Summer Days
Posted on | July 19, 2010 | 4 Comments
I have been quiet, I know. Summer days have completely taken over me. My family and I have been basking in the glorious sunshine and hanging out with old and new friends. Usually I’m away exploring new territories in the summer but this year, since we’re still training Dexter, I’m simply enjoying being able to go out in my flip-flops, discovering how wonderful our backyard is (thanks to Dexter who needs to go out every 2 hours), and connecting with some amazing neighbors.
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| Scenes from our summer garden. |
In our garden, Troy is successfully growing some fresh, juicy produce with a homemade self-contained gardening system. Did I ever mention I was married to a geek? I’m sure I did. He still owes me a blog post about it {ahem ahem} so I won’t show what the system looks like. What I can show is some of what he’s been growing. Unlike our prize watermelon, these ones are delightful to the palate.
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In other news, Mica and Rinoa have been busy with their summer activities. Rinoa is taking a break from dance and is busy with gymnastics in the morning and swimming lessons in the evening while Mica is still ice skating but is also doing some off ice training this summer which includes ballet, dance performance, and jumps.
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| Here’s Rinoa in her tumbling class. It was taken in the second floor viewing deck behind a dust-filled glass. Before I got the right camera settings, she had moved to an obstructed location. So this is the best I can show for now. |
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| Last week, Mica skipped her off ice training to spend time with some friends. They spent their days swimming in a quiet, peaceful lake near her friend’s house. (Photos taken by Mica’s friend.) |
Alas, not all summer days are fun. For one thing, I have sun allergy – too much sun exposure and I get itchy, red rashes. I know I can’t win. In the winter, I’m blue and in the summer, I’m red – haha! And the past few days, Rinoa and I haven’t been feeling well. My nose is clogged, my eyes are watery, and my throat is sore – feels like I swallowed a large frog which got stuck on its way down! But I’m sure all these ill-health will pass soon.
How are you spending your summer days?
Life with Dexter
Posted on | July 8, 2010 | 13 Comments
We’ve had Dexter for almost two months now. And even though it took me a while before agreeing to having a dog in the house, I must admit that I’m glad we have one now. For one thing, it’s teaching my girls responsibility. For example, Mica wakes up early in the morning to take Dexter out in the yard. She also takes care of feeding Dexter and making sure he has fresh water all the time. Rinoa helps train Dexter with simple commands and makes sure he doesn’t pee in the house since he’s not completely potty-trained yet.
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Dexter is just so full of personality that it’s really hard not to love him – even though he chewed and destroyed my living room rug yesterday. {Grrr!} He’s definitely a part of our family.
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As you can see, he loves to cuddle! He would rest his head on one of our laps and just fall asleep that way.
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For those torn between pleasing your kids with a pet puppy and not liking the idea of added responsibility, I say give it a go. You’d be surprised at how much it completes the family. Of course, you’d have to give up the idea of maintaining a picture perfect house but, if you have kids, then that ship has sailed a long time ago. {wink}
Mixed Media Technique: Singed Art + A Very Funny Story
Posted on | June 22, 2010 | 6 Comments
In the cover of my Nostalgia Art Journal, I’ve incorporated some burnt book pages. Burning is an interesting way to add an aged, weathered look to art projects. I like the unpredictable results I get from burning paper.
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The scheduled brownouts in my hometown when I was a child gave lots of opportunities to play with a candle as a creative tool. (Not that I have pyro tendencies or anything.) Until now, I use a candle, placed near the kitchen sink, to burn paper for my projects. So far, I haven’t set off any of our smoke detectors yet – but I do warn my family when I’m doing my burning so they don’t get alarmed when they smell smoke.
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| Bird’s Nest Altered Tin Can |
Here’s another project where I incorporated singed art. It’s an altered tin can for a swap I’m participating in this month. For this project, I experimented with scraps of fabric. It’s fascinating to see how different types of fabric react to burning. I like how most of the fabric I used just curls up and ‘caramelizes’ under heat.
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Speaking of smoke detectors, I have a funny story to tell – of course, at the time this story happened (around 8 or so years ago), it wasn’t quite funny. Here’s what happened in the words of my husband Troy …
Ahh vacation. We were in California, bunking at our Aunt and Uncle’s newly built house in the fabulous Chino Hills area. I had gotten up at the crack of noon as my lovely and talented wife was preparing to bake a fresh batch of homemade cookies. She’s a fantastic baker and wanted to surprise everyone when they returned home from work later that day. There was a constant clattering in the kitchen as Johwey rifled through drawers and cabinets trying to find the necessary utensils and supplies. Suddenly there was a loud, high pitched squeal-like beeping that was so obnoxiously shrill that I nearly gouged out my own ears. I noticed Johwey’s scramble pattern in the kitchen change up a bit, apparently she noticed the beeping too. What a God-awful sound for an oven timer I thought. Were the cookies done? Not quite.
Cousin DJ came rushing down the stairs, dripping wet and wearing nothing but a towel, screaming something about the neighbors house being on fire and all the neighbors were already outside. This is when we realized that the beeping was a fire alarm and that the fire was inside the kitchen. Thick black smoke was rolling out of the sides of the oven door as flames snuck out from the bottom and licked the front of the oven. My 3rd grade fire safety training immediately kicked in and I stopped dropped and rolled my way off the couch and into the kitchen. I slipped my hands through the fire and flames and turned the gas knob of the oven to ‘Off’. Within seconds the flames subsided, but smoke continued to roll from the lower broiler area of the oven. Johwey came running with some oven mitts and opened the broiler, pulling out the smoldering mass of blackness. “You broiled the cookies!?!?”, I thought.
“Oh DAAAYYYYYUMMMMMMM!”, DJ exclaimed in his best LA Club Kid voice, which was how he sounded anyway at the time. “My mom keeps all of the kitchen towels in the oven, you didn’t take them out??”
In a kitchen with dozens of cabinets, the towels were stored in the broiler pan. Needless to say, Johwey never finished her cookies, and we spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning the smoke stains off the never-before-used oven.
Our Fairy Garden
Posted on | June 7, 2010 | 13 Comments
There’s this movie, Fairy Tale: A True Story, loosely based on an event that happened in England during World War I where two cousins discovered fairies in their garden and took pictures to prove they exist. After watching it with my family, I was inspired to create a fairy garden for Mica and Rinoa.
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| It sits on a large planter that I placed just outside our front porch so that every time Mica and Rinoa walk in and out the front door, they can see it. I originally used some Bratz furniture that Rinoa wasn’t using but the girls complained that the chair I used was too big for a fairy, so we replaced it with smaller furniture. Those tall, bright red-orange and pink flowers would have been the perfect height for the Bratz chair. Oh well. I also used some plants that won’t grow taller than 4 inches to keep up with the miniature theme. |
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| You gotta have cake! |
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| A well to get water when the fairies get thirsty. |
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| Some benches for fairy-size birds to perch on. |
Ok, so those furniture didn’t take in rain very well. The legs of the benches and table collapsed so I had to recall them so I can superglue them first. In the meanwhile, I put the original Bratz furniture back (mwahaha) …
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| This one is plastic so rain is not going to bother it. And I left the cake just in case some fairies visit while I mend the other furniture. |
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| So which one do you prefer, the Bratz chair or the smaller balsa wood furniture collection? |
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Rinoa: Why are we making a garden for fairies? I know fairies are not real. Am I right, Mommy?
Mommy: Well, we don’t know that for sure. I’ve never seen one but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. What I want is for you to learn to feed your im-ah-gi-nay-shun.
Rinoa: What does that mean?
Mommy: I want you to imagine there are fairies around. Now, wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a resting place for them when they pass by our house?
Rinoa: {Eyes getting wide with excitement} Oh yeah! Well then it’s good that we have cake for them. {Then in her sassy voice} But Mommy, the cake is not real!
Mommy: Remember, we’re just using our im-ah-gi-nay-shun.
Rinoa: What will they drink when they get thirsty from eating the cake?
Mommy: They can get some water from the well.
Rinoa: But Mommy {in her sassy voice again}, there’s not even a hole in the well.
Mommy: {Sighs}
Rinoa: I know, I know, ‘use my im-ah-gi-nay-shun’. {Smiles}
Mommy: Remember, when you use your imagination, anything is possible. {Hugs}
Conversations with Rinoa
Posted on | May 27, 2010 | No Comments
{Rinoa and I were in the bathroom one morning getting ourselves ready to start the day. The night before, Rinoa woke up crying and complaining that her ear hurt.}
Mommy: {Putting toothpaste on Rinoa’s toothbrush} How are you feeling? Does your ear still hurt?
Rinoa: {Getting ready to brush her teeth} No. I feel better.
Mommy: Good. I don’t like it when you’re in pain.
Rinoa: Well, I don’t want you to die.
{Rinoa has this fear of Troy and I dying and not being with us anymore. We’ve had several similar conversations about death before and, every time, I would make her understand that it is not something to be feared. But this particular morning, I strayed from my usual reply.}
Mommy: I’m not going to die!
Rinoa: You are when you’re old.
Mommy: I’m not THAT old!
Rinoa: But you WILL be.
Mommy: And so will you.
Rinoa: Yes, but I’m far from getting old.
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{Rinoa found a small black box in the drawer and was curious about it.}
Rinoa: Mommy, what’s in this box?
Mommy: A keychain.
Rinoa: Whose is it?
Mommy: It’s Daddy’s.
Rinoa: Where did he get it?
Mommy: He got it from -
Rinoa: Oh, I know! From China! I didn’t know Daddy went to China.
Mommy: Daddy didn’t go to China and {confused} why do you say it’s from China?
Rinoa: Because in the back it says ‘made in China’.
{Troy actually got it from Vegas.}
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| More pictures from Sunday afternoon. |
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Feels Like Summer
Posted on | May 24, 2010 | 5 Comments
| On this hot, humid Sunday, an afternoon of gardening became a ‘hose spraying’ party, leaving two girls {and a daddy} soaking wet! |
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World Meet Dexter
Posted on | May 18, 2010 | 7 Comments
After months and months of endless pleading from the girls, I finally caved in. World say hello to Dexter, our new 3-month old Boston Terrier.
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Mica: “Mommy, can we name him Sirius?”
Mommy: “Sounds too much like ‘Serious’.”
Mica: “How about Lupen?”
Mommy: “Ah, no.”
Rinoa: “How about Harry?”
Mommy: “No.”
Daddy: “How about Guinness? He’s the same color as a Guinness.”
Mica: “Nooo.”
Daddy: “How about Stout?”
Mica: “No.”
So why Dexter? You know, Dexter Morgan, the Blood Splatter Specialist from Miami.
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| Thanks to Grandpa for buying him for the girls. |
Rinoa: “Mommy, I’m so happy that we finally have a puppy!”
Mommy: “I’m glad.”
Happy Mother’s Day
Posted on | May 10, 2010 | No Comments
Recovering from a nasty flu that spread through our household like wildfire. Troy and the girls were sad that we all had to be sick on Mother’s Day weekend since they made plans to surprise me. We did manage to have brunch out on Mother’s day, though we couldn’t eat much. I still felt the love.
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| To all the wonderful moms out there in the world, Happy Mom’s Day! |
Another Lost Tooth
Posted on | May 5, 2010 | 5 Comments
Remember this? Well, seven days later, Rinoa lost another tooth. This time, she was terrified because her gum bled all over. She’s growing up so fast. Sob. Sob.
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Rinoa: Aaawww, I keep forgetting to put my tooth under the pillow. {Pauses} Mommy, do you think the Tooth Fairy will still give me money if I put my tooth under the pillow tonight?
Mommy: I’m sure she will.
Rinoa: {Smiles} Well, if I’m supposed to get $5 for the first tooth, then the Tooth Fairy owes me $10 because I’m giving her two now.
Mommy: Who said she’s going to give you $5 for every tooth? {Not liking the thought of dishing out 10 bucks.}
Rinoa: Mica said she got $5 for every tooth she put under her pillow.
Mommy: Aahhh. Well, I think it depends on how generous the Tooth Fair feels.
Rinoa: {Thoughtful} Mommy, how can the Tooth Fairy enter our house if the doors and windows are locked?
Mommy: She has magic powers.
Rinoa: Can I wait for the Tooth Fairy tonight? I want to meet her.
Mommy: I don’t think she’ll come if she knows you’re awake.
Rinoa: Why?
Mommy: I don’t think she wants anybody to see her.
Rinoa: Why?
Mommy: Maybe she’s shy.
Rinoa: So you’ve never seen the Tooth Fairy?
Mommy: Nope.
Rinoa: So how do you know the Tooth Fairy is a ’she’ if no one has ever seen her?
Mommy: {Stumped} Hmmm. I don’t know. I guess the Tooth Fairy might be a ‘he’. Go to sleep.
Rinoa: Ok. Good night.
Birthday Celebrations and a Lost Tooth
Posted on | April 26, 2010 | 3 Comments
We celebrated Mica’s 13th birthday last weekend. Yep, she’s officially a teenager. Time to tighten the reins. Kidding, of course!
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At the same time, Rinoa lost her first tooth. She was so excited – she kept saying “I’m really growing up now!” How much did the Tooth Fairy give her? Well, she would have given her $5 if only Rinoa would remember to put it under her pillow at night.
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© 2006-2010 Johwey Redington.
Please don't steal my text or images, it's disrespectful and you'll be subjet to karma! If you want to use any of the images, please email me for a written permission. Thank you.
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