Beishline Bylines

Friends Till the Bitter End

2008-07-03T21:13:00.002-05:00

Last weekend Kathryn performed in the Oklahoma Shakespearean Festival's Children's Theater production of Jungle Book. She was very excited to play a vulture. Here she is in her costume...

Morgan's Birthday

2008-06-15T14:02:00.000-05:00

Morgan celebrates her 5th birthday on June 17! This year she wanted to have her birthday party at the city pool. Here are some of the pics from the party...

No Wonder We Can't Have Nice Things

2008-06-14T10:55:00.006-05:00

Ever wonder why your furniture is falling apart? I know why mine is and I'm partly to blame because it's just so darn entertaining it's hard to say no. They'll only be little for a short time and when they get bigger they won't be allowed to do this anymore. (Side note: Daniel is not usually allowed to do this) Morgan likes to get on the coffee table and dance and sing to entertain us. So the other day I videotaped her doing this, then Daniel and Kathryn came in and wanted to mimic her. So here are all their videos...

At the end of this one Daniel wants to jump over the table then his friend and the girls have to do it too...

Fun at Grandma's

2008-06-09T10:50:00.000-05:00

My brother-in-law bought this blow-up boat with oars for the kids to play with in Grandma's pool. Here are some pics of the kids having fun in the boat in the pool...

Recital Costume Pics

2008-06-08T19:06:00.000-05:00

I took the girls to a professional photographer and had their pics taken in their recital costumes. They turned out so good that I had a hard time choosing, so I chose 3 poses of each girl. Here they are...

Daniel School Pic

2008-06-07T21:17:00.000-05:00

Little Miss Magnolia

2008-06-05T21:25:00.000-05:00

Kathryn heard about a local beauty pageant from a friend at school and wanted to enter. The pageant was last weekend and even though she didn't place she really had fun and is already talking about entering again next year. I may be biased but I think she looked beautiful and should have placed. She had to wear two outfits, the first pic is of her in her casual outfit...

In her formal outfit she had to answer an interview question, which was, "You said you wanted to be a Dr. when you grow up, why do you want to be one?" Her answer..."I want to help people." Here is a pic of her answering her question in her formal outfit.

Here she is after receiving her participation certificate...

Here is a pic of her and her good friend Ainsley who came to support her, what a great friend!

Here is a pic of Kathryn, Ainsley & Morgan...

Misc. pics...

P.S. Thanks for the pics Steph!

More Pics

2008-06-04T16:55:00.000-05:00

Here are 2 pics of Kathryn in her softball uniform...

Trampoline Fun

2008-06-03T10:49:00.000-05:00

My sister and brother-in-law may kill me for this, but here is a video that Daniel took of them on the trampoline with the kids...

Another Memorial Day Pic

2008-06-02T12:26:00.000-05:00

Here is a pic of Morgan with my niece Makenna in the pool...

Memorial Day Weekend Pics

2008-06-01T15:08:00.006-05:00

My parents were out of town Memorial Day weekend so the kids and I went over and had the house and pool to ourselves. In this pic Morgan decided she couldn't wait for me to apply her sunscreen and did it herself, I don't know if you can tell in the pic but she was covered solid white, I think she used half of a brand new tube...

Here's Morgan chillin' pool side...

In this pic Kathryn had my brother-in-law's hat and glasses on and was trying to act tough...

Addendum to Rich's Daniel's School Project

2008-05-30T00:00:00.000-05:00

My friend Gail wanted to know what the saying on Daniel's shield meant. So here is the breakdown of the meanings behind the shield. The gold is for generosity and elevation of the mind, red means warrior and black is constancy, the quality of being enduring and free from change or variation. The symbol on the left indicates first born, the lion stands for dauntless courage. The four arms of the Maltese Cross stand for good sense, self-control, fairness and determination. The sword stands for justice. The lightning bolt is for swiftness and power. The Crown (mural) means defender of a fortress, token of civic honor. The gem stands for diamond or supremacy. The sun is glory and splendor. Last but not least the saying at the top "Meum pactum dictum" is My word is my bond. If you missed the pic, see http://battybeishlines.blogspot.com/2008/05/richs-daniels-school-project.html

The Storm Clouds, They Are A Brewin'

2008-05-29T00:28:00.001-05:00

Last week we had a thunderstorm blow through and I took this pic from my backyard right before the storm hit. The clouds looked really cool, the pic really doesn't do it justice.

Daniel's Award and My Lesson in Humility

2008-05-28T00:16:00.000-05:00

The sixth grade had their awards assembly last week and Daniel received an award for being on the superintendents honor roll, which means he maintained an A average all year. Yeah Daniel!
But I have to tell you a funny story that happened at the assembly. All the sixth graders were seated at tables in the middle of the gym and the parents were on bleachers over to the side. Well, as the principal is getting ready to begin he asked all the parents to scoot down toward him so that we could see better. So I get up to move and as I'm walking I slip in some water on the floor and as I'm going down one foot goes straight out in front of me and the other foot folds up behind me, like the half splits! Where's the camera when you need it! I should have given someone my camera and asked them to take my pic before I got up, NOT! Then when I got up my pants were wet on my behind where I guess my butt wiped up the water I slipped in! I was a little embarrassed but I'm sure I wasn't even half as embarrassed as Daniel must've been, you know he's at the age where everything a parent does is totally humiliating, he was probably thinking maybe no one will know she's my mom! Anyway, I got a good laugh and a lesson in humility. Here's the pic of Daniel with his award, I don't know how in the world I got him to smile, he must've been imagining me sprawled out on the floor in front of everyone. ;)

Recital Time

2008-05-27T00:30:00.001-05:00

The girls both took tumbling this year and they each did a tumbling routine with their classes at the dance recital. Kathryn's costume was pajamas and Morgan was a ladybug. Here are some pics...

Swoooosh!!!!

2008-05-26T00:25:00.001-05:00

Last week Daniel asked Kathryn to videotape him playing basketball. He made her delete the first one and do it again because in the first video every time he would make a basket she would ooohh and ahhh or make a comment, so here is the second one she took. He made every shot and of course she had to say hello at the end.

1st Grade Field Trip!

2008-05-24T11:02:00.000-05:00

Last week I went with Kathryn on a field trip to the Heard Natural Science Museum & Wildlife Sanctuary in Mckinney, Texas. Kathryn loved it! They have a museum and several hiking trails, we must've walked several miles, we sure were tired that night! Here are some pics we took...

Happy Mother's Day, Harumph!

2008-05-23T08:33:00.000-05:00

Here is Rich on Mother's Day, doesn't he look like a happy camper?

Mother's Day

2008-05-22T09:39:00.000-05:00

We went to Ardmore to spend time with my mother for Mother's Day. It was a nice day, I enjoyed spending time with my kids and extended family. After church all 16 of us enjoyed a nice lunch at El Chico. Here are some misc. pics...

Kathryn Receives Another Award

2008-05-21T22:52:00.001-05:00

Kathryn received yet another Math award at school! You go girl! Here's the pic...

Rich's Daniel's School Project

2008-05-20T09:38:00.001-05:00

Daniel had a school project in which his assignment was to design a family shield/crest. So here is what ~~Rich~~ Daniel created. Pretty good, huh? As you can tell Daniel just loves to have his picture taken in the morning, he's such a morning person, just like me, ;p

More Pics

2008-05-19T13:06:00.005-05:00

I know it's been awhile since I've blogged, as my friend Steph told me...."Your blog is growing mold"! Anyway, I've been really busy and then I had some trouble with my puter, but I think all is well now. So here are some pics I have saved up...

Swing Batter, Batter, Batter!!!!

2008-04-27T13:18:00.000-05:00

Daniel had his first baseball game of the season the other day. His team won, 12-3. Here is a pic of him up to bat...

Kathryn's Photography

2008-04-26T13:14:00.000-05:00

Kathryn took this pic of Morgan the other day at the baseball game, I thought it was a good pic.

Kathryn's Award

2008-04-23T12:23:00.002-05:00

Kathryn received another math award this week. Here's the pic...

Papoose

2008-04-23T12:16:00.002-05:00

The other day the kids were playing around and they hung this sheet from the bunk bed, it was like a hammock. Then they started twisting it and letting it go so they would go round and round. Morgan, being so small, looked like she was in a papoose. Here's the pic...

Cuteness

2008-04-23T11:28:00.010-05:00

Here are some misc. cute pics of the girls...

Yummy!!!! Chocolate donut!!!

Writing Level

2008-04-20T14:40:00.004-05:00

My friend Gail posted on her blog about how some people complain that her writing is over their head, www.gailrhea.blogspot.com. So she found this link that will test your blog and show your writing level, hers was high school level. I am ashamed to say, being a college graduate, that my blog is written on the junior high level. Anyway, I thought it was interesting so I am posting the link so that you can test your blog too. Let me know what level you write.

TV Reviews

P.S. I was informed by my friend Gail (see comments), that it is not writing level, but reading level, so to have a junior high reading level is good, because that means anyone should be able to read it. (I think she's just trying to make me feel better, and it worked!) :)

Punished with a Baby?

2008-04-15T08:19:00.003-05:00

I'm not trying to get into a political debate, however, one of the candidates said something that really surprised me, watch it for yourself....

Is a baby really a punishment? I thought they were blessings, gifts from God. If you don't want it, give it up for adoption, but it's not a punishment, it has a purpose! OK, I'll get off my high horse now! :)

Basketball Game

2008-04-12T18:35:00.002-05:00

Here are more pics of Rich & Daniel at the game (see previous post).

This one's my favorite, Daniel's self portrait.

Boys Night Out

2008-04-12T18:21:00.002-05:00

Daniel's favorite NBA team is the Golden State Warriors, so last week Rich took him to Dallas to see them play the Mavericks. Of course their seats were on the very last row of the top section, but here are the pics.

Morgan's Trip to the Zoo

2008-04-12T17:07:00.002-05:00

I went with Morgan's class to the zoo yesterday, here are some pics.

God's Loving Promise

2008-04-12T16:08:00.002-05:00

Daniel took this pic from our front porch of a beautiful rainbow after a thunderstorm last week. Just reminds me of Gods faithfulness and love. Enjoy.

A Girls Weekend

2008-03-31T08:16:00.018-05:00

For Christmas my girls received High School Musical on Ice tickets. My sister also gave her girls tickets. Our tickets were for the show last Friday in Dallas, so we all went and stayed overnight in a hotel. It was a blast! First we went to dinner at Spaghetti Warehouse and our table was in the trolley, the girls thought that was the coolest. Here is a pic of all the girls at dinner...
Then it was on to the show!
The girls wanted me to take lots of pics of the show, so even though you really can't tell much from these, here they are...
The next morning we let the girls swim at the hotel until check out time...
Then we were off to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch...

We really had a lot of fun! It was really great to get away for the weekend!

Happy Easter Daddy!

2008-03-23T16:00:00.005-05:00

Since Rich couldn't be with us this Easter we took lots of pics of just about everything we did, that's why there are so many posts on Easter. Here is a video we made for him this morning...

Happy Easter Daddy, We Love You!!!!!!!!!

More Easter Pics

2008-03-23T15:48:00.004-05:00

Here are two more pics from Easter.

The first one is the girls, with things they got in their Easter baskets, goofing off.
Then the kids in their new Easter clothes...

Morgan's Letter

2008-03-23T15:28:00.004-05:00

Morgan wanted to write a letter to the Easter Bunny. She dictated it, drew pics of each of our family members and signed her name (there are 2 Morgan's in her class at school so when she writes her name on her papers she always has to write Morgan B., now every time she signs her name she thinks she has to add the B). I didn't understand what she meant by some of the things she wanted to say in it but I thought it was cute and since I don't have a scanner I tried to take a pic of it to share with you. In case you can't read it here's what it says...

"Easter Bunny, I like you. You get it for me. I miss my daddy really much and I love Aunt Coreen, Uncle Bill, Pappy and my whole family and I cry a lot because I miss my daddy. Morgan B."

This morning she was really excited that the letter was gone, so the Easter Bunny had to have taken it!

Making Resurrection Cookies

2008-03-23T15:22:00.005-05:00

Here are pics of the kids making Resurrection cookies, they each took a turn with the mixer...
And the finished product Easter morning...

Easter Eggs

2008-03-23T15:15:00.005-05:00

Here are pics of the kiddos with the eggs they colored (actually I colored the ones Daniel has because he didn't want to do it).

In Memorium

2008-03-22T15:44:00.003-05:00

Joan M. Beishline

Rich's step-mother passed away last Thursday. She was a very kind woman and will be greatly missed. Rich is in Pennsylvania to be with his family this week. Her funeral service will be on Tuesday, please remember his family in your prayers. Here is her obituary...


Joan M. Beishline, 77, of Palmer Township, Pa, was called home to the Lord on Thursday, March 20, 2008 at Triumph Hospital, Wilson Borough, Pa. Born: In Phillipsburg, NJ, she was a daughter of the late Donald and Violet Davitt. Personal: She was the wife of Richard O. Beishline. Joan was of the Catholic faith. She graduated in 1948 from Ss. Philip and James Parochial High School, formerly of Phillipsburg. She graduated then from Vocational Technical School, Eastern Northampton County. Having successfully completed the prescribed course of study in practical nursing in 1973, she was employed at Easton Hospital until 1986 when she retired. Joan was an avid bingo player. Memberships: She was a member of the Woman of the Moose Easton Chapter #5023. Survivors: In addition to her husband Richard, she is survived by seven children, Barbara Merring of Allentown, Linda Mauser and her husband Wasyl of Kreidersville, Pa, Patti and her husband Walter of West Easton, Joseph R. Geklinsky III of Brodheadsville, Pa, Susan Dennery of Phoenix, Ariz., Kevin Geklinsky and his wife Janeen of Forks Township, Pa, and Rosemarie Ross and her husband Robb of Kunkletown, Pa; a step-son, Richard D. Beishline and his wife Roxie A. of Durant, Okla.; 17 grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; three step-grandchildren; a twin brother, John Davitt and his wife Hazel of Jacksonville, Ark.; a brother, James Davitt and his wife Josie of Palmer Township, Pa, and a sister, Kathryn Woolf of Hazel Green, Ala. Two sisters, Bette Coleman and Marie Langen; three brothers, Frank, Robert and Joseph Davitt, and a grandson, Joseph R. Geklinsky IV, all died earlier. Services: The funeral will begin on Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. in the Finegan Funeral Home, 1837 Washington Blvd., Easton, Pa, followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 10:30 a.m. at St. Jane Frances de Chantal Catholic Church, 4049 Hartley Avenue, Palmer Township. Call on Monday from 7 to 9 p.m. in the funeral home. Interment will be in Northampton Memorial Shrine, Palmer Township. Published in The Express Times on 3/22/2008.

Pics of the Truck

2008-03-19T17:59:00.002-05:00

Here are the pics of the truck post accident...This is the blown out back window that Rich walked out of after releasing his seat belt...

Moral of the story....ALWAYS WEAR YOUR SEAT BELT!!!!!!!

Pics of the Accident Scene

2008-03-19T17:23:00.004-05:00

Here are the pics from the scene of the accident. In the first pic you see where the truck crossed the ongoing traffic lane and landed sideways off the road, on the passengers side, leaving Rich hanging by his seat belt in the pouring rain and the dark...
In the next pic you see where the truck slid toward the fence post on it's side...
In this pic you see the 6 inch steel pipe fence post that the tail end of the truck hit, breaking the welds while still sliding on it's side...
This pic shows the truck's final resting place...

Chef Morgan

2008-03-18T13:12:00.005-05:00

About 2 weeks ago Morgan was goofing around and she put this shower cap on and said it was her chef hat. I thought she looked cute.

Go To Sleep, Go To Sleep, Go To Sleep Little Baby

2008-03-17T11:10:00.001-05:00

Saturday we had a busy day, I took the kids to get their hair cut, then that afternoon the girls were invited to a birthday party at an indoor swimming pool, so after digging around in the attic for their swim suits I discovered Kathryn needed a new one and of course if she got a new one we had to get one for Morgan and they wanted matching ones, they were so cute with their new do's (see previous post) and matching suits, another missed photo op. So we ran to Wally World to get swim suits then we rushed home to eat lunch and rushed off to Denison, about a 30 min drive to the birthday party. After the party we came home, packed their clothes and took off for Grandma's house. After eating dinner at Grandma's I went ahead and washed Kathryn's hair again and checked it (see previous post) tucked the girls in bed and headed for home. By the time I got home it was almost 11:00 and Rich was sound asleep. I guess my moving around the room woke him up a little but not completely because he got up to go to the bathroom. I left the room and when I came back a few minutes later this is how I found him...

sound asleep on the toilet!!!!! So of course I did what any good wife would do, I ran for the camera! Then just so you can get the full effect and know that he truly was asleep, I videotaped him SNORING on the toilet! Make sure you have your sound turned up so you can hear it. So here you go...

Now just out of curiousity I wanted to see how long he could sleep like that, so I left him there. I guess he probably sat there for about 15 minutes or so, then I heard a noise, I don't know if he fell against the wall or what, but he just got up and went back to bed. Now when I told him about it and showed it to him the next day, he didn't remember it AT ALL, so he had to be sound asleep! Just so you know I'm not being mean by blogging about it he thought it was hilarious and told me to blog about it, so I did.

Kathryn's Awards

2008-03-14T19:27:00.002-05:00

Kathryn received 2 awards at school this week, she received a reading award for reading 100 books so far this year and a math award for completing 53 math objectives. Here she is with her awards...

Morgan Singing at School

2008-03-14T10:03:00.008-05:00

Here are 2 video's of Morgan singing with her class at school, the first one is the whole school singing the state song, "Oklahoma," with movements, the second one is the whole school singing "I Am A Promise," with movements. She is on the back row in the pink & white dress. Hope you enjoy.

Rich's Projects

2008-03-08T16:49:00.004-06:00

Rich is always busy working on some project either at the house or in his office, it's basically a hobby for him. One he worked on this week was peg hangers for the girls coats & backpacks, we already have a big one, but they couldn't reach it, so he made them each their own and hung them at a lower level so they can hang their coats & backpacks up by themselves (instead of walking in and throwing them on the floor for mom to pick up). They are so cute, here is a pic of them...

We have lived in this house 9 months now and one thing I've never liked about it was that there is no door between the master bedroom and master bathroom. (It's very strange, I don't understand why someone would build a house like that) It's very annoying when you're trying to sleep and someone turns the light on in the bathroom, there's nothing to block the light. Anyway, I had been trying to figure out how to put a door in, it's an odd size door frame and you can't put up doors that swing open because it would block something. I even tried to figure out how a sliding door would work. Then about two weeks ago it hit me, duh, why not just hang up a thick curtain that you could open and close and that would block the light. So that's what we did. So here are the pics...opened...

closed...

Pretty nifty and it blocks out most of the light plus it was a heck of a lot cheaper than trying to put in a door. Isn't Rich handy, my little handyman.

MORE SNOW!!!!!!!

2008-03-08T16:12:00.006-06:00

I can't believe we actually got snow twice in one week! This time it snowed on Thursday afternoon and the kids were already scheduled to be out of school on Friday, so they had plenty of time to play in it. I still had the Gibson's oldest girls, so all 4 girls made this snowman...

Then Daniel and his friends made the following snowman in several different outfits...

Even though it can be messy, I still love the snow. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

What's That Smell????

2008-03-04T22:58:00.002-06:00

On Monday's after school the girls have tumbling. So yesterday I stayed home all day, doing laundry, etc. until time to pick them up from school. I picked them all up from school and we went to the dance studio for tumbling. Morgan has tumbling first, then we have an hour break, then Kathryn has tumbling, so basically we're there from right after school to a little after 6:00, yesterday I ran a few errands during the hour break. Anyway, all afternoon, sitting in the lobby during the girls classes, I kept smelling this awful smell. At first I thought maybe something was on the carpet or the chair I was sitting in because there was something sticky on the arm of it, so I moved chairs. Well I still smelled this awful smell, so I start sniffing myself, is it my sweater? Nope. My coat? Nope. What could it be? Well, I just let it go. After Kathryn's class we go home, I cook supper, we eat, I get the girls to bed, then I go to put on my pajamas. While I'm undressing I'm sniffing everything again, my sweater? Nope. My jeans? Nope. What is it? Then it hit me, duh, maybe it's on my shoes, maybe I had stepped in something. Sure enough, on the bottom of one of my sneakers was dog poop. I have no idea where I stepped in it or how long it had been on there and I had walked all over my house in those shoes. Thankfully we already have an appointment to get the carpets cleaned next week. I think by the time we got home it was pretty much all mashed down between the cracks in the bottom of my sneakers, so there's no tracks in the house, but still, I'm sure it's all over the place. YUCK!!!! Also, I'm sure anyone who got near me at the dance studio was thinking, gross, that lady really stinks! Great, another reason for people to stay away from me, not only am I a weirdo but I also stink! :0

Let It Snow, Baby!

2008-03-04T22:13:00.013-06:00

We finally got snow!!!! I love snow, it's so beautiful and we very rarely get any! I think the news said we got around 5 inches! Of course, it melted within 24 hours, but it sure was purty! Since Geoff and Steph are in Mexico and missed it I had to take pics for them. So here are the pics from last night while it was snowing...

Here are the pics from this morning....

And of course the kids wanted to play in it before school, how could I say no when I knew it would be melted by the time they got out of school and we hardly ever get any. So here they are, all wet, right before leaving for school. Once again I'm going to be voted "Mother of the Year" by the school for sending my kids to school wet. Sorry I sent your kids to school wet Steph, but hey, they had fun. Actually, just their feet were wet, they had strict instructions for NO snow angels, I know, what a bummer, I'm the meanest mom in the world for not allowing snow angels, how dare I? It's not a very good pic, we were kinda in a hurry to get to school and I figured I had already yelled at them enough, I didn't want to take the time to set up another pic.

Don't they look lovely? I'm sure Steph will never ask me to watch her children again after this week, and I'm sure her children won't want me to. :)

P.S. Notice in Sunday's post all the girls are wearing short sleeves, we went from warm weather on Sunday to snow on Monday night, fun, huh?

A Girls Day Out

2008-03-02T21:24:00.002-06:00

Daniel went with Rich to take Geoff & Steph to the airport today so it was just us girls here most of the day. So here's a pic of all the girls in their Sunday best getting ready to go to church....

Green with Envy and Weird Men

2008-03-02T20:57:00.004-06:00

Last fall my good friend Steph won an all expense paid trip for two to Mexico that she had to use sometime within a year. She won it by calling in to a radio station, she had to be the right number caller, then her name went into the pot with others who had been the right number caller and then they drew her name out of the pot, is she blessed or what? So she and her husband, Geoff, decided to take it now, before all the spring breakers and summer tourists make it too crowded. Since they don't have any family that live close and I couldn't talk her into taking me instead of Geoff, I volunteered to keep two of her four children so they wouldn't have to miss school. Steph & Geoff brought their two oldest girls over last night and Rich drove them to the airport early this morning. Before they left our house last night Geoff and Rich had to goof off a little, so here are the pics...In this next one, Rich had found an old army sleeping bag that was in perfect shape, so he had it dry cleaned. He was so proud of his free find that he had to show it off to Geoff. Of course when Geoff was examining it he noticed that the tag on it said "Do Not Dry Clean", oh well, it's still in one piece. Anyway it must be a male thing to be so proud of a sleeping bag, I don't know, I just don't get it.

Anyway, I'm sure they're having fun lounging on the beach and we're expecting a cold front tonight with rain tomorrow. I hope they don't think about us at all here wet and freezing and that they can have fun and can rest and relax, they really deserve it. I'm going to try not to think about them too much this week or I'll get greener with envy. :p

Lessons in Ironing

2008-03-02T15:25:00.004-06:00

Yesterday, for the first time ever, Daniel decided he needed to iron the shirt he wanted to wear. So he got out the iron and the ironing board, set it up in front of a chair and sat down to iron while he watched TV. Well, Rich came along and decided he needed to show him how to do it. So Rich moved the ironing board a little to adjust it and dumped the hot iron into Daniels lap! And of course he was wearing shorts so here is the lovely triangular shaped scar he will have on his thigh now for awhile...

Just lovely, isn't it?

Look-A-Like Meter

2008-02-29T21:26:00.003-06:00

OK, so my friend Steph found this look-a-like meter on the web. You're supposed to put in a pic of yourself, your spouse and your child and it will tell you which parent the child looks like. So I tried it, but I must not have used very good pics because it said Morgan looks more like me and I know she is the spittin' image of Rich. It also said that Daniel looks equally like both of us and I know he looks more like me. Kathryn probably does look pretty equally like both of us. Anyway, it was kind of fun, so here they are...

MB Look-alike Meter

2008-02-29T21:25:00.001-06:00

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Roots

KB Look-alike Meter

2008-02-29T21:22:00.001-06:00

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celeb - Collage - Morph

DB Look-alike Meter

2008-02-29T21:18:00.001-06:00

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Family reunion - Vintage images

CAMERAAAA!!!!!!!

2008-02-29T20:42:00.002-06:00

I finally bought a new camera! Can you believe it? It's about time, huh? We all had to try it out today taking pics of each other, so here they are, the happy family....

Pretty scary huh? :) Anyway, hopefully now I can start posting more pics.

What a Man! What a Man! What a Mighty Fine Man!

2008-02-21T15:58:00.003-06:00

He did it! Rich fixed the puter that was broken! All it needed was a new power supply and he put one in! He is so handy, I think he can fix just about anything that breaks down (except my van)! :) Guess I'll have to keep him around! :p

How Many People in the US Have Your Name?

2008-02-21T15:53:00.002-06:00

My friend, Gail, sent me an email with a link to this cool site where you can find out how many people in the US have your name. Apparently there 16,691 people in the US with the first name Roxie, but this website said that it could not find any other people with the last name of Beishline, which I know is not true. So it says there are no other Roxie Beishline's in the US, which may be true, not too common a name. Anyway, I added the link to my side bar if you'd like to try it. Kinda fun!

On Being A Mom

2008-02-06T08:20:00.000-06:00

Sometimes it can be very frustrating being a mom. A friend of mine sent me the following story, author unknown, and I thought it summed up my feelings exactly so I wanted to share it with you. Enjoy.

I am invisible. It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, "Can't you see I'm on the phone?" Obviously not. No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this? Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, "What time is it?" I'm a satellite guide to answer, "What number is the Disney Channel?" I'm a car to order, "Right around 5:30, please." I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going ... she's going .... she's gone!
One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself as I looked down at my out-of-style dress; it was the only thing I could find that was clean. My unwashed hair was pulled up in a banana clip and I was afraid I could actually smell peanut butter in it. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, "I brought you this." It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read the inscription: "With admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees." In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work:
* No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names.
* These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.
* They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.
* The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.
A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, "Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it." And the workman replied, "Because God sees." I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, "I see you. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become." At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride. When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, "My mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table." That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, "You're gonna love it there." As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot see if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women. author unknown

Our responsibility is only to be obedient and to do the best job we can in raising our children, we're not perfect, but God is, so let's trust him to take our sacrifices and use them for His glory.

Puter Died

2008-01-30T09:06:00.000-06:00

I just wanted everyone to know my computer died last week so that's why I haven't been posting. We still have a computer in Daniels room but it's REALLY slow and I hate using it. So I probably won't be posting as often unless something happens that I just have to tell everyone, at least until we get a new one.

Update on To Go or Not To Go

2008-01-23T21:49:00.000-06:00

Thank you all for voting and commenting on whether or not we should let Daniel go to the game. I really appreciate all of the input I received and agree with everyone. Here's what we have decided to do...We told him that we thought he had worked very hard to bring his grades up and we were really proud of him for all his hard work, yet he had not acheived the goal of straight A's. So we asked him to choose another goal that would be a challenge for him yet something he could acheive in order to get to go to the game and he has chosen something that will probably be more of a challenge to him than straight A's. Only time will tell if he acheives his new goal, I'll try to keep you updated. We also encouraged him to try to keep his grades up and not let them get as low as a C again. I believe he will do it! Thanks again!

Deception

2008-01-22T22:59:00.001-06:00

OK, I know you have to pick your battles and this probably wouldn't have been a big deal if I had just let it go...now, that being said, let me tell you a story to show you how my 4-year-old thinks.

Last Friday morning I was helping her get ready for school. I brushed her hair and asked if she wanted to wear a hair bow in her hair, she said no. I moved on to brush her sisters hair, asked her sister if she wanted a hair bow, she said yes. Well then the little one decides she wants a hair bow too. So I send them both to the bathroom to pick out hair bows. Now, on Fridays they wear their school spirit shirts which are red with royal blue writing on them. The little one comes back with 2 barrettes, a brown one and a purple one. So I tell her that she can't wear those because not only do they not match each other but they don't match what she is wearing. She proceeds to tell me..."But, I want to." So I tell her she can wear the brown one but not the purple. Then she sees laying in her room some old hair clips that I used to use but now I let them play with them. One is red and one is light blue. See Pic...

So she decides she wants to wear them in her hair. I again tell her no and she starts arguing with me. It is now time to leave so I walk out of the room and tell her father to please take care of it because she listens to him better than she listens to me. So he calls for her, it takes her awhile to come, but she does come out with nothing in her hair, then he just tells her to listen to her mother. I take them all to school.
When I go to pick my little one up after school she has the 2 barrettes in her hair, the brown one and the purple one. So I asked her where they came from. She says, "someone at school gave them to me." I tell her "no they didn't, you had those at home this morning, did you stick them in your pocket and put them on after you got to school?" Reply..."no." Me..."yes you did. Don't lie about it." No answer.
Unfortunately looking back on it I really dropped the ball on the parenting with this one. First of all, I should've let her wear whatever she wanted in her hair, so what if it didn't match, no big deal. Secondly, after the deception I didn't really do anything about it other than tell her not to lie. There were no consequences for her behavior at all, I just let it go. I guess I was feeling guilty about making such a big deal about the hair bows in the first place.
However, I have never in my life heard of a 4-year-old that has this thought process...mom won't let me wear them, I'll just stick 'em in my pocket and put 'em on when I get to school! What 4-year-old thinks like this besides mine? I flashed forward a few years, probably around 5 or 6 years from now, and imagined her sneaking make-up to school and putting it on there. Anyway, I just thought I'd share my struggles in parenting. Am I the only one who has this problem?

A Father's Love

2008-01-16T22:12:00.000-06:00

My 7-year-old daughter has eczema and very sensitive skin. So therefore she has a VERY low pain tolerance. Well, last Monday when it was time to go to her tumbling class she asked if she could wear her shoes without socks because she had a blister on the bottom of her foot and it hurt. (???what does that have to do with wearing socks???) Anyway, I asked to see this blister. Well, it was actually a splinter in the bottom of her foot and we didn't have time to get it out then or she would've been late for tumbling. So I told her we would get it out later. Of course, after tumbling I'm thinking about getting supper on and getting the girls to bed, so I forgot all about the splinter and she didn't bother reminding me.

Now it's Tuesday night and I had to go to a rehearsal, so that left daddy to make sure the girls got bathed. I guess her foot was hurting her again because somehow daddy found out about it and after looking at it (he said it had pus) decided it had to come out. Well, needless to say, he said there was much screaming & crying. After soaking her foot and trying to get it out with tweezers he finally just used his mouth and sucked it out! I know, gross! Anyway, by the time I got home it was all over! Hallelujah! and they were both fine, not upset at all.

It must've really been hurting her before because Wednesday morning she said, "My foot's all better! I don't have to walk around on my tippy toes any more!" ???You were walking around on your tiptoes? Since when???

Anyway, I figure that must be true love, to suck a splinter out of the bottom of a 7-year-olds foot. Yuck! It's a good thing he was here, 'cause I would've just kept digging at it with the tweezers! :o

To Go or Not To Go

2008-01-16T08:46:00.000-06:00

My 12-year-old son has always been very intelligent, ahead of others his age. All the way through school, until last year, he received straight A's. Last year he received A's & B's. Still good, really no complaint, (even though I feel like he doesn't really apply himself or he would get straight A's), but I'm not really pushing it. He's in the Gifted & Talented program (which I could go on and on about in another post, but I'm not going to go there). This year when he received his grades mid-semester he had A's, B's & one C. Now mind you is a HUGE sports fanatic, so to motivate him to bring his grades up by the end of the semester I told him that if he would bring his grades up to straight A's I would get him tickets to a Dallas Mavericks game. Yesterday he received his report card and he did bring all of them up, but not to straight A's. Here are his mid-semester grades and his end of semester grades:

Subject 1 - mid-semester - 86, end of semester - 90
Subject 2 - mid-semester - 74, end of semester - 85
Subject 3 - mid-semester - 87, end of semester - 90
Subject 4 - mid-semester - 91, end of semester - 92
Subject 5 - mid-semester - 81, end of semester - 88

So he received 3 A's & 2 B's. Now I think that is GREAT and he really did try, but some of them were already so low by mid-semester he had a hard time bringing them up to A's. So here is my dilemma...he still wants to go to a Mavs game. Do I stick to my guns and say "no, the deal was all A's" or do I extend the grace I mentioned in yesterdays post and let him go anyway? I'm going to put a poll up and let you, the reader, give your opinion. Of course, feel free to leave comments as well. Thanks!

Deep Thoughts on Perfection

2008-01-15T08:34:00.000-06:00

I had been feeling a little guilty that most of my posts had come across as negative or complaining, and I didn't want anyone to have that impression. Then today, as I was reading a devotional magazine, God really used the following article to speak to me and I wanted to share it with you. It was written by Melinda Means and is titled "In Search of Perfection."

One day after a particularly challenging week of parenting. I was relating to a friend some of the week's misadventures and commenting how nice it would be to have naturally compliant children. She looked amused, smiled at me, and said, "They sound normal to me. What are you expecting - perfection?"

Ouch! What a word aptly spoken - and a sorely needed reminder! It is perilous to expect perfection from ourselves and perhaps even more hazardous to expect it from others. Perfectionism is a thief that robs us of victory. Have you ever had these thoughts? You'll never measure up. If you were a good mother/wife/Christian, you'd have it all together. You're a phony. I sure have, but I've begun to recognize them for what they are: lies from the enemy.

Even as God began to prompt me to write on this subject, I could hear Satan whispering, "You think you're some kind of expert?" Amazingly, God uses our brokenness and vulnerability for our good and His glory. In His abundant patience, God has shown me how few things can choke the life out of living like a person possessed by perfectionism.

The older I get, the more I learn to appreciate God's grace and faithfulness to me, yet I still struggle to give genuine grace to others. My kids love to get pizza on Fridays at school, but they know the only way to get it is to eat all their packed lunches throughout the week, and they usually do. One Friday morning, however, my daughter begged me to let her get pizza, even though she knew she really hadn't earned it. Being a wonderful gracious mother, I made an exception. However, I actually made her write down that I had given her "grace" on this day so I could remind her of it the next time she accused me of being unreasonable!

How many times have you said, "Someday, I'm going to write that book, start that Bible study, clean that closet...?" Do you put off projects until you can do them perfectly? God does not expect perfection from His servants (Psalm 103:8-10), but he does require action! Ephesians 2:10 says we are "created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them." Making mistakes is inevitable. Missing God's calling because I'm focused on achieving perfection would be devastating.

I got a wake-up call a few years ago when I wrote our Christmas letter and talked about how much I enjoyed being a stay-at-home mom. My husband read my letter and laughed. "It sure doesn't seem like it," he said, a little bemused. I was so offended! Eventually, I had to humbly admit that he was right. I searched to analyze why. It led me right to the room of perfectionism. My impatience and frustration with my shortcomings and everyone else's pretty much sucked all the fun out of my rooms!

Count your blessings. I have found a prayer journal to be a great record and reminder of answered prayer. When I regularly remember God's grace to me, I'm more apt to give it to others. In Deuteronomy 8:2, Moses encourages the Israelites to "Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart" (NIV).

Accept that life is messy - and lighten up! Years ago, I remember taking my then 3 -year-old daughter and 10-month-old son to have their Christmas pictures taken. I had found the perfect outfits. Their hair was perfectly styled. I timed it perfectly - right after nap time. Then life got messy. Halfway to the mall, my son spit up on his adorable outfit. Half a tub of baby wipes later, he sparkled. Triumphantly, I lifted him out of his car seat just as he had a diaper blowout of legendary proportions - and now I was out of baby wipes. Wrapping him in a blanket, I headed for the closest bathroom. On the way, my daughter fell, tearing a huge hole in her white tights. Once in the bathroom, I was faced with the reality that it had only hand dryers and not paper towels! With my 3-year-old handing me reams of toilet paper, we finally became presentable (if not fragrant) and actually got the photo taken! I smile every time I see that photo, but I was so upset at the time. How silly! Life would often be boring and joyless if everything went according to our plan.

Ask yourself daily what is most important. Jesus regularly withdrew from the crowds and demands of His earthly ministry to spend time with the Father (Matthew 14:22-23). He knew that despite all the legitimate needs vying for His attention, regular time with the Father had to be His top priority. It fueled His ability to prioritize and accomplish everything else God called Him to do in His earthly ministry. God set Jesus' agenda. We should allow Him to set ours as well. Prayerfully make a list of priorities - and consult it often.

Be flexible. A dear friend of mine calls it being "interruptible." Recently, this same friend called me to help out in the nursery one morning while a group of our young moms held Bible study. I had mounds of laundry and a messy house. Every fiber of my being wanted to say no. Yet, I felt led to say yes. I enjoyed it so much that I volunteer every week now! A completed to-do list might bring a measure of satisfaction, but it's a hollow victory if I've missed opportunities to bless and be blessed because I'm unwilling to veer from my agenda.

God wants to meet us in our messes. Ask God to help you view your inadequacies as opportunities for Him to shine. He can use our imperfections to fulfill His perfect plan for our lives.

Then, in like a little post note, the magazine went on to say:

Whether it's expecting perfect behavior from a child or expecting a husband to know our needs without being told, unrealistic expectations can lead to unresolved anger and resentment. The good news is that God is always available and can guide us in examining our attitudes to determine whether we're expecting too much from others or from ourselves. He can work in our willing hearts to replace perfectionism with patience and to match our expectations with our gifts, abilities, and realities.

Ouch! I have to admit that I could really see myself in that article. In my post "The Worst Day of My Life" I mentioned how this child expects perfection from themselves, now I'm beginning to see that they probably get that from me. Like the author of the article my hubby has said to me before that I don't seem happy to be a stay-at-home mom because I'm constantly complaining about something. Yes, it can be frustrating being a stay-at-home mom but it can also be very rewarding at times, and I don't want to pass this negativity on to my children. This is something that I struggle with daily and part of the reason I struggle with it is because I also struggle with spending time in prayer daily. I read my Bible and devotional magazine and maybe say a short prayer then mentally check it off my to-do list. But when do I ever spend quality time in prayer actually having two-way communication with God, not only pouring my heart out to Him but listening to Him as well?

I know this is probably something that most Christians struggle with because this is an area where Satan focuses on attacking us. If he can keep us from having a strong relationship with God, which can only come through prayer, then we become ineffective Christians, we're not filled with God's Spirit, therefore we have no spiritual power, no discernment and no joy. When I don't spend time with God every day I'm more apt to see flaws in others and not exercise grace.

In dealing with my children this is a very fine line, disciplining when needed, encouraging when needed or offering grace when needed. How am I supposed to have the wisdom to know what each child, whose individual needs are different, needs in any particular circumstance if I haven't been filled with God's Spirit that day by spending time with Him.

Here once again it's easy to fall into the trap of expecting perfection from myself in the area of prayer. I have to remember that yes, it is very important to every Christians health, but God also offers me grace when I mess up. God only wants what's best for me, and spending time with Him is always what's best. I also need to remember that He created me for fellowship, He loves me and misses talking to me. No relationship can be healthy without good communication.

Oh, how I want God to break me of my negativity, to use my imperfections to shine for His glory, to grow me and use me through them. How I want to be a good Godly mother, teaching my children not only through words but mainly by example the things of God.

God really spoke to me today through this article and I wanted to share it with you. Maybe it speaks to you too. Thanks for reading my ramblings once again. Love to all of you!

Picture

2008-01-11T14:08:00.000-06:00

By the way, I forgot to tell everyone that the new pic behind my header is a pic my dad took up at Lake Tenkiller, Oklahoma in either May 2004 or 2005. Pretty good pic, huh? However, let me know if you like it in the header or not, I can't decide if I should keep it or not.

"The Worst Day of My Life"

2008-01-10T23:23:00.000-06:00

OK, so this phrase..."This is the Woooorst Day of My Life" (imagine it in a whiny voice), has become one of my children's (who shall remain nameless) favorite saying and it is REALLY starting to irritate me! Anytime this child doesn't get their way or has to do something they don't want to do, that is what comes out of their mouth. The other night I heard much crying, lamenting, screaming & "The phrase" for about an hour simply because they did not want to take a shower. They have also started saying "it", crying, etc. and giving me great anguish over having to do their homework. Then tonight I heard the same crying, lamenting, screaming & "The phrase" because they didn't want to go to school tomorrow and have to take a quiz. "I hate school, I don't want to go, I don't want to take that quiz, this is the worst day of my life, I hate my life". (Is this child melodramatic or what? Hmmmm, wonder where they get that from? :) ) This also went on for around an hour tonight. I try to ignore it, which seems to only make it worse. So I finally said, "Every time something doesn't go your way you say "That phrase" and how do you think that makes me feel to hear you say you hate your life"? No Response. I mentioned that their life could be a lot worse and gave a few examples, which they agreed would be worse. I also told them that EVERYONE goes to school at some time in their life and has to take tests. To which they replied "not homeschooler's". To which I replied, "yes they do, they still have to study, do homework and take tests, they just do it at home instead of a school building". This is the second time within the last couple of months that I have gone through this with this child about taking tests. I'm hoping they were just tired and that they don't really have a problem with anxiety about test taking. I'm afraid they may be a perfectionist and that they stress over not getting their school work done perfectly and on time. By the way this child did get all A's on their report card, which is great! I don't think I have said or done anything to put pressure on them for grades, I praise them when they bring home good grades, but have never said that they HAD to bring home A's. Hopefully this is just a stage and we'll get through it, I guess only time will tell.

More Trouble at School

2008-01-08T16:57:00.000-06:00

So after having the preceding posts conversation with the girls about getting in trouble at school, Daniel says, "I got in trouble today too for doing nothing". Nothing? OK, this has got to be good. So I asked, "what happened"? He says that during Rise & Shine, this is their meeting that they have every morning with the whole school, going over announcements, saying the pledges & school creed, etc. He says that the school has said before that you do not have to say the pledges, so during the Pledge of Allegiance he and his friend were just talking but that the teacher standing near them said that they were jumping around and playing". OK, first of all I was in shock that the school told them that they do not have to say the pledge, then I was angry that Daniel was so disrespectful of the flag to not do it AND to talk during it! Anyway, he finishes by telling me that they had to go see the principle and his homeroom teacher had sent a note home that a parent had to sign and send back. So now it's my turn..."OK, so a teacher exaggerated about you and your friend, you were just "talking" during the pledge"? Daniel..."Yes" Me..."OK, I don't care if the teacher exaggerated I am shocked that you would talk during the Pledge of Allegiance, I don't care if they told you that you didn't have to say it, I'm your mother and I'm saying that YOU DO have to say it. People died for that flag to give you the freedoms you have in this country and you WILL respect it and say the pledge. Your dad is really going to be angry about this one. So next time if your friend tries to talk to you during the pledge you better just ignore him, say the pledge, and talk to him afterwards." Daniel..."OK" Oh, the nerve, I thought I had taught him better than that, I was so disappointed in him. Once again a teacher and now a principle too, must think I'm a terrible mother for not teaching my son to respect the flag. AAAAUUUUUGGGHHHH!!!!

Trouble at School

2008-01-08T16:29:00.000-06:00

My son received the new game Rock Band to go with his XBox for Christmas. Now Rock Band is multi-generational, all the adults, family and friends, who have tried it love it and it can be addicting. However, it is rated T for Teen, for some mild inappropriate lyrics. Now mind you Daniel is 12, but my girls are 7 & 4 and of course anything Daniel does the girls want to try, but it is a bit too hard for them. But they like the music, so they'll sit in there and listen while he plays. During the school year we also watch another 7 year old little girl after school 'till her parents get off work. So when school started back last week and she came over for the first time since before Christmas break my kids wanted to show her everything they had gotten for Christmas. So now, thanks to us, she has heard the Rock Band music as well. Weeeellll, today after school in the van on the way home she tells me that she can't sing one of the songs on Rock Band anymore. I'm thinking uh-oh, what have I done. So I asked her which one. It's a song called "Creep" by Radiohead. The chorus lyrics are as follows..."I"m a creep, I'm a weirdo, what the he** am I doing here, I don't belong here...etc.". Now when we sing it we either leave the he** word out or change it to heck. But the lyrics appear on the screen, so I guess she read them. Anyway, I asked her if she had told her mom about it to which she replied "yes". So I asked her what her mom said and she said she couldn't remember. Well by this time we have picked up Daniel and he is getting in on the conversation and he asks her why she told her mom, he's thinking he's the one who looks bad for letting her play his game. She says she told her mom because "we" had gotten in trouble at school yesterday for singing it. To which I replied who's "we"? Well, it was her and Kathryn. So now I want to know why Kathryn didn't tell me about it. Of course, she said she "forgot", which, knowing Kathryn, she probably did. After further questioning it was the teachers aide who heard them singing it and just told them not to sing it anymore. I told them that when Daniel sings it he changes the words, but that it would probably be best if they not sing it at all anymore. So now the teacher's aide and the other little girls mother must think I'm a terrible mother for letting 7 year olds listen to that kind of music. I guess I probably am, I'm sure it's not the first time and it won't be the last that someone thinks I'm a terrible mother. Oh well, such is life.

New Name

2008-01-08T10:35:00.001-06:00

OK, so my sister FINALLY read my blog and called me and wanted to know how to vote on the poll. Well, the poll ended yesterday, so I asked her which one she was going to vote for, and she chose Beishline Bylines, which gave that one 2 votes, so I guess that makes that one the winner. Hope you like the new name.

Poll

2008-01-07T12:12:00.000-06:00

As you can see the poll to pick the name for our blog was a huge success! :-P Guess we'll just keep what we got.

Correction

2008-01-07T12:10:00.001-06:00

Correction to the Back to School post. Durant schools do get 1 day off before spring break, March 7, which means they still have to go for 2 months before getting another break. Yipee for me, sad for them. Last year they got President's day off in February, why the change, what's up with that?

Earrings

2008-01-06T21:28:00.000-06:00

Well, I finally found the Hannah Montana earrings at Wal-Mart to replace the ones from the lost present for Kathryn. So instead of $20 for one pair of earrings I have now spent $40! I'm still hoping the lost present will reappear and we can take them back, but at least Kathryn has her last present and the earrings she so badly wanted.

Back to School Time

2008-01-06T20:24:00.001-06:00

I have to admit that when I first saw that the kids would be out of school for almost 3 weeks for Christmas break I was NOT happy. The way the ages of my children are spaced out I have had one at home for almost 12 years and I was definitely ready to have them all in school this year to have some time at home alone to get things done. So it is probably an understatement to say I was very excited for the last one to start school this year. But to have them at home for almost 3 weeks at Christmas, I thought I would go nuts! The first week they were home was pretty bad, they got really bored, a whole week off BEFORE Christmas is too much. However, after Christmas they had their new things to play with and kept themselves entertained very well. I got so used to them being home that when they did go back to school I'll have to admit that I did miss them a little. But what is up with Durant's school calendar this year? It is too weird! Not only did they get almost 3 weeks off but then they went back to school on a Thursday? Back to school for 2 days, then the weekend? I, for one, did not like it, it's really hard to get back in the routine this way. The first day back we were so used to sleeping in that we overslept. I usually get the kids up at 7:00 and I woke up at 7:35! Daniel is supposed to be at school by 7:55 and they all always eat breakfast at school which for Kathryn means she has to be there before 8:00. Needless to say poor Kathryn had to eat a leftover nuked biscuit on the way to school, Daniel was tardy but the girls weren't, Kathryn just missed breakfast. I dropped Daniel off and got the girls to school right after 8:00, (they're not considered tardy till 8:10), so I think we did really good to have just gotten up at 7:35! Anyway now I don't think they get out of school again until spring break, the 3rd week in March! Which is great for me, but it sure is a long time for the teachers and kids to go without a break. Hope they enjoyed Christmas, 'cause March is a long way away.

My Little Thief

2008-01-06T14:49:00.000-06:00

Last week, we, being the whole family, went shopping in Sherman. (Sherman is just across the Oklahoma/Texas border, about a 30 minute drive, if any family not from this area are reading this.) Anyway, we went to the Sherman Mall and shopped at Dillards, Bath & Body Works, and walked through a few other stores. We left there and went to Target, then to Wal-Mart. As we are getting out of the van at Wal-Mart Rich notices that Morgan has something in her pants pockets. So he asked her, "What is that?", no answer, so he pulls it out to discover that she has one lip gloss in each pocket, which she lifted from Bath & Body Works. After much chastisement, Rich and I discussed what to do about it. He suggested taking her back and making her pay for them out of the money she received from relatives for Christmas. To which I replied, "but then she still gets to keep them, therefore feeling rewarded." So I suggested that she have to take them back and apologize for taking them, mind you they weren't opened. I told him a story about when I was a kid, probably around Morgans age, I took a Snickers from a store and my dad made me take it back and apologize and I never forgot that feeling of humiliation and shame and I felt like that had taught me my lesson because I never did it again, so Rich agreed. After we finished in Wal-Mart we head back over to the mall. On the way over we tell her what she is going to have to do, needless to say she is not happy about it at all. She starts crying uncontrollably and saying she doesn't want to do it. She said that they would yell at her, which I assured her they would not, but she wasn't buying it. So Rich drops me and Morgan off at the mall and the rest of the family waits in the parking lot. Morgan and I are walking through the mall, her crying uncontrollably and telling me that her stomach hurt, she was so nervous about it. We get to the store and outside of the store I try to give her the lip gloss, I tell her that I would go with her but she was going to have to go give them to the lady that worked there and tell her she was sorry she took them. At first she would not take the gloss from me, I had to force her to take them. We walk into the store, go up to the lady, I turn to Morgan and tell her to give them to her, which she does, and I say to Morgan, "now what do you say?", to which Morgan just stands there still crying uncontrollably. So the lady says, "did you take these?", to which Morgan just nods her head and says "uh-huh". So I tell Morgan again "what do you say?", to which she very quietly replies, "sorry." The lady thanked us for being honest and we left. After which Morgan calmed down. I was hoping that was the end of the story and she had learned her lesson. However, two days later, New Years Eve, we were in Wal-Mart and when we get to the check-out she wants some gum. I tell her no because we were going home to have a ton of snack food for our little New Years Eve gathering. Of course she throws a fit, starts crying, whining, begging, etc., but I stand firm and still say no. The next thing I know, she is picking up a pack and starting toward her pocket!!!! I could not believe it! I told her don't you even think about it, so she put it back. I guess I'm really going to have to keep my eye on her, she's only 4 and I'm already tired, I hope I can stand my ground for another 14 years.

The Case of the Missing Christmas Present

2008-01-06T14:31:00.000-06:00

Packing to leave for Christmas we put all of our wrapped presents in a giant bag to take over to Ardmore. We put them all in the bag at home, put the bag in the van, drove straight to my parents house, unloaded everything, took all of the wrapped presents out of the giant bag and put them under my parents Christmas tree. All of this is on the afternoon of Sunday, Dec. 23rd. As we are finishing opening gifts Christmas morning I realize that one of Kathryn's gifts is missing. Each of our children gets one big gift from Santa and three wrapped gifts from mom and dad. So they all have the same number of gifts to open, but I couldn't find one of Kathryns, and of course she knew about it, what kid doesn't know exactly how many presents they have and what shape they are? Anyway, I looked everywhere and couldn't find it, so I assumed it must've gotten left at home under our tree. However, when we returned home I looked everywhere and still no present. We looked in the van, in the giant bag that held the gifts and now all of the Christmas decorations have been put away, we still have not found that present. Now all season when you would ask Kathryn what she wanted for Christmas she would say a Barbie jeep and earrings. So of course, just my luck, the missing present is the earrings, and not just any earrings mind you, but the all coveted Hannah Montana (echo) earrings. So she knew there was a present missing and I didn't want her to think she didn't get any earrings, so I went ahead and told her what was in the present. Well, since the present still has not appeared I decided I would just buy her another pair, but now I can't find them anywhere. I guess Kathryn has forgotten about it for now because she hasn't asked, so I'm secretly trying to find some Hannah Montana earrings in every store I go in, because eventually she will remember. I'm still hoping the missing present will mysteriously reappear. Weird isn't it?

Christmas Day

2008-01-05T16:55:00.000-06:00

Since Morgan had fallen asleep early the night before, she of course was the first one up, around 6:00, but I think she forgot it was Christmas morning, and I didn't want to wake the other kids until they woke up on their own, so I got up and got a shower, and by the time I got out of the shower the other 2 were up and raring to go. They are not allowed to go into the living area until the adults are in there with the cameras ready to shoot their reaction. Which of course my camera broke a while back and I have not gotten a new one yet, I'm bidding on one on ebay so hopefully I'll have a new one soon. Anyway, I had my little disposable camera and my parents had theirs, so they came out and were very excited at their gifts from "Santa". Daniel got an Xbox and the girls got a Hotwheels motorized Barbie jeep to share. But that didn't last long, they were ready to open their gifts. We go around and take turns opening gifts, youngest to oldest, one at a time, so everyone can see what everyone else got and it makes it last a little longer. Everyone was pleased with their gifts, but I have to tell you Morgan got a toy digital camera, so she took some of her own pics. All season if you asked her what she wanted for Christmas she would say, a Barbie jeep and pink church shoes. So my mom got her these pink sequined princess shoes (think Dorothy's Wizard of Oz shoes, but pink instead of red), and she took a pic of them with her camera. She wore them every day, all day, even outside to play, until a big piece of the sequins came off, which was only 1 week after Christmas. She did get to wear them to church, once, but she didn't get to wear them to school, because by the time school started back she had already torn them up. So now she can only wear them to play in, which today being Saturday, she has had them on, outside, all day today. Rich took the girls to the park this morning then came home and had a picnic in the backyard, she wore them to the park, the picnic and has played outside in them all day, to include climbing the tree in them. She looks pretty funny with her OU sweat suit on and her pink "church" shoes, climbing the tree, wish I had a camera.

Christmas Eve

2008-01-05T16:05:00.000-06:00

We had a good Christmas. Besides the Christmas caroling (see previous post), we have another family tradition where on Christmas eve, after we have stuffed ourselves with Christmas dinner, we light all the candles in the house, turn off all the lights, then my dad reads the Christmas story out of Luke 2, then we sing some carols and ask the kids some questions about the Christmas story and let anyone share anything they want about Christmas. So we did that and if you read Rich's Christmas post you've already read how Daniel shared his meaningful Christmas story about running around outside in underwear, anyway, read Rich's blog on underwear to get the full story, as Rich said 12 year old boy stuff. After having the lovely reading of the Christmas story, singing, and interesting conversation, Rich & I took our kids out to see Ardmore's light display, it's one of the best I've ever seen, and really long, we all enjoyed that and Morgan fell asleep on the way back home. Now Daniel & Kathryn know the truth about Santa. I decided when I had children that I would never tell them one way or the other, we would do Santa, but if ever asked I would not lie about it, which goes back to the trauma I felt as a child when I found out that Santa wasn't real and the shock that my parents had lied to me, and if they lied about that, what else have they lied about, I was a sensitive child. :) So Daniel and Kathryn know and Morgan has never asked. After watching the 10 o'clock news it was time for Daniel & Kathryn to go to bed, but even though she knows the truth, Kathryn had to leave cookies out for Santa, then she wanted to take a bite out of some of them, so that Morgan would think Santa had been there, I let her do it, she was really getting into it, which by the way, Morgan never even noticed the next morning. Anyway we got them to bed and Rich & I got everything set for Christmas morning and went to bed.

Christmas Caroling

2008-01-05T15:54:00.001-06:00

We went over to Ardmore to spend Christmas with my family, we went on Sunday afternoon, Dec. 23 and came home on Wednesday, Dec. 26. My family has a tradition that we go caroling around my parents neighborhood, just for the fun of it, which by the way as you can imagine Rich just LOVES :), but this year my mom had her annual open house on Sunday, the 23rd and everyone was too tired to go Sunday night. Then we like to have our traditional Christmas dinner on Christmas eve, so we're not in the kitchen all day on Christmas day, so of course nobody wanted to go Christmas eve after stuffing ourselves, so we just didn't go this year. Rich, the kids and I went caroling to a few of our neighbors on Friday, the 21st, and gave them some Christmas tree cookies that the kids and I had made. Only one of the neighbors seemed to care, everyone else looked at us like we were weirdos, which we are, so we're used to it. Anyway, I guess that will suffice for our yearly caroling tradition this year.

Nobody Reads My Blog

2008-01-05T15:44:00.000-06:00

Well, I know it has been 2 weeks since I have blogged, and I do have a few things I should blog about, however, it seems that my friend Steph is the only one reading my blog and I can just talk to her and tell her what's going on in my life. I put a poll up on my blog for everyone to vote on the name for the blog and she was the only one who voted, so she must be the only one reading it, and she voted for 2 of the choices, so since she's the only one who voted that didn't really help decide on the name. I guess I'll just keep it what it is. Oh well, maybe I should just blog for myself, for cathartic reasons. Anyway, hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year!

Clarification

2007-12-26T06:58:00.000-06:00

Oh, yes, if you haven't already figured it out, the Christmas thong entry was written by Rich, please make sure and check the bottom of the post, to see who posted it, that will help clear up any confusion. Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

Christmas and red thong undies!

2007-12-25T14:16:00.000-06:00

Well tis the season to be jolly! What the h*ck is this jolly thing any way? I mean when I think of jolly I get this mental picture of a fat guy laughing all with three of his chins jiggling in sync.

As I sit here and write this entry I am taking in the new sounds of Christmas; my son is playing Rock Band on his new x box 360. Rock Band is this X Box game where you play guitar, drum and voice simulators to old rock tunes and you get scored on how well you hit the notes that scroll on the screen. If you s#ck bad enough you get kicked off the stage. If that's not an esteem builder. Anyway my son is having fun and enjoying himself (along with his siblings, cousins' and all the adults in the family); isn't that what we are supposed to do with our Christmas gifts anyway.

Get this, we are all sitting around my in laws great room last night after the traditional reading of the Christmas story. With all the candles burning, Mom opens up the floor to discuss any significant meaning that the Christmas story may have to each one of us. My niece shared this very spiritual story; it was neat to see her open up and let others know about her relationship with Jesus. Well my son decides to share a significant story; so I think. He then begins to share with the entire family of how he went into my underwear drawer and took a pair of my string bikini underwear and put them on and ran around the outside of the house after I dared him to do so when we lived in Springfield, Missouri. Of course I was NOT embarrassed, but I wondered how all that tied into the Christmas story? Well if figured in the mind of a 12 year old boy he must have related his wearing my underwear as a spiritual experience. Somewhere, in 12 year old male logic, this holds spiritual significance.

So I get up the next morning and I open up a gift from my friend John; HOLY UNDIES! He gives me a red silk thong as a gift (I think it was a gag?). The moment I opened that gift I had an epiphany; somehow underwear hold spiritual significance. I have to WUDJW (What Underwear Did Jesus Wear) this one. I know my Mormon buddy wears that one piece deal and he seems content (Hey, he is always smiling! Hey come to think of it, Borat wore one too!).

So with all this underwear talk behind us, let me stop on the religious undies kick and get on to what I really want to say; Merry Christmas to all my family and dear friends.

Name for Blog

2007-12-22T13:23:00.000-06:00

OK, so I guess it worked. Now, here's my dilemma, I need your help. What do you think of the name, Batty Beishlines? Can anyone come up with a better name? We're all kind of iffy on the name. Your input is greatly appreciated.

My First Blog

2007-12-22T12:58:00.000-06:00

Ok, so here goes. My very good friend Steph has a blog and has been insisting that I start one. I really enjoy reading hers, it's very entertaining. So I thought I would give it a try. So this is a test just to see how it works.