::blooming::

When we bought our house, not only was it in dire need of work, but so was the yard. At the end of last summer, I worked my butt of planting and landscaping. David sat around and ate bon bons and gave me directions. ha! I kid, I kid. David did ALL the work. We were a little worried that some of the plants might not survive the winter; luckily it looks like every single one HAS survived, and are now happily budding and blooming.






WOW do I love our new camera!!

I'm off later today for our annual Moms Gone Wild weekend in Leavenworth. It's happening WAY too early this year; we can't even wear skirts and flip-flops, dang it. And there won't be any outdoor music festivals to get wild at like last year. I don't even know if it's possible to have fun when it's cold and raining, but we'll do our best. Now that I think about it, this is probably a good thing...

Happy weekend ya'll!

::Moab::

We went to Moab. The weather was lovely. We like each other even MORE after vacationing/travelling together. Here are pictures.

how to tell that my daughter is tired

Anna has always been very cautious. This means that when she was a toddler, I was the mom standing at the bottom of the gigantic slide yelling "Come on! Don't be scared! It'll be FUN!!" I've spent her entire childhood encouraging her to ride faster, to climb higher, to jump off things....you know, LIVE A LITTLE FOR GODS SAKE. I know I'll appreciate her cautious nature when she's a teenager and some boys invite her to get into their car to go for a ride. But man, sometimes I wonder if this kid has any of my DNA.

So last night we were snuggling in bed, watching one of those MOST EXTREME AND INSANELY DANGEROUS OH MY GOD SOMEBODY IS GOING TO DIIIIEEEEE shows on Animal Planet when they did a segment about a 14 year old cowgirl's first attempt at riding a bucking steer in a rodeo. As soon as they come out of the shoot, the girl goes flying. In slow motion she arcs through the air, perfectly t-boning the ground, neck bending at an unnatural angle as her head drills into the soft dirt. Oh, and then the steer stomps on her head and neck for good measure.

Thinking I am being wildly ironic and hilarious, I turn to Anna and say "Just in case you ever decide you want to try riding a bucking bull in a rodeo, the answer is NO." har har.

"BUT I WANT TOOOOOOOOO!!!" She wails.

"...." blink blink. "Ok. You know what? You go right ahead and ride that bull, honey."

goat camp!

Goat Camp was this past Saturday and it was everything we'd hoped for an more. What? You don't know what Goat Camp is? Well, there is this wonderful place near here called P.E.A.C.H. Community Farm. They have all kinds of workshops and classes on everything from organic gardening to animal husbandry to cheese-making workshops. One of the day-camps they offer is called Goat Camp, and as you can imagine it's all about goats!! My friend Nichole was so excited when I told her about it, that she and her daughter Syringa drove from Seattle just so that Syringa could go to Goat Camp with Anna. They LOVED it! They learned all about the farm, played games, learned how to milk goats (they practiced first on clay-filled rubber gloves!), had a picnik under the trees, played games, learned how to make goat-cheese and made books about their day.

The people who live on and run the farm are lovely and warm, and every Sunday they host a potluck, open to everyone, at a long table over-looking the farm. We will definitely be spending more time at this lovely place.

Here are a couple of the "kids". FYI: Young goats do not cooperate when you try to stuff them in your bag. They have sharp little hooves and pointy nubbins.

I want that little black and white one there on the left. And look at the brown one, trying to head-butt his brother. God I love goats.

This bad-boy is Magic. He's the billy-goat daddy to all those kids up there. He has an attitude.

Anna and Syringa, in the milking barn.

Anna with Milton. They fell madly in love with eachother, and whenever Anna walked away from him, he'd bleat "maaaa...maaaaa-aaaaaa...maaa!!!" which of course means, "Hey! Come back here. I can't live without you!"

We got a new camera (woohoo!!!) and look what lovely pictures it takes! This is Milton again. I liked him too.

Despite spending over 6 hours at the farm, we had to practically force the girls into the car to leave. Anna could not stop talking: "THERE WAS MAGIC AND MIRACLE AND I THINK MIRACLE WAS THE MOM, BUT I KNOW THAT MAGIC WAS THE DAD AND HE WAS KIND OF MEAN AND THEN THERE WAS MILO HE WAS THE BLACK AND WHITE ONE, NOT THE ONE YOU LOVED MOM BUT THE OTHER BLACK AND WHITE ONE, AND WE PLAYED THIS GAME CALLED 'BEAR AND BEE AND HONEY' AND AFTER LUNCH WE LAID UNDER THIS TREE AND I WAS PETTING BUDDY THE DOG AND HE ACCIDENTALLY BIT ME AND THEN WE WENT BACK TO THE BARN AND OF COURSE I PETTED MILTON SOME MORE AND THEN THERE WAS THIS OTHER GOAT NAMED MIA AT LEAST I THINK HER NAME WAS MIA, THAT'S WHAT I CALLED HER SINCE ALL THEIR NAMES STARTED WITH M.....CAN WE GET MILKSHAKES??" Nichole and I cracked up; she hadn't stopped for a breath since we got in the car. I think they liked it.

Nothing says Happy Friday like a dog on a trampoline

I saw you:

Rocket Market, early Thursday morning.

Me: sexy Italian, brown and white leather Mary Jane.

You: Large. Green. Loogie.

On my way to work, I ran in quickly to grab the new Inlander. You, waiting patiently, in the semi-darkness. Unexpectedly, we connected. I can only guess at your provenance: Runner? Biker? Delivery man? I can't stop thinking about you.

You’ve left your mark on my sole.