Springtime

Finally it has arrived...the family update. I really do this for my own "journaling" and to look back at the end of the year and see what I ever did to pass the time. So don't feel like you have to read it. Except my sisters, because of birthorder you are obligated to read it - sorry. :) Here it is in reverse order.



Brandt performed a special program with his preschool for Mother's Day. Kim Meyers of Kinderheights preschool really does a great job. Brandt had the sillies that day unfortunately. They sang some songs and recited some poems. Also they filled out a questionaire about their moms - I loaded the video at the bottom of this post, if you'd like to see some new things about me I never knew.

The boys did the opening day fishing pond at Columbia Park this year. As you can see they got some oversized shirts and a free fishing pole. They got to keep the first 3 fish they caught...good thing because we caught none in about 3 hours. About halfway through,the boys quit fishing and started playing with friends, Cole and Mae Hawks who had joined us that day. Apparently there was not enough excitement to keep them "hooked"..if you catch my drift. So Brad and I did lots of casting and realing in seaweed.

Brandt started playing Little League Tball this Spring. Brad's friend, Kent Sanders, got him on his team and Brandt has been loving it. He especially loves to put on his uniform and begs every game to play catcher so that he can put on the gear...I sure that he thinks the mask has something to do with Star Wars. He is fun to watch run around the bases and he manages to chit chat with everyone on the field... or maybe he is just talking to himself.

Caught Macey snuggling up during one of her naps. She is a real snuggler - fun for mom and dad.

Macey got her first mullet cut off. She had the cutest little curly ringlets in the back center of her head but the rest of her hair is straight as straw and the look just wasn't working for me. Brad forbid me to cut off her curls...well the first day that he was gone on his 8 day cattle show in Reno...look what happened.

Kaden needed a picture to send to his pen pal in Japan that he got in his class at school (Mrs. Powers 2nd/3rd Spectrum). So quickly before school we shot this dog show portrait with our beloved dog Ringo, the perfect kid dog.

The kids caught a flick at Grandma's house while we were visiting with Carrie and her family and then Julee and her family were able to make it up so that we could all be together, well atleast for one night. It was good to be all together; we keep getting bigger and so do Carrie and Charee since they are both 9 months pregnant. Excited for the new additions!

Carrie's little Lillie puts Mace to shame in the language department but they had some fun together. Lillie is potty training and that adds for some excitement and nudity in fact. But it inspired Macey to want to sit on the potty every so often, although nothing has happened yet except a mark on her chubby buns from the seat. Check out the video I loaded at the end of this post for some fine music that they made.

Here is Brandt with a powerful shot against his defender. It looks like they both missed the ball. Brandt is aggressive and gets the job done. I had to make him sit out for a while to give the others on his team a chance to kick the ball. He loved soccer and wasn't so sure he could give it up and miss his last 2 games in order to start baseball, but now he loves baseball. He's easy to please and gets very excited about everything. I love that about him!

Brandt doing a throw in while our friend, Vernon, his coach looks on.

Kaden also ended his soccer season, and maybe career. Although he really likes it and wants to sign up again...we'll see. Some games he showed up to play soccer and some games he showed up to play on the bench. The incentive system is the only thing that works with him. He doesn't have an aggessive bone in his body unless he is wrestling with his brother. We loved our team though. Go Eagles!

I love springtime because it means the kids get to play outside. They love to go exploring and have lots of imaginative play. I love that because it reminds me a lot of what I did as a kid. My mom was always getting us out of the house with limited tv time so we did a lot of explorations. Here is Kaden down by the cellar.

And of course, here is goofy Brandt striking a pose for his exploration pose heading to the barn.

Macey begs to go outside and says something similar to "owsi" and "ki-ee" that lets us know she would like to wrangle up any cat that will let her carry them in a choke hold. She has had very little scratches although she definitely deserves some.

She just loves to hug and pet the cats and especially the dog, Ringo. He lets her do anything to him although he is not really very fond of when she grabs his tail.

The cat is hoping she can just get away...Oh but Macey will hunt the cat down and catch it once again. It's the funniest thing.

We did do some egg hunting at Easter and since I never posted anything...here it is. Kaden and Brandt love all the prizes they can get in their eggs. Good thing...so mom can eat the candy.

Macey taking time out of the hunt to give Ringo some attention, or maybe to feed him one of her plastic Easter eggs...one or the other.

Brandt with some friends in the background, particularly cousin Grady and his buddy Cole.

Macey finds her first egg. Yes, and please notice those beautiful tulips. I love spring and I really love tulips! Of course, they are long gone now.

Some friends for the big hunt: Mary and her kids, Charee and Grady, Mom and Lisa hiding back there.

The kids also got to do some egg hunting with their Beus cousins at Aunt Angelas - the egg queen. Macey found herself an egg.

Brandt and Macey enjoy playing outdoors. Usually one of the boys is assigned to keep her out of the road, apparently it was Brandt's turn this day. The boys are really good with her and know that when she's happy, mom is happy. So they are great helpers, especially at retrieving diaper supplies and entertaining her when mom needs a moment to finish something.

Brandt's Mother's Day report - notice he walked to the front like a robot and I just catch the end of it when he is lowering his robotic arms. His mother was shaking her head.

Kaden was so excited to perform in his school's Mother's Day program. Of course, as one of the shortest 2nd graders, he gets placed in the very back row corner. Let me know if you can spot him.

Macey and Lillie making some serious tunes until her mom has to swoop in for an emergency potty break.

Projects

I have been busy doing some fun projects to keep my sanity in between running from preschool to soccer then baseball and my softball games, etc. I realize that I am well overdue on a family update and that is coming..., but first I wanted to share a few finished projects.

Here are a couple cards that I made for my mom for Mother's Day. Actually I made half of the cards before Christmas but then opted to finish it for Mother's Day (it is impossible to finish a homemade project in December without sucking all the Christmas spirit out of it with how BUSY things seem to get at that time...I don't know why I ever start anything then, it never gets finished with a smile on my face). Anyway, here is a sampling of what she got for Mother's Day:

It is always a big mess on my kitchen table when I start making cards, but from the rubble emerges a few keepers. Someday I will get my craft room...Oh, I will.

Here are little loaves of bread that I made for teacher appreciation week last week. 47 loaves with honey butter.

Homemade Bread Recipe:

*Half the recipe in order to fit it in your Kitchenaid unless you use a larger machine.

10 1/2 cups bread flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 Tbsp salt

3 rounded Tbsp saf-instant yeast (any brand really)

3 Tbsp. liquid lecithin (found at health food stores - totally worth getting)

4 cups hot water

Mix dry ingredients. Mix in liquid lecithin and water. If dough is too moist, add more flour. Mix in mixer for 5 minutes. Spray counter and pans with Pam. This recipe makes 4 loaves of bread. Cut dough into 4 sections before forming into loaves. Shape loaves and cover with a clean dish towel. Let rise for 25-35 minutes. Bake at 350 for 25 min. Remove from pans and coat tops with butter. Serve hot or cover with towel and let cool for about 3 hours before wrapping with saran wrap.

*a half recipe makes 8 mini loaves. Cook for 12-15 minutes.

Honey Butter Recipe:

2 sticks of butter, softened

1/2 cup of honey

1/2 cup of marshmallow fluff

Mix all together with an electric mixer and serve at room temperature. (Can be refrigeated and then softened).

**Together = you get a little slice of heaven.

I also got some of my cheap yardsale and craigslist furniture painted black that was filling up the shop. Here is a chair for my front porch that my cats love to sit on. More painted projects to come.

These are my weathered chairs out front of my little house that I recovered the seats with a fun oil cloth that I got with my sisters at Craft Warehouse. They make me smile.

And lastly, here are my recovered damask pillows that my mom basically should take all the credit for. Sewing brings me anxiety and anger but I hope to change that someday with a little practice and my new sewing machine. Got the fabric on ebay for a good deal.

Now that spring has sprung, happy project finishing to you too!

California Sun

We went to California this last week for a great family trip (minus our Macey girl who we left at home with Grandma ) Thanks a bunch Mom! Brad convinced me that we would have a much easier trip without her and I finally gave in. Here is an overview of the trip in pictures:


We flew Jetblue out of Seattle. Before our vacation, the boys were more excited to ride on an airplane than anything else (they don't remember back when they flew as a lap child). Kaden wanted to use the camera and I had to spend a while deleting all the pictures he shot out the window, of the back of the seat in front of him...you know, all those great shots. Here is one he got that was actually pretty good. The boys LOVED flying and probably equally loved the blue potato chips, drink service and the tv they got to watch.

Kaden loved running from the waves; I would too since the water was freezing. We spent our first day at the California Beach. The water was frigid, but the sun was shining. Our sun-starved white bodies were no match for the sun and we ended up with some sun burns.

Brandt enjoyed some sand sculpting. Carrie and Lillie joined us on the beach while the boys (Brad and Eric) went to watch a live taping of the Jay Leno show. They waited in a long line and had to be split up to fit in there. Eric ended up with the prime seat in the house and could basically smell Jay's breath while Brad lucked out with a blocked view seat. Pure Beus Luck!

The boys LOVED the beach. I LOVED relaxing there as well.



This is the view from the Pier where lots of people had flocked to the beach that fine day of March.

The boys posed for a picture on the Santa Monica Pier. It was fun to people watch and try to get captured in a film they were shooting on the pier that day. Unfortunately, I wasn't "discovered" that day out on the pier.

Lillie, Kaden and Brandt on the pier. Lillie loved having the boys come visit, and the boys loved having their "little sister" with them as usual.

We went to a small aquarium at the pier that was really fun and cool for the kids. They enjoyed touching the sea creatures.

Peering into the touch tank. As you can tell Brandt was not so sure about getting his hands in there for a while.

What Brandt did love is making the Sea Creature craft that he used to sneak up and scare one of the older volunteers that he had made friends with earlier.

The historic family photo at the entrance to Disneyland. We got there at opening time for a fun-filled day of lots of walking and waiting. About 12 hours of fun packed in that day. Yes, we were tired. But it was worth it.

This is one of the boys' favorite roller coasters: Thunder Mountain. Kaden had to face a lot of fears at Disneyland and always enjoyed the ride afterward...super nervous before hand though.

Posing with the boys at Pooh's honey pot. The days started out chilly but were nice and hot during the day.

The highlight of Brandt's trip was to ride the Star Wars ride and see the Jedi show. They select kids from the audience to become a Jedi. He was not selected, probably because a certain parent wearing green that stood up and completed blocked all chances.

Here are the Jedi masters. The show was actually really cool.

Then out comes storm troopers followed by Darth Vader who appeared from his space ship that emerged from the ground.

Darth Mal also came along and gave Brandt a good stare down in the front row. He loved it!

Eric and Lillie were happy to join us at Disneyland for their 1,432nd time there. :) We appreciated their knowledge of the park as we planned our attack for the day. We also enjoyed the room service at their 4-star hotel plus the serene sounds provided.

Carrie was also a good sport and joined in the fun while being 8 months pregnant which automatically eliminates her from any exciting rides.

The next day we went to California Adventure and back and forth. Highly recommend the Park Hopper pass. We loved the "Soaring Over California" ride - a virtual flying experience that I wished I'd taken some dromamine for. No, actually it was really sensational.

Here are my boys. We conquered our fear of heights in the giant ferris wheel overlooking both parks.

Posing near Mr. Potato Head for Grandpa Walker. Brandt loved the rides and often ended with "That was awesome!" (done with much excitement). They both did NOT enjoy the Haunted Mansion which is a glorified Halloween ride that brought both of them to tears. Not so brave.

Here is our family photo. It was kind of a pain for Brad and I to climb in to our costumes. But I must say we look pretty "incredible"!

Kaden was called on to stage at the "Drawn to the Magic" show where we thought they would be teaching him how to draw Disney characters. It ended up being a musical performance where Mickey, Cinderella and Woody appeared. He was asked his name, where he was from and to show his muscles (as you can clearly see).

A prime photo opportunity with the coveted Mickey.

Front row with Mickey and friends at the Parade through the park.

Kaden was selected to dance in the street during the parade. He was a little timid to bust out too many moves though.

After watching his brother dancing, Brandt decided to go out and dance in the street without being selected. He showed a few awkward moves that we and others laughed at. Good times.

We stopped for this family photo on the train around Disneyland. We had such a great time. Brad and I even got our courage up to ride the famous "California Screamin" wild roller coaster. As we braced our self with deep breaths, I had to laugh when I saw kids Kaden's age getting off the ride. Time to suck it up. It was thrilling.

Carrie and I enjoying the Fireworks show at Disneyland. It was very majestic and I was so glad that I convinced Brad to pull a 13 hour day there so that we could enjoy the fireworks display. Truly amazing.

Bye Bye Mickey!