O Say Can You See

I always, ALWAYS make a cake for the 4th of July. No matter where I am or what I am doing I have done it since I was 12. The cakes (and sometimes) cupcakes have all been different variations on the same basic theme. An American flag. Strawberries and blueberries are the usual accroutements. I love these individual tarts featured on the Food Network.

And check out this happy cake: I adore the stars on spindly little wires.

This one piqued my interest because of the star shape. I may have to incorporate that somehow. The only thing I do know about my cake this year is that I will use the amazing new square cake pan my Mom bought me during the blue cake fiasco, and that I will not let this cake turn into the scene that that one was! Easy, easy, easy is my mantra.

Summer Lovin'

This was the hit of the weekend. Peanut has a water table and now a mini pool and he is a fish. Doesn't take much to keep this kid happy.

This is our backyard. Nothing exciting, right? Well, J loves to use it as a training ground for his motorcycle, but other than that it is just a beautiful view of the mtn. The ski lifts are right on the other side. We're thisclose to them, which I love. The reason the yard looks so crappy is because it is, it is not technically our yard so we do zero upkeep on it. As part of the bike fest going on we went to the pump park today for a competition. It was pretty neat and now I can't wait to try out the park - when none of the 11 year olds are there to show me up, that is.

Now on to the FOURTH of JULY! So excited!

super extreme

Wow. TLC has a new show, "Extreme Poodles". I don't even know what to say. As my parents are the owners of an amazing, big, white poodle this is almost horrific. Theo would not approve. He is way too manly of a dog to let someone dress him up like a fishtank. Or a rooster. At least it is someone else's poodle! I don't think I can actually watch this show, but I did find some examples on google. This brings to mind the phrase, "why dogs bite people". I must admit the Budweiser poodle is kind of funny.

images studiomarcy, photooutpost, beliefnet.com

dad's day

Happy Father's Day to my amazing dad and to Wyatt's daddy. I love you both so much!

We spent most of the day indoors watching World Cup soccer. It was raining, but it cleared up enough for us to go for a cruiser bike ride to the cousins house.

My sister is so hilarious. She got Wyatt his very own vacuum for his birthday! She figured that since he loves our Dyson so much he should get his own. And a little red Dirt Devil. Ha! It actually makes the vacuum noise, lights up, little plastic balls fly around inside, and the canister comes off when you are done. Too bad it doesn't really work. Peanut doesn't care though, he thinks its great.

Birthday Party

We are all decompressing after a whirlwind First Birthday Party weekend. It wouldn't have been such a scene except for this cake: I tried to follow the infamous Rainbow Cake, but with some modifications. Rainbows are way too colorful for me, I know its sad but true, so I went with a gradation of blues. Well, let's just say that I accidentally put in blue gel decorating icing instead of blue gel food coloring. Oops. A trip to the grocery store IN ANOTHER TOWN (only 11 miles but hardly worth a trip for food coloring) and we were back in business. Thank goodness the parents were there to help me out! Below is the 'after' picture of the cake. It tasted great, even if it was a pain. I got it out of my system, though, and never have to do that again.

It has finally been nice enough here to get outside, and just in time for Peanut to play with his new water table from Grandma and Grandpa. It's a huge hit.

Wyatt turned 1 yesterday. What a monumental day it was for us. Well, Jon and I, as Peanut had no idea why we were taking so many pictures and giving him so many kisses and presents! It's been such an amazing year, and I can't think of anything to say but the standard cliches. He's changed my life way more than I thought he would, it has all been so incredible, terrific, and just pure joy. I am pretty much obsessed. After he goes to sleep I miss him. Four hours at work in the morning is long enough. I remember just waiting to have him, to really meet him, to see who this little guy was. (Even though I didn't know what I was having I was sure it was a little man). Now that he's here I just think he was meant to be here all along. Of course he fits in perfectly. He has little traits of Mom and Dad. He's our little Peanut and I don't know what I did without him! I just love him to pieces. Anyway, he got a cupcake for his birthday, but he didn't care much for it. He just played with the frosting and flung it around. Hence the large glob right below his eye. We are having a bbq on Saturday with a bunch of friends and family and we are looking forward to celebrating again!

This little guy did a whole lotta this this weekend:

And yes, he does it one-handed. That's how he rolls.

Check out these limited-edition Huggies diapers that are being sold at Target:

they look like little jeans!

they are perfect if it is warm and sunny (as summer is supposed to be) and your baby can run around in just a diaper. Alas, it is raining and cold here, and Peanut doesn't go anywhere without socks/shoes/coat. It is so miserable here that I've almost stopped dreaming about nice weather and a beach, like this beautiful image below. My grandparents had a wicker swing almost identical to this one at their place on the lake. It was one of my favorite things about summer. Now that our summers in Sun Valley mean rain, rain ,rain; I am just excited to get a drizzle light enough that I can take Peanut to the swings. Which is what we did today. When we got to the park, I realized they were spraying dead fish guts on the fields as fertilizer. Gross. Then it started raining hard and we still had a 15 minute run home. Yeah for summer!

decorista.com

Aren't these the cutest toddler shoes ever? Peanut is turning One next week and we got him a pair. I won't tell you what color until he unwraps them, though. They even have pink for the little girls! Adorable.

Boy-Cee

For Memorial Day weekend Peanut and I went to visit the grandparents in Boise. We had great weather and one of the highlights was touring the newly restored/additioned Idaho State Capitol. I grew up visiting this place a lot, but I hadn't been in years, and it looks amazing. So proud! Other than Peanut setting off one of the security alarms we had a nice visit. Luckily the security guy was about 15 minutes in getting to the "scene". Ha!

The dome that I declared a "miracle" when I was all of 3 years old. Now Peanut has a photo of the same "miracle" above his dresser.

Two-Four

Yesterday my sister turned twenty-four. So big! She's firmly in her mid-twenties now. Anyway, for her birthday I made her this pillow. It's 12"x14" and made of white felt. I haven't done anything crafty (other than use spray paint) in years, so it was a lot of fun to make this for her.

Of course I forgot to buy the actual pillow insert the last time I was in the big city, so she only received the cover! Sorry! It's coming - I promise. The joy of living in a small town with no shopping.