so.....you want to be a Tico

you will need really good food

don't forget the black beans and rice

these are necessary to make any Costa Rican meal complete

**she couldn't understand why the boyz got moostashes & she didn't, so she got a little birthmark to satisfy**

***his stash started out a little hitleresque**no prob we just made it bigger*** we had to wash it off shortly after the photo's...he was trying to eat it***

well you will need some facial hair

real or painted--either works

hey Pura Vida ya know

but mostly you will need to have a good time

yup

PURA VIDA

happy independence day 

COSTA RICA

for the recipe click here

Happy Costa Rica Independence Day

Happy Costa Rica Independence Day

tomorrow you can see how we celebrated

Funny Monday

a funny thing happened the other day........

Emeline just about got kicked out of nursery......apparently she was hitting the other children then immediately following the blow with "I sorry", over and over again

she's got another 2 years in the big N hope she can manage not to be expelled

Got any delinquent kidz ?

Spill it !

SACK's ON

my grandpa used to play
this
game....he called it sacks on
he would yell
"sack's on"
then all the kids would jump on
next he would shake them all off
well this has definitely been handed down
my brood loves this game
doesn't Angelo look like he is having the time of his life?

****note from the author****
my mother's friend took a picture she had of her father in a very similar position to the one above and created a painting of it
it is exquisite and has been hanging above the piano in our home for as long as I can remember

*****note from the author--part 2******
no Babies were hurt during the filming/ "the boss" was simply added for the picture

FACINATING...FACINATION....um...consumed

I need to come clean

i am addicted

i am crazy addicted to watching these furry creatures

my friend

gave us these caterpillars to watch as they form cocoons and ultimately become

Butterfly's

i thought this would be great for the kids

turns out

it is GREAT

for me

i cannot take my eyes off of these creepy crawlers
last night i spent more than and hour just watching

for real

hey before you judge, try it

it is amazing

i simply cannot wait

what a tranformation

we have 3 in cocoons and more to go

HOORAY

while i was watching our new friends

the boss got into the oatmeal

hey it didn't even faze me........in fact not much has been fazing me

caterpillars=prozac?

don't go off your meds or anything...i'm just sayin'

Funny Monday.....evening

Okay Okay

I have been working on launching

WIFERIE

so funny Monday was delayed

we have one funny story which if you know my AUnt would make you roll

and with out further adieu

here is mine

i heard the small voice of my only daughter from upstairs

"don't touch my booty !"

"MOM, he is touching my booty"

"Jaxson, give my my booty"

"mom..dad jaxson has my booty"

Turns out Jaxson had her Sleeping "Beauty" Doll

the Mr. and I rolled over that one for awhile

Your Turn

YOUR TURN

y o u r t u r n

how do you know you are a {momparrazi}: when even your children's playtime becomes a photo shoot

I excuse my addiction

"one day they will love these pictures.. if they don't their spouse will...right"

"I blame them...they don't have to be so cute...do they"

a quote by Anias Nin says

"we write to taste life twice......."

maybe I {momparrazi} to taste life twice

***attention grandmas you can print these out, just click on the image first then save in larger format***

{ Right of Passage }

so this is how the a m went

I awoke to Jaxson

"mom can I go get in the shower"

"yup"

about 20 minutes later

"mom, I'm all dressed and I made my breakfast, prayed, & ate, I'm ready when you are"

the time was now 8:00 a m

school starts at 9:10 a m

So, he played while I

fed the other kids

bathed the other kids

and showered myself

next we got the bikes ready for the ride to school

back pack on

(my emotions were holding)

pictures taken

( I'm still cool as a well... you know)

pleasant ride to the school

kisses & hugs exchanged

fresh kindergartner in Ms. O's line looking

so cool

if you know Jaxson you know he is super independent

I kept it together......for awhile

I really wanted to be cool & calm so he would be

so I did it

as I biked the remaining carvajal's back home

my eyes welled up & there was no turning back

I was CRYING

I really cannot go much more into this

he is home safe, I made it, he had the time of his life

all is well

island living....may be for me

we took the kingston ferry over to Whidbey Island this weekend
on the way to the ferry we listened to Emme sing

the kids had a blast on the ferry
they couldn't believe we got to drive our car onto the boat

( the boss & me August 30,2008)

Jaxson enjoyed the view from the window

When we got to the Island we headed over to a little place a friend recommended

alas it was closed

yes some restaurants close at 4:00pm on a Saturday

As I gazed in the window of The Braeburn longing to go inside & sit on the perfectly mismatched chairs , I realized that we were no longer on the mainland

A reflection that I had, had a hint of before while driving past the picturesque homes boasting not only square footage but acreage

We were now on island time, the whole island just went with the flow as if every ones ipod was on a perpetual loop of three little birds you know the song Bob Marley

don't worry about a thing

So after a quick moment of silence for my lost experience, I just didn't worry! I said to Angelo well people here got to eat on Saturday night too right

so we were off to find food......5 of us still had tummies that NEEDED to be fed

much to our relief the local pizza place was situated beautifully boasting a views that surpassed many beach resorts

"5 and a baby"

"oh well it may be awhile"

"sure, we can wait, no prob"

finally seated

orders taken

view enjoyed

drinks delivered

crayons going

we over hear the group at the table next to us

in full complaint mode

" I can't believe this food is taking so long"

"this place is so slow"

we over heard the above comments then realized these people were here from "the city"

I bet when they ventured over to the island they wanted to slow down, have a relaxing dinner, & enjoy

so why was it that they couldn't

well here is what I noticed

Dad was working with his laptop, ignoring everyone & inserting " I'm so hungrys" and " what kind of service is this" ' s every so often

Mom was trying to calm the hungry child with a whole bag full of toys and snacks

the Kid was strapped into a stroller wanting nothing but to be released from the seat belt to explore

so I guess it is true you never can take a vacation from yourself

because everywhere you go

there you will be

I am glad that the Carvajal's are the kind of people that enjoy being with themselves anywhere if that makes any sense at all



Which brings me to the FOOD

I think when I am in heaven I will eat this pizza every night

It was truly the BEST pizza I have every had

complete with feta cheese, roma tomatoes, pesto, basil, & artichoke hearts

you can believe I will be trying to make this in the near future---maybe even tonight

THANK YOU WHIDBEY

***note from the author***

i spent the entire way back to the ferry trying to convince Angelo that taking the ferry to work wasn't so bad & that he should buy me a farm on the afore mentioned island where I could raise chickens, grow my own organic produce, & be a bicycle egg saleswomen

A BIG ROUND of APPLAUSE

I Laughed Out Loud

Thank You

Thank You

Thank You

Thank You

Thank You

FUnNY MoNdaY was really funny

packed with 2100 lb women, nut houses, babies tap dancing on pianos & the ever hysterical potty mouthed child

**it is never to late to add a story**

I hope this gives you something to look forward to on Monday

I can truly say now

I LOVE MONDAY

funny Monday

A Funny thing happened the other day..............

Jaxson said his bottom chin was hurt, when questioned the bottom chin turned out to be his HEEL

YOUR TURN **** YOUR TURN
YOUR TURN **** YOUR TURN
YOUR TURN **** YOUR TURN
YOUR TURN **** YOUR TURN
YOUR TURN **** YOUR TURN
YOUR TURN **** YOUR TURN

my long lost sister

the zoo

was great fun

the favs included

monkeys swingin'

zebras grazin'

jaguars starin'

bears jumpin'

but our absolute favorite

was this compulsive cleanin'

ORANGUTAN

she cleaned for so long

I finally got out the cam to video the tail end

I hope you enjoy the video as much as we enjoyed watching this

obsessive animal

just another pretty face??

Well if you were to ask Jaxson

the answer would be NO

I'm really not his type

so I am really working on being MORE

LOL

yeah I know you probably aren't following

so let me lay it out

My comment section has been wack

and I have played the blame game

instead of looking into it

well......

I AM SORRY

I think that the PROB is rectified

now

I think so

if you have any more problems

please feel free to place the blame

where it should be

on

ME

and let me know

GRACIAS

Me

AMIGOS

Here am I, this is me there is no where else on earth I'd rather be

sitting in front of the compu

trying to be cleaver

nothing

so here I sit

heading to ...

...the zoo

knowing..

... 2 Grandmas await pictures

I should fulfill the request

...kids are waiting

dreaming of ..

...CHOCOLATE

...new shoes

thinking about...

...SEWING

...what to make for dinner

wishing ...

... my comments contained MORE funny stories
to buoy me up

...for a haircut

pedicure

and

a massage

needing...

...stiches?? cut my finger pretty bad while preparing snacks for the zoo

...to post pics of the bambino's

for the abuelas

... to move away from the computer

on my lap..

.a babe snoring with milk driping from his toothless mouth

outside is...

beautiful grey

green

windy

looking like rain

is MONDAY funny......well from NOW on it is

So today we are going to try something

new
it goes like this
I say a funny thing happened the other day........

then you say ( in the comment section)

something like

..........I found myself blow drying & round brushing the hair of a " my little pony "

or

........my 33 year old friend got asked if she would like a kids menu ( the joy of being 4'11)

or

.....my kids wanted me to replace their father with a guy who has a MOOstash and spent the entire dinner planning for the replacement DAD

then WE ALL LAUGH

and yes laughing out loud is recommended

see here

Sleepless in Seattle

okay I have had a few babies

but I will readily admit

I am not an expert

especially where teething in involved

The BOSS

is Sleepless

which as you may have inferred

means I am as well

We...the two of us are resenting

our state of "unrest"

if you have any magical ideas

please share

Teething tablets are OUT

a recent discovery showed caffeine to be an ingredient

so we have been using some baby orajel

the prob seems to be that it needs re-application throughout the night and into the wee hours of the AM

so this is my shout out

please if you have any hints to prevent our sleeplessness here in Seattle

feel free to post any and all ideas in the comment section

sorry this is not so romantic as the cinema version

what can I say

This is how Glamorous my life is

don't be to envious

really

just another dinner post

My new friend Eryn served her mission in Japan and when she came over for the girls night she taught us how to make this great summer dish

I couldn't remember everything she did so I improvised a bit

But it turned out great so here you go

here is what you need

3 eggs

1 carrot

1 cucumber

( I used an English cucumber, but reg will work)

tomatoes ( not pictured)

I added Tofu

cut the carrots, cucumber, & tomato

press tofu

then brown each side in a bit of olive oil

stir eggs in separate container then put in a frying pan with a little olive oil

flip until both sides are done then cut in strips

boil spaghetti noodles

drain

add a bit of olive oil

about 1/3 cup of brown sugar

about 1/2 cup of soy sauce

5 of 6 garlic cloves pressed

place noodles in bowl

add cut veggies, tofu, & eggs

and ENJOY !!!!

I am not great at recipes

mostly I just throw ingredients in until it tastes good

I hope the amounts work for you

Let me know how it goes !!

a moment

a friend who I went to elementary, junior high, & high school with

was in a plane accident

she along with her husband are in critical condition burn unit

and the flight instructor was killed in the crash

We have not been close the last years but I have checked her blog daily as she is creative, stylish, & all in all very inspiring. She and her husband have 4 children, two boyz and two girlz.

I have always felt very connected to her because when I was pregnant with our first daughter Emma she was pregnant with her first Claire. We lost Emma & she had Claire very close to Emma's due date. I have loved to see her daughter grow older, it has felt like a piece of Emma still exists for me.

I cannot even find words to describe the sadness I felt at hearing of the accident. Even now I sit trying to put words together to express my thoughts, I cannot.

I guess I would just like to request that you all keep her in your prayers.

You can find details here

and in her sister's blog here

Depressed..Depression.......

Jaxson has asked to go on numerous & various bike rides this week

all of which I couldn't get the energy up for

so for the last few days I have been bummin' around the house

with

NO...ZERO...ZIP

energy

yes, I have still ironed all the male family members shirts

yes, I made delectable blueberry crumble bars ( fresh blueberries)

yes, I cleaned the house ( 2 weeks without toilets cleaned, you can imagine)

yes, I finally got the laundry caught up

yes, I nursed a chunkarific baby

( shirt courtesy of my cuz Natalie, THANK YOU ! we love it)

yes, I took this lot to the Seattle Aquarium

( the boss was on my back, thus not pictured)

yes, I have manicured & pedicured all the children who bare my husbands last name

yes, I held a mini disco party in my garage ( with just the carvajal kids)

**plans for a disco ball and a genuine back to school bash to come

yes, I scouted weekend activities

but all was done with with my limbs draggin'

I thought I was depressed , you know I had to do good byes again

It was a lot of EMOTION

then

this AM

Liam threw up in his cereal

you know

upchucked

spewed

lost his lunch

reliquished his cookies

the big V

Yep....I have never been so relieved

I am not DEPRESSED........

I am SICK

hooray, I am sure that a little residual depression is hangin' out inside me

but I think with a little R&R

I should be up and riding again

much to Jaxson's felicity

******note from the author******

I am fulfilling a request to post recipes with my pics

Blueberry Crumb Bars

INGREDIENTS

1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup shortening
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)
1 pinch ground cinnamon (optional)
4 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup white sugar
3 teaspoons cornstarch



DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch pan.
In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, and baking powder. Mix in salt and cinnamon, if desired. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the shortening and egg. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of dough into the prepared pan.
In another bowl, stir together the sugar and cornstarch. Gently mix in the blueberries. Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer.
Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

Chaucer & Grandma

Chaucer became a "mover" while in Utah

he learned to crawl and pull himself up to standing position

He also learned some housekeeping skills from Grandma

they swept the floor

&

cleaned the fridge

and had an all around great time

His smile & the way he raises his eyebrows when you talk to him

won his Grandma's heart

Back with a ..........well you know

So I think we will go in rewind

the car trip back

was

well

LONG

and

maybe

LONGER

oh and

did

I mention

It was

LONG?

here is some of the scenery from the .... drive

just entering WA

Oregon ( I am pretty sure)

this young man ( Andrew, my bro) declared I could trust him with some driving

BECAUSE HE WAS 17

well in spite of the fact he is 17

I really needed a little r & r

it was a luxury the previous drive didn't provide

thankfully he was cautious and he had neither his first accident or ticket while driving my clan

the sunset in SOUTH SOUTH washington

taken out side of a MC Donalds where aside from bribing my kids with sugared dairy products

We also sustained MULTIPLE mosquito bites

OUCH

The Welcome to WA

was as expected

RAINY

THANK YOU

I lOVE MY PEEPs in UT

But I LOVE my

WA

Weather

Hostage

I hereby commandeer this blog for the following message...(It was tougher than I thought to crack the code though). brand




I hope you don't mind. We just need a way to tide ourselves over while you drive...

for 13 hours...

with 4 kids...

under 6.


WOW, that's special Sarah! We'll be expecting some very cool entries upon your return ma'am.

We love you and will miss you, again.

are we there yet ?.........and other toiletries

(m& the ikea potty somewhere between Seattle, WA & Highland, UT)

Every parent who has driven long distances with children cringes at two questions

"are we there yet?"

&

" can I go potty?"

typical to any long drive the

"are we there yet's & gotta go's " started just after the sound of seat belts clicking faded

but this is not where our story today is going to begin

here we are just one week after the 13 hour + drive

We took a little vacation within our vacation

Destination: Emeline & Edward Cox Family reunion

Location: Castle Dale, Utah

Distance: 122 miles

travel snacks purchased, suitcases reloaded & refreshed, seat belts secured, freeway entered

the are we there yet's commenced then.......... less than 10 minutes passed

shrieks, squeals, groans from the far back

Jaxson yelps "Emeline has pooped"

"It's not just poop MOM"

"It is DIARRHEA"

"Yuck"

"Gross"

"MOM, It really is the big D"

next Andrew (16 yrs old) & Liam join in

"oh yep we smell it"

"gross"

I stubborn to continue the drive question the accused from the driver seat

"Emme did you poop?"

"M are your panties dirty?"

her sly reply that did less than ease my fears

"nope"

"no poop in princess pantine"

So off the freeway the NOT so weary travelers went

stopping at the nearby gas n' go

I careful unbuckle the guilty looking child

ALAS

nothing

not even a little number 1

not a streak

not even a hint of the afore mentioned "big D"

just perfectly laundered princess panties

of course I wasn't going to chance a rerun

so

I took her to the potty

where she confessed

" I farted"

now this may sound like any other time you have heard that slightly offensive word

but I assure you

you have not heard the word farted until you have heard it from the most beautiful blue eyed two year old, with a slight accent on the "Fa"

I laughingly re buckled the falsely accused into her car seat

and we were off, for real this time

the next sound which in a different time and place would send chills down my spine was actually welcomed

"Are We there yet"

I greeted this question like and old friend.........at least no one has the BIG D