I am SO frustrated that I can't share pictures yet! Beckett pulled his second tooth this morning and I haven't even been able to post pictures of his first tooth! We might get our computer back tonight and if possible, I will add pictures from the last three weeks....so get ready!

Van Morrison was fantastic! He is truly a very talented musician and vocalist! Unfortunately, he is also very (how do I put this nicely?) let's just say that he wasn't very respectful of his fans on the night that we saw him. He only played two of the songs that he is well known for. He played for one hour and thirty minutes and I only knew the words to two of the songs! Most of his other selections were off of his most recent album that hasn't even been released yet, or are not nearly as well known as the songs that I was wanting to hear, like "Moondance" or "Into the Mystic" or "Brown Eyed Girl"! We were able to enjoy his talent, but it was definitely a let down that he didn't play any of our favorites! I guess that is a chance that you take! We stayed in Brentwood with my mom and dad and had a good visit! Helen stayed for a couple of extra days with them and mom brought her home on Sunday. This was her first time to stay with Grankaki and Granbob without Beckett and she had a great time!

We are having a pretty quiet week! Many of the school systems around here are on Spring Break , but we are continuing with our lessons. No vacations around here since we broke down and paid the outrageous prices for Van Morrison tickets........live and learn! We did take the kids to see "Horton Hears a Who" last night and then went to Moe's for dinner! It was a fun night!

Hope everyone is doing well! Hopefully pictures will be coming soon!!!

We are heading to Nashville this afternoon to see one of our all time favorite artists...
Van Morrison!! He doesn't tour in the States very often, so we have never been to one of his concerts! We had this dream that we would see him in Scotland when we were there years ago, but it didn't work out that way! SO! We have jumped at the opportunity to go to his concert tonight at the Ryman Auditorium! The kids are going to stay with Grankaki and Granbob while we get to enjoy the evening with Van! :)

Our computer is still in the shop and I haven't loaded the software to do pictures onto this "temporary" computer, so I still don't have pics to share! Hopefully by next week, we will be up and running! I have several fun pics to share, so I'll work on that as soon as my computer comes home! Hope that you all have a great weekend!

Happy Birthday Beckett!

It is hard to believe that Beckett is six years old! We have had a great day celebrating his birthday! We started the morning with phone calls from all of his grandparents and then we were off to Bible Study Fellowship. We then met Sean for lunch at Chuck E. Cheese's for pizza and games! (one of Beckett's favorite places!) We took the day off from any school work and he got to see some friends at choir practice this afternoon. Marilyn had a cake for him this evening and he has received some nice gifts all day long! What a joy it is to be Beckett's mom! He is a kind-hearted, giving, fun, hilarious and thoughtful boy! I am so proud of him! We are thankful that God has blessed our family with such a precious gift!

There is a lot to share and I have some great pictures, but it may be a few more days before we get our computer back up and running! Personally, I think blogs are sort of boring without pictures, so I hope to remedy that soon! :)

The cabin trip with Sean's side of our family was great fun! Nana and Papa, (or as Beckett wrote in his journal on Friday, "the orjnl Harpers"...translation = original) Sean's sister and her family and our Harper crew loaded up and went to Gatlinburg for the weekend and enjoyed a beautiful cabin, wonderful weather (way too warm for snow), shopping, fly-fishing, hot tubbing and just enjoying relaxing time with each other! I have pics, but they will have to wait.....

Monday news.....Today was National Read-Across-America day, so for school today, we read all day! We went with the Dr. Seuss theme since this national reading day goes along with the anniversary of his birthday. So, we had green eggs and ham for breakfast, made cat-in-the-hat hats, did a few word finds and connect the dots from some of his stories, and read, read, read! Beckett was also able to take tests on all of those Dr. Seuss books on the Book Adventure web site and earned double points! Right before lunch, I was getting one of the computer tests set up for him and he said, "Mom! I think my tooth is ready to come out! Let's get to the bathroom!" So, here we went! Helen stood right beside him in front of the mirror and patted him on the back (he was a little nervous) and I took pictures like crazy! That tooth was barely hanging in there, so he played with it for a few seconds, gave it a little twist, and out it popped! He was so excited! I was too! Being the sentimental softy that I am, I have to admit that I teared up a little! It was such a huge deal for him and the pure joy that was on his face was just priceless! Maybe I'm over analyzing the loss of a first tooth, (who ME?) but it feels kind of like a right of passage from "babyhood" into the next phase of life! And I'm so thankful that I was with him when it happened and that we got to share in that excitement together! He didn't stop grinning for at least an hour! The next cool part of the story is that over a week ago when he first noticed his loose tooth, I started thinking about the whole tooth fairy thing and how were we going to approach that with him. I found a neat children's book on-line called "Throw Your Tooth on the Roof and Other Tooth Traditions from Around the World"! I ordered it from Amazon and it had been 8 days since it had been shipped! I was getting a little frustrated that it hadn't arrived! But wouldn't you know, when Beckett checked the mail this afternoon, there was the book! So, we enjoyed reading about the many strange and funny things that children from all over the world do when they loose their teeth! It was quite timely! Beckett still isn't sure what he wants to do with his tooth, and I think the whole tooth fairy thing is kind of wigging him out, so he wanted to wait another night or so before he did anything with his tooth!

So, that is the latest Harper Hullabaloo! Stay tuned for more as birthday number 6 is fast approaching! Blessings to you and your families!

No new pictures......
Still having computer trouble! They called from Best Buy tonight and said that they now believe that it is a software problem! We're not sure what we are going to do, but I miss my computer! Fortunately, we have access to e-mail and internet, but can't do all of the fun stuff like pictures! Anyway, just wanted to post a quick update. We are headed to the mountains tomorrow for a weekend at a cabin with the Harper clan. It snowed about 4-6 inches there yesterday, so we are hoping to get to see and maybe play in the snow! Beckett gets very disappointed when we have snow flurries, but no accumulation! I don't think he has ever gotten to play in more than one inch of snow! I take that back! We were in Colorado in May of 2003 when he was just a little guy and he saw tons of snow. We have pics to prove it since he doesn't remember! So.......lots coming up and hopefully I'll be able to share pictures of it all. Beckett has his first loose tooth, so I'm looking forward to pictures of that first hole in his mouth! And he turns 6 years old next Wednesday! I can't believe it! I'll check back in after our weekend in the mountains!

I'd like to ask you all to remember some dear friends at a very sad time in the life of their family. Sean's cousin, Dale and his wife Anita are grieving the loss of her son/his step-son, Corey. He died on Saturday night in a car accident. Corey was a student in my Reading class when he was in first grade and Sean had him as a student in the youth group at church. Corey was a fun-loving and kind-hearted guy who loved the out-doors! When I think about Corey, I remember how he loved hunting and riding four wheelers with his family and friends. Although I had not seen him much in the last 3 years, I have many good memories of him as a child and through his middle school years! He was 20 years old when his life was tragically cut short Saturday night. Please remember the Kollock/Bryant family in your prayers. His funeral is tonight and the graveside service is tomorrow afternoon. I want to share a portion of Psalm 71 that brings comfort at this time and I pray that it will to this dear family as well.

20 You, who have shown me great and severe troubles,
Shall revive me again,
And bring me up again from the depths of the earth.
21 You shall increase my greatness,
And comfort me on every side.
22 Also with the lute I will praise You—
And Your faithfulness, O my God! To You I will sing with the harp,
O Holy One of Israel.

My prayer for this family is that they will be "increased in greatness and comforted on every side" through this great and severe trouble and that they will experience the love and comfort of our Heavenly Father in many ways!

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers for their family!

Weekend Fun with Friends!

We are having a good weekend! Our friends Abbey, Matt, Nathan and Tyler are staying with us while their mom and dad take a class at church! They came last night for a few hours and they came back this morning! They had breakfast with us and we all loaded up and went to Beckett's basketball game! (Obviously, they loaned us their Suburban so we could all ride together!) That was fun! Anyway, the kids are having fun playing and I thought I would post a picture of them all together!

We are taking our computer back to Best Buy this afternoon and will hopefully get it fixed! They evidently didn't fix it properly last time because we are having trouble again! So, you might not see a post for several days and that is why! Take care! I'll update as soon as I can!

Weekend with the Harper's!
We had a good weekend and I have a few pictures to share. On Saturday night, we went to dinner at The Stanifer's home and had a great time! Beckett and Chase met in their class at church almost 2 years ago when we first started visiting Two Rivers and they became good friends! Our families have talked about getting together for a long time and we finally did on Saturday night! Beckett and Chase are both in Kindergarten and Helen and Carlee are both 3 years old, (well, Carlee's birthday is just days away) so everyone plays so well together! We had a great time and thanks again, Shane and Tammy, for a great evening!

After Beckett's basketball game on Saturday morning, we went to Lifeway to look for a few books! They had this display up for this summer's VBS and the kids posed for a picture!

Surf's Up!

Just a couple of pictures of Helen and her "students"! She lined everyone up on Friday afternoon and read them a story!

Valentine's Day Party!

On Thursday, we invited several of our friends over to our house for a Valentine's day party! We had a great time eating pizza for lunch, making "mailbox" bags, delivering and opening Valentine cards, and eating yummy treats! We read some Valentine stories, graphed conversation hearts and even estimated how many red and pink candy corns were in a glass jar! (Can you tell Valentine's day is one of my favorites?) We hope that you all enjoyed Valentine's day with your friends and loved ones! We had a fun day!

The whole gang!

Reading "The Valentine Bears"

Wheat and Lake estimating candy corn pieces!

Abbey and Helen with their "mailbox" bags!

Wyatt decorating his bag!

Make a free ecard - it's easy!

Creative Discovery Museum

We drove to Chattanooga this morning and met Kathy, Ty and Marley at the Creative Discovery Museum for a fun day of play and learning! We had a great time and I would recommend this museum to everyone! We will definitely go back! Thanks, Kathy, for inviting us to come and for sharing some free passes! Beckett and Helen had a great time playing with Ty, as you will see in the following pics! My only regret is that I didn't get any pictures of baby Marley! She has beautiful smiles!

Creating Valentines!

The harp playing Harper cousins!












Beckett creating a movie!













Digging up dinosaur bones!

Before we left Chattanooga, we stopped by the cemetery where my grandparents are buried and left some flowers. I had not been there in almost five years since my grandfather died, so I really wanted to stop especially since it was such a beautiful day. Mickey and Paw were very special to me and I miss them. I enjoyed telling Beckett and Helen about them as we drove home!

Zoo Trip!

On Tuesday, before Beckett's cold got pretty bad and before both of them ended up with pink eye, we took an afternoon and went to the Knoxville Zoo! With temps in the upper 60's, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to get out and enjoy the warm weather at one of our favorite places! Sean took off half of a day and went with us! We had a great afternoon!

Both Beckett and Helen are feeling much better! Helen doesn't care much for eye drops. You'd be amazed at how strong a 30 pound child can be when she doesn't want you to put a drop of medicine in her eye! It takes both Sean and me to hold her down! But the drops are doing the trick and both of the kids are doing much better! Beckett and Sean are going hiking today with several other dads and their sons and Helen and I are going shopping! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

It is great to be blogging again! We finally got our computer back this afternoon, so I wanted to update the Harper Hullabaloo and let you know what's been happening here! Unfortunately, we've had some sickness. Helen had a 24 hour virus about a week ago. She is doing much better, but she still throws up at least once a day! It is a reflux issue that happens each time she has a stomach bug. Our pediatrician prescribed her some medicine to try to help sooth her reflux issues, but it hasn't slowed down yet. I'm just washing lots of clothes, sheets and towels! In the middle of all of that, Beckett has gotten a pretty rotten cold. I took him to the pediatrician today and he tested negative for strep and the flu, but does have pink eye along with a sore throat and a runny nose! No fun! The worst part was that he had to miss our service project and the virtue of the month celebration called "Riversplash" at church tonight! He was pretty bummed out! And if you happen to see me, you might notice that I turn my head kind of funny. One of those turns where your whole upper body moves instead of your neck/head? Anyway, I've pulled a muscle or something in my neck and shoulder and it has been driving me crazy for several days now! So, if you think about it, please pray for healing in the Harper household! Sean has stayed healthy through it all and is a champ at cleaning up puke while I clean up Helen! Oh well, on to other much more exciting things.......

The 100th Day of School!

Beckett celebrated his 100th day of Kindergarten on Monday. We had a great day doing everything 100! Of course, Beckett and Helen's favorite activities had to do with food, so I've included pictures of them getting ready to make their 100 piece snack mix. They took 10 pieces of 10 different snacks and made a snack with 100 pieces! They made necklaces out of 100 cheerios, too! Beckett did everything from counting to 100 by 1's, 2's, 5's and 10's, filling in a 100 number chart, writing in his journal about what he would do with 100 dollars, singing songs and reading stories about the 100th day of school, learning how to make tally marks and guessing how many times a penny would turn up heads and tails if you flipped it 100 times, to even doing 100 exercises! (You'll have to ask Beckett how he did with the sit-ups!) Anyway, enjoy the pictures! It was a fun day! It is hard to believe we've been home-schooling for 100 days! It seems like just yesterday I was taking the pictures of Beckett's first day of school! We are experiencing such blessings being home together!

Hi Everyone! Just wanted to check in and let you know that we are experiencing technical difficulties at the Harper Hullabaloo! Our computer has "caught a virus" and not doing so well these days! Sean has tried all sorts of things, but it looks like we will have to take our computer to a professional to fix the problem! Things are going well here. Not much to report. It is VERY cold and we are spending a lot of time indoors! I'll check back in soon with updates, but wanted to let you know that it might be a few days before I am able to put any pictures up! Take care, all!

Happy Birthday Helen!

Helen turns three years old today! We celebrated her birthday last Thursday night with a "Strawberry Shortcake" birthday party! Helen had fun eating pizza and cake with her family and friends! The last three years have flown by! She is changing and growing SO much! We are so thankful that God has blessed our family with Helen Elizabeth!

Belly Dancing Princess!

This outfit was one of Helen's
favorite gifts! She
tried it on and danced
for everyone at the
birthday party!

Beckett played his first basketball game this past Saturday morning! His team is named the "Flash"! He had quite a cheering section with all of his grandparents present for the big event! It was fun to watch his team (who had practiced together two times and none had played basketball before) as they tried to figure out what to do! Beckett actually scored two points! We are so proud!

On Sunday, we went to hear the Oak Ridge Symphony. They had a special family concert. There were opportunities for the kids to make their own instruments as well as try out some of the real ones! Here are pictures of Helen making sounds on the violin and Beckett making a jingle bell paint stirrer thingy! :) We all had a great time!

Christmas 2007 Memories....

Leaving cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve!

Wearing their new toboggans and sweat-bands from Toby Mac!

Aren't they cool?

A new baby and stroller for Helen and a DJ machine for Beckett. He can really mix the beats!

Welcome to Who-ville!

Just before Christmas, we made a trip to Brentwood to see Granbob and Grankaki. They took us to see "The Grinch" created out of ICE! The kids had a blast! It was 8 degrees in the building which explains the blue coats that they gave us to wear in there! All of the Grinch characters and scenes from the book/cartoon were carved out of ice! Beckett especially enjoyed the ice slides!

Happy New Year!

It has been a busy Christmas season and I fully intend to share a few Christmas pictures, but this is all I have time for today! I need to get Christmas decorations put away so we can begin school on Thursday! Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season with family and friends! Have a blessed 2008!