Mishaps, and Other Happenings

Here are a few random pictures I've taken as things have gone slightly wrong.
Dane got in the habit of saying hi to his reflection in our full-length mirror. Then he'd get really excited and give himself five and ten over and over again. The result was a very handprinty mirror:

I don't know if the photo really captures how dirty it was, but it made me laugh every time I saw it until I finally cleaned it (which was a while).

This is an obvious case of "Wrong Burner"

And this I will call "It was really dumb of me to think Dane wouldn't be able to open the baby powder."

Smile!

This is titled "Kissed by a Rhinoceros," or "I can't breathe through my nose," or "Neti, Schmeti."

A-Camping We Went

We went camping a few weekends ago with some friends I grew up with and their families. Specifically, it was Chris & Teresa and Evan & Holly. It was great fun; definitely a repeatable experience. But it was a while ago and I took a million pictures, so I am not going to write much.
This is the only group shot I got:

Dane protecting our tent:


Evan feeding Kyle:

Proof that I was actually there:

Joel stoking the fire in the ridiculously huge, major-child-hazard fire pit:

Dane and Joel "packing up the tent":

Hey, where did Dane go??


Then we went rock climbing, which I had never done before.

Evan:

Joel:



And he made it to the top!

I got a couple of nice butt shots of Joel, but I will just keep those for myself.
Then I tried my hand at it. I fell off in like the first two seconds but then did pretty well after that. I will credit my years of experience as a tree climber.



Joel got a couple of butt shots of me, but those were not so nice.
Then Teresa showed us her mad skills:

And Holly had a turn:

Then Joel belayed while Chris took a turn:


Try not to confuse Joel with Quasimodo ringing the church bell.
The kids all had their various ways of hanging around waiting. Kyle slept for a while:

Halle and Dane bonded:

Dane played with Daddy:



Two babies!!

Then, it was time to go. I got a nice little nature shot as we hiked out:

And within seconds, Dane was asleep.

We had such a great time. Let's do it again soon.

The Box

This is my new box:

"Hey, that's a pretty box," you think, "but what is it for?"

Is it Dane's time out box?


No, it's a potato box!

You put potatoes in the top,


then open up the bottom, and what do you find?


I mean

A potato box! You know how they always say "store in a cool, dry place"? Well, now I can!

"Where did you get this amazing potato box," you immediately wonder.

Joel made it for me! Isn't it beautiful? And isn't he handy? And handsome?
But wait, there's more! It is completely upcycled, which is a fancy word that means Joel made it out of garbage!
Last Christmas, since I got a beautiful new bookcase, Joel refurbished our old, ugly one into an entertainment center. He used the leftover pieces to make this potato box. The lids are made of wood scraps we got for $1.01 at Home Depot. The hinges are from the leaves in our coffee table that Joel reinforced with better hinges. The paint and stain are leftover from past projects. Swish!
We have some cool knobs for the lids that I am trying to decide if we should put on there. It looks so pretty already.
Potatoes!