Proud Moment!

It's official everyone.....I now am a proud holder of a Divison of Real Estate Mortgage License! Though this is NOTHING compared to getting my Bachelor's Degree, this will be a great asset to my resume.

Though completing the 90 hours of schooling staying up late at night while Carter and Scott were asleep was not fun (to say the least) I'm glad to have it over.

What this means for my family.....anyone looking to refinance or get financing on a home can come to the mortgage company where I work and I get to make commissions for sending them in! (Even better, I don't do anything on the file. I do Human Resources, so I don't know income, FICO scores, debt or anything. But I still get to make commissions.)

I love our loan officer, Karen, she's actually related to Scott's dad. So she's family for one, but really thinks and cares about our clients. If anyone wants to refinance or get pre-qualified for a home (it is a Buyer's Market right now) Let Me Know!

Overall, it's a great company that actually pays me my commissions out of their pocket (instead of charging you for it) so if you're interested in just seeing what you're home is worth or what you would qualify for.....Let me know!

Circus Fun!

Yesterday, in honor of my mom's birthday, my whole family went to the Circus! I had NEVER been to the circus in Utah and probably only one time in my life, so this was a treat for me as well as Carter.

Here we are in the back of the "family truster" the good ol' mini van.

You can't really tell, but these glasses light up...what a couple of hot babes huh?

Here it is! The show is about to begin....Carter and Grandpa getting ready to see the animals and clowns!
How do they make those elphants do that? Seriously!
Here's one of my cute hubby and me. He just "loves" when I take pictures of us like this! :)
This was the second coolest thing for the night.....this motorcyclist and lady actually spin all the way around on the wire!
Okay, by far this was the HIGHLIGHT of the night.....Scott still can't stop talking about it. You can't really tell but there are 7, that right 7, motorcylists riding around in this ball!!!! Crazy!
We had so much fun....and Scott and I are going to make this an annual trip for our little family.

Football, Motorcycles and Cake!

Friday night was a first for Carter and something I haven't done in over 5 years! Friday Night High School Football!

It was seriously so much fun! Syracuse High School (where my little sister goes) was playing Clearfield High School (where my little brother goes) So we were having a BLAST!

There were so many people there that there were NO seats left....which ended up working out really well!

We sat on the track part and Carter was free to run up and down as he pleased.

They even stamped his hand! (Yeh his hand is really dirty....I got the face but missed the hand!)
Scott's little brother, Kyle, (or Uncle Kyle as Carter calls him) bought a scooter over the summer. Scott was changing the oil and doing some other car work (that I'm sure he told me about I just don't listen when he talks "car") We thought it would be fun to put Carter on it and wee what he would do.....he LOVED IT!
Today, we're celebrating my mom's birthday by going to the Circus. That may sound funny for celebrating a 46 year birthday, but even my little brother sister are excited to go. So, to go with the Circus Theme, here's the cake! (I'm not a professional, but you can see what I was thinking)
I also made caramel corn (from scratch) and caramel sauce for dipping apples.....I will have more pictures to post after the event is over tonight....so check back later too!

A Cute and EASY Halloween Craft!

My cute Elementary school teacher, Mom, had this great idea! Scott and I did it last year too and it really turns out way cute!

What you need is:

Black Construction Paper ( I cut it in fourths with the cute sissors)

White and Black Paint

A Paint Brush (small)

A #2 Pencil (really just the eraser)

And your baby's foot

I brush the white paint onto Carter's foot and then press it onto the cut out black paper.

This may look like a normal, everyday, footprint on black paper....

But flip it upside down.....
And use the pencil's eraser to dip in black and paint then add some eyes....
And there it is! I am combining the "ghost footprints" with Carter's Halloween picture to make a cute little "card" for our family and friends.
This really is easy, we make about 30 of these to send out and it only took us 10 minutes!

If anyone uses this idea, I so want to see it posted! :) Good Luck!

We Had a GREAT Weekend!

This weekend has flown by....I can't believe I have to go to work tomorrow. It seriously feels like we have been going, going, going all weekend!

My stepdad has a new job, and his new co-workers were having a big BBQ for all employees and family.... it was at a park, therefore you know we went with Carter! This little boy LOVES to be outside!

They had so many things going on, Carter's favorite though was the "tug-o-war"

Here's Scott showing them how it's done!
One of my favorite events happened this weekend too.....MY HAIR!!!! I know it sounds funny but I seriously have so much hair and it's so thick and curly I HATE IT! Well, my hair lady, Kathy, works wonders on it and here are some before and after! (You won't believe it's the same hair!)

And although Scott worked on Friday, Saturday and Sunday this weekend, we did get to spend time doing some really fun things. But I woke this morning and really just wanted to hang out...not alone with Carter in my house...so away to my mom's I went. This next pic is of Carter "helping" my mom bake some pumpkin muffins.
Overall, we fit in so much this weekend. But it has been fun and so important to still spend time together even though Scott has worked almost 75 hours this week alone!

Cute Organizing Ideas!

Our house is arranged really well for little kids with a playroom on the main level. Carter loves that he has his own space for his toys, games and just having a good time....and I love that it all pretty much stays in that room!

Well, the other day I was rotating his toys (that way he doesn't get bored as easily) and realized that they weren't organized very well. There were cars, tools, music instruments and balls just thrown EVERYWHERE. (We all know I don't handle this very well) so thanks to my cute mom, here is his new and improved playroom organization!

This shelf is perfect, in each "bin" I put all of his tools in one, all of the cars in another, and so on. This way when we go to play in our make believe band, all of our instruments are together.

I actually bought this adorable shelf a little while ago, but just barely hung it up in the playroom. I actually found this at the DI in Ogden. (I know I'm brave for going there on a Saturday) but sometimes you can find the best deals.

This was a STEAL, though it was just the natural wood finish I walked away with it for $1.50!!!! Funny story though: this shelf is literally in my cart and I'm walking toward the check out counter when a man stood in front of my cart, put his hands on the shelf and asked, "Are you getting this?" Seriously, what was he thinking...it was IN my cart! What more do you have to say? I was polite and said yes thinking he would leave me and my amazing deal alone....silly me! He still had his hands on the shelf and made sure that I was positive I was getting it. Once we were very clear that it was MY shelf, Carter and I cruised to the checkout counter and left.
Though I literally had to "fight" someone for this shelf, I'm so glad I found it. Nothing like a little paint, two nails and some matchbox cars to make any little boys' dream come true!

Mini Photo Shoot and Some Editing!

When Fall comes around, it gets me thinking about Halloween and Christmas and everything that comes with those holidays. One of my FAVORITE things about the holidays are the pictures that we send out to friends and family.

I absolutely adore getting professional pictures taken of our family and just of Carter, but I HATE paying for it. I also only go to places that give me a CD with the original photos for editing and reprinting later. So, this was my dilemma. I wanted fun pictures of Carter without paying the price.....SOLUTION: Homemade Photo Shoot (and photoshop for anything I needed to fix)

I set up shop in Carter's old room and gathered props, outfits and a backdrop! I know I had more fun than Carter, but this was such a fun idea....and completely FREE!

Here is a Halloween one....as you can tell Carter's going to be an Ape this year. I saw this costume at the store and had Carter try it on for fun (and to see what size he needed) and he LOVED it! He walked around with me as I finished shopping in his costume the ENTIRE time!

I did a little editing and added the words to send out in cards....
This is one is really cute, I thought it could be a Christmas photo, or maybe just one for Winter...
Again, I played around and made it my own creation and here you go....
This one was just really cute!
I had so much fun today, it's my trial run so that when we're ready for our Family Photos I'll know what we need. But if anyone is bored and wants some way cute pics of their little ones, this is a great idea. We didn't stress because there were other people waiting, or the photographer wasn't being patient...it was just me and Carter "playing" with the camera!

Blurb Blog Book

So before I started my new blog, I put my old blog into a book!

www.blurb.com is seriously AMAZING! I loved everything they had. It imports your posts and pics, and then you choose your layout and DONE!

I had about 188 pages in mine and to get it printed and shipped to my house it cost about $38! I can't even tell you how thriled I am!

Front...

Back...
I am so please with the outcome and am doing this a regular basis from now on!

Carter's Almost TWO!

Our sweet little man is almost TWO YEARS OLD!!!! This is going to be my last post about how many months have gone by since Carter's been in our lives.....so to end this "post tradition" with a bang, I'm going to make a list of every word this little boy can say.

1. Car

2. Grandma

3. Grandpa

4. Ju Ju (Julia)

5. Annie

6. Bus

7. Truck

8. Blue

9. Pink

10. Yes

11. Hola

12. Hello

13. No

14. Hi

15. Yeh

16. Cheese

17. No Way

18. Mine

19. Please

20. I Want One

21. That Way

22. There it is

23. Mom

24. Dad

25. Mommy

26. Daddy

27. Airplane

28. Juice

29. Num-a-Num (M&M)

30. Poo poo

31. Pee pee

32. Bye

33. Train

34. Boat

35. Baby

36. Outside

37. Back

38. No Barking

39. Moo

40. Baa Baa (sheep)

41. Woof

42. Ladder

43. Love You

44. Nose

45. That One

46. Uh-Oh

47. Go, Go

48. Oh-No

49. Up

50. All Done

I know there's probably more, but I can't remember them right now. Our little guy is growing up so fast...next month we're going to have a two year old on our hands!

Anniversary.....

So yesterday marked an entire 7 YEARS that Scott and I have been together. We started dating in 2001 and ever since have been exclusive! Though our anniversaries used to be about just the two of us, we decided this year to include Carter in the festivities.

We took Carter back to the State Fair (Scott couldn't make it last time) so this was a real treat! I think we're going to make it a tradition to go twice every year, because Carter seemed to do A LOT more and really enjoy things more because he'd already done some of them.

Although Scott looks mad in this pic, he's really just trying to reassure Carter that the cow is fake!

Here's me trying to show Carter how the brush the sheep.
And what's a second time at the fair without yet another ride on the blue airplane?
Overall, we had such a great time, the weather was nice and there didn't seem to be a TON of people this time. This is something we're going to try every year from now on.

And of course we HAD to have some ALONE time on our 7 year anniversary....so Scott's parents watched Carter while we went to dinner and a movie.

This was probably the most fun we've had in SO LONG! We just laughed at dinner, talked about our memories and stories from over the years.....just a really great time! Scott and I really needed this time to realize how much we really do love each other and how much history we have with one another.

Can Anyone Say OCD?

Carter has been "on and off" sick for a little while now (you know the annoying stuffy nose and sore throat) well last night he decided that he wasn't ready for bed when I put him down for the night. After about 45 minutes of trying to get him to sleep, I gave in and brought him back upstairs to play a little while longer.

Well, this is what my cute little man did from 10pm to 11pm last night.....(notice the cars)

Seriously, where does he get these ideas! That's so OCD! The cars are all touching each other and going in a line....silly little boy! He did manage to keep himself occupied playing with these cars until I could tell he was really ready to go down and he went to sleep around 11pm without a peep!

Tribute to My New "Header" and Fav Sister-in-law

So my cute sister-in-law in Iowa was apparently "bored" one day and made me a new Header for my blog! We all know I'm not the "craftiest" person when it comes to this stuff, so she totally helped me out!

What a fun surprise, I LOVE IT!!!!

Thank You so much! You can be "bored" anytime you want girl!!!!

(If anyone likes this style for a header, I'm sure she'd be up for hire!) :)

Utah State Fair Fun....

This past weekend my family and I took Carter to the State Fair. This is the second year Carter has gone and it was SO MUCH MORE FUN to bring him this year!

Here's Carter enjoying his ride on the tractor!

They have the BEST little kids section that you go through... you get an apron, plant seeds, dig up veggies, milk a cow, shear and sheep, ride a "tractor" and turn in your hard earned "money" for a real apple! This is Carter collecting eggs from the chickens...
Although Carter looks like he's not having a great time...he's just upset that he's not in the BLACK car....once the ride started though he had a blast!
Next we moved on to the airplane ride! This was seriously the highlight of his day! He didn't want to come out when it stopped.
This is his grandpa trying to get him to touch the sheep and his aunt making grandpa be quiet!

So funny.
Overall, it was such a great time! I know this is going to be a tradition in our family.

A Little Jar of HEAVEN!!!!!

This may look like your normal, everyday jar of salsa.....well around the Morris House this is called HEAVEN!!!!

My mother-in-law, Margaret, makes the BEST salsa in the ENTIRE WORLD!!!! Scott and I go through one jar in a few days between the two of us! It takes her all day to make one batch of this "precious" stuff.

We decided to let Carter in on the "sacred" act of tasting his Grandma's salsa....I'm a little sad to say that he LOVED IT!!!!! Now Scott and I have three people who LOVE the stuff! Scott was working late today, so Carter and I had chicken fingers and scrambled eggs with Grandma's salsa! (As long as Scott's not home...I only have Carter to share with)
Apparently, no one taught this kid anything about Portion Control!

Luau-Inspired Birthday Party!

My stepdad and brother have the same birthday, September 4th. So we decided to celebrate their birthdays yesterday because everyone had the day off!

I totally stole this idea from my cute sister-in-law and it's a GREAT idea! She actually did this same "beach scene" on cupcakes, but I decided to be quick and just do one big cake pan!

Check out the bears, lounging in the water! It really is a great, fun thing to do. I can't even tell you how much fun I was having! All you need is: Teddy Grahams, Icing, Lifesavers and cake! (The laying down bear is on a stick of gum!)
Later we went to Thanksgiving Point for an Authentic Luau! I have never been there and can I just tell you how beautiful it is? Here's a cute fam pic of all of us! (It was very chilly, so our original Hawaiian attire got traded in for our Winter outfits!)
You probably can't tell, but my mom and sister took Carter on stage and danced the "huki-lau" I've forced my mom and sister to do this same dance a time or two when I was coordinating the Rumbi openings, so now she thinks a PRO!

We had such a great time, although it was cold and a little too windy for my comfort. Carter LOVED the waterfall and walking EVERYWHERE, and overall it was just nice to relax, be outside and have Scott and I get a little time to eat and chat while my family took Carter places.