15 seconds of fame

So Cake Wrecks finally posted pictures from their SLC stop, and our shirts got a special shout-out! Check it out here: http://www.cakewrecks.com/2010/06/sweet-n-salty.html.

A million thanks again to my wonderful husband, who indulged his wife and churned out 3 awesome shirts in an hour. You are my artistic hero, Ryan!

Cake Wrecks!!

If you read my blog regularly, you know how much I love cake. You may also be aware of my love of a hilarious little website known as Cake Wrecks. The author of the CW blog is on a book tour, and she and her husband came to the King's English this Wednesday! It was free, so I went with two fellow CW lovers, Katie and Kathryn. Ryan, ever the supportive husband, made t-shirts for us to wear to the event.

My shirt features a fearsome Cake REX, Katie has a Cake Wrecks wrecking ball, and Kathryn's shirt has the host of "The Kay Krex Show". Ain't we clever?

One of the best parts of the event, for me, was getting to eat cake. Ryley of That's My Cake provided delicious and beautiful cakes for us. Amazing! I got a slice of the chocolate sheet cake... mmm. If only I was getting married again so I would have an excuse to get another fantastic cake!

Ryley must be a true CW fan- there are carrot jockeys on her giant cupcake!

Cutting into the cupcake

We had a great time. Jen signed our t-shirts, and took pictures of us for the CW blog. Hopefully we will see our pictures soon!

Sam's Birthday Party

A few days late, but... HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY SAMMY!

My parents came to visit for Sam's birthday weekend. He got lots of new toys, went geocaching, and got to swim in his pool!

Heidi and Elisa came over and grilled with us. We served birthday cake right after dinner so Ryan could get to work on time. My dad helped me decorate the cake the night before.

We cut a big slice out and gave it to him. Here is a video my mom took of the carnage:

What a happy boy!

A Series of Unfortunate Events

How Kara Planned Her Tuesday:

7am: Wake up

8am: Leave for Manti

10:30-11am: Arrive in Manti

11:30am: Attend Manti temple while Ryan sets up campsite

2:30pm: Play with Sam while Ryan attends Manti temple

5pm: Enjoy turkey dinner at Manti tabernacle

6:30pm: Snag awesome seats at Mormon Miracle Pageant

9:30pm: Watch Pageant

11:30pm: Drag tired baby back to tent

How Kara's Tuesday Actually Went:

8am: Wake up

9am: Leave for Manti

11:30am: Arrive in Manti

12:30pm: Attend Manti temple while Ryan sets up campsite

2:30pm: Sam barfs all over Ryan

2:45pm: Clean barf off baby, husband, sundry items

3:30pm: Hang out at campsite

5pm: Enjoy turkey dinner at Manti tabernacle

6:30pm: Save seats at Pageant

6:31pm: Sammy gets cranky

6:32pm: Ryan takes Sammy back to tent for a nap

6:35pm: Read Agatha Christie book

7:45pm: Finish Agatha Christie book

8pm: Walk back to campsite

8:15pm: Reunited with sad feverish baby

8:20pm: Executive decision to go home

9pm: Stop at Ephraim Wal-Mart for Tylenol and Pedialyte to revive Sam's spirits

11pm: Stop at Draper In-N-Out Burger to revive Kara and Ryan's spirits

12:30am: Calm down sad baby and go to sleep

Elements of an Agatha Christie Novel

No offense to Dame Agatha, but I've been reading a lot of her books lately (now that the bulk of my schoolwork is complete) and I'm noticing a lot of similarities. She's one of the world's most prolific authors, but when the stories are all the same... does it mean as much?

This is the basic idea:

A detective (sometimes 2) go to a charming British countryside manor. An old man or perhaps old woman is going to change or has already changed their will. Their children, servants, etc are angry about it. During the night, the old manlady dies. Natural causes are suspected. But then a clue appears that makes it almost certainly murder! The detectives talk to everyone, and finally the most unlikely person is proved to be the killer. Disguises played a key part in the intrigue. Everyone is shocked, save for the detectives, who knew it all along.

Anyone who has read Agatha Christie can agree that the above synopsis would describe a LOT of her books. I must confess, however, that there is something so charming? enjoyable? about post-WWI Britain that keeps drawing me back. I don't care how formulaic the books are. I like them. I still almost never guess who did it, or how exactly they carried it out. And no article on Agatha Christie novels would be complete without a tip-of-the-hat to her most surprising, out-of-the-box novels, And Then There Were None and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. ATTWN gives me the creeps every time I read it. I think I was probably around 10 years old when I read it the first time, and it scared me so badly I couldn't sleep. I checked it out from the library last week and made sure I read it outside in the daytime, while Sam played in the sandbox. TMORA has outraged mystery readers for decades. I love it. I don't care if she cheated. The mystery world needs the occasional upset to stay fresh.

I have to thank my grandma Lauver for my love of mystery novels. Her collection of mystery books is one of my favorite things about her house. She introduced me to Dame Agatha and the Cat Who mystery series when I was pretty young and desperate for something challenging to read. I think she also influenced my choice of future novels by giving me series that aren't violent and don't have a lot of foul language or sex. Thanks Grandma, for giving me the good stuff to read.

Scones, Clones, and Groans

Scones:

Shh, don't tell Ryan, but when he gets home from work there will be delicious scones waiting for him! Actually, they are still cooling so I haven't had one yet. I just assume they're delicious.

Clones:

I love Star Wars. When I hear the word "clones" I think of Star Wars. When I hear "Somebody get this big walking carpet outta my way" I think of Star Wars.

Groans:

Doesn't look like it rhymes with scones, yet it does. I have a headache, hence the groans.

In other news, Sam is still officially the cutest baby I know.

In other other news... I played in my first softball game EVER on Thursday. Ryan gave me a batting lesson (I was channeling Todd Helton) on Wednesday, which was the first time I'd swung a bat since Cassi and I tried to play Calvinball in our backyard with a big red plastic bat. I am proud to say that I made it on base every time I went up to bat! I played second base (this time channeling Clint Barmes) but didn't do so well. Knowing where to throw the ball is tricky. I hope I do better this Thursday.

We don't get to have a lot of family time on the weekends because of Ryan's work schedule, but the time we do have is pretty special. This Saturday we took a nice long walk around our favorite neighborhood. When we got home we sat on a blanket in our apartment court and had popsicles! Sam got little pieces of ours, and needless to say he loved them.

Sam will be a year old in less than 2 weeks. I know this sounds cliche, but I really can't believe that my little boy has been around for so long! We love our Baby Sam so much!

What's in a Name?

This morning I was reflecting on all the different nicknames we have for Sam, and I thought I'd make a list.

Nicknames for: Samuel Grayson Reynolds

The obvious, Sam and Sammy

Baby Sam

Sams

Sammy G

Grumpkins

Grumplestiltskins

Grumpy Bum (and Bumpy Grum)

Stinkerpants

Sammy Sammy Bo Bammy

Bo Bams

Sam Bo Jams

Dinosaur Baby

Samasaurus Rex

Samster Hamster (thanks, Aunt Cassi)

Sammy the Salmon

Booger

Boogerbrain

Boogs

Wushious

Fussious Wushious (good luck trying to pronounce those)

A "Rash" Decision

Today while I was at school Ryan called and told me to hurry home because he thought Sammy was in pain and needed to go to the doctor. I asked him why he thought Sam was in pain and he refused to tell me. If he thought the mystery would get me home more quickly, he was right. I came home to see Sam snuggling with Ryan on the couch. Sam does not snuggle. He can't sit still for more than 5 seconds. He really must have been feeling crappy. Ryan noticed that Sam was crying and flinching while he was wiping him off during a diaper change. We got a quick appointment for him to make sure nothing serious was wrong. Boy were we relieved to find out our baby has an infection in his diapered region! I never thought I'd say those words! He got some special ointment and hopefully the infection will clear up soon. He's having a hard time going to bed tonight, I wonder if it is because his bummy hurts. Poor little guy.