My Brave Girl

Presley had a in house field trip yesterday with the Reptile Man.This is the second time she has seen him and it amazes me that she isn't afraid to touch or hold anything!  I sure would be! The turtle was probably the coolest thing he brought. Each of the kids got to sit on it's back and ride him.  This turtle right now can carry over 400lbs on it's back and by the time it's full grown it will be able to carry over 600lbs. Also the two tailed komodo dragon was very cool! I believe he said that this is one of a kind.  The show was very fascinating and I loved to watch from a distance, it was a great experience for the kids!

My Dirty 30 in Vegas!

Here are a few pictures of Carrie and I on our Vegas trip for my 30th Birthday!  We had a blast. Actually this was probably one of the best times I have ever had in Vegas!  I am still trying to recover and I have been home for almost a week!
We flew in on a Thursday headed straight to our hotel Planet Hollywood dumped our luggage and headed out. We ate, shopped, did a ton of walking, I gambled a little, we took in a show Viva Elvis!:) and did more shopping!
It was so nice to be able to go out and have nice dinners and not have to get up fifty times during a meal to take someone to the bathroom and to be able to eat a warm meal.  If your a mom you know what I mean. It was also a glorious event to be able to shop and actually go in the dressing room and try things on! Most of the time when I shop here I just take everything home and then have to make a second trip back to do returns if the stuff doesn't fit! Such a pain!
Carrie and I really did VEGAS! I have so many memories that will make me laugh for years to come (Shake Weight Contest!) I am so glad that I got to spend these four days with the best sister ever!  I think I might just have to surprise her and take her for her 40th b-day!
Well I am glad to be home. Though the flight back was horrible.  Nothing like getting food poisoning 20 minutes before you board the plane! I was excited to see Pat and the kids and they were excited to see me.  I think a mommy trip away was much needed!:)

Happy New Year & 2011 Goals

Happy New Year! Wow, it's hard to believe that it's 2011! I have so many goals that I want to accomplish this year! Some are bigger than others, some might seem silly but to me it's something I really want to hold myself accountable to do and to achieve this year.

I won't bore you with all of them but I thought if I listed some of them, you might also keep me accountable!:)

1. Since I got a Kindle for Christmas I really want to be able spend more time reading! My goal for 2011 is to read two books a month!Now this may sound silly to you, but when your a busy mom there just isn't much time to read. I have already read one book this month! Woohoo! One more to go.  A good start! BTW: if your looking for a good read I highly recommend "The Last Lecture!"

2. To sign up for some sort of "Race/Run"  I have really wanted to do this for the past couple of years. And I believe that this is my year. Not sure what Race/Run I want to do. It could even be the Seattle to Portland bike ride. Just something that will get me to start training and well for better words force me to go to the gym!

3. To do a service project once a month as a family! (this is going to be so cool! Stay tuned as I will be posting once a month about each project!)  This whole thing about the project is to really teach my kids about the gift of giving and learning to be gracious!  I think kids sometimes can have a hard time with giving thing up or giving things away. I want them to feel good about it and have them know why we do this!

4. To be in the Word more!  This last year I have mentor/disciplining with a friend. It's been great and I am learning so much! It's very exciting to be growing in my faith.  Memorizing would also be something I would like to focus on. I have never been good at this, but I know that the spirit will place these scriptures in my heart and will help me to learn them.

5. Updating both my blogs more!:)  If you haven't seen my other blog it's www.beckscreations.blogspot.com

Okay so here is just a few of the many! I won't bore you any longer!  If you see me ask me how these things are going. I really want to be held accountable!
Happy New Years! Here's hoping that 2011 will be a great year, full love LOVE, Happiness and Good Health!

Recap of our Busy December

Here is just a glimpse of our busy, busy December. 

 Dad and Ethan playing Jenga in their matching Jammies!

 Ethan sporting a bow mohawk

 All the cousins making funny faces. They are way to excited to open presents

 Santa Came! Ethan was so excited about his Lego "battle of Indoor" set

 Lots of giggles in the month of December!

 Snowflake Lane in Bellevue.  So fun!

 Mom's 30th Birthday @ Bucca Di Beppo! Check out that huge dessert!

 Mickey our Elf on the shelf! 

 A new tradition started this year! Sleeping under the Christmas Tree!

Making delicious sugar cookies! So much fun, and boy what a mess. I think we had flour EVERYWHERE!



Merry Christmas

Wow I can't believe tomorrow is Christmas Eve! Wishing you and your family a very Merry CHRISTmas & and safe and Happy New Year!

Surprise!

 Pat actually kept a secret! BIG SHOCK! He can never keep a secret!

 Not a cute picture! I think I had one to many glasses of wine at this point!

Goofy Girls

What a wonderful evening. My sweet hubby and my three best girl-friends threw me a surprise dinner party! It was such a wonderful evening. And, crazy that Pat actually kept it a secret. Though I was suspicious that something was going on because he was acting very weird. 

I can't believe that in 10 days I will be 30! YIKES! The 20's were great! So here's hoping that 30 will be even better!

Give the kids a Canvas and let them create! (It doesn't need to be fancy!)

This week I bought a file cabinet. Presley played all afternoon inside the box while I organized piles, and piles of papers! When Ethan got home from school I asked them if they wanted to paint the outside of the box. They were so excited. My kids love art and they love projects.  We sat down and they each painted a side of the box. Even I painted a side of the box! It so funny but this box provided hours of entertainment for my kids and they were so proud to show Daddy when he got home what they had made.

You don't need special supplies, just a box and acrylic paint and maybe a bed sheet to cover the ground! Grubby clothes would be good too!

Another Fall Photo

My Friend Jenni took this picture of our family at the Pumpkin Patch! I thought about using it for our Christmas card, but that would be weird since it's a Halloween picture! I thought it was a really good picture of our family! So back now to the drawing board to find the perfect picture for our Christmas card this year!

Taking care of Pets!

Taking care of Pets can be alot of work! I usually try to take Harrison in and have groomed 1-2 a month, and a couple times a month I also give him a bath at home! Today he got into some mud in the backyard so Presley said, "Mom let's give Harry a bath!"  So we did. She has taken on many responsibilities of having a dog. Presley loves animals! 
So now we have a clean, good smelling dog! Wonder how long that will last? And Presley was able to help out and give Harry a bath, blow dry him and then brush him!

Field Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday Presley had a field trip at one of the local pumpkin patches! It turned out to be a gorgeous day! Pat worked from home so he was able to attend too, which was really fun for Presley! Hay-Rides, Corn-maze, playing in a room filled with tons of corn kernels, and feeding the animals were many of the high-lights of the afternoon! Sure wish brother could have been there with us!:(  He has a birthday party to go to tomorrow at a different pumpkin patch so look for pictures of that soon!

My girl-friend send me this picture that she took of our family on a camping trip this summer! What a wonderful camping trip it was! Though we are alittle dirty we sure did have a great time! The kids love camping and being out doors! We will definitely go back to Cape Disappointment next year!

First Day of School

Both kids are back in School now. Ethan has been in for about 2 weeks and Presley just started yesterday!  They both are so excited to be back and to be learning! They are little sponges at these ages and so excited to learn (hopefully they will always have this enthusiasm!)

Ethan is currently in a Pre-First program! He attends school M-F all day! The first week was a little tough on him! But this week seems to be going more smoothly!
Presley is in her second year of Pre-School. She goes Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday for 2-1/2 hours. She loves doing show and Tell and wants everyday to be her snack day!

We are lucky that each one of them got really good teachers! It's going to be a great school year! And I look forward to seeing the changes that Ethan and Presley make.