Near Miss

Saturday we went down to the lake to the kite festival. We’ve gone I think almost every year since we’ve been here, and it’s always been a beautiful day to walk along the lakefront. This past weekend did not disappoint.

We get there and there’s a ton of huge kites in the air, so I snap a picture. I go to take another picture and…..nothing. DEAD BATTERY. What??? I’m so bummed. But Derrick assures me we have 5 years of kite pictures and really, do we need more? I decide he’s right and resign to just forget about taking any pictures.

Not two minutes later what do we see??? A lemon-lime mascot promoting Dole juices!!! Luckily I had my trusty camera phone so Derrick snapped a low quality picture of me and Mr. Lemon-Lime (but who looks a little like uh….well….use your imagination), but a picture nonetheless.

So of course, Derrick is relishing in the fact that I don’t have a charged camera and is making fun of me. Jerk. We keep walking and then all of sudden he starts telling me how I’m going to be soooo mad, and oh man I’m not going to believe this. I have no idea what he’s talking about and then I see them.

Mario and Luigi on rented pedal go-karts.

Are you kidding me? What horrible luck!! So again, another low quality picture, but a picture still. With two of my favorite people.

 

I couldn’t believe it! It was seriously one of the coolest things I’d ever seen, and I instantly wished I had costumes like that. And I wished my camera was charged.

Lesson learned: always check the battery level, no matter what.

The Dells!

Since Kohl’s graciously gave their employees Friday off as well as Monday, we decided to take advantage of the cheaper mid-week rates and hit up the Wisconsin Dells, which is pretty much like a Vegas Strip of water parks and resorts. When you book your room you get admission to the water park attached to the hotel. Sweet deal! We went with our friends the Greens and had a blast! The cool part is that all the hotels have indoor water parks, so you can go year round if you want. The weather was beautiful and we were able to go to the outdoor parks and get some sun, which felt amaaaazing.

Summer took awhile to warm up to the idea of going down slides and playing in the water, but she caught on eventually and had fun splashing around. Myself, being rather large and in charge, was banned from anything that looked remotely fast or fun, so I didn’t go on any rides. But I did get to enjoy the lazy river, which I do love, and just play in the pool. (And also, being large and in charge, you will see ZERO shots of me in a swimmy suit.)

Overall, it was a great first trip to the Dells for us. The room was nice and had a kitchen so we made a huge breakfast and were able to make lunches and late night desserts which was fun. We can’t wait to go again!

This and that

I’m so glad watermelon is back in season. I could eat an entire melon by myself, although I’d hate myself for it because I’d be peeing nonstop all day. Nothing like ice cold watermelon with a sprinkle of salt on a hot day!

My flowers are blooming!! I have huge rose bushes in the front which are starting to make red buds like crazy, but so far only a couple have opened.

Then I have two peony bushes in the back. I looove peonies! Aren’t they gorgeous? 

And then there’s the Irises. (Special thanks go to Lindsey G. for identifying all of my flowers for me!)More Irises in the front:The best part about all these flowers is that I didn’t have to plant them! Nor will I have to! Like magic, they will keep coming back year after year despite my lack of gardening skills! Bonus! The Hyacinths and Narcissis have already bloomed and died, but they were gorgeous as well.    I was really hoping for some Daffodils to pop up, since they’re my most favoritest flower ever, but alas, not a one. I might just have to plant some. And some tulips. I love flowers.

On the crafting front, not too much action lately. I whipped up a couple patriotic decorations a few weeks ago though. I made one of these lima bean wreaths a few months ago and painted it orange. I made another one and then painted them both red and made a ribbon out of scrap blue fabric I had. Now they are gracing our front double doors.    I also made this pennant banner, loosely based off of this tutorial.

I got a lot of fabric from my friend Stephanie last night, including lots of Halloween scraps, and I can’t wait to make another one for October!

Other than that, we’ve just been hanging out and having fun, happy that Summer is here at last!

Do I know this person? Do YOU know this person?

Whenever I take a picture on my phone it uploads it to an album on tmobile.com. Today I decided to log in for the first time and check out the pictures on a bigger screen. I scrolled through pictures of Summer, Derrick, random friends, and then this picture is the last in the album:

Um….excuse me? Do I know you?? I don’t think so! Apparently it was taken November 20, 2005. I was living here, with the same number then as I have now. Curious….

Minivan envy??

I am not a car person. For growing up in a mechanic family (both sides!) I could really care less about cars. I mean, I know how to change my own oil if I had to and I can and have changed both my own and others’ flat tires on the side of the highway before, so I know about cars I just don’t care about them. I mean, hello! I drive a light purple ‘98 Corolla for heaven’s sake! Plus, my family never drove new cars, so I guess I just never cared about what we drove. Oh, and I drove a blue ‘84 Chevette…even more proof! That thing had one external radio speaker that sat on the floor and would roll back and forth if I took a turn too sharply. We’re talking high class here! But I didn’t care…it got me around! (Plus, it was free! Thanks Dad!)

In fact, one of the worst dates I ever went on was to a car show. I think my disdain for automobiles started then probably. First off, I thought it was a date, but I think my date, *Brian, thought it was more of a “hang out”. You know, the infamous BYU Hang Out. It started out well enough with dinner at a sushi place in Salt Lake. (I do have to credit Brian for turning me on to sushi and always taking me out for some.)

We get to the Salt Palace where the car show was with the other couple we were with and it was like I disappeared. The dudes and even the other girl on our date were sooo into the cars and obsessing over them. Talk about worshipping idols! Don’t get me wrong…I definitely have things I idolize too, so I’m in no way judging or anything, I’m just saying cars aren’t my thing, and it was zero fun for me to watch people drool over cars. So we walked around and around forever, and all I remember was Brian saying how now he needed a new Audi to replace the one he had.

Brian and I never really developed into anything. Never kissed, nothing. Oh, did I mention I met him online? Not the first either…but that’s a whole other post!

Anyway, the whole point of this is that the other day I saw a new Honda Odyssey in the parking lot at Wal-Mart and loved it. It was black, with dark tint, and clean, and looked so sharp. I wanted one. I wanted the extra seating, the sliding doors, the extra room, the not having to bend to put kids in.

And then I realized I just lusted after a minivan. I mean, who does that? What’s next? Mom Jeans?? Short haircuts? Purses with pictures of my kids on the side?

I shudder to think.

 

 

 

 

*Name has been changed to protect the guilty.

Blah

We have all been sick for like a week, which blows. Hence the lack of blogging. We have been trying to keep busy though, despite the sniffles and coughs.

We hit up a town-wide rummage sale this weekend and scored some sweet deals, including the popular turtle sandbox and a charcoal smoker and a white Christmas tree! (Our Christmas tree count is now up to 4, and Derrick is starting to get concerned. But whatever, you can never have enough trees, right???)

We had an oh-so-fun-near-basement-flooding event on Thursday. Those are always exciting. Luckily our friend Greg agreed to stop by and check things out and as usual, saved the day for us. For some reason our sump pump just never turned on. Jerk. But it’s all good, we caught it early, thanks to an impromptu tour of our basement to the missionaries from our church. Nothing was damaged, thankfully. Just a late night of sopping up water and praying the sump pump kept pumping. Which it did.

It’s hard to believe my due date is 3 months from today. Time is cruising. A little too fast for my liking. But sometimes not fast enough. I’ve been in constant pain for about a month, which sucks. My bones just hurt, and if I do anything even remotely resembling something active, I for sure pay for it that night. My back, my bones, everything. It feels like someone is pulling my pelvis apart. I remember feeling this way with Summer, but I don’t remember it happening this early. Either way, I feel suuuuper lame that I can’t even take a long walk without being in tons of pain. And because I’m not as active as I was with Summer, I’m gaining more weight, and just feeling fat and not so much pregnant, and will probably be overdue since I’m not moving around as much. I just hate feeling like I can’t do anything without paying for it. But I really try not to complain, because it is such a blessing to even BE pregnant, you know?

To top it all off, Summer is fighting her naps. Again. I think she’s probably ready to move to just one nap, but we just need to figure out when it needs to happen. Because lately she’s taken short morning naps then refused her afternoon nap, and girlfriend just CANNOT go that long without sleeping. She is a Grade A CRAB. Really, it’s probably more frustrating for me because I need my afternoon nap and I can’t sleep if she’s not sleeping!!

BUT….it was like 79 today!! Beautiful day. Soooo ready for Summer to be here! I planted some Hostas that I got from a friend at church and it was just so nice to be outside. I showed Summer a worm and she wanted nothing to do with it. Ha. She would just rather eat the dirt instead.

Hopefully something exciting happens soon so I have better blogging material!

Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day was lovely. It was a chilly, but beautiful day out. I didn’t change any diapers. I got dinner made for me. And I got fabulous gifts: The Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker, which I have been wanting for awhile, and which we promptly broke in last night. Works like a champ! No more bags of ice and rock salt!!

And Martha Stewart’s Encyclopedia of Crafts! I flipped through every single page right away and now my list of crafts I want to try has tripled. I was never super into anything bead related until I saw the things she (or her staff…) does with beads. So adorable!! I am definitely spoiled by Derrick, and even though I don’t sappily gush about what an “amazing hubs” I have and how my life is perfect (which it’s not), I really do love my life and my family. I love being a stay at home (yeah…haven’t worked much lately….) and I’m really grateful that I am able to do just that. There are definitely hard days, but thankfully they have been few and far between, and overall I can say that being a mother has been so much fun and rewarding. Summer has been such a great kid that it really hasn’t been terribly difficult yet. But don’t worry, I’m fully prepared for my entire world to turn upside down with #2! Lucky for me, I have a wonderful mother of my own, and lots of friends who are great examples to me who I can turn to for help and advice.

I hope everyone had a great Mother’s Day, whether you are a mom, or celebrating your own mom. I personally think everyday should be Mother’s Day!!! Wow….I’m really short! Next time I should put shoes on first! And there’s a 25 week bump picture for you!

Golden Graham S’mores

It has come to my attention that some of my friends are unaware of the deliciousness that is the Golden Grahams S’more. How this is possible I’m not entirely sure. We used to make these at BYU all the time (which explains the excessive weight gain, I’m sure) and they are sooo yummy. We are big time s’more lovers here in the Callister home, and I’m quite surprised we don’t make these more. Actually, this is the first time I’ve made them since we’ve been married, I think. It’s one of those things that I used to love but somehow forgot about. Well, no more! They are making a full comeback into our lives. And waistlines. These are in no way good for you, which you know means they are crazy tasty. They’re kind of like a Rice Krispy Treat, but chocolate and better. Mmmmm…

Golden Grahams S’mores

• 8 cups Golden Grahams cereal
• 6 cups miniature marshmallows (10 oz. bag)
• 12 oz. chocolate chips (I use milk)
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup, optional (I use it)
• 5 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Line a 9x13 baking dish with parchment or wax paper, then butter is lightly.

Melt 5 cups marshmallows (save 1 cup for later), chocolate chips, corn syrup, and butter in saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Add cereal and stir until evenly coated. Stir in remaining marshmallows. Pour into prepared pan, pressing slightly. Cool, then cut into squares if you’re being all fancy like, or just rip out chunks like we do at our house.

Let me know what you think!

More spray painting

I found more candlesticks at Hobby Lobby last week so I grabbed them. If I’d paid retail for them, they would have totaled $109! Are you kidding me? But since I’m a savvy sale shopper, I only paid $11 for all four of them! Score!

I had a vision of my mantle covered in random candlesticks and these guys were the answer. So I painted them all brushed nickel like the one I bought before, and here is the half-finished product:

I want red candles on all of them, but I was dumb and only bought one at Ikea last weekend. The plan is to change out the candles with each holiday/season. Who knows, I may paint all the candlesticks with each holiday. We’ll see.

Next, a wicker patio chair given to us. It’s pretty comfortable, but I wasn’t digging the green.

 

So now it’s white. I plan on recovering the cushions, once I find fabric I like. It’s not horrible, and it’ll do in the meantime I suppose. They do need a little Febreze love, though.

Special thanks to my model, Summer, who stole my Sonic Strawberry Slush. Little thief.