the walking continues

so the first day Bel walked she took a 4 day hiatus, but she has officially taken off. She is a happier girl and way more independent and self entertaining now that she can explore, reach new heights, see new things - she is content just walking from room to room for big chunks of time - then she'll stop for a little attention and as soon as I try to confine her to playing a game with me - she's off touring the house again.

We took this a few days ago and she has gotten even better - you'll have to pardon the shaking and whirring... again.

Also - happy birthday to me! It was a super fantastic day - this handsome guy took our early rising sweetheart while I slept - he made all our meals for the day AND had cake and presents for me too! It was such a good day.

that looks like a lot of candles on that cake and it is missing 3 - yikes - I'm closer to 30 than I am to 20!

I was so excited about my shirt from my sis and my sleeveless bike jersey from my honey I wore them both for most of the day

the moment we've all been waiting for

We knew that one of these days Bel would realize that she was just holding on to our fingers for fun and today was that day!

Bel and I were taking one of our daily strolls around the neighborhood and Bel paused to drum on a manhole lid (behind our house - not in the middle of the street) Then she stood up and walked away without even thinking about it. I went screaming giddily to the house for Ryan to come join us and when he came out she walked straight to him and gave him a big hug. We had so much fun getting her all tuckered out - it was a beautiful thing!

(Note: I dropped my camera a while back and now it shakes whenever it is on. Ryan pointed out that it's just like the old fashioned crank cameras that drown out all other sounds - so my apologies for the low quality cinematography.)

Crawling is still her main form of locomotion but I'm pretty sure she'll be coming around to the idea of walking full time and her lazy mom will be busy keeping her out of the street. Three cheers for our big little girl!

count your many blessings

For any of you that are news watchers you may have heard about tornados in the midwest last week - as crazy as it is - that was our town - the tornado hit just a few miles away from us.

dinner still on the counter in this one

that night ryan went to help - when he came home we made our emergency "where do we go / what do we do in case of a tornado" plan, the next day we got renter's insurance.

Considering the force and the damage, our town is pretty lucky and everyone has really reached out to help and support those in need. It's these kind of situations that make me realize what is really important and how blessed I am.

Tulip Festival

Last week all the Miller girls were in the neighborhood, so naturally I couldn't resist crashing the party. We went to the Tulip Festival in Pella. I dropped my camera and it died in the first 10 minutes (so sad). But honestly it couldn't have been a better time or place to do it. Mandy, Mel and Megs all take tons of fabulous photos, so our trip was documented by them way better than it would have been by me.

cousins - yay

chowing down on fair food - yum

I'm so glad Bel was with me so I had an excuse to go down this slide - yahoo!

Mandy takes to most amazing photos - here is my favorite set...

where's bel?"boo!"

"ha - gotcha! I am so tricky!"

It was so much fun to see the tulips and a bunch of people that I love and enjoy so much.

making memories and headlines

Last week I went on vacation to Abby's place in exotic Iowa. I have to give my husband a lot of credit here, because he is the one working his tail off, but for some reason I was just in a rut. So Ryan insisted that I go spend a few days with Abs - which of course would heal any ailment.
It is here that I have to refer to my life as a musical and share the song I sing whenever I think of my sister...

it has a long intro, but you'll know what I sing when it gets there :)


We had a super fabulous time and even made the front page of the local paper. http://www.thehawkeye.com/viewImage/FEA-Ragbrai-Training-042909-jpg

Last but not least, I couldn't help but laugh at Bel's little bit of mischief...

In other news - this is what happens at 10pm at our house for the last 4 nights...

and Bel is still working up the courage to walk on her own and having a great time learning.

this week's happenings

little bel...

is feeling under the weather this week, so we did a lot of this...


mommy-daughter cuddle time. much of it spent with the gilmore girls and david copperfield - I don't want to wish sickness on my daughter, but I've sure had a fabulous week.

ryan's astute observation...

I wish I could bottle my husband's wit and charm - he makes me smile and laugh so often. (this is a ridiculous sign of the technological time that we live in and of how i communicate with my loved ones) I am always telling him - after I stop laughing hysterically - "oh that is so blog worthy". He's not a big fan of me blogging about him, but here's a charming little Ryan Anecdote from this week...

the other day Ryan filled the bird feeder in front of our house. when he came inside i was filling a massive canister with delectable chocolate animal crackers (mmmmmmmmmmm!) and ryan said...

"hmmm, bird feeder (looking out the window at the birds gathering instantly)...

girl feeder" (turning to me as my hand dove in to the newly filled snack jar)


how true it is - this quickly depleting snack has been a part of his girls' daily routine, (often coinciding with the afore mentioned WB drama series and Dicken's novel).


someone's brilliant version of scattering sunshine...

For any of you who have hung out with me for more than an hour at a time - it is likely that i have spontaneously burst into song or dance or made a statement of conversation into a song or something of the like. Some have even said, my life is a musical (strange since I am neither an accomplished singer or dancer- hmm). Well, I just had to share this amazing video since this is the materialization of a lifelong dream of mine - life as a musical. I love the faces of the bystanders (there is one gray haired lady in particular at about 1:20 that is probably as thrilled as I would have been, it just warms my heart to watch her). Just think of how many people this cheered up for at least a day - so cool!!



Last of all I just wanted to thank all of you who visit and leave comments. I was so thrilled when my creativity tag was redeemed within the evening (I'm looking forward to getting creative!) Ryan and I both love to hear what everyone has to say. It really makes my day to know what's baking in Boise and see who's holding hands in Mandy's back seat and what Henry said about his bogies and to be privy to your thoughts and ramblings and to see everyone's kids and adventures. Thanks for being a part of our lives and letting us peek into yours.

Before and After

More than 6 months ago at the general Relief Society meeting Elder Uchtdorf gave that fabulous talk entitled "Happiness, Your Heritage" with a section about the work of creation, in which he encouraged and invited everyone to create something. This excited me as I thought of the talents I should unbury and new things I should learn.

One invitation stuck out in particular, he said, "identify a space and beautify it". Immediately the front of our little house popped into my head and I thought, "shoo weee, space identified!" - I've been plotting my plan of attack for months and now the sun is out and planting is fair game so without further ado behold my little bit of beautification.

Before...

blah

notice that you can't see where the endless grass and weeds become the "flower bed"

During...

After...

Now side by side for my own satisfaction - ahhhhh - a sigh of fulfillment

I feel like I need to mention that this project was completed for less than $100 (excluding the child adorning the lawn - who was much more than that).

(Special thanks to the Millers for the digging fork that made this all possible and to my mama for letting me practice on her yard and getting me hooked on sweet potato vine)

And to end the inspiration where it began I turn again to Elder Uchtdorf

"As you take the normal opportunities of your daily life and create something of beauty and helpfulness, you improve not only the world around you but also the world within you."