Fun times.... No Nap

Today was one of those strange days where Rylan was on the go... wanting to play all day and didn't want to take a nap. I was practically begging him to sleep for just a little bit because I was so exhausted. My friend, Chris, came over today to hang out for a bit. We took Rylan to the park down the road so that we could try out the new camera. I'm loving that we have a nice camera that so far, seems to take excellent photos. The downfall to any good camera is the complexity of learning how to use it. It's definitely going to be fun. This is the camera that we got today ~Thanks again Mom McQ =) ~ It's a Canon EOS Rebel XSi SLR 12.2 megapixel digital camera.


We took a few pictures at the park but we ended up leaving because of these obnoxious teenage boys who were playing ball near the playground. They kept hitting the ball onto the playground area and I was afraid that they might hit Rylan. From my previous experience with managing that park facility, I decided that I'd just bring him back when the kids are in school. Rylan had this cute little girl following him. She was probably 3 or 4 but must have had an interest in him. (Great, my son is a ladies man already!) I would have snagged a photo of her but her mother probably wouldn't have liked that much..

I just love the sound of Rylan's laugh when he's on the swings. Its that deep belly laugh that just makes me smile and wish I could do that all day long. He also decided that he was a big boy and went down the slides all by himself. We stayed close by just in case but he wanted to do it himself. It was very cute.


Well, it's bedtime now and we're exhausted... We'll check back in tomorrow...

First Photo from the new camera!

Here's one of the first photos that we took with the new camera. I'll post more later.....

Halloween Cupcakes: Another great idea from Martha

Creepcake How-To:

"Each design starts as chocolate or vanilla cupcakes iced with Swiss Meringue Buttercream.
For "spider" creepcakes, make cupcake recipe (above) pouring batter into 2 1/2 mini muffin tins with paper liners. Ice mini cupcakes with vanilla buttercream and coat icing with black sanding sugar. Use cinnamon candy for eyes. For legs, attach 8 pieces of black licorice. For fangs, cut out tiny cone shapes from a marshmallow and attach.
For "tentacle alien" creepcake, spread cupcake with a thin layer of buttercream tinted with a few drops of green food coloring. Cut strips of green taffy and attach around top of cupcake. For eye, slice a yellow gumdrop in half and press into top of cupcake. A piece of black licorice attached in front the gumdrop completes the creepy gaze.
For "big-eyed alien" creepcake, spread cupcake with a thin layer of buttercream tinted with a few drops of green food coloring. For small eye, attach a mini marshmallow and create pupil by painting on melted chocolate (microwave 1/2 cup chocolate chips for 1 minute). For large eye, push chocolate chip, tip down, into regular size marshmallow, then cut gummy tape for an eyelid. For teeth, place 5 mini marshamallows along the bottom of cupcake.
For "mummy" creepcake, spread cupcake with a thin layer of buttercream. Add jelly beans dotted with melted chocolate for eyes and red gummy candy for mouth. Using a ribbon tip (such as Ateco #44), pipe bands of buttercream.
For "brain" creepcake, use a medium round tip (such as Ateco #12) to pipe a mound of Vanilla Meringue Buttercream in the center of cupcake, then outline and pipe a brain design over it.
Decorating TechniquesTo decorate, use marshmallows and candy-coated chocolates for whites of eyes; jelly beans or gumdrops for peepers with an eerie glow. For pupils, paint on melted chocolate (microwave 1/2 cup chocolate chips for 1 minute). Or use candies whole: candy-coated chocolates will stick to marshmallows sliced to expose their stickiness; for our aliens' eyes, we pushed chocolate chips, tip down, into marshmallows, then made a hole in the other side with a toothpick and inserted a licorice lace. Cut gummy tape for an eyelid. Sandwiched between halved gumdrops, marshmallows form a toothy grin; snip irregular pieces for fangs. Bend licorice or gummy rings into grimaces, or cut taffy tape for a tongue or tentacles.
Try These Toppingsmarshmallowslicorice and jelly beangummy ringtaffy tapegumdrops and marshmallowsmarshmallows with licorice and mini chocolate chipsjelly beans with melted chocolatemarshmallows and candy-coated chocolates or melted chocolatemarshmallows with candy-coated chocolate or gummy tape and licorice dropslicorice with gumdrops or marshmallows."

http://www.marthastewart.com/

Hard work paid off...

I have to admit that hard work on your yard has paid off this year... I really love how it looks right now and wish it could stay like this year round. Roger has done a very good job with mowing and taking care of the grass. I work on the flowerbeds. I'm sad to say that my watermelon plant didn't do as well as I'd hoped. It did however make some neighborhood creature happy because when I checked on them the other day, I noticed that something has eaten holes in my watermelon and tried to eat everything inside. I'm thinking a cat..dog... or something else that's large. Course, I can't imagine what it would be... we live in the city. Oh well...maybe next year.

Feb. 20, 2009 is the day!

Yes, that's right. They have released the date that the SIMS 3 Game will be released. Friday Feb. 20, 2009... I am so stoked. I was reading the details of the game and it sounds SOOO fun. You can't tell I'm addicted, can you?!?!?!

Long days with a sick baby...

Today is just one of those days that all of us Mothers wish never happened... the day with a sick baby. I will spare everyone the details but know that I'm stuck at home all day... changing diapers, doing massive loads of laundry and hoping that Rylan won't throw up again... Here's a photo I took when I laid him down for his nap. He loves his new crib sheet and CARS blanket.

A few new outfits....

You ever notice how much better you can feel about yourself if you have a new outfit on... well, I'm very stoked because I was finally able to use my gift certificates to get a couple new outfits for work. It's always so hard to find something that feels comfortable enough to wear to work, and yet is me... we all know that I'm not the most fashionable person. However, the gal at Lane Bryant made it very easy to find a few things that can mix and match and now I have at least a few different outfits to try out. There's a couple of things I got that I didn't get a picture of but here's some of what I bought. I'm so thrilled that I walked out of there with all of this and didn't spend any extra money.

(I REALLY loved this sweater.. it's so soft and comfortable)


(Mine is in a darker mauve color.)

Everyone needs a good pair of trousers and a good pair of jeans.

Calling all Scentsy users....

I've heard a lot about Scentsy products and how nice they are, etc... so I'm looking for anyone out there to tell me what they think of them... what scents are good and bad? Has anyone used the little plug-in version? Is there any pros and cons? do you like the bricks or the bars better? I'm looking for something that can just give me that nice smell throughout the house that won't be overpowering or too weak..

Awesome tip from Martha....

If there's one thing that can really frustrate me, it's a messy linen closet. Especially after I take all the time to wash, fold and put away the towels, etc. I never know what to do with all the sheets. We really don't use very many different sets so I don't even know why we have them but we do. Martha Stewart has this great tip on what to do with messy linens:

Bed linens shelved by type -- fitted sheets stacked next to pillowcases -- quickly become disordered when you try to retrieve them to put together matching sets. Try this method instead: Slip each set into one of its pillowcases, and store the sets by size -- twin, full, and so on -- with colors, trim, or other defining details clearly visible.

I think this is an awesome idea. I have to admit, it makes me want to wash all the sheets over again and then try this idea out. It looks like it really saves space and makes it look much nicer. If only I knew how to fold my towels so they don't take as much space.

Weekly Update & Blog Stalkers

Good Morning Everyone! It's been a slow week for me so I apologize for not blogging much. I'm still trying to recoop from the crud and dealing with a cranky 22 month old. I think that Rylan is getting more teeth or he's in a growth spurt because he's been cranky and sleeping a bit more than normal. Nothing too strange that would have us at the doctors office beating down the door but enough to take up more of my time. I've got alot planned for this week on my days off. I have decided that my linen closet needs organization and that I need to straighten up my laundry room. Along with the normal chores of sweeping, mopping, laundry, grocery shopping etc etc etc...
This week I've read alot of other peoples blogs who are freaking out about "blog stalkers"... "who are these mysterious people reading my blog?" and "maybe I should make my blog private."I totally understand how freaked out this can make someone so I decided to put a blog tracker on my own and see what it shows. I can now see the city and IP address of everyone who looks at my blog in this nice little report. It's kinda of interesting. I've gotten hits out of Seattle, Michigan, Utah, and a few others. The only one that makes me curious is Seattle. I have family there but haven't given them my blog address. I'm fine with people reading my blog if they really want to and they find my life interesting enough to check back frequently. I would appreciate comments if you do. Just so I know who ya are, etc... I love making new friends out there in the internet world... So give me a shout or comment....
Enough for now... let's get this week started. Happy Labor Day everyone!