Bad hair day!

Do you sometimes suffer from a bad hair day? Nathaniel had it tough today. After trying to remove the remains of his baby cradle cap with baby oil yesterday, we discovered it is incredibly difficult to wash it out. We had to wash his hair again this morning, but had to put a hat on him before rushing out on the school run. When I got home and took off the hat, this is what I discovered. Could it become a new trend? Umm, I think not!

Tayler turns 8

Tayler chose @Bristol to celebrate his 8th Birthday, it couldn't have been a more perfect choice for our clever inquisitive little boy. He had an amazing time there - investigating and exploring science. Perhaps his favourite area was the bubble making zone - he had so much fun and went back several times to play again.

Jarom also got in on the excitement.

Tayler - master bubble blower!

Tayler is such a Morph fan, he loved this fun zeotrope.

Playing with the water wheels, canals, pulleys and dams. Jason and I also had a great time, Nathaniel thought he was in heaven - so much to do, so little time!

Sunday was the day of Tayler's official birthday. His gifts included a game for his DS and a lego movie, he recently got into drawing, so we bought him some pencils, paper and a 'how to draw' book. Grandpa bought Tayler a new set of scriptures.

After church in the evening, Tayler was baptised a member of the church. Tayler has been looking forward for this day since Jarom his older brother was baptised when he was 8. He was well prepared and really enjoyed the whole experience. He thought the water was lovely and warm and I could tell by the way he threw himself at me for a big hug that he was completely happy with the choice he made to be baptised. During the closing prayer of the service, he leaned in close to me and whispered 'Thanks Mum'. My heart was full. I feel it is such an important part of my role as a mother to teach my boys well, and help them to make good choices. Sharing with them my love of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and having them live and love those teachings too, brings me the greatest joy. Tayler's little 'thank you' yesterday meant so much to me. It confirmed to me that the hard work is worth it, and sometimes really appreciated!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Last night we had a big celebration dinner to mark the Chinese New Year. We all enjoy Chinese food and thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to indulge ourselves with spring rolls and duck pancakes - yummy. It's becoming quite a Beale family tradition to celebrate other countries festivals - first American Thanksgiving and now Chinese New Year. Nathaniel helped me to make Chinese dragons to decorate the table, and we had party hooters to honk. I even made lucky little red envelopes to put the boys pocket money into, which is a sacred Chinese custom, (the boys particularly loved this!).

I'm sure will continue through the year to find inspiration through other cultures and enjoy the amazing food they eat in celebration.

Thoughts about January & The Joy of Love...

On the whole I think I did quite well trying to take a picture a day during January. I think I managed about 14 pictures out of 31 - that's two a week - I'm going to look on the positive and say that's not too bad for my busy life! I will continue to try and take a picture a day (umm, two a week) for the rest of the year. Check back and see if I manage it.

Something that may help me is the 'Joy of Love' photography course by Kelly Willette. I signed up at the beginning of the year and I'm looking forward to my daily dose of photography inspiration for the month of February.

Today's picture - photographing someone you love doing what they do.

Umm - Nate watching Toy Story 2 ought to do it. I couldn't count the number of times he has - yet it still holds his attention to the end and I guess still holds a little mild peril! He is absolutely in love with Buzz and Woody.

It's not too late to sign up for the course - click the link above and take a look. Not only are there ideas to inspire, but simple technical details to help you improve your pictures, oh and it's FREE!

Grinding wheat...

Why did grinding wheat hold such fear for me? I've had it as a personal goal for many years now to grind wheat and make it into bread, like a good Mormon Mummy. I joke, but I know the health benefits of doing this (plus the benefits to my pocket - it's so much cheaper!). Yet, it's taken me until the 13th year of my marriage and my 12th year of mummy-hood to pluck up the courage to do this. I had very willing helpers, and actually can't take much credit again - I baked the bread, but Jason was the one who got the equipment out of the cupboard and the boys kept an eye on the little grinding machine as it whizzed away. A real family effort. It was so easy and our homemade bread tasted amazing. This is definitely going to become a weekly Sunday tradition in our home.

Where did I go wrong?

I love to bake. I have several tried and tested recipes that I love to use. This year I am trying to perfect those I and add a few more to my collection. I found a recipe a few years ago in a supermarket magazine for some delicious cranberry and ginger muffins. I made them a few times and they were delicious. I felt like a good cook, they tasted, and looked really great. This Christmas I pulled the recipe out again and tried it. They tasted awful - they were dry beyond dry and rock solid. Where had I gone wrong? Not to be beaten I tried again, this time with slightly different ingredients. Surely apricots and ginger would be a lovely combination for a muffin? Unfortunatly I ended up with the driest most unappetising muffin creations on the planet. (Maybe a slight exaggeration - but remember I'm a perfectionist and I love to bake, I'm feeling a little miffed).

Could it have been the apricots?

Or maybe one of the other ingredients? Was my baking powder just a little past it's best?

Was it the way I mixed it? Too much, too little?

Could it have been the silicone mould I used? Could it have stripped the moisure from my little cakes?

Well, whatever it was I feel a little beaten. This pathetic little cake has me beaten. I'm not sure I will ever try that recipe again. I'm going to look out for other tried and tested recipes, I crave a yummy moist muffin that I can say proudly that I made myself.

Getting crafty...

I love a cute and easy craft project and this one is both. I have loved the sweet flowers that have been so fashionable to wear over the last few seasons. I've looked at them in the shops, but not wanted to pay the crazy prices, so I own very few. However I recently found the easiest tutorial and decided to make my own. Simply cut poly-satin into decreasingly smaller circles, heat edges with a candle so that they curl, and then stitch together. How simple. The process of heating the poly-satin is also quite satisfying - be careful it doesn't burn if you fancy giving it a go. So what am I going to do with my little flower - well I could turn it into a broach? Maybe it would look cute on an alice band in my hair? Or maybe i'll attach it to a necklace? One thing is for sure I'm slightly addicted to how easy they were to make.

Today's snapshot...

Tried to go for a cool retro 70's feel with this one (apart from the hat). Nathaniel was not playing ball today, and this was all I managed to get from my little stinker. But it's a cute one. He's wearing the hat we have put aside to be part of Tayler's WWII evacuation day costume - next week's special school activity day. Thought I'd get the hat out of the dressing up box, dust it off, and put it in Tayler's room so it's ready to go.

5 minutes of portrait photography ...

Tayler's Homework...

Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday are Tayler's homework days. He works so hard. He usually has reading, spellings, times tables and a work sheet to do over the three days. He will spend an hour on his homework. In comparison Jarom does very little homework. Spellings and times tables are so easy he only needs to glance at them once and he'll get 10/10. He reads at night before he goes to sleep. And homework sheets usually only take him half an hour - any longer and he moans unbearably. I have started setting him extra maths homework recently.

Tayler works 10 times harder then Jarom does. My boys are so different in so many ways. I feel positive that the support I give Tayler each night helps to push him forward academically. I'm proud of him. And I look forward to helping Jarom with homework from secondary school in September!