Mr. Story Teller

When I was in High School I loved being involved with the drama program. I was pretty good at a certain competition group called Story Telling. You would draw a story out of a hat, have 2 minutes to prepare and then retell that story in your own way, trying hard not to stray from the actual story line, but put your own spin on it as well. Acting out characters, crawling on the floor, and making big facial expressions and voices. Yeah, right up my alley. Point of this story about my long ago past is that my little Beck seems to be headed down the same road. I was taking him and his cousin Ashton to the Dollar Store to pick up some birthday supplies for his birthday in a bit and I told the boys they could for sure pick out a prize. This is what I heard.... Beck: "If we can get a real reindeer, we can go in the sled and go way up in the sky and go to Heaven and talk to Jesus and say, "Hey Jesus!"

Beck and Break dancing

So, I know my Beck is only 3, he will be 4 in two weeks, but I have been starting to think about what activities to put him in. I'd really like him to choose just one thing, but do I really have to put him in everything to find out what that one thing is? I loved all the things that I did growing up, for posterity sake: dancing, gymnastics here and there, drama, speech, Business Professionals, 4-H, violin... but I don't wanna run him everywhere and drop him off and eat in the car so much, I want him home for dinner when he's big, is there any hope? He used to kind of like gymnastics, but lately has not been wanting to come to class at all while I teach Hot Shots. Chalk it up to me being the teacher and him just being there at the gym/school too much. He has always been a dancer, we dance in the kitchen, we play freeze dance. The kids hear Miley Cyrus from my blog and they start shaking it! A break dancing group started teaching classes down at the gym like 2 weeks ago and I decided to put Beck in it. Just to see.Well, for the first week; he likes it, a lot.... I was teaching gym during the last bit of it, so I missed his free style, but the other ladies in there said Beck was rocking it! We'll see how long it lasts, but for the time being it is pretty darn cute!

wow... I have learned a lot in the last few days! Don't try and copy thousands of pictures, even if they do all make it to the DVD. I spent hours yesterday trying to organize them on my computer and about half of them have faint green lines going through them. I am guessing the machine got tired of all the pictures I was trying to scan. I got about 2500 done and I still need to do 1/4 of a box and 2 other whole boxes, but I am going to hold off on those 2 boxes, I have been ignoring my family too much the last few days and frankly, I am just sick of standing at Wal-Mart feeding pictures through a machine! Ha! I am going to go back and do the 1/4 of the box, so then I will know that that box is all done. I am hoping it is only about 500 pics...
I have also learned this week that stain over the top of paint takes FOREVER to dry! Last week I painted my kitchen table and stools and benches, well, Tiffanni ad Stephen did most of it, while I painted a cabinet turquoise, but anyways we had people over on Friday and some had to sit on the floor in the living room because my table and benches and stools aren't dry yet!!!

I was so super excited about this "rapid scanner" that I saw some guy using at Wal-Mart the other day.... I have been talking about it for days. I lined up a babysitter for today just to go down and start scanning pictures from 2003 and before and all the pictures in my mom's first scrapbook. I actually had an hour yesterday after jury duty and started then. I scanned a shoebox and a 1/4 in an hour and a half yesterday and then 3 more hours and 2 more shoeboxes today. There are 2 machines that are exactly the same, but on one you have to hit "deselect" so that it doesn't print out all 1,000 pictures and just puts them on a cd instead, because that is what I want to do to get them all on my computer.
So I am happily scanning away, stopping every once in a while to help other people figure out the other machine, 11:00 this morning rolls around and 5,000 scanned pictures later, I realize that by hitting deselect on the 2nd machine it deselects all the pictures from the cd too. I had made 7 cds altogether and they had no pictures on them.... I cried, I cried really hard.....
And yes, I am going to go down and try it all again tomorrow. Now if my posterity claims that I didn't do anything for them I am going to haunt them from my grave.....

I love where I live....
I get to look outside and see this sometimes...

That being said, let's get into the randomness of this post... I meet my sister-in-law in Warden (15 minutes both ways) 3 times a week to switch kids, she watches my Paisley as I take her son to school with me. We meet at a gas station and buy corn dog or burritos from the same lady everyday and I don't think she has ever smiled back at me, bless her heart!
I am a packer, not the "Master Packer" like Seinfeld was, but a packer. I seem to always overpack, but I tend to have things that people need at random moments; band aids, fruit leathers, extra underwear.... This is what the front seat of my car looks like on school/gym days. My Mountain Dew, Paisley's sippy, gym bag, camera, school bag, Paisley's bag, Beck's bag, and sometimes a deep fryer and other random thing for school that day. And yes, I always have that many pens in my car... at all times...

And this is usually what Paisley and Beck look like by the time I get to Warden.

Stephen's parents are on their mission in NY and we got a fun package from them the other day. They sent all the grand kids hats and the "babies" got an outfit, so here are my kids modeling their new duds. Thank you Elder and Sister Ashton!!! We love you!!!
My son, so an angel, at least in my eyes. Actually he is somewhat of a bully. A cute bully, but still a bully. I think that it is to make up for his lack of size??? This is a picture I made him draw for his friend Colin at school because he pushed him and then proceeded to take away his toy. I wrote the word "sorry" and then he traced and drew Colin as a stick figure and that big scribble picture is his "anger" he said. I actually decided to keep the picture after he showed it to Colin and gave him a hug because a) it was his first stick figure ever that he drew all my himself and b) I do things like that, keep stuff I am super proud of.

Which brings me to this:

You see that little "B" right over the Jr Fish meal on this iHop menu? Yeah, my son drew that back in October while we were in Utah. You should have seen how proud he was. "Mom!! That is like my name!" I was beaming. Now I know there are kids out there that are three and write their whole name and other wonderful things, but don't burst my bubble, I was a super proud mommy!

So even though my son is somewhat of a "talented" bully, he still got to give his first talk in Primary this past Sunday.

There's his name that I circled on the newsletter and he actually gave his talk right off of the newsletter. He said the first Article of Faith. He remembered the "Eternal Father" part, but I obviously whispered the rest in his ear.

Here's the kid on his big day of his first talk right before we headed to church.

And then here's proud baby sister...

And then to end all the randomness a picture of Beck and Ashton and the fun that they have and the mess that Stephen makes letting them have fun in my bathtub..... ;)

Stubborn Gal

$25 later, I get the reaffirmation that I could never do life alone and that my hubby is a hero!

I am kind of like my late Grandpa Beck, I pride myself with having banked at the same bank since I was 14 years old and received my first pay check from a job. KeyBank is my friend. Jr High, High School, College, early married years.... KeyBank was there with their free checking, although I never used checks, free debit card. And even when I went in bawling with a baby Beck asleep in my arms, after an embarrassing trip to Wal-Mart, 3 years ago because of fraudulent activity on my card creating $300 in Over Draft fees and a denied debit card, the nice man at KeyBank was there to calm me and assure me that all that would be reversed and I could have my money back. KeyBank loves me and my never having an OD charge. So yesterday Stephen brought home an invite from Chase bank that he received in the mail to open up a checking account with them and get $100 free! I thought for a minute, no way could I sell myself out of my beloved KeyBank, even though the teller still never recognizes me and I've been banking there 6 years, for a mere 100 bucks. But then Stephen said I could spend it however I wanted if I decided to do it. So I slept on it and me and Paisley packed up in the morning and headed to the bank.
The gal at Chase was so nice. I had to have Stephen on the account with me because the invite was sent in his name, but we decided to open the account anyway and he could come and sign it tomorrow and I could collect my $100. Then I signed away and decided to ask what happens if I decide to close the account? "Oh, well, there would be a $25 penalty." Oh, okay... and any other restrictions? "yes, you need to use your debit card at least 5 times a month."
Hmmm.... crap....
So I left the bank feeling all anxiety ridden and then Stephen returned my call telling me NOT to sign up for it, especially when I wouldn't remember to use the debit card 5 times a month, or I'd get a $6 charge and he didn't want to be on my account any way because I don't have any money. LOL ;) Great, I told him that I'd already done it and he said that I needed to go back and cancel it because I would rack up the $25 cancellation fee in a few months anyway. So me and Paisley returned to the bank for the umpteenth time today and sat and waited for maybe 30 minutes and gave her my $25 bucks and canceled the whole thing. It was my own fault, I signed the paper, I am the one that doesn't know anything about finances, I raise babies and teach 3 year olds.... I left feeling relieved and upset at the same time. Relieved that I didn't have to worry about how many times I used my debit card and relieved to not have to change all my PayPal, Ebay, Wal-mart on-line photo lab payment card info, but upset that for the first time in my life I had given the bank unnecessary money. So pretty much my first Over Draft fee that was not really an OD fee, but a cancellation fee but same sort of "crap, that was money that I could have spent, but wasted instead fee." It is an awful feeling. But then I saved $15 on a cute dress from Maurices, so maybe I only wasted $10 today right???? But really, this is what I get for trying to turn my back on my beloved KeyBank, I get you Grandpa Beck, stubborn old thing that he was, he never turned his back on his bank, and I won't ever try to again!

My hubby just called... he called the manager at Chase Bank and after Tuesday if I go in and talk to Theresa I can get my $25 back! Whoo hoo! And once again, hubby saves the day.....

I'm OLD

Beck was playing with some old insurance cards that I had written "play cards" on that were in his "play office" tub. He wanted to know if he could use them at the store. I explained to him that they are old cards and we don't use them anymore, so they were pretend....
Beck: "But I am not old, you are old mom, and so is dad."
Me: "Oh, really? So how old am I?"
Beck: "15."

Not bad, Beck, not bad.....

The Jr High called, they want your attitude back....

New Years and Family visits

On the 31st we got an awesome snow fall and Beck was in heaven making snow angels and the next day sledding and making a snowman which he pushed off the back of our lot. My parents, and my two sisters, Jakobi and Britni, came with their families to celebrate the New year with us. The kids kept busy playing RockBand and jumping on the trampoline in the garage. And yes, we have a tent set up in our basement because well, we are just that cool. :)

We celebrated Bransons's (Jan 12th) and Alizah's (Dec 31st) birthdays the night of the 31st after a very long day of playing. And that night was the AIM all nighter down at our gymnastics center. The kids that signed up got picked up by a limo which I think was their most favorite part. Some of my nieces and nephews came from Othello to take part in the festivities as well. My sister, Kortni (coordinator extraordinaire) and her husband drove and rode in the limo with the kids. They had to make a bunch of stops and drop offs till all the kids were safely at the gym.

This is a picture right before the New Year with all the kids that stayed the night with us. Over 40 kids running around like hamsters and hyenas all night. 15 of them made it all night with me and we had activities planned on the hour with pizza and junk food and Mountain Dew for me. I stole 2 hours and worked on a scrap booked advent calendar with my sister-in-law, Tiffanni, that stayed and was such an awesome help with all the crazy kids. My niece, Marinda, and Paisley ringing in the New Year. Paisley stayed up til 2:30 in the morning! And yes, that is a brand new wound on her lip. She fell off a chair and bit her lip right before everyone came while I was trying to set up.

Beck wasn't much of a fan with all the loud "Happy New Years" but he was a trooper and made it past 1 AM. I laid him down in his sleeping bag in front of some kids playing Star Wars and the Wii and he was so content and happy and fell asleep right there. Just a pic of the wee hours of the morning when there were only a few of us left standing. Parents came to get their kids about 8:00 in the morning and I was at home in bed sleeping for a good five hours by 10:00 AM thanks to a very helpful husband that took my kids sledding outside and built a snowman. It reminded me of when I used to work the graveyard shift at a gas station Subway after I graduated from high school. Yeah, it sucked. ;)

New Years Day was filled with me sleeping, then after about 4 PM the festivities began again. We had a pinata at our house and we opened presents that the kid cousins had done an exchange for.

Paisley was so excited to get a baby doll with LOTS of baby doll "stuff," tha girl got spoiled, she opened up like 5 more presents from people, on top of Christmas we already had! Beck got more Transformers and a sleeping bag that he has slept in EVERY night since. Which is actually very helpful tonight since I don't have his bed sheets back on his bed from the visitors that we had yet! We got some spending money from Grandma Mimi too, which we quickly put into our "save for New York" trip jar. Thank you Grandma Mimi, Maimi Dawn, and Papa Goose! And cousins, and siblings! We definitely got spoiled this Christmas with a new purse, shoes, quilt batting, baby dolls, Transformers, you name it!

On Saturday some of us adults took all the kids ice skating here in Moses Lake. Left-Right: Justin, Hanna, Alizah, Piper, Bridger, Branson, and Beck. Paisley was bundled up asleep in my arms, and Jax and Lizie were asleep in the car with Jakobi and Chad. That night the girls (minus Kortni who dogged us for a different movie) went and saw New Moon again. Didn't think it could get any better, but I actually enjoyed it MORE the second time around... Can't wait til it comes out on DVD.

My mom with Alizah and Branson.
Me and Paisley watching from the side lines...

Stephen being so patient with Beck. The only other time he has been ice skating is when he was like 6 months old and all I did was carry him around on the ice of course. Stephen and his poor aching back all bent over like that for at least 45 minutes straight.Beck didn't LOVE it, but he tried to smile for me as I took pictures.

I had to include this picture because as much as I love my daughter this face that she does drives me nuts. She sticks her tongue out and then starts acting all weird and "baby" like. I know that I still consider her a baby, but she is almost two and when she does this face it makes me think of a 5 year old trying to act like a baby. But really she is just a baby acting like a baby right? :)

This is my parents and my little brother Justin taking off this morning. Beck kind of has an obsession with Justin. Ever since he watching him play Lego Star Wars for like 2 hours on the Playstation when we were Burley back in September. He associates the game with Justin and is always asking when he is coming to visit and he wants to watch him play. I keep telling him when he is 8 or 9 years old he can play video games like Justin, so now he tells me he is 15. Also today was a big day because Beck "graduated" from the nursery into the Primary. He was a pretty old 3 year old since he will be 4 in February, so it seemed like he should be way ready. (I hear through the grapevine that Paisley was NOT ready to let her brother leave her in the nursery and was a bit upset when she realized that he was not there)

At first he walked into the big Primary room like it was nothing. Before hand I had given him a fruit by the foot to keep his mouth busy because he tends to shove the whole thing in there. He lasted about an hour before they came and got me out of Relief Society. Then I sat in his class with him for a bit then I got called down to Nursery to change Pais's stinky bum, so Stephen said he'd sit with him for a bit. Turns out Stephen told him to be good and left him in there and the kid stayed the rest of the time happy as a lark. I got a sneak peak of someone other than me teaching my kids as I sat in there with him for a bit. He was all in her face and wanting to help. His teacher will be amazing and sings beautifully. I hope he doesn't kick her in the shins one day....