Zoo Day! Zoo Day!

I loooove the zoo! As part of our anniversary weekend, I asked Mike if we could go to the new Teton Trek exhibit since it was too wet to drive out to Shiloh like we initially planned. To my surpise...he agreed! :D We ended up leaving early to try to beat the crowds. The day was a little cooler than I expected but it warmed up a bit later.


Donnie and Liz came along. While we got hot cocoa, Donnie made a friend.


Later, Autumn made a friend, too. Well, she tried really hard to make a friend, at least. "Cheeckin! See? Cheekin!"


The petting zoo area is pretty cute. They had this little play area and Autumn was totally enchanted by the big, fake cow that had a carving of its innards on the side. Someone else was on the cow and she kept saying, "Moo? Wan' ride mooooo?"


:) I got lots of snuggles partly because it was chilly and partly just because Autumn needed a snuggle fix.


I love this photo. Not sure why. Maybe it's because their eyes are the same color as the trees.


Monkey Tongue!


This is what she was so excited about:


Autumn maneuvered us into holding both of her hand so she could swing. :) Now that's a funny face!


Anyway, a couple hours, a zen seal...


A lazy panda...


And some grizzly cubs later...


It got noticeably colder.


Even Autumn the perpetually hot and sweaty baby was cold.


So, we went home...Mike went very happily and rapidly although he does admit it was fun. I don't blame him too much--there was chili and kettle corn waiting for us at home! :D

By the way, this stuff is so awesome, I'll end with the recipe!


Kettle Corn
1/2 cup popcorn
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 T sugar
1 t salt
(the salt and sugar can be adjusted to taste)
1. Heat oil in a large, heavy saucepan that has handles and a lid over medium heat.

2. Once the oil is hot, pour in the popcorn, sprinkle salt and sugar on top and cover. You can toss in 2 or 3 kernels while the oil is heating. When the oil is hot enough, the kernels will pop. It's really important that the oil be at the right temp.

3. When the popcorn starts popping, shake continuously until the popcorn is popped. I like to grab the handles and lid with pot holders, lift and shake, rest, and repeat until the popping slows down. The shaking keeps it from burning. And I take the pot off the burner before the popping completely stops to be extra safe against burns.

4. Pour into a a serving bowl and lightly toss with a large spoon. The popcorn will dry as it cools.

This recipe makes 8-10 cups. I usually half it when it's just me, Mike, and Autumn. The corn is salty, sweet and crunchy! Yum yum!

Weird!

Mike and I met in a bookstore in 2000. This is, I think, our very first picture together, taken new years' eve at the church I was attending at the time:


Fast forward almost 9 years and here we are, married for 7 years today and with a little monkey!


Over the years we've traveled to the other side of the world


and hiked lots of mountains.


Seen the kitty cat grow from this


to this.


And the baby monkey grow from this


to this.


My family is a little smaller


and Mike's is a little bigger.


The world has changed a lot in the 9 years since we met and the 7 since we got married but this is still the same: it's always fun


and always interesting. :)


:) It's a good life. Thanks for being awesome, Mike!

cheers to mike!

I think one of Mike's talents is finding just the right gift. For example, my birthday was last month. I kept meaning to get a photo of me before or after class but I kept forgetting before and I look a wreck after so here you go. One birthday gift from Mike to Sharaze:


It's a rattan staff and a weapon bag! The staff is a blessing to my hands because I have been using my jo (a hardwood japanese weapon of a similar size) during the kali staff sessions and the reverb has been jarring my joints to death. So now I have something with a touch more give in it. :D The weapon bag is extra great because it's designed for kali weaponry--has a pouch for training knives, is long enough for my regular sticks, has the opening for long weapons like my staff and, unlike my old baseball bag, I can wear it over my shoulder easily.


Now, Monday is our 7th anniversary (how weird is that?) and while my birthday gift arrived a week late, my anniversary gift (well, anniversary/christmas/valentine's day/mother's day/birthday gift) arrived two weeks early. The best part about this gift is that Mike was so excited about getting it for me.


I. Love. It. I think everyone knows I've been longing for a good camera and I HAVE ONE. I knew I was getting this for maaaybbbee Christmas so getting it this soon was a pleasant surprised. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Mike!!! I'm looking forward to learning how to use this camera--there's so much to learn and it's going to be so. fun. I know I have been driving everyone here crazy with the pictures but I'm having a blast! Here's a set of pictures I took of Autumn taking a short break on Tuesday:


Autumn was really patient with me hovering around her playing with settings. :)


Sometimes a baby girl just needs to chill out in a soft blanket. My mom made that for her, by the way!


The carpet looked really scratchy so I asked if she wanted to get on the sofa and she said, "mm, mama," which is her version of yes.


Juice, the sofa, a blanket...what else does a girl need to be happy?


Well, actually...she needs a hello kitty (kee-cat), a plastic egg, baa the lovey, a pooh book ANNNND a thumb!


And what does Molly think of all this? She's completely unimpressed. Ha!


So that's all for now...hopefully you'll see the pictures here improve over time as I learn more!

/dance

Someone does not like shots....

Just a quick one today from da Papa unit here.

I don't know exactly why, but I totally love this picture of Autumn at Walgreen's waiting to get her flu shot. She doesn't know for sure what's about to go down, but she know's whatever it is will not be good...

Am I a bad father for enjoying a little moment like this where my daughter is scared?

Gifts! To and From!

So...the last post reminded me that I never told you about Autumn's new shoes. They are adorable. Seriously. The shoes are super cute. I love them. And these shoes are, one might say, a gag gift from some mischievous grandparents who I won't name. YET. Observe:


It's funny how fast she goes from being horrified by what's going on with her feet to totally having fun! Oh, and I learned something--the squeaks come out. :D

On to some gifts from us. I mentioned that I have been crafting some. I sent a Baby Shower in a Box to Michelle last week since I couldn't be in Virginia to give her a shower in person. :) I made a few of the things in the box. One was a covered wipes case.


You can see a teeny bump on the back where I botched the overlap. It looks better on the other side which is annoying. This is exciting (well, for me, lol), I just ordered a new pattern to make a diaper clutch and changing pad. Add a matching wipes case and it's a neat gift set! How cool is that? Autumn doesn't wear diapers but she does have to have pullups during naptime at mother's day out so I thought the clutch and wipes case would be something nice to go in her bag--keep it all together and keep the pullups from getting squished.


I've made baby legwarmers before and just realized that if I put any on this blog, they aren't tagged (one example, another, and another). I didn't like the way the cuffs came out on these but I think they are growing on me now that I look at them.


And, almost done, here are some waterproof labels! These are so awesome--they can go on bottles, wipes cases, bowls, just about anything solid and not too curved. The labels will survive baby goo, travel, and the dishwasher. I like to give them along with these bumpy labels.


Last thing, I had to have something to put everything in. I got the bucket from hobby lobby, ordered the name, and voila! Super awesome bucket! Autumn has one like this. We used it for an easter basket but right now she's housing her tea set in it. :P


Annnd since I know you come here for Autumn and not my projects (haha, it's okay), here's a blast from the past--Autumn in September 2007. She's always been a happy monkey!

Things Autumn is afraid/not afraid of...

Autumn is not afraid of...

Real Sharks


The Dark


Dragons


Molly



Autumn is afraid of...

Fake Sharks


Lemurs


Grandfather Clocks


Alarms


Mike and I are always tickled by the things that scare Autumn. It's so random! I mean, she's okay with real sharks but not fake ones? What's up with that? And it's a consistent thing. We gave her a shark book at Barnes and Noble and she's like, "whatever mama and papa." We went to Tyler's a couple weekends ago and showed her his stuffed shark? SAD BABY.

Well, I have one for the cute but sad file. Thursday at Mother's Day Out, the fire alarm went off during nap time! I talked to the teachers and they said that as soon as that happened, there were screaming children all over the place. But not Autumn. Oh, no. Autumn was so terrified by the fire alarm that she couldn't even cry--she just sat there shaking! The teachers were so moved by her plight that they took turns holding and comforting her.

By the time I came to pick Autumn up, all was well but her teacher said she didn't stop shaking for quite some time. Poor little missy. I am not sure if she was afraid of alarms before...I know she's okay with the kitchen timers because they mean food is coming (she's like Pavlov's baby or something) but I know that she's really nervous around them now. We went to my mom's salon yesterday and she wasn't overly pleased by the timer my mom used for my hair. But then, she doesn't like clocks so it could have been that it was the clock and not the alarm. But who knows.

:) My funny monkey.

More Projects!

I've been really busy craft-wise the last few weeks. I have some small things I want to post but I can't put them up here until I mail them to Michelle and and the imminently arriving Baby Rosalie. Which SHOULD be by the end of the week, hopefully sooner!

In the meantime, I CAN show you my mother-daughter aprons!!


Pardon the rough makeup--we took these pictures after my classes last Wednesday and they were just too good not to use. Anyway, the pattern is from Pretty Ditty and I looove it. I made the reversible versions so both of our aprons have a yellow side and a black side. The black fabric is Dandy Damask from Michael Miller (if anyone is interested).


The yellow fabric is from Heather Bailey's Pop Garden and the trim is Clover Dots by Patty Young. You might recognize that one from Autumn's kimono dress.


There's a couple of things I'll do differently next time but the only major problem is that the waist ties aren't as long as I might like. I'm pretty sure I did them correctly, especially since they are too short on both aprons. I guess I could have made the same mistake twice but I'm going to hope not, haha. Anyway, I'll just fiddle with that next time.


Autumn was really into the whole "cooking" thing. I gave her some flour and water, a whisk, and my homemade popcorn salt that's in a "shaker," also known as a sippy cup that Autumn never used. I took out the valve. haha. Yay for repurposing.


Of course, now she gets a bowl out every time I'm in the kitchen and pulls on the step stool saying, "stir? stir?" I have let her play cook before and she pretty much always has some bowls out when I am cooking dinner but for whatever reason, this is the setup she liked the best.


And, here's a short not really edited or fixed up video. Enjoy!


I'm keeping my eye out for a good boys' apron now. Gotta be fair and do some mother-son or father-whichever child aprons!