Sunday evening as BT and I were brainstorming ideas on how to spend Labor Day as a family, he suggested the Fort Worth Zoo.

Brilliant.

We’d never been before, and the weather was FINALLY supposed to be cooler–perfect zoo weather.

We debated about telling the kids Sunday night or teasing them with a few extraneous details but saving the big reveal for the next day. I voted for the element of surprise, but then BT suddenly waxed Plato-like:

“The benefit of the surprise is often outweighed by the anticipation of something exciting.”

Seriously, I married a genius. This is something that you’d read in Barlett’s Familiar Quotations, but he assured me that it was original to him.  (And then, two seconds later , he fashioned some hideous sentence using the word “ustacould.” Something like “I ustacould touch my toes . . . “)

Anyway, still impressed by the logic and sheer sophistication of his wisdom, we decided to tell the kids about the zoo and let them simmer with excitement all night. And they did, especially Tad and Vivi.

Monday morning came, and I convinced BT to wear his official Dallas Safari Club shirt that we scored for $3 at our favorite thrift store.

When then picked up Ari’s good friend to help make the day even more enjoyable for our pre-teen and were on our way.

After a brief stop at the entry gate restroom where I had to throw up because of my migraine medicine (and a bout of car sickness), I felt restored and ready to tackle the day.

As anticipated, the weather was perfect, and we all had a grand time.

Favorite Memories:

Tad–the gorilla that was eating a snack and that kept looking at him

Vivi–the pink flamingos and the mommy and daddy birds that were kissing

Ari–feeding the birds

BT–having a day off from his labors

LT–when Tad saw two hog-like animals in the corner of their exhibit with their heads down and he kept asking if they were praying.

All the long hours that my kids and husband are away from me each week make me even more grateful for days like this.

Old piano

Ancient pump organ

Fully functioning treadmill

Antique movie projector

Box of Nerf guns, a remote controlled helicopter, and an empty cigarette carton

Paper shredder, large scratched white board, printers that don’t work

Random pieces of old mismatched office furniture

He travels the back roads of Texas looking for rusty gold. What most people see as junk, I see as junk, but Bryan sees as glittering Obtanium.

His heart quickens when something of interest is posted to the FREE section of Craigslist, and he crosses his fingers that by responding within the first 30 seconds of the post appearing, he’ll be Chosen. He routinely takes “shortcuts” through alleyways of fancy communities hoping to convert one man’s trash to his treasure. We need a cautionary bumper sticker on his truck .

Into the back of his vehicle, he’ll load anything FREE that he thinks he can cram into our shop or garage. . . and that I won’t totally freak out about.

He wishes he could make a living off of freecycling and dumpster diving . . . one dusty, dirty, decrepit piece at a time. Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m all for repurposing and breathing new life into something that would otherwise languish in a landfill, but where does innocent picking end and obsessive hording begin?

Please, no more, BT. At least not until you do something with your current trove of treasures.

P.S. But I am excited to see the desk that you make from the organ.

Blink . . .you’ve gone from high school senior with unlimited opportunities to college grad with vast career options.

Blink . . . your first born is placed in your arms and you don’t want to think about career . . . but you must.

Blink . . . she’s entering Kindergarten and your rewarding career has put food in her mouth and roof o’er her head.

Blink . . . another sweet baby girl graces your life. You walk away from your career. You miss it and wonder if you can ever feel fulfilled again.

Blink . . . a sweet baby boy joins the family and thrives despite early setbacks. You can’t imagine trading a minute of this magical time for a career.

Blink . . . you watch your middle schooler and kindergartener walk away and you agonize that this day arrived so quickly.

Blink . . . to clear the tears that pool in your eyes and stream down your face.

Today sucks.

I miss you, my sweet girls.

On the eve of our return back to Texas heat and the realities of cooking, cleaning and home maintenance, I sit here waiting for my cucumber facial peel to dry in the cool Spanish Fork breeze that gently blows in from the open window. Only moments ago, I exfoliated with an apricot scrub.

Prior to this trip, the last time I had a facial was probably when George Bush was President.

George Bush, Senior.

But the influence of a beautiful young lady has shown us wonders that I had long ago forgotten.

Our first week here, Claire suggested that we all treat ourselves to facials while we watched Anna and the King. Who wouldn’t want cocoa honey mud smeared all over her face?

It’s experiences like this that my kids and I will never forget.

Thanks for the memories, Claire and family!

without getting your hands dirty:

Guess what I’ve been doing while on vacation at Heidi’s house?

Besides indulging on Claire’s delicious cooking (I’m enjoying a gourmet omelet as I type) and trying to potty train Tad (more on that later), I’ve become obsessed with sewing dresses for Vivian.

I picked up three awesome Oliver+S patterns at a quilt fair my second day here and then proceeded to crank out three dresses in as many days. I’m currently working on dress #4, a cute sun dress from Izzy and Ivy pattern “Little Vicki” which I hope to finish by tonight, and I have fabric washed and ready for three more dresses.

I can’t say enough good about the professional techniques and polished instructions of Oliver and S patterns. And I don’t want to be rude, but despite Izzy and Ivy’s darling designs and their eye for picking fabulous fabric combos, some of their patterns are lacking on clear, error-free instructions and quality techniques.

Here’s the Oliver and S “Family Reunion Dress” Vivi wore to church today.


(She got a little shy during the photo shoot when Brent stopped by with his kids).

The kids have had non-stop fun playing with Brent and Jessica’s kids the past few days, but one of my favorite memories of this trip will be finding Tad and Everly at their make-shift “Skip-Bo gaming table” in Heidi’s linen closet.

Did I mention that these cousins are from Las Vegas?

Because BT is home alone while the kids and I are on vacation in Utah, here are some pictures to help him remember what they look like.

We miss you, BT!

After reading rave reviews about Sew What Skirts!, a book that teaches you how to draft simple skirt patterns based on your own unique measurements, I decided to give it a try.

I’m am definitely not the kind of person that likes to do anything without a pattern, and I haven’t installed a zipper for twenty years.

I like details, diagrams, and descriptions. There’s no such thing as too many instructions, so I was definitely going outside my comfort zone on this one. But I also wanted to make some cute, modest skirts for Ariana. She’s in that hard-to-fit ‘tween stage . . . not quite a young adult, not quite a child.

Although I definitely need to branch out and try some darts next time (had to make a casing and insert a bit of elastic in the back to make it fit right), and my zipper insertion skills could use some work, Ariana and I are quite pleased with the first skirt–fully lined gentle A-line with side invisible zipper, contrasting yolk, and double ruffles. (And if she hadn’t been practicing piano when I was in my picture-taking mood, I’d actually have a photo with her wearing the skirt.)