inspiration here i come!

i've revived the daily dose o'danielle blog after needing a pick me up from the winter gloom and being inspired by a talk with a great friend (thanks sarah!). Here is the link. The formatting and design is still a work in progress so don't judge me too harshly.

Jumping for Joy

As a result of being stuck inside most of the winter, Mac has taken to jumping off most items of furniture in our home. With this in mind we ventured out to a trampoline activity center last Monday and Mac experienced pure bliss for two straight hours.

Hamilton wasn't a happy camper once he discovered that he would be denied access to the trampolines and I spent most of the trip trying to convince him that sitting at a table with mom and eating Pirates Booty was just as exciting.

New Year New Show

My first show at the Saranac Art Projects finally arrived after much stressing out and worrying that things wouldn't come together. The opening reception was a lot of fun and it was really wonderful collaborating on this project with the very talented Emily Hawkins. At this point in my art making life I think a collaborator might just be essential to snapping me out of my mommy haze and getting me working again.

Mac helping himself to the first twinkie of the night, and alas not his last.

Fall Travels

In no particular order here are some family pics from this Fall.

Mac rediscovers the joy of playing with leaves while Hamilton discovers the joy of eating leaves.

Our annual pumpkin carving extravaganza with the Hawkins Family. Next year we hope to up the ante by having actual pumpkin carving tools!

Even with our rudimentary tools we managed some unique looks and most importantly some delicious roasted pumpkin seeds.

This year we moved on from the supermarket pumpkin to the actual patch.

Mac often claims he no longer needs to nap but this photo says differently.

IKEA silverware=front yard toys.

Again with the leaf eating, Hamilton cannot be stopped. As a bonus he keeps my floors spotless.
The marathon drive back from Utah included important pit stops for pickle eating.

A little Dairy Queen.

An important phone call at Carls Jr.

I relived the glory days at a Provo High volleyball game with my former co-captain Meikel (aka muckaluckaboomboom), Suzi-lou, and Kae.

Meeting up with Mom and cousin Nicki at the park for lunch.

Adventures in Utah

Here's an update of our trip to Utah so far.

It all began with the marathon car ride which went so much better than I expected.

We started off the visit with a trip to the Bean museum at BYU. Mac was slightly afraid of the larger animals but eventually found a diorama of a train which occupied his attention for most of the visit, eventually bringing him to tears due to the fact that the train would not move.

For our next adventure we went up to Sundance for a little hiking.

Mac struggling to flee another photo op.

On our way down the mountain we encountered a bit of drama as Mac raced down the hill at breakneck speed.

Which inevitably led to a tumble and sent grammy racing to the rescue.

And after a few good hugs all was well.

Ah the odyssey of the hair. I have been unwilling to properly cut Mac's ever growing hair these two years, however after Cameron found him with a pony tail it was decided that the time had come. First up was the home cut by grammy which looked good albeit a little shaggy.

So it was off to the professionals and with a steady supply of suckers (3 in all for a 5min. hair cut) Mac sat through his first real cut.

And the results are one big boy. I can't believe how much older he looks without the long baby hair. I do miss the long hair though, so it may be another to years before we cut again.

And most recently my good friend Amber and I took the kidos to the Thanksgiving Point animal farm which was great fun.