the pumpkin patch

dillon has been asking to go to the pumpkin patch since... well, probably since february. everytime we drive by the lot where it is he asks when it's coming back. so, a few days before halloween, we finally took him. and then the pumpkin patch promptly took all our money.

when i was little we used to go to the pumpkin patch at the local dairy. it didn't have bounce houses, slides, pony rides, petting zoos, etc. it had pumpkins. and some hay. after all, it was a pumpkin patch. and the pumpkins didn't cost an arm and a leg.

so, we went to the pumpkin patch and let dillon go down the $5 slide. and jump in the $3 jumper. and go in the $4 obstacle course. and then after, well we went to the market and bought pumpkins for $2.50 each. the same sized pumpkins that they were selling for $20 at the pumpkin patch. i wonder how many pumpkins the so called "pumpkin patch" actually sells?

(and while dillon jumped and played, i totally geeked out and took a ton of pictures of pumpkins - quite possibly the real reason why i wanted to go to overpriced pumpkin patch in the first place.)

the sign

the other day dillon asked me for a sheet of paper. the kid loves to draw. a few minutes after i gave him the paper, he came back asking for some tape. once again i obliged. next came the "mommy, come and look what i did." this is what i found:

"mommy, it means no you or daddy in my room."

"and this part means if you come in, i'll play my harmonica really, really loud."

seriously? i about fell over laughing!

hi

i'm back. i'm going to try (keyword: try) to keep my blog updated more frequently (at least more than once every eight months). a lot of stuff has happened since my last post, so, while keeping my posts current, i'll throw in some "flashback" posts.

a friend asked my why i stopped blogging and i really didn't have a clear cut answer. there are many reasons - some good excuses, some not so great excuses. i have been on a journey these past two years and have really changed as a person. that being said, sometimes i felt that i couldn't be open and honest about what i was thinking or feeling because i thought people my judge me or say i needed therapy. so, i've decided that i'm just going to roll with it, i'm going to throw in the good, the bad and the ugly. not just the good, the better and the ok. many times i would write a post and then just delete it without posting out of fear. i've decided that it's ok to just post what i'm feeling.

other reasons: laziness, busyness, just didn't feel like it and then when i did feel like it i didn't really know how to start again. (lame excuses, right?)

oh well, whatever my excuses are/were, i'm back.

How I Spent My Birthday

My Birthday was Sunday and to celebrate we headed to where else... the Happiest Place on Earth. Spent the morning and early afternoon there with some of my very favorite people and then when it got crowded we left. Later we went out to Outback for dinner and then came back home to eat cake. It was a fun day... with the possible exception of being a year older.

All About Me Cake

This year I made my own cake. I was excited to do it. Actually, I begged Jason to let me do it. I wanted an ice cream cake, so I decided to decorate it with butter cream. I thought it would be fun to make a cake that represented me - things I like: Coach, cooking, Disney, flip flops and of course, Starbucks. I really like how it turned out... although, at one point I almost gave up and bought a store made cake. I *shudder* at that thought. The making of this cake was one disaster after another. I'll share because it's funny.

Jason went to the store to get something for dinner. He told me to text him my list. I did. After he was home for about an hour I asked him if he had put the CoolWhip in the freezer. What CoolWhip? Oh... the stuff for your cake. He forgot to check his text. Well, that sucks.

We eat dinner, I finish up my butter cream transfers and then head to the store. It's already after nine. Ugh. My list: Cake mix (yes, I cheated, but I always make my own frosting), CoolWhip and ice cream. The first place I head in the store? The bakery... Maybe there is some plainly decorated cake that I can just scrape off the crappy store done design and then put my transfers onto it. Maybe. Because I'm tired. Really tired. And at this point I just want to go to bed. But no luck. They are all hideously decorated with way too many flowers and balloons to remove. And expensive. So I go get my supplies, pay and then drive home.

I preheat the oven. I gather up my eggs and my oil. Crap. I'm almost out of oil. I pour it into the measuring cup and it's just short of the quarter cup that I need. It's almost ten. I'm tired and there is NO way i'm heading back to the store. Instead I head to the computer and hop onto Google. One suggestion, just use extra water. Ok. This I can do. I add the little bit of water and dump it into the mixer bowl along with the mix and the eggs. I beat it for the required two and a half minutes. I check the batter. It's thick. Really thick. Why is it so thick? I added the three eggs, the oil mixture and the water... wait! I. didn't. add. the. water. Crap. I add in the water and turn the mixer on low and the water sprays me. Crap. I grab a spoon and try to mix it in. It works so I turn the mixer back on and mix it up some more. Not bad. It's usable. I put it into my four little pans and pop them in the oven and wait the twenty minutes, take them out and let them cool in the pan for the required ten minutes. I go to unmold the pan and the stupid things break apart and pieces of each are stuck. in. the. pan. Crap. I realize that I forgot to grease the pan. It's a nonstick pan. Nonstick my butt. I save what I can and toss the rest. I grease the pans and go for round two. I fill my pans and run out of batter. And I have no more oil. Great. Just great. I put what I have in the oven and hop back on the internet. Some suggest apple sauce and some suggest mayo. I decide on mayo. I grab the jar out of the fridge and attempt to open it. The lid won't budge. I'll have to go with the apple sauce. Ugh, it's cinnamon apple sauce and it's eleven thirty and at this point I don't care. The timer beeps and I take out the baking cakes, they cool and I remove them from the pans. Some come out without a fight and some, well they break again. It's midnight and I'm defeated. Who needs and ice cream cake. I'll just serve plain cake with ice cream. I grab a normal square pan, grease the crap out of it, pour in the freshly mixed batter made sans oil and with the cinnamon apple sauce. I bake it. I cool it. I pop it out of the pan. Success. It's nearly one thirty. I have to get up at six. I go to bed. Cake undecorated. I don't care.

The alarm goes off way too soon and I hop in the shower. While I'm standing under the hot water trying to wake up the light bulb goes off. I quickly finish my shower and head to the kitchen. I grab my pan and cover the bottom with plastic wrap and dump the ice cream in it. I spread it around the pan and then toss the chocolate-cinnamon-apple cake on top. I throw it into the freezer and I now have my ice cream cake. It may be undecorated but it's a cake. I head to my "party" and come home several hours later. I takes me maybe ten more minutes to finish the cake. Perfect.

Next year... I. will. let. someone. buy. me. a. cake!

Fun Giveaway

Check out Jeannett's blog for a giveaway. She is giving away a pair of the coolest shoes. I *heart* these shoes... I just might have to buy a pair them in black... or silver... or maybe both.

Call The Fashion Police

Dillon has become so independent lately. His new favorite thing is dressing himself... and unfortunately that often includes picking out his own clothes. Shorts on cold days. Plaid shorts with checkered shirts. At least when he decides to wear jeans they go with most things.

And some days he even decides to accessorize. Usually that includes a beanie or his Nemo hat. Or sometimes a tie. Or sometimes he'll sport a hat AND a tie.

or a guitar...

Brown and Blue

I love the colors brown and blue together. It's soothing to me.

Dillon was running around the front yard and I was struck by the beauty of the bare tree in our front yard against the cloudless blue sky.

As I was taking pictures this sweet little yellow bird fluttered into frame and landed gracefully onto the very branches I was capturing.

Oh, how I love little unexpected surprises.

I love how the tree is beginning to bud but there is still one lone leaf hanging on.

Fifteen Minutes Of Fame

Do you see who I see?

No? Look again...

How about now?

Yup, that's Dillon and Ryan Seacrest (or as Dillon calls him, Ryan Seacrust). We happened to be at Disneyland on the day that they filmed the Christmas Parade... no, they don't actually film it on Christmas. I think it was in November. I don't remember the exact date, but I do remember that it was like eighty degrees out. I felt bad for Ryan in his long sleeves and sweater. But I guess when you're getting paid bookoo bucks you get past it.

Just Call Me The Paparazzi

Ever since I got my camera last year for my birthday I have been dying to do a photo shoot with some people who are not named Dillon. Don't get me wrong...I love taking pictures of my handsome little man but he doesn't take direction well and ninety percent of the time he is striking some strange rock star pose with his tongue sticking out. I wanted real, bonafide, Guinea pigs subjects.

As one of David and Kara wedding or shower presents, I'm going to make their guest sign in book. I wanted it to be full of pictures of the lovebirds, so I told them that I was going to take a few pictures of them. Little did they know that a few would be somewhere in the neighborhood of four hundred pictures. They were my willing subjects as I dragged them around Bishop during our Thanksgiving trip. Four locations and some pictures taken in the middle of a few streets.

I am absolutely thrilled with how they turned out. Jason was joking that I should charge them for the pictures. So, here are a few... and don't worry - I won't post ALL four hundred. Just some of my favorites.