Sick and Tired of Being Sick

It will be wonderful once the weather warms up and all of the kids are healthy again. I mentioned before about them having strep last week. Well, this week, Tess was vomitting through the night (Sunday night) and then last night Lauren was vomitting. I don't know what the deal is. I thought at first it may have been this new recipe I tried last night (Indian Curry Chicken which was very yummy), but after the 3rd or 4th time of her waking up, I realized it was more than "something not settling right". She seems fine now. We'll just pray that no one else gets it...especially Ella.

Monday after school was dance for the girls. Tess was still not up to 100% yet, so Lauren just went. Tuesday night Lauren had "Activity Days" and they made really cute cards. Brian had class from 6-8 pm and I had Young Women's at 6 pm. The kids stayed home with him and I left them with strict instructions to be on their best behavior...(Brian said they were "ok"). So, for YW/YM we went to an Assisted Living Home in Lehi, and put on a program for the residents. They seemed very appreciative, and the youth had a great time as well. Last night was Scouts for Zach. They did some some physical fitness tests, and then they also did some cooking. Zach came home with a big muffin. BUT, Tess greeted him outside when he got back home and managed to knock it out of his hands. You know, some may be surprised by this, but Zach has quite the temper (thanks to the Griffith side of our family), and it was all he could do to keep from knocking her out. Sometimes I wonder what that crazy girl is thinking....sometimes (a lot of the time actually) Zach wonders why he was blessed with so many sisters. For the record, we all LOVE Tess...she is so full of life and silliness, and she truly brings joy and laughter to our days.

Well, not much going on here today. Brian has a Final tonight in his Environmental class, and I have a Card-Making class over at my neighbor's house. We started doing this as one of our Mid-week enrichment classes awhile ago, and I LOVE it.

We want to wish Grandma Beazer a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY today! We love her, and we wish that we could be there to celebrate. Lots of hugs and kisses to her on her special day!!

I'll sign off for now....love to all, Kim

Party at the Beazer House

This past Friday was such a blast...Michael and Bekah brought the kids down and we celebrated Sydne's birthday. We just hung around for a while chatting and having a good time, and then Tess tripped over Devan and fell into one of our end tables. She came down right on her eye...it was so scary! She had a good-sized goose egg immediately, so we kept ice on it for the rest of the evening. After that trauma, we took the kids to get a bite to eat and play in the play area. Everyone was getting along, and Tess seemed to be just fine after we got there. However, she was a little paranoid about everyone seeing her eye (she kept covering it up with her hair)...poor thing. We came back to our house for cake, ice cream, and opening presents. Sydne was so cute, and so excited when she opened her presents.

Saturday, Brian thought it would be fun to go to the Boat Show. It's amazing how nice (and expensive) some of those boats were. Maybe next year! After the boat show, we took the kids to get a bite to eat and then we came home in time for Brian to change and then we went to his basketball game at the church. WOW! Watching them play, you'd think that some of those guys were out for blood. It was their last game and I'm glad we won't have that going on anymore...at least not until church baseball starts that is. That evening, Brian and I went to an Elder's Quorum party and learned how to play "Settlers of Catan." I had never heard of this game before, but it's kind of like a combination between Risk and Monopoly. It was a lot of fun...a little lengthy, but still fun.

Yesterday, we went to church, had a quiet dinner with my mom and dad, and then we watched the movie "Martian Child" (which was cute for those of you who haven't seen it). Ella wouldn't go to her Sunbeam Class for me. Well, let me re-phrase that. She would go as long as I sat there right beside her, but when I tried to go to my class...she pretty much had a melt-down. I think I need to re-think my strategy. We'll work on that.

I'll go for now. Best wishes to you and your families - Brian, Kim, Zach, Lauren, Tess & Ella

This is Tess' black eye. The photo was taken 3 days after...it's looking better now.

Our Quiet, Boring Lives

As promised, I'm updating soon. Things here are still relatively quiet. However, we have been fighting another round of Strep in our home this past week. Lauren started last week, and then by Saturday Ella woke up with a high fever and the Scarletina rash. Poor baby, she was miserable. Tess has had a nasty cough, but her culture was negative for strep. Zach woke up yesterday morning with a horrible sore throat and bad headache. You guessed it...he's got it! Some luck we have, huh? It seems as though we have battled more sickness since moving here than any other time in our lives. I guess it's all the kids around here......kids, kids and more kids everywhere you turn.

Last evening I went with my neighbors Heidi and Paige to a "Purse Party". One of Heidi's co-workers was having the party and Paige and I just tagged along. It was a lot of fun. Lots of cute purses, wallets, and jewelry. I found something cute to wear on the chain that Brian got me for Christmas. I had to control the urge to buy more....but there will be more parties I'm sure. Lauren and Tess were a little disappointed that I wouldn't take them, but this was a Mommy's Night Out. Brian was finished with his class by the time I left, so it worked out perfectly.

I am amazed at how much Ella and Zach have been goofing off while I have been on the computer. They were being naughty, but I had to take a photo moment. Ella was giggling and having a great time. Zach was launching her onto our bed and she was having a blast. At one point (after she managed to climb to the top of the headboard) she was trying to convince Zach to lay on the bed right under her so that she could jump on him. "It won't huut Zach, I pwomise" she kept saying over and over, and he was dying laughing. He's feeling better now, besides the adverse side-effect of the antibiotic. He's not comfortable going to school with that going on, and I really don't blame him.

I had better go for now and actually get something accomplished around the house. I'll update again as soon as I get a chance

Love to all - Kim

My Valentines

Well, I have to apologize for being so late with this post. It seems as though every time I want to sit down and write, Brian needs the computer for school. Valentine's Day was a lot of fun...the kids had a blast! The night before Valentine's Day, we had a HORRIBLE snow storm that left people stranded in their cars (overnight in some areas). They finally opened up State Route 73 (the main road where we live), and my neighbors and friends were able to make it home after midnight. It really was horrible. It was snowing and blowing so bad that you couldn't see anything. Luckily, Brian has a class that starts at 4:00 on Wednesdays, so he was home before the storm hit. Zach, Lauren, and Tess' school started late the next morning, but we were all wondering why they even had to go.

Besides the crazy weather, everything has been good here. I took Tess to her AYSO Soccer kick-off this evening. They start playing again in mid-March...we signed her up for last Fall and this Spring, so she'll enjoy playing with the same teammates again. We had a blast watching her in the Fall. She was quite competitive, and could sometimes get a little too aggressive...I wonder if she got that from Brian or me? Hmmmmm. Lauren and Zach are waiting to hear back from someone at the Rec Center down in Lehi so they can begin their soccer. They're signed up for a co-ed Indoor League. It should be interesting to see them play on the same team.

I guess I need to sign-off....Brian needs to take a quiz. I'll update again soon.

Love to all - Brian, Kim and kids

(These are the pictures we used when making tags for their school treats....enjoy)

Fort Beazer

So, as I promised the other day...I have photos of the fort. Zachary and his friend Michael started a fort in front of our house last week. That fort really didn't amount to much. However, the new and improved fort was built in the backyard. Brian helped with the construction of the fort (after some begging and pleading on Zach's part). We have been getting one storm right after another here, and the day after they finished the construction of the fort it snowed like crazy. They were so glad that Mother Nature helped them cover their fort. They needed to make the front of the fort, so they made several huge snowballs and packed them all together. Then, they had to reinforce the side as well, which was done with lots and lots of little snowballs.

We didn't end up have Family Home Evening in there, but there would have been enough room for all of us had we decided to give it a shot. The girls had been out there playing all afternoon. So, they decided that snuggling up in Mommy and Daddy's bed to watch a movie sounded a lot warmer.

Today, Ella and I went shopping for Zachary. He's been begging me to get him another pair of his favorite jeans. We ate some lunch while we were out, and then we headed home to pick up the kids from school.

I'm still feeling horrible, but Ella seems to be on the mend. I had her to the doctor yesterday, but they say she just has a virus that's been going around. I imagine that's what I have as well...I'll guess I'll just have to put up with this for the next week or two. YUK!

I'll end for now. Lots of love and warm wishes to all of you - Kim

Super Bowl Sunday

Well, we haven't been up to much these past couple of weeks....just the normal day-to-day living. Brian has started taking classes again, so that's been difficult at times. But, other than that, no real changes in our household.

Last weekend, we got together with Michael, Lybbe, Sydne and Colton to celebrate Lybbe's 7th birthday. We went to see the new Veggie Tales movie, "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything". It was cute and the kids had a blast together. After the movie we went to get a bite to eat and Lybbe opened her presents. She is crazy about Hannah Montana right now, and her presents surely reflected that. She was so cute! It's hard to believe they are all getting so big.

Today was the first time I had to teach in Young Women's. I didn't have a lot of time for my lesson which meant that I had to pretty much cut everything and just give a brief synopsis. It's so nerve-racking for me to teach in front of a group, so I'm glad it'll be a few months before I have to do that again.

We have had so much snow in the past few days (at least 10 inches)!!! The kids convinced Brian to help them build a fort in our back yard. WOW! There's enough room in there for our whole family....they are begging to have Family Home Evening in there tomorrow night. We'll see. If we do, I promise to take pictures and share the momentous occassion.

I think I'm coming down with something, so i'm going to take some medicine and turn in early tonight. I'll update again soon (sorry about the inconsistency lately)!

We hope this finds you happy and healthy.
With love,
Brian, Kim, Zachary, Lauren, Tess & Ella