A mama day moment

Today is mother's day...
A role I was gifted 5 blessed years ago. I can't begin to share the immense love I feel inside for this beautiful girl... My child... Not enough paper, megabites or time. All I know is that my life is so much greater by these mothering days.
I am... She is... We are.
And I feel so very blessed.

To my beautiful girl ... Thank you for being you... Wonderfully-lovingly -sweety pie - you.
(May you one day in the far away future also be a mama too.)
I love you with all my being.

(honeypie's words for me today..."mama... I love you because you always smell like birthday cake!!!" ;)

"mama.. Today is the BEST day... You do not have to do laundry or dishes and you can watch Martha Stewart on the tv ALL day!!! Ok?" ;)

Today... But not just today... I'd like to thank those women in my life who, though not my mother, continuosly inspire me daily with their words, humor, savvy and love. It is this support that helps to make my mothering parenting days of whirlwind loveliness easier and in that nurturing of friendship, I put forth me. Learning, sharing, living , loving back.
I Thank you.

"Let us be greatful to the people who make us happy... they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom."
~ Marcel Proust

Today....

Drawings








Hugs








Laughter








Kisses








Lovely heart








And...
A mama day thirst quencher...

A Cucumber margarita ;)

-You need one English cucumber
-I cup of simple syrup (one cup sugar to one cup water and heat till dissolved . Cool in the fridge)
-one cup lime juice
-one cup of white /silver tequila (or to taste )
-place in a blender










Blend  and then strain the pulp with a colander into a serving jar
*NOTE: I like the margarita strained... but if you prefer to use the pulp in your drink... it will make a great addition to to a FROZEN margarita... then all you would have to do is blend the cucumber pulp with ice and then add the rest of your ingredients.








Rub the rim of a glass with lime juice
Add salt to the rim








Pour the blended Cucumber mix into the glass and garnish with a lime wedge.








Delicious !








Ps....
And look what daddy made for mama...
Mmmmmm

A warm mixed green salad with homemade croutons, bacon and lentils







And a beautiful seafood bruchetta !















Thank you daddy ! It was delicious !!
Xoxo

Happiest mother's day everyone !

^_^

Snapshots from Mexico

Hola from sunny Mexico !
I have found a tiny wifi area in a corner of our room which is available for 5 minutes after 11 pm... ;) thought i'd post some photos!


What I'm reading by the sunny pool...




Where we are... Mexico!
Hello Chichen itza!




How honeypie feels at the end of the day...

Pooped!




What sweet surprise awaits on our pillow at night...








A spicy and salty sweet habanero strawberry fruit paste goodie...




Cricket empanadas, chiles and mangos ...
Swimming with dolphins and touching butterflies...
Lounging by the pool...
Having a lovely time with family...
And will be home soon,
but for now... Adios!

-- Post From My iPhone

Martha's encyclopedia of sewing and fabric crafts

OoOh!!!!!! New book out by Martha Stewart!!! ^_^
Sooooo thrilled!!!
This one is called the "Encyclopedia of sewing and fabric crafts" and I have to tell you it's beautiful!!!
Honeypie has been putting post-it notes on what she wants me to make and she even started her own little handmade drawn book of her favorite pages from the book!!
(I think I am creating a little Martha lover out of her too!!)
Here's some projects I'm "supposed to " work on for honeypie...






I'm suppossed to make,
The dollies ...









The cutie bunny...






A little quilt for her dollies...





As for me?
I'd like to tackle the embroidery section... Especially the ribbon embroidery how-to which looks beAutiful !!!

















Here's honeypie's Martha book...

The cover with Martha Stewart and her sewing tools...





A sewing machine





Martha sewing a quilt





Tools you need to sew ...





Tools for quilting... Scissors, rotary blade,etc





On Martha's show last week she made cute animal bath mitts and honeypie wants to learn to sew those , so that will be her project!

Great book!!!

Over the rainbow by Judy Collins and Eric Puybaret

I love to sing and have been singing to honeypie since she was in the womb. That's not saying that I am going to be trying out for American idol anytime soon... But I think I can carry a decent tune. Gillian Welch, John Denver, James Taylor, Elton John and recently Death Cab for Cutie have made our way into our car or nightime sing-alongs.
Honeypie has an ecclectic ear which I am SURE she inherited from daddy's intense love of all kinds of music...(as I tend to have gotten love stuck in the 80's) :). Ska and Brazilian grooves, vampire weekend, the pixies or fishbone are enjoyed with daddy... Cindy Lauper, Sade, the Cure and Kate Bush with mama.
We have our own so called kareoke list of songs we love to sing together which include...
-take me home, country road ~John denver
-you've got a friend
~James Taylor
-rainbow connection ~Kermit
-true colors ~Cindy Lauper
-time after time ~ Cindy lauper
_I will follow you into the dark ~ death cab for cutie
And ofcourse... Our favorite favorite favorite...Which was one of Honeypie's first full songs she memorized and sang ...
"somewhere over the rainbow" by Judy Garland from the Wizard of Oz.

We just recently had the pleasure of meeting a wonderful woman named Judy Collins who has been a singer and activist since the 70's! Best known for many songs including "bring on the clowns" or her rendition of "amazing grace". And now she has recorded the song "over the rainbow" for a book illustrated by Eric Puybaret, which is beautiful . The book's illustrations/paintings are gorgeous and the book comes with a 3 song cd which includes:
"Over the rainbow"
"I see the moon"
And "White coral bells".

Judy Collins voice is beautiful and the book is a great addition to our library.
Here's a peek inside the book.
























After Judy Collins sang a great medley of songs, she autographed her book for us and we got to meet her. (wow!!!!) Honeypie was thrilled to be able to meet her and she even sang to Judy her version of over the rainbow without a shy bone to be had!! ;)





Judy Collins said... "That was beautiful !!! Keep on singing!!"
Honeypie said ..." mama!! I did it"!
^_^

April fool's day

I'm a little late on this post but I thought I'd share some of our April fool's food fun!

A pinkalicious cupcake surprise!!
(turkey meatloaf with pink mash potato frosting! ;)




All I did was bake a turkey meatloaf mixture in a cupcake pan and blend regular mash potatoes with pink icing gels and piped it ontop with a pastry bag.








Oh oh!!! Tastes like chicken!!!
^_^





And some candy sushi making!












We used rice krispie treats for the rice and candy fish and worms (I mean eels!) also gumdrops forvthe faux veggies!




And we rolled just like real sushi!







Nigiri with Swedish fish and fruit roll up seaweed.







Playing with food allowed!!
We had fun!

Happy Easter

"Hoppy" easter everyone !




Hope it is sweet!
Enjoy the day with all your "peeps"!






The warmth of this day welcomes a true feel of spring!
As we spend the afternoon gardening, we will sneak in some jellybeans and chocolate eggs along with our home baked sweets!

Have a great day!

^_^

When Sophie gets angry-really really angry by Molly Bang

Sometimes I feel like I am constantly telling Honeypie to

 "stop whinning, stop crying, stop that tantrum, stop that...NOW. 

and I'm reflecting  how much of that is me repressing her emotions...   

 I do not want to have her NOT feel. Not to express her negative emotions, her anger or frustration.  

 So I am working on being mindful right now of not repeating patterns of my own past.    How growing up I too had to ... shut up, sit down, "stop crying ... or the world is going to swallow you up!"... and how that in turn has affected me...  

I am  taking more patient time to stop and listen to her, to see why she is going in that direction and how we can communicate together in a positive way to work through her anger or even that moment frustration.  It is working really well.  Good communication and patience (for both of us) being such an important thing.

          We have been reading a good book that deals with anger, 
When Sophie gets angry- really really angry by Molly Bang and it  has  helped 
to create good conversations between honeypie and I ... 
(though I do not agree with sophie who storms out of the house into the forest to calm down...!!!).  It helps bring to light that everyone gets angry and that anger can be upsetting or even frightening.  But that it is important to understand what to do when you are feeling those strong angry emotions.   

Here's another good book recommend...
"When I feel angry" by Cornelia Spelman

as for me...what do I do???

I have a habit of holding on and loving my anger...

 putting it in my pocket 

not inside myself but 

in that breast pocket you put your protractor and pencils in... 

i like to caress it 

like a brand new baby 

and in time...

in time...

vomit it out like that movie scene from "Stand by Me" ... 

you know the one...

hmmm... :)... 

i am work in progress. ;)