Chop chop

Here's my new, much shorter hair do.  Taken with the lovely Photo booth application on this Mac.  And my excellent scrapbooking space right behind us.  That is pretty much how Jane looks 50% of her waking hours: in my lap with the thumb in her mouth (except she usually has her hand in my shirt! Ew!).

Peace.

These boots are made for walkin'

7 Years of Marital Bliss

(well...)

Boots.  This is the real topic of today's blog.  Although that photo of me & Blaine taken from a tripod, the time-release shutter, and our nifty new Nikon is pretty swell, huh?

Ok, ok.. back to boots.

My mom just sent Jane this adorable pair of cowgirl boots. In red. And shiny. They are a little bit big, but that just makes them even cuter because she has to stand still or else she'll just tip right over.

This morning.

These other boots are actually handmade and soft and adorable.  I bought them from sugarplumbtree.etsy.com.  My old friend Tone Plumb's wife, Jenny makes all kinds of adorable felt applique onesies and tons of hair clips in addition to shoes.

I love them.  They came with a matching hair clip that she is chewing on in the photo:

I, too have a fabulous couple pairs of boots.  Neither of them are cool, I cannot wear them outside of the house, and there is no shiny leather involved.  One are a decorated pair of slipper/cowgirl boots that my dad's girlfriend Cheryl gave me for Christmas.  

The other are my triplet uggs (cousin barbara, cousin patty and I have the same ones).  

I'm just saying I am a fan of boots.

Cozy boots.

Happy Anniversary to us...

Big Sur: Bixby Bridge

Carmel: "Butterfly House"

(and my future house)

Blaine and I spent two nights at Bernardus Lodge in Carmel Valley: one to hang out with some co-workers (on Dupont) and another night to celebrate our 7 year wedding anniversary.

We hung out in Carmel/ driving Big Sur one day.  Tasting cheeses at The Cheese Shop.  Practicing using our camera on Bixby Bridge and other fantastic scenery.  

Then, we came home to the cutest thing you have ever seen: Jane in pigtails for the first time: 

I could not stop laughing.  I just giggled the entire time we were picking her up at Aunt Kylie's (who watched her for the two days we were gone).  THank you so much Kylie!!  

Peace.

Scrapbooking Goodness

Cousin Patty is staying with us for a few days/nights (and Carson, but no Steve).  Last night they arrived and we stayed up until what we thought was late just chatting.

Tonight we broke all records for lateness.

Check out the time of this post.

But before you start lecturing me on my health, Patty's pregnancy, or anything else, check out the forthcoming abundance of scrapbooking fabulousness:

I made a boat-load of 5x7s from thanksgiving photos.  Here they are!!

Then I started thumbing through some older photos of Jane and us.  I have done a layout per month for her first year for Jane's own album (maybe I will post them here sometime), but don't have a lot of everyday photos in our family album(s).

So there you have it.  Some layouts of our everyday life... kinda.

Plus, my camera (have I failed to mention it in the last five seconds) is so flippin' awesome that I just want to take photos of my photos!!

Love ya, but totally need a little sleep...

Sw

Domestic Goddess, Part Deux

It is Risen!

Baking at 400F

Deliciousness.

Domestic Goddess, Part 1

Oh, yeah.

That's totally me: Domestic Diva.

Well for today I actually am.  You see, I am making bread.  And not just the fast kind that you add baking powder to.  I am making real-live, yeast-risen, hand-kneaded, wooden-spoon-stirred, white bread.

Jealous?

Jealous?

Because you totally should be.

Not that she has ever seen this blog, but thank you to "Aunt" Lesley who gave us this adorable bowl as a wedding gift.  It is gigantic, therefore seldom used in our dinner-for-two life, and absolutely perfect for mixing up this dough.

The following is what I can remember of this recipe:

(originally from Jill Ray)

Set aside 1/2 cup warm water, 1 and 1/2 teaspoons sugar, and 1 Tablespoon of yeast (I am pretty sure one package is one Tbsp).

In a large bowl toss in:

2 and 1/2 Tablespoons salt

1/4 cup of sugar

3/4 cup of powdered milk

1/3 cup shortening

Pour 2 cups boiling water over that stuff and stir.  When dissolved completely, add 1 cup COLD water.

Then, add the yeast mixture.

Start adding white flour now.  At about 6 cups you will want to turn it out onto a floured surface and begin kneading in the next 2-3 cups.  Stop adding flour when it is still sticky, but not too firm.

(NOTE: I really have no idea what that means.  I used 8 and 1/2 cups total.  I even sifted it all, adding 2 cups at a time)

Let rise two times.

Form 3 separate loaves:

Divide into three sections.

Flatten each with a rolling pin.

Roll up to create a loaf.

Place each into a buttered and floured loaf pan, rolled edge down.

Bake for 10 minutes at 400F

then, for another 27 minutes at 350F

(just cover with foil when the loaf is brown enough for you)..

(NOTE: I actually freeze two of the loaves of dough.  Just take them out with enough time to thaw and bake as directed above.  They turn out great!)

Photos of the finished product for Part 2, stay tuned.........

Smartest. Kid. Ever.

Well, Ok maybe not ever. 

Especially when she's around Olivia, who speaks sentences better than most third graders in Soledad.

Or when she's around her older (and totally beautiful) cousin Elsie.

Or when Delaney is saying "go-go-go" as she crawls up the stairs.

But, she's pretty danged smart.

And, it is SOOO fun to watch her learn.

What the heck am I talking about, you ask?

Jane is starting to TALK.  Lately she's been introducing new sounds to her babble.  She just sits there and has little unintelligible conversations with herself.  Today, Blaine was my witness that she says "do" - think 'dog' without the "g" - and points outside where Sky is sitting in front of the sliding glass door.  

So we eat breakfast, and I tell her she's my sweet cuddly baby.  And she says - clear as day - "baby". Two syllables.  Two vowels.  Oh, yeah, she's smart.

For a while now she has said "yeah" in response to many questions.  She started in on "no-no" two weeks ago.  "Mama" and "Dada" have been staples for a couple months.

It is super fun to say words.  S..l..o..w..l..y... and watch her try to process and repeat.  It's like," Jane, say ca-rr-ot"  she stares at my mouth, kinda nods, then says..... "yeah".  Pretty cute.  But times are a changin'.

I can tell there is a windfall coming.

Anyhow, Happy V-day:

Happy Valentines Day!

2-14-2008

What a difference a year makes!

Here's some lovin' with my cute little girl this year.

Have a great day,

Peace. I'm outta here,

SW

Off to go shopping!

In my end-of-year recap blog post I listed five great things in 2008.  Once of those top 5 was fancy jeans.  They are fabulous.  Any jeans that make me look like I actually have booty are worth their weight in gold.  See for yourself:

I am actually in this photo (in my rockin' jeans) if you look closely.  Oh yeah, the bride-to-be is my sister Kylie.  So don't look if you aren't supposed to see her in a potential dress.

I digress.

Well, not really.

You see, I bought more pairs than I really needed, so I returned one (along with two dresses that I never wore to Blaine's sister Amanda's wedding rehearsal dinner).  

Sooooooooo.......

I actually have a credit at Macy's.  (Because I am such a fantastic credit card payer-offer each month).

Yea!  Now that I have no job, and a VERY low clothing budget, I have a secret stash of credit.

Wish me luck in finding a couple of wintery-cute tops.  Of course in a solid color.  I just don't do patterns.

I leave you with a really cute photo of the dog, Sky, from Tuesday.  He's just frolic-ing in the grass thankful, as I am, that we live in California and not, say, North Dakota - NO offense to you serving our military in Grand Forks OK?

Just playing in fully manual mode on my new camera.  It is tough to get Jane to actually smile, but I love the natural light colors.  Once I figure out more Photoshop (I only have Elements) I will play around with different levels and masks, and layers!  

I am a new-ish follower to The Pioneer Woman (thepioneerwoman.com).  She is a funny lady that writes about her life on the Prairie, as well as cooking and photography (including photoshop) tips!  She cracks me up!  Visit her today.  You won't be sorry.

Here I am trying out more photos of Jane the morning after our Nikon class.  This is program mode.

And this great shot was taken in auto, sans flash.  I have an entire series and they are too danged adorable.  Blaine's mud (and probably pesticide)-caked boots.  They are up to her (you-know-what) and her feet are barely touching the bottom of the shoes.  She really wanted to be in them, and then she really wanted to be out of them!  A-dor-a-ble.

I hope you are all having a fabulous day filled with more excitement than mine!  (laundry, laundry, and diaper duty).

SW

testing... testing...IS THIS THING ON?!

As you can see, the new year has brought with it a whole new level of activity around here.  Jane not only needs to be monitored every second of the day (yeah, don't tell CPS that she carried a blade for a paper trimmer out to Blaine one night - they really are miniscule, I swear!).  

We spent the night with the Schmidts for Carson's B-day.

And Patty and I had scrap-a-palooza the following day.

We spent the night with the Serranos for Delaney and Emelyn's B-day.

We had lunch with Marisol.

We hosted a scrapbooking Moms day at our house.

We started babysitting Piper every now and again:

We went to MOPS.

We shopped for wedding dresses with Aunt Kylie (and once also with Grandma).

We celebrated the super bowl with the Wilsons.

We shopped with Marie and Olivia.

We attended a Nikon Class.

We (actually THEY - only Blaine and Jane) are successfully (28 hours sober) revived from the flu.

That's us in a nutshell (hey, it's cramped here in this nutshell).

More updates (I swear!) super soon.  I have a MILLION photos to upload from my AWESOME new camera!!!  (Am I allowed to post the ones of Kylie in wedding dresses?)

Peace.

SW