Auntie Erin and HerAmazing Sock Animals

Aunt Erin has lovingly made a different sock animal for each of my girls for their birthday. We have been excitedly anticipating the last installment, and it recently arrived for Savannah's birthday. We have had a great time w/ these wonderful creations. Thank you Erin!

Brooklyn & Pretzel the Lion

Savannah & Jelly the Elephant

Madison & Wiggly the Piggly

Charlotte & Lambie Pie

My Father told me to do it!

Lots of children have imaginary friends. I hate to admit that sometimes I even prefer my children to have imaginary friends, because imaginary friends don't eat anything, they don't take up a real spot in the car, they are always polite, and spontaneous play dates are totally acceptable.

Charlotte's imaginary friends on the other hand cause me a lot of concern. Her most common visitor is named "Father" and he is usually around when she is making poor choices. When we ask Charlotte why she did some particularly mean or crazy thing, she responds, "My Father told me to." When she is rude to her sisters, again it is because her Father told her to do it.

One day after church Charlotte was telling us about her "Mother" (also imaginary I guess) and her "Father." She was telling us how her Father beats up her Mother, and that he kills bad guys. And that he is really mean. Kind of made me wonder, first of all, where these ideas came from. We don't watch violent shows on television, and we all try to be very kind to each other and not "kill bad guys," unless it is totally unavoidable. ;)

I really hope that she wasn't telling her nursery leaders all of this. Can you imagine what they must be thinking about our personal lives if she did?

A few weeks ago we were watching a cartoon series that we all have enjoyed as a family called "Avatar; The Last Air Bender." One of the main characters (Zuko) has a Dad that he always refers to as "Father," and this father happens to be a really bad father figure that does bad things. It all became very clear to me where Charlotte had come up with this imaginary friend of hers. Just goes to show that things that seem purely innocent can be seen as something very different to a three year old.

So, in the future if you hear Charlotte talking about her "Father" and you just can't imagine that Jeff would have done those types of things, then most likely it wasn't him. It must have been her other Father that told her to say those things!

It's a Boy!

Don't fall out of your chair thinking that the Beck's are going to be having, or have had, a boy baby. That doesn't seem to be in the cards for us. (Have I told you how much I love little girls??? I wouldn't change a single one of them in for a boy, ever!).

No, this "boy" that I am talking about happens to be our cat. I took her into the vet to get some vaccinations, and the vet returned to our room to say that Midnight most definitely is a boy. (I sure hope I am not the only anatomy challenged pet owner in the world!)

Jeff has a little competition around here for the alpha dog spot ... or is it alpha cat these days?

Sesame Seeds

We were eating sloppy-joes the other day for dinner, and Savannah (very seriously) said that we should plant the sesame seeds. When asked why we would want to do that, she replied, "That way we can grow our very own Sesame Street."

That girl has such a great sense of humor. And she can keep a straight face when she makes a joke.

A Cat Named Midnight

We would like to introduce you to our new Kitty, Midnight.
As you can see, she is very loved.

I suppose it was inevitable that we would get a cat someday. My two oldest daughters never wanted a baby doll to play with. All they ever wanted was another stuffed kitty. Every birthday, and every Christmas we have added numerous stuffed cats to our collection. Always with the promise that someday we would get a real cat.

"Someday" finally came when a friend of a friend had a "free" kitten. We went by to see her, and we all fell in love. She came home with us right away. She was shy at first and hid under the couch for the first few hours. I went to the pet store to get a few essentials, and $100 later I thought we had everything we could ever need. So much for getting a free cat!

Midnight is fun and playful now. She unfortunately likes to pounce our toes randomly, which kind of hurts. A cat's claws can be pretty sharp. Other than her claws (which have also scratched up some furniture), and her ability to wake up my children before 6:00 am, we totally adore her!

Where has the time gone?

It is hard to believe that we are already starting on the third month of this year. Where has the time gone?

Charlotte celebrated her third birthday last week, and I found myself asking that same question. Where has the time gone? How is it possible that my baby is three years old, and refuses to let me call her a baby. Charlotte is an amazing little girl. She is so full of life, it makes my head spin sometimes. She has more energy, and ideas of what to do, and more words to express herself than I can keep up with.

The other day Grandma Honeybee was watching the girls, and Charlotte asked her "If Jesus made the earth and everything, then why did he make Pinocchio at Disneyland?" She has had lessons in nursery and in Family Home Evening about Jesus making the Earth. To simplify, I'm sure we said "Jesus made everything." In her mind that of course included Disneyland (which I had no idea she was still thinking about), and you might remember that she did NOT enjoy the Pinocchio ride. She is full of questions like this.

I love this little girl so fiercely! I'm looking forward to the upcoming year with my baby. Happy Birthday Charlotte.