Faces of the car...

Apr 29, 2011

On our way home from church every week Scarlett has a brief freakout session. We leave right during her nap time so she has to get those final bursts of energy out before totally crashing.

We try our best to keep her awake during the car ride so Chris will often bark out loud to get Scarlett to bark in return. "Woof, woof" is one of her favorite phrases and usually this will keep her occupied for the 20 minute ride home .

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Fabric soccer ball...

Apr 27, 2011

Anna Horners "Seams To Me" sewing manual...this thing is amazing.  (Joana...thanks for letting me borrow it two years ago...I promise I will remember to return it soon).

I made this fabric soccer ball for a friend with twins.  I figured the two boys will eventually kick it around the house together but for now they can just pass it back and forth and cover it in drool.

Scarlett and Chris had to get in on the ball making action too...this is a fun and super easy afternoon project that I definitely recommend. I think I am going to get some scraps together and make one for Scarlett.  I will let you know how it turns out. 

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Disneyland...

Apr 26, 2011

One of the perks of living in Southern California is Disneyland. I LOVE Disneyland. I love the lights, I love the magic of main street, I love going in the fall on a weeknight and having free reign of the park, or getting a cup of hot chocolate and watching the fireworks. I seriously LOVE it!!!

Chris and I stopped getting a yearly pass a couple of years ago, one for cost, two because we were having a baby wouldn't have time or energy to take her and she can't really enjoy the experience anyway and three, Chris doesn't really care for Disneyland. Number one was my reason, two and three were all Chris. Babies can totally enjoy Disneyland. Right?

Well my mom and dad do have passes and my mom has been apprehensive about taking her on her own, carrying the stroller through the park, and chasing down a runaway toddler all day. So when my dad was on spring break they both jumped at the chance to introduce Scarlett to the magic of Disney...and she liked it. Disneyland passes for Christmas anyone?

P.S. Scarlett looks EXACTLY like my mom. Crazy! 




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Easter day...

This year Easter was surprisingly restful. Church in the morning, breakfast with my family and dinner with Chris's....and my sister got baptized. Congrats Breanna!

Chris's sister is AWESOME and put together an Easter egg hunt and brought sweet Easter baskets ("hunt" for the baskets included) for all of the cousins.

Thank you Kim for creating such a special memory for everyone. Good thing we took enough pictures to capture every moment possible so Scarlett can look back on this Easter and say "I dont remember that".

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Movie Monday...

Apr 25, 2011

I found some fun hidden videos while flipping through the photos on my moms iphone.  Great Movie Monday material...here is the first one.

Scarlett LOVES Dexter (my parents Chihuahua) and she could spend all day (if we let her) chasing him down and feeding him one doggy bite at a time.






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He is risen...

Apr 24, 2011

Happy Easter from the Bechers!

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Crafty days...

Apr 23, 2011

I can not wait for the summer when Chris is home all day and I can convince him that I NEED to craft the day away. I have been jamming most of my crafts into the quite hours when Scarlett goes to sleep and when I finally look at the clock and realize I NEED to go to sleep. But yesterday Chris was home on spring break and I started cramming early.

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Growth Chart - inspiration found here
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Fabric scrap lamp shade - inspiration found here
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Cute little jumper - made using a McCall's pattern

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Daddys little helper...

Apr 22, 2011

The shower is almost done...finally! My dear husband sat with a screwdriver for hours yesterday scrapping and preparing the tile for grouting. Scarlett couldn't help but lend a hand as she heard Chris grunting and groaning about how much this job totally sucked.

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Four leaf clovers...

Apr 21, 2011

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We stepped outside last weekend to soak up the sun and let Scarlett go wild.  This was the first time Chris and I really felt like we could let her run free.  She wasn't focused on the kidney bean shaped pool glistening in the sunlight calling for her to jump in, she wanted to climb trees, pick flowers and grab clumps of dirt.  We were able to relax instead of watching over her, constantly pulling her away from the freezing water.  I laid there with my eyes closed, smiling at the sounds of Scarlett's laughter, the pitter patter of her feet on the cement.  This is it, this is our life, this is good.  Mom, dad and toddler.

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Scarlett eventually ran to the front door and asked to go inside, Chris swept her up and left me sitting in silence.  I grabbed my camera and captured the beauty of spring.  I bent down and saw clovers intermingled with blades of grass.  More clovers than grass.  There were tiny yellow and purple flowers, flecks of color in the sea of green.
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Out of instinct I scanned the clovers for one with four leaves.  I flashed back to elementary school, spending spring days sitting in the grassy field with a circle of girls making crowns from wildflowers and searching for a lucky four leaf clover.  That was it, that was life and that was good.

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Clogs...

Apr 20, 2011

Chris is on spring break this week so he brought me lunch at work today. A perfect little mid morning visit from my favorites.

And Scarlett broke into PaPa's office and found these.




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Blog club...

Like a book club for blogs.  Here are my fellow club members.

Drama Queen Seams
The Homemade Life
The Rod Squad
Sonias Wonder World
Homegrown Hospitality

What I love about this is they (the creators of the blog club) set everyone up with a group of blog members that write or keep blogs that are very different from each other.  It expands the blog reading horizon. If you are interested in getting feedback, meeting people or just stretching your blog knowledge then you should check it out (click the blog club button above).


Also, vote for us by clicking the button below...two easy clicks to vote.  Thanks!

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All in a days cycle...

I have noticed when I spend all day with Scarlett, we go through cycles.

She wakes up in the morning  happy to see me and I am as equally happy to see her good morning face and sleepy eyes.  We get dressed and happy quickly turns to sad.  She brings me the remote to the TV and says "TB" and we watch an episode of Clifford together and she is happy again.  I turn off the TV and tell her it is time to eat breakfast and she shakes her head wiggles her little body and says "no, no, no" in a pleading matter.  I try to teach her to say "yes" and the "no's" only get louder and more furious as we move closer to the breakfast table.  "No" quickly turns into cries as I set her in her chair with a banana, she throws her food on the floor and gives me the sign for "all done".  I say "one more bite" and she shakes her head.  We spend the next half hour fighting over food and the second I give in and let her feet touch the ground she is off to play with a smile.  She plays, she laughs, she hugs, she dances and the morning is gone.  I give her her nap time bottle (yes we are still on the bottle...I know, I know...I just cherish those five silent cuddle time minutes so much), she falls asleep in my arms, wakes up in two hours and we start the cycle all over again until bed time.

I love stay at home days. Sometimes I am overwhelmed by them, but on those days, we break up the cycle with a trip to the park, an art project or a romp in the grassy hill in front of our house.

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But the cycle still continues, she laughs, she cries, she says no, she sleeps, she smiles, again and again.  Perfection.

Supper Club Numero Dos

Apr 19, 2011

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Chris and I are part of a  hoity-toity supper club.  There are five couples and many rules.  Formal attire, five course minimum, all food and ingredients must be handmade from scratch, dinner must have a theme and food must challenge the guests pallet and senses. We have enjoyed themes ranging from a Greek feast, a Medieval Christmas, preservation methods, sacred sandwiches, and soul food (food that incorporated the progression of the soul from the Garden of Eden to Eros).  Each couple prepares their meal once a year for the other four couples.  The host's prepare the food, the guests bring the wine.  We love dressing up, we love eating great food that challenges our taste buds, and we love preparing an over the top meal  for our friends. 

Last year our theme was hunter/gatherer.  Chris caught or shot all of our protein and we picked all of our vegetables and fruit from a local farm.  This year we decided to push ourselves a little further and chose a simple theme with challenging recipes.

Our theme was stuffed foods...and here was our menu:


Cocktail hour -

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Appetizer Course -
Egg shell layered with scrambled egg whites, creme fraiche, cured ham, egg yolk, and topped with a truffle white fish caviar.

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Salad Course -
Avacado skinned and stuffed with grapefruit, blood oranges, radish strings, candied pecans and smoked salmon. Tossed in a homemade red wine vinaigrette dressing.

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Soup Course -
Handmade shrimp and coconut stuffed won-ton served under a chilled carrot, coconut, curry soup.

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Fish Course - 
Stuffed salt crusted sea bass served with an ice wine nage

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Main Course- 
Bone in pork loin stuffed with currants, pine nuts, parmesan cheese and sage.  Served atop a creamy cauliflower puree and sauteed asparagus spears.

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Dessert - (sadly no pictures were taken of this course)
Stuffed french toast - challah bread sliced and stuffed with dried cherries (reconstituted in grand mariner and orange juice), bananas and cinnamon. Fried in a grand mariner vanilla batter, topped with a dark chocolate ganache, sprinkled with powder sugar and served with a dollop of homemade orange butter.

It was the most effort we have put into a meal in our entire lives but a good dinner was shared and enjoyed by all...and we are already in the planning stages for this years festivities.

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A Little Lady

Apr 17, 2011


I'm sure I'm not the only dad that thinks about it, but I can't take more than three looks at my daughter without wondering what kind of woman she's becoming. Most of the time I'm left to my romantic musings about how classy, dignified and gracious she's going to be. But every now and again I get a glimpse at what that face is going to look like. The focused eyes, pursed lips, flowing hair. It's strange how the future can find a place in the present.

I took this picture of Scarlett this afternoon and as soon as I looked at it, I saw the future. I think it's her bangs. The intentional look as the sweep her forehead. It could also be the fact that her cheeks aren't all that fat. She has a balanced little face for a baby. Almost too adult looking. Anyway, one look at this picture and I kind of freaked out. Scarlett has a future. God willing, a really beautiful future. One of love, grace and satisfaction. Think I caught a glimpse of that in her face this afternoon. One day she won't be such a little girl.

Birds nest craft...

Sunday Chris was working on the shower (almost finished...yay) and I had to think of something to keep Scarlett entertained.  I dug deep into my memory and pulled out this little spring themed project.  Sadly, I dont remember where I saw it first...but here is my version.  I think next time I will shred the paper a little more so it looks like this...but this worked with tiny hands and a less glue.

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Birds nest bowl

What you need:
Glue (watered down)
paint brush or sponge brush
brown paper bag ripped into strips
bowl for mold
plastic wrap
chocolate eggs
Tiny helper with tiny hands that is ready to make a tiny mess

Set plastic wrap on table so paper doesn't get stuck to surface with drying
Take your bowl, turn upside down and wrap in another sheet of plastic wrap
Prepare your glue.  I used elmer's glue, and added a little bit of water

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Tear up paper bag (or whatever paper you are using) into strips.

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Start layering your strips onto the bowl and after each layer paint a layer of glue until the paper is soaked through.  Repeat until bowl is covered.

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Let it dry overnight, peel off the plastic wrap, and fill with tasty chocolate eggs.

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