Big Brothers Big Sisters is pretty awesome about getting us free or discounted tickets to kid-friendly events, and Jessica and I have been making an effort to see as many plays as possible. When BBBS sent out an email that they had tickets to Harold and the Purple Crayon, my inner three-year-old went “SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!” and I promptly reserved our tickets.

My inner three-year-old was not disappointed.

Actually, I wouldn’t take a very small child to see this; the actress (yes, actress) playing Harold and the one playing Harold’s girl friend wore baby-face masks that were downright creepy, and a scary Martian and evil witch add some scary moments. Otherwise, it was very entertaining; there was no dialogue, except for the unseen narrator, so the actors had to express everything through movement. The minimal set design echoes the simplicity of the books, and the projected animations and props were mostly adorable. As an adult, I really appreciated the artistry that the five-person cast brought to the production, which lasted about an hour, and I wouldn’t mind seeing it again.

Obviously, we couldn’t take photos once the production began, but I did take some prior to the play:

Ryan and I are planning a vegetable garden this year, using the square foot gardening method. We want to plant three 4′ x 4′ raised beds, and decided to make boxes with a bottom panel as well, for a number of reasons. Of course, we wanted to do it as economically as possible, so we purchased three 4′ x 8′ panels of 3/4″ plywood and cut into pieces to construct three 4′ x 4′ x 1′ boxes. Ryan’s dad, Steve, helped us put them together in his warehouse. Here are some pictures I took during the epic construction process:

More photos on Flickr.

I spent last week in Austin, TX, for the Educause Southwest Regional Conference 2010; I presented a session on “Using a Wiki to Keep Up with Evolving Training and Documentation Needs”.

Flying and I really don’t get along. My flight out got cancelled, so I got put on a later flight – meaning I missed my connecting flight, so I got to Austin about three hours after I was scheduled to. My last flight coming home was pretty terrible – delayed for two hours, super hot, and someone had been eating beans… and that’s before the bumpy descent and slam-into-the-runway landing. The hotel was okay, the food was expensive, and the whole trip had entirely too little of my Ryan. The conference itself was good, so it was worth going, but man… no more flying for me for a loooooong time!

I also made time to tour the Texas State Capitol; here are some photos:

More photos can be found on Flickr.

I visited my lovely sister Elizabeth in Kansas City this weekend (yay!). I got there about noon yesterday, and first we had Chinese food for lunch, then we hit the Nelson-Atkins art museum.

This is one of Beth’s favorite paintings. I can see why!

Beth commented that this armor would probably fit her, although her feet are too big for the shoes.

We really dig the medieval armor. This prompted us to go back to Beth’s house and watch six hours of season three of the Tudors. We finished the season this morning.

And the picture you’ve been waiting for… the real reason I drove three hours in the snow:

… to snap a shot of my sister squeegeeing her windshield.

I had a blast hanging out with her and can’t wait to visit again! Of course, I was glad to get home, and I walked in the door to see that my amazing husband already had the TV turned to PBS so that I could plop right down and watch the next installment of Emma, which I am enjoying immensely. That’s the kind of little thing that makes me love Ryan more and more every day.

Have a good week, everyone!

Jessica and I went bowling the other day.

And despite having the gutter railings up, and earning the screen above, neither of us cracked 100 either game. Oh well…. better luck next time!

These photos and more on Flickr.

I visited my mother a few weekends ago, and had a chance to snap a few photos as Mom did her afternoon chores. These are, of course, also posted on my Flickr.

Once chores were done, we decided to make some tea to warm up. Mom had received a “flower tea” pot for Christmas, so she showed me how it works.

This is a “pod”, dried tightly together. Once steeped in boiling water, it will blossom into a lovely, tasty arrangement.

See? Isn’t that pretty?

I made as many Christmas gifts as I could this year. In the header image and below are the tote bags I made for Ryan’s mother, aunt, and grandmothers. I’ll be making one for Mom’s birthday in May, I think!  These are made using Simplicity pattern 2676 and cotton quilting fabrics; you may remember these prints from an earlier post. These were a big hit, and I learned a lot from making them.

For Keegan and Kadence, my I-wish-these-kids-were-my-nephews, I made Lumpysaurs!

These are based on the Unforgettable Elephant pattern in Sew Everything Workshop, by Diana Rupp; I added the head, neck, and tail to the elephant body. These are made of stash fabrics and stuffed with scraps, so they’re good for bopping brothers over the head, which is what they do with stuffed animals. I hear the boys loved them.

On an unrelated note, I saw Avatar today and loved it… Who knew ten-foot-tall blue people with tails could be so interesting, and so very, very badass? Incidentally, I will probably go see every movie Sam Worthington makes from here on out, because the eye candy factor is through the roof. The rest of the movie is pretty eye-catching, too.

Next up: The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and Sherlock Holmes.

Later dudes.

I’ve spent two evenings this week with my favorite kids. Monday night Jessica and I played fashion designer with my closet, and trust me, you’re glad I’m not showing you her sense of coordinating colors. You’re welcome.

Incidentally, I’ve added blur effects to hide ISO noise; all these were taken in low light.

Jessica picks out a dress and shoes:

and proceeds to turn them into toys:

I love the pose in this next one; just wish it came out of the camera a little less blurry. Oh well; enjoy!

Yesterday I babysat for Keegan and Kadence so their parents could enjoy their eighth anniversary. Kadence sorted his Reese’s Pieces while Keegan worked on his Santa puppet (check out these reds and blues!):

These two have a great sibling relationship (and a stuffed Santa, if you look closely):

Oh, and they kinda seem to like me (probably because I gave them Reese’s Pieces):

Would you believe they posed themselves for this? Seriously, I look up and they are on the chair waiting for me (take the picture already, lady!):

Kadence giggles if you smooch him (Keegan took this one):

It’s things like this that make me look forward to having kids with Ryan someday. Not right now. But someday.

<insert contented sigh here>

So, I’ve been on a photography kick lately. I don’t have fancy equipment, but my little point-and-shoot-plus-Photoshop-magic and my iPhone-plus-Best-Camera-app have been keeping me quite amused lately.

Here are some fun iPhone photos:

Hooray! Ryan and I got married!!! I know it was over a month ago, but now we have our professional photos (yay!) and you get to see them! Here are some highlights, all taken by Beth’s Photography, who also did our videography:

Lookit my pretty girls!

Meanwhile, the gentlemen discuss deep and serious topics.

Someone actually got Ryan and the ring bearers to sit still long enough to snap a photo!

Awwwww.

Part of my “bridal session”.

This cake was definitely not a lie.

The ring bearers were supposed to give their ring pillows to the Maid of Honor (my beautiful sister) and one of the Best Men (Ryan’s friend Chris). Instead, the boys gave both pillows to Ryan, and because it was so unbelievably cute everyone got a good laugh.

Here I am!

Havin’ a weddin’.

Eeeewwww cooties.

HEY GUYZ WE IZ MARRIEEEEEEED!!!!!1!

I posted additional photos on a Facebook album that I am just maybe, just maaaaybe, willing to share with you.

Hope you enjoyed these as much as we enjoyed being in them!