Less than 100

Some of you have commented about my little floating picture on my sidebar. It's true! I am expecting! We'll be welcoming a little girl in mid-September (unless the ultrasound showed a poor picture. I know that we could have a boy. But we're planning on the girl. Both the tech and the OB were certain. And that's good enough for me). N is very excited about having a little sister. According to her, everyone she knows is having a baby girl (her aunts are also expecting :). A doesn't really get it (obviously, he's only 15 months), though he doesn't like that I'm trying to make him walk more instead of being carried. Poor boy! I'm feeling good, really trying to enjoy the last of my second trimester. I love the second trimester! I'm planning a summer spent in the backyard, sitting in the kiddie pool. (Luckily we're in Colorado, so I don't have to live in the heat of Las Vegas during a summer pregnancy.) And now we have less that 100 days to go! Hurray!

Lesson of the Day

I've been trying to take daily walks. And I've been trying to take more pictures - especially ones that aren't of my kiddos. So Monday I took my camera on my walk. And got some lovely pictures.

Today I went on my walk. Before leaving, I thought to myself, "I should take my camera. No, there won't be anything new to see. I'll leave it home."

After all, I do live a subdivision that doesn't change much. And in 3 days there aren't new flowers. So we start off.

And as soon as I round the first corner, I start kicking myself for not taking my camera.

Because there is a purr-fect

picture opportunity. A mangy-dlooking cat is standing on his back legs, front legs resting on a bird bath, getting a drink. The background was purr-fect also. No bright colors. No vehicles. And the cat didn't even mind that we were there. As I walked by (I contemplated going back for the camera but decided that 1-the cat would probably

be gone by the time I got back and 2-the walk up the steepest hill in the subdivision {not an exaggeration}

wasn't worth the picture that would probably not happen because of #1)

the cat didn't even glance our way. I could have snapped a hundred pictures and he wouldn't have cared. I learned my lesson. I will now take my camera, even if I think that nothing will change.

Inspiring

My mom is an inspiration. Let me tell you why...

She has lately been trying to decorate her home. And as she's looked for what she wants, she hasn't been able to find it. So, what I have a tendency to do is buy something that will "work". I like it for a while, then decide that it's not what I really want and try something else that isn't exactly what I want but will "work". You see the pattern, right? Well, my mom hasn't fallen for the "it will work" line. She finds a way to get what she really wants. For example:

She had a bunch of quilts and blankets in her bedroom, but couldn't find a quilt rack that she liked and that would fit the need that she had (she wanted it bigger than any she could find, in a finish that would match her bedroom set, with a shelf on the bottom for bags and purses). So she went to a local carpenter, told him what she wanted, and asked if he could build it. He said he could and a month later the quilt rack looks beautiful in her bedroom. And the crazy thing is, it didn't cost any more than ordering one online would have cost (cost + shipping). But she was able to get a piece of furniture that she loves!

Granted, not all of mom's designing has cost equal to getting something that's stocked. But I tell you what, the cost of replacing things over and over with "workable" items sure adds up! And I'm pretty sure that she'll save money in the long run. I'm very excited to see if the frame lady can cut the mat that mom wants for family pictures. It sounds amazing!

California

We just got back from a visit to California. The day we drove out of town (no airport in this small Colorado town) it was snowing. California was a welcome change.

I saw my first tide pool. It was incredibly neat! The anemones, snails, mussels, DH saw a crab. It was fun. I'll definitely look for more.

The flowers in California are always one of my favorite things to see. There are different flowers blooming year round. This was the first time I'd seen this one. And now I can't remember what it's called :(. But I do love the flowers. There is such a variety that I haven't seen anywhere else.

We went to the San Diego Zoo. I loved it! I think I had more fun than either of the kiddos. It's an entire post it itself, so I won't post a dozen pictures here. I know this one of the snake turtle isn't in focus, but it's the best that I got of it. Here's a little laugh at me: When I first saw all the turtles swimming (which I've seen before) and saw one of these turtles, I thought (and said to DH) that I never knew that turtles have such long necks! Their shells hide more that I thought. Um, yeah. Then I read the plaque. And it's a species of turtle. Not all of them have long necks. Oops!

And of course there's the beach. I ADORE the beach. I could sit and stare (and photograph) the beach ALL DAY EVERY DAY. Not an exaggeration. It's good we only go to California for visits, because nothing would ever get done if we lived there. Sunny, overcast, rainy, high or low tide, crowded or empty. I love it!

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

On Tuesday, I was invited to a birthday lunch for a friend whom I've known for a long time (20+ years), we just haven't done much in the recent past (10 years). I was informed by the hostess that she wanted to have the gifts homemade, but felt bad about such short notice, which 1- tells you that you're supposed to bring a gift and 2 - you should be creative and make something anyway, short notice or not. So, since I have no idea how my friend decorates, all my crafty supplies are packed away, I was pretty out of ideas. Enter chocolate covered strawberries:

I covered a cardboard flat with wrapping paper (love double sided tape!), shredded some red cardstock, artistically placed a silver tray that just happened to be available, and proceeded to dip the strawberries! N helped with that part and actually turned out some beautiful berries. Unfortunately, none could be gifted, since she licked off the drips instead of letting them drip! The addition of matching ribbon, with bow, completed the look.

It was an incredibly easy gift, and was oohed and aahed over at the lunch. I decided not to tell anyone how easy it was. I'll definitely be keeping it in mind for the future!

Beauty ... in the eye of the beholder

We went on a walk last week and I took my camera, to hopefully capture some pretty pictures. Close to the start of our walk, N points to some dead flowers (above) and says, "Look at the pretty flowers!". Ummm, yeah, okay. So I took a picture. The rest of the walk she kept pointing at random things, saying, "Pretty! Take a picture, Mommy!". The above picture was the only one I took.

The weather has been gorgeous, so we've been outside A LOT! Today, I saw this:

I love buds! It must really be spring!

Easter

I know that I'm incredibly late posting these pictures, but better late than never. We colored our eggs after dinner Friday night. A was sitting in his highchair, eating puffs. By the end of our coloring, even puffs weren't enough to keep him wanting to sit in the highchair.

We started with these:

Had fun doing this (to some degree. Not all participants were as eager as N to color hands, as well as eggs):

And ended up with these:

As a side note: My brother emailed my mom a link that gave a tutorial on dying eggs with silk (ties, scarves, etc). They turned out really pretty too, though the picture doesn't do them justice. It doesn't have the hands on appeal of the traditional way, but it's a lot easier to clean up! Maybe when my kiddos are grown up...

Creativity

My friend over a t 52 Pancakes is TOTALLY crafty. Even her so-called "failures" turn out. So I decided to try my hand at being crafty, without an in-person tutorial from her.

I found the original idea here, and then tweaked it to fit my needs. N loves buttons, so I thought it would make a great quiet time book for church. I wanted a handmade look, so that's what I did. No sewing machine was used. My sisters-in-law were kind enough to help me with a few of the shapes. My creativity had run out by shape-making time. It was really easy, except for when I tried sewing backwards (I can't explain. It just happened. If you've done it, you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't done it, don't try it). And it kept N's attention in church - for all of 2 minutes. But A seemed interested, though not able to fully do it on his own. He could get some of the shapes off, but that's where it ended. He'll grow into it.

Signs of Spring

It is on it's way! I finally ventured outside today with the kiddos, and it was FABULOUS! I had woken up this morning with a sore throat, etc and had been pretty unproductive all day. With the gorgeous weather, I was revitalized and it was great! I feel so much better now that I've had a couple of hours of fresh air and sunshine. Oh, and Spring is on it's way! Look what I saw:

GREEN grass (not at all edited). And I heard the birds singing. I couldn't find any to take a picture of, though. The snow is mostly melted, only hanging around in places where the fence, etc, blocks the sunshine from getting through.

On a side note: Happy St. Patrick's Day! Did you do anything fun/exciting/crafty/green in your neck of the world? Because of my very lazy morning (see above), I didn't really do anything (except make sure that the kiddos and I wore green. DH left too early for me to be seeing straight and he didn't get the reminder). And I told N that if people didn't wear green they would be tickled. Which was great for her, since Daddy and Uncle both forgot to wear green. Then, because of the great sunshine and fresh air, we had a dinner of Runza Buns (hamburger, onions and cabbage inside a pocket of bread) (I just couldn't do Corned Beef and Cabbage. Maybe next year...) and Leprechaun Juice (green lemonade). It wasn't much in the way of festivities, but... oh well!

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss! {a day late}

Yesterday was Dr. Seuss's birthday. We're really into birthday's around here right now. With both of the kiddos celebrating in March, as well as 3 other extended family members, we're pretty booked. And surrounded by sweets (which is NOT normal for N. Funny thing is, though, that she gets cake and ice cream in front of her, and barely eats anything, especially the cake). Back to Dr. Seuss.

He wrote some great books. A lot of them. And we've been reading them all week. It's been great. N is even starting to recognize his name on the front of them. LOL. Anywho.... Yesterday for breakfast we had Green Eggs and Ham. As long as you don't think about it, or look at it, it's good! And N learned how to play "Go Fish" in honor of "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish". She caught on really quickly and had fun. We'll be playing again soon!

I'm a reader of biographies and read one on Dr. Seuss/Theodore Geisel. There were some great facts that I'm really glad to know. For instance: "Green Eggs and Ham" was written using only 50 words (repeated). It was written because Dr. Seuss was told that it couldn't be done and wanted to prove that it could be done. And it became his best-selling book! There were other facts that I really could have done without. I won't share them here. It was a really interesting book.

I found a complete list of his books here. As I looked through it, I found that I have so many favorites that it would be a long list to list them all. So I'm not going to try. But the list of books of his that I haven't read would also be quite long. I've got some catching up to do!