we are moving.... in more ways than one

The house is sold and soon we will be moving. We also are moving blog addresses...

Check us out at tedmakes.com

California Here We Come!

 We are getting so close to living in California it is crazy! Tyler and I were able to take a trip down there to find a place to live and to enjoy celebrating our 4 year anniversary! It was beautiful weather and lots of relaxation. 

Here is a view from the outside of our hotel in Long Beach. 

Tyler hanging out outside the hotel room in the sun and sand.  

We didn't want to do all the amusement parks this time around. For one, I am pregnant so I could not go on any rides and secondly we wanted to wait until Ted could go on everything. We figured since we will be living less than 30 min from Anaheim we will make time later. 

We got a great tip from Tyler's friend to check out Downtown Disney. It is right outside the park and is free with free parking. It was a lot of fun.  

There was a Lego store we checked out. This wall is all Legos.  

Lego Hulk 

There was also a store where you could make your own race car. Tyler has been wanting a remote control race car forever so this was a pretty cool experience. We told Ted he can make one too when he goes down.  

New shades for California Tyler :)  

We finally made our way to Huntington Beach which is 3 miles from where we will be living. I can't believe this is where we will call home! So crazy!  

I also made sure we checked out "dog beach" 

We went to the aquarium. It was fun. I hate this picture of me but since it is like the only one of me I figured I should include it. 

And just some pics of Ted that I took when we got home because he is cute and he is growing up so much!!!  

So many tender mercies today!

For those who have not used this phrase, a "tender mercy" is any time you have felt the Lord looking out for you in all aspects of your life. It can be large things like overcoming sickness or it can be day-to-day things like finding lost keys.

Today my cup is over flowing with love from the Lord in LOTS of little ways.

We are in the process of selling our house and so far it has been going so smoothly which I am eternally grateful for. After the inspection, the buyers came back with some requests and we accepted doing everything but one costly fix. They accepted our counter offer today which is FANTASTIC!

Also I was having a rough time at nap time. Ted went down super easy, but nap time is my one time of the day to sit and relax. I try to get housecleaning and stuff done while he is awake so I can read or just vedge while he naps. Today I was trying to work out some kinks on my Kindle while he napped and I realized he was halfway through his nap and I was still frustratingly trying to fix the problem.

It was a bigger deal than it needed to be because I was overly tired myself and it has been so stinking hot here... plus I can always use the excuse that I am 32 weeks pregnant. Tyler (via email) suggested I just let it go and get some sleep.

No! This problem was going to get fixed and I was going to have my relaxation time for the day. Well I was able to work it out... sort of, and enjoy some me time...

Then at the end of hour 2 in the nap I was about to crash. I knew if I fell asleep I would only get like 5 min because Ted takes 2-hour naps. Well huzzah Ted slept a whole extra hour today! He and I both woke up at 3PM at the exact time Tyler got home EARLY from work and the exact time the garage door repair guy arrived. Everything just worked way too perfectly for me to take any credit.

So after a much needed nap and a husband who came home early today :) :) :) I am feeling very loved by my Heavenly Father he truly does know us and loves us.

I hope you can find all the great things the Lord has done for you today too! (and stay out of the hot hot sun)

20th Annual Pug Gala!

This past Saturday the family went to the annual PUG GALA! I have been going to this since I was around 15 years old. It is pretty awesome :) This year was extra special because not only was it the 20th annual Pug Gala but I was the official videographer for the event. Below is the link to the finished video. Check it out! 

I was nervous making the video because I wanted to do a really good job and I am still in the amateur phase of making videos, but I had so much fun.

I watched a motivational/training video from a professional photographer and she recommended finding 3 words that describe your style. This will help when you are making your film to know what direction to take it in. I chose the words Quirky, Uplifting, and Cute. (I would also add fast paced).

Tyler and Ted were troopers throughout the entire day because we had to get there before it started and stay until the end.

The gala has a silent auction and a live auction. Last year my mom got me a really cute pug plate during the live auction. It is a fancy one to hang on the wall. This year the silent auction had another really cute pug plate that would match my plate from last year perfectly. I put in a bid and when I went back to check on it a teenage boy was trying to outbid everyone.

As I wrote down a 2nd bid for myself he said, "I can see you really want this plate so I will let you have it."

I went back to sit with Tyler and realized the kid was probably playing me. I mentioned this to Tyler. With 2 minutes to spare until the end of the auction Tyler went over to check out the bids. Apparently he snatched the bidding pencil, put down a last minute big while the boy lurked nearby, and was able to win the pug plate for me!

It is talents like winning auctions that don't come up during dating but are sure awesome :)

Ted Makes BROWNIES! Yum!

This week Ted made some chocolate and peanut butter brownies. They were so good and actually kind of healthy. I can't say they were super healthy, because it is still chocolate and peanut butter :) But they do not have any oil, butter, flour and not too much sugar. They are mostly sweetened with honey and applesauce. Plus they stay super moist for even longer than normal brownies. 

I LOVE making "Ted Makes" videos with my little buddy. I think Ted's favorite videos to make are the ones with food in them. He gets so excited when I am setting up his work station. I feel like I am his crew and he is the talent... which is actually pretty accurate. 

One of my favorite parts in this video is Ted's nonstop munching of the chocolate chips. I had to ask him SEVERAL times to stop eating the chocolate chips and just dump them into the bowl. How could any mom believe she can give a 2 year old a bowl of chocolate chips and not have them just sit back and eat them? :) 

On another note, we are one step closer to California! We listed our house on the market and received offers the first day! I feel truly blessed with how smoothly everything has been going. Yesterday was the home inspection and many prayers have gone up that there were no glaring things that need to be fixed. 

We will be living with my parents until the official trek down south. It is going to be an adventure that is for sure! 

Ted is 2!!!!!

Happy birthday Ted! I am so happy that Heavenly Father sent you to live with us. I always joke that Ted was a trick baby. He was too easy and it was suspicious. Like we were being tricked into thinking parenting is easy and then we would have another kid and they would be crazy :). Ted is going to be an awesome big brother. I know this because he is already an awesome son, dog owner, bird owner, playmate, cousin and person. 

Ted loves airplanes, especially the movie Airplanes. His first sentence was "See the airplane." (While pointing to a plane flying overhead). 

He also loves to sing and can sing parts of his ABCs all by himself. 

He loves animals and overfeeding any dog he comes across. 

He loves to pick out his own clothes and will always go for anything with a picture on it. He loves his football pants (cords with embroidered footballs all over them).

He is a fantastic helper and we love him very much!!!

Awesome balloon toys and happy to have daddy home!

Tyler is home! I am so excited because Ted and I went over a week with him gone to England on a business trip. Whew! I have a new found respect for any woman who is trying to do it on her own. It is tough work and they are very strong ladies/mommas! 

Tyler surprised us be showing up on Friday evening instead of Saturday evening which was so awesome and just what I needed to kick off my weekend. 

Ted and I posted the latest "Ted Makes" video. This time we made balloon toys which was so much fun and by far my favorite activity. It was really messy when it came to pouring the rice in the balloons but we were laughing the entire time hahahaha.  

And Ted still plays with his balloons everyday so I would say this is a win and would recommend making these to anyone wanting a cheap fun activity. 

I am also super partial to any toy that is eventually going to get thrown away. It makes for a fun thing to do, but you don't have to worry that your child will outgrow the toy and you don't have to worry about yet another toy crowding up the toy box. I am also always amazed that I spend so much money on toys and yet the things Ted finds most enjoyable are the bubbles, balloons, and cardboard boxes. 

Below is the video "Ted Makes Balloon Toys" Check it out and try it for yourself. I do recommend you use new rubber bands. I pulled out a bag of rubber bands that date back to 1995. I won them in a family Christmas bingo game. They work,but we have to replace them when they snap (as you will see...). 

It has been so hot here lately. Ted follows in the dogs' footsteps and finds a sunny spot to relax in. I think all three of them are crazy because that must be the hottest place in the house.

I love the sun but it decided to come right when we had new sod put into our front yard. This means watering the grass twice a day so it doesn't die. Anyone who knows me can attest to the fact that I don't garden. I can't keep things alive.... in fact I recently spread ground clear on our back lawn thinking it was fertilizer. (Luckily this was the old weed eaten grass and not our nice new pretty grass). Not only did I do this but I didn't cover the entire yard so now the backyard has a beautiful striped pattern to it. Can't wait to put our house on the market for all to see...

Ted and I have fun making how-to videos on YouTube. It has been such a blast!

It really gives Ted and me incentive to try new things and we always end up laughing. My goal with my videos is to showcase how beneficial it is to find ways to get your kids involved in any activity. Even if it seems like it may be over their heads. Plus I give Ted ownership of his projects. These are his how-to projects and I am just filming. I love it :)

Here is a link to my YouTube page:https://m.youtube.com/?rdm=1k17331bz&client=mv-google#/channel/UCFvhcm-jcP9RPSLs-SKSTsQ

Tot School Rice in a Bucket

Lately I have not been keeping up with activities specific to Ted. He has been tagging along for all my home improvement projects. The family is going to be moving at the end of the summer which translates to WORK.

My latest mortal enemy is STAINING THE DECK. Blah! There are so many nooks and crannies on all the rungs that have to be painted. Today was Day 5 of deck staining and I am over it!

Back to Tot School... I saw a post online about putting alphabet letters in a tub of rice and letting the child find the letters and put them on a corresponding piece of paper with the alphabet on it.

I used Ted's alphabet puzzle and threw the pieces into a bucket of rice and had Ted fish them out and put them on the base. It is a super easy and cheap activity that actually turned out really well.  I had visions of Ted just dumping the rice onto the floor but he didn't!

if I fits, I sits

There is a funny cat thing on the internet called if I fits I sits. It shows cats sitting in lots of different boxes and containers. Well life around here is about to change with a potential move in the future. I have been busy cleaning out the house and getting rid of stuff. Ted is hilarious and will sit in anything possible. Here is my compilation of

If I fits, I sits (please note, I do not tell Ted to get in these things he does this all on his own)

cousin visits and updates

My sister and her kids had a mini visit with us this past weekend which was a lot of fun and went by so fast. As you can see the kids are in love with Tyler. What this picture does not show is how super uncomfortable we were. Ted was mad and had  wet diaper and Tyler was barely keeping the kids up. 

Everyone wanted to hold Ted. Like a good baby he put up with it. 

We had a gender reveal party and in my typical fashion I forgot to take any pictures. Ugh. Well we are having a boy and I am so excited! I was hoping for a boy :) here is a picture of max wrapped up in decorations the next day. All pets are awesome, but I think the dog is the most long suffering when it comes to putting up with people hahaha. 

I recently bought a punch card to the bouncy play place. What an insane workout that is! Luckily Tyler came with me the second time we went. Ted is like pushing dead weight up those inflatable ladders. And I'm not trying to make excuses but being pregnant does not help :) 

We bought Ted a sun hat and I made Tyler try on the adult equivalent. :)

Pug Victory

I had a victory that any dog owner can relate to who owns a dog with a fold on their face. (The wrinkle above their nose). Ruby's fold is very deep and gets infected about once a year. It is pretty gross. I saw it was infected and I started using her fold cleaner and medicine daily. The infection cleared up hooray!!! Normally I end up at the vets office. 

Meaningful Monday: "I am a child of God"

I know most kids do this but today Ted asked for a bowl for lambie for breakfast. It was this first time he has ever done this so I thought it was really cute. 

For Meaningful Monday we did a lesson on being a child of God. I printed off a heart puzzle which I will not pretend Ted put together. I mostly did it while Ted attempted to help.

I also had a picture for Ted to color.

He prefers to color with markers.

While he colored I played a Mormon Message video which went along perfectly with the activity. It was a bunch of different people singing "I am a child of God"

Ted colored a crown which he hated. 

And here is the finished picture... lovely.