Yeah, Write

So Much to Share!

1. The House is For Sale

Actually, it's under contract. And if all goes well, we'll be moving into our fabulous new house BY THE END OF THE MONTH. The new house, it's just so "us." Details to be revealed when all i's are dotted and t's are crossed. :)

 

2. We Went With Wendy to Wyoming

Wendy Smedley and I completed our almost-annual trek to Cheyenne, Wyoming, in late September, to visit our good friends the Dillows. And we had an absolute blast.

There were kindred spirits.

There was a zombie festival in and around the Saturday Farmer's Market. And Keira was almost lunch.

There was crafting.

There were grounds to manicure.

There were many embodiments of the darling sign in Elizabeth's home that says, "Children under six hold the hand of someone over six." (This may be my favorite picture of all.)

Or maybe this one.

There was snuggle time and Pepperidge Farm Goldfish.

There were flowers to sniff.

There were photo ops galore.

There was a cute little dog.

There were mice to pet (and so much more) at the Cheyenne Children's Village.

There was an impromptu puppet show.

There was lots and lots of eating on Keira's part. (NOT a usual thing for her. We may have to move to Wyoming if we want her to make weight at her next doctor's appointment.)

And there were incredibly thoughtful gifts. Yes, Miss Elizabeth knows me well.

3. I'm Going to Hawaii!

If all plans fall into place, I'll be joining Stacy Julian and the Big Picture Classes crew in Hawaii to celebrate 12/12/12 by Making a Mini-album on Maui! Want to come along? There are still a handful of seats left. But you better hurry, because they won't last long!

4. Keira Jane Turned Two

But you'll have to tune in tomorrow for that one, because I'm tired! I'm off to read Baby Lit to my baby girl. Next on my shopping list will be Jane Eyre (what else?), or perhaps Dracula, just in time for Halloween.

Speaking of Halloween, we'll be lucky if we remember to celebrate this year, with the upcoming move. Although I think Keira would make an adorable Cindy Lou Who (from the cartoon, NOT the Jim Carrey live-action version), so I will do my best to make it a priority. After all, she'll only be "no more than two" just this once.

The ABC's of Keira: E

E is a letter in Keira's name, which means she has a cute little jar filled with items that start with "E" (featured on my Books & Crafts web show recently). We plan to gather tiny items on our travels, near and far, to fill up the jar. 

I can't wait until she's old enough to understand the game, and the jars get fuller with authentic souvenirs that we find together. So far, her jar contains a wind-up walking Easter egg, two elephants, an eel, the Earth, and a tiny eagle.

Wind-up Easter egg not pictured, because true to its Easter-egg nature, it was hiding under the couch at the time.

She's probably going to be an extrovert, if I can judge by the number of strangers she yells "hi" and "bye" to when we're out and about.

She loves elephants (see above). They are definitely her favorite animal at the zoo, and I promise I didn't deliberately influence her in this way, just because of Ella Publishing Co. (But I'm certain there are some environmental factors at play, as there are more than a few elephant-themed items in the house. Far more elephants than, say, rhinos or ostriches.) Right now, at 23 months, she pronounces it "ephant," and she loves singing that lame elephant song from Barney.

She has an adorable pal named Emmy, 4 months her junior, who lives just down the street. They play very well together, and they alternate being bossy to each other, so it works out well. My favorite story is when they were taking turns standing on an upside-down saucer sled, playing their own version of that game "king of the hill." At one point when Emmy was on the sled and Keira wanted a turn, she very craftily walked up and hugged Emmy from behind, causing me and Emmy's mom to say, "Awwwww!" But then, while maintaining the hug, Keira very gently walked Emmy off of the sled before proudly taking her position as "king of the sled."

Emmy and Keira at ages 5 months and 9 months, respectively.

Keira and Emmy "sharing" the Little Tikes car at ages 22 months and 18 months,.

Also, at church, if they ever spot each other amongst the pews, you'll hear "Emmy!" and "Keewa!" ringing through the congregation, kind of like "Marco!... Polo!"

One of Keira's very favorite things to do is to play with containers that have lids, which she calls "eds." She loves nothing more than to take off an "ed" and put it back on again, over and over again. This obsession has been in place ever since she was just barely discovering her opposable thumbs.

Our biggest challenge so far with our Keira has been with her eating. She doesn't appear to consume enough calories to sustain a small sparrow, but somehow she's still growing, at a slow and steady pace. No matter what pediatrician-recommended tricks we try (and we've tried them all) she simply won't eat very much of anything. Recently while my mom was watching her on date night, I called to check on things. "What's she doing right now?" I asked. "Not eating dinner," she replied. Typical.

Despite what you'd suspect from the previous paragraph, she has endless energy. Like most toddlers, she runs everywhere she goes and dances everywhere else. She has her own signature move wherein she keeps the top half of her body fairly still while she rapidly stomps her feet, lifting her knees high in the air. She looks like a Riverdance marionnette, almost weightless, as if being supported by invisible strings. And since she weighs next to nothing, well, it can't be too hard to pull off. I've tried the move myself and I don't look quite so weightless.

Note to my family: No doubt I have forgotten a very important person whose name begins with "E." If I have and this person is you, I invite you to inform me so I can update this post and thus appease your suffering.

Next up: the letter "F," to be posted sooner or later.

The ABC's of Keira is a blog series that started in January 2012 and has no particular schedule, so who knows how long it will take me to get through the entire alphabet! See also:

The ABC's of Keira: D
The ABC's of Keira: C
The ABC's of Keira: B
The ABC's of Keira: A

 

Summer

Awesome: Two blond cousins, 10 years apart, one from Alaska and one from Utah, showing up to the kiddie pool in matching Old Navy swimsuits, quite by accident.

 

Awesome: Waiting for a large pepperoni at Rock Creek Pizza Co. with my niece, Riley, and starting an impromptu Doodlejump tournament, while we sipped a Diet Dr. Pepper/Lemonade mixture out of two straws in a shared styrofoam cup. FYI: Styrofoam is very easy to write on with ball point.

 

Awesome: The fact that Riley and I could both claim victory. I achieved the highest single-game score (15,023), but Riley won 8 out of the 10 matches.

 

Not awesome: Wildfires. Utah has been on fire for much of the last month. This is the view from my front yard of a recent fire in the next county over.

Awesome: Summer.

Five Photos for Friday

My first moustache! Here's a fun idea to try for summer: take all your kids (or your nieces and nephews or whomever is around) to the dollar store. Have each kid draw another kid's name out of a hat, and then everyone divides up in the store to buy a $1 gift for the person they drew. (They have to keep the person they're shopping for secret until the big gift reveal.) We did this with my nieces and nephews, and they loved it. The best part is the revealing of the gifts. My niece got a set of fake moustaches as her gift, so we put one on Keira, which she most decidedly did NOT like.

 

Hanging out with cousins "D" and "Bock," as Keira calls them. Don't tell him I told you, but whenever no one was looking, little "D" would plant a kiss right on top of Keira's head or give her a secret hug during their 3-week-long visit from Arizona.

 

Keeping relatively quiet at The Corner Bakery. I say "relatively" because every few seconds, she'd yell "Mommy!" to make sure I was paying close attention to her mad coloring skills.

 

Mimicking Jovie. Or maybe Jovie is mimicking Keira. Either way, it's cute. We're not exactly sure how to discourage Keira from climbing into Jovie's dog kennel. 

 

Enjoying not one, but two popsicles on the "banket" in the back yard. Sitting on the "banket" is her favorite thing in the world. It's the first thing she asks for every morning. 

Bonus! Two More Photos! :)
In other news, I have some new products from Stampin' Up! in my hands that I cannot WAIT to play with. But I'm going to have to wait, since I'm skipping town for about 10 days while my husband holds down the fort.

I love these textile-inspired prints. And the Bright Blossoms stamps, with different vases and flowers I can mix and match—so many possibilities!

And the Summer Smooches fabrics? I think I'm in love. Did you know Stampin' Up! offers fabrics? So fun!

I may drag these fabrics along with me, in hopes that I find time for some crafting on the road.

What products are you excited about this summer?

A Story About Today in Four Parts

Part One: Background
My sister and her four cute kids are in town from California. We arranged for a photo shoot with my friend, Elisha Snow, in scenic Farmington, Utah. Elisha took us to a gorgeous orchard filled with blossoming cherry trees and photographed all five kids individually and in various groupings. Pictured: Gillian, age 5.

 

Part Two: Serendipity.
There was a black and white cat roaming the orchard. Of course there was a cat! When you want five kids under the age of 7 to stay in one general area for a photo shoot, there's always a cat to chase. You can't blame Keira for taking every opportunity to race to the west end of the orchard in search of the "gogga" (she's not yet distinguishing between dogs and cats). I captured a moment of pure serendipity with my iPhone as Gillian followed Keira directly into a sunbeam. No special apps or filters or editing at all. Just the right kind of light and a little bit of magic. 

 

Part Three: Hungry.
We tried to feed everyone earlier than their typical dinnertime, so there would be no rumbly tummies during the shoot. Keira wouldn't eat much and was therefore ravenous for the ride home. No amount of prunes, craisins, Teddy Grahams, or Just Corn would appease her. Meanwhile, Gillian quietly played with my iPhone during the ride. It was only when I arrived home that I saw how Gillian was really entertaining herself—by snapping iPhone photos of Keira crying.

 

Part Four: Pedicure.
Gillian's only other secret photography subjects were her recently painted toes. There were several angles and views of her pretty little piggies, but this is definitely the best. And here I thought she was playing Angry Birds.

 

The End.

Anniversary, Interrupted

Our plans for an anniversary getaway were interrupted by a sick little baby, who, when the 24-hours-in-advance deadline arrived to either cancel or keep our reservation, was the sickest she had ever been. Fever, cough, lethargy, near constant whimpering. It was heartbreaking, really. So we called the doctor, cancelled our plans and cocooned in our house, passing her back and forth every few hours, trying to catch naps on our "off" shifts.

But the next morning after her very worst day, Keira awoke happy and rested. She had even slept through almost the whole night and had eaten a hearty breakfast. And so, we improvised. Grandma was called, Keira was in great hands, and we headed to downtown Salt Lake City for a little day trip.

We had a perfect day, after all. We didn't have a plan. We just wandered and talked. We had lunch (German fare), shopped for watches and shoes, went to an afternoon movie, and then had sushi for dinner. Travis joked that we had eaten only "Axis food" that day, apart from the Scottish chocolate, and that this particular day would never have happened if it were 1947. :)

As we walked around downtown, going in and out of shops and up and down the quiet Saturday streets, I set the goal to photograph all the letters in "E-I-G-H-T  Y-E-A-R-S" as we spotted them on signs, on tiled floors, on the side of a truck, and even in a railing that was shaped like a "T." Travis humored me, and often even helped.

As I look at my collection of letters, I remember exactly where we were when each picture was taken. And since I looked for the letters in order, it outlines the trajectory of our day, from "E" (found on a compass in a watch shop) to "S" (on the sign of a little bistro next to The Oxford Shop). 

Some of the best memories happen when our carefully laid plans go awry. I think this day will always remind me of that.

Eight years down. A lifetime to go. I can't wait to see what happens next.

 

 

Twelve Photos on the 12th

Yesterday, on January 12th, 2012, I took twelve photos of my everyday life, and I printed them for my forthcoming scrapbook page for January. Here they are, awaiting some paper, glue, and all that other scrapbooky stuff!

This is part of the Take Twelve photo challenge hosted over at Ella Publishing Co. this year, and it's been a blast so far!

It's easy to get so busy that I forget to take very many meaningful photos of my regular days, and this challenge is going to solve that problem for me this year.

I had planned to use our "nice" camera for this project, so I could practice my Nikon DSLR skills. (I get lucky shots now and then, like Jovie jumping mid-air as seen above, but I have lots to learn.)

But, alas, I found it to be so much more convenient to just use my camera phone for most of my pictures. In fact, I started using Instagram for the first time yesterday, which is a camera app for the iPhone, and it was surprisingly fun. (My first thought was, I don't need one more app to learn or one more social site to keep up with, but when the timing is right, it can be FUN to have one more app to learn and one more social site to play with.)

So here are a few pointers from me to you, in case you're even a little bit intrigued by Take Twelve:

1. You don't have to commit to ONE camera for the whole day of photos. I took three photos on my DSLR and nine on my camera phone. And I'm still going to turn them into a fun layout. You'll see.

2. Recruit some friends! I talked my sister, Michele, and my sisters-in-law, Suzanne and Becky, to join the challenge! (And a few of my cousins too.) And they're not even consistent scrapbookers, if they scrapbook at all. But the challenge is appealing to them because it's DOABLE and it fits into their very busy lives. And I'm going to share their pages with you here on my blog all year long, too. Just to prove that people of any skill level, or interest level for that matter, can do this.

3. YES you can still join the challenge, even though January 12th is already in the past. I blogged all about it over at The Daily Trumpet today, so go find out how you can still take 144 awesome photos of your everyday life this year—and get the support and encouragement you need to make 12 scrapbook pages with them.

4. Sign up for the Ella Publishing Co. email list, so you can get email reminders when it's time to take your next set of photos.

It's going to be FUN!

The Wonders of Wall Decor

If you've been to my house at any point in the past 7 years, you'll be shocked to learn that I, Angie Hill Lucas, deliberately put several nail holes in several of my walls in the last few weeks. I know, I'm shocked, too.

You see, after moving in to this cute old house, we painted every square inch of it, floor by floor, and it took us two years to complete the job (especially since we had to remove unpleasant amounts of wallpaper and prime everything first due to the use of glossy, oil-based paint in every room).

After all that effort, I just couldn't bring myself to commit to any wall decor (except for certain pieces hung with Command  Plastic Hooks and related non-destructive products). Just couldn't do it. For YEARS.

But after so many years of feeling the need to explain my lack of wall decor to every guest who entered my home, I decided it was time to grab a hammer and make some holes. So I did.

And now I think, what was I waiting for?

In the kitchen, I hung up the little plate that I purchased in a cute little shop in Hollywood years ago. The plate inspired the three wall hangings you see reflected in the window (which are hung with those non-destructive Command things and which you can see better here), but my aversion to putting nail holes in my walls held me back from actually displaying the plate.

 

In the bathroom, where the above set of placeholder templates has adorned the wall since August (yes, I got many compliments), I finally nailed up the actual mirrors. And I tell you, the templates did make it a whole lot easier.

Ahhh. Restful. Reflective. Rejuvenating. This collection of mirrors, gathered over the course of a year at consignment shops and the like, makes me smile every time I pee.

 

And in the living room, on a long, empty wall, I hung up a staggered row of electic and unmatching picture frames above the piano. I was inspired by an article I saw in Real Simple magazine, "Artful Ideas for Every Room," which said:

"Gather up photos, paintings, and silhouettes in plain frames. [Clearly, I ignored the "plain frames" part.] Begin with a large item centered above a desk or a table (or simply in the middle of a wall) and at eye level. Add a piece to each side, hanging the frames close enough to touch but intentionally creating an uneven line on the top and the bottom. Continue, one on the right and one on the left, building out from the center. You can fill the width of the wall or not. Vary the subject, the medium, and the orientation (vertical or horizontal) for a playful feel."

This is my crowning achievement of my "putting holes in the walls" adventure. Seven holes, all in a row.

And, ironically, behind that oval-framed map is a large, unsightly tear (down to the wallboard) caused by me putting up one of those non-destructive Command hooks and trying to reposition it without reading the directions first.

And guess what? It doesn't bother me at all.

p.s. Did you know you can get a 20 x 30 canvas-wrapped gallery print at Costo for $70? It's true. We got one for my parents for Christmas. And that little canvas print on the far left was right around $30. Gotta love Costco.

I'm Here

And yes, I've got lots of updating to do, including a little trip to California and a little trip to Arizona.

But in the meantime, here's a cute little winter picture for you.

My baby's walking, as of October 27, 2011. And it's adorable.

Capturing the Elusive Muttshroom

Our little "gogga" (as Keira calls her) is notoriously difficult to photograph. One problem is that her face is so much darker than her body. And the other problem? She never holds still. Ever.

Also, she somehow senses when I'm about to snap the shutter, and she closes her eyes just in time. Or runs in the other direction. Or shakes her head just enough to make it blurry. Behold:

So, imagine our surprise and delight when, after many months of trying, we finally caught Jovie in her famous "muttshroom" pose.

Every now and then, you look out into the back yard, and it appears as though a dog-shaped mushroom has taken root in the lawn. She tucks all of her limbs under her body and plants herself as deeply into the grass as she can. And she doesn't move a muscle. (Until, that is, she senses a camera lens pointed at her.) But finally, we have captured it.

Is the little beast getting slower? Or am I getting quicker with the camera? Time will tell.

But I also recently captured another of her signature moves: carrying her dog dish around the yard (and through my strawberries, naughty puppy) after she's done eating.

Good gogga, Jovie. Good gogga. Maybe next I'll be able to get a picture of her sitting on top of her dog house, Snoopy-style.