An Update

Sometimes it goes so long between blogging that you just need to list what you've been up to before you feel like you can move on.....so that's what you get today....no pictures, because that would require more than the 3 minutes of time I currently have to hang out with the computer.


-Easter was an amazingly awesome day of celebration with our church community. A little glimpse at the gorgeous feast here. Not to mention the bounce house, face painting, and Toms shoes decorating for the kids.

-That same afternoon we left town for two weeks in good old Oregon. It was good, so good. I could write a million things, but lets just say it was even more than I hoped it would be. The perfect blend of visiting, relaxation, high energy craziness, fun, sad, quiet, loud. Seriously wonderful. Ahh.

-1/2 marathon #2 for me was fun because my dad ran with me. The kids marathon was fantastically enjoyable for them. I broke 2 hours, but my lack of training is always a buzz kill when I recognize what I could potentially run if I ever put a little effort in. Which I would certainly like to do, but life tends to get in the way of that.

-Last weekend I pulled off a big old surprise birthday party for Jeremy. Seeing as he was in the house all day while I was preparing and scheming,  cooking and decorating. And I somehow got away with it all and he had no idea. I was pretty pleased with myself! Pictures and all that fun can be seen here.

-We took one of those personality test things last night with a group of folk from Missio. Those things are always fascinating and disturbing to me at the same time. I think because I tend to always have the kind of results that are super abnormal and that always makes me feel weird. I also am never a fan of the way they clearly point out the ways that you totally know you fail and try to ignore about yourself. But still it was fun. The guy giving us the test looked at our results as a couple and it was interesting to hear his perspective on how Jeremy and I work in a relationship. Apparently, really well. Which we knew....but is certainly cool to have that affirmed.

-Around the house life is a little full and crazy. But also fun and exciting. Our yard is the embarrassment of the block despite the fact that we are trying to get it under control. Time and money just aren't on our side in that department. Plus with 4 current roommates plus an array of visitors there are plenty of other projects that are constantly at the top of the to-do list.

-I finally got the measurements I needed to finish the speaker covers I was working on. So those *should* be done this week and then some creatively fun projects just might get going around here again.

And that's what I've been up to. Kind of. At least some of the highlights.

Lovely Things from Afar

 Wednesday morning we headed to the airport to pick up our friend Becka who is here to visit for a whole week! The kids (and I) were giddy and bubbly from the minute the sun came up.

We had a fun day hanging out and laughing and singing. There is always much singing with Becka about. Maybe that's part of the reason we love her so much. With Becka life is definitely a musical.

Recently Becka had been in Rwanda for several months and much to our surprise she arrived bearing some amazing and beautiful gifts for us all. So I had to share.  

How amazing is she that she brought me fabric. Gorgeous fabric. I think it will take me a bit to get the nerve to cut into it, but I love it so much. I want to make something that I will see/use often so I can look at it all the time!

A cute little wallet/pouch made of lots of scraps of cute colors and designs.

Adorable earrings, which I wore all afternoon. They were yanked on once or twice, so they'll remain special outing earrings. Oh well, that's the way it goes. 

Bracelets for all the kiddos. 

Cute leather bookmarks. 

A woven basket for the boy. 

Plus some cute fabric printed swatches for the girls that I think will be adorable added to some little bags for them. And a really awesome headband that I couldn't manage to take a decent picture of by myself on myself (it needed to be worn in the picture to show you just how cute it is).

Love it all and can't wait to make some super cool things with our new fabric treasures!

Chickens

So I realized chickens don't care for the flash on my camera. Can't you tell?

Unfortunately you can't get a decent picture without a flash because of their heat lamp and the fact that they don't hold still for half a second.

Jeremy asked me to please stop harassing the chickens, so I did the best I could to get a quick picture of each one. It's insane how much they've changed in one week. They have more than doubled in size and their feathers have changed dramatically in texture and color.

I linked up the breed of each one below it so you can see what they will look like when they are all grown up.

Esmarelda - Golden Laced Wyandotte

 

The newest arrival (today!) Eleanor - Speckled Sussex 

Blackie - Barred Rock

Hoot - Ameracauna (we've had 2 of this variety turn out to be roosters in the past so we're crossing our fingers on this one)

Princess McKenna - Buff Orpington

Strawberry - Rhode Island Red

Views of Home - Week 3

Week 3

It snowed this weekend. So that's where I went with my piece for week 3. I don't love it. I feels to me like a piece of kids artwork that you would bring out and hang up during the Christmas season.

Oh well.

It is nice to have a good excuse to get out lots of art supplies and mess up the kitchen table with the kids.

Chicks are here!

Despite a very frustrating day with Salt Lake Animal Services yesterday (where I came home very over-the-top angry).....we are now the happy owners of 5 sweet little chicks. For now I am just very excited to watch them and pet them and be entertained by the kids' affection for them. I'll be honest, their presence just makes me feel so happy and settled. It doesn't take much to please me, I guess.

Soon I will tire of just staring at them and then I will take pictures and show them off. Promise.