nifty newness

My old phone worked fine... really... I mean just because I couldn't always hear the person on the other end wasn't a big issue... unless you were said person, in which case you probably only knew I couldn't hear you if you really paid attention...

Anyway Lady D got sick of me saying "say that again, I didn't hear you".. that or she got sick of hoping I wasn't faking hearing her. I suppose that could make you paranoid, knowing that the other person had only a 50% chance of hearing what you're saying and that they wouldn't always admit it to you when they didn't.

So, she sent me and the Man a new phone for Christmas. Some might say it's a self serving gift... (saving her sanity etc). I say it's a blessing!! I'm so excited to have a new phone. And apparently she listened every time I b*tched and moaned about my current phone and all the features I would want a new phone to have if I were to ever win the lotto and go buy myself one. It had to have speaker phone in the hand sets (not just the base unit). And it had to have intercom capabilities so that two phones could be used at once on the same phone call. Cordless, with a phone book feature, and answering machine. She went above and beyond and got me one where the ringer volume can be adjusted, plus the ringer can be a song not just a boring ring (helps with the stress level when it's Mozart and not the obnoxious "ring ring ring" sound). AND it's expandable so when I do someday win the big pot of gold and buy the 4 bedroom mansion I can purchase two more handsets and have one for every room. Nifty cool eh?

So don't mind the clutter, and check out the phone. It's hooked up to my wonderful fabulous Beamer video phone which I adore and don't get to use often enough. It's beautiful and silver and I adore it.

oops forgot one

Christmas Videos

It's Monday!!

Well the Holiday Weekend is over. It was a very nice weekend and The Kiddo really enjoyed his Christmas! I took a couple videos for you all to enjoy. Unfortunately I left the camera with the Man so we have four photo's of the stocking (two of which I took) and two pictures of him opening a present (both of the same present). That's it, that's ALL the pictures I have of the day to share with you... Lets just say I'm less then impressed with his photography skills... ...

Wednesdays Photo Prompt

Father Christmas: The fastest delivery man on the planet! Find Father Christmas in your space!

I thought he was rather appropriate considering the weather most of the country has been getting lately. Heck it even snowed in VEGAS!! Of course we happen to be located in a valley, surrounded by mountains.. but are just far enough from the mountains that we miss the snow while the city next to us gets dumped on. Party of me is cranky about that, and part of me is glad. And, the final note... this is the only Santa representation I have that the Man actually likes. Maybe because he's not wearing red?

Tuesdays Photo Prompt

Cards: A traditional way of wishing people Merry Christmas in writing. Show us Cards in your space today. We've all got a Little Angel In Us

Mondays Prompt: Tree

Tree: A perennial plant with a single stem or trunk and closely associated with Christmas.

I'm still not a big fan of my tree. I don't like the wide spacing between the branches. I shouldn't complain, it was free, but I still gripe about it every single year.

It does look pretty good once it's decorated though. And I like my colors, which are, rather strictly, blue, silver and white. I like how it sparkles with the lights (white and blue). The good thing about having specific colors is that in a small apartment it can get rather cluttered looking with to much.

Lady D has her tree up in her place as well, I like it, it's a beautiful tree. I love how it looks against her green walls and with her tile flooring. She is far to busy this time of year to put up her own pictures so I'll post this one for her so everyone can see it. I like her style of tree so much better then my own. But I wonder how it would go trying to string two strands on lights on it? Perhaps I should just be happy with my own little charlie brown Christmas tree and stop coveting others?

Sunday SOS (a little late)

Sundays photo prompts are SOS (Show Off Sunday) which could prove to be fun I think. Yesterday they did a sunset. Some people did sunsets, some did sunrises or just general 'look at the snowy day there isn't any sun at all' type pictures. They were all beautiful, I decided to use my most recent 'good' sunset photo.

Saturday SPS (a little late)

Saturday photo prompts are SPS or Someones Portrait Saturday. I am taking the easy road this week (expecially since I'm playing catch up) and using the Kiddo. He LOVES watching the fish swim at Cabellas so after visiting Santa we went and watched them for a bit.

Santa

So Yesterday we went to see Santa. All morning the Kiddo was talking about how he loves Santa and we were going to go see him, and his friends, and give him a hug. I have to say I really really love the Santa they have at Cabellas.. he's perfect! He looks exactly the way he should look, and he's amazing with the kids. Somehow, no matter what expression the kids happen to have on their faces when the camera clicks, he manages to have one similar (big grin, well then he's smiling big, little half smile, then that's what he does). Anyway, the Kiddo just wanted to play with Santa's bells, which is why he wasn't quite smiling when the guy snapped the picture, but he did have a short conversation with Santa and it was really nice. I'm so glad the weather gave us a break so we could go!

For those of you on my Christmas card list you are going to be getting happy seasons cards instead... that means don't be checking your mailboxes for cards this week... with the Santa visit so late in the month there was no way I could do cards on time and have the usual pictures in them so to avoid the stress (and ensuing melt down) from trying I will attempt to get cards sent out sometime next week.

Friday photo prompt

Fridays photo prompt word was food... holiday food. I thought and thought and finally gave up. I don't know if I have any good pictures of yummy food in my easy to get to photo library, and I know I don't have any food lying around the house that induces feelings of holiday spirit. .. .. The moral of the story goes something like "ask and ye shall receive". We went to visit the inlaws yesterday evening and the Mans mom had made us some really adorable (I think) snowmen cupcakes. Oooh I thought to myself, ah HA, a food picture just waiting to happen. Don't they just make you want to bit their noses off?

Food: Christmas is traditionally a time for food aplenty, show us festive food in your space today.

Todays Photo Word: Glow

I took a picture of an angel, with a light under her, glowing in on my livingroom bookshelf. But decided to go with this photo of a clay oil warming pot instead. The hardest part of this was taking a picture of something that glowed that wasn't something already done, that ment no christmas lights.

Glow : To give a steady light without a flame.

Mondays word: Bauble

Bauble: A small trinket for christmas tree decoration.

A New Project

Two things. First I haven't posted enough non kiddo related postings lately (I have a meme courtesy of my bro that'll get posted here sometime soon). And Second I need to stretch myself a little... I'm happiest when I'm creating something artsy be it a drawing or something sewn and I haven't done either in awhile.

Anyway that said EpiJunki over at Pink Warm and Dry posted a link to Her Space My Space His Space .. There they are doing a daily photo challenge (you check the word of the day, make a photo to match the word and post a link to your pic in the comments). I figure why not, especially since it's winter AND Christmas time... the world is chock FULL of amazing beautiful things just waiting to be photographed.

Todays word is Tinsel.

I'm doing both yesterdays and today to catch myself up a little. Throughout the week I will try to catch up on a few more of the photo themes (posting one catch up shot in addition to the daily word shot). I can't wait to see what tomorrows word is.



Yesterdays word was Gold.

The Alphabet (part 2)

Up above he names all the letters but I realize that some of you might think he wasn't really recognizing them but just saying his ABC's while looking at them... sooo we tried a mixed up letters version... unfortunately the kiddo had to leave mid way through, but I think it proves the point. He's a smart kid!

The Alphabet (part 1)

an ornament family

The tree is about 95% up. I still need to put some of the ornaments on it (the round bulbs). The Kiddo got to help me put some of the ornaments on. He had so much fun. We talked about how only one ornament goes on each branch and he has to look for a new branch each time. He was doing great so I was really confused when he started putting two big blue balls on the same branch, then he got one of the tiny blue balls and set it in front of them. I asked him what he was doing and he said "it's mommy, and daddy, and 'me'". He's right I suppose, it's a little Christmas tree ornament family, I love his creativity.

He pulled the ornaments off the tree (so the family could play) before I got a picture of it so this is my re-creation. His arrangement was better looking.

more snow

More snow over night, and the weather people are calling for snow through the next several days. At least it finally feels like we live in Utah!

The funny thing... The night before last somebody took our driver side windshield wiper and our antenna! The Man can't get over why they would take the antenna and then the wiper off the opposite side of the car.. since wipers are good for either side. Maybe they just weren't smart enough to know that? Fortunately for us he left for drill before the snow started yesterday, and he came home after it stopped. We had to make a quick run to the store to pick up new wipers after he got home though.

The other funny thing, his units Christmas party last night was canceled (they did it because the roads would have been really slick and dangerous). . Which isn't funny in and of itself. It's kinda bah humbuggy. No the funny part is it was a pot luck party and the Man had signed us up for rolls. We now have a hundred rolls sitting on the counter that I have NO idea what to do with. I need extra big freezer zip lock bags or something so I can freeze them and pull them out every time we're invited over to dinner at the inlaws. That way I can always cheerfully volunteer to bring bread *chuckle*

Snow Snow Go Away...

The weather decided to finally get into the winter groove. We haven't had any snow since the last time I posted about it. That was November 5th and it lasted all of a day. Now the weather people are calling for continual snow accumulating 2-5". Normally I'd just make the Man drive us down to Cabellas to see Santa anyway but the fates are really working against us, he's got drill this weekend. I guess we'll just have to wait to go see Santa next weekend. It's making me cranky.

Out with the old...

Yesterday I spent the day cleaning up some of the Kiddo's old things. It's time for me to bit the bullet and sells them. I really don't want to, these things have history. His pac and play (he slept in that thing for very nearly the entire first year of his life!!). His highchair (he adores it, when I pulled it out of storage he got so excited he was almost crying, "my highchair mommie, it's my highchair!! do you see it? Oh highchair I love you!". He had to help me clean it he was so excited.

His car seat he just wants to play on... he likes to sit in it and kick his feet, like it's his very own reclining chair. It cracks me up.

We're also going to see if we can sell his einstiens play mat and his crib mobile.

It really breaks my heart. The man doesn't understand why I would get so upset... the reason is twofold. First of course is the memories and the history.. and the fact that I really wanted to pass these things along to Kiddo #2 if they ever show up. Reason number two directly relates in that by selling these things I'm admitting defeat, I'm saying that we aren't going to have a kiddo #2 so I don't need to keep the stuff. Dang womanly emotions anyway. I suppose at least we'll have money to buy the Kiddo christmas presents.

Tuesday

Yesterday the Man came home sick. He NEVER comes home sick from work. I was immediately concerned. He threw up most of the afternoon and slept the entire rest of the time. The Kiddo and I skipped off to the store and bought several little cups of chicken noodle soup and some saltines. I also bought me a couple cups of tomato (so of course the Man ate the tomato). He has yet to wake up today (yeah, he took today off work, another thing he NEVER does) but I'm really hoping that when he does he feels better then yesterday. I'll keep you updated.


While we were at the store I remembered that the kiddo needed some new breakfast cereal. Now usually I buy him Cheerios, Chex, or Kix (he actually prefers his cereal without the funky fruit flavors or too much sugar). This time, as I was walking up and down the isle I couldn't seem to pick one. Finally after I had given up and decided not to buy him cereal at all I saw the bright blue Alphabits box!! I didn't even know they made these things still. The Kiddo was so excited he sang the alphabet song all the way to the car. I let him have a handful of them as a snack and he named almost every letter! I knew he could name about 1/3 of the alphabet but I'm starting to think maybe he can do more then that. Smart kiddo.

Festival pt 2

At the Tree Festival they also had a pretty decent row of Ginger Bread houses. The kiddo kept saying "I want to eat that". Of course then we got around to the second side, from there he could see over the houses and to the stage where some dance company or other was doing a Christmas recital... immediately all he had eyes for was the kids dancing, and he desperately wanted to go join them. Maybe he has a little of me in him after all ?

Festival of Trees

The Festival of trees was a lot of fun for us. It was 4$ each to get in (which was half of what I had prepared myself for) and worth it. We spent 3 hours walking around and looked at every single tree. The Kiddo rode in the stroller for the first half but he kept wanting to turn around and tell us something so finally I carried him for the second half (he is getting sooo heavy, he weighs 30 pounds now!!). We saw a half a dozen Utah Utes trees (at least) which the Man thought was pretty cool.

We also saw more then a few trees that made us cringe. I took pictures of a few of the trees for you guys to look at. Hmm, I hadn't realized that the ones I took were all white. A white tree properly decorated can be really really pretty. A white tree improperly decorated can be extremely NOT pretty. I think I still prefer a green tree though, it's just looks classic.

Monday morning catchup

Our weekend was very busy. We spent Friday hanging out at the in laws, they have computer trouble sometimes and the Man is the on call fix it guy. Which is extremely ironic considering our computer is really messed up and we haven't got a clue why or how to fix it.

Saturday we went and let the barber school cut the Mans hair. If you'll remember I mentioned last week all the money they made that day went to Primary Childrens. So, in the spirit of giving, we let them attempt to give the Man a high and tight... um yeah we'll probably be using our own clippers to 'adjust' the results later this week. We also had them pretend to trim the Kiddo. He didn't need it, but it was only 5$ a haircut and we wanted to give more then just one haircut worth.

Saturday we also went to the Festival of trees (a post on that, with pictures, later today). All the proceeds from the festival go to primary Childrens as well. I fought myself for awhile before deciding that the money for us all to get in was something I could spend w/out feeling guilty (only 11$ but still). It's been hard for me to get into the holiday spirit this year but the Kiddo is in full swing with Christmas lights and I knew he'd love it (he did).

Sunday my Mother in Law took me (and the Mans sister) to see a movie. The last time I saw a movie in a movie theater was two years ago!! It was really nice. I left the Kiddo with Grandpa and the Man. They had a "boys day" in which they hung out and the Man taught his dad how to burn music onto cd'd. When we got back from our movie they were all in a very good mood! It's always nice when the Man and his dad get to spend a little guys only time together... it was extra nice that they included the Kiddo and they all seemed to really enjoy it.

That was my weekend... now that you're caught up I'll see about posting something more interesting. I took several pictures from the festival of trees, and I've got a very cute picture of the Kiddo... stay tuned.

Thinking outside the box

I stole this from Lisa over at Looking For Lisa... I played it and now feel like an idiot, the curled up in a corner rocking back and forth kind of idiot. Soooo I thought hey, why not share the oportunity to feel this way. Though I'm pretty sure at least a few of you are gonna be way WAY better at this then I am.


Basically you use a pencil to draw shapes and force a little ball to capture a flag. It's physics 101... and um er ahem, hilarity insues when you've got a three year old telling you where to put the shapes.

Magic Pen Game

Positive Thought...

Insomnia IS good for something.

I've had a terrible time sleeping lately, it's been at least two weeks since I've been able to go to sleep any earlier then 2am. And it's not because I'm sleeping in to late... Not only does the Mans alarm wake me up at 3am every day, but then the Kiddo gets up at 730.

Aaanyway, the whole reason for this post is not to whine about my lack of sleep... rather it's to share a fun little fact I learned last night while flipping through the two channels we get (no cable + rabbit ears = very little tv).

Shaving cream, spread on you bathroom mirror, then wiped off (just wipe at it with a paper towel till it's gone, don't use cleaner)... equals a fog free mirror!! The Man doesn't use shaving cream, he uses gel but it worked just the same.

Sooo if you have a little bathroom and the mirror gets all foggy and drives you nuts... give it a try, then my sleepless nights will have been worth while!!

decisions decisions

I've been letting the Kiddo grow his hair out for the past several months. Generally I keep it high and tight, he enjoys having the same haircut as his dad and I like how it looks. I keep seeing really adorable little boys though with longer hair so I thought I'd give it a try.

Yesterday he had a bath and I brushed his hair. Considering how long it's been growing it isn't very long at all and mostly just looks messy. So I've been trying to decide if I shouldn't just cut it... after all, Santa pictures are coming up (next weekend) and I'd like him to look his best for them. Plus I heard yesterday that one of the barber schools here is doing 5$ haircuts this weekend AND donating ALL the proceeds to buy presents for the kids at Childrens Primary Hospital. I know for sure that the Man is going to get his haircut there and am fighting with the decision.

So the question is posed to anybody who feels like giving me their two cents. Should the kiddo go back to high and tight? Or should I keep letting it grow.

The planets align...

I've been having a bit of writers block. Which is silly all things considered. Still, every time I sit down to add a post I get the bla's.

Speaking of ... did any of you happen to catch the planets lining up last night? I'd love to say I was on the ball enough to see it but that would be a lie. I had NO idea it even happened until the guy on the news started talking about it. Which is extremely ironic considering I was outside at sunset. The Kiddo and I had just walked out of the grocery store and I pointed out how beautiful the sky looked, all pink and blue and purple (it was a very pretty sunset). He, as is his habit, found the moon and we talked about how small a sliver it was. But then we went home, inside, and totally missed the big event. Ah well, they say it will happen again next year.

Happy Thanksgiving

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I meant to post something earlier... before we left for the inlaws to spend the day... but I ended up getting distracted and forgot. Needless to say better late then never so Happy Thanksgiving everybody!!

This was one of the better Thanksgivings I've had since leaving AZ and I had a really fairly good day. There was plenty of bird (it was a 26 pounder!!), tons of stuffing, some really good garlic mashed potatoes and of course (as is now the 'norm') I brought the sweet potato casserole. This year I made it a little different, I used fresh sweet potatoes and roasted them, I then broiled them with butter and brown sugar, mashed them with strained apple sauce, and topped them with the usual layer of marshmallows. Yams are the one thing I HAVE to have, it's my little piece of home even when I can't be there. When I'm mashing the yams I always think of my mom, when I'm sprinkling on the 'mallows I smile and think how she always lets me steel some (now it's Chance who gets to steel them).

Hopefully next year I'll be able to go down south for the holiday...

oh and by the by... that picture up top with the kiddo sitting in front of a pie. That was taken AFTER we got home. He wanted to see the pie, then he wanted to taste it. Thinking he just wanted to taste it and then he'd be done I went ahead and set the whole thing in front of him. When he started chowing down I quickly transferred that pumpkin pie piece onto a plate and put away the rest. *sigh* The whole reason we brought home a pumpkin piece was for ME to eat. I can't get to upset though, he didn't eat any pie at the sister in laws place, he was too focused on playing.

Breakfast for dinner

Brigid, over at Home On The Range, (where I am an unabashed lurker; for her recipes as well as her writing) recently (meaning at least a week ago) posted a recipe for a breakfast type casserole.

I finally got around to making it the other night and, as usual with the recipes I take from her, it was yummy. Even the Man liked it and he is NOT a stuffing eater.

We used sausage, broccoli, and a mix of sharp cheddar cheese with jalapenos to give it extra kick. The next go round we'll probably substitute the broccoli with mushrooms and bean sprouts. I'm also thinking that maybe a little beef gravy would go good on top, we'll see though.

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A couple days ago she posted another recipe, this one for Lasagna, (scroll down to her comments section to see the recipe) She makes her meat layer by simmering ground beef and spicy sausage in tomato's and tomato paste for an hour or so and then layers that with a cheese blend (eggs, cottage cheese, and Parmesan) slices of mozzarella and of course lasagna noodles. I gotta say it sounds easy and looks amazing. I'm itching to try it!! Maybe next week....

Fastfood Drive Through

Yet another example of the kiddo's vast imagination. He's playing fastfood drivethrough. That's a gas station toy and hotwheels. Before you say it no we do NOT get fast food to eat all that often, but I suppose it's probably one of his favorite things. To get to munch on chicken nuggets and french fries in the car.

Another Monday

I'm yawning non stop this morning.. the Kiddo was up three times last night, each time just shy of an hour after the time before it. Which means almost enough time to get to sleep, but not quite. So, by the time I went to sleep it was 2!!

The Man and I are amazed, very nearly daily, on how creative and imaginative the Kiddo is. Yesterday we were all hanging out in our bedroom and he started playing with one of my socks. It was a thick black and gray stripped calf sock. He had his little people, and his little people school bus and a sock. ... ... what do you think he did with the sock?

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He made the sock into a "dinosaur" and used it to gobble up some of the little people. They all fled before the great sock dinosaur, and it opened it's big sock mouth and ate them if it caught them. Then, he told the sock to "say aaah" and he performed sock surgery to extract the people from it's sock'y tummy so they could go ride in their bus.

A sock dinosaur. I don't know else to say *shaking head*

I should put this out there

** 10:02pm Edited to add ** 48 to 24 Utah!! It was a really good game. The defence couldn't seem to get a tackle to stick for a bit there but the offence worked hard enough to compensate. We won, comfortably... but it was hairy enough in the middle to make it a fun game to watch. 6 (yes 6!!) turnovers (all BYU, and all in the second half), not to mention that we almost had three more. Yep it was a really good game.
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Today is the B.I.G. game. We play BYU. We've won every single game played, they've lost one. If we win we get to go to a big bowl game. I don't really care about that, but I do think we should win. This is the biggest rivalry game (I'm sure you can imagine why), the one everybody looks forward to every year. I think we have a chance, but our offence has to step it up. Anyway I'll post the results tonight, we're going over to the inlaws to watch this afternoon. I hope the Kiddo actually lets me watch vs making me chase him all over the basement.

a Holiday meme

The Man and I have known each other for TEN years this December. We'll have been married for 5 this coming summer. (It really doesn't feel that long). Even with that length of time together we still really enjoyed doing this meme together. It was fun to talk about memories and be reminded how similar we really are in our views of what's important.

So I don't do a lot of these, in fact I do very very few. But I don't have anything else exciting to talk about so I thought I might as well. If you've got a minute it would be neat to know what your answers are... just cut n paste the questions into the comments box, delete my answers and type in your own.
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Christmas Questionnaire

1. EggNog or Hot Chocolate? Eggnog. Don't get me wrong I LOVE Hot Chocolate but I can have that any day of the year. Eggnog is seasonal, so for a holiday drink it tops the list.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? He wraps them. What would be the point of unwrapped presents, isn't that what elves are FOR??

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? Colored on the house, but white inside (or white and one single color like blue or green)

4. Do you hang mistletoe? I haven't yet but I kind of like the idea, sometimes the Man needs a kick hehe

5. When do you put up your decorations? First weekend of December'ish

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Turkey stuffing, with turkey mixed in, drenched in gravy.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? I think my favorite is Christmas morning with us kids all in each others rooms trying to wait till we were aloud to go down stairs.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? For me there is no distinct before and after knowing. Which speaks volumes on how much importance we put on it. I think Santa should always be the "extra something" not the main event.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Never have.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? Blue silver and white. Though, if I can afford it this year I might switch to green silver and white... that would be fun.

12. Can you ice skate? Um, define ice skate?

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? The one that stuck out when I did this with the Man was my guinea pig. But I woke up this morning thinking hmmm I think that was a birthday present? Anyway, I've had a bunch of good gifts over the years but most of my favorite Christmas memories are more family focused.

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? By far family. Mine little one here, and my big one in AZ.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Pie, with ice cream. mmmmm pie....

16.. What is your favorite holiday tradition? When I was little it was hanging the stockings and the morning of sitting impatiently with lady D waiting to go down stairs. When I was older it was Christmas eve decorating the tree, cookies, eggnog, and the walk around the neighborhood with lady D and my bro P looking at the lights. I miss that SO much EVERY year.

17. What tops your tree? The ceiling *snicker*... ahem A white and silver star.

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Giving, when it's the perfect gift and I know they'll love it.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? It's a tie between a couple. The Trans Siberian Orchestra Christmas CD's are usually on repeat play once December hits. I want a hippo for Christmas makes me think of my mom and I smile every single time I hear it. And "River" (which is an unbelievably sad Christmas song, but I still love it). (for fun, a mini Christmas play list)

20. Candy Canes? Yes!!! But only the normal ones. Weird flavored candy canes are just... well... weird.

21. Do you feel Christmas is too commercialized? Who doesn't? I think I'd feel better about it if they'd just wait until after Thanksgiving to decorate. For crying out loud people yeesh.

icecream

This is the kiddo having his very first ice cream cone!! I couldn't catch it on film but he was licking it with tiny licks like a kitten lapping up milk. He had so much fun eating it. And if you're wondering no, he didn't finish it (but he did eat a good 2/3's of it which was rather impressive).

And yes, I know, the picture quality kind of stinks, but all we had was a cell phone camera at the moment and, well, you make do with what you've got. (Plus, apparently, the man does NOT have a steady hand when it comes to photography).

Photo Editing

I love a good photoshop program. This is more of a photo editing thing but the cool part is they'll print it out and mail it to you. I've only just started messing with it but I love the oil painting editor and the collage thing is pretty darn cool too (that would save on having to buy 8 zillion frames). I can think of several pictures I'd love done in an oil panting style and printed on canvas (they DO that). At least one from my wedding, and probably a couple of the kiddo to start *chuckle*.

I followed a link from Dawn's review page over at Because I said So. She does a lot of neat reviews and contests so if you've got the time go check it out.

Anyway you do have to register to play with the site, but it's fun to play with so I think it's worth it.

Photofiddle

(click on the picture to make it bigger and see the detail, it's one of their paint style options)

woof

I got this one from Phelgm too. Anybody seeing a trend? She's a doggy person and has two very cute little puppies that make me really miss my Callie.

Maybe it's a lazy day for me *chuckle* So far all I'm doing is stealing posts. I suppose at least I'm posting something!! I didn't realize until last night that I hadn't posted anything at ALL yesterday. It's twilight zone week for me I guess. So, what breed are you? (I actually really do want to know, I think my results were pretty accurate).

Labrador Retriever
The Caretaker
Your family is what makes you tick, and you never "flea" from an opportunity to hang out with the whole gang. A family picnic complete with hot dogs, deviled eggs and a refreshing swim in the lake is hard for you to stray from. Your sparky temperament and dogged intelligence mean you are not only a blast to hang out with, but great to work with as well. Your close pals appreciate your patience and forgiveness, knowing you'd rather let sleeping dogs lie than dwell on the mishaps of the past. Your dashing good looks may one day lead to a modelling career, if only you can tame the unfortunate clumsiness that sometimes causes you to go flailing from the catwalk.

Fetch...

I'm unabashidly swipping this from Phelgm... she puts up good stuff. Anyway it makes me giggle every time I see it so I thought I'd share.

Monday morning catch up

If you haven't checked out the link on the side of my blog for the Cake Wrecks site, make sure you go look at Sundays post. They made an entire car out of CAKE!! yum *drool*

Sunday afternoon Chance and I spent a bit of time camped out in front of the tv (with apples and popcorn) and watched Tinkerbell. I was worried it would be very "barbie"ish (if you've seen the commercials for the barbie movies you know what I'm talking about). It really wasn't to bad though. The movie had so much potential (seriously how many of us adults are Tinkerbell fans!) but it was definitely made for kids. It makes me wonder if anybody will every make a Tinkerbell movie geared towards grown ups. My final review is it was cute and not to obnoxious. If I had a daughter I'd definitely be buying it and adding it to my collection.

The Turky update is I contacted the buyer and offered a refund if she returned it. She wrote back and said she'd super glued it and it looked fine so she will keep it. I'm glad. I still feel a guilty that it broke though. I thought it was packed well enough (so did the Man AND Ph).

My last rambling note is this... over the weekend I got some unsolicited Avon junk catalogues hung on my door. First let me say to anybody thinking of doing that it is NOT a good way to get business. Oh sure, I looked through the catalogues, then I marked the stuff I may want, and then I browsed online to find some place else to get them. I don't like to encourage junk mail *grin* The ultimate point of this paragraph though is to say that there is a cologne in there for Men (Black Suede) that smells absolutely devine. I tried to get the Man to tell me if he'd wear it and he wouldn't commit. You can get it off Ebay for about half the price of what Avon is selling it for and it's really not a bad price to begin with (comparatively). hmmm... ...

Hunting

This afternoon the Kiddo and I sat down and watched a pbs show about big cats (lions, tigers, mountain lions, puma's etc etc). Anyway when the show was over he crawled over towards me (he was on the floor I was sitting on the couch). I didn't think anything of it till I felt a sharp pain... he bit my leg!! When I hollered at him for it he said "but I want to hunt mommy, like the lions". I explained (after barely managing to stifle my laughter) that we don't hunt people. So, this is what he did....



As far as I can tell he wanted to drag her into a tree like the leopards do before he ate her.

bleh

Today I had big plans to be creative and sew beautiful things and be productive... but once I checked my email I became cranky so it probably wont get done.

I'm cranky because ... well, if you've checked out my etsy store lately you've probably noticed I've listed some craft stuff for the MIL. Last week one of those things sold. This morning I got a message from the buyer saying that a piece of it was broken when they got it. Granted I packed it in a bubble mailer with paper and plastic bags as extra cushion (instead of spending money on a box), but the thing was at least 3/4" thick wood so I figured it would be safe. Now I have to write this person and tell them if they want to return it I will happily refund the purchase price (minus shipping) and I'm really sorry bla bla

The whole thing is sooo much more trouble then it's worth just for good karma points and being a good DIL *big sigh*

Tomato soup and grilled cheese

The kiddo hasn't previously been very positive about the soup idea, he definitely still wont eat chicken noodle. But apparently he's changed his mind on tomato. He's even learning to dip his grilled cheese in it. hmmm Makes me hungry just looking at it.

Don't Ever Give Up

I think the video pretty much speaks for itself. I kept asking the Man if he thought the wing was supposed to fall off, you know, like a planned emergency to get people excited. He told me he didn't think so, he thinks it was real. Wow.

a brief recap

(they got along swell, he is giving her ugga mugga's in that first picture)

My weekend was wonderful. Ph flew in early Friday morning and we spent the day basically bumming around. We did go visit the Mans parents for a bit during the late afternoon but Ph didn't seem to mind at all. Saturday was beautiful and we spent a large part of it driving up Provo Canyon to visit our old haunting ground. Ph was a little shocked at how mish mashed it's gotten... the old farmhouses are still there, some of them more run down then ever, and sprinkled among them are the big expensive looking mansion style farmhouses and ranches. It's, to me, not a pleasant homey feel anymore. I've always said I'd move back in a heartbeat but every time I go back to visit I rethink that a little more.

The rest of the weekend was spent either window shopping and trying on shoes etc (I found the most amazing pair of pants which fit lovely but were a gasp inducing $50!! *wistful sigh*). Or hanging out. It was supposed to snow Sunday night but didn't and we were very disappointed, we did a little hot tubing anyway. She spoiled the living daylights out of Chance, and he loved every minute of it!

All in all it was a great visit and over way to quickly. I didn't take any pictures at all (aside from these few here) and spent four days strait talking (it's a wonder I don't have a horse throat).

back to the grindstone

Well Ph is gone home now. She left yesterday afternoon. I, being a lazy no good you know what, didn't feel like posting anything last night which leaves me playing guilty catch up this morning.

First a funny story (the Man says I MUST share). Friday morning the Kiddo and I bundled up and hustled to the car (several minutes late) to drive to the airport and pick up Ph. I had him, his diaper bag, my purse, a blanket, and my coffee... only I didn't have my purse. I found that out when I got to the car (which is a decent distance from the apartment). So as I was buckling Chance in I was (yes I admit it) distractedly swearing up a blue streak. shit shit shit shit shit... thinking hmm can I get away with locking him in and running back for the purse or will I get arrested and have my child taken away. (You know the drill I'm sure).

Okay do you have that image in your head?? There I am, kneeling in front of my child buckling his seat belts saying the S word... and the angel child pipes up, interrupting me from under the mound of blanket, and winter coat "no mommy, it's damnit!, say damnit"

I still snicker thinking about it. Yeah, I am SO getting the best mom of the year award. I was corrected on which swear word I used by my THREE YEAR OLD!! To give myself a little credit I told him "no, it's darNit, mommy should have said darNit, we don't say those other words huh."

visit

The visit is going very well. The kiddo is in love (he adores having people stay over) and we're all relaxing in good ol fashioned vacation style!

Meanwhile a lil bitty three-week-old pygmy hippopotamus made an appearance on the news last night so I (of course) went and found more pictures of the cute little critter. (all together now: aaaaaaaw)

The weekend approaches

Just to forwarn, the younger sis is coming to visit for a few days and posting will be minimal. We're really excited to have family coming (haven't seen her since last Oct.) and I'm hoping I've done everything I needed to do to prepare.

Lets see:

Groceries - Check

Couch Prepared - Check

Bathroom Cleaned - Check

Kid excited... Check

Dubai Mall Aquarium

Someday when I'm rich (and hopefully not famous) I am definitely going to visit the Dubai Mall Aquarium. I can't imagine the Man passing it up, he has a thing for sharks. He's even threatened to go down in a cage with em someday.

The many uses..

... of the fabulous silver stuff called Duct tape.

Okay I'm not really going to say anything about the many uses... just one, and this one is airborn. How'd you like to have been the passenger sitting next to her?

snow angel.. snow ball.. snow man..

Just in case you can't figure it out... I had to BRIBE him to get him to come back inside. Apparently he's a snow junkie.