Preschool Graduation

Selena is done with preschool. The school had a small ceremony where they handed them a diploma and announced what they wanted to be when they grow up. Selena said she wanted to study bugs.  She has been mentioning she wants to be a poker player like her dad, but bugs ended up being cooler.  One day she says, "I don't have to decide right now.  I still have a lot of time."  However I can't get her to agree that being a computer programmer might be fun.

She had a friend at preschool named Jacob.  Apparently Jacob is really funny and does lots of silly things and tells silly jokes, like eyeball jokes which apparently everyone in my family, except for me, but including Floyd, think are hilarious.  I felt sad that she wouldn't see him anymore, unless he happens to go to the summer camp.  She just shrugged and didn't seem too upset.

We've been reading some bug books, and made an earth worm home. We found this really cool book called Bug Zoo at the library.  It has all sorts of interesting bug facts, and how to take care of bugs you find.  Did you know that aphids can be born pregnant?

Floyd also took the girls to Willis Tucker and caught a tadpole.  Selena named him Party, because he stays real still and then swims out like he is saying, "Surprise" at a surprise party.

Took her to well child checkup and she is still very small, no rise in growth curves. She is in the second percentile height.  39 inches and 34lbs.  She tricked me one day by standing on her toes.  I thought she grew an inch, but then when I measured her a week later she shrunk again.  Apparently I shrunk too.  I always thought I was 5' 1", but apparently I am 5' even.

I begrudgingly vaccinate the girls, and usually do just one shot at a time, but she needed just two more for school, so we did them at once.  She was really tough and was almost about to cry, but was able to hold back the tears.  We did one shot a few weeks before and it wasn't a problem, so I definitely think doing just one at a time is better.

We took the girls to the Shoreline All-Comers Track meet a few weeks ago.  Selena ran the 50m, 100m, 200m and mile.  The 50m took her about 15 seconds, 30 seconds for the 100m, and 66 seconds for the 200m.  In the mile she took out a bit fast and pushed herself hard and improved her time by just over two minutes and ran 11:00.  She was so tired when she finished that she just lay down across the finish line.  I had to carry her off the track.  I was impressed, and kind of shocked at how hard she pushed herself.

We have been watching the Olympic Trials and she has enjoyed watching all the events.  She was impressed with the fact that I had done so many of the events in high school and college, and she wants to run and jump and do all the events just like her mom. Awww.  However it did make me feel old when I told her, "When I was in high school women just started doing the pole vault."  And, "I was the first woman at my college to run the 3000m steeple chase."  I had become the granny saying, "Back in my day..."

Selena has also been interested in math lately.  She was telling me to quiz her on addition and subtraction.  Then she asked me if there was any math with letters.  I started explaining Algebra to her.  She said she didn't understand it completely, but she thought it was hilarious that x would pretend to be different numbers. I also downloaded a Math Bingo app onto my Nook.  She could do the easy setting for addition and subtraction but she wanted to try the multiplication.  I didn't think she could do it, but she insisted, and she could!  I was amazed. She understood the concepts of multiplication.  She was counting out groups of numbers on her fingers.  She also understood the commutative property and how she could switch the order and it was the same.  Then she taught Allie the identity property of addition.

She also has been teaching herself piano, to read music, or more accurately the keyboard.  We went to the library to find books on learning how to play the piano and read music.  Unfortunately they don't really have anything good.  We did find a little tin whistle book that had all the letters labeled on the music, so she has been playing that and practicing the rhythms.

I love how she loves to learn.  I love how she embraces new subjects all the time.  I love how she demonstrates that self-directed learning works.

Also I have been practicing a pretty effective discipline technique.  I have the girls run to the end of the cul-de-sac.  If they are being grumpy and annoying everyone, or whining, or hitting.  I tell them that they are having a hard time controlling themselves and if they run they will feel better.  And it works!  Most of the time they come back inside and can handle themselves.  But sometimes it is a struggle getting them in their shoes and out the door.

*Picture was taken courtesy of Amy Stonebraker from Amy Stonebraker Photography.  Check her out!

Instinct - Embracing Your Birth Experience

Welcome to the June 2012 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Embracing Your Birth Experience
This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama. This month our participants have written about at least one part of their birth experience that they can hold up and cherish.
***

Embracing your birth experience is tougher to write about than it initially sounded.  I attempted to write this post in my thoughts, and every time I thought of a wonderful part of one of my births, I would qualify it with a not-so-wonderful part.  Then I would backtrack and say to myself, “No, this is supposed to be embracing the good, not the negative.” 

I am choosing to write about instinct.  The wonderful moment where you don’t think, you don’t rationalize, you just know.

I had a moment when my first daughter was being born.  I was in the tub, listening to my Hypnobabies scripts.  I had probably been in the tub for a couple hours.  I had thoughts drift in and out of my head about how long this would last, but at that moment I had an empty mind.  Suddenly I became alert.  I told Floyd to get the midwife.  I asked before I thought, and I can’t pinpoint what triggered it.  The midwife came in and she said maybe I should try going to the bathroom.  I got out of the tub, sat on the toilet, and then I felt pushy.   The moment I became alert and asked for the midwife, I knew I was completely dilated; no one needed to check me.  I knew something had changed, and I knew it before there were any outward cues or internal feelings.   It was instinct.

A moment I had in my second daughter’s birth was the moment I knew I was in labor.  The last month I had had tons of Braxton Hicks contractions and I had had weird crampy feelings that I couldn’t identify.  But when I woke up, that Sunday morning, I knew that the feelings I were having was labor. It had started and it was “real”.

Another moment was not my own, but was my youngest daughters’.  My memory is kind of fuzzy. It was the middle of the night.  I had had a caesarean and was tired, sore, and not mobile.  I had been instructed by the nurses to keep Allie’s clothes on so she didn’t catch a chill, but I must have taken them off.  I don’t remember taking them off, but I have a memory of a bare baby crawling across my chest, finding my nipple and nursing.  The majority of the time in the hospital I had difficulty nursing, but at that moment there was instinct on her part, and nothing to inhibit it.  I was half asleep, and didn’t appreciate the beauty of it, till much later, when the memory surfaced.

I can embrace those moments, and reflect in awe of knowledge not learned, but inherited.

***
Visit Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting!
Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:
(This list will be live and updated by afternoon June 12 with all the carnival links.)

• I Had A C-Section. So What! — Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama rewrites her birth story now that she has worked through the feelings of inadequacy and disappointment of not having the “perfect” birth.
• The Perfect Birth — Kellie at Our Mindful Life reflects on how a birth can be far from what we imagined, but still perfect.
• Own Your Birth: My Hope For All Expectant Moms — Andrea at Tales of Goodness shares how she owned her birth spiritually (while navigating it physically) in order to have a joyous experience.
• Carnival of Natural Parenting: My Birth Experience — It wasn't what Lily at Witch Mom wanted, but it was everything she needed.
• The Painless Natural Homebirth of BabyE — Shannon at GrowingSlower wants women considering natural birth to know painless births are possible.
• Reflections on Jemma's Birth ... 20 Months Later — It took a second pregnancy for That Mama Gretchen to fully embrace her first birth experience.
• Loving My Unnatural Birth Experience — Erika at Cinco de Mommy cherishes her very first birth experience, in all its unnatural glory!
• Be Careful What you Wish for in Birth — Amber at Strocel.com had two births, and it was the one that went to plan that she struggled with embracing.
• Redeeming an unexpected hospital transfer — Lauren at Hobo Mama looks back at her first, interrupted home-turned-hospital birth, and finds the beauty in what happened.
• All of it — Laura from Pug in the Kitchen had to learn to embrace the whole experience of birth even though it meant being naked . . . with an audience.
• Birthing Dreams & Realities — Momma Jorje never had a "dream birth," but she wouldn't change a thing about her births.
• Memories of Birth: Calm Amidst the Storm — While neither of her children's births had been quite what she expected, Cynthia at The Hippie Housewife cherishes one moment in particular from each of her birth experiences.
• Embracing Our Birth Stories — Luschka from Diary of a First Child shares a sensitive post on her recent birth which both did and didn't go 'to plan', and writes about the journey of coming to terms with the good and the bad.
• Two Beautiful Births — Sheila at A Gift Universe remembers how her mother brought out the beauty in each of her children's births, and tries to do the same with her sons' birth stories.
• Embracing My Supernatural ChildBirth Experiences... — Jenny at I'm a full-time mummy shares her fond memories on both her supernatural childbirth experiences
• Embracing the Hospital Birth Experience — Jenn at Monkey Butt Junction believes that sometimes a medicated, induced hospital birth is the right choice for a natural parent.
• Carnival: Embracing Your Birth Experience — Stephanie at The Other Baby Blog embraces the birth experience from a paleobiologist's point of view and takes a look at how humans defy their anatomy.
• Reflections on My First Birth and Preparing for a Second — Abbie at Farmer's Daughter shares the strength she didn't realize she had until she gave birth to her son.
• becoming a mama - embracing my birth experience — Meegs at A New Day remembers the birth of her daughter Gwenivere, and the empowered feeling it left her with.
• What About Us? A Poem About Birth — Kat at Loving {Almost} Every Moment shares a poem she wrote about healing from an unexpected and emotionally painful birth experience.
• Be a Man: One Father's View of Birth — Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children shares her husband's advice to other fathers and partners.
• A Birth Monologue — Kat at MomeeeZen shares a monologue she wrote during the process of healing from her birth experiences.
• Forgiveness: My Birth Journey — Leah at The Crunchy Farm Baby discusses what happens when her planned homebirth doesn't end up the way she wanted, and explains her journey of forgiving herself for losing that "perfect" birth.
• Patching together a perfect birth — KrissyFair at Think Mama, Think learned that sometimes a perfect birth happens in pieces.
• Celebrating and Sharing the Possibilities of Perfect Birth — Terri from Child of the Nature Isle joyfully shares details of her perfect births and wishes to inspire a more positive cultural expectation about birth.
• Instinct - Embracing Your Birth Experience — Laura at Laura's Blog reflects on instinctual moments during and after the births of her two daughters.
• I was Foolish Then — ANonyMous at Radical Ramblings describes how foolish lack of preparation for childbirth led to a feeling of powerlessness and fear, but that in the end she had her baby in her arms, and that's one thing she can celebrate.
• Sometimes no plan is the best plan — Tat at Mum in search contemplates that maybe she doesn't need a birth plan for her upcoming birth.
• Disturbing the peace — Kenna at Million Tiny Things thought she would be a calm, quiet baby-haver. Ha!
• Accepting the Unexpected During Birth — Emily at S.A.H.M i AM imagined herself laboring on a birthing ball but she never imagined where she'd really be most comfortable when the time came...
• Sacred This Time, Too — Kimber at The Single Crunch learned enough to know that the way she birthed wasn't they way she wanted to; but she also knew to enjoy it for what it was.
• The Birth Partner: A Great Natural Labor Companion — Justine at The Lone Home Ranger thinks that the secret to her pleasant natural labors was having a great support system.
• the Best Thing About My Labor Experience — Crunchy Con Mommy realizes that amidst all the things that seemed to go wrong with her labor, the love and support of her husband was the one thing she could always count on!
• Your Birth Was My Favorite — Dulce de leche describes some of the highlights from each of her four births and explains why despite the differences, they are all her favorites.
• Birth Story: Part One - Moon on a Stick! — Gentle Mama Moon tells the first part of her birth story to share some of the delight of labouring at home.
• Embracing My Birth Experience by Sharing My Birth Story — Dionna at Code Name: Mama made peace with her first birth by sharing the story with her son.
• Focusing on the Beauty of Birth — Julia at A Little Bit of All of It shares the beautiful aspects of her birth center water birth.
• A Joyful Induced Delivery — Amy Willa: Me, Mothering, and Making it All Work notes the meditations and perspective that helped her achieve an unmedicated birth despite being induced for medical reasons.
• Finding Joy in an Imperfect Childbirth Experience — Deb Chitwood at Living Montessori Now tells what she learned from her two very different childbirth experiences.
• What's to like about a c-section? — Jessica at Crunchy-Chewy Mama is glad she her second child at home, but she also cherishes much about the c-section she had four years earlier.
• What Story Will I Tell? — Rachael at The Variegated Life realizes that the way she tells the story of her second child's birth matters — and could be exhilarating.
• I Quietly Put My Hopes to Rest E — Erica at ChildOrganics shares her emotional ups and downs with the highly intervened birth of her special needs daughter, Bella.
• Tale of Six Births — Jessica at Instead of Institutions appreciates that unique challenges and joys of each of her births.
• Labouring naturally: nature’s gift — Caroline at stoneageparent describes the most beautiful, spiritual aspect of the labour of her son, the first stages along a bumpy road to giving birth.
• All The Woman I Am. — Lindsay at This Woman's Work shares a poem about letting go and surrendering during the thralls of labor.
• A twin birth story: embracing the unexpected — Megan at The Boho Mama shares her twin birth experience and how she found the silver lining when faced with preterm labor, premature birth, and a two-week NICU stay.
• Giving Birth With Eminem — Kerry at City Kids Homeschooling shares how fiery rap music contributed to an empowered homebirth with her third baby.
• Two Different Births — Cassie at There's a Pickle in My Life shares how she learned from her first birth experience and how to trust yourself and your body.
• Embracing Our Potential: Birth as a Metaphor — Sheila from A Living Family guest posts at Natural Parents Network and expresses how birth has served as a metaphor to help her through other experiences in life.
• Little Sister's Birth Story: Our VBAC Adventure — Charise at I Thought I Knew Mama describes the recent birth story of her baby girl, her pride in an epidural-free VBAC, and how her story isn't exactly the birth experience she had planned for.
• A Journey in Birth Confidence — Shannon at The Artful Mama shares her experiences with labor during both of her sons' births.

Updated Coconut Milk Banana Ice Cream Recipe

I updated the Dairy Free Coconut Banana Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Recipe with a custard style version for those who don't want to eat raw/frozen eggs. :)

Humboldt Redwoods State Park

They took all the trees

And put 'em in a tree museum 

And they charged the people 

A dollar and a half to seem 'em 

Counting Crows - Big Yellow Taxi

That song kept running through my head when we visited Humboldt Redwoods State Park in California.  The redwood trees were probably my number one sightseeing destination on our trip.  We drove up Highway 101 on our way back home so we could see them.  They were big.  We have Douglas Firs and cedars around here.  Both are big trees, but compared to the redwoods they now seem almost piddling.

The girls were really excited.  The first redwood we saw was the Chandelier Tree which was the only redwood tree that you can drive your car through that is still alive, or so the local gas station attendant told us.  The gas station was really funny.  The owner came out and pumped our gas for us and was very chatty.  Then a guy drives up in a pick-up.  He had long hair and an unbuttoned flannel shirt.  I guiltily admit I had a fairly unsavory first impression of him.  Floyd hollers for me to come over and take a look at his truck.  Apparently he had installed some sort of hydrogen generator in his truck to improve its fuel efficiency.  He wasn't a hick, but a hippy chemist doing experiments on his vehicle.

Anyway the girls were really excited about the redwoods and were yelling "Big trees, big trees" and running around like crazies.  After that Selena asked what else we were going to do.
I said, "See more big trees."
She said, "Can I climb them."
Me, "I don't think so."
Selena, "That sounds boring."

Fortunately we did find some old gigantic stumps for her to climb.  We drove through most of the Avenue of Giants.  It was impressive.  We stopped and walked around some.  I did a small jog.  I wish I had been able to go on a real run, but a lack of a shower for a couple of days made that idea seem like not such a good idea.  I think if I ran a race through those trees I could run really fast.  Their smell, and age, and massiveness just made me feel really energized.

We also saw the Dyerville Giant a fallen redwood that was the tallest tree in the world till it fell in 1991.  The root system on that tree was huge.  The trunk was gigantic.  Crazy.  I really would like to go back and spend a couple days camping there.

After the readwoods we headed up through Crescent City on our way home and saw a huge elk herd that apparently hangs out there.

Allie Has Tummy Problems

Allie is almost three and is starting to act like a three year old.  She has been struggling with sharing, taking turns, and being nice.  She's been pinching, hitting, kicking, and plotting revenge.  She whines and cries often.  It is pretty frustrating.  Floyd yelled at her the other day for throwing rocks from Selena's rock collection in the house.  Upset, she takes the remote for the TV and tries to hide it from him.  Devious.

But the poor girl may have an excuse for all her grumpiness.  Her tummy hurts pretty much constantly and she has reflux often.  Per the awesome book, What's Eating Your Child, I figured it was probably milk.  I switched to goat's milk and her reflux went away and she said her tummy didn't hurt.  Great!!  She still could eat cheese and butter.  Goat's milk is an easy substitute.  I thought we were all good.  Then we ran out of goat's milk and I gave her some cow milk, and then she got a cold.  She had another incident of her chronic early morning vomiting followed by a nap and then fine.  I removed all dairy, except when I forgot, and her tummy still hurt.  It has be over a month and her tummy still hurts.  When we did give her dairy, for random reasons, she had reflux.  She has been completely dairy free for about a week and still has a tummy ache but the reflux is gone.  I've been giving her a probiotic as well.  I've half-heartedly tried eliminating eggs, but she loves them, and insists they don't hurt her tummy.  Really gluten is the next thing to try, but it seems like such a hard one.  I really need to just buckle down and do it, and really I should do it with both girls.  My biggest problem is what is a good on-the-go sandwich replacement?

On the positive side, Allie is getting to be a good climber and is starting to follow her sister monkeying around.  Here is a picture of her days before her first birthday.  When most babies are just learning to walk she was climbing box mountains.  When she got to be around two, she started realizing that what she was doing was kind of scary, and she became a bit reticent and asked for help a lot.  It seems like now she's getting her courage back and venturing out a bit more.

She really, really likes computers.  Physical movement and outdoor play is probably my biggest soap box as what is important for young children (or really everyone), but at the same time its dark, cold, and rainy around here for the majority of the year.  I like computers.  I am a computer programmer.  I write apps for kids.  Really I think there is a lot of positive benefits to using a computer, just as long as it doesn't come at the expense of running around and playing.  One day I was not letting her play and she was whining.  I said she couldn't just sit at the computer and play all day and she said, "but you do."  Touche.  Really?  How can you make logical and rational argument like that, but insist that their is nothing wrong with you pinching your sister for no reason.   I just have to remember to lock the computer once I'm done with it, so that she has to ask before she gets on.  I'm just waiting for one of them to figure out the password by watching me type it.  Selena keeps thinking it is p-a-s-s-w-o-r-d because that's what the prompt says.  But really I think Allie will be my kid that I can groom into a top-notch developer. ;)  

She loves singing and dancing and unlike her father or I she seems to be able to carry a tune.  Now that she is almost three she is eligible for classes at the Y.  I think I'm going to try and get her in some ballet or gymnastics.  She also likes babies.  She likes her baby doll and she likes looking at pictures of babies.  There is a little boy that we have playgroup with, and she really likes him, except he tries to take her toys often, so she wants his mom to hold him.  I asked her if she made any friends at the daycare at the Y and she said, "A little boy in a green shirt was following me around.  He really loves me."

I've signed her up for preschool.  I really wish there was a super awesome reasonably priced outdoor preschool nearby, or that we lived in Seattle and could go to Teacher Tom's school, but I hate driving, so I am all about proximity.  The preschool Selena goes to doesn't have an afternoon program for Allie's age group so I signed Allie up for the big church preschool that is right in the neighborhood.  I like Selena's school because they have a great outdoor, nature play area that has lots of trees to climb and bugs to find, but I think the curriculum there is pretty underwhelming.   The church school is more definitively play based and I think I will like the curriculum more, but their playground is pretty barren--plastic toys on bark.   Allie says she isn't ready to go to preschool yet, because she isn't old enough, but soon she will be old enough.

  

Surprise Selena is Five!

Selena had her fifth birthday almost two months ago.  We threw her a surprise party.  She knew she was having a party, but she didn't know when or where.  She helped pick out the decorations and make a pinata (boy was that an ordeal) but she didn't know when or where the party was.  The day after her birthday I claimed that I was going out to meet with some friends and Floyd said that he was taking the girls to Costco.  Then he said I called and I locked my keys in my car and they needed to stop at Nana and Papa's to give me my keys.  Obviously our stories didn't match up too well.  I hadn't said I was going to Nana and Papa's, but Selena didn't notice.  Floyd brought Selena and Allie in, and Nana told her that she had a birthday present for her downstairs.  When she came down we were all hiding behind a corner and we jumped out and yelled, "Surprise."  She was very surprised.  For a moment it looked like we scared her and she was going to cry.  But she was able to take a deep breath and control herself.  Then she had a lot of fun.

It has been wonderful because lately she has been really helpful cleaning up and organizing around the house.  Sometimes she can even convince Allie to help.  It is wonderful because her helping is real help, not I'm pretending to help, but really just making it worse.  She sweeps, picks up, unloads the dishwasher.  It is wonderful!

She isn't really into anything at the moment.  She spends a lot of time coloring, drawing, writing, and playing pretend.  Her and Allie are dogs, cats, bad guys, good guys, etc, etc.  They play well together as long as Allie does what Selena says.

She's getting pretty good at writing.  She can spell Selena, Allie, Nana, Papa, dog, and probably a few other words without any help.  Her vocabulary is expanding too.  She sprinkles words like randomly, assume, and stressed in her speech.

Eating is still a struggle.  Supplementing with zinc has greatly improved her eating, but she has lost the positive attitude about trying new things.  She still prefers to eat only her favorites.  So we've been having lots of arguments about food, and it is annoying.  At least now I can get her to eat a few bites, whereas before she wouldn't even be in the same room.  However I had fallen into the habit of giving the vitamin to her right before bed, and the last couple days I have given it to her in the morning and she has been better, so maybe that helps?  I'll have to continue to do so and see if I notice a difference.

Sleeping has been better too.  She is in bed and asleep before 10 most nights.  Still pretty late, but compared to 10:30 and 11 I'll take it.  When it is 9:30 I'm thrilled.  I've been occasionally giving her a small amount of melatonin (maybe .2 mg) when we're spending the night somewhere, or when she has a few nights in a row of having a hard time going to sleep and staying up too late.

The real bummer around here has been Selena's teeth.  She was brushing them one night and she said something was stuck in her tooth.  I tried to help her get it out, but it wouldn't come out.  I had the horrible realization that it wasn't something stuck, but a very large hole in her tooth.  I took the girls to the dentist and she had 10 cavities and needed two crowns.  I was crushed and felt horribly guilty.  I haven't been the most diligent role model of oral hygiene.  I never had a cavity till I was 25, so I didn't really I believe that that sort of decay could happen so quickly.  To add insult to injury we don't have dental insurance, so it was about $2000 worth of dental bills.  Normally I would have gotten a second opinion, but the dentist came highly referred by multiple mommy friends, one of whom is a former hygienist.  Selena is super tough and the office has been really great at making her feel comfortable, so overall I don't think it has been traumatizing at all.  Her and the neighbor boy were comparing their metal teeth so I guess it is all good.   In order to feel less guilty I'm blaming the zinc on the tooth decay as well.  It seems that tooth decay can be a symptom of deficiency.

Dairy Free Ice Cream Recipe - Coconut Banana Chocolate Chip

Poor Allie seems to be intolerant of dairy. :( Since September she has had almost constant tummy aches and reflux. After reading What's Eating Your Child I thought it may be dairy causing her issues.  The reflux goes away when she doesn't eat any dairy, unfortunately we haven't been able to get rid of the tummy ache.  Anyway the poor girl can't eat the most delicious food in the world and that is very sad.  So I decided to try making a coconut milk ice cream and it turned out VERY good!  I don't typically like coconut, but I ended up eating more of it than Allie did.  Oops.  The other great thing about this recipe is that it is low in sugar because the banana makes it plenty sweet.  :)

Coconut Banana Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Recipe


1 can of coconut milk
1 can of coconut cream
2 egg yolks
2 overripe bananas
1/2 cup sugar
1 chilled bar of free trade dark chocolate


In a blender mix the coconut milk, coconut cream, egg yolks, sugar, and bananas.  Pour into ice cream maker and churn according to the machines directions.  Chop the chocolate bar into tiny pieces.  A couple minutes before the ice cream is done pour the chocolate chips in.  Scoop and eat. :)  

If you don't want raw/frozen eggs here is a custard style recipe

Coconut Banana Chocolate Chip Custard Style Ice Cream Recipe



1 can of coconut milk
1 can of coconut cream
4 egg yolks
2 overripe bananas
1/2 cup sugar
1 chilled bar of free trade dark chocolate chopped into pieces

• Warm coconut milk and sugar on the stove.
• Stir egg yolks in a bowl
• Slowly pour warm milk and sugar mixture into the eggs while constantly whisking.
• Pour the milk, sugar, egg mixture back into pot and heat over medium heat while constantly stirring.
• Pour cream into a bowl and place a fine colander/strainer over the bowl.
• When the milk sugar egg mixture starts to thicken and when you can dip a scraper in the mixture, and it coats the scraper so that you can draw a line with your finger (here is a good picture of what I mean from Simply So Good) then remove the mixture from the heat and pour it through the strainer into the cream.
• Put the whole mixture into a blender, or use an immersion blender and blend the bananas in.
• Chill the mixture in the refrigerator for a few hours.  If you want to chill overnight you might want to wait and mix the bananas in the next day.  
• Pour into ice cream maker according to the machine's directions.
• A few minutes before it is completely churned pour the chocolate pieces in.
• Scoop and eat! 

Sas Fabrics in Los Angeles

One of the things I was really looking forward to on our trip was fabric shopping.  Unfortunately I never made it to the garment district (next time I will!), but I did make it to a store called Sas Fabrics.  Fabric shopping was my Valentine's day present. :)

This place was really fun.  I spent about $85 and probably got about $300 worth of fabric and notions.  The impression I got via the internet, was that this place gets leftovers from the garment making industry and that is why they can sell fabric at such a low price.

The fun thing about this place was that lots of their fabric is sold by the pound.  This results in getting lots of fabric, for very little money!  It was so hard to not buy everything.  They had a great selection of light weight apparel knits, lace, athletic wicking fabric, upholstery fabric, and costume fabric.  They only had a small amount of quilting cottons and not a whole lot of heavy weight knits, denim, wool, pant weight or coat fabrics.  I was visiting in February.  I don't know if their selection changes seasonally.   Some of the fabrics have imperfections so you have to inspect it before you buy it.

They also had a ton of notions.  Boxes and boxes of zippers for 25 cents each, bins and bins of buttons for 10 cents each, and elastic for 10 - 50 cents a yard.   I was really excited about the elastic.  Fold-over-elastic that I spend $2.75yd for at Joanns I got for 10 cents a yard.

The one thing I didn't get, but was tempted to was leather.  They had scraps of leather for $10 a pound.

Now I just need to get sewing!!!

Happy Hollow Park in San Jose

Still trying to catch up on our trip log.  Just a few more entries to make.

On our way back we stopped in San Jose.  Floyd played a bit of poker, and had a good day, thus making the trip reasonably profitable, while the girls and I went and visited Happy Hallow park.  This was a very interesting little park.  It was part zoo, part amusement park.  There were a handful of small animals, and a handful of rides targeted toward the preschool crowd, as well as a bunch of playgrounds.  Happily we were able to get in the park free due to a reciprocal membership with the Woodland Park Zoo.  

The girls got their face painted, and played hard.  Selena got to go on a kind of scary ride all by herself.  Which she was completely over-the-moon about.  Allie was a bid sad, because she was just a hair too small to go on some of the rides.  It was a fun day.

Free MP3 Book Downloads for Kids

We love the author Robert Munsch around here.  Check out my post about his free mp3 story downloads over at Corvid Apps.