Crafts, Hobbies and Skills

Well, there is a LOT to cover in the months I have slacked off on blogging. Lots of little things, lots of big fun trips. I won't cover it all, but I will highlight our vacations (in a separate blog) and then a few little things. This particular post is going to lump together (in no particular order) the various "projects" that have kept me/us busy.

First, after getting sick in my stomach one too many times at the monthly hair cut bill for Dustin, I bit the bullet and cut his hair myself. My friend Stephanie is a beautician, and she agreed to let me watch her cut her husbands hair, and then come supervise me while I cut Dustin's. He was okay with the terms, as long as I agreed to let him go to the salon and fix it if I didn't do a good enough job. I think it turned out just fine though, and since he never went and had it "fixed", I'm guessing he thought it was fine as well. It's already time for another cut since this one... let's hope I remember how to do it!




Another project we did was painting and decorating the guest bathroom downstairs. This is pretty self-explanatory with the before and after pictures. I have a much cuter hand towel now and a matching soap pump, but otherwise, it looks just like the pictures, only dirtier since I haven't cleaned it since then!








In an effort to be more healthy, I bought an eggplant. I don't like eggplant. At least, I never have before. I tried to think of how to prepare it so I might like it, and when I realized I also had onions, tomatoes, and yellow and green squash, I opted to make Ratatouille, because Pixar has made me curious about it.

I wanted to find a recipe that looked like the one in the movie, but all the recipes were so varied. Some were casseroles, some were just mixed steamed veggies, some were stews. All were called Ratatouille. Then I read something that helped - it said that Ratatouille was more of a concept dish than an actual item. So I decided to just go with the concept and create my own Ratatouille.

I started with eggplant, diced and lightly sauteed with garlic. I diced a tomato up, added it to the eggplant mixture, and then spread all of that as the bottom layer in a 9x13 dish. I pureed some of my favorite spices with some cans of dices tomatoes that needed to be used up, and poured the sauce over the egg plant. Then I sliced up the squash and the onion. I layered those on top of the egg plant, pouring some sauce, and a generous amount of shredded parmesan (must use shredded, the kind you shake from the canister won't work) on top of each layer. Baked it, and it came out wonderfully, though a bit runny, since I didn't realize how much liquid eggplant releases when it cooks. In hind sight, I would use less tomato sauce, just enough to blend the layers.

It was so hearty that I ate it as a meal by itself instead of as a vegetable side dish. And turns out, I enjoyed the eggplant. So if you haven't liked eggplant before, try your hand at Ratatouille! Here are some pictures to whet your appetite.





Another skill I put into action is my piano teaching. In fact, we had my first AZ recital back in May just before school let out. I had nine students perform, plus a brother sister duet number, plus myself playing C.P.E. Bach's Solfeggieto in C Minor. Everyone played from memory, and everyone did great. However, since most are very beginners, their songs lasted about 30 seconds, and the whole recital was over in 20 minutes. But it was a great experience for everyone and a great way to end the school year. I've unfortunately lost 3 of these students since then to moves, but such is life, right?


I love these pictures. I got a bunch of cookie cutters for Christmas that I haven't really used yet. Wanting to use them, but not wanting to turn on the oven, we opted for rice krispie treats. Turns out, they aren't the ideal medium for cookie cutters, but that didn't stop us from having a blast for Family Night. And Jason really enjoyed being the chef's helper!

Shave and a hair cut...

For those of you who actually read last week's blog, you might remember that we tried to give Jay a hair cut, which didn't go over so well and resulted in very uneven bangs. Here is a picture to remind you of the results. We had to fix it somehow, so we finally borrowed some clippers with a long enough guide (1" - I didn't want to go any shorter than that, and its still short enough to spike.) Daddy did the job - I couldn't bring myself to take away those long silky soft locks.


Here are the end results. We can now spike Jason's hair, but have learned that when we do put gel in it, Jason just touches it himself and messes it up, so it never looks quite as spiked as it does in this picture.


Unspiked, it's just a short crop of hair. I miss feeling how soft his hair is, but he's still my little buddy and cute as can be.

And now for the Two Bits part of this shave and a hair cut. Two little videos for you. The new things this week I don't have videos for are butterfly kisses, and finally saying the word "Please". Daddy got him to say it yesterday. I have yet to get him to say it. But I do have videos for two new antics that keep us entertained. Sometimes Jason will take one hand, grab the fingers of his other hand, and wiggle his thumb. That is his way of indicating he wants to sing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider". When on the phone with grandma or daddy, he will often do the motion, and I let them know on the other line, and they sing it over the phone to him. He LOVES it. The other video is his attempts to jump on command. He sometimes squats, sometimes does this quick head nod/jerk thing - kind of reminds me of a high speed "I dream of Jeanie" head bop. More often then not, he loses his balance. But he loves to try. Hope you enjoy the videos!

A little bit of this, a little bit of that, a lot of personality

So this post is just a random collection of photos and videos from the last month that showcase many of Jason's little tricks, quirks, etc. Is it any wonder we love him?

A few updates I don't have footage for. The last few weeks, he has just starting "talking" more and more. He is babbling sentences on end that we can't understand, but its a fun game we play where one of us will talk to him, and the other will interpret what he says and we carrying on the conversation that way. But he does clearly say: Hi, Bye, Mom, Daddy, Uh-oh, Thank you, Get Down, No, Owie, Huh?, Eye, Nose, Mouth, Stop, Hot, Three, What's that?, Cheese (whenever he sees a camera) Alright! (while giving hi-fives), Night-night, and Behluhdedaluhduhmahdah. (But like I said, we can't figure out what that last one means.) What he says may be limited, but he seems to understand EVERYTHING we say. Close the door, go get your shoes, where's your milk, take off daddy's socks, do you want a time out?, etc. It's amazing to us.

He learns so much every day. Just last Friday I was amazed as I watched him play with the same shape sorting toy I have tried for hours on end to teach him about to no avail. I gave up weeks ago when no matter what I said or did, he pushed my hand away because he wanted to shove the circle piece into the square hole over and over and would still just throw a fit of frustration when it wouldn't go in. But three days ago, out of the blue, he was just sitting on Daddy's lap putting the circle in the circle hole, over and over, and the triangle in the triangle hole, over and over. When did it finally click? I have no clue. But its seemed to have just happened over night.

He also loves to climb on EVERYTHING, has taken up coloring, has mastered going down the stairs by himself while holding onto the railing, loves tickling people and being tickled, loves to bring you a book and be read to, has gotten his fourth bottom tooth and is currently getting both his top canine teeth, and loves to open the pantry door, get out a box of cereal, and either dump it out on the floor or bring it to me so I can get him some. He especially loves eating all the crunch berries out of the Captain Crunch.

Here are some other funny things he does these days. Hope you enjoy.

A month or two back, Jason started "folding his arms" anytime we said "Prayer". This is what folding his arms and kneeling for prayer looks like for Jason.

On an emergency library trip to get a video Daddy needed for class, we got to play at the park while we waited for the library to open. Jason LOVES playing at the park.


While babysitting for the Weidners, I noticed that all the kids but Jason were with me in the living room. I went looking for Jason, and found him in the master bedroom, doing this. I guess my 100% boy has a nurturing side as well. :-)


We finally went to the park to use the shovel and pail he got for Easter. It took him a while to get the hang of the shovel, but soon he was able to dump sand in the bucket on his own, with out ALL of it blowing away in the wind (just most of it)



For date night one Friday in April, we went to Chuck E Cheese as a family. Jason didn't smile as much as normal, and just wanted to spend the whole night sitting behind a wheel in some vehicle. He loves anything with wheels, especially if he gets to pretend to drive. He got really mad when we tried to take him out five minutes later. What a nut.

If you notice from the previous pictures, Jay's hair was getting quite long and getting into his eyes. We decided it didn't make sense to pay a lot of money for someone else to cut his hair when he wouldn't hold still for them, so we tried it ourselves before church. He didn't hold still for us either, and his "bangs" are quite uneven. One of these days we'll get some longer clippers and buzz it so it can be spiked. Meanwhile, at least we saved some money and its out of his eyes.


Jason LOVES dogs. This is Pippen, the Beck's dog, and he loved hugging, kissing and tickling his new canine friend.
One of Jason's latest tricks is being able to identify various body parts. (there's a video later) We just added "Where's your tongue" to his repertoire, and here is his response.

Jason really does love to sit and ride anything with wheels, whether it was meant for that or not.


Jason was so proud of himself for figuring out he could stick a fork in his straw and get it to stick. Is he silly or what?!

Out to lunch at Joe's Farm & Grill with the Becks. We all wore our Super Spence shirts (check out www.mysuperspence.blogspot.com for details). We're rooting for you Spence! You're our hero!
We just recently went to a surprise party for a friend's 30th birthday. Jason stayed outside the entire time. He didn't play with the other kids, but rather just sat or stood on various wheeled vehicles. Didn't know how to make them move, but for fear that someone else would play with it instead of him, he just sat or stood on it. We're talking 20 minutes on end, not talking to anyone, not playing with anyone, not letting me feed him. Just monopolizing the vehicle so no one else could. He's weird like that.

Now here are some videos. Some mornings, Jason wakes up screaming and cranky. But other mornings, he is just the happiest little camper. The first video is how I caught him one morning.
The second video is Jason showing off his mad "Where's your...." skills. The third video is a little look at his new juggling trick. He LOVES when daddy juggles, and will bring the balls to him so he can do it. Then he tries to juggle himself, which is just him flailing his arms around without ever letting go of the balls. But he won't juggle without the juggling song being sung. Not the best video to showcase his juggling, but the best I could catch on camera. The fourth video is his attempt at throwing a Frisbee with Dad. When Jason throws things, he "counts" to three, which means he does a few practice throws and grunts each time before he finally gets the three and lets go for real. Video #5 is self explanatory if you listen to Dustin's narration. Hope it makes you laugh. And video #6 is just a small glimpse into the world of tantrums that is my everyday life. We've been battling a biting spree (it is getting better) and he still likes to hit, throw, and just whine and scream when he doesn't get his way. Sometime he will want to play with a toy and have fun, and then he remembers he is "supposed" to be throwing a tantrum to teach us a lesson, so he goes back to pretending to be miserable. The terrible twos are coming early I fear. But there's a lot of hugging and loving mixed in with the gnashing of teeth, so it's bearable.

Hope you enjoy the pix and the videos. I promise to try and be more frequent in updating this. Thanks for your patience!

Easter

Good Friday was good indeed, as we spent it celebrating my Grandpa Mel's 80th birthday. All 7 of his children were there, which means LOTS of cousins, some of whom I have never seen, or only seen once in person. (I am the 4th oldest of 30 grandkids on the Owens side). It was fun to have everyone together and watch a picture slideshow of his life and hear stories from all the aunts and uncles about having him as a father.

Here's the birthday boy with his ravishing lady by his side.

Jason was thrilled to play with all the younger cousins, as well as spend some quality bonding time with Uncle Tyler. More fun than throwing the beach ball around was taking rides on the chair cart all around the gym. The two seemed to enjoy spending time together.

After the evening, we stayed up at my parents house to watch General Conference and celebrate the rest of Easter. Jay had a rough time the first night and kept wanting to get in bed with us since we were sleeping only a foot away from his playpen. Thankfully, he stayed asleep after we got up. He was tuckered out for sure!

Easter Sunday introduced Jason to marshmallow Peeps! He loves them!


This Easter was also the first Easter Egg Hunt Jason got to do. He seemed to enjoy the thrill of the hunt, and loved carrying around his new shovel and pail, which doubled as his easter basket.

Daddy helps Jason scout out some eggs.

Found it!


Getting worn out by the festivities.



Here's a video of him first doing the Egg Hunt. Enjoy!



After the Egg hunt, Jason really loved spending time with Atticus (the other great-grandchild in attendance) and sitting at the "big boys" picnic table for lunch. Not being strapped into a high chair was really fun for him.

General Conference was uplifting, as always, and spending time with family was great. We know that our Savior lives and feel so blessed to have the knowledge of His Resurrection in our lives. We hope you all had as great an Easter as we did!

Adorable

Okay, so I owe you all some pictures from last week. It was spring break and to celebrate it, we bought ourselves a new king size mattress, really nice, and are happy to no longer be sleeping on a very old a worn out mattress on the floor (our bed frame broke last month). Then on Monday, we went to Tuscon for the day. We had a blast at the botanical gardens, esp the butterfly exhibit. Then we went to the zoo down there and really enjoyed feeding the giraffes. The next day, I enjoyed crafting with my sister Katie and letting Jason play with mom and jennie. However, Jay got sick that day, and through the week, me, Dustin, Mom, Katie, Chris, Dad, and Jennie all got sick as well. Amid the rotating sickness (and it was pretty bad, trust me, you don't want more details than that) we still managed to paint our kitchen (I owe you pictures for that too) and go out and see Alice in Wonderland to celebrate our anniversary.

However, tonight we are having a birthday party for me at our house, and Dustin is gone all day taking a test to officially get his credential transferred to AZ. So I have a busy day of cooking and cleaning by myself with Jason to prevent me from doing much. So I don't have time to detail all our Tucson trip and painting pictures for you. (Tucson pix are on my facebook page if you want to go see them).

But I couldn't resist putting at least these pictures up. I took Jay to get some photos done 2 weeks ago, and I think they turned out great. Hope you enjoy too, and if I don't find time to blog before next week, Happy Easter as well!

Home Sweet Home

Recently, we have made some bigger changes to our downstairs area. Aside from extensive cleaning this weekend in preparation for some visitors, we have also done some decorating and furniture reorganizing.

Specifically, thanks to Katie and Chris, we got some new-to-us leather sofas, which went in the family room and meant we could move the blue sofa into the living room with the matching chair, and move the piano to a new spot to make room for the sofa. I finished sewing all the curtains and matching pillows (minus the round ones, I bought at Ross - perfect color matches!) for the family room and dining room, bought some wall decor and hung it, moved the piano, and got some nice decor stuff on top of the cupboards. We even bought bar stools and assembled them, as well as reupholstering our chairs.

We still need to paint (not sure what color yet... we're open to suggestions, esp. to compliment the burnt orange wall), and we plan on getting a brown ottoman instead of a black one, and eventually see an entertainment type center where the TV is, as well as refinishing the kitchen table and chairs to have brown wood instead of white.

But I thought I would post a few pics so you can see at least our downstairs area. Let me know if you have any decor suggestions!