Week 15: Fail

I attempted to make cupcakes this weekend. One word describes this experience: FAIL

First round: Realized I turned off the oven after cooking dinner and didn't turn it back on.  Cupcakes took 25 minutes to cook and turned out incredibly mushy and dense.

Round two: Added some extra baking powder since the first ones didn't seem to rise at all. . .yeah. . .not good. . .

They all went directly into the garbage.

. . . .

There's not much more to say about that, other than stick with cake mixes my friends!  

I leave you one more picture, in hopes that my baking skills will be somewhat redeemed in your minds after last night's disaster.  I promise I don't always suck!

Success!

Here's to cake mixes and happy photographing!!

Week 14: Baby Animal Days

We went up to Logan this weekend.  It was cold and rainy, but our little man didn't seem to mind. 

 
We took Alex to Baby Animal Days at the American West Heritage Center.  He had fun looking at the animals, but had no interest in holding them. 

He only wanted to point at them, which is probably just as well since I could imagine him grabbing one of those baby chicks a little too hard. . . yeah, that wouldn't have been good.

 

I was also very excited when I found out that it was the American Society of Civil Engineers Regional Conference this weekend held at Utah State!  Yes, I know I'm a nerd, but before you pass judgement, google ASCE concrete canoe competition and perhaps you'll agree with me that it's pretty cool!  Where else do you ever get to see canoes made out of concrete?  Unfortunately the races were the following day, but we got to see all of the universities canoes and displays.  Matt and I were on USU's team for two years, and it was a blast!  The canoe this year looks amazing; it was truly a work of art and you'd never guess it was made of concrete.  Unfortunately there were too many people around to really get a good photo, but oh well.  Good job guys!

    
Happy photographing!

Week 13: Easter

This has nothing to do with Easter, or photography, or anything for that matter, but I feel the need to vent for a minute: it has been one of those mornings!  You know what I mean.  One of those mornings where NOTHING goes right; and none of it really matters, but everything piles up and it all becomes too much!  We wanted to go to a REAL soccer game tonight, but it appears that's not going to work out; I wanted to go for a run, but the jogging stroller tires were flat; so I tried to pump them up, but couldn't find the attachment to the air compressor; so I decided to take Alex outside and start trimming bushes, but all the tools are locked in the shed and I couldn't find my keys; I needed to go shopping, but yet again, couldn't find the keys; I hit my head on the table while trying to look under the bed for lost keys; all the while Alex was screaming because he desperately wanted to go outside and was distraught that I made him get dressed first. . . Yes, it was definitely one of those mornings.  I'm so grateful for my wonderful husband who came to my rescue!  Keys found, son consoled, stroller tires blown up, long run taken, cheesecake consumed, and life is good again.

I heard quite a bit over Easter from the Grandparents about how I haven't been posting enough pictures of Alex.  While I try to remind them that this blog is for me, and it really isn't ALL about Alex, they beg to differ.  However, Grandparents, you should be glad to hear that most of the pictures I took this week are of Alex, so without further ado, here they are.

Took Alex skiing for the first time on Thursday.  Hard to say if he really liked it or not. . .

Alex had a grand time hunting for eggs with Aunt Stephanie!

Enjoying the spoils

Alex enjoyed it so much on Saturday that we had to hunt for eggs THREE more times at our house on Sunday; it didn't seem to matter that the eggs weren't filled.  Alex took his egg hunting quite seriously and couldn't be bothered to smile for the camera.  This was the best I could get.

But he looks darling in his bow tie, doesn't he? I'm fairly sure one day he will look back on these pictures and say, "MOOOOMMMM!  I can't believe you put me in a bow tie, I looked so stupid!"  But I don't care, he's cute! 

Hopefully all of you had a fantastic Easter, consumed lots of chocolate, and took some good pictures!

Happy photographing!

Week 12: Done and Done!

This week I proudly present projects that I've actually finished over the last two weeks.  If you will remember from my original post, I mentioned that while I am awesome at starting projects, I completely suck at finishing them, and so finishing not one but TWO projects this week is something to be celebrated.  Yes, most of you probably don't care one bit, but allow me a moment to relish in the fact that I actually followed through on something.  Maybe it will give me enough motivation to follow through on my many other projects that are rapidly filling the basement and occupy a regular spot on my weekly to do list. . .maybe.   

First up, curtains! 

It only took several weeks, but they are finally finished!  The room feels so much more finished now!

Secondly, the side of the ovens.  The plywood look that we've been sporting for the last several months was not a good one, so we finally took the time to finish it off, complete with a magnet board for Alex and everything!  (Ok, the top frame doesn't actually have a picture yet, but it's currently being printed and is hopefully in the mail.) 

I hated that I couldn't find a pretty white board, so I found one at Walmart for $5 and made a frame for it.

  

I also quite like how the menu board turned out; DI frame that I painted gold with a piece of scrapbook paper behind the glass. 

In other news, I also stripped the wallpaper off in the stairwell.  I found this beautiful paint job underneath.  I think I might just leave it. . .or not.

Here's to finishing projects and happy photographing!

Week 11: Spring and the Battle of the Bugs

After the long cold months of January and February, spring has finally arrived.  The snow has melted, temperatures are rising, and the first flowers finally bloomed this week!  

Spring and I have a love-hate relationship; my hopes rise with the temperatures as I look forward to hot, sunny, flip-flop weather, only to be dashed when snow is in the forecast for the following day.  Thankfully this year has been better than most, and one day summer will finally arrive. . .one day.     

Spring can be a busy time.  For some, it is a time for cleaning the house and yard.  For others, it is a time for the "battle the bulge"; there is more pressure to hit the gym and go on a diet to prepare for swimming suit season that is just around the corner.  Me?  No, I am not one to fight this battle.  Sure I may have a couple extra pounds from winter, but that doesn't really concern me.  My battle is with the bugs.  For whatever reason, there always seems to be more bugs in our house with the change of seasons.  This week, there was this: 

Big fat nasty spider in the sink, but that is just the beginning.  Yesterday I ran downstairs to get a book and almost walked right into a spider dangling from the ceiling.  Today I found a spider building a nest in the hallway.  For the last three days I've been battling ants that managed to find their way into the kitchen.  As a person who detests bugs, especially ones that find their way inside the house, it is somewhat of a nightmare.  Thank goodness I have my trusty spider vacuum to get me through!

In other news, Alex couldn't be happier about the warmer weather and now wants to spend the entire day outdoors.  I fear we created a bit of a monster this week; our cars desperately needed to be cleaned out, and so we let Alex crawl around inside the cars while we cleaned.  He LOVED it.  We went to the Children's Museum at Gateway this week and he was mad that I made him give other kids a turn in the truck.

Saturday we spent about half an hour sitting in our car while Alex played at the steering wheel.  This morning Alex found my keys, grabbed my hand, walked over to the door, and cried when I told him we couldn't go outside.  

All ready for drivers ed!

Despite the bugs and the forecasted freak snow storms that may or may not actually happen, I'm very excited that it's finally getting warmer and we can go outside to play.  Happy spring everyone, and happy photographing!

Week 10: Aquarium

I don't have much to say, so I will simply post some pictures of our adventures this week.  We went to the Living Planet Aquarium with my mom and grandma.  The aquarium definitely doesn't rival the Monterey Bay Aquarium, but it was larger than I thought.

 

Little people are so funny.  After watching the fish, the otters, the penguins, the snakes, etc., Alex preferred the buttons that made animal sounds and this:

It was finally warm enough to go outside, and so we went to the park.  Alex was having such a grand time playing at the park that this was the best picture I could get.

Happy photographing!

Week 9: Mother of the Year

I had a potentially disastrous morning today: I was cleaning the bedroom when I noticed the sun coming up.  Thinking that it might be a good photo opt, I quickly threw on some jeans and flats, grabbed Alex and my camera, and headed outside.  Yep, it was 28 degrees outside, but we were only going to be outside for a second, so who really needs a coat?  It was only after our photo venture that I realized the front door was locked. . .and while I typically use the keypad on the side door, I suddenly remembered that there was a very good possibility that the deadbolt was locked, along with the patio door.  I had a mini heart attack when I realized I didn't have keys, phone, or a bra for that matter, and trying to convince one of my neighbors to let me use their phone at 7:15 in the morning in that state while holding my son who was probably freezing in his pjs just seemed. . . AWKWARD!  While it would have made for much better story, I'm grateful to say that Matt had let the cat out earlier this morning, and so the deadbolt was unlocked.  THANK GOODNESS!!  Mother of the year for taking my child outdoors in the freezing cold and almost locking us out of the house all for the sake of a picture?  Yeah, I don't think so. 

Was it worth it?  Hard to say. . .

But hey, I do deserve some points for taking Alex to the zoo last week.  He had refused to take a nap, then fell asleep in the car on the way up, and frankly didn't seem overly thrilled to be there, but he did enjoy looking at a few of the animals and it's always nice to get out of the house.  And yes, I made sure to put a coat AND a hat on him that time :).

Being a mom is hard, there is no doubt about that.  Emotion levels are through the roof; one minute you are questioning why you ever wanted kids in the first place as he lays on the floor screaming  because you are the meanest parent in the whole wide world because you won't let him play with that knife that he DESPERATELY wants to play with, while the next minute you can't believe how much you love him as he lies there peacefully asleep.  You love your children, and you want them to be happy, healthy, and successful in everything they do.  But with that love comes the need to compare, and for some reason the need to impart knowledge to everyone else about their kids.  I find the polarity of the mothering world a bit overwhelming.  "Oh, so you actually feeding your child high fructose corn syrup?"  "What activities are you doing today to encourage fine motor skills in your child?"  There are an amazing number of hot topics in the mothering world, and everyone seems to have a strong opinion on everything from breastfeeding in public, to sleep training, to circumcision.  I suddenly feel like a horrible mother for allowing my child to eat cheetos on occasion.  I am left wondering if my child is stupid because he's not really talking yet.  Maybe it's because of something that I have or haven't done.  I'm sure there's someone out there who would argue that it is because I. . .dare I say it. . .had him vaccinated! 

It is easy to get caught up in the drama, and while I tend to be more of a middle grounder on most topics (I don't care if you breastfeed in public but please throw a blanket over you, I do love my white bread but yes I will stay away from those disgusting processed frozen chicken nuggets) I have found myself comparing my child to others, and being overly critical of other people's parenting skills.  And for that, I apologize.

In all of our caring and judging, it can be easy to forget what is really important - our kids.  Ultimately it comes down to this: if you are doing everything in your power to take care of your kids in whatever way you think is best, then by all means, you are mother of the year!  So what if you lock your family outside in the middle of winter without a coat?  Things happen!  Ladies, please, don't feel guilty when you eat half a gallon of ice cream straight from the carton after your child goes down for a nap because it has been "one of those days".  Let's be honest, you both survived the morning and sometimes that's a feat in and of itself!  Don't feel guilty when all your child has eaten all day are goldfish crackers and string cheese; maybe tomorrow he will decide to consume some vegetables.  Focus on why we really do what we do, forget what everyone else says, and life suddenly becomes so much better! 

This is an older picture, but is still one of my favorites!

With that I will step down from my soap box.

Happy photographing!