My Big Wide Yellow Wall

Well, this is my big wide yellow wall. It's the first thing anyone walking through the front door sees. I need some ideas for filling the space. The other 2 walls have old pictures of relatives and a giant family tree fan chart. Just so you have an idea of what's going on in the room. This wall is starting to get to me, I'd love to hear any and all ideas.

Vermillion Sunset Drive

Okay, so I know I whined a good whine about not having any colorful fall leaves to look at. So I'm here to do a little blessing count.

We have the most amazing sunsets--really, almost every night. (The pic above was taken a few days ago.)

And, have I told you about our views of the stars? Wow. There's an observatory near us and so our area has a Dark Sky Ordinance AKA: No street lamps. It's very dark, and the views of the stars are wonderful!

See, so I really shouldn't have complained.

Raise your Hand if you Mop

I do laundry. I do dishes. I vacuum. I'm a great vacuumer. But, mopping? Mopping kills me! Why? I swear, I'd rather lick my shoe than mop. It's not like my floors hide it well either. UGh.

Is it like this for you? I'm probably alone on this one aren't I? Oh well. Any pointers?

Just Vote

It doesn't matter for whom or what. Just vote.

Spooky

Halloween was great! Grace and I were witches. Nate and the boys were Skeletons.

The night was a little crazy. When all was said and done we didn't have any pictures of Nate in his skeleton costume that Nona was so kind to send. Sorry folks.

We had a little get-together here for our neighbors. It was really fun. The weather was amazing, and we had it outside in our yard. We had just the sliver of a moon, orange Halloween lights, and jack-o-lanterns for lighting.


We had finger food and witches brew (rootbeer with dry ice) and a little pumpkin craft for the kids. We decorated the table all spooky, but this is the only real picture I've got of it. An old wooden Coke crate painted black held the napkins, silverware and fun straws.


One of the best parts was Grace's raffle. It was very organized. She set up a little booth and made the adorable sign in the picture below. It says, "Children please sign your name." She put all the kids names in a pumpkin jar and raffled off a vampire flashlight! So cute.


I hope your Halloween was just as great!

Quirky

So, I've been "tagged." RicAnn asked me to write about some of my quirks, so here goes:

I clean my ears when I don't want to do what I need to do...because, I mean, cleaning your ears is productive right? :) Pretty much, I do it at least once a day even though, they never really need it.

All of my recipe cards are in a big pile in my cupboard. They are not in a recipe box nor are they any sort of organized. (Maybe this is why I dread cooking?)(Is this quirky, or just lazy? Don't answer that.)

I can speak and understand "Toothbrush". You know, that language that's spoken when someone is in the middle of brushing her teeth and finds herself suddenly needing to communicate. "Toothbrush" is usually spoken with one's head tilted back so as to minimize the spillage of toothpaste drool. Anyway, I'm a fluent speaker of "Toothbrush", and I've found I'm actually pretty good at understanding it--in case you ever need a translator. :)

I like to sleep with the blinds open...We are so lucky to have the most amazing views of city lights and stars out our bedroom widow, and it seems like I'm always getting up in the night for one reason or another...I don't want to miss a chance to see them!

When I'm mad, I clean. See, if you're ever feeling like you need some help with your housework, just invite me over, and tick me off... you'll be set! :)



Ok, that's all my brain can think of ...

Walk On Mr. Gibbs

So, the sweet boy walks! And, he talks too. This clip doesn't really demonstrate it, but the boy can gibber-jabber up a storm!

Rock On!

I think these are adorable. Everytime I see one I think of my nephew Ezra. He's an adorable 2 year old who's daddy is a rocker (and a soon to be lawyer--hooray for graduation!) I was seriously tempted to splurge for his birthday...but, I just couldn't justify $78!

It's a great idea if you're handy with the sewing machine. Maybe someday I'll be so handy. (Probably just in time for Ezzy's college graduation! :) )

Let's Help

Many of you may or may not have heard of the Mesa couple involved in a plane crash August 16th. I'm not sure exactly were to start but, they could use our help. There is a benefits concert being held for them this Saturday in Mesa. If you're in the area and want to buy tickets you can buy them at www.mindygledhill.com. If you too would like to follow their recoveries, and learn more ways to be involved you can do so here.

i. miss. fall.

Boy, do I miss it! I miss it so badly my heart hurts. I miss it so badly that, when I saw these pictures on my sister's blog, I wanted to lick my computer screen. You see, I reside here in the Upper-Sonoran Desert--Land of No Fall, but my sister lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan--Land of Amazing Fall. These pictures she took make me want to breathe the air there, to smell those wet leaves, and like I said, lick them. I would lick those leaves if I could. Really. I know, it's sounds weird. It is. It's what happens to the Fall-deprived.

Pretty Party

Well, Mr. Gibbs is 1 year old! (I will post some pictures of the sweet boy as soon as I get them from my Pa. I don't have any good ones.) Anyway, this is a fun project I did for his Birthday festivities. I finally busted out the sewing machine! And, this was the perfect project to help me get reacquainted with it--a super easy sewing project. You can find it here. The website's called The purl bee it seems like a great place for fun sewing projects.

I also love this fabric beach ball idea from them.

Dangerous

Well. This post is about Anderson: My little boy that is becoming a "dangerous man." Last night he spelled his name for the first time. A-N-D-E-R-S-O-N! (Really he did all on his own! I have it on video.) And today he started potty training. (So far, he's done excellent!) And lately, he has been saying the most hilarious things. A few days ago he came into the room with a Tinker Toy weapon he'd created and said to me, "I'm dangerous. I'm a dangerous man." And, last night we were reading stories and he informed me that, "Some horses don't have teeth," and that, in fact, "Some cows don't have teeth." Who knew? :) When I asked him where he would like to put his gummy bear treat for the night because it was too late to eat it, he said, "Um, in my mouth." Well, duh mom.

Fabric Houses

My latest obsession is little fabric houses. It has really got me on the verge of busting out the sewing machine. I saw this really adorable wool house at Anthropologie.

And, I've seen a few of them from artists featured on the blog decor8- like these pictured above from Stephanie DosReis. I love those dangling pom-poms and how the houses look kind of topsy-turvy. Most of those I've seen on decor8 are from etsy shops. (Etsy! Oh! Etsy deserves an entirely different post-I LOVE ETSY. If you have not checked out Etsy YOU SHOULD NOW. Seriously, it is a wonderful place where you can buy handmade goods from those who do the making.)


These last two little homes are also etsy artists found on decor8. The first one is a sweet bag made by Syko. I love all the mix-matched patterned fabric that was used. And I really like that it's a bag! And the great pillow house was made by MummySam. I love the embroidered lettering and the scallops on the roof. I also love its tall shape. It makes it seem more whimsical. See, don't those make you want to whip yourself up a little fabric house?

My Favorite Kindergartener

So, Miss Grace has started Kindergarten this week. OH! So sad for me! But, she is loving it! I knew she would. One thing that's really getting to me is the thought of her being gone EVERY DAY for the next 13 years! Seriously. THAT makes me want to cry. I'm going to miss her.

I guess some of my other worries are more "philosophical" ones, for lack of a better word. These worries are perhaps things I DON'T want Grace to learn in school. Oh, please Kindergarten teacher, don't teach her that the "right" way to color is inside the lines. Don't teach her that she can't mix up the play dough. Don't teach her (though, I know you would never do this intentionally, but it seems to happen inadvertently) that learning is something we do, and that school is somewhere we go, when we'd rather be playing. In other words, I guess I'm worried my child's love of learning and her thriving creative spirit might be unintentionally stomped out.

Maybe I'm over reacting. Maybe I've read too much about the benefits of homeschool. I mean, I made it though the public school system with a love of learning and some creativity in tact. Right?

Clearly, I'm struggling here. Advice anyone?

The picture above is classic Grace. She's watching Spirit with her swim goggles on wearing her school pride shirt! You've gotta love her!

Monsoon

Well, it's summertime, and in Arizona that means monsoons: crazy, crazy rain. Aside from the flooding and road closures (moonsoons make for dangerous driving) they are actually something I look forward to. They are amazing storms. Sometimes you can literally see them coming - an insane wall of rain, wind, lightening and thunder. (See Pic: taken outside our house a couple years a go.) They usually come in the afternoons or evenings.

Because it's warm here (that may be the understatement of the year :)), you can enjoy playing in the rain without freezing. My kids jet outside any time they see sprinkles on the windows. Above is Anderson soaking wet, trying to catch some of the cold wet stuff on his tongue.

Grill 'Em

So, we got a grill today. We went out to buy a ceiling fan, and instead, came home with a grill. We've been wanting one for a long time now. And, you know, it's really funny, (and frankly, a little lame) but while Nate was out there grilling, and I was in making a salad, I felt like we had a "arrived" so to speak, sort of like we're a "real" family now that we have a grill. So, it's like somehow in my mind we've been a "pretend" family up to this point-with our 3 kids and our station wagon?!? Who knows?! I think I would have had the same feelings if we had brought home a dog. For some reason in Kristiland those things: grills, dogs, and probably some other things not yet known to me, represent "familyhood". I'm crazy! I know!

So, Hey. Anyone got any good grill recipes?

Beautiful Boy

Little Gibbs is really so sweet, and this is such a great picture. I had to share it with you.

Creative Juice

Okay, so you all remember my room that needed decorating, well it's almost done. And, I have been doing pretty good at just using what I've got. I got some great ideas for the creative room decor from a great book I just read. It's not a decorating book. It's a book about how to help you and your wee ones be more creative. It's called The Creative Family by Amanda Blake Soule. She has some great ideas, mostly geared toward children, but really some great things for everyone! I love that her ideas are simple and low-cost. Check it out:

One of the ideas in the book is a Nature Table. It's just a little place in the home where the kids can play with nature. She likes to center hers around the seasons, but really anything goes. At our nature table right now are a couple of seed packets-in a bucket so they can be dumped and played with-, some rocks Grace found, some books about Arizona wildflowers, a star-chart (we are taking a trip to the local planetarium next week), and The Very Hungry Caterpiller by Eric Carle. We also have this butterfly kit which has really been AMAZING and I could make an entire post just about it, but I won't. Anyway you get the idea...it can be so simple.

The Inspiration Wire. I LOVE this for me. You have all probably heard about inspiration boards, well this is the same idea-except it's a wire you can clip things to. You put things there that you find inspiring for whatever reason, to be used in later creative projects. I have totally used it to help me generate ideas for decorating my house. I really like how the wires look on the wall. Each of us (except Gibby) has a wire- Pretty!

Another of her suggestions that is so simple, but great, is to put a basket of fabric of all sorts shapes, sizes, patterns, textures where you kids have access to it. It's really fun to see what crazy things they come up with to do with the fabric: lay it out on the floor, cut it, tie it, throw it, draw on it...really fun!

She has some great suggestions for dress-ups. One of them was to have a mirror nearby-which makes complete sense, but I hadn't thought of it. My dress-ups were hanging up high completely out-of-reach. So, I moved them to the trunk shown above (which I painted ORANGE -a little crazy-not sure I really like it). And hung the mirror-which my sis made for me-thanks RicAnn!

And there's my red repurposed shelf.

Anyway, she's got a bazillion and one ideas. It's good stuff. Maybe you should check-it out.

A Little Sit

I find the idea of child-sized chairs around the house so charming. I can't really put my finger on why I'm obsessed. Maybe someone told me it was cool. I'm not sure. But, I have really been wanting some little chairs for my little people to sit in. I found the small chair in this picture on craigslist. I imagine my little ones finding themselves in this corner wondering through the pages of books. (Maybe after they're finished flooding the kitchen. :) )

I won?!?

Guess what!?! I won a magazine subscription to this great magazine on DesignMom! I can't believe I actually won something. Hooray! Thanks DesignMom!

So, I did it!

So, I did it. I actually went to the modern dance class yesterday. I was a little worried I was going to chicken out. But, I didn't. And it was fun. I mean, sure, my face was literally PURPLE, before the class was half over because I'm SO out of shape. And, I had to sit down for a couple of minutes toward the end because I thought I was going to be sick. (You have to give me some credit, the combination we had been doing involved MANY cartwheels-yes, cartwheels!) Anyway, it felt good. And I'm going to do it again. The class was small and the instructor was very encouraging, and I think it will be a great fit.

Oh man, speaking of dance. My friend, Tahna, sent me this link of an AMAZING performance. Seriously, AMAZING! (I would have posted it here, but I've yet to figure out how to post a video from YouTube.) You really should check it out.

Dance Dance Crazy Pants

Don't you just love to dance? Oh man! I love to dance. Really, I love all sorts: modern, ballet, ballroom, etc...And for the first 2/3 of my life, dance played a major role. I took all sorts of classes, performed and even taught classes. But, I'm sad to say in recent years there really has been no formal existence of dance in my life. Of course, I dance with my kids, and in the car while listening to the radio, (oh, c'mon you know you do to!) but, I haven't really done anything to develop my "dance talent" per say. I guess I've just been too busy.

For the most part, I'm pretty happy with the things I fill my time with: family, church service, design. But, I have been spending oodles of time lately on our house & yard, decorating etc...something I love, but when all is said and done I could be happy at the end of a life with house that is not picture perfect. However, I will be very sad if I don't get myself in gear and do something with this desire of mine to dance. So I have! I found a couple of classes for adults, a modern class & a ballet technique class, that are flexible and affordable and I'm totally pumped! I'm sure I'll be totally awkward at first, but who cares!?! I'm excited and going to class starting Tuesday.

As a side note: A couple of other things I really want to do in this life of mine are travel more and learn to play the guitar. (I've always thought it would be such a great thing to be a guitar-playing mommy. I have these funny visions of me playing fun songs while my kids fold laundry. I know it's a little silly, but I'm determined make it happen. :) )

This sweet pic was taken by one of Gracie's grandparents at her dance concert a couple of years ago. Can you tell which one she is?

Repurposing

Man, it's been a while hu? I've been in a small nothing-terribly-inspiring-to-post-about slump, I guess. Or maybe it's because I've been thinking, and I feel like I have so MUCH to say that it's just easier to say nothing. Shrug. Who knows. All I know is I have a fun idea. (And yes, the idea does involve these seemingly random pictures.)
Recently, I have found myself with a big room. Okay, so maybe it wasn't quite so easy as just "finding" it, it actually took quite a bit of effort to make this room in our home available, but now it is--and I'm loving it! I have big ideas for this room. It's going to be an art/play/office-ish room, a room everyone in the family can use, and I have some ideas for decorating it. One of the ideas involves a shelf already hanging in the room (see seemingly random pictures). I thought it would be a useful storage center for craft/art supplies. Initially, I was wanting to go to Ikea and buy all matching clear jars to contain the craft supplies. But Ikea is quite a distance from here and there are lots of other things I'd rather spend money on. So, I started rummaging through the house to see what I already had that I could use. I was pretty excited with what I found. What do you think of the final result?
Anyhoo. All of this put me in a mood--a sort of a money-saving, using-what-you've-got-to-make-it-work mood. And it helped spawn my fun idea, which I really am getting to. I'm going to redecorate this room using only things I currently have. It'll be a big project based solely on the idea of repurposing. Excluding money. That is, I can't use the money I have now. But, I will need some money. So the rule is that I can only use money I earn from selling things I already have. AND I've already got $25 from selling a child pack on craigslist this morning. Hooray! I'm off and running. Now, I sort want a name for this project of mine...

Daddy Fest!

Yesterday, Nate took the kids to the mountains for a few hours of quality Daddy time. (Leaving Mommy alone at home to get some things done around the house. :)) It was our first Daddy Fest! The kids had a blast. They climbed and jumped off rocks, had a picnic and splashed in the creek. Nate's so brave, he even took Gibby! Grace asked if we could have Daddy Fest every time Daddy doesn't have work.

A Clean Spring

Cleaning is always on my mind. Mostly because my place is always a wreck. Therefore, I have been working on establishing routines for myself to help keep the house in order. This is something I learned from the FLY Lady and, from my minimal experience in the business world. In the land of business I was taught to establish systems or, again, routines.

Below is a list of rules and routines I have set up for myself that seem to be making a difference. In no fancy order here they are:

1. NEVER PUT CLOTHES IN THE WASHER IF THERE ARE CLOTHES IN THE DRYER. I know it seems a little annoying, but if something comes up (or I forget) and I don't have time to fold the clothes in the dryer and put them away, where am I going to find time to dry and fold the load I just put in the washer? I won't. They'll just sit in that washer and get stinky. And then I'll have to wash them again.

2. ALWAYS FOLD THE CLOTHES STRAIGHT FROM THE DYER. Don't let clean clothes pile up in baskets or on the bed.

3. DO ONE LOAD OF WASH EVERY DAY. This was a tip from Sink Reflections, written by our friend the Fly Lady. And when I have laundry piled up (because I don't always follow my rules) it makes the task seem less daunting and more manageable.

4. COOK SOMETHING EVERY DAY. I read this on a blog somewhere, I wish I could remember where. I haven't done it yet. But I sure have been thinking about it alot! :) And, I really think it would make a difference for me. (I sort of hate to cook. It's something I've got to get over!)

5. START THE DISHWASHER BEFORE I GO TO BED EVERY NIGHT-even if it's not totally full. I know it's not the "greenest" thing to do. But, otherwise, halfway through the next day I've got a full dishwasher and my dishes start to pile.

6. UNLOAD THE DISHWASHER 1ST THING EACH MORNING. Again if the dishwasher is full--even it's full of CLEAN dishes--the stacks of dishes appear.

So, those are my rules. They probably sound a little silly to most of you. Do any of you have "rules" you set up for yourselves? I would love to hear them.

A Book Bag

Okay, so I think this is such a great idea! It's an old book turned handbag. Seriously. Super cute. Very green. And just plain smarty! AND if you go here, you can find out how to make your own! Lucky!

Type is Beautiful

I really like the idea of using type as a decorative element like they do here at Pottery Barn. I just really love type.

Toothers

Grace has lost her first tooth! She was VERY excited. But her excitement over the tooth actually coming out only rivaled the excitement she had when she first figured out it was loose. She was SO excited. She honestly got a little teary she was so happy. It was very sweet. She has been wanting to lose a tooth for a while now.

Speaking of teeth. We also just recently took our kids to the dentist for the first time. (I know! Grace should have been in ages ago...naughty mommy!) Anyway, we went to a Pediatric Dentist, which was actually kind of fun. The office was all sorts of decked out with play areas and colorful animals. And, they were really good about making sure the kids were comfortable and knew what all the equipment was, giving the dental tools fun names. For example that funky vacuum water-sprayer was "Mr. Thirsty." Sounds a little cheesy, but the kids ate it up. I think it was especially good for Anderson. He tends to be more timid in new situations. Anyway if you got a kiddo that's had a bad dentist experience or is just more like my Anderson, a Pediatric Dentist might be the way to go. If you're interested, this will tell you more about WHY you might want to choose a Peds Dentist.

Documentaries

I have a thing for documentaries. I just finished watching Mad Hot Ballroom. It's about a bunch of 5th graders who are taught to ballroom dance. Then they have this competition, and I thought it was actually pretty cute, but Nate went to bed half way through. Yeah, I think you have to be a really patient movie-watcher in order to enjoy documentaries. I mean, you can't really go into them with the same expectations as other, what some may call, "real" movies. Can you? No, because, it has been my experience that their plots (if they exist) are pretty slow and predictable. And, in the end, I admittedly feel a little dissatisfied. So, why do I keep watching them? Maybe it's because, supposedly, they deal with REAL people and REAL life. Maybe I'm hoping to learn something from those people and their experiences. Maybe it makes me feel smart and I can say, "I watch documentaries, ho ho ho, aren't I spiffy!" I just really don't know. Do any of you know of any REALLY GOOD documentaries? I would love to hear about them!

That Thing About Ice Cream

So, today I paid $6.79 for a carton (1.75 quarts to be exact) of Dreyers Double Fudge Brownie ice cream. $6.79 is a small fortune for that much ice cream. But, we live in the boonies and the corner market is aparently keenly aware that they are the only carrier of such yums for many miles. When I got home, Nate actually told me that he would love me more if I bought ice cream every week. He said he was kidding, but I wonder... :)

Sprouts

Nate and I have been trying to come up with ways of teaching our little ones the value of hard work.

One thing we've done is plant a garden. I LOVE to garden. I'm not saying I'm any good at it, but it's something I grew up doing, and so it reminds me of home, and so I love it. I love going out early in the morning and watering. And, I love watching the little sprouts push up through the dirt and grow. In my opinion, gardens are just really great places. I have fond memories of picking vegetables, especially peas and tomatoes, and eating them right from the garden.


Anyway, like I said, we want our kids to be involved in this garden, so we did a couple of things to make it more kid friendly. One thing we did, which I think was my dad's idea, was put big rocks at the top of each row. This helps the kids identify that there actually is a row there before the seeds pop up. And, the rocks act as sort of a guard rail for the hose. They keep the hose at the top of the garden and thus save our plants from destruction via garden hose.

Another thing we did also involved rocks. And that was just put some larger rocks randomly throughout the garden. We hoped this would add some fun to the garden. The rocks are there to climb on, sit on, and jump off of. There is a nice flat rock I think would be fun to have little tea parties on. You get the idea.

So far we have planted peas, carrots, zucchini, squash and radishes from seed. The tomatoes and peppers we planted from starts. The seeds have all started to sprout and it's really fun to see. Grace is especially excited. She does a great job of watering--when I let her. (Remember, I told you I really like to water in the early morning. It's supposed to be Grace's job.)

If you like the idea of gardening with your kids, check out kidsgardening.org. I thought their Parents Primer section looked especially interesting. It doesn't have to be stressful, you could just do what Cheryl Dorschner suggested here and "plant last night's dessert--watermelon seeds..."

Citrus

Well, we spent this last weekend with our good friends, the Potters. Ruth's parents have citrus trees and were kind enough to let us have BUNCH fruit! So, today the kids and I squeezed a lot of oranges, some grapefruit, and 3 gigantic lemons. We had a great time!

Anderson washed the fruit. He was drenched by the end, but had a ball playing with the water--I mean cleaning the fruit. :)

I cut the fruit.

And, Grace did most of the juicing. She was having so much fun with the juicer she even forfeited her turn with the playmobile people!

And tomorrow for breakfast we'll have fresh-squeezed orange juice! Hooray! Thanks Gordons!

If you have also found yourself with and abundance of citrus, particularly lemons, maybe you should try this lemonade recipe. I think I will.

Fresh!

I have great hopes for this little blog. They're so great I don't want to ruin it with a stale first post. And just the fact that this is the first post is stressing me out. So, lets get on with it.