Playing in the Rain

I love when you can see the storms coming over the mountains.  The air gets chilly, and begins to smell fresh.  Ahhh!  I was trying to catch the lightening on camera, but it was being tricky.  Not an easy task on a cell phone.

Again, no luck.  Another storm picture.

BUT, when we got home, the fun began.

There was a downpour!  We also have a little guy that LOVES playing in the rain.  He's such a water baby!

Outside time lasted a good 20 minutes, the downpour was moving towards flooding level, and Dylan was chilled to the bone.  It was a perfect way for us to cool off in this summer heat.  Phew!  Who's ready for fall!?  Lol!

Colorado Renaissance Festival 2011 {pt. 2 that I forgot about}

Ooops, I thought I posted this like... a month ago?  Here it is.. oh and check out part 1 if you missed any details, or want to be reminded of the craziness!

My favorite part was the Petting Zoo.  Note:  It's only weird if you go to the Petting Zoo without a child.  Plus, I absolutely love animals, and I feel I have a little Dr. Doolittle in me.  For instance, this sheep, which walked right up to me and smelled that I had no food.  She decided to come closer, so I began to pet her.  This turned into a whole twenty minute ordeal where she even began moving her head to where she wanted to be scratched.  Some ladies asked if the sheep was soft...  (I was going to say something snarky, but played it nice).  Sheep are not soft.  They live outside, roll around in the hay, and produce this insane oil for their wool, which turns your hand black. 

I honestly washed my hands in the pet zoo washing station, then in the bathroom 3 times, then sanitized my hands about 6 more times.  My hand was still oily.  Lesson learned.  I still felt OK about it because I think I made that sheep's life.

There were the usual baby pigs and horses.  All equally adorable and smelly.  Oh, and a random fact I read (and don't remember where)... Did you know that when you see a baby _____ (anything really), it triggers an actual chemical in your brain that makes you soften up and want to care for them?  Crazy, huh?

 

 

There was also a rooster in a tower.  Does anyone know why a tower?  Is it a Ren. period thing?  Anyways, Dylan loved that guy.  He would yell, "Cock-A-DOOOODLE-DOOOOO!"  Then, Dylan would yell back, "Do it again!!!"  The rooster would oblige.  It was quite comical, and then I was jealous the rooster wouldn't listen to me.

  

 Dylan wanted to go on the Butterfly Ride, so we let him.  While we were waiting in line, the husband found a caterpillar on his shirt.  I laughed because I understood the humor of it.  The husband rolled his eyes at me.

 Obviously, he loved the ride.  I just felt sorry for the ladies pushing the whole thing.  It was hot out there.

AND NOW.... for the BEST ACTION of the DAAAAYYYY!!!

This llama, which I have claimed and named Thaddeus (only because he turned out to be kind of snooty).

He followed me around, let me pet him.  Then he ignored me, being cheeky, you know.  And then he came back to me, for the best picture of like... maybe ever, I'm not going to lie.

Yes.  And then we left.  So long Thaddeus.

Spring is beautiful!

Recently, I've been working on detoxifying myself.  Tomorrow is the 3 week mark in being a non-smoker!!  I've been drinking this stuff to detoxify myself.

Kombucha - check it out for sure! You can get it at a natural grocery store.

That ring around the bottom is the Kombucha mushroom.  This is a Raw, Organic, Live drink.  When drinking, I suggest you just open up and not think about it.  There's chunks.  BUT, I can't believe how much better I feel when I drink this stuff. 

Let me just tell you all the goodies it does for ya... There are "Active Enzymes, Viable Probiotics, Amino Acids, Antioxidants, and Polyphenols.  All of these combine to create and elixir that immediately works with the body to restore balance and vitality."  (Taken from the label.)

Not only does this magical tea bring new life to my body, it comes in a cool bottle.  So, I've saved them all and removed labels, cleaned out mushroom gunk, and created something magical in my kitchen window.

 

My backyard is not worthy of a photoshoot, but the trees are blooming and beautiful.  I love nature.  I love spring!  I'm loving the little details in life.  And now, I'm off to find more magic with this little guy. 

Don't you love his photography skills? ha

Potatoes have ambitions too!

Obviously, these potatoes had bigger plans than I could offer them. 

Yesterday was eventful.  If you're on my facebook, you've followed the whole saga.  My husband is in the Army.  This week, he was in a combatives class.  Basically, the point of combatives is to learn to protect and defend yourself.  They use UFC fighting techniques or Mixed Martial Arts.  Here's a video if you have no idea what I'm talking about. 

Turns out, yesterday's class was teaching about face shots.  The students were to be punched in the face, so they could learn how their bodies would react and how to defend themselves.  Fun. 

The husband went up and first shot he took was to his nose.  This poor nose was already broken about 2-3 years ago.  Needless to say, it happened again.  He went to the ER and they said his nose was broken back into place.  Convenient? 

I felt bad because two nights ago, he was snoring SO loud.  I couldn't sleep, I couldn't wake him up to roll over, I was frustrated.  I thought to myself 'I wish something would happen to fix that dang nose.'  And my wish came true. 

Last night, husband slept like a baby.  No snoring.  Peace at last!

I really wanted to take a picture to put it on here, but he won't let me do it until his eyes have really turned black.  I think he's being dramatic.  He thinks he's being manly.  Go figure. 

Hope everyone has a great weekend!  I have a VERY exciting project to share on Monday.  Is anyone doing any cool projects they want to share?

Once We Stop Dreaming...

we lose ourselves, our spark for life.  We lose everything we've aspired to be.  We've given up on living full life. 

Wow.  I didn't realize it had been so long since I've blogged.  I think I needed to dive into something creative, something real.  I love blogs, but there's a time where you need to go live your life, just so you have something to blog about.  Something real.  Something with Trials and Triumphs.  I read this post by Edie Wadsworth.  She's an amazingly inspiring blog model (a blogging role model) to me.  If you're a blogger, you should check it out.  But, after reading Edie's post, I felt like it was my turn to let you in on our little world right now.

Boy, let me tell ya - it's been interesting around here lately. 

This guy has been wearing potty training pants for about 2 months.  The only problem is, he won't try to use his potty.  I guess it's just not his time, but I fear putting him back in diapers.  My next plan of action is to let him pee on Cheerios.  Fingers crossed it works!

This guy (the husband), has been busy with work.  They're going to be taking the great journey overseas back to Iraq.  (ajdgk;asughuig = frustration)

This chick (me on the left.. with my ADORABLE niece Kenadie) has been busy being mom, wife, military wife (there's a HUGE difference in those two roles), crafter and dreamer.  I have found some time to come up with some exciting new products.  Yes, products!  I'm starting my own business!

Let me share!!

 

This is the bird bag.  I've redone almost everything on this little tote.  Then, I posted it on my facebook page and got my first order.  The final product of that order is this.

This is the Samantha Rocker Chic bag.  I had another order come in after posting this one.  It was for another Rocker Chic Bag and then a custom.  Which the second Rocker Chic bag was similar, so I won't share those pictures.  But the custom order brought something else to it all.

I'm in LOVE with these little guys.  From the response I've gotten, I can tell these will be a big hit.  So, here's the deal.  Throughout the rest of February, I'll be taking orders via my personal facebook (for my friends and family) and through [thebluesombrero (at) gmail.com].  The bags will be $30 each and then it's about $8 for shipping per bag.  This price will only be good if you place an order in February.  Now, that doesn't mean you have to pay for it immediately.  If you know you want bags for Christmas, place your order now with what you want and how many.  Once I recieve your payment, I'll work on your bag and get it shipped to you.  Once February is up, I'm going to be opening my Etsy shop.  The prices will go up a little to cover for the additional shop fees.  I want to keep the quality of the bags up and the cost down as effectively as I can.  I'm very flexible about the styling for your bags.  So far, I've been able to do everything I've been asked about.  

This week, I'll be working on new designs and will post them on here as they are completed.  The bird bag is currently ready and for sale.  First come first serve!  I really appreciate the customers I've had and my SPARK is Alive!!  Thank you readers for supporting me! 

In the Spirit of the Season.

I'm guilty of falling in love with "Elf Yourself" by Office Max.  (Click the link to get your elf on!)  Here's how we turned out.  Sorry for the horrible photography and inability to understand Photoshop tutorials.  ha

Go here to watch the Crenshaw elves!

Also, I found the Holiday Party Excuse Generator via How About Orange.  Love this site. 

All you do is follow the instrustions and the very clever snow man-in-a-globe will generate your excuse in perfect letter form.  How easy!  So, hilarious. 

Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season.  I'm going to be posting little bits and pieces of what I've been up to this season.  Up top, that's all I've accomplished today.   Hopefully tomorrow is more exciting! 

Thanks to all our Military!

This is a picture of my husband doing his job.  It's a tough job because he's missed so much at home, but he's also given everyone else so much.  I don't want to be mushy, but THANK YOU SOLDIERS!  Thank you to the family and friends that have been supportive to our soldiers and their families.  You have no idea how much your support means to everyone involved.  Please continue to remember our soldiers.  It keeps their heads up knowing that America, the world, still cares about what they are trying to accomplish.

I've been bugged...

Yesterday, I went out onto my front porch to check out how the snow was melting off.  It looked something like this:

It was a nice little dusting.  Very, very cold, as snow usually is.  Then, something at my feet caught my eye.  I looked a little closer.

And then a LOT closer.

Dylan put his bug stickers on my rose bush!  To protect the rose bush?  No.  Because, that's where "buggies doh (go)!"

I love that booger.

I Thought to Myself

...today, I will be amazing. I woke up, felt totally motivated, well-rested, excited for the day. Pretty much every positive feeling a person could have in the morning, I felt it on this morning. Little did I know, Dylan would have terrible allergies (maybe, a cold?). This poor guy has taken stuffy noses to the extreme. I gave him some meds, made sure he was able to breathe, did my mom duties. Now, he won't sleep. I think Benadryl has made him hyper. Ugh!

Besides that mess, I have made the most AMAZING pumpkin bread. Look at it. So pretty and so festive.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Don't you wish you had some? Do you want the recipe??  Ok, ok!

I adapted this recipe from Paula Deen's.  I love her, but I know my bread is sooooo much better!

Pumpkin Bread  (yields 2 loaves)
3 c. sugar    1/2 c. canola oil    1/2 c. cinnamon apple sauce    4 eggs    2 c. canned pumpkin    2/3 c. water    3 1/3 c. all-purpose flour    2 tsp. baking soda    1 1/2 tsp. salt    1 tsp. ground cinnamon    1/2 tsp. allspice    1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice    (you can also add 1/2 - 3/4 c. chopped pecans, which I don't usually do, but if you like to be 'nutty', go for it!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter and flour two loaf pans.  Mix sugar, oil and apple sauce with mixer.  Add eggs and blend.  Add pumpkin and blend.  Add water and blend.  Combine the remaining ingredients and add slowly.  Equally fill your loaf pans and bake for 1 hour. 

You're welcome!  Have a happy fall day!

P.S.  This is what Dylan is reminding me of now.  "Is this real life?"  haha



You gotta love David After Dentist.  You can also go to their website here.

Also, I still have the music player on the bottom of my page, but I turned off the automatic start.  I know some people don't really care for my jams as much as others do.