google reader rocks

Everyone should use it!
I am encouraging this because it has allowed me to delete my side links to other people's blogs almost entirely. And I feel strangely happy that when people get to me, the blog stalking comes to an abrupt halt.

Now, I know that many people find great joy in blog stalking, but I have to admit to being a little weirded out that anyone could access my page just because someone they know (or someone they know that they know that they know) has a link to me in their side page.
Now, I don't mind friends passing my blog site on to other friends or linking things in my blog to people that they know. I just don't love that a link to my blog directly on their page makes it easy for any random person to access.

I know the links on the page is the way that many people check everyone's blogs, but I say that doing so is a pain in the butt. Who wants to click on ten+ links every day or week just to see who has updated their blog?
With Google reader, you don't have to click on every link! Just subscribe to each person's blog and anytime there is an update, it just shows up in google reader. I log in to google reader every day so that I can stay on top of everyone's posts.
And If you decide you want to access the actual blog you can just click on it from google reader.

So there you have it... a way that you can delete the link you have to my blog sitting over there in your side bar and still have an easy way to get to my blog.

Another cool thing- you can add any sites with an RSS feed to google reader and it will keep you up to date on them. You can also discover new blogs to subscribe to based on the blogs that you are currently subscribed to. I was able to find a whole slew of new crafty blogs! Yay!

Thanks for listening to Carrie's little internet safety/paranoia for the week. Don't use last names, specific locations, and don't make it easy for random general public that you don't know to have access to your personal site. And thank you for understanding my need for privacy!

Some recent pics and a few more Easter pics

I found some pictures hiding in a different folder on my memory card and they are cute, so of course I have to share them.

First, my two favorites.


look at that smile! Such a cute little boy (sorry for the overexposed flash-ness!)

And the best Easter picture:


Isn't he cute huntin' for eggies?












and here is the collage. Excuse the crappy text. My photoshop is having text issues! I also think you SHOULD be able to click on it to make it bigger. I hope.

One small request to all of my readers

In an attempt to keep our last name private (so that the whole blog doesn't have to be private/password protected) I am requesting that anyone who has us in their side links to not include our last name. Sorry if that messes anyone up! I'm just trying my best to keep any internet weirdos at bay. Thank you much!

A Nursery Triumph!

Apparently Alex just needed SOMEONE to love when he went to nursery. Jon walked him in there today and he, of course, started to cry. One of the nursery leaders (a nice friendly older guy who has been so great with getting the problem kids like mine to be okay) said hi to him and held out his arms for Alex and Alex walked over to him and just wrapped his arms around him! Aww! That man felt so loved that ornery Alex actually wanted him and I was so grateful that Alex decided to be okay with him!
So the report from nursery today is that Alex didn't cry at all and was having a great time. YAY!
Apparently all of our excited talking about nursery before we went to church did some good!
I hope that general conference doesn't throw things off too much and that we can continue seeing improvements in the going to nursery department!

Added to the scary list: BLENDER

this is our old blender. We sold it on craigs list recently because it has 2, yes TWO whole whopping speeds on it. Would you like your drink blended on high, or low? Tough choice. Funny thing, there wasn't even that much of a difference in the two. But we were young and newly married and wanted something cute. Oh how we've learned (and should have known! I'm a designer! ) that form truly does follow function. So yes, it functioned, but not up to par. The form had to be sacrificed to get the proper functionality.

ANYWAY...

I mixed up some crepes tonight, which required the blender. I flipped it on and Alex freaked out. He was so scared! Poor guy!
He has always been afraid of the blender, but I haven't used it in so long that I forgot. And apparently Alex also forgot that he was getting to be okay with it at one point. It took a few months of laughing and dancing around whenever I turned it on for him to think it was maybe not quite as scary. I guess we're back to square one.
On a similar note, I hope that he's still not afraid of this guy:



He was also pretty scary, but not nearly to the degree that the blender was. Okay, maybe I lie. I used this a few months ago to chop some stuff up and, big surprise, Alex freaked out. I'm sure I would have a similar outcome if I were to whip it out tomorrow.

Aren't appliances wonderful?!

Apparently, THIS is some pretty scary stuff

Yes. You are indeed seeing a spring doorstop. Scary you ask? For Alex, YES!

Tonight was such a funny night. I had my easter candy sprawled out on the floor and instead of going around it, Alex had to walk on top of it. So I playfully swatted his bum and said, "hey! what are you doin' walkin' on my stuff?!" which sent Alex into giggles as he ran away. It shouldn't be a surprise that if anyone wanted to see the game in action, I could do the same thing tomorrow (to get a video of it) and have the same result I had tonight since Alex likes to do the same funny stuff over and over.
Anyway, I put the candy all in a bag and, after taking a lap into the living room and through the kitchen, Alex was back to step on the stuff again. He really just wanted the swatting and the "hey! What are you doin' walkin' on my stuff" followed by a short chase. Anyone with a toddler knows that this went on for at least 15 minutes.

I then chased him a little further for more giggles and he happened to run into a spring doorstopper. Of course, it made the weird springy noise that they do. Alex stopped dead in his tracks with a bit of a worried look on his face. He didn't quite know what to think. He was actually afraid of them when he was just starting to crawl and would find and hit them. That fear stopped for a while, so I figured that he was over it. Apparently not because when I made the sound again for him to show him what it was, he started crying! So I got to do one of my favorite things of being a mom. I held out my arms and he ran over to me and gave me a big hug and just held me. Aww!

We then went back to the fun and games and when we got to the chasing part we could only get barely into the living room before Alex would burst into tears again. The poor kid knew what was coming and was afraid to even get close to the doorstopper! So there were more loves and one last round of giggles before heading to bed.

We're hoping that he can get over his fear of doorstoppers by the time he's 12. We'll be working with him on it every day.

What do I love most after every holiday?

Buying candy at 75% at Target!!! YUM!
Today I bought 4 bags of Cadbury eggs (I didn't buy them before easter in anticipation of getting 4 bags for the price of one AFTER easter), 4 things of Snickers eggs, 2 things of Butterfinger eggs, 3 bags of Nestle Carmel filled eggs, and a little bag of spring m&m's that just so happened were in my wedding colors.
I brought them all home with glee.
Then Jon came home and talked some sense into me. So while we were out for dinner, we returned 2 of the Cadbury eggs, both Butterfinger egg packages, 1 of the carmel filled eggs, and the m&m's (they were cute, but I just don't like plain m&m's). I just couldn't let any of the Snickers go though. Too delicious to part with.
Thank goodness for a husband that can talk some sense into me, but I really do miss having all of that candy. That would have lasted me for at least 3 weeks!

Mmm... Popcorn!

Tonight we popped some popcorn and started a movie before putting Alex to bed so that he could try out the popcorn. It was so cute to have him sitting next to me and reaching his little hand over into the popcorn bowl. He was very much a fan of the popcorn. I'm not at all surprised since popcorn happens to be one of my favorite things.
I remember as a kid, we'd be laying in bed going to sleep and we'd hear the popcorn popper start up. The popping would soon begin and we would get excited... we knew what was coming. My dad would bring us each a little cup of popcorn and we would eat it in our beds happily. It always made us so happy to have that little treat.
I figure that is probably where the obsession started and I plan on doing the same thing to my kids that my parents did to me. I still love to sit down and watch a movie and share a bowl of popcorn with my family when I am home. It may sound weird, but it just makes me happy. Who wouldn't want to share the same things they loved as a child with their own children?

What song are you diggin' currently?

Please post your current favorite in the comments!

Right now I am loving Broken by Lifehouse

Pictures from The Egg Hunt!

Lucky Alex got to have 2 egg hunts on Sunday. We streamed them to each set of grandparents so they could see him in action.
After the first hunt, Alex quickly figured out that there was good stuff to be had inside those little eggies and set to work on opening them and eating all of the M&Ms out of them. What made me laugh was that there were M&Ms on the floor and he would pick one up, put it inside the egg, and then eat it. Kids are great!
He got good and messy and then we sent him out again for the second hunt. He didn't want to hunt for very long though. He knew what was in those eggs and how to open them. He sat on the ground and started in on the M&Ms he knew were in store for him. Didn't work out so well when they spilled all over the grass, so we went inside and he got to enjoy another whole egg full of M&Ms.
He didn't eat a lot of dinner afterwards. :)

His Easter basket/bucket on Easter morning.


The grass is pretty hard to walk in (dang st. augustine. I hate it!), so Alex usually spends a lot of time on the ground when he's out there. The egg hunt was no exception.


reach for it!


his hair in this made me laugh! I guess it's time for a haircut...








this one's for my dad ;)




trying not to fall over!






YUMMY!


look at those teeth...

Happy Easter!

As our first major child centered holiday with a child on our own (without the grandparents/usual family festivities), I would rate us at about a 6 out of 10. We have some work to do and thank goodness we have MANY years to perfect it. I suppose it's also good that this year's memory won't be the brightest for Alex.
We did have fun though.
Last night I remembered that we probably should have dyed eggs during the day. OOPS! So I boiled the eggs after Alex went to bed and we dyed them this morning. Alex came downstairs this morning to a lamb, barrel of monkeys, and an Elmo coloring book in his easter basket. He LOVES the barrel of monkeys and played with those for a good part of the morning.
Then we dyed the easter eggs. Alex loved dropping a white egg in the dye and watching it come out a different color. He didn't have a lot of interest in stirring the eggs around in the dye. He just wanted to keep putting new white eggs in. His hands were pretty colorful by the end!
For his easter outfit, he wore his little seersucker blazer and matching hat and khaki dress shorts (yes, he has dress shorts! They're so adorable!). His blazer fits him great in the arm length, but it still too wide on him. I think I'm going to pin the sides in a little so that it looks like it actually fits him. Everyone at church thought he was quite the handsome little man.
After church while Alex took a nap, Jon and I got our bbq ribs cooking. This is the first time I have ever made ribs and they actually turned pretty well! I think we may be sticking with bbq ribs as a tradition of our first Easter in Texas (last year we were in Utah). I like the idea of being able to take a little bit of Texas with us wherever we go as tradition.

The most exciting part of the day, or course, was the egg "hunt". I say "hunt" because there wasn't a lot of hiding, and thus, hunting, going on. The eggs were strewn around on the grass and put in creative places that were still in plain site. It was kind of like beginner's training for next year. All I had to say to Alex was, "go get the eggies and put them in your basket!" and he knew exactly what to do. I opened our back door and he immediately went to an egg and put it in his basket. Okay, it was technically an easter bucket. Same thing. Anyway, he had the best time picking up all of the eggs and an even greater time opening them up and eating all of the candy.
He didn't eat a lot of dinner. ;)

Overall it was a great day. There was, obviously, room for improvement and we really missed being around family, but we still had a lot of fun doing things on our own and making new traditions for our family. Thank goodness we can still build a lot more, but I think that today was a great start.

Let the Front Bushes Mass Exodous Begin!

Anyone want to come dig some holes? Because we're kind of sick of it. You should probably know that our "dirt" is actually considered to be clay. Still want to dig holes?

You probably noticed a few posts ago my landscaping dilemmas with the columns, out of control bushes, and overall ugliness resulting from the odd placement of bushes (seriously, there is no rhyme or reason to it) in the front of our house. I came to the conclusion that everything in the front had to be moved so I could start from scratch. I know, I'm completely crazy. BUT it should help tremendously with the look of our house which should in turn help it sell better next year.

We decided to get started today by moving the large out of control bushes that we have the most of into our backyard along the back fence. Digging those things out was such a pain! There were roots going everywhere. I'm really hoping that they don't die in their new home. That would be just our luck. We only got 2 of them transplanted, but have holes dug for the rest of them to go in, so we just have to dig the rest out of the front during the week. I'm planning on getting at least 2 done, but hopefully we can get all 3 of them.

Once we got them out and planted along our fence, we realized just how huge these bushes are! I was amazed at how much they have grown! I think my pruning last year definitely did some good. When all of them are in place, they should cover a good portion of the back fence. Even with having the 2 there, it makes such a difference in aesthetics. Our backyard doesn't look so bare!

Once the 5 main bushes are out, then we have the flowering things with the weird leaves (the ones that we had to tie up last week) that are on either end of the planting area that will come out. One will probably be moved to the side of the house and the other to the back corner that the other bushes didn't reach to.

Then there are the 3 odd bushes that are grouped together up front, but I don't know where they should go. They may end up with some smaller ones of the same kind that we planted around the big ugly box between ours and our neighbors house. That thing could definitely use some more coverage. They could also go along the back side of our house, around the air conditioner, or maybe just moved between the columns. I'm not really sure yet on those because they are kind of weird and don't have a lot of growth at the bottom, so they look really bare. I'll probably have to trim the bottoms of them as well so they can get fuller.

For the columns, we will probably be planting Japanese Sky Pencils, which are like tall skinny boxwoods. I just read that they are excellent for being shaped into topiary, so I'm excited about that! Here is a picture of what they look like. I think they will look fabulous.

So now all I have to decide is what to put between the columns and then what to put in the beds up front. I got some flower seeds to plant (poppies and something else), but I'm thinking I want peonies. Maybe I just love them because they have such a soft look to them. Oh and they're pink! Who wouldn't love that? I'm already having visions of freshly cut peonies sitting in a vase on my kitchen counter. Ahh...

So the peonies would be planted in a long row in front of the sky pencils. I would then do either some ground cover or some more grassy type low bushes.

I think I'm going to do some photoshopping so I can get an idea of what it would look like.

Again, if you have any good ideas for me, please share!

Thanks for listening to me ramble about my landscaping. I love sharing all of my fun plans and projects with everyone!

I'm not so good at the staple gun...

But I did get my barstools covered! Well, one currently. I had to stop because Alex needed to take a nap in the room next door and stapling also involves hammering for me.
I don't know if the wood on the stools was just hard or if I just suck, but pretty much none of the staples went in all of the way. And then, when I hammered them, a lot of them just bent over sideways instead of going in straight. So it looks really umm... nice... underneath, but I figured no one will see that anyway.
I am very excited I have a staple gun though. It was a lot of fun!

here is the finished barstool:



and a close up of the fabric that so many are dieing to see. Isn't it nice?! I love it! (by the way it is brown, green, and cream. The sunlight washed it out a little in the picture)




I also picked up a bread machine I bought off of craig's list today. It's a little big larger than I was anticipating... LOL, but I'm excited to get some good use out of it. It's only been used a few times, so it's pretty much new. I hate making dough of any kind because it's such a pain to knead it and then let it rise and then knead it again. This should greatly simplify that process so I can make more dough stuff and not just bread. I can even make jam in this thing! I have plans of making cinnamon rolls this week. YUM!
Now... to figure out where to store the monster. I'm thinking my next house is definitely going to have some kind of appliance hider. It's going to have to be HUGE though because I have a big ol' breadmaker now in addition to my crockpot (I would love to just keep this out on the counter and slide it out any time I wanted to use it), blender, and toaster. Hmm... maybe the waffle iron, george foreman, and griddle too. I just like to keep things within easy reach!

I'll let you all know how my bread making goes!

A day at the park!

Today was probably the best day of Alex's life. We spent 2 whole hours at the park! We went down crazy steep slides together (really... you should see this thing!), fell in the bark, climbed the stairs over and over, ran around the tennis court, and went down more slides.

It was a really fun day and I wish I would have brought my camera. Alex was just so happy to be outside. And I didn't have to hear him whining at the door(s) all day to go out. We'll probably be spending more time outside together. It makes him happy and it's good for us to get out.

Now, if only I had a fun park toy in my back yard. I guess it's time to look for outside toys (little slides, houses, playscape things etc.) so that I can hang out with him in the back yard in the hammock on the laptop. ;) I don't go out in the grass. I think it's yucky and I'm afraid of bugs and the random red ant hill that seems to pop up. I actually am really freaked out about Alex falling on one and getting majorly bitten, so I hate having him be outside if I'm not right there with him or have looked the yard over for ants. What a pain. Here's to living in the south eh?

I hope all of my Utah friends get more warm days coming their way so they can enjoy the outside with their kids too!

Why do I not have a staple gun???

An appropriate post for my dad's birthday. Happy Birthday Dad! I miss having you and your tools around.

So today I set about making the covers for my barstools. I only got 12" of fabric thinking that would be wide enough to cover the tops. Well, it covered down the sides, but didn't go under the bottom at all. So I had to sew a little strip of fabric on each side so that it would be wide enough to cover. I have that done and I have my batting cut out, so now all I need is a staple gun.
I'll probably pick one up tomorrow as I'll be needing one anyway when I do the valances in my living room.
Sadly enough, I think my dad has 2 hand held staplers (haha... I'm remembering my mom and I using them to put the tulle and ivy up on our deck columns for my wedding) and an electric one, so he has enough to spare. But alas... I live 1500 miles away.

no, I will not eat my lunch

Alex has been shaking his head no for a while, but most of the time it would accompany crying when we would pick him and and move him away from the door to go outside or take him to get his diaper changed.
Well today, he used the head shake and said no no no in his little Alex way when I tried to get him to eat more of his lunch.
I guess this is the beginning of the end. I'll just keep hoping that the no no no's don't get too out of control!

be still my heart!

I went to the fabric store today. I LOVE the fabric store!
I could spend forever in there. I didn't even look at the home decor fabrics because I had a friend with me.
My little mind was spinning with ideas and I wished that I could live there. They have nice sewing machines, crafty books and all of the supplies, and endless amounts of fabric. When I die, I want heaven to be a fabric store.

While there, I was thinking about my mother in law taking her little boy to the fabric store for hours at a time. At least it seemed like hours to the little boy. Jon throws a fit if I ever suggest that I need to stop by the fabric store. I think his mom scarred him for life. I keep telling myself that I'm ingraining a love for craftiness and beautiful fabrics in Alex. Or at the very least I'm giving him a good sensory experience by letting him feel all the different kinds of fabrics. And yes, he actually does love doing that. I can park my cart next to the shelves and he runs his little baby hands along the fabric with glee. Hmm... doesn't sound like his mommy at all...

The good news is, I found a fabric that I LOVE! I actually bought some to cover the tops of my barstools with. I want to go back and get some more to make a sling and also to cover an office chair with for my crafty desk (many thank yous to Nicole for the inspiration!). Is it possible to be in love with one fabric enough that you want it everywhere? I'm starting to think so. In fact... I was just thinking what great throw pillows it would make on my couch! Maybe even both of my couches. Oh! And a tablecloth! Yes, I am in love.

Things I did today

So since I didn't get to painting the barstools and shelf last week, I did that today while Alex was down for his nap.
Funny thing about these barstools... My dad and I picked them up at the Magna/West Valley DI about 4 years ago for about a dollar or 2 each! They were for my new apartment. I still laugh because they don't exactly match, but they fit our needs. I couldn't bring myself to go and buy new barstools for $30 each when I had perfectly good ones sitting right here. The next step to to cover the top with some batting (thin cushioning) and some fabric and they'll be as cute as ever!



and here is my bathroom nearly decorated. I just have to do some window treatments!

I didn't get to plant my flowers today, but I should be able to do that this week sometime. We're also going to try to get some trees ordered to plant in our backyard (hmm... maybe we can wait to plant them until the Marsh family gets here so they can help dig the holes...) and finish our back patio extension. Oh ya and re-landscape our ugly front bush area.

Here's a picture of our house... let me know if you have any great ideas on bushes/flowers. Mostly, I would love suggestions on what to do to emphasize the columns. I was thinking topiary type trees or hibiscus trees (hehe since we won't have to deal with them getting huge and looking weird before we move. They grow up to 6-8' high and they are 6-8' at their widest part.) Please note though, the bushes in front are much taller and bushier now (especially the tall bush in front of the column closest to the door. It is out of control! You can hardly see the column it's so wide.) and our door/shutters are also a brighter red. Okay... I went out and took a real time picture. So that is the nighttime picture after this first one.

We just tied up the bush today so it's a little more put together, but I still think it's ugly and need something more streamlined.

The kid loves turning pages

This was taken on Valentine's Day. I was reading Mr. Messy to Alex and he actually just liked the pages flipping. Right before (and what inspired us to get out the camera), he was turning his head with the pages. It would be like watching cars go by, but he was watching each page go by. I don't know if any of that makes sense! I was sad that he stopped doing it for this movie, but the finger thing is pretty hilarious. I'm cracking up pretty much the whole time.

make that one more tooth brushing song...

So we just turned on Barney and guess what they are talking about? Brushing your teeth! What a funny coincidence.
So now I know another tooth brushing song, thank you Barney.