Kung Fu backlash

It hit 100 degrees here in Arlington yesterday and it is supposed to get even hotter today. In Cache Valley, Utah, the place where I grew up, they received some Memorial Day snow. In either of the two extremes it is not fun to go outside. Fortunately our pool opened up Saturday so we have been trying to weather the humid heat there.

We also went to a Kung Fu Panda 2 on Saturday. There is nothing like a cold movie theater to escape the high temperatures. I came out of the theater with my teeth chattering. My kids, however, came out of that hilarious, but violent movie all fired up. Ethan exhibited some serious kung fu moves and Ruby keeps screaming, "hi-yah!"

Sick leave

We don't mean to be strangers, but we have been doing a lot of lying around and checking our temperatures around here.

Oh, and building forts and watching movies in them.

...the kind of stuff you do when you don't feel like leaving home.

We are all better now, so I guess I can't keep ignoring my blog :-(

Oh that 5k

So, friends, I have discovered that most people who run 5ks actually don't train for them. People work hard to prepare for triathlons and marathons and such, but apparently 5ks are like a brisk jaunt for many.

For me, just getting out and running is a challenge. Luckily, I have a bunch a friends who have joined me in my training. Ryan even called me Forest Gump the other day.

We are on a "couch to 5k" training program. Tonight we will walk 5 minutes, run 8, walk 5, run 8. Doesn't sound too bad, right? Saturday I have to run 20 minutes straight. I am a little nervous, especially since last Saturday I almost fainted. It was a morning run and I had just woken up, put clothes on and ran out the door. My friend Julie was running ahead because she couldn't get her heart rate up and I was about to pass out. Pretty embarrassing :-). Yes, there have been a few glitches in my training, but we figured since I have felt great during and after our other runs, I am doing OK. And we have decided that I should only run at night.

I don't have a set 5k to run yet but I think I will set a date if I can run 20 minutes straight on Saturday. We will see.

In the meantime, check out my new bangs!

Ombre

Ruby gets a lot of comments on her hair. People usually mention how much she has or how long it is and the fabulous color of it. They don't say that it is perfectly coiffed or harmoniously curly because it is neither of those things. It is actually often pretty messy but I choose to use the term "teased." 

I'll admit, I am a fan of a natural looking child. You probably won't ever see my child with an intricately detailed hairstyle and that's probably mostly because I haven't a clue how to do anything more than, say, a twist of her bangs back into a clip or pigtails (my personal favorite). For the most part, you'll probably see her with hair in her eyes and while I need to get a handle on that, I just love a toddler who hasn't really been messed with too much.

 I, too, am a huge fan of the color of Ruby's hair. She has a completely natural ombre coloring that celebrities surely spend a lot to get. Just look at those blonde tip highlights.

 Eat your heart out, Alexa Chung :-)



My mother's day

My mother's day was a great one.

 Ethan planted a flower that he has been growing for me for the past few months. He sang to me at church and also presented me with a packet he put together at preschool, which included his handprint and a hilarious fill-in-the-blank interview. Part of it went like this: "My mom is as pretty as a..." His answer? "Shark!" I know, sharks are simply beautiful.

Ryan made me dinner on our awesome new little charcoal grill, which happened to cook one of the best steaks I have ever had in my life. Isn't it a cute little grill?

And Ruby made us laugh all day long. At one point I swear she said, "Here you go, big mommy," as she handed me her toy.

I sure love being mom to these crazy kids...

...who got progressively dirtier as the day wore on.

And I'm thankful for dads, who are willing to spray them off at the end of the day.



Your help would be appreciated

I got this bolt of fabric in the mail the other day. It was a serious steal and I plan on making curtains with it.

I do have a question: Where can I find the best value for curtain rods? I am not looking for anything fancy, but I want strong rods that won't stand out. Any suggestions?

 A while back, Ethan saw a photo of a Ferris wheel and turned to me and said, "I want to do that." I promised that he would get that chance sometime, but that there were no Ferris wheels in the immediate vicinity and he would have to be patient until the county fair at the end of the summer. But as 4-year-olds often do, he persisted in asking again and again if he could ride it.
He reminded me of myself as a child, wanting so badly to experience that enormous rotating wheel and that feeling of being so high above everything. I vaguely remember my first ride at the Cache County Fair and I can imagine it was with my mom, but I am not positive.

Skip forward a couple of decades to Saturday evening. We spent a good portion of the day weeding our back patio and we were in need of some wood chips and top soil. I was also in need of some Chick Fil A (fancy that). So we headed down to the funniest little mall in our area, Landmark Mall, which is located close to a Home Depot and happens to have my favorite fried chicken joint in its food court (which is the busiest store in that mall, I would bet).

As we pulled around the mall Saturday, Ethan yelled those words again, "I want to do that!" I looked up to see a huge Ferris wheel (and little fair) in the mall parking lot. We were tired and had things to accomplish so at first, we told him no. I ran inside to get the food and while I waited in line for my sandwich, I got a text from Ryan. "Ethan really wants to go on a ride," it said. I had secretly been itching to go as well. "Shall we?" I responded and when I went outside, my family met me at the gate. Ryan tried to talk Ethan out of his Ferris Wheel ride since he could enjoy two other rides for the same amount of fair tickets. But Ethan had one goal in mind and that was to conquer that Ferris wheel.

So he did.

Insert comment about leggy Dutch woman here.

Our views may have been less than stellar...

and at one point I did start to feel a little motion sick

But Ethan smiled the entire time.

In need of a change

I have been wanting new artwork to go over my console table for a while now. I was inspired earlier this year by the huge artwork in interior designer Kelly Wearstler's studio. I love how graphic, colorful and modern it is.

I am also drawn to Ellsworth Kelly's, Spectrum Colors Arranged by Chance III, which was created in 1951 and I really have no idea how to get my hands on a print.

And I heart this print by Andrew Bannecker. If you buy it from here, all proceeds go to the American Cancer Society.

I spotted this one on Pinterest the other day and haven't been able to stop thinking about it. I just wish the original painting was still available :-(.

Any other art ideas in this same vein?

Explanation

 I know, I never struck you as model material. I don't blame you, but I guess this is what I get for surrounding my untalented self with talented people.

When I was in high school, there was a man in my church congregation who illustrated for our church magazine, the Ensign. He used the people around him for the models to illustrate the stories. It was fun to spot the neighbors and friends I saw all the time in each issue of the Ensign. I was excited when my turn rolled around. If I had a copy of the painting of me sharing the Book of Mormon with another girl (who happened to be my neighbor, Tess Ann), I would post it on this blog. I actually looked quite hilarious in it. I have horrible posture and even that translated through to the illustration. But it was still kind of fascinating to see my silly self in the Ensign.

So, of course I felt the same way when my friend Lindi asked me to help out at her darling cherry-themed party. Lindi has this amazing etsy shop and blog, Love The Day. She throws the cutest parties and doesn't miss a detail. You can buy her printable party decorations here. I am in love with her latest pinwheel collection!

I know, I feel quite vain posting "good" (thanks to Lindi's styling and Melissa's skills) photos of myself... especially since Ryan took some seriously heinous photos of me scarfing down a sandwich on accident. He was taking photos of the kids and I happened to be in the background stuffing my face. They are the most disgusting photos ever and while I was laughing hysterically when he zoomed in and showed them to me, I would probably rather have bamboo shoots shoved up my toenails than let you see them. So only OK to good photos of me are ever posted on here. Got it? :-)