WW: Views of my kitchen

Here are some views from my kitchen this past week.

One of the parents at the kids' school who knows I always order tea instead of coffee when I go out gave me this box of tea from her family restaurant. I guess they had received several boxes of it by mistake and it wasn't selling so she gave me an extra box. Good thing I am not hyper-sensitive ...Read the label carefully.:-)

The apartment was chilly the other day and it was downright cold outside. (OK, it was just below freezing so I know that is a heat wave to my Michigan friends .... but it is cold for Madrid) so I pulled out my big Tupperware bowl and made homemade bread for supper. YUM

Today I went to the outdoor market for the first time since before Christmas. Here is the haul for today .... 2 kilos zuchini, 2 kilos lemons, 4 kilos granny smith apples, 3 small trays of cherry tomatoes (in the white bowl), 2 kilos cucumbers, 2 heads of iceburg lettuce and 3 bags of "gourmet" salad greens. Any guesses on the grand total for this (aprox 25 lbs of produce)? (Reminder for you non-metric readers: 1 kilo = 2.2 pounds)

Wordless Wednesday: "Afternoon Tea"

Click here for the recipe for these apple puff pancakes.

Not bad for the first time....

A couple of weeks ago my #1 son(13) entered his first "official" chess tournament, one that was organized on the weekend of our town festival days. This was the first time he was in a tournament with adults that had paid to enter and where there were cash prizes along with trophies for the winners. He was a bit intimidated by playing against men like his high school chess club coach, but he had a great time and ended up coming in 4th place among the other entrants under 15 years old and 1st place among all those who were playing in the tournament for the first time. He came home with a pretty impressive trophy (no cash, but that was no surprize) and a huge smile on his face.

Lots of concentration going on in the room.

Playing against his chess coach's son. He has yet to beat this little whiz kid but he gave him a good run for his money in this game.

A very pleasant surprise at the end of the day!

Wordless Wednesday: A little junior high humor

I saw these at the checkout stand of our local supermarket. It struck my funny bone (OK, those years teaching junior high must have gotten to me.... or maybe it is just being the Mom of 4 kids) The two kids I had with me didn't even notice them, but now that they have seen the picture I took for the blog, they (and the two older ones) have jumped all over this. Let's just say in our house there are new lyrics to the old "clapper" jingle.

Wordless Wednesday: Allergy Skin Test (aka Fried Egg Arms)

#2 son was tested recently for allergies. 3 came up positive. We thought the positive results looked like fried eggs after the doctor drew the two crooked circles around the reaction sites to measure them.

I need your help.

Tackle it Tuesday this week needs your imput to help me make some wise shopping decisions in the next two weeks. Read on to see how you can help.

I am heading home to the states at the end of the week. I will be there for a little over two weeks. While I am there I hope to do some shopping. My wardrobe needs some help but with the horrible exchange rate and the difficulty I have just finding clothes that fit me well here (not to mention that the prices before the exchange are awful) I haven't bought much here. I know I can make my money work for me better back "home". I have been reading and listening to some advice on buying clothes that are flattering for your figure and I would like whatever I buy to really look good, not just be serviceable. So, this is where you come in .... I am trying to determining what colors I look best in and what "season" I am color-wise. Would you take a look at the slide show and leave a comment letting me know which colors you thought were the most flattering and which season you think I am (if you know anything about that.) As an incentive for commenters, I will use a random number generator to pick one of commenters (or maybe 2 if I get lots of response) and I will send you a little souvenir of Spain as a thank you for taking the time to look and comment.

Wordless Wednesday: My son, the King

Some pictures from last night's elementary school play "Besos para la bella durmiente" (Kisses for Sleeping Beauty)

Wordless Wednesday: Tut Tut, Looks like rain!

I went into Princess's room the other morning to wake her up and found her sleeping with her pretty new (to her) umbrella. Of course, just as I came back in to snap the picture of her sound asleep she rolled over and woke up. Still a cute shot to me.

Wordless Wednesday: Why I hate Silly Putty

Wordless Wednesday:Wedding Out-takes

What you get when you let your 12 year old have the digital camera at the wedding, because you are busy before and during the ceremony.

Total strangers milling around outside


Side shots




downward angle shots

Silly faces

More silly faces

Baby shots

More baby shots (there were actually more than a half dozen of this little girl)

Close-ups

More close-ups .... REALLY close up


Blurry/out of focus shots

More blurriness

And a few nice candids like this one

And this one.

Here is one that I shot while the photographer was getting some shots of the wedding party. Princess is the last girl on the right and #2 son is third in from the left.

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: Speaking my love language

My 7 year old greeted me as I came out of the bathroom after my morning shower. He was soooooo proud of himself ... he had already made his own bed and gotten his room "house fairy ready" and decided to make my bed too since he noticed I hadn't done it first thing as I normally do.
Never mind that there are no sheets under there (I had stripped them and was going to make up the bed with fresh sheets after dropping the kids off at school.) This kid is speaking my love language (acts of service) and he hasn't even read Chapman's book. You can bet he got a big hug and kiss (his love language is touch. Ü) and I will just quietly put sheets on today and sneak that comforter on just the way he had it before he gets home from school.

Wordless Wednesday: Little sister invades the "man cave"

I thought the whole idea of getting my son his own bed was to let him and the little princess sleep in their own rooms. I guess the "man cave" was too irresistable.

Wordless Wednesday: More sights of Madrid & beyond

A few sights from our Friday night in Madrid and Saturday in Aranjuez playing tourists with our guest from the USA.
FRIDAY NIGHT IN MADRID






Street musicians play the dulcimer.

SATURDAY IN ARANJUEZ

Aranjuez is known for their huge strawberries. Below, Princess enjoys some fresh berries.


The royal palace in Aranjuez was very interesting. We´d never been before but found out that with our "numerous family" card, we can get in free ... and into several other museums and palaces around Spain. Good news to know!


The gardens outside the royal palace were beautiful, but somewhat barren. We hope to go back sometime when the trees have leaves and the flowers are in bloom.

Wordless Wednesday: Sights and Sounds of Madrid on a Friday night

Some of the sights and sounds we experienced a couple of weeks ago when bringing a visitor to downtown Madrid on a Friday night.