Beau Dirt

That's "Deer-tay," if I may quote a movie I'd never admit to watching...

I let Beau loose in the yard a couple days ago.
Surely he would just sit there and fuss about his bare toes touching the grass, I thought...
Um, no. Heck no.
He was across the grass in two seconds flat and kneeling by our lowest flower/garden bed which is currently just a dirt bed. Then in the blink of an eye he was on the dirt bed making his way to the next higher level. Then I put him back on the grass because he was torturing our strawberry plants...so he made the rounds again, ending up on the side of our yard that is completely dirt. He crawled through it, head down and little hands puffing up dirt with each step/er..um..crawl...This round trip took him over an hour. He LOVED it! And I was thoroughly entertained just watching him.
I let him loose again yesterday and this is what happened:
I was there scraping the dirt out of his mouth and giving him a drink of water just after I took the picture, I swear.
Beau just kills me...He has a pointer finger that he makes good use of getting me to give him things...he loves to eat food off the floor...Yesterday I caught him trying to lick the floor...He is a great clapper and raises his arms up in the air if you say, "So Big!" Everytime Bekah sings (and I promise it's a lot), Beau waves his arms in the air and sometimes even dances...he can give you five...Beau is a ham...he loves to make people laugh...If you say, "Awwww," he'll lay his head down on a pillow...he'll pat your back if you pat his...
He colored on my wall today with a crayon
He knows that markers have caps and he is always trying to take them off. Sometimes he is successful. He pulls himself up on everything...He has given up baby food...
"Puree is for Babies"
is his new motto...He wants MEAT!
Beau loves Bekah's favorite bear Liana. Everytime she gets left alone Beau finds her and squishes her. Bekah doesn't like it because she doesn't want him getting Liana wet...
He doesn't like to be put in his car seat...He does love baths and splashing...
He has somehow now moved to the 50th percentile for his weight (WHAT?!) but is still in the 95th percentile for height. Oh yeah, and his head is off the charts.
We all love him to pieces and we're so happy to have him in our family!
Happy almost 10 months, Beau Dirt!

Happy Casual Friday from Beau

I hope yours is just as laid back!

Cream Cheese Brownie Cookie Cups

I love to cook. Really I love to bake. I think Rus would even admit that I'm a better baker than a cook, but he puts up with me anyway. He gets frustrated because I'm always trying new recipes and so we rarely eat the same thing. He'll fall in love with some delicious something I made, and then two weeks later I can't remember what it was or even where that recipe came from and he's left trying something new. Again. I get frustrated because I go to bake something new and all he wants is chocolate chip cookies.
Beggars can't be choosers, don't you think?
Anyways, I got a wild hair to try something different this week and it turned out really yummy, so I thought I'd share it with you.
Check out this beauty...Cream Cheese Brownie Cookie Cups
Make your favorite chocolate chip cookie dough (My usual is just the recipe on the back of the Hershey or Nestle wrapper) (This recipe is for one dozen brownie cups...you will have a lot of leftover cookie dough to freeze or bake separately.)
Make Brownies from a brownie mix, according to package directions. You can use an 8x8 size, or use a 9x13 size and just bake the remaining batter in a square pan.
For the Cream Cheese Recipe:
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 Tbl. butter, softened
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbl. sugar
Combine all ingredients and mix until smooth. Batter will be a little runny. This is enough cream cheese for a dozen brownie cookie cups.

Heat oven to 350 and prepare muffin tin with paper liners. Put one large spoonful of cookie dough into each tin. Use a greased cup to press the cookie dough flat into the bottom of the muffin tin. Drop a spoonful of brownie batter into each tin. Then pour cream cheese mixture over the top, probably about 2 tablespoons per tin. (Just eye it till it looks perfectly delicious...) These won't puff up a lot, so you can fill each muffin tin to about a 1/4" from the top. Bake for um...about 15-20 minutes. Keep an eye (and nose) on them and when they smell unbelievably good, you're pretty close. The tops will be set and spring back to the touch.
Enjoy and be sure to share with a friend!
And here is how I keep Beau entertained when I cook...he's a baker himself, can't you tell!

Amy and the Weevils

Amy and I being "sexy", at least ten years ago...

"No (we)evil lost is wailed when it is gone."

My sister Amy called me last week with some bad/gross news. She had been cleaning out her van - deep cleaning which involved removing all of the seats - and had found weevils in the wells where the seats clipped in. They were under all of the mats, too. GROSS, right?

That's just the tip of the iceberg, baby.

You see, Amy has a long and torrid history with weevils. It all started when they would infest her cornmeal and undermine her flour. They hid in every drawer and disguised themselves amongst grains of wheat.


Then one day she made herself a cup of cocoa, carried it downstairs to enjoy it in the dark while watching TV, and noticed that her cocoa had a definite crunch to it. Light revealed - you guessed it - weevils. In her cocoa. (And currently cruising down to her stomach)
GROSS, GROSS.

If I remember right, that revelation was the catalyst for a deep-kitchen cleaning.

Then there was the time that she went to air out her wedding dress. Guess what she found infused in the lining and bodice and in every pleat, tuck and gather??
Weevils.

So last week after the van-weevils, Amy told me that she was going to make nice with the weevils. Everyone has pet weevils, right?

I would like to insert here a little background on Amy. When I was in kindergarten Amy let me take one of her most valuable possessions to show and tell. It was a Nerful. Nerfuls are soft plastic toys that have ball-shaped heads that fit snugly between coordinated pants and hair/hats.I lost the head to one of her Nerfuls (believe me, she could tell you exactly which one it was) and of course the pants and hair are useless without head.

Amy hated me for years...until she went away to college and I started high school.

You see, that is determination (considering I'm such a nice person, right?).

So, making "nice" with the weevils??

We'll just see about that. I bet she takes a blowtorch to the van, garage, kitchen, etc...

I should also tell you that she is my best friend now. And the most motivated, energetic, creative person I know. And the only person I know who has ever roasted marshmallows by the fire of a controlled burn in Flagstaff. Ah...another story for another day.

Weevil lover...

Rus the Spooner

I don't blog about the love of my life enough. Usually I just write about our kids and the wonderful (from me) and not so wonderful (from him) traits they possess. But today I feel a little gushy. So...

When Rus and I were dating I found out very quickly that he likes to cuddle. Really likes to. And nap. Old college acquaintances had even dubbed him
"the Cuddle Whore."
Harsh, I know, but also true.
I, on the other hand, was not a napper. So Rus would coax me onto the couch where I'd try to read Shel Silverstein poems to him until he would fall asleep and I would lay there being wonderful and comfortably spooned into a lazy afternoon nap.
It was eye-opening, if you'll excuse the expression.

Then Bekah came along, bringing with her a need for more frequent naps, and then Jacob, and Beau, and now here I am, a trained napper with no occasion to practice.
But if the chance does come I have to admit that it's no good without Rus.
He's that good of a spooner.
This morning he crawled back in bed before heading off to work. Cuddling is a wonderful way to wake up, if you ask me.
Then he said (if my hazy morning memory is accurate),
"I think I'm falling in love with you."

Ahhh.

I am a lucky girl.

Pennance for...ummm...borrowing my husband's toothbrush...

Okay. Don't Judge Me.

Rus has imposed an embarrassing sentence for the "criminal" act that took place last night - a post exploiting the wrongdoer. Someone...he-hum (throat clearing)...used his toothbrush. Used it very quickly while he was checking on the kids, his nightly ritual. Used it and then dried it off to...you know...hide the evidence.

[I would like to insert here that stairs can really become a hindrance at almost eleven o'clock at night. Who wants to go down and then back up at the hour of their deepest exhaustion?]

So um...this someone had already brushed her teeth just two hours before and hadn't eaten anything since, but decided to brush one more time out of habit. Except her toothbrush was missing. It was downstairs by the kitchen sink where she had hurriedly left it earlier. And there was Rus's, and even this criminal knows that sharing toothbrushes is NOT okay. But she was TIRED.

(Did you know that driving tired is almost as bad as driving under the influence? Not applicable here, but a good point to ponder under these circumstances.)

So there, Rus. Justice has been met. Criminal contained. Criminal act exploited. Criminal embarrassed. (She did retrieve her toothbrush this morning, fyi.)

A Bowl Full of Skittles

That's what made our Conference weekend a success. Would you believe that I actually listened to all four sessions? Yes! I loved the article from last month's Ensign about getting your kids excited for Conference, so I implemented some of those ideas, like giving Bekah and Jacob Skittles when they would hear certain words (Family, Baptism, Missionary, Jesus Christ, Temple...). I also printed out a conference packet for Bekah that had coloring pages and activities. She did awesome, and Jacob was a terd. We gave up on him halfway through Saturday morning's session and told him to go find some trucks to play with.
I have never been good at devoting my weekend to Conference, but for the last few years I have been trying to do better, wanting to do better, and this weekend everything seemed to work out. I feel incredibly uplifted and focused, mainly because now I see so many areas in which I need to improve. (Great, huh. I'm a glass-half-full kind of girl...otherwise I'd be sitting here feeling like crap because the General Authorities pointed out all my shortcomings) Here are some of my favorite thoughts/quotes from Conference:

*Robert D. Hales who gave two lessons to Provident living (i.e. joyfully living within our means) said that when you go to purchase something, ask/tell yourself 1. "We can't afford it, even if we need it" and 2. "We can afford it , but we don't need it." (Obviously this would help to whittle out unnecessary purchases. Don't do this in front of the milk aisle. Or diaper aisle. Or chocolate aisle.)

*D. Todd Christofferson who said "Personal righteousness does not preclude all adversity and suffering." We can feel comfortable so long that we begin to feel like we deserve it, and then when trials come we get mad and think it's unfair. (I get nervous that life is too good sometimes. I truly feel blessed for all that I have. My sister Amy doesn't help any, either. She says every person gets one BIG trial and likes to come up with crazy ideas about what mine will be. She's also the person who cheered when I gained 40 lbs with the last baby. A sister only a sister could love...kidding, kidding :)

*Henry B. Eyring talking about adversity and the Savior's example...he said that Jesus Christ could have learned about how to comfort us through revelation, but he chose to learn how to comfort us through his own personal experiences with trials. He also said to examine your life to be sure you've done all you can to be worthy of the Lord's help.

*Russell M. Nelson who spoke about prayer and said you don't need to go overboard with prayer and fasting, but quoted Joseph F. Smith who said, "The Lord will accept that which is enough."

*Dieter F. Uchtdorf quoting Joseph B. Wirthlin, who said, "His (God's) love is such that even if we give up on ourselves, he will not give up on us."

*Steven E. Snow giving us four ways to prepare for change and to be able to face life's unexpected challenges: 1. Follow the Prophets, 2. Keep an eternal perspective, 3. Have faith!, 4. Be of good cheer. (They really talked a lot about adversity, change, and preparing for the future. I loved the simple answers, and especially the next quote by President Monson)

*Thomas S. Monson (the Prophet), saying, "The future is as bright as your faith."

*Dallin H. Oaks quoting Mother Teresa, "We cannot do great things, only small things with great love." (I want to make this into a sign and hang it over my tub so I can read it every day. Sometimes I get in a crazy mood to do something BIG and then get discouraged when I can't, and it's good to remind myself that really a phone call is enough, I don't need to bake cookies the shape of roses, complete with pink frosting and rare edible flower petals...and then make a cute box to put them in tied with handspun silk ribbon and embossed card complete with calligraphy)

*L. Tom Perry talking about missionary work and saying, "Open your mouths and they shall be filled"...you will be given what to say. (I always tell myself I don't have any non-member friends because I don't go anywhere. Then a little chastising voice reminds me that none of my neighbors are LDS, so that's a good place to start.)

Hmmm...are you wishing I hadn't watched all four sessions? You'll have to let me know what your favorite parts were if you watched it. And if you didn't watch it but would like to, click here!

Have a happy week!

Oh. Yes. I almost forgot. If you are observant and noticed Jacob's mohawk, just know that Rus did it to him and I was embarrassed everywhere we took him. I made him wear a hat. It didn't help that his sweater was from Halloween and said, "SCARE you later!" He looked (and acted) like a punk!