Imitation is the highest form of flattery... right?

Imitation is the highest form of flattery, right? Sometimes. Not in this case. It is not flattering to my personality that Baker takes my flaws and exaggerates them. Yesterday he started something new, a loud, deep, annoyed sigh. You know, when things don't go your way you might let out an "uuuuuuuuuuuuuuggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhh". I do, a lot apparently. For instance, when I realized that I had washed my new red table cloth with my new Williams Sonoma white towels and my cloth napkins- I let out a loud "uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhh". When I back out of the garage and drive over a huge clump of snow, I go "uuuuuuuuuuuugggggggggggghhhhhh". Well, it didn't take long for Baker to pick up on this. He used to say "uuuuuuuuuuuuuuggggggggggggghhhhhh WHAT???" Which would make me laugh and I would feel stupid for making such a big deal out of something petty. So now, when he says I want that toy that Beau has and I say no.... he says 'uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuggggggggggggggggggggghh'. I obviously laughed the first time or two, but it certainly isn't a habit you want your child picking up on.

He also flatters Brian. We were at Subway last night and I looked up and there was spit all over Baker's eye. I asked what happened and he said, " I can't see, I put my contact in." He did it again and this time I saw him. He spit in his hand and rubbed it over his eye. Of course Brian doesn't spit in his eye, but still. He is watching. Its like my sister-in-law said, we teach them so many things un-intentionally.


Beau on the hand, imitates nothing. We wonder whose genes he has. He is something of a different breed. He is ornerier and sweeter than Baker ever thought about being. He is very territorial and he wants his way! He threw a very large fit at the table tonight b/c we wouldn't let him have anymore guacamole without eating some meat first. He never gave in. Brian tried to put a spoon to his mouth and he covered it with both hands. No kidding.

He was sitting by me while I was making dinner when he grabbed the sucker dish. I looked over and he had a large gleam in his eye and a smirk on his face as he stuck his hand in AND watched to see what I said. It wouldn't have been fun if I wasn't watching.


We have a lot of days that Brian and I look at each other and wonder how did we get to this point with two seemingly smart boys trying to run our lives? They are so crazy. I wish you all could see them.

What's for Dinner?

Tonight we are having Red Quinoa and Black Bean Salad. Wow, that is a mouthful. Not to mention I had never heard of the word quinoa "keen-woa" before. Apparently it is a whole grain that you can find at your health food store, and apparently my little town has a health food store. Nothing of course compared to Whole Foods, but it will do, especially since... we don't eat anything organic.

So, Julie Beam introduced me to the Pioneer Woman blog and I have been trying her recipes ever since. She is awesome! She has a great chicken spaghetti that Brian loves, we have used her salsa recipe and the best of all was her spicy shredded pork shoulder. It is so good (as my dad would put it) "I would order it at a restaurant". Tonight we are trying something on her website from "The Church Cook", whom I have never heard of. I should have guessed that it was not her recipe since it looks super healthy and not so comforting. I thought it looked beautiful though and so I had to write about it. You can see in the pictures how the quinoa goes from small brown balls to something that almost looks like an eye. We will see what Brian says. I tasted it before the dressing and it was delicious, but then the dressing was pretty strong. Hopefully its nothing a little Ranch, sour cream, or avacado can't fix.

Hope everyone is doing well! What are you having for dinner??? Mother???

http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/salads/red-quinoa-and-black-bean-salad/?review_page=2#cr

What it looks like

Winter is in full blast right now. You can see the pics of Brian and Baker shoveling snow. I wish the pics had romanticized the snow a bit, but it looks awful outside and that day it was. Today the sun is shining, something I will never take for granted again, but it is like -15 degrees outside. And that is COLD! I put a pic on the bottom too of what happens to Brian's face if he doesn't cover it up when he shovels- it freezes, literally.


I wanted to show you some pics of our community group up north. Brian and I started the group last semester and it took off. I was very nervous but it was the Lord's plan so really, there should have been no pressure on me. Anyways, these are most of our friends and I thought you might want to see what they look like. The pic is from our ugly sweater Christmas party, which was a blast. I love parties!