Wordless Wednesday - February 24, 2010

Click image to enlarge ...

Cupcakes and Smoky Pizza

I so desperately want to be Martha Stewart - minus the snooty attitude, of course. I want to be creative in crafts, decorating, cooking and baking. I want my home to look like a model home and my yard to look like it belongs on the cover of Better Homes and Gardens.

And then there is reality.

1. I have a full-time job that occupies way too much of my time.
2. I am a very busy mommy
3. I can't decide on a decorating "style" I like and want to emulate.
4. We aren't made of money (and we refuse to live on credit cards)

I recently found this recipe in Woman's Day magazine. The cover photo of these beautiful cupcakes had fondant flowers and bees made of yellow peanut M&Ms and Tootise Rolls. I was instantly smitten and inspired! We were having guests in a few days and these cupcakes were to be the dessert.

I made everything from scratch - as the recipe instructed - with the exception of the fondant itself. However, I did color and cut the fondant. I made the little bees, too.

Dessert was preceded by a couple of take-and-bake pizzas from our local grocery store. We'd never cooked two at a time before and as I visited with our guests, I started to smell something burning. I openened the oven to find the pizza tray that came with the pizza (and yes, was supposed to go into the oven) was burning to a crisp - it was on the bottom rack and closest to the heating element. How embarassing!

I simply have no talent for preparing food for a group larger than my family of three - even if it's just putting a couple of pizzas in the oven. I want to be Martha Stewart, and it just isn't going to happen ... ever.

But the cupcakes came out cute! Not quite the high, fluffy frosting as the magazine showed (I'm certain there was some tricky photography there. Maybe there was a hidden cone in there that they covered with frosting?)

And by the way, the honey lemon frosting in this recipe is delicious!

Three Years Ago Today ...

Today marks an exciting day in our family ... a very special day that happened three years ago: Christian was conceived.

"Ummm, too much information ..." you might be saying. It's really not if you realize we tried to get pregnant for nearly a year before discovering we had infertility issues.

Through the assistance of modern medicine, we were able to conceive our precious little boy three years ago today.

I think some find infertility to be a taboo subject. It is, after all, one of the most personal journeys a couple can take. Our story ended happily (and actually, our story continues on with the precious two year old we love more and more each day).

We get asked a lot if we plan on having another child ... and the answer is, "Yes we do!" Having infertility issues mean we are in control of timing the pregnancy (which can be a good thing!). So, we need to get a few "ducks in a row" before we work on our second child. So all I can commit to now is "soon." :)

I mean really ... just look at this face! Don't you think he needs a little brother or sister to play with?

We are officially home owners!

Yes, yes ... I know. We closed on the house in October and moved in in December. But it seems that owning a home isn't the "real deal" until it comes time to buy a lawn mower and mow the lawn.

Pretty impressive that we didn't have to mow the lawn for four months. It was green and beautiful, just growing slowing in the cooler temps (yes, we do get "cooler temps." When the highs in the heat of the summer are 110+ and the average high temps in February are in the 60s ... that is "cooler temps.").

Congratulations to Jonathan on his fun new toy! :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

The Lucero Family celebrated Valentine's Day at "Christian's 5-Star Restaurant."

Jonathan was the chef while Christian played (which is what he does best!).

I tell ya, you can feed me steak and lobster any time ... delicious! :)

Cheap Friday Night Thrills

ICE ICE BABY!

In today's "LobsterGram" delivery, there was a nice chunk of dry ice for us to play with. As you will see, Christian got a kick out of the vapors (so did we, for that matter!).

An Invitation to Christian's 5-Star Restaurant

Today I received an invitation Valentine's Day dinner at "Christian's 5-Star Restaurant."

How cute!

(Click to enlarge the menu)

Phoenix Winter

Phoenix kind of skips winter all together and goes from fall to spring in about a month.

Click on the pic to see a larger version.

Wordless Wednesday - February 3, 2010

Our Boucy Castle Weekend

We were invited to two little kiddo birthday parties this past weekend (which meant plenty of yummy birthday cake!). Both parties had "bouncy castles."

Christian had never been inside one before. For the first party, it took him a while to get interested. The little girl he's in daycare with, Abigail (it was her party) walked over to Christian and held out her hands so Christian would jump with her. She just turned two herself, so it was adorable to see her helping Christian have fun.

At the party the next day, Christian knew exactly what goes on in a bouncy castle, and he was having fun from the moment he went inside.

And it was rather convenient that Sunday's party took place at the park across from our house. If you look closely, you can see our house in the background in the pics where Christian is wearing his Thomas shirt.

Ahhh, to be kid again. We might need a bouncy castle for our backyard. Not necessarily for Christian, but for ME! Wow, it's great fun to jump up and down and be silly and laugh like crazy!

Shapes, Shapes Everywhere!

I am delighted to report that Christian is now saying "shape," with the emphasis on "p" at the end!

Christian's Granny and Grandpa got him this nifty clock for Christmas and he just loves taking the shapes out and putting them in again. And he's learned three new shapes: pentagon, hexagon and octagon. He loves to say them - with each syllable very specifically pronounced. He carries around the three "gons" everywhere (hmmm ... where is hex (6) and octo (8)).

Christian is figure out the prefixes, too. He tells us, "Pen-ta-gon, five sides!!"

There is an old abandoned racetrack along I-10 and along the roofline there are some decorative features that I hadn't really notice before. As we drove by the other day, Christian happily proclaimed, "Triangle!!" I looked, not to sure what he was seeing ... and then it occured to me, he was looking at the abandoned building we've seen dozens of times in passing. Sure enough, the decorative features are triangles.

Today we took a walk and he saw the back side of a stop sign and yelled out, "Oc-to-gon!" I praised him for recognizing the shape, and I looked around to see what other shapes I could point out to him.

On the sidewalk below, the lines formed part of a triangle, and I pointed the triangle out to him ... and he was excited, "Triangle!"

Then, on his own, he looked at the next section of sidewalk and said, "Square!!"

"Yes, honey, that is a square!!"

Christian kept looking as if on a treasure hunt ... and saw a section of sidewalk that was curved inward to form a 1/2 circle and he said, "Circle!!!"

Well, I've got to tell you that by this time, I was just floored! My two year old was finding shapes everywhere he looked. And how many two year olds do you know who can recognize "pentagon," "hexagon" and "octogon" ??

Then we came across another sign and I pointed out that it was a rectangle. He giggled, walked up to it, checked it out and said, "Rectangle!!!"

What a joy to watch this precious little boy discover new things ... and to see shapes everywhere and get as excited as he does when he sees them.

He's been doing that with words, letters and numbers, too. But that is another blog post ...

Soon!

Wordless Wednesday - January 29, 2010

Christian's First Trip to the Dentist

Today we took Christian to his first visit to the dentist. Some books say a child should see a dentist when their teeth start coming in ... other books say by the time they are one. Our pediatrician recommended we hold off until Christian turns three, because Christian gets really upset when he's handled by somebody "medical."

We chose a pediatric dentist who is nearby and runs nice ads in the local paper. Just look at this adorable waiting room. It is decorated in jungle island theme with a huge tree inside that holds colorful monkeys, butterflies, birds, etc. It also has a little arcade, which really impressed Jonathan ("I was legendary at Galactica!") and also a little coffee bar (which really impressed Jonathan, too).

Alas, it was a difficult exam - Christian was very, very upset as the hygienist cleaned his teeth. The hygienist handled it well and had the patience of Job. The exam seemed to last forever, but he made it through and was in a good mood by the time we left.

The main reason we took Christian to the dentist is because there just isn't enough room in his mouth for all of his teeth and I was becoming increasingly concerned about the situation (if you know me, then you know I have an obsession with teeth).

The X-rays revealed Christina has TWO extra teeth. He should have just 20, and he has 22. The obvious solution is to remove two teeth - but why torture a two year old with that procedure?

I asked the dentist if maybe Christian's mouth would grow big enough to accommodate the teeth - and the answer was no. In the X-ray, the future adult teeth are visible and we briefly discussed that Christian will likely one day need orthodontics.

The current concern is that because his mouth is so crowded, it will be tricky to clean his teeth well. The good thing is that we don't typically give Christian sweets, and he doesn't drink juice - just milk and water. But, we were told to be careful with raisins and dried fruit, as they are sticky and tend to stay in between the teeth where it's hard for us to reach.

So we'll take him to the dentist every six months for a cleaning and have the situation with his extra teeth re-evaluated.

Crazy Weather

UPDATE: There were two tornado warnings issued in the East Valley ... but we live in the far West Valley up against a mountain. So aside from a ton of rain that formed "Lake Lucero" in the backyard, we didn't see much action.

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We had lots of rain Tuesday ... clear day yesterday ... and a ton of rain today. We're talking several inches here in the Phoenix metro area. Our backyard is "Lake Lucero."

And I just saw this:

"PHOENIX – A Tornado Watch has been issued for several parts of Arizona, including Metro Phoenix. The watch continues until 10 p.m. tonight."

The news says we're getting more rain this week than we typically do all year.

Crazy weather!

"Shape" with an Emphasis on the "P"

Christian has really excelled lately at reading / pronouncing / imitating new words. It's really very entertaining!

The other day, he picked up the case for an Elmo DVD called, "Guess That Shape and Color" and he started saying "sh*t ... sh*t."

I was dumbfounded.

It soon occurred to me that he was trying to say "shape," but can't seem to tell the difference between a "P" sound and a "t" sound at the end. I very quickly started over-emphasizing the "P" sound ... but he continues to hear a "t."

It's funny ... but it's not, you know? The last thing I want is to have our two year old walking around and randomly saying "sh*t."

Ah parenthood ... never a dull moment.

The Sandbox Solution

You might recall last summer, we were "Desperately Seeking Sandbox." The problem was that we need something with a tight lid because scorpions like to burrow in sand - and I can tell you from experience, a scorpion sting is not pleasant. We never did come up with a solution at the old house - and then it just go too hot to be outside anyway.

So ... what to do ... what to do?

A-ha! Here's a solution we all like - and required just one bag of sand. The lid goes on when he's done - cleanup is easy.

Cookies and Coffee

What is the holiday season without some homemade cookies - and a two year old decorating them?

Jonathan has a bit of a coffee obsession, which means Christian is a bit obsessed with what is in those mugs his daddy is always holding.

Enjoy the show!

One, Two, Three, Four ... FIBE

Merry Christmas!!

I used to be able to combine videos using "Photobucket," but they no longer offer that service. So ... here are individual videos.

Wordless Wednesday - December 23, 2009

Wordless Wednesday - December 23, 2009

Wordless Wednesday - December 16, 2009

Oops! We aren't "Los Luceros de Santa Fe" anymore. Old habits die hard!

Moving Day

Today is the big day ... we are MOVING! Jonathan and my sister's boyfriend have loaded the big stuff and and driving to the house right now. Christian is napping here with me and will surely be surprised when he wakes to find our house is empty of all furniture.

I was greeted by a visitor when I started moving things around. Thankfully, this scorpion made its way into a glass jar, was unable to escape (scorpions cannot crawl on glass), and DIED.

I am NOT fan of scorpions. We've had a bit of scorpion issue in this rental home, and I was stung earlier this year. It is not a pleasant experience, and I've been concerned about Christian getting stung. However, I am the only person in the household who had a chance encounter.

We paid to have our new house "sealed" and got a "scorpion intensive treatment" to ensure we wouldn't have scorpion issues there, too.

The scorpion is on a pad of pink sticky note pad, and so you can see it's a good-sized scorpion! EEEEEEEEEW!

A Lil' Preview ...

Christian had Christmas photos taken today, and here's a lil' preview:

Wordless Wednesday - November 25, 2009

Okay, another not-so-wordless Wednesday.

Christian is so obsessed with dirt these days. As soon as he gets in the backyard, he heads straight for the dirt. In this photo, he's been playing in the dirt and has two handfuls to give Mommy. Aw, I'm feelin' the love!


I had to capture this moment in time with the book. Christian is obsessed with Dr. Seuss books and videos, "The Sneetches," in particular. He gets that book and says, "Sneh ... Dah Sue." (Sneeches ... Dr. Seuss). We read that story over and over again ... and he is mesmerized when we show him The Sneetches video.