date night

We just saw the new Batman movie. It's not bad. This is the first date night for my husband and I since my mom left. My husband's friend Omar and his wife offered to babysit Eli. Their son Henry-Pete is just a couple months older. We thought they could be good playmates. I admit at first I had the first time parent paranoia, but I decided I didn't want to be the mom that keeps her kids in a bubble. We hung out at Omar's place for a while before we headed out for the movie to make sure Eli was okay. He quickly warmed up to Omar's family. He had such a great time with them. Looks like there will be many more play dates for Eli and Henry-Pete.

cans

I was shopping at the dollar general today and saw this. I was mesmerized.

just feel like venting

I don't understand grown men and their computer games. It's not like I don't know how to have fun or enjoy life, but how is staring at the screen shooting things and people fun? Besides, computer games can be very time consuming and take your time away from your family. I wonder if they will ever grow out of it.

crafty mind

I have been trying to be crafty, but I haven't had much time lately. Also I'm not as motivated as I hope to be. The first thing I need to do to get my crafty spirit going is to create a craft work space for myself. We have a big basement that's not being used much right now. We just need to install some good lighting down there. I also need a nice big table to do all my drawing and cutting. I want a table with simple design, a smooth top with four straight legs. Once I get that, I will need a new sewing machine and few sewing supplies then I will be good to go. We will see if we can get this going in the next couple months.

videos

I love laughing baby videos. It's more fun when it's your baby. Eli has a low laughing point. Here all I have to do is to brush my hair against his hands, somehow he thinks that's funny. The other two are Eli crawling. Hurray for reaching another milestone!

baking and cooking

I had a sudden craving for cheesecake yesterday, and I used a recipe from Martha Stewart living to make a cheesecake with blueberry topping. This is the simplest cheesecake recipe I have ever made, yet it's so rich and creamy. After putting Eli to sleep, I stayed up to bake the cheesecake. This tells you how bad I wanted it. I was so tempted to take a bite after it came out of the oven, but of course every baker knows you have to refrigerate a cheesecake for at least eight hours or overnight before it can reach the right consistency. I didn't go to bed until one in the morning, and I had to wake up at five to feed Eli. Although I was very sleepy, I couldn't help but to serve myself a slice of cheesecake before I went back to bed. That was good breakfast. For lunch today, I made a curry chicken salad sandwich. I used the recipe from my friend Amanda. I chose to use a store bought rotisserie chicken instead of making my own, and I think it added extra flavor.

jayhawks baby

fourth of july

this week's photos

Rose garden

My new favorite pastime

Eli has been making this face lately while teething

photos by amanda lucero

You can find her at APL Photography.