The official start of our summer

Wesley and his best friend, Cody

Andrew and his best friend Sean

Andrew with his amazing teacher, Mrs. Wolfe

Brooke and her much loved teacher, Ms. Darby, and best friend Becky


It seems (to me) like they were just getting started in school, but the end of 1st, 3rd, and 5th grade is here. Wesley's teacher assured me that he was good and ready to get into junior high next year. I assured her that I was more nervous about myself getting ready for having a junior high student than I was concerned about him being unprepared.

The kids had 1/2 day of school, so we took off from there and spent the rest of the day at Six Flags Magic Mountain and water park (Hurricane Harbor). We listened to the end of the Laker Game on the radio on the way home. What a fun day!

Our gymnast in training

Brooke started a summer gymnastics program on Friday night. She was very excited, and so was I to watch her go! She is going to be in a cheerleading program this fall, and she loves "practicing."

She did a great job. She is somewhat a natural (unlike her mother) and her body just goes and flows.

I need to work on getting better pictures, but she did learn to do a cartwheel. Well, she got over, but we still have to work on getting the legs straight up. She also learned to do a handstand and land on her feet----that was the challenge!

I could never say "Thanks" enough!

Happy Mother's Day!! I thank God that he gave me the joy of being a mother. However, this post is not about me. It is about my mother. She has given me the great example of being a mom, and I just want to publicly thank her for that. My brother, Aaron, inspired me with his top ten list in honor of our mother. While there are many things about Aaron that inspire me (and many things that inspire me to NOT be), I just want to give a bit of credit to him as well :) Thanks for the good idea, Aaron!

My top ten list would be the following:


TOP TEN THINGS MY MOTHER DID TO BE MY HERO:

1. She bravely did the duties that must be completed with having a diabetic child: she gave me shots, she monitored my diet, and most bravely, she gave me sugar when I fought hard against it.

2. She humored me. I remember pretending to be different people as a child, and she always carried on different conversations with each of my "roles." (No, I was not schizophrenic, I was dramatic!)

3. While she so hates having her only daughter 2000 miles away, she doesn't nag me about it too much.

4. She gave me a passion for writing. I love her poems, and I know she must have thought my child-hood poems were stupid. However, she read them and actually hung them on the wall. She still has some hanging to this day.

5. She forced us to take family pictures. While this was with so much objection from all of the other four of us, she persisted. We now have some rather fond family portraits.

6. She was so creative. I don't remember all of her creations, but there are many! She was crafty at making gifts, and at making chicken :) I remember being told in one junior high class survey, that my best trait was my creativity. I felt proud to be a bit like my mother.

7. She now wears the role of grandmother like no other! She loved being a mother. Now, she still loves being my mother, but she really enjoys being a grandmother. How many grandmothers do you know who take walks with her kids, fly kites with them, ride bikes with them, read them endless stories, makes cookies with them, shoot them to the moon, sings with them, teaches them Bible truths, and gives them their baths? And, that is just the end of day #1!

8. She is #1 on my speed dial. Whenever I need wisdom. Whenever I want to cry to someone. Whenever I am most afraid. Whenever I need a good idea. She is my #1 person to call. Seriously, she beats out EVERYBODY!!

9. She gives me clothes. I know this seems like a sad reason to make a top ten list, but it really does make mine. I love clothes. I know this is petty, but I have a passion for clothing. Whenever I get extra money (which is rare), I want to buy clothes. People will ask me "what do you want for Christmas or birthday or.....?" and my first thought is, "I want some clothes." My mom always buys clothes for me. When I visit her house, she gives me her hand me downs, and I must rather proudly say, "She has some good hand me downs!" I am thankful that I am her same size. It has worked rather conveniently for me.

10. The last reason that my mother is my hero is that she has taught me some of the most important things about life. She was fervent in her love for God. I never questioned that. She performed some duties as a ritual, and yet she did it because she thought it was the "right" thing to do. I thank God that she can have discussions with her theological son and husband. She always remains steadfast yet she knows that she does not know it all. She is willing to learn, but she will not compromise. That is a great place to be.

So, that is my top ten list. It is not comprehensive. It could not be. I guess it is just a start. I pray that the example that my mother has always been for me is evident in my own life to my children as well. Happy Mother's Day!


I thank God for the many women in my life who are mothers. While I was blessed enough to have such a great one for a mother, there are so many others that I learn from daily. I thank God for moms! All of them!

The toothless look for Brooke!

Brooke lost both of her two front teeth over the course of the past two days. It is nice to have them both out. She was not too happy when they were just hanging there. Yes, I decided to just get it all done with and pulled the second one out today. Now, she has her beautiful smile back!

As soon as they were both out, she wanted me to get a picture, so that "Gramma could see her missing teeth." This one is for both of her grandmas!

If we've ever needed you, Lord.....

I remember a song that was sung when I was a teen---"Christ is all I need." I liked the voice of the one who sang it, and I enjoyed the song, but I remember thinking to myself: "That is a nice thought, but really how does that work?" I had great parents who supported me, and I attended a Christian school that trained me. I needed food and clothes, and I am sure, as a teen, there were many other things I felt I needed, too. Christ was important, and I loved Him and wanted to serve Him, but really: "All I need" seemed like a stretch.

I have grown up (physically and spiritually), and I think for the first time in my life I really get it. I have so many blessings----my parents, my husband, my children, my extended family, my job, my home......, but there is truly only one thing that I KNOW I cannot live without. That is Christ. I don't know how and when I finally came to this realization and made it personal for me, but the song below is one that I recently purchased, and have just listened to repeatedly.

I have good days, and I have bad days, but I never have a day where I don't truly need God. It is so peaceful knowing that He is always there, and it is always enough.

I have confronted many individuals this week, some saved and some not, who are in difficult, life-challenging places, and they need Him, too! I post this song for all of us, just as a reminder and maybe, a necessary prayer for you.

Happy Easter Sunday!

Happy Easter Sunday from the Beards! We do not want to forget the reason for this important day---Jesus' resurrection from the grave; however, we do enjoy the normal Easter eggs and traditions. After asking Andrew what they talked about in junior church, he stated: "Did you know there are two names for today. (Long pause) Easter Sunday and Resurrection Sunday."


I can only get about two decent pictures before we have to take one like the picture below. Yes, my children at their finest. (Please note: This was before all the sugar they got throughout the course of the day.)

I was very happy to have some beautiful flowers growing in my backyard. Brooke was more than happy to pose with this one.

Every Easter Sunday afternoon, we have the annual Easter egg hunt. I gave them a checklist of eggs that they had to find. It was more of an adventure than just "find any old egg." They enjoyed themselves, but kept looking at their "checklist" to check their progress.

One egg (for Andrew) was just a bit out of reach.
Yes, and Brooke this year, will be playing the Easter Bunny :)
Hope you enjoyed this day in the Lord's house and with fun with family.

A new adventure for the Beard boys

In the past month, hiking boots, GPS, camel packs, and other gear have been purchased and the three Beard boys have started a new hobby----hiking. Their eventual goal is to hike the Grand Canyon trails, with a more immediate goal to hike the "Backbone Trail" in the Santa Monica Mountains. They have completed three hikes, the last one an 8 mile hike which ended up being an hour in the darkness. Andrew and Wesley did NOT like the darkness. I look forward to the day that Brooke will be willing to go, so that we can all enjoy the new adventures!

A tribute to the world's greatest grandmother

State project---the cookie phase

Wesley is currently in the middle of a rather large project. It is the first of my children's projects involving rough drafts, artwork, maps, final drafts, and cookies. Yes, I did state "cookies." Wesley selected one state from the USA, and has had to research many facts about the state. His most recent phase was to make a cookie (we actually did a brownie) in the shape of this state. We then had to do some topography on the state cookie. While it sounded like a very overwhelming project, we actually had quite a bit of fun in getting it done. Even better, we were somewhat impressed with the results.


Above, we have Wesley and Andrew creating the "spice drop" mountain ranges. Now, the lingering question: What state did Wesley choose? I want to see if anyone can guess correctly. So, what state does that frosted brownie look most like?????

A quick weekend trip

Though most of the people who read this blog are my family, whom I was blessed to spend time with this past weekend, I still want to post some of my favorite pictures. I flew from LAX to Chicago on Thursday, where my brother, Michael, was also flying in from South Carolina. We were picked up by Aaron and Linda and then proceeded to the hotel, where we completely surprised my mom for her 60th birthday.

On Friday, we enjoyed much walking and shopping to and around Navy Pier, where Mom, Aaron, and I rode the HUGE ferris wheel. Aaron, as always, was quite a riot :)



On both days, we enjoyed the "tastes of Chicago"---Chicago hot dogs and some deep dish pizza.

As a true Californian, I was amused in a variety of ways. I am familiar with signs that say to watch out for falling rocks, but I have never seen the one pictured below.

Mom and I enjoyed a good snowball fight!

What a special weekend we were able to share! It was a particular blessing to be able to enjoy the adults without the kids (thanks Gary and Danielle for helping with that). I know each of us have special memories that this Sturgill crew will treasure for many years.