I have an Etsy!

Shop that is...Etsy is an online store that works similar to e-bay, but you can only sell handmade and vintage items. What I really want to do is finish my cookbook- but since it takes money to make money I am selling these super cute paper boxes that look like slices of cake to hopefully save enough to work on my cookbook! WOW - What a process! Aren't they cute! My girls have been in heaven playing with all of my "Practice" ones ;) There is a basic template you can get off the internet, but it opens on the back (I made these for Brooklyn's birthday) But I got frustrated with the design because they weren't as strong , I couldn't fit them in a nice circle, and things kept falling out of the back of the box- so Ty worked with me on the math (My smart hubby!) and I know have a box that opens on the top- comes in three different sizes and will fit nicely in a cute circle!

These are my "smooches" they are soo Cute! I wanted them to be similar to Hershey Kisses.

I know have links on the righ tof my blog that will go to both my new blog- where you can see more information about my cake slices and my shop where they can actually be purchased!

Galveston Part 1

Tyson and I took the kids to go find the ocean this weekend. We have lived here for over a year and still have not made the trip- so on Friday we drove an hour to Galveston to see what we could see. There is no doubt (even a year and a half later) that the city was hit by a HUGE hurricane. There are still many building that have broken walls and windows and even some that have only the foundation left. We also saw some boats still sitting in fields. THe whole city looks forlorn. Despite that- it was soo fun to see the ocean! We went to Moody Gardens to see the rainforest and aqarium- but only the aqarium is open- the rest was damaged by IKE and will be repaired for 2011.

There were a LOT of fish, Seahorses, Penguins, and Sea Lions. They even had a small "touch Pool" where the kids got to feel some starfish. This area was a tunnel which led to a larger aqaurium and all of it was around us and over our heads
Tanner thought this was very cool until he saw a HUGE sea Turtle (5 ft long!) and a Shark - up close and showing all of his teeth- This scared him spitless and he wanted to leave very quickly - I don't know if he will go swimming this summer ;)

My kids in the Shark Cage- I think that explaining WHY they needed a shark cage- made it much scarier when he saw the real shark! OOPS!

Galveston Part 2 The Ocean

The next part of the trip was to let the kids see the beach and collect shells- I am pretty sure that even on a nice day we would NOT play in the water. After all tanner knew for sure there was sharks in the water :) It was windy and cold, but the kids REALLY wanted to get seashells. As soon as we got out they changed their minds pretty quick to "MOM- get sea shells for us- we want to go back in the car!"

"Our Seashell Booty"

This one was cool- it had been under the ocean for so long it has "stuff" growing on the outside of it

Niagra Falls

Ty got the opportunity to go to Buffalo New York earlier this week to visit a vendor company for Halliburton. While there he got to go see Niagra Falls! Only it was 9:00 at night- so look at the dark picture and pretend you can see ! LOL- The lights on the picture is the Casinos and hotels on the Canada side, apparently that is where the best view is and the USA side- doesn't have all that much to see. . It was still really fun though and he got to see some real snow and freeze his toes and fingers. He escaped the cold and came home to a 55 degree day and ever getting warmer- yes spring is here and winter has released it's grip - (don't worry it only lasted 2 weeks :) )

Driving through New York ;)

A Statue of
a great inventor- which I will have to ask Ty his name and have him post about him!

See my new Blog and Tea PArty!

Last year I was asked to be the Event Coordinator for my Food Allergy Support group called SAFER Houston- of course I agreed! It has been a lot of fun planning! I was also asked to find $$ for our events...uh oh! I HATE asking people for money. IT is the only thing I have been dreading. Usually fundraisers are not really all that fun, and they are super expensive. THen one day I came across an idea for a Make Believe Tea Party! I got really excited- THis was something I felt I could do! And it is perfect for our group because it does not contain any real food. My girls have been in heaven making these over and over again for the last few weeks as I have been creating the set. CHeck it out at my other blog at www.saferhoustonevents.blogspot.com and either scroll down or click the link to the right that says tea party fundraiser!

Who did she learn this from?

Cristine has been learning about different ways of saying word - such as in past and present tense, (Sing vs, sung or Was vs, Were) and likes to come up with her own version... here is a sample...

Last Thursday I told her that if she helped me clean the front room that I would get Dinner for us (Hint: we were planning on it anyway...) SHe asked if we could get Little Ceasers for Dinner (her very favorite place). I told her "Sure" She cleaned very well and with a smile on her face!
But when we got there it was soo crowded there was hardly any standing room! I had all three kids with me - so I opted to step next door to Subway and get the kids some chips and a drink , and a sandwich for me and Ty. We went in the store and picked drinks out of the cooler and I saw Cristine's forlorn face.

Are you Okay Cristine?
"I'm Fine"
What is wrong?
" It's okay, I know Little Ceasers is really really crowded"
But you really wanted pizza- I understand, can we go another time?

Then she gave me her "really brave" smile and nodded her head, but had little tears in her eyes. I caved and we went over to Little Ceasers and jammed my three kids and myself into the corner at the end of the line. It took 30 minuts and I was constantly pulling tanner off of other peoples toes and apologizing, But Cristine had the biggest happiest smile :)

"Thank YOu Mom SOSOSOSO Much! I was afraid I "cluned" (as in sung or the past of "cleaned") for nothing - and now I now that I "cluned" for something! You are the BEST mom in the whole world!"

Your welcome Cristine...After all I did say "Sure!"

What are you scared of?

This a very late post about a visitor to my house, but thought everyone could use a smile today :)

To say I am scared of spiders of an understatement. They didn't bother me too much until I squooshed one when I was about 12 and I felt it crunch underneath my shoe...EEEW it gives me the willies, just thinking of it! Since then, I have had a VERY hard time with actually killing one. I hate that they are FAST, and have those creepy crawly legs.

We were married for about a year and a half when I saw a huge spider in my kitchen, Tyson was gone, and cristine was just a baby, and I din't want the thing crawling around my house- so I quickly covered it with a cup and then taped the cup around the edges of the floor to make sure it couldn't slip underneath...until my brave hubby could get home and dispose of it for me.

Diana sent me this comic the other day (you may have to click on it to make itbigger) Why? because Ifound something else to cover with a bowl too...

This Salamander....

Yes, It was in my house, underneath my Christmas tree. I am proud to say that I now smash spiders in my house- I have even killed a few cockroaches, and thought I was becoming brave. But, I will admit that when I went to pick up one of Tanners "Toys" and it scurried away from my fingers, I screamed quite loudly. Tyson was at work, and I didn't know what to do with it! I was afraid it would crawl up my christmas tree or worse- get lost in my house and I would find it in my sheets later! I got the heeby Jeebies again and grabbed a bowl. I tried to catch it but it was FAST. unfortunatly the first time I only got the tail- which came off! Then the tail started wiggling around - which made the kids scream too! So I covered up the tail with a bowl and then caught the salamader under another bowl and put a rock on the top until my brave hubby got home..:) Tyson thought the salamander was cute, which it was (when it wasn't scurrying around my house)

ps. I also found a dried up body of a frog underneath my dryer..yuck! and still sorta cool I guess.

Update on Brooklyn

We had another appointment for Brooklyn today, and based on our visit I am changing my attitude of hoping for quick answers to lifes problems to being more patient. This is certainly just "one of those things that take time " to figure out.

Step 1.... Find out what the problem is and get a diagnosis.....Check!

Step 2...Find a treatment plan that actually works..... WOrking on it

Eosinophilic Diseases are different in each person, thus it can take a while to figure out the right combination for a treatment plan. With Brooklyn her major problem at first was her constant pain- we started a daily steroid that she swallows to coat her throat and stomach (2 X a day) to reduce the inflamation..she started to feel betterbut then started loosing weight. Since she has lost another lb in the last month, we are now supplementing her diet with elemental formula drinks filled with fat and calories. She will drink these until she gets up to the point that she can replace her regular diet with JUST the drinks. They don't taste great and she is a trooper with drinking as much as she can. WE are also adding more medicines for another month and upping her steroid to 3 X a day. The doctor says she can eat Potato chips all day (and drinks) and it doesn't matter- our ONLY goal this next month is to get her to GAIN WEIGHT!

Eventually we will find a combination that works. The Great news is...She is a happy girl! She doesn't complain of pain often anymore and loves to run, jump, and in general have a good time. She got her cast off and although her bone is fragile it is healing well.

Tanner Vs. the "Spider"

Tanner and the Spider.

The story goes WAY back, to a time when Tanner became board of cars and trucks one night. He just wandered the hall of our home looking for someone to play with. Who would have imagined his imagination and ambidextrous dad would have created....

TOMMY THE TARANTULA!!! Terror of the Tantor!!

Yep, no matter home many times the Taranatula turns out to only be Tyson's hand it still scares the crap out of Tanner.... :)

Tyson loves it when Tanner falls to the ground and covers his face and then giggles and pretends to cry for mom....sounds cruel but you will probably laugh yourself.....

Happy New Year!!!

Well, we decided to got to the Houston Zoo today to start out the new year.

In Houston trafffic, you feel like you are part of a bigger Zoo, you only wonder who is taping on the glass window of the cage we all live in... and is it something like the Truman show....?

hmmm.....

Anyhow here we are, all safe and sound at the zoo, the zoo is centered in downtown, so when the monkey cage canopy is not overhead you can see tall office buildings in the skyline. The zoo boasts a beautiful waterway nearby and includes a nifty little train that takes passengers around the entire park. We had fun waving at all the park visitors, even a few homeless people ont he picnic tables as we passed by at 9 miles an hour. The kids loved it!!!
This is Rocky, the albino, savage, quail & people eater....actually we have no idea what his name is. He as pretty unique and you could tell he is the star of the amphibian display.

The biggest Pythons I have ever seen in my life!!!!!!!!!! 2 of them next to each other, yeah kinda creepy, when Tanner started pounding on the glass this, whichy lookin lady stared at me and I wondered if she was some destitute Harry Potter fan, looking for a sign.

Ahh Brooklyn, not always up for photo ops, anyway we all had a good time and encourage you all to visit with us on your next trip to Houston.