Nice Weather

We've had a lot of nice weather around here lately, and we've been taking advantage of it. I love this time of year!

 

They Go Together Like Peas and Carrots

Remember that part in Forrest Gump where Forrest just finds out he has a son, and he sits down to watch Sesame Street with Little Forrest? You know they're father and son, because their heads tilt in the same direction as they watch TV. This morning Jim and Tralee were watching Sesame Street together, and just look at the picture!! I couldn't help but capture it! Now, I'm not saying that Jim is like Forrest Gump, but he does like a nice box of chocolates! :)

Artsy Fartsy

Tralee and I got ready for the day, packed up our gear, and headed downtown Boise yesterday morning for Toddler Art Wednesday. This was our third official Toddler Art Wednesday at BAM (Boise Art Museum) as patrons. When I worked as the Assistant Store Manager for BAM I loved watching all the cute toddlers waddle in the first Wednesday of each month and expand their little minds with an artful experience. Usually Tara, the Assistant Education Administrator -- not sure if that's her official title or not -- is in the studio with an art experience which correlates with an exhibit on display. Today's experience was based off of Andrea Merrell's Measure of Man exhibition. Her art is the kind that makes Jim furious. It's very minimal and abstract. Jim's response would be, "You call that art? I could do that!" At first glance it does look like a bunch of shapes on the wall. However, after further study about Merrell, and the thought process behind her Minimalist approach, I was intrigued. I won't go into great detail, but I will quote from Christopher Schnoor, in his review of Merrell's exhibit. He states --among other things-- that her art is "an investigation of the special energy of geometric forms, and how, in tandem with certain hues, they engender not only images but ideas. How, for instance, a vertical rectangle is dynamic, up-lifting, defying gravity, while horizontally is represents repose, tranquility, or the sense of being earthbound by gravity. The square conveys earthiness, concrete matter, monumentality and perhaps gravitas, while the circle traditionally symbolized the spirit, organic processes, and mind. In its ability to be both a concrete and an abstract language, in the respect and resonance it commands, geometric form has inspired artists from Bronze Age Greece to Gioto to Malevich to Donald Judd in the 1960s."

So. . .that being said, here is Tralee's artwork inspired by Andrea Merrell:

 

I, of course, think Tralee is brilliant, and will continue taking her to Toddler Art Wednesday to further her obvious talent as an artist. Even Jim, who doesn't share my love of art couldn't deny his feeling of pride while viewing Tralee's piece.

This next picture is from last month's Toddler Art Wednesday. It was acrylic crayons on canvas. The project was inspired by Marsden Harley's exhibit -- which I LOVE by the way.

 

Temple Day

Jim shifted his schedule around so we could go to the temple today. That's defiantly a perk for the self-employed. He's been swamped with work lately, and although we've been planning to go to the temple for awhile, we just never found the time. Jim finally made the decision for us. Today was the day!

Grandma Tricia agreed to watch Tralee for us, and we took her over to Grandma's house around noon. After dropping Tralee off, Jim and I decided to grab a bite to eat first. It's been a while since we've eaten out without Tralee. I have to say, it was very nice not having to contain a busy one-year-old who wants to do ANYTHING except sit still at a dinner table. Jim and I were actually able to have a conversation that lasted longer than thirty seconds. I was actually able to eat all of my food before it went completely cold. Lunch was a treat!

When we arrived at the temple, we gathered our things and I realized something very bad: I left my wallet (that contained my recommend) at Tricia's! We called Tricia's house and she confirmed that my wallet was sitting on her kitchen counter. YIKES! It seemed like our carefully planned temple trip would have to be postponed. . . AGAIN. However just when our hopes were all but diminished, Tricia's husband Jeff--a temple worker--explained that we should still be able to get in with a little effort. Jim and I went into the temple and explained our predicament to the worker at the reception desk. He called another worker to come help us out. This man made some phone calls, and luckily got a hold of a member of our stake presidency. After a few tense minutes and some more explanation I was cleared to go in. PHEW!! That saved me a LOT of grief.

Jim and I did a session and it was great! It felt really good to go to the temple after so long. It was also nice to spend some quality time with Jim.

Tralee had a busy day with Grandma while we were gone. At first, as always, she cried. . . and cried. . . and cried when we left. She cried herself to sleep, and then slept for two hours. Grandma said she was just fine when she woke up, and ate a lot of Grandma's homemade applesauce among other things. After chowing down, Tralee played outside in the Larson's garden. She jumped on the trampoline, and then played in the yard while Grandma and Grandpa worked. Tricia said she turned around for a minute, and when she looked for Tralee she found her sitting in the middle of the muddy strawberry patch, playing with the sprinkler that was on. Tralee got a bath after that, while her clothes were put in the washer. When I arrived to pick Tralee up she was running around in her diaper, just as happy as could be. The girl loves to be naked!

So, the day was a success. Hooray!

An Afternoon at the Park

Friday afternoon Tralee and I headed off to a nice little playground/park area next to the Y. Tralee had a blast crawling around the apparatuses, swinging, going down slides, running after big kids, and her most favorite -- playing with and throwing wood chips. I tried to capture all of Tralee's royal cuteness at the park with the following pictures. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

Tulip Photo Op in Downtown Boise

We visited downtown Boise today for the Farmer's Market. We looked at local artist's creations, bought some locally grown asparagus, radishes, bought some Honey Whole Wheat bread from a baker, and found a beautiful spot outside to take some pictures. We think they turned out rather nice.

 

 

 

 

Crayon Culprit

The other day I ran to the library to check out a book and left Tralee with her Daddy. When I returned Jim met me at the door and said, "Tralee got into the crayons." I was intrigued as I walked into our house to find a beautiful drawing on our table, green slobber coming out of Tralee's mouth, and half a chewed on green crayon in her little fist.

The girl really gets into her art work. I've heard of artists quite literally putting themselves into their paintings, but never heard of an artist consuming their medium into themselves. Tralee is just an edgy artist, she's bending the rules and mixing it up to get a reaction. She certainly got a reaction out of me the next day when her...ahem..."deposit" was bright green!!