Things are good

It's been an enjoyable week.

I made some delicious chicken noodle soup. Making a good dinner always helps one to feel great about themselves.

I listed 2 aprons in a week. 1 sold within about 12 hours of listing it. Selling things is always good.

Our entertainment center SHOULD be gone today. (If people would just stop being flaky... ). This means that we'll have more room in the downstairs room.

It's been beautiful springy weather lately (minus today...) which just makes me feel energized and happy!

On that note, our little trees in the backyard are blooming. I'm excited to see them grow some more this year!

I got to hang out with my friend Amy yesterday. Alex and Caleb thoroughly entertained each other which was so nice. It's good to have older kids! I loved hearing them running around hysterically laughing upstairs.

(pictures of the silly boys and then Alex while we were waiting for Daddy to meet us at Home Depot afterward- as a PS Alex chose what he wanted to wear)

Jon and I put our free (yes, FREE!) wood playscape together today. We rocked it. I have plans for making the part under the fort a little playhouse for Alex with some outdoor fabric. He's been excited about fixing it all week long.

(pictures of Alex enjoying the work in progress)

And we had enough time left in the day to dig some holes in the back for our mammoth front bushes to go into. We started digging them out, but it was crazy windy/cold, so we decided to give it another go on another day.

And I got to eat a hot dog for lunch. It was so good. I love hot dogs.



And a couple of fun Alex stories since this post isn't possibly long enough.

Yesterday when we were driving home we took our exit and Alex looked over and saw a tow truck still driving on the freeway. "es 'mater mama!" (TowMater from Cars). TowMater is a dumpy old towtruck on Cars. I thought it was great that he actually recognized a real tow truck from it!

And tonight we had a movie night. Any guesses as to what we watched? How about Toy Story? We let Alex stay up and we ate popcorn and watched Toy Story.
The part that had us cracking up was when Buzz lifted up his foot to see Andy's name and Alex lifted up his own foot and said, "Have a name?"
(Alex lifts up Woody/Buzz's feet all the time and says, "have a name? Andy!")
Ya... we don't watch Toy Story very often here at all...

make over in progress

for those that don't use a reader and actually visit my blog page, things may be a bit off for a bit.
I am working on a redesign! Yay for having a husband who can do code. Why take the time to figure that stuff out when he can do it for me... I mean help me with it.

Other fabulous make overs going on in the coming months... (aka some stuff I'm excited for)

• the playscape that is mostly in the backyard means a backyard makeover of sorts
• I got some stuff to go on the walls and some new towels for my green bathroom to help tone it down and give it a different feel than what it's got going on currently.
• If it's warm, we should be outside digging for the next few weekends. The bushes are coming out. I'm not looking forward to how many holes we'll have to dig.
  
• I got the desk for my new craft room and it's better than I imagined! It's so big! I'm looking forward to getting a chair for Alex and the happy days we'll spend across the desk from each other creating stuff. We'll do the room switcheroo probably this summer.
  
• And I have plans to get that beautiful blue color that's been waiting patiently in my garage on the walls of my laundry room. I didn't want to use the paint and then move and wish I still had it. But since we're not moving, the blue needs to be enjoyed here!

1 apron done! yay!

I got one apron done!
I have 2 more that are nearly done that I'm also quite excited for.
After that... only 5 more to go (it was 4 but I have a gift to make)

here are the pictures!

and check out how awesome my hair looked today! I like good hair days and decent pictures of myself. :) (I was in the middle of telling jon not to take the picture from high up like he was doing, thus, the look on my face).

Dear Mom- why are these characters in my memory?

I was just purusing this site of '80's stickers when I came upon these guys

And I'm remembering them from my childhood... some kind of action figure type toy. A treehouse? I don't remember. So Mom, please tell me if you can remember what in the heck I had that involved the above characters. I'm remembering the tiger the most... hmm..

I really need some power tools

And a good lesson in how to run them.
And actually make something decent.
And a little more confidence in myself.
Or just my dad.

Here is the story.

I want this set up for my craft room.

Exciting news! I happened to score the the desk for $10 on CL today!


Thing is- I want this huge guy to accompany my newly acquired desk.

But how do you buy one of those 5'x5' bookcases used on CL and transport it to your house?
Just the thought of having to load that and get it from point A to point B is daunting. We only have a van (which has made my CL life wonderful), but I don't think it would quite cut it in this case.
And then there is the issue with quality. These bookcases are pretty solid, but still not the best quality.

So could I make it better quality for less money? (a new one is $200. A used on on CL about half of that give or take).
And the thought I hear the most in my often too lofty head: how hard would it be to build that?

And that thought right there, as with most things I want to do to my house, is my nemisis.

I blame this way of thinking entirely on my dad.
I grew up with an awesome dad who could build anything. He made everything seem easy. Between the two of us, we were awesome. I could come up with something and he could make it happen. Oh how I miss living close to him!

And now I am taunted by the bookcases I want to build but can't. And the bathroom light fixture that I want to lower. And the frames I'd like to put around my mirrors. And the imperfect edges on my paint jobs.

The list that never ends. All things I would do if I could call up my dad and have him come over to help. It would certainly make Jon happier.
*sigh*

One day I do plan on learning to build things so that I don't have to ask my computer engineer of a husband to pick up a saw. I want to have construction skillz. It's just hard to prioritize something like that and take the time to do it. I just wish I already had the skillz. Or a dad close by to teach me. Wouldn't that be handy?

So Dad... how about it? Move to Texas? :)


Great. And now I want this too... I have scrapbooks that are hanging over the edge of my $30 standard bookcase. This bookcase would solve that problem since it's deep. And it's just so pretty.

Anyone else ever feel like transforming their house into the ikea/cottage/minimal/super functional/super storage style after browsing the store/site/catalog? Happens to me ALL of the time. I usually avoid Ikea for this reason. It's a bit too inspiring for me sometimes.

Fun with the frog towel

So way back for Alex's first birthday I made him this cute frog towel.
Oh look! Here's Jon modeling it!

Anyway. Alex loves putting his froggy towel on. Tonight after his bath (I was killing time until Jon got home later than usual and it's an easy way to keep the boy entertained) I put the froggy on and we looked in the mirror and laughed at the froggy boy as we usually do. This is how our convo went:

Alex: "froggy ears?"
me: "no, those are the froggy's eyes"
Alex: "ears?"
me: "eyes"
the ear thing got my creative mind thinking and I thought-ooo! we could make a doggy towel that would have ears! cute!
so I said: "mama could make a puppy one! Do you want a puppy one?"
Alex: "juan a puppy?"
me: "a puppy one!"
Alex: "juan a puppy?"
me: "a puppy one!"
Alex: "juan a .... dog?"
me -unsure if he said dog or duck- "a duck one?"
Alex: "juan a duck?!"

V is for Victory!

Alex went to sleep tonight without his bink.

I will admit, I was wary when Jon started in on it and I heard tears of sadness and anger from the boy. I walked upstairs to ask Jon what inspired him to torture the child and he said that he said that it's broken (and it is in fact... the nipple cracked/split on the tip) and Alex got upset and threw it. So they talked and cried {just Alex} and we put him in his crib without the binky.
I wasn't so in on the idea- I even told Alex that I didn't care if he had a broken binky and if he still wanted it he could have it (I was figuring that once it broke more he wouldn't want it and would thus willingly give it up without a fuss).
But I didn't want to send the wrong message of things are different depending on the parent, so I stuck with what Jon was doing.

And after some whining and a trip to the potty, he went back in his bed and laid down and went to sleep.

We'll see if the victory carries through the rest of the week.

As a side note, Alex only has the binky for sleeping. He doesn't even really want at all during the day. So I had no problem with him having it until he was ready to part with it. I may be a little sad to see it go because it means my baby boy is turning into more of a little boy. This is both sad and happy for me.

Audio of Favorite Alex Phrases

I took this video so you can hear Alex saying some of my favorite things!

as always, you can go to vimeo to see the video in HD (much better quality than what you see here)


Favorite Phrases from Jon M on Vimeo.

New favorite yogurt

if you have not tried the Blackberry Pomegranate and Cranberry Raspberry (in the fridge pack), do so. These 2 yogurts are delicious!

Bad News

I've been reading home decor blogs.
The wheels are turning.
I'm itching for a grand home project (because I just don't have enough...)
This type of news usually is not the kind of news that Jon likes to hear.
Jon will now spend the next few months telling me not to do things.
Happy times!

I love it when Alex says:

"es opa it!" (let's open it)
"he-ah mama!" (here mama... usually repeated several times until I take whatever he's giving me)
"dank ooo mama" (thank you mama. I love it when he says that when he's giving stuff to me- usually it's when he's sharing his snacks)
"es go pee pee!" (let's go pee pee!)
"gee af" (giraffe)
"I still paying/co-ing etc." (I'm still playing, coloring etc.)
"I need _____" (usually the needs are silly little things)
"I don ike _____" (I don't like _____.)
"a eh suh-boh-ban!" (a surburban. We think he calls all of them red suburbans, but it's hard to tell... the "eh" sounds kind of like red, but not exactly. And yes, he can pick suburbans out.)
"di-pah" (diaper. just the accent he has on the end cracks me up)
"moe ham" (more ham. Yes, a video was made to show this one off a few posts back because we love it so much).

Laugh out Loud

Jon and I are currently sitting up in the craft room internetting. The craft room is next to Alex's room.
We just heard Alex laugh out loud in his sleep.
How awesome is that?

Toy Story

For Valentine's Day Alex got a Woody and Buzz from Jon and I. They have been Alex's constant companions ever since.
Alex always plays Buzz and most of the time it's me playing Woody.

Alex is good at saying "to infinity... and beyond!" and will also throw in Woody's lines of "howdy howdy howdy" and such.

This morning he brought them in to play in my bed. Before I knew it, Alex was quoting the movie (in 2 year old terms). It went like this:

"can't fly"
"can, can, CAAAAAN!"
"okay Lightbeer (yes, he says Lightbeer)"
"to infinity... and BEYOND!"
"CAN!"

I guess we've watched Toy Story a few times...

Anonymous?

So I had my first anon comment! How exciting!
Well, it got deleted because really? Why not leave at least a name?

In my comments you are more than welcome to post a comment with just your name and not your google/blogger identity. So why not? Why anonymous?

Plus it helps that I have site meter so I KNOW where the anon. came from. But still I wonder, what is the need for posting anonymously on people's blogs?

So notice the poll over there to the right and feel free to vote.

Barak Obama will make it better

Alex has a talent for being able to hear the Barak Obama's name. Back before he was even 2 and we were riding around in MaNa's car listening to KSL if he'd hear Barak Obama at any time, even when other conversations were going on and the radio was turned down, he would shout out his name in excitement.

Every night after dinner this week, Alex has asked to watch Barak Obama because we watched President Obama's speech. And he actually likes to sit and watch him speak.

Well last night after dinner he got a little bonk on his leg and was crying. Through his tears, much like how he asks us to kiss something better, he said, "watch Rock Obama!"
Well I guess if Barak Obama will make it better, we can turn him on for you.
So Jon found his speech from when he won in Chicago and Alex was in heaven. He was clapping along with the people and had a huge grin on his face.

What a funny little boy.

Thank you Mana and Pada Carlson!

Here is a video of Alex opening his present for Valentine's day from Mana and Pada. Thanks!

Make sure you click on 'Watch in HD' on the page!

Are-teest

I do have to say, it makes my heart happy with how into coloring/painting/sculpting my little boy is.
My favorite thing that he's always done is get up close to the paper and really concentrate on putting the color on the paper.
I've loved lately asking him what he's drawing and seeing what he's come up with.

Today he got 2 new coloring books and crayons from MaNa and PaDa and he was in love with those things for at least 30 minutes. He colored a good 6 pictures.
He loves coloring the parts of things; so like hands, feet, face, neck, shoulders... you know... the usuals. This book had lots of hearts in it that he was loving coloring in.

And because I am camera happy, here are photos of the event.


Such talent! Such skill! 2 years old ladies and gentlemen!

still working on the proper holding technique. Funny thing is that he would do it right when he first started coloring when he was like 15 months old.
The fam will recognize my old lapdesk there. Alex loved using it to color on. Perfect little table! I knew there was a reason I kept that thing around! (he also loves the ducks on it. I haven't asked him how he feels about the hot Matthew Lawrence picture yet.)

the concentration

This is when he started telling me no more pictures. Guess he's taking after Picasso.

Now he's a bit more serious about the no pictures. This artist uses tears and a sweet face to fend off the popparazzi. Okay, and some yelling. No one's perfect.

Rain and Lightning

It was pouring rain last night. And there was a ton of bright lightning and strong winds.
What a perfect opportunity to practice night shooting with the camera!

Here are a few of my favorite shots.

Lightning

check out how far over to the right our tree is blowing




rain in the dark











One thing I love about Texas- the rain storms. SHEETS of rain. And the lightning is amazing. I love that this picture shows the sheets of rain pouring down.

First photos from the camera

Pictures from the day

Of Haircuts and Cameras

Today Jon and Alex got fabulous new haircuts by yours truely.
I also got a haircut. I've been wanting a cut to something shorter for a couple weeks, so I just stopped in at Great Clips and got me a $13 haircut. It could have been a bit shorter, but it works for now.

We also had a fun day going to see the curly horned antelope (at least that's what I'm calling them) and zebra's that live just down the road from us.
And the cool old white church.
And the fun park with a barn, old machine, water tower, and gazeebo.

Photos to document the day (and a few other pictures taken with the new camera) will be posted in a second.

sick much?

We've got a case of the allergies here. Between that and Alex's extended sickness from before Christmas, he's very accustomed to having his nose wiped.
In fact, he demands it.
"BOOGER WIPE!!!"

I had to giggle a little when this morning he was playing with his doll (yes, he has a doll) and he was saying, "need a booger wipe baby?"

Budgeting love? Me? What?!

Since December/January-ish, I have been obsessing over our budget.
And it's GOOD. It's really good. And I've NEVER been a budgeting person!
I use www.geezeo.com.
I've been using it for at least 8 or 9 months, but would use it as more of a guideline instead of being specific. It was mostly effective, but kind of not at the same time.

So starting in January, I busted out the specifics.
And I log in and categorize things every day. Sometimes multiple times a day because I like to see how we're doing. (It's weird, I know. I used to really enjoy emptying out my piggy bank and counting it as well.)

My life since the stricter budgeting has begun?
So much better.
I love feeling in control of things.
I love telling Jon about how much we've spent in which categories and keeping him aware.
And I love the challenge of seeing if I can cut costs.

Every time I make a little trip to the store, I have those numbers in the back of my head and our financial goals and things that we are saving for etc. and I actually don't make any impulse buys! (okay- except for today when I bought Alex the Clifford set of these - which is just going to come out of the grocery budget or out of Alex's "allowance".)
I like trying to see if I can do things for even less. And the planning in advance for things has been great.

Example- we're going to San Antonio for a weekend. Since I knew we'd be eating out, I figured out what food we already have and made a meal plan for the rest of the month (good thing it's a short month :) ). Now I don't have to spend as much on groceries this month because I'm making stuff out of what we already have, thus leaving a little space for us to spend a little more on eating out/other expenses of going to San Antonio.


Anyway, I just had to blog my love of my budgeting website and how having specifics and goals and limits and being able to see things in real time has helped me immensely. I'm a nerd because I rave about this to everyone. Because it's great!
For the first time in MONTHS (years?) we spent UNDER our "budget" *cough* guideline* and we were still able to "splurge" on stuff that wasn't spelled out in the budget. It rocks my socks.

Many Blessings

Alex does a pretty good job saying the prayer at our house for dinner/lunch.
Tonight he said the dinner prayer and decided to include these things:
"an bess ow food"
"an bess axes juice"
"an axes mllk"
"an da dip (ranch dressing)"
"an da eaves (spinich)"
"an noodles"
"an sauce"
"an meat baas"
"an daddy's sola (soda)"
"an mama's sola"
"an alex's sola"

At this point he ran out of things to say and was looking around for more ideas

"an an da kishen (his toy kitchen)"

So while stifling our giggles, I put an end to the many blessings and said, "and thank you for our food... " (he then repeats... dank ew foe ow food). "bless it" (bess it) "to make us strong" (make uh stong) "in the name..." (uh jesus kiest. AMEN!)

I guess we were extra blessed because every last thing we ingested was blessed individually. Lucky us!

Pretty sure he's 2

I figure it's pretty clear when the words you hear most out of your child's mouth are:
"I do it!"
"No!"
"MINE!"
and
"My turn!"

the mine and my turn I had never heard him say until last week after nursery. I guess we don't get out enough :)
On the nursery note, I always think it's fun to find out new things that Alex says throughout the week that Jon and I didn't teach him. Some of them, I'm sure, come from nursery (and others of course from movies and such). And yes, I even don't mind that he's learned "mine!" and "my turn!".

Funny and Exciting

Mostly just to talk about how funny Alex is.
Well, okay, he could probably be funnier.
But at least we're entertained by him.

Yesterday we went to the store. There were some problems with a store credit gift card that we had just put funds on not working, so Alex and I went out to the van to wait. Of course, Alex wanted to drive.
He got a hold of my keys, used the wrong one in the ignition (even though he knows which one is for the van), but on his sunglasses (upside down- and which he usually hates to wear), grabbed the steering wheel and said, "Let's roll!"
Stuck on Cars much?

On Thursday we had breakfast for dinner. Alex at 2 and a half french toast. TWO & a HALF! Granted he only ate a few nibbles of eggs and a small sausage patty, but still- two and a half is a lot!

Today we went on a bike ride down to the little pond by the entrance to our subdivision to go feed the ducks. The weather was absolutely perfect! So we loaded alex up in the bike trailer and grabbed the heels of our bread and went to go find some duckies. We pulled up and there the ducks were. We excitedly got out and walked over closer to the pond.
Apparently the ducks thought we were too close (still like 5 feet from the pond even!) and flew away before we even got the chance to feed them!!! WTH?! Seriously.
So Alex ran around and we spent a lot of time chasing to the fire hydrant and throwing sticks into the water. Alex probably loved all of those things much more than feeding the ducks. Oh well.


Jon just sold our printer on Ebay. Not that exciting right? Well it is exciting that it sold for twice as much as we paid for it 4 years ago! We're thinking it has to do with the cheap refills for it ($7.50 for the black and the $15 for the color. That's it.). The cheap refills and the fact that it was the cheapest one they had at Staples was the reason that Jon bought it. Who knew that a printer could be an investment?! Crazy!


And good thing we just made $120 because...

We just ordered a DSLR! YAY!
After doing quite a bit of reading on www.dpreview.com and reading a great article about lenses, we decided to go with a Nikon D80. We got a kit that includes an 18-55 and 55-200 lenses (both with vibration reduction). And what I'm super excited about is the 50mm lense with 1.8 aperture! This aperture means that it lets lots of light in, so its good for indoor and action shooting, which is great for us! I can't wait for it to get here! Yay!