Surprise!

Park and I jumped in the car yesterday, with a blackberry cream cheese pie in tow, and headed north. We were on our way to surprise Grandma for her 60th Birthday! She was very surprised, so we succeeded at the task at hand. Park couldn't hardly control himself to have to stand and wait at the door, ring the door bell and then yell "HAPPY BIRTHDAY.... can we have pie now?!" He also serenaded her in a solo of the birthday song. It was beautiful and nearly brought her to tears.
So on the afternoon of my mother's 60th birthday, on a day that called for rain and none was seen, she swang in a swing, slid down a slide and then drank wine with her daughter. Perfect.

PS.. yes he does have a giant bandage on his face.. yes he does have a black eye. again. I will tell the tale later though. (basically he just takes after his mother....)

Oh Baby

9 days old and soooo sleepy.

Are You Protected?

From Monsters?
We are.

I happen to have a little one that is pretty afraid of the dark, or to be alone in the dark. He sleeps with lights on. (So do I but not because I'm afraid of the dark, it's because I'm too tired to get up and turn them off, so I sleep with them on) More often than not, I wake up with a foot up my nose or a finger in my ear that isn't mine. The other night, my baby asked me if there were any monsters in his room. As a parent, sometimes your brain runs wildly (at least mine does) and you come up with very strange spur of the moment answers. On this occasion... my answer

"of course not baby, I sprayed for them"
"you sprayed for them??!!"
"oh yeah, like bugs. They hate monster spray"
"they do?!!!"
"oh yeah, it works every time"
"did you get under my bed?!"
"I would never forget to spray under the bed!!!"

So, I knew eventually I could have to produce this monster spray. He wouldn't always believe that I sprayed while he brushed his teeth. So.......I went to Pierre 1 and picked up some some room spray, took the label off and re-labeled, calling it Monster Spray.

It smells like cake. (it's actually, vanilla butter cream or something like that)
My explanation for getting sweet smelling Monster Spray...

"Oh honey monsters hate cake... they only eat dirt and bugs. "....you have to be on your toes sometimes!!!!

Poster Babies

These babies are sporting posters all around town. Posters for a gala for the Wyoming Children's Society, supporting adoption (these kiddos are already taken!!!!). The picture was from last years shoot. So... we had to get some new work in before they grew too much and I didn't recognize them!!!

We had a happy bunch today. I had soooo much fun with them and I got more hugs than I could count. Thanks for the great afternoon guys!!!!

Just The Right One....

Ok...believe it or not, I'm really bad about sending prints to my family and friends of my kiddo. I had a complaint or two in the last month or so about not having any. Especially from those who do not use the computer all that often. Well, this month was the perfect month to get the perfect shot of the kiddo. I don't know if you've noticed, but there have been an over abundance of PJ photos popping up in the last few weeks. Ones with his hair actually brushed and his face actually cleaned.

well.... I think I took the perfect ones today. I'm in love with these. They are sooooo him. The only one missing is him yelling at me...something like "no mom.... I'm going to DO IT MYSELF!!!" I hear that a lot. (He's not like me at all...)

Strawberry Semi-Sorbato Prosecco Float

Don't you just want to sit outside and sip this? I sure did today. I sipped a couple actually.

You start out with this... which is beautiful in itself.

Then you put it in this... which is something we've had for 10 years now. It came from a garage sale when we were juniors in college for 3 whole dollars. I can remember my husband picking it up and grinning ear to ear. And I with the negative attitude that I normally have when he gets that kind of look.."what are you going to do with that?"..."are you really going to use that ?" my 20 year old self said.

1000 uses later. 100's of happy hot summer days later.

Today I was soooo happy to have it.

It made this. Are you drooling on the keyboard yet. I am and I already ate it all.

Then I put it in a glass... and I could have just left it just like that. (which I did for my kiddo... he gobbled up evey bit and then licked the glass clean.) But I couldn't it, needed a little something. A little adult fizz.

Strawberry Semi-Sorbato Prosecco Float

Chop strawberries and cover with one cup of sugar. Leave in large bowl until juicy. Puree mixture. Add lemon juice and whipping cream. Process in ice cream maker according to directions. Put in freezer for at least an hour before serving. Scoop desired amount of sorbato into glass. Cover with prosecco or sparkling wine of choice. The ice cream will float to the top. Garnish with strawberries and lemon.
*normally for an actual sorbato you would strain the juices so there wouldn't be any seeds. I leave them in to make it feel a little more "home-made"

It Slips Away From You...

Sometimes, more often than not, time slips away from you. Sometimes you go years without seeing your friends. Play with their children. Reminisce. Enjoy each other. Sometimes it's hard to find that time. But when you do, it's as if not a day has gone by. You pick up directly where you left off.....I love that kind of time.
I tend to, when I'm off camera duty, forget to take photos of friends and family and then I regret not having photos of this event or that event. Sooo... this past weekend on a trip to visit friends, I made sure to get the camera out. Besides... who could possibly resist these faces. Be still my heart, I wish I could see them more often!

Wonder Where We've Been?

Those eyes....

Soft and Clean

It is said that Cleopatra used to bath in milk. (There are enzymes in milk that are extremely healthy for your skin. Probably the same enzymes that make you mouth stop blazing after eating a jalpeno pepper.) She had the finest skin in all the pyramid land....I'm beginning to think that maybe Cleo had a point. Unfortunately... I don't have my own herd of cows for the milk bath.

Here's the thing. As you get older everything changes. Everything. Especially after babies. Your hair texture changes. Sometimes you loose it. Sometime it thickens. You loose brain cells on a daily basis (i.e. the mommy brain, which mine was already in danger from the poor gene pool I inherited... polish, blonde..... you add mommy to that and I can't function some days) I digress.

Your skin changes too. Not really for the good. I've been noticing dry skin lately. It's bothering me. So, I decided to do something about it. Don't get me wrong, I love going to the store and just grabbing my favorite cleanser, but sometimes I think our skin needs a break from the toxins in store bought things. Even just for a few days.

I tried two different recipes. The first one smelled good, but my skin couldn't take it. Fruit acid doesn't go well with my skin type. (But don't disregard, it might work for you!)

So here's the first recipe:

1 container of plain yogurt (I used Greek yogurt as I thought it would be the most natural aside from making your own. )

1 kiwi

1 tablespoon ground almonds

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon almond oil

Puree the kiwi in food processor. Add other ingredients. Scrub your face and wash it off. Refrigerate. Simple as can be. You can put it in little pump containers. If you don't have any that you've recycled, you can get them at hobby lobby for pennies.

Recipe #2

1 container of Greek yogurt

1 spoonful of coconut oil

2 spoonfuls powdered almonds

1 spoonful powdered oatmeal

Mix together. Put in favorite container. Refrigerate after using. (I know this sounds like a pain, I thought it would be too, but after a hot day, I went to wash my face and that felt sooooo good)

These will only last for a few days. Then you can go back to your toxins. I know I probably will.

Featured!!!!

Holy Moly Cow!

I have a recipe featured on the Pioneer Woman's new recipe site!!!

Check it out!!! (It's the one for fried green tomatoes!)

Shake It To The Left, Shake It To The Right.......

I am a serious ice cream eater in the summer time. In the winter.. the only time I will eat it is in the bath tub (I know, crazy weird, but I get really really cold when I eat it!!!)

To celebrate this glorious day, we decided to do a little experiment that has been circulating the web ways. Bagged Ice Cream. Shaken Ice Cream.

It was the perfect project for a three year old and his ice cream loving mother. (not that he doesn't love it, it's his favorite food as well, but I don't want people to think that's all I feed him!)


Here's how it works:
1 cup milk
1 cup half-and-half1
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract1
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries or strawberries (we skipped this part.)
1 quart sized Ziploc Bag
1 gallon sized Ziploc bag
Duct Tape
2 pounds crushed ice or ice cubes
1 cup coarse rock salt
1/2 cup water

In a medium bowl mix together milk, half-and-half, vanilla, and sugar. If adding fruit, mix all ingredients together in blender. Pour into a quart sized Ziploc bag. Squeeze out excess air and seal with duct tape. Put the quart sized bag into the gallon sized bag and fill the gallon bag with ice, salt and water. Squeeze excess air out of bag and seal with duct tape. Toss the bag up and down for about ten minutes. Use a hand towel to prevent hands from getting cold. When ice cream is frozen, rinse off the quart size bag and cut off a corner of the bag. Squeeze ice cream into a paper cup or bowl and enjoy! Makes a 1 1/2 cup serving.

When just went in the back yard and played catch. Until his hands got cold and then I had to throw it in the air to myself. Until my hands got cold and I just threw it up and let it land on the ground! I should have used the hand towel...or gloves!!!

It's not the cream of the crop (no pun intended).... but it sure is a fun project!!!! When your done you can always go to to dairy queen!!!

Colorado Greenery...or purplery

the lupines were a sea of purple this past weekend....

Down

Is this something you would picture when you think of Colorado? Yes? Me too.
This is exactly what I picture.
I picture running rivers. Majestic mountains, snow capped in July. Cold brisk air, even on a summer day.
After, I picture all of these things....I drive down there. In rush hour traffic where it is bumper to bumper for 3 hours to the top of the mountain. Hydroplaning in the cold hard rain in the middle of the city. By the time I reach the little resort I have a headache from trying to get to a place to relax. While visiting the resort town I find that the streets are shoulder to shoulder traffic from other people trying to relax..so the only place to actually relax.....is in bed.

Regardless of the traffic you can't deny the beauty.

The colors and the seasons that overlap.

And the ski-lifts that run right in front of your view finder...... ski lifts?!!!

Yup... you can ride em' in the summer too!!!!!! YAY!!!!! My son rode one for the first time and surprisingly he LOVED it. (He gets to be kind of a fraidy-cat on occasion)

And when you get to the top... you get to come back down on these!!!!!!! WOOOOO HOOOO!!!

And you get to look like this at the end!!!! (photo courtesy Breckenridge Alpine Slide photo, I didn't get any pictures coming down because I was too busy kicking every one's butt... yes it is a race!!)

So, in conclusion. Colorado may not be entirely relaxing at all times because every one wants to relax at the same time... but they do have some great outdoor sports!!!!

Cosmetic Experiments

Sometimes I get a little hair to experiment in the kitchen without food. Today it was chapstick. I had ordered little containers a while back and a few candy flavors to flavor them. We go through chapstick here at the house quickly, so it's worth the time and effort to make our own every now and again.

In the past year I've learned a little about making lotions and lip balms and candles. They can all be made of the same ingredients just processed differently. So once you get the basics, you're good to go.

I learned a while back that most lip balms are not made to taste. It's a trick. They are fragranced and that in turn tricks your brain into thinking they are flavored when you put it on your lips, close to your nose (especially if there is some sort of sweetener added)

Today's mixture was a little crazy one.

I mixed 1 part beeswax, 1 part coconut oil, and 1 part sea butter with a dash of vitamin E and a dash of almond oil.
I melted these all together until it was all liquid. (it only takes about 50 seconds in the microwave.)
Then......I soaked a peach/green tea bag in that hot mixture until the green color was visible. And then I added grapefruit flavoring and raspberry flavoring to the mixture.
Once everything was added I poured them into chapstick tubes (PS... have you ever noticed how you kind of don't get much of a bang for your buck, they don't go clear to the bottom)

It smells sooooo fresh. It tastes mildly of green tea. My lips are super shiny and super happy!