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Did you know (I know you didn't) that Henry never once ate an ounce of baby food? He couldn't stand the texture, and you can't entirely blame him for that. He went straight for table foods at about 10 months. So this baby food business (and bibs for that matter) are totally new to me. And I'm excited about it. I have 2 baby food mills that I've had for almost 4 years that I am finally getting a chance to use. Kate turned 6 months old last Friday and I've started making her homemade baby food. I made a sweet potato sprinkled with cinnamon and 1 sweet potato filled up an entire ice-cube tray which lasted us a week. Each cube is about 1 oz, I think, and she eats 2 a day. I've tried pea's and carrots but neither of those gave me the smooth, creamy texture that the sweet potato did and were a bit of a chore to feed. So I'm still experimenting. My girlfriend, Jean gave me this brilliant spoon called the Boon Spoon. Actually I think it's called Squirt. Whatever. Just get yourself one. It's fantastic.

Happy 6 months Kate!

You are:

17 lbs and 26" long, almost sitting on your own and all laughy-laughy. We love it. And you.

One of the best perks of having a girl:

Oilily tights. The best.

xo

Today while walking home from church, the children & I stopped on the temple grounds (our church building is directly behind the temple.) It was unusually quiet. No helicopters overhead, no protesters in front of the gates. I hadn't realized that the Christmas balls had already been set up in preparation for the upcoming season. I have such vivid memories of coming here with my family when I was small. Watching church movies at the visitors center, standing on top of the vents with our dresses on, seeing just how big and high they'd blow. It was so quiet and calm and peaceful today.

Did you know that last Sunday, while walking through protesters I had to ask a man dressed in a CHICKEN SUIT to kindly 'scooch his pooch' so I could get into church? Really. No, really. For the record, no one I know thinks that chickens have more rights than you, so you can take it off now. Really. No, really.

On the rocking chair in our bedroom sat many, many bags filled with fabric from Michael Levine. Do you ever get an idea for a project, buy the fabrics, get super excited about it and then, um… FORGET ALL ABOUT IT? I do. I've been on operation organize this past week, which resulted in packing up all of the clothes the children have outgrown and more importantly, getting the clothes which still fit organized. They were sharing 1 three -drawer dresser between them.  We've got a new dresser for Henry so there's plenty of room now. Good-bye high-water pants! When I got around to organizing the  bags on the rocking chair, it was like an early Christmas. Here's just a little of what was in them. Above: linen and holiday fabrics for Christmas goodies, which will hopefully make their way into a shop update in a few weeks. This lot:

Fuzzy and soft fabric that were meant to be made into sleep-sacks for Kate. I believe they were purchased in JULY. While that bottom fabric somewhat resembles shag carpet from the 70's, it s so soft. Like snuggling up to a little puppy. In the next bag:


fabric for a Spring/Summer mushroom dress for Kate. And last but not least:
soft light-weight cotton jammies for Henry. The mushroom dress and jammies are meant to be for Christmas so I'd better get cracking on those. And shhh, don't tell anyone, but this is going up this weekend:

On Tuesday, the children & I went to one of our many local farmer's
markets. No real agenda, just wandered around, trying to get inspired
for dinner. We ended up with this:

Chris has been walking around with the black lung, so I decided Chicken Noodle Soup would be easy enough (and a great way to use some of that canned chicken!) We nibbled on a delicious blueberry muffin and left with a token squash & pumpkin, picked out by yours truly:
It feels like things are starting to slow down. It's a much-needed slow down, too. All the loose ends are finally getting tied up and the weight is being lifted. I've got Christmas on the brain and am vowing to keep these next 2 months very low key. I want to make sure there's time to do everything I want to do. Baking, crafting, Christmas-making. I want to make a spring dress for Kate, jammies for Henry (it's tradition) and hmm..what for Chris…I think I'm going to try ties.

I hit my favorite downtown LA fabric store on Monday and literally ran into Rami Kashou. We were exiting the store at the same time and standing on the curb, waiting for cars to pass so we could run across to ours (which were coincidently parked next to eachother.) I had Henry & Kate with me. Henry had a blue balloon from the store that kept hitting Rami in the head/face.  "I'm so sorry!" I kept saying. Henry kept shouting, "Were going to have a party in the car! We're going to have a party in the car!" It made him smile and it took absolutely everything in me from shouting "YOU SHOULD HAVE WON!!!" He totally should have won.

I'm remembering I didn't tell you that we sat across from Danny & Rhea over the Summer. We were eating at this great little Japanese Noodle House (Asahi Ramen for you locals) and there they were. He was so microscopically tiny, I just wanted to throw him in my diaper bag and bring him home. Now would be a perfect time to upload lost footage of myself in my movie debut with THE Brian Dennehey, but alas you'll have to wait. I just wanted to give you some time to pop some corn. You'll need it.


So totally unrelated, (I need to post more frequently as to not overwhelm…) I lost my sling. Blah. Somewhere between Utah and California. I need something to carry that little monkey in. I had this sling for over 3 years and loved it. I carried Henry in it until he was quite big. Now, I need another sling. I know there's a billion slings these days and I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with this one again. The only thing I don't like is I can't carry her on my back, which would be so useful at times. So I'll  be looking into that, at  my leisure.

Please , please tell me I wasn't the only one up at midnight last night sewing Halloween costumes. I started Kate's at 10:0 p.m. and finished it up just in time for the "trunk-or-treat". Henry had been wanting to be a "blue ghost with white eyes" for a long time, but upon realizing that would entail something going over his head, he quickly changed his mind. So instead, he decided to be a:  

Pumpkin prop was Henry's idea. And Kate, well, I had planned all along that Kate would be an acorn, but when Henry saw the lamb costume on the same pattern as his pumpkin, there was no turning back.

The night fluctuated between this and this:
A bucket on the head can work miracles.


And one of the biggest hits of the night? Our Halloween Pumpkin toss:

Sometimes you've just gotta put all the unpacking nonsense aside and make a cake. Besides, I promised. And I usually keep my promises. And laundry can wait. So remember this cake, the cake that tastes like a gigantic cinnamon roll? Well it's your lucky day, (well really it was my lucky day since I was the one who got to partake of said cake.) Sock-it-to-me. That's the name of the cake and the recipe can be found on the side of a Duncan Hines "Butter Cake Mix".
1 package butter cake mix — (18.25 ounces)
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup water
4 eggs
1 cup chopped pecans
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons milk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Grease and flour one 10-inch tube pan. In large bowl, blend together
cake mix, sour cream, oil, 1/4 cup white sugar, water, and eggs. Beat
at high speed for 2 minutes. Pour 2/3 of the batter into prepared tube
pan. Combine pecans, brown sugar, and cinnamon, and sprinkle over batter in pan. Spread remaining batter
evenly over filling mixture. Bake at 375 degrees F for 45-55 minutes
until the cake springs back when touched lightly. Cool right-side-up in
pan about 25 minutes. Mix together confectioners' sugar and milk.
Remove cake from pan and drizzle with glaze.

I cooked it in a bundt pan for 50 min and it was a bit dry, so maybe start with 45 minutes.

I made a recipe for the first time last night out of Martha's Everyday Food Magazine (which I have had a subscription to for a YEAR!) I think not cooking for the few weeks while I was in Utah made me want to get back in the kitchen. Last night I made this (which I thoroughly enjoyed alone and am going to be throwing the rest of it into the freezer for a  rainy day) and tonight I made the General Tso's Chicken from the October '08 issue of Everyday Food, page 34 (I can't find the recipe online) but it was really good and  and I'm planning to put it into the regular dinner rotation.

I'm thinking of starting a recipe collaboration with you folks (if your interested) Maybe a spin-off of this blog or maybe have you send me a favorite recipe which I'll make and feature here on the blog…can't decide. Would you even want to do something like that?

But seriously, you should make the cake. Don't skip the icing. It's the best part.

xo

675 miles. 2 children. 1 mama. 10 hours. We made it. Phew. I'm not going to lie, I was a wee bit concerned about doing the drive alone, but the children were spectacular. We made it 5 hours before our first stop (aside from 1 roadside 10 minute nursing stop) And we are home. And it's great to be home. Although Henry said he wanted to just stay for "100 more days" and that he was "really going to miss Grandma & Grandpa & his Aunts and Uncles". He was willing to compromise to 90 days, and then 80 and then 70 and then 60. It was nice to be around family and people again. Chris rolled out of bed at 6 a.m. (after we got home at midinght) and then I remembered: the life of a single mama. That is until his season ends. Only 5 more weeks!
Saturday was a day of canning and costumes. My Mom has been canning chicken and I was a bit curious about all this chicken business. I've never had canned chicken, but it was good. Real good. So I bought a 40lb box, which I think made just under 20 jars. Mom canned for me while I sewed Henry's costume. 1 down, 1 to go. The chicken has a pinch of salt and dried onions. It's going to be great food storage. We didn't get to can beans, but she sent me home with some black, pinto & white. So maybe next time. We are crossing our fingers we'll be back up for Christmas.

We had a good day of thrifting (including a stop at Star Mill in AF) As soon as I unpack my stuff, I'll take some pictures. A day out with Azucar (yes, THE Azucar- as she will now be refered to in all my posts)

We took the kids to the "Barnyard Boo" at Thanksgiving Point (Henry kept asking where exactly the mysterious 'point' was located) where we enjoyed pony rides, cookie decorating, animal watching and a horse-drawn ride.

We had a mini-Boston reunion lunch with Jason, Jennie, Jill, Joanne and Jim. I can't believe we were invited since our name didn't start with "J" but they let us in. We ate on the 10th floor and Henry was more interested in his aerial view of the trains than the temple.

We are getting unpacked and not looking forward to the heaps of laundry that need to be done. It's so good to be home.

xo

Are you ready to get your Halloween on? Looking for something to do with the kids this weekend? My sister made this Halloween Gingerbread House and well…it pretty much freaking rocks.  Isn't it the most brilliant idea for Halloween? The kids are going to LOVE it. Anything involving candy corn is okay in my book.

I'm getting together with Azucar (yes, THE Azucar) for some holiday fun with the kids. Henry has been asking for a 'buddy' to play with for the last 3 days. Hope you have a lovely weekend!

xo

• easy to get along with
• a good listener
• easily entertained
• a bit of a slober-er
• and only poop on Tuesdays (5 month track record)
  

• someone to hold me all day long
• someone to rub my throbbing gums
• a lover not a fighter
• must be good with minors

Please contact me through my agent. I am represented by Mama Moore, she is wondering if you have any brilliant suggestions on how to make my teeth feel better.