Deck Table Assembly Adventures

Tomato loves to copy his Daddy.  Pete was assembling our deck table, and Tomato wanted to get in on the action!  Here's a few pictures of Tomato's Deck Table Assembly Adventure.

Humm, this little thing fits in these holes.  

This is your glove.

I guess it's mine now.

This bigger one fits in too!

Still having fun.

They took away my screwdriver!!!!  How could they!!!!???

Enjoying snacks with a friend on the completed table.

Gender Reveal Adventure

It's offical.  Tomato is going to be a big brother in August.  We hosted a gender reveal party for our family/friends/neighbors.  I'm pretty proud of how the event turned out.  It was a bee theme so we served everything that was, in some way, yellow or bee themed

BarBEEque Pulled Pork
BarBEEque Beans
BarBEEque Meatballs

Potato Salad
Corn and Black Bean Salad

Carmel Cheesecake Stingers
Lemon Squares
Honeycomb Cereal
Pineapple and Blackberry Skewers

Honey Lemonade

I think that from now on a big bowl of Honeycomb cereal will be a staple at kid events around here.  Let's just say that it was a hit with the under 5 crowd.



And of course, a cake.  I managed to get it into a honeycomb shape.

I took a few pictures of the dessert table, but only a partial one of the rest of the food.  Ah well.  It looked nice, I promise.

The reveal itself was via pinata.  Unfortunately we did this a couple weeks ago and it was a little cold out so we had to do it all inside.  Luckily, that's why we have a basement!

Yup, that's blue candy you see.  It'll be another boy!   Tomato wanted to horde all the ball-shaped candy.  He didn't realize that it was candy.  He kept trying to throw and bounce them.

The due date is August 20th.  We are so excited to add another member to our adventure!

Coomer Farm Adventure

It's the spring again and we have emerged from hibernation.  You'll see in the pictures that little Tomato is not so little anymore.  Well, he's still little, just not AS little as the previous post.

Last weekend we went to an open house at Coomer Farm.  Everyone was super nice and Tomato loved seeing all the animals.

He got to pet a horse and a baby chick.  He loves El Pollito Pio's song "Pio Pio" (the joys of having a Spanish-speaking au pair includes Spanish kids' songs).  Pollito means little chicken so petting a little chicken was super cool for him.

We also got to see some pigs, a cow, a big turkey and a very spunky little goat.

I thought it was super cool that Coomer Farm had an open house.  It was nice to see all the animals!

Easter Egg Hunt Adventure

We went over to West Park in Carmel for their Easter Egg hunt.  Karen (our au pair) came along too for the cultural experience.  Zander waited mostly patiently for his turn to hunt/scramble for eggs.  While we were waiting we went to check out the Easter Bunny.  Let's just say that Zander was not impressed.

That Easter Bunny is big and SCARY!

Karen with Zander and the Easter Bunny

We went to play on the park equipment and then got a nice banana as a snack.  Zander liked that better than the Easter Bunny.

There were several fields with eggs layed out (for different age brackets).  Zander and Daddy wandered the rest of the park while Karen and I held his spot.

Waiting for time to hunt

Then it was time for the hunt/scramble.

Look at them thar eggs!

I got one!

Humm...what is it?

I shall put it in my basket!

And more eggs!

Zander wasn't allowed the candy inside the eggs so we gave it to Karen instead.  More cultural exchange.

All in all, our first Easter Egg Hunt was a success.  As long as that scary bunny stays away!

Emergency Preparation Adventure

The last thing we want to think about is disaster.  But, sometimes, a little planning ahead can give you peace of mind.  I hope none of you ever actually need to use your kit.  The start of a new year is a good time to think about such things!

Have a plan:

• Have an emergency kit and keep it in a designated place. If you do need to evacuate, you will want to take your kit with you and if you may not be able to spend even a few minutes running around and gathering supplies.
• For us, some of the kit items overlap with what we take camping.  I keep those items slightly separated from the other camping supplies so that I could grab them quickly.  For example: sleeping bags and blankets and our first aid kit.
• Have a safe meet-up place in case your family is not together when disaster strikes.
• Fill out the FEMA Emergency Plan and make sure every member of the family knows the plan.
• Understand the emergency plan at work and your child's school.

Basic Emergency Kit Supplies:

• Water - You'll need at least three gallons per person -- one gallon per person for three days
• Food - Enough to live on for three days.  Good ideas are:
• Canned fruit and vegetables
• Peanut butter
• Jam
• Low-salt crackers
• Cookies
• Cereals
• Nuts
• Dried fruit
• Canned soup or meats
• Juices
• Baby food and formula if you have a baby
• Food and water for your pets
• First aid kit (I keep my normal first aid kit near my emergency kit, no need for two)
• Various sized sterile gauze pads
• Various sized  adhesive bandages
• Adhesive tape
• Elastic bandage
• Antiseptic wipes
• Hand cleaner
• Antibiotic ointment
• Antiseptic solution (like hydrogen peroxide)
• Hydrocortisone cream (1%)
• Acetaminophen and Ibuprofen
• Antihistamine
• Tweezers
• Sharp scissors
• Safety pins
• Instant cold packs
• Calamine lotion
• Alcohol wipes or ethyl alcohol
• Thermometer
• Plastic non-latex gloves (at least 2 pairs)
• Blankets and/or sleeping bags -  I leave our camping bedding supplies near the emergency kit.  Ready to go!
• Moist towelettes, garbage bags and plastic ties for personal sanitation.
• Pictures of each family member in case you are separated or someone is not home when the disaster happens. (for bonus points, also put these pictures in each family member's go bag).  Don't rely on your phone for this.
• Basic Tools
• Manual Can opener
• Flashlight
• Radio – battery operated
• Batteries

Bonus Points:

• Create a go-bag for each family member and a go-bag for your pets
• Warm clothes, hat/gloves and rain gear
• Personal hygiene items including toilet paper, feminine supplies, hand sanitizer and soap
• ID
• Whistle
• Dust mask
• Pocket knife (for those old enough)
• Emergency cash
• Photos of family members and pets (for identification purposes)
• Some water and food
• Copy of health insurance and identification cards
• Toothbrush/toothpaste
• Copy of your family's filled out FEMA Emergency Plan
• Cell phone charger and an extra charge cell phone battery
• Water Purification system
• Plastic sheeting, duct tape and utility knife for covering broken windows
• Tools such as a crowbar, hammer & nails, staple gun, adjustable wrench and bungee cords.
• Large heavy duty plastic bags and a plastic bucket for waste and sanitation
• Permanent marker, paper and tape
• List of emergency point-of -contact phone numbers
• Extra prescription eye glasses, hearing aid or other vital personal items
• Extra keys to your house and vehicle

Maintenance:

• Check the food, water and batteries every six months to make sure that they are still good
• Store in a cool dry place.
• Keep new items towards the back and older items towards the front.

Resources:

• http://72hours.org/
• http://www.ready.gov
• http://kidshealth.org/parent/firstaid_safe/home/firstaid_kit.html

Taste of Indy Adventure

Taste of Indy was July 5th.  It was downtown by the White River State Park.
It's a great festival featuring an army of food trucks and some live entertainment.  We went early for lunch.

Tomato enjoyed the pulled pork nachos and running around looking at the river.

Tomato also tried some of my tamale, but it was a little bit too spicy for him.  Ooops.

Afterwards we took a walk through the White River State Garden.  All in all it was a great day with the family here in Indiana!

"Ready to Pop" Baby Shower Adventures

It's our first post where Tomato is not the star.  Instead, my little sister is!   Meet Meg who is expecting a little boy in the back half of July.


We had  a "Ready to Pop" themed baby shower for my sister Meg!  And at 36 weeks she feels ready to pop but she looks super cute (she gets that from me).  My sister Ashleigh and I along with my mom organized the party for her.  Ashleigh had it at her house and we worked together on the food and decor.

I love themes for parties.  It helps organize all the ideas around the theme.  Or at least that is what I think!

Homemade Pop Tarts (Triple batch)

Poppy Seed Ham Sandwiches

Buffalo Chicken Dip with Pops of Color (from bell peppers...also I added Kiefer to make it a little thinner)

Tomato Pops

Popcorn Bar (Kettle Corn, Caramel, Cheese)

Pop Rocks

Lolly Pops

Rice Krispy Pops

 

One of my favorite parts was a pop bar and blow pop "martinis" where you put a blow pop in sprite.

Well, I loved the popcorn bar too.  

We played a few games.  Guess the Baby Animal, Word Scramble, and a game where we blew up balloons and whoever was the closest in size to Meg's tummy won a prize.  

There was also Gift Bingo, of course.  

The prizes continued the pop theme with an assortment of bubble baths, a mini bottle of champagne (for those over 21 winners) and random nice smelling bath things.

 We ordered the cake and had them put balloons to continue the theme.

The favors were two Cake Pops (which almost killed me)

We also had a guest book where people wrote messages on a piece of paper and we turned that into a balloon picture.  I modified the base from this site and my other sister cut out card stock circles.

And we had people sign funny notes to diapers. 

Once again, another great day in Indiana!