The Becks

Fun in Feb

2012-02-25T16:39:00.007-08:00

The future Mr. Q and Ms. U. Let me explain. During the week of fairy-tales at the boys school they have a wedding for the letters Q and U. Since they are always together it's fun to pretend they get married. Reed was chosen to be Mr. Q and our friend Morgan was chosen to be Miss U.

All the kids that are not chosen for the wedding party attend the wedding as Royal Guests. Since Grant wasn't chosen he got to wear a king costume and come as a royal guest. :)

The happy couple getting ready to walk down the aisle.

Mr. Q coming down the aisle.

One of the junior pastors at the church reads a cute little something about q and u.
Grant being a great royal guest.

The couple exchange "quarters" instead of rings.

Mr and Mrs. QU

Going down the hall as the guests blow bubbles for them.

What a cute couple!!

My Friend Melissa, the mother of the bride.

Aunt Lacey and Grangie came to see the wedding.

The mother of the groom and the groom himself.

The royal ball after the ceremony.

Even baby Spencer came to see the wedding.

Reed dancing it up.

Grant dancing with Morgan.

Doing the Limbo.

We went to dinner with the Beltz family the next night. :) These two are so funny together.

Valentine's day came quickly afterwards.

We had our annual heart shaped pizza and chocolate dipped strawberries. Fun family dinner.

We have been looking to get a new dog for a while now. So I thought I'd start with a big bed for our new dog. Archie loved this bed and thought it was kind of us to get him such a large new bed. :)

A few days later we met our new baby. Miss Lucy

She is about 18 months/2 years old and so much fun.

She's house trained and loves to play. She got so tired from playing that she laid down in the middle of the kitchen. We love her!!

January '12 Brings a nEw BaBy!!!!

2012-02-25T16:25:00.006-08:00

January has been so much fun. We started off with a NEW BABY!! We got to spend the night with Mr. Ian at our house while his mommy got ready to have baby Spencer. The boys loved having him around.

While the boys were at school, and Lacey was having a baby, Ian and I went to the park with some friends.

Going UP the slide, why not.

Swinging with Aunt Steph

Spencer Locke Beck born on Jan. 19th weighing in at 7 pounds 3 oz.

Uncle Whit is now a dad of two!

Sweet baby

Spencer, like Ian, had to spend a couple of hours in the NICU. No big deal just labored breathing.

One proud Auntie.

Look at that cute face!!

The boys have a new love, super heroes. (Batman Reed)

They LOVE to pretend they are Batman and Robin, or Batman and Superman.

Running all around the house fighting crime.

Jeff took the boys to the Dad's lunch at school. They made ties for their dads and told their teachers why they love their dads. Here's what Reed had to say.

And Grant...

We've been trying to learn how to ride with NO training wheels, it's going ok.

We also had a quick trip to the dentist when Reed hit his mouth and had a loose tooth. After X-Rays we found out that the teeth are loose because they are getting ready to fall out!! NOT because he hit his mouth!! Grant's are just as loose!!

Some friends playing on the playground after school. :)

New Year's Eve

2012-02-25T15:59:00.005-08:00

Trying to get caught up after the holidays. :) Thought I'd jump back to New Year's Eve. We spent it at the lake house with the rest of the Becks. What New Year's celebration is complete without fireworks??

Lacey and I stopped and got a bunch of fun for the boys to light off. Ian's ready!!

He liked it but would get a little nervous at the BIG BOOM!

Uncle Whit is about to light off another one.

We love to watch them sparkle.

Jeff launches one out into the lake.

The boys really enjoyed the sparklers.

We showed them how to write their name with them.

And around and around they went.

More big BOOOOOOM.

So pretty!!

The weather was SO nice over the holiday the boys got to do lots of trips out on the boat. Too cold for women and children, but perfect for the guys.

We spent a lot of time just enjoying the nice weather at the park.

San Diego/Disneyland

2012-01-10T14:39:00.001-08:00

The boys had their annual pic with Santa! They got to tell him every thing they want for Christmas.

We also made a gingerbread house again this year!

My little helpers.

They loved the icing part.

After school was out for Christmas we got on a plane and headed to San Diego to see my family. First stop, In and Out burger.

The next day I got to celebrate my 32nd birthday with my family!! It was so much fun to see everyone.

After that we headed to Disneyland for the boys' first trip!! We had a BLAST.

Alexa and Me in front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle.

Walking down Main St. In all the years I've been to Disneyland, I've never been at Christmas time. It was a neat experience.

Kristen, Denise, and Justin.

Our first ride was Dumbo.

Up so HIGH!!

Waiting our turn for It's a Small World.

It was cool out but not too cold. Great weather for walking around all day. Love these girls!

Emmy and I waiting in line. We were so happy she came with us!!

Reed and I about the get on the Matterhorn. It was his favorite ride.

Here we gooooo.....

We only got our PICTURE with one character. We saw lots of them and just waved.

Pluto and Justin

These sweet boys had a great time.

Inside the Haunted Mansion.

No flash photography Reed Michael.

It's a small world all light up for the night.

Our splash mountain photo! You can't see Justin's head or face but he's behind Alexa. :)

A few days later we did the Parade of lights in Del Mar with Kristin Frankwick and her girls.

Macie girl.

We spent the night at Denise's house and Kristin came out to see us one more time before she had to go back to Phoenix.

The last night of our visit we had our mini family Christmas at the farm. Anders opening his gifts from us.

Finn opening his gifts

Catherine loved her art supplies.

Dad and Kristen wearing their new blue vests. Everyone got one.....

The boys had a great time in San Diego. Thanks to all of our family and friends!! We love you and miss you so much!! Special thanks to Anita and Jim for the Disneyland tickets!! We had a great time.

Christmas 2011

2012-01-10T14:21:00.001-08:00

Back in Houston after a full week in San Diego. We had a great time there but were glad to be home to see our family and start the Christmas Festivities. Only in Texas can you heat the pool and spa and swim on Christmas Eve (ok, I know you can do it other places, but it was really neat) and enjoy the mild climate.

Reed swimming around the pool!!

After that we decided to make some Christmas cookies for sAnTa!!!

Reed was ready to eat them and taste his handy work

Both the boys made Reindeer food at school.

We left it on the lawn for the Reindeer to eat!!

Just before bed we put out our cookies and egg nog for Santa!!

(Reed)

OH boy!!

The next morning we went up stairs and santa had come to see us!!!

Grant got the SWAT costume he had wanted!

Grangie playing hungry, hungry, hippos with the boys.

Ian was so cute!! He loved looking at all the gifts.

After lunch we went over to Great Grandpa Jess's house to open more presents.

Ian loved his toys (with help from a very pregnant Lacey)

The boys had a lot of fun opening gifts with their cousins.

Grant's turn! He got a really cool Dinosaur train.

Reed got a McDonald's drive through set!

Jeff and Anne helping Zach with his new boots.

Reed's so excited!! Working on more pics from New Year's......

Thanksgiving

2012-01-05T14:26:00.000-08:00

Jeff and I hosted Thanksgiving at our house for some of Jeff's Family. We missed Anne and Michael (in PNG) and Lacey and Whit (in Ozona) but we loved having Great Grandpa Jess, Granny Lou, and Karen's Crew. Here's Grant in his Turkey Shirt.

Reed was ready for some Turkey!!!

I'm so proud of my bird!!

Jeff making himself useful (I kid I kid)

It was a delicious meal.

Me and Granny Lou

We got the boys' school picture back. Way cute....

San Fran With Kris and Houston With Katrina

2012-01-05T13:28:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to Alexa. I went to see Kris at the beginning of November for her birthday and Alexa's birthday.

We went out to eat at Alexa's pick of TGI Fridays!!

Kristen and I enjoyed the fine food.

The birthday girl.....

The next day Kris and I went into the city and did some sight seeing.

There are lots of cheap places to buy very fashionable things. This is my impersonation of Lady Gaga.

Behind us to the left is the Golden Gate bridge. Very cool.

I had no idea the BART system was so extensive. Very very neat. We rode "the BART" one exit to get some See's candy.

That night Dad and Emmy came into town for K's birthday and we went to a nice dinner out.

Did I mention they do wonderful things with chocolate in this town?? So delish.....

Right after I got back Katrina came to see us. She brought the boys these really cool mustaches. (Grant)

Reed looking cool....

Katrina had been to Disney world with her mom and brought the boys some fun Disney stuff.

These lasted for like 4 days.

Both boys and their mustaches. I like Grant's eyebrow.

Halloween

2012-01-05T11:53:00.001-08:00

I'm such a bad BLOGGER!! I went to look at pictures from Christmas and saw that I hadn't blogged about Halloween or Thanksgiving!! Here are a few pics from Halloween and the days leading up to it. This is Grant in his fireman costume.

Ms. Kona Bear decided she wanted to be a postal worker. Good choice because she looks stunning in blue. :)

Mr. Archie decided to be a banana split on account of he likes banana splits. :)

The boys went to parents night out (PNO) at the boys school for the first time in Oct. You pay $15 for the first kid and $10 for each additional kid. You can drop them off at 6 and pick up at 11. They bring a nap mat and put the kids to sleep. Way Cool!! We loved it.

The boys had fun trick or treating in their costumes.

At the local pumpkin patch with our friend Helena

Halloween parade at school. (Grant)

I'm going to go through the rest of the holiday pics and hopefully post some more today. :)

Fall 2011

2011-11-13T13:38:00.001-08:00

Fall has been super busy around the Beck House!! First up in September we had Lauren and Ashlyn's 3rd birthday party!!

It was at their lake house on Conroe and Dora paid a special visit!

Jeff with the lake behind him. It's super low right now and even lower since this pic.

The boys waiting for lunch and cake!

The fairy magician that performed cool tricks.

Jeff and I went out to celebrate the birthdays of these two lovely ladies. Happy birthday to Dawn and Melissa.

Jeff and I out with the couples for the celebration.

On to my next sewing project...capes for the boys.

Super Reed

So tough

The end of September brought Lacey's birthday!! The Big 3-0

We all celebrated with a lunch for ribs (including the dogs)

Some friends and I decided to run the Komen race for the cure!

I ran for my mom, my sister and my aunt.

The same day we drove up to the lake to celebrate Ian's 1st birthday!!

Grant

Reed

Ian the birthday boy and his favorite aunt Stephanie

All the dogs had to take a turn being "party animals" (Archie)

And I do...(Mia)

Mean...(Kona)

All of them. (Annie)

The next weekend we went up to do some serious lake time. We took all the dogs out with us. :)

Ready to go on the boat!

We missed you Grangie and G-Pa.

The lake is so low we have a huge beach to walk around at the island. So nice.

Lacey and I took Ian to the pumpkin patch at John Wesley. :)

He was such a good sport and looked so handsome.

Ian and Aunt Steph

The boys studied letter "X" at school for a week. It ended with a pirate treasure hunt. The boys were great pirates. I made their costumes. :)

We also went to the pumpkin festival at the local shopping center. The boys got pirate face paint.

They had a blast with thier friends.

And they loved playing in the pumpkins.

Fun times at the lake! We love fall!!

Baby boy Ian!! He's getting so big!

Rest of the Summer 2011

2011-09-10T08:55:00.000-07:00

This Potter-head wasn't finished with the festivities of the last movies with the showing in Lake Tahoe. I came back and had a few friends over to re-cap the previous movie (Part 1) and got ready to watch Part 2 the next day. In honor of the films, Natalie found a Butter Beer recipe.

If you're not a fan/expert Butter Beer is a drink mentioned in the books. It tastes like creme soda (the main ingredient) with a slight butter flavor. DE-LISH

We decided to see the movie in 3D!! My first time since captain e-o at Disneyland. It was really cool!

Natalie, her junior mints, and HP scarf she always wears. What a blast!

Soon after HPDH P2 weekend, we got the chance to catch up with Kara!! She is a super sweet friend of Jeff and Whit's from their days in Virginia.

The Virginia gang (and Lacey) back together.

Kara's sweet friend had her little baby with her. Such a cutie!

We really enjoyed our summer days and nights together. The boys were missing s'mores from Lake Tahoe so Mommy roasted marshmallows on the stove. (Reed)

Sticky hands.

We spent a day at Splashtown with my friend Katie. Lacey came with Ian and Grangie too!! Here are Me and Grant coming down the slide.

By the end the boys could go up to the top all by them selves and come down to the bottom! Such big boys. (Grant)

Lacey was going down with Ian (even pregnant) and we all had a blast.

When we weren't at the lake, splashtown, or Lake Tahoe, we were here. A lot of my friends live in Gleannloch Farms. This is the main rec. pool for kids. The boys love swimming and playing with their friends.

Reed at the pool. We would usually come for the morning and have a picnic lunch with our friends. Such a blast.

The big pool we would switch to after we got bored with the little one.

When we weren't there, we were at the lake house. Ian has gotten so big and loves to crawl around and play with the boys. The boys had some toys under the counter and all three of them had fun playing together.

Since there has been NO rain in Texas (over an inch) in the past 270 (something) days, the lake is very low. (even lower than when this pic was taken) This lake is a major source of drinking water for Houston. When there's no rain they have to let more of it out. Now, there is sand visible in front of the rocks.

On the up side, we can swim the kids and dogs in the lake right off the steps of the ladder. It's kind of nice to be able to jump in and play.

The weather had been very nice up until Labor Day. It was SO windy that even the pool had waves.

And of course that was the weekend we decided to have the Beltz Family up for the holiday. We had to settle for hot tub time. Here's Melissa making breakfast for everyone.

Ian still had a blast. He's getting to be such a big boy!! Learning to use a sippy cup instead of a bottle.

Lacey and her baby BOY in her tummy. (we are not destined to have a girl in the Beck family)

On Monday it was still windy but not cloudy. We took full advantage and loaded up the tube to head out on the lake.

Normally we bring the boat over to the house and load up the people and the tube. However, the lake is so low that we can't get the boat to the house. So we (by this I mean Jeff) had to load up the tube on the top of the van and head over to the marina to get the boat.

All the kids in the back ready to go.

Melissa, the tube rider.

Ian ready to ride on the boat.

Reed, Morgan, and Madison ready to go.

Melissa was so sweet to ride with her kids and ours. (Mel and the boys)

Mel and her girls. There was only one patch of smooth water so we just went back and forth like 50 times.

Ian the good sport

Our fun filled Labor day was a nice ending to our busy fun summer. Next up was the first day of school!!! This year it included mommy and the boys. I started teaching a 3-year-old preschool class at the boys school. It's been a lot of fun so far. My big 4 year-olds.

Reed is an Eagle this year.

Grant is a LION! Rawr! We will post more school pics soon!

Both the boys got really good at swimming this summer. (Grant in one of his lessons)

Reed being funny. While I was packing for the lake one time I found this.

LaKe TaHoE 2011

2011-08-04T19:28:00.001-07:00

This years trip to Lake Tahoe with my Dronenburg CREW was momentus in some ways. This was the first year we didn't fly with the carseats on board! The boys sat in the seats like big boys!!

Grant ready to fly out of Houston!! They were so good on both flights (we had to change planes in LA) and the flights home!

Our first night there we were in the hotel (not our condo) and the boys had a picnic lunch on the floor of our room. My cuties!

The day we arrived was a few days after Katherine's birthday. We were able to celebrate toghether!

It was also Jeff's actual birthday. The big 3-1!! Jeff really loves it when all the attention was on him (not really) and so he loved having the entire room sing to him. :) Love you J

After dinner we love to roast marshmellows around the fire pit. We have these GIANT roasters that are super fun.

The cousins

Grandpa Ernie was getting the chocolate and crackers ready for the roasted marshmellows.

Reed and his marshmellow face.

It's a hard life for the Beck family while in Lake Tahoe. We sit by the pool and sun ourselves. We swim in the 75 degree weather. We eat.

Katrina and Reed.

Love that Katrina comes with to help me with the boys (wink) she's just a part of the family now.

The view from our room.

Anders at the beach. He's gotten SO big!! Love you bear!

The frist few days the lake weather was so windy that the lake was full of big waves.

Reed was at not happy about taking a picture. :)

Family picture day happened while we were there. (Will post pics later) This is just a peek.

Each night we are there we have dinner as a big group. Ann and Marilyn cooking up a storm. It doesn't hurt that they are both gourmet cooks.

The head chef.

Katrina was in charge of silverware. :)

The kids eating together.

Anders being sequestered. He didn't understand that it wasn't play time.

Emmy and Lars served the kids some ice cream cones for dessert. YUM

Dad and Jeff.

Kris and Doug

Me and Katherine.

One of our favorite things about the Hotel are the Mochas we get from the regency club!! Delish

Dad and Emmy watched all the kids on Thursday night so all the adults could go out for a nice dinner. Kris, Doug, Katrina, Jeff and I went to Jake's on the Lake.

The food was delicious and the company was better!!

These hot chicks before dinner.

We never get to eat together so it was a really nice treat.

Note that it was cold enough for Jeff to be wearing a jacket!

Katrina and her "date".

These two potterheads were so excited that the last Harry Potter movie came out while we were together in Incline Village.

Some friends of Dad and Emmy took us on a short hike the morning of our last day.

The hike was perfect. The weather was great and the trail was flat and beautiful.

My hikers.

Jeff the hiker with the beautiful view of the lake in the background.

Katrina and Reed Michael.

Once back in the sauna that is Houston in July, we headed to our first movie with Grangie.

We had popcorn, candy, and drinks, to see Winnie the Pooh!!

We talked at length about being quiet and watching the movie in the dark theater.

The boys did great and the fact that the film run time was only 63 min. really helped!

Quick video of Jeff water skiing in Lake Tahoe. So proud of him considering the water was super cold.

4th of JuLy

2011-08-04T18:43:00.000-07:00

After our wonderful week-long trip to the lake it was hard to come back to H-town. The boys got big boy bikes from Grandpa Ernie and Emmy for their birthday. It gave us something to do!!

Getting ready to ride.

Enjoying our helmets that came with the bikes. :)

Grangie and G-Pa got the boys some roller skates too.

They are the kind that fit over your shoes....it's really really funny.

Reed quickly surmised that "roller skating" on grass was really easy.

Help from Daddy.

Reed's making it.

Go boys..

A few days later we went to Chuck E. Cheese with my friend Kristen and her 4 kiddos. Anything to entertain kids and beat the heat. We went through so many quarters..

Happy 4th!!! The boys in their patriotic clothes (that I made) and Kona in her matching bandana (that I made).

We also got to go up to Conroe and visit with the Cole clan. Emily was there with her two, and Jennifer was there (it was her lake house) with her twins. Love the 4th with friends.

Riding bikes

This is one of my favorite videos of all time. Grant was not happy that I was telling Reed that he was "skating" He kept yelling, "He's not skating, he's walking." It was so funny!!

Happy Birthday BOYS!!

2011-08-02T16:10:00.001-07:00

Right after school got out we headed up to the lake to see Michael who is home from PNG (Papua New Guinea). He brought the boys a really cool bathing suit from Australia. They look like lifeguards!!

So cute!! Not to mention the fact that you get to see those cute little buns in these speedo style suits!! LOVE them.

Next up was the boys birthday party. We spent the week getting ready for the party. We went all the way to Livingston to do some shopping at Wal-Mart. The boys got to ride in the cart with baby Ian.

The next day all our friends drove up from Houston to spend the day with us at the lake for the party!!

Even though it had been HOT and SUNNY EVERY day for FOUR months, it decided to storm and rain on the day of our pool party!!! It should have been a clue that there were crazy waves the night before (see video below)

But, our G-Pa is awesome and heated the spa AND pool for us to swim. Since there was no thunder or lightning, we felt good about life again. All the kids had a great time swimming.

Since we were going to eat out on the grass, we had to adjust plans and eat under the carport!! All the kids were troopers!

Our Nemo cupcake cakes. (Grant)

Reed wanted vanilla.

Getting ready to sing happy birthday!!

One of our guests, August.

Grant Whitney Beck

Reed Michael Beck

Love these boys

Opening presents under the carport. (Grant)

Reed opening his presents.

The crew...

Grant

Ian and Lacey

Our Buzz lightyear rocket ship! Thanks Morgan and Madison

All the guests left in the downpour around 3, and the clouds cleared up around 4. We had a beautiful, warm sunset around 7....of course.

On their ACTUAL 4th birthday a couple days later, we went for a tube ride. :)

Jeff with the boys.

Uncle Whitney and Aunt Lacey gave the boys some fishing poles for their bday. "Cars" fishing poles to be exact.

They were so excited to have their very own poles.

Fishing with Uncle Whit

Cool dudes.

Reed caught a FISH

And then ran away from it screaming when we pulled it out of the water. So brave.

His catch

Reed with his fish (note crying).

My big 4-year-old boys. My friend Natalie made the shirts for them. Thanks Nat.

I made them a small cake for their day.

YUM

My Reed and Me.

Grant and Mommy

They wanted to take a pic of Jeff.

End of School/VBS/Katrina

2011-06-16T13:55:00.000-07:00

Well, it's official. The boys have completed their first year at John Wesley Child Development Program!! They are moving up to the 4 year old program next year. *tear

A look back at the first day....sigh.. Summer has started and we're off..

I've been busy using my sewing maching now that I know how to sew. THANKS Denise!!

I've been making shorts and matching shirts.

We also attended Vacation Bible School at John Wesley. I was so excited for the boys to start the tradition. I went almost every summer and loved it.

The final group sing session in the gym.

Grant and me at VBS program.

Katrina and Reed. She may have happened to come into town during VBS (3 and 1/2 hours without the boys) a coinsidence of course.

And we've been buys with swim lessons. We love our neighbor Mary Beth and her super swim sessions. :) (Reed)

He can dive down and get those rings like no other.

Wooooohooo Reed. See below for videos of each of the boys swimming.

Reunited and it feels so good!! Katrina reunited with Kona. She's still ours Katrina....don't get any ideas.

She did recognize her and was very happy to see Katrina.

Our new favorite place to beat the heat, besides the pool, is Orange Leaf frozen yogurt. It's self serve and delish!! (Reed)

G-Money and his fro-yo

Katrina and I hit up Charming Charlies. Reed tried on some glasses. Too cute!

Love you Friend!

The sewing got put on hold a few days while I healed my finger after I SEWED it. Ouch!! The needle went right through the nail and out the bottom. In this it split the tip of my finger open. No stiches but a tetanus shot.

We are headed to the lakehouse for a week to visit Michael. We will post pics when we get back!!

Grant

Reed

Mother's Day Program

2011-05-19T06:32:00.001-07:00

The 3 year old program at the boys' school put on a Mother's day show for all the mom's!! (The setting)

It was a fashion show and a showcase of all the songs they have learned in music this year. (Grant in the middle )

Reed walked with our good friend Morgan.

Doing his turn.

Grant

The kids sang a bunch of songs that they have learned so far in music this year. (reed next to his friend Morgan)

The boys made me a flower pot and presented it with a flower (Grant)

Reed and his flower pot

My guys

Hapy Mother's Day

OH BOY! The boys talked me into a a "Cars" slip and slide at the store. I thought it was time to carry on the slip and slide tradition (at $10) and get one for them to enjoy.

While I was trying to get things set up atonther fight took place and Grant ended up with a scratch. It now matches the one Reed has on his face from last summer and an argument over a ball.

Moments later we had forgotten about the fight and were slip and sliding away.

Wooooohoooo

After that we spent the weekend washing the car.

We are so lucky to have our helpers. It would have taken us half as long without them and their "help"

Thanks boys

Our cousin Ian is getting so big!! He enoys the boys and watcing TV with them in the mornings at the lakehouse.

The weather was a bit chilly (for a brief second) so the boys decided to do some fishing with uncle Whitney. (and daddy)

Waiting and waiting for those fish to bite......

Reed took a break from fishing to help clean the pool.

ohhhh I think he's got one.....nope just a fish stealing his bait, agian.

Since we weren't having much luck we decided to move to the marina. and we aslo got some meal worms.

But still nothing...

Miss Kona taking an afternoon nap.

A short video of the boys school mother's day show.

Spring Fling and Butterflies

2011-05-18T14:17:00.000-07:00

In my Easter post I mentioned Puppy and her love for Easter eggs/candy. Here's a pic of her cracking one open. See video at the bottom to watch her open an egg looking for candy. (we call her Nicky sometimes)

Before Easter we had "spring fling" with our mom's group and had an egg hunt. Grant with all his eggs.

It also corresponded with Kris's trip to Texas. We were so happy to have our Auntie Kristen here with us.

The boys looking for eggs.

Reed getting ready to hunt.

Looking.....

Our friend Natalie and her kiddos (Allie and William)

Our friend Madison and all her eggs.

Morgan was sad she didn't have all pink eggs so Grant gave her a hug. :)

My friends and I all found a great deal on these dresses at Target. We all got the same one in different colors, but we all look Haute!! (Mary Beth, Myself, Melissa)

I bought a milk weed plant to attract caterpillars so that we could watch them change into butterflies.

At one time we had 6 of them on the plant!!

The only problem being that they like to travel up to 30 yards to make their chrysalis.

Only one little guy decided that he would make his right where we could watch.

The next day I found this!! I was so excited!! THEN a BIRD ate it!!! I was so mad!!! Anyway, hopefully the others were more successful. We have three more on the plant right now so I'll keep you posted.

Puppy pops open an egg

Happy EaStEr!!!

2011-04-25T06:23:00.001-07:00

We have been so busy I'm just now getting around to posting Easter Pics!! I started working at the boys' school 3 days a week and have little time to myself these days. :) As soon as spring came we were excited to go and see the Easter Bunny!!!

The boys also had an Easter egg hunt at their school. I got to show off my sewing abilities once again and send them in some original Stephanie Beck Couture.

The day before Easter we dyed eggs with daddy. They all had a great time!

Reed watching very carefully.

Jeff was showing the boys how to dip half an egg one color and then do the other half another.

Waiting is always the hardest part! (Reed)

Look at those pretty EGGS!

The next morning the Easter Bunny had come!!

He brought each of the boys a movie, some Chuggington trains, and some Easter candy!!

So Exciting!!

The trains were a big hit. It's Disney's version of Thomas the train. Love them.

All set for our Easter Dinner with Karen's family.

Don't they look handsome for church!

Our traditional Easter Lilly photo.

Mommy and Reed

Cody and Jeff hid a bunch of eggs for all the little kids.

Cody watching the kids hunt.

Zack and Reed collecting as many as they can.

My bunny boys

Henry found a big one!

Reed found a big one on the sand box.

So Anne and Michael's dog puppy got a hold of the M&Ms from the boys' Easter basket. I heard this banging noise and she was tearing into it. Too funny. She also got really good at grabbing eggs out of the basket and popping them open with her mouth to eat the candy. Mind you this is the same dog that will tear open a bread bag and eat a loaf of bread if you leave the pantry door open.

Karen also brought some confetti eggs for the boys to play with.

We had to explain to all the little kids how it worked. They just kept hitting each other on the head with them.

They got the hang of it and went after Cody.

Kona got a sprinkle of confetti when it was over.

So did Mr. Archie.

Doesn't he look festive.

The boys have been obsessed with taking pictures with the camera lately. They got a hold of my camera and I found this pic. They aren't very good at it. The "don't put your finger over the lens" concept is completely lost on them.

Miss Kona thinks this tiny bed is hers. Silly girl. :)

Bluebonnets/Grandpa Ernie and Emmy

2011-04-11T19:01:00.001-07:00

My FAVORITE girl!! This dog is the best. We have been loving us some Miss Kona around here!! We went to the lake a few weekends ago and Kona had a blast in the pool. (See video below)

Mr. Ian also had a great time in the spa! It was his first time in, and he did great!! Way to go Ian!! I have a feeling you're going to be a swimming pro by the end of the summer.

As much as I love her, she does have a few quirks. For a reason unknown to me or the rest of the family she LOVES the sand box. We can't firgure out if she likes it because it's cool, or in the shade, or soft, or WHAT! BUT she LOVES it. EVERY time I open the lid and one of the kids gets in so does she. WEIRD.

Dad and Emmy came to see us last week/weekend, and we went out to Brenham to take BLUEBONNET pics. This time of year in Texas is my absolute FAVORITE!! We went to the little airport they have just north of the city. They had a hillside FULL of the bluebonnets and we set the kids up!

They did such a great job posing for pictures. Afterward, we ate lunch at the diner. YUM.

Dad and Emmy in their FIRST bluebonnet pic. Pretty special if you ask me!

After lunch we drove a little more north and visited the Antique Rose Emporium. It was SO neat. Marilyn, being an avid gardener, knew about this place and has been here once before. It was really fun.

Since everyone is planting right now for Spring, the place was hopping. They were also having a wedding there later that day. Beautiful scenery and wonderful company.

Across the street was a field FULL of bluebonnets. For my friends that don't live in Texas--and I'm sorry you don't--most highways look like this during the Spring. Just this beautiful shade of purple/blue like a dusting on the ground. SO neat.

Jeff with one of the boys in the rose garden

Emmy, Grant and Jeff

Mr. Reed M. Beck

On the way home the boys fell asleep. Reed was sleeping indian style. It looked so uncomfortable.

Jeff decided to bungee a hose to the trampoline and let the boys run around in the water while bouncing.

Really funny. See video below....

On a side note. It's Easter time. One of my favorite time of the year (for the candy). As if they had to mess with perfection, they have decided to make CHOCOLATE dipped PEEPS now!!! UM hello, why didn't anyone think of this before. I bet they are DELISH!!!

Boys on the tramp.

Kona fetches.

Spring Break '11

2011-03-22T13:14:00.000-07:00

YeeeeeeHawwwwww!!! It's spring break and that means it's time for the RODEO!!! The week before spring break we went down to the rodeo for the day with some of our friends. We had a great time with all the animals and rides.

We bought some food to feed the animals in the petting zoo.

The day started off a little rainy so we had the whole place to ourselves.

The boys are big enough to ride all the rides by themselves now. :) My Reed man on his bumpy car ride.

Grant the man ready to go.

We had such a great time and since there was no one else there the boys got to ride their favorites over and over again.

I think this was the third time on the pink elephants. :)

We also got to play some games. It helps when you play games that "everyone wins".

We are still loving our new addition, Kona, and have learned some of her preferences. Like she prefers to ride on the leather seats than on the floor. If the third row is down she lays right next to us. If' it's up she likes to sit in the back and look out the window.

During spring break one of the moms in our Mom's Group had an Ugly Cupcake party.

She brought different colored cupcakes and all sorts of toppings.

The kids had a great time just making ugly cupcakes.

Finished product.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!! The boys and I had our playgroup friends over for St. Patrick's Day.

Like those green shirts??? Yeah, I made them. I know, I know, I'm super talented!!

Here's a sneak peek at their Easter Shirts. 'Cause what says Eater more than jelly beans and bunnies?!?!?

I've also been cooking a lot more lately (instead of Jeff doing all of it) and this was my creation on Friday night. Homemade Pizza with roasted veggies and feta. Delish!! I even made the dough and cooked it on my new pizza stone.

On Sunday I went to the Rocket's Game with Whit. We had such a great time.

I had never been to a game and won tickets at the boys school auction. Hopefully we can do it again soon.

Aunt Lacey was kind enough to watch the boys today while I went to a doctor's appointment. Well, I got back and found out that there was a little accident. Grant said this lamp "Just fell off the table". Come to find out he may have had a little something to do with it. We're so sorry!!

After the lamp incident we headed to Chick-Fil-A to meet our friend Jeff.

It was baby Ian's first time in a high chair and I think he did a great job!! Way to go!! We love you and can't believe how big you're getting little man!

Kona at the dog park over the weekend. She LOVES the water. :)

Kona, Kona, Kona

2011-03-04T06:19:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year again!! The Houston Rodeo started last week. Part of the Rodeo is a large trail ride by all of the local clubs. We came out of the store and found this coming down the feeder road.

The boys could not believe their eyes. They were so excited to see all the horses and cowboys!!

This perticular group started in Prarie View and were making their way down to the rodeo at Reliant Park.

Having grown up in San Diego, it's still weird for me to see something like this!!

Later that day we went down to the airport to pick up Katrina. She brought us a new friend. KONA KONA KONA. She is a beautiful 4-year-old black lab. She is so sweet and well behaved. We LOVE having her.

The boys have been wanting a "big" dog for a while and so have adopted her from Katrina.....for now.

On Friday at the boys' school had a "Go Texas Day" at school. The boys got to wear their cowboy boots and their cowboy hats. They also got to wear the new shirts that I made them.

Another look at those super fab shirts that I made.

I was asked to help with the "Cowboy Luncheon" at school and felt it only appropriate to dress in proper cowboy attire. Since Katrina was in town, she decided to help out. Here we are with "cowboy fare"-- which is, of course, corndogs.

All set for the buckaroos.

'Smores for the cowboys and girls. Made from Nutella and Marshmallow cream.

Momma Cowgirl with her cowboys.

On Monday Katrina and I had a nice morning of pedicures planned. That is until Grant woke up with PINK EYE!!

So Pink Eye Pete got to come with and sit in a big chair. He was a really good boy though and played with my phone the whole time. Not a peep out of him.

We LOVE it when Katrina comes. She reads to the boys and just gives us an extra set of hands. Come back soon, please!

We decided to go up to the lake for the weekend since the weather was so nice. We got all ready to go out to the island. It was a bit windy, but we didn't think much of it. (before)

Kona was very excited. She had been out the day before with the boys and LOVED it. :) (Grant)

Getting a hug and a kiss before we start to make our way out.

The after photo. The waves were so big that we got sparyed by the water with almost every dip. Katrina and I were soaked by the time we got to the island. It would have been welcomed in the hot summer months, but in these cool spring months it was chilly to say the least.

One of the most exciting parts of the trip is the fact that it was Ian's FIRST boat/island trip!! He was SO good. He liked the sand and played for a few minutes before he fell asleep in his momma's arms. He's such a good baby.

The island adventurer.

Time to head back to the house. Katrina hanging with the boys (to see a video of Kona at the island head to the bottom)

The weather was nice and the fishing was great. The boys could hardly NOT catch fish. They caught one of the biggest catfish they have ever caught on this trip. Whit also caught this beautiful bass.

Monday night Katrina and I had a dinner date at Peli Peli. I had a Groupon so we decided to have a date night. :) Love you friend, miss you.

Lastly, I know you are all anxiously waiting a recent pic of the aerogarden. We have successfully sprouted on 5 of the 7 herbs!!

Kona at the Island.

February Fun!!

2011-02-20T07:41:00.001-08:00

The past 6 weeks have been CRAZY busy!! We ended Jan. with a trip to the dentist. This was the first time the boys had their teeth cleaned. We've been to the dentist before but have always just had our teeth looked at and deemed in good condition.

I was so proud of both the boys. They did a great job and didn't cry or bite. The dentist did say that we needed to stop using our pacifiers at night/nap because they were starting to affect their bite. So that afternoon we stopped cold turkey and haven't looked back!

The rest of Jan. and beginning of Feb. have been spent with sick boys!! They have gotten one thing after another! Grant had a cold which lead to a sinus infection which lead to an adverse reaction to amoxicillin!! Here he is recuperating on the couch with nurse Archie.

After Grant was almost better Reed came down with RSV!! Not life threatening at this age but did require us to use a nebulizer. And of course after he had it, Grant had it, then Mommy and Daddy. ARGH!

While Grant was down with his round of RSV, daddy and Reed went to the lake. SO mommy and Grant had a nice breakfast out at IHOP.

It was really neat to have only one boy. Their behavior is better (but different) and they were so fun!! No fighting goes a long way! Grant with his smiley face pancakes.

After/during all the illness we've had different cold fronts come through. This is funny to Jeff and I because of our three years in Utah. They take it seriously here and remind you to wrap your pipes, cover your bushes, and hunker down!! ARCTIC BLAST!!

Best part about the "arctic blasts" is the fires that we make at night. Puppy loves her some fire place time. :)

The worst part of them is that they had to close schools and roads because of it. But lucky for us that meant that Lacey and Ian came to spend the day with us. Whitney couldn't drive into work but needed to work in a quiet house. So Lacey braved the roads and drove up to our house with Ian. :) Ian and I watched Vampire Diaries together. He's a big fan.

In true Texas form the next weekend was sunny and 70 degrees. Jeff headed down to Whit's house to hang so that I could set up for the John Wesley Child Development Program 2nd Annual Silent Auction. I somehow managed to land myself as Chair and had a LOT to do the day before it started. Here are the cousins hanging before a walk in the park with all the dogs.

The last day of the auction was Mom's and Muffins day at JW. It was a lot of fun to have some muffins with my guys. :) Don't they look thrilled?

Part of the auction was individual framed art by each child. Here's Grant's (right) and Reed's (left). Jeff has offered to hang them in his office.

This brings us to Valentine's DAY!!! It's one of my favorite days of the year. I love hearts, pink, red and purple. It's a great day. I started by making the boys heart shaped pancakes. I thought I had a heart shaped cookie cutter but didn't so I had to trim them into a heart shape.

My sweet Valentine's. I had them wear their new shirts that I MADE!! It only took a few hours but I think they look good.

My Reed Valentine.

Brother love.

The boys had a party in their classes for Valentine's day and got lots of Valentines from their friends. So we got to go through it all when they got home. Grant with all his love notes and candy.

Reed asking for the millionth piece of candy.

I got the boys a Valentine's balloon for our special dinner with daddy.

And all of our Valentine cards for each other.

For dinner we ordered a heart shaped pizza! It was delicious.

I guess great minds really do think alike. Jeff and I got each other the exact same card. What are the odds?

And for dessert we had chocolate dipped strawberries. It was a fun night.

Since I never check my mail I didn't get my Valentines cards from Katrina until the next day!! LOVED my Twilight/Eclipse talking card. Thanks friend.

The boys got cards from Grandpa and Emmy. They also had cards from Katrina. They had stickers in them which quickly got ripped out and stuck all over their shirts.

Reed holding his Buzz Lightyear card and wearing his stickers from Katrina.

Reed doing push-ups in the office. I'll try and get a video because it's really funny.

On Thursday we headed to the zoo with mom's group. Hedgehog.

We got to pet her.

Grant petting her. Ms. Prickles

The Parana tank.

It was feeding time.

All of the mom's group kiddos. It's so hard to get that many kids looking in the right direction!!

The boys with a couple of friends. The red sign may or may not say "don't climb on the fence".

But who could say no to those faces?!?!

Yesterday we went up to Brenham for Granny's 83rd birthday!! Karen was nice enough to host us and to make so delicious food for us.

Lacey and Ian with the birthday girl.

She doesn't look a day over 75!!

Jeff and I with the birthday girl.

Ian the party Animal.

Granny about the make a wish.

We hope she wished for many more birthdays!

We decided to get the aerogarden going again. Right now we are in the germination phase with our herbs. We will see how it goes. Last time we had great success.

Puppy loves the cool weather. She also loves to run in it. It's funny.

HaPpY nEw YeAr!!!

2011-01-17T15:05:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!! We started the celebration a little early with a Baylor Trip to the Texas Bowl!!! Bears in the HOUSE!! Grant and Reed got some Baylor t-shirts for Christmas from Uncle Whitney and Aunt Lacey (former bears also) and insisted on wearing them.

They also insisted on sporting their new shirts from Indiana. Thanks Jeff (my friend Jeff Toby)!!

For Christmas Whitney and Lacey got me a ticket to the Texas Bowl to watch our Bears play!! WOOOOOHOOOOO!!

Lacey and I at the game.

My bears didn't win, but we had GREAT time.

Maybe next year Baylor. (WE had really good seats too :))

A few days later we rang in the New YEAR!! Hello 2K11!! Jeff and I went to see Black Swan in celebration, it was really good. We got home about an hour before midnight and rang in the new year. Our neighbors were nice enough to provide a small homemade fireworks show for us.

The next day Ian stopped by to play and hang out. He also brough Whitney and Lacey. We had our cabbage for wealth and our black eyed peas for luck. 2011 should be a good year.

We had Henry, Zack, and Cody for five days after Christmas, and they were able to help us celebrate the new year. I love it when they all watch a movie together (mainly because they're all quiet) five boys are very LOUD.

The weather was cold enough for a fire, and Ms. Mimi Rodriguez approved. She layed in front of the fire for a long time. TOO cute Mimi.

Totally random, but the boys have been going to sleep in some ODD positions lately. I just can't help but take pictures. We find them sitting up, upside down, and turned around. Reed is the far bed. facing the wrong way and out of the covers.

Boating this time of year is mainly a male activity. It's just TOO cold on the water for the women and children. :) The Beck's neighbor was kind enough to shoot this pic of the boys while the were leaving the doc at the house. Looking good boys!

Meanwhile in San Diego......a one Ernest J. Dronenburg was being inagurated as the NEW county assessor/recorder/clerk. The whole gang.

The swearing-in ceremony.

Some words of wisdom, I'm sure. (Go Kris with the short hair, you're rockin' it!)

Love you dad!

A little Christmas...and a LOT of FUN!!!

2010-12-28T06:20:00.000-08:00

After Denise got here we decided to show her all that the Houston Zoo has to offer. :)

The new African Forest exibit is now open, and we decided to check it out. It was REALLY neat. We even got to feed the giraffes!!

FOR $5 you get 3 lettuce leaves. The boys were the second to last group that was allowed to do it. The giraffes' interest in the lettuce was waning.

It was just so neat to be that close to them. Thanks again Denise!!

How RUDE. This big guy was sitting on his friend.

This was also our first trip to the zoo with the wagon instead of a stroller. :( My babies are getting big.

With my Reed boy on the carousel.

Grant and Jeff.

Before we could blink it was Christmas EVE!! We came home from the lake and made dinner and cookies for sAnTa!!

Note to self: Do not let toddler hold the large container of sprinkles. Hope Santa likes 'em sprinkled.

We put the cookies on the table (next to the fire place) with the milk, a note, and some reindeer hay the boys made at school.

Ready to go to bed so they could wake up and see Santa!!

Denise read the boys "The Night Before Christmas" and "The Polar Express"

The next morning Santa had in fact come to the house during the night and left us some goodies!!

Mr. Archie and Bruce could hardly contain their excitement!!

Grangie and G-Pa managed to send this super COOL Diego Rescue Center all the way from PNG!! We love it!!! (Reed)

Santa also sent a cook Mickey Mouse clubhouse camper.

Grant opening another present from Grangie and G-pa.

Reed came over to help open it.

It was a Buzz Lightyear and Woody costume set!!! (Grant)

Reed looks so much like Woody!!

My little Buzz and Woody!!! They wanted a lot of Toy Story Stuff for Christmas. (even though they've never seen the 1st movie all the way through. Not to mention the 2nd or 3rd)

The biggest gift from Santa was a TRAMOLINE!!! Here are Santa's Helpers putting it together.

Santa was hoping to get it put together the night he came, but the weather did not permit assebly. So Santa left a note for Daddy to put it together.

Not sure who had more fun on the new trampoline, daddy or the kids??

My boys loving their new gift. :)

Go boys go!!

LOVE how much energy they burn with this new toy!!

Grant cooking pancakes with Denise!!

We miss her so much!! (You too Bruce!!)

More December Fun!!!

2010-12-21T14:05:00.000-08:00

HO HO HO!!! It's the most wonderful time of the year!! We've have been so BUSY!! First off we went to see sAnTa as soon as we could!! We had a great time at the mall and the boys were super excited to tell him what they want for Christmas.

This year we got to go with Aunt Lacey and baby Ian. Baby Ian did so well with the big guy.

WE also were able to get a group pic, not too shabby!!

Next up we decorated the house and the tree. Jeff is still being lame and won't let us get a real tree. BOO But we did get to decorate the one we have. :) It's a little sparce in the lights department but we weren't about to make a thrid trip to Target.

Reed was so excited to put the start on top he held it the whole time we were decorating.

The boys had the best time helping us. They were so into it.

Reed got to put the star on top

It needed a little adjusting.

Jeff and I went round and round about the outside deocorations. I would always prefer something more along the lines of Clark W. Griswald's house and Jeff would always prefer to do NOTHING. So this was where we met in the middle.

It's simple but it looks good.

We found our light up antlers from last year and the boys decided that Mr. Archie Doggie needed to be a reindeer.

Next up was the gingerbread house. This time the kit was a little less involved.

Jeff did all the construction again and the boys got to help decorate.

Grant has a hard time not eating the decorations.

My Mom's group decided to go caroling at a local nursing home. Since the kiddos are so young the majority of the singing was done by the adults.

We had a great time and brought some Christmas Cheer to the residents.

The boys waiting to start the caroling.

Our friend Corinne.

The day before the last day of school was the boys' Christmas program. Grant in his outfit.

Reed looking good and ready to go sing.

Grant is in the front row on the far left. It was all the 3s, 4s and 5s. The boys classes sang Joy to the world and Silent night.

Reed is middle row of the far right. How more opposite could they put my two!

ALL the kids

Reed again

The day after the program was my bIrThDaY!! SO some of my friends from Mom's group (and Natalie from high school and mom's group) took me out to lunch. We had a great time. :) Thanks again ladies.

That night we had cupcakes to celebrate. (I made hummingbird cupcakes with cream cheese frosting) YUM

Reed getting ready to help me make my wish! My Present came when Denise arrived that night. Yay!

Grandpa Jess got the boys big bed for Christmas and My dad and Emmy got them the bedding. We were able to go to Ikea this past weekend (since Denise could babysit) and get the beds!! (Reed)

Grant on his big boy bed. :( Mommy likes her babies in cribs.

Now I just have to decorate the rest of the room.

Today we went to the Art Shop for Kids with some of our friends from school. We figured it'd be fun since we are all out of school right now. The boys painted a frog and a sailboat.

Andrew and his brother Lucas.

The boys got a TON of candy in goodie bags from school. They had a party in their classes the last day for baby Jesus's birthday. (They even had a cake) SO Reed kept wanting to eat more and more and more.

Reed's been working on swinging by himself. Here he is giving a demonstration.

Beck Family Portraits

2010-12-15T15:38:00.001-08:00

Back in October the Beck family had portraits done. (The whole family above)

What a cute bunch!!

I love December!!!

2010-12-15T15:28:00.000-08:00

My favorite time of year is here!!! I LOVE December!! It's cool (kind of) it's cozy and it's fun!! We spent some time at the lake house a few weeks ago and enjoyed the crisp weather. The boys had a good time playing out in the "cold".

We had a fire outside and made hot chocolate. It was so good the boys asked for two more cups!!

The following week I had my white elephant gift exchange with my mom's group. I was the lucky winner of a lantern that spins and shows pictures.

I joked with the other moms that it wasn't really fair because my kids were ACTUALLY going to REALLY enjoy it. I told them that this kind of thing was entertainment around the Beck house. Sure enough the boys had a great time just watching.

The following weekend we went to a birthday party at a fire station!!

Our freind Caden turned 4 and had a party at the local fire station where his dad works. It was SO FUN!!

The boys got to get up in the fire trucks and turn on the sirens.

Caden also had a firetruck pinata.

They had a great time!

THE BEST part about the begining of December is when we get to decorate the HOUSE!!! I love putting up the tree. This year we got to do the outside too!!! More pics to come..............

Thanksgiving

2010-12-06T13:56:00.000-08:00

Hooray for our first Thanksgiving back in Texas!!! The weather was amazing!!!

We had Jeff's family to our house this year and had a great time watching the kids play. All the little boys had a great time bouncing around.

Granny, we love her!!

The crew doing what they do best, hanging in the yard.

My first turkey!!! It turned out great. I was so proud of myself!!

Jeff doing his job

The spread. We had potatoes of all kinds, rolls, turkey, ham, you name it!!

The kid's table: (Clockwise) Henry, Reed, Grant, and Zack

My Table

Who's hungry???

So Grant LOVES to sing his books. It's really funny because he CANNOT carry a tune. Here he is singing about his elephant book. :)

Halloween 2K10!!

2010-11-01T13:03:00.000-07:00

On Friday before Halloween we went to the boys' school for their halloween parade. (Grant the Monkey)

Here's Reed in his class behind Mario.

Grant's Class under the halloween arch.

Grant's Class again.

Then it was off to the lake for halloween weekend. We had Jeff's WHOLE family up for the weekend to take family portraits. The boys got to love on baby Ian. (video at the bottom)

We also spent some time carving pumpkins. By "we" I mean Jeff and Aunt Karen.

Those kiddos hard at work on their pumpkins.

Grant kept trying to scoop the insides back INTO the pumpkin.

Reed would say "Ewww, yuck" when he got it on his fingers.

Great Grandpa Jess came out to watch for a few minutes.

Reed and his Jack-o-Lantern

Grant and his fun Jack-o-lantern.

My guys

Back home on Sunday night we got ready to go trick or treating and to have lots of kids come to our house too. When the first ones rang the bell the boys didn't know what to do. It was really cute. :)

Reed all ready to go.

My monkeys (Grant left Reed Right)

All set (Grant Left Reed Right)

Our good friends the Bunton's came over to go with us. Natalie is a friend of mine from high school. She brought her little guy William and her little girl Allie. Here's Reed with William.

Jeff stayed behind to hand out candy.

Natalie brought glow in the dark necklaces for us to wear. Safety first

Allie the cat and Reed ready to go.

We had a blast. Can't wait for next year.

PuMpKiN pAtChEs

2010-10-27T10:07:00.000-07:00

Jeff was on call last weekend so we had to stay in town :( While we were out running errands we got the boys their first batch of play dough and tools. They LOVE it! (Reed)

They have tools, cutters, and tons of colors. What's funny is that the tools all seem to be the same ones that Jeff and I had when we were little. Guess not much has changed in the way of play dough in the last 20 years.

On Sunday we went to a local Christmas Tree Farm/Pumpkin Patch with Grangie and G-pa.

They had games, pumpkins, "train" rides, food, and FUN!! We had a great time looking at all the pumpkins.

Look at all that orange. NO, those are not the shirts from last year. What kind of mother would do that?

They also had bounce houses. The boys LOVED climbing up and sliding down.

They had to be talked into it the first time but then we couldn't keep them off it. :)

The "train" was a set of cars the kind of looked like colored train cars being pulled by a tractor. Didn't matter to the boys though. They had a blast.

There were also lots of stations set up for photo opp. I liked that part the best.

On Tuesday we went with our Mom's Group to another local patch to pick out our pumpkins. Don't they look happy!!!

The boys found several that they though would make a good Jack-O-Lantern. We are off to the lake to spend some quality time with ALL the Beck's. We are also going to carve our pumpkins in prep. for Halloween!!

So get ready to see lots of pictures of Monkeys and Jack-o-lanterns!!

TrUnk or Treat

2010-10-21T11:42:00.000-07:00

Look at those BUNS!!! I couldn't help myself!!! They had to go pee while we were playing in the yard so they did. :) I just want to pinch them!!

On Saturday we were planning to go see baby Ian....then Reed caught Grant's cold and had a fever. Soooooo we didn't want to spend too much time around him and get him sick. We stayed at their house of a short while and then went over to the zoo. It's gotten hot again, boo, so we had a little ice cream snack.

I'm almost certain it was their favorite part of the day. Whit and Lacey live so close to the zoo that it was a nice little break for the boys and nap time for baby Ian (and his mom and dad).

On Sunday mom Mom's Group had a Turnk or Treat for the kiddos. We met at an elementary school parking lot and opened all our trunks and passed out candy. Some cars were decorated and some were not. Some adults dressed up and some did not. Guess which way Jeff decided to go with the whole dressing up thing??

The boys both wanted to be a Monkey this year so we've had the costumes for a while. We had their trikes in the back of the car and let them ride while we were waiting for the rest of the gang to show.

Every time I see these pics I have this desire to go to the circus. :)

There goes Grant.

The weather had been soooooooo nice. 70 something degrees out and cool at night. So just in time for our trunk or treat the weather decided to go all weird and it was like 85 degrees and HOT. My poor little monkeys were sweating bullets.

Overall it was a lot of fun for the kiddos and the parents.

The best part about having it at a school was that we played on the playground afterwards. Can't wait for next year!!

The boys got monster teeth in their goodie bags from the turnk or treat. (Reed)

They had no idea what they were or how to use them so we had fun playing monster for a few minutes. (Grant)

Fall is here in the yard too!! The leaves are falling off our oak tree (even though it's 80 degrees) and the mums in the front have bloomed. :)

It just looks so festive.

The boys studied spiders in school last week and made spider hats on Friday. Cutest spiders I've ever seen!! (Grant)

Scary spider Reed.

On Tuesday our mom's group went to Jackpot Pizza and got to have a little tour of the pizza place. It was fun for the kids to see the BIG ovens and all the fixings for the pizzas.

After they got a tour the kids got to make their own pizzas. (Reed)

Our friend Steven making his Pizza.

Baby Ian is HERE!!

2010-10-21T07:45:00.000-07:00

Early Sunday morning on 10/10/10 Lacey went inot labor at the lake house. She went ahead into Houston with Whitney while Anne and I got ready. We followed them shortly so we could be there when baby Ian came.

We had a lot of waiting to do. We waited, and waited and waited. I'm sure it didn't feel like "waiting" for Lacey. :)

At about 5 pm the doctors decided that Ian's heart rate was too varied and he it was time to do a c-section. Whit was all ready to go!

Baby Ian Jeffrey Beck was born at 5:54 pm. He was 6 pounds 9 ounces and 19 inches long!! We love him so much. He had a little bit of a hard time breathing so he spent the night up stairs in the NICU at Texas Children's Hospital. He was back with mom the next day and is doing GREAT!!

Proud Anutie Steph with baby Ian!

Another one of a proud Auntie!!

Grangie with her newest baby!! We just love him so much!!

Fall so far...

2010-10-11T06:03:00.000-07:00

I'm a bad blogger. I've been so busy with all the stuff we've been doing this fall I haven't been blogging!!! We ended September with a joint birthday party. Zack came in to Houston with his family for a birthday party and trip to Chuck E Cheese's.

Afterwards we sang happy birthday and had delicious cupcakes!!

They were yummy chocolate!! Grant and Henry eating them up.

Reed loved his and managed to NOT ruin his shirt in the process. :)

Lacey's birthday was the same day as the party!! Here she is blowing out her candles.

Wishing for a sooner due date.

I made her cupcakes so I can say there were perfect.

The boys have been having so much fun at school!! The second week was pet week. (Grant)

The culmination of pet week was making a dog or cat hat and getting your face painted!! How exciting!! (Reed)

My little doggies!!

The following week was all about me. Here's Grant's self portrait.

We also had picture day. Look at my handsome boys.

I can't wait to see how they turn out. (the pics not the children)

The weather has been sooooooooooo nice lately. It's been between 70-80 but dry and cool at night and in the morning. Last weekend we went for an afternoon walk in the park.

The boys love to ride in their wagon and Archi got tired after a while so he rode too. The boys loved when he rode. After the walk they got to play on the playground at the park. It was fun for all!

OK, so Mr. Archie Dog has decided that it's his calling in life to chase birds at the lake house. He has NEVER done this before and only recently became aware of the fact that this is his life's work. He has been getting more and more enthusiastic about his work and gets quite close to the edge of the bulkhead. He will run from one end of the yard to the other chasing the large birds that dare to invade our space. On Friday he had an incident. He was getting more and more brave about being on the edge of the actual bulkhead and would stand on the edge. Well he got a little boisterous and went over. We are so lucky that he didn't fall and hurt himself. We are also lucky that he didn't fall in the water and he landed on a flat rock, not a sharp one. Jeff came home quickly after I found him and we were able to rescue him. Hopefully he has learned his lesson. He has continued to chase the birds but he stays a little further from the edge now.

Busy busy bees...

2010-09-20T09:04:00.000-07:00

Wow!! We've been busy!! Right before the boys started school I took them to the zoo for one last mommy and me type of day. They LOVE this place!!

Grant's new obsession is the map. He can't read it at all but he loves to hold it and look at it.

He looks like a mini tourist.

The next day we had "meet the teacher" at their school. The boys were so excited to go to school and then come home with me when we were done.

The next day it was off to school. The boys go MWF from 9-1. Mommy loves it and I think they like it too. :)

The boys are in separate classes to help foster individuality. Here's Reed by his hook outside his class (the bee class).

And here's my Grant man next to his hook.

The boys read "The Kissing Hand" (one of my personal teacher favorites for the 1st day) and drew a hand with a heart in it. We love school so far!

We have been lonely lately!! Grandpa and Grangie are in Australia!! Michael has been stationed in PNG and recently got to spend some time in Brisbane. So Anne got to go over and spend three weeks with him. We have our Grangie back now but we still really really miss Grandpa. He'll be home soon and we can't wait!!

Grangie brought some pics home with her of the things they did. The boys LOVED seeing them with the animals. Michael with the kangaroo.

They're so much small than I thought.

They look so sweet!! Wish would could have been there!!

What a sweet buddy.

Stateside we have been hosting an animal of a different nature. WE have been lucky enough to host Bevo the guinea pig. He belongs to Reed's class and needs weekend homes. SO we got to bring him home with us.

He's a very sweet boy and was no trouble. Reed was so excited about Bevo coming home he told Ms. Eileen 3 times on Friday that Bevo was coming home to his house.

Aunt Lacey is brave enough to pick him up (I'm not) and let the boys pet him.

They thought it was the coolest thing ever.

The next day we went to a birthday party for our friends Lauren and Ashlyn Cole. They had so much cool stuff including a petting zoo complete with pony rides!! Go Reed!!

Grant loved his turn too!!

The petting zoo was filled with fun animals.

A llama.

A cute baby pig.

A brand new baby calf and many more. They were just in heaven.

There were also some other special guests.

This was the only way that Reed would get close to cookie monster. He loved Elmo but wouldn't go near cookie monster unless we held him.

We also got to see the other Cole family (Emily, Mike, Carter, and Ava). Ava is just about 6 months older than the boys. It was so much fun to hang at the party with them.

Inside the tent with the food. Aunt Lacey brought Ian. (in her belly)

The food was dee-lish and the decorations were amazing.

All the yummy cupcakes. WE may have sampled all of them. The green Oscar the grouch ones were my fav.

Singing happy birthday to the twins.

Reed chose an Elmo cupcake.

So did Grant. What a blast. Thanks again Cole family. It was wonderful!

The Becks

Fun in Feb

January '12 Brings a nEw BaBy!!!!

New Year's Eve

San Diego/Disneyland

Christmas 2011

Thanksgiving

San Fran With Kris and Houston With Katrina

Halloween

Fall 2011

Rest of the Summer 2011

LaKe TaHoE 2011

4th of JuLy

Happy Birthday BOYS!!

End of School/VBS/Katrina

Mother's Day Program

Spring Fling and Butterflies

Happy EaStEr!!!

Bluebonnets/Grandpa Ernie and Emmy

Spring Break '11

Kona, Kona, Kona

February Fun!!

HaPpY nEw YeAr!!!

A little Christmas...and a LOT of FUN!!!

More December Fun!!!

Beck Family Portraits

I love December!!!

Thanksgiving

Halloween 2K10!!

****PuMpKiN pAtChEs****

**TrUnk or Treat**

Baby Ian is HERE!!

Fall so far...

Busy busy bees...

PuMpKiN pAtChEs

TrUnk or Treat