These pictures show Eric doing what he really enjoys - vacationing, riding a motorcycle, and spending time with his family. Happy, Happy Birthday Big Boy!
I took the kids to the mall yesterday to do some Christmas shopping for Eric. Too bad we don't all see I to eye. What do you buy for a husband that wants world peace, no mortgage, and 1946 Indian Chief Motorcycle? Boston wanted to buy him some new underwear but Jackson and Leighton was so embarrassed even at the sight of them. Boston wanted to model them.
I rarely bring the twins to the mall so they look at everything in amazement, like we're at Disneyland. Except stores like Victoria's Secret and anything girl related. They put their hand up to shield their eyes and tell each other not to look. We didn't enter any of these stores. We were just walking by to get to the sports store where they were looking for a jersey, sure Eric would love one of those. Jackson got side tracked when he saw See's Candies. He yelled out, "Chocolate!" and made a b-line. Too bad the store was so packed. We would've tried to get a free chocolate out of the deal.
In the end, I spent 4 hours trying to keep us all together and happy. We ate at the mall (3 different places), purchased something at Dillard's and looked in every other sports store only to find out we needed to go to the outlet. If you've ever been to the indoor outlet on Las Vegas Boulevard you know it's stuffy. We went from one end to the other and finally found jerseys. They were only $120! Forget that. The boys decided they wanted to spend the $20 their Uncle Helmer gave them for Steelers hats.
This is how Kennedy felt about the whole experience. I couldn't agree more.
Kennedy did a wonderful job with her piece, "Carol of the Bells," last Tuesday evening. She didn't show any sign of nerves which of course puts the rest of us at ease. Performing is a natural thing for her. She is still practicing on a keyboard so once we get a piano, I can't wait to see what she's capable of.
Anyone reading this has probably already seen some of these pictures but I just wanted to post for journal purposes. I have done a Christmas card every year since Kennedy was born and consider it my journal/scrapbook/history all in one. At least once a year, I have a legitimate picture and tid bit.
My intentions were for only the kids to be in the picture but Eric insisted we all should be. I have serious "rooting" going on but decided not to be vain and go for it. My personal favorite was the helmet picture but Eric was a little too humiliated for the whole world to see it via mail so I decided to post it here. It almost fits Eric's head.
I am thinking about really punching at this point but I'm sure would've injured my hand before hurting Eric. Just kidding. I was just being totally cheesy which is difficult for me. Below is the tid bit I sent out with the card just in case you didn't get enough already.
T-ball proved to be pretty laid back which was refreshing after dealing with club soccer and tackle football. Boston is definitely ready for something with a faster pace. He needs activities going on as he wakes up every morning asking me, "Is is t-ball today?" If the answer is no. Then he proceeds to ask if he has school, a play date, library, church, etc. Something has to be going on.
For Wrestling Tournaments!
The boys finished 2nd and 3rd out of 7 kids in their bracket. They've never had that many kids in their weight class so they each got to wrestle 4 times. And in the end, they had to wrestle each other. People watching were cracking up, telling me I needed to post it on You Tube. The referee was so confused who was who. Jackson kept doing illegal things like pinching and scratching and I'm sure had it not been so comical, the referee would've made him forfeit.
How would you like your weight, permanently marked on your arm? At first Jackson weighed in at 106, then he took off his clothes (to reveal he was wearing 2 pairs of underwear with the top pair on backwards, just in case) and weighed 103.
For the first time ever, Leighton weighed more than Jackson - 104 lbs. Their weight bracket was listed as "200 lbs." So if you weighed between 100 and 200, you were grouped together. Maybe I should've put on a singlet and showed what I'm made of. Now that's You Tube material.
I'm thinking this is Leighton pinning his guy.
I think this is Jackson dominating his guy. They look so much alike I can't tell from these pictures. Wrestling now takes over our life for the next couple months. Every Saturday we could go to one if I choose. The question is how much can I handle? Only time will tell.
October 15th and 16th I ran a Ragnar Relay Race with a team of 12 people over 180 miles - from the Valley of Fire to Redrock Casino. I was waiting to post about this until the pictures surfaced and this weekend they magically appeared. The race started at 10 am on Friday and ended around noon on Saturday. 
Every team has a theme and ours was "Mandelbaum." It's from a Seinfeld episode that you'd have to see to understand. If I was more savvy with blogging and the internet I would post the link here but I'm not. Sorry. The front of our shirts say, "World's Greatest Runner!" The back side says, "Step aside, I'm gonna take it up a notch! Team Mandelbaum - Ragnar Relay Las Vegas, 2009. Our team leader, Adrienne Daines, and her husband, Will, headed everything up and did an amazing job. It's a lot of work to be the leader. Adrienne's family made up a large portion of our team, along with our support. We had two vans with 6 people per van and they were stocked with water and goodies (and even soda for me).
The order we ran in went: Brad Beckstead, Pam Beckstead, Brittney Hall, Me, Darren Cox, and Will Daines. This picture is the first exchange for Brittney and I. This was just outside Overton. My first run was brutal because it was noon, in the desert, and pretty much up hill. It was only 3 miles but it kicked my butt! I know others had much harder runs but this was max capacity for me.
Nothing like running in the desert with sagebrush, hot pavement, and hills. My favorite run was at 11 pm when it was dark and with a down hill portion. The next morning around 6 am I ran 5 miles. It was fun to see the sunrise and know I was on my last leg. I ran around 11 miles and felt great when it was all done. I only suffered one casualty - while in the out house changing into my tank top, my sports bra dropped in the depths below, never to be retrieved. When I came out to break the news to my team, the men were not sure what to think. They were like, "what are you going to do?" Good thing it doesn't take much to keep things in place. Just kidding, my tank top had a built in.
The van says it all! You Lag, you drag! Well, I did some lagging but for the most part, got better times than anticipated. It was an experience I'll never forget but don't want to repeat any time soon. Although, I did tell the Becksteads I would do the Wasatch Back in June I am already questioning my sanity.
There's nothing like a trip to Opportunity Village where the Magical Forest appears to put you in the Christmas spirit! It transcends you to a simple Christmas village and brings you back to the basics. I love the cause behind it and was glad the Bomsta Family thought of us with the complimentary tickets.
This is what Eric and I came home to Saturday night after a 50th birthday party. Our version of an Anne Geddes baby picture.
My parents have been wanting to come visit for a while and I came across the perfect scenario to get them to stay a little longer than they usually do. This past Saturday all the kids had games at pretty much the same time so the only way for them to see all of them was to have them come on Wednesday to go to the twin's football game allowing Saturday to be open for Boston's t-ball and Kennedy's soccer. Everything went according to plan.
The good news is they were able to see them play. The bad news, they lost, terribly. My dad was totally amused with the atmosphere and said he wouldn't have missed it for the world. He notices things that most of us don't, like the referee's patten leather shoes. Football breeds its own and they were all there in full force.
Eric leading the team before the game. So many parents have commented on what a great contribution Eric has made to the team. Although they weren't the best team, they are still in line to be in the play offs. They only want $1000 per team to play in the play offs! So crazy that you have to pay if you win. Luckily Jackson and Leighton both raised their hands after Saturday's game to say that "their dad would pay for it. He has lots of money!" Aren't they so sweet?!
After the football game we forgot to bring the boys a shirt to change into. Kennedy offered her jacket to Jackson. I think it looks dashing on him. He came out of the bathroom and whispered to me that he didn't have a shirt on underneath it. I think he was embarrassed but amused all in the same.
We ventured out to Boulder City to The Coffee Cup for a delicious breakfast Friday morning. My parents said they felt like they were in California. The night before my mom said the weather felt a bit like Hawaii, without the extreme humidity. Wow! Vegas this time of year is pretty dreamy!
I was out of tooth picks so we found this red neck one to oblige my dad. It's a shish kabob stick. Whatever works.
Saturday after Boston's t-ball game. Boston had them all to himself as I was at the twin's football game. He loves one-on-one time.
Kennedy's game got changed to 4 pm on Saturday (instead of 11:45 am) which complicated my parents plans but allowed us to spend more time with them. The kids tried talking them into staying until next weekend but their pleading didn't work. They headed out after Kennedy's game. She played great as the coaches matched her up with The Beast on the other team. I have never seen her run so fast or hard. Aside from her grandparents being at the game, Mr. Rosensteel from school was there so she was very motivated.
This holiday is talked about all year long as the kids try to decide what they want to be. The twins have been stressed because I told them "no one-piecers." Well as you can see, I gave in one more year to the one piece outfit. These however, are deluxe "Jenga Fett" costumes and proved to be stretchy and well enforced. I think they were actually comfortable for them. I don't know Star Wars very well but the boys told me these are bad guys who are bounty hunters and store all their goods in their belt. Whatever they were, I think they looked like good boys instead of bad boys.
My Knight in Shining Armour! Who wouldn't want to be rescued by this guy?! His costume is 2 pieces and an adorable Costco find.
Thumbs up to you too!
The only way I can tell the twins apart here is the token glove Jackson is wearing.
Kennedy stole the show with her Amelia Earhart costume. This was all her idea and had nothing to do with the movie that has just come out. We were watching "Night at the Museum II" the past year and she said, "Wouldn't Amelia be a fun Halloween costume?" And she's stuck with it ever since. All we had to find were boots and a skull cap. Kennedy and I were in need of new boots and the hat was a real find at Kohl's. It's much cuter on the real side. She felt unique and that's what mattered.
Kennedy and Grace. The Hannum's had a fun get-together at their house with this fun blow up house, yummy food and of course lots of noise.
We went with some friends trick-or-treating in the Grand Legacy and went on a hay ride. What a fun tradition we hope to continue. After this though, the twins just wanted to go home. Something scared them and they were done. Our kids are spooked pretty easy and turn into shaking, crying, babies once this happens. I prefer the fun side of Halloween myself. I'm a chicken too. And...I think Eric is too. But don't tell anyone!
Leighton and Jackson were so excited for this project. They prepared a written report and then created a bat habitat to show off their respected work. I was surprised at how opinionated they were in wanting to get things just right. Grandpa Bateman rolled into town just in time to help and I think they were pleased with the result.
Leighton's bat lives in many places but he chose to showcase this one living under a bridge.
Jackson's only lives under cliff crevices so he made a cliff. The little girl to the left of him (I didn't dare post her picture or she might sue) sits by Jackson in the classroom. She told Jackson she would be nice to him if he would keep his desk clean and not do gross things. So... Jackson cleaned up his desk and is trying not to pick his nose (at least in front of her). I guess she's not very nice to Jackson and is a bit of a bully. I tried to have a conversation with her at the fair and she wanted nothing to do with me. In fact, she shooed Jackson away from her because he was getting in her space. I was even intimidated by her. Oh well, Jackson doesn't seem too bothered at this point. She's half his size and most of it just goes over his head.