Secret Sib Christmas Ideas

A couple years back my little sister Jamilyn put a Christmas idea list on her blog so that anyone trying to buy for her for Christmas or birthday would know what to get for her.  It was helpful because I had drawn her name for Secret Sib.  I don't know who has me for Secret Sib this year, and I hope it isn't presumptuous of me to put it here, but here are a couple of things I am interested in for Christmas:

 

 

 

These are "wax warmers" from Better Homes and Gardens at Walmart.  Kind of like a "Scentsy" (or so I am told!).  My niece got one for her birthday last week and I thought, "what a great idea!"  You put wax in the top part and a light bulb in the bottom warms the wax, like a wick-less candle.  Mmm!

Another idea is a cute font cartridge for the Cricut.  You can get them at JoAnn's and other craft stores; I have a used "Personal Cricut" that I have never even used because the font in my only cartridge is pretty basic.  So a new font would be really nice! 

I also love SURPRISES; this small list is absolutely NOT comprehensive, it's just a starting point for a stumped secret sib.  :)  

 

By the way, if any of you has Jon's name this year, just think "grown-up kid" when you are shopping for him.  Seriously, Toys R Us is a good place to shop for him (Nerf section, RC cars, really cool Transformers, etc.), or Hastor Games/Game Night Games for a fun, highly-rated new board game.  I hope that's helpful if anyone is in need of that kind of help!  Happy Holiday shopping to everyone!

Baby #6, Coming May 2013

So this is the reason I need to back off the running!  I am pregnant, nearly 13 weeks along, and I am due May 21st.  We will know the "flavor" of this baby at our ultrasound on January 3rd.  People who know we have 5 little boys keep saying to me, "are you hoping for a girl this time?"  Honestly, I don't know WHY I would hope for a girl when we are completely outfitted for a boy.  And it would be so strange to have a girl when what we have given our lives to these past 9 years is raising little boys-- that's just what I do!  BUT, I am sure that if this is a girl that it will be wonderful, we will love her and welcome her as we have all our boys.  I will keep you all posted, and hopefully soon I will get around to blogging about our many adventures of this summer, before we ring in a new year!

Running in 2012

Back in May, Jon's older brother and sister invited him to train to run a marathon (26.2 miles) with them.  He had set a goal while he was a missionary to run a marathon one day, but it was one of those goals he thought he'd probably never get around to doing.  But after a summer of training and preparing, he ran the Huntsville Marathon on September 29th and had a strong, successful finish time of 4 hours, 30 minutes, and 15.3 seconds!  He placed 96th over all and felt really, really good afterward.  Way to go, Sweetheart!  I'm so proud of you!

After the finish with our boys:

 

This is what the gorgeous fall day looked like at the race:

Before the run, with Mindi and Mike (don't they look so thrilled to be there?):

With the spirit of fitness in the air at our house, and after reading a blog post by my little sister about running, I too decided to become a "runner" in May this year.  I opted to run a 5K with Jamilyn to jump-start my commitment to running.  So we ran at the Cancer Thrasher 5K back on June 9th:

Before and after pics:

We had so much fun that we decided to go for a 10K, but unfortunately, it costs a lot of money to enter competitive races like that.  So I decided to plan one myself.  We held our first annual Beckstrom family 10K race on freezy-breezy Saturday, October 27th.  I ran with Jon, Jamilyn, my brother Adam, and my dad.  We planned a course around and through our stake boundaries, and you know what?  It was really fun!  I have slowed down a lot, following my body's requests (reason why to follow in a future blog post), but I finished and felt good!  

Here we are before the race:

 

And afterward:

And just because I need to write it down somewhere, I have decided I want to do a half-marathon to celebrate when I know our family is complete (all the babies here) and I would like to shoot for a marathon (yeeks!) in fall 2014.  I hope those goals will help me stay committed to running!  I sure do enjoy it.  Thanks family for coming and running too!  We'll do it again next year.

Mother's Day Butterfly

My mom had her own unique perspectives on afterlife.  As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we know that "when we die, our spirits will enter the spirit world and await the resurrection. At the time of the resurrection, our spirit and body will reunite, and we will be judged and received into a kingdom of glory" (click here for more about that).

But immediately after returning to heaven, she imagined there might be a period appropriated for some "Q & A" about the tough-to-answer questions here on earth.  Specifically, she envisioned a large space, like maybe an auditorium, with different stations all categorized so you could get in line to obtain whatever sort of knowledge you sought.  For instance, if you were amazed by the universe and all its incredible parts, and wanted to know more, you line up at table #1.  At table #2, you might get answers to questions such as "why did God invent mosquitoes?"  I've pictured Mom since she passed away, lining up to wait for answers to her questions, and I've wondered what kinds of answers she's getting!

Another funny thing she thought about life after death is that we would get to join "committees" to watch over, protect, or put ourselves into whatever corner of creation interests us.  I remember her saying once on a rainy day as we looked at a rainbow over the mountains, how fun it would be to join the rainbow committee.  I know she would have loved to be on the puppy committee, or any other cuddly animal committee.  But not long before she died, Mom told a good family friend that she would be joining the butterfly committee very soon.  This thoughtful friend had these tiles made for us the week mom died, so this is displayed in my home:

On Mother's Day morning, my family met up with my dad, Emily and Dave, and Adam and Andrea's family at the cemetery to remember and honor our mom.  It was really a happy visit; the cemetery was beautiful and it was such a pretty day.  The kids were exploring and the adults were visiting when suddenly someone spotted a big, fancy, yellow-and-black butterfly zip past us on the breeze.  It landed on a tree just near Mom's headstone and watched us for a while. 

Someone commented about Mom and the butterfly committee, and I wondered if she had sent this one to be a part of us in her stead that morning.  Either way, I felt like she was close by and that she was happy to see us all getting together, business as usual, no sadness or tears.  That would have pleased her.  I love that kind of sweet, ordinary, ever-day miracle our Heavenly Father uses to show us we are special to Him and He knows what we are going through.  Love you, Mom, and miss you.  Thank you, butterfly, for coming to be with us that morning.  It made for a very special Mother's Day moment.

A Not-So-Broken Heart

Last night during our family scripture study, Jon and I were teaching the boys about what it means to have a "broken heart and a contrite spirit." We were explaining to them our need to willingly submit our lives to God, like how a horse obeys its master after is has been "broken," or how we mind ourselves after we have "broken" a bad habit. I thought the older kids were just starting to get it, and it seemed the younger two weren't paying any attention. But then I noticed Samuel frowning up at a picture of Jesus on our wall, and he said something I didn't understand. I asked him to repeat himself and he looked at me with the same frown and said, "Mom, Jesus not gonna broke me!"
I wanted to laugh rolling on the floor, and at the same time I wanted to cry! Of course he is too young to understand the concept we'd been discussing, but he didn't want the Lord to "break" him, the way he understands breaking! Oh, it was just too funny! I love you, Sam, and the darling things you say!

Enoch's Current Quirks

This morning as I was getting the kids dressed, I had changed Enoch's diaper but I hadn't put his clothes on him yet. He loves to run away from me when he's only half dressed so that I will chase him. Well, he ran away, but I was also dressing the other boys and didn't chase after him. Caleb was getting dressed to go outside, and I finished dressing Sam before looking for Enoch. It took me a while, but this is where and how I found him:
Yes, he had followed Caleb (who was fully dressed and wearing a coat) right outside in nothing but a diaper, despite the 45 degree temperature. He didn't even seem bugged by the cold! He LOVES to be outside right now.

A new skill Encoh has lately acquired is climbing. He especially loves that he can get up onto the kitchen table unassisted, so long as someone has left a chair "untucked." That's where I found him after lunch one day last week; the kids had eaten Ramen noodles and Oreo cookies:
He was pretty pleased with himself, and who can blame him? One step closer to a self-sufficient, independent little guy! And yes, he smiles all the time. He is such a happy kid. Love you, E!

Thor Lives at Our House

In case anyone wondered where he has gone to, the Almighty Thor is alive and well and living at our house!
I don't think Samuel has taken the helmet off for anything more than bedtime, bath time, and church for about five or six weeks now. And he carries around the beat-up foam hammer every where he goes. It is absolutely precious.
(After Halloween, he wore around a Baby Jaguar costume for about a month, then it was Winnie-the-Pooh for a couple of weeks, and then Super Man, until he discovered Thor. This one is definitely the most long-lived. Wonder who he'll be next?)

Pinewood Derby

We have entered a new phase of life now that Hyrum is eight years old: we have a Cub Scout! He loves it; so far he has had several den meetings, a Blue and Gold Banquet, a Winter Day Camp, and most recently, last week's Pinewood Derby. Hyrum got to pick the design for his car and help his dad cut and paint it:

Hryum and Andrew watching the cars race:
His was by no means the fastest car out there, but it didn't do too badly! Each of the boys received an award afterward; Hyrum's won the "Most Aerodynamic Car" award. I think he had a great time and was proud of his little car. Thanks to the wonderful Scout leaders that do so much to help these boys have a great time in Scouts!

Playing Catch-Up...

A lot happens in 3 months. I feel like I ought to play catch-up here; sorry if I miss something great and forget to report it. The boys are darling and growing fast:




We had a fantastic Christmas, probably our best ever. Going to Sacrament Meeting in the middle of the day was a wonderful way to break up the fun and remember why we celebrate Christmas in the first place.

We celebrated baby Enoch's 1st birthday between Christmas and New Year's. His first year has flown by for me.
Getting through the holidays and back to normalcy is always nice for me. I love the "care-free-ness" of time off, but there is so much hustle and bustle, and trying to stay on top of our household during a long break is trying for me. I like the routine of the non-holidays.

Hyrum celebrated his 8th birthday at the end of January with his very 1st "friends" party (we've always just celebrated with family in the past). He invited 8 friends to come to a Beyblade Battle Birthday Bash.

We ended January with Hyrum's baptism:
His cousins, Sadie and Erica, were baptized the same night.
Sorry about the rushed "catch-up." Hopefully I'll be able to keep up better with blogging for the rest of this year!