eager little mind

I’m going to try and get caught up on posts this week, before I head to Missouri on Friday for my little sister’s baby shower. Easier said than done, since we’ve been so busy lately. Anyway, last week we met up with our friends Meghan and Torah and went to the Children’s Museum of Houston. It’s amazing we made it, since I spent an hour looking for my keys and my GPS couldn’t connect with a satellite. I pretty much knew how to get there, since I’ve been to the museum district at least a dozen times in the last 6 months. It’s just I normally make my husband drive and I don’t pay any attention to what lane I need to be in to exit. And when you live in a city as large as Houston and you are stuck in 8 lanes of traffic and you suddenly realize you have to exit… hahahaha… that really freaks me out. I’m not an aggressive driver. Oh, and after tearing apart the house I found my keys in the side pocket of my purse. I hate it when I do that!! I swear I looked in that pocket.

I think the girls had a great time. They are only 4 days apart, and it was fun to see them play together. Here they are shopping in the grocery store:

And building an arch. Ok, they were really just moving the blocks around:

Hanging out in the Buster hand chair. (I love that Meghan and her husband are Arrested Development fans and get the references.)

Cruising:

Laughing:

A really fun morning!

I went back to work last week, after almost 2 years as a SAHM. Actually, I feel like I shouldn’t say “I’ve gone back to work” since it’s really just a 5 week gig (at least I think it won’t go longer than that), and I’m just working for my dad and have lots of flexibility. So much flexibility, in fact, that Daphne is in the office with me. I’m back at work and don’t even have the benefit of going to the bathroom by myself. Awesome. But at least I don’t have to mess with daycare. And so far, Daphne has done really well. She loves the office and has her toys and DVD player. And since we are practically the only people in the office full time, I don’t have to worry about being the owner’s daughter who brings her bratty kid to the office. Not that my daughter is bratty. No, she’s completely delightful. Really

It’s been a big adjustment, for both of us. Waking up early. Packing up a day’s worth of stuff and dragging it to the office. No naps. (Hopefully she’ll start to nap this week!) And I usually try to avoid controversial issues like the Mommy Wars, so I don’t say this to stir things up… but… Anyone who thinks it’s just as hard to be a SAHM as it is to be a mom who works outside the home is CRAZY! Hehehe. Don’t send me hate mail. I’m joking a little. But I do think for me it would be much, much, much harder to work outside the home and have to juggle daycare, working all day, coming home and cooking dinner, taking care of the house, running errands… and still have time to interact with Daphne and take care of her needs. I don’t think there is enough anti-anxiety medication in the world to calm me down from being stressed and stretched in so many different directions. I do hope to go back to work permanently (or at least back to school) in the next year or so, but on a part-time basis when Daphne is in preschool.

So, if you are a mom who works outside the home, I salute you!

One of Daphne’s friends has a birthday just a few days before hers, and I thought it would be nice to whip up a simple little gift. Chris got me Sew What! Bags for my birthday and since I’d been toying with the idea of putting a crayon organizer in the lining of a bag (similar to the crayon roll I posted) I decided to make a toddler sized messenger bag/art tote.

I forgot to take proper pics, so these were taken in the passenger seat of my xB on the way to a play date at the Children’s Museum.

And the lining. The side pocket is just big enough for one of those small coloring books.

If you don’t count the duffle bag I made in 7th grade Home Ec, then I had never really made a bag before. It was fun!! Everyone is getting messenger bags for Christmas! One thing I would do differently… I would have added a small flap over the top of the crayons, that way they couldn’t mark on everything in the bag. Next time.

Hope you enjoy the bag, Torah!

I’m pretty excited that Project Runway is back on the air. It was too long of a break between seasons. And I loved the All-Stars episode. (Spoiler) I’m glad that Daniel won. I thought he should have won season 2 instead of Chloe Dao. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Chloe’s designs (and I’ve even seen her around Houston a few times) but Daniel was amazing. And way to be a gracious loser, Korto. Pffttt… Oh, and can I just say this about the new season? Thank you, judges for getting rid of the crazy one on the first show. Normally they keep the crazy around for a few episodes (remember the woman who spit on her fabric to mark it, or the biker chic who only did leather?).

Speaking of Project Runway, there was an article in the Washington Post a few weeks ago that talked about sewing’s surge in popularity. Inspired by shows like Project Runway and sites such as Etsy, lots of younger women are starting to sew. Plus it can be an eco-friendly, economical way to go, which is great in this current economy. And I can say that I’ve witnessed this many, many times, especially with other moms. You might like a certain look for your kids (a Matilda Jane knot dress, or an Etsy custom) but don’t want to spend $50 on one item, so you pull out grandma’s sewing machine and DIY.

And I’m continually amazed at the resources for sewing and patterns. From sites like Burda Style to You Can Make This. I learned to sew on standard Simplicty/Butterick/McCall’s patterns, so full color, step by step instructions with pics has got me spoiled. I learned to sew as a kid (in elementary school with my mom/grandma and then in 7th grade Home Ec) but didn’t really start to sew for myself until after I got married and wanted to make throw pillows and curtains. Fashion forward patterns and designs just weren’t out there 10 years ago. At least not where I lived. And honestly, I think chains like Hancock Fabrics and Jo-Ann’s need to step it up. Maybe your local stores have a great selection of fabrics, but mine don’t. And the only quilt shops in our suburb carry 95% traditional quilting fabrics and just a small selection of modern designs. I hate always shopping online for fabric.

The article I linked to features local sewing lounge, Sew Crafty. I’ve driven by there a few times but have never gone in. I need to support more local craft stores so they can grow and thrive and open branch locations out here in Suburbia. Plus, I need to meet other crafty people. You know, I don’t have any “in real life” friends (meaning, not online only) who are crafters (not counting my mom). I need to find my people.

Today’s project- crayon roll. Have you ever started a project and not had all the proper tools/materials and just figured, hey, I’ll wing it? Yeah. That’s what I did today and I’m not terribly pleased with my results. I kept forgetting to buy lightweight fusible interfacing, so I substituted something else. Now the roll is too poofy. And I don’t think my tension was right on my machine. And my ric-rac work was totally wonky. An off day, to say the least! Anyway, at least I like the fabric (Heather Ross gnomes), and it’s still functional.

The inside.

And the exterior. I don’t love gnomes, but I did like the gnome story line in Amelie and the odd Travelocity commercial.

And rolling with the gnomies, sewed with my Janome, homey (Sorry, I just had to type that.)

All ready to be thrown into my purse to keep Daphne occupied when we are out and about. On to the next project…

Edited to add- This is from Skip to My Lou’s awesome tutorial!

I think this might be one of my favorite pics of Daphne. Taken tonight.

- Whoops! I’m a Dear Abby “Don’t.” I guess it’s not cool to serve alcohol to adults at a child’s party. I served margaritas at Daphne’s party last year. But, you know, that attitude irritates me. If you have responsible adults, not having more than 1 drink, I don’t see the big deal. Now, if people were getting trashed, that’s a different story. Anyway, the article I linked to goes on to discuss more than the Dear Abby thing. And I thought it was interesting, because for the first time today I took Daphne to a sit down restaurant by myself and had 1 drink, which I didn’t even finish. I kept looking around to see if anyone would give me a dirty look like I was being an irresponsible parent.

- I will be serving IZZE, or maybe the Italian sodas from Whole Foods at Daphne’s party and plan on printing out these custom labels from Creature Comforts for the bottles.

- “You say it’s your birthday. It’s my birthday too, yeah!” Actually it is my birthday today, and it’s also Lisa Leonard’s. And we are both 35. Wait, that’s a lie. I’m 36. Don’t tell anyone. I have two of Lisa’s fabulous necklaces (both personalized with Daphne’s name) and highly recommend them. Pop on over to her blog to get a necklace free with your $100 order today. Here are mine:

- My child will not eat sandwiches. Completely refuses them. I wonder how she’d react to a sandwich creation like these from Funky Lunch. They might freak her out. She has a Dora ice cream bar that she got from the ice cream truck last week and I don’t think she realizes it’s edible. She keeps saying “Dora” and “eyes” and pointing to Dora’s black gumball eyes.

- We spent Sunday with my dad at the beach. We went almost to the edge of the island (Galveston) and the water was so much clearer. I think we were at beach access point 25 or 26. I got smart and slathered on SPF 50 sunscreen, then topped that with SPF 85 Sport spray. Unfortunately, I forgot the back of my legs. So guess what burned? Yeah, I can’t catch a break.

- I’m trying to wean myself off afternoon naps, because after Daphne’s birthday I will be going back to work. One of my dad’s employees is going back home to Ethiopia for a month and I will be filling in. And I don’t want to be asleep at my desk everyday at 2. It’s hard. I will miss my naps.

For the last week or so, I’ve either been stuck behind my sewing machine or at my laptop editing pics for my husband. It was time to get back to my felt food project, especially since Daphne’s birthday is next week (ahhh!!!!). So, here are a few breakfast foods. I still need to do a fruit set.

Donut with sprinkles. No pattern on this, just made it up as I went along.

Stack of pancakes. No pattern on this one either, although I did end up trimming and resewing until I was happy with the browned top to side ratio.

Eggs and bacon. From Wee Folk Art tutorial. I love how they use pipe cleaners in the bacon to make it bendy. This might be my favorite set so far.

So now I just have fruit, chips and cookies for the sandwich/lunch set I’ve already done and a dinner/veggie set. Stay tuned to see how much I can actually get done. Hahahaha.

Company’s coming… what are your go-to dinner recipes? I usually serve Asian grilled salmon or lasagna (Both Ina Garten recipes. Actually I don’t think you can go wrong with any of Ina’s recipes. She rocks!). I like making the salmon dish (sometimes as often as once a week), because it’s easy and tastes great. Plus, I’ve found that a lot of people don’t cook fish at home and are really impressed if you can cook it well. Little do they know how stinking easy it is to cook fish. And the lasagna? I’m not a huge fan of Italian food, but lasagna or other casseroles (like a King Ranch chicken) seem to be a safe choice for entertaining or potlucks. And Ina’s recipe is good, I think it’s the goat cheese that makes it, although I do make my own sauce from scratch.

And as of last week, I added another somewhat fancy/suitable for company dish to that list. Baked grouper with a sundried tomato/crab topping. We were at our local grocery store (HEB) waiting at the fish counter for some tilapia filets, when the chef in front of the counter offered me a sample of this grouper dish. I’m not usually a fan of crab, or toppings on fish, but this dish really worked. It was fab! The next week I tracked him down and made him give me the recipe. Here it is:

1 lb. grouper filets
Lemon juice, olive oil and salt/pepper
4 or 5 T. of sundried tomato butter (this was a seasoned butter available near the fish counter, but I’m sure it would be really easy to create your own version at home)
2 T. minced garlic
1/2 lb. crab meat
1/4 to 1/2 c. heavy cream (hey, I didn’t say this was low calorie)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Rub grouper filets with lemon juice, olive oil and then season with salt and pepper. Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 10 min (ours took a little longer). While the fish is baking, melt sundried tomato butter in a saucepan, then add garlic and crab meat. Cook until it’s a light golden color, then add heavy cream until you get the desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Once the fish is done, plate each filet and then top with the crab mixture. Easy peasy! And really, really, really good. But, I’d make a few changes. I’d grill the grouper until it was almost done, place it in a baking dish with the crab mix and broil it for a few minutes until everything is hot and bubbly. And with the butter and the crab, this is a VERY rich dish. I bet you could use half and half instead of heavy cream. Yum, yum, yum.

What are your favorite recipes for company?

I’ve been thinking lately about how much different life is now that I have a child. Daphne’s birthday is in a few weeks, so I guess that explains it. Birthdays and anniversaries usually make me reflective. Something that still surprises me is the intensity of emotions I have where Daphne is concerned.

I’ve mentioned before how I can’t read or listen to any stories involving child abuse. Before Daphne, I would think, “Oh that’s horrible. What kind of monster would do that?” And now I just get this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach and have to turn off the TV or click away. I learned yesterday that movies have the same effect. Even if they are complete fantasy.

I had a Torchwood: Children of Earth marathon yesterday while Daphne napped. I’m not even sure why I recorded the miniseries in the first place. I’d never watched an episode, mainly because I knew it was a Dr. Who spinoff and I’m not a Dr. Who fan. I remember watching a few 80’s episodes (with Tom Baker) as a kid and I couldn’t get into it then, and I’m still not a fan of the franchise. But something about the Torchwood promos piqued my curiosity.

(Spoiler alert.)

So, the story is aliens come to Earth and demand 10% of the children on the planet. If we don’t deliver, then they will simply kill everyone. Creepy, right? Especially when they reveal why they need the kids. Anyway, the really horrific part is not the aliens, but how the governments say, “Ok, since we have no choice, let’s start rounding up some kids!” What!!?!! Come on… what happened to not negotiating with terrorists? And since they can’t come on TV and say, “Hello. We need some of you to give up your kids so the aliens won’t kill us all”, they discuss what’s the best way. A lottery system? The British government eventually decides to round up troubled kids, from the worst performing elementary schools, under the guise of vaccinating them. This is where I started to really get tense.

I was already completely disturbed by the attitudes of the government officials. “We have to think of the future of the country and the greater good.” And concerning the “vaccinations”, the mom in me was thinking, “Oh HELL NO, would I allow anyone to take my child for medical treatment without me being right there.” And when parents refused to allow their kids out, the government authorized maximum force to go get them. I found myself thinking, “Yeah, you are going to need maximum force to come and get my child. Because, I’d pretty much fight to the death.” And yes, I do realize it’s funny that I was getting all riled up about a TV show.

Just call me Momma Bear.