oh yeah, well, i bet your kid has never ridden a bucking camel...

'Cause mine have. That's right yesterday while at the wildlife park I decided to let my little monkeys ride the camel. It's an above-board operation so I assumed all was well. I settled my two little ones along with another little friend of theirs on top of the towering animal. If you've ever ridden a camel you know that essentially there is just a bar that you hold onto, no seatbelts or anything. It began well. He stopped the camel so that we could take pictures and then walked it down the trail and back. As they were pulling up to the platform that allows people to board the blasted animal started bucking. Full out bucking. I could see poor little Johnny holding on to the front bar for dear life, his whole little body flying up in the air behind him. I ran, but I would have been too late. The man yanked the camel down and got it under control. I hustled my little ones off the camel ( who will be known as Satan from here on out). I snuggled a terrified Johnny and practiced my yoga breathing. Lesson learned. Camels are vicious evil animals and should be avoided at all costs.

what stays in wichita...

Friday night I went out with several of my very best girlfriends. I had a great time and that is all that I am allowed to say about it. We laughed and laughed.

mistaken identity

Today Tommy asked me how I got my name. I explained that my parents thought I looked like an angel when I was a baby and so they named me 'Angela'. "They thought you were like an angel?" he responded incredulously. He thought about that for a minute or so and followed it up with, "I think you should change your name, Mom."

homeostasis

This morning I am puttering. I am a champion putterer. In my case, such behaviour is often a sign of a sort of general satisfaction with my life. It has taken me almost this long to get my life back in order since our little jaunt out west. Finally things are back to home base and now I want to heave a huge mental sigh of relief. I am a creature of schedule and habit. I get all antsy when things mess with my schedule. Yesterday I reordered the sewing room, practiced piano and got in a good run, Tommy went to school and both boys had a playdate in the afternoon. Daddy came home for dinner and after bedtime I worked up a new project for a friend. Blissful normalcy. This morning's rain is the frosting on my cupcake.

I just bought three pounds of cherries. If you have been in northern Utah in the summer, you know that Provo has one of the biggest fourth of July celebrations in the country.When I was a kid we went to the parade almost every year. We took folding camping chairs and hiked blocks and blocks from far away parking spots to sit on the curb and eat cherries while watching the beauty queens and high school bands. They throw lots and lots of candy at that parade but what I really remember was the cherries. We always had them. Always. My Dad is a creature of habit. For me it just wasn't the Fourth of July without cherries. Still isn't. Somehow I never can get past the first week of July without buying masses of cherries. I don't even think about it. They just find their way into my cart at the approriate time of year. Muscle memory perhaps?

just thinking ahead

When I was growing up my Mom loved to talk about having this or that in her dream house. She waited a long time for that house or any house for that matter and I know she still has the perfect house living the back of her head. Ty and I were married 7 years before we bought our first house. That's a lot of apartments. I adored that house, partially just because it was my first, but it was a great house. I was heartbroken when we had to sell it to move here. It took me a long time to find a house that I wanted to purchase the second time around. I loved this one immediately, but when we first drove by it was priced far outside of our budget. So I looked at lots of other houses and I secretly pined for this one. Then, at the perfect moment, the price came down and we figured with some wheeling and dealing we might be able to talk it down to our level. Success! Fast forward two and a half years and lots of projects later. I love, and I mean LOVE my house. It's definitely a work in progress but is perfect for me at this point in my life. It is better than perfect. But you know what I 'd really like? A huge kitchen garden. There isn't a super good place for that in my current yard and Ty got to talking about how fun it would be to have 5 or 10 acres for the kids to run wild on. I could build the perfect old-fashioned farmhouse on those acres. Hmmm. Someday.

pretty boys

While we were in Utah my dear friend Emilie, whom I have known since I was in college, took pictures of the three of us. They are lovely, if I do say so myself. If you are in Utah, you should call her. Check out more of her stuff here.

the best laid plans

I had a plan. I thought it was a good plan. My boys went to their first day of Kids' Day Out yesterday ( if you live in a place without KDO, I am truly sorry for you) so they were taken care of from 9:30 to 1. I had decided to do my long training runs on Thursday mornings so as to not take up my valuable Saturday mornings. It was a good plan. I set off at about 10 to run only about 8 miles. I carried water and dressed appropriately but these preparations only went so far. It was 93 degrees when I left. Once again I had overestimated my own awesomeness. I stopped 3 times to fill my water bottle. It didn't actually help all that much. It took me twice as long as it should have and by the time I got home I was showing definite signs of heat exhaustion and dehydration. I felt awful the whole rest of the day. I guess I am back to the crack of dawn on Saturdays. Sigh, I hate it when a good plan goes to waste.

rose of ages

We got home on Sunday afternoon. On Monday I planted close to 130 rose cuttings. I brought them back with me from Utah. They were cut, prepared and planted the old-fashioned way. They came from my mother and her friends and neighbors and from Ty's aunts, one of whom lives in his grandmother's house and sent me home with all of Grandma Daniels' favorites. The whole thing leaves me feeling all sorts of nostalgic, having all of these roses from women who loved us the most from the time we were tiny. I never had the pleasure of meeting Ty's grandma before she passed but she and Ty were kindred spirits and now my garden is full of her. She is smiling down on my Kansas garden and my children will grow up surrounded by flowers sent by some of the women in my life who taught me how to love. Hopefully they will feel the all the kind wishes sent their way by those lovely women over the years. It makes my house feel more like home to have all these pieces of family living in the yard. Hopefully they will thrive here as we have.

nice job, little camper

My kid climbed this mountain on Friday to see the cave. It is only a mile and a half but the elevation rises over 1000 feet. Not easy even for a pretty healthy adult. I'm all puffed up with pride. He is nonchalant.

branching out

Over the last year I have been flexing my sewing muscles and enjoying it thoroughly. I have opened a little Etsy shop to sell some of my wares and you , dear blog readers, get the first peek. Inventory is a little limited right now but new things will be added every few days. Please feel free to help me spread the word. If nothing else, the page views will make me feel popular.

Check it out using the link in the sidebar.

can't get enough

of dancing in the kitchen.

i thought you wouldn't believe me

...without photographic proof. (yup, he's taken to sleeping in drawers now)

in a huff

I can't find my cell phone. This makes me exceedingly angry. I am trying my darnedest not to direct my anger at my children because it's probably not their fault. I know it is in the house somewhere because I was texting this morning but at this point I have looked everywhere (obviously not everywhere or I would have found it by now, but you get the idea). I am frankly sort of embarrassed by how much this bothers me. It's probably best that most of my problems are the small, irritating kind because even those seem to be driving me over the edge.

* Found at 11:42 AM by Tommy in a toy box in which I myself had looked three times. It was covered in sticky Johnny fingerprints thus identifying the culprit. Tommy recieved a cookie for his heroic feat.