Happy Birthday Punky Poo!

Don't ask me why I nicknamed Emily Punky Poo. I honestly have no idea why. But today is her 10th birthday. Double digits! Wa Hoo! It seems so weird that it's been 10 years since I had a baby. And what's even weirder (is that a word? It looks, well, weird!) is that she is dang near as tall as I am. Not that I'm very tall (5' 2"), but she is only 10. And my baby. And she shouldn't be almost as tall as I am. But she is. And I love her for it. She is my baby. My drama queen. My diva. My kid who isn't afraid to tell you how it is. Exactly how it is. No matter who is around or who she will offend. And I love her for it. My kid that sings in the shower every day even if she has to make up a song while doing it. And I love her for it. And today is her birthday. We celebrated her birthday yesterday because her dad had to catch a plane at o' dark thirty this morning (on her birthday) to go back to work. So I spent the last week or so gathering items to create her birthday present. She wanted a new bedspread. She has asked for many different things over the last several months, but the bedspread is what she kept dwelling on. We painted her room back in January. She got to choose whatever color she wanted. Her favorite color since birth has been green. So we painted her room a very bright shade of green. And it is absolutely adorable. And she loved it. But then somewhere down the line, she decided she wanted a pink room instead. And since she chose the green, the green stays. So I decided that I would incorporate some pink into her green room. So that's what I did for her birthday. I made her room a bit more girly for her.

First, I chose a comforter with pinks and greens in it. It was hard to find too. I had to order it online. It's actually a bed-in-a-bag so it came with the sheets and pillow cases too. And it is very cute. Then I chose items to deocorate her room using the colors in her new bedding.

I found this very cute rug to go with it. It looks very cute on the laminate flooring.

I wanted to make her a valance to hang above her window. I went to the fabric store and couldn't believe it when I found fabric with the exact pink and green that I needed. Together. And very cute too!

She likes to have her name displayed in her room so I found some wooden cutouts and painted her a name plaque. I tried to use the same shades of pink and green. It turned out pretty cute.

While at the fabric store, I lucked out and found these Wallies. They were the perfect pink and matched the flowers in her curtains that I made. So I lined her room with them. I love the bright pink against the green wall.

We even found a matching fish tank for her Betta fish.

The final result. I think it turned out pretty darn cute.

The birthday girl sitting on her new cute bed in her new cute room. She really loved everything I did. It took some time and effort, but it was totally worth it. And she was thrilled that I did more that just the comforter, which is all she asked for.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMILY. I LOVE YOU!!

Kirkham Hot Springs

**Disclaimer: I started this post 2 weeks ago. Before everyone got the swine flu and life as we know it ceased to exist. But I didn't feel like changing it, so I didn't. **

Flyboy came home Thursday night. He'll be here for the next 2 weeks. I took Friday off from work and the kids were out of school for teacher workshop so we headed up to the mountains to Kirkham Hot Springs. We haven't been there for several years. It's about an hour and a half drive so it's an easy day trip. We were bummed to find out that you now have to pay a $5 fee to park there. Times sure have changed. It seems like you can't go anywhere in Idaho anymore without paying a fee. But, fee and all, it is worth it. And as usual, I posted a lot of pictures. 'Cause I like to see lots of pictures, so I like to post lots of pictures too.

The drive up Hwy 21. You can tell Fall is on the way. It's still green, but really dry. Still pretty tho.

The family sitting in the "shower spot", as they named it. The hot springs showered down upon them.

But we wanted deeper water, so Flyboy and I ventured further to find a deeper spot.

You have to climb down the rocks to get to the hot springs. It's a pretty easy climb down.

Emily maneuvering the rocks.

Flyboy was standing above me. There were HOT pools higher up. They were too hot to sit in tho.

There are awesome photo ops for those interested.

I ventured out and took a bunch of scenery shots while the fam played in the water.

Flyboy trying to get a bit of the cold river water to mix with the hot spring water. Believe me, it helped!

I thought this was beautiful. Jessica thought it was slimy and gross.

I told her she had to look at it as natures natural beauty. It was green and gold. The picture doesn't do it justice.

Lots of waterfalls around. Small ones, but pretty.

A view of the river. There are several hot pools in the rocks that people have formed up.

Another photo of some beautiful slimy goo.

This pool was the best to sit in. The water was hot, but you'd get swirls of cold river water that would coil around you like a snake and the mixture felt really good.

Flyboy

Sarabeth

Emily

Jessica

Mama

Emily walking thru a hot pool next to the river.

A view of the hot springs coming down the rocks

A shot of the river (hot pools are behind me)

A good swimming hole with a hot waterfall running into it. If it was hotter outside, the girls would have swam in it.

Taste the Rainbow

A view of the river right before the hot pools.

Pretty descent sized hot waterfall.

One of the girls footprint. On our way out.

A view of the river from the top of the hill.

A view of the hot springs from the top of the hill. It is a really nice place to visit. There is a campground, but we've never stayed the night. It's a great spot for a day trip. It's a pretty poplular place. You can't tell from the pictures, but there were several people up there. But there are enough pools that everyone was able to spread out and have their own area.

Just set up to do mobile blogging from my phone. Don't know if I'll ever use it, but this is a test to see if and how it posts. I'm thinking its like Twitter.

Road Trip 2009 - Day 3 Part 2

Here are some more pictures of Carlsbad Caverns. Sorry if you're tired of seeing them, but they are just so beautiful that I want you to see them all. Enjoy.