Soda Run to the Glass House

In my youth, specifically directly after I received my drivers license and the few years following, I spent an obscene amount of time in the car. Experiencing. Escaping. Whatever the reason, I adored being in the car. It was my alone time. My time to sing at the top of my lungs. My time to think. Even if my car broke down, I never really minded all that much, it just made the adventure all that more exciting.
I've never really grown out of that love of driving, and occasionally on nice afternoons, like today, I jump in and go. I went to the country today. My God Mother would call this type of drive a "Soda Run." It's a soda run because you can sip your soda as you drive slowly through the countryside.

Today I was in search of something. The Glass House. I had heard about it. Knew kind of where it was located. When I got there I was terribly disappointed to find it on private property. I couldn't get close. Plus I thought it would be little more colorful. After all, it is made entirely of glass.

But when I looked closer, I was a little more interested. When I zoomed in I could see what I think is the bottoms of glass bottles. Looks like a honeycomb. (Pardon the fuzziness)

The Glass House lives in sad little neighborhood. I love the porch on this old house. Sagging and lonely. I could imagine a bearded old man on a rocking chair sitting there. It looks as if someone still lives in it as there is a fresh pile of wood.

Better

He's had four seizure free days, and he looks like he's ready to take on David Beckham.


Except I don't think David Beckham runs with the ball in his mouth.

A Proud Day

As a parent I'm always suprised at the things that pull at my heart strings and bring me to tears. I would have never imagined that these types of things would cause any emotion in the least let alone require a box of kleenex. This was one of those days.

I could have never imagined that the sight of this would make me dab my eyes.
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Because after all.....it's a proud moment.
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A big milestone.
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Yet, I cried as my little one put on his first pair of underwear.




And then proceeded to text message one of his friends. (Just kidding, he probably crank called someone instead)

PS......the diaper went on 10 minutes later because he thinks the potty is only a place for bugs to be flushed.

It's In The Air....

love that is. They will be married in July and obviously can't wait! It was 60 degrees today (in Wyoming that's pretty unusual) and these two made it even hotter.

These images were so striking in both black and white and color.... I couldn't choose between the two.

WeeK 8: Shapes

Just in time for St. Patty's. Too bad only the four leafed ones are lucky.

The Best Medicine....

for a gloomy day is a little sunshine.

I stroked his back while he struggled through three grand mal seizures through the night and today. If the blood tests come back with no underlying problems he will start epilepsy medication tomorrow.

Cabin Fever is Chronic

I like to try to find fun things in the afternoon for us to do. Let's face it...in the winter, my choices are a little limited. Today was the botanical gardens. Park and I went a couple weeks ago to the stained glass show, and it was packed. Today we were the only ones there...it was heaven. It was warm and humid and I was surrounded by green. Did I mention it was heaven? Made me feel alive.

The Calla Lily is one of my favorite flowers because of its simplicity. Its clean lines . There is nothing in the least complicated about it, yet it's completely graceful in its presence.
(sorry about the flower tangent...)

I have no idea what this is..but it was purdy.

The main reason I went there was to check lighting conditions for portrait taking. And just as I suspected...it was so beautiful. Please don't make fun of his hair. That "do" took almost an hour. I like to compare it to trying to cut the hair of a person on fire. That's how much screaming and wiggling goes on.....

An Alternative

Went shopping on my day off this week in search of jeans. I despise shopping for jeans. Once I find a store that carries my size I latch on like a monkey to a banana tree. Well, I decided to actually look in different places this time....it was horrifying. Came home, ordered them online....done. I did come home with lots of things I didn't need...as usual, but didn't have jewelry to match. Heaven forbid I go without matching jewelry. I was looking for something very specific...I knew I wouldn't find it and I was already tired of not finding what I want. Sooooo..... I made some!!! I found the stones I wanted and just whipped them up.....just like that. (Notice how I cut off my nose so you wouldn't have to look up into it..that would have been gross)

PS...Marcie (if you read this)..sorry if I'm shamefull at this, but it was my first attempt.

PPS...if anyone wants to make these, shoot me an email or comment and I'll send directions.

Week 7: Love

It doesn't matter what language you say it in.......

and I know my "e" isn't quite right...but my thumb doesn't bend so well anymore....

Peanut Butter Frosting

Ever since I read that Annie made peanut butter frosting I had been waiting for the perfect time to make it. This week was the week and I can tell you right now, I've fallen in love with a sweet treat and I never will again live without it. I searched and searched for recipes and I think I've found the perfect one.

It's easy peasy.

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup powdered sugar

Mix well until creamy.

That's it! Try it, you will be in love too!

Jello Cake

This is a recipe is from my cousin all the way in Saratoga (3 hours away). This is also a super easy recipe but tastes just fantastic! It's cool and breezy and it's a good thing I made it on a day when it was 50 degrees outside, because it made me feel like it was summer just for a minute (it so happened to have snowed six inches that night as well, so my happiness about the weather didn't last long.)

This can be made with any kind of jello and any kind of fruit that you want. I think she used strawberries, but mentioned it would be good with peaches, and you can bet your bottom dollar that I jumped right on the peach train and made it with peaches.

Thanks Kara for the tastelicious cake recipe!!!

Jello Cake

1 white box cake
1 box of jello of choice
1 container of whipped cream
Fruit for topping of choice

Cook box cake according to directions. While cake is baking make jello and refrigerate until cake is done. When cake is done, poke holes into it with a straw. Pour jello over the entirety of the cake. (She only used part of the jello, I used all of it to make sure it was super moist.) Top with whipped cream and fruit. (I pureed my peaches and mixed them in with the whipped cream)

Enjoy!!

Chocolate Rum Cake

****Warning**** Not a kiddo friendly recipe, so if you have guests over for dinner, don't let them feed it to your kids :)......

I try to make this every year for Valetines Day, but since I decided not to cook on Valentines Day, I made it the day after. (Yes we still ate, just not home cooked food.)

This cake seriously warms you up as it goes down. It's so perfect for cold nights when you're craving something sweet. It's soooo easy too. But if you eat it all in one sitting..just forget the wine you were planning on drinking with it, you won't need it.

Chocolate Rum Cake
1 Devils food cake mix
1 package instant chocolate pudding mix
4 eggs
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup white rum (I've used both kinds and it still works out)

Glaze
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup rum (or less depending on your tastes)
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup water

Mix pudding, cake mix, eggs, oil, 1/2 cup water, and 1/2 cup rum on high speed for 2 minutes. (makes it kinda fluffy) Pour into bundt pan and cook at 325 degrees for 50-60 minutes.

Make rum glaze by melting butter, sugar, rum and water. Bring to a boil for 2 minutes. Pour over still warm cake.

Serve to salivating guests.

Grumpy Pants Has a Bad Hair Day Too

Clearly he did not want to be awake.
Clearly he did not want me in his face with my camera.
Clearly he would have karate chopped anyone trying to take Elmo away from him.
Clearly he did not care about the style of his hair.
Cleary he's still adorable even with bad hair and an attitude.

Another Day, Another Wall

On the eve of Valentines Day I vowed to find a red wall and use it to it's best abilities. Found it. Used it. My model was a little solem as he was more interested in the green apple in his hand than making cute faces for me. (Or he would turn away from the camera and smile...his new trick). Photogaphers out there...it is HARD to photograph a kiddo in red against a red wall. Too much red. Got any tips?

Howard

Since it is nearly impossible to buy a sock monkey in this day in age, I took it upon myself to make one. Let me tell you something.......I have a new found respect for the people who work at Mattell. I would like to shake the hand of the person who meticulously pieced together my son's ragety Elmo he drags around with him. Santa's elves also deserve kuddos for all the work they do as well. Also, I'm really glad I didn't go into the medical field, I don't think people would appreciate the shapes I would concoct with their stitches. Anyway, I thought to myself, "how hard could it be?"......5 hours later, as I was sewing on the last little ear, I thought a little differently. This poor little monkey has lopsided ears, he'll never be able to hear properly. No nostrils in which to breath from (because I forgot them.) His arms are freakishly built....and looks as if he could win a stongman contest. We collectively decided to name him Howard. (actually Parker really wanted to name him Elmo, but I talked him into Howard instead)

Just in case you feel the need to waste an afternoon...here's directions on how to make them.
http://lennytaylor.freeyellow.com/Monkey.htm They are made of Rockford socks, which you can buy online as well. Craft stores also sell the kits.

Perfect Shape

In my quest to find all the letters of the alphabet in the metropolis of Cheyenne, which entailed too many hours in the car with a whining child and a dog who loves nothing more than car rides, I happened upon this. Fitting for this week, which I will reiderate is not my favorite holiday, but seems to be everywhere. I'm sure the people who own this fence might be wondering what I was doing. But as long as I'm not questioned, I offer no explanations as to what I'm doing and lead people to believe I'm just a little quirky...which I am.....so that's okay.

By the by...if anyone can find the letter "B" for me, I would be forever grateful.

Land O' Funk

I'm constantly trying to do something different with pictures. I've been waiting and waiting and waiting for a day to go outside to play a little and it came today....for about 10 minutes. I found this delicious blue colored wall that I just wanted to try. I wanted to jump into the land of funk with this wall, and many others I've scouted out, but today was its turn. Reminds me of summer. Did I mention I have cabin fever earlier?
Welcome to my colorful world.

Week 6: Aperture

I know, I know I'm a total girl posting more flower pictures. Sorry. What can I say? I have cabin fever to the max right now....and...... I love flowers. I have them all over the house right now. Makes me happy.

I know I've talked a little of aperture before, but basically all it is, in the end, is how much of the picture is in focus. The lower the number, the less is in focus it is. I normally shoot at a very low aperture. The following photos are shot at the lowest my lens can go......f1.8. I had to have a very steady hand for these. The only thing in focus is the one flower, the rest is blurred (depth of field) For those of you who've been here....that's my kitchen wall behind it and the light is coming from the door.

Give It Up

There are so many reasons it's a good idea to give blood. There are so many real life stories that I've heard first hand about the good it can do. The main reason though...IT SAVES LIVES.
Right now, this minute is the East/Central blood drive challenge in Cheyenne. If you live here, go give blood up at the mall. Plus you get a free t-shirt for the school you choose to support, and who can't resist a free t-shirt? Even if you don't have time today, go another day. It makes a difference.