caution to the wind

the weather was in the high 60s today and i could hardly contain my glee! the weatherman said to be on the lookout for thunderstorms and tornadoes, but we threw caution to the wind(literally) and played outside. the winds whipped around our faces and the clouds swirled up above, but we were fearless! actually, i was a little afraid of the swingset falling down while i was climbing on the monkey bars, but i certainly wasn't afraid of any ol' tornado.

uncle mark modeling the argyle socks with workout attire trend that is so hot right now.

since we are on the subject of tornadoes and all things midwestern, i will address something that has been on my mind. many of you think we live in kansas. we don't. we live in kansas city, missouri. not kansas. missouri. not kansas. spread the word. tell your friends. note mark's sweatshirt:
somewhere under the guitar is says missouri.

and we're still celebrating...

i went to hy-vee groceria today to pick up some needed items. i always swing by the bakery to see what free sample they were offering to sweet little boys riding in their mommy's cart. today it was sugar cookies. reagan did not want a cookie. he wanted cake. he very loudly refused the cookies and shouted for cake as i pushed the cart toward produce. can you believe it? a good little simpson boy refusing something chocked full of sugar? you think you know a kid...anywhooo, reagan's desire for cake is just getting louder as i push the cart away faster. then a sweet bakery employee tracks us down and gives us a free slice of cake. i am thanking her profusely and reagan demands an entire cake. a slice was not enough for him. apparently our next family home evening lesson will be entitled, "how to not look gift horse in the mouth."
we continue to bop around the grocery store and reagan slowly warms up to the cake. then he drops it on the floor. luckily it was in a plastic container. then i drop it on the floor. and then i smash into it with the cart and drag it under a wheel for a few feet. amazingly the plastic container is still intact. show me a biodegradable container that will take that much punishment!

the cake:
the happy boy in mis-matched sweats:
singing "happy birthday" for the gabillionth time to reagan.

the beck family band rides again

spring break 2008 was an extra special one for my family. my baby brother mark returned home from his mission on tuesday and the whole fam damily reunited for the occasion. if you are not interested in an onslaught of beck family pictures. stop reading now. i won't be offended. however, if you can hold on long enough, there are some funny pictures of people being silly at the bottom.

mark is one of those special people that left on his mission when he was 18 and returned home when he was 20. he turned 21 on wednesday and we celebrated. reagan thought we were celebrating for him again. reagan also thought the welcome home balloons were for him.

some week highlights:

david arrived at midnight thursday. frontier airlines lost his luggage and he was scrounging for clothes to wear from thomas and mark's closets the whole time. at one point david had to resort to wearing his old mission suit for the family picture. he was wearing two different belts on top of one another to keep his pants up and he couldn't take his jacket off because of the holes in his white missionary shirt. by the time david left on sunday night to go back to utah, his luggage still had not been located.

another highlight was the warmer weather. we were able to go downtown and enjoy the crown center fountains.



another time honored beck family tradition was the group nap that took place at my house on saturday:

as promised, your added bonus! i am purposefully posting all these silly pictures with the everyone looking slightly ridiculous. these cracked me up. i hope it makes you laugh too!




frighteningly funny heather

once again, the scarlett/scarlett o'hara similarities are uncanny. i didn't purchase scarlett's easter dress for her, it was a gift from my mother. the fact that scarlett o'hara wears a tiered ruffled dress in the opening scenes of gone with the wind is purely coincidental.

the sickest party ever

for me, motherhood has been a marathon with several mad dashes sprinkled throughout the race. i am constantly behind, trying to close the gap between me and the endless lists of tasks to be completed. a prime example has been reagan's 3rd birthday. i feel like we had been celebrating forever but never quite getting close to the finish. for about a month i have been coaxing reagan through trips to various stores with the promise that eventually his birthday would come and whatever pined for item would be his. the most highly desired gift? a toy trumpet that can be filled with water to achieve various pitches. perfect for bathtime. by the time the big day had arrived, we had already celebrated the week before with mimi and bubba at grandma and grandpa's house. cake was eaten, presents were opened, pictures were taken, football helmets were worn to church.




of course there needed to be day of festivities. silly me completely forgets to buy decorations until about 10pm saturday. i turn to my trusty artsy fartsy box and cut out letters for some signage. in my birthday haste i did purchase some balloons, but no wrapping paper. the solution? spread the toys around the kitchen christmas-morning style and hope reagan doesn't think anything is off.

i forgo display of clothing gifts and hang them in his closet, because what little boy wants new clothes anyway? the balloons turn out to be water balloons and are nearly impossible to blow up. a successful leader always delegates, so thomas got the job of blowing up as many tiny balloons as he can. the tiny orbs mock me as i string them up in the kitchen.



the finishing touch is mickey mouse shaped pancakes that reagan takes one look at and says, "ooohhh toodles! i want some cereal." reagan munches on reese's puffs while thomas and i enjoy the unauthorized disney pancakes.


did i mention the whole family has been sick since tuesday? so, reagan spent the bulk of the day in his jammies watching mickey mouse clubhouse and napping while thomas and i took turns with church attendance and feeling awful.

later that evening we go to my parents house for a dual reagan grandpa celebration since they share the same birthdate. somewhere in all this birthday chaos i created a 55 and 3 birthday cake. not the prettiest cake, rather ronald mcdonald-esque. but i enjoyed making it.


lucky for us, grandpa and grandma had been sick too. they didn't mind eating a cake prepared by a cough and cold sufferer. we all revel in our illness.

more presents are opened and the highly coveted trumpet is presented. cheers abound. also, reagan has an affinity for scotch tape, so one of the gifts was a tape dispenser. simple pleasures.




my ultimate goal for reagan's 3rd birthday was small and simple. so much for that. through all reagan's flu symptoms, he did seem to enjoy his special day. thankfully the next birthday isn't until june...

sometimes you lose in order to win

i am sure that we were quite the spectacle when we walked into sacrament meeting like this yesterday:
but, after thomas and i finally stopped laughing, reagan was very quiet and attentive through the whole meeting.


score:
parents- 1 reagan- 1
it's true that sometimes you lose the battle to win the war.

name the next landfill after scarlett

disclaimer: this is gross and immature.

scarlett is a wonderful baby. sweet temperament, curious personality, fantastic laugh, beautiful eyes, superb sleeper. a dream of a baby. my precious little girl.

except for one thing.
she poops A LOT.
more like a TON!
sometimes 6 times a day. i keep diapers and wipes everywhere in anticipation of the next diaper dribbling or bomb dropping. she is 8 months old and only weighs 15 pounds. you would think that such a small baby wouldn't have it in her. and she doesn't. it is out of her in record time.

now don't get all in a tizzy that she might have some sort of pooping disease. she is perfectly healthy. we just know that her innards work like a well oiled machine.

feel free to be disgusted.