Sun Valley Road Trip

I know, I've been a  lousy blogger.  You know, I take all these pictures with my camera planning blog posts around them and then wind up with too much on my plate and my little ol' blog suffers dramatically.  The last thing I should be doing right now is blogging.  But I prefer it to packing the car for tomorrow's art fair so I think I'll just add this teeny weeny post now so that I can postpone the packing ;)

So Sun Valley in a nutshell?  I LOVED it!  Not only is it the coolest mountain town, but the vibe, the people, and the adventures were out of this world! :) 

It all started just an hour out of Jackson on our Road Trip (Sun Valley is about 5.5 hours away).  We came across this abandoned house that I have wondered about for so many years.  About 20 minutes before approaching the gravel road that goes to it, I started telling Ellen all about it.  I was really hinting that I wanted to stop there.  As we approached the turn Ellen yelled "let's go see it!" and so we did. 

Isn't it the coolest?

 There was some graffiti on the walls, but I only saw one beer bottle in the whole place.  The hardwood floors have held up remarkably well.  I couldn't get a good shot, but there was a birds nest in the wall with teeny weeny baby birds squawking.

 You have to wonder about the people who lived here.  With this view, why would they ever leave?

After a few more hours of driving, we drove through Arco, apparently the first American city to be entirely powered by nuclear energy.  We just had to stop at the Pickle Place.  I mean, the giant green rocking chair out front was just calling our name! :)

 And any place that serves breakfast until 11:34am is my kind of pace.  Yup, that's right, 11:34am, and we made the cut off! 

I'm not sure what happened to my photo of the deep fried pickles we ordered.  It was not what Ellen nor I expected, that's for sure, but we did actually finish the plate ;)

It seemed to be the weekend of big Chairs and other items....

I felt like a pixie in this great big chair.   And apparently the people of Sun Valley also like their Bikes big :)

Then we were onto the small adventures.  Like spotting this guy walking across the street at nightfall.  There was no way Ellen was going to let this ferret get run over on our watch!  So the chase was on!  While I pulled over and stressed about the art fair starting in the morning...Ellen was chasing this guy through backstreets and utility structures!  But she caught him, and he was obviously friendly.  :)  Someone's pet for sure, and he even had a tattoo on his ear!

Having never handled a ferret before, we marveled at his long and completely strange body!  This guy had abs of steel!! :)

Ellen wasn't quite sure at first if he liked her.....

 But sure enough he came to love spending time in her lap.....

 I think he even went in for a kiss :)

After calling the police and having officer Tony come see us, he sadly told us that he is only allowed to handle dogs and that we would need to bring him to a Community Service Officer in the morning.  In the meantime, here we are in Sun Valley, renting a condo, and needing to find someplace for a ferret for the night!!  Officer Tony was kind enough to give us a small crate, which became Terry's (of course we named him!) home for the night.

If you've never had a ferret before, you will be surprised to hear that they let off some kind of musky scent.  Yeah, I just hope I get my condo cleaning deposit back ;)

The next morning was the first day of the art fair, and also our moment to find Terry's home!  We woke up bright and early to meet with a Community Service Officer, who seriously did not service his community well :(  He refused to accept Terry and sent us to the only animal Clinic in town that was open at 8am on a Friday. 

I cannot thank the St. Francis Animal Clinic of Ketchum enough!  Although they too are not supposed to accept exotic pets, the nearest shelter that would was too far away, and we had an art fair to set up!  So they happily welcomed Terry into their home and told us they would help find his owners.  I sure hope they have :)

And then, who would have known, but one of the artists at the fair, Julie Sola of Fat Crow Press, had a series of linocuts called "Possum Dreams" that so reminded Ellen and I of our adventures with Terry.  Needless to say, there is now a "Possum Dreams" piece hanging in Ellen's home :)

 This is the one I bought for Ellen:

So in a small town of 15,000, we then welcomed over 11,000 people to the art fair!  SLD flew off the racks.  In fact, I had an SLD spotting while driving down the Street on Saturday morning, right after the first day of the art fair!  I had to stop and roll down my window.  The two girls slept in their SLD :)

I had SO much fun at this last art fair.  And getting ready for the last one of the season tomorrow.  As much as I've enjoyed these adventures, I can't wait to snuggle into bed with Finley in the evening and read books to her.  I miss her so much when I am away.  She starts Kindergarten at the end of this month and I am shaking my head in disbelief.  Where does the time go??  Here she is getting her Mommy Manicure while reading an US Magazine and marveling at the dresses.....

 And here my baby is striking a pose yesterday morning for me.  When did this all happen!!?

OK, well, time for me to get packing.  Just so glad to finally get all this down to 'paper.'  :)

xo,
shari

Getting ready for the holidays....with candy :)

Finley asked if we could buy a wreath for our door the other day, because she saw one at the neighbors. I said "Pshaw! We're the crafty kind of folk, we'll make something!" and she wholeheartedly agreed! My little google search first led me to Miss Martha's site, where she made this pretty white gumdrop wreath.

But another quick google search brought us to this beautiful picture, which to a four year old is like the holy grail ;)

She was salivating at my lap so I relented and agreed to pick up all the ingredients we would need to make this gorgeous little gumdrop wreath. Full instructions on how to can be found here, on the Kiddley Blog.

Here's what we bought:

Total bill was about $7 and included a dollar store floral sponge round shape, gumdrops, ribbon and toothpicks. Please, if you are trying this at home, do not skimp on toothpicks! I bought the cheap flat toothpicks, instead of the round ones. BIG mistake! Sheesh, are they ever flimsy. Splurge the extra 50 cents for the good stuff ;)

We sat down and decided to taste the goods. :)

Mr. SLD and Finley got in there....

Immediately they were thrown back into the bowl! (see the green flashing thing?) YUCK!

Turns out, little did I realize that I bought 'Spice' flavored gumdrops. Mistake number two. These things taste terrible!! At least it saved us from eating the entire wreath! ;) But seriously, avoid these (sorry gumdrop maker, I just don't like these. Sue me (no don't, please.)


And look how easy it is to make! We found it easier to assembly line it...Mr. SLD made the little Gumdrop trees for us to use.





Anyhow, regardless of the toothpicks, or crummy gumdrops, look how PRETTY they look! Seriously pretty stuff. Like a Pretty Overload :)





Anyhow, we've finished the wreath, but now I realized I don't have a hook to hang it with! oops...so you'll have to see our finished product at another date. trust me, it's cute, including the button beadwork Finley added to the bottom. :) Here's the last photo of it that I took!




What's your favorite holiday craft? I want to try more!

xo,
Shari

So Finley's Book Party Planning is a go....

It better be, it's only 10 days away!! The awesome news? I hired a storyteller!!! She is a librarian in Riverside that comes out to the desert and is apparently a phenomenal storyteller! Yay!! She's thinking of making the book theme about water, (and maybe frogs) and I like the idea, it being so hot here, we could all use some water stories. :)

I bought these amazing looking blank board books for the little party guests as a craft activity.



I need your help though....what do you think we should do with them? Should I pre-set up collage pieces and pictures for them? Should we ask the kids (4 and under) to draw their own story? Should I write a story in them that they get to draw? Should I just plop them down in front of them and say "GO!"?? I need your help, what do you think we should do with them?

You can buy these awesome little blank board books at Romp, who also has incredible customer service by the way :)

Thanks to those of you who have been emailing me party ideas.....keep em coming! :)

xo,
shari

Planning Finley's birthday party....

I'm a little bit rusty. Finley's party was canceled last year. First she had bronchitis, and then when we tried to reschedule it she flipped out and didn't want a party. So we haven't had a birthday party since she turned 2! Wow, that's pretty crazy, considering she is turning 4 now!

Her 2nd birthday party was a smash Art themed party. I wanted to share a few pictures... I loved it!

For the invitations, I had cards printed at shutterfly.com using images of Finley painting. We had so much fun painting in the grass that day! Here is the front of the invitation:

I made them so that they seemed like an art gallery invitation. So here is the inside :)

I hung art all around the house that Finley created, and then emptied out my dining room and created this giant coloring wall. A friend converted a photo of each kid into a line drawing and each child had a bunch of stickers and crayons to draw with (and of course take home!)

Here it is in action:

An artist themed cake....on top of the tablecloth that Finley and I drew all over :) Oh, plus the painted rocks she worked on as table decor. :)

And while I don't have pictures, I made the food color-centric and each plate or bowl was one color....so pink was watermelon, green was veggies etc.....

For favors, Finley painted a frame for each child to take home, that had their very own photo inside. I also had a wooden letter of each child's first initial, tied up with some crayons for them to decorate.

Here's Finley the night before the party with all her hard work :)

Here is the happy birthday girl...



And her proud Mummy.....



It was a really fun theme and there are SO many directions you can take it. This years theme is BOOKS! Finley adores books and reading. Got any party ideas for me??

xo,
shari

Happy Mother's Day!

Someone I know shared this several years ago when I became a mum, and it all rang so true.

Before I was a mom I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby. I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous. I never thought about immunizations. Before I was a mom - I had never been puked on...pooped on...chewed on...peed on . I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts. I slept ALL night . Before I was a mom, I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests; or give shots. I never looked into teary eyes and cried. I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin. I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a mom i never held a sleeping baby just because i didn't want to put them down. I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when i couldn't stop the hurt . I never knew something so small could affect my life so much. I never knew that I could love someone so much. I never knew I would love being a mom.

Before I was a mom - I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body. I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby. I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child. I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy. Before I was a mom- I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure they were okay. I had never felt the warmth , the joy, the love , the heartache, the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a mom.

I didn't know i was capable of feeling so much - before I was a mom...

I'll add a few things that I never knew about 'before I was a mom' to my darling Finley, who crazily enough will soon be four. This is my note to her.....

I never knew that seeing you wrinkle up your nose and smile would make me giggle so much. I never knew that hearing you say your first real word "baby" would make me long for you to stay a baby forever. I never knew that hearing you sigh as you fall asleep would be the most wonderful sound on the planet. I never knew that hearing you say "Mummy" in your sweet voice could make everything else go away. I never knew that feeling you rub my arm with your thumb, as you do when you are nervous, would make me feel so protective of you. I never knew that I could listen to the same lullaby CD over a thousand times and not go mad. I never knew how obsessed I would become over what was on your dinner plate. I never knew how much I would enjoy shopping for your clothes. I never knew that I would become master entertainer, puppeteer, dancer, storyteller and more. I never knew that I could feel so completely inept and within seconds also feel like I could do no wrong, and had superhuman strength, because of you. I never knew what a true good soul was until seeing you cheer on everyone else at the playground, while you chose to sit at the sidelines. I never knew what quiet time really meant. And mostly, I never knew how much you would change my life and the path that I take. I am a better person because of you, dear Finley.

Happy mother's day to some of my favorite mothers!!
xo
shari

One imaginary Friend + One package = Pure Joy

Finley's been begging her imaginary friend (IF), Soren Lorensen, to write her a letter. I sent her one from her other IF, Evie, but it didn't seem to do. Then my wildly creative and incredible friend Ashley did this. You must check out her pictures of the package contents on her blog, they're amazing! I am still blown away!

Finley usually doesn't like having her picture taken, so we had to tread lightly. She also doesn't like to do things that weren't her idea first, so we set the package up outside on a blanket for her to stumble onto.

This was her reaction:

"For me?" She asked...

She shook it to see what could be inside...

And then we told her it was from Soren Lorensen.

Oh Happy Day!

She opened it up...

To find tons of treasures!

And we pored over every gorgeous little thing Ashley put into it. We read the incredible letters...

She was shocked to hear he left all his letters to her by mistake in his backpack! "No wonder they were late!" she said!

Elephants are her favorite (she sleeps with Harry Elephante, a stuffed blue elephant). She named this one 'Lumpy'

She made up a little game using the erasers in the packet, where we had to throw them and gather them from the grass...

She LOVED the origami paper and paper crane (one of her favorite books is about a little girl who makes a paper crane and names him "Menu" and he becomes her best friend because she hasn't any real friends at school)

We played with the little animal chips

She was like a kid at an Imaginary Friend Store ;)

It was a wonderful way to spend the morning...

Thank you Ashley, for making such an incredible memory for our family. We will cherish this forever and ever!! xoxo