Out the Window My iphone Went (literally)

After driving around for 2 hours looking at houses, Kyler screams out of boredom from the back seat.

Jared: "Can you do something about that?"
Me: "Sure! Kyler, want to play the robot game on my iphone?"
Kyler: "YESH!"

I give my iphone to Kyler to play with. I'm not worried about him breaking it. It's in the indestructible otter box iphone case. 5 minutes later Kyler screams out of boredom from the back seat again.

Me: "It's kinda hot in here and so pretty outside...can you roll down all of the windows?"
Jared: "Sure!"

10 minutes later I look back at Kyler to see if he needs any help playing his robot game on my iphone. That's when I realize he is no longer holding my iphone.

Me: "Kyler, where is mommy's iphone?"
Kyler: (blank stares)
Me: "Ughh he probably dropped it on the floor." (I look on the floor. I look on the seat.)
Jared: "Do you want me to pull over?"
Me: "Yeah, he's probably sitting on it."

I crawl into the back seat, unbuckle Kyler, and check. It's not there. It's not anywhere....then I realize Kyler's window is still rolled down.

Me: "OH. MY. GOSH."
Kyler: "All gone!" (smiles)
Jared: "Let me guess. He threw your iphone out the window?"
Me: "I hope not. Call me!"

No ring. Then Jared uses the "Find My iphone app".  My phone is on Cambridge Street 10 minutes away! We race back, and there it is...safely in the hands of an elderly couple who had been riding their motorcycle and happened to see my phone in the street and picked it up.

There wasn't a scratch on it. I was just grateful it hadn't been stolen or run over by a car!

 Beware. This little face isn't as innocent as it seems.

He'll Only Be Two Once...right?

This past weekend we had a huge muddle (I meant to write mud puddle bahaha) on our driveway. Of course Kyler ran straight towards it the second we got outside. I was about to yell "KYLER STOP!!!" but then the thought came into my head that he will only be two once, and pretty soon he won't want to play in the mud.

Kyler had a blast getting messy:

I had a very difficult time trying to get him to look at me for a picture

I tried flipping the camera on my phone around (he likes to look at himself) to get a picture of his face, and it worked!

My mommy "thoroughly entertained but grossed out" face in the background. lol

 I literally carried him straight inside and dumped him in the tub with his shoes and clothes still on. I had to refill the tub about 10 times to get him squeaky clean, but it was worth it to see him have so much fun!

Then of course after all is said and done this picture of my husband playing in the mud in his COLLEGE days comes into my mind. I guess boys never grow out of playing in the mud :p

Everyone Deserves a Cute Phone

I admit. This blog post is pretty much an exact replica of my friend Nicole's most recent blog post. BUT WHY?...

because everyone deserves a cute iphone.  

She informed me about an app called Cocoppa that allows you to customize the icons on your iphone! (or maybe I'm the last person to find out about this...hmmm_) It's amazing. I use my phone multiple times a day and now I'm glad it's finally cute. haha  Here is my iphone currently. Don't judge me. I like pink okay?!

Also notice the low battery...

The app is pretty much self explanatory, but if you want a step by step tutorial visit this blog.

 Here are just a couple of things I had to learn through trial and error that may save you the time:

1) Don't delete your original app. (I have all of the original apps in a folder that I scroll over to get to)
2) For calling and texting icons you have to pick a specific person...obviously keep the normal phone and
 texts icons too...but really my husband is pretty much the only person I call and text so this makes it faster for me.
Here is what my phone looks like when I scroll over...but only for this specific picture purpose. haha I have way too many apps I don't even use:

Notice how the battery is now charging. Yep it died mid picture taking. haah

3) I can't figure out how to change the photos and notes icons. If you figure it out let me know.


--------Adding this part the next day.............

4) I just realized the app has super cute wallpapers too! Now which one to choose? ....

That's Not What I Meant to Say

My dad makes REALLY good Mexican food (that's and understatement).

However, my whole life I have hated -let me repeat- hated onions and tomatoes. I've always picked them out of my salads, off of my burgers, and definitely out of my dad's Mexican enchiladas (out of EVERYTHING!) They've always had such a strong taste to me; a taste that makes me spit out a mouthful of food if there is so much as a tiny shard of an onion or tomato in it.

Then came the day (last week) that my dad made fajitas with fresh pico de gallo.

Pico De Gallo

Not wanting to hurt my dad's feelings I slopped some pico de gallo on top of my fajitas thinking "I'll just push it off with my fork when he's not looking." To my disappointment he sat down directly across the table from me. I had to do it. I had to take a bite. I opened my mouth, and took a bite. I did it. I ate onions and tomatoes...and I liked them. I just said that-let me reapeat- I LIKED THEM!! Before I could even think about what I was about to say these words blurted out of my mouth:

"Well what do ya know?! I actually like this!! 

I guess my taste buds are finally dead."

That's not what I meant to say.

 I didn't mean to say that my dad's cooking was horrible. I quickly tried to dig myself out of the hole and explained that "as you get older your taste buds die off. That's why picky eater kids, grow up to eat most foods... their taste buds don't  "taste" like they used to...foods aren't as strong..." My digging was useless.

I looked around the table, and everyone laughing. My dad wasn't offended after all. He was just glad I finally "joined the eating tomatoes and onions club." I'm glad too.

Blogging Questions

My fellow blogging friend Heather, over at Morning Glory, nominated me for the Liebster award. She asked me a some questions and today I would like to answer a few of them!

1. What is the best piece of blogging advice you have received so far?
I have received a lot of really good blogging tips, but one piece of advice that has really stuck with me is to blog about what ever you want and don't care what other people think when they read it. Write what is on your mind. You should be afraid to push the post button because it is so honest, and so you.

2. Why did you start blogging?
 I've always been horrible at keeping a journal, and I've never been a scrapbooker. Blogging is my way of doing both, and I love it!

3. What are your goals for your blog?
I currently have two blogging goals. One goal is to post on the blog at least twice a week, and the other is to increase my blogging traffic. Let me explain that second one a little better: I don't write on this blog to see how popular I can become. I write because I want to... and-I-enjoy-it! That being said, it is always nice to be heard and to know that people are actually reading what I write. I love reading other people's blogs (especially my "follower's" blogs). I feel like blogging is kind of it's own little world where we can share stories and boost each other up when we need it, give tips, and advice! I would like to increase my blogging traffic so that maybe someday, something I write about my life, will help somebody in their life, or even just make someone smile! That would make all of the time I put into this blog worth every second.


That's all I have time to answer right now. Kyler is going to wake up from his nap soon, and I still have dishes and a never ending pile of laundry to do (thanks to the beach trip).

 xoxox,
Until next time! -Char

Topsail Island (part 2)

Sorry I had to break the trip up into 2 post. Sometimes blogging takes a long time, and Kyler only naps for so long. haha I was just looking at my pictures, and they all look pretty much the same as my previous post. More pictures of Kyler flying his kite. I'm sure you won't find them as adorable or entertaining as I do, but I'm going to post another one anyways because I can!

He thought his kite was just as cool as a balloon (which is biiig for him)

Our dog is a beach lover too

 I taught Kyler the art of beach combing this trip. I'm pretty sure most of his "treasures" looked like fossilized fish poo, but he thought it was fun.

My beach "treasures" on the left. Kyler's fish poop treasures on the right.

On both Saturday and Sunday we got to watch General Conference! It was amazing. Seriously. If you missed out, you can still view it here!

In my family growing up,we had this tradition on Sundays, where the family would gather outside and eat FunDip together. Sometimes we would eat it on the front/back porch, other times we would enjoy it in our back yard up in the tree house that my dad and brothers built. I miss that tradition. Last Sunday, my mom brought FunDip to the beach, and we all enjoyed it on the back porch like the good old days.

Kyler approves of this tradition

It was a good 4 day vacation but now we are back to real life, and I'm missing the beach. I keep having to remind myself that we will be going back to the beach again soon for a big Schramm Family Reunion in June, and maybe (hopefully) we can sneak another beach trip in before (or after) then too!

Topsail Island Part 1

Before I write about vacation, let me start with Easter! I guess we were having so much fun that the blog completely slipped my mind and I didn't take a single picture. Ooops! We celebrated Christ's resurrection at church-which was amazing. At home, Jared and I also put together a little Easter egg hunt for Kyler, which he LOVED. We also gave him a few balloons and a kite. We skipped the egg dyeing festivities this year. I figured a two year old and egg dye in the same room would be a disaster waiting to happen- so maybe next year! Then we ended the day with a beautiful family dinner at my parents' house with Calvin and Courtney.

Now, onto vacation. We joined my parents at the beach house late Thursday night. Friday morning, Kyler woke up. Walked to the door. Reached up to turn the door knob....and promptly barfed all over the floor. I of coursed panicked, thinking that our vacation was doomed to be The Bartlett Bug all over again. If you don't know what that is, picture 16 people in my family at the Lucky Leaf (our beach house) all simultaneously getting the stomach bug during Christmas break in '09. When that many people are barfing at the same time, 4 bathrooms suddenly isn't enough for one house. It was bad horrible.

 

Meanwhile Jared was grateful Kyler had only had water in the past 12 hours for an easy clean up, and Kyler, the most cool and collected of the three of us just said "Uh oh. Lawter (water) while he pointed to the barf on the floor. After a bath and a little Tylenol, he was good to go the rest of the day.Thankfully we didn't get a repeat of The Bartlett Bug.

 

Our first day at the beach was kinda cold and rainy so we lounged around the house for most of the morning.  Then we went to a local Topsail Island tourist shop where we briefly lost Kyler for 2 minutes because he was running like a wild maniac and the store was packed full of tacky tourist clothing and fridge magnets. We found him on the other side of the store hanging up some bikinis that had fallen on the floor-haha. The sun finally showed up in the afternoon, and we took Kyler out to the beach to try out his new kite.

 He loved it!

 

 We ended the day to a delicious dinner at Max's Pizza (a family favorite) and then we went to the park, and enjoyed a beautiful sunset on the boardwalk!

1. Jared doing a flip out of the swing for Kyler's entertainment. 2. My cute parents. 3. Kyler gathering rocks to throw in the water. 4. The resulting ripples from Jared and my dad skipping rocks

Stay tuned for part 2 up next~

On the Road

We're on our way to the Lucky Leaf- our fam beach house on Topsail Island, NC! The weather is kinda cold and rainy right now but hey, vacation is vacation and I'm not complaining! While I was packing our bags earlier today Kyler kept taking everything out that I was putting in. Finally I gave him his own "bag" to pack. Don't worry y'all- he got all of the essentials...(pic below)
I'm blogging from my phone in the car so sorry if this is weird formatting. The drive is a little under 4 hours. I don't think that's bad at all. Especially if you're two and have a glowing turtle that projects stars onto the car ceiling and are watching Mickey Mouse Club House- he is a little spoiled Have a good weekend!

Typical Monday Happenings

I decided to document my day today, for no particular reason. Sorry in advance for the horrible grammar. I wrote some while they were happening, and others after they happened so I switch tenses back and forth.


9am. Wake up. Kyler has been waking up around 8am lately, but today he slept in! Breakfast? Bananas and Cereal.
10am. Gym. I had a very lazy workout- I walked on the treadmill- slowly I might add, while I caught up on my fav netflix show haha.
11am. Off to the library to return books. After the library we headed to the Boardwalk to feed the ducks and play at the castle/boat park!

12:00pm Home for lunch, and Kyler helped me empty the dishwasher, and then we played in the living room with our dog. During this time Kyler went to time-out sevearl times (for pulling the dog's tail when I told him not to).

1:00pm NAP time. Glorious nap time.
2:00pm Yes, I think I'll take a nap too.
3:00pm Ky (and I) woke up, and tidied up the house.
4:00pm I got some yard work done outside and made Kyler some sidewalk chalk paint.

5:00pm Dinner preparations.
6:00pm Jared came home from work and headed outside to mow the lawn.
Kyler and I gave Bauer a bath in Bauer's bathtub (He has his own bathtub. Spoiled dog). After we rinsed his conditioner out I realized that I needed to retrieve a towel out of the linen closet to dry Bauer I darted down the hall (a whole 4 feet away) to get the clean towel. When I returned to the bathroom, I discovered that Kyler had decided to take the matter of drying off Bauer into his own hands using an entire roll of toilet paper. I tried not to cry and took a picture instead thinking I might laugh about it later.

 7:00pm. Dinner. Finally. French Dipped Sandwiches never tasted so good. After dinner we had a quick FHE lesson on choosing the right, and obeying.

8:00pm. Kyler's bedtime. Finally me and Jared time. We are currently watching The Voice (awesome show) while I am writing this. Good night blogging world!