Okay this story is just too good to pass up. So I will type it out to you my blog world, while Kaden is in the shower.

Let me preface this by saying that the toilet seat is an ongoing reminder in our home. I remind him every once in awhile but I don't really harp on him about it because right now I have bigger fish to fry, so to speak. Such as ya know, reading, writing, being nice to people, etc.

SO I was enjoying a beautiful Wednesday morning, despite somehow hurting my neck, in a nice warm shower. Relaxing, washing my hair, brushing my teeth... and the usual routine is that when I brush my teeth I call Kaden in to brush his teeth too. He's used to it and listens for it, and today was no exception.

So I called him in to brush his teeth, he put his toothpaste on his toothbrush and started brushing. Keep in mind that he was in his IronMan costume, complete with helmet and protective goggles because he had been playing soldier. Apparently he wanted to sit down and brush, so he went to sit down on the toilet. And because when he went potty last he left the seat and lid up on the toilet, he sat directly into the water. Not just a gentle sit to remind him that the seat wasn't there (ladies you all know what I'm talking about) but a full force PLOP because as a little boy he can't do anything gently, he has to bang everything and throw himself down instead of sitting down.

He was SO upset. Screaming bloody murder upset. Angry at the world and how dare someone do this to him upset. He was PISSED off. (And on - HA!) I had to close the shower door to keep him from seeing my smile, because that would have compounded things even more.

I gently reminded him that HE was the one that left the seat up, so if he was going to be angry, he needed to be upset with himself and learn from it. He then of course couldn't possibly get his costume off because it was ruined and stuck to his body, and because the world doesn't have enough drama already, he pulled at the arms trying to show me how stuck it really was. I helped him take it off and he is now in the shower.

I had to write this story somewhere because A. it's funny and I figured someone out there could use a hump day laugh and B. it will be a story to retell over and over again to remind him to put the damn seat down. And lid. Maybe one day when he's married he will remember this day... and his IronMan costume ALL wet in the back. I would have taken pictures but I was all wet (from the shower, not the toilet) and he would have been even MORE upset if he saw the camera come out. So for this story words will have to suffice.

Happy Wednesday!

I follow quite a few blogs with my RSS reader, and one of them is the blog of Pastor Ryan. Honestly, I don't really know who he is. I don't know what church he's the pastor of, where he lives, or any of that basic information. I do know that he loves to cook, is passionate about his family and about God. Not a bad combination right ladies? ;) Sorry, he's taken!

I really like a lot of what he has to say, and lately he's been writing about true community. Community means a lot to me, and it's the number one "thing" for me in a church. I can listen to sermons online. I can watch sermons on TV. To me, a church should be a second home - somewhere that you feel welcome, where friendships are built, where accountability stems from those friendships, and families can thrive. A place where people can volunteer and reach out to those in need, and when they need someone, can turn to for whatever help they may need.

Ryan asked some important questions on his website recently, some things that I've been thinking about. He talks about Facebook and surface-level relationships, and that for some people those relationships may be okay.

At the end of the message I threw out a few questions and some possible starting points.
I’ll share those with you here as well:

1. Am I okay with having surface-level relationships with everyone?
2. Outside of my family, who can I really trust?
3. Do I have people in my life that I can call at 3am when everything is falling apart?
4. Are there people around me who can strengthen me when I’m weak?
5. Am I using my God-given gifts, talents, or abilities to serve my friends?
6. Am I investing MORE or LESS into the relationship than the person I’m trying to build a relationship with?

Steps towards authentic community:

1. Choose wisely. You don’t need to be friends with everyone.
2. Get coffee, have someone over for dinner, go play golf, etc..
3. Be intentional. Ask a deeper question // reciprocate.
4. Work at it. Don’t assume a relationship is fine.
5. Be transparent and authentic yourself.

I've been thinking about a lot of these things lately. When my life fell apart almost three years ago, my friends from church were the first to scatter - how sad. I don't hold that against my faith, I don't fault God, I'm not angry about it, but it makes me really sad to think that the friends that I had trusted and built a relationship with in church were the first to desert me entirely. Even antagonize me and say extremely hurtful things.

It is really, REALLY important to me to be a good friend. Obviously, my family is important to me, but the friendships and the bonds that you build with people outside your blood relatives are truly your chosen family. People change, friendships change, and not everyone is going to be friends all the time. People leave your life for a reason, and come into your life for a reason, but ultimately I want to make sure that I'm a good friend whenever I can be.

It has been my secret (hehe not so secret anymore right?) goal to try to leave anyone I come in contact with feeling better about themselves, their day, or anything. To leave them with a positive feeling, whether it's smiling at someone in the grocery store, or helping someone. I have bad days, everyone does. But that is my goal, that is what I want to teach Kaden, and because of that, I think of the things on that list a LOT.

A quick note and disclaimer - I know that I'm not perfect, that I don't do this all the time. I fall into the same traps that everyone else falls into, but I really do try. That's all anyone can do right?

Just some thoughts, I read that on Ryan's website and really liked the questions. Today has been an emotional day, I'm tired and liked it, so there you have it!

Have a great week!

Lately I've been trying to learn lots. I've been bored to death after Kaden goes to sleep, and while I love Sex And The City reruns, they can only go so far. Especially when they're censored to within an inch of death!

So anywho, I've been reading a lot and watching tutorials to learn new things. Tonight my focus has been Photoshop, although I've been going back and forth. I kind of have ADD with things sometimes. I started reading a photography book and then saw something in Photoshop so had to look that up, then found another tutorial about something else that I had to watch, then learned something else and had to look something else up... you know how it is. So my intended photography learning session has turned into a multi-faceted evening!

Here are the fruits of my learning. Yes, I know that lots of you probably already know how to do this stuff, but I'm excited because I've never done it before and I'm THRILLED with the results!

So here's the picture, SOOC. (Acronym for straight out of camera... with me still?) No edits, other than resizing for web. Nice cloud shot, taken before the game started. Kind of a nice picture if I do say so myself, although for this lesson I wanted a sky shot, and I don't really have many to choose from. I prefer to shoot people. Okay that doesn't sound good - I meant with my camera you sickos!


After reading my badass stuff and playing around a bit, here's the picture, edited to make the sky and clouds POP.


What do you think?

I could of course edit the sky to be as dark or light as I want, but I love the darker sky because of the contrast between the sky and the clouds. You can also see some of the clouds that were hard to see to begin with.

Are you just so proud of me!? I'm proud of myself! :D

Happy Tuesday!

Today we got to do something REALLY cool and special. I had heard awhile back via email from an acquaintance that Food Network tapes some of their challenges in Denver, and all you have to do to go is email someone to get on the list. That turned out not to be entirely true anymore, but after a failed attempt, we figured out the details and got on the list for the lottery of seats. I found out last week that we were chosen to attend today, at the Thanksgiving challenge!

Imagine my heartbreak when we entered and the security guard said no pictures. WHAT?! No pictures!? Of one of the most exciting things that's happened to me in a little while?! You can NOT be serious. But when I got into the studio, the guys with the cameras and headsets (the ones that matter) said that I could take pictures without flash. I was THRILLED and immediately the camera came out and stayed around my neck.

Now let me preface this by saying that we didn't get there until the afternoon, when they were done cooking. The reason for this is because I woke up with eyes almost swollen shut, it looked like I had been beating. My eyes hurt so much that I wanted to let them calm down a bit before we went. However, because of that, I have next to NO makeup on in these pictures, and the ones of me are absolutely horrible. You've been warned!

There were two studios, one of them is where the actual cooking and judging happens, and the other is where they video and photograph the finished product, and do the post-contest interviews. We started in that room because it wasn't as crowded and because they weren't taping we didn't have to be quiet. Quiet is not a strength for a four-year-old, but he did really well.

We walked in and were really hesitant, I didn't want to get in trouble or kicked out. But the people were SO nice, and the guys in the interview room seemed a little bored at the time, so they were more than happy to show us everything.


First the interview space, where they put the judges and contestants to interview them after the results are announced. We just HAD to get a picture there!


Kaden was watching all of the cameras, but by far the coolest was the BIG one weighted down with a joystick to control it. The man running the camera gave Kaden some instruction, then let him go on his own. He thought he was THE MAN.






After Kaden had a sufficient dose of coolness, we moved into the other studio. The lights are VERY red and of course I couldn't use flash, so excuse the red glow on most of them!


When the contestants are done, the food gets placed on this cart that just looks gorgeous. DROOL worth for sure, and that's how they move the food around.


Once the food has been photographed in its entirety, they take it back to the team to take it apart and plate it for the judges.


There was food everywhere. Fabulous looking food.


See?


I intentionally fed Kaden beforehand because I knew it would be hard for him. Imagine being four years old and looking at all this fabulous food, and you can't even TOUCH it!?


He watched for awhile and was fascinated, I think his love for Food Network and cooking shows helped there.


The patience didn't last forever though. Doesn't he look kind of evil in this picture because of the red and smirk? Haha... at least he was well behaved for most of the time we were there!


When they plate the food they make four plates - one for each of the judges, and one for the photos. Food styling is quite an art, these guys were good. They rubbed fingerprints off of all of the silverware, and made sure everything was PERFECT! How do I get that job?


The judges waited for their tastes each time so the team could plate it. There's quite a bit of time between them, despite what you see on TV. Okay scratch my above comment, how do I get THIS job - tasting all this yumminess?


The host, Keegan Gerhard, would chat with the judges and the audience between taping, he was VERY nice! Everyone was, really!

I don't have a picture of it up, but while the judges are tasting the food, the team has to stand in front of them, in the hotseat. It's a little like a tribunal, I would imagine it's very stressful. They get to introduce their foods, and the judges sometimes make comments while tasting.

Then the moment comes...


The moment of truth, when the announce the $10,000 winners. I can't say who won, but it was exciting, and fun!

After the taping was over, I had to get a picture with the host. No, I'm not pining for him or anything, but he's the most common person on the show that we watch at home and we had to get a picture. Kaden immediately recognized him and keeps asking me to see his picture with the "food guy."


One of those lovely pictures of me, haha. Kaden loves this picture and asks to see it quite a bit.

We had a blast, I was so excited at several time that I was close to tears!

This is an amazing story, I dare you to read it and not cry or at least get a little misty eyed. Here's a summary...

From the minute Colby saw the previews to the Disney-Pixar movie Up, she was desperate to see it. Colby had been diagnosed with vascular cancer about three years ago, said her mother, Lisa Curtin, and at the beginning of this month it became apparent that she would die soon and was too ill to be moved to a theater to see the film.

After a family friend made frantic calls to Pixar to help grant Colby her dying wish, Pixar came to the rescue.

The company flew an employee with a DVD of Up, which is only in theaters, to the Curtins’ Huntington Beach home on June 10 for a private viewing of the movie.

Colby died about seven hours after seeing the film

That story is pretty cool and definitely pulls at my heartstrings as a mother, but here's something that is really, really neat about the entire thing:

Pixar officials declined to comment on the story or name the employees involved.

Pixar did this under the radar, without using it as a publicity stunt. They did it for a dying girl, not to further their bottom line.

For a multi million (even billion?) dollar corporation, that's VERY cool.

Last summer was the first year that I really got into the summer movie craze. I don't know if it's because Kaden was old enough to go to movies with me, or if it was because the season officially started with the May opening of Sex And the City The Movie... but either way, we went to a TON of movies last year. I even did a scrapbook layout about it, complete with a handmade book of the movie posters of all of the movies we saw!

This year there are quite a few movies that I'm excited to see... And some that Kaden is excited about too. So rather than just listing them here I thought I would put the trailers here, for your viewing entertainment. They're not in any particular order, just the movies we want to see this summer. I warn you, it's kind of a long list. I'm starting to enjoy movies more and more... :)

1. Night of the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
We just saw this one on Memorial Day, good movie! Not fabulous, not great, but good. Entertaining. Kaden keeps quoting it, he started doing that before we even saw it because of the trailers. Firepowah!


2. XMen Origins: Wolverine (this one might be a DVD rental...)
I just wanna see Hugh Jackman... yummy.


3. Terminator: Salvation
Kaden wants to see this one really bad... umm no? I want to see it though. :)


4. Star Trek
I'm so NOT a Trekkie, and the thought of pretty much anything Star Trek makes me wants to run the other way. But I actually kind of want to see this movie. And I have a feeling it will be better on the big screen than on the TV.


5. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
This one might be an Independence Day movie. Kaden was obsessed with the first movie for a long time, so of course when he heard the second one was coming out, he was thrilled! He's already planning the third one. I'll see it first to make sure it's okay, but I have a feeling we'll see this several times.

Sidenote about the song in the beginning of the video... I sang this song to Kaden once and he immediately picked it up and sings it now. And THEN he saw it in this video, and sings it all the time! It's hilarious... ;)


6. The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3
Honestly, I'm not even really sure what this movie is about. But John Travolta and Denzel Washington? Looks awesome!


7. Land of the Lost
A T-rex? Of course Kaden wants to see this one. I don't know how I feel about the giant mosquito though, EW.


8. The Hangover
This just looks like one of those really bad yet really funny movies that will make me cringe and laugh all at the same time.


9. Up
This one probably goes without saying... we just HAVE to see this one. I've heard from so many people that it's amazing, and from some people that I wouldn't normally expect to like a Disney movie!


10. GI Joe
This one isn't super high on my list but Kaden sees the posters and wants to see it. I'm not sure what it's rated, it might have to wait until the DVD release so that I can see it first though.


11. Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
This has been out for awhile, and I've heard (from a huge group of lesbians at a bar) that it's a total chick flick. What an appropriate audience right? I think it looks cute. Plus I love the two lead actors!


12. Angels and Demons
I never saw the Davinci Code. Yes, reread it, you read correctly. I never had any desire to see it, for reasons I won't go into here. But I have heard that this one is really, really good. Maybe a DVD release?


13. The Proposal
This just looks funny... And Sandra Bullock playing a bitchy boss? Awesome!


14. Away We Go (probably another DVD rental...)
This looks cute, and I like Maya Rudolph.


15. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
This movie has actually pissed me off a bit. They've been advertising it for over a year in the theaters, with posters and setups and such, which of course draws my child immediately, and yet it wasn't coming out FOREVER! So now it's finally coming out, and of course we have to see it!


16. My Sister's Keeper
This is one of my all time favorite books, so I'm excited and not excited to see the movie. I really hope that it's good, I think it will be, but ya never know. So a must see, to check it out! The end... I won't say, but seriously, fantastic and shocking ending.


17. The Ugly Truth
Okay I was writing this post and stopped at #17, then the commercial for this movie came on literally RIGHT now, and I have to see this movie. I texted Ryan to tell her, we have to go. Girls night out, this looks hilarious!!