Jakeysaurus

Beau

Beau sat in the tub this morning staring at me with red rimmed eyes. He didn't splash or play with toys...he just sat cross legged with his arms close to his tummy and hands between his legs as if to retain as much body heat as possible. He didn't talk or make noise of any sort...but if I cooed at him and smiled he would give me an almost guilty smile back.
It melted me.
I hurried to get changed and teeth brushed, make up on (for the first time in days, thank you flu...I even shaved today, I must be feeling better)...then I asked Beau if he wanted out, if he was all done. That did it and his tired resolve broke and he started talking in a sad, abused little voice, Mama, Mama!
I got him out of the tub, wrapped him in a piggy towel and used a tissue to wipe his nose while I rocked him in my chair. He even obliged and blew his nose, smart little thing...I sang a little song to him in my dry but returning voice and when I looked back down he was asleep. It took all of one minute.
I froze.
He hasn't fallen asleep in my arms since he was a tiny thing...well he never was really tiny, but you know what I mean...and he is so big now he stretches from my chest to my thighs.
I have to take in every part of his sleeping face...long beautiful lashes, not really dark but not blonde...cute little bump of a nose, soft soft cheeks and full little lips. I have to rub my nose on his cheeks, give him an eskimo kiss and kiss his cheeks...they are just too inviting. His hair was still wet so I brushed it with my fingers until it stood on end and he looked like an angelic sleeping skater boy. So full of personality, even when asleep, even when tired and sick.
I love Beau.

Beautiful Moab

Rus had an itch to go to Moab.
That was last spring, and it was an itch he couldn't scratch.
So he planned it for October and sweet talked some buddies into going with him and going biking.
Then his friend Jeremy's wife (Taffy...who happens to be one of my best friends) wanted to go too. Not seeing much of your husband on a regular day-to-day basis makes you less willing to give him up on the weekends.
Then Taffy talked me into it, and that is how we wound up stuffed in Rus's jeep, pulling a popup trailer, and driving eight hours to spend two days in Moab. The driving part was...um...painful. Extremely. A memory to be forgotten.
But the actual Moab part was great...Great company, beautiful sights, mostly happy kids...
Now I have way, way too many pictures here to spend too much time-a-yacking, so here you go...(captions above each pic)
We hiked Slick Rock while the guys biked it.
Cody Goold showin' off his muscles atop the red rocks on Slick Rock bike trail.Gavin and Bekah running off like mountain goats and winding up way too high for comfort.
Taffy on top of a little natural red rock bridge.
Cody, McKenna (our other friend's daughter), Bekah, Gavin, Hailey, and Jacob
Beau showing his true feelings about Del Taco (I know this pic is out of order, but I think it's stinkin hilarious!)
All the kids inside their very own cave.
They were looking at this...Beautiful, right!?We finished Slick Rock, but the guys were still biking, so we stopped at a really fun little park with an awesome percussion area. I want one. In my own backyard.
And now for our adventures in Arches National Park...We all decided that the perfect description of Arches was surreal.
Taffy framing the window.
The beautiful view...I loved the snow capped mountains in the background.Proof that Rus really was there.
The next day while the guys biked, Taffy and I took the kids on another hike on the Negro Bill Trail, which had it's own little creek that flowed into the Colorado River.
McKenna and Bekah found leaves the size of their heads. We could not for the life us find the tree that had shed them, but there were dozens of them littering the ground.We found a fun place to sit, relax, and play, and the kids had a good time.Well, most of them...Gavin, so sad.
We had a great trip and I'd do it again in a heartbeat...with a portable DVD player, and one more day to play before having to come home...and doggie bags. Enough said.
Taffy thanks so much for your fun company!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1-2 cups mini chocolate chips

Blend butter and sugars well. Add egg and vanilla and pumpkin until combined (mixture will look curdled). In a separate bowl whisk dry ingredients. Add flour mixture and chocolate chips to butter mixture, mixing until just combined. Drop by large spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Cookies will spring back when lightly touched. Wait just long enough so you can hold the cookie in your hand without burning yourself...then enjoy your own little bite of Fall heaven as the pumpkin and chocolate melt in your mouth. Yum, yum!! This is the essence of October!

Getting Ready for School Hysterics

This morning was super fun. We ate breakfast..."we" meaning Beau and Jacob and I. Bekah was too busy coloring to finish her yogurt. I coaxed her along for as long as I could, and then finally told her to go get dressed.

Who knew such a request could so easily be mistaken for the worst thing I'd ever asked of a child ever.
On her way up the stairs Bekah started crying.
"I'm hungry! I'm hunnnngry! I'm hungreeeeeeeee!"
When she got to her room she couldn't find her clothes. Obviously only my supermom eyes could see all of her school clothes in the same drawer that they are always in. I pulled out a shirt...
"Not thaaat one! I want the dark blue one!"
Despite my evil, devious tendencies to ruin her day with the wrong shirt, I relinquished the desired shirt and left to get Jacob and Beau dressed. I picked out Jacob's clothes, and he changed into them. Miraculous. He is only three (almost four), you know. I was kind enough to help Beau with his clothes. He is only one (15 months), you know.
Then Bekah started yelling/crying again.
"I need you to help me get dressed!"
I ignored this. I was taking care of Beau. She showed up in Jacob's room naked.
"I'm itchy!"
"Okay, go get the lotion. It's in my bathroom."
"NOOO! I don't want anyone to see me naked!"
The logic eluded me, but Jacob totally caught on...
"Bekah, I don't want to see your bum!"
This set her wailing again. I requested she get the lotion again. She refused again.
"I don't want to go by myself!"
After avoiding her itchy cries for several minutes I finally gave in and walked with her to my room. I could see the lotion from my chair at my desk. She was standing five feet from it. But I wasn't standing next to her, so she could not possibly travel another inch to retrieve the lotion herself.
I gave in. Apparently she's already stubborn, mission accomplished. No need to teach her that anymore.
I squirted lotion on her hands.
"I can't rub it in! IcantIcantIcant! I can't reach the back!"
(Are you tired yet of this conversation? I am. We'll skip to the end...)
After finally making Bekah's lunch, calling my friend and telling her we'd be driving because someone burst into further hysterics and the thought of walking and missing her chance to swing on the swings, myself, Beau, Jacob, and my itchy but fully clothed puffy eyed oldest, most mature daughter got in the van and drove to school. Two minutes away. Where I sat and held her, wiped away her tear tracks, said a prayer with her to be happy. It was an honest effort, but the clincher was when I suggested that Belle, her baby bear sneak into school with her inside her small backpack pocket.
"You can rub her nose if you're feeling sad, okay?"
"Okay."
She waved her little pointer finger at me as she walked away, our secret code that means "I love you."
I need to go soon to pick her up.
Man, I hope she had a better day!

Family is the Greatest Blessing of ALL

It sure is a good thing I love my family, what with them being here and visiting and all. And what's not to love, Amy with her beautiful and amazingly well-behaved children (makes mine look like hoodlums, really. I have to remind myself not to feel like scum that my children aren't so happily ignored, which may sound bad but is really a goooood thing), Tyler with his unbelievable culinary skills (think fajitas, beans, and rice with everything from scratch, up to and including the seasoning on the chicken...and then belgian waffles with buttermilk syrup and fresh whipped cream for breakfast...oh yum), and my parents with their "we want to spoil everyone rotten" attitude (buying the kids ice cream sandwiches and soda, taking us out for dinner...). It is way fun. Here are some pics from our fun adventure at the park at Bekah's school...

Amy's kids...
JoshuaLukeSarah, so beautiful, like her mommyMichaelSpinning girlsBeau and his prized wood chips. Yum.Me and Beau on the slide. p.s. I heart leggings.

Balloon Fiesta 2009

There is something so wonderfully majestic about hot air balloons. Even ones in the shape of Darth Vader's head. Or Smokey the Bear. Or a space shuttle.
Completely incredible.
This year was mostly like last year...wake up at 5 am, get in the van and go. Except this year was so much more fun because my parents were here, along with Tyler and Amy and her kids. And Rus took off work and actually went with us. I didn't even ask, whine, complain, or hassle. He just came and I was so happy! Rus went last night and picked up breakfast food and drinks while I got all the coats/snacks/etc. ready. We got to the field this morning just after 6 am and we were greeted by perfect weather for ballooning (cold but not windy).
Here are our pictures (my camera wasn't really broken after all...it just needed a new memory card...phew!)

Luke, Amy, Joshua
Bekah, Sarah
In front of a balloon. Early, early. And cold, cold. See how red Bekah's nose is?Again I mention cold.
One tip for you would-be-balloon-fiesta-ers...wear waterproof shoes of some sort, like boots. The grass has frost on it and your feet get wet and then they get cold!
I loved this pic...
Tyler's ears were cold. Mikey obliged.
The rise of the special shape balloons. It's always fun to get to see what the balloons are as they inflate. On the ground, flat, it may look like a lady bug, but get it in the air and it's really an airplane! Crazy! This plain one in the foreground was actually a parrot head.Darth Vader. We meet again.My absolute favorite balloon this year.
Even though it didn't actually launch because they said they didn't want to end up on the reservation (apparently you have to have special permits to land there.) It would have been really cool to see a space shuttle launch!Rus my hot and Balloon Fiesta Attending Honey and Jacob in front of the space shuttle.The gang, minus Bekah and Jacob.Tell me, is this not incredible?!
What is not to love about a sky full of balloons?!Come visit me next year and I'll take you. Seriously.

Good Golly, General Conference Time Again

When I was younger (like two years ago), I could not focus my attention on the twice-yearly LDS General Conference to save my life. I'd pull out my notebook, find a comfy seat, and then the voice of Richard G. Scott or whomever would either lull me to sleep or just buzz around my head like a fly while I doodled. No focus.

Then last April something happened. Something changed. And I wanted to hear every single word coming from our leaders' mouths. Every word. I don't know what brought about the change, but I am grateful for it.
Conference weekend now is eight hours packed full of wonderful speakers who have spent the last several months praying to the Lord to know what I need them to speak about. And what you need to hear too, of course. And what the world needs to hear.
My favorite talk was from Thomas S. Monson, President of the LDS Church. His theme was, "What have you done for someone today?"
He quoted a poem which said, "I never have yet felt the tinge of regret for being a little too kind." Then he spoke about all of the acts of service that members of the Church, young and old, performed for others in honor of his birthday. He showed a picture of a large glass jar filled with glittery pom poms that one primary had sent him. They called it their "warm fuzzy" jar, where each pom pom represented a kind deed that a child did for someone else through out the course of the year.
I want a "warm fuzzy" jar.
I will have one.
I even bought pom poms today.
I am so excited I can hardly wait to show my kids and start filling it up.
President Monson concluded by quoting the hymn, "Have I Done Any Good?"

Have I done any good in the world today?
Have I helped any one in need?
Have I cheered up the sad, or made someone feel glad?
If not, I have failed indeed.

Has any one's burden been lighter today,
Because I was willing to share?
Have the sick and the weary been helped on their way?
When they needed my help was I there?

Then wake up and do something more,
Than dream of your mansion above.
Doing good is a pleasure, A joy beyond measure,
A blessing of duty and love.

Now I am focused, armed with pom poms, "What have I done for someone today?" as my motto.
I am so excited.