Shameless Nepotism

Have I ever mentioned before that my brother is funny? Like, really, really funny? Well, now you don't have to take my word for it, you can judge for yourself at his brand new blog. I think today's post is my favorite so far. Ack, he slays me. I may be the pretty one and the smart one* but he got the humor gene.

* Just joking, Shelby!!! You're mighty pretty yourself.

Photoshop help?

Since Carlos arrived home with us just before Christmas 2006, we have developed a tradition of taking our annual family portrait around this time each of the past three years. I really don't like posed studio pictures, so we like to find someone to come out to the house and take pictures while we goof around in the yard. This year, my aunt Judy was head photographer, and Matt and I took a bunch as well. We got some cute shots; I'm not going to post all of them because they figure largely in our holiday cards and gift-giving this year and I don't want to ruin the surprise for any family or friends who will be receiving them soon.

All three years that we've taken these winter-time photos, we've been blessed with gorgeous weather on picture day. While the blue sky and sunshine is a rare treat around here, the conditions aren't the best for photography - we end up with pretty glarey light and harsh shadows. For example, I absolutely love this photo of Carlos, but it's soooo harshly lit -


I'm no Photoshop expert, but if any of you are, please tell me if there's anything I can do to mellow it out. I tried playing with the brightness/contrast feature and it helped a little bit, but not enough. I love the pose so much that I'll probably still have some prints made, but I wish I could pretty it up a bit first.

It was fun to have the birds around this year for our photo shoot. I think they added a lot to the ambiance. :-)

Me and Carlos with Marji, Abby, and Cally

The turkeys were the most curious and sociable by far - they were particularly interested in the soccer ball.

Carlos was pretty well-behaved at first, but after a while...

... a wardrobe change was required...

...and even after a change of clothes, he had more mischief up his sleeve. He found a big gopher pile in the yard and had dirt everywhere - inside all his clothes, all in his hair, nose, mouth, etc. Needless to say, that was the end of the photo session.

The boy has style.

Carlos had a great time last night trick-or-treating. He was really too young last year to care about Halloween, but this year he was totally into it. We just went around to a few family members' houses, but that was plenty - he got more than enough candy and excitement.

Rooster boy

Carlos with Grandma Thelma (maker of Carlos' costume)
(she's in costume by the way; I think she was the mean old lady from Hansel & Gretel)

So I was thinking - with as much work as Carlos' grandma put into his costume, it seems a shame to use it once and never again. And I'm not the pack rat type; I'd rather know that someone else is enjoying it than hold onto it myself out of sentimentality. So if any of you guys would like to have it for next year, I'd be happy to pass it along. It fits Carlos perfectly - well, maybe just a smidge on the small side - and he's a bit small for a three-year-old, so it would probably fit most two- to two-and-a-half year olds. If you have a child who will be around that age next Halloween and who would like to dress as a stylin' rooster, let me know.

In other news, my much-coveted boots arrived yesterday. I'm happy with them - they are really cute - and even cuter on Carlos than on me!

Happy Birthday Baby Boy!

Awwwwww.

Birthday Party Time!

Carols' 3rd birthday is on the 21st, but we had his party today.

Grandma Thelma worked her decorating talents on this cute cake. Carlos requested a sheep on his cake this year.

When everyone gathered around to sing Happy Birthday, Carlos looked a little overwhelmed...

...but he soon adjusted to being the center of attention...

...and by the time the song was over, he was clapping enthusiastically.

Next came pinata time!

Whack it!

Candy!!! Toys!!!

Hope your day was as fun as ours. :-)

Field Trip Day!!!

Today was Carlos' first field trip! I went with him, and we lucked out having Calvyn in town as well - the three of us had a blast picking out lots and lots of pumpkins. I had to have one of every color!

Pumpkin explosion!

The finished pieces - mine on the left, Calvyn's on the right, and Carlos' front and center.

Rock on, pumpkin dudes!

Toasted pumpkin seeds
(Spray cookie sheet with non-stick spray, toast at 325 degrees until done (maybe 25-30 minutes?), stirring once or twice during baking time.)

What is the deal with Herbivore? and other ramblings

To those of you who live in or visit the San Francisco bay area, I ask you - What is up with Herbivore? I have been there several times over the past couple of years, and I always start with great expectations, and I am generally disappointed. I don't want to be disappointed - I want to like it! But everything I've eaten there is just kind of blah. So tell me - (a) do you like it? and (b) if so, what do you usually order?

I guess I should back up. I've been in San Francisco the last couple of days visiting my brother and my nephew. I wish I could say I have photos to share, but my camera got left in a restaurant and by the time we realized it and went back a couple of hours later, it was long gone. I hope the person who stole it is having fun with it. I bought a new one today at Target* and lo and behold, the idiot salesperson sold me an incompatible memory card. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrraaaorrrrrrrrrrlll.

* I despise Target.

Anyway, back to Herbivore - we went there for dinner the first night I was in town and my mom and I shared some cold spring rolls and a papaya salad. All I can say is - blah. No flavor to speak of; just blandity-bland. It was so nice of my family to seek out a vegetarian restaurant for me, and then I felt kind of ashamed of the whole vegan population when the food was so unexciting. I know we can do SO much better!

I suppose I could also regale you with tales of The Runniest Poop Ever, the feces explosion later that same night that escaped Carlos' diaper in more directions than I would have thought possible, and ended up badly soiling the carpet in the back of my car, where I stupidly tried to change him without a pad underneath. Said carpet soilage necessitated the purchase of one of those little carpet-scrubby-pod thingies at Target as well today, and I will end my post on a positive note by reporting that it worked fabulously and my car seems to now be free of its former craptastic odor.

But really, I'm having a fun trip! Really.

Camping with Carlos

We went on a quick one-night camping excursion last night.

Carlos fell asleep in the truck on the way (looks uncomfortable, doesn't it?)...

...Otis, on the other hand, was way too excited to sleep.

We had some fun...

...and saw some pretty scenery.

And came home. :-)

This & That

I have a few pictures to share, no particular unifying theme involved...

Baby birds - these guys grew so fast! They learned to fly a few days ago, just a couple of days after I took this picture.

Midget egg! Greta (one of our banty hens) laid the tiniest egg ever the other day - on the top, for comparison, there is a regular banty egg (upper left) and a regular sized egg (like what you'd find in the store, on the right)... if I hadn't seen the tiny one actually fall out of Greta's behind, I would have assumed it was some kind of songbird egg or something.

And lastly, a few pictures from our trip to the river for Matt's birthday yesterday...

My husband is sweet.

While I was in Mendocino at that workshop, Matt and Carlos drove down for all but one night to be able to hang out with me in the evenings after class. The two of them had fun doing all kinds of things during the daytime - going to the beach, the park, and the Mendocino Botanical Garden. Despite the fun I was having in class, I was feeling pretty bummed about not being able to go to the garden with them, especially since I had to drive by it every day on my way to and from class, and a giant banner outside announced that the dahlias were in bloom. I love dahlias.

How thoughtful of Matt to take all of these absolutely beautiful pictures for me...

Isn't this one amazing? I know I said I didn't want any more tattoos, but these gorgeous dahlias are tempting me!

the sweetest picture of them all, of course

Aren't those pictures awesome? If there were a few more of them, I'd be tempted to make a calendar out of them all.

Oh, and the highlight of the trip for Carlos had to be the masses of dead jellyfish washed up on the beach.

Today

My day began with this beautiful, delicious quiche. It was the first time I've made quiche in the several years since I became vegan, and I was not disappointed. I'll track down the recipe and post it soon, but for now you just get the teaser photo.

(That brown crustiness you see around the edges is {drum roll, please} shredded potatoes, hash brown style - what a great idea!)

Carlos' favorite person was in town today - his 9-year-old cousin Calvyn...

We went for a walk at a nearby wildlife refuge...

...isn't it pretty?

It was hazy today, even here on the coast, due to the zillions of wildfires (none of which are very close to us, thank goodness, although they did cause our much anticipated weekend trip to Farm Sanctuary to be cancelled; wah). You can see the haze in this picture, as well as an egret (I wish my camera had a stronger zoom).

We also saw this beautiful deer having a snack.

After a picnic lunch, we continued on for a canoe ride. I didn't take any pictures in the canoe, but here are the boys in the parking lot afterwards.

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope all the moms out there are having a fabulous day, especially my mom, who I am on my way to see now!

Sadly, it seems motherhood is not in the cards for Greta the chicken this time around. I finally found her nest yesterday evening, with ten eggs in it, and to try to protect her from predators, I moved her and her eggs into a large dog crate after dark last night. I awoke this morning to find her highly stressed in the crate, wanting to come out, so I let her out and she headed straight for her original nest. She hung out over there for a few hours, ignoring her eggs in their new location, and then eventually joined the rest of the flock by midday.

I can't say that I'm too terribly disappointed (although it seems almost sacrilegious to say such a thing on Mother's Day of all days!); if we decide to have more chickens, I think I'd rather rescue some than bring more into the world, but I do feel sorry for little Greta, and her little eggs look rather forlorn and abandoned.


Oh well, it's reassuring to have Greta back in the fold, and safe from any scary creatures that could have snapped her up during the night out there in the woods. (That's her in the back.)

Birth of a Christmas Tradition

This morning I made cinnamon rolls as a special holiday breakfast treat. I know I've raved about this recipe before, sorry to be repetitive, but really, if you haven't tried them, you MUST. They are amazing. I suppose it would have been more festive to enjoy them on Christmas morning, but Matt's working on Christmas day, so we had them today instead.


Merry Christmas to all my real life and bloggy friends. I hope your holidays and the coming year are filled with many sweet and wonderful things.