Monday, April 20, 2009

HTML code changes.. it's not so scary!

During my month-long blogging hiatus, I received lots of blog editing questions. Today we're going to deal with two of the most popular questions...

#1- Removing the border from your header picture.

Everyone likes borders around the pictures on your blog, but usually the border around your HEADER picture doesn't fit. This is very easy to take off. You just need to be brave enough to play around with your HTML code. Here are a few steps for those who don't know where to begin. (The edit HTML template is under the LAYOUT tab.)

*before you change anything, download a backup to your template. It's always safe to have your template saved just in case you really screw things up. This only takes a minute...

Scroll down and find the header coding. It looks something like this:

/* Header
-----------------------------------------------
*/

#header-wrapper {
margin:0 2% 10px;
border:1px solid $bordercolor;
}

#header {
margin: 5px;
border: 1px solid $bordercolor;
text-align: center;
color:$pagetitlecolor;

Now, change the 1px to 0px on both border lines...

I will highlight what needs to be changed... we're just talking about 2 little numbers here..

/* Header
-----------------------------------------------
*/

#header-wrapper {
margin:0 2% 10px;
border: 0px solid $bordercolor;
}

#header {
margin: 5px;
border: 0px solid $bordercolor;
text-align: center;
color:$pagetitlecolor;


After you change it, make sure to hit SAVE and preview your blog. You can always go in and change it back if you don't like what it looks like.. Easy as that, my friends. If your border fits and you like it, you can make it thicker by changing the 1px to a 2px or 3px. You can change it to have just ONE border instead of two.. FYI- my headers usually always have borders, but that's because I edit them onto the picture before I upload it... that can be done in any photo editing software. I've said it before and I will say it again, I love Photoscape. It's a free photo editing software and it's very user-friendly.

#2- Label Clouds

Blogger doesn't give you the option of having a label cloud... they do organize your posts according to topics, but the only options of posting those labels is a long laundry list on your sidebar. The bunch of green words to the left is my label cloud. Adding this to your HTML code is a bit more complicated, but all you have to do is copy and paste over your old code. Don't be intimidated. You can do it! .

DISCLAIMER. I did not write this code (obviously) just adapted it from a genius who did...


First, label your posts :) Obviously, a cloud won't show up until you have a few labels. Once this code is added to your HTML, a new label will show up in your cloud every time it's added.. Time saver tip: I always add labels at the bottom of each new post... however, if you are adding labels to OLD posts you don't have to edit each one separately. You can add 20+ labels at a time. Under "Edit Posts" (where you can see your long list of posts) and click on the posts you want to add and do them together. This can save a lot of time.

Second, add the label gadget to your layout. Once you see the long laundry list of labels on your sidebar, you are ready to change the code.

Third, email me or comment and I will send you the code. I posted it earlier, but Blogger converts some of the code and makes it more complicated. If you want the long code, I will happily email it to you.


.

Friday, April 17, 2009

He likes to MOVE it, MOVE it.

I was grabbing my [newly purchased] bedsheets out of the dryer this afternoon, when I heard a weird sound coming from my bedroom. It went a little like this... "Uh-huh. Oh YEAH! Uh-huh. Oh YEAH!"

I found my energetic 3 year old having WAY too much fun-- in nothing but his backward undies. Honestly, I am just grateful he was wearing something...





Tuesday, April 14, 2009

I envy Lucy Ricardo.

Last night I growled at my husband. It wasn't just a little "Grrr." It was a 3-AM-I-am-woman-hear-me-ROAR growl. He is an acceptable bed partner, usually. But last night, he decided to sleep on TOP of the covers. This was not okay with me and I made that very clear. "I CAN'T pull the covers when you're sleeping on top of them!" He allowed me to take all the bedding that I wanted. That was sufficient until 3 AM. I rolled over, tried to pull the covers over me, and was unsuccessful. So I pulled harder, trying to get my husband's lifeless body to move a little. I ended up tearing the sheet in half. These are new sheets, mind you. They were expensive.. the 1000 thread count kind. So you can imagine my frustration when every time I tried to move, my hands and feet would get entangled in all 1000 threads. I growled a mighty growl. He breathed louder and deeper. All I could think about was how lucky Lucy Ricardo was to have a separate bed from Ricky. A twin bed all to myself would be so much more luxurious than the king size one I was sharing with my heavy-sleeping husband.

But then again, sharing a bed does have occasional benefits. Besides the obvious ones, it is awfully nice to have a warm body next to you after having a nightmare. Last week, I dreamed that Ted Bundy had me handcuffed to his bed and was biting me all over my body. I woke up in a cold sweat and begged my husband to HOLD ME. As we cuddled, I swore to myself that I would never casually pick up a book on "serial killers" in Barnes and Noble again. I suppose a new pair of sheets is a small price to pay for a midnight bodyguard..

Sunday, April 5, 2009

CPK

Sabrina, Kelly and I took our kids to the California Pizza Kitchen for the yummiest field trip of the year. The kids got to make their own pizzas, take a tour of the restaurant and then we all sat down for some good eats. Our waiter was excellent with the kids and brought the moms more food than we could handle-- all for free. Now that's what I am talking about.


At the end of the tour, the waiter opened it up to questions for the kids. Luke wanted to know why it's not called "Nevada Pizza Kitchen." And how can you not LOVE his arm around the waiter? Luke is not really a friendly kid, but he has no problem getting touchy-feely. I just adore him.

still obsessing over Transformers

This past week, the Paris hotel hosted the ShoWest film festival. We didn't go see any of the new movies, but we did take our boys to the big Transformer exhibit. They had a replica of Bumble Bee and a few of the new cars that will debut on TF2. The weather was beautiful and we always love when Daddy can join us for an outting.


While driving to the Paris, our boys were SO excited, they could hardly stand it. Ben yelled from the back seat, "This is the best day of April we've ever had!!" It was April 2nd.