I’m losing hair. I do this every time I have a baby. We’re talking handfuls folks. But to make things even sexier, I haven’t colored or cut my hair since family pictures in July (see photo below). Help me oh goddess of beauty wherever you are. Sprinkle magic thickening dust onto my crown and grace me with glowing beams of blonde highlights that don’t cost as much as my phone, internet and cable bill combined. What if I just let my hair grow out au naturale Crystal Gale style, would that be crusty?




That’s my brother Jairus- his hair is always fabulous, although the “peroxide, shocked by putting finger in the outlet” look isn’t always my favorite for him. He is a strapping young man with a heart of gold. Talk about talent- he can do flowers, hair, photography, style, music, interpretive dancing, and the occasional stand-up comedy routine- he really blows me away. Sorry about the creepy prom night picture pose- we couldn’t resist what with matching shirts and all. He was rubbing the Buddha belly for good luck- that’s Tade in there you know.

This past Christmas my dear friend Audry, introduced me to another way cool girl, Audrey. Audrey has three super kids with adorable personalities and names to match; Storie, Stockton, and Saylor. With some friends we decorated a little tree for the "festival of trees" in honor of her daughter Saylor who has spina bifida. All the procedes from the sale of the tree go to Primary Childrens Hospital. Saylor has spent more of her life than any little girl should in and out of hospitals. It was a very humbling experience meeting her and her family and learning about the challenges that they have encountered, and also the strength and blessings that have come from these life experiences. It's people like this that remind you not to take things for granted, and to recognize the gifts of simple every day life.

Audrey "joy tagged" me, and something that has brought joy to my life is inspirational art. Before I share about a piece that has brought me joy, I wanted to share one that she referred me to. Artist Andrew Wyeth is an amazing artist who's painting "Christina's World" had signifigance to her families situation.

Christina's World by Andrew Wyeth

The woman crawling through the tawny grass was the artist's neighbor in Maine, who, crippled by polio, "was limited physically but by no means spiritually." Wyeth further explained, "The challenge to me was to do justice to her extraordinary conquest of a life which most people would consider hopeless." He recorded the arid landscape, rural house, and shacks with great detail, painting minute blades of grass, individual strands of hair, and nuances of light and shadow. In this style of painting, known as magic realism, everyday scenes are imbued with poetic mystery. (Gallery label text via moma.org)

Andrew was the youngest of the five children of N. C. and Carolyn Bockius Wyeth. He was home-tutored because of his frail health, and learned art from his father during long periods together. Both shared the same love for rural landscape, a sense of romance, and a strongly held feeling for Wyeth family history dating back to 1645 in America. Andrew started drawing at a very young age, and with his father’s patient and skillful guidance, he mastered figure study and early took to watercolor, and later learned egg tempera from brother-in-law Peter Hurd. He studied art history on his own, admiring many masters of Renaissance and American painting, especially Winslow Homer. Like his father, he read and appreciated the poetry of Frost and Thoreau and studied their relationship with nature. Music and movies also heightened his artistic sensitivity. Wyeth was often referenced by cartoonist Charles M. Schulz (a longtime admirer) in the comic strip Peanuts. In one strip the character Snoopy was presented with a bill for "psychiatic help" 20 cents and states "I refuse to sell my Andrew Wyeth". In another strip, Snoopy's prized Van Gogh painting is burned in a fire, and he replaces it with an Andrew Wyeth. Tom Duffield, the production designer for the American remake of The Ring, drew inspiration from Wyeth's paintings for the look of the film. M. Night Shyamalan based his movie The Village on paintings by Andrew Wyeth. The Village was filmed in Chadds Ford not far from Wyeth's studio. Director Philip Ridley has stated that his 1990 film The Reflecting Skin is heavily inspired by the paintings of Andrew Wyeth in its visual style. (taken from Wikipedia)

To read more about Audrey's family visit her blog in "my peeps" section. She is also a very talented designer and florist. Her business Studio Stems brings joy to many brides and the like. Thank you Audrey for sharing your life with us and inspiring others to find joy!

(Her sweet family photo courtesy of Rebekah Westover Photography)

Now for my piece of "joy art"- It's no secret that I'm a big fan of artist Cassandra Christensen Barney. I first met her at a wedding shower for my sister in law, Devon. I saw some of her work and became a fast fan of all her emotive portraits of women. I love her style and whimsical use of color and texture. Greenwich Workshop read's, "Christensen Barney's images capture the souls of heroines, everyday women who have found strength and personal victory in their diverse experiences. Her portraits carry a range of emotion reflective of the events that have shaped their character. Ambiguous and poignant, Cassandra’s women find strength in their femininity. “They are beautiful and strong, because of the complexity of their feminine nature”

So a couple Christmas' ago our family was visiting my parents in Idaho Falls. The night of my birthday just a few days after Christmas, my youngest at the time, Oliver, became very sick and was throwing up every hour. He became so dehydrated that he needed an i.v. at the the local hospital. The frightening part was that he was so far gone that he didn't even wince or blink when they inserted the needle into his arm. At this trying moment, I too became sick and was exhausted from staying up with him. My husband called me downstairs that night to give me a present. To be honest, I could have cared less about receiving anything at that time, because frankly, I felt like crap. He was so insistent about giving me this gift, so I came down briefly and he handed me a big flat box. My breath was taken away and tears ran down my face when I pulled out the Cassandra Barney painting that I had been admiring on Coda Galleries website for months entitled "Sarra". I never dreamed I would be the proud owner of one of her paintings let alone the one I loved the most, but my family had all pitched in to get it for me. This painting is a reminder of my husbands love for me, my families love for me, and it truly was a ray of sunshine on a very dark day. Now when I look at it hanging in our home I feel great joy, and when I get discouraged it brings me hope that "this too shall pass".

(I just added the bird for artistic flair) Go check out Cassandra Barneys art, you are guaranteed to fall in love with it. Also, she is having an open house at the Coda Gallery Jan. 11th from 6-9pm if you can make it to Park CIty this Friday.

I'm tagging "my peeps" to share what brings them joy. Peace out homies!

I think it's time for a Top Ten.

But to make things really exciting I'm going to do half Top & half Un-Top.

Let the games begin...

THE TOP FIVE

These pants... sweet niblets...they are awesome. Only at a park in Tooele can you have the honor of seeing these pants. Dear homie, if by some cosmic chance in the universe you are reading my blog, please know how fabulous you are and how perfect you made my day.

Yard art- let me clarify... Gnomes, pink flamingoes, black metal cowboy sillouttes leaning up against the side of the house, twirling pinwheels, american flags, concrete ducks, bird feeders made from stacked clay pots, wagon wheels from the late 1800's, bird houses, christmas light deer with bobbing heads, cherubic angel babies cast in resin, iridescent reflecting orbs, butterfly stepping stones, plywood cutout of a lady bending over with polka dot bloomers, beware of dog signs, smurf nativities (true story), you get the picture.
They are all lovely symbols of americana in all its glory.

A good, real, give you goose bumps, now you can't sleep at night, scary story.

This face

and this face

and this face

and this face

and this face

THE UN-TOP FIVE

I'm really terrified...okay terrified is too strong of a word- I don't look forward to popping cans of biscuits. I'm afraid when the container finally pops the explosion will be so large and startling that the house will blow up. I know it's hard to understand.

I really dislike toothpaste on the countertops.

When you open a box and there's those white packing peanuts, and they stick to your hand, and no matter how hard you try to shake them off they just won't leave contact with your body.

Navigating my way around Costco on a busy day. Okay folks, this is how it's suppose to happen- I push my cart on the right side of the aisle, and you push yours on your right side. And if you want a stinkin' food sample, please don't stand in the middle of the freezer section with your nine kids blocking all us other shoppers from getting to the granola bars. Amen.

Fast-food playgrounds- not a big fan.

Tonight after the kids had been put to bed Landon came upstairs with his hands on top of his head saying over and over again, "Mom, don't be mad okay?"

Silly putty has a mind of its own.

When I was little I would get gum stuck in my hair all the time.

Solution- ice or peanut butter.

I'm afraid the only solution for this is scissors.

Sorry bud.

Happy Birthday in Idaho. Lunch at Jakers with some of the sisters and mom-
three words....french onion soup. I'm probably one of the most non-photogenic people

you'll ever meet. There are too many things to remember-

suck in this, push out that, pull back this. I also had a lovely dinner with my hunk at Outback. Good times.

Hopefully this new year will bring a lighter me, a better me, and a more laid back me.

Gifting highlights were- 75% off after Christmas sales at Target, really tight jeans that cost more than my first newborn child, shiny red shoes, and new dishes.
I know they're a little trendy, but I decided to take a leap and branch out from the dollar store dishes I've been using for the last 10 years that take off the top layer of skin on my hands whenever I take them out of the microwave because of the scalding nuclear heat that seeps into the chips and cracks. Plus, they were marked down to $25 a box instead of the original $100.

Thanks to all the family that funded my birthday purchases.

I'd also like to thank my sister Sadie who chose the nail place where we had a pedicure. Oh honey I love your guts, but what were you thinking? At least we had a good laugh out of it. And although I'm still waiting to make sure my toes don't fall of from a disease, they do look quite pretty. Dateline NBC would have jumped at the chance to showcase this particular establishment. Next time blind fold me so I don't see the hairs floating in the tub of water before I set my feet in. Oh, and am I the only person that feels uncomfortable when the "foreign nail technicians" are laughing and talking in a different language?

They are so laughing at me.

This is a "12 days until Christmas" countdown that our talented friend Jennifer made for us. Each object is a symbol of Christmas, and there was a neat summary that the kids would read before hanging up the next day. She even made the barnwood frame.

This is another advent calendar I made with my mother in law when we were first married.

Nana and Pa brought this back from Germany a couple of Christmas' ago when they were visiting Nate and Shelly. It reminds me of the one we had at our house growing up.

Christmas has come and gone. How fast these days seem to pass us. Yesterday we took all the Christmas decorations down and I put out Valentines a bit early. I thought I would share some of the holiday touches that filled our house last year. (Bear with me as I learn how to post pictures- I don't quite have the hang of this formatting style yet.)

Ummmmm...okay here I am....I've finally joined the blogging world. Thank you to my sister Rachel who gave me the gentle shove into the cyber community. Finally I have an outlet for my rantings which before now were emailed to my family and friends against their will. Now you may all take a peak into our lives when you please...are you ready folks...the circus is in town!