Autumn Fest

First of all I don't know what is up with my camera it is taking these really long photos.

Saturday Masonic Village hosted their Autumn Fest.

It is such a fun celebration with lots of free food and fun things for the kids to do.

Like make these fun crowns.

(kacen found that hair tie and wore it as an arm band all day)
 Kacen spent over an hour watching their model train sets.

 And Andie was a happy girl.

Sunday was also a wonderful day. The kids and I went to church, Ky had to sleep to go to work. Then I made bread, and a good dinner. Later in the evening Kace and I went long boarding with Maddi and her friends. It was so fun, it had been a long time since I got on a board. PS they all thought I was pretty cool, a mom of two in my mid twenties long boarding, score, I am still cool.

Flash Back Friday: Ahhh When I Used to be Gangsta

Because it is Friday and because I took so long between posts last, here are two for ya today.

When my family was here for Andie's blessing we started talking about the silly things we did in college and some of my dirty secrets were exposed. So take a trip back in the past to live with me in another time and another place.

Growing up my parents fostered creativity, I was always artistic but had a hard time finding my niche. I had multiple encounters with art teachers wanting to re-direct my artistic views. Seriously had one teacher who would take my drawings, paintings and sculptures and add to them at night while school was out. My mom set that straight right quick. I enjoyed all the art forms I dabbled in but had never found the one thing I had passion for.

Rexburg ID 2005
My parents were living in Los Angeles CA at the time and during a routine weekly call my dad told me about a tag artist he met. Dad was so excited about this guy, and excited for me, he wanted me to learn how to tag. At first I thought, "Well dad has finally gone off the deep end. Not only has he come to terms with the fact this his baby will never be the doctor or lawyer he wanted, he now feels that he needs to push me far in the other direction towards the homies and hoes." 
But as I thought about it more my whole life began making sense. I really dig urban. In Jr High School I wore JNCO jeans bought in the boy section. In high school I remember wandering the streets of Salt Lake one Christmas time and watching for nearly an hour as a man created unique paintings using pie tins and spray paint. Many traffic laws had been put aside over the years as I slowed down, sped up, ran lights, swerved lanes, ect. to concentrate on the trains and buildings decorated in vivid color by other law put asiders such as myself.

With this new realization I set out on a learning journey.  The boy I was dating introduced me to his friend Pierre, an amazingly talented graffiti artist, well with pencil anyway. I learned a lot from him about using colors and lines. Even though I enjoyed sketching graffiti fonts on 8x11 paper I wanted to take it bigger. I wanted to do the real thing spray cans and all.

With the help of a friend, maybe it was Kyle my timeline is a little off on all that transpired, I built myself a frame to attach butcher paper to and started practicing. Well word got out, as often happens in small towns and small campuses, about this white chick graffiti wanna be. Boys in my ward were soliciting my skills for posters for their apartments, ten bucks a pop! Easy money. One day I even got a call from the school asking if I would make posters for an upcoming event. Wow I just realized this was something I was getting paid to do and yet it never hit my resume I have been cheating myself all these years. Anyway that project earned me a pretty $80, that is pretty much like one grand in college language.

 

(My first attempt that me and my roomies hung in our apartment. And my adorable cousin Lee Boy. I was hoping to put up some other photos but they were all taken pre-digital and I don't feel like scanning them in right now.)

While the posters were great I was really itching to get my paint on a real wall. Being the good Christian mostly law-abiding person I was, I applied a great amount of self-control and never defiled others' property. Luckily my friend Jon knew about this new passion and took me to this awesome cave in Idaho Falls called Three Mile Cave. We loaded up my paints and a ladder and journeyed into the deepest corner of this cave, right next to the scariest pond I ever saw, and got to work. As my paint hit the wall a huge sense of relief over came me, getting out this deep longing I had to put paint to wall. A huge mural of a melting world with gangsta flames engulfing it started emerging through our motions. It was one of the neatest things I have ever done. Yeah I understand that no one except the local townies looking for a secluded place to play a prank or make out will ever see it, but for me that was gratification enough.

Not entirely related; after we did our tag job we went to a local dairy to get ice cream and had a truly Napoleon Dynamite moment. It was a hot day and we meandered over towards the milking cows, I stood there licking my cookies and cream cone staring fully engrossed at the throbbing utters of a huge heifer laying in her own manure swatting flies with her tail. I ate the entire cone standing there.

So yeah I became a tag artist for a year. There is a lot more that goes along with these events but those are other stories for another time. 

A Trip to CT

Last weekend we went to Connecticut to visit my big Sis K'Leena and her family.

I forgot my camera but trusted that we could use my sisters, well during her move from UT to CT the battery was lost so we had to rely on phone cameras during our stay, so enjoy.

 

We spent a lot of time just hanging out but we also went on a few outings.

Friday we went to a local park in the evening.

 (Aunt K'Leena and Andie Girl swinging)

We ended up back at this park Sunday and Monday, it is such a fun place with beautiful hiking trails.

 (Me, K'Leena and Andie)

Saturday was our big day we, we decided we would go to a museum and then some other fun stuff. So we looked online and found the a youth museum in Hartford, online there were pictures of cows, llamas, barn owls, tractors, you know pretty much a great time for kids and a bonus it was free. So we load up and head over there, it ends up being a two room building in the middle of the city with some toy trains. Not quite what we were expecting but the kids loved it.

We only stayed there for a little bit then decided we would head over to the museum that the men wanted to go to in the first place, the Hartford Trash Museum. I was following my brother-in-law on the way there and didn't realize we were getting close but I started to smell something real bad and asked Kace if he took off his shoes, right after I asked that we rounded the corner and saw the trash museum. I thought "Why is the lady with ubber sensitive smell and the pregnant lady going to a trash museum." But it ended up being closed.

Sooooo..... we ended up here.

(Kacen and cousin Emily watching the birds)

 A really awesome private park that has an aviary, and beautiful themed gardens, English, Italian, Scottish, Japanese, it was so beautiful. We even did our first hedge maze, I felt like I was on the set of Pride and Prejudice. Plus they had three different playgrounds. We should have packed lunch and dinner and spent the whole day here it was so fun.

(This really cool looking bird, I can't remember what kind it is)

 Sunday we went to church and my sisters ward is so nice.

Monday we took the kiddos to a bounce house and they loved it. Well I had to show them what to do at first and then Kacen needed some spotting on some of the toys but it was still a great time.

 We left late Monday night and after about four hours of driving I thought it was about time to feed Andie and Ky had to go pee but we were in the middle of the woods in the Poconos on a rural road. The GPS said 20 miles til the next town and Ky couldn't make it that long so we pulled off the road. As we backed up the dirt drive and turned off our  lights we saw a car coming around the bend, and I thought, "Oh great we look so creepy." Just our luck, it was cop he pulled in right behind us and turned on his lights. As he came towards the car he was shinning his light in and when he saw the kids I saw him relax.  He asked if we needed help and I told him I just needed to nurse the baby and he said that was fine, they just have a burglar problem with the cattle or something.

 And because we all like us a good pic of Andie babe, here ya go.

Anyway it was a great weekend, I really love spending time with our family and this Fall and Winter will be full of doing that.

A Strawberry Day

We were at the park when this really nice lady told us that the fire station had their doors open which meant that people could stop by and check out the engines. So we left the park in a hurry and headed right over there. 

 Firefighter Kacer

 He was such a good good good boy while we were there. It is the best!

My mom shared a story with me yesterday that had a really profound meaning to me. A lady in her church tried her aunts vanilla ice cream multiple times and never liked it, she thought it tasted too tart. One day she decided that once again she would try the vanilla ice cream, she took a big scoop and shoved it in. When she bit down she felt something squishy and slimy, she spit it out and it was a strawberry. All along she had been eating strawberry ice cream. She thought she was having vanilla but it was strawberry!

The moral of the story is, sometimes we think we are supposed to be having a vanilla day and things seem to be going wrong at every turn as they continue to not work out according to OUR plans. But maybe, just maybe, God has planned out a strawberry day for you and it could possibly be the best strawberry day ever! Haha or in some cases the best strawberry LIFE ever.

Perspective, perspective, perspective.

So maybe when Kacen dumped that whole box of cereal on the floor this morning it was just part of that strawberry day.

Headed to Connecticut to visit my sis this weekend so stoked, hopefully the kids cooperate. So well catch up later. And a reminder, if you read my blog and have a blog too and I don't have your link on the side please let me know I would love to see what you and yours are up to :)

Picaso

Kacen loves painting, he will walk into the craft room and ask to paint all the time. We haven't done it all that often because it turns into a "I have to be with you every second and not take my eyes off you and your brush or your tummy/hair/chair/floor/table will be blue" sort of thing. But he is getting better at keeping things clean so we busted them out again the other day. Well they were actually left out by me and he had been asking for days so I let him have at it. 

Just cut open a cereal box and WAAM instant kids canvas.

Check out the technique, I love watching him learn new ways to manipulate his coloring tools. He figures it out all on his own, he will not let me help him.

Related to art and I am so sorry and have meant to share this for months now actually but Sept 29th is Museum Day and you can get free tickets to many museums around the country for that day so jump over quickly and snag up some tickets in your area. We have tickets to the Hershey Story.

 

Funny story not related to painting, the other night (well it is hard to write a funny story with a screaming baby so postpone the funny story til another day. Ok five days later now we will actually get this post up, maybe)..... Ok Ok the other night we were having dinner and Kacen in his usual manner just started reaching for what he wanted, no words, no eye contact, actually quite oblivious to anyone or any ettiquette except the chips on his grandpas plate. This caused his grandpa to say, "Eating a meal with Kacen is like eating with Helen Keller." We all thought it was hillarious, sorry if this offended anyone. 

Oh one more good note, both of my kids slept for a straight seven our stretch last night and I slept that whole seven hours with them, it was like magic.    

What we do While Daddy's Awake

If you read my blog and have a blog and I don't have your link on the right please tell me about your blog I love new reading material.

I wish I had that sort of devotion to my mom, but I am one lucky mama.

When Ky Ky is awake he does cute things like this.

I didn't know that he had done this and he just told me, "Andie really wants you to change her diaper." Being the nice wifey I am, I went to change her diaper and saw this on her. It was so funny, She didn't need a diaper change, he already did it. 

The other day I realized that Kace had pink painted toe nails. Hahaha. No one has fessed up yet, but whatev. 

Also while daddy is awake we watch Raising Hope, well just started only two episodes in but it is pretty funny. Alright after a couple more episodes I need to say that Raising Hope is sorta trashy.

But we have been watching the Lorax a lot and that is a pretty good flick.

What we do While Daddy is Sleeping

Well while Kyle is sleeping the kids and I do a lot of hanging out. 

 

 Haha silly Kace gives me a fake smile and has jam on his face. But at least he let me get a picture of him with his sister.

I gave Kace his first soccer lesson. It was about getting the ball in the goal. He is really great at dribbling it and liked kicking it in the net, until he realized how much fun it was just playing in the net.

Check out the new kicks. My man loves me fo show.

Andie just chilled out while we played but when the sun came out she didn't really like it.

Talented People and a Baby Blessing

Alright I know this is getting out late, ugh I seem to be running at a snails pace these days. So I hope you all enjoy the beautiful graphic work done by my friend Erin. I am so grateful to be surrounded by such talented people. I know the great grand parents will be happy to finally receive some pictures of Andie girl. So this week I need to order announcements and lots of pictures, and design and order two photo books.

This weekend we blessed Andie at our church.

For more information on a child's blessing in the LDS Church Click Here. 

Also enjoy the many faces of Andie Conger

 Sweet

My family came for the blessing (Mom and Dad from Maine, Sister, bro-in-law and niece from Connecticut) and it was so great to see them. It was the first time my mother saw Andie and she ate her up. They just spent all day snuggling. We don't get to see my family all too often and Kacen just warmed right up to my dad and brother-in-law and just loved sitting near them and playing with Uncle Ryan. He especially loved "Emu" (aka Emily), they did so good playing together. Oh yeah didn't get my camera out once, my mom was taking photos and I didn't think to get any off her camera until about an hour after they left.

 

Silly

Speaking of running at a snails pace, sorry if any of you have talked with me lately and I seem ungenuine. I feel so tired and all hormonally jumbled sometimes that I don't quite say all the nice things I think and don't work conversations two way by asking about another persons life. So if anyone has felt slighted by me recently please forgive me. I know so many of you have done the most generous things for me and I don't always say thank you the way I intend to.

Some nice things I do want to say, is I love my family all of them in-laws too. I know Perry and Valarie must love me, or Kyle or at least Kacen and Andie to be willing to host my family here to visit with us. Seriously they are some of the most generous people I have ever met, and I have had that judgement of them since before I even met them and Ky just told me stories of growing up. I just love moms and mothers-in-law. They just step in and help out where  needed and often that means taking care of kiddos. We are so lucky to have such wonderful family to be surrounded by.

And I am so thankful to my family for making time for me and using their resources to come visit me. It means the world to me know how well loved we are. I hope that I can sincerely return that love to all of them and to all my friends too.