Happy Mother's Day

"Arise then...women of this day! Arise, all women who have hearts! From the bosom of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with Our own. It says: Disarm! Disarm!"— Julia Ward Howe, Mother's Day Proclamation, 1870

Any similarity is pure coincidence

I cannot stop thinking that there are some similarities with these two! Both are really cute indeed, but look at these big eyes and little nose. Aren't them pretty alike?
For a long time I loved Jiji from Kiki's Delivery. She is cute and sweet. I actually have two of these stuffed cats at home. No wonder we own a black Kittie now. Preta is just like that. But she is not so little like Jiji anymore. Because she has gained a lot (I really mean a lot!) of weight since has been adopted from the shelter.

My seeds and I can count them too!

This was so cute. Leo was studying the different seeds and being creative about what the dyed water (colours) looked like. If you noticed, the water that belongs to the Sugar Maple seeds he called it 'syrup'. Mommy was a bit excited about the counting. 8-)

Our tree Science Project

Here are the seeds being prepared in water. Many tree seed species possess what is know as 'embryo dormancy' which must be effectively overcome before the seed can be forced to germinate given the appropiate conditions. We soaked the seeds in warm water for 48 hours and some of them are going to be under cold stratification for 4 months and others for only 2 months cold stratification followed by 4 months of warm stratification.
Stratification: seeds are in a ziplck bag filled with moistened peat and stored in the refrigerator's salad crisper compartment prior to removing and sowing seeds. That is the delicate part of the process and we are crossing our fingers to be successful.
Please wish us good luck and hope we will have some good news in a couple of months.

And the Science Project Begins

We have a fun new litte family science project: Trying to grow different types of trees. Mostly different species of maple trees. So, I got nine different of seed packages from Angel Grove Seeds. They are Flowering Crabapple, Japanese Crabapple, Sugar Maple, Virginia Creeper, Red Norway Maple, Norway maple, Japanese Maple, Amur Flame Maple and Colorado Blue Spruce.

Yeah! I really made the vanilla cake!

My first Vanilla Cake with Chocolate Icing

I had this pictures in file for a while, but now I thought would be nice to share with you. Leo making his first vanilla cake with chocolate icing. Check out, Mommy was his assitant and camera woman at same time ; -)
He was pretty good and even wanted to double check the instructions! We took the cake to our friends house for dessert and everybody loved! They were all Leo made the cake. And it was DELICIOUS! Good job!

Mercury In Tuna - Mercury Contamination Increasing In Tuna And Other Fish - thedailygreen.com

Mercury In Tuna - Mercury Contamination Increasing In Tuna And Other Fish - thedailygreen.com

Posted using ShareThis

Enjoying the Nice Weather

Can we actually say Spring is here? Well, we live in Calgary, and it means we can never predict tomorrow's weather. But still, it is really nice to be able to enjoy once more the warm and sunny weather. A couple weeks ago I started my garden box project (pictures to come soon) and I am proud to have made a 8ft long x 4ft wide x 2ft tall cedar wooden vegetable box. I followed tips from: Watch My Food Grow and my friend Arnica's Vegetable Garden Box. My talented friend gave me valuable information! Soon I will be able to plant beans, cucumbers, carrots, broccoli and lettuces. Can't wait to enjoy fresh vegetables this year!

Happy Earth Day!

Celebrated every April 22, Earth Day is the largest, most celebrated environmental event worldwide. How was your Earth Day? Mine was pretty informative and fun! My company promoted a Earth Day Fair today. Lots of 'green' prizes and 'green' giveaways as well as information on a variety of different topics (composting, eco-friendly landscaping, transportation alternatives, energy management, etc. We had a display of an electric car in the parking lot in front of our building. It was an old red Volkswagen beettle. Cute!
People brought in our old electronics, batteries and light bulbs. Proceeds from sales at these tables will be donated to various charities. Cool, hey?!

Top 10 easy to-do actions on Earth Day:

1. Buy what you need, not so much what you want,
2. Replace incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs,
3. Walk, cycle, car pool and/or use public transportation,
4. Choose local and/or organic foods that are in season (Let's support local food producers!),
5. Wash full loads of clothes in cold water (Hang to dry if you can),
6. Install ceiling fans and programmable thermostats,
7. Travel and work as close to home as possible,
8. Take short showers and close taps while brushing your teeth,
9. Choose natural, non-toxic cleaning products,
10. Donate, re-use and recycle items before throwing them into the garbage.

Those are just 10 simple things one can do right now to help the environment and the Earth. Good luck!

Yoshida Brothers - Nikata

A well deserved date with my husband

So, Kerry and I had a very well deserved date on Good Friday, while the grandparents babysat Leo. They had a blast together too!
We had a delicious Thai dinner at Pad Thai restaurant. We had Musumum Curry and Swimming Drunken Chicken. It was absolutely delicious! We stayed the night at Hotel Meterra on White Avenue in Edmonton. To compliment, we watched the movie ONE WEEK at the Princess. It was an amazing movie (we highly recommend!). Beautiful landscapes, funny and also with a drama that can make you cry. What a memorable night!

Rin' - sakura sakura

I am now a proud owner of a Jenome

It was hard to shop for a sewing machine. Not only because this is my first sewing machine ever. But also because I wanted something reasonably priced and that would have all the basics plus some extras. I wanted fancy stiching and some interesting feets too. i wanted it to be automatic and easy to use. I wanted a reliable and durable machine. At first, I was looking into the Pfaffs and Husquevarnas. But they can the pricey and then a Singer seems Ok too. But for a computerized machine the Jenome just caught my attention. Also because it was a familiar machine. The one I currently use in my sewing class is a Jenome too. Established in 1921, Janome was the first domestic producer of sewing machines in Japan. Such was its success that additional production facilities were set up in Taiwan (1969) and Thailand (1988). Together these factories greatly increased the production capacity of Janome; in fact an incredible 10 million units were produced in the last 7 years. This year alone, these plants have yielded 1.6 million units, making Janome the largest manufacturer of household sewing machines in the world.

Tenho tantas e tantas saudades....

Meus lindinhos (sobrinhos) queridos...
temos tantas e tantas e tantas saudades...
Poema modificado: 'Meus queridos que tanto amo e estimo. Por cada ano vivido, e mesmo à distância suas jornadas nós os acompanhamos. Hoje sou uma feliz tia. Porque tudo na vida que eu queria, era vez cada um de seus sonhos se realizar como uma suave e eterna melodia. Aqui deixo um pedido: Amem sempre suas raízes. Pois a vida pode deixar cicatrizes, de pedaços mal vividos e caminhos mal escolhidos. Diretrizes desconhecidas. Gotas amargas na vida. Procure viver cada dia, na mais plena e abundante harmonia. Não deixem para o outro dia, fazer o que te dê alegria. Conquistando as suas vitórias sem aos outros prejudicarem. Espero aqui ter deixado claro, que não fui uma tia de tudo ausente. Só que não pude simplismente de perto participar. Só Deus mesmo sabe neste mundo. De todo sentimento profundo, que neste coração de tia. O quanto os amo e continuarei a lhes amar.
- Original Autor desconhecido

Easter Hunt at Butterfield Acres

A fun day at the Legendary Easter Hunt at Butterfield Acres with M, A-M and little sweet A. It was a busy morning. We arrived a little late to hear the story of the Easter Bunny at the Barn. Then we head to find and collect the hidden pretend Easter Eggs (beautifully painted rocks) to help the Easter Bunny and send down to the tunnel to the secreat Easter Bunny workshop. While the Easter Bunny is busy working, we went to fill a clay pot with soil and plant some seeds to take home. Leo was into it and excited about everything going around. It was a fun morning! Thank you for the nice company guys!

Sistema anticrise: família e amigos

O riso é contagioso, como demonstra a experiência cotidiana na qual comprovamos que é muito difícil resistir ao impulso de rir quando alguém o faz de forma espontânea e natural, seja quando estamos diante da pessoa que ri ou ao assistir um programa de humor na televisão ou uma comédia no cinema.
Mas a felicidade também pode se transmitir de uma pessoa a outra como um germe, neste caso, positivo, saudável e estimulante? Foi isso o que tentaram estudar com métodos científicos os pesquisadores americanos Nicholas Christakis e James Fowler, das universidades da Califórnia, em San Diego, e de Harvard, em Boston, respectivamente, com base no "Estudo Framingham", do qual compilaram dados sobre a saúde mental de 5.124 adultos entre 1971 e 2003.
A conclusão à qual chegaram é surpreendente: a felicidade das pessoas que nos rodeiam, e não só destas, mas inclusive a das que se relacionam com elas e não conhecemos, têm uma influência direta na possibilidade de que sejamos felizes. Alguma vez você se sentiu "contagiado" pela felicidade de um amigo, conhecido ou da própria namorada ou namorado? Sente uma inexplicável e espontânea alegria diante da dos demais?
De acordo com uma recente pesquisa americana, que combina os enfoques epidemiológico e sociológico, esta sensação percebida pela maioria do povo tem uma explicação científica.Os humanos, seres sociais
Segundo os pesquisadores das universidades da Califórnia e San Diego, nos EUA, a felicidade pode ser contagiosa e, por isso, as pessoas com amigos felizes são mais propensas a ser também. Eles concluíram que este resultado é "o reconhecimento de que as pessoas são seres sociais e que bem-estar e a saúde de um indivíduo afetam os dos que o rodeiam".Os cientistas selecionaram 5.124 indivíduos, que denominaram como "egos", assim como muitas de suas pessoas próximas, como pais, irmãos, companheiros, filhos, vizinhos, colegas de trabalho, amigos e "amigos dos amigos". Assim, estudaram mais de 12 mil pessoas que estavam conectadas umas às outras em Framingham, no Massachusetts, constituindo entre elas cerca de 53.200 relações sociais.
Os pesquisadores comprovaram que os seres felizes costumam estar vinculados entre eles, da mesma forma que acontece com aqueles que são infelizes, e que uma pessoa tem 15% mais de probabilidades de se sentir bem caso esteja ligada a alguém que esbanja felicidade.No entanto, na medida em que a relação se vai distanciando, estas porcentagens vão se reduzindo até chegarem a 5,6% no caso de conhecidos mais distantes ou de "terceira linha", ou seja, os "amigos de amigos de amigos, etc." da pessoa. Além disso, os dois afirmam que aqueles que são o centro de muitas relações felizes têm mais probabilidades de seguir sendo felizes.Ter amigos alegres aumenta em 9% as probabilidades de ser feliz no futuro, enquanto ser casado ou namorar alguém feliz equivale a ter 8% mais possibilidades de felicidade. Do outro lado da moeda, os pesquisadores descobriram que se cercar de pessoas pessimistas ou negativas reduz em 7% as emoções positivas.

Green Soaps For Green Babies (And Their Parents) - thedailygreen.com

It can be a challenge to find affordable, good quality and chem-free soaps for children. I tried a variety of them and could even write my own reviews one day (perhaps this will be my next assignment). Of the main problems I found with natural soups were:
- finding a product that would not dry out the skin (sometimes I had to apply tons of moisturizer after bath because some products just dried out of the skin),
- tear free. Almost all of them were not tear free.
- price. some of organic soups are 3 times more expensive than the 'regular' ones. Wouldn't you think that putting less ingredients (chemicals) would make them a little more affordable?

Green Soaps For Green Babies (And Their Parents) - thedailygreen.com

Posted using ShareThis

Sunday at the Wirawans

It is always nice to see the Wirawans. They are one of our oldest friends since living in Calgary. We know they children well and the family has been into Leandro's life since the beginning. Leo love them so much. And it is awesome to see their children growing and blossoming into great people.
Well, another best part of being invited to their house is to have the opportunity to taste the home-made Indonesian Soto Ayam Soups. Sometimes with rice, sometimes with noodles and always with interesting aromatics.
Soto Ayam soups can be described as a soup with clear broth, bright colours, incendiary chillies and lovely flavours. Love their marinades and their other types of dishes as well. We got to take home a sweet and rich marinade sauce. Lovely with chicken!
Leo and I made a delicious cherry cake with chocolate sauce on top and it was spectacular! Leo helped to use the beater and to decorate. What a great helper I have! He also had a blast with B and N. He even tried to play N's piano and enjoyed a lot. Thank you guys for a lovely evening.

變形貓頭鷹-ふくろう