little late valentine's day

i was feeling the need to create something quick and festive for valentine's day.  i've been working on a couple crafting projects that are long ones and i needed to feel like i could actually finish something!  

i used the following:

some of the heart ornaments i made last year (using salt dough, cookie cutters and stamps) 

african beads hali brought back from ghana

sisal (from the dollar store that i already had)

pretty dang quick.

this is one of the lovely flowers auntie mitsie gave me!

she's advancing mentally just fine.

according to all these books, babies have different stages at which they mentally and physically advance

i'm pretty sure she's advancing mentally just fine. 

especially since, she can look at you with eyes that say "ummm, i was busy here, you stopped my brain from focusing, please remove yourself."

the dogs of our lives

get the header? tee-hee.

meet bowser.

he's the heartbreaker of the family. he also has finished off all the birthday cakes for the last year.  pretty sure my brother taught him that. 

meet the kona.  

the worst beggar in the entire galaxy.  she also respects no ones personal space.  we're trying to work on it. 

meet loki.  

my cousins dog and he-who-has-the-largest-head-i've-seen-on-a-dog.  i was footzoning his mom and he felt the need to be part of it. 

like i said, the kona respects no ones personal space. including baby raptor.  the kona likes to make sure we are practicing good hygiene. 

and they...are the dogs of our lives.

another late valentine's day

so for valentine's we had over some family!  it was fun setting up the dinner table...even if i only took some paper doilies and ever so carefully placed them in the center of the plate. 

 we had a delicious meal and then ended the night with electric massages.  (as i'm writing this, someone just ran their fancy cadillac into the rocks in our front yard...it is snowing, so it is expected.)

auntie janet brought over this sketchy little machine with its sketchy instructions.

should i be worried that some little double aa batteries can inflict pain?

the kona's bling

i spy with my little eye:

a naughty kona.  here, i was practicing "waiting."  she's usually very good about it.  probably, has something to do with the fact that i had some treats in my pocket for her.  but nonetheless.  i was showing hannah how good she was being (without a treat) when the little sucker ran off in the opposite direction into the neighbors.  DEFYING me.  the nerve.  naturally, i made hannah go get her. 

here you'll see the kona's attire whilst running away.  

she has her color, then her leash which i loop around her neck (as cesar milan says to do), i've also included her heart stone necklace, a zipper necklace, hooked the other end of her leash to the proper spot and last but not least!  a baby diaper bag holder, here being used just in case the kona does something unmentionable while on a walk. (i loath people who let their dogs poop on my lawn.)

happy monday!

happy monday!

nom-nom-nom

so this cute little chub went through a growth spurt. at four months i wonder how much she weighs now?! which, apparently, she is still very chunky to most people.

i need to find a scale somewhere...we won't be going in for a check-up for some time.  the husband got a new job and we're hoping to not have to go to the hospital anytime soon.  as everyone says...at least the little raptor/chubster isn't going hungry!

banff

we went to banff a couple years ago and it was AWESOME. basically, you just watch extreme people doing extreme sports...like crazy extreme 

dropping off 80' waterfalls in kayaks

biking, jumping, balancing on things with your bikes see it here

para sailing in africa here

wide rock climbing here (insane!)

watching the first afghan skiirs here

whenever we see these...we leave feeling like we need to do something extreme

extreme. 

one more time.

extreme

the art of brick amongst other mediums

went to see "the art of brick" in park city.  it was pretty dang cool.  these crayons were about four feet tall

i imagine this is what the husband's body does when someone uses the wrong etiquette for legos.

remember the lego nazi or the husband?

see his rules for becoming a lego nazi here

there was also an embroidery on canvas exhibit.  which i loved.

also this strange print exhibit in the basement...next to the toilets.  i'm not sure we exactly appreciated it.

for some reason, when you take a picture of legos...they appear much more pixalated than they really were.

go and see it!

because it's free! 

also, if anyone is interested in going to the salt lake library, apparently, they have an exhibit there as well...takers?

who needs dolls when you have a dog?

poor, poor kona.

she's now been replaced by a real life doll

she's not being "dressed-up" like she used too.

poor, poor, kona

lament of the bras

dear expensive dillard's brand of bras-

i'm writing to you today utterly (i almost...almost put udderly...buahahah) dismayed that i had to turn my bras purchased from your store into nursing bras.  (well, i had the idea and then asked my mom to do it.)  you could have made my life a little easier by just making and then distributing them.  you see, that store, that maternity store...they don't really make quality bras for gals who need real SUPPORT.  i already broke one of the new bras i just bought from that store.   you know what i mean, that's why you made those bras in the first place.  so why not make them?  i've bought these bras (on sale) at the New Year's dillard's sale the last two years at ten bucks a piece.  and i buy ALL of them regardless of color and print if they are in my size.  which is probably why i don't have a white one.  i have a black floral print, dark purple, some weird animal print, blue...all the weirdo ones because no one wants them. except me!

sigh.

anyway...for those of you bustier ladies in the world who are breasfeeding, you really can covert almost any bra.  we bought some swimsuit hooks from the craft store.  like these.  but, we bought the metal ones...for obvious reasons.  it's a good thing my mom did it, because she used the sewing machine...you know i would have sewn it by hand...and hours later had it finished.

i would post a picture of this process...but i feel it slightly inappropriate.  i mean i already posted about my bra issue before, but posting a picture seems overboard. 

so actually, while my mom was sewing these...I completely zonked out on the couch.  when i woke...she was gone.  so thanks mom!  

if you need to convert a bra call my mom!  or e-mail me and i can help as well. 

(i wrote this probably a couple weeks after the little raptor was born.)

how many rolls do you see?

our little chunkers had a blowout the other night and the husband was in charge of changing her.  i come in and find this:

to be honest, i'm not even sure how he fit her body through the neckhole, as it's already a tight squeeze to get her head through the neckhole.  which, why do they make the neckholes so small?  don't they know that babies heads are ginormous! 

so here we are...baby and i are watching the husband wash her extremely poopy shirt out.  how many rolls do you see, on her that is.

curtain fury

this my friends, is the main cause of contention in our home.  the husband wants to cover these beauties with curtains because cold air is infiltrating our home (and also because he wants to walk around in his underwear,  which i already do.)  i don't want to cover them because i spend a lot of time gazing out into the blue skies.  

basically, forever we've been arguing about it.  i mean this is 16 feet of window here people. one doesn't just  cover these up.  

sigh.

so, we finally compromised.  we did have to call in some reinforcements to settle it, laura helped me see how we could make the curtains NOT look like draperies out of a funeral home. 

i have all the stuff to make them...i just lack the time to do it as of now

so for now, sit back and just wait to be amazed

sometime anyway. 

a little of today.

happy valentine's day!

baby mobile

can you see it?

i'm going to remove all this netting and then place some beautiful hand stitched somethings. . .animals...or the house from the UP movie, or maybe some hearts, or some shapes, or........ you guys, i have a serious problem.  i have all these ideas...but then i just can't decide which one would be the MOST awesome.  so instead, we have nothing, just wonderful ideas aching to become real.  SERIOUSLY, i feel so stressed about this...why can't i just make up my mind? 

 it really is easier to make things for other people, like this one.  see, my cute cousin is a cowgirl and her son is naturally a cowboy, so it was easy!

sometimes, i wonder, who am i?  in my mind i'm thinking "harmony, you know, some people could just like normal things."

and then i come up with things like this:

help friends.

help. 

Ladies night out

i'd forgotten about these!  we went for a ladies night out and some place...i can't even remember the name.  but it was for charity.  so we paid some money and got some waxing, massages, crepes, chiropractic work, facials...and some manicures.  

let me tell you about the manicures...it was terrible, at least for me.  if you ever see a girl with half her head shaved who doesn't drink milk...stay away.  

i'll admit, i have shorter nail beds, but this girl globbed it on...and then kept globbing it on!  it was ridiculous!  i kind of sat there wondering if she was for reals.  i almost asked her to stop, but i felt bad.  i sat there watching angie get her nails done all pretty and smooth and couldn't believe this girl went to a beauty school.  needless to say...i came home and immediatly took it off. good thing it was for charity right?

behold!

everything here was under 2 bucks a piece!  the most expensive thing on my bill was the socks..which were five bucks for 3 pairs.  (i did feel ripped off, but white socks are necessary)

this, my friends, was even better than thrifting, because it's all NEW!  and now i understand why everyone loves to shop for their kids, it's way more fun....well maybe it is. 

so i ate an artichoke the other day

i got these sweet plates for christmas from my mom (rachel ray on clearance baby!)  which because they are so hefty and pretty i feel the need to make the foot look slightly more presentable.  i mean really, i love this color of orange and feel that my food should be just as fun looking. 

so as i was eating my artichoke i realized that "playing with your food" could have a new meaning in my life!

VIOLA!

yup, i ate all of it.  all 25 calories (so the packaging claims) so i could make this beauty.

oh, and then one day we at some salad too. 

(i just realized that i blogged about food and feel slightly silly.)