Behind the Scenes

In an effort to reveal what life is like here at the Beckstead's I thought I would give you a quick peek into our life.

Every morning after the girls are at school Chase and I come home to a kitchen that looks like this.

About half of the time, I decide the Kitchen takes priority and we turn it into this

But, sometimes the car takes priority, especially since one of my children (I won't name names.... mostly because I don't really know who did it.... but I have two guesses) decided to do this.

and this....

So we get out the hairspray and now we have this.

Most of the days we have faces that look like this. Especially, when one of them gets caught doing something like what we have above.

And most days we have silliness that looks like this. Which is a stage that I know won't last forever, but sure does create mountains of laundry.

So basically we have daily messes, frequent art in unwanted places, multiple emotional meltdowns, and excessive silliness. Someday I will have to post the movie I made of the day the girls dumped out all the rice, cereal and noodles all over the kitchen floor and then moved on to pull out all the tinfoil and saran wrap and leave it in a heap in the living room. Unfortunately, I don't have a movie of the time the girls decided to have a picnic in the kitchen and got out all the pots and pans, filled them with water and then took out ALL the spices and started making "soup."

The thing that still amazes me is how fast they are in their naughtiness. Someday they will be amazing artists, chef's, actresses or whatever they choose, but getting through the NOW is the challenge.

It's been a long, full day here- school, Occupational Therapy, a two hour IEP meeting, stress and worry about our little Madi, playing in the cul-de-sac with neighbors, dinner out as a family, the ever difficult bedtime routine, the one child still awake refusing to go to bed.... I think I am ready to give in to the fatigue and say goodnight.

I've been tagged!

I've never been tagged before. It's such an honor (I think!). I didn't actually think my friend Stacey in Washington was referring to me when I read that she tagged Amanda at the end of her post. I figured she had another friend Amanda. So, Stacey- thanks for thinking of me and thanks for the email that let me know that you did mean me!

So here goes. I am supposed to post the fourth picture in my fourth folder in my pictures file.

Wouldn't you know that this little guy's mom is the link between me and Stacey! This is my little nephew Hunter. His mom, Heather, is my sister in law and one of Stacey's friends. This picture was taken when Hunter was about 5-6 months old and was admitted to the hospital for respiratory issues. He was in the hospital for a few days, and now, 3 1/2 years later he is just as cute as he was then. Hunter is such a funny kid. He is the youngest of three boys, and he is the youngest by four years, but Hunter believes he is just as old and big as his older brother. The last time he spent the night here I had to convince him that the pj's I was going to have him wear were not actually Chase's pj's- because of course Chasey's jammies would naturally be waaay to small for him seeing that Chase is a whole year younger than than him (a whole year younger and just little bit bigger!) So I convinced him that they were actually left at our house by Owen (a mutual friend, much older and much bigger than both Chase and Hunter) so they would fit him perfectly! He was satisfied and slept cozy and comfy in Chasey's rocket jammies. Ooops, I mean Owen's jammies. Sorry, Heather, for lying to you child. He is just too cute and funny!

I tag April. You're it!

We like Halloween!

We decorated a few weeks ago and the kids were so excited. It was very fun. What do you think of our pumpkin heads?

Yes, we do have a tacky big blow up thing in our front yard. But, it seems to have developed a big hole in the top, that only keeps getting bigger (with help from the kids) so we may have to retire the big blow up thing in the yard. Chase will be crushed. He loves that thing.

Don't worry though. We do have another big tacky blow up thing for Christmas. We love them- oh, I mean the kids love them! What we love is seeing the kids so excited!

Lightning McABBY

It has been a lot of fun watching Abby play soccer this year. For about half the time she is on the field she looking at the clouds, doing pirouettes, or lost in some deep thoughts. The other half of the time she is amazingly focused, FAST and very skilled at getting the ball in the net. She just waits until the ball is somehow kicked out the pack of girls, then she takes off with it and no one can catch her.

She's been scoring around 3 goals a game (of course last time two were for our team and one was for the other team- oh well, you can't win them all!) She really is fast, but that isn't much of a surprise. There isn't much that Abby does that isn't done in hyperspeed!

We are excited to see how Madison does next year. My guess, she will either be crying because she doesn't have the ball, or she will be trying to hug everyone of the field. Cute Madi!

The little man is 3!

Chase turned 3 on Saturday. On the agenda for the day- Breakfast at Country Waffles with all his best friends- Abby, Madison, Mommy, Daddy and Hunter. Cheering at Abby's soccer game - his favorite part is kicking the ball with Daddy during half time. Toys R Us - to pick out new Thomas trains and tracks. Dinner - Steak, steak, steak (that is all he ate! it is his very favorite food.) Cupcakes and presents! What more could a little guy want. He is in absolute Thomas Train heaven!

(this is Chase's warning look- the girls better beware if they get too close to the tracks!)

(there really are 3 candles, you just can't see the third one)

Happy Birthday Chase! We love you!

The Report

First, DC.

It was amazing! The weather was perfect, the time alone was relaxing, being back in the city was exciting. I even rode my old commuter bus from Foggy Bottom to my old stop and then walked to my apartment. I stood in front of my building, in awe that I actually owned and lived in this cute apartment just a mile up the road from the heart of Georgetown. It brought back so many memories, especially of when Gordon and I were dating. Going back to the old stomping grounds was a highlight of the trip, but all the yummy food, good company and book reading time wasn't too bad either.

Second, camping.

Yes- they did it. I even left my camera here for them to take photos of their adventure, but Gordon didn't take it and I have yet to see any proof that they actually went. I am pretty sure they did, but I will have to wait to see the pictures that his friend Jeff took. They went with Jeff and his son Matthew (who apparently was a little overwhelmed by the noise and commotion our three bring!), and luckily for my family's sake, Jeff provided all the food and cooking equipment. So with that taken care of, along with the fact that I laid out clothes for the kids for every day, Gordon had it pretty easy, but even so, Kudos to him for taking them. I'm pretty sure I would have just stayed home!

I'm off to Oz, the Emerald City

That's right - I'm DC bound this afternoon. What? You didn't know that the Wizard of Oz was just one big metaphor about the Gold Standard Debate in 1896? You didn't know that the Emerald City represented Washington DC and that the wizard was supposed to represent the President? Well, if you didn't- just know that I am lucky to have a big brother who has filled my head with all sorts of useful knowledge over the years- some of it based on fact and some of it based on his own unique way of thinking about things. Such as his conviction that you should brush your teeth with warm or hot water because they will get cleaner.



I am just about to burst from excitement for 4 days without the gang! Just me! How lucky am I? I am heading out with my sister-in-law. We just hope the husbands can handle it. Gordon is planning on taking the kids camping! WHAT! Without me, for the first time ever. Yes, that's right. Our children have never been camping before, and Gordon is going to try it solo! Wish him luck! I think his biggest challenge is not really the camping part, it will be getting everything ready to go camping!

I'll report back about DC and the much anticipated camping trip when I return on Monday.