Card Bonanza

Last fall (in November) I made some cards and uploaded them to blogger but never published. So I am finally getting around to it now. Probably because I am a lousy blogger... Surprise!
My Activity Girls made these cards and donated all of them to the Ronald McDonald House Charity in Spokane. The families there need cards to give to their children especially those in ICU who can't have flowers or balloons, plus there usually isn't a lot of extra money around when your child is living in the hospital - so these card donations are really appreciated. We made these simple cards and they turned out ok for 8 and 9 year old girls. Cuter in person. They sent us a thank you letter as well which was really nice to read to the girls.

The beehives had asked me to make some cards with them for the holidays so this is what I had come up with. A Christmas tag with a little glitter bling.

This one was my favorite. Just a fun birthday card using my top note Sizzix die. They had fun making this one.

Here is another easy one that turned out cute.

I actually hated this one but they wanted a fall thank you card so here is what we ended up with. I used my friend's cricut which was fun and a little addicting to use. Really want one of the Cricut expressions now. Had it on my Christmas list but Santa didn't bring it. Maybe if I am good this year...

Dancing for FHE

Some serious dancing commenced at the conclusion of "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" by the children. Macey pulled out some shimmying shoulder moves we didn't know she possesed, but by the time we got a camera located, the moves were dwindling. You can only see a slight shoulder move at the beginning of video 2. The boys just had to be on camera also....so we finally gave them a chance and had to hold our big star back.

It's Fall Ya'll

Macey at the pumpkin patch. She mostly just whined as Brad scoured the patch for the "Great Pumpkin."

What Macey really enjoyed was getting to talk to the animals in the petting barn

Brandt later switched this find out for a warped, stemless white pumpkin which his parents did their best to try to sway him towards a more visually complete pumpkin...but it didn't work.

Kaden quickly named his pumpkin "Big Joey"

The boys and I found our way through the corn maize.

Brad with the kids preparing for the hay ride

Might as well be engagement photos. Super cute couple loving the pumpkin patch.

I had fun helping Bonnie with another awesome endeavor. She made the Gold and Green Ball a Disco and had super great decorations that filled the gym. Too bad my pictures weren't taken until all the lights were off and can't be appreciated. Brad and I actually had a great time dancing (which we weren't expecting too) and eating the super finger foods (way to go Rachel!). I have to say, the punch was pretty fantastic too.

I was in charge of the publicity. Here is the flyer that I came up with to insert into the bulletins on Sunday. I also put together some color large posters for each building. No one can say that they didn't hear about the dance. I think it was well attended and most people came dressed up which made it really fun.

They had a real DJ with some great tunes and super cool lighting effects - terrible photography. It was high school "mixer" type dark in there. Great fun.

Staci was up there for the best costume. Hot Dog! I think I should borrow her wig for a night out on the town.

Foxy Rachel and Pimpin Chad at the Disco

One fall afternoon I found Brandt out raking up the leaves. Just as I tried to harness my excitement that my child would do chores without me asking, I figured out that with his football pads on and helmet waiting in the wings-this must be some sort of training drill where he later jumped in.

Kaden finished up his fall season of soccer. He plays with some great boys and he has super coaches. He loves it and has improved quite a bit. He plays really well the first half of the game...we don't know what happens during the second half other than a whole lot of lolligagging in la la land. Brandt also played soccer this year with a begining group. He did really well, minus the stiff-arming and slide tackling. He is intense and always has a report on how many goals he made each day. Kaden made one goal this season. My boys are night and day.

All dressed up for Halloween. Kaden and Brandt were muscled up super heros. I suggested they wear them everyday to school underneath their clothing..for the intimidation factor, but Kaden wouldn't go for it. Brandt would wear his everyday if he could. Macey was a blue monster, along with the rest of my children. She did get to wear a pink flower in her blue hairy mane. Our good friends, Vernon and Lisa and their kids, came along with us on "the loop." This is a "secret" group of mainly LDS families that live out here near the farm and give out party bags for trick-or-treat. It's quite some loot. We also get homemade doughnuts as adults, my favorite part each year. Can't beat it.

Is Fear a Factor for you?

We had a Fear Factor Father/Daughter Activity this week for our Activity Girls. The other leader was in charge of a spectacular Mother/Daughter brunch this Spring and I was in charge of the Daddy/Daughter activity...so I fed them disgusting food. Seems fitting. Anyway, after doing lots of research and reading about Fear Factor parties online, this is what I came up with. It turned out better than I expected, and we had a good turn out. We had 2 fathers who ate Pig's feet (goblin feet) and another dad who popped a cricket in his mouth, chewed and swallowed-- earning some bonus points. The girls were also very brave and had no problem putting a dog bone in their teeth or digging throw "used" kitty litter for a key. We didn't get to the last challenge that I was initially most excited about, but we can use that another time. Charee is doing a Fear Factor party in her class and so we will be using some of these ideas (some that she has already used in a Fear Factor party from the past.) The other leader and I decorated with all the creepy Halloween stuff that we had, and she made it look awesome. The fog machine didn't set off the fire alarm so that was a good thing. We dressed up and the leader taking all the pictures (so she didn't get any) was a Mad Scientist with a green face, lab coat and Frankenstein afro with bugs in it--great costumer. I typed up my agenda for the evening if you wanted a better idea of what we did just email me: bwbeus@msn.com. Here is our invitation:

A few decorations

A fine looking witch

After swallowing some "tonsils" (or oysters)

Didn't enjoy her treat

The only way to get it down

Disgusted to dig through "brains" in search of hidden "eyeballs"
Ya, that's about 60 live crickets crawling in there as he digs for hidden "real" coins to collect
Digging through "used" kitty litter for the key

Dad's all locked up

Unlocked dads pulled there daughters back to the starting line on a blanket

We're Skipping September

The summer ended with both my boys finally able to jump off the diving board and swim unassisted to the side of the pool. Kaden took a lot of convincing, bribing, a small little prayer, and then he FINALLY did it. A few minutes later, Brandt jumped in himself (although he hadn't proved to us that he really could swim even in the deep end). Well he did it and it took no convincing, etc. So we ended summer with the hopes of becoming the next Michael Phelps.

We attended a few cattle shows where Macey got to show off her new duds from Grandma Beus. You can't really tell but she has some super cute pink boots on that she insists on wearing whenever she can.

School also started in September. What is that spot on Kaden's new clothes you might ask - well, it is breakfast. Or any meal he encounters. We always know what he ate for lunch, just by looking at his shirt. Soon my dear, the girls will not be so impressed. He is in Spectrum this year and doing well so far. I saw him at an assemble the first day and found that most of his classmates are double his size. He carries Beus genes solely - the Walker genes would put him in the back row for class pictures.

Loading up to catch the bus. Sure wish every morning would go that smoothly.

Brandt also started preschool 3 times a week for 2 1/2 hours that Macey and I get to kill time. At first I thought I was going to kill myself for signing him up and putting myself through that, but so far it has worked out well. Rachel and I get in some exercise, occasionally, while our kids are in preschool, and are now converted to biking shorts with those extra bottom cushions for our long bike rides. Brandt is just loving

preschool though and is SOO excited to tell me all about it each day.
Macey is almost 1 and 1/2. And you know what that means....NURSERY! And a chance to feel active again in Church. We can't wait. She has mastered all her animal sounds and loves to read books, suck on her bink, whine, drink strawberry milk and play with our new kitties outside. She LOVES her daddy and has trouble sharing him with me. All in all, it was a pretty good September.

U T A H

Confession: I had not been back to Utah since I graduated from BYU. Seems like that has not been very long, but ya, it really has been a few years. So I invited myself to go along with my mom and my sister Katie. We went to see my sister Julee in Ogden. The trip was long and Macey did way better than I expected--thank to Katie, I'm sure. We got in some good shopping (Tai Pan and 3 Downeast Outfitters plus a Shade store) and we ate well (Cafe Rio). And played with little cousin Maddie. Macey loved to give her hugs and try to make her walk with her while having a full embrace, needless to say, that didn't go very well. Here are some pictures:

Grandma, Maddie and Macey

The girls were caught red handed emptying Julee's purse.

Apparently Maddie must have found something in that purse that made her want to vomit. (I had a good laugh when I saw this picture.)

Julee and the girls

Macey and her constantly dirty face

Macey did say Katie's name very clearly when we were down there. That ups her word count to....3 (if you don't count all the animal sounds she can make, which are very important with her human communication - right?)

Arrrghh - Pirate Brandt had a Birthday!

Ahoy, my sea dogs! Brandt turned 5 years old! I was shocked as well. Here is his invitation. (By the way, I really love digital scrapbooking now. It is SO much faster, easier and fun. I am glad to convert you as well.)

Arrrghh - a Pirate's Life for Me!

All was going along too well ... until I got to the Park to setup the treasure hunt early. The park was officially closed from October 1st to April 1st. The very day of the party. So we had to park out of the park and sneak in through a side gate. After a cop came and I did some major begging, he agreed not to spoil a little boy's birthday party and let us stay and park unlawfully. The weather turned out pretty good and the kids had a good time. They loved the treasure hunt and dug it up where X marked the spot in the sand volleyball court. True pirates in search of their loot, digging for buried treasure. Avast, I was pretty proud of my rhyming and pirate lingo...Man, overboard!

Shiver Me Timbers - a whole group of pirates. Those are some hook hands made from plastic cups and metal tops of plastic hangers (like you'd get from the Gap). I was pretty stoked when I came up with those late the night before. They loved 'em! Brandt had Christmas in October and Santa will not be needing to add any more toys this year.

Spotted a squirrel in the tree - easily entertained.

Macey loves to slide - a pirate's life is not for her.