Weekend Fun

A few random pictures from life at the Hess house. . .

Still a climber. He dragged the high chair over to the couch so that he could climb up onto the tray. Because he could. . . It didn't seem that there was another reason.


Soon after returning from AZ, Nolan found the box of animal crackers that grammy had sent home with him and proceeded to "make himself breakfast".


The budding artist tries out his new easel and chair (purchased at IKEA in an attempt to save the walls from more attack by crayon)


We took a trip to the Discovery Gateway children's museum this weekend, and Nolan had a BLAST.

Things I Love Right Now

Laptop bag

I had heard the praises of Crumpler bags sung many many times. I pretty much blew them off. I am a snob about many things, but bags are not one of those things. I'm not sure why. BUT, my laptop bag was literally hanging by a thread, and a new one was necessary for my back and forth to work goings. I wanted red (because I pretty much need everything in red) and I happened across this one in a fabulous Google search. Praise Google!

It's big enough for my laptop, monster that it is, as well as a bunch of peripherals and other STUFF. And it was SO affordable, how could I say no? And the fact that it's a Crumpler bag. . . I love that, even if it doesn't matter.

Crocs
Ben and Nolan both have crocs. And as much as I wanted to be part of the crowd, I couldn't bring myself to get the clog style they have. I knew they had some other options available, but it wasn't until we were killing time in the mall in AZ that I actually got to try some on.

I got myself a pair that I have really liked. They are brown like the ones the boys have, but in a decidedly more feminine style. Phew.

Camelback bottle
I have had this thing for a while now, but I don't think I've ever sung its praises as I ought to have. After many years of spilling water on myself drinking from wide mouthed Nalgene bottles, I have found the light. I'm telling you, if it weren't for this bottle, I would NEVER stay properly hydrated. I fill it with pebble ice and water first thing in the morning and several more times throughout the day. You have to make sure to remove and wash the valve regularly, or it gets a little not so fresh in there. . . I learned that the hard way and had to replace the valve. . . but you can do that easily too. . . no big deal.

Get one. You'll thank me.


Decorator tip/coupler dishwasher bags
As you know, I make a lot of cupcakes. . . And for those cupcakes, I use giant decorator tips to frost them. There's not a really good way to wash them by hand, I found (plus, I'm lazy) so I looked for a different way. Enter these little mesh bags. It's like a lingerie bag for your decorating things.

Even better, though, is that I use them for other things too. Things I wash even MORE often. Like those Camelback valves I just mentioned, the little rubber ring/washer from the blender, & the valves for sippy cups!! And no more worrying that I'll lose this stuff to the heating coil.

Brilliant!

That's all the consumerism I have in me for now.
Until next time

Torn Paper

To add to the coolness of our shoot, Emily had an idea, borrowed from another wonderful photographer, that she wanted to try.

I LOVE the way these turned out. They crack me up. It was all we could do to keep a straight face. . . as you can clearly see.

Zack is Back

Does this make anyone else as uncomfortable as it makes me?



I'm sure it's supposed to be funny, but it really just makes me squirm. . .

Is that because I had a crush on him in Jr. High?

Probably

The Big Reveal

Remember when I showed you a sneak peek of the photos we had taken in Wisconsin?

Well, my dear friend Emily Southerland has finished the HUGE task of processing the rest of that massive pile of photos and has posted them on her website. (Go to Clients and use the password WISCONSIN) Our photos are mixed in with all of Stefanie's family's photos, and there are close to 300 of them. They are all AMAZING, but if you're too time crunched to go through them all, here are a few of my favorites. Hopefully this will tease you into looking at the rest. . . Emily is a genius and her work should be viewed at every opportunity. :)

She's also posted a great post on her blog with more pictures (so you can see a few great ones of Stef's family too)

Thank you, Em, for a WONDERFUL photo taking experience.

Some of our big red round balloons
Nolan got such a kick out of them


Some family photos in front of some really cool buildings down the road from Stef's house




Stoic
Nolan was spinning in front of a gorgeous red door.
The one time he really acted like he was enjoying himself the whole time.

Garage light


Yellow balloon this time

Emily made some fake mustaches out of felt and attached them to sticks.
We got a kick out of them.
My wonderful best buds from the online world

Movies Movies Movies

Time, once again, to review the movies I've seen recently. I really should do this more often. . . I'm guessing, now that TV has slowed down for the summer, that my lists will be longer and more frequent.

So, back in April I decided to bump some non-chick movies to the top of the Queue so that Ben would watch a few with me (not like he has a lot of time for movie watching. . . ) So the first few were in honor of that goal:

Iron Man
It was good! As comic book movies go, this was one of the better ones. I would never have cast Robert Downey Jr. in this, but he was great. Surprisingly good for the role. I have to admit that when things start blowing up, I tend to lose interest. . . but that didn't happen much in this movie. And it showed off what the Blu Ray can do nicely.

Wanted
Honestly, I got this because of the cast, and because the special effects were supposed to be so great. And those are the things I liked about it. The script was BLAH, the story weak. . . not really worth the time. But it was pretty!

Quantum of Solace
I must admit, I was a little disappointed. I know that story and character development are not the POINT of James Bond films, really. . . but the first one was SO good, implementing a little of that human interest, that I expected the same from this. . . I didn't get it. It was still a better Bond movie (in MY OPINION) than any of the old ones. But I didn't LOVE IT.

And. . . on to the chick films

I've Loved You So Long
Since I tend to craft while I watch movies these days, it took me a while to watch this one. You can't read subtitles while you sew. But when I DID get around to it, I found it to be everything I had heard it was. Touching, interesting, well written and acted. It was definitely a French film, without all of the bells and whistles of American cinema, but it's certainly worth a watch if you can handle reading your movies.

Australia
I went into this prepared not to like it. I had heard very little good. It started out in serious Baz Luhrman goofiness, and I was really afraid it would stay that way the whole movie. Thankfully, it didn't. The movie is too long, it really should have ended about an hour before it did. . . BUT the last hour is especially touching and wonderful, so I may reconsider that stance. The cast is great (I'm a sucker for Hugh, and I don't hate Nicole) and the visuals are stunning. If you have 3 hours, I would recommend it.


Flash Of Genius
It was a great IDEA for a movie. The story had some great underdog movie potential. . . the execution was not impressive. Which is sad. I liked the cast. . . but it was not well written, went on way too long (though some may argue that was the point, as the case was long and drawn out), and the direction was pretty uneven, for me. That said, it was a clean movie, you could watch it with your mom and not be embarrassed. . . and it wasn't awful. . . So if you're bored. . .

Seven Pounds
Again, not a bad IDEA for a movie. The acting was great (I love Will Smith, and this is a REALLY different character for him) but the script. . . the script was just not. It acted like it was trying to be all secretive about what had happened, but if you ever saw a preview, it was pretty obvious. . . And if they are trying to make it a secret, I need not to be able to figure it out so early on.


Definitely, Maybe
I admit, this, like the following film, I DVRd from TV to watch on a day that I wasn't totally paying attention. And in this case, I sort of liked the movie. I like Ryan Reynolds, but I wasn't really prepared to get sucked in by this. . . But I did. It's a cute movie.

27 Dresses
Again, recorded from TV. The cast was fun. It's DEEP in the chick flick drama. . . but the day I watched it, I was in the mood for that, so it kept me entertained (even if it was pretty obvious what would happen)

Marley & Me
K, I should start by saying that I'm NOT a dog person. At all. Besides being allergic, I spent a good portion of my life living in fear of the creatures (even though we had one for a while) Ben saw this without me one day, and wanted me to see it. The opportunity came up on the plane back from our WI trip. He was right. . . I cried. I was impressed with how REAL the portrayal of parenthood was. I have to admit, the first thing that made me tear up was Jennifer Aniston's speech about having lost herself in motherhood. . . SO hit a nerve. Point is. . . even if you don't THINK you'll like this movie, see it. It's less about a dog and more about a family. And everyone can relate to that. (especially if you have kids)

Friday Randoms

1- Tamera took Nolan on another adventure early this morning (to a wedding in Manti), which meant I got ready for work without a toddler under foot. SUCH a weird feeling.

Also, I feel that Nolan looks like a miniature version of a 60 year old man in that picture. (minus the binky of course) It's like Benjamin Button or something. . .

2- Reasons I love sleeping with the window open:
* it's the time of year that it is the PERFECT temperature to do so
* I love a cool breeze when I'm sleeping

Reasons I DON'T love sleeping with the window open:
* Allergies. BAH!
* Just a little bit of freeway noise
* blinds have to be open a bit, making it even brighter than usual
* STUPID CHIRPY BIRDS! they live in the covered parking thing in front of the house and chirp like the dickens from the time the sun starts to peek over the mountains.

Does the fact that there are twice as many cons make me STOP?

No.

3- They didn't say it on the show, but I TOTALLY called that the blond girl (Randi) on SYTYCD, the one with the unitards, was from Utah. I'm just saying. . .

That accent is unmistakable.

4- My goal for this weekend. . . HANG OUR STUPID PICTURE FRAMES!
Ben painted them forever ago, and they NEED to be off the floor of the office and on the walls, regardless of the fact that I don't have pictures ready for them.
I'll fill them in later.

5- It's national doughnut day. . . And I need to know where I can get a free doughnut in Utah Valley. Anyone? Tips?

Boo

Quite possibly the saddest thing I've seen in weeks.

STUPID ECONOMY!!

Fun in AZ part 2

To add to the fun, we got to meet and enjoy the company of two of our favorite couples that we knew in our BYU theatre days. They've since moved to AZ, and we HAD to find a way to get together with each of them and their families.

First, in Tucson, we met Jeremy & Cyndi Selim and family. Their boys are so adorable, and they were so sweet to meet us, despite the moving drama they were in the middle of (we had no idea)

Then, a couple of days later, we met Joni & Joey Clausen and their boys up in Gilbert and headed to McDonalds to take advantage of the sweet playground to get a little adult talk time (but let's be honest, that was only partially successful. . . will we EVER be able to have conversations with our friends again?) They also had adorable boys (what is it with our friends? How are we only making boys?)

And Nolan LOVED the playground.

Our last day in town, we took a little trip down to Tubac to check out one of their restaurants and some shopping.

First, we went to the Wisdom Cafe, which sported 2 giant chickens in front. . . I'm still not sure why. But Nolan found them amusing.

And Ben and his mother spoiled the boy with some new kitchen tools for the wee kitchen Ben is crafting for Nolan in the next couple of weeks. I can't wait to see how it turns out! He already LOVES his new toys, and the new apron.

We had a wonderful time in AZ, and hopefully will get to return VERY soon.