A trip "up" memory lane.

On the way home from McCall after Zach and Lori's wedding, we decided to take the scenic route. It also took us past where Mr. Yost and I had our first "outing" together-Jerry Johnson Hot Springs. The next day we drove by some of our old haunts in Missoula before heading home.

~ A pit stop along the river ~

~ A rare moment of brotherly/sisterly love in the hotel in Missoula ~

~  Playing at the riverfront park in downtown Missoula ~

 ~ Some of Vivi's first slides...check out the closed eyes as she nears the bottom - too cute! ~

 ~ The kids were thrilled with their rides on the carousel. ~

Good thing it wasn't cold out!  

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Sky Pilot, How High Can You Fly

A few months ago, Vivian realized two things: she had fun little squishy things in her ears and she could reach them!

Our best defense against her curiosity is to block all access.  We have a few different hats that we've tried. 

The best basic hat for wearing on a daily basis to daycare is the Hanna Andersson cotton pilot cap.  They are $10 each + shipping.  While they work well, they leave a little to be desired in overall cuteness factor.  I call her my little water polo player when she wears one of these.  Pouli calls her "Sky Pilot."  I recently looked up and listened to the song by The Animals in 1968 to see just exactly who this Sky Pilot was. 



The Sky Pilot of the title is a military chaplain, as revealed by the opening verse:

He blesses the boys

As they stand in line

The smell of gun grease

And the bayonets they shine

He's there to help them

All that he can

To make them feel wanted

He's a good holy man

 

Sounds just like our Vivi, right?  Maybe not exactly, but I still think Sky Pilot is a pretty cute nickname :)

Below is a cute hat that my cousin, Cheri, sent when Vivi was born.  Since it doesn't have a tie, she can get it off pretty easily.  This one ends up being more of a fashion statement than a daily wear option. 

*Notice how Hudson has rigged up a kite string on little Sky Pilot's swing as an alternative to the traditional swing pushing.

Somewhere on a blog about kids with hearing loss I saw a company in Canada called SilkaWear.  It was started by a family that had a child (Silka) with hearing loss.  They designed a hat that she could comfortably wear all day. 

"Prewashed to eliminate shrinkage, these custom-made bonnets are made with a top panel of 100% cotton, binding and ties of 100% cotton, and side panels of polyester sports mesh for breathable comfort and optimal hearing aid reception."

This one was more expensive - about $35 with shipping.  It was hard to tell what size would fit her.  I didn't want it to be too small, so I ordered one that is a little too big.  The fix?  I use a little pony tail holder on the top to gather up the excess material.  I call her "Top Knot" when she wears this hat.

The most recent find was this super cute summer sun hat.  These are called modBonnets.  A fellow Mom and blogger who also has a little daughter with infant hearing loss shared this great find with me.  It has a fun pattern on each side and is reversible.  It will be great for riding in the backpack, camping or just hanging out in the backyard this summer.

New carpet

We finally did it! We replaced our old, dirty, disgusting construction-grade carpet. When we moved into this house about 4 years ago, we knew we'd want to replace it at some point.  Over the winter it got to the point where I cringed every time I looked down. 

Not anymore!

Over Mr. Yost's spring break we moved literally every single thing out of all the rooms upstairs, had the new carpet installed over a two day period and then moved everything back. It was a little crazy at the time, but well worth it.

It inspired some more purge projects along the way like books...I think the final purge tally was somewhere north of 40 grown-up books and 20 kids books.

Stella climbing on the mound of stuff that was in the kids' bathroom.

This doesn't look too bad, right? Wait for the close-up...

What IS that?  Who knows.  That old carpet seemed to attract dirt and stains out of thin air.

All I can say is thank goodness I don't have to look at that every time I walk down the hallway anymore!

 The finished product - a wool Berber that is a great solution for our busy family.  It isn't a huge transformation as far as the look, but now all those little dots you see are actually part of the carpet instead of stains! 

 It was an in-stock carpet at one of our local furniture/flooring stores.  It was an affordable way for us to get a wool carpet. 

 I finally feel comfortable walking barefoot and letting Vivi roll around on the floor now!

Boise Zach got married!

Last weekend we took a road trip to Idaho to attend Boise Zach's wedding in McCall, Idaho.  Thursday we drove to Boise to see Lori's house and get Hudson's little tux. Zach, Pouli and I even squeezed in a round of golf on Friday morning.  It was only the second time I've played since I started having kids.  I loved it!  I'll definitely be getting back on the course more this year.  Friday afternoon we drove north to McCall and the rehearsal. 

 Rehearsal dinner at Lardo's Saloon across the street from the lodge.  

Aunt Meggie must have been teaching her some Yoga.  

We were so fortunate to get to stay at a beautiful cabin (house) of one of Lori's friends.  This little fox must have been a usual visitor because it wasn't afraid of us.  The kids loved it!

Hudson found these wolf slippers in the cabin.  Boys will be boys...

 A handsome group of guys.

 Stella and her co-flower girl, Kyla just before the wedding. 

Vivi didn't have an official role in the wedding.  However, she thought that she had been designated with a speaking, read shrieking, part.  The friend that let us stay in her house, Patience, ended up wheeling her around in the hall during the ceremony so she didn't steal the show.  

 He looks way to calm and collected for being minutes away from getting hitched.  No cold feet here!

 As the "grooms-maids", we made sure to perform the time-honored tradition of giving the groom a little liquid courage before the ceremony.  Cheers!

 I promised the kids they could watch a movie on the computer after our family pictures and before the ceremony.  They didn't know that it was all part of my plan of keeping them clean.  I even tried to have them wear towels over their clothes while they were sitting there!

Who knew what you could look like if you had two professionals working on hair and makeup for about an hour each.  I could get used to that!

We had a fun trip home via the Lochsa River and Missoula.  I'll post some pics from that part of our trip soon.

When life gives you snow, make...snow ice cream!

It wouldn't be Easter weekend in Montana without a nice, wet snowstorm.  This year was no different.  What WAS different was that I finally remembered to gather some of the fresh snow to make snow ice cream.  I'd read about making snow ice cream in several different places and had been wanting to try it.  I don't know how I've lived all these years without trying it.  I mean, really.

 When it starts to snow, place a large, clean bowl outside to collect the flakes. 

 Well, I didn't quite get the bowl out there to actually CATCH the flakes, but we did scoop up some nice fresh snow.

Ingredients - 

this is my kind of recipe - nothing fancy here (gee, can you tell we shop at Costco???)

• 1 gallon snow (I didn't measure to see how much snow we had)
• 1 cup white sugar    (we used Splenda because we have a huge bag that I keep trying to use up)

• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups milk

stir in sugar and vanilla to taste 

 Here is my little helper.  I think he has been reading too much Pioneer Woman blog.

 then stir in just enough milk for the desired consistency 

 The "desired consistency" was sort of like mashed potatoes 

 Spoon into bowls

 Serve at once. 

Okay, serve after you've put on every topping you can find in your refrigerator. 

 Enjoy!