moving on up

I have been accused of bloggatory neglect, and to this charge I plead not guilty on account of temporary insanity. You see, this is what my living situation looked like:Notably, this also holds a striking resemblance to how my brain felt. Honestly, what category DO you pack umbrellas under?! Now however, we have safely arrived in the land ‘o lakes and are quickly making progress on our check list:- Get Allison a teaching job at an elementary school for the fall- Buy a house- Buy a (cheap) second carSo far, I interviewed at a private school in the area with both kindergarten and first grade openings, and I’m waiting to hear if I get a second interview. The only problem is that I only bought one interview suit. Suits, by the way, are expensive.The biggest most important-est news so far:Dan and I made an offer on a house last night! If you want more details, go a head and ask – I won’t bore people with talk of foundation size and roof age – but I will say that it’s in St. Paul and it’s adorable. We hope to close in early July.No progress on another car yet; thankfully the daycare where I work is on the 3M campus where Dan’s dad works, so we’ve been able to carpool every day.Speaking of my job, I think I’m going to begin daily installments of “toddler tales” – you know, now that I’m blogging again – from my classroom. Here are a couple of fantastic examples of what I do from 8-5 every day. The following are all true stories of the words and deeds of 2 and 3 year olds. However, the names have been changed.Toddler Tales, Part IAbout a week ago, the mother of one of our toddlers came in and asked that we not change his diaper right away when he soiled it because she was trying to motivate him to start potty training, and she thought that the increased discomfort of dirty diapers might do the trick. The teachers said sure, they’d give it a shot, and the next day they noticed that he was “poopy” (that’s preschool teacher for “has poop in his diaper”) so they waited a few minutes before they did anything about it. Well, little Connor had enough of this discomfort, so he reached right in his diaper and took ‘the thing that was making him uncomfortable‘ out, put it on the floor and went back to the ball pit. We told Mom that she needed to find a new means of motivation.Today while I was changing Jacob’s diaper, he began singing Queen’s “We will rock you”.Yesterday, while I was looking right at him, Derek the classroom bully yanked off sweet little Adam’s shoe and began smacking him over the head with it. After I removed Derek and calmed Adam down, I asked Derek to “go make it right”. He then proceeded to waddle over to Adam, pat his head where he had clubbed him with the shoe and kiss him on the cheek (no joke, it was the cutest thing). As I stood there watching this seemingly new person Derek was becoming, I thought ‘wow, as a teacher I may have just made a difference in the life of a child right there’. Before my moment of significance had time to pass on it’s own, Derek was pulling with all his might on Kayla’s braided hair.

Almost as good as cookie dough..

Miles may never know the joys of liking cake batter, or brownie batter off the beaters, but he doesn’t care.
Sweet potatoes are good enough for him….

I hope he realizes how fun it is to be in the kitchen with Mom cooking..I can’t wait till he’s actually old enough to actually get to work with me!

reader love casey blandford..

I got an email from Casy Blandford professing his love for drawing. His work is the latest installment in 'reader love' here on the blog. Here's a little bit about Casey:

I'm from England, but I've lived in Salt Lake City, Utah, since I was seven. There are a lot of things that I like... To many to list, but some that come to mind are: drawing, coffee, nature documentaries, synthesizers, skulls, umbrellas, graffiti, tattoos, making and listening to music, reading, friends and family, cooking, robots, symbols, shoes, notes, and lists. My drawings are just little snapshots of the world inside my head, and as it evolves, so do they. I'm excited that there's so much going on and being created in the world nowadays, and I want to learn about as much of it as I can.

Margaret Kilgallen Summer Selections.

Just to tide you over til I get my time management skills in check over the weekend, I worked extra hard to get these images ready from last night for you this wonderful Friday am. Margaret Kilgallen: Summer / Selections opened last night at Ratio 3. The first solo show in San Francisco of Margaret's in 13 years, I was excited to check it out. As I weaved through the crowd last night at the gallery, I was reminded of why she was (and her work still is) so prolific. She was known best for her steady hand, and it's so evident in this show. The whole show is not to be missed, but I especially liked the back room best. Painted canvas pieced together like quilts were on display -- there was something really special about being so close to work you knew that Margaret manually fed through a sewing machine (and some pieces were hand sewn).

Summer / Selections displays Margaret's passion for the imagery her style has become synonamous with -- trees, leaves, female figures and wide lipped smiles. I hope to get back this weekend to take a slower walk through the show. Definitely one worth spending time in. This coming Sunday is the ten year anniversary of Margaret's passing. It's a thoughtful show for sure. Margaret Kilgallen: Summer / Selections runs through August 5, 2011.

Chris Perez, owner of Ratio 3 and Barry McGee.

doing Portland, baby style

We touched down in a sunny, 68° Portland, Oregon on Wednesday afternoon. It was so nice I could hardly stand it. Since we’re at the coast much of our time in state, we decided to stick around the city and do some browsing of the shops on 23rd while eating gelato with those cute little shovel things.{The sunglasses were a sleep aid.}[Aside: I'd like to officially introduce you to our baby carrier that we wore to the zoo (that some of you noticed). Yes, it's new and yes it's awesome. It is a mei tai style carrier from Baby So Smart (who did not pay me to tell you about them, although if they wanted to I'd be open to the idea ::wink::). We super duper love it. OBaby can actually sleep all snuggled in there (unlike our ring slings now that he is so big) and we bought it before this trip for that exact purpose. While we walked 23rd Ave, he napped happily as I debated leaving my socks and underwear behind so that some stunning candle holders could come home with us.]{OBaby, wondering if there’s space in the luggagefor that $180 baby boutique jumper.}Parenting on the go is so much easier for us with babywearing. We didn’t pack his stroller and we are just borrowing a car seat while in town (which has stayed in the car for the entire trip). We packed so light that we didn’t even check bags and so far we haven’t forgotten anything.There’s something about flying [by the seat of your pants] with an infant that appeals to DanO’s and my problem solving sides. For example, when we landed, OBaby was in entirely the wrong outfit for the warm and sunny afternoon we were experiencing so we did a quick in-arms wardrobe change standing the shade in a parking lot, then carried on our way. Later when we realized that he would be snuggled right up to us for a good period of time in the mei tai, we nixed the pants we had just put on him.That’s right, my baby walked around “trendy-third” in nothing but a polo and his diaper because that’s what worked for us. There’s something to be said for doing what works in parenting and not what ‘looks good’.That’s not to say that he didn’t look good, because clearly, he did.{and I think he knows it}~~~~~~Speaking of questionable behaviors, we took our pants-less-baby-on-the-go to a Starbucks there on 23rd where I had made plans to meet someone from the internet (somehow, the more often I say that the less creepy it sounds). This wasn’t just anyone from the internet though, this was the outdoor wife herself, my future roommate at The Relevant Conference in October.We talked about churches, husbands and the struggle of trying to keep up on blogging. I also confessed to her that I was going to have to milk myself pump while at the conference, so we should probably get comfortable with each other sooner rather than later (which began well as I fumbled to nurse OBaby while sitting directly across from her in an uncomfortable wood chair. Nipple flashing: now that’s what I call bonding.)Joking aside (I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again), I love this crazy blogging on the interwebs thing. It has brought so many great people into my life, some that I’ve met in person and some I haven’t yet, but all of them beautiful.

Allison Cortson..

I spotted this amazing painting by Alison Cortson as I was waiting to get coffee at four barrel. Striking, no? Also one of the mediums used? Dust.

I took this pic with my iPhone and posted it to Instagram (are you on there?), you can see a better, fuller version of the painting at Michael Rosenthal's gallery.

Corey Arnold's Wolf Tide..

Corey Arnold's Wolf Tide opened this past Saturday at Richard Heller Gallery in Santa Monica. No doubt it opened to a full house. Corey's photographs catch a side of commercial fishing that the closest we'll ever get to is on The Deadliest Catch -- which funny enough he was on. 

Corey's photographs capture beauty in his everyday world. His photographs are crisp and clear and you can almost feel the ocean air in them. I love the the way in which he captures his friends and animals. So touching with a touch of hilarity and sweetness.

My friend Kirsten Incorvia interviewed him last year for the blog. Take a read to see just how super down to earth Corey really is. He's lovable. :) You can also check out Kirsten's latest interview with him on Juxtapoz. Enjoy both!

deth p. sun this too shall pass at rowan morrison..

Opening tonight at Rowan Morrison is Deth P. Sun's solo show This Too Shall Pass. An epic show of over 200 new works will be on display. Also available will be a zine to accompany the show, screen prints and beer cozies! With the closing of the show on February 13th will be the launch of I See It All, a collection of pages from Deth's sketchbook. I'll post more about the book as soon as I get more info. Here's a peek of what will be on show:

shes got a boy in the oven!

One of the many highlights of our ultrasound last week was learning the gender of our little nugget – or should I say our little son!I say ‘one of the many highlights’ because honestly, I don’t think anything in my life has been more amazing than seeing our little one moving around on that screen. I am still completely in awe; It was as though we were hanging out with our baby¬† and getting to know him before we have met him face to face. I really can’t describe it better than that. What a gift to get to experience.I’ve been thinking lately that we should find a kickboxing gym and pre-register nugget for classes. Sure enough, when we peeked into his little world there he was, kicking and squirming just as I had figured. At one point he lifted his hand to his face and almost sucked his thumb! Right as the ultrasound tech was preparing to take a side picture of his spine (which was incredible to see – each and every disc perfectly formed!), our baby boy rolled over; already a trouble maker.Ok, back to the announcement: IT’S A BOY! After our appointment, we went to Baby Gap with that knowledge in mind and bought nugget his very first outfit. Funny thing is, it ended up looking remarkably similar to Dan’s everyday ensembles, just a lot…smaller:Wow, that’s totally impractical for an infant, you might say. Why, yes it is, but isn’t it cuuuuuuute?! We couldn’t resist the mini-Dan look.A little bit later that evening, our friends the Germanns came over to find out what gender nugget is, and they brought us this adorable pajama suit:If you look close, those are wrenches, hammers, drills, and screwdrivers in the pattern on the fabric, another tribute to nugget’s daddy. The tow truck on the right is labeled “Mr. Fix-it”. Perfect.So, there you have it: the beginnings of baby boy’s adorable wardrobe! We are so excited to start planning and preparing! This weekend we bought a crib (which we’re spraying black, so I’m waiting to post pictures) and a couple of toys. Watch out, baby retailers: here we come!

Caitlin Hackett..

I just stumbled on Caitlin Hackett's work in my saved folders of 'to write about', that I haven't checked in months. So I am throwing her work up now, because damn...most of this is done in ball point pen. Yeah. So be sure to check her website out, because she is killing it.

The Park..

We went to the really fun West Jordan park for Grandpas birthday. I can’t wait until Miles is older and can really enjoy it, but at least he got to try out the swings this time.. He just hung out while I pushed him back and forth… Until he saw something that disgusted him!

Then something that delighted him!

Sometimes some pictures make him look soo big that it makes me sad, and other times pictures make him look so little.This is one of those little pictures. He looks like such a baby in this picture..

Just like I like it! :)

We love our books

Saturday morning I was in charge while Aaron took a shower. I was working diligently and suddenly realized it was far to quiet. I got up from my chair and started looking for Beez. Our bedroom door was open so I was sure he had wandered in there. I opened every door, looked under every piece of furniture, my heart started to beat faster with every empty space. I looked faster, ran around the house in an almost panic. He wasn’t anywhere, and it was so quiet. My mind jumped to the worst of conclusions. I finally opened the last closed door, his bedroom. There he was quietly sitting in his closet surrounded by books. Reading to himself. He looked at me as I drew a big deep breath. Softly walked over, pushed the door shut again and this time I watched him on the monitor return to his closet and pick up another book.
I guess kids need alone time too.

***************************************

When only 2 people in this entire world new of the teeny tiny new baby growing inside of my tummy, I attended a book show and bought 10 children’s book. Surprisingly, no one asked why. They were my favorite books. They are my favorite books. Board books, and touchy feely. Virtually indestructible (but not so immune to spit up.)

Miles loved texture as a learning infant, these books brought him such joy. He could easily open up to the page with the lion’s scratchy paws. (It’s always been his favorite page!) The “That’s Not My…” is our favorite series, and our favorite set books.

**************************************

There was a time I thought I would never be able to read to him. He never sat still, he hated just sitting down. I could make it through one page before the crying began. I wondered how parents read to their kids every night. I learned the answer to that question was, patience.

Now story time is our favorite time of night.

I can’t imagine our life without our books. The joy they bring to him. The peace they bring over him. We love them..

{Part of O My Books Week over at OMyFamily}