Balloons and boys, and other B-words

An empty apartment full of balloons and little boys!


A babywearing Mama, exhausted from a day of cleaning.

A little baby who likes to sit on a box.
A trip to Oregon to see this bunch of family that I love: My mother, brother, his wife, and their baby.
My big sister hiding in a barbie tent, on the day before her birthday:

My bright and bouncy, busy and boisterous, niece Waimea!


Barbara-the blessed Grammmie of 9 grandbabies!Here she is with baby Jonah:

A beautiful, babywearing sister-in-law wearing her baby in a mei-tai I brought.(one of the best ones I ever made, in my opinion!)

Breastfeeding is the bomb!


A big, baby getting his first haircut, buzzed.
Before:
Bald:
And his two big, bald, buzzed, brothers:



Saying bye-bye to places we love:
Bye bye Liberty park:


Bye-bye Salt Lake Temple:


Bye-bye Zoo:


Bye-bye to friends we adore!
Bye-bye for now! My blogging has come to a small block in the road. Our house is all boxed up and we are bolting for the Big Island.

Baloha! Til we meet again.

Goodbye, Pinky

We bought "the Pink Panther" 5 years ago, when our first baby was 5 months old. We were visiting Portland, Oregon for a wedding, when we found her on craigslist!
We knew we would need a bigger vehicle someday for our growing family, and had thought about buying a VW bus in the future. However, when we laid eyes on this beautiful pink machine, we had to buy it, now!
We gave away the Nissan maxima we drove to OR (it wasn't worth selling), and cruised all the way back to Idaho in our brand, new, Pink Panther bus!

It was perfect! It was in excellent working condition, a 1974, with cow seat covers, a roof rack, seven seat belts, and very fun to drive, I might add. If you've never driven an old VW, you're in for a treat when you do! I imagined us keeping this car forever; parading the kids around to and from soccer games, driving our family to all our activities, teaching the boys their first driving lessons, all from the cow-seats of pinky the bus!

So, it was with great sadness that we had to sell her. We had to! We just couldn't afford to ship her to Hawaii, or maintain her when we got there. Goodbye Pinky! We will miss you! Maybe we will find another VW bus to own one day, and we will paint it pink, in your honor.

representing

click image to enlarge

Zadikin

I told Zadok I thought he looked like Anikin Skywalker (you know, the young Darth Vader from the Star wars movies) and his reply was,"Yeah, except I can't make all that cool stuff like him." he he. Someday young Zadikin, someday. Then I asked Zadok if he was going to join the dark side, and he said very emphatically, "NEVER!"
I guess that's where the resemblance ends...thank goodness.
What do you think, do we have a match?

optical illussion

Is this a giant pizza or a giant baby?

Yes, is both correct. This is a giant pizza and a giant baby.

We ordered a GIANT sized pizza from The Pie,and had leftovers for 3 days. Mmmmmmmm pizza. (Grandpa Bill is here, which means food adventures!)

Apple Brains

We needed some new music to jam out to around here, so I checked out the kids CD section at the public library to see if there was anything cool. And this is what we took home:

And it was exactly what we needed! The music immediately reminded me of some of my favorite ska bands from the 90's. Picture in your mind Skankin Pickle meets Sesame Street meets Weird Al, and you've got this high-energy, educational, and wildly funny mix of rhythms that we've been dancing (and jumping) around to all week. The songs are about healthy living, eating your fruits and vegetables, drinking plenty of water, and getting exercise! However, it isn't annoying or preachy like a lot of kids music I've heard. The lyrics are smart and the music is just plain fun.
Check out their Apple Brains website here: Apple Brains
Listen to a sample on Youtube here! This is one of my favorites from the album--
Apple x3. As we "jump around the room" playing musical chairs, we can't help but get hungry for---apples!!!

A poem by Shel Silverstein

PUT SOMETHING IN

Draw a crazy picture,
Write a nutty poem,
Sing a mumble-grumble song,
Whistle through your comb.
Do a loony-goony dance
'Cross the kitchen floor,
Put something silly in the world
That ain't been there before.

the end


I love his poetry, I have since I was a little girl.
It's simple, clever, and fun.
It makes you feel good.
It doesn't make any sense, but it does.
This poem in particular stuck with me today.
Doesn't it just make you want to be silly?
Even if just for a moment of your day?



There, we just put something in.

Skirts

My Dad came out to visit last September and bought me two, beautiful skirts. He only asked that, in return, I blog about my skirt obsession. So, funny Dad-- It has taken me awhile, but here it is:

I lovest my skirts!
I love their vibrant colors and diversified fabrics of joy.
Long skirts, short skirts, flowy skirts, stiff skirts,
beaded skirts, wrap-around skirts, black skirts, tie-dye skirts;
all of them are special to me.
I wear them all year long,
it doesn't matter if there's rain or snow.
Each skirt makes me feel happy,
except for when they snag and rip on some sharp object.
I buy them at thrift stores, or yard sales, or funky stores I spot around town.
Some are hand-me-downs from old friends.
One of my favorite skirts belonged to my friends Mother,
an old, rainbow-sparkly, hippie skirt from the 60's.
She is dead now, but not her skirt!
I've sewed two skirts.
There are 3 on the mending table, waiting to be worn again.
Maternity skirts and regular skirts--I wear them all.

Skirts mean freedom, movement, fresh air.
They mean feeling dressed up on a frumpy day.
Skirts never go out of fashion.
Skirts look great on men, too.


I like the way the flowy ones fold around me when I sit down--
like a lovely tortilla wrapping up it's favorite food.
I like the way skirts make me feel; pretty, feminine, easy-going, relaxed.

And that's why I love skirts.

Will wake for food.

We got up at 6am this morning, as a family, to reap the benefits of Free GRAND SLAM day at Denny's, before Micah headed to work. Basically, anyone can walk in between 6am and 2pm today,to get a free breakfast. Sounds like a deal, right?
Well, the quiet, early morning breakfast I envisioned was destroyed by one, single, long line out the door and down the sidewalk. Every truck driver and college student was up before the sun!

So, we went to IHOP for all you can eat pancakes. Ha ha ha! Jokes on.......us?

p.s. Free Pancake day is coming right up at IHOP, Feb. 23rd. Maybe we'll head over to Denny's fo some Grand Slams. hee hee hee

Wendy

One of my favorite people on the planet stopped by this past weekend as she was road-tripping past my town.
I met Wendy my first semester in college and it changed everything. I was starting a new life in a strange place; feeling lonely, home-sick, culture-shocked, and somewhat depressed...and here comes the most free spirited, unconventional, hillariously funny person ever. She was huge breath of fresh air and a light. I don't know anyone that doesn't love Wendy Diehl..I mean Singer.

Here's 17 more things I love about Wendy:

She laughs at everything.
She lived in a tree house...in the middle of Winter.
She broke her arm once, so then she decided to shave her long hair so she didn't have to fix it everyday.
She likes to be homeless.
She painted the hugest Bob Marley mural on her bedroom wall once.
She loves all things Hawaii and spent many nights sleeping on the beach there for fun.
She hates Santa Claus.
She talks about everyone like they're her best friend, even if she only met them once, or hasn't seen them for years and years.
She nurtures and helps those who need her. She's the best child mentor ever!
She finds humor in the normally mundane things of life.
Her family is very important. I think everyone who knows Wendy, knows all her cousins names by now.
She loves her friend's kids, and they warm up to her easily.
She married her perfect match.
She talks a lot on the phone so you have to watch your minutes. But on the other hand, you never want to get off because she is telling you hillarious stories.
She has a unique, funky style and artistic flaire.
She wore the raddest shoes at her wedding. (See below)
She makes you relax and take life a little less seriously when you're around her.

Everyone needs a Wendy.

Flashback Friday- It's Halloween again?

I decided about a month ago I wanted to be a witch for Halloween, because I've never been anything spooky. And I like the idea of walking around with a large, warty nose, cackling at my children. However, each time I've tried on my costume, (at Zadok's request,) Odin has freaked out! (I'm not scaring him-he freaks out when I put on a baseball cap any day of the week)
So, we don't know what we're going to be. Zadok is back and forth about a dog, or a Ninja, or Spiderman again. Odin could care less. Micah might paint his face. Is this really important? Yes! I love Halloween! It's always been one of my most favorite celebrations. Why? Because the dramatic actress in me gets to dress up and imagine I am another character for a whole day, using funny accents, fake hair, cheesy lines from movies....and nobody will stare at me funny-- because it's Halloween!

This is Halloween last year.

Spiderman, our friend the BumbleBee, Spongebob and Patrick, at an Elementary school Carnival In Enterprise, UT:


What are you going to be????

Flashback Friday-Pure bliss

I don't think a Mother can ever forget the day her babies were born. Probably two of the most blissfully happiest days of my life. :)
Baby Zadok, 2006



Baby Odin, 2008

Four dollars!

Is what I paid for this gem of a thrift store find. I've been wanting a doll house to play with forever. I know, I know, I have two little boys and dolls aren't their favorite thing. However, I also have two little boys whom I spend most of my time playing with, and let's face it-- I can get bored! I find myself dragging my kids to the toy section of the thrift store more often than they care to, just to buy something novel to keep me entertained!
And I'm not talking spendy toys... just fifty cents here and a dollar there, for a yo-yo or a board game or a puppet. Mostly little things we can make a theme of. For instance, we've been collecting rubber animals from the thrift store for almost two years, and now we've got an entire collection, from lizards to tigers to raccoons!

Thrift stores are a lot of fun!
So here's to playing make-believe with our new doll house this week. I'm SO excited.

Oh, I mean our manly, rubber-animal house.
(And of course, later on, Darth Vader and Luke had a tea party on the Veranda.)