I'm awkward.

My sweet neighbor Tina let me take their pictures on Saturday and it was a really good learning experience.

I learned I'm really awkward. Ok, I already knew I was awkward, but I learned a bit about helping others NOT feel awkward, even if I do.

This cool green chair was on site for another photographer's shoot - one who is far less awkward than I. So she helped me.

I do NOT know how to position people! Where does this arm go? My legs are weird, Uh, how should I stand? This is awkward. 

I decided I need to observe how other photographers do it, cuz I just can't figure it out. The chair-photographer positioned the kids and I would NOT have thought of that. Wow. So simple right? Yeah, you go try it.

Tina was kind to take a few of Bell and I. Man I love this girl.

 major poser.

A good threat to tickle always gets a smile.

Gotta have some big eyes

A good headlock kiss. LOL.

The Boys

These are her boys.

My youngest cousins, her favorite toys.

They follow each other everywhere. Well, mostly Bella tells them to follow her. "Come on, boy," she demands.

She can't distinguish between the twins, Levi and Simon, and it doesn't help that Harrison looks like his brothers!

This is why they are "the boys".

 

The other night, at bedtime, Bella tried justifying a late night by saying, "Only one boy, just one", while holding up one finger.

I wish I could take one of these boys home with us! Well, all three ideally, but at least one!

We've had such a blast up here and I'm sure Bella will have a hard time adjusting back to only-child life when we return.

Thanks to "the boys" for being so fun and for making Bella such a happy girl!

Great Grandpa Thomsen

We're here in Idaho having a wonderful, spontaneous visit with our family! My grandparents warned us a week ahead, then picked us up in their camper adn we were on our way to see family in Idaho!

Bella has been having a blast with my cousins, aka "The Boys". She doesn't even call them by their names...it's "Hey boy." and "Come here boy."

  It's safe to say she adores her Great Grandparents and family here.

I'm kinda glad the broken transmission will keep us here longer!

June Picture Dump

Visited our "Cafe Rio" friend, Stephanie Wendel. Love that girl. Bella lay rocks all around Steph's towel while we chatted. Such a fun visit!!

Later this month, we helped our friend Nicole with volunteering for Ragnar. We were seemingly not needed, but we had a good time anyway! Bella fulfilled her life-long dream of riding on a bus. She was excited, just a tad.

Pre-girls camp, I was playing my guitar quite a bit, so Bella got good at her "Jam face". Love this girl!

So bendy and wiggly. She never holds still, but always looks cute.

 Bell's friend Boo, Halia and Kash came to play. We hang in style - in the garage. 

Absolute favorite breakfast or lunch: Avacado toast. Bell used to have butter on it, but I've converted her to a healthier, unprocessed fat. She LOVES it. As do I. One is perfectly filling and especially delicious with tomatoes! S&P to taste.

 Bell still loves to paint faces. I let her paint mine one morning and now she wants to paint mine all the time. I actually enjoy painting her clean blank-pallet face. It's fun to study her cuteness up close, while she ACTUALLY holds still.

it all started with a nutella sandwich

savanna had a nutella sandwich for breakfast, and that is how it all began.

basically she was having 5 tsp of refined sugar between two pieces of bread (which is half of the daily recommended allowance). at least, that's how i chose to see it. haha.

because we were curious, we decided to see how much sugar was in one serving of nutella, and well, you can see in the pics how it measures up.

each shot glass holds about 10 tsp or 1/2 cup of sugar, to help you visualize.

and 1 tsp = 4 g

it's the refined sugar we all know that gives that lovely muffin top, feeds the bacteria on our teeth, and leaves us energy depleted, yet craving more.
 

i really think i could be a sugar addict. i salivate when i think of or see a sugar-laden treat.

i'm like pavlov's dog here.

just throwin some sugar awareness out there. haha. maybe i could start a recovering sugar addicts club and only eat natural sugars - from fruits, and natural sweeteners like stevia, raw honey or agave.

who will join?

 (this seems to be a good source for more info on sugar and sweeteners.)