UNLUCKY IN LOVE

Flipping through old pictures, I found one I had taken of a student's limerick poem (written on a Dr. Seuss hat):

There once was a very nice buck.
He met a very nice duck.
He was mating,
The grass was fading
Then he had no luck.

I remember crouching next to his desk to edit the rough and having to re-read it several times. 
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"So...tell me more about what this poem is saying...who doesn't have any luck? What kind of luck doesn't he have...?" 
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No matter how I phrased my questions, I couldn't get him to really explain it satisfactorily. I don't think he really understood the ways in which this poem was just...awkward. And I couldn't ask the questions I really wanted answered without touching on taboo topics in a public elementary school. So I finally just checked spelling and grammar before sending him off to publish his final copy. 

Though I'm still wondering what his mother thinks of my poetry instruction...

COWGIRL UP! {written by andrew}

I took Rachel for a drive to Kilgore, Idaho, on Sunday. I wanted to show her the area. It is so beautiful, and she had never been. 

As with any drive we go on, Rachel spent 80% if the time behind her camera lens.We had pulled over beside a cattle field, so she could snap some pictures of the wildflowers. 

As she was crouched down, completely consumed by the pretty flowers, she was unaware she had an audience gathering...

She was quite surprised when she stood up to about 100 head of cattle  lined along the fence to watch her.

Even as she joined me in the car and we began to drive away, they still followed, bellowing after us.This intrigued Rachel, so like a scientist, she began to experiment.

After having me move the car around back and forth...taunting the cattle no doubt...Rachel got back out and started taking pictures of them.

Then, out of nowhere, she started sprinting down the dirt road. Of course, the cows thundered after her, following her back and forth down the fence line. I would move the car, but they would stay put unless Rachel was with me.

This kept her occupied for quite some time. I am sure all those ranchers driving by thought she was some girl from New York City who had never seen a cow before, and just had to take pictures.

Regardless, she was happy, and strongly believed, as we finally drove away, those cows' moos were calling her back with calls of "Mama!"

Personally, I think they just wanted to be fed. Or maybe, Rachel's just my little cow whisperer. What can I say?

CRAFTINESS {freebie!}

With all this extra time on my hands lately, I have been a crafting maniac. I was inspired by this cheap, easy wreath over at Kiki Creates, and just had to make one for myself.

I bought the wreath form at the local thrift store.

Then I cut an old white T-shirt into strips to cover it with.

I just pushed straight pins deep into the wreath to hold it all in place. You can't even see 'em.

Then I made over a dozen rosettes with hot glue and scraps of clothes I had planned to donate anyway. I used Kiki's rosette tutorial HERE.

Then, I arranged the rosettes and pinned them in place. If I don't hot glue them, I have the freedom in the future to change the colors and style to match the seasons and my mood.

To fill in the empty spaces, I cut leaves from varying felt colors before adding quick details with needle and thread.

The felt cost me 25 cents a sheet.

Finally, I looped polka-dotted fabric through the finished wreath to hang it with.

Also, I thought that rather then scour the Internet for a summer subway art, I'd just make my own by typing words in different fonts and colors. It was fun.

After printing it, I trimmed the paper around the words and framed it with a backing of striped fabric I had on hand. Then, I pinned red ribbon around the edges of the white paper to clean up the look.

I'm no pro at this, but if you want a copy, go for it. Get it HERE.

P.S. Anyone else getting excited for the July 15th Harry Potter release? I totally had a dream that I was in a magic wand battle the other night. My friends and I tore through a hotel putting every bad guy around us to sleep with our spells. We were running down hallways and pushing people out of elevators. It was very exciting. =)

LAZY SUMMER DAY

Too lazy to blog today. But do you like my picture?

ANDREW'S BEDTIME STORIES

We've experienced withdrawals since finishing the Percy Jackson series. We haven't found a series to take its place as our bedtime story yet, and so we go to sleep feeling as if our day wasn't quite complete, somehow. 

Being the swell fellow that Andrew is, he took matters into his own hands. Each night laying in bed, he makes up stories on the spot that never disappoint. Action...romance...life lessons...they've got it all.

Let me share my favorite thus far:

Once upon a time there was a frog named George. He had the sweetest lily pad in the whole pond. It was even featured on "Pimp My Pad." 

One day, there came a water fowl, and it started to eat him. But George put out his long, skinny frog arms and strangled that water fowl. While this was happening, somebody took a picture and titled it, "Never Give Up." {sound familiar?}

{source}

The frog eventually got spit out, and he had a huge following of girl frogs who thought he was so brave. But George wanted to find a girl froggy to settle down with--to take care of his tadpoles. 

One day, he met Martha and they fell madly in love. They joined their lily pads with fish hooks so they were together, and they made lots of tadpoles that turned into little froggies. Sometimes, the little froggies were naughty and George had to stick his tongue in their eyes. But eventually, the froggies all grew up to be good boys and girls, and they all moved out to have their own adventures. 

THE END

Nice, right? I swear, I almost had a conniption from laughing when he talked about disciplining the kiddos with eyeball licking. I'm still laughing, in fact. 

But who knows? Maybe he's on to something there. Have you tried it with your own kids?

BOUNTIFUL BASKETS

I hesitate to post this for several reasons:

1.) I sound like a TV commercial.

2.) You (like Andrew), are going to think I'm insane for photographing our fresh produce so thoroughly.

3.) I feel insane after photographing our fresh produce so thoroughly.

But if you aren't already aware of this Bountiful Baskets organization, it is in your best interest that you sit down, listen up, and learn yourself something kinda dang cool.

Also, keep in mind, I'm a woman with a lot of extra time on her hands at present.

Bountiful Baskets is a food co-op run by volunteers who buy fresh crops from nearby farmers at amazingly cheap prices. Then, it is evenly dispersed between participants.

If you want your basket of approximately $50 worth of produce for $15, you sign up on their website for the pickup time and location most convenient for you.

It is available in 15 states (including Utah, Arizona, Washington), but you'll have to see if there are any set up in your county.

I go every two weeks to pick up my conventional basket of about 50% fruits and 50% vegetables. I've never been disappointed with what I'm given. Nice variety...everything's fresh...and it's kind of fun to find unique food in your basket that you never would have picked out yourself.

Like cauliflower, for example. I've never bought it before. It smells funny. What am I supposed to do with it anyway?


It forced me to research recipes and experiment a little. Shake things up.

I've even had to Google pictures of some vegetables to figure out what they were exactly.

Jalapenos? Peppers of some kind? I wasn't sure at first.

They also offer add-ons: 2lbs of granola, boxes of in-season fruit, and loaves of nine grain or honey whole wheat bread (in packs of 5 at 2 bucks a piece).

You can even pay a little extra and get your basket 100% certifiably organic. If you're into that sort of thing.

Our grocery bill is now decidedly lower. We live for 2 weeks off this basket and a trip to the grocery store for basic necessities--milk, cheese, butter, meat, toilet paper, and...er...ice cream.

You know, the other things we can't live without.

It feels good to be eating so healthy. Before this, I don't think we were getting quite enough fresh food.

And it's just plain yummy. I couldn't even get a picture of these guys before I'd eaten half of 'em myself.

We don't just have to have a salad every night to get through the veggies either. They go great in stir-fry like yakisoba, or tin foil dinners, casseroles, burgers, soups, and fresh with Ranch dressing.

Personally, I've found the best way to eat celery is smeared with peanut butter and topped with craisins.

And I've always wanted to try making corn beef and cabbage.

I'm enjoying all of this while I can. You see, during the school year, my limited time to plan and cook causes too much of this stuff to spoil before we can ever get to it.

But for now, what else am I going to do with myself besides plan for, eat, and take pictures of produce?

Well, anyway, do I have you sold, yet? If you're interested, go check out the website HERE. Let me know if you have any questions!

REFINISHING TABLE

I've been anxious to show you our latest project. I found this old, thrift store sewing table and saw potential in its style. I actually had to go back the next day, because I couldn't get it out of my mind. Luckily, it was still there, and I bought it for $15.

It had a hinged top that opened to a gaping hole...I'm guessing where the sewing machine once was. I had Andrew remove the top entirely.

This would allow me to add a whole new table-top.

I sanded down the layer of veneer...

...And painted it white.

After several coats, it was ready for the next step.

Thank you, Andrew-Vanna-White.

The next day at Andrew's shop, we found scrap pieces of alder wood, glued 'em together, and ran 'em through this giant sanding machine about ten times.

Then Andrew trimmed the table top to be the size we wanted using a dangerous machine I wish I didn't know he used everyday.

I like my man alive--and with all limbs in tact--is all I'm sayin'.

Another sanding machine smoothed the freshly cut edges.

Hello, forearms.

It's looking better, but not finished yet.

I sanded it down even more to round the edges and corners, to not be so square.

Then it was ready to stain. We experimented with three different colors {a light, medium, and dark} before deciding on the middle one.

A coat of stain was followed by several shiny layers of lacquer.

The top was attached, the white base scuffed around the edges with sandpaper, and new, oil-rubbed bronze hardware added for the final touch.

And there you have it. The finished product turned out better than I could have hoped. I am in love, and can't stop staring.

Compare it to what it started out as!

Not bad, eh?

For now, it randomly sits in our kitchen. In the new house I'll put it in the front-room...or entryway...or guest room...or great-room...Oh, I'm so excited to decorate a new house!

Linked HERE.