someone take these away

John & I are really trying to complete our first cosmetic home project. We're stripping the wallpaper in our bedroom. But things keep getting in our way. Like, the fact that we only have a short time to work on it after Ruby falls asleep at night, we've cleaned up dinner, and before we pass out. A couple nights ago, we were ready to work, and then, we had this beautiful summer night calling us outside. How many of these do we get, right?

We have these friends that have a baby Ruby's age and somehow we've gotten into a symbiotic relationship with them. It's wonderful. We trade baby-siting occasionally, we share our CSA with them, they brew beer and give us some each time, we share our baked treats. It's a win-win. But we hit the jackpot a few days ago. We got a bunch of homemade caramel. This really shouldn't even have the same name as the rock-hard stuff you buy in the grocery store. This is creamy and light and you don't feel like you're going to have to visit the dentist when you eat it. And then I figured out how to make it even better:



Yes, that's right. Its sandwiched between some dark chocolate. Really, how were we supposed to scrape wallpaper when we could be in the hammock eating this? How?

On a completely unrelated note, I discovered a new blog: Simple Mom. I found it here. From what I can tell so far, I love it. Its beautiful and I wish I knew about it before. But you should visit it soon because Simple Mom is giving away The Creative Family that I wrote about awhile ago. Visit here to enter by Aug. 1st.

yes we can

I am a member of Moms Rising and found out through them about this interview with Obama. He talks, among other things, about women and some economic issues relating to women that are right on. That part starts at 2:57 minutes in to the talk.

fun way to waste some time

I found this link and immediately was stopped in my tracks for several minutes. Its quite addicting. I found it at How About Orange.

vote!

My Dad is running for re-election as a school board member in Seminole County, FL. You can check out his site here. He has been a member for one term and really enjoyed it along with making some positive changes for the schools there. The election is August 26th, but I know you want to make an informed decision, (and spread the word to your friends & family that can vote) and vote early! It is expected that the voter turn-out will be small for this election so literally, every vote will count. Go check him out and let me know if you have questions about him.


print by Nikki McClure, photo from buyolympia.com

forgetter bug

When I was writing my last post about Ruby growing up, there was one other thing that she did that meant she was not a baby anymore, but I couldn't remember it...until today. She's in her big car seat now. She faces forward and everything. She looks like a little girl in the rearview mirror.



Today I read this story about the person in FL who lost their arm to an alligator. It reminded me of the top ten list John & I made up about natural ways you can die in Florida. Here's the part of the list I can remember. The rest will come later, I'm sure.
1. alligator
2. snakes, my personal favorite
3. lightning
4. sharks
5. hurricanes
6. tornadoes
7. car wrecks, another one near and dear to my heart
8. rip currents
9. wild fires

John, help me out!

yes!

Go Obama!

we &hearts books!

We all love books in this house. This is Ruby asking John to read her this book. She practically jumped off my lap to take it to him & crawl up into his lap.

I recently discovered the Meet the Author series on itunes U. I really wish I knew about this when I was in the classroom. Ruby is too young to enjoy it now, but I have downloaded a bunch to my ipod to watch. All the videos are FREE. I've only watched one so far- the Jack Prelutsky one, and it was good, but not something I would have shown my kindergartners. So, if you're a teacher, these should be previewed, of course. Just in case you aren't as obsessed with children's literature as I am and you wouldn't watch these for fun.


Oh yeah, we checked out this book by Mary Azarian from the library recently, which I love. It is so gorgeous! It reminds me of Nikki McClure's work - I guess because of the style of art, but also how she makes the everyday tasks we do seem beautiful and important.

bebe organic

picture by Pikaluk
John recently emailed me this article about a scientifically sound study done on babies whose mama's ate/drank organic dairy while pregnant & nursing. Amazing stuff.

famous friend

Check out my friend, Randy, on Jay Leno last night (May 20). He's in the 2nd segment with Ed Asner.

Are you getting a check?

photo by LollyKnit

With tax refund checks & stimulus checks on their way, there is a lot of talk about what we should do with the money coming in. This is our plan so far (in case you care):
10% to college fun for Ruby
10% to our iras
10% to charity
10% to plane tickets to FL, or should I say half a seat to FL
10% to house repair budget
10% to car maintenance & savings for next car
10% to the principal on our mortgage
10% to the principal on our school loan
20% to living expenses/misc.

There was also talk of buying a whole lot of wine with all of it.
But I came across this today and have some more ideas. John & I wanted to get a couple chickens, but didn't think we could afford it, so maybe we can take that out of our living expenses fund. What do you think, John? We also want to get a bike seat for Ruby and they are ridiculous expensive. What are your plans?

spring fever

Check out this site from domino mag. You can see rooms painted in different colors & they tell you the name of the paint. This is perfect for me. John & I have been talking about what colors to paint our 3 rooms that need it all winter. We had things picked out and then just realized (we're a little slow on the decorating thoughts) that we can see every room of the house from the living room, so they should all probably look good together. At least we figured that out now! I'm thinking this blue, I mean, Faint Flicker, might be the perfect color for our bedroom.
Link found via How About Orange.