Hazel's Birthday Carnival

For Hazel's fourth birthday we threw a carnival. It was a ton of fun.

Hazel and all her friends.

The cotton candy fizzled in the humidity and heat.

But the snow cones were a hit. (It was in the 90's.)

There were lots of games. The kids won tickets to get prizes at the prize booth.

We had a Kerplunko game (kind of like Plinko from Price is Right.)

A bounce house.

Bean bag toss.

Shoot-the-ball-off-the-peg-with-a-water-gun game.

Sponge toss at Isaac. (I think he was the only non-sweaty-and hot person in attendance.) He LOVED this job and was a really good sport. Other games were clothespin drop, tattoos, and knock over the tin cans.

Aspen and her friends were a big help. The kids loved picking prizes.

Hazel's cake was fun. I made her a smaller one and gave all the guests cupcakes (it was easier than having the kids try to eat cake on a plate with a fork on a blanket in the grass).

This was the funniest part of the day:

I set the cake on the table after she blew out the candles. But it melted and all the frosting started sliding down before I could get it in the house. It was still yummy.

Other notes: all the fabrics were samples from the As-Is bin at IKEA and I got them dirt cheap! Best bargain ever. And really helped contribute to the carnival atmosphere in the back yard.

Thanks to great friends for lending me the snow cone machine, cotton candy machine, bounce house, kerplunko, bean bag toss, and the shade canopy. They really hooked us up!

Also thanks to Nate, my kids, Aspen's friends, and my friends, Keri and Leslie, for helping out during the party. I couldn't have done this without all their help.

More Sky Photos

Ever since I took the photos of the moon and Venus, I have been watching the sky.  Here are a couple photos I have taken over the past week.

The morning sky a few days ago:

Storm clouds and the moon last night:

Once thing about Texas, the weather certainly changes from day to day.

Scenic Drive

The way we were trying to go:


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The way we ended up going:

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How did we miss a major interstate turn off?
How did we not know we were going the wrong way for nearly 40 miles?

garden guest

The kids found this guy in the back yard the other day:

I can't figure out how he managed to even get in the yard. We have a wrought iron fence and the openings are nowhere near big enough for the turtle to get through. And there isn't anywhere along the fence to slide under either. I guess it will just be one of those mysteries never to be solved.
Isaac was feeding it different things and tried a stick. The turtle snapped it off with its strong jaws. Good thing it wasn't anyone's finger. I've heard they don't let go once they clamp onto something.

Terminator's Sister

Slowly, one procedure at a time, body parts are being replaced with titanium ones. It started with root canals and crowns; then orthodontia. I had surgery to repair both jaw joints. Next, I got 4 metal plates in my mouth - above and below my teeth; my palette expanded, my whole jaw repositioned, and a deviated septum fixed. I even had my chin repositioned and a metal "z" plate installed. But apparently it was too much for my body to take. One side of my jaw never healed. In fact, it started disappearing.

All this leads to the next procedure: an artificial jaw joint. On July 2nd, I'll add 16 more screws to my head. And finally getting my face somewhat back to normal, on the outside at least. Still going to be bionic on the inside!

Making a grand total of 56 screws, 5 titanium plates, and 1 plastic fossa.

Can't wait...

Fun in the Kitchen

I have been toying around with starting a separate blog for my cooking experimentation, but I think I will just do an occasional post here.  We cook quite a bit in our house.  On Friday, Toby made red curry with shrimp for lunch, because, hey, he was in the mood for red curry.  Today Aspen made a lattice top apple pie, because, hey, she felt like making a pie.  When Isaac was 5, he would get up and cook himself a quesedilla for breakfast.

We also do "theme cooking" in our house.  Typically I go out and get a couple cookbooks, and cook that theme for a year or so.  The major themes we have done are breads, Thai, Indian, and ice cream.  Betsy has also done a bunch of soups and salads.  The theme cooking works its way into the usual dinner rotation, which is how you end of having red curry for lunch on Friday.  The two current themes I have going are waffles and kind of a "food science" theme, playing with different textures and cooking techniques.

First, the waffle theme.  I got a Belgian waffle maker for my birthday, and we have been making different types of fancy waffles.  I also got this 200 year old waffle iron off eBay for about 15 bucks.  The hinge was broken, so I got a clamp at Home Depot to hold it closed while making waffles.

The coolest part of the waffle iron is the patterns it makes on the waffles.   There are two patterns on each side, and the sides are different.

Lemon poppy seed waffle with homemade blueberry sauce.  We have also done ginger waffles with peaches, chocolate waffles, and a couple other kinds.

In the food science category I have done a few different things.  I may do a catch up post later.  Here are a couple fun things we did recently.

Jalapeño chicharrones--made from pureed jalapeños, starch, and salt.  Could have been a little more spicy, but they were fun to make.  They puff up completely in about 1 second.

Caviar with creme fraiche.  At least that is what it is supposed to look like.  They are actually little root beer floats--root beer caviar (made with agar), and vanilla whipped cream, on a cookie.  The kids had fun helping make the caviar.  Betsy thought this was one of the best things I have made so far--fun and delicious.  

Garden update

Parts of my garden are doing great:
More lettuce and spinach than I know what to do with. Starting to get some beets, squash and zucchini. I even have a few tomatoes and peppers that are starting. Only one pumpkin so far though.
The peas were so-so. I didn't get them staked early enough. And there just were that many. But the herbs are flourishing. And I hope the beans start producing.

A few pest problems:
I ordered some ladybugs to deal with the aphids, but I'm not sure that was entirely successful. The pill bugs are doing their part of the damage too. And now the pumpkin, cucumber and melon plants are yellowing and dying. And though there are plenty of blossoms, most of them shrivel up and die. I don't think they are getting pollinated. I haven't seen too many bees. If I had more yard I'd get my own hive.

Other parts have failed miserably.
My broccoli grew great foliage - but NO broccoli. The melons probably won't make it either. As soon as I get a composting bin, I'll replace the spent stuff with flowers.

I guess the first year is always an experiment. I'll try again in the fall.