instagram

i am a just now discovering instagram's effortless photography capabilities. so fun!

here we have ruby trying to figure out how to draw the ymca pool. "mom, let's draw the y and i'll tell you what to put inside."

speaking of ted, the first thing out of ruby's mouth this morning was, "i just love baby teddy and baby granty" (grant is another lovable baby in our lives).  ruby sometimes has a hard time keeping her hands off babies and can get a little rough. 

we love taking ted on walks. everything he does makes me lol.

today i was browsing through pinterest (also new to me) and found a recipe for pretzel bites.  covered in cinnamon and sugar, they were a big hit. i would recommend making pretzels if you are like me and get anxiety whenever you hear the word "yeast".  i'm not much of a bread-maker because i feel like i never knead the dough long enough, or i kill the yeast, or i add too much flour.  you can't really go wrong with pretzels.
well, the timer just went off. better go get the brownies out of the oven.  bbq tonight at the fredin's and i'm in charge of dessert.  hurray!

things i love

summer break has begun. with final grades being posted, i got a 4.0 for the semester. never in my life has that ever happened. ever. while this semester was significantly easier than the others, it is what it is. as liz lemon might say, "i got a 4.0, bi***es!" :)

one tuesday morning ruby woke up demanding that we make a pinata. i had no objections. i scrounged around the house for some cardboard and newspaper. our initial plan was to make it into a cupcake but that failed and it ended up being a slice of cake.  stuffed with fruit snacks and laffy taffy, it was a real hit with the cousins.  that was also the day ruby got a sliver in her finger from a piece of wood she was climbing to get onto the trampoline. after an hour of me trying to get the stupid thing out, whitney arrived with the proper equipment and in a matter of 11 seconds, she had the sliver out like a pro.  poor ruby cried so much during the whole ordeal that she was so tired and wanted to take a nap before we did the pinata.

kneaders was giving all the moms free french toast on saturday for mother's day. of course we hit that up.

we also went on a bike ride in eagle. we went with our neighbors.  the two kids and ruby were like torpedos on their bikes. grandpa john put training wheels on ruby's bike and now she is a biking machine.  it has been fun going for rides with her around our neighborhood.

one morning me and ruby, the fredins, and the grandmas (gramma b and grandma f) headed across town to a little magical nursery called edward's nursery.  i do not own a home so my interests in landscaping and planting are minimal. however, i was changed after visiting this place.  edward's has been in business for a long time and grows the most beautiful varieties of plants, flowers, and trees.  i snapped a few shots of my favorites.  it felt like the garden of eden.  landscaping is one of the most beautiful art forms.

come and visit me in boise. we will eat french toast, go for a bike ride, visit edward's nursery, and smash a pinata.

it is now may

 ruby and grandma sharing some smoothie

 ruby posing for the camera

 a little taste of what our weather has been like lately: rainy

 a snapshot of shoshone falls (something about waterfalls makes me have catastrophic thoughts. what if i were to fall off of the waterfall while rafting because i didn't see it coming? how many dead bodies are at the bottom of this thing? i wonder how many people commit suicide off waterfalls each year.)

the preschool spring sing that hank and ruby rocked (hank informed me, "you know, i had a shark shirt on under my sweater"). ruby's dad brought her flowers. my favorite part of the performance was when pastor tom was talking to the children about some bible story and he asked a question that no one knew the answer to and hank immediately responded correctly, "the ethiopian". it may be his familiarity with reptile and other such terminology that provides him with such an advanced vocabulary.

school got out for the semester on thursday. i am a free woman until august. a part of me feels like i should get a job but i really don't want to. i feel like i was having this same dialogue with myself last summer when school got out. i will also have you know that everyday i dread getting a real job after i graduate because i feel like i know absolutely nothing. i often find myself saying, "now, what was i supposed to get out of nursing school?" i am also extremely prone to anxiety related to change.  i don't do well with anticipating change (getting a job after graduation, moving out of my parent's house, getting married, managing my future finances, etc). i don't really like making decisions.

i should probably end on a positive note.  i just stocked up on freeze pops. pretty much the best go-to snack if you feel like something cold and icy.

easter chicks

whit and i loaded up the kids yesterday and went to d&b to check out the easter animals. there was one baby bunny there but we couldn't hold it because someone had bought it.  then there were the chicks. there were about 4 troughs with different species of chicks, one trough contained turkey babies and one had ducklings.  you will remember that i am not a bird fan but something about little baby chicks melts the heart.  what is not to love? they are fluffy, they chirp, and they love being with their friends.  i love that about baby chicks.  the kids got a chance to hold a baby turkey.  ruby was in heaven. she kept wanting me to buy one.
the chicks above were my favorite.  they were mostly black and had a puff of fine feathers on the tops of their heads. they looked a bit like the offspring off a bird that had accidentally mated with a poodle.  or you might say they looked like miniature grandmas who just went into the salon and got perms.
maybe one day i will be the kind of parent that buys my children animals for holidays.  
  

lately

 we spend a lot of time with our favorite little cousin

 one afternoon ruby and i spent the day downtown, stopping to get frozen yogurt, of course. the berry tart flavor was excellent.

 caught a show with my friend nycole at the treefort music festival

 cake batter ice cream with reese's peanut butter cups and fudge sauce mixed in

while we watched conference, i drew pictures for ruby to color.  she had me draw a purse and listed all of her favorite things for me to draw inside of it.  "a justin bieber movie, apple, banana, a sparkly headband, some gum, a mermaid cookie, heart cookie, kitten cookie, pink (her build-a-bear), some crayons and some paper, a water bottle, necklace, bracelet, an email (?), candy cane, lollipop...". the list went on and on.  she then requested that i draw her as an older version of herself holding a suitcase, and proceeded to tell me what went inside that. "some dresses, shirts, underwear, lipgloss, candy...". she is very much a girl. one that should probably live in a barbie movie because of her obsessions with pink, candy canes and lollypops, and love.
speaking of love, i love that girl.

the little trolls

i've been enjoying time spent with these 4-year-olds.  the weather around here has been particularly pleasant lately.  one day we went to the park and the kids played in their "hideout", which is within a water canal located underneath a bike overpass.  obviously there is no water in it this time of year.
people would be walking by with their dogs or strollers and hank and ruby would diligently approach them saying, "what's the password? you need to say the password to cross the bridge!" then you would hear, "what's the password?" with no delay, "banana watermelon!"
i sat on some weeds and watched them.  i remembered being young.  cami j and i used to create imaginary playlands among the trees and fields surrounding our homes.  i miss that. i miss pretending i was a pioneer woman who was always sending her soldier husband off to war.  i miss gathering rocks for food and creating rooms and hallways out of the long grass behind cami's house.  we would climb the trees and each branch would become another room inside our mansion. 
i was so happy.

 

smoke and mirrors

my favorite jack and white song right now. it speaks to me. story of my life.