Baby tot...(or Baby Talk, if you don't speak Baby Tot)

Does anyone else try to vocalize what their babies are thinking? At our house we do it ALL the time! We all use baby talk while watching Jack's expressions and actions..(well, Mike doesn't, but he laughs when we do it) and try to guess what he might be thinking. After I redecorated a few rooms in the house this week, this is what I imagined Jack was thinking.

Make sure you weed it wite a BB. (make sure you read it like a baby)
(the absence of the "K" sound comes from Ellie. It was how she talked when she was a baby)

First of all...here are a few cute decorations I hung yesterday...the pictures aren't in them yet, but you get the idea.


I also did some new things around the staircase...and this is where my story with Jack begins......



*GASP* Mom put some tool stuff on stays foiy me to play wiff!!!


hee hee hee...want to git it, git it, git it........

Mom..did you get (forget) dat you have a BB dat gitts tuff?


I tan...tan...tan...almos...almos..... weech it.......

Jack is very obsessed with lights! I rarely turn this on because of his little "weeching" fingers.




Is dis otay mom? Want to pit out dis tuff, but not know if its otay.

(I think he hesitated because I usually tell him "No no" when he goes for the tree. I let him do it for the sake of the picture and he ended up making a nice little fake moss pile. He didn't even examine the pieces he was taking out. He just pulled them out as quickly as possible. He must have known it was a fleeting moment.).

Will you git staired (scared) if I do DIS?....

(he can go down the stairs if I physically turn him around. I honestly think he knows that he gets a rise out of me when he tries to go head first)

He actually left the hanging pictures alone this time. I guess all my "No no no's" finally sunk in. I seriously don't get much done during his awake time. I follow him everywhere! I am SO not complaining though. I love it! It's so fun to see him explore and learn about new things. Today I watched him in awe as he played with some train tracks. He is still too young to fit them together, but I loved watching his little brain working as he sorted through all the tracks and moved them to different places. I also love how his little lips purse together and pout out while he is concentrating. I love hearing him breath through his noes and focus on the items in his hands. What a treasure and a joy it is to have a baby in the house again. I love every second with him!

Willow bend bash!!

Tonight our family had the fun opportunity to entertain Mike's Mom's neighbors at The Willowbend neighborhood party. We had a great time! The girls LOVED having their own microphones and each of them got to sing a solo. It was fun to see my girls doing something that I did a million times growing up. I hope this is the first of many functions they will get to sing at.

Casie sang, "Lost at Sea" from the Pirate play we just finished. Annie and Ellie sang back up. Ellie is just behind Casie so she can't be seen in this picture, but I wanted to post this picture because of Annie's head. She and Ellie thought it would be cool if they bowed their heads and swayed until it was time for them to join Casie on the chorus. :-) I also want to mention that Annie sang HARMONY during this number. What 8 year old does that??? Ellie's solo was " Do Re Mi", and Annie's solo was "Tomorrow." They all did a fabulous job! Oh, I sang Hold on from the Secret Garden, and Mike had a bunch of awesome solos as well. :-)What's a neighborhood party without the Chicken Dance??? Go white meat..it's your birthday...

Baby J stole the show with a high pitched squeal and out stretched hands to his Daddy during Mike's last song. What a sweet boy I have!!! Seriously, don't you just want to kiss him to pieces!!! (I am referring to Jack, not Mike...although Mike is equally cute..in a less small, less soft, less slobbery sort of way. )

Our latest thesbonic adventure...

This month, the Bearden Family Thespian Group, participated in Pirates the Musical! Starring Casie Bearden as: The Stowaway. Annie Bearden as: Pirate #10 And Mom as: Co-director. Ellie was in it as well, but was tossed over board..(or she quit after the first rehearsal)

After poor Casie got the shaft on The Sound of Music, it did my heart good to see her up there singing a really long solo and saying over 35 lines! She did a great job. She was one of the few kids that never missed a line and always knew what she was doing. I was very proud of her!

Annie really came out of her shell as well. She got to say a line that became a cast favorite. At one point the pirates talk about a prize that they want to win in a singing contest. The Stowaway asks what the prize is. One of the pirates says, "Yo ho ho, it's a bottle of...." Then Annie cuts her off and says, "Sarsaparilla! A high seas delicacy...The bubbles tickle my noes!" Then two pirates conk her on the head and shove her back in line. It was cute.

I love that my kids gain a lot of self confidence through participating in theatre. It's wonderful to see new friendships begin and talents being developed. Because Casie had a main role, a lot of the kids knew her by her first name and would come and talk to her. I loved that because she is usually pretty reserved and a little shy around new people. She really seemed to blossom during this show and really wants to pursue other acting opportunities.

So, what's the next play the crazy Bearden family will try out for you ask?...I'll give you a hint. Red Afro, rich bald guy and liiiiitle girls!

Is there hope for this boy???

While he was doing his morning exploring, Jack slipped and bumped his head slightly and started to cry. Within SECONDS all three girls and I were were surrounding him. Ellie gave him his Binky, Annie held him and tried to make him laugh, and Casie and I were patting his head saying, "Poor baby".

I am beginning to doubt that this family is capable of raising a "Manley Man."

..and in this corner...weighing an even 101 pounds..

Emergency Vet visit?---$75.00

Anesthesia?---$155.00

Stitches?----$105.00

Ear drops?---$15.00

Anti-biotic?---$32.00

Knowing your dog will recover after losing a fight with a visiting dog?-----TOO FREAKING EXPENSIVE!!! ..you didn't really think I would say priceless did you?









Dear future ancestors,

Great Great Great Grandma Jill would like you to know that the word "freaking" is just one of those words that Mormons sometimes use to express the pain of spending large amounts of money on something they wish they didn't have to. It's not a nice word, nor is it a pretty lady like word. I used it very little throughout my life and I do not think you should should try to work it into your daily vocabulary. Please reserve it for special and necessary circumstances. That is all.

Mike's new ride

THIS is what my husband is cruising around Miami in! I guess it was the ONLY car available. He's also staying in a FOUR STAR hotel.....Excuse me while I get my book out of my beat up Chevy van and throw the laundry off my bed so I can turn in for the night.

What would YOU do??

What would you do if you came into the bathroom and saw your husband standing there, bare chested, with shaving cream streaked across his chest and one arm pit?

Would you...


A. Assume he wanted to be as smooth as a babies bum?


B. Wonder if you really knew this man you've been married to for 13 years?


C. Realize that he accidentally grabbed the shaving cream instead of his AXE body spray...and laugh and laugh and laugh.

How....

I just checked "To Kill a Mocking Bird" out from the library. Casie looked at the title and said, "Shouldn't there be a HOW at the beginning?" Maybe she thought I was getting an instructional book. ha ha....Although, I would NEVER kill a mocking bird..it's a sin. :-)

A house divided...

Annie says that the reason her room is ALWAYS messy is because of Ellie.

Ellie says that the reason her room is ALWAYS messy is because of Annie.

So I did what every mother in my situation would do....I pulled out a sheet and some tacks and split the room (including the bed) in half. The child with the cleanest room at the end of two weeks gets a prize!

The girls felt so grown up...you know...having their own room and all. Annie set to work immediately organizing and situating things "just so" in her room.... (those of us who know and love Annie most know that her "organizing" is her making the junk look artistic.) Ellie turned on some music and enjoyed dancing in her own little room. They were cute trying to knock on the sheet before entering each other's areas. They made such a big deal about loving their own rooms that I started feeling bad that I couldn't actually give them a real room to themselves. My heart melted when I came in to find this that night.........

It's not a great picture, but I loved that Annie still had her head in Ellie's "room", even though she had plenty of room in hers.

No More Naked!

It's hard to feel the spirit in Sacrament meeting when I see the Barbies Ellie brought from home dancing on top of the hymnals...in their birthday suits. It's really not modest for Barbie to go on a date with Ken...when neither of them are wearing a lick of clothes. And no, it's definitely not ok for two naked barbies to go out proselyting together to a naked Barbie investigator. Point being....I am sick of Barbies with no clothes on lying around the house!!!

Solution????? Pull out old baby clothes. Find the ones with stains. Grab a pair of scissors and some hot glue, then...Poof! You've got beautiful and tactfully modest clothes for these naked wanderers! It was actually really fun. My girls thought I was a genius clothing designer and now they play with the barbies a lot more.

Library Day

I love when the kids use their imaginations.











Two cute librarians

Scanning books with this lazar light. (BTW, this book wasn't published when I first visited the library, so I put it on "hold".

You know when you set up something fun like a library and you want it to be extra special?...well, Annie thought that each person who visited the library ought to receive a scoop of FLOUR for coming....Ya, I ended that promotion before it began.

AND THE CUTEST THING OF ALL?????????????????????????????????????????????????

"Bring your Baby to the Library Day!" I had to register him first. Ellie typed all our information in on her pink library lap top. So cute.

Oh, they also got the cell phones involved in their little game. They would call me when my books were due. I thought I got my books in on time, but for some reason, I still ended up paying a few late fees. :-) This was a fun day.

Art lessons

So as many of you know, Annie is CRAZY about drawing! We have been seeing signs around advertising art lessons. Today we attended an open house the art teacher invited us to. I had decided that if the teacher wasn't "creepy" I would sign Annie up. As we walked into the studio, the teacher greeted us. I was surprised to see that it was my Stake President! He is an AMAZING artist and Annie can't wait to begin! If anyone is interested in these art classes, you can visit the website at www.aslsl.com The open house is today and tomorrow from 10-5. The picture above is just a sample of some of his amazing work!

Personal Trainer

My new personal trainer is quite the slave driver. She's only six years old, but man can she push me to work out! After arriving at the jogging trail, we started jogging, then we walked, then we jogged again, then more walking, ( I guess she was going for the circuit training method) then she had me give her a piggy back for four blocks up-hill! After her little rest, she made me skip all the way back to the car. I am SO taking Ellie with me every time I work out!

Don't-a-make'a-me-repeat-it....just beet it..

I steamed some beets from our garden today for lunch. Then I cut them up, buttered them, salted and peppered them, and added a little apple cider vinager to them...irresistible right? I could NOT get Mike to try them. Here is our conversation after me practically begging him to taste just one.....

Me: Mike, I feel like you're Laman, and I am a Lehi. I am beckoning you to eat from the tree of life, and you won't!

Mike: Well, I feel like Adam and you're Eve trying to tempt me to eat the fruit.

Me: (ok now..here comes witt I'll be telling my grandchildren about..) Yes, but remember...Adam fell that men might beet....

Then we both laugh, but Mike still won't eat the beet.


Beet eating ranks...
#1 Jack Bearden. He ate beets for 20 min straight. They were tiny little squares, but he never tired of them....purple poop, here we come!
#2 Casie Bearden. She ate two full bowls and loved every morsel!
#3 Annie Bearden. She quietly gunked down the beets she was given, but did not return for seconds.
#4 Ellie Bearden. She took one bite then silently slipped into the bathroom and spit it in the toilet.
#5 Mike Bearden who wandered into strange and mysterious paths and eventually ended up in a great and spacious building and pointed and laughed at me as I feasted on beets.
#6 Stuck my purple tounge out at Mike and added 5 years to my life because of righteous eating.

Today while I was folding laundry, Ellie and Annie secretly straightened the downstairs for me.
After I gushed about how happy it made me, the following conversation took place.

Annie: "Mom, Ellie told me that she had a warm feeling in her heart"
Ellie: "Ya, I did."
Mom: "That was the Spirit helping you feel good about giving service"
Annie: "Ya, that's what I told her."

Just dive right into it....

On her first swimming lesson of the summer, my sweet Casie was brought to tears because she was the only one in her class that couldn't dive. She tried her hardest, but ended up belly flopping or nearly hitting the board with her feet. On the way home she was determined that she would NOT be attending another lesson. What is a mother to do? I was so tempted to let her drop. I didn't want to her to be humiliated in front of her friends, but I also knew that if she did learn to dive she would feel so proud of herself for accomplishing something hard. Well, the very next lesson, THIS is what she did!!!


And yes, she was very proud of herself...so was I!!! Good job Casie!!!!!!!

This is where the HECK I've been!.....

....Doing a musical! We had a great time doing Joseph this year. We made tons of friends, spent tons of money on babysitting, wore tons of make up, wondered tons of times if we were too old to be "make believing", learned tons of dances, had tons of fun, and lost...a little weight. :-) Here are a few (a VERY few..because I don't have a gagillion hours to spend here loading them!) photos to document our Biblical experience.

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Who raised this kid???

Mom: (talking to Casie, Annie and Ellie) So girls, on the last day of school my Mom would always make us some Cinnamon rolls to celebrate. Is there a special treat you would like me to make you? Maybe cookies, or milk shakes, or root beer floats..or I could even try to make Cinnamon rolls.

Annie: Ummm...I would like a veggie tray.

Brace Face

Casie got her Bracies, and she's looking pretty cute.

She alternated pink and black and likes the ones she choosed.

She's also very happy to have such a shiny smile,

I hope her sisters do not mind not eating for a while...(you know,..cause braces are expensive...)

Ok, so I know that didn't really rhyme, but I only had a second to sit and post about Casie's new braces. :-) Something amazing and poetic will come to me later....or not. :-) She was so excited to get her braces on. It was seriously like Christmas. She giggled all the way home and couldn't wait to go back to school. I'm pretty sure braces are some sort of a status symbol at school. :-) She will have these braces...(aka: stage one) for about a year, then she'll get the full set after all her baby teeth fall out. She also will have the privilege of wearing a head gear at night.

Poor, poor, Jillseph what'cha gonna do???

Bones?...tired
Muscles?...sore
Brain?....fried
House?....Messy
Children?....neglected
Joseph?.....Opening in a week and a half!