Beckner Sisters

Are you playing basketball?

2011-01-08T12:39:00.002-05:00

I am playing basketball.

Santa is coming

2010-12-13T15:00:00.002-05:00

Santa Claus is coming to town with his reindeers. Soon he will be walking out the door. (Lilly just watched Santa Claus is Coming to Town.)

Picture

2010-12-13T14:26:00.002-05:00

I closed my eyes because Daddy was taking a picture.

The Real Santa

2010-12-06T19:07:00.002-05:00

That is the real Santa. The Christmas tree is pretty. His coat is pretty. His hat is pretty. I like him because he gives presents to you if you have been good. I want a penguin and a remote control Lightening McQueen.

My picture.

2010-12-06T18:42:00.003-05:00

Belle is sitting on Santa's lap. He is Not the real Santa. Firefighter. 2 cars.

Soccer camp

2010-06-23T22:38:00.001-04:00

Just a few images from soccer camp so far this week. Been tough week with a full schedule of activities. We're running Belle to soccer and Lilly to swimming.

A is for ant

2010-06-19T09:30:00.002-04:00

Belle: I like the ants. I love them. I want to go to school with them in kindergarten. I could hide them under my desk. They are making tunnels. They are living with their family. I been walking around with them yesterday. They have to have their breakfast. We gave them sugar water to eat.

Lilly: They live in their home. They go to farms. I been squeezing water in them. That's all.

Swimming lessons

2010-06-10T20:15:00.002-04:00

Belle: I like my teacher, Whitney. I like jumping in the water and blowing out my nose. Because I just tried it. I learned how to kick back and forth and floating on my back. I like bringing my goggles. I want to bring them every day. I like sitting on the wall and waiting my turn.

Lilly: Sarah’s very good at letting me laying like you’re in bed and laying in the water. Blowing bubbles. She says laying under water and we’re going to do something else. I have to put my hands on top of the board and then she hold on to me tight and I gotta and the board like, I was trying to keep on it but it floated away and Sarah caught it. That’s all.

Happy Birthday to Belle!

2010-06-07T23:23:00.002-04:00

Belle got her wish on her 5th birthday -- to meet Mr. Jack Hanna and his animal friends. She and Lilly petted a Fennec fox tonight. Belle was so enthralled with him she then quizzed Jack Hanna's employee on his eating habits.

The girls enjoyed the show. Both loved the cheetah. Belle also enjoyed the wallaby. If this isn't a ringing endorsement for Jack Hanna, I don't know what is -- Belle said after the show, "Daddy lets go into the forest so I can get some animals and have my own animal show."

Hopping for MDA

2010-04-26T19:42:00.003-04:00

The girls are participating in a Hop-a-Thon for MDA at their preschool next week. All the students will hop for two minutes. The students solicit pledges for each hop they can complete in two minutes. Here's what the girls had to say about raising money, hopping and helping children who can't walk or hop.

Belle: "I'm hopping so people can give me money. I'm gonna give it to somebody else. It's for people who don't hope. They can't hop because they are in a wheelchair."

Belle has already solicited her first pledge from Grandpa: A quarter for each hop. She says she can do 41 hops.

Lilly is less amibitious with her hopping goal, but has set a higher bar for her donations.

Lilly: "I wanna raise money to help. I'm gonna do this in school. I can do 5 hops. I'm gonna get a $1 per hop."

The furniture

2010-03-29T22:08:00.002-04:00

Belle: I like our new furniture. Me and Mommy sit down on it. Me and Mommy play together on the couch. I love that we have new furniture. It's comfy. It's unbelievable.

Lilly: I love it. We always keep it. We always sit on it. I have game. We read on the couch. I love the table.

Recovery is too slow for me

2010-03-17T10:33:00.002-04:00

I can learn about much things when I go to school. I have fun with my friends, but sometimes Landon doesn't let me play with him.
My surgery was pretty bad. The little needle didn't hurt so much. Actually it was just a straw. When the doctor took it out, it was kind of bleeding.
I have to stay at home a few weekends because my throat hurts and that's why Mommy told me I had to stay home for a couple of weeks. So my throat will heal very soon and my words will come back ... my real voice will come back in a couple of weeks. But right now it's not normal. The end.

Editorial notes: When the author refers to the "straw" she is talking about her IV. The author is mistaken that her "normal" voice will return. Her voice is a higher pitch now.

New sleeping quarters

2010-03-07T18:49:00.002-05:00

Belle: We really want to have it. And Mommy and Daddy won't let us. Actually they will. We have to get another mat on the bottom. That's for Grandma.

Lilly: We need a pillow on the bottom.

Belle: We can hardly wait to have it. There are stairs on it. Sometimes we will play with the bunk bed. We'll play family with it. Sometimes, I be the Mommy and Lilly will be the baby. Sometimes Lilly will be the Mommy and I'll be the baby.
I sleep on the top and Lilly sleeps on the bottom because she'll fall off the bed.
We want bunk beds because our beds are too little.

Lilly: We need a big girl bed because I cry in my other bed.

Belle: I can't hardly wait to go to Grand'ma's house and we will play together. Lilly: No Grandpa and Grandma are going to come here.
That we know each other (both). That Gabby doesn't know my Grandma and Grandpa. Gabby can wait to see me again when we were going to Ms. Kyle's on Spring.

Lilly: No at night.

Belle: And that's all for today, right Lilly?
Lilly: Yes. I want another cookie now.

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss

2010-03-07T18:37:00.002-05:00

This is Cat in the Hat, Grandpa. I want you to look at it. I made it in school. Cause we had to make one. Because I had to make one because it was Dr. Seuss's Birthday. For his birthday, I eat cupcakes. And it was so good. I read some books: Cat in the Hat; Green Eggs and Ham; Dr. Seuss on the Loose.

I want them to hug Green Eggs and Ham.

(Because the weather is nice), I have been doing dog poop. (Helped Mommy clean it up) We ride bikes and then we went home.

That's all I want to say.

Ferocious Tiger

2010-03-07T18:27:00.002-05:00

Belle: I like the picture. People will know about it. They will love me drawing that picture by making other pictures that people will like. Loving... just like the others. Others can read about Egypt and God and He can know that we love him. Jesus will call you My Hero.

This is a tiger in Heaven and a tree in Heaven and a sun and grass in Heaven. It makes noises in Heaven.

Pocahontas love the boy. And it's just a movie. You can know why Ellie just has mud everywhere. She can make truth. If I try today... I love Mommy. I would rather care about my dog and Ellie will love me because I love her.

I have been getting in trouble, because I be bad all the time.

I'm happy that it's spring because I love the things we can do. We go to Granny's house yesterday. We rode our bikes and made some new friends. Sometimes we don't get to go anywhere because Mommy and Daddy doesn't like us being bad. And we beat each other back (hit). That's all.

In their own words

2010-02-15T20:36:00.002-05:00

No more ghost writers... Here are Belle and Lilly in their own words talking about the recent snow days.

I like to play in the snow. So I just roll around and I and I laugh and I like to scream at myself so that’s why that makes me happy. So I just play in the snow. In aftercare they don’t let me play in the snow, so we play in the gym. We all have a great family. The end.

I like to play with Ellie in the snowballs. And me and Daddy hit each other with snowballs. And we like to roll around like Sara teaches us. Normally, Lilly doesn’t like to play with me. So I walked away from her and played in the snow.

******

I played in the snow. Liked the snow and I didn’t want to play with Belle. So I played with Daddy and Ellie. Then I went inside with Mommy and drank hot chocolate and sit down and get soup and get hot chocolate. And then we had a hug and then I went back out in the snow and played in the snow. And then I go inside again. The end.

Snow: The Squeakel

2010-02-13T21:34:00.003-05:00

It just keeps on snowing. We're running out of things to do at home. My new Leapster game finally arrived, but I can only play that for so long too. So today, Daddy and Mama took us to see Alvin and the Squeakel. I couldn't wait to see if the girl chipmunks fell in love with Alvin, Theodore and the one in the blue. I can never remember his name.

I've been wanting to see this movie forever. I've been singing the song that the girls sing when they close those things that big people have when they are in school. I can't remember what they are called either. Here's a video of my singing.

Note from Mommy: This was the worst movie, by far, that we've had to endure to entertain the girls. Of course, they loved it!

Cruisin'

2010-01-17T22:31:00.002-05:00

We FINALLY got to ride our bikes today. It stopped raining long enough for us to ride out the street. We did very well, Daddy said. Belle has a hard time stopping using her hand to brake, but she can stop by pushing backwards on her pedals. I showed Daddy how well I can stop too.

Then it started raining and we had to come inside to watch Cloudy with Meatballs. We bought the movie yesterday with our Target giftcard from Christmas. And we've already watched it 3 times!

Rudolph The-Red-Nosed Reindeer

2009-12-23T10:49:00.000-05:00

We're eagerly awaiting Rudolph, his pals and Santa. We can ha

rdly contain our excitement, which unfortunately is getting us into a bit of trouble!

First Snow of Winter 2009

2009-12-20T20:32:00.002-05:00

"Away to the window I flew like a flash, Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash. The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below..."

Oh what joy! We woke to a wintry wonderland Saturday morning. There was a whole bunch of snow out my window! Lilly and I couldn't wait to get outside to play in the snow. We made a snowman (Frost the snowman), threw snowballs and went sledding in the backyard. It was so much fun. Lilly's hands got cold, though, and she wanted to go inside before too long. It was so much fun -- even though we had no electricity. We went to Granny's to spend the night because she had electricity and we could watch movies there.

It was a lot of fun until we came home today and found the house in a big mess. Ellie! Ellie had made a big mess. There were muddy pawprints all over the house. We had to help Mommy clean the house this afternoon. Boy, was it hard. We were happy when we could help wrap Christmas presents and decorate sugar cookies. Only 4 more days until Santa comes. We can't wait!

Christmas Montage

2009-12-20T18:59:00.002-05:00

Happy Turkey Day!

2009-11-24T20:46:00.001-05:00

We're looking forward to eating turkey and visting with family this week.

ALL we want for Christmas

2009-11-04T21:39:00.000-05:00

Toys"R"Us Wish List a gift registry for Birthdays, Holidays & special occasions

We had a great time looking through the new Toys R Us catalogue to find what we want for Christmas. Course, we don't have any trouble finding things we like. Mommy told us we couldn't circle the whole book,nor could we ask for toys that were too old for us (like Bratz dolls or skateboards!) Geesh, she's no fun! But here are a few of the items we'd like Santa to bring us.

Go Jump Off a Bridge

2009-10-17T22:56:00.002-04:00

Each day, I (Belle) wake up and ask Mommy and Daddy where we're going today. Usually the answer is "school." Today, though, the answer was "someplace special." Daddy told us we were taking a trip to the forest to visit a special bridge. Along the trip, Mommy told us about the gord (gourge) with a river under it. I wanted to make sure there weren't any sharks in the river -- which Mommy said was the New River.

I asked, "New riverbend?" I thought it would be cool to be around the riverbend like Pocahontas. We watched Pocahontas on the way to the bridge to get ready for the forest. First, we had to bundle up because it was very cold and windy and rainy. Daddy brought the wagon to pull us in. Mommy brough a blanket to lay on our laps and keep us warm.

I kept asking how much longer until we get to the bridge. We did a lot of walking. Then we finally reached the bridge and watched on a big TV as people jumped off and flew with wings (parachutes). We saw a picture at the restaurant where we ate lunch of someone jumping off the bridge with what I thought looked like a hotdog.

Once we finally reached the bridge, we saw a lot of people jump down to the river with pretty wings. Some were blue and black; others were green and blue. I thought it looked like fun and said okay Let's jump. Daddy said I wouldn't be allowed to jump for a loooong time. Dirty barnacles!!

It was a lot of fun and a fun trip, but I wasn't happy to be cold. Mommy couldn't get us back to the car fast enough for me!

Fishing weekend

2009-10-13T21:45:00.003-04:00

We had a nice trip to the cabin with Grandma and Grandpa. Grandpa took us fishing on Sunday, but Lilly was the only one who got a fish. She catches all the fish. Before we headed off for the weekend, Grandma took us to get our hair cut and to the WV Book Fstival, where Mommy worked. It was a lot of fun.

First Day of Pre-K, Pre-School

2009-09-08T21:16:00.004-04:00

Today, was the first day of The Growing Place Preschool for 2009. Yeah! Mommy said she was very excited for us to return to school. I don't know why! We were excited to see our friends. She took us to our classroom on Friday to make it easier for us to adjust to our new classrooms today.

I'm in Pre-K now -- which is upstairs. It has a big rug for circle time, computers, a rice station, a science station, a small kitchen for learning how to cook (now I can help Mommy with dinner!), a new tent and lots of toys. I was so excited to see my friends Jonah, Ethan and Haleigh today.

Lilly is in my old classroom --downstairs. She's 3 now. Well, almost. Her birthday is coming up and she's having a princess birthday party. She was excited to see her friends: Will, Teagan and Gabby.

Today was a big change for both of us. We have new classsrooms, new teachers and a new all-day schedule. Even though Mommy told us about the new schedule on the way to school today, we didn't like it. I cried because I thought Mommy was coming to get me. Lilly cried too. I also didn't like naptime. I didnt' sleep. But then we made a cool puppet during craft time this afternoon and that was fun. We're excited to go back tomorrow to see what we learn.

Boogie-boarding

2009-08-30T21:52:00.002-04:00

Our summer playdate

2009-08-17T21:46:00.002-04:00

We had a great time eating and playing with our church friends in the Kanawha State Forest on Saturday.

Belle's friend

2009-08-17T21:45:00.001-04:00

This weekend we had a picnic at the Forest. We met some of our friends from church and played on the playground. A man had a camera and a butterfly landed on him. He asked if I wanted to hold him so I said yes. Mommy's friend, Emily, took my picture on her phone.

Bravo Belle

2009-08-10T22:42:00.002-04:00

One Brave Little GIrl

2009-08-10T22:28:00.002-04:00

Lilly jumping into a pool for the first time. Pretty big drop for such a little girl.

Summer Days

2009-08-10T22:10:00.004-04:00

Just a small sampling of some recent photos. We haven't been home much and it's rained a lot this summer so we haven't had many outdoor activities. However, recently we took Ellie for her first walk around the neighborhood. She only barked a couple of times. And no, Aunt Sara, she isn't Shiver. Now Belle has taken to calling her Gigi.

Lilly is doing very well with Ellie. She plays with her, pets her and lets her lick her sometimes. She is happy to have a dog now too. Both girls want Ellie to say goodnight to them in their room before bedtime. Belle wakes up first thing and runs downstairs to see Ellie and tell her good morning. She tells Ellie all the time it's okay and lets her know what's going on. Belle has become quite astute.

Classy music

2009-07-12T21:51:00.002-04:00

Today we played music. I used a stick to move it "back and forth" on a violin. It was fun. Belle also played the drums and the trombone. But it was the recorders we liked because they make a lot of noise.

We had a lot of fun at Summer Fun Day today at the Clay Center. We visited for a little while after Mommy was fnished working. We watched her paint some faces of other kids before she painted mine. I said, "You're doing a good job, Mommy." She made me look like a cat.

Later, we jumped in the balls in the Kids Museum and then went outside to plant a tree. We have to take care of it. Water it. And then we take it back in a little while and plant it in the new city park. We're going to take good care of the plants.

Summer cuts & FestivALL

2009-06-27T21:01:00.003-04:00

We are having a fun-filled summer. Mommy is trying to keep us busy with activities (so we have some structure to our days, she says.) So I'm taking swimming lessons and reading class. Lilly is too young for both. Next month, though, Mommy said we'll both attend VBS.

After swimming on Thursday, Mommy took us to get summer haircuts. Everyone says I look so much older with my hair cut. I like it because it doesn't take as long to dry. Lilly's never takes long to dry!

This is one of the most fun weeks in Charleston -- when we have FestivALL. We've attended a lot of fun things. Last night, we went to a movie (Sound of Music.) We got to bark and yell at the movie and sing along with them . It was fun until Lilly chewed on her glow stick and got yellow all over her. She was glowing! I told her on the way to Live on the Levee that she can never, ever do that again because she would vomit. And maybe she'd vomit on the street and then other peole would see it and vomit. She said, yeah.

Today we went to Mommy's work for the Street Fair. It's a lot of fun. We played in the sand and the water fountain. Got balloons and tattoos. We had birthday cake because the newseum, I mean the Library, had a birthday. It's 100. But we eventually had to leave because Mommy said we were too cranky. She tried to get us to take a nap, but we didn't go to sleep. Then we played in our swimming pool for a little bit... until I dumped the water out and Mommy made us come back inside.

I told her I can't wait to see what we do tomorrow.

First Catch

2009-06-15T21:41:00.004-04:00

We went fishing this weekend and caught our first fish! It was a lot of fun. We had to drive to the cabin Friday night to sleep so we could get up early Saturday. Then we had to drive far, far away to the pond to fish. We rode in Grandpa and Grandma's car and sang, "Country Roads" a lot on the way.

When we arrived at the Derby, there were lots of kids catching fish. Some of them left with the fish in a bag as we came into the fish hatchery. Belle said she wanted to bring one home with her too. But Mommy said no we had to put them back. But we didn't have to put any back becuase we didn't catch any at first. Belle didn't like waiting for the fish to get on her line. I didn't like fishing very well so I just played with Grandpa's tools. Then Mommy, Grandma and me walked to the car to get our chairs. When we were gone Belle caught her first fish, but it didn't stay on her line. She was upset that she couldn't keep it.

After we got something to drink and eat, we tried again. This time, Mommy said we'd try the catch and keep pond. We went to the pond, with lots of people. We put this orange stuff on our hook and caught a fish within the first two minutes of having our line in the water. Mine was bigger than Belle's. Mommy said my fish was almost as big as me! I didn't like it when Belle caught hers. It was red (with blood on it. Mommy said I was traumatized for life! But I took my rod and fished with Grandpa anyway. I caught a fish next and it was real heavy. It was too hard for me to reel in so Grandpa had to help me.

After we got our fish, we had to take them to a table to be fileted. Whatever that means. Belle kept asking them what they were doing. She wanted to take our fish home. She didn't know that Daddy and Grandpa were going to eat him!

Later that night, Daddy found a turtle along the road and brought it to the cabin for us. We played with him and then brought him home to be our pet! We haven't named him yet. Do you have any suggestions?

Swim lessons

2009-06-11T22:09:00.004-04:00

Belle had her first swimming lessons today. Typical Belle, she thinks she's a big girl now and just wanted to jump right into the deep end. I had to tell her to stop and wait for her instructor, Sarah. Then she kept asking me if she could just get in while she was helping the other student. She did very well with her kicking and blowing bubbles. She didn't like floating on her back too well. The photos aren't the best quality because they were taken with my iPhone.

Photo gallery of Belle's birthday

2009-06-07T09:32:00.001-04:00

http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=934747007/a=34153457_34153457/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Happy 4th Birthday Belle!

2009-06-06T20:34:00.004-04:00

Belle celebrated her 4th birthday with her friends from Growing Place and other playmates. They had a wonderful time exploring all the exhibits at the Clay Center, but the highlight was the science demo. Belle was happy to have such a good time with her friends.

Growth in a year

2009-05-27T23:58:00.003-04:00

I've been too busy to post much to the girls blog lately. I hope to do better when work slows down a bit. So today's post is just a little sampling of Belle's artwork from the school year, an early school picture and some facts about her that were gathered in September and May.

All About Me!

My name is: Belle

I am 3 years old (both months)

My hair is brown. (both months)

My eyes are blue (both months)

I am 41 inches tall (Sept.) and 43 1/2 inches tall (May)

My favorite food is Lucky Charms (Sept.) and peas (May)

My favorite color is blue (both months). Which is funny because she's been telling us green lately because that's Lilly's favorite color and she has to compete with her sister.

When I grow up I want to color (Sept.) and play (May).

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-10T23:35:00.003-04:00

We were very excited to give Mommy her presents today. We wanted to give them yesterday when Lilly came home from the hospital. Mommy took her to the ER at 4:30 a.m. becuase she had a bad fever. She threw up in Mommy's hands, again, at the ER. After lots of painful tests (like the RSV nose swap), they still can't tell us what's wrong with "My Lil." She had lots of band-aids on her when she got home. Snoopy ones.

I was nervous about it so Daddy helped me on Mommy's card. I spelled Mommy on the envelope. I told Mommy when she got home that there are three M's in her name! So we each got Mommy a card and a little statue of two girls (Willow Tree). Daddy got her new hot iron for her hair! It's very hot. We can't touch it. We also made her these nice presents at school. It was a nice day -- except I didn't get any presents!

Little Picasso(es)

2009-04-21T22:58:00.001-04:00

Some of their recent artwork sent home from school today. So cute...

Chocolate Lovers

2009-04-20T21:11:00.003-04:00

We had an event-ful weekend in Morgantown.

First, we went to a party for Aunt Sara. There was music and food and dancing and LOTS of people. Everyone was there to help Aunt Sara because her head hurt.

It was a good time. We had fun eating popcorn and chips and dancing onstage with our cousin Kadence.

On Saturday, we went downtown and walked to a lot of stores to get chocolate!! First we had wonderful chocolate cake at Aunt Barbara's store. We went to the library where they had fried wontons fiilled with Nutella. Lilly took a bite of one and decided she didn't like it. She tried to put it back, but Aunt Sara wouldn't let her!

We also bought two books at the Library for just two dimes. Aunt Sara let us give the coins to the lady at the counter. It was a busy day walking around, with lots of good chocolate treats. Daddy said we had too mcuh chocolate because we were all jacked up on sugar. he,he

As a special bonus, we celebrated Grandpa Bott's birthday with cake, cake, cake on Saturday. He was surprised that we had a cake for him. It sure was hard keeping that a secret from him. I was tempted to tell him too many times.

Hungry Caterpillar

2009-04-15T19:32:00.001-04:00

Belle made this in class today. She's very proud of it so we thought we'd share it. She explained the green on the bottom is the grass that he's walking across. They also read The Hungry Caterpillar in class today. She explained that he had a bellyache because he ate too much!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-09T22:20:00.003-04:00

Belle made these in class. Thought we'd share and tell everyone Happy Easter!

Happy Birthday to Mommy!

2009-03-26T21:38:00.004-04:00

Mommy's birthday is tomorrow. But we celebrated early tonight with cake, cake, cake!! It was soooo good that I just had to eat it with my hands. Belle tried to get Mommy to give her a second piece, but she said no! So Belle tried to take Mommy's piece!

Mommy says she's older tomorrow. Belle says she turns 24! Mommy said that sounds good to her! We asked her what kind of party she was going to have. Belle told her we wanted her to have a My Little Pony party, but she says big girls have big girls parties. Whatever that means!

Rough & Rowdy at Ritter

2009-03-07T23:03:00.003-05:00

It was sunny out today. So Daddy and Mommy took us to the park. It was a looong way away. So long that I feel asleep in the car. Belle didn't like the long car ride and kept asking where in the world is the park. Daddy said she's just like Mommy -- she can't sit still for more than 5 minutes. I liked looking out my window, though.

Once we got to Ritter Park there were a lot of families there! I guess we weren't the only ones who wanted to get out on this beach day. Belle and I kept telling Mommy we wanted to go to the beach. Belle said it's a nice sunny beach day. We sort of went to the beach. We got to dig in the sand at the park. Belle told Daddy we needed to get beach pants though for that.

We also kicked a big beach ball around. That was fun. But with the sand and the ball we sure were missing the beach. We decided not to feed the ducks and instead played in the grass and a little on the playground. Belle wouldn't stop climbing and the doctor told her she couldn't climb so we had to just play in the grass.

After our play time, Daddy took us to his favorite Huntington spot -- Frosttop. It has a big cup of coffee spinning on top of it. We got to drink soda. It was yummy. So were the fries. Belle liked her hamburger better. All in all it was a fun day. I think they were trying to make us tired so we'd sleep past 6 a.m. Mommy says this should be fun week with something about the time jumping forward -- whatever that means.

we like to move it

2009-03-03T23:13:00.003-05:00

We are quite fond of the Madagascar movies. We like to shake our booties like our friends Alex the Lion, Gloria the Hippo, Melvin the Giraffe and Marty the Zebra.

Poppa and new roomies

2009-02-25T22:26:00.004-05:00

It's been a busy week. We spent five days in Morgantown visiting with family. Aunt Salah (read Sara) had a really bad headache so we had to go visit her in the hospital. But we also got to visit with other family -- like cousins Jenny and MoMo; Aunts Barb and Janie; G. Grandpa Bott, Mamaw, Grandpa and Grandma. We even went to Aunt DeeDee's house for a couple hours on two days. It was fun. She had a whole bunch of people and Little pet Shop toys to play with. We also made a craft -- a snowman.

Then we also met some new relatives, like Uncle Bill and cousin Lydia, who visited with Aunt Doris from Ohio. It was a busy week.

So we're happy to be home and trying to get back to our schedule. We were excited to return to school on Tuesday. But we're having trouble getting to sleep at night. So Mommy isn't getting much rest either. But because we slept in a bed together at Grandpa and Grandma's house, Mommy and Daddy moved Lilly into my room. So now we're sharing a room. It just means we have more trouble going to bed at night! Crazy Mommy and Daddy. What were they thinking?

We're still praying for God to heal Aunt Sara and hope you are too!

No Bones About It

2009-02-17T21:55:00.004-05:00

Today, I visited Dr. Legg. He's a bone doctor. I told him that I jumped off a bridge and fell down and broke my arm! Mommy frowned and told him it was a bridge on the playground set at Coonskin.

He took my bandage off and I thought I was going to have my arm free again. Boy was I wrong. Now I'm in a hard bandage -- all the way past my elbow. I chose green for the color. I did have a hard time deciding though. I told Mommy, I think I'll change my mind and get blue. I think I'll change my mind and get yellow. Maybe I'll have blue and green. Mommy told me I had to pick only one and stick with it. I told her I'd stick with green.

So now my arm is a green mummy arm! he,he

Dr. Legg gave me lots of bad news. He told me no gymnastics, no running, no climbing. In fact, he told Mommy my feet have to stay on the ground! Can you believe that? And, I have to wear this thing for 4 weeks! Mommy says that's a really long time. Then he'll look at my arm and see how it's healing. I'll have to have another picture taken of it. Then I have to wear another cast for 4 more weeks! Geesh. Mommy said maybe next time I can choose blue, though.

All, I know is it's going to be a long spring!

Freaky Friday, Freaky February

2009-02-13T13:23:00.002-05:00

So I'm really going off on my ranting now... February is ABSOLUTELY the worst month in our lives. The girls always seem to have accidents, illnesses, and there is usually other drama during this month.

Don't believe me?

Last February, we discovered Lilly's heart murmur; Belle broke her right wrist and they had colds.

in Feburary 2007, Lilly was highly sick (with another virus) when she was supposed to go for her well-baby visit and I'm pretty sure that's when Belle had to have her second round of testing for her kidney reflux.

This February: pink eye, stys, colds and now a broken arm! Yes, that's right. A broken arm.

Belle fell from a "bridge" on the playground set at Coonskin yesterday. We took her to Urgent Care last night to have her checked out. She told us her should hurt. So the doctor checked her shoulder. It was fine. We went home, agreeing X-rays were NOT necessary.

She slept fitfully (we gave her Motrin last night). Belle woke at 6 a.m. this morning, coming to me crying about her arm. This is a girl who loves to sleep in in the morning (like her Mommy) and despite what some belive is not prone to drama when it comes to her injuries.

She continued to not put weight on that arm and so Mommy instincts kicked in. I decided we would return to the MedExpress this morning to have an X-ray and make sure she was okay. She complained more of her wrist hurting this morning.

After two hours and four X-rays, the doc comes to me (same one from last night) and says "You have one tough kid there. You're never going to believe it when you see this X-ray."

She had broken both of the bones in her left forearm. They aren't hairline fractures. They are breaks! She has a temporary cast until the swelling goes down. She'll get a full cast when we see the orthopedic doctor (probably on Monday).

If you pray... say some for good health for our family!!

Prediculous!

2009-02-10T21:02:00.003-05:00

"That's prediculous!"

Yes that word came out of my nearly 4-year-old daughter's mouth! Of course, she meant ridiculous, which comes out of Mommy's mouth quite a bit. It's pretty darn close.

This she says to me today as we're driving by the Clay Center (museum -- or place where the dinosaurs are, as she lovingly refers to it) and asks if we can go there today. When I explain we can't because she has school and I have to work. She then asks why I have to work. I say to earn money. She asks, "For our car?"

"Yes that, and our house, our clothes, our food..." and then we have her response: "That's prediculous!" Future socialist on our hands? Daddy fears not I'm sure!

What is ridiculous is the amount of "small things" that we've had in our lives lately. The girls both caught the respiratory illness going around, then gave it me, then they contracted pink eye. Or at least Belle did. Hers cleared up quite quickly with drops (that we had to pay $60 for).

Lilly, however, is suffering from what we believe is chalazin (sp?) -- stys on the inside of the eyelid. We visit the eye doc tomorrow. I fear a surgery is in her future, like the one Belle had two years ago.

Course, the school is concerned that she has what appears to be a black eye and tells the sitter today to mention it to her Mommy. So don't be surprised when my next post is written after CPS comes calling!

The girls have certainly been a handful, but they've also been quite a treat! Very amusing.

Belle says to her Aunt Sara on Saturday (during our Motown visit), "Sara, you're not being sensible." Where she learns this stuff, I have no idea.

Ooh yeah, and the other "small thing" to hit the family this week: Belle had her first major dental visit. Unfortunately she's inherited the bad English teeth (from the Botts) as well. She had her first filling today. Daddy says she did very well. She was such a big girl. No crying. They did give her laughing gas for the procedure, which she thought was very cool. And she was apparently an amusing stoned 3-and-1/2-year-old. She held a ball and said she just loved it while gazing at it lovingly. She then walked into the waiting room and announced to the other patients that she was a big girl!

Quite a week in the lives of the Becker Sisters -- and it's only Tuesday!

Snow Day

2009-01-27T20:45:00.002-05:00

It's snowing outside. We didn't have school today. But Mommy and Daddy went to work, so we went to Kyle's house. I was upset that Mommy wouldn't stay home and play with us! She told me if I was a good girl at Kyle's today, we'd go outside and play in the snow.

When we came home, Kaitlyn had made a big snowman in her front yard. I told Mommy I wanted to make one too. So we put on our snow gear and went outside. But we couldn't make snowballs because there was a sheet of ice on top of the snow! We tried to make a little snowman, but it just feel apart. So we just threw snowballs at each other. It was fun!

I'm doing my own exercises

2009-01-26T21:16:00.004-05:00

Mommy has been getting into shape lately. She goes to Zumba, Zumba, Zumba. Tonight, I went to my own exercise class -- gymanstics!

I was so excited to start my class tonight. Yesterday, Mommy took us to Target to my uniform for class. Lilly got one too -- even though she's too little to take the class yet. She just wants to be like me!

Maverick Gymanstics was so exciting. There were a lot of big kids doing flips and all kinds of neat things in the gym. There were about 5 little girls in my class with me and we took turns doing our exercises.

First, we warmed up on the floor. Then we tried to do cartwheels. Then we jumped on this big trampoline. That was fun. And then we walked on a small board called a balance beam. Then we hung from a bar and then did a flip on it. That was really fun too. Jumping was my favorite!

Lilly, Granny, Daddy and Mommy watched me from the gallery. They were so proud of me when I finished. I can't wait for next week.

2009-01-20T22:00:00.003-05:00

We're happy to pretend to be ballerinas with our new WVU tutu! We're staying busy with school and coloring in the evenings. Every night we color before we go to bed. It's our favorite pasttime.
In school, I (Lillly) am learning nursery rhymes. I learned today that Jack and Jill bumped their head and broke their crown.

Belle made me cry at school today because she took the ball from me in the gym. I've been crying quite a bit lately. Mostly, I just miss Mommy.

Little artists

2009-01-10T20:59:00.004-05:00

Today, we tried our "magical" paint set from Grandpa and Grandma. We love it! It's so cool how the paintbrush changes to the color of the paint when you hold it above the jar. We're getting a lot of use out of all our art supplies -- from our Magna Doodles to our crayons -- every day. Pretty much, all we want to do is paint the world a pretty color! I even gave up an opportunity to play with Spike the other night so I could color!

Color in these dreary times

2009-01-07T21:46:00.009-05:00

Belle's artwork is a colorful treat in these dreary, cold days. She's so proud of all of her drawings/paintings. We are enjoying all of their art supplies they received for Christmas. Every night, we either color, paint or trace letters. It's the first activity they want to do in the morning and the last thing on their minds at night.

Belle is doing very well tracing her letters and learning how to spell words. We're working on the word C-A-T.

Lilly is doing very well going potty more and more every day, with fewer and fewer accidents.

We're so proud of both of our big girls.

They are thrilled to be back in school and their normal routine. Belle's been so excited about school she's having a hard time sleeping at night.

There are so many wonderful changes taking place in our lives this year. The girls are learning something new every day. Daddy and I are starting new jobs this year. Daddy goes to work for Union Mission in two weeks. I will go to work for the Kanawha County Public Library at the end of February. Exciting opportunities (and a some big challenges) await us in 2009. We appreciate your prayers and support as we make these transitions.

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T15:35:00.003-05:00

We're praying for good health and happiness in 2009. We suffered a lot of illnesses, broken bones and injuries in 2008. But our overall health is good, according to our recent visit with Dr. Rubin.

I (Belle) am now 40 3/4 inches tall and weigh 37 pounds.

Lilly is 36 inches tall and weighs 28 pounds. Mommy is waiting for her to break the 30-pound mark so she can move up to a booster seat!

We hope you had a wonderful holiday season and wish you health and happiness in the New Year.

The arrival of Spikey, Spikey Dinosaur

2008-12-26T10:03:00.003-05:00

PIP -- Peeking in Progress

2008-12-18T20:58:00.004-05:00

Christmas program highlights!

2008-12-17T10:45:00.000-05:00

Reindeer invasion

2008-12-15T20:57:00.003-05:00

The girls created these last week. I just love these art pieces with their hands. Small treasures that I'll cherish forever.

Breakfast with Santa

2008-12-15T08:11:00.002-05:00

Santa Claus is Coming...

2008-11-24T13:49:00.000-05:00

Two days, two accidents

2008-11-21T21:20:00.004-05:00

So the girls are trying to give make me gray or give me a heart attack -- maybe both. This has been a rough week for the Beckner sisters. Lilly received her first injury when she took a rough tumble on Thursday. What was she doing? Jumping on a bed? No. Just walking on the sidewalk with her sitter, Kyle, and Belle on their way to pick up her daughter, Gabby. Lilly fell on her left shoulder on the sidewalk. She was fine until later in the afternoon, following her nap, she started complaining that her neck hurt. So I retrieved them from Kyle's. Dropped Belle off to Daddy (at his birthday outing) and took Lilly on to the ER at Women's and Children's, where we spent 2 hours. After talking to the doc (and assuring her that I had nothing to do with this accident!), they started the X-rays with the collar bone and discovered it was broken. She has to wear a "special backpack" for two weeks. We see an orthopedic doc on Monday for her injury.

I called Stacey (the sitter on Fridays) to tell her about Lilly's injury and explain you have to pick her up from the bottom when lifting her. She calls me two hours later and says, "You're going to kill me. But Belle jumped off the couch and hit her chin on the coffee table and is going to need stitches." I had just got to work from a meeting. I dropped everything to rush to Scott Depot and pick up both girls, where I learned it wasn't her chin, but her left eye (outer corner). I made a joke to calm Belle down, who is now hysterical again because I'm there. I asked if she was being the monkey on a bed who fell off and bumped his head, but Stacey explained that she just flopped off the counch from laying down and hit the coffee table.

At first, the gash didn't look so bad, but it just kept bleeding the 4 hours we waited in the emergency room at CAMC Teays Valley Hospital. The small band-aid was basically holding it together. It required four stitches. We were surprised that only Andrew and another man had to hold her still. She was actually very brave and very good for such a big injury. She cried of course and begged us to help her (breaking my heart, of course.) Mommy cried in the corner at this point. Doc told me I couldn't be near her if I was going to be upset as it would only upset her more. Belle told us it burned when they put the numbing medicine in, but then was pretty good for the stitches. Afterward and actually while we waited, she was the sweetest little girl and just colored and talked to people around us. She's quite the social butterfly, much like her Mommy. It's been an eventful, tiring and stressful two days. But I guess we were due... we haven't had any injuries or illnesses since Belle's last daredevil injury in May -- her left ear cut open. I just pray that the kid won't have all kinds of scars on her face before she's a teen-ager.

Note: We'll get a picture of Lilly's "special backpack" tomorrow and post it.

Best friends, first snow and new dos

2008-11-18T22:36:00.003-05:00

So rather than the girls writing what's been going on... I thought I (Mommy) would share some funny stories with you.

Best friends.

Let's start with Belle's infatuation with bugs (or proper term -- insects.) The nasty, stinky brown ladybugs have started to infest our house. They're dying quickly (which makes me quite happy), but Belle discovers their dried carcasses and then brings them to us. "Look, Mommy I found a ladybug. Aaw. He's my best friend." Now I'm not so happy to see this new "friend" and tell her we have to throw him away. She gets quite upset. The first time this happened. Andrew convinced her to set him free and we let him go through a small hole in the screen in the bathroom window. Tonight, however, I wasted no time opening her hand and dumping the dead bug in the trash and said he could live there. She bawled and said she didn't want her frined to live in the trash. She wanted him to live in her bed. Ugh. Daddy convinced her that he would crawl out of the trash and live in the bathroom.

First snow.

So it starts snowing last night. Belle is quite excited and asks if they can go outside to play in the snow. I say, no. It's too dark and cold. She says we can go later when the sun comes up. I say no we have to go to school. This morning she says now we can play in the snow? I say, No we have to get ready for school. They're running around excited about the first snow of the season. Throwing open the blinds in the windows and upsetting me. I tell them to go downstairs to the dining room so they can have breakfast, where they can see the snow better from the door to the deck. Next thing, I know I hear giggling and stomping around as I'm putting on my make-up. I yell down to Andrew, who is checking school closings, that the girls are on the porch. They had run around on the deck in their socks. They had a ball. We were a bit upset. Then Belle tells Daddy has he's drying off her feet that there are ants on her feet. He tries to explain the science behind the prickling sensation, but she insists there are ants on her feet.

New do.

Belle's hair was quite long and I liked it. But a) she hates to have us mess with her hair and b) she won't stop twirling it. So she got her first real "do " tonight. She was very good. Sat quite still while the man cut her hair. Of course, before she entered his chair she had to model her outfit and say, "See my beautiful shirt and pants." Too funny.

Lilly has her moments too.

So I can't leave without telling a story on Lilly as well. She's entering the terrible twos in her own way, of course, and as any last born would -- with a mischievous grin. No, she's not going to be full of rage, but rather full of mischief. She has her moments of anger, but again, it's usually too funny and she starts giggling. Lilly disobeys your command and then giggles, grins and generally tries to "charm" her way out of it. When I tell her that I don't think she's funny and she's going to get into trouble, she insists, "Yes, I'm funny.

Well, last week Andrew had them when I had an evening work event. So he had Belle in the tub and a naked Lilly on the potty. She jumped up from the potty and ran her naked butt into her bedroom, where she climbed into bed, squatted and peed. She then rann into the bathroom and told Andrew, I pee-peed on the bed (with a grin, of course.) And then said, I pee-peed with my butt as she smacked her butt cheek. Andrew of course was upsetat the time, but later laughed when recounting the event for me.

The leaves are changing

2008-11-05T21:37:00.002-05:00

Belle created this in school today.

She's quite proud of it, so we thought we'd share it with you.

Art is definitely her favorite "subject"/activity.

Happy Halloween

2008-10-30T22:13:00.002-04:00

Trunk or Treat

2008-10-26T20:49:00.002-04:00

We had a nice visit with Grandma and Grandpa this weekend. Mommy was in a friend's wedding and Daddy joined her. So we went to the Lady and the Tramp restaurant and hung out with Grandma and Grandpa.

Today, we invited them to Trunk or Treat at Emmanuel Baptist Church, where we've been attending the last few weeks. It was a lot of fun. We played some games and won prizes; received lots of candy and went down the inflatable slide several times.

This was the second time this week that we've been trick or treating. Mommy dressed us up and took us to Capitol Market again this year. This year, we are dressed as The Grouchy Ladybug -- like one of our favorite books by Eric Carte. But I told Mommy on Thursday I didn't want to be a grouchy lady bug; I want to be happy ladybug.

Fall frolicking

2008-10-08T22:47:00.002-04:00

We just love fall. All the decorations. All the pumpkins. And the monsters! The scawwy monsters! We see monsters everywhere. And we like defeating them with our special monster spray. Lilly spots them and I spray them. I protect my little sister.

When we drive around town, I like to point out to Mommy who's celebrating Halloween too. I love to see all the Halloween decorations all around town.

And this past weekend, we helped Grandma and Grandpa pick out pumpkins for their house. We just love visiting Capitol Market and seeing all the goods.

I two!

2008-10-05T16:12:00.004-04:00

We had such an exciting weekend --with lots of visitors. Not only did we have the usual visitors -- Grandpa and Grandma, Papaw and Granny, Aunt KaKa and Jesse -- but we had some unusual characters visit us. Gingy, Shrek, Donkey and Dragon all came to help me celebrate at my Shrek Free (Three) Party. We even had more visitors from Morgantown, our cousin Kadence and her Mommy and Daddy, Jamie and Kraig brought Mamaw to see us.

It was so much fun. I enjoyed visiting with all our family and friends. And everyone gave me nice things for my birthday, including books, clothes, a new Hermie video, Raggedy Ann and Andy and a princess hat. I told Grandma I was princess that day.

Now I can tell everyone that, "I two" and mean it! Thank you for coming to my Shrek Free party!

First Day of School

2008-09-09T10:17:00.003-04:00

We started our first day of school today. I was very excited to go. I told Mommy on the way into town, "Finally, we are going back to school." Lilly was excited to have a new backpack and come to school too. Mommy told her no crying, but she didn't listen. She started crying when she realized that Mommy was saying goodbye to us at the door. I told her she'll have fun with Miss Velva. I have Miss Lisa as a teacher again this year. We'll tell you about our day later tonight.

On the hunt

2008-09-05T07:38:00.002-04:00

We've had so many adventures this week. One such adventure was taking a walk along the beach at dusk so we could search for fiddler crabs. I only needed Grandpa to show me once how to hunt for and catch them. Then I quickly spotted one on my own (without a flashlight) and caught it. It was great fun.

Sadly, our week at the beach is coming to an end. Just in time to miss Hurricane Hanna. We will miss it and are already looking forward to our trip next year.

One big sandbox!

2008-09-02T23:58:00.003-04:00

We visited one big sand box tonight. A place called Jockey's Ridge. It was fun to climb the big hills of sand and run down them. We rolled around and played a lot in them. Grandpa said we have now become a part of a 26-year tradition since he and Grandma brought Mommy and Sara here when they were small. We sure are having fun this week playing with Grandma, Grandpa and Sara, but I'm really tired of all the photos they are trying to take of me (Lilly.) Grandpa says I'm like a movie star and he's the paparazzi when I come running and tell him, "No, no, no. No more picutres."

Fun with sand

2008-09-02T08:18:00.003-04:00

The beach is so much fun. There is endless play with the sand. I just like digging with my new orange shovel. But yesterday, Grandpa and Mommy showed me how you can have even more fun with sand by building a sand castle. I helped find the seashells to decorate it. Course, Lilly and I had more fun tearing it down!

Later, Mommy and Grandpa buried my feet in the sand and then I tried to pull them out. That was a cool trick. Lilly was tuckered out at this point and just slept with Grandma while we continued to play in the sand. Aunt Sara also flew a kite while we were at the beach yesterday. It was a perfect day for that because it was really windy. We weren't allowed to swim in the ocean yesterday because the waves were so big. I can't wait to see what adventures we'll have today. I just want to go to the beach, beach, beach as soon as I wake up in the morning. But we have to wait for all the grown-ups to wake up before we can go.

It's not the beach; it's the ocean

2008-09-01T09:17:00.002-04:00

I don't know why everyone keeps calling this place the beach. It's the ocean! The big ocean. I just love playing in the waves, which was a surprise to Mommy and Daddy since I didn't enjoy the wave pool too much this summer.

I've been a big help to Grandpa. I helped him pull the cart with all of our beach gear. Then we played in the sun, sand and surf. It's hard work and I quickly got tired. Luckily, Grandpa let me rest on his shoulder.

Later we want to Barefoot Bernie's to have dinner for Sara's birthday. Daddy showed Belle a new trick, which she demonstrated for us.

We're at the beach, beach, beach

2008-08-31T10:31:00.002-04:00

After a long tortuous trip, we finally have arrived at the beach, beach, beach! We're happy to be in Nags Head, N.C., and finally out of the car. Our house is pretty cool. We have bunk beds and fish in our room. We have a swimming pool (Jacuzzi) at our house. We can see the ocean from our porch and hear the waves. We played in the sand a little when we arrived. Today, we're going to stay at the beach all day. We're so excited to get to the beach that we woke up at 6 a.m. today. But Grandma laid down with us and we took a long nap this morning so that everyone else could sleep in some.

Later today we're having cake for Aunt Sara's birthday. She's an old woman now! (30)

(We're also happy that WVU won their first football game of the season. Go Mountaineers!)

Digging for Dinosaurs

2008-08-16T19:56:00.002-04:00

Today was Dino Day at the Clay Center. Mommy took us to look for dinosaurs. We had a great time. What a dinosaur adventure! We did our usual activities when we visited the museum -- played in the balls; on the slide; and with the musical instruments in the kids corner. Today, we also colored pictures of dinosaurs, looked at fossils and just like real paleotologists, we used brushes to discover dinosaur bones! And for a souvenir we each had a toy dinosaur to bring home with us! It was a great adventure.

Later, Mommy painted her toenails while Lilly slept. I told her I wanted to paint to and wanted to be like her! So she just had to paint my nails! But only the ones on my big toes.

Sweet & Sour

2008-08-11T20:25:00.004-04:00

The terrible twos are arriving early with Lilly.

We didn't think it possible, but sweet little lilly is becoming a bit of a pill. And leaving a sour taste in our mouths.

Of course, you know she's the girly girl so she's all about dressing up in the heels (above photo.) Doesn't she look ready to walk the catwalk? And then she breaths fire at us. Like at dinner tonight, when she refused to eat anything and kept telling us no and then growled at us. We laughed (under our mouths) and then, yes, I tried to record it. But for some reason I can't get the video to load. So you'll just have to take my word for it. It was ugly and yet funny at the same time.

A melody, by belle

2008-08-05T23:13:00.003-04:00

Belle loves to sing.

Lately she makes up her own tune and own words. Often, she combines several songs she knows to create her own medley. On our way to Chuck E. Cheese, she sang that Jesus told her to poop on the word of God. (medley of Jesus loves me and B-I-B-L-E) She was receiving a reward for finally getting potty trained.

Hallelujah!

2008-08-05T23:01:00.004-04:00

We can hardly believe it, but the time has finally come! Belle is now fully potty-trained. We still have the occasional accident, but no more diapers! I'm so overcome with joy I could cry. In celebration of her going to the potty for two weeks, we finally took her to visit the big guy -- Chuck E. Cheese. Our cousin, Jenny, was in visiting us that weekend and so Jenny experienced the wonder (and craziness) that is Chuck E. Cheese.

We were glad to have Jenny visit us and watch the girls for us two days. Belle cried tonight and said, "I miss the guys, Mommy!" The "guys" are Aunt Barbara, Jenny and Mo. Barb and Mo came to pick up Jenny yesterday and we all had a nice visit to the mall. Belle is so found of them that she asked if they were coming for dinner tonight too!

Fun all around

2008-07-28T21:52:00.002-04:00

We've been having such good times lately. We really enjoy going to Miss Stacey's house now. No more tears! (which thrills Mommy and Daddy)

Last week, we visited with Grandma and Grandpa and did all kinds of fun things. We swam, rode the roller coaster, played at the park and visited with friends and family.

We had a neat time at Miss Stacey's house today. Lilly enjoyed a ride with Blake in his fire rescue jeep and I played with a big bouncy ball.

We'll share some photos with you from Grandpa and Grandma's house soon.

Kids Day & Reunion

2008-07-20T22:16:00.002-04:00

We had a full weekend of activies in Morgantown.

On Saturday, we went downtown to celebrate Kids Day. We enjoyed playing in sandboxes; eating snow cones and popcorn; painting on a wall and playing with Grandma in a huge sprinkler provided by the local fire truck. Later, we visited with family at Mamaw's house and ate pizza for dinner. What fun.

Today, we visited with more family at a picnic where there was a pool. We played with our cousin, Kadence, and got lots of toys in the reunion auction.

My favorite part of the weekend was the pool. It had waves. Lilly told us her favorite part of the weekend was Grandma.

We were tired after our exciting weekend, but are definitel looking forward to visiting Grandma and Grandpa later this week.

Summer is time for insects

2008-07-18T15:03:00.002-04:00

I just love bugs.

I can't wait to use my Booming Bugs Observation Deck. I can't wait to hear the bugs inside and look at them closely through the magnifying glass.

I made this drawing of insect fingerprints at Miss Stacey's last week.

-Belle

Full weekend

2008-07-13T23:02:00.002-04:00

Whew! We're exhausted after a weekend full of activities. We enjoyed visiting with friends of the Kanawha Valley Emmaus Community at the annual picnic Saturday and then Mommy and Daddy took us to the pool again. (Friday we visited the wave pool in Hurricane for a couple of hours.) I'm doing much better in the swimming pools this year; although I still have trouble keeping my mouth closed.

Today, after attending Sunday School and morning worship at Bancroft Church of God, we visited with Granny, Pawpaw and GG Bunny. We had a nice lunch before I had my first play date with my new friend, Charlotte. (Charlotte's grandma, Carol, works with Mommy.) We visited the Clay Center for the Summer Fun Day, but it was unbelievably crowded and noisy. And we all know how well I do with loud noises! So after a short time of playing there, we all traveled to Ellen's Ice Cream on Capitol Street for some homemade ice cream. Charlotte and I had a nice time enjoying our treat, reading a book and playing with a small play kitchen. I sure enjoyed playing with my new friend and look forward to seeing her again soon.

Dinosaurs & Dora

2008-07-05T21:56:00.005-04:00

We've had an exciting day today. First, Daddy & Mommy took us to the museum downtown so we could see the new Dinosaurs Alive! movie playing in the IMAX theater. We didn't sit through the whole movie, though, because Belle was scared every time one of the dinosaurs was big and looked like it would eat us.

After the movie, we visited the exploration stations to investigate fossils for ourselves and act out scenes from the movie of dinosaurs eating one another.

Then we came home for lunch and naps. We had to get some rest so we could attend our friend Savannah's birthday party tonight. She had a special guest join her for her birthday -- Dora! Even Belle couldn't resist a nap so we could see Dora. (the party was this evening and meant we'd be home past our bedtime.) It was so exciting to see Dora. Belle couldn't get enough of her and kept trying to take Map out of Backpack. Mommy had to tell her to wait her turn. After all, she was there for the birthday girl, Savannah. Belle is having a bit of trouble these days understanding that everyone's birthday isn't her birthdy and she doesn't get presents at everyone's party. Still, she was pretty good and we enjoyed visiting with our friends from Bancroft.

Happy Fourth!

2008-07-03T21:27:00.004-04:00

Today, I learned about the American flag while we stayed with our new childcare provider -- Stacey. We reviewed the colors of the flag and learned there are many stars on our flag. I started to learn something called the Pledge of Allegiance. Mommy thought that was so neat so we said it together this evening. In celebration of Fourth of July, I made an American flag with my hand.

On our way home today, I (Belle) spotted several flags and pointed them out to Mommy & Daddy.

Exploring in our backyard

2008-06-25T23:06:00.002-04:00

This evening we played and explored in the backyard with Daddy. Here are some of our finer moments caught on film.

Artistic weekend

2008-06-22T19:57:00.003-04:00

In honor of FestivALL this weekend, we created our own work of art. After we enjoyed seeing pieces of artwork created by West Virginia State University students downtown on Saturday, we decided to paint some of our own on Sunday. We just loved all the activities of FestivALL this weekend. On Saturday, we visited the Smoke on the Water Chili Cookoff. Sunday we enjoyed the Ice Cream Social at Stonewall (in Mommy & Daddy's old stomping ground -- West Side) for a 1/2 hour before the rains came. So Mommy helped us top off our weekend of art by painting ceramic magnets and creating a suncatcher. There are many more activities this week in Charleston for FestivALL. To see a complete and fun schedule, visit http://media.cnpapers.com/festivall/ Mommy's friend, M.K., is one of the designers of this fun piece.

Belle's birthday highlights

2008-06-17T21:35:00.002-04:00

Happy 3rd Birthday, Belle!

2008-06-07T21:47:00.003-04:00

Belle celebrated her third birthday today, with family & friends and some unexpected guests. Typical Belle, not afraid, just picked up our unexpected guest (locust on her arm!) and wanted to share his visit with them all. Lilly & Mommy were happy to see him from a distance.

Lilly helped her celebrate her day with cake and fun in the water.

In small spaces

2008-06-04T21:45:00.003-04:00

It's been a tough a few days in the Beckner house. Mommy is really busy with work this week ( an event on Thursday.) Daddy has been busy too. We've also had a lot of excitement with a visit from Granddaddy (who is in from Florida) and our extended family. We've had fun playing with Jesse, Ka-Ka, Aunt Dodie, Jonah, Aunt Grace and their dog, Hendrix. It's been so much excitement, though, it's been tough for us to settle down at night and go to sleep.

We've also been unusually rotten -- well, Lilly has. Tonight, while Mommy & Daddy changed out of their work clothes Lilly climbed into her bottom drawer and emptied it. She thought she was pretty funny. (as she says, "I funny.") During this adventure, I discovered the Easter card that Grandpa gave us and started dancing to the chicken dance. Mommy was glad that I quickly put it away though.

I'm pretty excited that my birthday is just three days away. I'll be three! Lilly keeps saying she's the same age as me. "I free," she says as she hold up all her fingers. Silly Lilly! She's such a baby! I'm such a big kid. Now, if I could just get that potty training down.

Accident-prone

2008-06-01T23:28:00.003-04:00

It's official: Belle is accident-prone! I thought we'd escape the rest of her twos without another injury, but she snuck one in just a week before her birthday. She ran to get her shoes from the bench in our entryway, tripped on the rug and I believe caught her left ear on the corner of the bench. I didn't see the accident take place. I just saw her facedown on the floor, bawling. She didn't cry long. It bled a lot and I realized a trip to the ER was in our near future. I called Daddy to return from the store "Now!" And called Granny & Pawpaw for reinforcements as I didn't want to wake the crank monster known as Lilly from her afternoon beauty rest.

I thought for sure Belle needed stitches. But the wonderful staff at Women's & Children's ER (whom Belle entertained with her witty conversation) told us it was a clean cut and could easily be glued back together! Wish I would have known that -- I know I have superglue somewhere in this house!

So now the rule is running is forbidden in the Beckner household (outside okay; inside -- absolutely not!) Any offenses of this rule are punishable by spanking. Belle nearly suffered the same accident tonight because she was running. I think three more gray hairs popped out in my head this weekend.

Visiting the Mountains

2008-05-26T22:04:00.005-04:00

It's becoming a tradition to visit the family cabin in Pocahontas County for Memorial Day Weekend. The girls were eager to visit the mountains or as Belle referred to it -- Capitol Market. She confused cabin with Capitol Market.

We had a wonderful weekeend with Grandma and Grandpa. Among our adventures we took a trip on "Thomas the Train" to Whittaker station at Cass. Belle enjoyed the trains except for when the whistle blowed. "It's to noisy," she said.

Grandpa took the girls for a short fishing trip to Seneca Lake. Belle was more interested in reeling in the line than waiting for a fish to take bite the bait. Lilly just wanted to get in the water.

Once again, we visited the playground at Green Bank Elementary. On one visit, Belle discovered a fuzzy caterpillar and picked it up. Lilly wouldn't hold it or touch the fishing worms. Belle is certainly more outdoorsy than Lilly, but both girls enjoyed playing outside at the cabin -- taking many trips down to the bridge to throw rocks into the creek (just like Aunt Sara and Mommy when they were little.)

Monkeying Around

2008-05-15T18:43:00.002-04:00

In today's fast-pace world -- full of learning your ABC's and new ditties -- it's more important than ever to just let your hair hang down and play. That's why Lilly and I just monkeyed around today -- literally! I shared my monkey costume with Lilly tonight while we played dress up. Sometimes, we pretend we're princesses. Other times we're pirates, or lions, cats or dogs! For the most part, we have a good time. Ocassionally, Mommy has to come in and break up a fight -- usually when I've had enough of my little sister.

Here's a study the AAP released about the importance of play: http://www.aap.org/pressroom/play-public.htm

This is my ticket to getting Mommy to let us just goof off more!

Transitioning to a Big Girl

2008-05-03T23:38:00.003-04:00

We had an exciting day today. Mommy & Daddy took us to a "special place" as Mommy told Belle this morning. We went to a really neat museum right here in our own town, the Clay Center. It was fun. Belle and I especially liked the exhibit about Earthquakes that had lots of water displays. Mommy wasn't too happy that we were able to get messy. We also enjoyed the gizmo factory -- with lots of neat science projects like this cool mirror.

Later, Mommy decided she'd switch out my crib for a big girl bed, like Belle has. Notice my bed is exactly like Belle's -- even with a Dora sheet. I've been climbing into Belle's bed for weeks now. Mommy asked me if I wanted one and I said yes. So she gave me one today, but when it came time to sleep in it tonight, I wasn't very happy about it. In fact, I screamed and refused to sleep in it. So Mommy took me downstairs and let me sit with her until I fell asleep. She tried to carry me back to bed, but I was too smart for her and woke up. Bedtime began at 9 p.m. (after all the rearranging of furniture) and I finally went to sleep at 11:20. Mommy had to get tough with me and spank me (read: lightly swat) on the leg and put me back into the bed. I cried for about 10 minutes before I passed out -- with my legs hanging off the side of the bed! I got in the last word!

Rain, rain

2008-04-28T23:52:00.002-04:00

It's raining. It's pouring. The old man is snoring....

Rain, rain, go away. Come again some other day. We want to play! And Mommy won't let us go outside if it's cold and raining! Mommy says I (Belle) have to be more careful when I go out because I had an allergic reaction to grass (or something outside) after I rolled down our hill Friday. I had a bad rash and my eye swelled real big on Saturday. I sneezed a lot and was just down right miserable.

Daddy bought some special lotion for me to stop the itching. He put it on my rash after I had a bath Sunday night. But my legs still itched. So I climed up on my changing table, opened the tube of cream and smeared it all over both of my legs. I couldn't figure out how to get back down from the changing table though, so I had to yell for Mommy to come and get me. Daddy was pretty angry with me for making a mess and climbing up there. He said I could have fallen and broken another bone. I think Mommy was snickering under her breath, but she told me not to do it again and to ask for help next time!

Circus & a birthday party

2008-04-21T22:35:00.004-04:00

Grandpa turns 55 tomorrow. We're happy that we were able to celebrate his birthday with him this weekend with a trip to the circus. Belle enjoyed the elephants and the tigers. I especially liked the trapeze artists. And who could resist all the great food? Sno-cones and popcorn. Mmm. Mommy, Aunt Sara and Belle showed off their sno-cone tongues. The elephants were amazing at how they can stand on their noses. The small dogs that jump and do turns were pretty funny as well. At times, we were scared at the trapeze artists would fall. Belle kept saying he's going to fall, Mommy. I think she actually got scared a bit.

Later we celebrated Grandpa's birthday with a special dinner at Soho's and of course I had to ham it up a bit!

It was so much fun to see Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Sara. Aunt Sara was so much fun. She taught us how to roll down the hill. I then helped clean up by brushing the grass of her back. I'm helpful that way!

New Heights

2008-04-15T22:36:00.002-04:00

Purpose in Play

2008-04-07T22:06:00.005-04:00

Another fascinating lesson I (Rachelle) learned while visiting San Diego is the importance of play. I'll wait while you finish laughing. Yes, I know that you find it difficult for me -- the girl who was born an adult -- to truly appreciate play. I have to admit that I cringed when this wonderful speaker, Kevin Carroll, told us -- an audience of more than 500 fundraisers -- that we need to learn how to play! But play is essential to our creativity, energy and enthusiasm for life. Play taught Mr. Carroll to never give up on his dreams.

Mr. Carroll's love for play (and sports in particular) led to a successful career in the NBA, at Nike and now as an author and speaker who travels the world. During his presentation, Mr. Carroll presented to us various soccer balls he has collected from around the world. They were pathetic -- a ball of grocery bags held together with string or threads of rubber from an old tire. He traveled the world, promoting play and took with him new soccer balls to give to children in third world countries who were thrilled to play soccer with a bundle of grocery bags!

The lesson to take away from Kevin Carroll's speech (and his book The Rules of the Red Rubber Ball -- hence the photo) is this: Each day find time to play. Play to you may mean planting some flowers, or riding a bike, or going for a run. And so whether your play is taking your first turn down a slide (Lilly) or swinging upside down (Belle), take time to play each day.

To learn more about Mr. Carroll (also known as littlefastkid) and/or receive more of his insights visit: http://www.katalystatlarge.com/

A lesson in motherhood from Jane Goodall

2008-04-05T23:15:00.005-04:00

Until I decide to create my own blog, I'm going to share with Belle & Lilly.

It's funny how life lessons are presented to you in the strangest places. Many of you know that I recently attended a fundraising conference in San Diego, California. Dr. Jane Goodall (yes, the one who studied chimpanzees) was a plenary session speaker. While the conference's focus was on fundraising, Ms. Goodall shared her life story with us. And rather than picking up new ideas for how to ask for money from Jane, I learned a lesson in motherhood.

See, Jane shared stories about where her childhood and how her mother is the reason why she is where she is today. As a young girl, poor and living in the country in England, Jane loved to play outside. One evening, she brought four earthworms with her to bed. Did her mother go balistic when she discovered Slimey and his friends were camping out with Jane for the night? No! She didn't strip the bed, throw the sheets in the wash and all the while fuming about the mess. Jane's mother simply explained to her that if she kept the earthworms with her in bed they would die because they needed the soil to live. So Jane toddled back downstairs, outside to deposit her friends back into the garden.

Jump ahead a couple of decades, Jane's mother encouraged her to save her money to make her first trip to Africa to study the chimpanzees and when the British government said they wouldn't let Jane sit out in the jungle to study chimps without an escort her mother gladly volunteered to join her for four months in the African jungle.

Now I'm not jumping at the chance to sit in the woods and study deer poopies (as Belle likes to refer to them) but I realized one important lesson that day. Rather than squashing my daughter's natural curiosities, I could encourage them. I could not jump off the deep end when she wants to jump into a mud puddle or collect caterpillars in her jacket pocket. I could, instead, jump in that puddle with her and help her identify which type of caterpillar she has found. Who knows? Maybe one day, she will become a Jane Goodall.

(to learn more about Dr. Goodall's work today, visit http://www.rootsandshoots.org/)