Our Sweet Life

Twirly Girlie

2009-01-24T13:36:00.001-08:00

My sweet love is obsessed with her tutu! Now that she is learning to use the potty she often is wearing it, and only it, if you know what I mean!

She loves to twirl!

And she's gone!

Christmas Stocking!

2009-01-24T13:13:00.000-08:00

I am finally posting photos of the Christmas stocking I made Neva. I must say, I am really proud of it. I had never used a sewing machine before but with *much* help from my friend Rachel, here is the finished product!

A close up:

This is my favorite part, a little "lift and flap" tree! I just love the extra dimension it gives. This detail was unplanned in the original layout, but makes me smile every time I see it.

Her fun legs on the quilt-y snow backround add to the whimsy of it all.

In action Christmas Morning

I have the stocking my grandmother made me and Stuart has his childhood stocking as well. So I decided that instead of having matching ones, I wanted to make one for Neva so we all have a little piece of our childhood hung up during the holidays. I came up with the layout mostly on my own, although I must admit the elf girl is a variation of one I saw on the internet.

I hope Neva loves this as she grows older as I do the one made for me by my grandmother.

Gathering Drum

2009-01-19T12:17:00.001-08:00

Neva's grandparents got her this amazing gathering drum for Christmas! She and all her friends love to bang on it! It has such a beautiful tone and is so wonderfully made. Her favorite thing to do with it is line up her Candy Land playing pieces in a nice neat line in the middle of the drum, then bang away and watch them dance right off the drum!

Solstice Party

2009-01-19T12:07:00.000-08:00

Painted Family

2008-12-19T10:27:00.001-08:00

I painted these figures for my niece. I got the people from Casey's Wood Products. I decided to make her little family, so there is Emma on the left, her mom (the greatest sister-in-law in the world), my bro and little Even. I hope she likes them!!

From behind!

Things I love

2008-12-18T20:18:00.001-08:00

I love that Neva is really getting in to drawing and creating

I love her little fingers and miss the baby dimples that use to be on them

I love the look on her face when she is using her scissors, her favorite thing ever!

I was reading Neva stories tonight and felt like I could read to her for 3 more hours. I loved having her on my lap, I love the way she would get up after a book, walk to her bookshelf, and say "hmmmmmmmm" as she searched for another. I was thinking that these moments are such a short time in her life, that in a few years she may not want to sit on my lap and let me put my lips to her cheek. She may not let me nibble on her ear and stroke her hair. I just felt like I could have sat there with her forever.....

Our New Addition

2008-12-15T15:11:00.000-08:00

I grew up with a piano in our house and have many memories of hearing my mother play it. I never formally took piano lessons but being a violinist I knew how to read music, so I would tinker around on it. Ours was in our dining room and thinking back I love the mixture of food and music. Our sweet house is 100 years old, has 2 tiny closets in the whole thing and is about 800 square feet. So when I was offered this FREE piano, I said "I'll make it fit, even if we have to get rid of the couch!" So here it is:

It's a tight fit, makes for coming in with groceries a little bit cramped, but I LOVE having it here and it feels like home. It sounds great, has been nicely kept up, and could use a little bit of a tuning. It is a Francis Bacon, and is a converted player piano. Neva loves opening the doors and seeing the inside. I love letting her, until she started dropping various trinkets in to it.

She loves playing Happy Birthday in her birthday suit! She did come up with a new song that goes like this "I love you, I love you, I love you , I love you" as she bangs away. The other night I was playing (well, trying to play) some Christmas Carols, Neva was in the bath with Stuart and when I finished I hear her start to clap and say "Yeah Mommy!" Awwww, glad she liked it!

Our Alter

2008-12-07T10:46:00.000-08:00

Adding to our Advent Calendar Alter we have 4 candles. On the first Sunday, November 30th, we lit one small candle and the bigger white, soy, Solstice Candle made by Pacifica. That first week we added crystals, rocks, shells and bones. Tonight we begin the honoring of the plants by lighting 2 small candles and the bigger one. During the week while moving the sun baby down, we will add plant objects. Happy 2nd week of advent!

"Advent" Calendar

2008-12-06T13:08:00.000-08:00

For my birthday this year my dear friend Tina and I went to a Felt Advent Calendar Class. I have been wanting to get in to needle felting and this was the perfect intro. She had 2 examples to choose from as ideas, one was a Traditional Advent with baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, etc. And a Pagan version with Mother Earth and a sun baby. We chose the Pagan version, I liked the honoring of the Solstice better. Don't get me wrong, I am down with Jesus too, but thought the more earth centered calendar fit me more now. So here is the finished product:

There are 29 stars that represent the days leading up to Christmas or the Solstice, which ever we choose to do. The baby starts at the top most star and everyday we move the sun baby down one representing the sun getting lower in the sky.

Getting lower.......

And lower still.......

Until the Sun Baby comes back to Mother Earth symbolizing the light returning to the planet after Solstice.

I mostly needle felted it, used some blanket stitch embroidery around the edge and on Mother Earth. I just love her hair and also love the squirrels! The one part I wish I did differently is the lamb, she just doesn't stand out enough, maybe I'll add some gray to her.

So there it is, I love the way it came out and Neva loves moving the sun baby, I think it will be a tradition she will enjoy every year!!

A Homemade Play Kitchen

2008-10-25T13:33:00.000-07:00

I finally finished the play kitchen for Neva!! I began this journey over 6 months ago with the following goals:

1. To spend under $50 total
2. Use as much recycled materials as possible
3. Limit my driving to acquire these materials, only stop somewhere if it is on my way somewhere else.
4. Make it really cute and have fun doing it

Fortunately for me there are 2 huge construction salvage yards and a handful of thrift stores close to my house, not to mention garage sales on the weekends. I started doing some research on the internet and found some good inspiration. There were homemade kitchens made from old wooden entertainment centers, bookshelves, end tables, cupboards, and computer desks.

After 1 hour at a construction salvage yard I found what I was looking for. It was 3 separate pieces priced at $10 each, but got them all for $20!!

The cabinet on the left and the bottom were just old kitchen cabinets, the piece I put on top, well I am not really sure what that was used for, I just knew it worked. The small cut out rectangle on the back was there when I bought it, but the square cut out on the "cook top"my husband did to put the kitchen sink in.

I took off all the hardware that came with the cabinets and spray painted them silver. I got all my paint at our local recycling center. On Saturday mornings they have a free paint drop off/pick up. You just take what you need and give what you don't! So I got the silver spray paint, white paint for all over, and red accent paint! All for free and all recycled. I scored on the faucet, it cost me $5 and is one of those with hot/cold written on the porcelain handles. It was gold but way cuter silver. I also got new pulls and wooden knobs at the salvage yard for $1 total.

My hubby, attaching thing 1 to thing 2. If you notice the now much larger cut out on the back. I had him make it 11x17 so I could put laminated photos in there, so Neva has a changing view out of her kitchen window!

Almost done! After lots of coats of white paint and red accents, it is beginning to take life! We put in the 2 shelves in the fridge, remember these were originally horizontal cabinets. And one shelf under the stove top to serve as the oven rack.
It's done and better than I could have imagined!

Opened up and ready to be played with!

OK, so I found the "kitchen sink" at the thrift store for $2. Made the "utensil holder" out of a coco powder can, sewed the curtains by hand (don't have a machine), found a curtain rod not being used in our house, bought the burners from Michaels, they were just unpainted wooden discs (2 small/2 larger), wooden knobs from salvage yard and printed a photo taken in Sicily of these really colorful boats when we were there getting married. I plan on changing the "view" depending on the season!

I found the chalk board at the thrift store for $1, painted it red (I think it was blue) and used the same ball ribbon to hang it as I did on the cherry curtain ties. That night I was making Pumpkin Curry Soup, so I made it the "Special"! Notice the "bakers rack" against the back wall, I got that at the thrift store for $2 and plan on using it to store her spices, tea cups, bowls tins full of felt food, etc. But there is not a great place to hang it right now, so I put it away.

So here is the official run down:

$20- 3 cabinets (recycled)
$2- kitchen sink (recycled)
$5- faucet (recycled)
$1-pulls and knobs (recycled)
$1- chalk board (recycled)
$2- bakers rack (recycled)
$12- fabric and ribbon (new)
$4- printed and laminated photo (new)
$12- wood discs for burners (new)
Free- paint (recycled)
Free- wood trim and shelving (recycled) thanks David!

$59 TOTAL!!

I feel really good about that, had so much fun doing it and love the way it turned out. I want to find some sort of oven knob to put on and thought about putting Neva's initials on the fridge doors (is that too over the top?)

So many friends have told me to start selling these things! I thought about it for a minute and decided against it. I do hope it can inspire others to make one themselves all you need is your imagination!

Things to do:

2008-09-16T19:12:00.000-07:00

My to-do list is ever expanding and with Stuart being home I thought I could pound it out. Well, Neva has a cold and Stuart has some stuff to do tomorrow, so I am not sure how much I can do. But here are my goals for tomorrow:

Things I will probably get done:
Make chicken soup (I made the broth today)
Wash diapers
Mail package to mom (will have Stu do)
Buy cable to hook up DVD player (will have Stu do)
Cancel milk delivery (this makes me very sad.... but we need to save $, if I only had a cow, or a goat......)

Want to do, may get done:
Hook up printer (hopefully, not sure where the software is)
Sew one felt cupcake for Neva's kitchen
Turn compost
Get a small piece of plastic to cover one dining chair so Neva doesn't ruin the fabric ( I know, bad memories of grandma's house)
Make plum fruit leather or plum bread, or both, but doubtful. If nothing else, cut and freeze all the plums before they go bad.

So there it is, lofty for a Wednesday with a sick kid, but we'll see..........

Diapering

2008-09-09T11:50:00.000-07:00

We used cloth diapers for the first year of Neva's life. A mixture of Muttaqin Baby, Fuzzi Bunz, BellaBottoms, and Bum Genius. I washed them at home and loved knowing that I was not contributing to our land fill issues. Then I got lazy...we were moving, the holidays, lots of travel, and well, laziness. Over that last 9 months my guilt and pocket book really started to wear on me. So I gave them all a good wash and am back on the cloth diapering train. Aren't they perty???

2008-09-03T12:02:00.000-07:00

Steamboat Botanic Gardens

2008-09-02T10:22:00.000-07:00

We went to Steamboat Springs last weekend for my triathlon and took a family outing to the Steamboat Botanic Gardens.

This was a perfect place to bring Neva, she loved all the ponds and paths!

I just love the wonder and curiosity kids have.

She played here for a while, splashing and jumping in the water.

The flowers were beautiful!

The light was perfect!

Ooohhh, I just love those little piggies!

Fields of flowers!

Stu and Neva catching some shade!

Nature is perfect!

We finished our day in the Children's Garden where they had a great teepee! It was a wonderful day with the people I love the most!

Neva's BFF

2008-09-02T10:17:00.000-07:00

Neva and LuLu, BFF's!

Cupcakes for Hannah

2008-08-25T14:35:00.001-07:00

Here are the felt cupcakes I made for my friend's daughter Hannah for her 4th birthday. I hope she likes them! It was so hard to believe she is now 4! I had the honor to be there when she was born and have loved watching her grow up! Happy Birthday Hannah!

Peachy!

2008-08-25T14:10:00.000-07:00

We had our annual Peach Festival here in Lafayette recently! Colorado is the perfect place to have a festival of any kind because we have over 300 days of sunshine so the weather is always perfect, well not this year. It rained straight for 2 days! I mean RAIN, pouring rain, nonstop for 2 DAYS! It was wonderful for many reasons, but a bummer for the peach festival. We braved the weather, dug out the little rain gear that we have and walked to the festival. We ended up getting about 3 dozen yummy organic peaches! I was so excited to get started on making yummy peachy goodness!

I did a little research and decided on making my own fruit leather, I started with some peaches (duh...):

I pitted them, cut em up and put them in the food processor, skin on, and made a puree, nothing added:

Next I put some unbleached parchment paper in a broiling pan, poured in the puree and put it in the oven on it's lowest setting. Ours is 170 degrees, but if it goes to 150 that would be better. The point is to dry it out. So I would occasionally open the oven door and let a little of the heat out. You have to be careful to not let it *cook*. You could also use a food dehydrator or do it in the sunshine, just cover it with a cloth and rubber band it to the pan, so no bugs get in. This could take up to 3 days and I would recommend to take it in at night.

You let it dry in the oven for about 6 hours until it's set and tacky. Let it cool and cut it in to strips.

VIOLA! Fruit Leather! 100% fruit and nothing else except yummy goodness!

It has been a huge hit!!!

Me SO happy

2008-08-13T19:51:00.000-07:00

This makes me proud... yesterday we elected Jared Polis in the 2nd Congressional District here in Colorado! He is an openly gay Jewish man! Yeah for us!

Me SO sad

2008-08-13T19:40:00.000-07:00

I am so sad to say, but I can not do the Steamboat Triathlon next week.. Boo Hoo! A bit of a long story, but I am having "complications" from a nasty virus I got last week. At the advice of my doctor I am going to have to stay on the side lines and cheer for Tina and Tonnie. This was the tri that I have been training for, longer, harder, at altitude. We are still going to go up, enjoy the beauty of one of my favorite Colorado mountain towns and do my best to not dwell on the fact that I will not be participating.
The good news is that The Boulder Tri Babes Tri at the end of September will be a great way to end the season with my girlies. Something to look forward to.

160 Days left........

2008-08-13T07:24:00.000-07:00

Thank God it's almost over!

Felt Food

2008-08-11T12:39:00.000-07:00

So I decided to start to make Neva's "play food" out of felt. She has some wooden food she likes playing with, but I wanted to add to it with out getting anything plastic. I did some research and realized it is easy, cheap, quick and you don't need a sewing machine. Here is what I have made so far:

I have been getting the felt from the craft store for about .20 a sheet! The other day I looked at the sticker on it and it read, "Eco-Felt, made from %100 recycled plastic bottles"!!!!!!
CRAP!? It is plastic after all!! Real wool felt is much more expensive and harder to get. So I am looking around for some wool and letting her play with what she's got!

Toys I made for Neva

2008-08-11T12:18:00.000-07:00

Meet Saxon, she was a ball of yarn until I knit her. I wanted to give Neva a doll that didn't have a big plastic head, when I came across this book I knew I had to make one:
http://www.amazon.com/Dream-Toys-Collection-Crochet-Fantastical/dp/0312359950/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1218481933&sr=1-2

I made her to look like Neva, with white hair and blue eyes. Some say she looks like Christina Aguilera in her "Dirty" days. I agree although that was not on purpose.

I did, for my own sake, give her some pink hair! I also made her a pretty purple dress and some undies. I continue to knit other dresses and accessories for her.

**************************************

Here is the play kitchen Stuart and I made for Neva. I got the template off the internet for $5, we used recycled cardboard, contact paper and made the sink from a pie plate. It has been great so far, although she has been pretty rough on it, so we are looking in to making her another kitchen out of a recycled entertainment center.

2008-08-11T11:27:00.000-07:00

See this movie!!!!

http://www.bluevinyl.org/animation.htm

It will teach you about the dangers of PVC, how toxic it is to manufacture and dangerous it is to dispose of.

FYI on Plastic Safety-Because you asked

2008-08-09T17:21:00.000-07:00

#1 Polyethylene terephthalate (PET or PETE)
Used to make soft drink, water, sports drink, ketchup, and salad dressing bottles, and peanut butter, pickle, jelly and jam jars.
GOOD: Not known to leach any chemicals that are suspected of causing cancer or disrupting hormones.

#2 High density polyethylene (HDPE)
Milk, water, and juice bottles, yogurt and margarine tubs, cereal box liners, and grocery, trash, and retail bags.
GOOD: Not known to leach any chemicals that are suspected of causing cancer or disrupting hormones.

#3 Polyvinyl chloride (V or PVC)
Most cling-wrapped meats, cheeses, and other foods sold in delicatessens and groceries are wrapped in PVC.
BAD: To soften into its flexible form, manufacturers add “plasticizers” during production. Traces of these chemicals can leach out of PVC when in contact with foods. According to the National Institutes of Health, di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), commonly found in PVC, is a suspected human carcinogen.

#4 Low-density polyethylene (LDPE)
Some bread and frozen food bags and squeezable bottles.
OK: Not known to leach any chemicals that are suspected of causing cancer or disrupting hormones, but not as widely recycled as #1 or #2.

#5 Polypropylene (PP)
Some ketchup bottles and yogurt and margarine tubs.
OK: Hazardous during production, but not known to leach any chemicals that are suspected of causing cancer or disrupting hormones. Not as widely recycled as #1 and #2.

#6 Polystyrene (PS)
Foam insulation and also for hard applications (e.g. cups, some toys)
BAD: Benzene (material used in production) is a known human carcinogen. Butadiene and styrene (the basic building block of the plastic) are suspected carcinogens. Energy intensive and poor recycling.

#7 Other (usually polycarbonate)
Baby bottles, microwave ovenware, eating utensils, plastic coating for metal cans
BAD: Made with biphenyl-A, a chemical invented in the 1930s in search for synthetic estrogens. A hormone disruptor. Simulates the action of estrogen when tested in human breast cancer studies. Can leach into food as product ages.

I DID IT!!!

2008-08-03T19:06:00.001-07:00

Here are Molly and I right after our triathlon today!! Yahoo! We did great and are so proud of ourselves! For those of you who don't know triathlons require a bit of preparation. Separate from all the physical training, there is a whole slew of stuff you bring with you. There are often thousands of athletes that set up all their things in what is called a "Transition Area" which is where you go between the swim/bike and bike/run. Here is what a typical transition area looks like:

You have a very small space to put your gear. Here is my run down: For the swim I wear a "triathlon top" that I wear for the whole race and separate bikini bottoms. After my swim I run to the transition area dry off, put on a padded bike skort, socks, shoes, bike gloves, helmet, sun glasses, eat an energy gel, get a drink and head out of my bike. After the ride I go back to the transition area, take off my bike skort, put on my running skort, take off my helmet, put on my visor, eat another energy gel, get a drink and start running.

The race today was great, I wasn't nervous at all and did really well. Here are my results:

http://downingevents.com/data/Results08list.php?x_LAST=smith&z_LAST=LIKE%2C%27%25%2C%25%27&x_FIRST=katlen&z_FIRST=LIKE%2C%27%25%2C%25%27

I feel really good overall, my swim was great, my bike was good, my run was terrible, but I did my best considering I am injured and it was 100 degrees out. Seriously, it was SO hot by the run and it was a totally exposed course, brutal!

So yeah for me, I am really proud of myself and look forward to the 2 other triathlons I have this season!!

Wildlife and Rainbows

2008-08-01T12:37:00.001-07:00

On our last day at The Box House we did see some real beauty!

Rainbow!

A deer decided to rest outside a window, he didn't mind Neva at all.

Giving the deer a kiss.

Beautiful!

2008-07-31T12:47:00.001-07:00

Wow, we made that! Perfection!

Triathlon Countdown

2008-07-31T11:33:00.001-07:00

4 days until my first triathlon! Woo Woo!! What!?!? Party girl turned triathlete? Well not totally but, sort of. Hey, I can be in shape and still have fun. My friend Lisa is a perfect testament to that! :)

I have been a training fool. Tonight is the "Stroke and Stride" at the Boulder Reservior. It's a 750 meter swim in open water and a 5k. Sadly my right heel has been preventing me from doing the run, so I have renamed it to the "Stroke and Slack". Tonight however Molly and I are doing a "Stroke and Ride", so a swim then on to our bikes (while practicing our transition) for a nice ride to her house. We are excited and feeling up to the race on Sunday!!

This whole working out thing is new to me, thanks to a few glasses of wine one night when I told Lisa I would start taking her Boot Camp class. Then hey, how about starting to swim again too. A few running drills in class, and VIOLA! A triathlete is born, I can use my cruiser in the race right?? Not exactly, but sweet Sara K. generously lends me her road bike and off I go.

Still can't believe I own a shirt with pockets in the back and a padded skort..... at least it's black.

Wish me luck!!

Chemicals, pesticides, and toxins..oh my

2008-07-31T07:06:00.000-07:00

Taken from a great blog:

http://www.debraslist.com/

"A report by Environmental Working Group that shows significant toxic chemcials presence in the blood of newborns. Analysis of 10 samples of umbilical-cord blood taken by the American Red Cross found an average of 287 contaminants in the blood, including mercury, fire retardants, pesticides, plastics, and other common toxic chemicals. Of the 287 chemicals detected, 180 cause cancer in humans or animals, 217 are toxic to the brain and nervous system, and 208 cause birth defects or abnormal development in animal tests.

The Executive Summary of the report says:

Not long ago scientists thought that the placenta shielded cord blood — and the developing baby — from most chemicals and pollutants in the environment. But now we know that at this critical time when organs, vessels, membranes and systems are knit together from single cells to finished form in a span of weeks, the umbilical cord carries not only the building blocks of life, but also a steady stream of industrial chemicals, pollutants and pesticides that cross the placenta as readily as residues from cigarettes and alcohol. This is the human "body burden" — the pollution in people that permeates everyone in the world, including babies in the womb.

The report is based on tests of 10 samples of umbilical-cord blood taken by the American Red Cross. They found an average of 287 contaminants in the blood, including mercury, fire retardants, pesticides, plastics, and other common toxic chemicals. Of the 287 chemicals detected, 180 cause cancer in humans or animals, 217 are toxic to the brain and nervous system, and 208 cause birth defects or abnormal development in animal tests."

**************************

Yikes!! More from me about this later.....

The Great Escape

2008-07-29T11:36:00.000-07:00

Last night we had our good friends Molly and Adam and their two kids over to The Box House for a bbq. Near the end of the visit I was standing in the living room with Adam asking if he has read my blog about the HUGE spiders we keep seeing outside, he says, "Like that one right there?" as he points to the corner next to the TV. I glanced, jumped, ran away, and did the little dance, as I had done before as described below in my "Creepy Crawly" post. The comforting part was that Adam was almost as equally freaked out as me. See, my husband Stuart is a rock, not much gets him worked up, except when I am loosing it. I'll admit it, my behavior is totally irrational and probably very annoying. So to see Adam, jumping around and looking itchy, I'll admit, it made me feel better, well not better, but less like a total fruit-loop.

When........"Oh my god, there is a baby spider coming out of the wall too!!" were the next words out of Adam's mouth, let's just say, I had our suitcases out and began to pack up. Meanwhile Stuart gets a huge metal snow shovel out of the garage, approaches the spiders, gets in to position, and takes a good wack at the wall, hard enough to hopefully kill them, but not enough to ruin the drywall. Sadly all I hear is "shit, they went back in to the wall". So I packed faster, and we arrived just in time to get Neva to bed.

It's good to be home.....

The dreaded sippy cup

2008-07-24T12:06:00.000-07:00

So here it is, in all it's glory, my new favorite well I think so, at least for today. Cue the music...... "The Thermos Foogo, leak proof, insulated, stainless steel, aluminum free, bpa free, straw sippy!!!" So far I love it! And Neva loves it too, although she still tips it up to drink from it like a regular sippy, not quite getting the whole straw concept yet. It keeps her drink cold, holds a good amount for a summer outing, and *so far* is not linked to cancer, reproductive issues, tumors, ingrown toe nails, speaking in tongues, or seizures. phew.......

I recently heard that the Sigg bottles we have all been using are changing their manufacturer because of possible aluminum leaching, good god!!!!!!!!!!!! What next? Is anything safe? So I am really routing for good old fashioned stainless steel to get me through until the next scare when I will probably invest in another kind of $20 water bottle. I should start saving now.............

George Bush and Dollhouses

2008-07-23T12:23:00.000-07:00

I sure wish George Bush agonized, obsessed, researched and lost sleep over his decision to invade Iraq like I am over figuring out which doll house to get for Neva. Not to compare war with childhood toys, but I am driving myself nuts over which one to get. Here are my 2 favorite choices:

Plan Toys Chalet:
http://www.toyimage.com/popup.html?src=images/PRODUCT/large/PLT-71410.jpg&pname=plan-toys-chalet-dollhouse-with-furniture

The best part of this one is you can change the layout of the house, move walls and seperate it in to two different houses, which is a great feature when kids don't want to share. Although it looks like access is somewhat restricted due to the slanted roofs. I also like the price of this one, and it comes furnished.

Ryan's Room:
http://www.mytoybox.com/SW5516380.html

I love how big and accessible this one is. It is more traditional but has some cool add on's, like a garage with roof deck and various decorating choices. Once you get the house and furnish it, it is more expensive, but I like the openess of it so much more.

I get a little obsessed about decisions like this, not sure why, but I have spent way too much time on this one.

Creepy Crawly

2008-07-20T11:37:00.000-07:00

Neva and I arrived to "The Box House" around 6 pm last night. I got Neva out of her car seat and placed her on the sidewalk near the stairs leading up to the house as I got everything out of the car. While doing so, I heard, "bug, bug, bug", which Neva says whenever she sees anything that remotely resembles a bug, often not a bug at all. So I ignored her, got everything out, went to pick her up when I noticed her head was 2 inches away from the HUGEST spider I have ever seen in my life! Now, I have been known to exaggerate here and there while telling a story, in order to make it better, but seriously this thing was well over 2 inches long and thick! Anyone that knows me knows I am terrified of spiders, so I grab her and start running down the driveway, panting, sweating, swearing, and doing little jumpy things because I think my skin is covered in spiders. Then I noticed that Neva was horrified, about to cry, totally confused, and looking at me in terror. So I mustered up the fakest smile I could, told her I was ok as my voice shook, slowed my breathing, and counted the seconds until Stuart arrived so he could kill this monster on the steps.

I saw another one today while watering the lawn, this mountain living thing is not for me......

OOOHHHH!! My first blog!

2008-07-19T13:05:00.000-07:00

OK, here I go... I have wanted to start a "blog" for a while now, for a few different reasons. Here are my top 3:

1. Now that I am a mother, my desire to document and archive my life with my family has become something I can no longer ignore. I love the idea of Neva being able to look back and see what our life was like and be able to catch a glimpse of who her mom is.

2. I use to journal when I was younger, and while I am sure I will censor myself a bit here, I wanted to have a place to share my thoughts with anyone who cares.

3. Our family all lives very far away so I thought this would be a fun place for them to see what we are up to.

So I guess I will start with today..... It is HOT, I mean 100* out, no humidity, but still HOT! I don't like being hot, anyone who spends any time with me knows that. A moment ago my sweet and psychic husband just brought me a nice cool glass of white wine. I know, I know, it's only 2:12 in the afternoon, but who cares, it sure is yummy!

Neva is sleeping, although I think starting to wake. She and her dad spend the morning playing in the dirt, gardening, and hanging out in the nice shady back yard. While I packed (more later on that) made buttermilk blueberry pancakes, did laundry, cleaned the house.

We are leaving this afternoon the spend 2 weeks house sitting at our BFF's house. We are beyond thrilled to be doing this for many reasons! Here's why...

1. They live in Boulder! Yeah for us. While we love our little 100 year old house here in Lafayette, it is a good 25 minutes to Boulder. Stuart often takes to bus to work and I sometimes drive him home. But I, on the other hand, go to Boulder MWF in the am to work out at the gym and often have to go back in the afternoon for a fun social event. This means that some day's I spend 2 hours in the car with Neva! Too much! So we are very excited to be close to everything and everyone we love the most. Not to mention the money we will be saving!

2. They live in a very cool house:

http://cfapp2.rockymountainnews.com/slideshow/slideshow.cfm?type=DREAMHOUSE&ID=dhweek13&NUM=1

3. They live a little up the mountain so it will be cooler, and they have 2 small kids, this means all new toys to keep Neva busy!

So I am packing our life for 2 weeks, I know I can always come back to get something I forgot, but I really hope not to. Our neighbor Ruth will be watering the lawn and my tomato plants!

Well, I think I'll end here for the day, take a shower and load up the cars.