Mary Mary, quite contrary how does your garden grow?

Just recently Estella will get out of bed wanting to water the garden, she'll state "The strawberries are thirsty Mama"

We planted a little garden a few months ago with the help from my Mother (Mrs. Green thumb), we planted grapes, strawberries, green beans, bell peppers, tomatoes, and herbs.  

The strawberries and green beans have sprouted, so we picked the only BIG Red Ripe Strawberry we had, and some green beans.  OMG, the strawberry was so sweet, best I've had in long time (Estella shared a bite), can't wait for the others to ripen.  We steamed the green beans for lunch and they were perfect. 

Estella munching on a green bean

Pisces

My horoscope today.

Today it will be easy for you to see the best in everything and everyone -- which means you will automatically see the best in yourself. You'll be in a positive mood today, which means that people are going to notice you lots more -- and probably find you very attractive. The fact that you are feeling more beauty in your life will serve as an invitation for even more beauty to enter your life, which is something you deserve now more than ever.

With May-gray, cool temperatures and nausea (that has ruled my morning), I will embrace my horoscope reading.

baby belly!

Estella walked into the kitchen this morning, and said 

"Look Mommy, I have baby-belly too!"  

Chuckling, I asked her if I could see it (not sure what I was expecting her to pull out), she then pulled out her baby doll... I couldn't help but hug & squeeze her.  I guess with all the fun poking Jacob makes about MY baby-belly, she wanted to be like Mommy.

Best Poem Ever

MAYA ANGELOU'S'

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
enough money within her control to move out
and rent a place of her own,
even if she never wants to or needs to...
something perfect to wear if the employer,
or date of her dreams wants to see her in an hour...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ..
a youth she's content to leave behind....
a past juicy enough that she's looking forward to
retelling it in her old age....
a set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra...
one friend who always makes her laugh... and one who lets her cry...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE .......
a good piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in her family...
eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems,and a recipe for a meal,
that will make her guests feel honored...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ..
a feeling of control over her destiny... how to fall in love without losing herself..

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
how to quit a job,break up with a lover, and confront a friend without;
ruining the friendship....

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW....
when to try harder... and WHEN TO WALK AWAY...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
that she can't change the length of her calves,
the width of her hips, or the nature of her parents..
that her childhood may not have been perfect...but it's over...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
what she would and wouldn't do for love or more...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW.. .
whom she can trust, whom she can't, and why she shouldn't take it personally....

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

where to go... be it to her best friend's kitchen table..
or a charming Inn in the woods... when her soul needs soothing...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
What she can and can't accomplish in a day...
a month...and a year...

Back on the wagon

Back on the wagon with blogging.  I'll do my best to keep it up.  

As our little world turned, we had Reifer family visit in March; Uncle Todd, Aunt Becky, and their twins, Zack & Abbie (Estella's age), and another handful of Reifer's, it was all good-times. We celebrated my 36th birthday, and even had a pinata, it was hilarious, the children wanted nothing to do with it, but the Adults went all-out. 

What else? In April we took a road trip to Yosemite, Placerville, Monterey, Carmel, & Big Sur (I asked Jake if we could move to Big Sur, and he said "Someday", it's so beautiful there) a nice vacation, we had wanted to make that road trip ages ago, and we're happy we finally did, because it will be an annual thing.

 

Also, in April news, we were surprise to find out I will be a Mother for the second time, Baby Reifer will arrive in early December.  We're all excited around here, Estella will usually ask "Mommy, is baby in your belly?" I'll respond "Yes", Estella will then say with a big smile on her face"let me see it!", my funny girl, I love her so much.  We have decided to keep the baby's sex a surprise, we did with Estella, and it was like x-mas when she arrived. 

what else? oh-yeah, we made the change from a PC to a Mac, wow, what a difference!  We wondered why we waited as long as we did.  We signed up for their one-on-one classes which will teach us what the Mac do, pretty exciting stuff.  Images to come.

On Estella news, she's growing so quickly, she's so independent, just earlier today she was playing with her "Hello Kitty" stamp collection, as you can imagine a 2 year old with ink, yep, she had ink all the way up her sleeves.  As she looked at her hands, she stated she was going to wash her hands, after a small eternity of quietness from the bathroom, I found her smothered with soap, she looked at me and said "Mommy, I wash my hands all by myself", I quietly nodded, as I watched her rub her hands together in the water, I realized how much she's learned this past year, from her vocabulary, coordination, politeness, to the social butterfly she is, to her curiosity, and the way she learns things.  This Mother's day she and I sat and looked at all her pictures, we laughed & giggle, I cried at times, and I wished there was more time in my days to keep playing with her...  

So, that's that!

BTW,  check out this delicious looking Baked Lemon Pasta post Pioneer woman hooked up, I can't wait to try it tonight, it looks so tasty.

ta-ta!

Spaghetti con crema

In respects to my New Years resolution on spending less money on groceries, and wasting less food, I pondered in front of the refrigerator wondering what I was going to cook for supper a couple nights ago...I bit my tongue, and refrained from asking Jake to take us out to dinner-- for I thought I couldn't do much with what I had found in our fridge. But to my surprise it was just what my taste buds were looking forward to that night.

I found the following in my pantry & fridge:

spaghetti, olive oil, shallots, garlic, 1/2 zucchini,

left over Portuguese sausage, left over tomato & basil pasta sauce,

whipping cream, & Parmesano

1. I heated 1 tablespoon olive oil, added shallots & garlic, cooked for about ten minutes.

2. I added chopped zucchini, a pinch of salt & pepper, and stirred.

3. I added chopped Portuguese sausage, stirred, and covered with lid. Cooked for about 10 minutes.

4. I then added the tomato & basil pasta sauce, stirred, added about 1/2 cup of whipping cream, stirred again. Covered with lid and let it simmered for about 20 minutes.

5. Meanwhile I cooked spaghetti al dente.

6. When pasta was ready, I poured it into to tomato & basil-cream sauce.

7. Served and grade Parmesano on top.

This dish was SO tasty I couldn't wait to have it for lunch the next day...seriously!

Namaste

I've made a commitment to myself, and I feel so good about it, that I'm sharing it with you. Saturday mornings you will find me getting up at the crack of dawn to attend a yoga class that starts at 7:00 a.m.--- at my neighbors house, so, it's not so bad for me, since I only have to walk across the lawn. The session goes for an hour, and thus far there's been two sessions, I hope the sessions continue at my neighbors for a long-long time, for they are so convenient.



First session:
I felt totally uncoordinated and silly. Uncoordinated because I'm not an athlete, I'm a good runner, but that's it. Silly because I don't know the Yoga lingo/terminology, yet. I was constantly lifting my head to see what pose the instructor was posing (who btw is a great instrucor who guided me, a lot), and turning my head from side to side trying to see what my neighbors were doing, which made me lose my balance a lot of the time; that's probably why a couple days later my neck and shoulders were stiff & sore.



Second session:
I was a little more coordinated and felt less silly, the hour flew by. At the end of the session the word "Namaste" caught my attention, and I asked the instructor (feeling silly, since I didn't acknowledge it at the first session) "What does Namaste mean? she responded "To honor the true self in each of us, and recognize that all life is interrelated."--Nice!

I'm excited about my new venture... I feel reconnected with myself, it's been a long time since I have felt that way, because a lot of my energy went/goes to my Darling child, my Darling husband and on our business...which left/leaves very little time for me. BUT, the balance is very well on it's way, for this little lady.


Namaste!