Happy Birthday BROCK!

I really can't believe Brock is eight today, where did all the time go? There is no way it's been eight years since he was born and we were living in Woods Cross in our little trailer. I feel very lucky to be Brock's mom. He is such a fun boy and almost always has a smile on his cute face. He is a good helper and loves to spend time with his dad. He is an excellent big brother and he and Kaleb are truly best friends, but, he definitely has a soft spot for his baby sister. Brock gives the best hugs, his great-grandma Beckstrand always tells him so. He loves to spend time with the family... four-wheeling, spending the day at the lake, or just playing games. Brock is a good example to all of us and is SOOOO excited to get baptized this coming weekend! I love you bug, I hope you have the best birthday ever!

Suprise for me!

As most of you know, I'm off to Bermuda in 5 weeks from today, and I 'm excited about everything except the swimsuit part of it. Granted, I do look better now than I previously have looked, but I'm still not completely happy with myself (I know, no one ever really is). But, I was forced into trying on this darling MODBE suit a week or so ago and loved it! It made me look good in all the right places, you girls know what I mean, and I felt pretty good in it. I had decided I was for sure going to get it before I went. When I got home from Bunko last night it, the swim skirt and the "magic jeans" I wanted were sitting on my counter! Sheri, one of my mother-in-laws had bought them for me. I watch her daughter a few days a week and she said it was payment for that. I can't even tell you how excited I am!


Ok, so the story behind the "magic jeans". I went to a MODBE party awhile back and got forced, nicely I have to admit, but forced none the less, into trying on their jeans. I took the size I have been wearing and the size smaller that sometimes, if I'm lucky, fits....both too BIG??? Really, wow, great! So, I get the next size down and they fit cute, but the sales lady tells me to try on the next size down???? What? Are you kidding? She said they stretch a bit as you wear them, and I'd want a size smaller. Well, lo and behold they fit. So, I figure if I can go down 3-4 sizes, they MUST be magic. And now I have a pair....So cute! Lucky me!

Today I'm Thankfull For..........

I was really going to try and do this every week, but well, I just havn't seemed to keep up with it. Anyway, this week today I'm thankfull for......

• My kids~ I don't think I remember to be gratefull for them as much as I should. I focus too much on the things I would rather they not do, and forget that they are just kids, and with kids comes, chaos, messes and fights. But, also you get hugs, sweet notes, sloppy kisses, lots of laughs (because sometimes all you can do is laugh, right?) and so many other really good things!
• Clean Laundry~ I know, silly, and such a small thing, but after putting off folding for, seriously, 2 weeks and having to do it all on Monday for HOURS, I am greatfull for clean, folded clothes. I started this week on Tuesday and folded, hung up and put away as I went, so much better. I'm never letting it pile up again!
• My Brothers~ They are such great guys and I feel lucky to have them! One of my brothers is going to baptize Brock and the other confirm him next week, he really looks up to them and loves them. Plus, from my brothers I got 2 pretty great sister-in-laws, who have become really good friends!
• My Sunbeams~ So cute! What else can I say? I only have 4 this year and they are so fun and I learn form them every week. Last year I had 10, and though I was completely overwhelmed every week, I really do miss them! I just love Primary, I don't know what I'll do when I don't get to go anymore?
• Girls Nights OUT!~ I know I just said how much I love my kids, but mom's need a break! I get 2 this week, movie night and Bunko tonight! Yea!
• My Granparents~ I've been so blessed in the Grandparent catagory, only my Grandma and Grandpa Beckstrand and my Great-Grandma Neva are still alive. But I have been so lucky, I've known 10 of my grandparents and when Derrick and I got married I still had 7 living. I stopped in to visit my Beckstrand grandparents last night, they are just great people, as were all the others, i could learn a lot form them! I'm also greatfull for Derrick's grandparents, the ones I've known were/are special people and I feel lucky to count them as part of my family!

Girls Night Out!

I can't think of many things I like more than girls night out, and I don't feel like they happen as often as they should (Derrick may dis-agree with that?). Granted, I do have Bunko once a month....but a girls night out to a chick flick is the best! Tonight I went with my sis and our friend Leighann to "P.S. I Love You". I LOVED it, totally a great girls night out movie. I wouldn't recommend this as a good date movie and I'm not sure I'd want to go with my parents, but girl friends...for sure! I laughed and cried and then cried and laughed at the same time even. Ok, lots of you have probably already seen it, as we are a bit slow getting movies here. We have one theater, with one movie to choose from. The movie only plays on Friday, Saturday and Mondays, and the seats are, well probably original to the buiding! Anyway it was so nice to get out and laugh with the girls. What a great hubby I have to watch the kids (they built with Legos the entire time I was gone) and he gets to do it all over again on Thursday, cuz it's Bunko night! YIPPIE!

Domestic Diva?

I just had to share the fruit of my 2 full days of labor~ 25 pints of salsa and 17 pints of V8 juice, oh, and one tired girl with a VERY messy house!

Derrick called me last Thursday and asked me if I wanted some tomatoes? Sure 3 or 4 would be great. Well, he came home with 2 1/2 flats of tomateos, a bunch of jalepenos, a few peaches, a weird cactus thing I've never seen, and some other random things. Oh yea, how could I forget the NINE wedges of cotija cheese! How many of you have even heard of that? Well, not me...what am I going to do with that? All this abundance of food came from a desiel wreck that Derrick's cousin went on a wrecker call to, and they just throw/give away everything.

So, I really had some canning to do. I did salsa all day Monday and V8 today. Even though I am SUPER tired, I am also very proud of myself. I usually only can with my mom or my sister, and I've never done either of the things I did this time before. My sister did come help for a bit yesterday, but for the most part, I did it all by myself! The only major trauma was when Carlie touched the jalepenos I was cutting and then imediately rubbed her eyes, I felt so bad for her, I can't imagine how bad that hurt!

I don't know what it is about bottles lined up on the counter cooling, but what a good feeling. And the most wonderfull sound to me right now, is all those random little pops of sealing bottles (so far, they all have sealed!). YEA!

Home Tour for Ann!

Ok, I normally wouldn't just post pictures of my house on my blog but my BFF, Ann, hasn't had a chance to get down here since we built and is always telling me she wants to see the house. This isn't everything, but a start. One of my favorite rooms in my house, is one of my laundry rooms! Derrick laughed when I started to decorate, but I really hoped that if it were cute, I would be more motivated to get my wash done...not so much! I stamped flowers on the wall and I really like how it turned out, I guess you can't see it in the picture all that well? As I was putting the pictures on my computer, I realized that I really like my home. I also noticed just how many of my decorations were gifts and have good memories associated with them. So, thanks to all of you that have helped me decorate over the years! Anyway, enjoy the home tour! I'm sure you can figure out what's what, right? Well, here is the order, just in case.... Miss Carlie's room, the boys bathroom, Brock & Kaleb's room (I make them share, so they can have a toy room, or a junk room, depending on the day), my kitchen, the family and dining room, the living room, my upstairs laundry, and the master bedroom.

Crafty, Crafty!

I'm not sure why, but I love old ladders and have always wanted to find a way to decorate with one. I mentioned to my grandma one day that I was looking for one, and she just happened to know that there was one in my great-great uncle's house, just down the street. The next time his kids came Grandma asked if I could have it. I had Derrick pick me up some eye screws and some chain and I went to work. I bought a bunch of frames at a yard sale in Vegas last year and hadn't used them yet. So, this is the masterpeice I ended up with! I did every bit of it myself...the drilling, screwing in the eyes, cutting and extending the chains....everything! (can you tell I'm proud?) I think it turned out really good, if I don't say so myself. And all at a whopping cost of under $3!

TERRIBLE TWOS!

I've always said that whoever came up with the saying "terrible twos", got rid of their kid before they turned 3, because 3 was so much worse for us than 2. Well, if that is the case with Miss Carlie, we are in TROUBLE! This week she has just been into everything. Yesterday I finally tied my chair legs to my table legs, hoping it will keep her from dragging the chairs all over and climbing up. She clmbed up and got two knifes out of my butcher block a few days ago, one for her and one for her cousin Tylie, luckily I was only out of the room for a minuite and came back right in time. At Sunday dinner, the terrible two (Tylie and Carlie) got into Gram's make-up and made themselves, and the bathroom carpet....well, in Carlie's words, look, pretty mommy! I had a friend stop in on Friday and Kaleb kept wanting me to come into the kitchen, because Carlie made a mess. What a mess it was, Gatoraide powder all over my wood floors. Our wood floors are rustic, and they have knots and grooves, and well, Gatoraid powder, it just fills those crevices up nicely. Also, the terrible two got into toothpaste at my sisters last week and "painted" the walls, the carpet and their shirts. The picture doesn't do justice to the toothpaste mural, it was amazing! Maybe I've just forgotten, but I don't think the boys made this many messes in such a short amount of time? I can only imagine what we are in for if she continues to get worse! Wish us luck!

The Hinckley Challenge

For some reason, I'm not sure why, reading my scriptures is a challenge for me, it always has been. I'm always trying to motivate myself and, well, it never works to well. My sister sent me an email on Saturday, in it was a challenge to read the Book of Mormon in 97 days to honor President Hinckley. There is a website that has been set up, http://www.hinckleychallenge.com/. On it, you sign up, there is a tracker to chart your progress. I signed up yesterday and was #1765, today when I looked, there were 4892 people signed up, and the number is steadily going up. Maybe, just maybe, I can really stick to it this time. Reading the Book of Mormon was something President Hinckley trully belived it and I know that if I can stick to this, it will make a huge difference in my life! The challenge officially starts tomorrow, join me!
I just had to add an update~ I just looked and as of today (Mon. 4th at 1:00) there are 11606 people signed up! AMAZING!

Snow Fun! (or not?)

A few weeks ago, after a good storm, we took the kids up to the best sledding hill that is pretty close to our house. No one had been there before us, so it was just a hill of powder. Brock went first, it was like a cloud of powder as he went down. I don't know if you can see the snow on his eyelashes in the picture, but they were white! We all took a few turns going down and were having fun. Carlie wasn't sure if she liked it or not, and finally decided the best place to hang out was in one of the tubes at the bottom of the hill, much to the boys dissapointment. Kaleb decided the best place to hang out was right in the middle of the path, and ended up getting run over by Derrick, even though he had been told at least 4 times to move (he wasn't hurt, he barley got hit). Boy was he MAD, it went from fun to not in about 3 seconds! I had the more fun playing with my new camera then sledding, and I was happy with the pictures I got. The picture of Kaleb is his classic mad look, and I crack up everytime I see the picture. For the most part, we had a fun day, one I hope the kids will remember for a long time.