Paint job

Still no easel.  I think I called on inspiration from both a post I'd seen on my friend's (awesome) blog (Yo-Yo Reggio) and my experiences in high school as a publicity officer. Ahh, now I'm recalling our campaign speech/rap:  

Kristen & Bree for pub-li-ci-tee,

if you like our signs and you think they're RAD, 

we'll be the greatest publicizers you've ever had:)

Anyway, the long roll worked and even inspired Owen in an unexpected way.

I used these (see above) olive oil spray cans from the grill to hold down the paper but O had a different idea for them...  

After he would paint he would spray it and watch it sort of bubble up and then dissolve the paint. He went thru both cans, happily spraying every inch of the paper. 

Then they intently washed all the paint brushes and liked watching the water change colors.

OM enjoying the popsicles we made.

Owen had his in a bowl b/c it didn't come out of the mold very well.

SAHM

Look at that sweet face! When she gets in the swing she starts giggling and laughing and doesn't stop until she's out. It's so pure and my heart floods with love to be a part of it. Owen too. He was so happy to be climbing and running and swinging and teeter-totting..so sweet. Being a SAHM (stay-at-home-mama) has always felt right for me and about 95% of the time I'm thankful for it (they're not always angels:). I look forward to starting my job next week to really have me-time and be a part of a program that is meaningful. And I feel incredibly lucky that I still get to be primarily a SAHM but also a working woman.  Life is awesome...(Owen's favorite word right now is awesome:)

After the park we stopped by Albertson's (not my favorite place to shop but I only burn fat-calories [as opposed to fossil fuels] to get there so that's a plus) and bought some frozen and fresh fruit to make homemade popsicles. We made a mix of blueberry/blackberry/raspberry w/ OJ, strawberry & yogurt (we were going to add banana but baby sis ate it while I was preparing everything:), and peach & yogurt.  YUM!

OM this morning trying out the new stock of supplies from G'parents Hinson. Thanks!!

These are from last night.  Maya in my hat...

Maya playing basketball her way...

Owee scores...

Maya & the water table. I'm trying to think of more things for her to do with water. She loves it and I want to expand and support her interest.  I'd love any ideas anyone has...

What to EAT

Once I finished grad school, I got to work on a LONG book list that I had made. For more than 3 years I had basically only read things that were (very interesting but) required. What to Eat was actually recommended in my Food, Stress, & Health class but was not mandatory. It is so great!  I highly recommend it.  And I bring it up now because I got to spend the morning at the Hilton in Portland listening to Marion Nestle, the author, give a very interesting lecture about food politics, personal responsibility versus social responsibility, food safety, obesity etc.  I wish I could attach the lecture notes. I'm so inspired.  

The entire lecture was educational, but one thing I'd like to stress is our over-consumption of highly processed foods and, I think it's intuitive, but they are really bad for us. And it gets confusing because of all the health claims on processed foods that the food companies use to make us feel good about purchasing them (you know, "lowers blood pressure and cholesterol, 'good' source of fiber, no trans fats" etc. but the nutrition label lists seven different sources of added sugar). We really need to be scrupulous label readers and if you don't have time for that than don't buy it. It was amusing when she pointed out that brands like Frito Lay, well, all the Big Food companies, use self-endorsements where they'll print big green check marks on a bag/box of chips stating it's a good choice but it's all based on self-selected criteria. (See below). 

Oh, and did you know that the American Heart Association (AHA) gets paid for putting their endorsement on cereal boxes?  Not good.  

And the marketing (of junk) to kids is really out of control.  Kellogg spent 33 million dollars last year just on marketing for cheez-its.  

OM deserve better, all kids do.  Social change around food is happening but it's slow so I hope you can check this book out at the library, see what you think, and make the world a better place:)

Here's her website and another website she recommends. Happy reading:)

Okay, and on to our day. After the lecture I raced home to see the two sweetest, cutest kids in America walking down the stairs in front of our house to get in the car to go to the library to watch a puppet show.  Owen loved it.  Maya was a bit indifferent but she's not even two so she sat quietly and looked at the other kids and some books we had picked up. The place was packed and it was so funny to Woody and I how hilarious the kids thought the show was.  They laughed hysterically at the antics on display..so sweet.

We were kind of sitting in front so this doesn't show very well how many people were there...there were a lot.

Woody (not Maya:) enjoying the show.

Afterwards we walked across the street to the Farmer's Market. I bought these lovely petunias and two organic heirloom tomato plants and treated myself to a very tasty crepe filled with lots of fresh basil, juicy red tomatoes and feta and mozarella cheese...mmmm.  OM shared a strawberry gelato.

(Someone needs to send me a S.D. Chargers reusable bag...when Woody is in charge the Raiders one always finds its' way into stores...)

Woody and Maya in line for a german sausage...

Woody gets first bite (to test for hot-ness)

Now Owen's turn...

My beautiful petunias in their new home...

The sun is shining!

We are all in a great mood today!  The sun is shining, the tank is clean (sorry, I couldn't help myself..lame Finding Nemo reference). 

To fully immerse ourself into the sunshine we went to the rose garden playground  (near the zoo) for a bit in the morning and then went to my friend Debi's house to play with her son Eli. Owen kept calling her Aunt Debbie and I kept trying to explain that Aunt Debbie lives in Florida and this is our friend Debi but by the end of the afternoon (while I put him in the car) I was calling her Aunt Debi too:)

These are the lilacs in Debi's backyard.  They smell and look so beautiful.

Maya contemplating Eli's baseball game..

Debi & Eli:)

Owen enjoying his lunch outside.  I've rarely seen him so excited about lunch.  He loved his "meat" (deli turkey) and pieces (peaches) and chomped down several pear chunks too.  Then we got a super great treat of popsicles!  Great, great day.  Even better that it's the start to a forecasted HOT weekend...hooray!!!

diaper party

Double feature: Baby Brook/Ball & Bat

Our growing garden

Yahoo!  This big, hideous eye sore is now out of our yard.  Well, mostly (see third photo below). We still have to get the roots out but half of the hard part is over.  I started working on it, limb by limb and then Woody took over (I was doing it wrong:) and wrestled the whole thing out.  I can't wait to get rid of the roots and plant some roses and hydrangeas and maybe bamboo and more garden vegetables.  

Owen totally got into it and went inside, upstairs to his room (he usually doesn't like to go up there without us if we're outside but he was so pumped) and got his hard hat and some of his tools to help Woody pull it out.  It was so fun.

See? Just roots, no bush!!:)

Woody and Owen transplanted the little pots we had started into the garden.  They're mostly radishes but some pole beans and flowers should be in there too.

We're all digging the gardening.  OM both love to water and Owen has been getting down and dirty more and more.  Hopefully this weekend we'll get some tomato plants and peppers and maybe some cucumbers.  

Owen and the azaleas.  

Playing ball.  I made a mini movie that I will upload tomorrow.  

Star frolicking in the glorious sunshine too.