Happy Birthday to Me!

They pulled one over on me....I can't believe it!

My husband, close friends, and sister managed to plan a surprise dinner for me this past Saturday night in honor of my 32nd birthday. I am normally a very aware, intuitive, astute person, so I'm not sure how all this planning slipped by me. My husband has only managed to surprise me one other time in my life when he planned a weekend getaway at the 7-F Lodge in College Station...since then I've known about all other surprise attempts. Here's the photo my friend (and co-conspire-er), Julie, snapped of me as I was walking into the room.

I'm not normally a fan of surprises, but this one was so great because I was completely in the dark! I felt so loved and blessed to be surrounded by people I love so dearly! Thanks for making my birthday one I'll remember forever.

Not so lazy days of summer...

The first few weeks of summer have proven less than relaxing for our household....the busy-ness has been fun, but I know I can't keep up this pace for long! Kellie-Laine started out with basketball camp, then VBS, joined a city-league track team, and finally today we dropped her off in Grapeland, TX for a week-long stay at Frontier camp. For those of you who don't know, KL is quite the homebody and struggles with homesickness. She doesn't spend the night with friends, and so getting her to stay for a week at camp was a major ordeal. She woke up this morning with alot of nerves and anxiety, but once we arrived she was glad to be there.

KL also had her first track meet this weekend with Waco's city league. She had planned on running the 400m and the 200m, but after sitting in almost triple digit heat for four hours, we were burned to a crisp! KL had very little left in her to run. She completed the 400, came in 3rd in her heat and I practically had to carry her off the track. She was breathing so hard, calling my name and looking very disoriented...I was a little worried and decided that staying for her other race was not a good decision. She's been doing great in her practices and was in the top 8 for her 100m dash, but she's never had to battle the elements quite like she did on Saturday. She's also learned how to high jump and has a goal of competing in that event at a future meet. We'll see what happens!

Landrie just completed two weeks worth of swim lessons, and so that's been fun for her. They don't let parents stay during the swim lessons, and so the last day was "Parent Day" and we were able to see what they had been working on. I was really impressed! Landrie was able to kick underwater and "swim" to each of her teachers by herself. She has no fear of the water whatsoever! This lack of fear is quite scary, though, when I take the girls swimming. Landrie becomes overly brave going up and down the slide (over and over and over) all by herself.

Emerie is still bear crawling, although she loves to rock on all fours. She also pulls up on anything she can....and then gets stuck! It's so funny to see her cry because she can't figure out how to sit down. She's also learned to call for Landrie whenever I'm calling for Landrie, and she'll yell "Gee-yah" to echo me. AThis summer, I hired a babysitter to come sit for Emerie twice a week. I feel quite guilty about it, but since all my girls are at such different ages it was something I had to do. Landrie and KL both love to skate, go to movies, paint at Practically Picasso, etc. but those aren't exactly the best environments for Emerie -- so I carved out two afternoons a week for "big girl activities." It's been fun so far, and I know by the end of the summer I'll be glad I did it!

In other news, Cody found his truck and after much deliberation he bought it. I think the fact that it was the perfect shade of "Aggie Maroon" sold him on it. His old truck he is giving to his brother in Lubbock, and Andy will be thrilled to have it. Also, my brother-in-law (Boog, Flo's husband) has decided to enter the ministry, so keep him and my sister in your prayers as he enters seminary. My only prayer request is that God will keep them close to us...they're practically the only family we have, and it's nice to have them less than 2 hours away.

Have a peaceful week!

Bad Blogger

I'm a bad blogger...so sorry! Things have been more hectic than usual due to school wrapping up and little Emerie learning to crawl. My miniscule "free time" has now become "chase after Emerie" time and "figure out what Landrie wants" time.

Kellie-Laine had her awards assembly today and she got awards for almost perfect attendance (missed one day of school, which was last Friday), A/B honor roll, and Coach Page recognized her as being the only WBA student who broke records at the recent track meet. She broke the record in both the 400 meter and 100 meter. She is completely ready for school to be out and is such a scatter brain right now! She's had computer priviliges taken away twice this week for leaving homework at school! We still have VBS, basketball camp, swim lessons, and Frontier Camp to get through before we can really relax!

Landrie's still my little princess...she walks around during the day reminding me that Daddy is her "number one" and I'm her "number two." That's a three year old's way of saying "I'm merely tolerating you until my beloved Daddy gets home." I once asked her when I could be her number one and she replied, "When you are a boy."

Emerie is bear crawling everywhere...I call her my Swifter because she picks up all of my floor dust with either her mouth or her clothes. Landrie crawls into her crib each morning (pictured above) and they play for 30-45 minutes. I have no idea what goes on between them, but as long as Emerie's not crying I let them have sissy time together.

Well, I guess that's the quick update for now. It's almost midnight and I've still got two loads of laundry to get to!

Have a blessed weekend!

Track Meet

So most of you have already read this from my email...sorry to CONTINUE with the bragging. As parents, I guess we always do a little vicarious living through our children, huh? Many of you will remember that last year Kellie-Laine won the 400, too, and I was literally pulling into the parking lot while her race was going! I was very pregnant AND struggling to get a very unhappy toddler out of the car in a hurry. Some other parents started congratulating me on KL's win as I entered the track field, and I was devastated. I cried as I hugged her because I had missed something so important.

This year, I was determined to be on time and present, and it was worth it! My heart was beating so fast as each race began and I couldn't hold the camera still! Winning the 100 was not really that much of a surprise to me because she is fast, but watching her run the 400 was so neat! There was another girl in her heat who really had me worried...we played against her in basketball and she was a phenomenal player. She is the one right behind Kellie-Laine in the picture above. Kellie-Laine kept the lead the entire time, and she made it look so effortless. How do kids have so much energy?!! Cody helped give her some pointers about taking the inside track early on, and I think that helped. She knew exactly where to be and where she needed to be on the track. Cody just called and said Kellie-Laine placed 3rd overall for 4th-8th grade girls. Pretty good--I think that means she got a medal!

Thanks for listening to my shameless bragging!

Angela

Family Photo

Would you believe that this photo taken for our church directory is the only current family photo we have? Don't you just love the 80's blue background?? This is why we're heading to Tim Flanagan this summer to have some quality photos done of our family...it's going to cost me my children's college fund to have them made, but at least it will beat this yucky blue background!!

The funny story behind this photo is that we didn't prepare Landrie very well for what we were doing. She' not one to like new experiences or try different things. So her expression in the photo was honestly the best one we could get of her. "Angry eyebrows" were, once again, on display!! She simply did not want anything to do with the crazy photographer squeaking the duck behind the camera! I guess it's rather symbolic of the family dynamics at the Beeler household....

One other funny story....Cody and I had an "impromptu date" last night on the back porch. Time alone is something we rarely get, so this was quite the treat for us to just hang out and listen to music ALONE and just talk. But our alone-ness kept getting interrupted by a very talkative 5th grader! By the end of the night, she was very proud of her "third wheel" status, and even secretly video taped Cody and me on the porch (once Cody discovered her taping us, he quickly hopped up, grabbed me and started pretending we were in a "make out" session)! Afterwards, She let us watch her video documentary and Cody and I were laughing so hard we about cried! She was making comments about her "weird" parents being on a "disgusting date" to talk about "financial problems". It was hysterical! I can't wait until she's 5 or so years older and show her that tape again....it may be something that surfaces on her engagement dinner video one day!!!

She's shaping up to be such a precious kid...her smile absolutely lights up the room and she's pretty funny -- when she doesn't try to be. Now only if we can fix the moodiness.....

Have a great week!

Angela

Wonderfully Wicked!

(Sorry for the low-rez photos...they were taken on a cell phone.) Cody surprised us with tickets to Wicked a few months ago, so last night Kellie-Laine and I went (with a few friends) to Dallas to see the show. I was blown away! If any of you love Broadway musicals, this is the one to see! Cody and I saw Le Miserables two summers ago, so I was skeptical that Wicked could top that....but it did (in a different kind of way). There were a few parts of the show that I had to explain to Kellie-Laine, but I think overall she got the jist of it. We didn't get home until after 1 am (gasp! on a school night??!!), but it was well worth the heavy bags underneath our eyes the next day.

Anyway, I just had to share this great experience with you....I give it 5 out of 5 stars!!! Go see it!!!

Angela

I've been experimenting with my Photoshop Elements software...there are so many things you can do besides digital scrapbooking! I made these calling cards for myself and the girls last night. What do you think? I've purchased calling cards in the past, and they are really expensive! Some go for as high as $2 a card--and all you do is stick it on birthday gifts!! NO thank you! So, I'll have to let you know what I think when I get them printed through AlphaGraphics. I'm hoping that by using a real high quality card stock, I'll get great results.

As for our weekend...it's been pretty hectic! We had two late nights on Friday and Saturday, and everyone was wiped out on Sunday. Kellie-Laine and Cody went to see Switchfoot in concert at Baylor on Friday and didn't get home until after midnight. On Saturday, our friends, Ken and Kristen Hodges, invited us over for a belated "Welcome to the world, Emerie!" steak dinner. It was fabulous food...and I didn't have to cook (which is a wonderful treat for me!). We didn't get any of the girls in bed until after 10 pm, and we felt the effects of that today! (Landrie spent most of the day with "Angry Eyebrows.")

The other big project I've been working on is organizing and backing up all of my digital photos...it is a laborious task, but it's so rewarding to see everything organized! My system is this: I purchased 4 three ring notebooks. Each notebook contains 25 heavyweight sheet protectors. I burn my photos onto a CD and then I print an index page for that CD. The index page goes into the sheet protector, then the CD goes into a plastic CD case with a sticker backing, which attaches to the outside of the sheet protector. Now, anytime I'm looking for a certain photo, I simply look at the index page and voila! The CD with the photo I want is right there. It's pretty time consuming right now because I haven't backed up any of my photos since I've had my camera. But once I get the old photos finished, this system will work pretty well, I think!

BTW: for those of you who were praying for Valerie McCrea...she did pass away a few days ago. You should read the entry her dad posted about her the day after her death. It's amazing and perfect. . .

Have a great week.

Angela