There was an Arts Festival in Salt Lake City this past weekend. Did you go?
Don’t you just love the Arts Festival?
Be it Salt Lake or Park City, or wherever people gather to display their passions.
I love to see the physical manifestations of an artist’s imagination.
There is beauty in every thing you see. Form abounds. Even if the item’s purpose is function.
Like these pens, for example…

They are hand-carved from wood and finished in living color and gloss. Writing a shopping list or a letter would take on a new feeling, no?

 
Or these brooms! Made by hand, with a promise of durability beyond anything you’ve ever known. But look! The artist took the time to carve the handle. You might even be tempted to fly around the room like Harry Potter on one of these things.


 
There is a place for practicality, for sure. But doesn’t it make for a more joyful experience if there is some element of beauty or pleasure present even in the simplest of activities?
I say yes! If I have to cook dinner for my family every night, then why not crank up the stereo and swing my hips a bit while I do it? Even sing into the whisk if the mood strikes. (and it does. much to the kids dismay.)

 
I fell in love with these hand-made pepper mills. In case my husband asks, I would love to see this tall one with the hand crank under the Christmas tree this year. (babe, I got a business card-he’s got a website )


 
Or one of these hand-made leather journals. I think I would have to come up with something profound to record on those pages. Or take a really romantic vacation and sketch in it, or write poetry. Or, I could just sniff the leather cover. Which is what I did while I was checking them out.


 
There were performing arts there as well. A band whose music I didn’t love, but there is something cool about watching a live performance…the expressions on the faces of the musicians.

We saw dancers too.


 
I saw paintings, and pottery, sculpture, jewelry, wood carving and photography.


 


 


 
This next picture is of a piece of sculpture made from old wrenches and metal. It was seriously amazing. This awful photo doesn’t do it justice, but if I had $9500 laying around I would own this and place it proudly in my yard. Nothing says Welcome to the party like a skeleton blowing fire.


 
Look at this next shot. These are carved gourds! So amazing. They make what I do with gourds look like a dog and pony show.


 
Of all the things that I saw, the one thing I wished I could have brought home, were these garden decorations. I completely fell in love with these mask fragments…

So peaceful. Serene. The perfect thing to have in a garden.

 
The best part about going to the Arts Festival, though, is the atmosphere. Live music, ethnic foods, dogs on leashes. The artists taking about what they’ve created, the appreciative patrons walking around in sun dresses and woven hemp shoulder bags. Guys wearing crazy hats and Birkenstocks, and everywhere you go, the smell of cinnamon almonds in the air.

 
Early this year, my friend Erin and I went to San Fransisco for a little girls trip. We rented some bikes and rode them all day Sunday in 70 degree weather. It was the perfect thing to do. We rode across the Golden Gate bridge into Sausalito where we toured art galleries and had a lovely lunch on the patio of some restaurant who’s name I can’t recall.
The sun was getting lower and we were riding to the boat dock to catch a ferry back to the city. On the way, we saw a crowd of people gathered around some guy stacking rocks on the shore near the water. We stopped to watch him for a bit, and I was impressed by how he was able to make tall towers of irregular-shaped rocks that were at least as big as his head.
People clapped for him every time he added another rock to the stack.
And, while I was impressed, I remember thinking, Why?
Maybe there was a hat to collect money. I didn’t see it. Maybe it’s just a hobby. But, of all things to take up as a hobby….
Rock stacking? Seriously?
This evening I was outside pulling a few weeds and it was so lovely that I found myself just sitting and breathing and staring at the world around me. I was sitting right next to some river rocks that I placed at the bottom of a down spout on our rain gutter.
So I started stacking them.
And even though my rocks were small enough to fit in my hand, it was really hard!
But the whole time I was doing it, I was so completely focused on the act of balancing, that my mind was cleared of everything else.
I forgot that I had dishes to do, kids to bathe, weeds to pull, events to plan….
And now I think I’m a rock-stacking enthusiast.

Forgive me blog-world. For I have sinned.
It’s been five days since my last post.
I have even had post topics floating around in my head, complete with photos to illustrate them!
But instead, during my free time, I have been reading a book until my eyes close against my will.
And then sleeping way too late in the morning.
Ah, summer.

 
There was going to be a cute little post about how I caught The Little Guy at one of his brother’s baseball games sitting on the grass surrounded by a group of little girls. He was sitting smack in the middle of them charming them like only he can.
I took a substandard photo from my comfy lawn chair…

Speaking of The Little Guy, I took this picture this past week,

and I was going to write about how much our family loves the littlest boy, and how I worry sometimes that we’re all spoiling him, but that we can’t help it. Because when he talks, his voice is irresistibly precious and whenever he asks for something, he ends the sentence with, “Is that a pretty good idea?” To which my response is inevitably, “Well, yes. That is a pretty good idea.”

 
Or I had an idea to do a post about this house that I drive past every day. This person LOVES them some windchimes. And flower baskets. Trust me, that post would have been fascinating. Really.


 
We went to Lagoon during one of the dry days we had during this rainy June. I was going to post pictures of that trip too. It was so much fun to have a kid that is big enough to go on real rides with. This is me and The Fish just before the roller coaster ascended…

I also would have mentioned in that post about how much I hate/love the Sky Ride.

Am I the only person who’s backside is in perma-clench the entire time they’re on that thing?
During the entire ride, I am imagining how easy it would be for one of my kids to slip underneath that “protective bar” they’ve got on that thing. Too much wiggle room for my taste. Yet, I cannot stay away…

 
I intended to post about this fun bike ride I went on with some friends…


 
Or how much I love the smell of the plant nursery on a Saturday morning. I love the whole vibe of that place. So many possibilities…so many kindred spirits there.


 
Lastly, I was going to share a great internet find with you that I used for Father’s Day. I made this little basket of goodies for all the Father’s in my life…

Is that not the cutest thing? That little hamburger bun is a cupcake cut in two and the ‘meat’ is a brownie. The fries are sugar cookies cut into strips. And the best part, is the packaging- that stuff all came out of my printer! You can download it for free! There are blanks too so you don’t only have to use them for Father’s Day. I found it on THIS website. She’s got the step by step there.

 
So, see? It’s not that I haven’t had posting material on my mind. I’m just experiencing the lazy days of summer to the fullest.
Hope you are too!

Sometimes T will just, out of the blue, share what’s floating through his mind at the moment.
I love this about him.
The other day while driving, he said, “Mom, sometimes when I’m riding back here I just can’t stop thinking about opening the door handle while we’re going fast down the road.”
(engage the child locks…check.)
Today we were watching Planet Earth while we waited for the rain to stop. Which, by the way, is mind-blowing in HD on Kelly’s giant TV downstairs.
Anyway, T’s mind must have been wandering, because sometime shortly after we learned about the millions of cockroaches devouring the mountains of bat poop, he said,
“Mom, did you know that sometimes I worry about things that I already did?”
I said, “What do you mean?”
“Well, sometimes I worry about stuff even though I already did it and it’s already over.”
I asked for an example.
(Then I had to explain what the word example means.)
He said, “Well, like one time Mrs. V (his kindergarten teacher) was reading a story and she said “acid” and so I told her that without the “id” part, then she said a bad word.
I asked him what her response was, and he didn’t remember. He just repeated his thoughts about worrying about things that are already in the past and can’t be changed.
I just squeezed his hand and whispered, “Buddy, I worry about things that I already did too.”
I’m the queen of that trick.

Instead of my usual method of “randomly picking” a number, which consists of me yelling down the stairs to Kelly D. “Hey, Kel! Pick a number between 1 and 31!”, I actually went to a website that generates random numbers.
But, I was excited by the creative challenge this contest presents, so I picked two winners!

 
Number 16 (Staci)


 
Number 2 (Emily)


 
Now all I need is your mailing addresses and I’ll get to work!
Thanks to everyone that commented! I’ll post pictures of the finished products.

 
Sunday is my birthday. It’s okay if you forgot. I forget everyone’s birthday so I forgive you.
I am turning (choke, cough, gag…) thirty six years old.
I know I have said it before, but I feel like the same person inside as I did 10 years ago. Not that I haven’t learned, or grown from experiences, but essentially, I am the same soul. Isn’t that funny?
Funny-as in interesting.
Last year I greedily asked for comments for my birthday. I just love hearing from people who read my blog. You gave and gave and I did nothing in return.
This year, I am going to offer a gift to you to celebrate the day of my birth. (did you notice that it’s also Flag Day? That should help you remember in the future. )
I have been making jewelry almost everyday for a year and I just love it. I want to make something special for you. One of a kind, made with you in mind. If you are a dude, then perhaps something for your special lady friend?

 
Leave me a comment before Monday at midnight, with three words that describe your personal style (tough one!) and then I shall randomly choose the winner of a custom piece of jewelry made with love by me.
For you.
Because I love you.

Just before it rained, the light was soft and low. It made everything so green! Vibrant, saturated green. So I grabbed my camera and took a walk.
This is the first thing you see as you enter the gate to the back.

Around the corner, is my herb garden. Something is eating my basil again. I planted extra so there’d be enough for us and the insects, but they have gotten greedy.

Next, we have a three-way light saber battle…

Yellow flowers spilling out of my favorite pots from Ward and Child The Garden Store. Have you been there? You should go! But leave your kids home. Unless yours are better behaved than mine.

The following photo is of lavender about to bloom. I sometimes like the ‘almost’ stage of things better than the bloom itself.

And another almost…

This next one you might think is almost day lilies. But what you are actually looking at is a salad bar for deer.

I have a new peach tree growing in back and I know I’m supposed to pinch off any fruit that forms in the early years of it’s growth, but I just can’t wait that long, so I left this one little peach for myself. Just one won’t hurt, will it?

I climbed the hill to where my gourds grow. I love to sit up there and look out over the whole back yard.

Perennial flowers are reproducing up there on the hill. I’ve planted things that I like to cut and bring inside for vases, and I’m letting them reseed and spread where ever they like. I think it’ll be beautiful in a few years.

I think this next bush looks like fireworks when it flowers…

This little bucket was a feed bucket for calves. I bought it at one of those consignment stores. Can you read it? It says, “Calf-teria”. I think that’s the cutest thing.
I am easily amused.

The tour ends with this next picture. She actually followed me through the whole tour. Quiet, sweet, and sitting by my feet as I snapped each picture.

I saw a picture of myself on someone’s blog yesterday in which I am wearing a shirt which Kelly D. has repeatedly told me isn’t very figure-flattering. (he calls it a tent)
My jaw dropped open and I said, “Oh my gosh, I’m huge!” (and now also mildly depressed)
Needless to say, that shirt is now on the top shelf of my closet in a pile of never-to-be-worn-again items.
It’s right next to the short-sleeved shirt I was wearing when The Fish told me my arms looked “really strong”.
‘Cause that wasn’t muscle.

Today is the last day of school. I have mixed emotions about it, as I’m sure all moms of school-aged kids do. I’m happy to have them home and I’m looking forward to summer fun with them, but call me in about two weeks and we’ll see where my enthusiasm is at that point.

 
My parents have taken T to Flaming Gorge with them for the weekend. They’re taking them each somewhere fun for a little one-on-one time this summer. It’s funny to see how much The Fish misses his brother already. Those two fight all the live long day, but I can see that this is going to be a long weekend for Fish. I told him he should learn to appreciate Thomas the Tank Engine so he can hang with The Little Guy. I got an eye roll.

 
Fish’s 2nd grade class is having a party today. He was supposed to bring a game to play, so he chose Clue. He loves that game. As we were leaving the house this morning, I noticed some of the game pieces left behind on the table. I pointed them out to him, saying, “Hey, you left the candlestick and the revolver and some other game pieces here.”
He said, (completely serious) “Oh, I know. We’re not supposed to take weapons to school.”
I don’t know how much fun a murder mystery game is going to be without weapons, but it’s good to know he’s paying attention to the rules.
I told him that I’m pretty sure it’s okay to take tiny, non-working game piece weapons. I’ll take the heat if he gets in any trouble.

 

So finally The Little Guy has a big boy bed. He is three years and four months old and has been sleeping a crib all this time.
He is so excited about this.
If you come for to visit us, he will run up to you and invite you to ‘come and see his big boy bed’. And if you display the proper amount of enthusiasm, he will ask you 10 minutes later if you’d like to see it again.
I LOVE putting him to bed now. Well, I loved it before this bed, but now I get to lay beside him and sing him songs. I only know a few little ditties and most of them are Beatles tunes. His favorites are Blackbird and I Will.
Every so often, he’ll reach over and give me a closed-lip smile and then rub my cheek with his soft little hand.
It’s become my favorite part of the day.
The only down side is that I keep falling asleep in there and it’s like I’ve had a power nap at 8:30 pm and I’m ready to stay up and party all night. Alone. While my house is quiet. It’s messing with my sleeping routine.

 
A while ago, my friend Tiffany gave me an old door, and I’ve been thinking of making a headboard for this new bed ever since. Here’s how it started out:

 


 
I cut it in two with a circular saw. (all by myself!)
Then, I knocked the glass out of the windows (gloves, protective eyewear, and over a newspaper…safety first!).
Next, I cut up the bumper pad from the crib and upholstered some boards I cut to fit in the window openings. Now it’s like a padded headboard that matches the colors of the room perfectly!

 

I’m just using the crib quilt for a little throw blanket at the foot of the bed for now, but I think I’m going to make something with it. Still formulating that plan.

But, for now, my baby boy is so excited to be like his brothers.

You know how when you unintentionally offend someone, then you say you’re sorry, try to explain, say you’re sorry again.
Then you relay all the gory details to your husband or other trusted confidant, and he tells you that you should let the guy part of your brain take over. You know, the part that tells you that you did what you could and if they want to still be mad, then it’s their problem.
You listen to him, and think, Yes! This is a wise man. I should listen to him. He is reasonable and logical. And, he has far less drama in his life than I do. He must know something I don’t know.
But then you stay up all night thinking-stressing-worrying about it anyway?
I hate that.

Meet Bella.

 


 
She is our friend’s bulldog. What do you think? Could you love this face?

 


 
She’s quite charming once you get past the snoring, and snorting, and drooling.

 


 
She’s a real sweetheart.

 


 
And did you know?
Bella translated means beautiful.

Last night we decided it would be fun to set up the tent in the back yard and sleep in it.

We snacked on popcorn and Swedish Fish, and when it got dark, we took turns telling scary stories.

T’s stories tended to go on and on…

The Little Guy was mostly interested in the flashlight action.


 

When it was my turn, I told some really scary stories. Most of them I made up as I went. They included mysterious phone calls in which you could only hear breathing on the other end, or that one classic about the car that ran out of gas and the scratching sound on the roof…

 
Oh, I was scary alright.

I can’t help it, but when I would see that real moment of fear at the end of my stories, I would laugh out loud with delight. Fish said, “Mom, can you stop doing that?” Doing what? Telling scary stories? “No. Laughing like that, you’re creeping me out.” Ok. No more evil laughing.

 
In the middle of our fun, Kelly D. skulked out to the tent and growled so loudly and suddenly that it scared all of us. Not funny, Dad. (Ok, kinda funny.)


 
If you’re thinking I am an awful mother for telling scary stories to such little kids, fear not. I paid the price.
All night long as we tried to go to sleep, I had to keep reassuring the boys:
Those are crickets.
That was a car door closing.
That is the wind.
There isn’t a giant eye outside the tent window.

 
On the plus side, I’ve never been snuggled so close by my kids in my life.

 
We woke up with the sun, and the sound of birds outside the tent. Loved that.


 
We stayed in our warm sleeping bags for another hour until the idea of pancakes got the better of us.

 


 
It was the 2nd worst night of sleep in my entire life.
Totally worth it.

The Fish is in 2nd grade, and has become obsessed with swear words. Everyday he comes home from school with more questions about what is or isn’t a bad word.
Example:
“Mom, is this finger the same thing as swearing?” Yeah, it is.
“What word does it stand for?” Uh….not gonna tell you.
“Just spell it then?” Dude. No.
“What does it start with?” Seriously…can we talk about something else?
Next day:
“Mom, does it start with an F?”
Oh dear.

 
So now he’s curious about which are the worst of the swear words.
“What about the s-word? Is that in the top 5?” Yeah, probably.
On and on it goes.
So, the other day he asked me about several others (see? obsessed!) Some of them were not actually swear words, but they were rude and unacceptable to say, so I just told him that they were on the list of bad words. Once he even said, “But how come it’s ok for you to say that word?”
What? (incredulously) I don’t say that word!
“You do when you’re mad.”
Moving on…

 
Today we were driving home from school and he was looking at the mail sitting on the front seat. There was an ad for Dick’s Sporting Goods in the pile.
“Mom! That’s a bad word!” Well, not in that context it isn’t. It’s a nickname, short for Richard.
“That’s like you naming me Josh and calling me a-s-s!”

 
Someday we’ll get this all sorted out. But for now, I guess I’ve got new options for nicknames.

Kelly D. often refers to many things I cook as “world famous” or “special recipe”. He’s very sweet, but he’s such a liar. In fact, he often tells dinner guests that my potato salad has won blue ribbons. He will say, “Oh, you guys are going to love Kelly’s blue ribbon potato salad! It’s the best!”
But, it’s just regular potato salad. Good, but basic. Same potato salad my mom makes and probably my grandma before her.

 
Tonight for dinner, we had marinated flank steak. I’ve posted the recipe before. It’s something I tend to make in warm months, because it’s perfect for grilling and eating outside. And, what’s better with grilled steak than blue ribbon potato salad?

 
So, I’m halfway done with making it when I realize we are totally out of mayonnaise. You can’t make blue ribbon potato salad without mayo. The steak was already on the grill, and we’re minutes away from dinner time. And it’s Sunday. We don’t go to the store on Sunday, so I think to myself, it’s oil and eggs…make your own mayo.

I quickly found some recipes online, along with a few tips on how to successfully make mayonnaise and I was in business in no time.
Every recipe I came across boasted of how much better homemade mayo is than store bought, so as I read I was getting more excited about this new prospect than maybe I should. It’s only mayo, after all.
But! They were right! It is actually better. And it was easy to make.
And most importantly, it made my potato salad SO good. Dare I say it? It might just win a blue ribbon after all!

 
So, for today’s cooking post, I made my own mayonnaise. (recipe HERE) I’m like a pioneer. Well, a pioneer with a stick blender….. and a video camera……..

 

PS. Maybe I should have told Kelly D. that a camera was rolling before I hit record.