Happy New Year (a week late)!!

Pathetic really, isn't it?  I was alerted by Julie Jo to the fact that I haven't posted since SEPTEMBER!  That is COMPLETELY ridiculous!  To my readers (all 2 of you), I apologize.  To myself, I apologize for not keeping an up-to-date record of things.  "2010 shall be different!" she exclaimed.

At least I'll try to make it different.  Here's hoping.

SO....what to update on?  Christmas?  It was AMAZING!!!  We finally got a white Christmas ("just like the ones I used to know") and boy was it white!  14 inches of snow blowing all over the city with people stuck everywhere!  My poor mom got caught behind a city bus that was stuck in the snow for over an hour...it took her 2 1/2 hours to get from her job at the mall to our house.  That trip usually only takes 15-20 minutes.  On a bad day.  Unfortunately, 4-wheel drive does you no good when the people in front of you don't move, as she found out!  Here are some lover-ly snowy pictures:

The view from our front door on Christmas Eve

A view from our kitchen window into our backyard

 

The front of our house...notice the 3 1/2 foot drift in the front!

Some action shots of the boy (his very first snow angel!!!)

This was as involved as Hadley got...when you can barely walk on solid ground...ice & snow does not scream excitement to you!

We NEVER get to make snowmen!  There's never enough snow in our humble metropolis!

Daddy got to taste the snow

Our snow drift was so deep in our front yard that we STILL have about 6 inches in places...and that was 2 weeks ago!  Of course, with the temperature at about 12 degrees right now, it's not going anywhere anytime soon!  Brrrrrr!!!!!

We did our usual 800 Christmases (exaggeration?  Why yes it is!), except half of them were after New Year's due to the blizzard of "aught-nine".  Christmas at Pappy & Nana's was its usual chaotic self...especially since 6 of the 7 cousins were there staying at the same time!  6 kids under the age of 9?  Good times!  It really was lots of fun...full of Mario Kart, peppermint mocha creamer in our coffee and so much ham and brisket you could feed 100 people for 3 days!

That last bit was because Grandma Hughes (Johnny's grandma) celebrated her 80th birthday with a surprise party at the fairgrounds, followed up by some caroling around town on a trailer full of hay!  SO much fun (but Hadley and I had to relegate ourselves to the truck after about 20 minutes).

The cousins (note how Madison's & Hadley's PJs match...not planned)

(From top to bottom:  Hadley, Madison, Brianna, Hannah, Sam & J.J.)

 

 

Sadly, Cousin Halle was missing...she was sick so she and Aunt Carisa had to stay home so the rest of us would not catch whatever it was she had.  :(

The gift that made Nana cry

Hadley's new baby doll (one of them...she now has FOUR!)

 Christmas Eve was spent at our house (obviously...since it was not fit for man nor beast outside) and our church did something it NEVER does...canceled the Christmas Eve service, so we ate our traditional spaghetti and meatballs and watched A Christmas Story (after J.J. was in bed...he's not quite ready for that humor!).  We made cookies for Santa...I don't care.  I believed in Santa and I loved it.  He doesn't get NEARLY the credit for our kids' presents as he did for mine (we think if we bought the big stuff, we should get the credit for it!), but he does do stockings and a few unwrapped trinkets under the tree.  Now, some people actually buy pictures (JPEGs) of Santa kneeling and photoshop it into a picture of their tree...I don't think we'll go that far.  It's one thing to believe something based on hearsay...it's a totally different thing to believe it based on photographical (it's a word....I think!) "evidence".  But we have fun and "Santa" was good to us...I got a Shark Pocket Steam Mop!  It's amazing!  It cleans the floor with nothing but steam!  No chemicals...and it's sanitized!  The thing is a miracle-worker!  But my most favorite gift was one I got to pick out (after solving a puzzle 'Santa' stuck in my stocking):  a Nikon D3000!!!  I have wanted a fancy-shmancy DSLR camera for so long I can't even remember.  And now I have one!  So look out, web!  I'm packin' heat and I ain't a-feared to use it!

Pioneer Woman...look out!

Okay...so that would require me to update more often than once a quarter...maybe I should aim a little lower for now.

Pics from Christmas morn (some VERY early...like 1 am):

Santa's deposit 

NEVER be afraid to pull a toy out of the attic and regift it to a sibling!

Swordplay with Daddy

Mom will LOOOOVE me for this one.

She's gettin' pretty good at that...

Got to love the dinosaur from Fisher-Price.  Is anyone else TERRIFIED of the giant one?!?!?  I vetoed it vehemently!

New favorite shoes

OH the cuteness hurts me!

 Elmo blows kisses

I got THREE copies of that Sugarland CD and two of Diana Krall.  I guess after 4 years of asking for Diana, people took the hint!

Now we just need to clean out the garage so you have a place to USE that beloved Dremel!

The puzzle

Since we forced my mom to come straight to our house on Christmas, she had a few gifts still at her house so after we played in the snow, she ran home in her 4WD and grabbed them and came back and spent the night again...got to love Grandma sleep-overs!  And what little boy doesn't LOVE a castle!  Especially one where the dragon eats the knights!!!

New Year's Eve is our usual get-together time w/ Carisa and Matthew because it's her birthday and we always hang out and pop champagne poppers outside at midnight and play board games and laugh at the ridiculousness that comes out of Matthew's mouth whilst playing those games.  Two years ago we all laughed so hard that he got a nosebleed!  And Carisa's mom had the only remedy for removing it from the couch cushion:  Dawn dish detergent!

Does anybody remember "My Big Fat Greek Wedding"?  How they used Windex for everything?  That's how Carisa's mom is with Dawn.  No matter what the situation, Dawn to the rescue!

"What do you mean he don't eat no meat?!?!?  That's okay...I make lamb."

Wait...where was I?  Oh yeah...New Year's Eve with the Hungerfords.

We didn't do it this year.  Instead, we had a 30th birthday party for Carisa on Dec. 30 with all of her friends and family.  Lots of fun...lots of kids, but lots of fun!  After that, we were too tired to try another night, so we stayed home and my friend Lauren came over and we played Pass the Popcorn...best. game. ever.  Except the 2nd game that comes with it.  The first game you are given clues and you have to guess the movie based on a quote, the cast, the characters or the story.  SO FUN!  The second game makes you "look like a third-grade girl", according to my dear hubby.  You have actors on cards and you have to try and match them with other actors based on movies they've been in together (kind of a one-degree of Kevin Bacon type of thing)....but as soon as you start playing, you go into sheltered hermit-phase and completely forget any and all movies any actor has ever been in!  It's ridiculous!  But still so fun to watch everyone else feel like a total moron.  :)

Only 2 more Christmases left to discuss:  Grami & Grandpa Mike's and Christmas in Cordell (Sounds like a cheesy Hallmark or Lifetime movie, doesn't it?)

Grami & Grandpa Mike's was supposed to happen on the 26th, but when it took us an HOUR to go 3 miles, we decided to wait until roads were a little more clear and there were less abandoned cars and trucks on the road.  So we went on New Year's Day.  And we were SPOILED!  I got money, scrapbook stuff, an Ott Light and other cool stuff.  The kids got pillows and clothes and toys and you name it!  Johnny got a compound miter saw and a table to put it on...and then they said they are going to build us a swing-set in the backyard!  Not just the metal ones of yore (ca. 1980)...no, no.  One of the big, custom-made wooden ones!  Helloooooo nurse!  Needless to say we were blown away by their generosity.  And to top it off, we got to play Super Mario for the Wii and eat at Red Robin for dinner!  Can't beat it!!!

Oh!  Grami makes adorable clothes now...hello, Sassy!  There's a matching skirt to go with that, FYI

 And a matching purse.

 New kid-camera!  He LOVES it!

Riding Daddy's shoulders because he's TERRIFIED by the 4-lb. rat terrier, L.B.

Daddy's new saw

The Lifetime Movie started off with us meeting everyone at a buffet to eat lunch and then heading to Meme's house where we arrived just in time to watch the Cotton Bowl where our beloved Cowboys were playing Ole Miss.  Yeah...Poke Choke in effect again.  So sad.  Maybe next year.  With a new 27-year-old QB and no returning receivers or running backs to speak of.  Oh well.

Anyway, after watching the disappointment, we headed to Meme's church to take some family pictures (which will be posted as soon as I receive ours from cousin Brandon, the famous photographer).  Then we went home.

That's it...that's our holiday season in a nutshell!  Or in a really long post that nobody will read.  Oh well.  At least I have it all down for posterity! 

Mommy's birthday surprise

Oooo! 3 posts in 2 days! Must be a record!

So Monday was my 3(ahem!) birthday. Honestly this year was the first year I actually had to think about how old I was going to be. So sad.

Anyway.....Monday was my birthday and to celebrate, Johnny let me go out to the Cheesecake Factory w/ some friends (and my mommy) while he stayed home with the kids. It was lots of fun and I got to eat some YUMMY food and delicious cheesecake. This has become a tradition ever since the Factory graced our humble town with its presence.

Johnny had me call him when we left the restaurant, so I knew he had something up his sleeve. I also knew it was 8:30 and my 3 1/2 year old was still awake, so it had to be cute. We pulled in the driveway and a little silhouette flung the curtain open in the living room window, peering out to see if Mommy was really home. We walked in and this is what greeted me:




And the reason I needed to call when we left the restaurant? This:


I had told Johnny I wanted a cookie cake, so he made me one himself! He was so proud and rightfully so! It's really good! Yeah, that's dark chocolate icing. He piped it on himself. What a guy!

Here's me and J.J. w/ the card he gave me:



And here's 2 of my friends who blessed me by coming to dinner with me (Thanks, Lauren and Laura!):



All in all...good birthday! Oh...and then last night I got to eat Olive Garden! Did I mention my hubby is going for the Husband of the Year award? :) I think he's got it in the bag!

What I learned from Little Einsteins this morning

I learned that this exists in Chihuahua, Mexico:

Can anyone hear me?

Is there anybody still left that would even care if I updated my blog? Sheesh...I can't believe the last time I updated was the day before Hadley's birthday (not counting my post that I started in May and never finished that I just posted today). I'm sure anyone who actually reads this has long given up on me and the only way they would even know is if they have Google Reader and it tells them I updated. Oh yeah...and facebook. Can't forget that time sucker!

So here's what has happened since the last time I updated (and most people who care to read this probably already know all this, so this is really just for my own personal diary-esque enjoyment):

• Hadley turned one (obviously). Pics of the bash to follow.

• We went on our annual trip to Colorado. Vacation + kids does NOT = relaxing time. We realized that if we want to relax, we're going to have to schedule 2 vacations: one with the kids and one without! But we still had fun. J.J. went fishing at the lake, I scraped the bottom of Mom's Jeep on some big rocks on a mountain pass (par for the course) and we watched LOTS of hummingbirds swarm our feeder. (Go check out the pics on facebook)
• I camped out at the Floyd Center (my old SNU b-ball camp stomping grounds) to try and get J.J. transferred into Bethany for Pre-K next year. That's right...camped. Literally. With a tent. I probably didn't need to, because once I got there only about 10 more people showed up that night (the night before) and a handful showed up EARLY the next morning, but I had lots of fun! Melissa Scott & Lauren D. came and hung out with me and played Skip-Bo and kept me company. Plus, I made some new friends and reconnected with some friends from high school that I had only talked to on facebook a couple times. Fingers crossed, we were #26 in line for Pre-K, so I think we'll be okay, since they usually take 40 or 50 transfers! (Sorry no pics...Channel 5 news got all the footage anyone would EVER need to see of me in my pj's after 3 hours of sleep in a tent!)
  
• J.J. started back at Sonlight Preschool at our church. His new teachers are wonderful! Mrs. Jina is amazing! We love her (and it doesn't hurt that she's a Poke fan!) and are very excited for what J.J.'s going to learn this year!
• OSU was ranked #7 going into their first game!!!! And we beat Georgia in our home opener, unarguably our biggest season opener ever! And OU lost! To BYU! So we went up to #5! And they dropped out of the top ten!
  
• OSU lost their 2nd game. To Houston. Because we couldn't play defense. At all. Now we're ranked #17. Today we play Rice. Any bets whether we'll pull this one off? We're only supposed to win by 14. Uh-oh. (EDIT: We did win...but not because we played well. 41-24 is NOT a good score against Rice, the worst team in their league)

Here's some pics!

Opening her present from Grami & Grandpa Mike over July 4th weekend

Crummy face after her birthday cupcake at church

Hi, birthday girl!



The other two 'H' girls, Hazel & cousin Halle

Getting ready to sing to the big girl

Dig in, baby girl!

Mmmmm...cake!

J.J. making his placemat at 'Meet the Teacher Day' for Sonlight Preschool

Best buds, J.J. & Will North, just like their mommies


I wanted a picture w/ him and his new teachers, Mrs. Paula and Mrs. Jina. He wasn't so happy the first time....then we took this picture:
I think he's happy now...what do YOU think? :)


What? I can't hear you! I have a banana in my ear! I swear that was not my intent when I took this one!

Walking to the classroom on the first day of school

An old pro at putting the backpack in the basket

Putting his monkey in the tree. It only comes down if he misbehaves.

He's really not trying to make a statement about Mia's conversational topic! There were 2 or 3 kids screaming all at the same time right then!

Bye, Mom!