Celery and Paint

Have you ever really looked at a celery heart?

Doesn't it look rather like a rose?

We used our celery hearts as stamps, to make wrapping paper.

 

 I love it.

I think our wrapping paper is lovely.
(click on the photo to see it a bit better)

* Celery stamping idea stolen from Creature Comforts. I am not genius enough to think of this on my own!

The rain is raining all around

This morning I had to stand in line*. I stood out in the rain for 30 minutes, and I didn't even mind it. I always forget how much I love the rain, until I am standing in it and smelling the beautiful rain smell and feeling the drops on my face. It was actually more of a mist than a rain, anyhow. The drops were so light that they almost felt like snowflakes. So, I stood there, and listened to the conversations around me (If I am ever standing near you in a line, be certain that I am listening intently to your private conversation), and watched the fog roll in over the hills. We don't see much fog here. It was lovely.

But. The reason that I am writing about the rain is because, as I stood there in line and listened to conversations, I also watched the water flow down in to one corner of the parking lot and puddle there. I wanted to jump in it. I probably would have, if it had been just a bit warmer. It reminded me of a day, months ago, when I played out in the rain with my children. We were right in the middle of moving to our new place at the time, and I forgot that I wanted to blog about it. So, here it is now.

Anicka is a child after my own heart. She LOVES the rain. When it is wet out she will often stand with her nose pressed against the window and beg to play outside. And, if it is not too cold out, sometimes we do.
This was back in October, one of our last nights in the Apartment. Adam wasn't home. The kids were restless, tired of the boxes and clutter from packing. They were feeling the stress of the move. So, we went out in the rain.

Look at this lovely, big puddle:

 

 I jumped in it, too. It was a magnificent puddle for jumping. 

But THIS. This is my favorite thing about taking Anicka out in the rain:

Look at the kid's face. I love it.

*P.S. I was standing in line waiting for my Bountiful Basket. Which is totally great.

Soul Eater

I would like to put up a proper blog post. I really would. Unfortunately, NaNoWriMo owns my soul.
So, for now, enjoy this random picture:

k thx!

Thankful

for these two little monsters.

Words to live by

 

Hello, blog. I'll be back soon.  

source.

Random Love

Some things that I am loving right now:


1. Remember friendship bracelets? Apparently they are back in style, only now as necklaces and belts.
I love textile jewelry, so I'm digging these. Especially because of all of the bright colors.
Just in case your summer camp memories are as hazy as mine are, here is a wonderful tutorial from Honestly...wtf

2.  An orange hippo pillow! This is Felicia the Hippo, and she is adorable. Do you think she's DIYable?

3. I love notebooks. I love journals. I love sketchbooks. There is just something about a brand new, blank book that makes me feel like the world is full of possibilities.
That's probably why I love this hand-stitched book tutorial from Jen and Jake so much. If your birthday is coming up soon, you can probably expect one of these as a gift from me.

4.  A shadow puppet theater. A homemade one, none-the-less. And a tutorial. Anicka would LOVE this.

5.  Blank nesting dolls! How fun would be to paint a custom set of nesting dolls?

I can sense some projects brewing...

THIS

Yes. THIS is where I want to be. Right now. 

Oh, Miami.

Sometimes (every now and then) I miss you.

Photo found here.

I DO have my own photos of South Beach. But they are on a DVD, in a box, in my closet.

Keep Calm and Carry On

I love these posters.

I need to get one and put it up in my living room. Because I have been having TOO MUCH anxiety lately. Much too much. For no apparent reason, either. Ridiculous, I know.
Anyway.

I also love the spoof posters.

Another one that I like that I can't seem to find an image for is 'Just in Case - Carry Mace'.
This is funny stuff, people.

You see, here is what bothers me...

Disclaimer: I am not trying to piss anyone off by posting this. I am not trying to make fun of anyone. I am not trying to be rude or insulting. I am stating my opinion. If you have a different opinion, feel free to voice it in the comments, as long as you play nice.


So. I have a problem with that one particular vampire franchise that just released a new movie. (I am trying my damnedest to avoid the name, because I do not particularly want to be spammed by anonymous haters after this post.)

My problem is that it makes people crazy. People who are normally quite reasonable, even.

I've heard men complain about how these movies make the women in their lives go absolutely bonkers.  "These movies are like porn for women," said one of them.
I have had many a girl friend tell me that they don't watch the movies because of the storyline, but because of the hard bodies. I have heard happily married women gush over the shirtless male actors. This bothers me!

And here is why:
If my husband was to sit in a theater and wolf-whistle and cat-call whenever a beautiful, half-dressed woman appeared on the screen, I would be insulted. NOT only because it would make me feel unsure about my own value in his eyes (and yes, I admit that I am insecure enough to feel this way) but because I think that this sort of behavior devalues and objectifies women, and is insulting to our gender as a whole. I am not flattered when a random stranger whistles at me. I am offended. My body is not an object for you to approve or disapprove of.
Am I alone in this? I don't know.
But, the point is that the same thing applies to our treatment of men. Why should we demand respect from our men, if we don't respect them in return?


Something to think about:
It is one thing to say "Hey, I think that person is attractive." It is quite another to swoon and shriek and yell "Edward is sooooo sexy! Woooooo baby!"



Now. I know that this doesn't apply to everyone. Some of you get absolutely no thrill from Edward and Jacob, and just enjoy the vampire and werewolf bits of the movie. And some of you might have no problem with your husband/wife admiring other women/men. I know many couples are fine with the 'look, don't touch' philosophy. To each their own. But... I felt like I had to get my opinion out there.

a day with The Girls

On Tuesday my two littlest sisters came over for a visit. Anicka loves it when they come over.
We stayed busy all day.

Making puffy paint

And then painting with it.

(The dots on the bottom left were painted by Anicka. "They're not dots, Mom! They're germs.")

Making cake balls

And decorating cupcakes

I love the cupcake picture, because it sort of showcases each of the girls' personalities. Serious Sienna, Goofy Anicka, and Shy Kaycee.

And any moms who have little kids at home for the summer should check out Skip to My Lou's Craft Camp.
There are a bunch of ideas on there to help keep the kids from getting too bored at home.
I would also recommend The Artful Parent, Angry Chicken, and Filth Wizardry for inspiration.

Hey, Mr. Postman!

Big thanks to Cathe Holden of Just Something I Made, who put these envelope writing sheet templates on her blog. For free. I love her blog! She's always sharing great graphics that she finds (or makes!).
Anyway. She gave me the motivation that I needed to write a letter to my brother, who is in Texas over the summer. We miss him! As far as I know he doesn't read my blog very often, so I think it's safe to post this here before he gets its. And if not...well, enjoy this sneak peak, Eric!

This was a lot of fun. Maybe I'll start writing more letters! It's always a treat to get something besides a bill in the mail, after all.

Fortress of Solitude

If you were to to see this:

You might assume that it was nothing but a regular cardboard box.
But, in fact, it is Anicka's Fortress of Solitude.

The perfect place to curl up with a good book and a flashlight, while her little brother takes a nap.
:)

P.S. No, I didn't put her in there to keep her quiet, haha! She set it up all by herself, and then asked me for a flashlight. 

Get over it

Yesterday was a big   fat  failure   of a day.
For some reason, when life gets messy, instead of diving in and getting my hands dirty I tend to dig in my heels and resist the change.
When I feel overwhelmed, I self-destruct. And that's not the sort of person that I want to be.
So. I'm done with that.

Today will be a success.

I will finish projects,

I will play with my children,

I will focus on the things that really matter.

I will accomplish something.

If the unexpected happens, I will meet the challenge head on.

And I will be happy, because I CHOOSE to be happy.

Because I have so many things to be happy about.

Because I love my life.

Pamplemousse? Pomplamoose!

The other day on Facebook my sister mentioned this band named Pomplamoose. And, seriously, when you hear a band name like that you have to check them out, right? So, I did. And they're kind of awesome. The band consists of two people. They layer the vocals and play all of the instruments and make these quirky videos and post them on YouTube. That sort of thing earns major kudos from me. Plus Nataly Dawn, the lead vocalist, is so adorable. So I thought I would share, since I know that some of the people who read my blog are fellow Indie fans. Here are a couple of my favorites from their YouTube Channel.

If You Think You Need Some Lovin:
(This one has an... interesting little commercial...thing... at the end)


And a cover of Mister Sandman

Finally! Vacation Pictures - Part Duex : Logan

Um... *warning* LOTS OF PICTURES.
We did a million fun things on our vacation, but for now I'm just putting up the pictures that we took in Logan. It was so beautiful there, and there were so many photo opportunities. Here are the ones that turned out the best.

First:
The Logan temple.
The kids couldn't even think about taking pictures until they had rolled down that wonderful hill a couple of times.

Then a few pictures of the lovely architecture, courtesy of Adam:
(click on the picture to see it better)

And finally we're ready for some posing:

First in front of the wall

and then in front of the fountain

The only time we could get Anicka to put down her stuffed dog was when we decided that Puppy needed her own portrait shot:

She is in most of our family pictures, after all.

Next we took pictures in front of the Tulips. Oh, Tulips! My favorite flower. Isn't this beautiful?

 I edited this photo two different ways. I'm not sure which one I like better. What do you think? (click on the picture to see it bigger. Ignore the fact that the one on the left is slightly crooked.)

Sadly, hardly any of our tulip pictures turned out. Because my children decided to turn into toads. They refused to sit, they refused to smile, they refused to even look at the camera or stand in front of the tulips. *sigh* Children.

And then we stopped trying to get pictures. We sat and talked for a few minutes. And, suddenly... this happened:

Ah, adorable.

After the temple we went to a super fun park with a castle theme. I might put pictures of that up another time. But when I saw the bench sitting under that blossom-laden tree, I knew I had to get some pictures of the kids sitting there.

Then an excellent picnic next to a beautiful waterfall:

 Ryker did NOT want to take more pictures. He wanted to throw rocks.

This picture was taken by Anicka:

 Maybe she'll grow up to be a photographer. :) Or a  model.

She's so cute.

Lastly, feeding the ducks:

And a big thank you to my adorable little sister, who is so photogenic that it sort of makes me sick, but in a good way.

We had SO MUCH FUN in Logan. :)

THE END. (Phew. That's a lot of pictures)