Round Trip: Art From The Boneyard Project

We took a trip down to Tucson to see Round Trip: Art From The Boneyard Project this weekend. Conceived by Eric Firestone and curated by Carlo McCormick, Med Sobio, and Lesley Oliver, the project features incredible works of art on old airplanes and nose cones from contemporary artists (listed at the bottom of this post) around the world.

The Pima Air and Space Museum is absolutely incredible with hundreds of aircraft to check out and explore. However, the exhibit just put the whole experience over the top for us. I've been wanting to visit since I first read about the project and it certainly didn't disappoint.

Read more about this exhibit that runs through May 31st here.

Artists: How & Nosm, Nunca, Retna, Saner, Faile, Andrew Schoultz, Aiko, Peter Dayton, Shepard Fairey, Futura, Mare, Tara McPherson, Richard Prince, Lee Quinones, Kenny Scharf, JJ Veronis, Colin Chillag, Crash, Daze, Daniel Marin Diaz, Tristan Eaton, Jameson Ellis, Ron English, Faile, Erik Foss, Mark Kostabi, Lisa Lebofsky, El Mac, Alex Markwith, Walter Robinson, Hector Ruiz, Randy Slack, Ryan Wallace, and Eric White.

ER: Round 2 {and other stuff}

Just five days after Oliver's ER visit, we ended up having to bring Finley in. He whacked his head on the twirly thing at the park after soccer practice on Friday night. At dinner he told Jason his head felt really funny and then proceeded to throw up in the car on the way home. We took him to Urgent Care and they advised us to go to the hospital for a CT scan. Great.

The ER waiting room was filled with some really "interesting" folks that night. Like the man who had a huge gash on the side of his head. He was just sitting there casually chatting to the people across from him with no regard to the fact that there was blood dripping all over his face and clothes. Then there was the guy who came in completely hammered. He'd had a few several too many, gotten into a fight, and swore he broke his hand. He was moaning and yelling in the waiting room like he was about to give birth to triplets. The fabulous nurse came out to check his hand and said just loud enough for everyone to hear, "I'm pretty sure it's not broken." Awesome.

It turns out the Finley's noggin is just fine. It was a pretty quick ER visit and we made it home in time to get a little rest before Oliver's last soccer game of the season.

A few bits of random:

I have received several questions about our raised beds lately so I'm working on a post that goes a little more in depth about our gardens and how we built them. If you have a question you'd like me to include, let me know.

I've also received a bunch of inquiries as to Oliver's Darth Vader freezer paper stencil shirt. I'll have a freezer paper tutorial later this week including a link to the coolest Star Wars stencils ever.

We managed to squeeze in a trip to see Round Trip: Art From the Boneyard Project at the Pima Air and Space Museum. Wow. So incredibly cool. I'll be sharing about that this week too.

What He Wore: BOY style

This is kind of another cheater BOY style post but this has been a crazy week for us so I thought I'd put together another wishlist of clothes that I'd love to add to the boys closet. I am *really* feeling bright, happy colors paired with cool neutrals for the boys this spring.

Gingham Checked Shirt: Zara Kids

Anchor Fleece Top: J. Crew

Finding My Way Tee: Zara Kids

Gingham Shorts: H&M I have these shorts for Oliver and LOVE them. They come in a zillion colors (including plain) and are only $7.95. You're welcome.

Skinny Trousers: Zara Kids

Denim Bermudas: Zara Kids

Neon Checked Belt: Zara Kids

Neon Laces: J. Crew (LOVE these!)

Jack Purcell Converse: J. Crew

Easter gone bad

The boys woke up at the crack of dawn on Easter to see what the bunny brought them. They were stoked to find the little Batman LEGO sets that they had been wanting. We got them ready, headed to church and as soon as we got out of the car, Oliver had a really bad coughing fit so we turned around and came home. We gave him a breathing treatment and he seemed to be fine, if a little tired.

He perked right up when the cousins, aunts, and uncles all arrived. You'd never know that he hadn't been feeling well that morning.

He ran around, wrestled, collected a gillion eggs, and loaded up on a bit of candy. He started to slow down again once everyone left and I could tell that he was starting to wheeze a little.

He didn't want to eat dinner that night and went to lay down on the couch. I could tell that his breathing was getting worse so I gave him another breathing treatment. It didn't help at all so an hour or so later we took him to Urgent Care. When the doctor finally saw him, she called an ambulance to take him to Cardon's Children's Hospital as he was in "severe respiratory distress." It came on so fast! Scary, scary stuff. Poor little guy was barely able to breathe and was such a trooper. 

After boat loads of breathing treatments, oxygen, steroids, and an epi shot, Oliver's breathing improved tremendously. In fact, he was so hopped up on the treatments and steroids that he was bouncing off the walls at the hospital. I have never seen that kid move so much or talk so fast (and that's saying a lot). Thank goodness for our handy little travel LEGO box (Jason ran home to get a few things and wisely brought it along).

I was too freaked out to get any pictures of his ambulance ride but here are a few where he's feeling much better and itching to go home.

This whole asthma thing is new to Oliver. It came on fast and he's already had three pretty severe attacks in the last few weeks. We met with his pediatrician yesterday and will follow up with an allergist tomorrow. Hoping we can get some answers and figure out what might be triggering the attacks so we can avoid them in the future.

I hope you all had a far less eventful Sunday than us.

Full Bloom

Spring is by far my favorite season here in Arizona. The weather is gorgeous and dry, the neighborhood farm animals are having babies, the flowers are in bloom, the hens are laying up a storm, and we spend every waking minute outdoors. I fully realize that this all sounds ridiculously cheese ball but it's true (back me up here fellow desert friends). If you are quietly cursing me now, remember that I will be cursing you in just a couple of months when the crazy desert heat settles in. At least we have the haboobs to look forward to, right?

I don't think I've shared any gardening or chicken pictures in a while so here's the latest and greatest of what we've been doing outside.

We added a second raised bed a couple of months back so we now have room for a small cutting garden. Fresh flowers in the house every day? Yes, please.

(Update: someone asked on Pinterest if the rebar over the bed in these pictures is a sprinkler system. That would rock but it's not. We have a watering system snaking through the actual bed which works very well. The rebar above the garden is to hold the netting in place to keep the birds and chickens out. We also use it to hang our sun shade in the summer and freeze cloth in the winter.)

Even the girls are enjoying the beautiful weather. I think they know that summer is fast approaching so they're taking advantage of this while they can. They are not big fans of the triple digits and really, who can blame them?

Jason and I were looking at the garden this afternoon and he lifted the net for a split second. In the blink of an eye, Francie was up there looking to snag a treat. If you don't watch it with these young pullets, they'll gouge out your eyeball to try and steal your food. They are crazy. We had a picnic under the trees last week and poor Finley lost his quesadilla to Minnie before he knew what hit him.

All of our trees are starting to produce this upcoming season's fruit. The boys are checking out the apple trees (their favorite and mine too) with Old Lady. Her name is Addie but for some reason, Oliver has called her his Old Lady since he started talking. Sadly, we think that Old Lady's days are numbered so we're getting in some good quality time with her.

And kind of related but kind of not...My sister, the AZ Plant Lady, had a film crew over from SheKnows.com today to film several "how to" segments on gardening for their website. She is a gardening genius (especially for the desert) and I know these videos will be incredible. I'll be sure to share when they're available.

Wherever you are, I hope you're outdoors and enjoying spring (at least on this side of the hemisphere).

What He Wore: BOY style

Easter is coming up in just a few days so I thought we'd do a little Easter style here today. My boys are rough and tumble kiddos so their style is pretty casual. These little outfits are fun but will allow them to do their crazy thing and I won't have to panic that they'll ruin anything (great prices on these threads!). I would have liked to get them some skinny chinos but it's going to be hotter than I care to think about here soon and they'd have no chance to wear them again until late fall.

I made these little bow ties for them a while back. I don't care for the way they "sit" so I'm planning to whip up some new ties from the Red Pajamas bow tie pattern when I find the time.

Finley and Oliver's shirts: H&M

Bow ties: Made by me. Make your own with this pattern here

Oliver's jeans: The Children's Place

Finley's khakis: The Children's Place

Oliver's shoes: Converse

Finley's shoes: Target (they are girl's shoes but I just switched out the laces)

DIY Linen Bunny

If you've followed my blog for any length of time, you've probably figured out that I have a very simple, modern, and clean aesthetic. I'm not really big on fussy or frilly design and that often translates into my holiday decor. Sometimes really simple things have a strong impact. Which brings me to my little linen bunnies. So easy. So cute. These make perfect table decor, Easter basket stuffers, sachets, hostess gifts, etc.

What you'll need:

**Linen (a fat quarter should make 2 bunnies)

Fiber fill

Sewing Machine

Scissors, needle, thread

Fabric pen or Sharpie

Dried lavender (optional)

Bunny pattern available here - I actually used my template from this tutorial of mine

**You don't have to use linen for this project. Feel free to use any cotton fabric you like. I think these would be fun in some super bright colors too.

Getting Started:

Cut out the bunny pattern and trace it on to your fabric with a fabric pen or sharpie (be sure your fabric is folded in half so you'll actually be cutting both sides of the bunny at once).

Cut it out.

Pin the pieces together. If you're using a patterned fabric, be sure to pin the right sides facing each other.

With a quarter inch seam, sew the pieces together. Remember to leave a couple of inches open at the bottom. Turn your bunny right side out. It drove me nuts getting those ears turned out but I eventually managed using the flat end of a knitting needle (you can use a knitting needle, scissors, chop stick, etc). Be sure that you don't push too hard so that you push right through the bunny.

Start stuffing your bunny with fiberfill. Again, the ears are a bit of a pain. Use small bits of fiber fill and push them up as far as you can (again, I used my knitting needle for the ears). My ears aren't as stuffed as I'd like but you really can't tell.

I decided to put dried lavender in my bunnies along with the stuffing since I've had a pound of it from the fabulous Clairmont Farms in Los Olivos, CA sitting around for a while. They smell so GOOD! I'm definitely putting some of these bunnies in my smelly boys' baskets.

When your bunny is all stuffed, use a simple whip stitch and stitch the bottom closed.

I had intended to draw little faces on them with a fabric pen but I decided I like them just how they are.

So easy. Right? If you get stuck on a step, comment here and I'll be happy to help.