Mario Bros Inspired Perler Beadsprites


Mario Bros inspired Star

All the moving, organizing, and unpacking, I haven't gotten much chance to do anything with Perler Beads lately. So, it was lots of fun to bust them out and create some beadsprites. I didn't have much time, so I did some basic fun designs based off the Mario Bros. 
Mario Bros inspired Goomba
Mario Bros inspired Bob-omb
Mario Bros inspired Cloud Block
Don't worry, there are more Mario Bros beadsprites to come!
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    Rush Ranch: Challenging Disabilities


    Stonewall sporthorses at Rush Ranch
    
     Our family spent a fun Saturday at Rush Ranch, a 2070 acre preserve in the Suisun Marsh (California Bay Area) and it's one of my new favorite places. I spent many childhood summers visiting my aunts' and uncles' ranches, spending as much time with the animals (especially the horses) as possible and have wanted my kids to experience it was well. My husband used to visit the ranch as a kid (he grew up in the area) and he knew we'd love it. I had no idea how amazing Rush Ranch would be and I'm more than a little bit upset that I didn't know about it all those years we lived here before!


    After gawking at the Stonewall Sporthorses and Halflinger horses, we started our day at the blacksmith shop.

    Our youngest was scared at first that the sparks would get him, so Erik helped at first
    The blacksmith was making leaves for a trellis and let the kids pound out part of it. But for fun, he let them pound flat the ends of nails and let the kids keep them.
     
    

    Our youngest with his flattened nail, in front of the blacksmith shop
    The blacksmith shop's building is well over 100 years old and they do demonstrations there about once a month.

    Before we left, I thought we'd practically have to drag Den there (read about how we moved to California to live with him here), but he was extremely excited to go. He got back to his roots there. He used this same sort of machine to sharpen scythes back at the farm he worked on when he was young. It was so neat to have him tell us about it and how he worked with horses. I'd heard him lament before that he wished he could have had one last horseback ride in his life (which is body will not currently allow, read about his battle with cancer here). 

    Den is doing amazingly well with chemo, better than we ever imagined he could! Instead of no energy and/or not being able to eat, the only side effects we've seen so far after two rounds of chemotherapy are that he's starting to lose his hair and has occasional brain fogginess. He's more active than he's been in over a year and gaining weight!


    We got to watch this young horse, named Tango, work out. His owner here was teaching him to work in a harness so he can pull carriages.



    My daughter absolutely LOVED petting Tango and the Halflinger that was in the corral next to him. (So did I, of course.)

    Grandpa Den petting the two Percheron mares that pulled our carriage
    Finally, we got to our main attraction, the carriage ride. I wasn't sure that Den would be able to climb up into the carriage but he declined the use of their wheel chair lift and hoisted himself up into the cart.


    I wish I'd gotten a better picture of the marsh, but riding the trail around it felt like we were in Anne of Green Gables, on Prince Edward Island. Such pretty wetlands!

    Erik and his dad wait for us as we board the carriage for one last ride
    Despite the early morning, it was already starting to get hot and Den's medications don't allow him to be in the sun for long, so we had to limit our rides. Next time, we'll remember to bring hats...

     I didn't pay much attention to the shirts of the people working there that said Access Adventure, but when a one armed man (who I thought was just another tourist) got on board and they let him drive, I did a bit of a double take. I found out that Access Adventure is an incredible non-profit organization whose mission is: Enriching the lives of people with disabilities and other underserved members of our community by providing outdoor recreation, open space access, education and therapy, through a working partnership with horses. 

    No wonder the carriage had a wheelchair lift in the back! I'd thought it was pretty neat but didn't think on it much. Access Adventure specializes in Therapeutic Driving and do more than a hundred events every years, serving thousands of people, all for FREE!


    We spoke to some of the organizers about volunteering and they actually need people to feed the horses! I was like, "Where do I sign up??" I've been wanting to get our family involved with horses but thought I'd have to pay for lessons or something, which we can't afford (and aren't likely to for years). We are so excited to get started working and volunteering!
    We all loved going to Rush Ranch so much and I'm sure we'll be regulars there soon. It was especially neat to see Grandpa Den being able to enjoy being with horses despite his current disabilities. It was something I really enjoyed as well. Since my own health problems and weight have restricted my activities (no horseback riding when you're obese because it's too hard on the horses), this is great way for me to be able to get out and be in an environment I love. We'll probably start out slow (about one to three times a month) and work our way up to more, but it's something we'll all look forward to!
    My goals

    I want to have energy to spend time and actually do activities with my family.
    I want to be able to be physically active. I’m not saying I plan on running marathons, but being able to exercise and do basic housecleaning on a daily basis would be nice.
    I want my mind to feel less foggy all the time so I can do my job well and enjoy being in the profession I love.
    I want to be healthy and be at a healthy weight.
    I want my life back! I will look for the best in my life and realize what I truly have, always striving to make it better.
    I will accept myself as I am.

    Read more about My Battle for Better Health here.
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      Star Trek's 50th Birthday Celebration!


      You may have noticed from past posts, that here in the House, we LOVE our Star Trek, so of course we've gotta celebrate Star Trek's 50th birthday!
      We started our party with endless Trek memes on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.


      As a kid, there is so much I learned from these shows. While most of the time it was just fun, there are some things (see above) that helped shape my beliefs.
      With rich and characters like Data, Captain Picard, Worf, Geordi, Barclay, Q, Odo, Quark, The Doctor, etc. and amazing and strong female characters like Deanna, Guinan, Dax, Captain Janeway, and Dr. Crusher, Star Trek shows us how fiction, especially sci-fi can help teach important things like empathy, compassion, ethics, and even politics.

      Now, let's have some more fun by sharing some of our favorite Star Trek creations, memes, and stuff!
      DIY Star Trek Cookie Tutorial by Sweet Sugarbelle
      First up are these super fun and easy DIY Star Trek cookies! Star with sugar cookie dough and a star-shaped cookie cutter. Just cut as shown above.
      Star Trek Cookies by Sweet Sugarbelle

      If you want to get fancy, check out this great Star Trek cookie decorating tutorial by Sweet Sugarbelle.

      However, I will probably be too busy watching Star Trek to go to that much trouble, myself. ;) I have a binge-watching problem...it's really less "rewatch all the episodes" and more "rewatch each series" in my case. Speaking of which:
      I grew up watching TNG (as you probably guessed by my list of characters above ;) with my family but also love DS9. So many lovely memories of us gathered together in the living room... Especially the first time we saw "Cause and Effect" (where they get caught in a time-loop and the ship keeps blowing up). We thought there was a problem with the tv because it kept repeating the same part!



      Check out this Tri-Dimensional Chess Set! I need this on my living room table.

      I so wish we'd had this Enterprise rocker for our kids when they were really little!


      Amazon has Star Trek The Complete Original Series on blu-ray on sale, just for us ;)



      And check out this fan-made Star Trek cat tree!
      And to finish our celebration: 
      #startrek50
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        Save Our Dad Update: It Starts

        Erik and his dad, Den
        Grandpa Den starts chemo today. We're very nervous since he's still not very strong and only one lung works, but compared to how he was just a few weeks ago, his chances are MUCH better than they were. You can even see in this picture that his color is better and he's gained a little weight! (You can read more about Den's situation here.)

        Den's birthday is this week, but after the chemo starts. Since he won't be up to being around people then, we invited family over on Sunday to celebrate and his friends threw him a huge BBQ bash at the senior center. I managed to hold off crying, instead just trying to focus on enjoying being with family, until Erik's cousin asked about the cancer and treatment.

        This just isn't fair! Of all the people in the world, Den is the most gentle, kind, and thoughtful person I've met. In only the last week or so, I've gotten to know him a lot better and he amazes me even more. With all he's been through in his life, anyone else would have turned hard and bitter, even before the cancer. Why does a man who has already suffered so much, worked so hard, and dedicated his life to serving others have to go through this? If only we'd known sooner, maybe we could have caught the cancer earlier...

        We also found out that, to save on medical costs, he hasn't been taking all of his medicine. He doesn't want to be a burden on anyone. When I mentioned us possibly moving in to help him, he never once mentioned how he'd have to put up with our 2 cats, incessantly barking dog, and loud kids after being used to peace and quiet or how we haven't been great housekeepers (his house is usually extremely clean). He's never once complained about all the boxes filling his house while we slowly unpack (read about our move here). He's only been worried about how it would affect our lives. Instead of complaining when he sees the kids leave a mess or the dog drag a granola bar wrapper out of the trash, he tries to slowly bend down and pick it up before we stop him and take care of it ourselves (he's really not supposed to do that!)

        We spent last night recording him tell us a few stories from his life. How he grew up working on a farm, his mother was a nurse in San Francisco, working in pool halls, and how he's never again used a gun after seeing his friend killed in a hunting accident. I wish we'd done this sooner. Den's always been so quiet and reserved, we hardly know anything about his life.

        But I know somehow Heavenly Father will make everything all right. He's promised us that in this life or the next that everything will be made fair. What will God give to a man who has served and loved so faithfully and selflessly? I can only imagine the wonders and treasures that will someday await this man in heaven (hopefully years and years from now). I love reading the words of President Dieter F. Uchtdorf's recent talk. It's helped me realize this and also that even though these last few weeks have been difficult, we've been so very blessed to be able to enjoy our time with Den. I hope we have much more time with him.

        Den just left for the hospital. I'll spend the rest of the day praying and sanitizing the house for his return. To beat the lymphoma, he'll have several months of chemo and a long recovery ahead of him. If you can, please take a moment to pray for Denzel Watkins today.


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