Halloween Blur

Halloween seemed to fly by this year. Maybe because while trick or treating the kids ran the whole time... or maybe its my lack of sleep due to a horrifying reality... more horrifying than any decoration I saw last night...wait for it, wait for it... teething! Either way the kids had a blast. Sage dressed up as the famous Pippi Longstocking and discovered that many children, and a surprising number of adults have no idea who the amazing Pippi is! Ashton dressed up as Search and Rescue again and was called a rock climber for most of the night. Jace was our little Pilot... I don't think he cared he was a pilot but he was sure cute. Here are a few pics.

Our Vampire, Jack the Pumpkin King and Baby Jack-o-lanterns!

The kids getting ready to go door to door

Jace at the front door wanting to go outside with the other kids

Sage posing for her Pippi Shot

Last but not least: Sage

Sage has been loving her second grade class this year. She is as always on top of her game and is one of the brighter kids in the class. She has really grown to love reading and reads often. Right now she is reading White Fang and the Black Stallion (Can you tell she takes after her Mom!). Sage is maturing so quickly. She is a great help in the house and with her brothers. She will fix breakfast for both herself and Ashton at least twice a week. She also helps spoon feed Jace when I need to do other things. Sage is always trying hard to make new friends and be kind to others. She compliments people constantly and loves to help her teachers. As Sage matures she has found her testimony in Jesus Christ. She bares her testimony monthly and often says things that you would not expect a seven year old to say. She really is an amazing little girl. We love Sage. Here is her video! Again sorry for the poor quality!! I promise I will get something better soon.

Becky's thought of the month: Wrinkles

My Grandpa Wilde has wrinkles and he is the cutest man on earth! Other than my husband.

This past year I have noticed a change in myself and in Curtis. We both seem to be getting older and we are showing it in our appearance. Curtis is getting gray hairs and me... well I noticed my first few wrinkles around my eyes! At first I felt horrified. Could this really be happening to me??? Has the past few years really had this much toll on me to give me wrinkles! I can no longer call myself young! But upon closer inspection I noticed that the wrinkles were smile wrinkles that curved up around the corner of my eyes. All of a sudden having these signs of aging did not seems so bad. Every time I see an old man on a bike slowly peddling down the street I notice his wrinkles, but I don't think ugly. Every time I see an old couple holding hands I notice their wrinkles but I don't think ugly. I have always loved old people. Could it be because when I see an old face I see a lifetime of wisdom, pain, love, and joy that I can relate to. Why are so many of us so concerned about aging to the point we pay lots of money on creams and surgeries to hide our different badges of honor. Ask my husband. Whenever I see a really old man or woman my heart melts and I can not help but think they are beautiful or just simply adorable. So bring on the wrinkles, I will take them with honor. And thank you Curtis and my children for making me smile so much in the past couple of years that I was able to acquire these beautiful marks of life.

Two Roads Diverged... We took neither.

Saturday the kids and I decided to go into the mountains for National Parks Day. We packed out back packs and headed in the Land Cruiser to Silver Lakes. I was particularly excited to see how the cruiser would fair on a semi crappy dirt road. As we drove up to the first lake we were noticing the the trees shouting out to us with their vibrant fall colors. The further we went up the more the Big Tooth Maple seemed to beg for attention with its bright red/pink shades. Bump Bump the cruiser went as we climbed the dirt road to the second lake. The kids were giggling with joy as they were tossed around the back with each pot hole the tires hit. As we arrived we headed to the trail head. Soon after the hike began two paths diverged... we decided to take neither and headed out into the forest in search of the Beaver Dams.

At first the path we chose was not too difficult. An occasional log to climb... maybe a rock. But as we began to narrow in on our search for the beavers, it got mucky. The kids were up to their knees in mud. Our shoes were wet from falling into the many very shallow stream. "What was that mom?!". "Those are little baby fish in two inches of water." We knew we were close. Their was signs of the beaver's work everywhere we looked. But the thistles unsympathetically poked at the kids bare wet legs. The brush was getting thicker and thicker and the children struggled to move 10 feet within 5 minutes. It was there I realized they may just be too young to follow mom on one of her whims in the forest. Back we went after 4 hours of hiking. Tired, hungry, a bit overly emotional, Sage was disappointed that we did not see the dams. "Sweetheart, sometimes as hard as we try we fail at our goals and desires. We may not have found the Dams but wasn't it a fun adventure trying to find them!." Sage replies, "I guess mom... I guess."

News flash on Ashton

Ashton is getting so big! He started preschool this fall and has been loving that! His favorite part about his day at school is the chocolate milk. Ashton has always been all about food. He spends his days playing, trying to write letters, hanging out with Sage, and helping Curtis out in the garage. Its actually rather cute. He has his own gloves and his own water cup that he uses... just like dad's, and he will go out there and do odd jobs for Curtis.

Recently Curtis got Ashton a bike with training wheels. This is the first time he has ever been on a bike. So its a new experience for Ashton but he is anxious to get better. Here is a video of Curtis teaching Ashton how to petal for the first time. Also I have included a little interview I took of Ashton not too long ago. Have fun!

Update on our baby Jace

I shot this video of Jace this morning and thought I would share. It shows him saying his favorite word and doing his favorite thing. Jace is growing so fast and is really turning out to be a wonderful little guy.

Missing Child

Today as I was getting ready to go the the library to return some books, Ashton headed outside to wait. 5-7 minutes later I went out to load Jace in the car followed closely by Sage. I called for Ashton... no response. That darn kid... here I was trying to get to the library before it closed and he decides to run off. I was a bit angry because he knew better. I went over to the neighbors where he usually is, but he was not there. I went to other places that he has been know to play at... no luck. I started to get a bit worried. I looked inside in all his hiding places. No Ashton. Where was he??? I busied myself with another project and figured he would come home soon. Another 20 minutes passed... Where was my little boy???? I went out to search for him again. No luck. At this point he has been missing for 1 hour. I started to panic. Where was my phone. I had to call Curtis to let him know Ashton was missing. I could not even find my phone! The fear and frustration started to build inside of me. I found my phone. "Curtis, Ashton has been missing for an hour! Im so worried. Ok I will check again using the car this time.". I drove down the street... what was that? A see red hair. Its Ashton wandering the neighborhood with a little girl who just turned 4. He has got crackers and looks happy. However I'm not happy. I bark at him to get into the car. I sternly tell him that I have been looking for him for over an hour and that he knew better! I take the crackers away. He starts to cry. We arrive home. I escort him to his room. Do I spank him and yell at him? Absolutely. He scared me to death! Then what? I break down and cry. He sits there and just watches me in silence with a puzzled look on his face as if to say, "why is mom crying? I'm the one that got spanked?". Why am I crying? I love my children. I would absolutely die inside if I lost a child. All my time and energy is pretty much consumed with my three kids. They may be messy, loud, and at times frustrating, but they are my kids. I have given up my hobbies, time, work, and energy for them. Why? Because I love them. I love them like a mother should.