I remember the day you were born...

The story of my Chloebear starts on a Sunday afternoon. We were at our pastor's house for lunch after church. I was still a week before my due date but feeling like I couldn't go another day! My pastor's wife told me I should try castor oil. I had heard of women using castor oil to start labor...but I didn't really know what it was or how exactly it started the labor. After a few questions were answered we decided that I would try it that night. After we put Abigail and Joshua to bed I mixed the dreaded oil with orange juice and drank it. YUCK!!! It was terrible and what came next wasn't too fabulous either. After 4 hours of unpleasantries I realized I was having contractions. YIPPIE. At 1 am I woke Bob up and asked him if he was ready to meet his daughter. Our neighbor came right over and we were off to the hospital. When we got there they checked me out and even though I was dilated to 5cm and having contractions they told us to go walk around the hospital and come back in a few hours to see if I was really in labor. We walked down every hallway in that place and looked at what seemed to be thousands of inspirational posters. Finally we went back upstairs and they checked me again. Big surprise...they informed me I was indeed in labor. Hello!
I had done the labor thing twice with no drugs and thought it might be fun to see what the epidural was all about. So I got one. I was totally bummed when I could still feel my contractions on one side. Right at the end they gave me more drugs and it finally kicked in but it was a complete disappointment. When Chloe finally arrived the morning of Monday January 12 the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck and it was too short for them to just unwrap. Chloe was a bit purple and they had to cut the cord right away. She didn't cry for what seemed to be forever...but it was probably just a minute. Bob had a worried look on his face and he started praying. Chloe started breathing and was totally fine. She was the smallest Baby Beek weighing in at 7 lbs 5 oz. She'll always be our happy little Chloebear. She always has a song to sing and loves to be the mommy to her baby dolls. We are so thankful for Chloe and can't wait to watch her develop and grow into a girl who loves God more than anything.

Happy 5th Birthday Chloebear! Daddy-daughter birthday date. Chloe picked Macaroni Grill.






Here's Chloe trying to blow out the candles on her purple purse cake. :)

Overbeek New Year

New Year's Eve with our family always consists of games and fat balls. This year was no exception. As previously stated we've been really into Mexican Train Dominoes so we taught our friends how to play. And Bob would never allow a New Year to be rung in without the Olliebollen (fat balls). This is a Dutch tradition which he learned about when he was a boy. They are basically donuts covered in powdered sugar. We have a deep fryer which we only pull out once a year just for fat balls. Bob had fun making them and Luke and Justin really enjoyed eating them so everyone was happy. :) Bob making the fat balls.


Here's what we all looked like after eating too many fat balls! Clarence is still working on his fat ball face.

Here's my fat ball face...and NO I do not know how many Points a fat ball is for Weight Watchers. But was it ever good! :)
Happy New Year!! God Bless.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

This always happens...I have the best intentions of blogging along the way but just can't seem to get it done. Then I do a massive catch-up post with way too many pictures...c'est-la-vie.
We were blessed to have my parents come for Christmas. It was so great to spend time with them just hanging out and playing games and doing fun things! Aside from us all passing the flu around it was most FABULOUS!
The boys went to a University of New Mexico basketball game and had a great manly man night!

The girls went to a performance of The Nutcracker and had a lovely afternoon. :)
Poppy got some sweet love from our very own sugar plum fairies.
Christmas eve excitement. Showing off new Christmas PJ'sThe 4 amigos in Santa Fe.
The fam in the Santa Fe plaza.Everyone's favorite new game...Mexican Train Dominoes! What fun!
I hope you had a blessed Christmas and a happy new year too!

A New Heart for Christmas

Abigail, Joshua and Chloe had their school Christmas programs last Friday. K4 and K5 performed "Christmas Step by Step" and told the story of Jesus birth. Joshua was Joseph and Chloe was one of the sheep. They both did a great job singing and it was really fun to watch. Chloe has always loved to sing and being on the stage didn't scare her one bit. She sand and did the motions with great enthusiasm! Her teacher told us that they count on her when they sing in class to be one of the leaders. Joshua did a great job as Joseph. None of the kids had any speaking parts, it was narrated by the teacher, but he acted out everything very well. :)
Abigail had a main part in the elementary program. It was about a group of kids who got the "Christmas day dumps". Abigail took these friends of hers to see Dr. Newheart and they discovered that their hearts were full of junk and had a hole in them that can only be filled with Jesus. As a proud and biased mom I must say that Abigail was fabulous! She was up there with a bunch of 5th and 6th graders and she did great. She even had a big solo at the end and she sang beautifully. The best part was that her solo was an explanation of the gospel...that our hearts are filled with sin and that the only one who can remove that sin and give us a new heart is Jesus. We have the solo on video and I'm waiting for Bob to compress it so I can post it.
Abigail really enjoyed being in the play and I'm pretty sure she has the acting bug. One day after practice she said, "Mommy, I really like that spot light thing!" And after a dress rehearsal the first thing she shared with Bob was that she got to wear a special microphone headset. :) This may be the beginning of many years of school musicals for our family.
And we can't leave out a photo of Josiah who just can't wait to be up on stage singing and dancing too! :)

Family Day

The day after Thanksgiving Bob didn't have to work so we decided to fill it with fun. We did McDonalds for lunch and then because it was a dreary day and cold, we opted for the indoor fun of ABQ Jump. The kids had tons of fun and burned lots of energy! FABULOUS! :) The mama and the daddy even got in on the jump action.

And lest you think I totally skipped over Thanksgiving...we had a wonderful day with friends. The Lions lost but we're thankful it wasn't a shutout. And we also discovered that our good friend Dan is totally into a game played with dominoes called 42 that Bob learned how to play recently. Now he has a 42 buddy and a partner with better stratagy than me! Seriously though, we have so much to be thankful for. In the forefront of our minds this Thanksgiving was that we were all together. Last year Bob was half way around the world. The kids and I were with family but it's not the same when you are missing someone. But God brought him home to us safely and for that we are filled with gratitude.
And yes I am sitting at the kid table...and yes we are trying to teach our sons manners (it just isn't sinking in yet).

passing the time

Quality time with Josiah. :)

Don't take it personally Joshua

I know, I know I'm late with a birthday post for Joshua. Sorry buddy! So here he is 6 years ago...all scrunched up and cute. He's our baby with a big story, which we've told a million times so most of my readers probably know but it's good to tell anyway so that everyone will know what I endured on November 4, 2002. Actually I won't tell the entire story because that would take too long, but I will tell you that I was in labor, having contractions about 2 to 3 minutes apart. I was ready to go to the hospital. Then Bob tells me that he has a flag football game that night and he's supposed to be the quarterback and they'll have to forfeit if he doesn't play. In the end I agreed. So off we went to the game. My mom and I waited in the car while he played. We called a bunch of people and breathed through contractions. At one point I got out and took a picture of him on the field as evidence. When the game was finally over he stood around chatting with the guys. Mom had to go get him! His team won by the way. We got to the hospital and Joshua was born shortly there after. It seems pretty funny now, actually I wasn't really mad about it then...that's just Bob. :)
So now that he's all grown up and 6 years old he's quite a boy! His teacher at school just adores him. She is constantly telling me that Joshua is perfect. Of course I know the truth, but it's wonderful to hear that he is such a well behaved, gentleman in his class. He is reading and writing and learning lots of math. He also does a great job with his Bible memory and catechism. And I can't forget to mention his sports skills, he's an excellent baseball player and is interested in basketball too. He got the coordinated genes for sure! :) We're so thankful for Joshua. He brings life and excitement and endless blessings to our family! Joshua's birthday lunch with daddy...He picked Texas Land & Cattle again. The boy loves steak!


Here's our boy with his buddy. He had a birthday sleepover and Bob took the boys bowling. Good times! If you're wondering about the bandage on his chin he had a case of impetigo and it was best to keep it covered.