Tuesday, September 29, 2009

just being

Woah! Sorry for the extreme freak out yesterday. Yes. I am busy. Yes. I feel a little nutty. Yes. I have a gazillion things to do. But today, today is good.

Today we are just being. I think this is all I needed. A day to hang out and do whatever I feel like doing without feeling guilty for not doing all that other stuff. A day to just be. To enjoy my sweet little people. To love on them. To soak up the sun. To stay in my pj's and just chill.


And for all this relaxing and just being today, we were rewarded with a few moments with some of our mountain friends.

I have not seen them yet this year, have only heard them and picked up a lot of trash that they always dump all over the place (well Don has done the trash clean up part!). I was starting to wonder if me and the kids were going to catch a glimpse of these awesome creatures this year.

And here they are, wandering down our road in the middle of the day. Enrique had just gone back outside and came back in to say, "Mama, there are some bears out there!" Now, he says that all the time, and usually, no bears.

But today, we got to see a mama and her 3 adorable cubs.

(Sorry for the bad pics, I was too excited to think!)

Just being. That's what we needed today. And thanks, Mother Nature, for reminding me that just being and enjoying my own little cubs is what really matters.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

fall nesting

I don't know what it is about this time of year, getting ready for winter I suppose, that makes me just want to stay home, organize stuff, make things and do boring things like clean up my family notebook.

But that is what I have been doing lately. Staying home alot, making food, and reorganizing things. And I don't really feel like doing much else.

It has been cold, snowy in some parts of town, which makes me just want to stay home even more. We've had our fireplace on and we've been doing a ton of snuggling the past few days!

I have been doing some canning the past few days and I don't think I am very good at it. You have to really be organized, which I normally am.. but I seem to be having things boiling at all the wrong times and stuff all over the place! My kitchen is a serious mess. And, hubby is home from work with a whacked out back, so his turn to do the dishes I don't think is happening. Bad timing on his part to hurt himself, doesn't he know that all those dishes piled up are waiting for him?

Anyway, we have some yummy peach jam, zucchini salsa, apple butter and jalapeno jelly waiting to be gobbled down in the future. I think that is all I can handle this year. Sometimes, I have silly farm girl dreams of canning a whole ton of food every year, but I don't think that is ever really going to happen. I'm not a farm girl, ya know?
Enrique has been busy in the kitchen as well. There is a whole new independence streak happening with him right now. He does not want help with ANYTHING!

His new trick is to go into the kitchen to make something "all by myself." The other day I wandered in to discover him making peach and apple muffins "all by myself." He had used a real knife to (sort of) chop up the peach and an apple. Then he poured a TON of baking soda on top, a little sugar, and some salt. "I got all the ingredients all by myself!" When I came in, he was up on a stool putting the muffin tin into the oven, trying to figure out the timer.

Yeah, he can eat these all by himself!
(
But oh, how cuted out am I seeing him becoming his own little person!)

Thursday, September 17, 2009

evening walks

This is one of most favorite things to do as a family, and something we don't do enough! A nice evening walk, after dinner, as the sun is going down. Usually we are busy making dinner, catching up, getting the kids ready for bed..

But, every now and then, we manage to pull ourselves out of "go mode" and go on a little stroll...
Really, I do think we should do this at least a few times per week. It is such a good way to reconnect as a family, to unwind, to just be together...
On this walk, we discovered some yummy apples that were ready to be picked.
My super hero husband climbed up to get the best ones.
Evening walks are definitely something that is good for the soul...

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

going for it

Some toymaking has been happening around here, plus a few orders waiting to be made! We have been going back and forth about whether or not we want to continue making toys.

Don has been thinking about becoming a tattoo artist (something he has often dreamed about for many, many years). We have been really talking about what that would take and how we could make that happen. While all this talk has been going on, making toys has been on the back burner.. we have not really been promoting or pushing Chubbas 'n Boop.

A wooden play fridge.

Well, a few weeks (maybe a month?) ago, we started really discussing what we wanted RIGHT NOW for our family and Don got to thinking that maybe doing tattoo's isn't it. Though it would be fun and a HUGE creative outlet for him, being home with us and focusing on family is what we both really want right now. So, Don decided to put his tattoo artist dream away for awhile (something he can always decided to do later).


Which has inspired us to get serious about making toys. When we originally started this last year, the vision was that I could plan weddings and make some extra money with my websites while Don stayed home and made toys all day, taking breaks to have lunch, go for walks and do stuff with us. We have even talked about getting the airstream and hitting the road a few times a year, going to craft shows, traveling and promoting the business wherever we go!


But then, I think we both got a little intimidated and scared by the thought of us actually doing this.. you mean we can live the life we dream about? Not to mention all the new laws for kids toys that are getting implemented.. I have just been avoiding learning about that business all together! Talk about intimidating!

There is something totally frightening about putting yourself out there, taking a risk and asking the universe to get behind what we are dreaming about. But, here we are. Going for it. Asking.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

so much food - zucchini brownies

Every time we go down to the garden, we walk away with TONS of food! I seriously do not even go into the produce section too much at the grocery store these days...


We have mountains of zucchini, so I have been coming up with some yummy ways to use it up.

My favorite thing so far? Brownies! Yup! - ooyie, gooey, yumminess, loaded with garden fresh zucchini.


I found some recipes online and have been playing around with them a bit. Here is what I've come up with that is making us happy:

Zucchini Brownies

1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup sugar
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups shredded zuchinni

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 11" pan and "flour" with cocoa powder. Mix the butter and sugar together. In a seperate bowl, mix up the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Add the dry mixture into the butter + sugar mix. Fold in the zucchini. Dump into your prepared pan. It will be dry, don't worry - it WILL turn out! Bake for 25 -30 minutes. Cool and eat!

More goodies from the garden:








My Little Helper

Anyone have other good ideas for using up our zucchini mountain? Help us, please!

ten thousand feet

I have a list in my head of places I want to make sure to see and explore in Colorado while we are living here. I have a picture that looks a little like this one hanging on my inspiration board in my craft room.

This is Crested Butte, which has been high on my list of places to see. So, when we were planning a camping trip with some of our favorite friends, Crested Butte is where we decided to go.
I love, love, love this little town. If I had a million bucks to spend on a house, I would totally buy a house there. It is so beautiful! I mean, really, amazing, wow beautiful.


We found the perfect little camping spot right on Lake Irwin, at ten thousand feet.
Kids are crazy, they don't seem to care at all that the water is FREEZING! I remember not caring either when my dad would take us to the ocean in Washington State.. brrrrr! But we didn't care.
Of course, the boys did a little fishing! I love seeing papas proud and protective of their young...

It was really awesome to get to just hang out and chill for a couple of days with people that we love and care about. No place to go, nothing to get done, no to do list calling my name.
And just look at that! Spectacular...
That's it for our camping adventures this summer. Fall is for sure in the air and before we know it, we will have snow on the ground. So crazy how fast life if moving right now!

I just started a part time job, so the focus for me - still - is on slowing down, not taking on too much, getting us in a a good, slow, fall rhythm. I am finding this to be challenging right now. I am on GO MODE, high gear. I feel a little stuck there. So, breathing, stopping and paying attention are my goals these days... ( sorry if I sound like a broken record about this, I have to keep reminding myself.. go slow is becoming my little mantra to live by..)

Saturday, September 5, 2009

saturdays at our house


Hope you are having a great weekend!

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

weekly art group :: paper mache part two

Yes, these pictures are from weeks ago. I just now downloaded hundreds of pictures from the past few weeks. So expect some catching up in the next few days! :)

If you remember, we set out on a 2 part art project. The first week, we make bowls out of paper mache. That was so much fun!


The following week, the kids got to paint their bowls.

This ended up being one of the best art groups we have had in a long time!

The big boys got so into painting. Usually they hang out for a few minutes then take off to play legos or Star Wars or whatever.

But this week, they were totally captivated.

They ended up doing quite a bit of painting their own bodies!


It was awesome!

Our youngest little painter...


We are going to take a little break from our regular, weekly art group. I don't know if it is fall sneaking in, or what, but I am just feeling the need to be home, be still, be quiet. Having my house full of kids (though usually really fun) is not what I need right now. I feel like I am nesting or something (really it must be fall) - I just want to spend some simple, quiet time with my own kiddos these days.

Please do not use any images or content without permission. You can contact me at happydelz [at] comcast [dot] net. Thanks.

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