Monday, August 30, 2010

Another Birthday Gift Idea

I came across the idea of stamping a message on the outside edges of a book in a Martha Stewart Living long ago, and I filed it away in my brain for later use.  I finally tried it out a few weeks ago and it worked beautifully!

My friend Mary Ann and I are always talking about books so what better gift to give her than a few of my favorites, stamped with her name so after she reads them, she can lend them to others.
Then I delivered them with some fresh flowers.  Can you believe I found these at Costco?  Every once in a while I find unusual flowers that I don't expect there.  Like these HydrangeaAnd these peonies that I bought earlier in the summer.  I told Larry when we grow up and he has a real job, I'm going to treat myself to a bundle of flowers at Costco each and every time I go.  I think I've amended this idea, and I would like to pick up a bundle of blooms to deliver to a friend each and every time I go.  Wouldn't that be such a happy tradition?

Thanksgiving Point Children's Gardens

I'm trying to share some of the fun places that we visit around town in case you haven't had a chance to visit them and are curious, because we've lived here for two years, and are still discovering new things to do.  Is that interesting to you?  Should I keep doing features like this?

A while back, Larry took a weekday off and we headed down to Lehi to visit the Children's Gardens at Thanksgiving Point.  It's such a fun place for kids to explore; there is a maze made from hedges (which makes you feel like your part of Alice in Wonderland or something), a polar bear cave with tunnels that you can crawl around in, a lighthouse, fish ponds, the perfect hill to roll down, all manor of things to climb on . . .
Of course on a hot day, we spent most of our time at the Noah's ark fountain
Even Ollie got in on the fun



and if you are lucky, you might spot some real creatures too!


Friday, August 27, 2010

Back tracking

I have 141 photos bookmarked to share with you.  I guess I better start blogging so I can get caught up, eh?

We've had all sort of exciting things going on around here.

For instance, a few weeks ago, the Binky Fairy visited us.  A friend told Creed about the Binky Fairy months ago to encourage him to get rid of his binkies.  You leave your binkies out for the Binky Fairy who comes in the night and leaves a present in place of the binkies.

Creed was terrified of the Binky Fairy from then on.

We explained over and over and the Binky Fairy does not steal your while you are sleeping; YOU decide to give your binkies away and put them out when you are ready.

This lead to all sorts of questions I could not answer:

Is the Binky Fairy a boy or a girl?

Is the Binky Fairy big like us or little?

Does the Binky Fairy wear clothes made out of leaves like Tinkerbell?

Where does the Binky Fairy live?

All I could say was, "I don't know.  I have never met the Binky Fairy."

One warm summer night, Creed had put off bedtime as long as he possibly could: Another story, check; a drink of water, yep; rearranging the blankets, uh-huh; potty run, alright . . .

Then he ran out of excuses . . . until he remembered the Binky Fairy.  And even though it was very late at night, how could a say no to Creed volunteering to give up his beloved binkies?

So we wrote the Binky Fairy a note.

and left it on the porch with the binkies

and the Binky Fairy wrote him back

And that Binky Fairy just knew exactly what Creed had been longing for

And now Larry takes every opportunity to pose Jessie around the house in the creepiest ways possible.  Who is scarier, the Binky Fairy or Jessie?

Thursday, August 26, 2010

A future product review

Remember when CSN Stores (that family of websites that sells everything you can think of from end tables to car seats) hosted a giveaway on my blog?  Well, now they are letting me do a product review.  I'm pretty excited about it, but I'm having a hard time choosing something to review.  Oh, the possibilities . . .

I'll keep you posted and let you know what I decide on!

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

If I Knew You Were Coming I'd have Baked A Cake

Creed loves baking lately so he was excited to help me make a cake for the cake auction to raise money for the youth at our church a few weeks ago (ignore the newspaper on the wall, I was in the middle of hanging some pictures).  He took our work very seriously.
We made a root beer float cake using this recipe.  I have no idea how it tasted, but a few people who tried it asked me for the recipe so here's a link!


Friday, August 13, 2010

That's Creed with a C

We're having a rough week around here. Creed has been terribly sick, but we decided to take a trip in September (it's been way too long since we've had a real vacation) so I've been busy daydreaming about what's to come and pretending I'm abroad instead of mopping up nastiness. I'm ready for a real trip. The kind of trip that has us trying on our swimsuits and applying for passports for the kids (ok, the passports are only for Canada, we're not feeling that daring about traveling with a toddler and an infant, but still . . .)

Creed perked up a little this afternoon when his fever dipped a bit so we had to take advantage to try to sneak in some passport photos. This is a glimpse of how it went.
Not about to cooperate (and who can blame him feeling the way he has the past few days)
Not looking forward
not happy about looking forward
really not happy about it
making his best face
showing off his new trick again (wouldn't it be awesome if they would use this photo? It would be a passport to treasure forever and it would be sure to make everyone checking it smile as they deal with grumpy, tired masses)
And this one would be even better at making them smile, but I still don't think they would approve it.
closer. He's facing forward and trying to smile anyway.
And finally! A little sweaty, but that's the best it's going to get this week.

Saturday, August 07, 2010

La La La La Letterpress

Kirk and Eva are teaching what might be the last Sycamore Street Press letterpress class (they are moving the studio and having a baby girl this fall so who knows what the future will bring).
I assure you that they couldn't be lovelier people so if you are interested in learning to letterpress, you should sign-up. You can find more info here.

PS- We recently had the opportunity to meet up with Kirk and Eva and the rest of the design team for Sycamore Street Press to celebrate Kirk's birthday and it was magical. Seriously. The evening involved hilarious stories . . .
bocce ball in a field on the top of a hill surrounded by breathtaking views
Homemade pie
and the evening ended with fireworks.

Creed said it was the best night ever (because he loves Kirk and Eva, but oddly, he calls them Kirk and Kirk & Eva (he thinks Eva's name really is "Kirk & Eva")

Oliver Gets a Name and a Blessing

Did I mention that we blessed Oliver in June? I didn't? Um, that's embarrassing! I was looking through this blog and we seem to be missing a few big events around here. I guess I'm a little behind.

We decided to take advantage of having a lot of family on town for Eli's wedding so we blessed Oliver on June 27th (a Mormon baby blessing is sort of like a Christening). We managed to snap one photo with Creed in it before he scampered off with friends.


Usually baby blessings take place in church, but we held the blessing at my parents' house since that was more central for our families, and it was nice having a more intimate setting with just our family and close friends.

If we look hot, it's because the biggest room in my parents' house was under the final stage of construction and the air conditioner wasn't working in that room yet, but it was beautiful.
We were so busy visiting with everyone that we didn't take any photos of Oliver until it was too dark outside. We had a few blurry attempts, then I told myself I would stage them later, and I never did so pretend these are in focus.


The last one almost looks like a painting. Let's pretend I'm artistic, and I did that on purpose. Isn't he so innocent and cute?

Wednesday, August 04, 2010

Creed at 3 1/3

I have so many fantastic pictures of Creed flagged in I-photo, that I think we're due for an update on him. These pictures start just after his third birthday, and just looking at them forces me to recognize how much he's grown up in the last few months. The first one was taken the day after his third birthday in his outfit of choice.
but wait, it gets cuter when you add bunny ears!
He's really smart. I was there for his preschool evaluation to see where he was at the beginning of the summer (partially so they can evaluate at the end of the year how much they've learned) and he knew everything (he even surprised me with a few of the things he could answer correctly). He loved the summer session of preschool, but told me that sometimes class time was, "a little bit boring." Oh boy, I'd say we'll be hearing that a lot so we better figure out how to deal with it. (He's wearing my glasses in the picture and he looks so adorable, a almost wish he needed glasses).
the first toy he's ever begged me for over several months is a zhu-zhu pet (a little electronic hamster that was the rage last Christmas) he picked them out for a few of his friends for their birthday presents and he had a hard time letting them go. We figured out a way for him to earn one and he was thrilled. Then my mom bought him a zhu-zhu house and car and Lisa and Tyler bought him another zhu-zhu pet. Now Nugget and Scoodles can often be seen traveling with us.
His baby doll can also often be found accompanying us on our adventures. The Hudsons gave Creed this doll when he turned one, but since Ollie was born, Creed's rediscovered his love for this doll. He named him Plant (I'm guessing that has something to do with Wall-E?). For a while when I was caring for Ollie, Creed cared for Plant. Here they are getting diaper changes together.
For a while they were fed at the same time too. And those pajamas, which were so big a few months ago, no longer fit.
I was so surprised the first time that I told Creed he needed to get dressed and he ran to his room and brought me a complete outfit (he never wants to get dressed and we usually argue over why he cannot wear his pajamas everywhere).
The next day he did the same thing. He even picked out the sweater and boots. The kid's got style.
He even picks his own accessories (and loves to make us laugh, like when he showed up to dinner like this)
He's filthy at the end of every day, just the way we like little boys to be.
He still LOVES to play dress-up. Here's a typical play date with his friend Liv. Did you notice the tiara? He's Princess Incredible here.

And he's wearing the princess tiara in this picture too because for the past two months, he loves to pretend to be Belle from Beauty and the Beast. He walks out of his room and says things like, "I'm Belle and you're Gaston, Mom. I'm beautiful, and I won't marry you Gaston!" Then he slams his door and can be heard giggling behind it. She's his favorite princess because she likes books and wears yellow.
He still has his quirks that make me smile. For some reason he says lots of words that begin with M with a B instead like Buseum and Bagician.
Around Easter he told me that the Easter Bunny lives in his heart with Jesus and Santa Claus.
He loves to play with friends, especially his cousin Logan, which makes me so happy!
He's always been very cautious. It took him years to go on swings and slides (he still won't go on some slides. In the past month, I've had to climb to the top of playgrounds at Del Taco and Liberty Park to rescue him). He likes to go to the fountains at Gateway, but he doesn't actually go in them. I was talking to a mom as we watched and she said, "Look at that little boy in the yellow. He's prancing around having the time of his life, but there's not a drop on him. He's so adorable." Yep, she was talking about Creed.
He cracks me up. Last week I told him he could pick anything he wanted to bring to show-and-tell at preschool and this is what he picked.
on another drive he told me that he learned a new trick. Check it out!
In case you're wondering what else is going on in that photo, he's riding in his car seat wearing a ducky hooded towel. Just a typical day with Creed.
Like most toddlers, he's a sponge. Last week he told me to gather everything up to go inside. "Gather?" I asked him. "Yes, I learned it at preschool. It means to pick everything up, like to gather your toys." Um, wow!
He's a chatterbox. And now he's started telling me stories. The other day we were going on a walk and he said, "Remember when we found out I was allergic to mud? I was a baby and we lived here and I was crawling down the street and I got all muddy and you were mad at me so you sewed my mouth shut and I couldn't eat anymore." Uh, no, I don't remember that. Then he looked at me like I was crazy and said, "I was just telling a story mom!"
I love his curiosity even though I can't answer most of his questions. Today, he asked me if he was still little. I told him he was still sort of little. He asked me how little. I told him he was still little enough to fit in his bookcase. I was right.
He tells us regularly that he doesn't want to grow up, he just wants to stay little. I feel the same way!