Happy Saturday

It was a great day! We went to The Farmer's Market downtown again with friends (all peeps not pictured, some departed before I had a chance to whip out the camera) and it was even better this week due to it not being 100 degrees! It was so nice to wander around the vendors and enjoy the vibe. We all agreed that for some reason everything tastes better when it comes from The Farmer's Market.

I bought some delicious soap from "The Soap Lady" which is so pretty and smells so good you almost hate to actually use it. The girls each bought a spider from Twisted Spiders. One bought a necklace and the other got a wicked cool hair clip. I am not a fan at all of spiders but something about Twisted Spiders take on a spider makes them awesome!
Then let's talk about Happy Monkey Hummus because I am addicted! Last week the girls picked the Coconut Curry and this week we got the Beet with Balsamic Vinaigrette which was a little taste of heaven.
I also picked up some fresh green beans which the whole family loves and of course a pastry to share.
The kids loved hanging out with their friends. My youngest daughter especially enjoys her time with her future husband (sandwhiched between all of the girls!) His cousin (behind them) is trying to push them closer together in the picture because she is positive they will get married someday!
There is so much to see and do it is an awesome sensation overload.
I really could hang out at The Farmer's Market all day, it makes me so happy!


Daddy and Son hung out while we were gone and when we got home we spent some quality rabbit time with Storm the Rabbit.
My son is OBSESSED with animals, I am wondering if he will be a vet someday?! He asks all day long to pet Storm. He isn't the least bit afraid of her, even when she nips he just laughs and says "Storm does owwie!"
I think that Daddy wore him out while we were at the Market because he ended up falling dead asleep on the floor!
The girls went to play with a friend and then returned to spend time with their dad who had barely seen them all day and then we were surprised by another friend who was able to have a sleepover!
I always feel so lucky that the girls friends love their little brother so much. They include him in everything they are doing and he just feels like one of the kids! (I was going to say one of the girls but that just sounded weird!)


The Art of Digital Design Two class at Jessica Sprague is going really well. The students are learning alot and growing so much as designers.
I can't wait to see what week three brings!

Happenings

I am not such a good blogger. I always tell myself I need to be better but then I ask myself why? Why do I need to be a better blogger? Then I realize that I am spending WAY too much time talking to myself and I need to stop!

This summer has FLOWN by. This was one of those summers that I never wanted to end....until about nine days ago. Then it seemed we were all getting on one anothers nerves and there was way too much whining going on and I realized that we are all ready for a new chapter in our book of life to begin which means SCHOOL!
"
This little fella is supposed to start school in September and I cannot wrap my head around it and feel good. When I think about him going to school it makes me feel literally sick to my stomach.
There are many factors that are contributing to this feeling. The main one being that he is my baby and my last child. So letting him go to preschool means that he is growing up!
He also was in a speech therapy program that did WONDERS for him! They think that his main issue was that his mouth muscles were just not strong enough to form the words, so once he started getting stronger with help from his speech therapist he started talking. It has been the most amazing thing to finally hear him speak, he chooses now to use words over gestures or acting things out and it seems like he talks more and more every week that passes.
Because of this he qualified for a preschool that has speech therapy services. They obviously feel like he has further to go with his speech. If we don't send him to preschool then he won't get the services that they are offering to provide him because he qualifies for the program. We could get him private speech therapy and then I wouldn't have to worry about sending him to preschool, which is always an option.
I go back and forth on what is the best thing for him....and for me!


In the meantime Carina and I have been at full swing with all sorts of projects in the works!
Her Art of Digital Design II class begins on August 22nd. The class is AMAZING!!! I literally just sat there with my mouth wide open as I proof read it.



And yesterday I did the photoshoot for the next phase of goodies that Carina has up her sleeve.



Here are some sneak peeks. You will know more when you get the newsletter so if you aren't signed up go to Carina's BLOG and sign up.
I have a particular fondness for this little person....












While all of the madness was going on someone else just stayed at his Nana's house and rested.

Chicks and Bunnies and Allergies Oh My!

Before we get into the summer stuff let's do a quick check on the chicks...



I had this great plan to stuff them all in my shirt and make a run for it. But then I came to my senses and realized that Tausha might realize it was me when they all just happened to disappear after our visit!
Carina has been nice enough to indulge my daughter with her rabbit obsession taking us over to the neighbors whenever Grace wants to see them....



It was windy on this particular day so she held "Twinkie" close and comforted her. Right now we are teetering on the fence about whether or not to get her this rabbit.
She has her name on a hold list for her and is absolutely smitten with her soft grey fur.
The only problem is that my daughter appears to be HORRIBLY ALLERGIC to rabbits!
By the time we get in the car to leave her eyes have nearly swollen shut, there are welts on her chest where the rabbit has been touching her, she sneezes out of control and is pretty much miserable.
It's super sad.
The last visit I gave her an allergy pill before we went to visit and it was a much better visit with no sneezing and welts. But will she have to take an allergy pill every day before visiting the furry little creature?
We have about 34 days to figure this out!

Let's get crabs!

Let the summer vacation begin!
Today was the last day of school for the kiddos and it was bittersweet. They are sad to be leaving their friends and teachers. My youngest daughter began crying at dinner last night when she told me about her teacher packing up the classroom while they watched a movie.
She loves her teacher.
I love her teacher.
She was like a wonderful fairy sent down to watch over my girl this school year.
My oldest daughter also was going to miss her friends. And her teacher, not the sub that had to fill in for the last two months because her amazing teacher had to leave with some serious medical issues, but her real teacher.
I bought a little plant for her to take her sub today to say thanks.
"She doesn't deserve it." Was her reply. "I will take it to my real teacher."
And so that is what we will do!

After school the girls brought some friends home to play play play and then after the friends left my youngest daughter said,
"Let's get crabs!"
Huh? Isn't that usually something you hear being yelled out on a street corner where hookers congregate?
"You know, crabs. The crab place. Crabs!"
And I did know.
Red Lobster.



For some reason those girlies have a thing for Red Lobster.
So we decided to make it a special night and go to Red Lobster for an end of school year feast!
I know, I know. You can stop shaking your heads....it isn't that bad!
It is hard to believe that next year I will have a second grader and a fourth grader.





And don't forget a preschooler.

And I guess Po is planning to go with him to preschool since I will only get that from him if I pry it from his cold lifeless grip!
He carries the entire set of these Kung Fu Panda toys around in his arms. It takes him a very long time to get from point A to point B with so many toys.
And everyday he reminds us that we have not yet gotten him the bird.
"Ma, no bird?"
Today we stopped by McDonalds to see if that blasted bird (crane) has come out yet. Nope, not yet.
Maybe Friday.
We pulled away from the window with a little boy screaming..."NO BIRD!" as big fat tears streamed down his face.
Smile son, it's summer!

All that and a bunny

Currently Carina and I are in the middle of critiques for her Art of Digital Design class that she is teaching at Jessica Sprague.
It is an AMAZING class that she and Jessica have put out that teaches you all of the secrets *shhhhh, don't say it too loud* of digital design!
One of the assignments in the class is for the students to create kits with papers and elements that they then send in for Carina to critique.
How may you ask do I fit in to all of this?
Oh, you didn't ask?
Well, I'll tell you anyway! I am Carina's Executive Assistant at Carina Gardner Inc. So for this particular project I get to prepare all of these creative kits for critique by her. She then gives them great feedback on how things could be improved or let's them know they are on the right track with their design career after which I scan and upload them back to the students.
It's like being a teachers aide at a really awesome college!
As the pile of critiques begins to dwindle down we decided it was a great day for some down time so Carina called me and told me that one of her neighbors chickens was currently having chicks hatching in their coop and another neighbors rabbit had a wonderful litter of bunnies and if I wanted to witness nature in all of it's glory I better get over there toot sweet. (She didn't say toot sweet but my mom has always said it and I felt this was an appropriate place to throw it out there!)



The chicken mom was not too happy to see all of these little faces and big faces peering over the the side of the coop at her as she worked with delicate pecks to help her little peeping chicks out of their eggs...







It was truly amazing to watch this feathered mother knowing exactly what to do.
"I see the head!" My oldest daughter shouted.
"It's bloody!" The other kids were shouting.
Birthing babies is bloody business I tell ya!
So we decided to let the mother have a break and headed next to the House-O-Rabbits.



I know...right?
My daughter just stood there like that with the bunny pressed to her cheek.
She fell in love.
She has already come up with ten different names for the bunny.
One of those names should be Perfection!







My son wasn't so sure what to think of this wee small thing. He wanted to pet it but then he didn't want to pet it but then he wanted to pet it.
I wanted to tuck all eight bunnies down my shirt and in my pockets and just casually vacate the premises.
Back to the chickens....
















My husband thought I was full of garbage when I told him that chickens were the new puppy in the pet department around the suburbs.
I could have shot pics of them all afternoon.
But then we had to stop to play for awhile.
Carina was offering to push my girls on the swing with an "underdog".
That is when you push them while going completely under the swing so as to get a higher push for them and then there is the element of danger wondering if the person in the swing might fly backwards and knock you down if you don't get out of the way in time!
My girls looked at her like she was on crack.
Why would they possibly want to go that high on the swing?
Her girls thought it was better than candy!




It was a perfect break in the day!
Now back to critiques which will be finished up sometime tonight or tomorrow!

The Good Old Days

What ever happened to the good ol' days. The good ol' days of film where the movie stars were amazing and the films were romantic and you could just sit back and be taken on a journey to another time and place with the stars of the film leading the way!
I just finished a wonderful book about Cary Grant....

who was truly one of the great actors of all time. Because the studios that produced the films back in the day had such tight control over their stars images there is such a great mystery as to what some of them were like in real life.
The studios had control over what they wore, who they were seen with, even what their names should be. If the name sounded to strange or too ethnic they just went ahead and changed it! ( Otherwise it would have been The Wizard of Oz starring Francis Gumm instead of Judy Garland!)
Cary Grant was a star from the 30's clear through the 60's and there was a time period when in less than two years he made thirteen films! THIRTEEN FILMS! Nowadays stars take years off in between projects.

He could play the charming romantic man, the comedic foil or the sinister Hitchcock leading actor...a guy with a bit of an edge that you weren't sure if you trusted or not?

As I was reading the book I decided to check out some of his more famous films from the library.
I watched Hitchcock's "Suspicion" and "Notorious" and was totally taken aback with how sinister Cary Grant could be in "Suspicion".

And now wonderfully romantic and passionate his connection with Ingrid Bergman was in "Notorious".
I have always loved old movies but for some reason the younger version of myself would never watch a Jimmy Stewart or a Cary Grant movie. Something about their distinctive voices that bothered me. Then as I became an adult I decided that maybe I could listen to those two actors without ripping my hair out and low and behold I was introduced to something wonderful!

If you haven't watched old movies I highly recommend them. They take you to another world, one I wished we lived in today.
The fashion, the manners, the hair styles, the cars! (Holy mama the cars! Who decided it would be a good idea to stop making those incredible cars and make the cars we have today?)


Next week AMC is having a Cary Grant marathon on with some of his biggest hits. I myself have the TIVO going for almost 24 hours to record them.
Who are some of your favorite old time movie stars?

HOORAY FOR FALL!!!