Bubble Light Fest!

So I found this thing at WalMart called the "Bubble Light Fest". You press the button and the lights flash and bubble come shooting out. Tate has quickly learned the word "Bubble" and we now have to start our day with a Bubble Party.

Surprise Cruise Midnight Buffet!

Paul will be out of town for Valentine's Day. For this reason, I planned a surprise for him on Friday. He loves food. He also loved the 2 cruises we went on before we had Tate. We were reminiscing one night, and it gave me the idea to turn the basement into:



THE SCHWARTZ CRUISELINES MIDNIGHT BUFFET



Of course, it was 5pm when we ate, but he loved it. First, Tate helping make the carmel brownies:

The bar with the food and the photo collage of our cruise pics:

The sand filled pool (there was sand EVERYWHERE) and the lounge area. Sabrina (our cat) is trying it out for us:

More V Day cards!

This one is actually a wall hanging...

V Day Card Swap

So I am participating in a Valentine's Day Card Swap, which I am very excited about. You make cards and exchange them with other artists from all over. I still have one to make, but here is my progress thus far.

Paul will be out of town for Valentine's Day, oh well. We have a baby V Day party at a friends and will celebrate then. I used to love when my dad would come home from work on Valentine's Day with the stack of Hearts filled with chocolate for all of us kids and a big one for mom.

Reading Time!

When Tate was crying for hours on end, never wanting to be put down, resisting sleep whenever we tried, I never thought that ONE DAY he would walk into his room, get in his chair, get a blankie and book and give me the sign for "night- night".

As frustrated as I can be as a new mom, that smile keeps me going and melts my heart.

How quickly can I jump into bed?

Ahhhhh...Sunday night. Tate in bed, house relatively clean, and laundry in the dryer. Is 7pm tooo early to get into pjs? I think I will borrow Tate's portable DVD player and watch my "Alias:The Final Season" DVD in my bed. Heaven!

I was able to escape today and head to Archivers to work on Valentine's Day cards. I will post pics later, as they are part of a card exchange that I am participating in.

Quilt update: The center square that I had to redo due to poor measuring skills is finished. Yea!! It seems so easy and so hard at the same time for a first time quilter :)

Friday!!!

I am so happy to be close to the weekend! This is Tate in his Oatmeal box, one of our latest creations. I saw this cute idea in a magazine where you grind graham cracker crumbs and use them as play dirt for play trucks. We didn't have graham crackers, so we poured lentils and oatmeal in and Tate thought it was better as a sand box.

We are so lucky

Have you seen the movie "The Constant Gardener"? Blew me away. I thought it was going to be some dull drama, but it was an amazing film that is still sitting with me.
Here's the description, because I find it hard to describe:

In a remote area of Northern Kenya, activist Tessa Quayle (Rachel Weisz) is found brutally murdered. Tessa's companion, a doctor, appears to have fled the scene, and the evidence points to a crime of passion. Members of the British High Commission in Nairobi assume that Tessa's widower, their mild-mannered and unambitious colleague Justin Quayle (Ralph Fiennes), will leave the matter to them. They could not be more wrong. Haunted by remorse and jarred by rumors of his late wife's infidelities, Quayle surprises everyone by embarking on a personal odyssey that will take him across three continents. Using his privileged access to diplomatic secrets, he will risk his own life, stopping at nothing to uncover and expose the truth - a conspiracy more far-reaching and deadly than Quayle could ever have imagined.

Besides being an riveting plot, you see Africa and the conditions in which they live there. You see raids, you see lack of food, you see people desperate for health care, as well very modest living conditions.

I went to bed in total amazement that I have a warm, non dusty bed to lay in and I can go to sleep without the worry of being killed in the night. Boy--this film blew me away...

Here is the trailer: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/constant_gardener/trailers_player.php?IGNMediaID=1193695&playerType=playlist

Kowabunga!!

When Tate goes down our stairs to the basement, he throws himself on the floor at the top, turns around and then flattens like a rat to slide all the way down AS FAST AS HE CAN while going "arggggggggggggggg!"

I guess that is one way he expends his crack baby amounts of energy while it is freezing outside.

I had time to scrap this weekend. Here are pics of 2 pages of my "She" album, inspired by Creating Keepsakes class.

Also, I am still hot cocoa obsessed and made a card for my friend, Jen, in Denver who has mounds and mounds of snow. The template for the card can be found at Mirkwood designs: http://www.ruthannzaroff.com/mirkwooddesigns/templates.htm --a great site by a pretty creative person.

Hot Cocoa

I love hot cocoa. It has that same visual appeal to me as cupcakes--I may not even need to eat/drink either to enjoy them, but I just love what they look like in my scrapbooking, cardmaking etc.

I had some today and felt like poop cuz my sugar levels are all out of whack. Yea--almost passed in Target yesterday...seriously, not being overly dramatic or anything! Luckily I had half a turkey sandwich in my car that I dug out and ate like a pig, or like a teenager devouring an afterschool snack. I STILL have those at 3pm daily. But when I skipped this daily bite to eat, "Walleye Vision" and severe dizziness as I was trying to shop for diapers for my ginormous kid. My dad suggested looking for them in the geriatric aisle.

Tate is in the bathtub and I am frantically typing, savoring my 10 minutes of alone time that I get each night. If I wasn't 100% sure that his bathtub water had little kid pee in it, I would jump in after him to relax. I guess I'll wait and take one later...

I hope everyone had a good MLK Day. More later with pictures!

I don't know how to TAG

There is this blog I go to regularly by this woman who is kind of a scrapbook celebrity. She always has the cutest things in her arsenal of creations as well as on her blog. This TAG-thing was on it and I wanted to fill it out and I "Tag" Mom and Uncle Jim to post on their blogs...

I know someone is supposed to tag me first, but I am initiating it for Mom and Uncle Jim. :)

Here it is:
A= Available~ to Paul only
B= Best Friend~ I have many :)
C= Cake or pie~ cupcakes!
D= Drink of choice~ water, hot tea and coffee
E= Essential item you use everyday ~my planner.
F= Favorite color~ blue (deep, yet vibrant blues that blend into black, like the sky at night)
G= Gummy bears or worms~ WORMS.
H= Hometown~ not sure, I move too much
I= Indulgences~ coffee, chocolate, art supplies, falafel, getting nails done
J= January or February~ February (I love V Day)
K= Kids and Names~ Tate (or Stinky)
L= Life is incomplete without?~ quiet time
M= Marriage date~ Sept 6, 2003
N= Number of siblings~ 4 (1 sister, 3 brothers)
O= Oranges or apples~ both, but I love oranges in winter
P= Phobias or Fears~ something happening to my family members
Q= Favorite Quote~ right now: “Food is our common ground, a universal experience.”
R= Reason to smile~ I'm in pjs and relaxing
S= Season~ Fall, no contest
T= Tag 3 or 4 people~ Mom, Uncle Jim, Ursula!
U= Unknown fact about me~ eeee..don't know!
V= Vegetable you don't like~ peas! That is probably the only one.
W= Worst habit~ picking at my nails
X= X-rays~ lots! teeth, arm, jaw
Y= Your favorite food~ all, but I particularly like fresh veggies, freshly cooked meal with good wine eaten outdoors
Z= Zodiac Sign~ Cancer Crab

Some Scrapped Pages

Here are a few pages that I scrapped this weekend. The first is the result of searching for the perfect spring dress. The HUGE sales at the mall were my inspiration and I STILL left empty handed. Ok, maybe I did find 2 shirts at Banana Republic, but that wasn't what I was looking for! I couldn't pass up 60% off.

The second page is from Tate's 1st birthday celebration in Indiana Beach. If anyone watched the Simpsons this Sunday, I think they based that episode off of Indiana Beach. Hee Hee!

QUILT UPDATE: Each day I do a small portion, making a small goal each day and actually accomplishing it. And even though I like math, it has been the biggest challenge on this project. I keep forgetting if you need 16 inches, you actually need 16 1/2 inches to allow for the sewing space... "seam allowance" I'm told by those experienced! I suck at making quilts.

Lo Mein for Christmas

Here was Tate at our Christmas Buffet Lunch in Iowa. He loves his Pad Thai and his Lo Mein!

And thank goodness for the DVD player.

This is the only we got through travelling and staying in a hotel... Sad, I said I would never let him be a tv addict.

Christmas Luncheon with the Schwartz Family.

Don't eat 5 day old Pork Tenderloin

Warning: the following entry might be slightly offensive.

"I just made oatmeal in my pants!" running out of the room... "Are you serious?" After checking on him... "I didn't get any on my underwear 'cuz it stuck to my butt cheeks." And while on the "pot" telling me this, then starts dancing and singing "I'm bringing sexy back!" by Justin Timberlake.

Happy Creative New Year!

Here are some creations I have been meaning to post. The first is of my brother, Mike when he was in a band--they have since broken up and he is is working with another kid on an acoustical project. The second is a canvas collage I made for my sister for her bathroom as a Christmas present.

I did creative projects most of the weekend that I wasn't feeling ill--we all have colds. Wash your hands people, wash your hands!! I'll post more pics later.

The good thing about going to Iowa

OK--I am actually hiding under a blanket as I type this, hiding from that little rugrat that is gabbing in his pack-n-play while in our hotel room in Iowa. We made a barrier out of the ironing board, my quilt and some pillows so that he can't see us from his pack-n-play (placed in the bathroom alcove) so that he will go to sleep. I forgot to move it into place before putting him down. If he sees us=GAME OVER.

Anyway, I digress...the thing I love now about going to Iowa is that I come back to the hotel to put Tate to sleep and I am in my jammies and chilling before 8pm. Love it! I knew there had to be a bright spot about making this journey! It's not that Iowa is that bad. It's just different from what I am used to...the fish out of water, the goose at the duck pond, a frickin alien on earth, etc etc etc.

I try to find something positive each time we come so it isn't such torture. One time it was treating myself to a whole new skin regiment from Bath and Body works and seeing if my skin improved. (Did it? No.) Another time it was to go to the local beauty college for a manicure. GREAT manicure, I have to say. Now, I look forward to Tate being my good excuse to turn down early and not offend anyone. Paul heads out while I stay here and enjoy relaxing without any distractions or responisibilties. Yea Iowa!!

Cutting Corn, Cutting Corn

Yep I am in Iowa celebrating the holidays with Paul's family.
Some observations:
*Travelling with a 17 mo old sucks
*McDonald's Asian Chicken Salad is AWESOME
*I can't get enough of ABC family during the holidays. (have you seen "Santa Baby"?? so cute!)
*I never have to worry about underdressing while I am here

*No sleep makes me a Grinch
*Where's the turnip?? This is a Chin fmaily tradition that I am very much missing...
*I was very happy to see a female couple with a Chinese baby in our hotel--that is the first bit of diversity I have seen besides myself ever since coming here.

Still more to come...

Christmas is actually fun...

If you know me somewhat well, you know I much more of a Halloween girl than into Christmas. This year, I have discovered that Christmas IS fun. Not to be a grinch, but the scurrying and the craziness always freaked me out and even as a kid, I would be sick almost EVERY Christmas.
Now that "Tater Snot" has joined us, this time of year has transformed into a fun, cozy festive time. Why else would I be inspired to whip up vanilla bean sugar cookies at moment's notice? Oh and not care if the kitchen is TRASHED? We had a blast making the dough and then rolling out the cookies the next day with Tate's best bud, Evan (and Aunt Katie).

While Evan shoved handfuls of dough into his mouth, Tate kept smashing it with the roller and smashing the cutters into it. Yea--I set aside dough so that some of the cookies would actually be edible. Unless you don't mind rugrat germs in your cookies and you can have THAT BATCH as well!



And the Quilt....Holy poo. Who knew the Amish ladies put this much work into making a frickin blanket? AND they sew it by hand. My heroes for the week, because as you can see, this all I have at this point. Sorry Mom--it might end up being a Valentine's Day quilt! Oh yea, and if you are a quilter, you can see that my measurements are WAY off...but i have a plan for my frankenquilt.....

Running late with the Christmas Presents

This is my mom's Christmas present. A bunch of red and green fabric you say? Ahhh you shouldn't have... No, really it will be a quilt at some point. Obviously, there is a lot of work to do and I couldn't finish it if I spent every single night ALL night on it, but eventually it will be a Christmas quilt. I originally planned on doing the center at a quilt class, but I didn't realize the class would just teach techniques, etc and that we wouldn't leave with a piece in hand....
Anyway, I know as much about quilting as I do about coal mining, which is nothing, so it should be an adventure.

Here is Tate today as I was taking pictures of the quilt fabrics. He is such a ham for the camera!

This is a photo the day after our big ice storm. It is now in the high 50s... and we have heat now! Of course it had to be close to FREEEEEZING when we were without power.

My own cupcakes

Finally! I can post pictures of my own cupcakes instead of stealing pictures online and wondering if I am violating copyright laws... They were very yummy and we have a ton leftover. I made them for a fun gathering we went to this weekend. They were the perfect size for Tate. We learned the hard way--a whole normal size cupcake+ Tate= BARFORAMA.

Read an article about school in Africa this morning. They have lots of beans and cassava (a potato like veggie) for most meals and I am obsessing about cupcakes... Again, we are so lucky and I want to remember that every single day. Paul thinks they get pizza on Wednesdays, but somehow I think he's wrong...
(total sidenote: remember that wonderful square pizza they used to serve in public school?? mmmmmmmm.)

I'm feeling very creative today... I might have to escape to the scrapbook store to work on some last minute projects. I have some pics to share, but they are Christmas presents and I don't want to spoil surprises!! Have a great day!

Thankful for the little things

No pics today...just happy to be in the warmth after having NO POWER for days. There are still people that still do not have power. Thanks to all those who helped out as we sought heat wherever we could find it!

On to other subjects--people who rush around and cut people off in traffic just to get your Christmas presents--YOU SUCK. Way to share the Christmas spirit!

More later when I get the house back in order...

Cupcakes

Feeling like I needed to add some cupcakes to my blog...since the name IS cupcakes and coffee.

1st is a cute clip art, 2nd Kara's Cupcakes in San Fran, 3rd from a food styling site. I'm still not sure on the rules with copyright and posting on blogs. If anyone has info on this, please send before I violate rules!

WalMart Guy, you are a butt

It is pouring, freezing cold and I decide to go to WalMart. I hate WalMart. It also happens to be one of Paul's favorite places. Anyway, I shop to the point that Tate is ready to meltdown and head out in the rain. Oh yea, and I forgot at WalMart, they don't take your groceries out for you.

So here I am, extremely heavy baby in one arm, multiple bags in the other, trying to load up my car while the wind and rain blow. And that wind decides to gust an push my cart away from my car. At this moment, this guy walks right by my car, (mere inches away) and the f#%*tard looks right at me and sees me struggling to save the cart AND HE WALKS RIGHT BY.

A Target customer would have never done that...

Oh and to further illustrate the madness that is WalMart, there was a line of people in the lobby camping out for the midnight release of the new PS3....it was 3:30pm.

Election Day

No matter what your beliefs are, get your butt out and vote, if you can. Not to speak about politics, but last night, as I was thinking about election day, I came across an article that made me rethink a position I had about a particular topic. Am I being vague?? Heck yea, since I like to keep my blog light and fluffy! In any case, it is funny how your perspective can be changed with more info.

Oh and if you are bored and happen to have a 16 month old and it is raining, and you are both crawling the walls, go to Lowes and let him run around like a crazy person. The Christmas section will keep him entertained for at least 20 minutes.

Digital Scrap

Here is something I created for my brother. I "borrowed" a layout from someone at www.twopeasinapod.com and altered it. I'm sure I am violating some sort of copyright law, so I apologize if that is the case...

Pictures I owe you

Here are the pictures from the Baby Halloween Party '06. So fun, yet so tiring. Evan is Tate's best bud and is the little one in the Indian Costume.

I am gearing up for Thanksgiving Weekend in Chicago with my Uncle Dave (AKA SuperDave) and Aunt Maryann (AMA). My whole family meets up there for a annual extravaganza. And by extravaganza, I mean more food than you can imagine, lots of laughs, and craziness in general. Also, my mom, AMA and I turn the dining room into a scrapbook store. I'm so excited to go.

Speaking of scrapping, I found the coolest thing at Michael's.

So cute, and loving it.
And one my favorite scrap creations... a card for my sister: