10 Things

I'm grateful that we measure height against walls instead of years now. (P.S.....polish cousins: I'm still the tallest girl right?!)

I'm grateful I get to travel smoothly in my used 1998 gold Saturn, which I am completely attached to, instead of this.

I'm grateful I have electricity (I'm sure I will receive a call from one of my parents about how they did not have electricity and woke up with frost on their eyebrows and how lucky I have been all my life to have had such conveniences)

I'm grateful I don't have to go outside to use one of these (unless I'm visiting my in-laws...they have one) I'm especially thankful I don't have to use a two story one because the snow is too high to use the first story)

I'm grateful for bathroom doors. Even though I never get to shut it anymore...one of the hazards of having a toddler. I have to run fast and wash fast if I want any privacy!

I'm grateful for washing machines. Though I rarely do the the laundry....and the peices I do wash are washed by hand... so I might as well be living in the 1800's

I'm grateful for calculators and spreadsheets. though I do know how to count change back which is more than I can say for many youngsters these days.

I'm grateful for all the people at Anthropologie, Jcrew, and Ann Taylor and the various online vendors that hire out to sew my clothes so my mom doesn't have to anymore.

I'm grateful I don't have to eat veal out of a bucket. Or veal in general.

I am a little saddened my board is not as cheap as it used to be. It's a good thing though I don't have any more children as I would be out of luck at this place! I would probably have to have a gallon of wine to go though. Or two.

Rhubarb Aplenty

I was graced with a big beautiful bag full of rhubarb this past weekend. Mine is not quite ready for picking so I was pretty excited to be able to use this instead. I adore the tangy taste of rhubarb and save it only for warmer months as to make it more special.

I decided to make rhubarb sauce as to be able to use it on all different kinds of things throughout the following couple of weeks. There isn't really much to it.

Peel and chop the rhubarb

Throw it in a sauce pan with a little water

At a bit of sugar (whatever your taste may be)

Boil down to a sauce for about 20-25 minutes.

That's it!!!

Then you can use it on so many different things. Today I made mini pastry dishes. I quickly made a little pie crust, cooked them in mini bundt pans, brushed with butter and then added a little sugar. THEN... I filled them with ice cream and poured the rhubarb sauce over the top. Then just for the heck of it I added a few strawberries!

You can also use the sauce in yogurt. Over french toast. In cheesecake. Or you can use it as a sauce for chicken.........so many different avenues and too little rhubarb to last!

Nostalgic

This time of year is always very nostalgic for me. I'm flooded with memories from each stage of my life...from childhood to just a few years ago. From swimming in rivers to leaving home for months to wedding dresses to pregnancy tests. Abundant memories.

I lived in many places growing up, but there is one that has always stuck with me. I lived there when I was 7 years old and even back then I was enthralled and intrigued by its history. It was a house built in the 1800's. I later found out it was a mortuary and then a doctors office when the town was first established. This is a picture of it I found in the Encampment Museum this past weekend (bottom left). I began a love affair with things with history back then. Old things with stories to tell and share with me. My house is filled with them. Mixed in with modern the old gives it character and depth. I loved that house and was sad to leave it. I was sad to leave its staircase that I rode down in a hamper. I was sad to leave my window that overlooked the entire town at night. I was sad to leave the room where the chimney went though and I would sit against it to read and keep warm without a blanket in the winter.

I promised myself I would have an old home with history when I grew up....it's a work in progress.
This is what it looks like today ...I felt like a stalker taking its picture, but I just had to.

thanks for the memories old friend.

Eight

We're the two in the back. My husband and I.

Today is eight.

We've laughed.
We've loved.
We've bickered.
We've shared.
We've cried.
We've endured.
We've flourished.

We've a long way to go.

One More Check

He may not be quite as obsessed as he once was and he is now able to leave the house for a few hours without carrying his raggedy, dirty, beat up little monster...but he still loves him. He still won't close his eyes at night without his little arms wrapped around him.

Once we discovered there was a town in Wyoming named Elmo, I decided we probably should visit it before this phase in my son's life ends. The problem is.....there is absolutely no way to tell that you are in the town of Elmo unless you look at a map. It has a zip code. It's pinpointed on a map. There is no sign.

Because it's a town so small that this is what the street names are like.

Regardless.... this is my son. In Elmo Wyoming. (He looks happy to be there, doesn't he?)

Yellow

Just checking some things off my list.... it wasn't really what I had invisioned for a field of flowers, but it worked none-the-less.

Charisma

She just oozes it... charisma that is. It's in her eyes, her little smile and everything about her. Don't you just want to eat her up?

A Furry Nephew

Or do I call him a furnew? Meet Poncho. Even though his eyes are all askew and spread much too far apart.... you still want to hold and squeeze him and love him.

Jello Watermelon

I found a new use for watermelon rinds, actually there are a few things I'll share as the summer progresses, but this is the one we tried out today.

I like to think of it as a kind of recycling. In a round about way.

I have a little boy who adores watermelon. If I would let him, he would eat it all day long, every day. So it was no problem getting him to clean out one half of a little watermelon. We scraped it clear to the rind. Then we filled it with watermelon jello. one box per side. (Don't follow the directions on the box, it won't set up properly. You have to use only boiling water...don't use any cold water. ) Let it set until it's almost firm and then with a chop stick push in mini chocolate chips. (for the seeds!) let it set and then when it's ready cut it into pieces.

My kiddo liked to lick it more than eat it... but it was so fun to see his reaction to it.

Wide Open Spaces

Since the day my parents handed me the keys to the car, me, the colorblind-polish-blond girl, and allowed me to drive more than 100 yards to school...I have been road tripping.
Countless hours.
Singing to blaring music. ( I once rode to prom for two hours with a guy that was never shy about singing at the top of his lungs in the car in front of other people.... it was a trait I wished I had, and secretly really wanted to sing with him)
Watching the scenery go by.
I don't know how my parents did it back then. Just let me go. All the time. And mind you....I always had issues (because I'm the type of person that sometimes has issues) I was stuck on the road often. With no cell phone and a broken car. But I loved it. The car and me. I guess it was my safe place.
Today I was driving home..... and I had to stop.
I complain about the terrain around here often. But tonight, like many others, I found beauty in it.
In the vast openness of it.
In the familiarity of it.
So,I turned the music off. I got out.
I breathed in and out.
I stopped for just a second to mentally remember....the colors, the smells.

You should try this sometime... it does a body good. (Unless you eat Doritos and drink Rockstar while driving.. )

Travelers

I was a little worried this morning as I drove to get my morning coffee with rain hitting my windsheild. I was worried that these kiddos from down south were going to freeze to death when they got here. Luckily the sun came out. The day turned into a most beautiful day....and I finally got to meet these three great kids!!! (weather has kept us from getting together before!)

So......

he didn't really want his picture taken. He was dead set against it. But..... look what I got out of him. He let loose and I pulled out a few tricks and bam...I got giggles!!! Look at that grin...priceless.

These outta towners strolled over here to Cheyenne for an afternoon, so I could capture this precious little grin. and........

let me capture this little new addition. Just a few days old.

And, I know this is not the greatest quality of photo...however it is so priceless. Seriously, does it get any better than that?!!!

Inspiration

A Little Boy's Needs

Little boys need tall grass. And sticks. And airplanes flying overhead. They need giggles. They need to dig for worms and to keep them as pets for a couple hours. They need ladybugs for luck. They need to pretend and make believe. They need sunshine. They need to bottle it up and keep it with them for the rainy days.

So Different, But So Alike.

She looks pretty adorable doesn't she? I didn't really look anything like her when I was little. I was a little more ragamuffin looking with bright blond hair. And I wore bell bottoms and knickers...yes knickers. The cat in her lap.... was probably a barn cat that she tamed. She has a soft heart for little wild animals. I too tried to tame the animals...by dressing them in doll clothes and pushing them around in little shopping carts. We had different methods.

In fact, we have different methods for most things. My mom and I are complete opposites most of the time. We like different things. We eat different things. We look different. She's very classic. I'm more abstract. I'm athletic. She's.... well, not so much. But we do have one great thing in common. A thing that I didn't realize would make me so much like her until now. It's something that isn't understood or appreciated until it happens. We're moms.

I never really gave much thought to the work my mom put into being a mom....I took it for granted for so very long. Like most children do. And then one day... my life changed. I'm raising a child identical to myself in personality and stubbornness. Only I didn't become quite so until I was older. Mine was born that way. The daily struggles and laughter I have with him are amazing and frustrating together. And now I know what it was like for her.

Thank you mom for being my mom.

I had this all done yesterday...but I got a little distracted by resting instead.

Italian Soda

Back in the day, before my love affair with coffee ever began, I used to have a favorite drink treat. I would drink these on hot summer days, normally on payday because that's when I could afford a $3 drink and not feel bad about it. I would normally get some sort of tropical flavor with coconut, or kiwi or coconut and kiwi or coconut, kiwi and a twist of mango. I always dreamed of drinking them by the ocean. The ocean was always in my dreams back then and was still lingering there until I was 22, when I finally tipped my tooties in the deep blue for the first time in South America.

Today was a beautifully warm day and to celebrate the warm day we made these. My kiddo calls them vanilla pop. He's not as adventuresome as I am in the flavorings. Vanilla is his favorite. We don't drink them often, so they are special when we do.

And you can't have an Italian Soda without an umbrella. At least in my world you can't!

They are so simple to make, and you can make them as sweet or as mild as you want. You just need: Ice, Club Soda, Whipping Cream, and Flavoring. Pour a little flavoring into an ice filled glass, cover in club soda. Add whipping cream. Then if you want, you can whip the left over cream up and put it on top.

This weekend was my first weekend to spend at home alone without him. Not my first time away, but to be here and him not to be.

Everyone always says, "Oh, I just can't remember what it was like when I didn't have a baby"....well, I don't find that to be entirely true. I remember. It was a lot less interesting. It was boring, but I didn't know it was boring until now. There was no silly putty being hammered into the wall (he likes to "work" when he comes home from school) There were no celebrations for pottying. There were no toys in my tub. There were no frog races, or bear races or raccoon races. (Have you ever tried to race like a raccoon?)

Quiet time is important. Time to just be is important. Don't get me wrong, he is and always will be numero uno to me, but just for mental purposes, sleep is good as well, which is what I caught up on this weekend..... that and sappy girly movies. And I'll be darned, there are still commercials out there that can make me cry. Oh, and shopping. Lots and lots of shopping.

I'm ready for noise now. I'm ready for racing. Yelling. Arguing....yes arguing. My son and I argue lovingly and with the same hard headedness. I'm ready for a hug and a slobery kiss and a cuddle.

Red When It's Blue

What makes a rainy day bright and sunny? A little smiley red head with big blue eyes and bare feet and little red bows. And polka dots. Lots of polka dots!!!!