1916

Recently my mom sent me an article with the 1916 Beehive requirements to earn awards. All teenage girls were considered Beehives until they graduated from high school. There were 373 requirements in order to receive awards.......I present 20 of these:

1. Care successfully for a hive of bees for one season and know their habits.
2. Give the distinguishing characteristics of 6 varieties of hen and cattle and tell the good and weak points of each.
3. Exterminate the mosquitos over an area of 1/2 mile square by pouring a little kerosene on the surface of all standing pools of water twice each month during April, May or June. Six girls may do this and each receive an award, or one girl can receive six awards.
4. Make two articles of underwear by hand.
5. Cover 25 miles on snowshoes in any six days.
6. Learn to float in Great Salt Lake and propel yourself 50 feet.
7. During three consecutive days abstain from candy, ice cream, commercially manufactured beverages and and chewing gum.
8. For one month masticate your food so thoroughly that it slips down without any visible effort at swallowing it.
9. Successfully put a new washer on a faucet.
10. Care for at least two kerosene lamps a day.
11. For three months take care of milk and cream from at least one cow and see that the pails, pans, strainer, and separator are thoroughly cleansed.
12. During two weeks keep the house free from flies or destroy at least 25 flies daily.
13. Have your toilet moved to an isolated place in the garden. Have a frame of chicken wire built about three feet away and plant quick growing vines such as cucumber or morning glories to screen it from observation.
14. Whitewash your toilet inside and out.
15. Know and describe three cries of a baby.
16. Without help or advice care for and harness a team at least five times; drive fifty miles during one season.
17. During 2 summer months clean ice chest thoroughly twice a week.
18. Discover ten reasons why the Columbine should be made the national flower.
19. Clear sage brush, etc. off of one-half acre of land.
20. Know 6 blazes used by Indians.

2008: I present ten requirements for today's Beehives:
1. Wash articles of underwear on a regular basis.
2. Abstain from candy, ice ream, commercially manufactured beverages and chewing gum for at least three consecutive hours.
3. Turn off lights in room after leaving it.
4. Learn to skillfully hide articles of clothing, trash and other items from mother in bedroom so that it seems to be clean.
5. Discover ten reasons why you need a cell phone, i-pod, new dress, etc. etc.
6. Masticate food while keeping mouth closed.
7. Put milk back in fridge after using it.
8. During the summer months thoroughly clean bathroom at least twice.
9. Learn to drive vehicle without hitting any standing or moving objects, at least five miles without causing a parent to scream.
10. Clear family room of articles of clothing, dirty dishes, shoes and backpacks.

Can't Sleep

About 3:00 AM poor Bubba D started hacking out a lung, so like the good mom I am, I got up to give him some cough medicine, and I haven't been able to sleep since. I could use the age-old remedy for insomniacs (reading the scriptures) but didn't. I have too many things rattling through my brain. I suppose I will hit the wall about 10 AM today, right about the time I need to be running the 10,000 errands on my list. So I am going to empty out my brain now-----

Look at what I grew! Now lest you think I purchased these at my local organic veggie market, I left plenty of dirt on them to prove that I just pulled them out of the ground. They actually tasted really good....(Jen, I opened up my aperture as far as it would go and I think it turned out pretty good-except the focus is off.....)(i'm also having issues with Photoshop-it won't save my edits-unsharpen mask didn't work on this one...)

I guess this is going down today......{sniff}

Shhhh..PLEASE don't tell my kids what I put in the banana bread yesterday....I actually snuck some whole grain barley into the spagetti sauce last night too. Maybe I can sell a bunch of books like Jessica Seinfeld!! (don't tell her but moms have been sneaking stuff into food for years-right?)

Well, I have a few more things rattling around in the brain but will save those for another post-another night of insomnia.......

New & Improved

Have you ever noticed that corporate America feels obligated to improve and update every product in our home on a regular basis? We have new and improved, fresh, clean smelling products that will make our life oh so much easier and those mundane tasks like scrubbing the toilet and tub just a dream job that we look forward to every day week?

So one of those oh so mundane tasks is defuzzing the legs and pits on a very regular basis. I have seen ads for these razors and thought, hey, why not? I'm game...

Well, I guess I am like most people and my legs and pits actually have CURVES so trying to maneuver this razor with the two puffy purple pillows on them is kinda difficult. I have to scrape the dang thing over my legs about five times and it STILL misses the stray strand now and then! And THEN there is this gooey stuff that is supposed to make it oh-so-easy to g.l.i.d.e the razor over your skin. Well, it's kinda like shaving with lightly scented snot ......ewww.. And then when the puffy purple pillows lose their lightly scented snot-like substance, well they petrify into hardened things that fall off into the tub and you can slip and slide on them.........Just give me the good ol' bic razor stolen from my husband...thank you very much.

Sooo...in an effort to do something new and improved in my kitchen....I decided today to tinker with the ol' sacred family recipe for banana bread. This is a tricky proposition so as not to offend the masses but I am making an effort these days to add more nutrition to the lives of dear family. So in went a bit of extra whole wheat flour, a dash of powdered milk for nutrition, and instead of sour cream, in went the plain low fat yogurt. Hmmm...the batter tasted pretty good.......the verdict?

I think you can see for yourself....Pure Bliss .....(p.s. if you squint real hard, you can just see a corner of his scout uniform.....)

p.p.s. Haven't heard from Elder Steve yet---but I heard from a member who said the missionaries were fine. I will be real glad to get that email next week!

p.p.s.s. Didja' notice my new trick....the strike out...my first html experience!! whoo hoo.

Worried Mom

I can't deny it.
I admit I am worried and nervous.
My son is in the middle of some of those red dots.
I can't call him...
I'm pretty sure he is okay...just got an email from a member who lives in the area who assures me all is well.
But today's weather may be a repeat of yesterday's.
So no news is good news, right?
I'll be okay.........

Not Somethin' You See Too Much in AZ

Scraping frost off the windshield!

Happy Frosty Feb. 5th!

Party update: If judging by the decibel level, it was a huge success...new party video game.....Band in a Box...comes with electronic drum set, guitar and microphone...uhhh...yeah...

Anniversary update: We saw Bucket List-good show-bought a new painting for our house.....

Sickness update: DIL is doing better, spent all afternoon yesterday with Bubba D and FIL at the doctor's office. Alyssa home sick yesterday too....I'm trying to run faster to keep away from the germs!

Leak update: Roof still leaking after 4 repair visits....Contractor personally comes over and crawls into attic to check source of leak...locates source...locates wet drywall in ceiling and pushes on it, causing more drywall to fall into bedroom and drywall to sag....promises to fix leak ASAP (before next rain???)

Today: Looking forward to going to Angie's yummy class!

How To Eat Cake

Hi-my name is Baby B. Due to the very public nature of the internet and my extreme cuteness, I am choosing to remain anonymous. Today I will demonstrate how to eat cake when you are one year old!

First I must examine cake and make sure it meets my exacting standards.

Then I must take a tiny taste to assess the sweetness and texture of the morsel.

Mmm...yes, I do think this meets my very high standards of sweetness and texture.

Using two hands assists in viewing the product and ensuring its quality.

Using two fists to bring the cake to my mouth
definitely enhances the tasting experience.

Drink only the purest water so as not to
contaminate the palate.

Yes, I think this is a quality product, now can I wash my hands???

*Blogger is driving me nuts-sorry for the BAD layout......

The First!

February 1st?????

How can it be February 1st???

I haven't recovered from

Christmas yet!!!

Actually, I am trying to recover from a morning spent with this little guy:

He is the cutest thing going....but he is a bundle of energy, don't let those cute little eyes fool you....and I was worried about missing my workout.....ha! chasing a two year old around is a pretty darn good workout..

And now I am trying to prepare myself for a house full of teenagers tonight......{sigh} I think I am getting old. TL casually mentioned that he thought he would go to a ball game with Bubba D during the party....I said, "What! you are a parent here too!" So when he realized there are going to be boys here too, well, I think he changed his tune......Please pray for me..........