auntie day

We have been blessed with some really fabulous aunties in our family. They are all very special to us. One of the aunties lives close to us and takes my children on "auntie days"- by themselves. alone. no other kids. Reagan had her very first auntie day on Friday. They started out at Cabela's - R's FAVORITE place (she loves to look at all the displays and buy stuffed animals!) After a round of looking at all of the "sites" R decided that she wanted to spend her money- which has been burning a hole in her pocket for awhile. After much discussion (about not spending just to spend) they ended up at the toy store. Reagan found a teeny tiny baby for 45 cents. She made her purchase and named the new baby "Beautiful". After that they went to the park for lunch- chased bubbles, ate and had a treat. Lastly they ended up at the Art Museum- R's second favorite place! She got to show Auntie some of her favorite things - including the "golden tree" which took them forever to find (mostly because it is called the SILVER tree). Reagan had so much fun! Thanks for being a spectacular auntie!
at cabela's...

lunch at the park...

oreos- a special auntie treat...

drawing at the art museum...

r's personality coming out...

zoo day

Today was a warm sunny Sunday! Which was perfect for our trip to the zoo with Steph and the kids. We had a great time!!!

the crew...

ben...
carsyn loves the slide...
this is such a cute pix of my boys watching the lemurs...
sophia was being attacked by a goat- I was too busy taking pix to rescue her!

perfect timing (see carsyn pointing!)...

reagan LOVED being with jake...

carsyn was our elephant photographer...

love the zebras...

steph and the kids had a great view of the leopard...

a tiger pix for max...

ww II play

Yesterday we went to a WWII reenactment. The kids were really pumped about it. We got there in time to get a good spot to see the battle. The kids wore ear plugs because it was SO noisy (Luke was still a bit nervous). We kept having to explain that it was not real- it was kind of like a play. They had a great time watching it all unfold. After the battle we took them to the camp. We saw tents, vehicles and lots of soldiers. It was so much fun. Luke reiterated the fact that he wants to be a soldier when he grows up "so he can protect America." :)

reagan

Reagan LOVES "the Big Picture Story Bible". We read it all the time. Wednesday we were reading about Jesus' birth, his ministry and his explanation to Nicodemus about the kingdom of heaven and R asked if she could pray and have Jesus in her heart....

dear Jesus, forgive me of my sins. come into my heart and be my forever king. help me to be obedient and kind and love you always. amen.

She explained that her prayer meant that she will live with Jesus in heaven. And while she's on earth she should be nice to people, share her toys, and read the Bible so we can understand what He says about being God's little girl.

living arrangements

Lately at the Beachy household there has been a lot of prayer for sick people (and talk of death). We have been praying for grandma great- who had surgery a while ago. The kids (especially R) have been concerned because "grandma great is old. She must be going to see Jesus soon!" Carsyn has taken up vigil in praying for baby Stellan who had heart surgery yesterday. Then this morning on the way to school we talked about a friend's dad who has been given only hours left on this earth. We talked about life/death and living with Jesus. I mentioned that no one knows when they will die. Only God knows and He is in control. Sometimes we die just because we are old, sometimes people (even babies) get sick and die, sometimes there are accidents and people don't survive. I told them that "whatever the reason- death is not something to be scared of- I'm not! The great thing about it it that we get to be with Jesus!" (and Roman- according to Carsyn).
Good questions ensued:
kids: what happens to us if YOU die?
mom: you will live with dad- and you have Jesus to help you.
kids: what happens if you BOTH die?
mom: you will live with Uncle Darrell and Aunt Beth. And you will still have Jesus. He will watch over you.
kids: SWEET!! (then they started chanting:) We get to live with our cousins, we get to live with our cousins!

Nice. I think briefly they were hoping for Jesus to take me home....

a new heart

Reagan LOVES "the Big Picture Story Bible". We read it all the time. Today we were reading about Jesus' birth, his ministry and his explanation to Nicodemus about the kingdom of heaven and R asked if she could pray and have Jesus in her heart....

dear Jesus, forgive me of my sins. come into my heart and be my forever king. help me to be obedient and kind and love you always. amen.

She explained that her prayer meant that she will live with Jesus in heaven. And while she's on earth she should be nice to people, share her toys, and read the Bible so we can understand what He says about being God's little girl.

oh yes, oh yes it's springtime!

ahhh.. spring cleaning....

i dumped the entire contents of our closet on our bed/bedroom floor....

and in our bathroom (yes, we had a chair AND the ironing board in there- it's a luxury closet)

there's the good will pile...

ahh. much better!

look at the clean floor- not at the stuff in the back- that's for future use
(soon a curtain will hide it!) :)

you scream. we scream.

we all scream for ICE CREAM! Free ice cream that is. It was free cone day at Ben&Jerry's today. We took advantage...

This was AFTER all the sugar!

a much needed snack after standardized testing today...

Lillian got to tag along too (which worked perfect because I was going to call you Mel...)

she is good at making a mess with food...

silly boys...

boston

2 years ago today Dale ran his last marathon- not only that but he ran for the last time. I think it will always be a little bit of a sad day. 2 hip surgeries later and still no chance of running again- a result of this broken world. There will be marathons in heaven for Dale.....


He really enjoyed running Boston. However it was FREEZING, raining and windy!! I believe they call it a Nor'easter...

Notice we are wearing custom fit trash bags. What you don't see is the long underwear, 2 layers of clothing, and a winter coat underneath our fine black outer layer.

He made it!! He is holding his arms up at the finish line- we are SO PROUD! (especially since he was running on a serious injury.)

finished! We got to shed the trash bags :)


It was truly a tremendous experience for all of us. Being there and watching him accomplish his goal of running Boston- amazing!

mister micah vaughn

We went to Micah's 2nd birthday party last night. It's hard to believe that little man is already 2! We had a great time playing at Uncle's house- especially since they installed a really cool rock pile on their back drive. Thanks for a fun evening!!!
the cupcake cake...

M apparently LOVES bubbles!

M with his mommy and daddy...

he kept blowing out the candles as soon as Erin lit them...



Reagan's comments: (she likes to attempt to type fast like mom)
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love at first sight

this boy is melting my heart lately....

Luke: mom, when I grow up I am going to marry Gracie.
Mom: that is a great choice buddy.
L: i know. she is a girl and i am a boy. she will be the mommy and I will be the daddy.
M: i am so glad.
L: what if I change my mind?
M: you can change your mind while you are growing up but once you get married you can't change your mind.
L: i WON'T change my mind. it's Gracie.

love light

Last week Dale and I had a creative date. We went to Clayton and had a Love Light photo shoot with our favorite photographer Jodie Allen. We walked all over downtown Clayton held hands, made out, and attempted to dance all while J watched thru her lens. It was so much fun! We really had a great time acting like we were newlyweds. It's not often that we get photos of just us. We will treasure these photos forever!
my favorite!

our attempt to dance. very funny!!

my favorite!

another favorite!

isn't he handsome?!

like this one too- funny story that goes along with it!


These are just a few of the fantastic photos! You should check out her website. If I was smart enough to link I would (kyle help!) But instead you can click on the "allens" on the right side of my blog. You can access Jodie's website thru her blog!

grandma great

As we were laying in bed tonight Luke and I had this conversation:

Luke: how old is grandma great?
Mom: 89.
L: that's in the 80's, right?!
M: yes buddy.
L: that's REALLY close to 100!
M: yep.
L: she is REALLY lucky to be that old. how come i can't be that old?
M: maybe one day you will.
L: did Carsyn know her before she was an old lady?
M: (trying not to laugh) no. she's been old since you three kids were born.
L: i really miss her. i wish we could see her more......

planting

This weekend Dale and the kids planted our garden. We have broccoli, carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, green beans, sugar snap peas, red onion and radishes (Luke claims to L O V E them). Soon we will add gourds, summer squash and cantaloupe. We would love to plant edamamme but can't find them- anyone have any ideas?

getting the beds ready...

C was a FANTASTIC helper- she helped Dale the whole time!


L and R played most of the time...



R helped with the carrots...

L planted the radishes...