Make Your Own Blogger Backgrounds

I'm just throwing this out there for all of Lu's friends. Would anyone be interested in a tutorial for creating your own scrapbook backgrounds for your blogs? The tutorial would be specific to Adobe Photoshop (by the way, I can get you a copy of Photoshop CS4 for an amazing deal through Weber State...if you are interested), but it is possible to do this even without Photoshop...just takes a little extra work.

So, if I get a few responses to this, I will create a user friendly tutorial so you can turn any picture or digital scrapbook papers and embellishments into your own personalized background :)

The Occasional Short Story by Daddy

Inevitably, Kehl is going to process new information each day and then recreate that information. It is always adorable to hear his perspective on life; how he sees the world as it happens around him. Here are a few short stories from the mouth of our little man as I have been allowed (and blessed) to be apart of.

You cwazy, you nuts!
Lu and I were playing with Kehl a few days ago when suddenly, Kehl decides that Momma is crazy and proceeds to tell her "you cwazy." We kinda chuckled about it and then Lu said, "I'm not crazy!" We were not prepared for his quick witted rebuttal; "you nuts!" It was the most adorable insult ever lol!

Chicken Passa
I could not be more proud than when I create something in the kitchen that Kehl loves to eat. I made a very simple chicken pasta dish, which apparently Kehl was quite inspired by lol Everyday, he asks for "chicken passa." At various times throughout the day, he will cook me some of his "chicken passa." He has found the drawer where I keep my pot-holders and he will come find me showing me that he has properly covered his hands with the pot-holders and then proceeds to say "I cook. Cook chicken passa?" Then we share the most wonderful meal together. Recipe you say? A two year old imagination lol

When Mommy calls to check on us boys and I tell her we are eating chicken pasta, she always has to ask "real chicken pasta or imaginary?" You can never be too sure when dealing with Kehl haha. I love that he wants to be like Daddy!

Magical Kisses
Apparently, we have stumbled upon the most effective pain medication the world has yet to discover. They are called magical kisses and they fix everything instantaneously! This is according to Kehl, of course. I guess our little kisses do fix his owies because he now uses them on us.

Kehl was sitting on my feet a few days ago and I began to bounce him up and down; he called it riding a horse. Being the old man that I am, I could only let him ride for a few times before my legs were burning and had to stop. When I stopped, he said "more ride." I told him I had to stop for a minute and he said "why?" I told him that my legs burned and needed a rest. So naturally, he stood up, bent over, and kissed each of my legs and then sat back down and said "I ride horse now!"

Return of The Magical Kisses
Now that we have established how effective those little kisses are, we get to use them on everything and I do mean everything! *lol* I guess Kehl's little bum was hurting him the other day and he came to find me..."Daaaaad! Bum hurt." I said, "I'm sorry bud. Does your bum hurt?" Do I need to say anymore? *lol* He said, "you kiss dad?" as he points to his cute little bum...butt a bum no less (forgive the pun) *lol*

Concern For Dad
I have Mommy's dedication towards physical fitness to thank for this one! Kehl and I were playing together and then, as if the idea just popped into his head, says "you workout?" I said, "you want me to workout?" Kehl confirmed; "yep!" Kids can be sooo honest! So, you're saying I'm fat?! haha

Please Don't Feed The Animals!
During the winter, we have our dog, Duke, stay in the stairwell. This could not be a more perfect living arrangement for both Duke and Kehl...they are best buds! Sometimes I swear Kehl can speak to Duke and they are constantly scheming with each other.

During the day, Kehl will pull out his bag of cereal to "eat" (a.k.a. feed my buddy). When he thinks I'm not watching, Kehl proceeds to slip some of the goods under the door and then calls for Duke to "come eat!" We told Kehl to not feed Duke anymore (even though it's adorable). Pretending to be obedient, Kehl will eat his food, but suspiciously close to Duke.

As if we don't have any idea what he is up to, he gets closer and closer to Duke with the food hanging loosely from his mouth. Duke looks at us like "what? I don't know what's going on!" I'm pretty sure Duke is the one that puts Kehl up to it! *lol* Then, as if we didn't see this coming, Duke snatches the food from Kehl's "resisting" mouth. "Hahaha, Duke eat!"


I love you little guy! You constantly bless us with each day we have with you. I always worried I wouldn't know how to teach you everything you would need to survive and be successful, but I now see that we are here to learn from you.

Can't wait for another day of magical kisses and divine chicken passa!

This Is The Place For Christmas

Christmas is about spending time together, remembering Christ and making memories. So tonight we went to 'This Is The Place Monument' to see what they had to offer and let me tell you it was GREAT!!! It was step back into time and it gave us everything that we wanted. It was so quiet, peaceful and magical. It was snowing so it kept the crowds away which was wonderful.
The first thing we did was go and see Santa's (a.k.a. Father Christmas) Reindeer. It made you feel like a little kid again as you watched Santa's magical reindeer. Next was a visit with Father Christmas. The whole way there Kehl kept saying "Santa Cause sit lap." He was so excited to sit on Santa's lap. He hardly hesitated and when Santa gave him a candy cane he was completely won over. We walked through the village and each building had something different to offer. Two little houses taught us a little about the traditions of Christmas. We learned where the idea of stockings and tinsel came from. One house showed you how to make homemade candles but the place that taught us the most was the live nativity scene.
As we were walking towards the nativity the atmosphere changed. Everyone around us became very reverent. People were no longer shouting or laughing but whispering to one another and the whole concept of the live nativity made you really stop and think about what it must have been like when Christ was born in a manger. You got to experience the sights, smells and sounds. It was so cold in the manger and as we stood there we could hear and smell the animals around them. It was a humbling experience.
Now to break the reverence, Auntie Miles pointed out baby Jesus, Joseph and Mary to Kehl but I think Kehl got a little confused because when he saw a cow he said, "Hi, Mary," but he definitely knew who baby Jesus was, "Hi, baby Jesa."
I would definitely do this again. Maybe we'll make it a tradition. I love traditions.

Santa's Reindeer

Father Christmas and Kehl. Father Christmas was nice but he's not very photogenic. He doesn't look very happy.

Cardon Clan and Father Christmas.

One of the little houses that we went in. Isn't it quaint? We learned about stockings in this cabin.

We were making candles and Christmas Spiders when the Carolers came in.

Phil's candle.

Kehl and his Christmas spider.

Live nativity scene.

We went to the dancing hall and the Aunties were fighting over him. As you can see one Auntie was bribing him.

Auntie Briber won.

This was the first year that they had the elf village. We got to that section a little late so they were closing up. Maybe next year.

I Finished a Craft from Start to Finish

So, anyone who knows me knows that I love to be creative and crafty but that I can't finish what I've started. I'm just not capable of starting a great craft and then seeing it through. Here are a few examples:

• Two years ago I made a diaper bag and all I had to do to finish it was sew a button on it in order for it to close. A BUTTON!!! How easy is that? Way too easy that it makes it hard.
• Last year I pieced and quilted a blanket for Kehl but have yet to finish it because it requires me to bind it. The easiest part of the quilt and I can't even do that.
• I started a project with my buddy Baird and it's still sitting in pieces in my room (Baird remember those red shutters we painted?).
• This summer I was determined to make a Fourth of July quilt. I bought the material, cut it out and even cut out squares from jeans for it as well. Yeah it's still sitting in a pile of cut squares.
• Before Kehl was born I found three records (Mary Poppins, Pinocchio, and Song of the South) that I was going to mat, frame and hang on the wall. The records are still waiting for each step to be completed.
• I bought tin letters (K, E, H, L ) to frame and put on Kehls wall. The letters are just laying there waiting to be mounted.

So as you can see I have a problem with finishing things. So this time I gave myself something that even I could really accomplish. I sat down with ALL the necessary materials and finished a project. I got the idea from my Birthday buddy Rach in Hawaii when I visited her last year during the Christmas season. She had these adorable homemade snowmen for each family member sitting out as part of her Christmas decoration. Since we have no decorations I thought that I might give it a try and I did.

I used some 'gently' used socks, one of Kehls stuffed animals that I knew he wouldn't miss, some scrap fabrics, a little bit of rice, and a few buttons. Kehls late stuffed cow sufficiently stuffed all three of the snowmen and gave sight to Phil. We believe in organ donating in our family.

Phil, Me, and Kehl (mines a little more brown because I'm naturally a little more brown then Phil and Kehl and not because it's a dirty sock).

Phil's face is a little goofy because it was my first one and I hadn't perfected the mouth yet.

Potty Trained....Check

Kehl'd been sending signals that he was ready for the next step... no more diapers.

1. Kehl would tell us when he'd done his 'business' in his diaper.
2. Kehl would hide so that he could do his 'business' in privacy.
3. Kehl would wake up without a diaper (not our choice) and then go in his toilet.

These were all very good signs. So we started Nov. 10th with a primary goal of Nov. 29th (his 2nd birthday), AND by jove we did it. We used treats and placing stickers on a chart as an incentive. We were lucky to hit on what motivated him early in the process instead of figuring it out later. The first day we had a naked little boy running aroung the house with a beenie on his head to keep warm (it is winter now and a lot of heat escapes through the head so we thought that we'd preserve some sort of heat) and we have since successfully moved to being fully clothed. For the first seven days we had at least one accident but more success. Now we've had one accident in the last 23 days.

Day ONE: Not so happy. He's just sitting on his toilet and waiting.

Day ONE: Thrilled 'cuz it was a success!!!

Funny little potty training story: Kehl was sitting in the living room watching his "show" and would have to constantly run back to the bathroom. Well he was tired of having his show interrupted and having to run between the two rooms. So he wisely picked up his potty chair and placed it in the middle of the living room and sat down. He didn't have to move again.

YEAH for being potty trained!!! NO MORE DIAPERS (well, maybe at night).

Fridge Raider

Hmmmm, Soup?

Whipping Cream Anyone?