Gardening:

We've started a garden. I'm keeping it simple and small this year. Tomatoes, lettuces and chard. If I can keep that alive perhaps I'll get more bold.



Planting Tomatos: Heirloom Eva Purple Ball and Japanese Black Trifele.



Our Peas that I passed off as beans after reading Jack and the Bean Stalk with Ale...

New Scone Recipe

Once again the desire for fresh scones overcame me the other night and I decided to go in search of a new recipe. I googled vanilla scones and came across this one here: Starbucks Style Mini Vanilla Scones

They were delicious. I highly recommend trying them out.

White Gold. Everyone knows the amazing benefits of breast milk and why breast feeding is superior to formula feeding no matter how the formula corporations try to compete as an equal. I've known since I've had Ale that breast milk is typically a remedy for 'whatever ails you' within reason, of course. Baby has an ear ache? Squirt some breast milk in. Eyes, nose, rashes...you name it.

Last week my friend's 3 children came down with a raging case of pink eye--all the oozing yellow eye goop you can imagine. She called asking if she could possibly have some breast milk to put in the boys' eyes. I had only ever thought that the milk was good for the nursing child--not a cure all for any random person. But I thought it was worth a try. I dropped off some milk that evening and within a couple hours all the swelling and redness and significantly decreased. Ale had his first ever ear ache that afternoon and I thought, 'shoot, if I'm giving this to other kids why not my own?' So I put some in his ear. I'd already put some garlic oil in before he went down for a nap. Between the two he was back to his normal self by bedtime.

The climax came on Sunday. I'd been dealing with a raging sinus head ache for 5 days straight. I've never had a sinus infection or head ache for that matter. I'd tried quite a few different remedies: Steam Shower, Neti Pot, Apple Cider Vinegar, Acupuncture and sinus massage. Nothing worked and the acupuncture made it worse. It occurred to me that perhaps I should try my own breast milk up my nose. I googled it and found a few references to people trying it. David dropped some into my nose with my head tilted back and within an hour my headache completely went away. Spectacular capabilities our human bodies have.

The Double Stroller makes it Debut...

I hate strollers. I had a whole soap box about why they were so lame when I was pregnant with Ale. Take a survey next time you're out and about and see a stroller. 9 times out of 10 the kid is not in the stroller, rather walking or being carried. Ale got older and we began using an umbrella stroller which we still use and like when it's necessary. But oh the double stroller.........I've been avoiding it since Yeva's birth. I folded today and dragged it out of the attic deciding to walk to the park and have lunch on a whim. Usually I sling Yeva and push Ale in the stroller. That gets tiresome hence the double stroller.

We were given a used Sit and Stand from my mother in law who works as a nanny and gets all the hand me downs she wants. Though it feels as though I'm pushing an 18 wheeler it wasn't too bad except for feeling a little too uber suburban mom for my liking.

The park was nice. We met an old Italian man, Aurelio, and his grandson who was Ale's age. Neither one spoke English. I was surprised how much we could communicate just based on the Spanish I know. Made me grateful for investing in language level--even at a second rate intensity. The boys played nicely until Ale needed the bathroom (why does he only need to poop in horrendous public facilities?) It's fun watching children just up and play with each other not even being able to speak to each other.

Now we're home. Here I am. I've only had to get up three times in the course of writing to sing Ale back to sleep (obviously not feeling well) and change Yeva.

I am a scone fiend. I have been making them at least once a week since Yeva was born November 29. I've dangerously realized that I can bake a couple at a time, freeze the rest, and have a fresh scone whenever I desire. This does not bode well for my waist band or lack of self discipline. But they are oh so delicious. My go to recipe of the moment is this one originally recommended by my sister. So easy, so wonderful with a perfect cup of coffee. 2 minutes remain on my kitchen timer until the current batch is done. A recap of my day in the meantime...

Ale (formerly Max but I'm done with pseudonyms) has been learning the letter "b" since last Thursday. This comes after a minor panic on my part where I felt like we weren't doing anything "educational" and since I don't foresee preschool in his near future I needed to pick up the slack. Don't get me wrong--I'm all about play for as long as possible and I have no intentions of having him sit hours or even minutes for that matter and drill facts into his head. I do feel that I can incorporate subtle learning whenever possible. So I picked the letter 'b' at random for no other reason but not wanting to start with 'a.' I'm not teaching the abc's--that seems to arbitrary to the mind of a 2.5 year old. B is referred to as "buh," the sound it makes. This should help in the future when he starts to read. I showed him the letter and we try to think of words that begin with the 'buh' sound. Today we found ourselves reading Jack and the Beanstalk. On a whim we jumped into the car to go by some bean seeds at our local nursery. I was feeling like supermom with this nice well rounded yet fun lesson in mind until I got to the check out and the very knowledgeable woman (this wasn't home depot) said it wasn't a good time to plant beans yet--too cold. She then proceeded to put them away and brought me some radish seeds instead saying they bring kids great pleasure because the grow quickly. I departed the store with my radish seeds (not quite sure what I'm going to do with them...perhaps 'r' will be our next sound..) and a 6-pack of peas hoping I could pass them off as beans to Ale. We haven't planted them yet as we got rid of all our garden equipment in the great purge. We don't even own a trowel. So the planting will have to wait a bit longer.

After the nursery we headed up to Danny's Farm located just around the corner from our house. I'd wanted to check the place out for months and determined today the day. It's not quite a farm in the traditional sense...it is definitely a Los Angeles attempt at a nice petting zoo. It was fun and Ale loved being able to touch all the animals. The baby piglets were only a week old and very cute. Ale spent the most time with the rabbits and guinea pigs. The staff were very nice and attentive. The $5 entrance fee is a bit much in my opinion for what is actually there but it is for a good cause. (Most of the workers have special needs and the farm does a lot of work with autistic children). The $100 annual family pass fee is tempting only because it's just down the street from me and a nice place to walk to. Maybe we will end up buying one, who knows. I want my kids to be familiar with animals and where there food originates. This isn't an easy accomplishment living where we do. I'll take what I can get even if it is a small high end petting zoo.