Ugly cute

Look at what we found in the grocery store:

Are they rotten?  Isn't someone supposed to toss bad produce out? 

Apparently they're supposed to look this way and they taste like a mixture between grapefruits and oranges. I guess you can't tell a piece of fruit from its cover. 

Mix ins

This morning I woke up and felt inspired. So I scrounged around the cupboard and found some items to add into my Saturday morning pancakes.

Walnuts, bananas, oatmeal, craisins, and oreos, oh my!

The fruit of my labor:

Oreo pancake- is it eaten for breakfast or dessert?

Though the process was immensely enjoyable, the products varied in quality.

• Banana and walnut pancakes- Tasty but my bananas looked mushy
• Oatmeal and craisin pancakes- The oatmeal added an interesting gritty texture 
• Oreo pancakes- Sadly, they just tasted like an oreo dropped in pancake batter 

Mix ins- 1
Home cook me- 0
You've bested me this time, mix ins!

Oh Tiffany

Yesterday I ran into a small mishap.  I realized I forgot to register this semester.  Oh no! Three weeks past the registration deadline I was extremely worried and quickly contacted my school.  There, I talked to someone named Tiffany.  Super nice and understanding, she worked everything out.

Here's a poem that I wrote about the situation:

I woke up this morning feeling pretty scared
Forgot to register for my class, how would I fare? 
Waited till nine and dialed my cell,
And hoped and hoped that things would go well,
Then hark, that voice from the registrar's office
No attitude, no berating, no accusing me for my mess
Oh Tiffany, oh Tiffany, so nice, so kind,
Now I won't be kicked out on my big  fat behind.

Friendy produce

I keep hearing that kids need to eat more fruits and vegetables.  Worried about our nation's health, I've come up with a great solution: Friendly fruit and veggies.

Here's my logic:  If we make produce look more appealing, kids will want to eat them.  Still unsure what I'm talking about?  Here's a visual.

Hello kids.  We're friendly oranges.  Please eat us. 

Don't you want to eat them up?

Heartbeat

I recently visited the doctor and heard baby's heartbeat for the first time. 

170 beats per minute- similar to the heart rate of a puppy.

 Puppy picture taken from here

Happy flora and fauna

I think our new bird lamp will fit in with the rest of our "happy-nature" living room decor.  

Two happy ceramic pigs

Happy dancing lizard plates

Happy orange wall decor

Happy stylized flower lamp

Happy wildflower decals

Happy bear table

Two little birds

It's official, hubby has the flu.  We stayed home for the majority of the weekend, but did manage to quickly slip out to visit the thrift store.  (I hope the thrift store ladies don't get sick.)  Look at what we found!  

Quirky and romantic, I've never seen a lamp like this one before.

Two tiny birds rest inside

Feeling paisley

Yesterday hubby was very sick.  I think he has the flu.  Nonetheless, he soldiered on and taught 3 classes.  Here's his outfit from flu-tastic Friday:

How fitting, the paisley pattern reminds me of floating viruses

 Stay healthy!

If I were an animal...

As I progress further along in this pregnancy, I'm starting to see some great similarities between myself and a familiar farm animal:  the cow.

Here are four reasons why I am similar to a cow.

1. Like the cow, I am a grazer. 

2. I also experience interesting digestive issues.

3. The cow and I are on the heavier end of the scale.

4. We both contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.

Frozen lake

Lately it's been so cold that parts of Lake Michigan are frozen. Interested in seeing this phenomena, we visited our local state park and took some photos. 

Meet Big Red, our local lighthouse

Can you tell where the land ends and the water begins?

Rocks engulfed in ice

The lake's frozen beauty tempted us to walk out,  but fear kept our feet planted on solid ground

 

Best hour

Guess what?

I'm pregnant.

Today hubby and I met our baby for the first time.  It took the doctor over an hour to take photos and make specific measurements.

It was one of the best hours of my life.

Baby lying on his/her side

Baby's bum and frog-like legs

Baby raising it's fist

 Baby, we can't wait to meet you.

Dr. Seuss, I presume?

Yesterday we visited our local museum's exhibit of Dr. Seuss's personal works. 

I love how they painted the walls "Cat in the hat" style.

Using feathers to play drums?  Only Seuss could imagine such brilliant silliness.

One of his more serious pieces

This one is so magical and comforting

I hope to look like this during the summer

These funny captions kept our mouths smiling and our hands off the art

Crossword

Happy Valentine's day!  Here's a puzzle from me to you.

ACROSS
1		Gone with the Wind heroine
4		Egyptian queen who loved Caesar
7		New York love stories always feature this location
9		Ryan's love in many movies
10		Trinity's destined love
11		_____ beauty
13		Spanish version of "Eat Drink Man Woman" is "Tortilla __"
14		One of Sparks' books that became a movie
16		Fiona's ogre love
18		Charlie Brown's love was a ______
19		Austen hottie
20		First man's love  DOWN 2 Beauty's love was _____ 3 Mermaid love story 5 Shakespeare's star-crossed lovers 6 Supernatural love and a steamy ceramic scene 8 Governess to the King of Siam's many children 12 To have and _____ 14 Even though this boat sank, Jack and Rose's love went on 15 Gave up mortality for Edward 17 Loves Ginny, dated Cho Crossword puzzle made courtesy of here

Spread the blog

One of my aunts just recently started her own crafting blog.  I'm super excited because now she has a place to showcase her crafting and culinary talents.  Here's a sneak peak at one of her amazing creations:

Nothing says "Happy Birthday" like a sushi cake! 

Matchy matchy

Sometimes hubby and I pick out similar matching outfits. We never do it intentionally and usually one of us changes before we leave the house.  Today, the unspeakable happened again.  Short on time, we had to embrace our similarities.     

Hubby's preppy homage to blue

My preppy homage to blue

 (By the way, hubby's tie was thrifted and everything I'm wearing was also thrifted.)

Stick it in a jar

Look what we saw in our local store:

I was repelled and intrigued at the same time.

I guess you can jar anything.

 Have you seen these jars before?

Dog Signal

Whenever Gotham City needed a super hero, they shone this signal to get help.

Batman, please come!

Recently I've found out that our dog also consistently responds to two signals.  

No, he doesn't always respond to his name.

No, he doesn't respond to this signal.

Instead, he responds to:

1. The sound of the fridge door opening  
2. The sound of jingling of keys

Is that normal?

image taken from here

Cute and grumpy

This weekend, Charlie and hubby did a short Valentine's day glamor shoot.  

I love this little monster.

Hot diggity dog

What do you put on your hot dog?  

I love eating them with ketchup, mustard, and sauerkraut. Apparently, Michiganders eat them a different way.  We recently visited a hot dog joint and our friend ordered a "Chicago-style" dog.   Here's what she got.

What are these strange vegetables doing on her hot dog?  

I guess pizza isn't the only food East coasters and Mid-westerners make differently.

Baa baa

Last night we went to an International potluck.  Everyone brought yummy foods from their native lands.

We brought these Australian treats. 

Lamingtons:  Tiny sponge cakes covered in chocolate icing and coconut flakes

Hubby says they're named after a man, but I like to think they're called lamingtons because they look like baby sheep.  Either way they are perfect "after dinner" treats.  Yum! 

(3) We also wore red.

Hubby's attempt at Chinesey red

My attempt at Chinesey red

Good luck, come our way!

Gong Xi Fa Cai

Happy Chinese New Year!

Today I'm going to celebrate my Chinese heritage two ways: 

Pathways to love

With Valentine's day just around the corner, I thought it might be fun to include a Valentine's day inspired math brain teaser.

Can you figure out the number of paths that spell the word "Love" if only vertical and horizontal moves to adjacent squares are permitted?

By the way, here's the answer to yesterday's math brain teaser.

Did you figure it out?

Answer to be revealed tomorrow!

(Problem taken from NCTM Mathematics Teacher Dec 2010/Jan 2011)

Snow day

We just received an email saying that school is closed tomorrow.

Our reaction?

We're quietly celebrating.

Virtual cutting

Last week I found myself happily lost in a maze of math brain teasers.  Here's one that I really enjoyed: 

Make one cut to the first figure (a) and then rearrange the pieces for the second figure (b).

Answer and next math brain teaser will be revealed tomorrow!
(Problem taken from NCTM Mathematics Teacher Dec 2010/Jan 2011)