Beck Family Pictures...

I don't think I ever blogged this because I was waiting for the Christmas cards to come out first. But here are our family pictures from this year.  We used the same photographer that took my favorite family pictures last year, Amanda Crookston. Boston was just 2 weeks old when we did these, so I was elated that they turned out so good!

 The gang

 The older grandkids...

 My Boys

Poor Berkley was running a fever by the time we were done with pictures, so that's why his face is a little glum. But we did get a kick out his seeing his facial expressions, so I had to make a collage of them for your enjoyment...

Trust me, there were plenty more like this. Funny and sad at the same time!

Makes My Skin Crawl...

I swear, this time of year is the worst for the creepy crawly things at my house. While I am beyond grateful that scorpions have yet to invade our neighborhood (knocking on wood and all those other superstitious things--insert here), we do have our fair share of other things I can't stand.

It started a few weeks ago, when I brought the little dirt devil in from the garage wall to clean up a mess in the boys room. It smelled a little funny after I used it so I went to dump it out and clean it. Boy was I surprised (screaming and hyperventilating and gagging--insert here) when I opened the little trash collecting part to see a dead field mouse. (shudder) And wait, did you catch the part about it being in the vacuum that hung on the wall??? That poor mouse must have been starving to shimmy up the wall and then get stuck in my dirt devil. And if you're wondering what I did with it--the vacuum-- not the mouse, I threw it in my garage and texted Rusty that he needed to empty the canister out for me. (Hee hee hee)

So then, naturally, with the doors and windows being open so much more with the weather being beautiful- a few of those pesky outdoors things have come in to places where they just DON'T belong. Like the 8 legged baseball sized spider that was laying in wait in my pool. Just waiting on top of the basket ready to pounce. (So it was really golf ball sized)And MAN, did it take a long time to drown that sucker.

Moving along to the cricket in the toilet, just swimming around. And around and around and around... thankfully easy to dispose of.

And just the other night, I had a moment straight out of Arachnophobia when I went to wash my hands in the bathroom and a monster was trying to hide in the corner, but I saw it (screamed- waking the baby) and skillfully trapped it under the plunger so Rusty could do his husbandry duties.

And what exactly is the need for earwigs in the grand scheme of things anyway?

My point?

I know it's Halloween, and so fun to decorate with cute glittery spiders like these ones. And even funner to bring them home from school and drop them where ever. But if I find one more freaking PLASTIC spider laying around my house, in my shower, my laundry basket, my closet, the kitchen floor, or in the playroom- I will freak. And please don't get me started on those obviously FAKE 3 foot spiders that are all the rage to decorate with, but they still give me the heebee jeebies! I'm just saying (Braden & Berk) feel free to have these (gross) plastic bugs if you want, just don't forget to tell Mommy where you left them (so she doesn't have a heart attack). Oh and BTW, I am on a first name basis with our pest control guy. (Ron, you'll be getting a call from me this week...)