Carson and I went to the Weber County Fair with Harm and Josh in August. Josh's brother was competing in the "Fair Idol" so we went to listen and help cast our votes. He ended up making the top five actually. Carson had fun dancing to the music as well as experiencing all the new scents that the fair has to offer and I'm not only talking about the cows and pigs. I didn't think anything beat the Lagoon crowd on the weirdo factor, boy was I wrong!
Back in July my little brother, Bryson came to town and stayed for ten days. He spent half the time with us and half the time with Harm & Josh. Carson was his little shadow. Even when Bry had to run to the restroom, Carson was there. We had fun playing guitar hero, going to the park, swimming, and going to Lagoon. I have a few more pics that are on our other computer (the one that is currently out of commission), but I thought to myself, hey I can still upload what I have on my camera. It only has taken me how long to figure that one out?!
I have to share a funny story that happened this weekend. To start off, Carson has turned into a biter. If he's mad at me, he not only hits but he has started biting. Time outs don't seem to be phasing him so I've had several people tell me that I will need to bite him back. I've been putting it off because the thought of biting my child sounded horrible to me. So anyway, last weekend Carson was having one of his meltdowns and bit me. I had HAD it and I went ahead and bit him back. He smacked me in the face afterward and then he just started sobbing, like a "How could you do that?" sob. He gave me a big hug and I felt horrible but proceeded to tell him that ya, biting hurts! The next day, we had a wedding to go to, one of Tim's friends. While we were at the reception, a lady came and asked Carson if it was okay that she sat next to him. She then went on to say, "It's okay, I don't bite." Carson turned to her and said, "Mommy does." I about died! I don't think the lady heard him or understood him thank goodness, but talk about a mortifying yet hilarious moment in the adventures of motherhood.
No I'm not just being lazy with my posting, Tim was trying to download some software that turned out to be bogus and left us with a virus. Thank goodness he's good at retreiving all our documents and pics otherwise I'd be freaking out about now. I'm currently using a temporary computer that does not have my recent photos on it. Needless to say, when Tim gets it up and running, I'll get back to my almost weekly posts.
Ah ha, so this is how it's done.
CHEESE!
The holidays can be pretty lonely around here with the majority of immediate family living out of state. We tried to make the most of it though. We got up and went to the Kay-trash parade, had nice naps in the afternoon, had a BBQ with Harmony & Josh and then we went to the city fireworks that night. Thanks for coming with us you two. It was so much fun watching Carson get so excited at the parade and fireworks. He is so full of life and is constantly doing things that make us laugh.
This past Saturday was Tim's work Lagoon Day. It was such a hot, not to mention extremely crowded day, so we went to the lunch, rode the train and then played in the entry fountain. We've gotten spoiled with our season passes I guess so to wait in any more long lines in the heat of the day just didn't' sound appealing. Even the fountain was jam packed with people trying to cool off. Here are a few shots of Carson and Tim getting drenched.
Last Thursday I had to take the car in for some safety recall thing that was going to take a good 3 hours to fix. Luckily the dealership was in Bountiful so instead of waiting around, we got a ride to Grandma Lanie's house. I had packed up our swim suits as well as the new slip'n slide for something to do in the meantime. Our grass is still growing in so I haven't been brave enough to test it out on our lawn so I thought we'd try Grandma's instead. Carson had been exposed to a slip'n slide at one of our neighbors the previous week, but was a little nervous at first. This picture cracked me up because it looks like he was praying for the courage to do it again. Within a few minutes, he had warmed up to the idea and was slipping and sliding to his little hearts content.
Carson's current fixation is on the sprinklers. He's constantly asking me, "Sprinklers turning on in one hour or four hours?" He'll run from room to room to watch our entire cycle go. Now when the sprinklers are not on, we're drawing them. As you can see in these pictures, we draw them on his markerboard, chalkboard, as well as on multiple sheets of paper.
Carson insisted on eating his corn like Daddy so he not only ate it straight off the cob, he finished his and went on to finish Daddy's as well. I don't know where this kid gets his love of vegetables from because it's definitely not from me.
I posted our vacation pics, but didn't write anything about our trip. It was so great to get away and spend some time together as a family. Carson got so used to having Tim around last week that when he woke up Monday morning he was mad that Daddy was at work. Needless to say we had a blast despite the below 70 degree weather while there. I think Tim and I took the bad Utah weather with us. The week prior to us going it was apparantly 102 degrees. I'm glad we threw a couple jackets in last minute...you know, just in case. We didn't, however, throw in long pants.
We stayed at Tim's sister, Angie's house and got to know her new puppy, Trixie very well. It actually turned from Angie's house, to Trixie's house in Carson's eyes. When we first arrived, we mostly just had some R & R time. We spent some time with Vic for the first couple of days and met up with Deb for the Dodgers game as well. We had all forgotten our jackets that night and about froze. After a Carson meltdown, we left during the 7th inning stretch. It was fun while it lasted. :)
We then spent 2 days at Disneyland/California Adventure and went on about every ride in Fantasyland, plus the kid rides in the rest of the park. The lines weren't bad at all. I think the longest line we stood in was for Peter Pan and that was only 30 minutes. Even Splash Mountain was only 10-15 minutes. Tim's sister, Angie, came with us both days so that was fun to have her there. We were able to trade a few times so we could ride some of the bigger rides that Carson can't quite go on yet. He was tall enough to go on Matterhorn, which shocked me. Ya, not sure he knew what to think of that one. I had forgotten how fast and jerky that one was. I was ready for it to be over long before it was. I just held his head tight against me so it wouldn't flop all around, the poor thing.
I am now currently coping with the post vacation blues, I believe Carson is as well. He's been having meltdown after meltdown this week so I hope we'll survive. Tim is back to the daily grind of work and school. Only, the next 4 weeks are going to be extra brutal, he has class M-Th instead of just Tues. and Thurs. We're already looking forward to the next vacation that we can take, which will most likely be up to Oregon to visit family (and of course our famous, Ensign friend, Ayda). Anyone up for a roadtrip to Oregon this summer? :)
Tim was gone a ton this last week and on nights where he was home, Carson was already in bed. This is just a pic of Carson talking with his Daddy on the phone. He has this new thing where he likes to talk on the phone and tell anyone who will listen about his day. Whether it's about his strawberry milk or when he fell off the "tricky" ladder at the park. He loves to tell stories. This next week is finals for Tim, so we have another long week ahead of us. Thankfully he'll get two weeks of school off before summer semester begins. We've actually planned a last minute trip to California for the first week in May. We're so excited to take Carson to Disneyland, a Dodgers game, and of course the beach. It will also be fun to see Aunt Angie, Uncle Jeremy, Uncle Vic, and Great Aunt Deborah as well.
I'm always up for some new recipes. Thanks for the tag Hollie. I believe this recipe came from my Grandma and has been a family favorite for years. I still have a hard time calling it a "salad" over a dessert. What salad has cookies in it, seriously? :)
Cookie Cream Salad
1 large instant vanilla pudding
1 cup buttermilk
12 oz. Cool Whip
2 (15 oz.) cans pineapple tidbits
2 (11 oz.) cans mandarin oranges
1 pkg. Fudge striped shortbread cookies
Drain the pineapple and mandarin oranges well. Mix together the pudding and buttermilk and fold in the Cool Whip. Add drained fruits and then fold in the cookies, broken up.
I just realized that I didn't tag anyone. I will now tag anyone who feels like it.
(Last summer at Lagoon)
Carson busted out the mop the other day to "help" me clean the floors. He was being such a helper that he was sitting there, holding down the button to release the floor cleaner and wouldn't let up...lovely. Needless to say, I busted out the camera and this is the smile I got. 
Our landscapers were here this week working on our yard. Carson just sat and watched the tractor for the longest time, he was just mesmerized. He kept saying, "HEY, Mama look at this!" We now have a leveled out backyard, a patio, and the sprinklers just went in today. Whoo hoo! We're so excited to get our yard in for the summer. 
Ooo, what do we have here? We can't have a cracked eggshell.
Ta Da! Problem solved.
Now the fun part. Yum!
We got up to go to the Kaysville Easter egg hunt, but showed up a few minutes late and missed all the fun. We still had an eventful day of playing at the park and dying Easter eggs. Carson's so funny when it comes to, say a cracked eggshell or a wrinkled blanket. He's very particular and cannot have either. When he lays on his blankie at night, it has to be laying flat. If it happens to be bunched up or wrinkled in any way, he throws a huge fit. I wonder where he gets it from? :)Just a little FYI for anyone who does actually look at our blog, our camera is busted. I guess when you drop it on the garage floor, you'll create a "lens error". I'm looking into a new one at the moment so be patient, I'll get some new photos uploaded soon.
Who do I love? Timothy D. Smolka
How long have you been married? 5 1/2 years, time sure flies.
How long did you date? 11 months total, dating plus engagement. I believe we were engaged after about 7 1/2 months of dating.
Who said "I Love You" first? Ooo, that's a toughy. I want to say Tim, but he'd probably say that I did.
Who's taller? Tim
Who can sing better? Definitely Tim. He sings all of the time, whether it's in the shower or to Carson, the boy likes to sing. I can carry a tune, but I can't really sing out very loudly. Remember Jason Knapp's missionary farewell Nika? :) We'll just say that I stick to singing in larger groups if I sing at all.
Who is smarter? Again, that would be Tim. Not that degrees are everything, but he's currently getting his MBA, where I've only gotten my Associates. Good thing real estate school wasn't that difficult. We'll just say I have different kinds of smarts.
Who does the laundry? Yeah, I win this one.
Who pays the bills? That would be me again. Tim helps me if I'm disputing a charge on a bill. He can always get our account reimbursed.
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Tim
Who mows the lawn? I do. I grew up doing it, after Vic went on his mission, so I don't mind it. Plus it's an excuse to get outside and get a nice tan. Just turn on the ipod for some nice tunes and off I go.
Who cooks dinner? Me. I get sick of it every once in a while though. Anyone have any new good recipes? Tim does make a mean french toast.
Who drives? Tim does when we're out and about together or on dates, but when it comes to long distance road trips to California, it's all me. I get car sick doing anything in the car. Tim on the other hand, can read, work on his laptop, etc.
Tim is such good husband and dad. He's very affectionate and a blast to be around. He does such a good job providing for our family and we're grateful for all he does.
Now I will tag Susie, Nika, and Carly!
Since I'm so new at this and I'm just starting now, I thought I'd post some pics from our Hawaii trip as well as the holidays from last year, just to have something to look at. So I know everything is a bit out of order, but we're going to go with it. Enjoy!
Carson watched me paint his bathroom so now he likes to carry around the paint roller and pretend like he's painting. I think he has about three that he'll carry around.
Carson is your typical 2 year old boy. He loves to climb onto everything. His latest consists of moving the kitchen barstools around as well as Mommy's excercise step box to help him in this endevour. He's very determined. His latest adventure was into the the spice cabinet. He pulled the lids off of each and every spice so he could sniff them. He has to sniff everything. For those of you who have seen Ratatouville, he reminds me of the main rat who has to sniff everything before he adds it to his dish extravaganza.
