It's a Bird! Summer Activity Review

I hadn't been to the Tracy Aviary since the third grade. I mostly remember eating my school lunch from a brown bag and drinking a semi-warm chocolate milk at Liberty Park afterward.

Jack and Lachlan are pretty good at identifying our local birds. They love to say "Wobin Wed Bwest" and both of them can identify the Magpie (most common bird in Utah). When the chance came up to take them to the aviary I thought that it would be lots of fun.

It was chilly, but it didn't snow--which is really something around here lately. The kids were very excited about the picnic lunch and the playground. I mostly wanted to lie in the sun and take a nap...
Aunt Suz and Lillian--she isn't even eating any garbage in this picture!
These are cuckoo birds and they all wanted to sit in the sun as much as I did...they kept squeezing closer and closer together. It was my favorite thing for the trip.
Well, it may have been the owls. The aviary has an amazing owl exhibit. I wish that the kids would have appreciated it more--they are such incredible creatures. Beautiful.
Jack's forced moment of happiness. He did not want to have a group photo. He wanted to run down into a drainage ditch and throw some rocks. Um, no.
Mom and Susie.
Lachlan measuring her own wingspan in comparison to the Great Horned Owl.
More forced happiness. He wanted to climb up on the bird cages and run wild through the forest exhibit. Um, no.
He was very happy about the flamingos. Thank you to the Kratt Brothers for instilling this one moment of peace. (Martin and Chris Kratt are "wild animal rescuers"--Jack's idols!)
They are happy because I told them that it was almost time for a snack.
This is what Jack looked like about 5 seconds before he climbed over that barrier and put his fingers in the bird's cage. He just "needed to see what the bird felt like"....
I can't get enough of the Irises this season! I think that this really wet winter and spring have just made them breathtaking!
There were lots of cousins on the trip.
Cousin Chris, reading a map and waiting for the bird show. The bird show is at least 45 minutes long...about 30 minutes too long for me, although I did see a crow steal some money and a vulture decide to do his own thing.
All in all--I think that the aviary is a great summer stop for the 2-8 year-old crowd. I don't think that older kids would find it exciting enough. I will also add that there is a splash pad at the park so you'll need to decide in advance if you are going to let your kids get wet.

Remodel or Refashion: Part Four

Master Bathroom is finally done. New lighting, framed the mirror, accent lamp, new wall prints. I am planning to paint these cabinets, but not until the fall or maybe even next winter when I'm snowed in and have some time.

[After]
I took a plain white shower curtain from Wal-Star and added the fabric paneling and jumbo ric-rac. The lady at Bernina told me to sew down both sides of the ric-rac, but I had already sewn on the top panel so I had to feed the entire curtain through the sewing machine. I'm now convinced that ric-rac, while useful, was created by communists.
I embellished a plain mirror with spray paint and deco-pieces from Hobby Lobby. Super easy. BTW, I used gallons of spray paint finishing the Masters--in various ways. I am so in love with spray paint.
Said goodbye to the hideous Rubbermaid tubs that were holding all of our bathroom supplies. The top shelf houses all of our electronic equipment for the TV/DVD...so that I don't have to look at it (and especially the CORDS) in my bedroom.
Stole this idea for keeping jewelry organized on Pinterest. It has been the best thing I ever did--before they were crammed in teenie-tiny hot pink SUEDE jewelry box that was given to me in a white elephant prize drawing. This folks....is a major improvement. Little dishes are from TJMaxx.
Made this print out of our favorite places to travel. Cut the maps from a big old Atlas I bought for $4!! If you haven't been to the world's creepiest--yet, best hidden treasure--bookstore on Main Street in town--go to there. I could spend hours in there AND you can buy the entire collection of Sweet Valley High (all 500 books) for about $40. Amaze-balls.
More prints, the bottom one looks wrinkly and funny in this picture for some reason.

Master Bedroom. I have HATED my personal space for the last EIGHT years. I can finally say that it is exactly what I want it to be...well, I might need one more chair, but I'm still looking.

I love the paint color. It is the perfect shade of gray.
Ikea nightstands. They used to be red. I darked the paint I put on the walls and then gave them a few accent points to keep them from looking too dull.
Made the curtains. I had to special order the Chevron fabric, but they turned out just like I wanted them. The curtain panels are just cheapo Wal-Star and then I sewed on the accent panels to keep it simple.

I have a set of these lamps. They used to be in my living room (dark brown), but this one looks a thousand times better now that I painted it turquoise and added the antiquing glaze. The shade is again from the B&H collection at Wal-Star.
More atlas. I modge-podged it onto this crazy thing. I wanted to keep the stacks of books from piling up on my nightstand. This was a bit more tricky than I thought it would be, but I've had worse experiences. Modge-podge takes a bit of getting used to....
I made this last night. Another "R&D"--rip off and duplicate project. I'm a list maker anyway and this just celebrates every aspect of that habit. I can't wait to check off every single one!!
A close up.
As a sidenote: I've also had to work double hours this week to make up for the fact that I am going to Las Vegas with the sisters next week. I've stayed up late reading books. I've worked my ever loving arse off trying to get everything ready for Girl's Camp. I've planted the garden. I taught First Aid for the stake camp certification. I rode 35 miles last Saturday for Little Red Riding Hood. I am amazing.

I'm just going to come right out and say it--seriously, I don't know who is slipping all of the meth into my soda these days...BUT KEEP IT COMING!! I'll be so depressed when this motivational streak finally crashes!

Remodel or Refashion: Part Three

This is another piece that I wanted to give some more color to--

It is kind of a rustic, rough cut entryway mirror. It used to be black. I thought that this color would look awesome next to the console. I also wanted to try stenciling--but stenciling with cardstock (el-cheapo method). People say that you can do it and frankly, you can, but you will need to spend some time with a counselor afterward. They rarely mention this part on Pinterest.
The cardstock gets wet and funky after a while. I think if you had something super simple, like a circle or square you would be totally fine--BUT this pattern had some detail that I had to "re-do" with a teenie-tiny-super unfun brush after the fact.
I like the end result, but I haven't gotten the chance to hang it yet. We are just getting ready to finish the painting in the living room. I'm still not sure how I am going to complete the look...there are too many variables at this point (details to come).

[After]

Remodel or Refashion: Part Two

Amidst the turmoil, I decided that it wouldn't matter if I started a few other refashion projects. I've had this console for years, but I really wanted to update the black. I still have some dark accent points in the living room (which is still a work in progress)--but I love these fresh new colors.

[Before]

The key to painting furniture is to use a sponge brush or foam roller so that you don't get any brush marks. I am currently so in love with this Tiffany Blue color. I just can't get enough.

Hobby Lobby is the only store where you will listen to Christian Rock while you buy fabric, but they have some great door handles and knobs for these types of projects. I think that the new color lightens up this whole space.

[After]

This is what purgatory looks like....

...thousands of tasks left undone, no time left, chaos, and general unsettledness.

It all started when we thought that we might sell our house and make a little move, but after we got started with a little touch up we decided that we should just make some bigger improvements and stay in this place. It was a good decision, but our execution has been nothing less than a personal nightmare.

This is what my kitchen has looked like since the first of April. No kidding, except that the table is completely covered with paint, saws, screwdrivers, etc--and now some of us eat at the bar and some of us stand. So bad. We just wipe off the dust, move the dirty paint brushes and scoot over the random bags of supplies and eat our cold pizza or other disgusting quick meal. I just can't stand to cook anything when the stove is being shared by some dusty floral arrangements that are on their way to the DI.

And the living room--well, we just don't ever sit down anymore.
Jason came and installed all of the crown moulding. It looks great. It took Jeff forever to get it caulked and sanded and primed because he has to go to work and church and help Lachlan remember how to ride a bike. Did I mention that we failed to plan these upgrades?
There wasn't a plan--which led to us deciding that we might as well rip apart the bathrooms and our bedroom as well. Crown moulding is up, but we were sleeping in the middle of the room--AND the cat inside my sweater drawer!
And the master bathroom was loaded up in Rubbermaid tubs--which I promptly placed in random locations throughout the house.
The kids' brains have turned to mush. Jack actually thinks that the Kratt Brothers can switch into cartoons in real life, but he does know an incredible amount about how to "be an animal rescuer." He told me that he is going to be that when he grows up.

We made frames for the world's ugliest bathroom mirrors.
And installed them...
I must have taken this picture of the kid's bathroom right before we installed the new mirror frame. Notice the new lighting, fresh paint...I also installed a curved shower rod. Why haven't I done that before??

Pinterest

[hair from the back]

Are you pinning? I am so addicted. I start looking at all of the ideas and my mind starts going a thousand miles an hour. It is seriously a drug for me. And it's not just crafts and the home design--the hair--oh, my the glorious hair tutorials are just over the moon. My hair is long enough that I am starting to try a few new things. Some work (like this pin and twist), others have been an epic fail (crown braid). I am currently super frustrated with the fact that I cannot french braid my own hair--in any sense of the word. It looks awful--and there are a million things that I could do if only I could hold my arms in the air indefinitely.

But my fingers and arms go numb because it takes me SO. LONG. to get it started and then organized...and heaven forbid if you need to comb out a lump....auugghh!! My type A kicks in and then it is temper tantrum city.

Is it child abuse to force a 4-year-old to learn a coordinated skill requiring intense eye-hand coordination just so that her mother can expose her to unending hours of creative hair?

[hair from the front]

Growing Up

Lachlan said, "Hey, mom, is that popcorn popping on that tree?"
"Mom, I don't think that it's popcorn. I think it's just these little white flowers."



The kids are really growing up. [sigh]

More publishing...thanks PBS

I know that you have been waiting to see the article from PBS.org. Well guess what, me too! If you'd like to see the article online click here....otherwise, I've provided the copy below:

Best Bets for Gardening with Kids

Your kids can probably help you find the baby carrots or frozen French fries in the grocery store, but do they know where carrots and potatoes really come from? How about onions or strawberries?

Gardening expert and author Sharon Lovejoy recalls standing in front of a group of schoolchildren with a raw carrot in her hand as the children tried to guess where it had come from. One said the market. Another guessed a truck. Then Lovejoy, whose books include "Sunflower Houses: Garden Discoveries for Children of All Age" and "Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots: Gardening Together with Children," pulled a packet of seeds out of her pocket and told them that the carrot had been grown from the seeds. "A little boy yelled, 'That's a miracle,'" Lovejoy recalls.

Rose Judd-Murray, an education specialist with the National Gardening Association, says that stories like Lovejoy's are not surprising. "There is a disconnect [in kids] when it comes to understanding where our food comes from," she says. "Kids will pull something so basic out of the ground and they are unsure—'Do we eat the top or eat the bottom?'"

By teaching children not just where the food comes from but also how to grow it, we can increase their awareness of the world around them—and make them more likely to eat, say, tomatoes in their native form instead of just ketchup: "As kids touch and feel where the food comes from, they have a greater desire to eat fruits and vegetables," adds Judd-Murray. More than that, gardening is a way to reconnect our kids with the wonder of the earth, the miracle that a seed the size of a fingernail clipping could grow into a big orange carrot. "Kids really feel that this is a magical experience," says Lovejoy. Gardening can also be used to teach science and to reinforce positive character traits like respect, responsibility, the value of work and cooperation with others, notes Judd-Murray.

Now that we've established what fun it can be, are you ready to dig in? Here are some tips to get you started.

1. Start small. A common mistake beginners make is being too ambitious with their garden plans, only to be discouraged when weeds or pests take over the plot. "Make it so small that your child can water it and see everything," recommends Lovejoy. Rather than tilling a section of your yard, consider planting in containers, which will help keep weeds at bay and give your child a focus for watering. You can buy pots at a garden store or even use an old beach bucket—just be sure to poke holes for drainage. "Containers are great for herbs or patio-type tomatoes," says Susan Heidebrecht, a horticulturalist and garden designer who lives in Reisterstown, Maryland. But be warned: If you're using containers, you may have to water your plants more frequently than if you had planted in the ground. "Things can dry out really quickly [in containers]," says Heidebrecht.
2. Follow your child's lead. Not sure what to plant? Take your child to a garden store and let her pick the out the seeds. Your best bet will be flowers or vegetables with relatively fast germination periods (the better for short attention spans!). When it comes to flowers, Judd-Murray likes shasta daisies, cosmos and zinnia, while Heidebrecht recommends nasturtiums, which are an easy-to-grow edible flower. For vegetables, Judd-Murray, Lovejoy and Heidebrecht all recommend cherry tomatoes and, for a quick, three-to-seven-day germination, radishes. Lovejoy swears that kids will eat radishes when they grow them.
3. Buy kid-sized tools. A well-meaning child with a garden hose can blast a baby seedling away in a matter of seconds, but you can avoid garden floods by equipping your little helper with a kid-sized watering can. "You're rarely going to have an accident if the child has a tool that's the proper size," says
   Judd-Murray. In addition to a watering can, consider purchasing a child-sized clipper, trowel and shovel, as well as a magnifying glass, so you can get up close and personal with your plants.
4. Don't be afraid to experiment. Some of your plants might grow like weeds, others might be stifled by weeds. The key is to figure out—with your child—what works and what doesn't. A garden can become a living science experiment, in which you can compare what happens when one seedling receives fertilizer (or water or sunlight) and one doesn't. Not everything will grow in the way you expect, and that's okay. "Don't be afraid to fail," says Judd-Murray.
5. Make it fun. Gardening shouldn't feel like a chore, so don't treat it like one. Instead of inviting your child to "go work in the garden" with you, consider asking him if he wants to go peek under the leaves to see what he might find. Then grab the magnifying glass and start exploring!
6. No outdoors? No problem! Not everyone has access to an outdoor garden space, but apartment dwellers and others with limited outdoor space can also develop green thumbs by focusing on indoor plants. Judd-Murray recommends snipping off a piece of a spider plant and setting it in water to watch it grow new roots. Or plant aloe vera, which grows easily and can be used to treat household burns.

Heidebrecht adds that if all else fails, a visit to a local pick-your-own farm provides kids without extensive gardens the chance to see foods "in their natural habitat."