mommy's little baker

i love having a little helper. everything is so much more fun with jack. he likes to cook with me. all i have to say is, "jack, do you want to cook?", and he starts to pull out his chair to stand on. day before last we made a zucchini cake from scratch. with homemade cream cheese frosting. we had a blast. jack threw back his head and laughed just as i took this photo.

jack wore the apron dan's grandma schroeder made for andy. that was a long time back! she made an adult-sized one for dan, too. alas, neither dan, nor andy have ever worn their aprons. i hope gram schroeder makes one for jack someday of his very own. she is a lovely seamstress. she has made jack: quilt, burp cloths, blankie, bibs, and a Christmas bib with a matching Christmas stocking. anyway, what lovely heirlooms. nothing like heirlooms, photographs and memories.

squeaky clean

i sit here with a head cold, a cup of tea, and my knitting. not feeling very clever right now. just wanted to share a quick story. (may be prone to misspelling today. apologies.)

last night dan and i were sitting on the sofa. a toothpaste commercial came on. the annoying lady was crowing about how clean her teeth were in the morn because of this new toothpaste. she rubbed her finger on her teeth and made them squeak. i had just brushed my teeth. i tried it. i too could make my teeth squeak. dan could do it too, and he had not brushed his teeth. so much for truth in advertising.

new header

trying something...new. nice.

for the benefit of my family readers, the people in my header are: jack novotny (jack's namesake & gram's bro), mary lou (my gram), christine anderson novotny (gram's step-mom), mary novotny hanson (gram's aunt on her dad's side), minnie melissa whips novotny (gram's real gram on her mom's side), either aunt alice novotny or a neighbor, and gunborg anderson (gram's step-gram).

story time...

now for a little story. i have been meaning to share this one for a while. it is a little bit like things that happen to my friend nora. so, cross your legs if you have a weak bladder.

my gramps has a nice garden. he grew 2 or three bushes of jalepeno peppers. a few were for his pickle recipe, but he knows i like jalepenos, so i think he always planned on giving me tons. give me tons he did! i had so many i didn't know what to do with them all. one day i sliced them, seeded them, and froze them for later use.

at some point i touched the inside of my left nostril. immediately my nostril was on fire. really hot. i didn't know what to do. i remember distinctly it was around 9:30 on a weekday because seseme street was on. i am in pain and jack is learning about the number of the day or something. i am writhing in agony on the couch and jack is learning about the word, "tickle", or some such nonsense. (good nonsense. love seseme street.)

what can take away the pain???? i decide ice. i take an ice cube and shove it up my nostril. not so good. starts to melt. it drips on my upper lip. now my lip is burning. not kidding. i freak. i go to the bathroom and wash my face. well, it spreads.

while this has been going on, i wash my hands about a dozen times. i think, "can the jalepeno juice still be on my fingers?". i touch the tip of a finger to the tip of my tongue... wait for it... now my tongue is burning.

now i am so crazed i try to think of something, anything, that i can smear on my face. mayo? gravy? wet flour? milk? what to do. suddenly i think of jack's baby ora-jel. i smeared it in my nostril, on my lip/face, put it on the tip of my tongue... wait... AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! it worked.

next time i mucked around with the peppers i wore rubber gloves!

squash

i bought a painting. my friend from pcc, lauren, was having an art sale. i bought this fabulous simple little painting. to those who know that i am so broke, i will explain. i got approx $75 extra dollars this paycheck for selling 5 "extra credit" ads. woo hoo! i am so excited to add this to my art collection. i know it will feel at home in my eclectic haven. my little offbeat colorbox. my nest.

1 dan... 2 dans... 3 DANS!!!

there are a lot of dan's around here. my dad's name is dan. my husband's name is dan. my brother-in-law's name is... dan. my husband's little half brother was so interested in the fact that there were 3 DANS at jack's birthday party. now every time we see him it seems he is counting dans. (jake is only 2 years old.)yes, i do have a photo from a while back of the "3 dans" somewhere. :) here is a photo of 2 dans, my husband and my dad. no, i did not pose this photo!!!:) isn't it funny? my dad is sticking his tongue out. that's where i get some of my attitude. thanks, dan.

a precious alligator for baby

slap your heel and swirl your skirt! i love a man in leiderhosen.

oktoberfest

my mother-in-law invited me to go with her to oktoberfest. so, jack and i went! oktoberfest is a German celebration. i really don't know what they are celebrating... could it be beer?:) i think that is what most would say. we had a brat (naturally!) for lunch, shopped-shopped-shopped, had some apple studel (of course) and a mocha, listened to a huge men's chorus singing german songs ("schnaps!" was, amusingly enough, one.), saw some native dancing, and i stood in line for an eon for a balloon alligator for jack. it was the best time! jack loved the live music. he was such a good boy. he loves to get out of the house and go on adventures.

bounty from the land

i made a stew yesterday with venison from gramps, carrots and green beans from my garden, and some potato and peas. yum. carrots from a garden are about 80% better than carrots from a store. i love to pull them right out of the dirt, rinse them off with a garden hose, and eat!!!

spoon lover

jack loves a good spoon. or fork. this morn he flung his blueberry pancake and waffle off his highchair tray. why? it took me a moment, but i finally realized it was because he wanted to eat it with a fork. he has issues.

new baby girl

i love all my nieces. this is my newest, elles (like ellis island) angela miller. she is my sis's babe. she is only about 5 weeks old in this pict. she is a sweetie. i held her a lot when she came to visit. she brought back all these sweet little memories of jack that i had forgotten. that made the time doubly sweet. i wish she was here right now, sucking on my knuckle.:)

birthday boots

jack got these boots for his 1st b-day from my auntie lana and uncle barry. they are a huge old size 7!!! we've got these really great puddles for splashing in right now. trouble is... he doesn't realize he shouldn't splash if he doesn't have the boots! mama has some shoes that need washing.

a rosie little shower

my mother threw a baby shower this morn and i was her "right hand woman". it was a lovely shower for an old church chum and his wifey. it was very spur-of-the-moment, but no matter. the menu was awesome, the decorations appropriate, and there were a lot of gifts. hooray! i am so happy for the couple. i hope they had as great a time as i did. I LOVE PARTIES!!!