Humbling, exciting, and moving forward...

As many of you know the last Ryanhood recording experience was a long one, and shall I even go as far to say...filled with lots of less-than-happy memories. It was made with a "big name" in the recording industry, and with lots of "big names" playing other instruments, but it also cost big money (as in we are still paying it off). The process took so long that by the time the record came out, the songs were no longer Ryanhood's new songs, which was a bit of a drag.

During this one-year sabbatical from touring, Ryan and Cameron have been wanting to record a new album. They both have been super creative and writing a lot, which has been really fun for me (and Ezra)! (I mean...I love the old tunes and all, but it's nice to hear some new material around the house. :) They have about 20 songs that haven't been recorded, and are so new that I have to have Ryan remind me how they go when he says the name of the tune, because quite frankly I haven't even gotten the names down yet (and no, that does not make me a bad wife...it just means they are quite prolific :).

The plan is to start recording this month, and well, since we haven't been touring to make moulah, Ryan&hood decided to do a "kick-start campaign" to raise money for the recording process. This time they are recording in Tucson with the help of a friend who is well-experienced, and with more friends playing the other instruments. It's been nice to watch Ryan have so much fun and get super excited about this record and recording process...soo different than last time. And, all of the recording should be done in about a month which means the songs will still be super new and fresh when they come out! Yay!

(sorry this is becoming a long story...but it's a cool one, I promise...)

So, they started the "kick-start campaign" last Thursday (December 2nd) around midnight. The goal was to raise $3,000 by December 24th which would be the bare minimum of what they needed to record a great record. And, by 4pm on December 3rd, they were already around $4,200!!! We were totally overwhelmed by the generosity of sooo many friends, fans, family, etc...it has been truly humbling. It's also super exciting, because this means we can use any money over $3,000 to pay back the people we owe for the last record, as well as hire a publicist, etc. to help this new record really get out there and be heard.

Here's their video for the campaign, it's pretty fun if I do say so myself.

Win a diaper and wipes!

I have another wonderful opportunity to be apart of a blog giveaway...this time for my diapers!

http://crazygreenmommy.blogspot.com/2010/12/merry-fluffy-christmas-giveaway-event_6800.html

The Fam...

My sister just sent me this family photo and I am sooo in love with it that I had to show all of you! I can't wait to go "home" to Michigan in a few weeks and see all of them!


(I hope I didn't just spoil a christmas gift or infringe on any copyright laws...if so, I beg for forgiveness :)

Cast Iron Dutch Oven

It has been on my wish list for quite some time to upgrade my pots and pans to cast iron. Just the other week I made my first step in this direction by purchasing (with a gift card to Target) a 5 quart cast iron dutch oven. It's a real beauty. Well, it's not as pretty as the enamel coated ones...those are drool worthy, but still, I'm in total love with this pot. After each use, it requires washing, drying and re-"seasoning" which means a coat of oil. Lots of TLC, just like all good things in life.

Have any good dutch oven recipes? Send them my way! (Yes Nichole, that is a gentle reminder that you said you have a great dutch oven bread recipe. :)

The Church Nextdoor....

Just down the street (as in only about 70 meters) from our house is Immanuel Presbyterian Church. They are one of those churches that offers a lot to the community...and I am just now learning to enjoy all of their offerings. About a month ago they had a Fall Festival where I was able to learn infant CPR as well as get my flu shot. (They had lots of games and crafts to do too, but Ezra was a little young to partake in the festivities.)

They also have this wonderful playground that Ezra and I have been visiting on a daily basis lately...


After just picking up the gravel and letting it fall out of his hand a few times, he then started trying to put handfuls of gravel in his mouth (of course), which I was able to stop from reaching his mouth. After he realized that I wasn't going to let him put the gravel in his mouth with his hand, he just bent over at the waist with his mouth wide open to get a good mouthful...we have a very determined little guy!


Ezra is a big fan of the slide, tire swing, and teeter-totter (Ryan goes on the other end while Ezra and I sit together)...


The church also has a great walking trail...


And a prayer labyrinth...


We are quite happy to be neighbors!

Thanksgiving!

It is becoming a tradition to start Thanksgiving morning off with a 5k at Reid Park. And, I might add that it's not just any 5k...it's the "cross country classic 5k" complete with water pits and hay bales...quite fun.

There I am hurdling (a.k.a. falling short and stepping right in) the water...


Our friend Joel is the one with the yellow shirt...I loved his outfit...even though both he and his wife keep insisting that it wasn't meant to be a "costume"...


Here we are post-race with Ryan's cousin Nathan and Uncle Terry...


Me and my daily running buddy...


My two biggest fans...I love you guys!


We hosted Thanksgiving dinner at our house this year. It was a small group: Ryan's mom, sister and grammie in addition to our little family. Lots of yummy food followed by a wii competition (somehow the remotes--I know that's not what they are called, but I can't think of the actual name right now--lost their charge before I got in on any of the action...or they were scared that I would beat them, not sure which :).

Here we are all ready for company to arrive...




Here is Ezra just after eating having fun with the napkin ring...


We have soo much to be thankful for! A great God who continuously provides for us, family both near and far, the opportunity for me to be a stay-at-home-mama, Ryan having a job where he can play music, a happy little boy, a house we enjoy calling our home, a wonderful community of friends, and the list goes on..... I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and continue to dwell in the spirit of being thankful!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We hope all of you are having a wonderful Thanksgiving! We are here...I'll post later about all of the fun details.

As for now...here is a photo of our boy enjoying the chirping birds outside our door!

Wordless Wednesday

Teething...

I think we have been saying that Ezra is teething for approximately the last 5 months, and we have yet to see a tooth. But I do really think he is teething! He woke up the other day from a nap biting his own hand...and then my hand...and then the finger of our friend's mom (Sorry Mrs. Barnes). Someday we will have a tooth. We recently bought him an amber teething necklace. Amber has naturally healing properties that you can read about here. The main reason we got it is because amber helps to break the cycle of chronic inflammation...which our little guy has a lot of in his gums these days.

Here he is modeling his necklace...








It's hard to know if it "works" or not, but I tend to think it does.

Oh, and he also likes to gnaw on large pieces of fruit for teething relief...and the chance he'll get some fruit...and for entertainment's sake...

Jackpot!

Can you just see the sheer joy on his face at locating the dvd collection? Total score on his part.


He now spends a good chunk of time everyday organizing the dvds for us...


Doesn't he look like he'd make a great Bookman's employee? What do you think Jess...want to bring two kiddos with you to work? :)


Oh, and the games were also discovered...


"Mom and dad, I am very upset that you have been hiding all of this fun from me for the past 7 months."

He really really really loves the kitchen....

As I said last week (and many times before that) Ezra loves to be in the kitchen, which greatly helps me with being able to make dinner. Here is a look at the re-arranged pantry that he can play in until his heart's content with no worries of breaking, spilling, or eating something.


He also made a new friend...that is just his height...and loves his (ahem, very wet) open mouth kisses...

The rhythm of home...

I recently read that SouleMama has a new book coming out called, The Rhythm of Home. I don't really know what it's about, but I love the title. It has had me thinking all week about the various things that we do that create "the rhythm of [our] home".

(in no particular order...)

1.) Cloth diapering, followed by 2.) line drying our clothes...

...both of these things cause life to slow down just a little bit in a way that I love. I am also a nut when it comes to hanging the clothes on the line. It's soo beautiful to see clothes blowing in the wind! I love it when all the socks are by each other...and the pants all in a group...and the shirts...it's art, really. :)

3.) We make 99% of our meals. (The other 1% are usually eaten at friends' and family's homes.)

4.) As often as possible, we try to make our own jams, applesauce, bread, granola, yogurt, etc...

5.) We don't have cable, and therefore watch no tv (with the exception of Little House on the Prairie which we have on dvd).

6.) We regularly have friends and family over.

7.) We spend a lot of time home. Working, playing, relaxing, singing, dancing, eating.

8.) We leave the windows and doors wide open when the weather is nice out to let the fresh air in! And, when it's wicked hot out, we keep the blinds open so that the sunshine can pour in.

9.) We use every corner of our house everyday. (No room left behind.)

10.) As mentioned earlier this week, we use our fire place all winter long! (Often in tandem with a board game being played beside it.)

Hide and Go Seek!

Playing in the cupboards has definitely become one of Ezra's favorite things to do.




Last week I re-arranged the pantry so that the bottom shelf is where we store the tupperware and is now all his to play with. He loves it! Although the tile floor is not too forgiving when he loses his balance.

**for any mamas who use pre-fold diapers with snappis, please note the snappi in the back in the first photos...it's a great tip we learned for getting diapers on crawling babies (and also prevents baby frustration from the snappi getting stuck to the carpet, and therefore the baby stuck to the carpet. :)

Family Date!

Last weekend we went on a family date!

The weather was a.m.a.z.i.n.g!...so it was mandatory (in my books) that we spend it outside! We went for a great hike at the end of Speedway in the Santa Ritas!

Cousin time!

Eleanor and Jessica came over to play on Friday! It was quite fun and should definitely happen more often. I love how babies just stare at each other, poke each other's eyes out, pull hair, etc...all truly out of curiosity (and love too of course).

Here is Ezra in all of his drooling glory. I am convinced that a tooth is going to pop through any day now...he has been drooling like crazy the last few days and only able to stay awake for 1-2 hours during the day before crashing for a nap, as he did during his playdate with Miss Eleanor.


And now for the ear pulling...


headbutting...


and knockout (a.k.a. loss of balance for the 400th time that day)...


Ahhh...cousinly love. :)

still sewing...

I just "sew" happened to make a couple more shirts last week! I'm in love with this style shirt...


This one was a gift for sweet lil' Josiah, made out of his dad's shirt. I don't have any photos of him in it...but perhaps I can oh so nonchalantly hint right now that I'd love one at some point... :)

Tis the season...

...for the fireplace!!

When we first moved into our house, we both laughed at the fact that a Tucson home would have a fireplace. In a city where the highs are over 80 degrees for 7 months of the year, who would consider the need for a fireplace? Well, we were wrong. We LOVE using our fireplace on a weekly basis November-February or so. Even though the highs are now "only" in the 70s, the nights can get a bit chilly...and the ambiance of the fireplace is just oh so nice!

Hot cocoa by the fire...oh how I love this time of year in Tucson!

Día de los Muertos

Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead or All Souls Day) is a day quite celebrated here in Tucson, possibly due to our large Mexican and Catholic population...I'm not really sure though, that's just a guess. This is the first year that Ryan and I went to the All Souls Day Processional downtown...it was quite the celebration! There were probably more people downtown for this than I have ever seen downtown Tucson for any other event. Those in the parade as well as those watching were all done up in 'costume'.

Sew long...

This past weekend it was brought to my attention that I hadn't sewn anything for our family in a looong time. Like, probably not since Ezra born. That is SEVEN months! Don't get me wrong, I love to sew sandwich bags and diapers, but I also like the satisfaction of seeing what I sew in use around our home.

So, on Saturday night...I cut up and old shirt of Ryan's and made this shirt for Ezra...




The tutorial is here. It's called the "90-minute shirt", but it definitely took me more than 90 minutes this time because I had to create the pattern, but next time I think I could do it in 90 minutes...it's ridiculously easy...and super cute! The serging is all decorative, so if you don't have a serger, fear not...you can still sew this shirt! I plan to make many more...this week (hopefully). :)