{FOUR!?!}

My baby turned FOUR today.....how did that happen?

We started two new traditions this year, and I think we'll keep them both. First, I made a "It's Your Special Day" bucket and filled it with some of Carlie's favorite things. Of course we had to have coloring books and crayons (she's a colorin' fool), Skittles, "Taffy Taffy's" or Airheads as the rest of us call them, a Tinkerbell Pez and a few other things. I also filled our picture ladder in our family room with pictures of Carlie. I thought it was a fun way to remember the past few years!
As you can see I went all out on the cake this year...or not! Star cupcakes on a two tired cake stand, Carlie thought it was great and it was super easy. I also made our favorite ice cream dessert for the grown ups.

All Carlie has been asking for was a "fishing cole" and Princess Polly Pockets. Of course she got both, and wouldn't you know they were the last things that she wanted opened up....isn't that the way it always works? Uncle Shad made her the cute balloon hat, that was a hidden talent we didn't know about.

What an adorable little gal she is, we sure love her!

Happy Birthday Carlie Girl!

{Lovin', Hatin' & Sittin' the Fence}

Things I'm Lovin'.....

Clean wood floors! I love my wood floors, but I am horrible at keeping them mopped. Thankfully they hide dirt really well. Anyway, yesterday I spent the better part of the afternoon, moving all the furniture and rugs and cleaning them good, and I was exhausted. Yippee for clean floors!

Yea, isn't that candlestick gorgeous? Love it! Especially since my bestest friend, Ann gave it to me! It looks great between my piano and my red couch, and it makes me happy every time I walk by it!

Know what else makes me happy? Ann and her cute family stopped in to see us for a little bit on their way home Sunday. It wasn't long enough, but still it made me happy!
Carlie rockin' her cute haircut! She looks adorable and she sat so still for Aunt Katy! A bonus, it's my turn on Monday....nothing is better that haircut day!
How sweet is that lamp? Guess what, I got it at a yard sale today for $1....happy dance! Now I just need to find the perfect shade for it!
Fall! Yep, I love fall. The colors, the leaves, the cooler temperatures! Love it!

Things I'm Hatein'.....
Remember these adorable Easter chicks?
Well, 4 out of the 5 are ROOSTERS? and I'm hatein' them! I'm sick of the unwanted wake-up every morning from 4-11. Really? The sun isn't even up at 4! But I'm not sure what to do with them. Kill em or keep them in case we are quarantined to our houses because of a pandemic and need food? I'd have to be pretty hungry to eat them, but you never know?

Sheep (or Maa's, in Carlie speak)...... the neighbors sheep, who won't stay out of my yard! Seriously, I've chased them out of my yard 4 times today (it's only 2:00), and Derrick was late for work this morning because he had to chase them. They are eating my tree's, flowers and grass, not to mention pooping everywhere! I've had it, stupid stinkin' sheep!

Things I'm Sittin' the Fence on.....
The kids pet toads?!? Derrick took the kiddos on a four wheeler ride up the canyon, and they came home with these toads. The kids love them, and I do have to admit, it's fascinating to watch them eat ants, bugs and flys, but I don't know that I love them in the dining room?

The other fence sitting issue. There is a cocoon on the ceiling in my bathroom. I got up to potty in the middle of the night a few weeks ago. When I woke up I remembered seeing a Caterpillar in the bathroom? Hmmm, did I really or was it a dream? Well, I must have since there was now a cocoon on the ceiling. Now what to do? We have no idea what will come out of it, but my kids are fascinated by it and I have to admit I am too, but just a tiny bit. But it bugs me at the same time and then again the thought of squishing it or even touching it make me sick too? What would you do?

{Sunday Drive to Mayfield}

A few weeks ago we decided to go for a Sunday Drive. Derrick's been wanting to go check out Mayfield canyon without snow, ever since he snowmobiled there with his dad this past winter. We headed up the road and it started out pretty good, but it got rocky pretty fast, it was bumpy, but not bumpy enough to turn around. I had to laugh when Derrick said, it was a lot smoother when we were here. Ummm, really? Could it be that all the rocks were covered with SNOW? It really was a pretty drive, and I liked it even better when it connected with the Skyline Drive at the top and we had a much smoother ride down the mountain!

When we got almost to the top we ran into the prettiest little lake. It was really shallow and we couldn't see any fish, but the kids still had fun exploring.

My boys
Miss C

There may not have been any fish......but there were frogs!

What cute kiddos!

If only I could get one picture with all of them looking?

Carlie kept wanting me to, "Take just one more picture, mama!"

And then we had to have one of just the girls.

One of the many frogs the boys caught.

This one was so tiny and adorable, and fast! What a fun, memorable, Sunday family afternoon!

{Miss Monica's Preschool}

to......Miss Monica's Preschool!
I feel like all I've done the last week, is preschool, preschool, preschool! I guess that's what I get for leaving it all to the last minute. I got everything finished in my room only hours before our little back to school night. Talk about cutting it close!?!? This is the view from the door. (yes, Ann, Misti & Tierra, that is hand sanitizer in the window... just sayin')
The play corner.

Our art wall.

At back to school night I had the mom's and kids paint their hands and make hand prints. Then today at our first class we read "The Kissing Hand" and added heart stickers, or kisses, to our hands.

Isn't our robot adorable? He has so much info on him....numbers, alphabet, colors, days of the week, months, shapes, even a clock!

All I can say for my first day is.....I made it through it! We had lots more play time than I had planned on and I was exhausted after that very long two hours, but I truly enjoyed it! All 6 of my kids right now are only 3 and this school stuff is new to all of us....we'll work out the kinks and then I'm sure a few more will pop up, but as long as we are all having fun, it's worth it!

And judging from that smile on her face, she's happy.....and that makes mama/teacher happy too!

{Catching Up}

I've become the worst blogger? I have good intentions, but I just keep getting sidetracked. We've been busy making the most of the time we had before school started.

A few weeks ago we took the kids to the Ogio show that was in Delta. The kids, ok, all of us, really enjoy the freestyle motocross show and they had freestyle BMX also. The boys HAD to wear their new jerseys and if the boys were doing it, of course Carlie had to too!

They looked so cute all decked out we had to take a few pictures!

They asked for volunteers and of course my boys were right down to the fence, pronto! Brock was one of the first kids picked to lay down and one of the BMX riders did a bunny hop jump over them. They started with 4 and then added more, Kaleb ended up going out with the second group.
By the last jump, there were 12 kids and the announcer! At least my kids weren't on the end! Really those guys are amazing....they were doing back flips, and all kinds of super cool tricks. We had a blast!

A few weeks ago, my brother-in-law was going through all his guard stuff and organizing. The boys were playing and thought it would be a great idea to try it all out. Adorable! I can't even being to imagine a unit with those four in it....can we say chaos?!?! (don't you love the football PJ pants and swimsuit?)

Our friends and neighbors across the street's son flys a Black Hawk helicopter for the Army. Most of the time when they come down this way they circle over the house as they go by. The kids get so excited and run out yelling, "Ryan's coming". Well, a couple Saturday's ago they stopped and said he, and 5 others, were coming and landing at the airport in Fillmore. Lisa and I loaded up all the kids and went to watch. It's so amazing that those thing even fly and the way they maneuver is just crazy. Thanks for the show Ryan, it was great!

Of course no summer would be complete without swimming lessons. We usually try and do two sessions, but only got in one this year. Brock improved SO much this year, and passed level three....YIPPIE!

Kaleb did really well too. He only was missing three things to pass, and was a bit disappointed. But, the next two weeks he gets to go for school. I'm hoping he can pass off those last few things then.

This was Carlie's first year and she is a little fish. She had so much fun and every morning still asks if it's swimming lessons today?

Finally the first day of school! I think I was the only person at our house that was SUPER excited about school. Don't get me wrong, I love having my kids home, but we do so much better with a schedule! Brock is the king of the Elementary in Fourth grade.....how could this be his last year of Elementary? Kaleb is in Second grade and told me today he loves everything about second grade! I had to laugh at the picture of the boys together (I know Kaleb's eyes are closed), of course Carlie couldn't be left out! She is patiently waiting for preschool to start, her teacher on the other hand may be stressing a bit. I have exactly a week to have everything ready, and that includes painting chairs and tables, laminating and many, many other things....I'm sure it will all come together, right?

{I'm Thankful For....}

It's been way to long since I did a gratitude post. It's not that I haven't had anything to be grateful for, I just haven't taken the time to sit down and make a little list. So here goes, in no particular order......

• My Mom~ Yesterday was my mom's birthday, I won't say which one. I have been truly blessed, my mom is one of my very best friends. She is a great listener and gives good advice, but only if I ask for it. She's an example of the kind of wife and mother I want to be. She is an excellent teacher who puts her heart and soul into teaching. She is patient and kind... I could go on and on, but I want her to know how grateful I am for her!
• Eternal Families~ I am so thankful to know that we can be with our families forever. I've had the chance over the last month to attend two funerals. One for Derrick's cousin Trent, who was disabled and passed away at 26, and one for a family friend and life-long neighbor of ours. At both funerals, of course there were tears, but there was such a strong spirit of hope, and also faith in the plan of salvation and the promise that we can be together again!
• My little town~ I'm thankful for my little home town and the opportunity we had to come home! We've lived many places in the 14 years Derrick and I have been married, and 3 years ago we were able to move back to the little town I grew up in. When I say little, I mean little, according to the 2000 census, our population totaled 254! I was never un-happy anywhere else and we were content, but nothing compares to "home" in my book. There is such a comfort to me in raising my children here, knowing my neighbors, seeing my kids grow to love the people who have had such an impact on my life. There is truly for me, "No place like HOME".

May 24, 2003~ Manti LDS Temple

Renae Ainge, Jeremy Teeples, Lisa Teeples, Monica Dearden, Carlene Beckstrand, Robert Beckstrand, Shad Beckstrand & Julia Sigler

• My Temple Recommend~ A few weeks ago I renewed my Temple Recommend and was reminded how thankful I am for that particular slip of paper. I am truly thankful for the blessings of the Temple in my life. I pray that I will always remember to be thankful for, and worthy of this blessing.
• A lunch date with Kaleb~ On Friday Derrick spent the day at the fair in Delta at a booth for Dearden Equipment, and took Brock with him. Carlie went to play with her cousin Addie for the afternoon, which that left just Kaleb and I. When I asked him if he wanted to go on a date, he gave me a funny look and said ummm, NO! But he did agree to lunch at Subway. After lunch, we went to the library and picked out some books for him before we headed home. What fun I had visiting with my little man, he's growing up to fast and I really feel like I need to make it a priority to spend one on one time with each of my kids, before they'd rather not hang out with their mom.
• Good Friends~ I am thankful for all my good friends....my church friends, old friends, bloggy friends, best friends....all of you! I'm thankful for your advice, support, wisdom, laughter, tears. You build me up and encourage me, you make me want to be a better person. I can't imagine where I would be without each of you!
  

{Busy, Busy}

I feel like I've been neglecting my blog, but we've been busy, busy! I've been busy with kids, getting ready for preschool and just life in general. So, I need your help, I'm not sure what I want my preschool kids to call me? I've added a poll on my sidebar and I really want all your opinions. Hopefully life will slow down a bit soon and I'll get back to the bloggy world!