May Projects

May came and went way too fast, but I did manage to sneak a few quick projects in this month.

I know this is thrilling and you’re all gonna want to jump up and make one of your own. It’s (drum roll) a scrabble bag! The little bag that came with our board game ripped so I made this one to replace it. Impressive, I know.

For Nathan’s birthday we got him a bike trailer so we can go on family bike rides (hopefully this summer). I also love it because it doubles as a jogging stroller. The only problem is that Nathan is a leaner. Always has been. He just always seems to lean to the right when he sits in this thing and the straps really rub his neck. So I made these nifty little neck protectors. Not great pictures, I know.

Don’t ask me how I made them, I don’t remember. It was a make it up as you go project and I’m lucky the finished product didn’t turn out as something completely different. I can tell you this: my Infantino sling was recently recalled so after I sent in a piece of it to prove I needed a replacement, I spent many hours with my seam ripper tearing it apart and I saved all the pieces. This is just the first of many projects  to have a little piece of the sling.

 

My favorite project this month was a last minute one that I should have done years ago. I bought this home sign (you can see it hanging on the wall) years ago and it’s been hanging white and boring on my living room wall ever since. I finally took the plunge and painted it midnight blue. Then I sanded the edges to give it a nice antiqued look. I love it! Now I just have to find some cute things so hang from it.

Carrot Cake Revised

I just realized that when I made the carrot cake recipe that I posted previously, I made it with mostly whole wheat flour and only about half the oil (I substituted applesauce for the rest) and it was still awesomely delicious and moist. I also added raisins for some extra yum! Just thought you might want to know that you can "healthify" it and it will still be AMAZING carrot cake!

May Holidays

I wasn’t going to blog about any of this, just because it didn’t seem like it would be that exciting to blog about, but the last week or so I’ve kind of been at a loss for anything to blog about. I guess I’ll share, just so you all know we’re still here.

On May 4th Ryan and I celebrated our 4th anniversary. Ryan had midterms that week so we had kind of a low-key date. Nathan went to play with Matt, Christy, and Elijah and Ryan and I got Applebee’s car side to go (we love their 2 for 20- we get way more food than we can eat) and rented The Blindside. It was nice. I also made a carrot cake for dessert because our wedding cake was a carrot cake—and because I LOVE carrot cake! After Nathan went to bed we stayed up and watched LOST together (can’t wait for tomorrow!) I didn’t realize until the next morning that we failed to take a single picture the entire day! I think we were just so excited to see each other and to be (gasp!) alone together! Can’t remember the last time that happened!

Ryan also made my Mother’s Day so special this year. I have a hard time remembering my first Mother’s Day since I had a month old baby at the time. I just have to look at the pictures to know what happened. So I made sure Ryan took lots of pictures again this year (especially after our anniversary photo failure). 

You can tell he really loves me, can’t you?

That’s better! (I insisted on pictures, even though he’d already been stripped of his dinner-covered clothes)

New sheets! Like spun gold! Now if I only got to spend more time with them!

Nathan really wanted to join the photo shoot- whether he was invited or not!

“Oh, you hurt yourself crawling all over me? Come here.”

“I’ll make you feel all better!”

Yep, it was a pretty typical Mother’s Day! A great one, too!

Here’s the recipe for our yummy carrot cake:

Carrot Cake

2 c. sugar 2 t. baking soda

1 ½ c. oil 2 t. cinnamon

4 eggs 4 c. grated carrots

2 ¼ c. flour 1 ½ c. chopped nuts

2 t. salt

Combine sugar, oil, and eggs. Beat at medium speed for two minutes. Sift dry ingredients together and add to oil mixture. Beat at low speed for 1 minute. Add grated carrots and nuts. Bake at 300º for 1 hour or until cake is done. When cool, frost with cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1-8 oz. pkg. cream cheese 1 t. vanilla

¼ c. butter 1 c. 10x sugar

Let cheese and butter set until room temperature. Beat together and add vanilla. Slowly add sugar. Beat until fluffy and frost cake.

Look-a-likes

I was going through some pictures on our computer the other day, when I came across this picture of Ryan when he was about Nathan’s age. I always thought Nathan was a good mix of the two of us, but I’m not so sure any more!

 

Sunny Days

A little while ago a bunch of people were blogging about taking their kids out in the sun and playing outside. I thought, “Hey! Nathan and I go outside nearly every day and I’ve never taken any pictures!” I got really excited to do a blog post of my own, and then it rained. For a week. So, we finally got some sunshine this weekend and I got pictures to prove it!

On Thursday, Nathan and I went out and played in our front yard. Now that he is mobile I think we will have to move to the back, but he loves to watch the cars go by.

He also loves to play with bubbles (we don’t blow bubbles, he just likes to unscrew the cap over and over and over and over . . .)

and he loves “picking” flowers. Basically he just pops their little heads off.

     

He’s such a big boy! Check out those chompers!

 

 

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We even snuck outside with Daddy for a little while on Friday!

On Saturday we all went to Island Park. Nathan had a blast watching all the doggies go by. He barked every time he saw one. He also saw lots of geese since the park is by the river. I don’t know about you, but geese frighten me a little bit. Plus, they poop everywhere! I forgot to bring the camera, so the only pictures I got are from Ryan’s phone and not the best quality.

Nathan had fun playing with his ball, but we are discovering that he does not like grass. He would stand in it, but wouldn’t walk in it. If his ball rolled away, he just stood there and reached for it dramatically until someone came and rescued him.

 

We found lots of flowers he could “pick”, even if it meant sitting in the grass.

 

Happy Mother’s Day

Ryan and I are so blessed to have AMAZING mothers. We love them both so much! Happy Mother’s Day!

 

 

 

 

I’m also lucky enough to be the mommy of our sweet Nathan!

Giggles

Giggles from Ryan Bartron on Vimeo.

For some reason today when I slammed one of our board books shut, Nathan cracked up. It was so funny that I had to take out the camera and capture his giggles.

Happy Anniversary to Us!

Today, Ryan and I celebrate 4 years of marriage. I marvel every day at how blessed I am to have someone so wonderful in my life. We are both so lucky that we didn’t have to search long to find each other. I look forward to celebrating another 60 anniversaries with him, and on to eternity! I love you, Ryan!

Here’s the story of how we met:

In August of 2004, Ryan and I both started as Freshman at Southern Virginia University. He had just returned from his mission about 4 months before, and I was straight out of high school. Before classes started, we had a few days of orientation and I noticed this guy. It wasn’t “love at first sight” but I was interested. I remember thinking I would like to get to know him better. Meanwhile, my roommates and I had devised a plan to create a “Wall of Hot Boys” on our dorm room wall. We decided we would go around and take pictures of guys and tell them they were going to be featured on our wall. What guy doesn’t want to hear that? and what better way to get to know people? The night before classes started, we all went to an orientation dance out on the tennis courts. I made sure to bring my digital camera and we four girls spent the evening approaching random young men. I saw Ryan “across a crowded room” and begged my friends to come with me to meet him. We, of course, used our line “we’re making a wall of hot boys and we want to take your picture so you can be on it.” Ryan says he vaguely remembers some girls coming up to him, but other than that our magic moment is lost on him. good thing I have proof. Here’s Ryan the night I met him. And yes, his picture stayed on our wall for a long time.

We ended up having a class together and some mutual friends but we didn’t start “officially” dating until January.

In September of 2005 he proposed to me

and on May 4, 2006 we were sealed for eternity in the Seattle Temple. Ah, love!