Strep throat... Kill Me now... Seriously, I ain't gonna make
It.

I haven't had an accident or ticket since my Jr year in high school (it helps that my license was suspended my senior year!) My dad had asked me to go pick up my sister, Jakobi, from work in town during the summer. He told me to take an old farm truck. I argued that it didn't have a license plate and he told me to get going. I safely made it to pick up my sister at the snowcone shack, but then on the way home I got pulled over. No plates, therefore no tabs, no insurance, I had been working in the yard in my swim suit, so I wasn't carrying my license either.... As I was pulling away to "drive straight home" he yelled at me to put my seatbelt on and I calmly informed the police office that the seat belts didn't work.... So with all those thing missing I lost my license for a year. Luckily the wonderful grandpa Beck has some pull in good ol Cassia County and I got it back in 6 months. Anyways....
So yes, I've been pulled over for minor infractions, about once a year actually, knock on wood. The last major accident was my Jr year in high school when I hit a shitzu dog (yes those tiny little things) rolled my car, killed the dog, and took out a fence. So I have been clean forever!!!! Until Friday afternoon...
My sister, Kortni, let me borrow her old car to go pick up some nieces and nephews from Othello who were staying the weekend because my Blazer only fits 3 people. I dropped her off at her car at the car dealership (it was getting worked on) and slowly proceeded to back out. Needless to say, as careful as I was, my kids' car seats and the dry cleaning was lined up just perfectly with the ginormous bright yellow concrete pole that I did not see. Dang it. Perfectly good record ruined. My sister was quite nice about it, bless her heart.

And we are still doing soccer... Paisley's red little nose and cheeks, cause baby, it's cold outside!

My soccer stud...

Beck and his awesome coach and fun team after yelling their cheer, "Greece Lightning!" Each team is named after a country and they just happen to be Greece.

Can you believe it?!?!?! I can't! and neither could Beck! He was in the right place at the right time. The ball ended up in front of him and he just reached out kicked it. (maybe it ricocheted off his legs?) but it went in and the crowd went wild and mama went crazy!!! (Poor Stephen was in California and missed it, but I got the pic to prove it, even if you can't really tell that he kicked it in!)

Beck and his soccer coach, Josh, who is his friend Jackson's dad....

Beck at his first soccer game of the season.... freezing.

and he kicked the ball!! A huge improvement from the Fall season!

My beautiful babies. Beck 5 years old and Paisley 2. We had Beck's yearly physical exam last week and he weighed 36.8 lbs and was 40.25 inches tall.

And Paisley turns 3 in a little over 2 weeks!

And here is Beck with his team doing what Beck does best... hanging and jumping all over his team mates. Luckily he's small and they just kind of tolerate him.

Spring soccer is here and it feels like Winter soccer. When we did Fall soccer I swore that I was DONE with soccer, but Stephen said I had to buck it up and try it again... Beck does a lot better, still goofs around a lot, but definitely not as much as in the Fall. For one he stays on his feet more than falling down to make people laugh and for me, that is a major improvement. But we are really just getting started and as much as I love watching my little boy, I really am counting the days until it's over...

So this is my beautiful/goofy niece Hanna Nelson. She thinks she's super funny... She kind of is ;) I took her with me to Wenatchee with my friend Jade and her daughter as well to a "Momtography" class where we learned how to use our camera and such. It was super informative and a fun day and when I got home I still had a little left in me to play in Photoshop for a minute.

I have always been interested in taking good pictures. I don't need to be a professional, but if I am saving them forever they better look good right? Stephen got me my much coveted AWESOME Canon t2i camera for Christmas and I had a bunch of fun in New York messing around with the settings and trying to figure it all out. Let me tell you, photographers are smart. This stuff is confusing.... Serious. Wish me luck on this new endeavor... well, that and couponing. Geez, now THAT'S time consuming! When I get my new sewing machine I don't think I will still have time for all this, but until then I'm saving money with coupons and laying in the dirt to get the perfect picture!

This is Big Cat. We have had him for 3 years and he is an almost $1,000 cat. Beck first named him Patrick, then Chancho, then Racer, T Rex, Racer Rex, and it is now Big Cat. And it fits him quite well as he weighs almost 11 lbs. When we got "White Cat" who Beck thinks his name is Blue Man, but he always calls him White Cat, he was just a baby and so small, so next to white cat, big cat looked huge, hence what Beck calls him now. I blogged about how last year Big Cat cost us $400 because as Stephen (bless his heart) was starting the truck at 3 in the morning to go black Friday shopping Big Cats tail was chopped off and it was hanging by a "thread" so after surgery, he has a funny looking tail now. Normally I would just put an animal down, I mean $400?!?! But when you take an animal to the vet, bless their hearts, they are great people, but they give you this look like, "is there really an amount that is too much?" and then Big Cat looks over with these big ol eyes and it's done, credit card is passed over and it's charged.... I believe this is why Stephen never volunteers to take animals to the vet, he knows that he is just as big of a pushover. Anyways back to about a week ago. Big Cat came home and was laying on our bed (yes, I have since washed the bedding) and kept licking at a spot on his leg/rump by his tail. I just thought he was cleaning himself up, then he wouldn't come inside. Just sat on the porch and would run away when I tried to pick him up. Then I noticed a bare patch and blood and after cornering him in the garage I got him in his carrier
(he was pissed to say the least) and to the vet. $300... Sign here... Dang. I've given in again. It was a bite of some sort, snake, other cat, who knows, and he had licked all the hair off and it was super absessed. Just what you wanted to hear right? An over night stay, put under, surgery, a "stint" placed under stitches, pain killers given twice a day, an antibiotic, and I gotta flush the wound/surgery site twice a day too?!?! Yikes. Good thing this stuff is interesting to me and doesn't gross me out!


Big Cats wound before vet...


And after. Close your eyes if you are faint hearted.... I'm
Serious. It ain't pretty.


That's his tail!!! Weird huh! Now posterity will know of my love for animals I guess. :)

Beck and Paisley wanted me to dance after dinner in the kitchen, but I said I didn't want to because daddy will laugh at me...
Beck said, "he will laugh, but he will not laugh at YOU, only if he points right at you and laughs, then he's laughing at you..."


Such a smart little bugger... ;)