The poop on the Dinos...

I have been saying that we were gonna get back to the Arizona Museum of Natural History for a while now. Well, there were two exhibits that really peaked Leigh's interest so we drug our friends Amy and Danny and went to check them out.
One was the dinosaur 'feathered dinosaur' exhibit. There was a HUGE feathered bird dinosaur in the center of it. They requested no pictures of it so you won't get to see it though.
There were also a lot of different dinosaur displays and bones and fossils that really intrigued the kids.




Carson was amazed just how big the bones were. He didn't know where to look.

The second display was called PSI (Poop scene investigation) and it centered around identifying scat. Leigh is just a little bit obsessed with this so she also enjoyed this.


Amy even learned something:


There were other really cool things at the museum also. The kids panned for gold,


visited the downstairs where the original Mesa Territorial jail was located and operational until 1975.


It was really kind of surreal to be in the cells and checking out the locking system that they used with it.


They got to learn a little bit about native people of the state, the Hohokam, saw their art


and a model of the homes they lived in.


All in all, it was a refreshing day and we spent 3 hours just having fun and not worrying about anything else.
We liked it so much that we bought a membership to the museum!

Book Tag

Someone tagged this on me a LONG time ago (like 4 months...)
Sooo, here I go to do it:

Books that changed your life:
Affluenza by John De Graaf
Living Simply With Children by Marie Sherlock
The Complete Master Cleanse by Tom Woloshyn
Alcoholics Anonymous

Book you've read more than once
14,000 Things to be Happy About by Barbara Ann Kipfer
Material World by Peter Menzel
Welcome With Love by Jenni Overend (to the kids)


Book(s) you'd take to a deserted island
The Continuum Concept by Jean Leidloff
A simple prayer or meditation book
A blank journal and a pencil or two

Book(s) that made you laugh
Far Side books

Book that made you cry
I just cried recently when reading a book...
Can't remember though what it was

Book(s) you wish you had written
Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (I REALLY just wanted to have the experience she did to write the book...)

Book you wish had never been written
I think that every book was written for SOMEONE even if I don't enjoy it.

Book you're currently reading
The Way We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter by Peter Singer and Jim Mason

Book you've been meaning to read
The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan

Book you've been meaning to finish
Siblings without Rivalry by Adele Faber

Hmm, I was gonna tag people but if you think that you want to participate, just jump in.
I would be interested to read the choices picked by : Heather, Karen BF, Nancy, Christina, Maisha, Michelle H and Jen B

Faces of the boy

Our boy is rapidly approaching 2
He has really become quite the character
A personality all his own
Here's a quick peek at him

Eating salad....with the tongs:


STOP! No Photos!!



Doing his part for the environment by composting:



...and biking instead of driving



Checking out the new cement sidewalk out front:

Down the primrose path

On Tuesday, at SIX AM, a bunch of men came and pulled up our sidewalk in front of our house. There was some root damage from our trees out front.

The next morning, a bunch of trucks showed up and we were left with this:


Fresh wet concrete, calling out to us to do SOMETHING to it...
Carson couldn't help himself.



They came along about 1/2 hour later and smoothed that out though



I said to the one worker, "You didn't give us time to carve our names in it!" He replied, "Were you on a siesta? It's been here all morning!" **Sounds like the go-ahead to me!**
Well, after careful consideration and discussion with several people (including my husband and sister) I decided to set that bad example for my two kiddos...and put their initials and the year in the cement...



They can show their future loved ones with pride, and tell the story of their bad influence (but exciting) mommy.

BOLD

I'm still trying to put down the emotion of the event that I witnessed yesterday.
Daddy was nice enough to take the kids to a pool party picnic dinner for just them! at a friends house while I was among my women friends for a moving event.

Chris (with Talia), Michelle (with Christian) and me

Birth On Labor Day
a phenomenal depiction of true birth stories as acted out by an awesome group of women. I went with several friends and sat with a few people who have been there (one in person) for my own birth experiences. There were tears in my eyes several times. Once out of joy and celebration and once out of sadness and despair for an unheard mother.

There was a birth fair outside of the play area. Participants included some sling artists,



Advocacy clothing


some doulas, photographers, AZ Birth Network, other birth professionals

and I got to see my past midwife and co.

Wendi, my midwife and I


After the play, I also go to participate on a very informed panel with a talk back about the play.


Michelle and I on the panel

I'm still filled with emotion about the subject matter and awe about the performance. At the end, the actresses all stood up together and each said, "I did it!" I wanted to yell out, "So did I!"



It reminded me that, "My Body Rocks!"

A Big Change

So, I sold my big two harness rug weaving loom




and two days later, I got an email asking for weaving instructors to teach beginning weaving at the Shemer in Phoenix!!

I met with the lovely women at the Shemer and a couple other artisans including the director of the Federation and Put in a proposal for the beginning weaving class.

The way things worked out, I was able to put in TWO proposals for two different classes in the spring...

Holding my breath BUT, being very hopeful...