Happy 4th of July!

In this house we LOVE the 4th of July! Ok. In this house we love any reason to celebrate anything…but we particularly love the 4th of July. I have always enjoyed patriotic things. Perhaps is goes back to being at “just the right age” when the Bicentennial hit. I would have been about 6 years old I think. (Math has never been my strong suit.) My mom made my sister and me red, white, and blue double-knit polyester cheerleader skirts—yes, it was the 70’s— and we had little white t-shirts with blue trim with a bicentennial patch sewn on them. If I can ever find a picture of that I will try to scan it in and post it here. Maybe that’s where it all began? Or perhaps it was all the years of sitting in the living room chair upholstered with material imprinted with liberty bells and soldiers of the revolution? Who know? Most recently I think it was that my first baby was due on the 4th of July. Sadly, he didn’t actually arrive until the 7th (a very LONG 3 days—I think it was actually a week). Needless to say, I have passed my love for all things July 4th on to my boys. I actually own red, white, and blue bunting to hang on the porch. LOVE IT!

This year we celebrated by participating in a borrowed neighborhood parade. It was borrowed because it wasn’t actually our neighborhood. We’ve done this for years in the Hillcrest parade. But this year we crashed the Sayles Blvd parade (with permission, of course). My dad was playing in the community band at the same location, so we joined in the fun. It was Bandit’s very first parade experience. He was marvelous.

The boys got the chance to ride the new cool “people movers”. There was a man riding them in the parade and he gave them a litle lesson while we were waiting for the festivities to begin.

K was our very biggest fan when we walked by.

Resting after his big debut.

After the parade we got to go to a party at Amanda’s parents house. It was a great cookout with swimming and pinatas. Brenden enjoyed wearing a portion of the pinata as well as filling it with candy . It looked like a pretend ice cream soda or something. Very fun.

See you next year!

Blast from the past!

My sweet sister Bethany was cleaning off her camera card and stumbled across these pictures from several years ago. This was Halloween night. I think I was trick-or- treating with a tiny Darth Vader who was no longer wearing his mask. Aidan has always LOVED Halloween and I have always LOVED fun socks. This is a really sweet memory for me. I especially like this picture because I am actually IN it. That doesn’t happen very often. 

That same night after Aidan had his bath , Bethany took a picture of him in his Sponge Bob pj’s (another blast from the past). He was “being an egg.” This was an activity that Aidan created when he was in Stepping Stones pre-school with Teacher Sherry. They were learning about what different things hatch from an egg. He decided to play a guessing game with us at home. He would curl up in a little ball and call out for us to come while saying “I’m and egg.” Immediately following this statement, a great shaking of his little body would begin. He would “emerge” from his egg and we would have to guess what kind of creature was coming out. Most frequently it was some sort of dinosaur. Many times the game took place on the couch after a bath. However, my favorite moments were when we were coming home at night in the car and a little voice would call out from the backseat –”I’m an egg.” This means that Aidan would pretend to be asleep and be curled up in his car seat. One of us would have to pick him up and carry him (while still in his egg shape) and put him gently on the couch. He would then begin the process of “hatching.” 

One year, at the church family retreat talent show, Aidan performed the egg routine —-much to the delight of the considerable audience. He became an instant legend. The performance has been much requested since. Occasionally we still hear to this day in the church atrium —-”Hey, aren’t you the egg boy?”

Many thanks to Auntie B for this little detour to the past.

Science Camp Part 4

This was the final experiment of Science Camp. You know—the good ol’ “Watch the egg get sucked into a jar after lighting a match experiment.” We hadn’t done it before because we could NOT locate a glass jar. Do you know how hard it is to find anything at all not made of plastic these days? Luckily, my dear friend (and 1st grade teacher extraordinaire) had the perfect jar in her “magical classroom closet.” This particular closet is kind of like Mary Poppins’ bag. It seems to always have what you need when you need it and you have no idea how it all fit in there.

As soon as we got our hands on the bottle, we lit a napkin with a flame clicker (as we like to call them) and watched and waited with great anticipation. The extinguished flame consumes all of the oxygen in the bottle and the egg gets caught up in some serious suction which pulls the egg through the tiny jar opening. It seems magical.

 

*Note–Prepare yourself for very cool science in action photos ahead

 

 The thing that is not as magical is what you have to do to get the egg back out again. The responsible adult (would that actually be me?) tips the jar to bring the egg close to the opening. This same adult then places her mouth on the jar opening and begins to blow with all of her might —or until her eyeballs almost pop out.) The egg slides right out. Did I mention that the egg now has burned ashes all over it? YUM.

Thanks to the Beck boys for the last 2 pictures. Wonderful work.

And thanks to Cindy and her never ending supply closet. We couldn’t have done it without you.

Fun with Daddy’s students

Richard had a great group of students in Summer school this year. To celebrate their accomplishments they had lunch together at Los Arcos. The boys and I were invited to attend. As I have never been known to turn down Los Arcos, we were happy to be there. 

I could easily see why Richard enjoyed this group so much. They were a blast. One particularly fun part was the fish that was in attendance. One of the girls apparently brings her pet fish on outings. The boys LOVED it.

 

My favorite part, however, was watching the boys converse with the young lady at the end of the table. Aidan has never met a stranger and college students typically really enjoy hearing what Aidan has to say. He had her total attention. 

ACU has such remarkable students. For years we have been blessed with wonderful friendships. The phrase “Daddy’s students” has always been equated with fun, friendly, attentive, playful people. I can’t wait to meet the next class.

Little Library Girl paints a picture

My mom brought over a few pictures I made when I was little. I’m not sure how little I was. I’m guessing 6 or 7 maybe? Richard urged me to take pictures of the pictures. So, here they are. Apparently it was Halloween time in my little world.

 

 

 

I notice that even at an early age I LOVED rainbow colored things. I like the rainbow witch hair. She also looks pretty happy to me. I never have enjoyed “scary” halloween stuff.

Not exactly sure why the bat has a green head and white body. I wish I could go back in time and ask myself.

 I wish all mice were pink and happy and cute.

I’m not certain if I am right, but I think this was a drawing of myself and my younger sister. I know we were both witches for halloween at least once, maybe more. I don’t remember there being any bats in the night sky.

This is my sister and me playing string instruments. I have no idea what I’m imagining. Hmmm…

My little kid signature. I think I may have been in 3rd grade or so because of the cursive.

I wonder if 20 years from now I will still have pictures my boys made in 3rd grade?

Football Camp

Brenden had his first taste of Panther football with Coach Olvera for 4 days this week. He had a blast! I tried to be the “not embarrassing” mom and stay away. But I showed up for the last 10 minutes of the last day with my camera. The great part is that I got to see and take pictures of Brenden making a catch for a touchdown. Is that even how you say that? 

It was fun and he really enjoys Coach Olvera. What a great thing to have Christian men around.

 

 

 

The touchdown!

Aidan loves Coach Olvera, too.

 

I think we’ve got some days of football ahead. Go Panthers!

Can Jesus come over for lunch?

After one of the dramas at Marketplace two little children approached Richard (Jesus) and asked if he would visit their home. They wanted to wash his feet. Of course he accepted the invitation and I followed closely with my camera. It was adorable. They led him into the room pulling him by the hand.

They proceeded to have him sit down so they could wash his feet (just like people in the Bible do). He was so sweet to them. They immediately wanted Jesus to wash their feet, too. Well, why not? Wasn’t he known for doing such things? To say that it was a precious moment really wouldn’t even come close to describing it. He was so gentle with their tiny feet and they looked up at him with such wonder. Oh, my.

After the foot washing ceremonies, Jesus was invited to have lunch. He was led to the TINY 4-5 year old furniture where he graciously accepted all offerings of food and drink. He was also invited to “share” when they wanted to eat what was on his plate. He did share very well, I’m proud to say.

After lunch it was time for Jesus to go. He walked around and touched the head of each child bidding them farewell and thanking them for their hospitality.

I found out later that afternoon from the mother of one of these children just how big an impact this moment had. One of the little girls was busting with excitement when her mom picked her up. The conversation went as follows…

Child: Mommy, I had lunch with Jesus today. He came to my house and washed my feet!

Mom: That’s wonderful sweetie.

Child: Can we go ask Jesus if he can come home with us to our real home?

Mom: Sweetie, that wasn’t the real Jesus. That was Mr. Beck dressing up like Jesus for Marketplace today.

Child: No. It WAS the real Jesus. Please, please can we bring him home with us?

Mom: Honey, that wasn’t Jesus. That was Mr. Beck—Brenden and Aidan’s daddy.

Child: Oh…….well….can we have Mr. Beck come home with us then?

Mom: Mrs. Beck and his boys might miss him. But maybe we can have them over for dinner sometime, ok?

Child: OK

So glad we could be a part of thoroughly confusing the small children of Highland.

But just let me say, when Richard was washing their feet, and being fed bread, and touching their heads—-he WAS being Jesus. And I mean the REAL one. May we all take the opportunity to do the same.

Marketplace Mania

Every other Summer our church puts on a Bibletimes Marketplace instead of a regular VBS. This means that Richard turns into Jesus for a day while I become some random Bibletimes woman. The gym becomes a “sea of galilee-ish” type market where the children come to experience a carpenter shop, fish shop, pottery shop, leather shop, etc… Throughout the day the children move around in family groups with the names of (you guessed it) the 12 tribes of Israel. Richard and I are in charge of drama. This means we orchestrate a few miraculous healing and such for the children to witness. It’s a really neat day.

Brenden’s role changed a bit this year. He was too old to participate as a regular marketplace kid. But he was a great help as a “big brother” with one of the families. I love seeing him get involved in these new “middle school” kind of ways.

This is Aidan with our dear friend Bill who has been a worker in the scribe shop since before we even moved to Abilene. His 1st century name this year was Festus. Perfect. He came over to me laughing and laughing about something Aidan did. (You might imagine that this happens to me quite a bit.) Apparently Aidan had finished writing his name in Hebrew letters and asked if he could draw a smiley face. Bill said “of course” and thought to himself what a sweet boy Aidan was. As he looked at Aidan’s drawing he noticed something unusual about the smiley face. He asked Aidan about it. Aidan nonchalantly explained that it was a smiley face with a pirhana biting the top of its head.Well, of course. What else would you expect at a Sunday School event?

It is always such a precious day. I realize that I make this next statement with quite a bit of bias but—–Richard is the best pretend Jesus EVER! What a special day in the life of Highland and the Beck family.

Mint Chocolate Cheesecake—comin’ right up! *recipe added

One day when Aidan brought the mail in for me, he noticed a recipe on a post card from some real estate agent who’s name I have now forgotten. However, I have NOT forgotten the recipe. It was for Mint Chocolate Cheesecake and the whole family was dying to taste it. 

I decided it would be fun for a summer treat to try it out. I didn’t know that the ingredients would cost over $20 and take 2 days to make—but it was well worth it. I think Richard had it with his coffee for breakfast for a week. 

 

                                            Wanna bite?

Recipe

1-1/2 cups finely crushed vanilla wafers

5 tbsp butter (melted)

3 8oz pkgs cream cheese (softened)

1/2 cup sour cream

2 tbsp cornstarch

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp peppermint extract

3 eggs (room temp)

1 cup Andes candies (chopped)

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Combine crumbs with butter and press firmly into bottom of a greased 9 inch springform pan. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Remove. In large bowl combine cream cheese, sour cream, cornstarch, and sugar. Beat with electric mixer on medium until well blended. Pour batter into cooled crust. Tap pan against counter to get bubbles out. Bake at 325 for 50 minutes. Turn off oven, leave cheesecake inside, keep oven door open about 1/2 hour. Remove. Chill overnight. Melt chocolate chips and drizzle over cake. Top with Andes candies. Eat until almost ill.

“Bandit”-the study of a sleeping puppy (photo by Aidan Beck)

A very frequent sound heard in our house is “Awwwwwwww.” This sound is made when Aidan is walking by Bandit looking cute. As Bandit almost always looks cute—the sound happens regularly. This picture was taken by Aidan who was completely taken by Bandit’s cuteness. He asked if he could borrow my camera to take a picture of Bandit because he’s “just sooooooo cute.” Of course I obliged. I would be quite the photography hipocrite if I claimed not to understand that feeling. I think Aidan did a great job. And every time I see this picture I say “Awwwwwwwww.”