Daddy's Girls

Kimberly's 10th Birthday Party

2010-10-23T11:05:00.004-04:00

Kimberly had a fun out doors party and sleep over. First, everyone played in the backyard (of our new house). Then they had dinner and she openned her presents. Finally, they went in the front to play in the sprinkler:) After they dried off, the girls came inside. It was movie time and homemade popcorn before bedtime. What a great party!

We didn't do the sprinkler earlier because it was quite cool...but as you can tell, nobody wanted to miss out on getting wet:)

Afgan time

2010-10-22T10:45:00.000-04:00

My mother decided to make each of her children an afgan (with them choosing the style and colors they'd prefer). No matter where she'd go, Mom would take her sewing bag with whatever she was working on. Today--it happened to be Kimberly's birthday party. Mom had come to "be my other adult" and while waiting for the guests to arrive...she sat outside and crocheted:) This was her Zen time!

Thanks, Mom. It turned out beautifully! We love it.

A sister's friendship...

2010-10-21T10:14:00.004-04:00

...isn't it wonderful to share such special moments together. What amazing friends we have living right within the walls of our own homes! I love you, sister.

A Reward for hard work.

2010-09-28T10:34:00.007-04:00

I have always wanted a fire pit since moving into our new house. So, Jerry and the girls got me one for Mother's day/early birthday. Since it was perfect weather, we decided to use it one Saturday after they finished their yardwork.

Now, we had to have a Boy Scout present when having our open fire pit. (So, gladly Jerry volunteered.) We got out our scuwers and cooked the hot dogs. This was the girls first time experiencing out door cooking:) It was fun.

After dinner, of course we had to make s'mores too. They were delicious!

This is what they had been working on all day. Nice!

This is our first spring with our large yard. Jerry and the girls did weeding and mulching in the front lawn island. They spent the better part of their Saturday working together outside. What a beautifully colorful picture they created in our yard!

Backyard fun

2010-08-18T12:57:00.003-04:00

Natalie, Courtney and Kimberly all did so great on their report cards that they each got a prize as a reward. These were the prizes: walkie talkies, a Pegasus, and a Michael Jackson CD. Since Mommy had done such a superb job assisting WITH homework this year, she got a prize also. She chose a Badminton game. Daddy set it up and everyone went out to the backyard to play! It's been a lot of fun...oh, even for Mommy:)

Our Easter Traditions

2010-08-10T10:40:00.009-04:00

The spring season is beautiful!! Daffodils galore, cool weather, and bright lovely eggs to HIDE. My brother and sisters families always come together at the Dirle's house for an Easter Egg hunt with the cousins. Grandmommy out does herself with not only making "Granny's chocolate eggs" but she also sews for her grandchildren!

This year she made matching Easter dresses for all the cousins (NY girls too). Natalie and Caroline's dresses were alike and Courtney and Johanna had the same pattern. Kimberly got her OWN pattern. (Being older does have advantages sometimes...) Kimberly was wearing her new glasses too:) Thanks Grandmommy! They are beautiful.

While spending this time together, we have a wonderful time sharing and talking of that Easter morning . What a blessing it is to teach our children of our Savior, Jesus Christ and all that His life means to each of us! Such a splendid day.

"Home" made Eggrolls

2010-04-21T09:34:00.005-04:00

One Sunday afternoon Jerry and the girls decided to try their hands at making homemade Eggrolls. So, everyone rolled up their "pajama" sleeves and grabbed a wrap. The girls did a great job measuring and sealing the eggrolls. (They had never eaten one before.)

We didn't have pork so we substituted it with ground beef. It still tasted really good!

Jerry taught the girls to keep the wraps wet so they wouldn't tear.

Jerry was sooo ready to cook and eat the eggrolls after working hard to make them that he forgot to read through the WHOLE recipe before making the eggrolls...they needed to be refridgerated for 4+ hours prior to cooking!! UGH

To say the least, the eggrolls still tasted awesome--the next day. Jerry loves trying news things...and the girls love to help Daddy try new things. Here is the finished product! They were delicious.

Look what I learned...

2010-04-20T09:49:00.005-04:00

I am the Achievement Girl leader for our ward. And sometimes Courtney gets to "tag-along" when Daddy's gone. So, last night the girls learned the proper way to iron and then tried their hand at sewing buttons, snaps and a straight stitch. As you can see, Courtney participated and is quite "hooked" with the whole sewing deal.

Courtney had such fun practicing her snaps today that she ran to get her OWN shirt to fix the button. Her "purple" thread from last night would work JUST fine! Yeah.

Well, if you need a button to be sewn on--you know who to come to:) COURTNEY CAN DO IT!

The first SNOW in our new house!

2010-04-15T11:05:00.010-04:00

This year we realized that when we CAN'T see the picnic table in the backyard, anymore, we have a lot of snow! Now, every snow, we send Daddy out to measure so we can brag (devestate others) about our inches:)

Here are my snow angels: Kimberly, Natalie and Courtney.

Later that day we found Daddy building his OWN snowman ;) SSSHHH!! He doesn't know...that WE know!

California wedding

2010-03-15T10:51:00.003-04:00

Well, to tell the full story...Jerry won a contest at work, so he and I got fly out to California for his brother Kevin's wedding. My mom graciously came to stay with our girls the week we were gone. To say the least, the PA rain followed us out to CA for MOST of the trip. It was nice to see family but it wasn't the same without our girls! And YES our faith was tried every day, to help Jerry and I work together and enjoy our time away. It was a beautiful Temple ceremony. Kevin and Megan were so happy. The day of their wedding the rain finally stopped! I'm grateful we could go. By the way, it was the most expensive wedding/trip we've ever attended (our luggage was lost the ENTIRE week and we both had to buy ALL new stuff). HaHaHa

"Choose The Right"

2010-02-27T10:55:00.003-05:00

Natalie turned 8 years old the week after Thanksgiving. She had been preparing, over the last year, to be baptised in December. On December 26th, Natalie was baptised by her Dad with family and friends close-by. It was a memorable service! She and her Eastern cousins even sang together. Natalie continues to strive for righteousness daily. And enjoys reading her scriptures to strengthen her testimony. She is a "daughter of God".

2010-02-27T10:44:00.000-05:00

Traditional tree decorating time.

2010-02-25T11:00:00.006-05:00

The weekend after every Thanksgiving, we decorate and put up the Christmas tree together. Daddy and the girls are in charge of decorating the tree. And Mommy is to decorate the rest of the house.

Well, since we had recently moved-in we weren't quite sure where to put things this holiday. So, we moved the piano and coffee table for the tree to be in the right corner of the room.

How many girls...I mean lights does it take to decorate YOUR tree???

Only AFTER the tree was completely decorated did we realize that it would fit perfectly on the LEFT side of the fireplace.

And "THAT'S" how you get your Christmas tree from one side of the room to the other...you change the color of your decorations:)

"Welcome to OUR home!"

2010-02-20T10:20:00.004-05:00

This was the video Jerry recorded as we were driving up to Corry Ave after we signed the papers and ALL 5 of us got our OWN key:) We love our new house. What a blessing and amazing miracle all that happened to get us to this BECK home to grow-up in! Now we have room for company. We'd love to have you come and visit anytime.

"The sweetest place of earth!"

2009-10-16T08:43:00.004-04:00

...the infamous afternoon playing at Hershey Park. Yeah:) What fun!! Well this year, due to MY job and the weather, we didn't get to go to Hershey park until school had already started. @#$!Big mistake. Note to self: taking children to an amusement park after a full day of school is NOT the best idea. It's great...the girls earn their tickets every summer through a reading program. Since we went later in the season, we had perfect weather. Kimberly and Natalie even got to meet "Hershey" himself:) hahaha. Courtney was brave and went on every ride with her sisters this year! And Daddy found out his body isn't liking spinning as much... Thanks for the wonderful day together, girls. What a memorable time!

2009 First day of school!

2009-10-08T14:44:00.004-04:00

Courtney, Kimberly and Natalie were ready bright and early this morning for their first day of school. Courtney (grade K) is attending Schaeffer Elementary School with Kimberly (4th grade) this year. Natalie is in 2nd grade, still at Nitrauer Elementary in the Spanish Immersion program. They love walking to the bus stops every morning with Daddy! It is a wonderful bonding time for everyone.

"Rain, rain...come and play."

2009-10-08T14:23:00.003-04:00

Today the pool was closed sooo we decided to get wet outside in our swimming suits anyway:) It was rainning really hard and made this puddle fast. So the girls enjoyed running knee deep through it. They had the best time. Who needs a lifeguard when you have Mother Nature?

Sewing day.

2009-10-08T13:57:00.002-04:00

When mommy was sick, Gaummie came with her pre-sewn material to finish sewing dress-up scarves (for all 9 granddaughters). She taught Kimberly and Natalie how to push out the corners and then turn them right-side out. They learned the proper way to stitch the end closed too. Finally, Kimberly ironed them to make the scarves look professionally finished! The dress-up scarves turned out beautifully. Thanks mom:)

Time to dress up!

2009-07-22T11:21:00.002-04:00

Can you say "beauty queen" three times... Well, today Natalie, Courtney and Kimberly decided to dance first. Then they thought it would be fun to dress up "on top" of it:) Of course, then they had to come down to model for me and have a "photo op"! WOW...it is sooo wonderful when everyone plays NICE together.

New York visitors

2009-07-13T10:07:00.003-04:00

Meredith is having fun at the wishing well with her cousins. While Aunt Amy, Genevieve and Elliott stay in the van to catch-up on their quiet time/ sleepers.

Inside the Hershey World Plant, we see numberable workers boxing and "shaking" their Hershey Kisses for snacking later! Ms. Katia, William and Isabella (Kimberly's pen pal) came with our cousin Meredith to take the chocolate tour and then try the sample at the end:) It was a fun, exhausting morning had by all! Please come again...

"Once upon a Lily Pad"

2009-07-13T09:43:00.005-04:00

At the end of the school year, we got to enjoy a fun play by the Nitrauer Knight's First Graders. They did English and Spanish through out play. It was fun to see our little actress having a wonderful time with her classmates! She really worked hard.

Natalie got the lead part as Freddie the Frog. She borrowed her cousin's bath towel as part of her costume. Natalie did a great job memorizing her lines and singing:)

Kimberly's birthday dress.

2009-06-19T12:10:00.005-04:00

Gaummie surprised Kimberly with this beautiful spring dress for her birthday. It even came with her favorite kind of sleeves! How pretty.

Teaching the ART of babysitting.

2009-06-19T11:43:00.005-04:00

Natalie enjoys helping out with Chris (4 1/2 months old) when she gets home from school. It's been such a joy to see how grown-up MY girls have become while helping out with other children:) This job has given me the chance to teach MY children the "how-to's" of babysitting first hand...and they get paid. WOW!! What a great deal for everyone! Courtney has really taken a liking to "babysitting" too. She takes it very serious. Courtney is reading her coloring book to Gabe (almost 4 yrs.) and Kaylie (almost 2 yrs.) after their nap time.

"You Make Me Feel Like a Star."

2009-06-08T09:43:00.005-04:00

Kimberly and Natalie had such a great experience this spring learning to dance. They couldn't wait to get a copy of their song to bring home and practice!

Natalie and Kimberly pose on picture night prior to their first Jazz Recital. You can't tell they are thoroughly eating up all the attention:)

They had the best time dancing together these last few months!

"I Love The Circus".

2009-05-30T11:45:00.012-04:00

Here are the Elephants. And these are the beautiful white ponies.

There were dogs, horses and tigers too. Even a porcupine had an act! It was sooo cool to watch. During the pre-show, Natalie even got to jump rope with the Clowns. She was tickled that she was chosen:)

What a fun night! Ayumi, Stephen, Gaummie and Bunic all got to join us at "The Greatest Show on Earth". This was the second time we've all been together to see the circus. It was a lot of fun. The girls were even treated to GIANT lollipops. (They didn't part with them until they went to bed!)

(MAKE SURE TO TURN DOWN THE VOLUME ON YOUR COMPUTER FOR THE END)

Day at the "Beauty Salon"

2009-05-28T10:18:00.003-04:00

Natalie has wanted her hair cut short for a while now. So, when I was trimming the girls hair, Natalie was VERY persistant at making it known she wanted her's cut short. Well, I decided that if she didn't like it...her hair could always grow out again:) To say the least, she loved her new haircut which came only 2 days after her buying a new headband!

First to graduate!!

2009-05-20T10:11:00.002-04:00

...Preschool that is. The evening was one to remember--Jerry and I both got off work at 5:30 to have him then rush Kimberly and Natalie to Jazz class. Meanwhile, Courtney and I got ready for her program. An hour later, the rest of the family met us at her preschool for the service. She was sooo excited to be with her class and sing at Graduation. Kimberly and Natalie tried desperately to get Courtney's attention before she received her diploma. When Courtney finally saw her sisters waving, that made her night! After the emotions of this night...I really don't think I'm ready for a High School Graduation JUST yet! Let's keep them young a little longer:)

Mother's Day with my girls.

2009-05-19T18:50:00.005-04:00

My 3 lovely daughters gave me this button, as my gift. Here's what the card read: "You can borrow this today if you want, MOM, but we'd really like to have it back tomorrow."

Happy Mother's Day

Ya gotta lov' em:) Well, to say the least, they did make the day be all about "ME"!

"PICNICING"

2009-05-18T09:28:00.009-04:00

"PICNICING"-to ventur outside on the lawn with beach towel and take a book or journal to relax and enjoy the weather and cloud pictures. It was sooo fun. The first time out--we watched a storm pass over and played "guess the cloud shape". The weather was really nice as we lay on our backs to read and talk as a family. Of course, there was laughter and tickling involved! No one wanted to go inside for bedtime because it was truly enjoyable. This picture was Mother's day evening. We had to wear long sleeve shirts and pants along with our JACKETS and BLANKETS. Since the air was so much colder, everyone huddled together for shared body heat. No one ran around barefoot this time! BBrrr. We could ONLY image what the neighbors thought:) HAHA. What a wonderful family memory!

Finally Started

2009-05-17T21:24:00.004-04:00

Well, here it is! As you can see, the girls are excited to start our family blog.