Sigh...

So, I admit I have been putting off blogging because I felt like I needed to do a long post about all that's been going on since I last blogged, and all the wonderful things we did, both significant and insignificant, before we moved back to Idaho, like...

swimming at our favorite pool about once every week,

picking up trash along the highway for a earth-friendly family home evening activity,

 going to the rodeo,

taking apart a broken etch-a-sketch to see what was inside,

celebrating the baby's first birthday complete with outdoor "hot tubs" 

 and water balloons

 as well as the traditional pancake breakfast and Jell-o birthday "cake,"

 going to the county fair 

and narrowly missing a downpour,

going on a picnic and wading in the shallow String lake in Teton National Park with friends and family,

(even the baby enjoyed the water, it's relatively warm)

picking wild huckleberries,

(They're gonna make the best homemade ice cream!)

going to Bear World with Grandma and Grandpa

where the kids got to feed and pet animals at the petting zoo

(accruing quite the collection of feathers from various fowl)

as well as ride kiddie rides,

(Grandma taught us the trick of following the feeding tour truck to see all the bears in action!) 

helping cut a big branch out of a large tree at grandma and grandpa's house 

(okay, so that was mostly my husband, but I gave great moral support from below),

roasting hotdogs over a campfire

Mmmm...

along with strawberry-and-nutella s'mores, 

Double Mmmm!

riding the ski lifts to the top of the mountain, 

going down an alpine slide,

finding a snake on my doorstep,

driving to a beautiful waterfall to try and take family pictures

then picnicking in a familiar camping spot,

and countless days spent playing at the parks --the ones with streams that the kids just had to get into,

(the crystal clear kind which were much too tempting even though they were ice cold!)

and ones with climbing walls (my oldest became quite the expert), others with ponds, or big hills,

or crazy toys... 

...not to mention all the wood chips you can eat!

They have it all there.

*Sigh*

I'm afraid life is a bit dull now, and I'm actually thinking it wouldn't be too bad moving back there again for one last Summer...  Am I insane or what?

I call it the "Lucky Charms Effect." (Or Marshmallow Mateys if you're more frugal like me, but that doesn't have the same ring to it).

I generally don't like Lucky Charms, but if I have to eat them (as in there's nothing better in the house and I need something, anything, sweet) I like to eat all the brown parts first, so that one-- there's no soggy brown parts, cause that's the worst, and two-- so I get a whole bowl of nothing but marshmallows at the end!  Awesome! (Yes, I know, I'm 30 years old... So?)

I also like to wash it down with some fresh cold milk at the end, not that warm sugary stuff that's left --it's just one of those things that delights me... Like the little tiny soap bubbles that sometimes puff out of my dish soap bottle and make me smile...

Anyway, even though I don't generally like Lucky Charms, after finishing off a whole bowl of just marshmallows and washing it down with fresh cold milk, suddenly I want another bowl of Lucky Charms.  I think that by ending on such a good note, I forget about having to choke down all the brown stuff and only remember how good the marshmallows and milk were.  My memory can sometimes be selective in that way --I guess it could be worse, I could focus on all the bad stuff, and sometimes I do, but either way, I still end up eating like three bowls of Lucky Charms!

Living in Jackson, and absolutely packing the last few weeks with all sorts of fun and exciting things makes me forget how stinkin' cold it is when I first move there, and how small the apartment is, and how expensive groceries are, and what a pain moving is in general --because moving from Jackson actually isn't that bad. After all, it's only a one bedroom apartment, and more than half our stuff is already boxed and in storage (-not to mention that the last two times I hardly had to do any cleaning myself) so I start thinking "that wasn't too bad, I can do that again" --and in the Spring I curse myself all the way.

This "Lucky Charms Effect" comes into play in a few areas of my life --like every time I decide to invite people over for dinner, or agree to do a babysitting swap (FYI -it's better to let the other couple go on their date first I think, so you have something to keep you from kil ...er, to look forward to).
(I am joking Sandi, we're still on for next week right?)

Even bottling fruit has a bit of a forgetfulness that comes with time.  I love bottled fruit, I love how it looks on my shelves, and the feeling of satisfaction I get when I look at all those gleaming bottles, and I  completely forget how tedious and time consuming it is and how horribly messy and sticky it makes my whole kitchen... *thinking of the several boxes of ripe peaches and tomatoes in the garage, ugh.*

I suppose the "Lucky Charms Effect" has its purpose. I probably do more stuff than I would if I really thought about it first. In fact, it's probably the reason I keep getting pregnant and having babies (they're just so darn cute!). But mostly it just gets me into situations where I want to pull my hair and cry out, "What was I thinking?!" or, "Why do I do this to myself?!"

Perhaps it is all worth it. I guess nothing good comes without a price.  Looking at this list makes me think that it really was worth it.
(I'm still going to petition for bigger accommodations next Summer though.)

Anyway, I'm sure I'm not the only one.

What is your memory selective about and what do you find yourself doing over and over again despite your best judgement and the hardships involved?

Feeding Time

I haven't really put any home videos on this blog, mostly it's just a stylistic choice, but this clip makes me smile, so I thought I'd share.




The baby just learned this new trick of spitting while I'm trying to feed him --which is less than amusing-- and so to teach him a lesson, I set down the food and walked away.  A minute later I hear giggling, and it turns out that my 3 year old has decided to try his hand at feeding the baby.  They both thought they were so hilarious.

Feelin' Crafty: 'Tale of Two Toys' cloth book

So, this is one of those posts to make me feel better about myself, even if it was a long time ago that I did this, I thought I'd share it here.

One (kind of) finished product, and two un-bound pages.

My husband and I like to give handmade gifts for Christmas, and two years ago we were giving gifts to his brother's family who has two boys close to the same age as our own, and so I thought I'd double up on the project.

I had the idea of making cloth books when I came across this printable (and washable) fabric.  So many awesome ideas ran through my head.  The one that stuck with me was to take pictures of the toys that I was giving as gifts to the boys and put them together in an adventure story. Then the kids could read it together with their toys and perhaps it would excite their imaginations.  I also wanted to personalize it, so I gave the end a twist to include the boys.

Here's the story: (I had the text on the pictures, but I guess I didn't save that version, so you just get the raw stuff.)

Once upon a time there were two toys who ran away from the store to explore the world outside.

They went to the park to play on the swings,

and the slides.

Sometimes they went to the zoo,

to see the animals.

They often climbed trees,

and watched the beautiful sunsets.

They also made friends

with different animals.

Soon, all the leaves fell off the trees, so the toys made a big pile to play in.

One day it snowed.  The toys decided they needed a home.

Then they had a great idea! They got in special boxes and send themselves to two little boys they had heard of who would take care of them and love them. That way, they could always be together.

THE END

I had a lot of fun taking the pictures for these, and I'm sure we got a lot of weird looks, and you have no idea how much lunch meat I fed to the neighbors cat to get him to sit still close to the toys!   We actually lost one of the toys to a dog in the park who decided it was a play thing, and had to go back to the store to replace it.  We were lucky to get an early snowfall so I could finish the book in time, however, when I did the layout I found that I was short one picture.  I'm sure you can figure out which one was photoshopped -horribly I might add- but the kids don't seem to mind.

I wanted to take pictures of things the boys could relate to --things that they did often, and could even bring their toys along to do as well.  The last picture I did differently for each family, and I'm afraid I didn't have the pictures of my own kids to personalize it for them, but it turned out really cute for their cousins, and apparently they really liked seeing themselves in a book.

All I had to do was print the pictures out on my regular ink jet color printer (the instructions are on the fabric), iron them to set the ink, and sew it all together.

The hardest thing for me was actually the sewing it together--since I really don't sew, and luckily two of my wonderfully talented sister-in-laws helped me with that part.  Still, my design for the cover could have been better.  Maybe next time I'll figure it out.

Over all, it was an easy yet somewhat time consuming project --since it spanned over at least a few months, but it didn't really have to.
And did the kids really appreciate it?  Kind of, but it hasn't been until recently (two years later) that they've really taken much interest.  Maybe they were just too young before, but now they've been asking me to read it to them more often. If nothing else, it's fun for me to read because it serves as a reminder of good times and I have fond memories associated with it.

Favorite pictures: The awesome sunset we were lucky to catch, and the giraffes at the zoo.

Awesome!

So, you know when you think you have a good idea that's so unique and then you find that a million other people had that same idea way before you...

Well, when I wrote the post Happy Thoughts I really started thinking about expanding it.  I thought maybe some explanations would be cool, and I thought up a bunch of other things I could add, but then I found this book called The Book of Awesome, and got the wind blown out of my sails.  Now don't get me wrong, I loved the book, but it made my little list seem mediocre at best, and I'm not nearly as funny.  It's exactly the thing I would love to write (except without some of the entries that I have no experience with, like about drinking or guy things) to make people focus on the brighter side of life.
It's just a book about the awesome things of daily life, like finding money in the pocket of an old coat, or putting on underwear straight out of the dryer.  It started as a blog that the author decided to turn into a book (and apparently a calendar) but the blog is ongoing.  I bet it has altered the way he sees life now, going around day to day looking for something positive to write about and add to his blog. It definitely brightens my day when I try it.  So check it out.  (Just ignore all the advertising though, I think the success went to his head)

Oh yeah, and if you check the "Top 1000" in the side bar and you want to add your comment, realize that there are over 3,000 comments and it takes a long time to get to the newest ones.  I didn't realize this and started commenting on other people's comments before I realized they were written way back in 2009!  It was probably weird for them if they suddenly got an email about something they wrote 2 years ago. Yeah, I'm awesome (in a sarcastic sense if you couldn't tell).


Speaking of Awesome... Check this out:  My husband found it by the side of the road.

As if it weren't cool enough to find $20 on the ground, how about $20 with a plant growing through it?
Maybe it's a money-tree seed, and if I plant it, it will grow, and the leaves will be 20 dollar bills!

Now that would be AWESOME.

Happy Thoughts

I've been feeling a little down lately, so last night when I couldn't sleep, I decided to think up a list of things that make me happy.  I thought of a lot of things, many of them universal to most people by virtue of the thing (i.e. service, homemade bread, sunsets, etc), but I decided I would share a short list of some of the more original ones I came up with.  Here's a weirdly random sample of things that for some reason or another make me happy, give me pleasure, thrill me, help me feel contented and grateful, make me smile, and generally lift my spirits... in a very personal and quirky sort of way of course.




Finishing off the milk in the bottom of a bowl of sugary cereal, and then adding fresh, ice-cold milk to the bowl to wash it down.


The sensation of a cat rubbing up against my newly shaven legs.


The smell of Chlorine.


Mud squishing between my toes.


The cool underside of my pillow on a hot night.


The color of fresh blueberry juice... and sprinkling dishwasher detergent on the spills to make it turn green, just for fun.


The word Periwinkle.


Bare feet on a warm sidewalk after dark.


Breaking ice bubbles on frozen puddles.


Cedarwood smoke in the fall.

Pulling rocks out of the tread on shoes or tires.

Moonlight.

Pine-scented breezes.


75 degree weather.


Silky pajamas.

Brand-new baby smell.

Okay, so some of those may be more universal than I give credit, but I had to add them because I like to think I enjoy them in a keenly personal way.  There's more where that came from, and perhaps I'll add to my list from time to time.


I wish this post was more visually appealing.


I'll add some of the cooler photos I've taken over the past few years.