Dinner Conversation

We had spaghetti last night for dinner and here are a couple of things we heard:


Milaya: I don't want to eat it. 
Brock: Sorry, too bad, so sad. (mom and dad laugh) 
Brock: What? That's what you two say! 


A little later


Hayden: Whoa that's a big one! With his eyebrows raised (meaning the big bite on his spoon)
Family: laughing
Hayden: doh, I broke it! (his food fell off of his spoon onto his plate)


These kids are funny somtimes. :) 


I love them. 

Calling All Superhero's!

Yes, this is way overdue, but I had a minute or two and thought...post. JUST DO IT!

So, Brock's birthday was in March and we did it at the end of Feb because I had a client due and I didn't want to miss his party! He wanted a Superhero themed party. I tried once again to make a cake that I saw online. Well, now I can't find the link to it anymore. Maybe that isn't such a bad thing ;) Anyway, here is how mine turned out.

I didn't realize that you didn't have to put the fondant in the fridge. When I did, it dried it out pretty good. Again, lesson learned. 

So anyway on to the fun stuff. B had some of his little friends over and we had one of my hubby's friends be the "bad guy". He came in dressed in black and threw "bombs" (black water balloons) at the kids to defuse by stepping on them. They also got to decorate their own superhero mask and take it home. Somehow, I didn't get any pictures of them doing that. :(

 Some of the kids weren't too sure what to do. It was so loud with the popping and kids yelling, but it was hilarious. Thanks George. 

After we ate cake, we went outside and the kids sprayed their "spider webs" (silly string) on the bad guy and chased him around the yard. 

 This one was right before Brock sprayed me and the camera. Silly boy. 

Carl knocking the bad guy (A.K.A. Dad) down. 

He was so excited to open his presents and to find all the good stuff he got. Thanks to all. :) Over all, I think we had some pretty happy superheros on our hands! 

P.S. Pictures of the decorations coming soon. Gotta get them off of my phone! ;) 

Resolution and Randomness

Does anyone still make new years resolutions and keep them? I have never been one to do that, but I do want to be better about keeping up with my blogs. I have a family one and a crafty one. I need to start another one for my Doula stuff, but I keep thinking of the upkeep of that too and that seems overwhelming sometimes. I sometimes forget about the blogs because I post things to Facebook that everyone is addicted to posts too!

So, it is February already and a lot has happened. I had a birth at the beginning of January. Went great. Mom and baby are doing well. I had a birthday, went on a date with my hubby to an Italian place for lunch. SOOO GOOD! I could eat there every day if my budget allowed. Got a new calling at church to teach in Primary with Brian. Met with more clients. Went to a Hypnobirthing class. Then proceeded to catch the flu and have it pass to everyone in my family but one. That was one expensive week! We spent $350 just on Tamiflu. It helped and is continuing to help. I got it first then two days later Brock and Brian. Two days after that, Hayden. Then two days after that, Hali! CRAZY! I am so glad that Milaya hasn't gotten it. I hope that she doesn't. It is really frustrating to have sick kids and be sick yourself. Oh well, I know...suck it up!

Anywho, we are all getting better. So I am just going to put up some random pics of the past few months. I will probably do a separate post for Christmas pics.

Yes, he is in the dryer. What possessed them to do that I have no idea. At least they can't reach the button to turn it on.  

His usual craziness.  

I don't remember why I put the skirt on him, but it was funny to see Brian's reaction to it! Hmmm...maybe that is why I did it! ;) I wore that skirt when I was like 5. He isn't quite two. Sad. 

Isn't he just the cutest! 

I know...random. I had the windows open and kept hearing things. Looked out the back porch window and saw this. DANG SQUIRRELS!  They crawl across the screened in porch all of the time! 

Again...isn't he just the cutest!  

His new eyebrow trick.  

Drop your sword!  

I love my chicken...gotta have my chicken!  

Milaya helping clean up the leaves in the yard. She was so excited to use the blower.  

Cheese! 

Happy New Year!

Hayden wishes y'all a Happy New Year!

To play or not to play?

 Photograph by Milaya Bealer on my Droid phone

 

As I was reading a blog that I look at quite a bit lately, I saw this post by Miss Mustard Seed about Raising Creative Children. Brian and I have been trying to get Milaya to practice her piano and enjoy doing it. She HATES to practice. Throws a fit every time we say it is time to practice.  She is really good and can even play some things by ear, but she gets so frustrated. Then we get frustrated with her because she is being too hard on herself. She is good. Why can't she see that? We tell her that, her teacher tells her that. I just hope that as a parent I haven't failed in teaching her that she doesn't have to be perfect. So hence the reference to Miss Mustard Seed. I think that she did WAY too much. Her parents must have been COMPLETELY EXHAUSTED! But she did have a good point that her parents wanted her to try different things. She didn't have to be good at them, they just wanted her to try. That is all that we want for Milaya. 

She begged to let me let her take ballet when she was younger...I did. Then she wanted to quit halfway through the year saying she was "bored". So I got tired of the throwing fits and whining, so I let her quit. Then last year she BEGGED me to let her play the piano. We enrolled her in lessons and she was cruising through the books doing really well. Then after one year she wanted to quit. We didn't let her. Now we are going through the same thing of not wanting to practice, crying at the piano, sulking and wasting her practice time, begging me to let her quit. We have tried setting a specific time for her to practice and that hasn't worked. We have tried to reward her with money if she practices. That didn't/isn't working. She really wants an Ipod or mp3 player and we have discussed that as a reward at the end of the year. Something to be working towards. That doesn't seem to be working either. We have asked her why she wants to quit and we get the same answer....it's boring.

WHY DO KIDS NOT UNDERSTAND YOU HAVE TO LEARN THE BASICS BEFORE YOU GET TO THE FUN STUFF?!?!? 

I mean, I want to ring her little neck, I love her so much, but geez louise! I remember taking piano when I was young so I called my mom the other day and asked her if I ever did that. She said sometimes. I remember not liking to practice. Now I wish I would have practiced. I wish I would have stuck with it. I can sit down and pick things out, but I can't play well. I chose another path. Dance. She said that I never complained about going to dance class. I never felt that way. I loved it. One day I hope to find out what that one thing is for her so she can start to develop her talents that I know she has. 

Brian even asked his mom (since she teaches piano) of what to do. I think that she had some great suggestions on what to try next. At this point I am willing to try anything to just get her to practice and try. Here are some things that she suggested.

*Is she getting too many songs to practice?

*Is there something bothering her about the lessons or learning to play?

*Maybe we need to let her take a break and revisit the issue when she is older.

 * play through their songs 3 times each every day.  

*have them play one song each day 3 X then the next day play another song 3 times. ( The trick is is have them practice a little every day for short periods of time so that it establishes a routine. 

Can I just say that I LOVE MY MOTHER IN LAW! She said some things that made complete sense. Hopefully we can try these things and it will make a difference. Like she said too...I just want them to have a love of playing the piano and an appreciation of music. 

That is all that I wish for you sweetheart. I love you.

But the question is still there...to make her play or not to play? 

This is Milaya playing "Fur Elise" by ear. After hearing me play it. She has also figured out part of the theme song to Harry Potter.

Stay Tuned!

So, we haven't been on here in a while. There is lots to tell and show. I had a birth at the beginning of July, left for vacation at the end of July. We traveled across the country to CO to a family reunion and then down to Texas to visit my family. We didn't get back until around Aug 25th. Yes, it was a long vacation, but the kids did pretty good in the car. There was a sweet Lady in our ward that just dropped off bags of "things to do" for each of the kids. They loved it! Brian couldn't stay the whole time, so he came home on the 11th of Aug. So we missed him most of the month. My mom drove back with me and the kids and stayed for two weeks. We were glad to have her here with us.

While we were in CO we:
* went to the Zoo
* went shooting
*went swimming
* tried to get 39 people to smile and look at the camera at the same time
*had a birthday/40th anniversary party
*played with lots of cousins

All in about 4 days!

Texas was a little more laid back, no planned activities. Although we did go to a museum in Orange. So my next posts will be in parts otherwise it will be one HUGE post. Plus, it will probably take me forever to get it done!

So....stay tuned for more pics and thoughts from the Curly Headed Bealers!

Hayden's First Birthday

Today is Hayden's first birthday. We invited a bunch of friends over to help us celebrate with ice cream and cake. Mandy went all out and created a barn yard cake, complete with barn, silo, pond, pigs, chicks, and cows.

Taking a bite of the cow's marshmallow nose.

Happy 1st Birthday Hayden