbageBall?

Perry was helping me carry in the groceries the other day. I got to talking to Noel and wasn't paying attention to what Perry was doing. Before you know it Perry is playing "soccer" with the cabbage she brought in from the car. Thankfully cabbages are nice and hardy because she got in a few good kicks before mommie ended her fun.

What a cute imagination though right?!

Only in Texas...

On our way home from Dallas at Thanksgiving we saw this spaceship!

Only in Texas do you find such oddities. It is an abandoned little shop. Obviously, the kids were thrilled beyond belief...

Aliens not included.

Funny video

I'm sure that when you're in your car listening to a song you like, this is what you sound like when you get to a spot in the song and you're not sure what the lyrics are.

The Influence of Tucker

This is what a weekend with friends, non-stop, does to my little 5-year old. Goodness, my little gromit is so darling-cute sleeping like that. I asked Carlos to snap a few shots since I was driving. When I see him like this I want to scoop him up and cuddle for a few hours. I am so grateful that he was made extra-tiny. It makes up for the two years of life that I didn't get to hold him. I don't think that's the spin he'll appreciate in a few years about his height. Oh well, I love it for now!

Testify!

Testimonial of 2 facts:

1. I do indeed have boys in the house. (Thank you Ian, Mason, & Cristian)

2. Winter weather (even if only 42 degrees) creates bored children.

Birthday Boy

Happy Birthday Brandon! I thought this was such a clever idea and Bran got to enjoy the brunt of my creativity. I wonder what next year will bring? The kids have already decided that the theme should be "40 Stinks"! Friends, save me your dirty diapers!

Bedtime Scriptures

I sighed in relief when Elder Bednar spoke about he and his wife wondering if their kids were gleaning anything when they read the scriptures. Tonight found me laughing all through Carlos' reading of only two verses. Why you ask?

Well, there was Mason on my lap soothing his thumb that has a wart on it. He was preoccupied with the Compound W the entire time - blowing on his thumb and playing with the bandage that would soon wrap his finger. Then there was Cristian doing "the worm", a lovely throw-back to the 80's. He looked like a beached whale struggling for water. Cora had on the "carpet sliders". She was gliding all over the carpet in her usual grace and flare. The splits often appeared in each little number. Perry was just a spaz mimicking everyone but Mason.

Carlos briefly spoke about "wickedness never was happiness" - in between 3 phone calls of course. I just laughed. We ended with our prayer.

We tried right?

the Hannah Kate

Here are the fabrics for my next quilt project. Another dear friend just had her third baby. She has had a lot of input on this quilt, but I still hope she likes it. These fabrics are fun and feminine. I just love doing these for people that I love.

Christmas Salsa

How gorgeous are these colors, right? I am making salsa for Christmas gifts and so I solicited the help of a professional. I had my father-in-law, Anastacio spend the afternoon with us showing me the ropes of how it's really done.
We went grocery shopping together. We got Serrano chilies, habanero chilies, & jalapeno chilies. Also included was garlic, onions, cilantro, lemons, tomatoes, and tomatillos. Goodness, the shopping part was so fun. It was great asking my dad all the questions I wanted to about our ingredients.
Anastacio roasts all his chilies and the red tomatoes before they are used. Peeling the skins was time-consuming. I think I will omit this step the next time. I didn't notice a difference in taste with them roasted although I do love the bits of charred skin peppered through the salsa. We boiled the tomatillos in water until they were remarkably changed in color.
These bad boys were canned for 15 minutes in a lovely water bath. I think I'll do this again for our salsa stock pile. I spent $30 for 12 jars. Down side? You eat a jar a day. Cristian, Carlos and I quite enjoyed salsa verde all day today. Fabulous on my scrambled eggies!!

And the few pointers that I picked up yesterday from my dad are:

1. Always use the round tomatoes. The Roma tomatoes are too sweet and beef steak don't taste well for salsa. The round ones have a sourness to them that is perfect for salsa.
2. Cilantro. I've always wondered if I was suppose to pick off the leaves and then chop. Use all of it. I chopped it all very fine and put it in a bowl to the side. I cleaned all my produce with a food cleaner. There were tiny gnats everywhere in the cilantro. I rinsed/swished it 6x before it all came clean. Disgusting!
3. This salsa is a smooth salsa. It isn't chunky like pico de gallo. We used a blender for all the ingredients. After it was blended smoothly we added additional cilantro and finely chopped onion to give it mild texture.
4. If you are eating the salsa all that day you can add avocado to it. It is so delicious, but needs to be eaten or the avo spoils. Is that ever really an issue though with salsa?
5. Lemon is your friend with salsa. I find especially with the green salsa, lemon just makes it better and better tasting.
6. If you want spicy salsa, turn up the heat with your peppers. You want your salsa to be flavorful with heat, but not so hot that it overpowers the flavors of the other ingredients.
7. Peppers - jalapenos are the mildest, Serrano's are next in heat, habaneros are fire. So jalapeno, Serrano, habaneros. We used all three in both salsas. They are so yummy!

the makenna kate

my dearest friend ever, natalie, finally had a baby girl after three attempts! she is, of course, ridiculously darling that little miss makenna. problem is...well, it's me. the poor child is now a year old. (sigh) good intentions right? but how does that saying go? what is the road to hell paved with? oh yeah, good intentions!
thankfully, natalie is the most forgiving and generous of people. she won't balk at my tardiness. this quilt is actually the first i ever made. shay held my hand (via verizon) through the whole process.
it is a tiny quilt, like a t.v. cozy or something. i love the colors though. i had it quilted in the bright purple color. it turned out very nice. i am so excited to give it to my friends little miracle daughter.

In Honor of this Weekend's Hype...

A friend pointed this out to me. Funny stuff.

Ahh, good times!

A common pose around the Carter home. Trevor giving the "care bear stare", Jen picking her nose, and Shay looking like someone from Kiss.

Testosterone induced idiocy. Trevor is doing his best to mold Tay into a wee little man.

Noel, Jen and Shay on our deck admiring all of dad's flowers. Some things never change.

My dad, the Smurf, on steroids. I dunno what he was doing home with that. What is it, a Hazmat hoodie or surgical gear? Who knows.

The famous "butt chin". Trev has a great one. Carlos, his dad, and Cristian have one too. Shay is making it more pronounced while Trev is giving his butt a pair of legs.

Good times, crazy family.

What!?

So I'm browing through our pictures and I stumble upon this little, hot number. Carlos is the one who loads all the images onto the computer.

Why did he put a self-portrait for the internet universe to view?!

Under Construction

My latest quilting endeavor... we had some friends bestow upon our family a very kind and generous deed. (To be explained later...) So I thought I'd make them a quilt as a sort of thank you gift. It is turning out great, but I always get to doubting myself at this stage in the game. Are the colors too intense for this person? Will they actually use it or display it? Are they going to barf at my color scheme?

Who needs this drama?

Not me.

The $3 Hole

Possibly one of my all-time fave pictures of Cora! Wink, wink my public. Her pending anticipation of the Tooth Fairy visit made her down-right giddy!
The large gap in the face, sure to make family portraits a rethought. Cora worked and worked on getting this bad boy out of her mouth. I told her that those big teeth get BIG BUCKS from the tooth fairy.
And mama didn't lie! She got three whole dollas! Curiously this fairy didn't leave behind any fairy dust. The kids and I are still entertaining possible theories as to why. So far they include 1) maybe it was a mean fairy, 2) maybe it ran out of fairy dust, 3) maybe we got Arwynn's fairy because she doesn't get dust, or 4) maybe Mom and Dad are the tooth fairy. Preposterous! Where does Cristian come up with those curve balls?!

Prew-ett!

Oh goodness me! Look what I found in my bedroom while I was sewing the other day! Perry was playing with her Polly Pockets when Pruett Halloween 2009 showed up. I couldn't resist a family portrait.

David was the Tin Man, Paisley Bear was Dorothy, Kavers was the Lion, and Shay the Scarecrow. Amazing what entertains me right?

Celebrity Brothers

I enjoy watching, every Sunday night, Extreme Home Make-Over. It is a feel good show, people helping people. And I always cry at the end, every time. The kids always look anxiously over at me when I cry. Like I might implode or something. Usually Cora will tear up. It's tradition. I love this show for lots of reasons, but a bonus perk is that Ty Pennington looks so much like my brother Taylor. Neither of these pictures are accurate of Ty or Tay. But they even have the same build and expressions. Taylor IS a lot hairier though. Tay's hair is cut more like Ty's now. Gosh, they even both have the same surfer-grunge style. It.is.weird.and.uncanny.

And then there is my brother Markie. Years ago, ten years ago about, Carlos and I use to watch Fear Factor religiously. Joe Rogan would drive me insane in a good way. He reminded me SO much of Markie. And these aren't good comparison pictures either of the two, but their builds and musculature was so similar. And then to listen to Joe... he was so mean to the contestants in a really funny way and that's how Markie was. He'd always make fun of you. He'd make you laugh at your own expense.

So I say to you...if you want to know my brothers any better watch these shows. Or if you want to be reminded of how cute and darling, okay basically h-o-t, my sibs are than check them out on you tube or something. It'll be a fun little snack for ya.

Throw Down

Okay, so sadly this is a very true story. Even more sadly it didn't involve any of my kids - it involved their mommie.

The kids' school had a nice assembly in honor of Veteran's Day yesterday. Cora was thrilled I was going so I could see her and Mason performing their two songs that they learned.

Perry and I filed into a row of chairs, followed by a friend from church, her son, and Luli. Behind us was another mom with two very young children. I'm sure she was there for older children participating. Next to her.... was the mega-beaver.

This lady was about mid-50. Honestly, I noticed her sour face before the program started but didn't think anything of it. She sat directly behind me. The program started.

So, the two young kids behind me were talkative. And my friend next to me has a rambunctious little boy. Both moms were doing their best to busy their kids and keep them quiet. All through the assembly, or at least the 20 minutes I was there for it, Miss Sour Grapes kept commenting on the noise. And she wasn't subtle - at all. Honestly, about every 90 seconds she'd say something under her breath. (I HATE it when people do this, just politely turn to the mom and ask her to quiet down!) But no, she kept making very rude comments out loud without speaking directly. She even sharply reprimanded my friend's son.

So this goes on. She's saying things like, "I can't believe how disrespectful everyone is being. This is ridiculous, I can't even hear what is being said. People need to take their kids out of here." Seriously, she was annoying me, shifting around in her seat, huffing and puffing, and talking all through the assembly.

About two minutes before the thrown down, the man sitting next to her said something to the effect of "calm down" or "relax". Evidently he was her father as she snipped, "I will NOT be quiet dad. This is ridiculous!"

My blood was beginning to boil. I knew I was going to confront her. I had to leave early to teach Perry's preschool class so I kept eyeing the clock to "see" as much of the assembly as possible before I gave her my two cents and had to leave. Finally, it was time.

I turned around and said, "You do realize that you are at an elementary school program right?"

MB (Mega Beast): "I'm not talking to you so you can turn yourself around."
J: "You aren't talking to me but everyone can sure hear you. You are at an elementary school which involves young kids."
MB: "You can just shut your mouth and turn yourself around."
J: "Do you realize how rude and disrespectful you are being to everyone? You made the lady next to you leave with your comments."
MB: "You are probably just saying that because she is your friend or something."
J: "No, I have no idea who that lady is, but I am sure she is here to watch her child in the program."
MB: "I am done talking to you so you can turn yourself around now."
J: "If the noise is bothering you why don't you go sit somewhere else?"
MB: "I have a seat right here. I'm not moving anywhere."
J: "Look lady, its obvious to me that your are an irritable, bitter person..."
MB: "Yeah, well you're fat."
J: "Well, I'll get right on that for ya. But I got to tell you, when I'm skinny you'll still be a bitch! Have a nice day!"
MB: "And you look butch."
J: "Whatever."

I laughed to myself down the corridor. I couldn't believe she pulled the fat/butch card. I felt like I was arguing with a 10-year old.

I'm proud of myself, whether or not I should be, of letting her have it. She reminds me of our neighbor. She also is a very bitter, negative, crabby person. I've never heard a nice or even neutral word from her mouth. She makes me look like an optimist.

It's sad to think there are people that just hate themselves that much. It was like this woman just hated people, despised humanity. She was rotten through and through. I thought it interesting that her dad never said a word during the exchange. And more interesting that the row of people behind her were smiling while we argued.

So that's my first thrown down. My only regret is that I think she thought she got me to leave. Dang it, it weighs out as a victory for her. Oh well, I still feel real good.

Observations

I came across a piece of paper when I was a mommie of only two little ones. Dated October 11, 2002. Brought back so many fun memories of when the kids were so little.

Cristian - 3 years old. LOVES animals right now especially bugs. He is enjoying Texas with all the rollie pollies and crickets. Has a bearded-dragon (lizard) named Fred. Beginning to sing "songs" of nonsense. Does his "gymnastics" of hopping, twisting, jumping, etc. Beginning to make believe, invent, and fib! Current favorite color is blue, it use to be pink. His best friend is Cora.

Cora - 11 months old. She started walking at 8.5 months. She now runs, dances, and can reverse. She adores Cristian, loves to tackle him. She is right-handed. Loves almost any food -except cottage cheese. She's a total ham - does shakes, claps, folds arms, says "amen" and "bye-bye". Very feisty, strong-willed, independent. Loves to wag her finger, especially at mom, and tell her "no-no mama". She becomes downright adamant at times! Bizarre quirk - she enjoys sucking her shoes. Loves her "cozy" and stuffed animals.

Halloween Rock Stars!

I'm not sure who had more fun...Jen dressing up the kids or the kids during Halloween.

Here is our little rock band.

It's funny how each of the kids kind of fits a role for our little rock band. Cristian would be the guitar playin' shy guy. Cora of course is the diva lead singer. Mason is the crazy drummer with the wild streak. Perry is the back-up singer/dancer.

Like mommie, like daughter

My friend Robyn pointed out the other day how much Perry's personality is like mine. I do see lots of my facial gestures in her and she loves to mimic my tone and verbal (shall we call it?) flare.

I guess I always see just how different she is from me. Mason and Cora are more like me - dramatic, moody, sarcastic, vivacious. Perry is vivacious. But she is also always happy, never without a smile, detail-oriented, cuddly. She's a great kid.

She and I were out the other day having lunch. Little Miss is a chronic talker, I mean its like a disease or something. If she isn't talking she is humming or singing. Ya know, like a Disney Princess.

So we are eating lunch and I am watching her while she was unaware. And what is she doing? The whole meal there was almost zero talking because she was watching everyone in the restaurant. There wasn't a detail that she missed - people entering/exiting, food that was ordered, accessories carried by people, etc. It was beautiful to watch. She watched and assimilated the whole room.

Just like I do.

Alphabet Project

I was at a friends house last week and saw a cute decorating idea that I informed her I was going to steal. She was okay with it because she stole it from Pottery Barn so there ya go.

She had LARGE letters, each letter of the alphabet, around the whole playroom. What made it so fun was that each letter was completely different. She said it took her a year to collect them (oh, help me because I am just not that patient). For plain letters she either decoupaged them or painted them a fun color. She even framed 3 or 4. It was so quirky and fun. and-i-must-have-it.

So I bought my first letter. The letter G.

This is where you all come in. If you are out and about and find a letter that is CHEAP (under $5) be a dear and pick it up for me or give me a jingle. I will be scouring thrift stores, garage sales, etc. My only criteria is that they are at least 8 inches tall.

Oh do be a dear for the love of all things decorated.....thanks.

Boobies

Cora and I were casually chatting last night when she got up to shut the bedroom door. This is the sign. It's about to get deep, emotional, personal, private, dramatic - all things female.

She starts right in about my boobies.

What do they feel like?.... Like soft pockets of fat, I respond.

Well, can I touch them? (Loaded question from my limited experience. Usually results in more touching right ladies?!)... Sure you can, I respond.

She notices the anatomy.

Why is there a circle? Why is the circle wrinkly? Where does the milk come out because I don't see a hole? Why is your nipple higher than everything else?

And then the question I think she was dying to ask all along...."When do I get mine?"

Do you want boobies really bad?

Yes.

Really?

Yes.

Well, you will probably start growing them when you are around ten, but they won't be as cute as mine for a long time.

She was satisfied.

I don't remember my "six" being concerned with my future boobies. I was still running outside and hating Barbie dolls that were always being pushed at me.

Daily, she reminds me of Shay. WAY ahead of the normal learning curve.

Yikes.

My Babies

Pardon the blurry picture, but isn't my necklace just too cute? I'm beginning to take this "mommie" thing seriously.

Carlos "bought" this for me. Yeah, he came home from work one day and I said, "I luve the necklace you bought me for my birthday!! It's exactly what I wanted!" Sometimes his checking account IS the perfect gift!

If you want to purchase one for yourself you can go here at www.thevintagepearl.com. They are very reasonably priced. "Carlos" only paid $41 including shipping and tax. Not bad eh?

Spiritual Matters

What?!!

You guys don't pray at the dinner table in this position?

Well, our Mason does.

It's hard to stay spiritually focused when you and your husband are laughing during the prayer.

Can I hear an" Amen"?

17 Hours

Bragg'n rights are on!

Carlos went out of town for 5 days. It wasn't exactly the BEST time to cancel our cable and rain for 4 days straight. Oh, and come down with the flu. So it was a little rough for my brood - having an usually cranky mom. I actually felt sorry for them because they had Monday off of school and basically got to spend one more day inside with bedridden mommie.

Monday afternoon we went to pick up Paco from the airport. I was so sleepy and crabby (did I mention that yet?). We arrived home and I sweetly (?) told my hubby that I was going to bed and was fairly confident I wouldn't be up until the following day.

4:04 p.m I crawled into my bed, so relieved to have a sleep where I didn't have to worry about the kids, and knives, and fire....

9:35 a.m. I rolled out of bed, very refreshed. I physically felt so much better.

Moral of story: a) 17 freaking hours is a long time to sleep, but it was wonderful, and b) don't you wish you had an awesome husband like mine to LET me sleep?

I know.

Doorbell Ditching

One of our favorite family activities is doorbell ditching. Paco and I love to watch the kids run their legs off in an effort to avoid getting caught. Law-abiding Cristian finally bent the rules after 2 years of us telling him to run across the yards after ringing the bell. He cut through 3 yards and driveways to get back to the car. In previous years, he runs down the sidewalk, to the driveway, and to the car via the front sidewalks. He's funny.

All 4 chicklets got to ditch. The each loved the thrill of the ring and run. And to my knowledge none of them got caught.

Autumn's Garland

I stole this idea from another blog. The garland is made up of 4 different fabrics and crepe leaves. It is what I classify as a "white trash" project. Basically, it means if I am able to do it AND make it turn out cute than anyone can do it. That is true of any craft/project that I do because I don't have that kind of talent. Enjoy!

33 Dolla

I went thrifting the other day. It was one of those days at the store where I kept finding great stuff every time I turned around. Thank goodness I had money that day. I so wanted Shay there to relish each moment with me like we use to do. Oh well...

It's hard to say what my favorite purchase was. I mean I L-O-V-E my dotted ceramic covered bowl. There isn't one chip on it (yet). But I also have fun plans for the framed doily. Martha Stewart can eat her heart out with my vintage vases. And I enjoy my tiny salt and peppa shakers. But I am very thrilled with the side table/breakfast tray dealie. I've been wanting one for a while now, this one is in great shape and cost me $14!! Can you believe that?! I think I am going to repaint it. So fun for me!!

Two Extremes

From time to time Cora will draw very sweet drawings expressing her love for a family member. She drew this today for her brother...

And then there are notes like this that occasionally appear on the girls' bedroom door...

Not to be outdone - this is on the boys' bedroom door.

I know eventually this will wear off, but isn't it a bit early to be starting with the sibling rivalries?

Body Parts

And there I was in the Dollar Store talking to a complete stranger about how Halloween is too gory and how I keep it "cute" for my young children when... I got a brilliant deco idea.

Perry was holding a bag of chocolate eyeballs and I thought of the hearts at home. I got them last year at HEB for fity cent. Why not make a collage of sorts of body parts? I found the skulls and bony fingers. I still am in need of life-size rubber eye balls if anyone is interested!

I LIKE it!

Damian Joseph

At last!!

Proof that I am really quilting. This is my second quilt that I made, but the first to actually be completed. It is a coin quilt (and I don't know why the pattern is called that, it just IS).

This is for Carlos' brother and wife who just had their first baby, Damian. I hope they enjoy it immensely.

It is quilted in a retro circular pattern that mimics a lot of the circles in the fabrics.

What say you my public?!