Bow Holder

Since Michael was away on business this past week I decided to get a little business done myself. I saw a tutorial online and got to work.

First item on the agenda: go to Good Will and get the cheapest frame bigger than an 8x10:
mission accomplished.

Prime. Paint. Glaze. Staple. Hang. Attach Bows.
and . . . . Done.

already in use:
Turns out I didn't actually finish by the time Michael got home and he assited in a few of those steps :)

Since we've been sporting pony and pig-tails lately its nice to have the accessories on hand {and in her bathroom}. I'm lovin' it!

another Momma?

In *sort of * keeping the Mother's theme . . . . .
A few weeks ago Michael asked if I'd seen this little number in the front yard:No, we hadn't moved the compost pile front and center. We discovered it fell from the birds nest 8 feet above it. I got curious (again) and got the ladder out to investigate further. I was surprised by by the uniqueness of the nest. It wasn't your typical 'bowled' birds nest. See that tiny hole? Yea, its on the SIDE of the hollowed out nest. kinda cool right? I was, however, a little disappointed it wasn't an open nest, making it difficult to see inside. In my efforts to keep my "human scent" far away I zoomed in and shot away. . . . . the more I look at this photo, the more I convince myself that that little 'fluff' in there is indeed a baby bird.

your thoughts? think I'm crazy?

Dear Rylee,

Thank you for making me a Mother; for giving me opportunities to wear matching hot pink and silver shoes, for teaching me what is really important in life, and helping mold me more into the person I want to be.
I cherish the title more than you know.

and I love you!

Love,

Momma

PS I've learned from the best.

Happy Mother's day to all you Mother's and a very Happy Mother's day to my own Mother and Mother-in-law. We love you too!

Camping

This past weekend we went camping at Garner State Park. It was fabulous! We decided this was probably the most successful camping trip we've had as a couple. ie it was more than one night (I have a hard time going through all the work it takes to camp for just one night), there were no alligators, few bugs, no rain. . . . the weather was great. We 'splurged' and got an electric site. It. was. awesome. We packed a fan (which we only had to use one night and during naps . . . thank you cool breeze), the 'snore-master' and the computer. Outdoor movie? yes please.


Furthermore, Rylee did great. The first night was the hardest as we arrived after dark and she'd fallen asleep in the car. She cried as we unpacked and then was a little worked up and freaked out about the inside of the tent, but warmed up after a while. The next morning she thought it was the coolest thing ever. She liked being able to roam the outdoors, eat dirt, try to chew rocks, eventually liked swimming (it was a little chilly at first touch) and hanging out with Dad for a whole 4 days!

Onto the pictures:

While shopping for a few items I came across this camping chair I couldn't resist. It was used for more of a climbing tool than a chair. Speaking of climbing- she did surprisingly well on the cement pad for the table- didn't even fall off once. Our site backed up to the Frio River. It was still a bit of a walk down to it but was nice to have some water relatively close- even if it was mostly ankle deep.

Who says only boys collect rocks?

The other side of the park was a damn. The water was mostly about waist deep there, but there were a few spots where we couldn't touch.

There were a few hiking trails. Since I forgot the Bjorn it was a little harder to take Rylee, but it was beautiful.

See, Texas isn't all flat.

I loved the giant cypress trees that lined the river. She's not crazy about the life jacket.

Her first pair of flip-flops:
The park had a little mini golf course. We hadn't gotten to the third whole before Michael had to go ask for another ball (somebody was ruining our game). She was funny to watch and made a pretty good caddy.

One night the park hosted an Astronomy club (they actually came from SA). There was probably about 15 or so people there with their equipment. We'd walk around from group to group looking through their telescopes and chatting about space. It was really kind of interesting and I thought really nice of them to come. Apparently their club meets weekly here in SA and it is also free to the public to go check out. I'd love to go check it out sometime.

There was also a pavilion where they have dances most weekends and every night in the summer. I thought that was really unique. It serves as a hang out spot for the locals - I kind of liked watching them 'practice'. Country music and country dancing is awesome. We danced a few songs and then headed back to our site.

When we weren't sleeping, eating, swimming, playing games, dancing, star-gazing, golfing, reading, watching movies, watching wild life or hiking we were lounging in our chairs loving every quiet moment. The park lived up to the hype and I can't wait to go back.

Garner State Park 2011 from tricia allsop on Vimeo.

The only downside was we discovered a hole in our air mattress and came home to find we'd left the garage door open all weekend. Oops. Thankfully we have sweet neighbors who watched out for us.

(this is possibly my longest post ever.)

17 Again?

Saturday Morning I wake up and head to the kitchen. Michael is sitting at the kitchen table and tells me his work truck was damaged last night. And in a very nonchalant voice says "yea, I think I'm going to call the cops" The general calm tone of his voice really confused me, and really? you waited for me to get up to file a police report? strange. To which I reply "ok." with the underlying tone "what do you need me for?" - {incase you just met me I am NOT a morning person and furthermore I was up late sewing Rylee's dress}


He then tells me to go look at it. I open the blinds to see this: drinking straws (not the animal feed straw ;) were stuck in every visible seam. Michael then asks if it was me. "You were still up when I went to bed" Yea, maybe 10 years ago that would have been me, but no. not today.


A few minutes later we go out to get a better look to find all sorts of writing on the windows "you got punked" "6:00" a picture of a dinosaur (huh?) and along the back window "we love you, love young women"


Now, an important thing to note here is we no longer live in Utah county, or Utah in general. Some terminology just isn't common 'round these parts. So the words "we love you, love young women" just make this 30 something year old driving it around look like a pedophile. After a few crazy looks he made it as illegible as possible using whatever was in the back seat.

Oh, and I can't forget my framed "Hottie" I must concur with that one. :)

Needless to say we had a good laugh.
As we were telling the story at our ward's Easter party I kept saying "Brother Allsop is going to the prom!" hehe I guess if I want him to be my date I'll have to ask early next year.

Easter

Rylee found the plastic eggs a little early and was pretty stoked when she realized they were filled with M&M's

(we've been sporting the single tiniest pony lately making it possible to keep a bow on her head again- YAY!) After Sunday naps we (the Easter Bunny? idk) had a little 'hunt'. It consisted of a basket full of fun stuff (books, summer outfit, swim diapers, flip-flops, Easter movie, a few cars, and of course a chocolate and stuffed bunny).

I made her Easter dress. It's the first garment I've sewn (start to finish) in YEARS. It was very special and fun. I had to make a few changes in the pattern, the sleeves were a little tricky (I don't recommend working within an 8 inch circle at 2am) and its big (pinned back about 6 inches in the back) but I still think it turned out cute.

She likes carrying the bucket around and putting a few items in and out of it. Don't you love that its half her size?

Sorry the video is a little long, but I didn't feel like cutting it much to make it shorter. Watching her beline it to the bunny is the best part.

Easter 2011 from tricia allsop on Vimeo.

She was worried here that I was taking her away from the candy- I just wanted a picture.

mmmmm . . . . . . .candy. . . . . . .

shoes

In true girl-like fashion Rylee loves shoes. She is often found rummaging through the basket of shoes by the front door to carrying them around (she has yet to try on our shoes though).

A while back we were in my bathroom as I was getting ready- I only half noticed her pace back and forth behind me a few times, when I stopped to see what she was doing I realized she was going into the closet to grab shoes one-by-one and carry them across the bathroom and place it on the scale.

Miss smarty-pants even grabbed mates.

I didn't have time to get anything but my cell phone camera and as soon as she heard my chuckle she promptly removed them. Another shoe related story I bought her her first pair of "real" soled shoes the other day. She LOVES them! When she first tried them on she kept tapping the floor and smiling. A few days later I gave her a shoe to hold/play with while I changed her diaper and got her dressed for the day. I put her down and she kept whining at me and crying until I put the shoes ON. This little lady is a crack up.