Right now...

Losing my patience with hunter, who can't seem to find anything to keep his attention today. A lot of frustrated, "go play with something!" over and over...

Loving that I snuck a brownie and little mommy love note into Ben's lunchbox this morning. Usually don't get away with this because he checks his lunch before he gets out the door. Not this morning. But even if it is just a surprise on the bus, it is a surprise.

Listening to my cat toby wheezing his sleep apnea snores as he sleeps behind me.

Texting my brother about tv shows.

Playing my newly crafted "creativity playlist," on rhapsody, including james taylor, steve miller, adele, 311, jason derulo, and little big town.

Enjoying puppy kisses from our little georgie. Listening to our laura dog grumble snore under the dining room table.

Looking at the lego thing hunter made this morning, with pipes and doors, and cool colors. He is using my measuring tape to measure everything in sight- including his own height.

Finding an inability to focus today, making this list the perfect distraction.

Wishing I could print up the hundreds and hundreds of pictures I took in Yellowstone, and spend the whole weekend scrapbooking them.

Wanting to decorate my front porch for fall. i have it all planned out, but lacking the energy to get it done.

Burning a "mountain lodge," scented candle and a pumpkin pie tart. noticing i smell less of the mountain lodge candle because I think my house sort of already smells like a mountain lodge.

Getting ready to make lunch for hunter. salami, "white" (swiss) cheese, apples, crackers, yogurt. He's still in his pajamas.

Seeing a very bright sunlight kind of day outside.

Wearing dark jeans, a gray shirt with gold glitter and a flower print, and a taupe sweater. feeling chilly, even in the house. I showered this morning, and blow dried my hair... have been making this a priority for 2 weeks now... no all day in jammies/gardening or cleaning clothes anymore. working that closet to death and love it, and am feeling so much better.

Thinking I need a long sleeve sweater today.

Wearing a necklace with a gold heart that my grandma and grandpa gave me. Getting ready to call my mom. i know my grandma will answer, and I hope she is having a good day, not a bad day. her voice, when it is happy, is so wonderful.

Loving the winter wheat color I painted mmy desk this week. Have to a take a picture!

Going to make some cocoa with my lunch.

Planning to get our pumpkins this weekend, and hopefully some local apples to make apple crisp.

Looking forward to our friday night grocery trip to trader joe's (a couple towns away).

Knitting a brown and cream cowl with sequins this morning.

My favorite sweater.

It is sort of like my wearable blankie. This sweater is my favorite thing to wear. I've slept in it. It goes great with sweats... yes, I said it. From Old Navy clearance... only $6 last fall. Today I wore it with a peach v-neck underneath.

Of course, wearing glasses.

And what better to wear my favorite sweater with? My favorite jeans. I love Maurice's for jeans. I always get them on clearance. These were probably about $12.

This is the perfect outfit for crafting, vacuuming, folding laundry, playing with puppy, and such. Also, great for walking the dogs. Yay fall!

Our summer vacation.

We took the trip of a lifetime to Yellowstone this August. I can tell you, every morning since I've wished I was crawling out of my tent there, and not my bed here. I fell in love with it. The boys fell in love with it. We drove in from the North east entrance, through the Bear Tooth pass, and I had no idea it would be so amazing. I simply looked at the map, and suspected it would be better than the North entrance because it seemed more off the beaten path... but wow! It was so thrilling to be on top of the world.

 Just left of the center of this mountain line you will see bear tooth mountain.

 We stopped at every little creek and stream, took deep breaths of mountain air, looked at rocks, searched for animals.

 Lots of little waterfalls on the sides of the road before we even entered the National park.

 This might have been one of the most amazing waterfalls I've ever seen. The sheer power of the water was intense, and the way it rushed through these huge mountain side rocks was beautiful.

Same waterfall's other side view.

As soon as we got into the park we had a few pronghorn in a meadow beside us.

Crossing the Hayden Valley we had a buffalo traffic jam. Very funny.

We made sure to go to Old Faithful that first afternoon. Hunter called it "old facial." Grandma watched us walk up, and we waved to her on the live webcam feed, streaming from a camera that's attached the visitor's center.

Not far from Old Faitful we stopped to see these beautiful waterfalls- called Kepler Cascades. So beautiful.

Before the sun set completely we walked around the west geyser basin and enjoyed our first look at the colorful pools. The steam was so warm as night fell that it wet our faces with warmth, and fogged our glasses.

We saw this large coyote hunting there, too.

As we were leaving the parking lot here I another visitor told us there was a large elk nearby. We walked a trail looking for him, keeping our distance, but I suspected we were pushing him away with our sounds. He confirmed his presence with a large bugle that brought chills down Theo and I's spines. Most spectacular thing I've ever heard. We left, without seeing him, but as we pulled the car out of the parking lot I asked Theo to go left for just a bit to see if we pushed him all the way out of the woods and near the road... and sure enough- there he was. As magestic an animal can be.

 

And this was just our first day... and only a few of the 300 pictures I took that day alone!

Such a sucker for a deal.

This week I pulled out my newest fall sweater. I found this on clearance at Kohls for 90% off... doesn't get any better.

 

 

It had the tiniest snag on the shoulder, which I pulled through to the inside, cut and knotted. Ta Da! You can't even see it anymore. It is rust colored, short sleeve. I paired it with a dark taupe long sleeve tee. Fall perfection.

Yay!

Our New Baby!

By now most everyone who knows us, knows we got a puppy this week. He is 12 weeks old, and is a lab golden retriever mix. We've named him Georgie.

He is an angel!

Don't you agree?

I forgot how much work puppies are, but I am enjoying having a little baby who needs me. I look like shit, though. Exhausted. Pretty funny.

Large Print Florals.

Myfavorite thing right now? Large print florals. I love this shirt... and I want to wall paper the house with this print. For now, I'll just wear it.

I am going to be my kids' hero when they see my old rock bracelet! I bought it at a Yosemite gift shop when I was about 10... and I still have it.

Three simple things. Powder. Mascara. Lipstick.

And a diffuser for the fro.

Happy Fall!

Funny Boys

We made a brief trip to see the family in Chicago last weekend, and I took almost no pictures... again... but when the big men and little boys hopped into the giant chair I had to get the camera.

Almost Sweater Weather

I know a lot of people do spring cleaning. Maybe because I'm a gardener I don't do too much deep household purging in the spring. In fact, I bring more mud in than I put things out. But Fall always makes me want to clean up before we get locked in for winter. Last week I did the kids closets and drawers. This week, I've been going through my closets, and I already have a whole trash bag of stuff ready to go... My favorite part of this is playing with my clothes. I've put together some cute outfits, and I have the itch to share them with whomever is reading... so here's today. As you know, I'm cheap as shit... so this is my $6 short sleeve sweater from JC penney's plus size clearance rack. Found this last month, but I was in the store last week, and they still had tons for $8-$12. Lots of great colors, including this cream, navy, apple green.

I paired this one with an olive green shirt that is so, so soft. My favorite part of this pairing is that the sleeves match up perfectly that just a little green pokes out on each arm, and just the right amount at the v-neck of the sweater, too. Tee is from Old Navy, and I think I paid *maybe* $3 for it. The jeans are almost too big, so they are so comfortable. And since I am going NO WHERE all day, I'm in my favorite target slippers and comfy socks. Gonna be 71 today. This outfit should be perfect.

 This amber and olive bead necklace was a gordmans's cearance find for $3, maybe less, Sloppy side braid, no make up. No contact lenses. Perfect.

Plans are to post these things as often as possible. But you know how I am with plans... so maybe not?

Happy pre-fall folks!