Summer is NOT over until I say it's over

Team Yoga School. I have so much love in my heart for all these kiddos. Grade 'A' Yoga Badasses. 

Each and every one of them.

So many of you know I attended a yoga teacher training in Sedona this summer. What I haven't told many people are any of the details therein. A big part of that is that I haven't really been sure what to say. I learned so much from so many people, I can't really express what happened during June and July in a very concise way. I mean, as always there are some hilarious stories. Especially when you send a little Mormon girl and her toddler to yoga school. And I want to tell them. You know I do. 

Another reason I haven't really gotten around to telling this story is because I haven't really found a good way to thank all the amazing people that made my going to this training possible. It truly changed my life in so many wonderful ways. How do you thank someone adequately for that?

So today, I'll just start with a few pictures from that amazing month.

But in the mean time. Thank you to all of you who made this dream a reality. 

I'll keep working on a better way to say it.

Yoga on the Rocks

Allie. I broke into her house with a credit card.

Madeline

By her own admission, she's broken her own ribs doing yoga.

You can't get much more yoga street cred than that.

the garden

monsoon

Statues for chanting. I didn't chant at anything for the record. Except my alarm clock at 3:30 am when I had to get up everyday. I would have gladly put a voodoo curse on it if it would have changed anything.

Kristopher  at the creek

That's a real live yurt, y'all. I slept in it. At night. On a hill by myself. For one whole hour. It was terrifying. A bunny almost ate me.

Camp Nugget

Dragon Pool

For all those of you in Nugget withdrawal, this glimpse of the Max at camp in the mountains is for you.

Hiding in the toy box

Internet is sparse, but he didn't want to let you down. 

This picture isn't even edited. He's just angelic. In pictures anyway.

We love you guys!

And airplanes (or hairplanes). We love those a little bit as well. 

We hope you are all having an amazing summer! We love and miss all of you!

XOXO,

the management

To My Little Boy

Dearest Baby Max,

Max peddling it up 

There are people in this world who will tell you to take care of yourself. There are forces that will make you feel like if you continually give of yourself , of your time and talents, that you will be left empty.

I want you to know that just the opposite is true. The more you give, the more you serve, the fuller your life and your heart will be. If you exhaust yourself everyday putting love and caring feelings out into the world, you'll go to sleep happy and full each night.  Sometimes it can be embarrassing when people aren't ready to accept your help or your friendship or even you. I want you to know that that the only sting of regret that you should even ever acknowledge is that of the missed opportunity to try. 

Shiny little shoes

I love you so very much. Your kindness and ability to love everyone you meet inspire me to try harder everyday. 

Love, 

Momma

The bunny, the bunny... ooh, I love the bunny.

Happy Easter, Yall. The nugget wants you to know he's eaten a metric ton of straight chocolate today. 

God bless America.

And dentists. 

Not so much dentists, as they frighten me. 

Even though I'm sure they're the very nicest people in their personal lives.

Speaking of Easter snacks, Max's eggs only lasted one round because he found them to be delicious. 

Every time he found one, he insisted on us cracking it for him so he could eat the yoke out. 

It is my belief that he loves these because I had to eat two everyday when I was pregnant with him and they often took the form of boiled eggs that I choked down because I couldn't get them down in any other way. 

Now isn't that a pleasant Easter thought?

You're welcome, everyone.

Suit : DapperLads, Bowtie: Nordys,  Sandals: from Nana

This little seersucker short suit is from a little company called DapperLads. How awesome is that? They have the cutest suits and wool pants for little boys. I've bought knickers and and knee socks there before, and these people are on their customer service game. I emailed them after I sent my order like two weeks ago mentioning that I would really like to have it in time for Easter and I got an email from a human within couple of hours letting me know that they were on top of it and would get it sent out post haste. 

It came five days before I even expected it, yall.

I was so excited for Max to find his Easter basket that we ran for the front porch this morning. I thought he might yell or cheer (as we're a family given to exuberant bursts of joy), but he simply spied the basket, dragged it inside without batting an eye, and proceeded to feast on chocolate bunnies and the like. 

You Make Your Mama Soooo Proud

The Nugget and I were on our own last week, because Mr. Newsfeed was off being important and earning money to support our glitter habit. We wore pajamas like it was our uniform. Max's have cowboy monkeys on them. Don't even get me started on how opposable thumbs do not a cowman make.

Also last week, we decided to hit the children's museum. Not only is it only a couple of blocks from our little bungalow, but Max's Auntie Christina hooks us up with free passes cause she loves us real bad. I suspect it's also to stop the incessant texting and pouty faced pictures of the nugget in her email begging for them, but that doesn't mean she doesn't also love us. When I asked Max what he wanted to pack in his lunch to go to the museum, he said "orange." We were out of oranges. So I packed him all orange foods (pad thai, cheese crackers, and peaches) then explained in detail how the food was all orange and how funny Mama is.

This was his face...

Target Monkey Backpack, Old Navy jeans, and baby H&M pablo shirt.

He pepped up when we got to the baby room, however, and immediately grabbed an iron, threw that blanket on the ironing board, and got down to business.

I can guarantee he didn't learn this from watching his dad, so I was pretty prideful upon witnessing this.

If you'll notice in the picture, the ladies are taking notice. Even if it's a little creepy.

That is some great ironing, son. However, one of your babies is face down and smothering, one is lunging at the legs of your ironing board, and one is frying bacon in bed. 

You'll want to get that in check.

When I came around to his little window to take his picture, I snagged his binky. This was his "please don't steal binkies while I'm ironing because that is just plain dangerous"

face.

Notice the fat lip the lad acquired in nursery. Nursery, folks.

I think it may be time for Daddy to return and take this little guy out for some football.

Farmer Me

So Max and I hit the zoo today. It was a lovely day so there were a zillion babies there. It was toddler-pallooza. We even ran into someone we knew.

Friend: Lacy, I can not believe you're wearing pearls at the zoo.

Me: Why? We're mothers. Not farmers.

Friend:  I thought you wanted to be a farmer. With a goat and vintage appliances?

Me: That's true. But it's a stylish farm. Even the goats have pearls.

Friend: You're googling pearls for goats on your phone right now, aren't you?

Me: Yeah, but all I'm getting here is pearls for swine. Maybe we can have pigs instead.

Friend: Are you sure those results don't link to the use of the idiom "pearls BEFORE swine," Lace?

Me: That's what our farm can be called! It's a refuge for wayward pigs, a place where they can get back on their feet after I save them from becoming bacon.

Friend: Lacy, the point of farming animals is to raise them and eat them.

Me: Not at my farm. We wear pearls and we don't eat one another. It's all very civilized.

Friend: Where are you going?

Me: To find the pigs and check the smell level. I can really only handle like a 3 plus on a one to ten scale.

Friend: Well, why not just douse them in Chanel perfume?

Me: Now you're just being ridiculous. Like I need the EPA on my back. It's bad enough I'll have to deal with the PETA people wanting to know why all my pigs are being forced to wear necklaces.

Appropriate Zoo attire right here, people. 

The First Day

So, this pudgy little squidgy little guy with the drool used to be my baby. 

He rolled around and demanded food all day and sat still for pictures.

And MAN, did he love his momma.

Now.... this is my baby.

Heading off to his first day of preschool without me.

He never even looked back.

He's pretty much in college now. I have become obsolete. Below is a picture of him standing outside of his classroom door demanding to be let in because he can hear the other two-year-olds having fun in there and the door is locked.

When I picked him up a few hours later, the teachers all gushed about how smart he was and how sweet and charming he was (and how  mischievous he was.)

But I only wanted to know one thing... Did he ask for me at all?

And it turns out he did.

So, I guess he still loves his momma after all.

The director of the school said Max did great

(he didn't even want to leave when I came to get him), 

but if we were going to do this thing twice a week I was really going to have to pull myself together and not cry so much.

Good luck with that, ma'am.

I WANT to know all of these things except about you.

 1. Post these rules.

2. Post a photo of yourself and 11 things about yourself/your life .

3. Answer the questions set for you in the original post.

4. Create 11 new questions and tag people to answer them.

5. Go to their blog/twitter and tell them that you've tagged them.

Yall, I know you've seen this before and I know you may be wondering... "Do people with blogs need MORE of an excuse to navel gaze and chat about themselves?"

 The answer: 

Clearly, that IS the case with me. 

Nothing to be done about it. So read on! But seriously, the be all, end all, coolest girl ever tagged me up (most likely to nudge me out of my long time dismal no blog-a-rama) so this is happening... right now!

11 Shocking Facts About the Proprietor of the Newsfeed

1) I can NOT hang on to my phone to save my life. I continually lose it, and it's an extreme source of frustration for my friends and family. I'd say a good 75% of the time, it's completely lost. When it finally turns up, I apologetically reply to all the angry texts I have waiting about my not answering the phone, declare voice mail do over and delete them all, get frustrated after people tell me what a terrible friend/daughter/wife I am for loosing my phone, and so I lay it down somewhere, walk away,  and the whole cycle begins again. 

2) I LOVE helping folks. Helping people feel better = my black tar heroin. We've moved twice in a year and I really miss having friends that I'm close enough with that I know when they need something done or aren't feeling well. I'm getting there with my friends now, but they are still resisting my need to help a bit. My favorite is surprising people with dinner or a small chore that they needed done because then it's already done and they can't stop you or insist that they can do it themselves. That is the saddest thing ever for me.

3) My favorite board game is Dreamphone. Google it. I have two sets and I make company play it all the time.

4) I've always wanted to be an actress. Or at least, since I was Ado Annie in a production of Oklahoma! in the fourth grade.  Still, every birthday, while reviewing my life options I always think "Oh Man! Am I too old to become a famous actress now?! And then I tell myself, No Way! That is defiantly still on the table." Even though I've done exactly zero to ever achieve this little dream of mine.

5) My husband and I remind me of Lucy and Ricky Ricardo from the I Love Lucy show because I'm always coming up with super fun "schemes" that are DEATHLY important to me and my husband is a ranting, Cuban naysayer. 

6) I think a really important thing in life is to sit quietly on a tuffet of soft grass and review yourself every now and then. Recognizing disconnects in your feelings about yourself and others can be life changing. I think that's why I'm not good at keeping up with my phone. When I do have it with me, I feel the need to constantly be on it and I don't have any time to think. 

7) I constantly obsess over how I'm gonna change my hair next. It's good that it's so short for the moment because I don't have a lot of options left.

8)It makes me really, really crawl out of my skin uncomfortable when people talk about money. 

9)Sometimes I carefully make a long list of all the things I'm going to accomplish that day and then never do any of them or leave the house the whole day just because Max and I are having so much fun messing around in the garden or something dumb like that. Then, when I see the list I feel awful. But only for a minute. 

10)I have extreme anxiety about keeping in touch with people. I have so many wonderful friends and family that I think about everyday and want to call or check in with and I don't do it because I'm worried that they are mad at me for not calling sooner. I know. Straight crazy, yall.

11) I subscribe to "Airstream Life" magazine and freak out when it comes and read every page. The thing is... I do not own an Airstream. Never have. Maybe someday.

Meredith's Questions

1. What's the best  thing you ever ate?

Tomato Zucchini Bisque. Minerva's. Sioux Falls, SD. Go there and eat it. It will change your life.

 2. Do you prefer the radio, Ipod, or a CD while driving?

I like sattelite radio a lot. I pretty much listen to one of three stations. The Highway (country). Alt 21 (alternative). Or the spa channel (It makes soothing noises while I take deep breaths and the baby screams at me from the backseat that he wants to go to the car wash.)

3. What's your most prized possession?

I'm not really that attached to anything. I guess maybe my camera.  Or a guitar pick that Clay Walker gave me at a concert because I was in LOVE with him so bad when I was 14. I'm so old that there are songs on the radio that are covers of my teen superstar's songs. OLD.

4. What's your fave ride at Disneyland?

I've only ever been to Disneyworld, but my favorite thing there was this ride that made you feel like you were taking off in plane because I love airplanes. My awesome aunt rode that ride with me a million times while I was wearing a propeller hat that I thought was sooo awesome. She's a better person than I am.

5. What's your favorite clothing trend from your lifetime?

Goucho. Pants. Felt like jammies. Looked flattering on no one.

6. What's the best road trip you ever took?

One fall, some friends of mine and I went to the Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City Utah. Maypoles. Raspberry Tarts. Theater. It was nerd Heaven. So, I was in Heaven.

7. What's the first song you remember knowing all the words to?

I remember that I learned all of the words to all of the weird little songs in the girl scout camp handbook. I can still sing a lot of them. And I sang them LOUDLY at girl scout camp. Yeah. I was that kid.

8. What was your favorite year of HS?

Junior year I feel like was pretty great. We finally all had cars and some freedom but we didn't quite have college looming over us yet like we did senior year. 

9. What did you want to be when you grew up when you were a little kid?

An Actor/Lawyer/Astronaut/Ballerina/Spy. Not one of those. ALL of those. I was hoping to be rather well rounded.

10. What's your go-to meal to make?

Just me? I'm eating Cheerios. And loving them.

11. What's the first chapter book you ever remember finishing?

Harriet the Spy. I still list this as one of my favorites, and it shaped who I am today.

My Questions

1. Which character did you most identify with on the Nickelodeon classic "Hey Dude"?

2. What was the best thing your Mom/Dad/Grandma ever said to you?

3. Who would you take with you to high tea at the plaza?

4. If you could uproot your life today and move anywhere in the world, where would it be?

5. What website/blog do you check that you don't want people to know about?

6. If you could have any famous person alive or dead as your personal butler, who would it be?

7. If your family pet could talk, what would they say about you?

8. How many times have you been in love?

9. Cupcakes or doughnuts? 

10. Where is the person you miss the most?

11. If you could go back and live one year of your life again, which year would you choose? Or would you decline?

I'm a taggin...but feel free to skip it if it ain't yo thing/you already did one/ you're making cupcakes for me.

Chanda, Mandy, Christina,

and because this past weekend was the Texas Style Council Conference, these awesome ladies I met there last year

the HauteMuslimah, Jess, Desiree, Kara and Laura, Kelsey

and these super famous time bloggers who probably won't read this but I want to tweet it at them so they know I love them and I would die of happiness to know their answers to these questions.

Jenny & Ree

If I didn't tag you, I still want you to play if you're up for it! Send me your link!


*Update. While I was looking up twitter handles to tag people just now, I saw that Miss Indie just did one, so sorry bout the redundancy there. I also saw that Jess HAS to do it because we haven't heard from her on Hello Wife in ages. That is all.

Curious George Meets the President

This is Max in his stolen hat waiting to meet the president. He wriggled and giggled through his chair to get it off of a child sitting behind us.

Then he made friends with everyone sitting near us immediately, which is his way. By this, I mean "his way" to get snacks from strangers. Within, five minutes he was offered an Odwalla bar which he would have happily eaten, but I didn't want him to get all gooey before he met the president. He's always furious with me when I stop people from feeding him, even if he's just had a four course baby meal. Luckily, a White House employee stepped in with red, white, and blue M&M's bearing the presidential seal. This satiated him for a good ten seconds or so before he wriggled off again.

At least it gave us the time to take this picture with Max's super best Arizona auntie, C. Peck. I made her be in the background, clearly, because she is way hotter than I am.

This kid is a mess. Also, I should let you know that we don't yet have the official picture we took with President Obama and I promise to post it on facebook as soon as we do. I didn't want you to make it to the end of the post and get sad and disappointed.

This is Mr. Newsfeed with his most trusted volunteer, Heather. She loves Max and takes him on walks around the office always just before Mr. Newsfeed strangles him for office related shenanigans. We had to wait forever to finally shake his hand but it was completely worth it. He was so kind and had such great energy for a man who quite literally carries the weight of the world on his shoulders. C. Peck got a little flustered and extra adorable when she was introducing herself and so he gave her a big hug. It was so cool. We told him that the Nugget existed because we met and married while working on his 2008 campaign. He replied, "Well, then this baby's middle name should be Barack!" He is such an amazing man.

Then we returned to our (awesome) seats to listen to President Obama's speech. Max elected to play with my lip gloss during this event. We weren't allowed to bring a bag in so his options were limited. I'm glad everyone could hear the speech with me hopping around exclaiming, "Remember when the president hugged you up?!"

He gave an amazing speech about industry and education in this country that really felt like a great follow up to the "State of the Union" address he's delivered the night before.  Again, I promise, this post is not a politcal plug in anyway. I've never brought my politics onto the pages of this blog before and I likely never will again. But as they pertain to the Nugget's adventures, I figured you guys would be cool with it. Some of my very best friends are republicans.

The day was especially wonderful because I had one of my very favorite ladies by my side. Thanks for coming, C.Peck. Without you, my little monkey would have escaped into the massive crowd of people and reappeared on the top of that crane in the background.