Fast Times at Becky's

How to Play "Spray Rainbow" With Aunt Becky

1. Taunt her by running at her with your chest out like a chicken.
2. Run away and hide when she sprays you.
3. Stick your head out and holler :"BEEECKKKYYYY" until she sprays you again.

4. Run at Becky while doing your best super hero pose.
5. Repeat and repeat and repeat until Aunt Becky goes inside.
6. Quick grab the hose! You Win!

Oh -chewing on your toes is good fun too.

This is lots of fun.

Coen can be a gentleman too.

I think that we are in love!

Between the stress, temper tantrums, wrestling matches, and poopy diapers we are having some fun at Becky's house. Coen and Luke have a love/hate relationship that changes every three seconds. They fight but ask for each other constantly when they are a part. Charlie said "Hi Coen" today! I am getting a little cleaning and cooking done but mostly I just herd children. Miraculously all four are down for naps right now and hopefully Becky will be following them shortly. We are staying at night with Ralph and Diane- which Coen loves. He loves being the center of attention and getting to eat all the meat and cookies he can get con out of his hosts.

Well it has been a hectic couple of days- Thursday Coen was sick with the worst diaper rash in the history of man. It became known as the crotch of fore in our house. He just layed on the floor and cried "it hurts mama, it hurts." (mind you this was the day after I had only 2 hours of sleep because Beckett didn't handle the roto virus IZ very well and a full day at work!) Thank goodness Alma took pity an me and stayed home to help take care of him. (He may have had ulterior motives of not wanting to go to Auburn for the stake preistood meeting.) When I talked to Becky that night she was pretty low, she was missing her kids, but not really up to taking care of them- so I offered to come. She didn't commit but Friday after work was pretty sure she needed me. A good-bye party (we will miss you Neil and Leslie!), 4 loads of laundry, a frantic morning, and a long drive and here we are in the lovely central valley.

Coen loves to talk to and wave at his cousins on the "puter" (computer) but they are even better in person. We weren't here 10 minutes and they were in Becky's great yard.

Beckett liked the yard too (but I thought it was WAY TOO HOT).

I have wonderful memories of playing with my cousins at Granny's in the dirt and mud. I will always cherish our time on safari in the Walnut orchard- I hope this is the first of many happy memories for this set of cousins.

Everyone loves bath time! It gave me enough time to get dinner made and feed the baby. Aren't Charlie's cheeks just divine?

Se we will be in Tulare for the week (thank goodness my work let me off at the last minute.) I hope that we have a great visit with lots of time for the cousins to play and Becky gets lots of rest and feels better soon. We love you Alma and I miss you already!

Coen Dean

Beckett Deiter

Catalina Trip

A Glorious Day in the Life of Polly

So we are having a Norman Rockwell kind of day- a little twisted since this is the Clove home. I am wearing a flippy skirt and an apron. A little while ago my dad brought us a big giant bucket of tomatoes and Coen was quite intent on putting them away. I think he did a good job lining them up along the counter top! So today we are making homemade tomato sauce yum! This is an hours long process and in the middle of peeling tomatoes I started to wonder if I had lost my mind. And that is just the first step. I should mention the great tomato sauce endeavour would not be possible with out the generosity of the gardeners I love! Here is a call out the the Nix family and Kirsten- thank you for making this moment of insanity possible. Hopefully there will be a great reward when this is all bottled up and in my freezer. Lasagna tomorrow! (Not tonight since we are cleaning the church with the Preeces and I am having my thyroid ultrasound at 5:30) Nothing to worry about the ultrasound. It is just a precaution to make Alma feel better. He is freaking out a little with my family history.



















While I did most of the work on the tomatoes Beckett napped and Coen changed his outfit. He has decided the coolest thing in the world is his swimsuit with the built in floaties. Mind you, he wouldn't wear this if his life depended on it earlier this summer- but now it is cool. (Not as "COOOOL" as his light up light saber spoon.) When Beckett got up he and Coen had a blast playing on the couch. Coen would put his "Bob hat" on Beckett and bang on it. I thought Beckett would hate this, but he and Coen just kept laughing at each other. When I tries to get a picture I told Coen to sit by Beckett and he sat on him! Beckett is one tough little dude.


This is just one of those days I love being a mom and being at home with my boys. This is even with the 4 loads of laundry I have to do today and the state of denial I am in about my messy house and the phone call from the mechanic with the estimate for our car (ACKKK!).

It should stay fabulous for a while because it is almost Coen's nap time!

GOOOO Miners!!!!!!!!!!

Well we went to NU's football game tonight. There is something magical about a high school football game in a small town. Beckett's first game and the first that Coen can probably remember. I love living in a small town. I love walking around the stadium saying hello to friends and old classmates. I love sitting on the visitors side with all the old men football fans. (my anti-social husband and father-in-law insist on this). I love eating the booster club's hamburgers. I love the commentary from all the cranky old men fans. While we were walking around Coen gave as many people as possible high-fives. He was in heaven cheering and telling everyone around us where the football was. He has been watching BYU football- but this was a thousand times better- drums and a horse mascot (don't ask why the NU miners have a horse mascot- I guess the miner with the giant paper mache head and creepy matted hair needs a side kick.) He sat with Uncle Wendell for most of the game. I am so thankful for all the family that surrounds us. I am so touched by the tremendous amount of love that surrounds our boys. (As a side note- the game was so exciting and we won 35-28).

As a little low note when we got home Lectramedia was on the phone- the night shift hadn't shown so into work Alma went. Poor guy. I am so lucky to be married to a man willing to work so hard for his family.

So here I am blogging and watching an old Barbra Stanwyck movie- she is sooo evil.

Well off to bed I go. A wedding in Tahoe tomorrow- I have a very cute escort, he has dark wavy hair, big blue eyes and a killer smile. Of course he is my second choice since he wants to nurse every couple of hours but my first choice is going to work tomorrow. I hate the election season- but love not having to worry about making payroll.

Some Stuff just for Becky

So here are some more pictures of our sweet baby for Becky. These were taken last night and this morning-hence the pjs.
While Alma and I were doing other stuff Coen went and got his favorite star book to read to Beckett. They read it several times, it was so cute!
It looks like he is leaning on the couch but he was practicing sitting up and grabbing his toy and then leaning back. I just love the look in his eyes in this picture.
We have some crazy hair in our house!

And now for some recipes- I am hoping that these will be in exahange for the monkey munch recipe and maybe hope of hopes some of brookes recipies.

DISCLAIMER---These are not fancy- just the opposite, but for my husband who never met a casserole he didn't like and my picky picky Coen they work quite well. These are both recipes from Harvene.

Chicken Broccoli Casserole

20 oz of frozen broccoli or fresh (I use fresh)

2 cups cooked chicken

1 can of cream of Chicken soup with 1/2 can of milk

1 cup Mayo

1 tbs of lemon juice

1/2 tsp of curry powder

1 1/2 cups of chedar cheese

1 1/2 cups of bread crumbs

Combine the steamed everything but bread crumbs in casserole dish, cover with crombs bake for 30 min at 350. I usually use the canned chicken from cosco- this is usually my I have no idea what to make for dinner and my family is hungry now meal- because it takes no time and all the ingredients are usually in my pantry. I use a little more curry. I also usually put in a lot more broccoli and little more chicken as I don't like it too saucy. Yesterday I didn't have and soup so I made it with chicken broth and sour cream instead and it was really good. I usually use low fat or fat free everything. And the miracle is Coen usually gobbles up the broccoli!

I will have to finish later as we are supposed to be at the park right now!

Some Pics From Previous Posts

This is just a picture of Beckett's crazy hair. Isn't he so cute?
These are the glasses Coen got at K-Mart on his big night out with Dad (the night Alma decided I needed some time off). Taco Bell and K- Mart- Coen is a pretty cheap date.


This is a picture of Coen reading in bed- He loves Star Wars- and he dosen't even know what it is. Silly Guy.

The Yankees are Comin' The Yankees are Comin"!

This is Coen this morning, while I was getting Beckett ready he sat in the living room in his reading/time out chair and read to himself. It was so cute!

Earlier this week we went to the river and for about an hour we were the only three people there. It was so peaceful and quiet. The birds were singing and Coen was quietly splashing, I've never been there when it was so peaceful. We also had a ton of fun when our friends came too!

Here is the campaign poster we made for Anna on her night here doing home work. If you can't read the slogan it says Vote for Anna, She's no Banana. I loved working on this with her and talking about the rights and privileges of a US citizen. I especially loved the use of the "We can do it" paper. I got to tell her about women's service during WWII- I made her look up stuff in our giant dictionary and whipped out my copies of the Constitution, The Declaration of Independence, and Common Sense. Poor kid may never want to do homework here again.

Well it is Constitutions Day here in Nevada City which means civil war reenactments and the Constitution Day Parade. Sadly the parade was during church so we missed it- but it promised to be a great collection of oddities- the small town stuff I love! The Marshall of the parade was a real life astronaut! He timed his trip from Houston just great to be here during most of hurricane Ike. (apparently he is married to a girl from Nevada City). There was also going to be a replica of a civil war submarine and all the presidents and their first ladies marching in the parade. (the poor couple assigned Harrison or Polk!) Doesn't this sound great! On our way to church we did pass the Ophir Prison Band- my favorite part of any Nevada City Parade- we also passed the submarine- so we saw something. We live close enough to the park that the house has been shaking from the blasts of the reenactment. Coen has loved the big explosions! he runs around screaming BOOM BOOM!

Why I Love my Life

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.

-Melody Beattie

I was talking today to Becky and was reminded of the importance of having a tender heart. The importance of seeing the great and tremendous love that surrounds us. The importance of recognizing and acknowledging the bliss and joy in our lives. I fought many a battle defending developmentally delayed (the children I worked with were mostly at a 2-6 month developmental level) children's ability to feel that bliss and joy. So often we discuss their "quality of life" with out recognizing they do have the most basic and needed thing. They feel love. They feel our love, they feel God's love. So how is their "quality of life"?

In the last several months I have been bombarded with the pain of life- stress, worry, exhaustion. Health crisis that never seem to end for two sisters, chronic pain- surely after 7 years it is going to go away- but it just gets worse- the exhaustion of having a newborn and a toddler (what Nancy calls the pit of motherhood-she should know she has nine children)- uncertainties about Alma's employment. I have felt a little overwhelmed.

And then I have a day like today- not unusual- in fact a little worse than most since I was on call last night and Beckett decided to eat every two hours-----But I feel super aware of my many blessings. My soul is filled with gratitude. So here is a list of what I love about my life today.

The FUNNY/WONDERFUL stuff in POLLY'S life today:

1. Conversation with Alma this evening:

A: Do you want me to take the boys out tonight?

P: I don't know.

A: I think you need a break.

P: What do you want to do? Do you want to stay home and have time as a family?

A:Yes.

P: Are you saying that because it is what you think I want to hear?

A: Yes.

P: What do you really want?

A: For you to be happy and feel good- so what will do that for you?

P:I don't know. I want to be alone, but I feel like we should have family time. (I actually yammer on quite a bit here- going back and forth)

A: Coen- it is hard to know how to make mom happy.

Coen: ARGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!(his dinosaur growl) followed by him jumping on us and kissing us all over. (he know how to make me happy!)

I just loved this conversation. Poor Alma he just wanted me to be happy and I was to tired to even decide what would do that for me. (They are getting dinner and going to the park right now)

2. Currently Coen is OBSESSED with any thing related to stars. He loves the shape, he loves the lights in the night sky, he loves star fish, he even loves Star Wars (he says Darth Vader in a very funny gravelly voice). He has never seen the movies but his cousins gave him some cartoon type bath toys and he loves them. We are reading several books on astronomy from the library (over and over)- we look at the stars every night- I am only allowed to sing "star songs"-He points star shapes out to me all the time, on packages in the grocery store- on clothing- the button eyes of a rag doll at the dentists office. The funniest this week was when he found a TV Guide with Star Wars on the cover. He now sleeps with it. I hear him flipping pages in the dark. When he tries to get in our bed in the middle of the night he brings it with him. Today a little Darth Vader and a gorilla the same size have been flying around our living room "in the star sky". I am loving this phase!

3. Beckett is getting happier ( I think- I hope I am not just deluding myself) and wonder of wonders he pooped yesterday! All by himself!!! This is the first in months. So you can see why he is a cranky Gus.

4. My sisters- all of them physical and spiritual. I so need them and depend on our long phone calls and knowing they understand.

5. My House! We own a house. What an amazing feeling. So even though it looks like a tornado hit (I did work the last two days) I love it. And it will be clean before the in-laws come tomorrow to watch the BYU/UCLA game.

So I am grateful, and it kills me that I can't seem to express the way I feel in the right words. All the words seem so hollow and small compared to the feelings in my heart. So I hope at least you can feel the spirit of the message. Despite all the heartache- my "quality of life" is great. I am trying to take the time to feel the joy, the wet baby kisses, to enjoy the slow dancing in the kitchen with my great guy. I hope you do too.

FHE Poems

In my dad's personal history writing this week we were given a little assignment to write a little poem describing ourselves. So I twisted arms and made my family write these little poems for FHE. This was the first time we tried to do something that lasted longer than 30 seconds for FHE. There was mixed results. Coen was involved most of the time- but my couch and kitchen table were colored all over. (All is cleaned and okay now- I love micro fiber). So here are our little poems (based on a school assignment Anna got in 5th grade).

Polly
friendly, loving, happy, exhausted
Wife of Alma
Lover of cuddling, my boys, and books
Who feels tired, over loved, joy
Who needs support (thank goodness for Alma and my bath time), books, and girlfriends
Who gives love, home cooked meals, and countless storybook reading hours
Who fears losing a loved one, losing our livelihood, the day my boys don't want to cuddle
Who would like to travel the world with Alma, scrapbook uninterrupted with my sisters, and see my boys living good righteous lives.
Resident of Nevada City Red Dog RD.
Clove

Alma
Happy, hater of such activities, tired, couch potato
Husband of Polly
Lover of basketball, football, Polly
Who feels tired, warn out, happy
Who needs sweet lovin', sleep, and more sweet lovin'
Who gives kisses, hugs, and time
Who fears 3 nice things, not being financially sound, and enduring to the end
Who would like to travel the world in style with my Honey, retire early, eat cookies
Resident of Nevada City Red Dog Rd
Clove

Coen
busy, smart, agile, active
Brother of Beckett
Lover of stars, tractors, and grandpa
Who feels frustration (he's 2 it is time to push against boundaries), joy, curiosity
Who needs hugs, naps, and snacks
Who gives wet kisses, zurberts, and lots of love
Who fears no mommy, big dogs, and tomatoes
Who would like to climb high, drive tractors, eat "i ceam"
resident of Nevada City Red Dog Rd
Clove

Beckett
crier, eater, sleeper, cutest baby on earth
Brother of Coen
Lover of milk, naps, and being carried around endlessly
Who feels love (mommy hopes), hunger, pain (poor little tummy)
Who needs "mama's milk", attention, and more attention
Who gives sleepless nights, big smiles, and splitting headaches
Who fears no more ninnies (Alma's word for nursing), being left alone, and pooping
Who would like to eat, laugh, and poop and toot without pain
Resident of Nevada City Red Dog Rd
Clove

A few notes- You can probably tell we are the parents of a fussy newborn and exhaustion is a strong theme. I asked Alma about the enduring to the end bit and he said "well doesn't that just sound bad". No book ends with "and they endured to the end". The opposite of they lived happily ever after, in his opinion. My bath time refers to how Alma watches the boys every night after dinner while I get to take a bath and read my book. It is my me time- my time off and Alma is great never to complain when he worked all day as well. In fact he gets annoyed when I ask if it is okay for me to escape- he feels like I should just go and there is no need to ask- it is his job to play with boys at night. I think that is pretty suportive.

The other big news of the day- I finally got a double stroller and already love it! Now we can go to the library with out Coen running out into the street or unshelving as many books as he can. Unfortunately the library with the best story time for toddlers (imagine story time in NC- it is great! lots of hippies -babies with dreadlocks-and some nannies-babies in rocker wear and fairy wings- and me- a very funny group!) is an old historic building with no elevators. But there is the best librarian who will run upstairs and get any books I am interested in and bring them back down. She is a hero and I LOVE her. Only some one who has ever tried to drag two kids up a set of very steep old rickety stairs and find several books all the while keeping a 2 year old out of the shelves will understand what a saint this women is.

Is This Motherhood

So here it is 10pm- I'm exhausted. I haven't slept more than 5 hours in what seems like eternity. And yet both boys are finally down- as is Alma and I want to do somethong for me- like scrapbook or read ir just something quiet without someone hanging on me or getting into something. But too tired to read- and too exhausted to be creative. So this is all I am capable of doing. Whaaa Whine Mope.

Tomorrow I am going to feel awful for complaining about my boys. But tonight all that matters is that I hurt- I feel like I am going to colapse -and its time to fall asleep.

Will write tomorrow the nice things about my cute little family- like when Coen kissed Beckett all over with his chocolate face and the baby got covered in Chocolate goo. So cute, but messy.

I wish good sleep to all-

How to view the following

Well I worked really hard on these- way too late for a girl who has work tomorrow. I don't know why they aren't showing (email into the website checking on it.) In the mean time if you click on the view full size thingy it will take you to the website and you can see my handy work there. Both scrapblogs have three pages. I love how Beckett's turned out.

A Tour of our New House

Well I can't figure out how to cut and paste and I didn't know it would go backwards so this is all wack-a-doodle (holla out to M. T. and A. my sisterlicousness). But this is our living room. please try to ignore the toys and they are no longer there. We plan on hanging my tapestry above the couch and no idea what to put above the fireplace. This is our HT, family prayer and time out room. It is also the LIBRARY and Coen spends hours in his corner looking at his books.

Our amazing kitchen. This is what sold the house for me. I love it all. This makes it look smaller than it is.This is the family room from the kitchen. Notice our giant bed couch and the huge TV. We want to take out the wood stove, but are making sure we don't need it to heat this room first.

And here is the start of the tour--
Last night I started to do the tour, but decided I didn't like the pictures (taken in a rush right before choir practice). But today I don't want to bother with taking any more so here it is. This is the front of our house. There are 3 redwoods and a sycamore in the front so lots of shade. This is my spot to garden since I am not allowed to mess with the lawn in the back. I have a lot to learn about shade garden. At least all my hydrangeas will finally get a permanent home and they will love all the shade.
Our front door with the sad little hydrangea that was here already. Mine look much better.
Well I have tried to upload the rest of the pictures to no avail, so I will have to try and finish this tomorrow as it is late, and I am covered in breastmilk.

Welcome to the World Beckett Dieter Clove

I am finally posting after a four month break!!!!!! This is one of the things abandoned in the hurricane of new baby/new house. But the winds are starting to settle down, the flood waters have started to recede and I am returning to regular life.

We are pleased to introduce Beckett Dieter Clove to everyone. He was born May 2nd. He looks like a Clove version of Coen. He has been a joy to have in our home. When he isn't crying, which is about 12 hours a day. He is a champion eater (my mom nicknamed him Dieter the Eater), he takes great naps, and he has a wonderful smile, so that makes up a little for the incessant crying.

Coen loves him and constantly wants to play with him. This week Coen was giving him zerburts on his tummy when Beckett grabed his hair. "He got me mama he got me!!" He tried all afternoon to get Beckett to do it again. I just love watching them together.