Judah has had a weird illness these past couple days. He is very normal all day long and every now and then complains that he has a tummyache. Two nights ago, he vomited profusely at 1am. Last night, he vomited at 11pm. Today he had diarrhea the minute we got home from a birthday party where he was perfectly fine. I feel bad for the little guy. He feels GREAT after each "purge" but it has me worried because of dehydration.

I dashed over to Whole Foods and bought some electrolyte water which he has been gulping down - yay! I also made a plain white rice "soup" that is nothing more than two cups of rice with 24 oz of water seasoned with Better than Bouillon Organic Vegetable Base. I am thrilled that he ate that and loved it because he's such a picky eater and I've now got another winner for the pantry.

Dixie Training Progress

This is after Dixie's 3rd obedience lesson. She's doing SO WELL!

We were catching up on American Idol last night (TIVO is our savior) and at some point somebody said the word "stupid". Judah announced, "I am *soooo* sick of the bad words on TV." So we asked what words he meant.

He replied, "Words like 'stupid', 'dummy', 'loser'. Those words are so STUPID."

Then, he proceeded to build a CHOCOLATE PUDDING FACTORY with his architectural blocks. He even had a song to go with it. "We work real hard at the chocolate factory..."



When he got tired later, he was lying with his head in my lap and we talked about school for a while. We talked about kindergarten and who his teacher might be and he told me about one of the PK teachers letting them wear the "Crown of Coolness" when they follow directions.

{Swear Word}

It was only a matter of time.

Dixie decided to eat her house specialty favorite, the "Judah Ankle Sandwich". Judah dragged Dixie along across the living room, she still clamped down on his ankle, he trying to pull himself along the back of the sofa.

With an exasperated look on his face, he said very calmly, "Mooooom! Get the damn dog!" My head whipped up and I asked, "What kind of dog?" Judah: "The DAMN dog." Big ear to ear grin. (Four year olds instinctively know when they've said a bad word.)

Thus began an explanation of how dams are used to block water and isn't it silly to name Dixie after a wall? He agreed and I haven't heard it since.

Now that Judah is old enough to help with basic chores, when the weather is more agreeable, I will begin taking him to the "For the Love of the Lake" shoreline spruce-up at White Rock Lake. It is disgraceful how picnickers throw their refuse in the lake with little care about the impact they make on the wildlife.

Take for example little Six Pack. I am so tired of the discarded waste by careless people. Here we have this oasis in the middle of the steel, glass and concrete city of Dallas...a place with waterfowl, forest animals, a botanist's heaven, restricted paths and roads for pedestrians and bicyclists and Flying Scot sailboats with their bright white masts billowing in the wind. White Rock is full of trails through tall grasses where you may see purple martin houses on tall poles, oak groves full of squirrels and woodpeckers and miles of shoreline with marsh grasses teeming with ducklings...and pollution.

Living in the Kitchen

I still knit when I can, but the new puppy is a yarn thief. Having just lived through my mom's puppy shredding some Size 1s when I set down a pair of Jaywalkers to go get a coffee refill, having my own little beast wait in shadows until I walk two feet away from my yarn and then launch upon it has me needing to plan strategically when I can actually pick up the fiber and create something...car, airplane, bedtime (which is the worst time for me to knit lace...I nod off and get lost in my pattern).

So, cooking has filled the void that no knitting has left.


This week, I have made oven-baked Sweet Potato Fries spiced with cumin and red pepper, whipping cream biscuits -- world's easiest biscuit recipe (1 cup heavy whipping cream, 1 cup self-rising flour - dropped by the spoonful onto a baking stone and baked at 425 for 15-20 minutes.) I made my staple breakfast treat of tart cherry muffins, baked some spicy/sweet pecans for salad topping, steel cut oatmeal spiced with vanilla and golden raisins, homemade hot cocoa, baked Chocolate Crazy Cake in a rice cooker, fresh tabouli, and an improvised cornbread made with corn masa instead of corn meal...using what was available in the pantry and turned out to be so creamy with fresh corn kernels dispursed throughout...an accident that will be repeated!

what the world needs now

what the world needs now
Originally uploaded by getthebubbles

I have been spending a lot of time in the kitchen since my grandfather died on 20 December. It is therapy for me and a healthy way to grieve. I am filling the bellies of my two guys and I feel a sense of joy by making things that send my husband back for seconds. I baked four Apple Dapple Cakes over the holidays, whipped carrots and parsnips, baked fluffy whipping cream biscuits that melt in your mouth and then created Smitten Kitchen's delectable Icebox Cake.

I baked the Barefoot Contessa's buttermilk soaked oven fried chicken, 101Cooking's Roasted Cauliflower Popcorn, baked acorn squash with a buttery brown sugar & orange peel zest glaze, made a lemony waffle batter for the Texas Waffle Iron and a pull-apart coffee cake that is made with refrigerated biscuits, sugar, pecans and butter.