Family, Fireworks, the Fourth of July.

Better (a whole month) late than never, right? I just wanted to do a quick photo dump for family since I don't remember seeing other cameras out all that much. For the 4th of July this year we took a day trip to Payson with Gary's family. We kept things nice and simple: creek side picnic for lunch, ice cream, dinner on the grass and then fireworks. Aside from being warm and muggy during the early afternoon it was pretty perfect, and I wouldn't mind at all if Gary and I took the kids back next year.

In the blink of an eye

You know that saying "the days are long but the years are short"? Truer words have never been spoken. This summer the days have felt especially long. I want to say it is just because we didn't go on vacation, or that it was because we had a new little one at home. Really though, the days dragged by because my sweet girl has transitioned from the generally-not-all-that-bad-twos to the horrific-almost-threes. All of a sudden my sweet, gentle, obedient, sensitive girl has morphed into a wildcat. A wildcat full of defiance, with gnashing teeth and a pair of lungs like you wouldn't believe. I can't lie--it's been a rough ride. But sweet salvation finally came today when I got to pack her up and send her off to preschool. PRESCHOOL. And it is three hours a day, three days a week.

I cannot even tell you how excited I am.

I'm excited to have three mornings a week to snuggle my boy without interruption. I'm excited to have time to clean. I'm excited for all of the chances I will have to quilt. To eat a breakfast without someone begging me to share even though YOU JUST ATE A BIG BOWL OF CEREAL.

But more than all of that (well, just as much as all of that) I am excited for her. Excited for her to take this step towards greater independence.  Excited for the opportunity to foster a greater love of learning. Excited for her to build skills, and confidence. Excited to see her excited.

Lately

A bit of what we've been up to  in the last week or so:

Too much crafting. I can't seem to focus on one project for very long.

 

A little project featuring words from OUR SONG, inspired by THIS.

Easter. I tried to straighten C's hair only to discover a million cowlicks on the top of her head. Hence the crazy hair. It reminds me very much of this guy.

 

Time with family. My sister in law is in town (hooray!) and has brought her two kids along. Little J is only a couple of months younger than C and watching them together is like overdosing on cuteness. Cousin B is three years older but she is a champ at tolerating C's need to hug and annoy her. Loving it.

Spring cleaning. My list is too long. Like, literally a couple hundred things to do. I'm chipping away at it slowly, but I keep getting distracted by all of the crafts I'd rather do (see above).

Playdates. Lately whenever I tell C we are going to get in the car she instantly asks me for Jenny and June. I love it.

Thrifting. As long as I'm dropping off stuff at Goodwill from spring cleaning, I might as well take a peek at what they have, right?

Brand new baby Minnetonkas for $2! I. Die.

Growing. Our little garden is thriving. My Early Girl tomato bush already has 8 to 10 little green tomatoes on it, and the beans, corn, zucchini and okra are looking great too!

Trying to entertain a certain fussy toddler who, as it turns out, is cutting four teeth at the same time. I would be fussy too.

 

A Letter to my Oldest Friend

Amber is my oldest friend. I've known Amber since before I can remember. She was always the cool older girl that I wanted to be. I was furiously jealous that she already had a sister. We shared barbies, made houses for our littlest pet shop animals with jenga blocks, stayed up eating whopper malt balls during sleepovers (remember that time I threw them up in your hair in the middle of the night? Sorry about that.) We had crushes on John Smith and Thomas from Disney's Pocahontas. She let me wear her clothes. We ate lunch together (remember peanut butter and grape jelly sandwiches that your mom would serve on the little tin trays with roosters on them?) and played with her mom's collection of scarves and elephant figures. She was the best.

I am completely sure this was taken immediately after my mom told me it was time to go home.

Over the years we drifted apart until one chance encounter in a Bath and Body Works brought us back together. I believe, to my very core, that it was divine intervention made her randomly stop at a store in a part of town she almost never went to. She was and is still the cool older girl. I'm still jealous that she already has a sister. She is still beautiful and kind and good.

 

She introduced me to First Friday and Pita Jungle. She was with me the night I met my future husband, I've seen her married, she was one of my bridesmaids, and I've watched her become a mother. We've got some good history.

Dear Amber, 
     Thank you. Thank you for being who you are and for loving me for who I am. Thank you for being a force of good in my life. I don't know if I've ever told you, but you rescued me. You taught me to love myself and convinced me that I was interesting and worth spending time with. I think that you were key in me being ready to meet Gary in so many ways. Thank you for sitting next to Mark that night so that I ended up with the weirdo who pointed out our twin moles. For that alone I can never thank you enough.
      I love the light and peace you exude; even when you talk about being frazzled all I can see is a woman who moves slowly, speaks softly and loves fully. You are still the girl I want to be. It brings me such joy to see our girls play together (or rather, to see Ivy tolerate C...I'm sure the playing will come soon enough!) I can't wait to see you again, but for now, I just want you to know that I love you my friend.
     Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

12 In 2012: February and March

So I know I'm a bit behind on February's post for my 12 In 2012 goals but I'm just going to roll it into this post as well. I'm pretty sure you don't mind.

For March we decided to go on a trip without family where the destination would also not be to visit family. Sounds like no big deal I'm sure, but people we have not been on a vacation of any kind with just the two of us SINCE OUR HONEYMOON!! What the what??! I'm not even sure how that happens. And in all of the (very modest) vacations we have taken in the last 5 years, only one of those was without family members! We love our family and all, but we were itchin' for a chance to get away just the two of us.

So. When I heard that one of my very favorite bands was playing in Tucson this weekend AND we got our tax refund, we figured there was no better time to head off for a little mini trip. It really is a shame that they were playing in Tucson though...Gary aptly described it as the New Jersey of Arizona. It's gross. It's dusty. It has the most ridiculous traffic I've ever seen, especially considering that it's neither a large city nor a very cosmopolitan one.

Since this post is getting awfully wordy, I'll just flood the rest with pictures. (Please excuse me for posting crappy phone pics, but I didn't want to lug around the DSLR.)

View from our room...surprisingly lovely.

We had to move out of our first hotel room because there were a ton of BEES in the bedroom!! Good ol' Tucson.

Dinner at Pita Jungle...one of our all time fav eateries.

Fun. There are no words for how amazing these guys are live. Nate Russ was incredible way back when he was in the Format, but I think he has really come into his own with this new group. There is such joy in Fun's music and the acoustics and sound balancing in the Rialto was the BEST I've ever heard in a concert. Un. Real.

After the show we were so pooped that we crashed in our (unbelievably uncomfortable) sleep number bed and fell asleep while watching tv and eating pringles. Don't judge.

The next morning. Gary has a music hangover.

Breakfast: my first ever eggs benny...delicious!

The last thing we did before heading home--a couple's mani/pedi date!

I got the gel/shellac treatment on my nails and toes and this stuff in INCREDIBLE! I think it may literally be bulletproof.

Teddy Grahams = premium road trip snacks.

***Did you guess how I fulfilled February's 12 in 2012? Ahem, my hair is no longer blonde! I went dark brown with auburn tones. I reaaaalllly wanted to go full red but after trying samples against my skin tone my stylist helped me see that I basically look like a chubby clown with true red.***