Springtime Creations!

Yesterday it was 78 here in the St. Louis area. It was so nice! I immediately have more energy and am in a better mood when it is warm.

Here are some cards I have made for fun and a spring centerpiece that I had a vision of and just HAD to create. It has lots of glitter on the branches which you can't see in the photos.



I took a branch I found in my yard, spray painted it white, then covered it in "Diamond Dust" glitter and spray glitter. For the flowers, I took pieces of crepe paper and bunched them, and then adhered them to the branches with floral tape. It is stuck in a stryofoam chunk that I found in the garage and cut to fit in my vase.

Happy St. Pat's Day!

Hola Everyone! I am finally back online after Paul chopped the cable in half with a shovel. The duct tape he tried to repair it with didn't work too well, so the Charter guy was finally out here on Friday.

Here are Tate and I at the local St. Pat's Day parade. It was fun, but cold. Do you see the little kid crouching in the far right? That child was ruthless when it came to scurrying for beads and candy. Poor Tate didn't have a chance! Her dad is in the striped beanie, and he was just as bad as he kept carrying her about a foot in front of the rest of the sideline crowd. The kid looked like Mr. T at Mardi Gras by the time the parade was over. We only had about 4-5 strands of beads and a few tootsie rolls :(

Hope you are having a wonderful Sunday!

Iowa Reflections

I am typing from my computer tent, which is my quilt over my head and laptop so Stinky will go to sleep. As I type, Paul is at the local Japanese Steakhouse for a rehearsal dinner of his friends, Weylon and Amber.

Exciting tidbits from today (besides the Super Target trip...)
1. Watching "Arthur"cartoon, the head lice episode.
(I'm still itching my head)

2. Eating at a catmeat, 3rd rate chinese buffet in the middle of Iowa.
(Have to admit, I was just satisfied to be able eat w/ chopsticks. Tate WOLFED down his lo mein. The kid won't eat a burger, but will scarf the lo mein.)

3. This is NOT a cute, new Kenneth Cole shoe kind of place. Should have worn some boots or something.

4. I love Paul, ok even adore him at times, but OH MY GOODNESS HOW DID WE EVER END UP MARRIED????

Back in Iowa...wheeeeeeeeee!

No offense to those of you who love this place, but for me, IOWA SUCKS. I know, I know...last time I was here I got to discover the bright spot about being here and was turning more positive. However, right now I am tired, cranky and cold.

We got in at 8pm, with Tate transforming from crack baby to screamer within moments. When he doesn't get to bed on time, it aint pretty... In fact, sometimes he tells us by putting his little hand on his ear and leaning to one side, saying "night-night" as he was the entire last 45 minutes of driving. Oh, and did I mention the DVD battery had run out by then. NOT FUN.

OK--the bright spot for today? We went to huge Super Target right near the hotel. We were able to put a gift basket together for the bride and groom (we're here for a wedding), get some new makeup and a coloring set for Stinky and had a blast. Tate loves Targe' as well, probably because we go there so often and it feels like a 2nd home.

Email me if you want: PCSchwartz@charter.net

as I am bored and working on the computer is the only thing I can do as Tate naps. Oh yea, Naps are the best....

Life is too short for bad food

I love food. I love it so much, that I really should weigh a LOT more than I do. But not just any food. I love lots of flavor, unique and interesting fare, trying new things and the perfect ambiance to enjoy it all.

It's not just the eating...I love to make cookies and cupcakes even more than I like to eat them. I even like food related items in my scrapbooking...My zodiac sign is Cancer and you usually get fed by a Cancer woman, kind of like an Italian grandmother. Or in my case, a Mexican Grandmother...


Because of this love, I have decided no more wasting $$ or stomach space on "crap". I live in the "burbs" of St. Louis and that means that EVERYTHING is a chain restaurant close by. Not that I don't "jones" for a Crunch Wrap from Taco Bell every now and then, but I refuse to go to Chili's/Applebee's/TGIF etc etc etc if I can help it. Life is too short!

To fully enjoy St. Louis, some friends and I are planning to go out about once a month and try out a new restaurant AWAY from the suburbs. We went to Cafe Eau for our first trip and great ambiance, good, but not excellent food. I hate when there is a lot of fried appetizers on the menu! The crabcake with black beans I had was excellent, though.

Also, Paul, Tate and I have started meeting our friend, Stacy, for brunch on Sundays in St. Louis. We have been to The Creperie in Clayton and it is excellent. It is as close to my California cafes that I am used to. Today we went to Chris' Pancakes. It was pretty good, but was just your standard IHOP/Denny's stuff, which can be quite satifying.

Oh, and if anyone has a good recipe, send it my way!

TGIF!

Al Bundy? Paul? Nope--it's Tate in Sesame watching mode. And to answer Paul's question, No, I did not stage this picture!

Check out his "Bling"... "Master T, mini-rapper". (He had a necklace of mine on while coloring.)

These pics are a few weeks old, but it is Friday and I am lazy, so here you go. On Fridays, I feel like it is a holiday and I always am very lazy. I get why it was always "Pizza Day" in our house growing up for dinner!

Vitamin C is yummy

Have you ever eaten so much citrus fruit that your mouth burns from the acid? I have, and so have most kids who grew up in South Florida who can grab a tangerine or orange on the way to the busstop...

I just finished chowing this huge GRAPEFRUIT, which made me think of all of this.

You know you are getting old when it no longer tastes bitter, but really really yummy. It makes me think back when I was little and we used the grapefruits off the tree to throw at each other as we played "War". They were great sticky, juicy bombs. The best ones were the rotting ones that had a split somewhere in the middle. Now, I feel bad to have wasted all that wonderfulness on trying to hit a sibling or neighborhood kid. They are so good!

I also am slightly ashamed that I never discovered the yumminess that is a mango until I was an adult. We never ate the mangoes off the tree that was next to the busstop, for reasons I will not mention, but my sister knows. Shameful!! They are my favorite fruit now and I could have eaten all I wanted off of "Christy's" tree. (Christy was the dog that lived there.)

A warning, though, on eating lots of citrus: we had a friend/enemy/neighborhood bully that used to eat lemons with salt on them. After several years, she had worn off all the enamel on her teeth, reducing them to the size of tic tacs in the front. Karma! Hee hee!

Things that melt my heart

I have been playing my flute for Tate for awhile...mostly when we have played with every single one of his toys, have no other place to go, and mealtime is a long time away. He now is BRINGING me my flute case, sits on the floor and waits. It is amazing to me. I usually play irish tunes, and other stuff that simple and other easy toe-tapping stuff.

As great as it is, there are times, like when he is naked and just got out of the tub, that a concert is not ideal. Crying and whining occur when I tell him no... And even funnier, is that this picture was snapped when he brought the case to Paul because I wasn't home.

My (former) Parenting Plan

As many of you know, before I had Tate, I had these grand ideas about how my baby would only eat organic food and never watch tv and have a lifestyle as close to hippie commune except without the ganga/pot/wackyweed and the whole grow-your-own-crops thing…(I couldn’t get ANYTHING to grow in our garden except for a dwarf zucchini that was inedible.)

Anyway, me and reality have recently met.

As I type, Paul is out of town, I stayed up too late and Tate is on his 3rd Sesame Street episode today.

YES I WAS A JUDGEMENTAL IDEALIST _________ (fill in appropriate title).

But now I know the sheer necessity of electronic babysitter, even though I feel as guilty as a vegetarian eating meat every time he gets into “tv coma”. But I also am enjoying every moment of solitude…

Bert and Ernie are awesome.

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.