3 things that made me smile...

Gen: "Mom, there's a fly in here..."
Mom: "Oh yeah?  What do you think about that?"
Gen: "It really hurts my feelings."

*******

Mom: "Girl, you need a bath!"
Gen: "Yeah, I tooted lasterday!" (Last night + yesterday = lasterday)

*******

This morning little man was chewing on a brazil nut and he started to choke on the pieces a little bit and was trying to cough them out.  When I got over to him, little girl had already put her hand under his mouth to help him out and he was OK while she had a pile of slobber covered nuts in her hand!  You can imagine the look on her face!

A rare, quiet morning...

With my birthday week behind me, and my odometer perched on a fresh age ending in a zero (that's enough information...) I begin part II of summer.  When I was young (oh no...not THAT expression) I felt that once July 4th and my birthday were done for the year...the summer took a downhill slide from there toward the inevitable new school year, and at high speed.

Sometimes I still get anxiety over it, even though I've been out of high school since rooster tail bangs were still cool.  Aqua Net plus a good hair dryer...oh, how lucky I was to not turn that combo into a flame thrower aimed directly at my face!  It's funny how sounds, temperature, even the quality of the sunlight...can transport you back into time for a moment.  The cicadas will be howling soon...and then the crickets take over in the still, humid mornings...and just when I don't think I can stand it anymore...the trees change, the rains come, and then one morning I wake up and it's already Christmas!

This morning is a very odd one...I'm the only one awake?  I've done dishes, I've sprayed down my garden...I made chai...I'm sitting here reading blogs...and I'm STILL alone.  Maybe this is why I'm sitting here thinking deep, non-truncated thoughts?  No one's trying to steal my ice water.  I'm not hearing "Ring Around the Rosie" for the 35th time.  My personal cafeteria has no customers!  :)

Now, as I hear little feet stomping around above my head, I realize this time is coming to an end...but I wanted to pass on a couple of cool blogs I found this morning.  I love good design, and beautiful illustration...and really love amazing handmade things.

Mielie - Recycled bags made in South Africa
Orange You Lucky - Colorful illustrations

Art and Cake...

I just love my baby's art...it's amazing how much of their personality shines through in the style.  So expressive!

First of all, I'm really not sure what's going on with the rest of my blog...the pictures are just, gone.  It probably has something to do with me going back and deleting every picture of my kiddos because I got tired of worrying about the iphone/location mapping issue.  Even though I have it turned off, I don't trust it.  Nor do I trust "the web"...or any other entity involved with the whole mess.  But without going too conspiracy theory on you...I'll just say that I've said enough already.

Back to the art.  Since I did attend an art school for a while, and have always been in artistic circles, professions, hobbies and the like...I would say that I've got a certain amount of  love/hate for the whole idea of "what is art?"  And naturally, being a mom...this IS high art!  My offspring did this with his own hand...while also happily drawing on his face, neck and legs.  He was really into it.  I say...this is ART.  But I also say...this could pass for art world mumbo jumbo too.  My favorite line that I use often when I see something (for example) like a toilet paper tube glued to the side of a tire...I say, "Hey...you could get into art school with that piece!"

I'll never forget this "dude" (for he was no man, boy or even guy) that was in a foundations year printmaking class with me...he decided that he was going to work..."like the masters" and paint for two hours, sleep for two hours...paint for two hours, sleep for two hours.  You get the pattern.  Early one morning we were all corralled for a critique where he was explaining his "method"...and while someone was droning on about his "piece", undeservedly praising him and trying to make meaning where there was just ink...he fell asleep.  The other person stopped talking, and we all watched him...sleep!  This is the kind of rubbish one has to wade through in art school.  Similar to the "real world" except no one is forced to sit around and look at your art!  We were his captive audience for sure.

Alas, no more talk of art school...it's over and paid off, what's a girl to do?  

Tonight I was baking my own birthday cake.  What?!  It's true.  Not only did I make salted caramel ice cream earlier in the day...but I also whipped up a batch of goat cheese ice cream to go with it, in addition to this two layer einkorn cake using Jovial's Birthday Cake recipe, you know...because I soak, sprout, dry and grind my own flour now!!  The Mr. took the kiddos birthday shopping and I was all alone.  The icing on the birthday cake was that I was hurrying to get the dishes done because I wanted to clean the downstairs toilet!!!   Wow...making my own cake and hoping for extra time to sterilize the WC.  Holy mackerel what HAS become of me?!  ;)

Tomorrow is July 4th, which is my traditional day of birthday observance, has been for years!  I plan to start the day with a delicious pour over coffee from the Quay (one of the two places I will drink coffee from...not even from home will I drink it!!!) then a barbecue with the family and oh, maybe I'll dig around and find something to blow up?  Speaking of conspiracy theories, my dad always told me to lock away a small amount of fireworks because "some day they're going to outlaw them...and you'll have some".  Well, they haven't outlawed them YET....but I do still have some, probably should sell them...they've got to be vintage!  Dad was right, once again!