Follow-up on Avocado Trees

Yep, I haven't forgotten that I was going to update on how my little avocado tree experiment was going. Well, they are thriving, after Quinton's very diligent watering of them all winter long (we over-wintered them in the jacuzzi tub in my bathroom!)

Unfortunately, my cursory research of them when I first rooted the pits was that with two plants, they would cross-pollinate each other and I would have avocado fruit!! Upon more in-depth research, I have learned that almost no plants rooted from the pits will actually develop fruit - you have to graft in a branch from a producing plant. Plus they take at least 7 years to fruit, and they are a very large tree.

Hmmm... problem is, Antonio is very pro-tree, so he is determined that we should plant them, whether they fruit or not. I'm not sure we have the space for it (actually, I AM sure that we don't!) We'll see if we can come up with a compromise, assuming they can even survive a winter outside.

Fun with the kids

This is a project from my favorite magazine: Family Fun. I had been wanting to do something cute for plant markers, and then this idea was on the cover of their spring issue. I started saving the milk caps, and when I had enough, Quinton and I made them one afternoon. I love how the flies are "saying" what each plant is!



Roman showing off his great smile while eating his lunch.


Domenic at about 1 month.


Roman(pre-haircut) and Abuela.


Quinton and Roman playing "Piano Lessons."


Abuela keeping a close watch on Roman. She adores this little fellow and is very protective of him.



Quinton showing off his "big boy bike" skills!!! Way to go, Quinton!








Quinton frequently asks me how to write a number or a letter. After countless scraps of paper with the numbers on them, I decided that we needed a more permanent solution. I remembered that I used to put my piano music in sheet protectors so that I could write notes on the page protectors instead of the actual sheet music. I used this same idea for Quinton: I printed out free pages that I found on-line for all the letters and the numbers. Then I bought a zippered binder pouch for some dry erase markers. Now he can practice his numbers and letters as much as he wants. When he wants to start over, he simply wipes off the page protector and starts over!




This is a little project that I had been wanting to do with Quinton for a long time, but I didn't have the right container. Then one day we finished off the pretzels, and I said to myself - this would make a perfect piggy bank! So we raided my craft room and Quinton made the little bank with some help from Daddy.



Enjoying a well-deserved lunch after completing the bank. Miraculously, it is still in great shape (miraculous because you should see what that little piggy had been through!)




Roman and Quinton enjoying their water and sand table (I didn't put sand in it - I just put more water in the sand part). Antonio and I wanted to get them a toy as a special surprise after Domenic was born.

Recent Addition

I have already posted most of these on my Facebook page, but for those who don't do facebook, or you want to see little Domenic's adorable face up close, here you go:



About to leave for the hospital. Since I was being induced, we knew exactly when we were heading to the hospital. We were scheduled to show up at 7PM on April 27th. They were going to administer a cervix ripening agent (I was only between 1 and 2 centimeters dialated, and they don't like to start pitocin until you are dialated a little more than that). It was a pretty simple procedure: swallow a teeny pill (actually, it was only a portion of a teeny pill!!!) They gave me some ambien as well to help me sleep because anyone who has spent some time on one of the delivery room beds knows it is not that comfortable!



Domenic Duarte Quesada right after delivery. Domenic's middle name is Antonio's mother's maiden name - both Quinton and Roman have meaningful middle names (Antonio and Joel, respectively), so we wanted to make sure that Domenic also had a middle name with some family history.

He weighed 8lbs, 13 oz (which my mom tells me is exactly what I weighed when I was born!), 21 1/4 inches long. As you can see, he was born with a lot of hair, and six weeks later, it looks like he is going to keep it. Interestingly, he is our biggest baby, but I believe he has the smallest head - thank heavens!!!



Here is Domenic waiting for us to be discharged. The outfit he is wearing was a little big on him, but now he has almost outgrown it, and he is only 7 weeks old!





These pictures were taken a week after he was born. He is a really wonderful baby - adorable, good sleeper, good eater, and only fusses for an hour or two a day for a little extra attention.

It was only a matter of time....

So last night I saw a commercial for Gillette - heralding a new advancement in razors to be announced on June 6 (aka 6/6). Gee, could this be a razor with SIX blades????? Because we all know that 5 is better than 4, 4 better than 3, etc. etc... I am waiting for them to come out with a razor that is so big, it only takes one swipe for a man to shave his entire face!!!

Made me think of a hilarious clip from SNL I saw years ago titled PLATINUM MACH 14: 14-blade razor gives you the closest (and most dangerous) shave there is. (Ferrell). I can't figure out how to find a clip of this spoof, so if anyone knows where to find one, I would love to link it to this post.

Little Projects

Here are some pictures from projects over the last few months.

These are called "snappies" that I saw on Martha Stewart's website. I thought the idea was really cute. You create these little felt creatures and attach a male snap. Then you can attach the corresponding female snap to a shirt or whatever you want (I think this would be really cute on a headband).

I made these for my friend Liz who had twins. As cute as these shirts are, her twins are WAY cuter!









As I have mentioned many times before, I LOVE pretty papers. This is one of those neat origami boxes that uses only folds. I thought it was the neatest idea, although apparently it is a really old one (but new to me!)







For Christmas every year, I like to give all of my piano students a little something. It needs to be something that I can easily do a lot of. This year, I saw these cute snowmen in the Family Fun magazine. They were a lot of fun to make, and I was really pleased that they turned out just like the picture in the magazine!!

Miscellaneous Photos

Quinton always insists on helping me in the kitchen. I was making a lot of roasted garlic, and of course he wanted to help. But not before he crafted his own "nose mask" because he thought the garlic was really stinky!!!



One of the many crafts Quinton brings home from school. This is a turkey hat, which he is modeling upside down. He is at that age when he thinks that sort of thing is so funny!



If you can't read all of these signs, they all essentially say the same thing: "No Mom." He does this whenever he gets mad at me (a.k.a. several times a day). It is a two step process, first he "x's" me, meaning he draws a picture of me then draws a big "X" through it. Then he writes "No MOM" and tapes it up. He was particularly mad at me this day, as is evidenced by the many signs that accumulated... Although I must have redeemed myself at some point, because one of the ones with yellow highlighter actually says "YES Mom", with a check by my face.



Here Quinton is having a tea party with his stuffed animals. So cute!



He loves to play with empty boxes. This one is a car, in case you can't tell. His all-time favorite thing to do is tape several empty coke fridge packs together to create a train. He'll play with it for hours!



At the Halloween party at our Preschool's church.









Halloween Pictures



Adorable Roman



My boys!



Quinton and Roman enjoying a morning banana shake.

Musings on TV, Commercials, Etc...

Lately it seems like there are a lot of ridiculous commercials and shows that just crack me up. Let's start with the commercial campaign by Target which they have been airing recently. You know the ones, where they play hip music and show a mom who is ultra cool - slamming the tetherball around, goofing off with her kids....

But let's get serious, I want to know how many moms would be having as much fun as they claim if your son or daughter started squirting a garden hose at you in the kitchen. Now I know my reaction wouldn't be to grab the sink sprayer and have a fun-loving water fight in the KITCHEN!!!!!!!!! Perhaps I am not shopping at Target enough.

The other commercial that kills me - I can't even remember what it is for (probably a car), about the couple who are out in nature, and then he can't find his sunglasses, so they turn around and retrace their steps. Of course, he finds them in his hoodie after he runs out of a cave full of bats. So, maybe I am just a crabby wife, but if Antonio forgot his sunglasses, I don't think I would be smiling and joking as we spent several hours retracing our steps. I mean, they're sunglasses, buy a new pair!!!!!


My last observation became more solidified after I stubbed my toe a couple of times. Now, if you have stubbed your toe hard lately, you can probably relate the the intense pain that causes. I generally stop walking and wait a moment or two for the pain to subside. Another small physical pain that I get is from broken blood vessels in my hands and feet. I am not exactly sure why it happens, but occasionally, a blood vessel will break in my fingers or palm, and it will be surprisingly uncomfortable - bordering on painful. I mention all of this because I'll watch some TV show where people are being thrown against a wall, punched in the face, kicked in the stomach, etc... and they just get up and keep on fighting. Now if a stubbed toe and a broken blood vessel are enough to make a person pause, are we really to believe that a human being can keep on fighting while a chair is being slammed over their head??? However, that is only the good guys. Everyone knows that bad guys have terrible aim and a much lower tolerance for pain than the good guys. I sure hope this doesn't mean I'm a bad guy!