Parker

How lucky I am to be the mother of Parker Beck.  He is such a great kid that lives life to its fullest.  He is constantly teaching me new things.  Parker was born with a very calm personality.  He was the most giving and sweet little guy. 

Parker has a great memory and can memorize songs really quickly.  When we are driving in the car, I love hearing him sing along with David Archuleta or Carrie Underwood.  He has almost every word memorized.  He also can memorize scriptures or other things really easily.  He also has an awesome voice!

He is an amazing runner.  Back a few years ago, Parker's Uncle Michael organized a "Beck Run."  All of the kids ran around the track field one time.  Parker kept on running and ended up doing one mile and still wanted to go more.  He has so much energy and didn't get tired.  One day I can see him in track or cross country.  Parker is also awesome in soccer.  He is not intimidated by the ball and will keep after it until a goal is made or the ball goes out of bounds.  The first year he was in soccer when he was in kindergarten, he would disappear after the games and I would end up finding him fast asleep in his bed.   He has worn himself out on the field enough to fall asleep - which was definitely not typical of him.

Parker has a funny sense of humor.  He can get me laughing with the stories he tells or the way he makes faces when he says something.  He also is a comedian in our home.  He is my "Spaghetti Boy" and can't eat enough of it.  Parker can stand on his head for the longest time and has really good balance. 

Parker loves school and is really good with math.  He can add numbers that I can't in my head.  He also is a great swimmer and will do dives off the diving board along with Carter.  He is literally a fish out of the water and would go every day if he had a chance.  Last summer we had swimming lessons and he learned so quickly to the point where he can swim without me being worried.

In June, Parker was so excited to start being a cub scout.  I have been in scouts the past 3 years, so he would see me going every week and looked forward to the day when he turned 8.  He loves going every week and enjoys the interaction with the cub scouts. 

He is a great helper.  I will walk into a room and find him secretly sweeping the kitchen floor for me or mopping.  Parker loves to help and is really good at cleaning when he wants to.  There was about a 5 month period when Carter & Parker kept their bedrooms so clean I couldn't believe it was their bedroom.  He also has always been a great big brother to help with anything I have needed when Bradley was younger.  He would entertain him and play with him so I could get other things done. 

Parker loves to play the computer, Wii, watch movies, play card games, and play with his brothers outside.  He also enjoys riding his bike and just having fun laughing.  He has the best laugh that makes me smile.

Parker is daring.  Last time we went out on a boat, he was doing quite the tricks while on the tube.  He turned backwards and ended up practically doing the splits.  He enjoys life and has fun in the process.

I love you so much Parker and feel so lucky to be your mom.  You are such an awesome kid that has amazing potential.  You will go far in life from your hard work and determination.  

Carter

Being born as a twin has its definite advantages and disadvantages. Carter is very blessed to have a best friend every step along the way during this journey of life. The definite disadvantage is that they are constantly being asked - "Which one are you?"  He doesn't let that stop him, though. 

Carter is very quick on his feet and loves playing soccer.  He is not afraid to get close to the ball and is aggressive on the playing field.  He has played for the past 3 years and has loved it.  What could be more awesome than also having your own brother on the same team.  I love watching the two of them on the field together.

Carter loves to read.  Carter is also quite the little artist.  He can create the coolest animated characters.  He has also had me type up some of his stories that he has written. 

He loves to spend a lot of times outside.  His scooter & bike are one of his favorite things to do.  Carter also loves crossing the bars at any playground.  He won't let the blisters and calloused hands stop him.  He can even skip the bars and doesn't skip a beat.

Carter is also quite the swimmer.  From a very young age he was so daring in the water.  I almost had a few heart attacks watching him.  He definitely doesn't have any fear of the water.  He took off quickly and learned to swim at a very young age.  Now he has advanced to diving or flipping off the diving board.  I almost can't watch him each time he does it as I feel like he will hit his head on the diving board or hurt himself.

Carter is a math whiz and can add and subtract really well in his head.  His favorite subject is math and he also loves recess.

He also loves to sing and has a great voice.  Now that he can read better, I love to hear him and Parker sing in Sacrament Meeting.  They both sound so awesome together.  He loves playing guitar hero on the Wii, riding in his dad's truck, playing with friends, playing on the laptop, eating enchiladas and pizza, and watching "Narnia" or "The Best Two Years."  Carter also loves scouting and has loved den meetings and the fun activities that are involved with scouting.  He loves playing any type of card or electronic game.  He has always been a people person and loves to be around others.  Carter loves playing with his friends both from our neighborhood and from school. 
 

Carter & Parker can be the best of friends one minute and worst of enemies the next.  I love seeing them when they are having a good moment and what they will do for each other.  They truly do have a special love there, that unfortunately sometimes is hidden.  On Friday, they both lost the same upper right tooth and yesterday the same upper left tooth.  If this doesn't say they are twins, then I don't know what does!  

I am constantly amazed at how much Carter & Parker are alike yet how different they are.  Carter is always concerned about others and will asks a lot of questions.  He has a lot of fun in life and loves to be adventurous.

Carter, I love you so much and feel so honored to have you as my son.  You are such a great example to me and I can't wait to see what amazing things await you.  You will make one young lady very happy one day! 

Johnathan

Johnathan is such a fun kid to be around. He is smart, a great helper, easy going, and extremely motivated in all he does.  He was the perfect child for my third.  I was very nervous to see how being a mom to 3 would turn out, but it was such a great transition thanks to such a wonderful and good natured boy.  He was my best pregnancy and was a very happy little guy.  Johnathan loved to hang out with his older two siblings.  He has this really great relationship with Tanner that I hope stays for their whole life.

Johnathan is my sweet tooth.  Of all my children, I can get the most benefits out of him if something sweet is involved.  I can always get those jobs I don't want to tackle done if the reward is candy.  He is almost my most picky eater.  I really hope this changes as he gets older because I just don't know how he will survive a mission and being married.  His favorite foods are mashed potatoes & gravy, pepperoni pizza, any sugary cereal, apples and rolls.

He is the peacemaker in our home.  Rarely does Johnathan start conflict with somebody else.  He is also a great reader.  Since Johnathan was around 1st grade he has been reading every night along with Tanner.  I can't get the two of them to turn off the lights most nights.  Right now he is reading "The 39 Clues" series and absolutely loving them.  Johnathan has enjoyed collecting money from all over the world lately.  Luckily he has a dad that has some travel behind his belt, so he is always bringing home loose change from these trips. 

Johnathan is a great student.  He loves to learn.  I have never had to really get after Johnathan to do any homework.  He will come home from school and jump on it. 

He is also huge into computers, his DS, and video games.  I, unfortunately, have to sometimes kick Johnathan out of the house so he will get some exercise:).  He is really good at figuring things out on the computer.  Recently Johnathan asked Byron to help him create his own web page.  Every night for a few days he would have Byron teach him a few more things so he could create tables, add links, use colors, etc.  I was impressed how Byron was so patient and would teach him these things that I have no clue how to do.  Johnathan was a quick learner and took off. 

When he turned 8, he was so excited to be in the scouting program.  He would read the Wolf book whenever he got a chance to see what new things he could pass off.  Because of this, he received his Wolf pretty soon after turning 8.  He loves anything "scouts" and is currently in Webelos.

Johnathan loves soccer and has played for about 4 seasons.  This past year he was on the same team as Tanner.  I loved seeing the two of them playing forward together.  They were starting to be really good together as the season ended.  

Johnathan is such a wonderful helper.  I can always count on him to help set the table, run downstairs to grab something for dinner, take out the garbage, stay and help until everything is cleaned after eating dinner, or to watch Bradley.  He is very competent and a great kid.  I love you so much Johnathan and feel blessed to be your mom.  You have a fun sense of humor and are such a bright light in my life.  Love you tons!!!

Tanner

How fun and exciting it was to add a boy to our family after having 2 girls!  Byron especially loved having a boy to play catch with.  Little did we know at this time that our trend with boys was just beginning:).  Tanner is the 5th "Byron" in our ancestry - named after 4 amazing men!

Tanner is a very easy going kid.  He would prefer to not be inside, but outside all day long.  The first thing he does everyday after arriving home from school is to go into the backyard with one of his siblings and play a ball game.

Tanner will come up behind me and give me the best hug.  One time when Byron was overseas, Tanner came up behind and did this - I almost freaked out thinking it was Byron behind me since he would do this same thing often.  How I love those hugs!

He is a great reader and almost can't put a book down each evening.  Him and Johnathan will read every night together in their bedrooms.  I love seeing them reading together.  Tanner has read all of the "Lightening Thief" series along with Johnathan.  I was surprised how quickly they both got through them.  He tries frequently to have me read some of the books he has recently read.

Every since Tanner was very young, he has had awesome coordination.  Byron could play ball with him when he was really small.  I remember watching Tanner bounce a ball when he was around 3 and it just looked so funny to have such a young child dribbling so well.  Tanner is really good at every sport he tries including soccer & flag football.  He also love watching BYU football with Byron.  If I ever have a question about a football rule or who a player is, I can ask Tanner and he will almost always know the answer.  He knows what number each player is and really loves to watch the games, especially next to Byron or at the BYU stadium.

He has a great voice and used to sing quite a bit when he was younger without prodding.  Now it must not be a "cool" thing to do as it is a little harder to get him to sing.  He will, however, sing in the car with us if he hears some of his favorite songs like, "Life Is A Highway," "Replay," or "Eenie Meenie."  I love to hear him and hope he continues to want to share his talent with others.  Tanner also is taking piano right now and doing really well.  He can play the piano by ear.

Tanner is such a great and tender brother.  He was always such a great helper with each baby I had and was so cute as he would play with them to help in any way. He is a hard worker and is really great at mowing lawns.  He also loves to play card and board games.  Tanner has never had a problem making friends and having many.  There used to be a time where we would have quite a few boys each day calling or knocking on the door to play with Tanner. 

I love you Tanner.  I feel so fortunate to be able to raise you and be your mother.  Your smile and laugh melt my heart!

Camille

Since this month is Thanksgiving, I wanted to write how lucky and thankful I am for each of my children.

Camille is such a delight to have as a daughter.  I love her and feel so blessed that she joined our family first.  Being the only daughter to a bunch of boys definitely wouldn't be my idea of wonderful, but she does a great job at dealing with it.  How wonderful it is to have a daughter first - so great to get those little breaks from the time she was 9 or 10 where I could leave for about 15 minutes and know the kids were in good hands.

She has such a creativity knack and is really good at it.  She can learn new things so easily - usually teaching herself by watching somebody doing it or reading about it.  She can knit, make jewelry, cook, play the piano, sing, loves playing with children, and the list could go on. 



Camille has an AMAZING memory - From the time she was just 3 or 4, she could tell us which direction to turn while driving to go home or to head to Grandpa & Grandma's home.  She would also get upset with me if she thought we were heading home and she could tell we weren't going that direction.  As soon as I would turn somewhere different she would say, "Where are we going?"  I didn't know that such a young child would notice these things. 



She has never had a hard time making friends.  We would go to the park when she was young and she would always know the kid's names at the park and become their instant friend.



Camille loves food - to eat it and to cook it.  She is really a great cook also.  She will look at cookbooks and find something quite tasty to cook and make it to perfection. Camille is good at adding her own twists to recipes and they most always turn out wonderful.  Just a week ago she wanted to make alfredo sauce.  We didn't have any cream cheese so she wanted me to go and buy some.  Since I didn't want to head to the store for one item, she improvised.  She ended up using "Laughing Cow Cheese" and it turned out amazing!  I had her immediately write down the recipe so I can try to duplicate in the future.  I also love to eat her "Lion House" rolls, lasagna, taco soup, chicken pot pie, meatballs and bread sticks.  She also loves to eat food that is elaborate or very time consuming - not mac and cheese or ramon noodles. 

Camille has been singing since she started talking.  There were times when she was younger that I started getting annoyed with the constant singing that was going on.  That annoying singing soon paid off as I realized that she truly has a singing talent.  She was in the play  "Sound of Music" back in Aug. 2007 and her love for drama and singing has just tripled since then.  Camille  has since been in quite a few plays and can't get enough of it.  She started taking singing lessons last year and her singing abilities have really improved.

She has had to overcome some pretty hard obstacles in her life and is such a great example to me of how to do that. She loves to play card games, watch movies, read a book, hang out with family, ride roller blades, or watch a play.  I love you so much Camille and am so grateful you are my daughter!  You are such a beautiful girl both inside and out!

Below is a video of Camille singing "Gimme Gimme." 



Private

I have come to the conclusion that I have let fear take over me with how much personal information I am putting on my blog.  With this fear, the only thing I can think of that will alleviate it will be to go private.  Please email me if you are interested in still viewing my blog (beckfamily7@msn.com).

Halloween Activities

Halloween has never been my favorite holiday.  I do enjoy it, though since I know my kids look forward to it. 

Carter &  Parker made some fun Halloween masks at Scouts this past month.  They looked great!

 Parker

 Carter 

Red Ribbon Week was the week previous to Halloween.  One of the days was "crazy hair day."  My boys like to stay in front of the mirror for an endless amount of time trying to see what crazy things their hair will do.  It probably fell flat after being at school for just a little bit of time, but they were happy with the results. (Johnathan, Tanner, Parker & Carter)

We had our Ward Halloween Party on Oct. 20th.  Luckily we had all of the costumes from previous years so we didn't have to purchase anything.  I love it when my kids are willing to be whatever and not so particular.

Johnathan had to draw a picture of himself at school and then come up with something about himself for every letter in his name.  I love what he wrote about himself.

We got our first snowfall on October 27th.  We woke up to around 4 inches of fresh snow on the ground.  Tanner had a pretty bad cough and ended up staying home from school.  Not sure if I should have allowed him to stay home because he was very interested in going outside with Bradley to play in it.  I guess I get a "Bad Mom" award since I allowed them to do it.  Bradley loved having Tanner outside with him and this saved me from having to go out.  They were able to make the best snowman.  Bradley loved helping Tanner roll the balls.  It was really good packing snow.  They decorated the snowman so cute and then came into the house.  Within a few hours the poor snowman started to fall over and melted almost completely by the time the rest of the kids came home from school.  The snow was short lived and the rest of the kids weren't able to play in it at all.

Bradley was able to dress up in his Halloween costume for Joy School on Thurs., Oct. 28th.  He was so excited to show his friends his superman costume.  I didn't get a picture of all of the kids before Avery went home, but here is Reese and Gavin.

Bradley was invited to attend a Halloween party over at the McArthur's home.  Lisa always goes way over board on things and this was no exception.  The weather was so nice even though it had snowed 2 days previous.  We didn't even need a jacket.  Bradley had a lot of fun.  There was a spooky cave to walk through, cake walk, story telling, cupcake decorating, pumpkin spiders, and a pinata.  He came home with more candy and treats than he could have eaten.  Thanks Lisa for inviting us!

The kids were able to dress up to go to school.  They always have a parade where the classes parade through the halls to show off their cool costumes.  It was really nice to have Byron take the day off of work so we could relax and enjoy the day together.  The morning started out by getting everybody all ready for school.  Most of their costumes were pretty easy to put on.  I just had to deal with the makeup which was relatively simple.

Tanner didn't really want to be an Asian person for Halloween after dressing like that for the Ward Halloween party.  I started throwing ideas around and came up with a scarecrow.  I had fun making the costume.  I bought the hat from Party Land and then just had to buy raffia.  Camille & I sewed it onto his sleeves and pant legs with the sewing machine.  We then added patches to this pants.  I think it turned out darling.  He definitely made a really cute scarecrow.

The scary Johnathan - ghoul

The scarecrow - Tanner

The cowboy - Carter

The ninja - Parker

Superman - Bradley

After getting the kids off, we headed over to the school to get ready for the Halloween parade.  It took about 30 minutes for the parade to make its way into the cafeteria.  I enjoy watching for the kids in our ward, boys that I teach "Bears" with, and of course my own children.   

Johnathan made a paper mache mask at school - I think it turned out pretty cool!

Friday evening we made carmel apples.  I bought the carmel wraps which is pretty much a cheater way to make them.  They definitely weren't as fun to make, but easier.  Camille was at a Regional dance, so she missed the fun.

Bradley, Tanner, Parker, Johnathan & Carter

We had fun playing games.  Carter & Parker played scum.

Byron taught Johnathan & Tanner how to play rummikub.  The four of us had fun playing a few games together.  I had forgotten how fun this game was.

Saturday afternoon we carved the pumpkins.  We were lucky to have such beautiful weather that afternoon (before the rain started) that we were able to carve them in our backyard.  I set up a table out back and the kids went at it.  Byron was up at our duplexes, so I was the only adult helping.  I am definitely not as good as Byron at these.  We weren't as thorough as Byron is in taking all of the pumpkin seeds out. 

Cleaning out the pumpkins.

Camille spent a lot of time carving the outside of her pumpkin with a tool to scrape the outside off.

Johnathan's pumpkin

Bradley's - it looks like it has food in its mouth:).

Parker

 Carter has a "cyclops" pumpkin.

Round 3 for Halloween costumes- It is always pretty overwhelming when we have to put on the costumes more than once. This year we had our Halloween party, school parade & then going trick-or-treating.  Right around 4:30 p.m. the rain started.  It didn't quit until around 7 p.m.  The poor trick-or-treaters were out with rain ponchos, coats, umbrellas to brave the elements. 

Parker, Carter & Byron went together.  They went around the whole ward in about 1 1/2 hours.  Byron had a hard time keeping up with them as they were running from house to house.

Tanner went with Kobe Mickelson and Preston Morgan(not pictured).  They were a little slower than Byron, but got more candy.  Tanner had never been with a friend before and really enjoyed that in contrast with being with his siblings. 

Johnathan went with Tyler Atwood.  Tyler's dad drove them around along with Tyler's siblings.  Johnathan didn't get wet like his brothers, but also didn't get as much candy.  He loved being able to go with his best friend.

Camille was really nice to take Bradley around.  They were probably gone for about 45 minutes when Bradley came home all done.  He had quite a bit of candy for a 3 year old anyways.  He was ready to count his loot and be in the warm house.

Tanner with his almost full bag as we were heading to Grandpa & Grandma Beck's house.

Camille was invited to a friend's Halloween Party and enjoyed spending her evening there.  She watched, "I Am Legend" and enjoyed doing "girl" things.  We were sad to not have her there when we went up to Salt Lake, but she definitely is old enough to do things on her own now.

Grandpa & Grandma's house was filled with donuts, hot chocolate, games, puzzles & candy.  We had fun visiting and playing a game of scum.  We missed seeing any of the other cousins, but were able to visit with Grandpa, Grandma, Aunt Melissa & Uncle Eric.  The time always goes way too fast when we are there.

Once we got home, the candy was dumped out and the kids started sorting it out.  I couldn't believe the amount of it they had.

Carter above & Parker below

Johnathan

Tanner's candy - he probably got the most of all the kids. 

What a fun filled day!  We were all ready for bed and exhausted!