LIZA TELLS US WHAT EGGS REALLY ARE

Liza and Kate came to play today. We had a treasure hunt--I'm getting ever so clever at hiding clues--they had to have "hot" and "cold" hints a couple of times. They laid on a blanket and ate popcorn and watched a movie. And...they made buttermilk pie! The recipe is here. They made two so they could take one home. Taylor called tonight to report. It was a success and the girls each had one and a half pieces. I don't blame them. Buttermilk pie is really good.

While they were making pie they each had to crack three eggs.After Liza cracked her second egg she told me what eggs really are. I must confess I have been ignorant of the true facts all these years.

Eggs are liquid chickens.

There! Aren't you glad you have someone like me to pass on valuable information? You now have a superior brain, just like Liza.

LAMENTS OF A NEW MOTHER

Sunday night, a cute, brand new mother came by for a chat on the lawn swings. At one point there were several women present when Brand New Mom cupped her "one things" and said, "Why would a woman want enlargements? This is awful! My husband likes them but he is banned--only the baby is allowed!"

We burst into laughter.

I told a friend of mine what Brand New Mom had said and she said, "Oh, just wait. Once that baby is finished nursing she'll know why woman have that particular surgery. Those thing are going to be flat!"

I didn't tell Brand New Mom. She'll find out soon enough.

JUSTIN HACKWORTH'S DOWNTOWN SHOW

Friday night I went to Justin Hackworth's photography show called "Thirty Strangers." He took photos of mothers and daughters--people he had never met--for thirty consecutive days. The show was held in downtown Provo in a lovely historic building.

Here are some of my favorites. My photographs of the photographs are awful, grainy and with reflections off the glass. Justin's were perfect, sharp focused and beautifully framed.

I love this one. Mom, by the door, daughter, on the steps, suggesting maybe she's thinking about moving on one day, just not yet.

I'm sorry this one didn't show up better. The love the nifty old wall behind them. I hope its in downtown Provo somewhere.

This is a very poor photo of Justin but I wanted you to see how unique he is. See the cool shoes with the suit? He is a talented man with innovative ideas. I love talking to him, he is charismatic. He makes me think of new possibilities, new things to try, perhaps even adopting a different attitude. (And he knows all about my camera. I wonder what I can trade for a couple of lessons since I still haven't read the manual.)

Justin and Amy, his very cute wife. She is also a great photographer, writer and quilt maker. They have two boys that I adore. Here is Amy with another talented artist, Lance Turner. Lance Turner took up pastel painting seven years ago at age 77, after a brilliant career in architectural design and advertising. He now wins awards for his pastel paintings. I would love to own one but they are out of my price range. I would have to trade one thousand pounds of caramels for one. That would kill Lance right off, and I'd be up for manslaughter.Justin's show was a great success. He is a unique man, one I am proud to call friend and his wife is one of my favorites for probably a hundred different reasons.

Here is his website. Go there. This is his blog. You should visit his blog. It's a bit sassy and funny. And this is his 30 Strangers project. If you are getting married he would be a great photographer. If you are a stranger, he is doing Thirty Strangers next year and you too could be hanging on a wall. Now that's a real conversation starter.

PS If you missed his opening you can still go. It will be open July 6-9 2pm – 5pm at 26 West Center Street – Provo Utah. It's worth the visit, really it is.

PPS One last photo. This door has the words "War Room" painted on it in white paint--the words don't show up in the photo. What do you suppose that means? Velly Intelesting.

THE BAND GIVES A PRIVATE PERFORMANCE AND MRS. BIRD MARCHES TOO

Every year the Timpview High School band marches around our neighborhood in preparation for the 4th of July parade. This is the woman who makes sure this happens. She emails the band teacher and tells him how we are looking forward to their pre-4th of July practice parade. Thank you, CindyThe shadows on the mountains were still long from the morning sun. The neighbor's geranium was probably happy to get those first rays. The only thing better than a private neighborhood band parade would be for them to be wearing their uniforms. We will have to brave the real parade heat/crowds/sometimes rain/noise/confusion for that.

The 4th of July, there isn't another holiday like it!

Here comes the band. The band marched around "the circle" twice. Here is the neighborhood gang, waiting for them to come around again. Every year our neighbors have a grandchild just this size. How do they manage it? Here he is following the band. He's patriotic that way.And I heard from Mrs. Bird. As she was getting dressed--she only had her pajama bottoms on--when the patriotic mood got to her too. She started marching down the hall. Now, Mrs. Bird was a drum majorette in her high school years so she has skills--she is also well endowed and gravity seems to have given her a reprieve. The feather duster was tossed in the air and caught just as her husband came in the house.

The 4th of July has many perks. The parade, celebrations, the Art festival downtown, vendors selling ethnic foods of all kinds, the hot air balloons that fill Fox Field and then the sky, family picnics and barbecues, the Stadium of Fire, Fireworks, and private marching expeditions for one.

KRAMER'S JAIL TIME ROOMMATE

I call Kramer the "Bad Barker." His mission in life is to sit by the front window and protect the neighborhood from everything, including leaves blown by the wind. In fact, he protects the neighborhood from the neighbors. He gets so upset he nearly tears the blinds off the windows. When he goes wild like that he has to have a time out. "Time-out," is the crate we use to take the cats to the Vet.

Kramer had lots of time out's today. When I went to let him out once, I saw an annoyed looking Pika in there. I knew I had put Kramer in there but he was nowhere to be found. And then...all of a sudden, he popped out! And nearly knocked me over getting out of there. Pika wasn't too happy about the whole episode either.

You'd think either she would quit having naps in there or he would quit barking so he didn't have to go to time out. Not so, they are both slow learners--just like so many of us.

I'm not naming names but SOMEONE hates stacks of paper that multiply like rabbits and yet...that someone keeps writing and running things off on the printer and copying recipes that someone has no intent of cooking/baking, etc. and the paper piles up. We should stuff it all in the Time-out box so Pika and Kramer would have something to read while they are waiting for their release.

A BUCKET OF WEEDS

Last night our home teacher came and gave us our lesson on the lawn swings. Soon neighbors started joining us and we visited for a long time.

One neighbor gave me a great mental image to use in my life. She mentioned that at the end of the day her dad always asked, "Did you get your bucket of weeds today?" This became a habit and she still does this, she pulls a bucket of weeds and her yard is never overrun, it is always tidy, the roses have room to bloom as do her other flowers, not to mention her wonderful garden.

Last night, before we had family prayer, I mentioned to Phil that pulling just one bucket of weeds was pretty simple. Day in, day out, simple but the rewards are huge. Then I started thinking, we should do that with all aspects of our lives.

Spiritual Bucket. We try to read the scriptures in the morning before our day starts but it doesn't always get done. So simple, a few minutes prepares us for the day and yet, some days our spiritual bucket is empty. We go to church every week and Phil is serving at a BYU ward but what about reading the scriptures every morning? I think I will start reading an Ensign article with Phil before bed, too.

My housekeeping bucket is neglected often. A little work each day and then there are no gigantic cleaning projects to tackle. I got into the habit of every time I used a paper towel I then used it to wipe up part of the kitchen floor. Soon the floor around the sink and stove was clean and I was wiping up the floor by the table and back door. When I neglected this simple task the floor needed major cleaning.

Food storage bucket. I learned from my mother so it's second nature for me to have food storage. Most Mormon's do, as we have been counseled by our Prophet and church leaders on this subject for what seems like forever.

One year, as we were bottling yet another bushel of peaches, I innocently asked why my mother we had so much food storage--much more than we could eat in a year. She laughed and said, "Why, Lynne, it's for the Californians. When they have to leave California"--I don't know what she thought was going to happen--some catastrophe maybe--"they will be hungry and we will have the food to feed them?" That was that. She stored food and extra for others.

I would rather shop in my basement than have to run to the store for a forgotten item I need for dinner. I'm not perfect but I have a plan that I got from Liesa Card, who I met in Costco, peddling her book, I DARE YOU TO EAT IT. I like her blog, she has some cool ideas and it's not just all about storage but about her family as well. (Today's blog is "Frozen Hot Chocolate.") When I get my storage up to date I'll blog about it. I'm so excited to put her simple idea into a working plan. Already it has made my life easier.

Speaking of food storage plans I found another blog this morning that I'm excited to read. This girl even knows how to store cheese...for a long time. Article here. Her blog is Preparedness Pro There are lots and lots of blogs like this. What are your favorites?

Family bucket. This is a picture of two of my granddaughters having a two-and-a-half hour water fight out of a clean kitty litter bucket. (I'm eventually going to blog about this.) It took some convincing to get Hillary to drop off her girls because she was busy that day, but four of the grandchildren eventually ended up at my house--for eleven hours--and it was fun for them and fun for me too. I hope they will always remember that day with their cousins and grandma. This is an area I really need to work on. I don't have the kids here often enough.

Just plain Fun Bucket. We need more of this. The other day I said to Phil, "I want to do something fun." He asked what, and I honestly couldn't think of anything we could afford. Two days later some friends brought us a vacation package. A night's stay in Salt Lake City at a cool hotel that brings you a goldfish so you can have a pet for the night, a dinner gift card for the Roof restaurant at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, and a gift card for a fantastic breakfast!

This is a picture of the Salt Lake Temple from the Roof restaurant. We were flabbergasted. We were, and are excited. They have filled my fun bucket with anticipation. We haven't decided when to go but looking forward to it is half the fun. Can you imagine? They are like Santa Claus and the Good Fairy, all rolled up into one. And no, I'm not going to tell you who it was. You can look at all my friends and imagine they are the ones. Won't that be fun?

What buckets do you fill on a regular basis?

IT OCCURS TO ME....

I don't know if you read my Father's Day post or not. My disaster day with the meltdown and not even giving Phil his card. Anyway, we celebrated Father's Day the Saturday before Father's Day so he did get honored and loved. All the kids came and brought food and their kiddies. That makes him happy.

Here are the children having a treasure hunt. The rule is, you can look for every clue but the only person who can find it is the one whose name is on the last clue. If they ask for help the rest of the group can give hints. They are so good about it. When we first started treasure hunts, years ago, they would yell out, "I found it!" Now they are so subtle and don't let the "finder" know they've spotted the clue.

This one doesn't take her nose out of a book long enough to hunt. She doesn't know there are memories to be had by being a part of the "cousin group."

This is what happens when you hand the camera to one of the children and say, "take photos for a minute. His sister will kill him. Her motto is, "I don't get mad, I get even."

Self portrait. And more...I didn't post most of the self portraits.

We're sometimes a weird bunch.

Each is weird in his own way.

Sometimes weirdness is exhausting!

Some do not have wierdness. They do have the most contagious laughter on the planet. I wish you could hear her delightful laughter.

And some do have the weirdness gene. Its from Phil's side of the family, I'm sure.Some find laughter in the weirdness. She's laughing because she hid the clue on the lawn swing and they can't find it.

Some have tongue in cheek because they know what's up.

Some were merely surprised when they get darted. "All right! Who which one of you hairballs shot me?" Yes, she calls them hairballs. It's part of her charm.

Some smile, some whistle or perhaps spit, in the background.It didn't occur to me to take a photo of the delicious food. Here's the serving table without all the delicious food. Do you like how the cloth is on so perfectly straight? I'm a stickler for details, yes I am. Happy Late Father's Day dear. Your card is around here somewhere, I promise.

I love you.