Wednesday Randoms

I have had a migraine for 2 days straight. Nothing, no NOTHING, will kill it. . . so I'm posting a Wednesday randoms instead of the well thought out post I intended.

1- It's swap time again on the mommy board. . . and this time, it's a doozie! We're doing a 13 days of Christmas swap (there were 28 of us who wanted to participate, so we broke down into groups of 14) We each sent presents to the other 13 girls in the group, were each assigned a day, and are now in the process of opening them, one December day at a time.

I can't tell you how much fun we're having!

If you want to check it out, we've got a blog going. . .

I'm on the green team.

2- It has been snowing on and off for 4 days now. There is a LOT of snow on the ground. . .

This was the view out the front doors of our building on Monday at lunch time. This was during a lull in the actual snow fall, and obviously the sidewalks had been shoveled . . . but it gives you an idea. We've had many more inches since. Not to mention, it was literally 0 degrees when I left the house this morning.

My car was not pleased.

But at least the roads were clear for the commute.

3- BEFORE it started snowing, Nolan went with Tamera up to her house and spent some time chatting with Anabelle the cow.

And then he kissed her.

Which is seriously gross, but also kind of cute.

4- I saw something crazy on the way to work today. . . And I had to take a picture, even though it probably wasn't the SMART thing to do while driving. . .
What's up with that? Are they carrying a giant bag of dirt along with the coffin and the contraption to lower it into the ground? I must admit to being a bit creeped out at this. . .


5- We celebrated our dear friend Marcie's birthday this past weekend with a brunch up at Sundance. At one point I noticed that Ben, Kevin, and Juan were all wearing high collared sweaters, so I made them pose for me. :) And they had to know I was going to blog it, right?

Right.

Friday Randoms

1- I am THIS CLOSE to being done with my Christmas shopping. I am determined to be completely finished by Monday. Just a few more little things yet to do. But we leave for AZ in 2 weeks, so it doesn't feel as ahead of schedule as it sounds . . .

But saying I'm done with the shopping also doesn't account for all that still needs to be done. There is some making involved in the Christmas presents too. . .

2- We got a new baby at our house. A brand new 27" iMac to help us with our budding new business. To say that's a really big screen is HUGELY understating things. To say I love it? ALSO hugely understating.

3- I am currently dumping ALL of the video from our camera, that has not been uploaded in MONTHS to said new computer. Here is a little preview of Nolan's current trickery. It's a clip of his 2nd birthday. And keep in mind that this starts on about the 15th time I'd lit the candle. His signs are for More and Please, in case you don't speak toddler sign.



4- One of the projects I have going on right now is editing a video for Christmas for my grandparents. (It's safe to announce that here as they don't have the internet, so they'll never read this) My mom and her 5 sisters have compiled a huge stack of photos and a few video clips to present to them for Christmas, and I have to admit. . . putting it together is making me tear up a bit. First, because I'm used to putting these kinds of things together for funerals, but in this case, it's not like that at all. They are both alive and kickin' (in the way people in their late 70s kick at least) And second, because how FUN is it to go back and look at your history in such a concrete way? I love it! I love that I get to see pictures of my grandparents on their wedding day. . . of my aunts and mom as kids. . . of myself and the other grandchildren, and now great grandchildren. SUCH a cool legacy.

5- Does anyone have a favorite new Christmas album they can suggest? I always make a little mix of Christmas songs each year, and I need some new stuff. . .

Thanksgiving

So, Thanksgiving happened. . .

Honestly, the actual day OF Thanksgiving, I spent a good portion of the day sleeping, or slightly loopy. I had an AWFUL migraine that WOULD NOT DIE, and after every possible option was exhausted, including a 2 hour nap, during which Ben completed the task of cooking ALL of our dinner contributions with NO help from me, we went for the big guns. (wow that was a run on sentence)

I took two of my mom's Fiorecet. And boy HOWDY, did that work.
It also made me really out of it for several hours. And I honestly can't remember much of that day. . . except that it was a delicious meal, and that the kids were really well behaved and it was pretty serene (with the exception of my special child, who only wanted rolls and to get DOWN from the table).

But, Nolan had a great time playing with his cousins.

And making use of all of Logan's baby gear. . . Apparently he needed a seat a little lower to the ground.

We were very lucky to have Jeremy and Emily in town for the whole week, which gave us an excuse to throw a party for them and their wee girl that will be making an appearance in February. Here are a few outtakes from the shower (I really didn't take many photos. duh)

(The guest of honor is on the right)

Their nursery is going to have orange as it's accent color, so I went with that. . .

candy sticks with cute tags. . . one of my favorite favors for showers

We packed a LOT into a short weekend (Nathan, Jenny & Tanner didn't get in until Saturday morning) and had so much fun. I wish my brothers and their families didn't have to leave. We miss having them around so much! But we all had something to be thankful for, in having the whole clan together again.

More to come very soon on family photos and our trip to the children's museum.

Monday Randoms

Since I've been a useless blogger lately, I thought a nice randoms post would go further toward catching me up than anything else, even though it's not Friday.

1- Craft show is over. And boy am I glad. It didn't go as well as I had hoped. I figured a 5 day show would yield twice as many sales as a 2 day show. Alas, that was not the case. So I baked twice as much as I needed. Really wish I hadn't.

2- Candy Cane Kisses. Seriously. Delicious. Don't even get me started on how much I love them. Wait, am I repeating myself? That's probably a sign that you should run out and get some, pronto.

3- I have 11 more days of vacation to use before the end of the year. Not as impressive as last year's total at this point, but it should offer a nice long Christmas vacation on top of several shopping days. And I can't argue about that. I might even see a movie or two in December!

4- I have a confession to make. For years, I thought I hated pumpkin. Like, seriously BELIEVED in my soul that I hated pumpkin. But 2 weeks ago at work, we had a taste test/contest involving pumpkin. I made pumpkin spice cupcakes. I didn't taste them before hand. But in order to participate, I had to taste the other competitor's work. . .

And it turns out. . .

I don't hate pumpkin.

I hate the slimy version of pumpkin that makes up pumpkin pie. I don't like the texture. But the flavor of pumpkin? Not so bad!

I admit that I didn't give pumpkin a fair shake.

judgy judgy me.

5- I have a request. If anyone sees a screaming deal on a portable DVD player in the next few weeks, will you yell in my general direction? I feel that we MUST have one for our drive to AZ for Christmas, but all of our business expenses of late mean that we need one that won't break the bank. I'm ALMOST tempted to go out on Black Friday to find one. . .

but then I remember how I'd pretty much do ANYTHING not to go out on Black Friday.

We're official!

Forgive my lack of Friday Randoms. I could give you a list of my busy week's events, but it would just bore you.

Instead, take a look at our fabulous new website! We are so so so happy it's finally up and ready for the world to see. This is our new business:

If you know any photographers, in UT or otherwise, send them our way!
We're doing everything we can to make their lives easier.

Friday Randoms

1- I have eaten my weight in Kit-Kats this week. Stupid Halloween.

2- I'm doing cupcakes for the Oh Sweet Sadie! show again. It's a 5 day long show (Nov 18-21, with a special preview night on the 17th) out at Daybreak. It's going to be exhausting, I'm betting, but it's also going to be AWESOME. If anyone needs some cupcakes. . . come on over. I'm doing some holiday flavors, I think. . . Do you like how well I've planned for it so far?

3- We are SOOOO close to launching the website for the new business. I am SOOOO tired of tweaking it. . . but I need it to be just right. . .

Launching a business is not for the faint of heart. It's exhausting. I'm ready to have it all sorted out and get to work on other people's work!

4- I meant to talk about this earlier, but I've been a slacker. A couple of weeks ago, we met Peter & Carrie for brunch in Salt Lake. We went to the Wild Grape. I have to admit, I wasn't sure what to think, going in. . . but holy COW it was yummy. Their concept? "The extensive use of fresh, sustainable, locally produced often organic, products." Man does it work for them.

Go. Get the waffles. They were heavenly.

5- And a little Nolan note. . . his two favorite movies right now. . .

Cars

and Mickey's Adventures in Wonderland
(which Tamera got him for his birthday)

He is constantly asking to watch them. And while it's a break from Word World and other 22 minute TV shows. . . the movies get old fast. Ah, to parent a toddler.

Phone Dump

A few recent captures from my phone, of the cuteness that is my kid.

He turned 2 on Sunday! How crazy is that?
I can't even begin to wrap my brain around it.

One of the times we managed to get Nolan into his Mickey costume, happened to be when we were opening the mail. . .
This is him loving on the birthday blanket that aunt Hilary sent him It matched him perfectly!


Post trick or treating at Wyview, Nolan spied the playground, so we took his Mickey stuff off and let him go nuts.
This kid is not afraid to climb and brave the slide alone.



He chose chocolate cupcakes for his birthday, with fudgy frosting.

This is the sweet moustache that followed that cupcake.

We went to Toys R Us to let him pick out birthday gifts. We spent some time in the bike section, even though we had no intention of buying him a bike. He's never had one, but somehow, he knew just what to do with the helmet. . .

And of course he chose the bright pink one.

What of it?

OK, what he actually chose. . . with a little help from his dad. . .

His own vacuum!

He loves to help us vacuum, but this one is a little more his size. . . And it actually picks stuff up! (it's not great, but it gets bigger things) How could I turn down that kind of help?



And finally, a couple of clips of the little man "driving" my car. He has a panic attack every time I put him in his seat and don't let him "drive". . . so I gave in after he'd been a particularly good boy one day and let him have some time in the drivers seat.

Halloween FHE

Carving pumpkins has been a Halloween tradition for a long time.
See here, here, here and here.
(that's as far back as my blog goes, but the tradition goes back many more years)

So, for the family night before Halloween, we headed out to the local pumpkin patch to procure our pumpkins. . .

Nolan chose one just his size. . .

His father found one that looked like Medusa. . .

But once we'd discussed it, we discovered that no one was really that excited about the CARVING part. It's just so messy. . . and we weren't feeling it that night.

And so, it is with heavy heart that I announce a change. . .

Henceforth (unless Nolan changes our minds next year) we will hold an annual pumpkin patch visiting, caramel apple making (and Guitar Hero playing) Halloween event. . . And only those that really WANT to carve will carve.

Nick, Ben, Melissa, Mike & Tamera waiting for the caramel to set up

Kevin and Nolan playing Guitar Hero

Mike, Tamera & Melissa decorating their apples

& Vanessa enjoying the caramel and chocolate

The rest of us, will set our pumpkins on the front porch to smile in a much more natural way at all of the neighbors.

Friday Randoms

1- We went to see Isabella play soccer 2 weeks ago. Nolan had a blast kicking the ball around with her.

And borrowing my sunglasses.

2- Nolan & I have had a nasty cold for a week now. The kind that makes you cough up a lung and feel generally crappy and, in my case, lose my voice almost completely. I spent 2 full days sounding like Marge Simpson.

& for the first time in my life, Nyquil is not helping me sleep. Is it weaker than it used to be? Or is it me?


3- We went to the health department yesterday to get vaccinated for H1N1. I have a slightly unreasonable amount of fear about swine flu. We all have asthma in our house, and are prone to getting coughs that won't quit. Nolan especially. So it was really important to me that we get him vaccinated, and us too, if possible. Ben found out about it the day before and got to the health department early that morning. He was 10th in line. And it's a good thing. This is the line that looped around the parking lot as we were leaving:

There were just as many people behind me
and in the building when I took that photo too.
It was like something out of a movie.

4- Nolan went with Tamera to a photo shoot this week. They were there early, so Tamera took some shots of Nolan while they waited. I LOVE them. Nolan had a ton of fun playing in the leaves, and she captured the future model in him.

Blue Steel

5- The month of October is completely getting away from me. November is not going to be better. I can't really handle the idea that snow is going to be flying and it will be Christmas before we know it. I like this season! I want to enjoy it!

Halloween Portraits

So. . . remember when Ashley took our pictures? (how could you not? it was weeks ago, but it's only 2 posts back)

This same awesome Ashley is taking Halloween portraits for the kiddies! GO! Take your kids! It's insanely cheap, and she'll take awesome pictures, I have no doubt at all. And who ever gets a really good picture of the kids right before you run out the door to trick or treat?

No one, that's who.



And if you're feeling really benevolent, tell her I sent you.

Friday Randoms

You know it's convention season when I can't manage to blog more often than every 10 days. . . geez.

So here are a few randoms for you:

1- Convention is the time of the year when I feel 2 things. . . 1) really good at my job and capable of saving the day at least 15 times a week. 2) really bad at my job and incapable of accomplishing anything.

REALLY good for a person with anxiety, I tell you what. . .

2- We're going to have a new niece in February! This leads me to want to start sewing and crafting up a storm. . .
There are SO many cute girl crafts out there
(the grass is always greener, right?)

Either way, I am SO excited for Jeremy & Emily.

3- Nolan is going to be Mickey Mouse for Halloween. I had a thought to have him be Remy from Ratatouille. . . but alas, the Disney store didn't have a costume for Remy. But the second he saw the Mickey costume, he was sold. Will he actually wear the head piece? Probably not. But we're going to try. (the ears squeak for pete's sake!)

Is it cruel to make your man child wear black tights under his Mickey costume? It seems like the only thing that would look right. . .


4- Dreyers Peppermint stick ice cream. Slow Churned. 1/2 the fat. 1/3 less calories.

Seriously delicious anyway.

I didn't believe it either. . . but take my word for it.

5- As promised (oh, 2 weeks ago) a little peek into Nolan's favorite pass time right now. Singing along to "So What" by Pink. He gets SO mad if you won't play it over and over and over again. Which is why he starts saying "No No Na!" at the end of the song. Luckily Ben had it on repeat.

He gets more and more words right every time. Unfortunately, this was recorded before he started doing the spitting part at the end. . .

Family Photos - Fall 2009

OK, I know this is just a little ridiculous.
We have had our pictures taken a LOT lately.

But I couldn't resist exclaiming from the rooftops (or blogtops) my joy with these pictures. Several months ago, I took Ashley up on an offer to donate my old wedding dress to a charity her sister works with, in exchange for a photo shoot. The truth is, I'd been bugging her to take some pictures of us for a year, so this was the perfect opportunity. She was nice enough to let me put it off for a couple of months so that we could have the photos represent Nolan at 2 (even though we were a little early) I asked her to get some great shots of him, especially, and she did such a brilliant job.

Sometimes, when you meet with a photographer, it's a little awkward at first. It takes some time for everyone to warm up to each other. That didn't happen with Ashley AT ALL. We were instant friends. And you can tell how comfortable we were when you look at the pictures. It was such fun. You can see the results of the entire shoot over to the right in the side bar.

Ashley has a post with several of them on her blog, and you can visit her photography website HERE.

Maybe my favorite part. . . It totally looks like a fall day! Exactly what we were going for.
You would never know it was 75 degrees.

Thank you SO much, Ashley. I love them.

Taco Picnic

After a long work-from-home day on Thursday, Nolan and I needed to get out of the house. But, as energy levels were also a little low, and we had a plan for dinner already, we decided to picnic in the back yard.

So we had a taco picnic.

Nolan was pretty much just interested in the cheese.







Ben tried to encourage him to eat a taco by piling one high with cheese. . .





But he just went back to eating it straight out of the bowl instead.

Friday Randoms

Afternoon, friends. Welcome back to Friday randoms.
How have I only posted one tiny post since last week?
Oh yeah, #1.

1. I am up to my eyeballs in my new business venture. It will be known as Out Of Frame photographic services. Our mission will be to do all of the back end work for photographers. There is a huge group of photographers in UT that are also moms who get very frustrated with the amount of extra work there is to running a sound photography business. We would be there to do all of the stuff they find less fun and more time consuming than taking pictures.

Not that we're limiting ourselves to moms. Not at all.
That's just where we're starting.

2. On the same lines. . . choosing a business name is HARD.
Branding it equally hard.

3. Ben made Chex mix last night. I can't stop eating it.
And I should. It gives me bad breath.

4. Our Dish Network decided Wed. night was a great time to stop functioning. (Thank you stupid HOA and our central dish. Don't get me started) As a result, we missed all of SYTYCD and the first 20 minutes of GLEE. To say I was annoyed is understating it a great deal.

5. Nolan's new favorite thing to do. . . walk around in our shoes. He's finally steady enough on his feet to make it work. This is only the one foot show. . . still need to capture it when he puts both shoes on. Our shoes are now never in the right place.



Ben's background music there is Nolan's current favorite song.
I will post about that next week when I upload the video I took of him singing along.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog

OK, but have you seen this?

Not sure how I never saw it before. . . but I am in love with it.

Joss Whedon is a genius.

As is the whole cast.

It's long, but if you have 45 minutes that you're bored at some point, watch it.

It's amazing.

Friday Randoms

1. I know that there are many people who are no longer feeling the GLEE love. I am not one of these people. I still love it.

and Josh Groban loves a blousey alcoholic. . .

2. Nolan has started to try counting. He's not very good at it yet, but he does it with feeling!
Observe:




3. We were up on campus last night for Sweeney Todd auditions and a storm gathered around the mountains. . . check out the storm/ sunset:

Some days. . . I am reminded what a beautiful place we live in. . .

4. I had a small run in with Nolan's love for the oven yesterday. I checked to make sure there was nothing in the oven before preheating. . . but obviously didn't bend over and look ALL the way in the back. Somehow his orange skillet and one of the letters from his Leap Frog magnetic alphabet set were in the very back.

And I'm sad to say, they didn't make it.

Ben suggested that we make this a Christmas ornament.

5. I have a little side venture starting up in my mind. It's my dream job, actually. . . But I need to do a little more research before I launch it. If you are a pro/semi-pro photographer and you would be willing to let me pick your brain about some ideas I have to help photographers with their businesses. . . email me. or leave a comment. Or refer me to your friends who are photographers, if you think they'd be willing to talk. . . I want to make sure the whole thing is perfect before I start shopping it around.