A day with Beck and Piper

Pretty girl

must be one of those scary, grunge bands but I thought the name was funny...

guess who's 31?

Piper wouldn't let me take her picture...

yikes...who has the big face? (I need a tan and so does Piper)

P, drinking her "coffee" (aka hot chocolate)

Piper and her Birthday girl

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~~I had the pleasure of spending some time with Beck and Piper yesterday! We were clothing hunting...and of course, found nothing we liked...but it was fun all the same. Piper is a funny little chicklet...she comes by it honestly.

Unfortunately, my sister was sick but in good, birthday spirits. Hope you are feeling better, birthday girl!

It's always a good time with you girls.

WNTW and Saturdays

Have I mentioned how much I love this show?

Would someone nominate me, please?

I watched it this morning, and the girl reminded me of me. with less black in her wardrobe.

Mel and E. said they'd nominate me.

ok, just thought I'd add this! Hope your Saturday is rockin'!
I'm cleaning the house and heading to the YMCA for a Stability ball class with Mel, Beck and whoever else joins us. Phil (remember Heisman Trophy with Nora Phil?) is a Pilates instructor and he has graciously agreed to come to the southside Y to teach us! yah!

Tomorrow is my baby sister's birthday party...yah! I'll have more on that later. Maybe I'll take pix at our class today...

Does anyone enjoy this show as much as Mel and I do?

I know my mom gets a kick out of it...

I can feel a regular feature post brewing here...and I will be one of the main participants... "What I learned from Stacy and Clinton"...

What Not to Wear is my new favorite show...I do get aggravated because they always say "O.....Myy........Gawdddd" all the time, (Commandment #3...Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain)...but other than that, they are hilarious, and they actually seem to give a flip about the person they are helping...after making "fun" of them for a bit!

Though my style does not say so, I am actually learning a lot from these two fashionistas!

Maybe once I lose a bit more weight and can get some new clothing, I'll be presentable again. For the first time in um....15 years. (I mean, really, at the beginning of my demise, so to speak, I was still in the 90's...so big hair was still essentially "in")...

I would love to go on that show. that would be sooo cool.

Two, count 'em, 2 days till Becky turns 31! (man, she's old)

Beck and her sweet family...this is one of my favorite Piper pictures...you know why...so her mother's daughter.

whatta good momma

she's a good aunt...look at how eloquently she scares her niece...

when one tries to take a picture of this crazay cat, this is what ONE usually gets.

~Ok, so it might seem that I've let this blog go...and up, and forgot about my sister's birthday monthlong celebration. Beck, I celebrate you EVERYDAY! I do. As we approach this most hallowed of days, let us reflect on the continued Becky goodness we have been blessed with. I love you, crazy girl. for so many reasons but my fave one of late is looking over at you on the ellipticals, whilst we work out together, seeing you sweating it out, struggling thru this with me! Man, it just doesn't get any better! What do people do without sisters? I can't even take my mind there. ok well, sometimes I could...:) but then I quickly (oh so very quickly) turn it back to the thankfulness I have for God's gift of you in my life and in our family's life!

~Cheese done.

~Carry on...

~It's been a weird week...with me starting us out on the sick train, which is actually quite strange since I hardly EVER ever get sick...and granted, this is really nothing...if you can call a dripping eye socket and nose, sneezes to shame........things that sneeze alot....a cough that won't quit etc...nothing.

~Will inherited said sickness Sunday evening...we were planning to go downtown to take a carriage ride...nixed that. punk. and yes, it was cold, but that is why God invented blankets, neat-o hats that Grandpa so lovingly provided for his grandoffspring (thanks, I like my head cold)...so another day then...maybe in March....when it's a tad warmer...and horse dung is a little pungent. I dunno.

~E. and David are sick now and I think Molly was tempting it...but instead, she just got the whiny end of the deal that we usually leave all to her father when he's sick...

~on a serious note...Please pray for some fellow Christians tonight...we know them thru David's childhood church over in Illinois. This lovely lady, just 61, suffered a massive stroke this past Friday evening....and so we want to lift them up to the Lord in prayer...comfort, strength, peace that passes ALL understanding for the B. family. We are praying for you and our hearts are so heavy for all of you...David's family knows them quite well...Their married daughter was Emilie's tutor for a time...and E. said it so eloquently (yes, I like this word tonight) in our prayer time tonight..."You (speaking of Jesus Christ) were raised from the dead so you can help this lady out" (i.e.)

~here goes my shpeel...just a quick one...Grace. Show more grace. that is what God is putting in my lap right now. I'm one of the more ungraceful (physically and spiritually) people I've met...things keep "happening" in my life to remind me of this daily. so more on this later. Sorry Dad, for the blah blah blah...more tomorrow. you've been warned.

Love you my peeps. I do. I praise God for you......

Mom

Dad

Tom

Andy

Becky

David

Will

Ethan

Melanie

Levi

Molly

Duncan

Charlie

Piper

Phebe

Nora

Scott

Dawn

Laynee

Lanie

Taylor

Tambo

Tory

All my Facebook gals...you know who you are...

Barbara

Vicki

O man, I could keep going on this tonight...if I didn't put you, I love you too. you know I do. Agape.

This time last year

Brittany with my girls...

bug eyes was the theme of the evening...

one of my fave Molly pix...forgot how sweet and bug eyed she was! awww!

I put this pic on here because 1.) Molly's cute and 2.) what is David doing to his eye?

memories from Beck's 30th surprise party last year...

Kinda runnin' low on recent pix...so here are a few shots from this time last year.

this time last year was right around the time that we were getting ready to throw Beck's surprise party....man, that year flew by.

It's fun to see how little Molly and Nora were...

In other news, the weekend was uneventful...which is always fun when soccer is right around the corner....we'll take these slow poke days....

Friday night we ate food from our fave Chinese place, Egg Roll #1....and we watched City of Ember, based on a young adult fiction book...a good, clean movie...

I took Mel to Starbuck's yesterday..we enjoyed some girl time, sipping some joe and then we did our next favorite thing...walked around Target without any little people griping at us...ahh...'twas nice!

Today was an awesome church service, though I still have no voice and couldn't sing...bummer. it was family Sunday so we stayed after to sup with our brothers and sisters in Christ...and today's theme was Asian cuisine...which we currently love around our house and not just because my brother is dating a classy one...but it is fitting, isn't it?

David took Will and Levi to finish up some work at the NCAA building, my parents kept Molly and E., Mel, and I went to the YMCA to burn off said Asian cuisine...love that facility...thanks Mom and Dad for taking care of that for us! We really appreciate it!~

Now, I'm going to fold laundry and settle in for the night!

Hide your cameras...

Poser!!

trick photography

yes, he did this himself, and took a picture while digging...nice. Hope he didn't touch my camera after that. but unfortunately, he did...nasty little booger boy.

love this mop top of funky curls...

she's putting her granola bar in her hair here...sheesh.

While uploading the most recent pix taken on my Canon...these top few were a pleasant little treat for me. Love when Levi confiscates my cam...and pix his nose and takes pictures of that. weird, gross little boy. that makes us laugh.

We are all doing ok...I'm a little bit sick...nothing serious, just a sore throat...laryngitis...no voice, stuffy yet runny nose...the kids have been amazingly healthy this winter, so far. yes, I know. now that I've put that out there, someone will come down with something. I pray not but that's just Murphy's Law.

David, oh David...he's been a busy boy. Pray for him, he's got a lot on his plate right now...more on this later but I know he'd appreciate your prayers!

Hopefully, I'll be inspired to take some photos for the blog. Dad, sorry I've been a bloggin' bummer lately...I think my brain shuts down (more than normal) when it gets this flippin' cold. And Beck? I haven't forgotten the Days of Becky Goodness. I plan to drudge up some old pix tomorrow, whilst I'm watching your daughter for the day....so that should be fun!

Until then...arrividerci...adios....happy trails! God Bless you...

A very fleshy post...yes, that sounds weird.

Here's a neat-o pic of Christian Bale's Batmobile, The Tumbler...is it just me, or is his portrayal of the Dark Knight amazing, incredible, spine-tingling? yeah, I thought so. love that gruff, husky voice, fella! it's one of my favorite things that Will imitates...he has it down to a science. He uses it when he's roughing up Levi or Molly...it makes me laugh!

Tom, my beloved, picture-taking brother, let me upload his pix from our trip to the Children's Museum...thanks, bro.

How's your Monday going? Mine seems to be stunted. Will I ever have a day where I feel good about what we accomplish...or even just attempting to accomplish things? Mondays are vicious, I'm afraid...it takes us all week, sometimes, to get rolling again...one of the many joys of the homeschooling life! emphasis on JOY! Yah!! I'm choosin' it!

Tonight, it's off to the Beth Moore Bible study I'm taking part in...I've enjoyed it, though I haven't been able to give as much time to the daily study as I had hoped. My plan today is to spend some time on my face...seeking what lessons God would have me learn from this exact time in my life. I'm struggling with some forceful emotions and convictions right now and I know they can't all be from Him. My flesh is a powerful beast. Just say NO! easier said than done.

In the meantime, I will deal with my climbaholic daughter (how is it that I am to train her to control her flesh when I struggle with my very own?? help!), my Mickey Mouse sound-alike son, my older kids who look for every opportunity to turn some electronics on, and my own wicked flesh...that encourages me to do things I know I shouldn't do and have no time for...like sitting and reading, or stalking facebook, or drinking too much coffee....ahhh. a never-ending struggle...

Why is it that Mondays make me so introspective? I know that being fresh from one of Randy's amazing messages does play a part...but there has to be more.....

I'm getting old. but when will I mature?

I pray for maturity...that is my prayer this day...spiritual maturity.

Broken-Hearted banquets and Boy Birthday parties...

The K family is so cool...we had a mini V-Day party with them and in honor of E's Birthday, they had a special hat for him to wear. .. he looks like the Mad Hatter, does he not? and it also looks like he has spots on his sweater, but it's actually from my camera.

So many fun and festive Heart Day decorations! They even made a neat sign that he got to take with him...you guys are cool!

After the party with the K's, Will, Ethan, and Sarah attended the Kaleo Broken Hearts Banquet...a wild and crazy place to be...David, Melanie, Levi and I hosted Will and E's table...served them drinks, gave them their food, washed their feet, rubbed their shoulders...ok, so we didn't do the last two treats but don't think they weren't pushing for that!

Luke R. was at our table also... as well as Luciano (see E's b-day pix below), who wasn't here at this point...Allie R. and a dude named Patrick.

Here is Allie and Luke. Our family has known Allie and her family for 6 years...Allie, I hate to say this but you are so grown up!

Up next we have E's birthday party....

and all the fun gifts that were bestowed onto him...Star Wars and other funny tees, Wii remote and games, Air-Soft gun, socks, $, jeans...fun, fun stuff. fo sho

This is the awesome sign that the K's made for E...and Levi took it upon himself to put it up for me, in all my Saturday, party day busyness....didn't he do a magnificent job?

Call of Duty....a shoot 'em up Wii game...yah.

I love that Piper was right there with him, checking out his presents, helping him and very interested in what was going on.

The tasty, chilly DQ ice cream cake...'twas a tasty treat!

a sign of the times....E. you can totally play up the romantic card...it's in your favor...you are such a sweetheart of a kid. really. you are!

see? I told you he was. And there's Miss P, right by his side...P, you are a cute, funny little gal. I love the little lady you are becoming. She told Levi last night, as they played their usual husband and wife game, "I'm going to have a baby and then we'll get married"...we were all so proud. Beck, what was the other cute thing she said? I can't remember for my life....(Alzheimer's is setting in...)

Handsome fellas...watch out girls! E and his good friend of nearly 4 years, Luciano!

E with the Bean and other party animals...

~My mom always asks the kids what they want for their birthday dinner...and E. chose her infamous Beef Stroganoff...and Beck also made the infamous Creamy Crockpot Chicken...O. My. Word...they were both so good. Beck and I ate too much and almost became Bulimic so we could eat more...it wasn't right, in hind sight, to tempt ourselves with two of our favemeals...Mom, your BS (ha ha) was deeeeeeeee-lish! Beck, your Triple C was FABOO! thanks for the cake too....

Laurie, your ......... umm....house was so clean for 20 minutes. yah. that's all I had to offer. though I did make a mean pitcher of raspberry lemonade and a pot of Dunkin' Donuts coffee...

E. got some great tokens of his family members affection....thank you, everyone, for your help and love, for us and for Ethan James, teenager extraordinnaire! We love you all!

~We went to church after the party....it was our turn to clean...and there's really nothing quite like waiting until the last minute....we were there till 1 a.m. and it was actually lots of fun.

On that note.......I need to get going on the house stuff again....it just never ends, does it? I hope you've had a wonderful weekend, and that you are ready to tackle your week head on! I know I'm not!