tissue paper flowers

I found myself on the decorating committee for a soccer fundraiser this last weekend. It wasn't hard to get excited about making tissue paper flowers, so bright and colorful, and they couldn't be easier to make, my 10 year old jumped right on the band wagon and helped make up a bunch of these. Super cheap, fantastic party decor.
All of the pictured flowers are a variation on the same pattern, watch the tutorial here. On some of the flowers we just trimmed the edges differently, or changed up the middle (twisted the paper, cut into strips, looped the paper then cut strips- use your imagination). Whip some up for your next summer party- how about red white and blue?

West Mountain

I finally got out of the house and onto my bike. It felt good to be back in the saddle (until about 40 miles)- in the company of friends, watching the sun come up over the mountains, riding past campers still in their sleeping bags on the shores of Utah Lake, feeling the burn because I haven't ridden much at all yet this year. Riding a bike is good for the soul.

the queen's birthday

I've been thinking about space lately, (as I push a paintbrush around my own pad). Your house says so much about you, or at least I think it should. Clean/messy, organized/disheveled, funky/boring or somewhere in between... It's always inspiring and intriguing to take a sneaky peek into someone else's space. One of my favorite places to browse (I can make hours disappear...) is The Selby . A great look at people and their places.
Number one on a list of 'must-haves' is oodles of shelves. Our book collection grows by the day and to have them all organized, all in one place- would be dreamy. By color, topic or alphabetically. Just some way to find what the book you need...

Art imitates Life

A very good representation of our garage... I think we are a few short on Lego bikes in the picture.
And so the adventure begins, we re-list the house in the quest for a little more space, and a special place for parking bikes and boats.
I've assigned myself the job this week of turning all of the colored walls- which is just about every wall- back to white. Big job, it's a good thing I like painting. The whole place sure looks and feels clean and fresh. Smells nice too.

see what piano lessons can get ya

'Paparazzi' by Lady Gaga is a favorite tune to sing around our house, everyone takes turns siniging the phrase, "I'm your biggest fan, I'll follow you until you love me- papa, paparazzi". Good silly fun with some great lyrics.
Well, today the kids showed me this video, one of the perks of having the kids out of school- my intake of pop culture news and views has dramatically increased.
Greyson Chance, 6th grader rocks this song at his school talent show, then the kids showed me his later performance on the Ellen show too. Wow, you go little dude... I'm impressed.
Now, my little friends gather round Mama's knee as I pass on these words of motherly wisdom and inspiration- don't just practice the piano-only because you have to, really practice (and don't be afraid to sing along too) like you mean it my friends... see what it can get you. (you know, chicks and stuff...)

some more red rock fun & games

We hit the red rocks again this past weekend, Lake Powell as tradition goes. The water was no bathtub (like it is in August and September), but the air temperature was perfect- in the 80's (I think). You can see the high water mark here, the lake level seems to be steadily rising, a bit higher every year, I wonder if it will ever reach the high water mark again. It might be a bit weird (in a good way) to not have to see the HWM across all the cliff faces.
View from the crack climb just off the main channel.


These tiny rock friends have all been trapped inside this sandstone bowl together for so long, the water has shaped most of them into perfect little balls.

The kids, enjoying scampering over, under, around and through the rocks.

The water was very... well... refreshing... An unseasonable cold spring made it the coldest water I've ever felt at Lake Powell this time of the year (it's around 65 degrees, I think).
Good thing cold water doesn't bother kids...