Father's Day present...

This was Ben's Father's day present...
I got this shoes for Ella Maria when she turned 6 months...she is Daddy's little girl, so the shoes were just perfect.  The other day, going through some of her old clothes looking for things that baby could wear...nothing that is for sure too pink, I found them again.  And I had this shadow box just hanging around.  And it just seemed like a good thing to put together for fathers day...and of course a silouette of a picture of both of them (I have been wanting to do this for a while).
So this is the final product...

Finally met Eben!!!

We finally met Eben...he is sooo cute!  Eben is the new addition to my favorite little family, Jackie & Hesper...two of my favorite people! I am so happy for you guys, you deserve such a sweet little bundle of joy!
They came down from Maine, we got together for dinner at Ben's restaurant.  It was a great evening...fabulous food and superb company! We should do this more often...not the having dinner, the getting together more often part!!!
They got Ella Maria & baby some fabulous presents...thank you very much! We are very excited to have baby get something that Eben really enjoys...
I made little Eben a "book"...well, just some fabric that I was able to turn into a book with some numbers and shapes...not to bad for being the first one I make.
So I will call it the "Eben Book".
This is it:

"e" for Eben

1 star

2 hearts

3 circles

4 squares

5 triangles

Ella Maria liked it too...well, she actually thought it was for her!

she is so cute!!!

It was great to see you guys...I wish we lived closer, and could see each other more often!  But lets try to from now on!

hugs and kisses for the 3 of you, from the 4 (almost) of us!

I will be taking order for books too...send me a message! :)

For Bella!!!

Bella (Isabella) just turned 1...time goes by way tooooo fast!
This past Saturday was her Birthday party...Strawberry Short cake theme, very cute.  So, for a birthday present I decided to make her a 1 year old banner...and of course following with the birthday party theme.
I was able to finish it just in time to ship it to SF so Bella would have it on time. 
All that is left to say is Happy Birthday Bella...hope you had a wonderful time! 
This is the banner...

Bella with her Birthday banner...toooo CUTE!

I'm taking orders...custom made banners.  Just post a comment on the blog! :)

Daddy's Birthday!

So Daddy just turned thirty...something! and he doesn't feel older than 25! well, some days...
for his birthday cake he wanted "my famous" chocolate cake!!! The night before the big day, after Ella Maria had gone to bed, I baked the cake...out of the oven by midnight, I thought I might have time to frost it and have it ready, but of course by the time the cake came out of the oven I was done, ready to go to bed.  Who is able to make frosting and frost a cake when you are walking like a zombie...
So I decided that the frosting would be done in the morning...and I would have a very eager helper.  When I told Ella Maria that she was going to help me finish Daddy's Birthday cake, well...she was jumping up and down, the same way I would have reacted to someone telling me that I won the new HGTV Green Home (that I enter the sweepstakes every single day for over a month...still waiting for the call.  So if you have any influence with the big man up in the sky, I would appreciate a good word or two on my behalf.)
OK...back to the cake.  I was up at 5:00 am (not because I was concerned about finishing the cake, is just that the bigger I get the less I sleep!) And of course at that time I was ready for breakfast (lets face it...I just wanted cake).  But I could not finish the cake cause I still needed to make the frosting...turn the mixer on, make noise that might not have been appreciated by the rest of the house (specially the birthday boy!)...so I waited.
Finally everyone was up, and I got the frosting made...and my trusted helper was more than eager to start.  So we did...she did a fabulous job, I think she is a natural.  Maybe by the age of 3 she will be making her own Birthday cake. LOL
This are the pictures to prove what a great job she did...and if you don't end up with frosting everywhere...you did not enjoyed it!

you always have to lick the bowl clean...spatula in this case!

just 2 candles...we did not wanted to turn our fire alarm on, is too sensitive! 

I guess the frosting was good!!!

The finished cake...

daddy's Birthday present...I made him a T shirt that says "I am kind of a big deal", now with being on TV it just seemed a good saying for it...

 Ella Maria invited Daddy to a tea party for his Birthday...check out all the friends that came! very sweet!

Birthday kiss after singing Happy Birthday ...

blow the candles...

serve...

enjoy!!!

Happy Birthday Daddy! we love you so very much!

Blackberry & Strawberry tarts...

Blackberry & strawberry tarts...yum, yum, DOUBLE YUM if I may say so myself!
I had this hazelnut sugar dough that I did not know what I wanted to do with it.  So, the other day my lovely hubby brought me 3 pints of blackberries...well, it was 4 but after I stopped myself we only had 3 left.  They were a bit to tart, just like I like them...reminds me of my childhood, we use to get them all the time back home many blue moons ago, in those days you could get a field of blackberries for the price of 3 pints of blackberries in the US these days. Blackberries on a warm summer day, we use to have blackberry smoothies...yum! Blackberries are one of those things that can instantly take you back in time to those happy childhood days!
OK back to present day...
As I said they were a bit to tart to just eat out of the pint, Ella Maria did not like them like that.  So I decided to finally use that hazelnut sugar dough...lets make some blackberry tarts!  Plus I had some frozen strawberries that I was eager to use...and finally used at least some of them.  I can not share this recipe with you...not because is a family secret, is just that I did not use one.  My approach was more like...a little bit of this, a little bit of that, and a bit more of that, and of course some lemon zest.
I made 6 individual tarts, by the time they were out of the oven we shared one between the 3 of us...and then of course I had most of them.  I shared with Ella Maria every time...but lets face it, I always had most of it.  And now they are all gone...so in their memory I dedicate this post!

 all that is left of them are the memories and photos...

Plum Island, MA

This past Sunday we went for yet another road trip...
and we always end up at the north shore, Newburyport was having a Memorial Day parade...and it was a great day to go to the beach.  So that is what we did...walked around town, dance to the music of the Beatles...that is what the band at the waterfront was playing, had a slice of pizza, ice cream, and right after that it was time to look for a beach and go cool down (and if you have been to MA beaches you know what I mean...the water is always cold!)
After a short drive, we ended up at Plum Island...we had been there before years ago, but until now I finally payed attention and realized that every time I read of beaches to go and encounter Plum Island...well, now I know I have known for a while about it.
For being Memorial Day weekend the beach was not packed...we found a spot for all of us, and specially for Ella Maria to use her beach tools...and she went right to work!  And as usual she spend the entire afternoon moving sand from one spot to the other...
She had lots of fun...and that is all that matters!  It was hot but with a nice breeze to cool the hormonal mama down every so often!  It was a great afternoon!
We will see were our next road trip takes us to...or what our next adventure will be...we have one promise pending...boat ride!  We offered Ella Maria a boat ride if by the summer she was done with dippers and using princess underwear...and she is done with diapers and wearing princess underwear!!! Now we need to keep our promise and take her for a boat ride...
Next adventure...here we come!

and now some pictures...

to the cold water!!!

and then to the sand to build a princess castle...

Rock Star...ready to go back home!

by popular demand...update of update of update!

Ella Maria &  Belly

May 30th, 2010

29 weeks

so...by the way the belly looks, what do you think we are having?

that day I got told by a lady that called herself a "Gipsy" that we are having a boy...

do you agree?

Para Papi!!!

Feliz Cumplea-nos Papi!!!
Hoy Papi cumple 7tenta y pico a-nos...y desde lejos le queremos manda todo nuestro amor, muchos abrazos y besos! Quisieramos que pudiera estar aqui y asi celebrar como se de debe...con globos, pi-nata, y por supuesto  pastelito!

Pero como no podemos...Ella Maria decidio cortar su cosecha de fresas hoy...asi que en honor por el cumplea-nos de Papi, hoy tenemos nuestra primera cosecha de fresas del mes de Junio.

lo amamos mucho, y esperamos que pase un super dia!

Fresas para Papi!!!

fresas y una sonrisa...

sera que me estan viendo?

me tengo que comer una...todavia le dejo una a Papi!















Estan muuy ricas Papi!!!
Feliz Cumplea-nos!

bag...

in my experimentation with bags...this is my latest creation.  Big, fits a lot of things, I was able to put a couple of pockets inside for small things to stay in one place...after all I'm pretty happy with it! I love the fabric, and the colors.

inside pocket on one side...

inside pocket on the other side...

and of course we needed to see a picture of Ella Maria with the bag...now you can tell how big the bag really is.