QUIET FIREWORKS-

It was our fifth fireworks show since being married, but the first time with just the two of us. We spread out our blanket by the river, ate a picnic dinner, and enjoyed the show surrounded by strangers. 

While waiting for the sun to go down, we entertained ourselves with people-watching. Living in our Rexburg bubble,  some of the characters in Idaho Falls were slightly traumatizing to my sheltered psyche.  For example, we counted five butt cracks. Each time, Andrew proclaimed, "Crack kills!" Then, driving home, we got flipped off twice!

Like I said. Traumatizing. 

But otherwise, a wonderfully, relaxing evening. Hope your holiday was happy too. And crack-less. 

Blinded for Life,

Rachel

TEACHER TUESDAY {skinned bunnies and beans}

{source}

ONE.
A student proudly brought a rabbit pellet to share with the class. One gal, running her hands over the soft fur, said:

"It's really sad, because you have to kill a bunny to get its fur."

A nearby boy said helpfully,"Well, you could just shave it."

I started laughing and tried to explain why this wouldn't work when my usually, clueless guy in the front suddenly sat up straight in his chair.

"Wait! Does shaving a bunny, kill it??"

It took several minutes to get the class back into control.

{source}

TWO.
I was focused on checking names for homework completion when a favorite little character of mine came up and asked, "Do you want to hear something kind of sad?"

My absent minded, "uh huh," was encouragement enough.

"Well," he began, sighing dramatically, "I sneezed into two cans of beans, so I had to eat them all by myself.
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Now I'm really gassy."

The checklist suddenly forgotten, I stared after him as he walked back to his desk. I never did come up with anything to say in response.

HOUSE UPDATE--{rollin' the floor}

A lot has happened with the house these last few weeks:

1. stem walls poured
2. damp proofing applied
3. foundation back-filled
4. trenches dug
5. utilities connected and inspected
6. floor sheeted

This is my most recent picture of the place. 

And actually, it doesn't even look like this anymore. As we speak, Andrew, his brothers, and his dad are framing up the walls. It's all happenin' FAST! 

I. AM. SO. EXCITED.

iPOD BLOGGER

Riley and Auntie Rachel. 

UNLUCKY IN LOVE

Flipping through old pictures, I found one I had taken of a student's limerick poem (written on a Dr. Seuss hat):

There once was a very nice buck.
He met a very nice duck.
He was mating,
The grass was fading
Then he had no luck.

I remember crouching next to his desk to edit the rough and having to re-read it several times. 
.
"So...tell me more about what this poem is saying...who doesn't have any luck? What kind of luck doesn't he have...?" 
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No matter how I phrased my questions, I couldn't get him to really explain it satisfactorily. I don't think he really understood the ways in which this poem was just...awkward. And I couldn't ask the questions I really wanted answered without touching on taboo topics in a public elementary school. So I finally just checked spelling and grammar before sending him off to publish his final copy. 

Though I'm still wondering what his mother thinks of my poetry instruction...

COWGIRL UP! {written by andrew}

I took Rachel for a drive to Kilgore, Idaho, on Sunday. I wanted to show her the area. It is so beautiful, and she had never been. 

As with any drive we go on, Rachel spent 80% if the time behind her camera lens.We had pulled over beside a cattle field, so she could snap some pictures of the wildflowers. 

As she was crouched down, completely consumed by the pretty flowers, she was unaware she had an audience gathering...

She was quite surprised when she stood up to about 100 head of cattle  lined along the fence to watch her.

Even as she joined me in the car and we began to drive away, they still followed, bellowing after us.This intrigued Rachel, so like a scientist, she began to experiment.

After having me move the car around back and forth...taunting the cattle no doubt...Rachel got back out and started taking pictures of them.

Then, out of nowhere, she started sprinting down the dirt road. Of course, the cows thundered after her, following her back and forth down the fence line. I would move the car, but they would stay put unless Rachel was with me.

This kept her occupied for quite some time. I am sure all those ranchers driving by thought she was some girl from New York City who had never seen a cow before, and just had to take pictures.

Regardless, she was happy, and strongly believed, as we finally drove away, those cows' moos were calling her back with calls of "Mama!"

Personally, I think they just wanted to be fed. Or maybe, Rachel's just my little cow whisperer. What can I say?

CRAFTINESS {freebie!}

With all this extra time on my hands lately, I have been a crafting maniac. I was inspired by this cheap, easy wreath over at Kiki Creates, and just had to make one for myself.

I bought the wreath form at the local thrift store.

Then I cut an old white T-shirt into strips to cover it with.

I just pushed straight pins deep into the wreath to hold it all in place. You can't even see 'em.

Then I made over a dozen rosettes with hot glue and scraps of clothes I had planned to donate anyway. I used Kiki's rosette tutorial HERE.

Then, I arranged the rosettes and pinned them in place. If I don't hot glue them, I have the freedom in the future to change the colors and style to match the seasons and my mood.

To fill in the empty spaces, I cut leaves from varying felt colors before adding quick details with needle and thread.

The felt cost me 25 cents a sheet.

Finally, I looped polka-dotted fabric through the finished wreath to hang it with.

Also, I thought that rather then scour the Internet for a summer subway art, I'd just make my own by typing words in different fonts and colors. It was fun.

After printing it, I trimmed the paper around the words and framed it with a backing of striped fabric I had on hand. Then, I pinned red ribbon around the edges of the white paper to clean up the look.

I'm no pro at this, but if you want a copy, go for it. Get it HERE.

P.S. Anyone else getting excited for the July 15th Harry Potter release? I totally had a dream that I was in a magic wand battle the other night. My friends and I tore through a hotel putting every bad guy around us to sleep with our spells. We were running down hallways and pushing people out of elevators. It was very exciting. =)