The Hughes Family

2011-11-21T22:12:00.000-08:00

So here's the video that I love from that picture of the kids in the previous post....just listen really closely to what Carson says at the very end after he pauses when he stops the bike, makes me laugh every time:

Summer 2011 continued...

2011-10-22T08:16:00.000-07:00

It's been so long since I blogged, and SO very much has happened! I'll just have to start with small chunks and give an overview:

This is how the summer started:

We lived at this wonderful townhome for almost 8 years, but as our family grew, so did our desire for some space for the kids to be able to play outside and be free and safe....so we listed our house and decided to see what the Lord would do.

We spent a lot of time at the pool

so much so that these wrinkly toes were a regular sighting.

Downtown on Pacific Ave.

Summer soccer on the Blueberry Bombers team!

Love Spencer's curls!

We had to put our dear sweet Gracie to sleep after she got really sick pretty fast, it was very sad. This is a bad picture, but it reminds me how much we loved her and cared for her right up to the very end of her 11 years.

Carson and I started off the summer with the stomach flu....blah! But Livi wrote a nice little note for Carson. :-)

But, after that we got in some good beach time...

The kids had a lot of fun on this hill, I'll post a video soon about what they were doing here: Love the outfits though. :-)

We went camping over Father's Day Weekend and it was fun to celebrate this wonderful guy!

He had just taken a new (demanding) position at work and the 5 minute commute we were used to was now going to be a 45 minute commute, as Seagate moved their headquarters over the hill to Saratoga at the beginning of June, bummer! But we're thankful for a good job that he likes.

The kids did Vacation Bible Camp (which they LOVED this year!!), and I got to take a wonderful walk one of the mornings on Westcliff, it was just what I needed.

This was the day after my birthday, the day Jason left for Colorado because of his mom's death. We would leave the next day to join him and finish out the month of June there.

So to recap: School got out, Carson and I got sick, we had our house on the market, so there was constant cleaning/straightening/packing, Gracie got really sick and died, we went camping, Jason started a new position at work and a commute, kids did VBC, celebrated my 34th birthday, Jason's mom passed away, trip to Colorado. It was a summer of many ups and downs.

This was just parts of June.....and little did we know at the time, but here's how the summer ended: More on that "Coming Soon".

Colorado Summer 2011

2011-08-08T09:11:00.001-07:00

We took a trip to Colorado after Jason's mom suddenly and unexpectedly passed away. It was so surreal being there for this reason. It was a crazy week, completely cleaning out her entire house and dealing with all that comes with such a loss. Jason and his 3 sisters put together a very nice memorial service for her. It was in a beautiful garden setting, full of gorgeous blooming flowers, perfect for her, as she loved gardening and always had pretty blooms in her maple sap buckets and around her yard. Patti was a very kind and generous person, a fabulous cook, a hard worker, and she loved her family. She will be greatly missed.

The back range was gorgeous, still had so much snow!

This is Spencer (Bozo) pre-first-haircut

After!: He looks so much older! I trimmed up the sides quite a bit but just couldn't bare to cut off his gorgeous curls in back. Now it's getting a little long, and someday soon I might have to trim those up a little bit too. None of the other kids had any sort of curl, so it's cute to see him with them. :-)

My dear, sweet Angie:

So wish we lived closer together.

All of Jason's family:

The Cousins:

Spencer was just beginning to learn to walk

Bumpa makes awesome pancakes:

Hanging out at Pearl Street:

Livi wanted to get a feather in her hair....we walked by and she was eyeing another girl getting one so intently, she was thrilled and surprised when I said yes.

Breakfast with Uncle Matt!

Getting the moving truck all ready, Livi's all set in grandma's golden high heels. :-)

Jason and Carson drove the moving truck back to California with some appliances and furniture and other belongings. It was quite a fun adventure for them.

Somewhere in the middle of nowhere.

Salt Flats in Utah! We had just been watching a car racing show on Discovery a few days before, so it was cool for the boys to actually get to stop there on their way home and experience it!

I will always love Colorado summer sunsets.

Camping in Big Basin

2011-06-24T20:39:00.001-07:00

We had a wonderful camping trip with the Mathison Family last weekend up at Big Basin Redwood state park. This was our 3rd year of camping together and it was such fun! Our kids get along so well together and we enjoy being with their family so much!

This was Spencer's first camping trip....actually he came with us 2 years ago, but he was probably smaller than a poppy seed at that point (we came home and took a pregnancy test and found out we were expecting him!)

He loved it. Since he's not walking yet (13 mos.), he was a little dirt ball all weekend, but he had so much fun crawling all around playing with sticks and rocks and rope. He slept pretty well the first night, at first I was nervous cuz he woke up when we all came in to the tent to go to bed and was confused that we were all sleeping in there with him, but after nursing him he settled back down pretty well, and then the second night I nursed him before I put him in his pack and play and he slept ALL NIGHT LONG! He wasn't even doing that at home, and since that night he has slept thru the night every night.....and that also was the last time I nursed him. Sort of sad, but kind of nice as well. :-) I can tell he still wants to nurse every once in a while, but he's pretty satisfied with his milk and water.

Here he's enjoying a donut:

This is the adorable Breck....having a spoonful of Nutella:

Look at all that dirt all over us! What fun!

It's so hard to get good pictures of this boy....he's constantly moving, but he stopped for a minute to give me a s'more face....this boy loves the campfire, that's where he spent almost all weekend.
These girls all had their Binky Bunnies. I made one for Breck and brought it camping, she was thrilled to get it. I love the fabric for hers. They all were very loved and dirty by the end of the weekend!

We took a great hike up to a waterfall.....don't mind me picking a mango out of my tooth: :-)

Livi found a way to entertain herself by creatively tying up her shoelaces....
Beautiful little girls, such sweet friends:

My boys:
All 6 kids:

The boys:

Wonderful way to start the summer:

Love, love, love being in God's beautiful creation with such great friends.

My life in tweets

2011-02-17T10:25:00.000-08:00

Okay, so here are some random thoughts I've had today..there were many more, but these are the ones I made time to come to the computer and jot down. :-)

Gosh, I really like our new bath towels I got at Costco! (After 11 years, our white towels have gotten very drab.)

Carson and Livi chose to eat 16 carrots for dinner last night instead of the leftover lasagna I served them. At least they got their dose of vitamin A!

Big dog + no yard + rainstorm + baby = no fun, or a lot of fun if I try to make it fun by letting the kids bring lego airplanes or cars along to send worms sailing down the hills in the rain. ha!

Look over and see Spencer drooling orange drool on the floor, and then he spit out an orange Valentine's conversation heart...great! Wonder what it said? Maybe "I'm cute"?

Pound Plus chocolate at TJ's...wishing it had lasted longer than a week in our pantry, I could use some right now. :-)

Time is such a strange thing, the way I have such a hard time managing it, the way it goes by so fast some times, and slower at other times. Sometimes it doesn't seem like there is enough time to do the things I want because I haven't managed well the things I "have" to do.

I love this new dental floss....it actually makes me want to floss every night.

More thoughts to come...

More Than Half a Year

2011-01-16T21:04:00.000-08:00

Can't believe this sweet boy is 7 months old already! I think I'll say that forever, but seriously, time is going by so quickly!
His favorite things to play with are electrical cords, electrical outlets, the dog bone, the fireplace, the toilet, the dirt in the plants, anything he shouldn't, of course. He also enjoys bowls and measuring spoons, those keep him occupied for a long time. :-)
But he's still such an easy baby, so content and happy most of the time. He's crawling all over the place (has for almost 2 months!), has 2 bottom teeth, loves to pull up on things and stand there, enjoys his food, still wakes up at least twice at night to nurse and loves to get up at 6am! Needless to say, I'm tired, but I've found a new love for coffee (with cream and agave) in the mornings, which I often start looking forward to at night. :-)

Notice Jason installing the gate behind Spencer at the top of our stairs. Even after it was up, it mistakenly got left open and he snuck over there when I was cooking in the kitchen and managed to fall down all 12 stairs to the bottom. Thank God he was okay, just lots of tears, but not even any bruises or bumps.

This picture was an attempt to get a shot of his 2 teeth on the bottom, but I couldn't get him to show me, and then when did, the picture came out totally blurry. There have been many times since his birth that I have wished I had a better camera, it's a little slow, and I can't catch him very well since he's usually moving!

I think this picture of him standing up from behind is so funny for some reason.

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-12-02T20:24:00.000-08:00

We were on our own for Thanksgiving this year, celebrating with our family of 5. It had been a few crazy weeks leading up to the end of November, so it was nice to have a relaxing day at home with the fam (and long weekend with Jason home). I made a small turkey breast, mashed potatoes, stuffing, sweet potatoes, and green beans. It wasn't quite the same as having a whole roasted turkey and all the yumminess that comes with my mom helping me make the meal, but it was good and fun. The apple pie is always a highlight at the end, but we had quite an adventure with that as you can see from this picture:

I was taking it out of the oven and the oven mitt wasn't completely covering my hand, so I burned my finger and let go of the pan and all the insides of the pie slid right out of the crust and onto the stove, into the oven, on the oven door, on the cabinet, into the oven drawer and on the floor....it was a mess! But fortunately I had just scrubbed the inside of my oven door (I got some new cleanser I was excited to try that is food safe, so that was good timing!), and so I was able to scoop a lot of the insides back into the pie pan. I was just so glad I wasn't taking it anywhere or having people over to enjoy it with us, I think I would have cried then. But I just stood there speechless and then laughed and took a picture. :-)

Didn't get many other pictures from the day, but we had a nice relaxing time, and the kids enjoyed collecting leaves that morning and decorating the table.

Spencer's gearing up for his sweet potatoes!

Making placemats

Livi's turkey centerpiece

We have SO much to be thankful for!!

Spencer 6 months

2010-12-01T11:14:00.000-08:00

I can't believe our little boy is 6 months old already!!!

He's sitting up now and eating solid foods and crawling! He's such a joy.
He had his check-up this week and measured 26 1/2 inches (50%) and weighed 17lbs 12oz. (50%). He got 3 shots and has been feeling pretty miserable the past few days since he's battling a cold on top of that.
What a little love, every day I'm so thankful he's ours.

4 month Hughesies

2010-10-05T12:43:00.000-07:00

Spencer turned 4 months a couple weeks ago! He's growing so fast and I'm just trying to soak up every minute with him. I love the way he smells, his smile absolutely melts me, he's so happy and easy and fun. He's becoming so aware of his surroundings and wanting to explore. His hands are usually in his mouth, I wonder if he might be working on some teeth. He's still waking up at least twice a night to nurse and is ready to begin his day just after 6 (when we usually pull him into bed with us and try to eek out a few more minutes of rest, especially now that it's so dark later into the morning as we get deeper into fall.)

Last week at the doctor visit he weighed 16 lbs 1 oz and had grown 5 inches since birth. That's really quite amazing, isn't it??
Spencer's signature feature is his little button nose. Each of our children has had something that everyone always commented on....for Carson it was his massive cheeks, for Livi it was her beautiful bright eyes, and Spencer...it's his nose. It's really cute.

I though it would be fun to compare the three Hughes kids' pictures at 4 months old:

I sure love my family!

2010-10-05T10:19:00.000-07:00

Rolling Over

2010-09-17T09:44:00.000-07:00

Spencer is rolling over now, a little earlier than the other 2 kids did. It's pretty cute, but I have to be much more careful now, if I leave him on a blanket on the floor he scoots and spins all around! What a love.

Wild Baby Hair and an Anniversary

2010-09-10T09:42:00.001-07:00

I just love the way Spencer's hair stands straight up all the time!

And I love that we got to celebrate 11 years of marriage this August. On our last anniversary, we had no idea that God would be blessing us in the coming year with wild hair baby, and we sure are grateful He did.

Spencer 3 months

2010-09-10T09:28:00.000-07:00

I could just eat up this little guy, he's so precious!!

Olivia's birthday

2010-09-10T09:07:00.002-07:00

Our sweet girl turned 5 a few weeks ago, and we had a great celebration! She really wanted to have a tea party with her friend Sarah, so we made a reservation at a tea house nearby, and the girls got all dolled up and had a great time enjoying tea and pastries! It was really cute and she was definitely in her element.

We love who you are, sweet Livi, and we're so thankful for you!!

Chocolate Kahlua Cake

2010-07-29T09:01:00.000-07:00

This chocolate cake recipe is so delicious....

Get a Devil's Food chocolate cake mix, and to that add:

1 pkg. instant vanilla pudding
2 cups sour cream
4 eggs
3/4 cup oil
1/3 cup Kahlua
6 oz chocolate chips (regular or mini)

Mix all ingredients together and pour into a Bundt pan and bake at 350* for 1 hour.

Enjoy!!

P.S. it gets better with time....each day it seems to get more and more moist and yummy, so if you plan to bring it somewhere, maybe you could make it a day or two in advance. It also freezes really well, just wrap in plastic wrap and then in foil to keep it fresh.

Roasted Red Pepper Crostini: This one's a keeper

2010-07-23T14:49:00.000-07:00

I tried out this recipe last night when a bunch of girlfriends and I got together for a craft night. I had seen it in my Real Simple magazine and it looked good, so I was happy to have an opportunity to try it out, and I can't wait to make it again. It was delicious! So if you are looking for a yummy appetizer, this is it. Enjoy!

Greg Brown’s Roasted Red Pepper Crostini

Serves 8 (makes 24 crostini) Hands-On Time: 20m Total Time: 1hr 20m

Ingredients

2 red bell peppers
2 heads garlic
3 tablespoons olive oil
kosher salt and black pepper
24 baguette slices
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup crumbled Feta (2 ounces)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley or basil

Directions

Heat broiler. On a broilerproof baking sheet, broil the peppers, turning occasionally, until charred, 8 to 12 minutes. Wrap each pepper in a paper towel; let cool for 10 minutes. Use the paper towels to slide off the skins. Remove the seeds and cut the peppers into strips.
Heat oven to 400° F. Slice ½ inch off the top of each head of garlic and place the garlic on a sheet of foil. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the oil and season with 1/8 teaspoon each salt and pepper; wrap tightly. Roast until tender, 45 to 55 minutes. Squeeze the cloves from their skins.
Meanwhile, place the baguette slices on a baking sheet and brush with the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil. Bake until golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes.
In a small bowl, mix the cream cheese and Feta. Top the baguette slices with the cheese mixture, garlic cloves, peppers, and parsley/basil.

Our Three Blessings

2010-07-06T21:45:00.000-07:00

2010-07-02T08:28:00.000-07:00

The country ahead is as wild a spread
As ever we're likely to see

The horses are dancing to start the advance--
Won't you ride on with me?

-from Peace Like a River

I love doing life with this man!

A Sampling of Spencer

2010-06-22T18:59:00.000-07:00

4 WEEKS OLD TODAY!

Happy Father's Day!!

2010-06-22T10:25:00.001-07:00

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!

Spencer's Birth Story

2010-06-16T20:36:00.000-07:00

3 weeks ago today....
Spencer Scott Hughes entered the world, and our lives will never be the same. What a sweet addition to our family, we are so glad God gave him to us.

I was due on Monday, May 26, and we had Jason's mom come come out a few days before that so she could be here when we had to go to the hospital and then get to meet him in his earliest days. She could only stay till Thursday, so we were sure hoping she'd get to meet him. I was 4 days early with Olivia and 2 days early with Carson so I was expecting this little boy to be a couple days early as well...and both C & O were born on Sundays, so we thought that would be kind of cool if he was too....but he was nice and cozy in my belly and decided to come 2 days after his due date. :-)

Tuesday night, Jason and I decided we'd take advantage of having his mom here to stay with the kids while we went out to a 9pm showing of Shrek 4 in 3D. We hadn't been out to a movie in a long time, so it was a fun little date. I had been having Braxton Hicks contractions for a few weeks on and off, and nothing unusual or more that day, but during the movie, I did notice some funny pains at the top of my groin, kind of a burning pain, different than I'd felt before, but nothing to really make me think that I'd be having a baby in a few hours.

We came home from the movie about 10:45, and I was really tired, so I got ready for bed right away, but started having some bigger contractions that did make me think that we might be heading to the hospital soon. At 11pm I was going to crawl into bed, but couldn't because the contractions came on so fast and furious, that we knew this was the night he'd be born. I was trying to get my things together, and breathe through my contractions.

Olivia came 4 hours after my labor started, so I knew I needed not to linger around home for very long. Time went by so fast while we got ourselves organized and ready to go, and we got to the hospital around 1am. I was so thankful that Patti was there and that the kids were asleep and we didn't have to worry about calling anyone to come over to help us with them. We had to go through the emergency room when we got there because they lock the front doors after hours, so they wheeled me down a long hall to Labor and Delivery (so grateful I didn't have to walk, I think Spencer would have been born in the hallway.)

My contractions were coming every couple minutes and were really strong, but when they checked me, I had only dilated to 3 or 4 cm, which made me feel discouraged because when I got to the hospital with Olivia, I was at 6 or 7. I knew I didn't want to have any pain medicine, but I was feeling a little discouraged that I was only at 4 cm, and wasn't sure if I could do this for a really long time......but only a half hour later I was dilated at 8 cm, and the urge to bear down and push was so great, it made it SO hard. I never had that feeling with the other kids. I was most comfortable in the bed, but I thought it might help to change positions, so I tried standing up by the side of my bed with my head down resting on the pillows....that was hard....then I tried sitting on the birthing ball, which I actually sort of liked because I could slowly bounce and rock and it was a nice change of position, and felt like when I had that huge urge to push that the ball would keep the baby in till it was time to really push. Having to resist that urge was so hard and crazy intense. Jason was a wonderful support to me....giving me back rubs, constantly giving me water or juice and chapstick, encouragement and words to keep me calm and slow down, and just his quiet presence was so good.

My sweet doctor had written all over my chart to call her, even if she wasn't the doctor on call because she wanted to be there to deliver my baby. I really liked her and I'm so glad she was able to come. They called her in right away when they saw I was at 8 cm, so I just had to wait for her to get there, and when she did, she broke my water and instantly I was dilated to 9 cm and a minute or 2 later I was just about at 10, with just a small lip of my cervix still there, but I had to push so bad, that she just held it back a little bit while I pushed and it went away. I remember the nurse calling the team in over the intercom saying, "Okay, we are going to start pushing at 2:23" which was in about 4 minutes. I guess this correlated with the timing of my contractions.

So at 2:23 I started pushing. It was really hard work, and I feel like I had to focus really hard on where to push. It's hard to explain, but I had to really concentrate on doing it right. So his head came out and he made a little cry, but his shoulder got stuck in there, so Jason and the nurses had to pull my legs way back and I had to push really hard while the nurse tried to turn him a little bit. And then at 2:35 his whole body slipped out....what a relief! I didn't see it, but they said the umbilical cord was all wrapped around him, under his arm, around his waist, between his legs, etc. Not tight or constricting, but he was definitely all tangled up. And the nurse said he was kicking the whole way out, which I did feel. It was kind of funny.

They put him right up on my belly/chest, which I just love. love. love. It feels so good to feel that warm wet body and see the sweet baby I'd carried all those days. Jason cut his cord and they continued to deliver the placenta and sew me up with a couple stitches. It was a nice distraction from the pain of that to have Spencer up on my chest where I could focus on adoring him. :-) What a wonder...what a miracle, it's all such an amazing thing and I'm so glad things went the way they did.

Spencer weighed in at 8lbs. 13oz and 20 1/4 inches long!!! Our biggest babe yet. :-) And his wonderful head of blonde hair and his adorable little tiny nose, woah, what a cutie!

Seeing the joy on Carson and Olivia's faces the next day when they came to visit was priceless. It felt so right and good to all sit on the bed as a new family of 5. Thank you Lord!!

The Belly

2010-05-22T21:01:00.001-07:00

38 weeks

almost 40 weeks

When I look at these pictures, I can see now why I've gotten so many comments in the past few weeks about my belly.
Here are some that I've heard:
Woah, are you growing a linebacker in there?
Have you been thieving watermelons?
Did you swallow a bowling ball?
Wow, I haven't seen a profile like that in a long time!
Are you sure you're not having twins?
And then from 3 different 2 year olds, as they look up at me they have all pointed and said said..."Ball?"

I am feeling quite large at this point, and quite ready to meet this little guy and kiss these feet that keep poking out my left side. I am feeling really well though. Having lots of Braxton Hicks, and just waiting for them to turn into real labor. I have high hopes that this labor will go as well and fast as Livi's, but I'm trying to keep an open mind for the way it turns out.

Hopefully in the next couple of days we'll be able to post some news about our boy. :-)

"The Lord gives strength to his people, the Lord blesses his people with peace." Psalm 29:11

Dancing

2010-05-20T10:44:00.000-07:00

Livi did an 8-week dance class that just ended this week. It was perfect timing, as it finished up right before this baby is due to come. She LOVED it, and looked so precious learning different moves and twirling around. At the end of each lesson, they got to pick out a costume and fairy wings and get sprinkled with fairy body glitter, which was the highlight of the class for Liv. She definitely was in her element.

Baby Shower

2010-05-13T21:46:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago some dear friends threw me a baby shower, and it was so fun. It was a gorgeous day and we were able to do it out in my friend, Sarah's, meadow, which she turned into a lovely spot for the occasion. We ate delicious food, had fun chatting, and they even had 3 craft tables set up....one for watercolor painting, one for a scrapbooking project, and one with a sewing machine where we created a quilt for our little guy, right there on the spot...in the woods...it was SO cool. :-)
I'm so thankful for these special friends and the opportunity to celebrate the life of this boy growing inside me.

Isn't this a cool diaper cake Bethany made?
And here she is painting a picture of the scenery:

Sarah cutting the fabric, Emily working on the scrapbook, Robyn (below) sewing the quilt.

Thank you for such a special day!!

2010-04-24T08:47:00.000-07:00

This was 2 weeks ago, and now I'm feeling much more like the guy in the background! :-)
Our due date is one month from today!! So looking forward to meeting our little boy!

The Fairy Tea Party

2010-03-15T20:38:00.000-07:00

We went to Tahoe last month, and I had brought along my Family Fun magazine to read in the car. Livi was looking through it one day when we were up there and she saw something in there that I hadn't come across yet. She called me over and said, "Mom...there's something in here that I really want, and I hope you say 'yes'!" I was thinking it must be some toy or craft or something, but it was an article about this fairy tea party that some little girls had. The pictures showed white toule hanging down from the ceiling, with pretty flowers attached to it, that came down and surrounded a table that was set with a pretty tablecloth and yummy food and tea. And the girls were dressed up and had their hair done up with fancy headbands, and when she saw this, she just "had to have it!"

The look on her face as she was absorbing all this while looking at the pictures was SO cute. She had that page bookmarked and constantly referred back to it. When we got home, she carried it around all the time and slept with the magazine in her bed open to that page, and wanted to know when we were going to do our own tea party.

So we talked about it a lot, and I thought it would be really fun to actually indulge her, so I told her we'd put it on the calendar so we could plan for it and get everything together that we needed to make it as special as she was hoping it would be. She just wanted our family to be there, and I was ordered to dress up fancy, too. She had in mind exactly what she wanted to wear, and how she wanted her hair done. Jason painted her nails in the colors she wanted, and applied sparkly powder to her her arms and neck. And of course, her new earrings would be a perfect addition to the attire.

She really wanted the toule to be part of the decorations, so we made a trip to the craft store and got 4 yards of toule (fortunately it was WAY cheaper than I had thought it was going into this). All week long she made decorations out of paper and markers and glitter and hung them up all over the walls in the playroom (her old room, baby's new room). We bought some silk flowers and attached them to the toule and hung it from the ceiling. It didn't quite drape down and around us or our table, because that would have been way more toule (and $) than I wanted to have/spend for this occasion, but it did look fun & pretty hanging above our table, and Livi was satisfied with it. :-)

We got out our small table and the plan was for us to kneel by it while we had our tea, so we got out a tablecloth and set the table with teacups and saucers and a small vase of the silk flowers and cloth napkins for everyone.

We prepared the food - chocolate dipped strawberries, sugar cookie star wands, cheese & crackers and grapes, and of course, the tea.

It was so cute to see her excitement during the several days that we were preparing for this day. She was so thrilled that we were actually doing it and making it look sort of like what she saw in the magazine. Fun memories were made that day, for sure.

Here are some pictures from the tea party. :-)

Pierced Ears

2010-03-01T14:15:00.000-08:00

Olivia has been wanting to get her ears pierced for a little while now, but last week, she was really ready and kept asking if we could go and do it. We talked it over a lot and told her it would hurt, but just for a little bit, and that she'd have to keep the earrings in for a long time until the holes formed, and that we'd have to take good care of them, etc. She was determined and excited, and especially motivated by the "fairy tea party" we were planning for on the weekend....she wanted to be all dolled up for it. (another post on that coming soon)

So I took her to Claire's in the mall and we looked at all the earring options and she found the ones she wanted (diamonds of course! - the April birthstone, even though she was born in August, but they were the prettiest, I thought, too.) We walked around the mall for a little while until another gal showed up for work at Claire's so they could do both ears at the same time. We kept talking it over and she really wanted to get it done. It was the cutest thing to see her so excited for it. And the outfit she wore that day, wow, she's got an interesting sense of style, but she wore her favorite things and it just added to the experience so much. She's been ULTRA girly lately, it cracks me up.

So we went back to the store. She climbed up on the chair and held on to her babydoll tightly, a tad nervous, super shy, but very excited and determined. The did both ears at the same time and it was over so fast. She didn't even cry, but her face did get all red and she winced a little bit. She got a lollipop afterward and it was so cute to see her look in the mirror and see her pretty pierced ears. I think part of my heart was pierced at the same time! This was one of those experiences that she might remember forever and eventually tell her children about when she has to make the decision to let her daughter (Lord willing) pierce her ears. It's only the beginning of these types of situations, and this was a fun one. Hopefully she'll just keep it at that, no other piercings, tatoos, etc. till she's on her own. :-)

She's been so proud of her earrings and her ears are doing really well. No yukky crusties or anything, we're just taking good care of them and she's sure to remind me when I forget. :-)

the wince

Tahoe 2010

2010-02-26T21:31:00.000-08:00

We had such an enjoyable trip away in Tahoe for our 3rd annual trek to the snow with the Mathison and the Thomas families!

Unfortunately the Friday morning we were supposed to leave, I woke up with the stomach flu....but we decided to go anyways after resting it off for a little while and getting a bit later start than we planned. It was a long trip, but the roads were clear and the traffic wasn't too bad, and I didn't get sick along the way. :-) I felt bad bringing my sickness along with me, but we also hated to miss the trip, so I hope no one else has gotten it this week!

The 8 kids all did amazing and had such fun together. The highlight was, of course, playing out in the snow, and the dads built an amazing sled run right outside the house. It was almost like their own bobsled course, including a tunnel at the end. Here's a video of Carson going down:

Olivia and Breck

Carson and Micah

Olivia and Reese

Another favored indoor activity for Olivia and Reese was paper crafts, as well as playing with their Binky Bunnies (the stuffed bunnies I made them for their 4th birthdays). They were so cute together.

Tahoe 2010
Next year there will be another little boy in the picture. :-) I'm already looking forward to it.

Wilder Ranch take 2

2010-02-26T20:49:00.000-08:00

My mom came out for a visit a couple weeks ago, and sadly I have no pictures of us together! But we had a great time with her here. The kids loved playing with her and it was so nice to have her take them across the street to the park in the afternoons to ride their bikes and play so I could rest/nap. We had great weather for the most part, so we got to spend lots of time outside. We went for a walk on West Cliff one day, a hike in Wilder Ranch another day, and the last day we went to Capitola beach for some pizza and a little time on the sand & water.
It was great to have her here, fun to daydream together about things for this baby - the nursery, finding some great deals on cute clothes at our local consignment store, and just for her to see my pregnant belly. :-)

Here are a couple shots from our hike at Wilder Ranch, this time on the side along the coast, where the water was gorgeous and the sunshine felt so good:

26 weeks

Carson's got his arm down some critter's hole.

Valentines Day 2010

2010-02-26T20:32:00.001-08:00

I signed up to bring cookies to both of the kids' class parties this year, so we had a great time making up a bunch of Valentine's cookies:

Here's getting ready for our annual chocolate fondue dessert for Valentine's Day:

Dreamy Cream Scones

2010-02-07T20:44:00.000-08:00

On Facebook this morning, a friend of mine posted that she was pulling something yummy out of her oven and she linked to this recipe: Dreamy Cream Scones. I had to try them right away. And dreamy they were. I love scones, but sometimes it's hard to find really good ones. These were awesome. Maybe it helped that I put some chopped up chocolate chips and some cranberries and raisins (since I was out of currants), but the texture and everything about them was very dreamy. We managed to eat the whole batch today. :-) This one's a keeper.

Wilder Ranch

2010-01-31T22:36:00.000-08:00

We took advantage of the sunshine today and got out for a nice hike in Wilder Ranch. The views were incredible, and the kids did pretty good, except for on our way back when Livi tripped and fell in some mud. As much as she likes hiking, she was pretty miserable the rest of the way to the car. Carson had fun climbing trees and flinging mud and hiding in the big dry ravines created by the rain alongside the trail. And on our way down, we saw a bobcat! He was catching something, looked like a small rabbit or a mole or some other small critter. He was pretty close to us, and looked right at us several times. It was kind of creepy, but also fun to see in the wild! I'm just so glad we didn't come upon any mountain lions.

24 weeks!

It's a....

2010-01-15T14:44:00.000-08:00

BOY!!!

We had our ultrasound last week and saw some great glimpses of our little boy!!! Praise God that everything looks to be growing wonderfully, and we are thrilled to be having another boy. Carson was happy when the technician announced that it was a boy, Livi was a little dissappointed...she was really hoping to have a little sister. But I know she'll love this little boy so much. And we love that we'll have a Livi sandwich...boy/girl/boy.
We got some great pictures from the ultrasound, but we don't have a scanner, so these are pictures of the pictures, which turned out very blury.
This whole pregnancy thing is just such an amazing time and I feel SO blessed to be carrying another little Hughsie.

21 weeks

The "Salon"

2010-01-02T08:19:00.000-08:00

Livi has been wanting to get her hair cut at the "salon" for a while now, so last week when Jason was off work, we had a little girls afternoon and went to Supercuts for her first real hair cut (I'd cut it a couple times before, but it wasn't quite the same experience w/o the fun chair and the apron, etc.) She was so happy and sat so still and was really enjoying it. We just had her take off a couple inches and frame her face a little bit. It turned out pretty cute, although I was wishing I'd told her to subtly layer the back because it ended up looking a little too straight and bluntly cut, but oh well. It was fun. Afterward we went out for a little icecream treat.

2009-12-31T07:44:00.000-08:00

This has provided hours of entertainment...

Christmas 2009

2009-12-28T16:46:00.000-08:00

We had a nice, quiet, relaxing Christmas this year. As much as I was so sad that we were not in Colorado this year, we did enjoy our time at home just with each other. We got our tree at Johnson's Farm the week after Thanksgiving, which is always a fun thing to do. I just love the feel of it up there, and the kids love trying to find just the right tree to cut down.

Christmas Eve

The thing Livi was most hoping to get for Christmas was new footie jammies....they are her favorite thing in the world, so she was very pleased to get a new set from Grandma and Bumpa. Now, hopefully, there will be no more tantrums when her other pair is in the wash. :-)

We got Carson a set of clamps, springs, some rope, carabiners and some pullies, and boy has he had fun rigging up all kinds of things. Great idea daddy. He knows his son well. :-)

Livi really wanted bacon for breakfast. :-) (She didn't eat all that)
And please don't even look at those so-called cinnamon rolls there on that blue plate....cooking while pregnant has not treated me well, neither for Thanksgiving nor for Christmas. It's hard to cook (or do most things) with half a brain. Usually those are the highlight of our morning breakfast, but this year...not so much. I hope some of my brain comes back after this baby is born!! Please don't tell me I'm going to be like this forever! I barely even got any decent pictures of Christmas this year, but hopefully it was one the kids will just remember in their hearts. :-)
I love the Christmas season, all the lights and treats and traditions and excitement, but especially the pondering of what it really means, Emmanuel, God With Us!!

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-12-17T07:01:00.000-08:00

My parents and brother came out for Thanksgiving again this year, and we had such a nice week together. They spoiled me rotten with all the help they gave....cleaning the kitchen after every meal, doing our laundry, playing with the kids, dad refinishing our dining room table and front door, giving me foot rubs and just being here....they are such servants and so fun to be with!

Uncle Matt with Buzz

At lunch down in Pacific Grove

My beautiful mom

My sweet, handsome dad

By the end of this trip, my boy was on his belly swimming in the water like a seal just in his jeans

The Thanksgiving meal with my Aunt Ruth

A rousing game of Uno! Even Gracie was part of the action. :-)

The Belly

2009-12-04T20:38:00.000-08:00

So here are a couple belly shots that I had Carson take. The first one is from week 13. I tried to take this one and get it on the blog before my parents got here to spend Thanksgiving week with us, but I didn't get it up, so they got to see the real deal first instead. :-)

The second one is week 15, earlier this week. I can't believe how much bigger I seem this time around. I think it's seriously from all the food I've had to eat to keep the nausea away, and I haven't been throwing it up (much!) or exercising it off....so it's just popping right out. :-) It's okay, I've finally (this week) given myself over to losing my body for this pregnancy....for some reason it's been harder this time around. It's so worth it though. I just love knowing there is a little life deep in there (actually it's almost the size of an avocado!!)....it's such a mystery and so absolutely AMAZING to me, and I feel SO blessed to be given this gift of another baby!

Marker Fun

2009-11-16T15:32:00.002-08:00

This is what happens when a little girl gets a hold of a marker and takes it to the other room where her mommy can't see what she's doing!...

Oh Livi, at least it wasn't a Sharpie. :-)

Carson's 6th Birthday

2009-11-05T09:42:00.000-08:00

One month ago today, Carson turned 6!

He really, really, really wanted footie jammies. Carson's always loved snuggly things, stuffed animals, soft blankets, snuggling in general. When he was 2&3 years old he didn't like the footie part of the jammies so we'd cut them off at the ankles. So after a few years of wearing other jammies, he decided he wanted a new pair of footie jammies, and he was thrilled that I found some at Target that were big enough.....they look so funny and huge when they're not on!

They look pretty cute! And definitely snuggly.

We had a little birthday party with some of Carson's friends at our house. We played "Pin the sponge on Spongebob", where we took a page out of a giant coloring book Carson got last year for his birthday and cut up some sponges for each person and they had to tape them on Spongebob's nose, as close as they could, blindfolded and dizzy. :-) It was quite a hit!
And then we walked down the street to the grass where we did a three-legged race and some other goofy games. Carson had a great time.

At least 4 months ago, I got a magazine in the mail that had a picture of a Boston Creme Pie on the cover and when Carson saw it, (he's our little foodie), he declared that he wanted that for his birthday. He didn't forget it, so that's what we made. It was pretty and delicious! And I had found this sparkler #6 candle at a shop here in town, and it turned out to be really cool!!! The picture below only shows it at the end, but it was quite spectacular....the boys loved it!

A fun birthday celebration of a wonderful boy. We love you Carson!!

Halloween 2009

2009-10-31T20:35:00.000-07:00

PUMPKIN CARVING!!

I didn't get a final picture yet!

TRICK-OR-TREAT!!

Our pink poodle and Buzz Lightyear

The crew of friends we have trick-or-treated with every year.

Right Now I Am...

2009-10-26T20:19:00.000-07:00

making pumpkin pancakes at 8:30 at night because I'm PREGNANT!!!! and they sounded really good!

Yes....the third Hughes child is due May 24, 2010!!

We are so excited that God gave us this little surprise blessing, and his mercies have so been over me this pregnancy...I've been feeling really quite good, in comparison to how I felt with Carson and Olivia....it's amazing. I haven't thrown up even once yet! Not to say I haven't had my fair share of gagging (my nose is my very worst enemy right now!)

I'm at 10 weeks today, and I feel like I look closer to 20! This belly is just popping right out! Is this what happens with the third one, or am I just really out of shape, or is it because I'm not throwing up all the food I'm eating (every 2 hours at the very most, I must eat)...so that's probably not helping the belly situation. :-)

The kids are really excited. Livi especially is thrilled and she talks to the baby every day. She daydreams out loud of all the things she's going to do for the baby (hold her, feed him, buy "newborn baby diapers", etc.) She really wants a baby sister. Carson really wants a baby brother. He was so excited that after we told them at dinner a couple weeks ago, he wanted to run outside and tell all the neighbors.

So anyways, just wanted to post that. I've been such a blog slacker....I'm going to bed so early any more, that I've lost all my blog posting time (I've still been reading blogs because that doesn't take as much brain power/thought), but I hope to get some pictures up soon of what's been going on in our family over the past few months.

Check back soon!

Questions

2009-10-24T08:55:00.000-07:00

These are just a sampling of the variety of questions I've been asked in recent weeks by my kids. Their curious minds are so wonderful. :-)

What's the sky made out of?

Where's heaven?

What are drugs?

Can Guinnea pigs barf?

How do stars and moons float around out there?

Why don't boys wear bras?

Why doesn't Curious George have a mom?

2009-09-28T22:05:00.000-07:00

I just love this picture of my mom and Livi

And I love this one of my dad and the kids. What awesome grandparents they have! I'm so grateful!

Buddy!

2009-09-13T21:53:00.000-07:00

Carson really wanted to ride cousin Brianna's horse while we were visiting this summer and the timing worked perfect for us to spend some time at the stables one evening while their other horse was being trained. He was so excited. Livi was so scared. She clung to me the whole time, just watching, and then when I got up on Buddy, she sat in the car and waited. But by the end, she was brave enough to brush him out, which she thought was pretty cool.

Brianna was so sweet to lead him around so many times!

Brianna showed us everything in the barn and what it's for.

Cousins! And I love that Brianna is wearing Jason's mom's old boots...so cool!

Thank you Bridget and Brianna for such a fun experience....and for letting us ride Buddy, even though he was hot and tired. He's such a beautiful horse. I just love that you guys get to have horses and get to be with them so much. Thanks for showing Carson and Livi everything...that was a fun time. We miss you guys!

2009-09-13T21:41:00.000-07:00

I'll never know why I hardly ever hiked the Flatirons in Boulder growing up there....this place is amazing! We had fun hiking with some friends while we were there this summer. The flowers were awesome, as was the blue sky!

my dearest Angie & Brody

Loch Lomond

2009-09-13T15:34:00.000-07:00

Loch Lomond is a beautiful lake just 20 minutes from home and we love going up there and renting a little electric boat for a couple hours and tooling around on the water. It's gorgeous up there. We took a picnic lunch and parked the boat on a little dock and ate on a bench overlooking the water. They are extending the season till mid October if any locals want to head up there, it's so fun. Here are a few pics from our day.

We tried to get a nice family shot, but it didn't really work out. :-)

Livi's First Day of Preschool

2009-09-11T14:49:00.001-07:00

Livi was so excited to go to preschool this year. I think she saw how much fun Carson had last year and wanted some of that. She's at the same school as he was, but at a different campus, so it's sort of all new for us. It's such a great school, cute classroom and lots of little girls in her class.

We dropped her off that morning and she was happy, same with Thursday, in fact, she said with a smile and a sweet voice thru the little waving window, "Bye mommy, go away." But this week she has not been as excited to go. Crying during breakfast, saying she wants to stay home and be with me. But once we get her to school, she does great and is happy and is smiley when I pick her up. All afternoon she'll tell me little tidbits about her day, which I love to hear. It's an adjustment for her and us, too! It feels super wierd to be here at the house with just Carson. I've loved the time I've had with him for sure, it's pretty special to have mom all to yourself, even when there's just 2 kids in the family. :-) The first day we dropped her off and left, Carson said, "Yay, Carson and Mommy time!!"

I know Livi's going to learn a lot this year and make some great friends, what an exciting time in her little life!

her sweet teacher, Mrs. Sondreal

My boy

2009-09-09T10:06:00.001-07:00

I love the things this boy comes up with:

Fun Stuff!

2009-09-02T21:31:00.000-07:00

I enjoy reading the Family Fun magazine. They often have good ideas for crafts & activities to do, and the last two we tried this past week were really fun! I love things that are really simple but have super fun results!

Check out The Foamerater!!

and...I can't find a link to this one, but it's easy.....

1. spread 1/2 inch of shaving cream onto a cookie sheet.
2. Dot the cream w/ drops of food coloring, then swirl it into the cream with popsicle stick or toothpick.
3. Lay a sheet of cardstock on top of the cream and press lightly.
4. Peel off the paper and use a squeegee or spatula to remove the excess shaving cream. Hang or set aside to dry and enjoy your colorful creation!! Love it!

Kindergarten!

2009-08-30T22:45:00.000-07:00

We have a kindergartener! How can that be? The first 3 days went really well, I think he's enjoyed it so far, and he thinks his teacher is fun and funny. I think he's really going to enjoy his year. Mr. Kerley seems to be very into the sciences and geography and exploring and learning thru lots of hands-on experiences, which will mesh very well with how Carson learns. :-)

He comes bounding out of his classroom, seeming very happy and very exhausted.

happy

exhausted...and super annoyed that I asked another mom to get a picture of us.

It's an exciting time, this new phase we are entering. It will be neat when he starts to make friends with the kids in his class. I'm excited to see all the things he will learn this year!

Happy Birthday Livi!

2009-08-25T22:21:00.001-07:00

We celebrated Livi's 4th birthday in Sonoma with some friends, which made for a really fun weekend. Byranie graciously made 3 ice cream cakes for the 3 birthday kids we celebrated and Livi picked strawberry ice cream with pink frosting. She was delighted.

Reese and Livi are a day apart, aren't they darling?

As much as I want to freeze time and keep her the way she is now, I'm excited to see her grow in the coming year.

Happy 4th Birthday sweet girl.
you are a delight and joy
and we are so thankful that
you are in our family.
we love you dearly.

Friends

2009-08-01T20:56:00.000-07:00

My wonderful friend, Byranie, came down for the weekend with her 3 kiddos while our hubbies were away with their college friends for their annual guys getaway. I just love the company of this sweet friend and our kids have such a great time together. I'm so thankful to live close enough to see them every so often. Byranie, you are such an inspiration to me, both as a mom and as a child of God.

Livi adored baby Noelle all weekend, she was so happy to have a baby in the house. Every time we are out shopping, Livi will see a small outfit and say, "Mommy, this would be perfect for baby Noelle!"

Watermelon smiles

Carson and Moose wore their matching outfits all at their own initiative, pretty cute.

Strawberry Picking!

2009-08-01T07:50:00.001-07:00

Forts & Kitten

2009-07-30T21:51:00.000-07:00

This is the scene I have seen DAILY since school ended. It's gotten more elaborate every week, too, but it's so cool. Carson's got such an imaginitive mind and is so creative and has constructed some pretty amazing forts with our couch cushions, dining room chairs and blankets. I sort of cringe when I see the living room being torn apart every day, but it entertains them so much, so it's okay. These are the things I want them to remember from their childhood, not me being a freak about keeping the house straight. And....we are on week 7 (!) of the kids not watching tv......how can that be? We were in such a habit (and not necessarily a bad one) of watching a couple PBS shows first thing in the morning, but for some reason, and totally of Carson's sole doing....he didn't turn on the tv for the first few days of summer, and I pointed it out and since then, he's quietly been on a mission to not watch tv. It's really funny. He's lost interest in it, and so has Livi. I love that. Although I do miss our little brown friend's morning appearance, Curious George. I sure like that show. :-)
So instead of watching tv....they've begun building forts and playing Kitten.....usually Livi is the kitten and Carson is the Dada (he calls himself that). It's fun to watch them really getting into it and playing so amazingly well together. I love what good buddies they are.

Breakfast on the deck

Dressing up in Daddy's biking gear

...and his CSU garb.

I can't remember what this was....some sort of moon travel/motorcycle/superbaby flying game.

Polenta Tamale Pie

2009-07-30T21:39:00.001-07:00

Here's a recipe for a dish we really like around here. It's easy and good for a crowd and super tasty.

Polenta Tamale Pie:

1 lb mild Italian sausage
1 1/2 Tbsp. chili powder
1 Tbsp. ground cumin
1 16 oz. jar salsa
1 15 oz. can black beans
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 small can corn
1 small can olives
2 1lb. rolls polenta, sliced into 1/3 in. thick rounds
3 cups shredded pepperjack cheese (or if you want it less spicy, sub cheddar/jack)

Saute sausage in large pot over medium heat, breaking up. Add chili powder and cumin, stir 1 minute. Add salsa, beans, corn, olives, broth. Simmer until mixture thickens, about 10 minutes. Mix in 1/4 cup cilantro, season with salt & pepper.

Oil a 9x13 glass baking dish. Place half of polenta in dish. Top with sauce and 1 1/2 cups cheese, then remaining polenta, cheese & cilantro. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover w/ foil, chill.)

Preheat oven to 350*. Bake freshly assembled pie, uncovered until heated and sauce bubbles, about 35 minutes. Or bake refrigerated pie, covered 20 minutes, then uncover & bake until heated thru ~ 35 min.

Enjoy!!

A Boy at the Beach

2009-07-30T21:13:00.001-07:00

Origami boxes

2009-07-30T20:46:00.000-07:00

These were some end-of-the-school-year presents for the teachers at Carson's preschool. We filled them with mini chocolate chip cookies that we baked (which was such fun....trying to come up with the perfect tiny bite-sized cookies!) I got this tutorial a while back and have used it several times. The boxes are simple to make, and they turn out so cute.

Quilt Giveaway!

2009-07-29T13:54:00.000-07:00

My friend Amber just posted this on her blog and how fun would it be to win?! I'm blogging about it here to be entered a few more times. You can do it too! Go here to enter. Isn't it beautiful? I just love the colors they used in this quilt and it would go great on Livi's bed. :)

Big Sur Camping Trip

2009-06-22T21:07:00.000-07:00

Here's a smorgasbord of pictures from our super fun camping trip a couple weeks ago down at Pfeiffer Big Sur Campground. We live in such an amazingly beautiful place, and it was so fun to go camping as a family for the first time ever! The kids LOVED it and Carson was in his element...dirt, fire, water, s'mores, and a tent with a "pet den" that he slept partway in. :-)

The scenery is unbelievably gorgeous!

Livi waking up in the morning, smiling as usual. She slept the best of all of us.

We went on a beautiful hike to a waterfall, and then up further to a valley view.

Carson found the biggest dandelion we've ever seen....look at that dirty face! I think it was like that most of the weekend. :-)

Morning snuggles.

A powdered sugar donut breakfast. Yum!

It was such a great time. It felt like a good balance of relaxing, hiking, reading, playing, and all around memory-making. We taught Carson how to play Checkers and Battleship which were fun to play in the sunshine at our picnic table. Livi took a nice nap after our hike, so I got to sit and read in the sun while Carson and Jason explored the river for a couple hours. We are looking forward to going camping again this summer.

"The Best" Cinnamon Rolls

2009-06-10T08:47:00.000-07:00

This recipe comes from a dear friend of my mom, who is known for her DELICIOUS baking and cooking....she is amazing and I hope to acquire some more recipes in the days ahead, especially her recipe for Snicker bar-like candies. Yum.

Janelle would bring these cinnamon rolls into the church office where I used to work and they'd be devoured quickly. When I was looking for a recipe that I wanted to become a tradition for Christmas breakfast at the Hughes' house, I immediately thought of these and tried to get her "secret" recipe. She sweetly emailed it to me and so I present it here since several friends have requested it...I can't help but share the love....Enjoy!

4 1/2 to 5 cups flour
1 pkg. yeast
1 cup milk
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
3 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup flour

In large mixer bowl combine 2 1/4 cups of the flour and yeast.

In a small saucepan heat the milk, 1/3 cup butter, 1/3 cup sugar and salt just till warm (120-130 degrees) and butter is almost melted, stirring constantly. Add to the flour mixture. Add eggs. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping sides of bowl constantly. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes. Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much of the remaining 2 1/4 to 2 3/4 cups flour as you can.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough of the remaining flour to make a moderately soft dough that is smooth and elastic (3-5 minutes). Shape into a ball. Place in a greased bowl, turning once. Cover; let rise in a warm place till double (about 1 hour).

For filling, combine brown sugar, 1/4 cup flour, and cinnamon. Cut in remaining butter till crumbly; set aside.

Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Roll the dough into a 18 x 12 rectangle.

Sprinkle filling over dough and roll up jelly-roll style and slice into 12 pieces (get some plain dental floss and use it to cut through for easy slicing that won't mash the dough....cool trick!)
Arrange in a greased 9 x 13 inch pan.

Cover dough loosely with cloth or plastic wrap, leaving room for rolls to rise. Let dough rise in a warm place till nearly double. About 45 minutes. OR instead of letting dough rise and baking immediately, you can refrigerate dough for 2-24 hours. Then when ready to bake, uncover and let stand in a warm place for 30 minutes till rolls are nearly doubled.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until light brown.

While still warm frost with a powdered sugar glaze. I usually melt 3 Tbsp. butter, add 2 cups powdered sugar, and then thin it to desired consistency with half and half. Drizzle over warm rolls.

Delicious!

I didn't have any pictures to post with this recipe because all the evidence was eaten. :-)

Balance

2009-06-05T07:54:00.000-07:00

If anyone lives near a Trader Joe's and needs a really delicious dessert....I have found a new favorite! We love ice cream in our house and we love the chocolate/mint combo....well Trader Joe's has their own Mint Chocolate Chunk ice cream and it is truly one of the BEST ice creams I have ever had.....something about it just is SO delicious....you've got to try it if you like that combo.

And to balance out the unhealthy part of eating a bowl of delicious ice cream....I've come upon something else at Trader Joe's that I eat daily as well. I know I should probably be taking a daily vitamin to make up for the things I don't eat enough of (veggies!) and to give my body other vitamins/minerals it needs, but I just don't enjoy taking a swallowable one that has a nasty aftertaste....so while buying my kiddos some vitamins at TJ's recently, I noticed they have a multi-vitamin in gummy form (for adults!!!). So I've been taking my daily vitamins now since they taste like candy!! Hey, it's better than no vitamin at all, right??

So if you can, head to your local TJ's and see what fun things you can find! I'm not sure how I lived all those years without this wonderful store.

Colorado Trip Spring 2009

2009-05-31T21:41:00.000-07:00

I took the kids with me to Colorado a few weeks ago to spend the week with my brother who lives at home with my parents, while they went on a much needed vacation. We had a great time visiting and got to do some fun things and see some special friends.

Gloria and I went to Colorado State together. She was a freshman when I was a senior, but we clicked so fast and became good friends. We haven't seen each other much over the past 8 years or so, but we've kept in touch and it was so fun to get together in person and meet each other's kids for the first time. Gloria is such a great mom to her sweet 3 boys and loves her husband dearly and seeks the Lord daily, I really admire her and wish we lived closer so we could get together to play more often. Carson had such fun with her boys, digging for bugs in the back yard was a highlight of the afternoon. Thanks for making time to hang out with us, friend!

Livi had fun in the sandbox in Gloria's backyard.

We got to spend some time with my friend, Angie, and her 3 sweet kiddos. The kids had fun painting and playing outside. Angie convinced me to go to her Zumba class with her and it was so much fun! We took all the kids and put them in the childcare at the rec center and off we went to our class. I'd been wanting to try Zumba for a while, so it was super fun to do it with her for the first time. I stumbled along, but had a great time. The music is fun and I can see it could be a really great workout once you get a hang of the moves and work it. Angie works it. :-)

We spent a wonderful day downtown in Boulder at the Farmer's Market and then walking all around Pearl Street, where the tulips were absolutely stunning.

Don't the kids look thrilled that someone was nice enough to take our picture together on Mother's Day weekend?!

Livi enjoying some ice cream on the back of a snail

Carson and Livi had a great time dressing up in Grandma's robes and snuggling up or doing some martial arts moves with their blow up baseball bats from Chick-fil-A.

Our plane was delayed about an hour returning home, so we spent lots of time going back and forth on the moving walkways. The kids did so great on this trip. I feel like they are at such easy ages to travel with and it makes it so much more enjoyable!

Dinner anyone??

2009-05-23T20:38:00.000-07:00

I've really enjoyed purusing Our Best Bites recently, and we made these Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos the other night...they turned out really tasty! They were so easy and the whole family liked them. We dipped them in some salsa verde, but pico de gallo would be fabulous as well. They made for a really great summer dinner. There are so many other things on their blog that I would love to try....check it out and let me know if you try anything good, too!

Flowers

2009-05-16T10:58:00.000-07:00

First cuts of this year's roses:

We have 6 rose bushes in front of our house and they are blooming really well so far. I love having a jar of fresh flowers on the kitchen table. It makes me happy every time I look at them.

Fun with Family

2009-05-15T14:33:00.000-07:00

My parents came out for a visit all the way back in March and we had a great time with them. We got to do a lot of fun things and enjoyed some great weather.

We took a hike through the Redwoods down to the river to play for a while. Bumpa is a good rock skipper. :-)

Livi was eager to get in the water, although it was VERY cold.

My beautiful mom enjoying the sunshine on our front porch.

Dyeing Easter eggs

Bumpa made a space helmet for Carson.

A walk down on the Santa Cruz Wharf for lunch and a little treat at Marini's Candy shop. Carson had wanted a big lollipop for a long time, and he was thrilled with his selection.

We drove up Hwy 1 to a small beach we call Pebble Beach, it's a fantastic place to explore with the tidepools and the beaches made of the prettiest colored pebbles. It was a tad colder that day than we expected, but we had a great time.

We also got to enjoy the beaches closer to home.

Mini Firefighters

2009-05-15T14:27:00.001-07:00

These guys crack me up!

Smoothies

2009-05-15T14:01:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things to eat for breakfast or a snack is a bowl of plain yogurt (of course the cream top is the best, with all that extra goodness), topped with fresh sliced strawberries and granola (we like the Nature's Path Organic Pumpkin Flax Plus granola). It hits the spot every time. So I was excited when we flew home from Colorado last week and stopped by the Jamba Juice at DIA for a little pre-flight treat (since you have to pay and arm and a leg for anything to eat on the plane these days, sheesh!....what happened to "free" pretzles???). They have a smoothie called the Chunky Strawberry that is essentially this same thing all blended together with peanut butter & soymilk and topped with bananas. So we tried it and it was SO good! I've been replicating it at home, using Trader Joe's plain frozen yogurt and strawberries and granola and peanut butter. We didn't have soymilk on hand this week, so I've tried orange juice for one and cran raspberry for the other. Soymilk would be better, or maybe even cow's milk would work, but they are good this way, too. I never thought about adding granola to a smoothie, but it's quite tasty.

Check it out...

2009-04-30T13:28:00.000-07:00

My friend, Dawn, makes THE CUTEST hair clips I have EVER seen. She just got her website up and running and it, too, is so cute! These would make a great gift, or you might just even want to get some for your little girls! I am telling you, you won't be disappointed. The hardest part is going to be picking out which ones to buy, you might just want them all...they are all unique and so fun. So check out the Precious Pretties!

Guinea The Pig

2009-04-30T08:48:00.000-07:00

We got a new pet this week and she's so sweet! It's kind of wierd to think that we have a little rodent in our house, but I had a feeling we would at some point, so why not now?! :-)
Carson's been wanting a guinea pig for some time, a friend of his has one and their family said they are pretty easy pets. So we went to PetsMart last week and after holding one, Carson fell in love with this particular one that has a funny cowlick on top of it's head. It's really cute and the coloring is really pretty. White with a nice gray/brownish color. Both kids have had a really fun time playing with her, even Livi, who I thought would be more timid about it, has loved her. Gracie, the dog, doesn't seem to really care much. The first 2 days she'd go up to Guinea's (yeah, pretty original, eh?) cage and sniff and bark, but now she doesn't seem to care. So, now we'll have more opportunities to teach a little responsibility around here. Carson is our animal lover, it's been so cute to see him get giddy happy with her crawling all over him.

Who needs comic strips?

2009-04-02T08:07:00.001-07:00

Need a good laugh today? This really got me going this morning. Maybe it was due to a lack of much sleep last night (Carson woke up at 1:30am, Livi peed in her bed at 3am, Jason was up coughing for an hour till past 4am...) But I think it would have been this funny anyways. Check it out.
Happy Thursday!

2009-03-30T22:03:00.000-07:00

Exercise is more fun if you have a partner!

A Dance....by Livi

2009-03-16T21:11:00.000-07:00

Tahoe with friends

2009-03-12T10:02:00.000-07:00

We got to go play in the snow in Tahoe a couple weeks ago, and we had such a fabulous time with our friends. Carson played out in the deep snow outside the cabin for a good part of each day, he was in heaven! The guys built a great snow fort, and created small sledding hills, it was such fun! This was the second year our families have gone up to the snow, and we are all committed to making it a winter tradition for as long as we can....and next year we hope to add one more night as the time just passed too quickly.

Livi was so happy to have a baby in the house!

I love this picture of Leif catching snowflakes!

The snow fort!

Byranie, me, Kelli

Muffin or Cupcake....you decide!

2009-03-12T09:52:00.000-07:00

Here's a super easy, super yummy treat that we like to make at our house:

Mix one box of cake mix (we like chocolate!) and one 15 oz. can of pumpkin together, bake as directed for cupcakes, about 20 minutes. Just those 2 things, don't add the eggs or oil or water, just the powdered cake mix and pumpkin, how easy is that?!

Then you can decide if you want to eat them for dessert or just as a "healthy" snack (with all that pumpkin in there, we justify them being a snack).

Enjoy!

2009-03-07T22:32:00.000-08:00

Please pray for our friends Jenni, Jaron, Avery, & Riley...they are in need of God's healing hand and mercies upon their daughter Riley, 17 months. To follow their story, you can read their blog. Riley has had a lot of trouble with Reflux and just recently went in the hospital to have a feeding tube placed to try to get her to gain some weight. An MRI revealed a tumor on her brain, and they are currently awaiting the pathology report after having the tumor removed last week.

Catch up

2009-03-04T14:48:00.000-08:00

I've been in a blogging rut! Life's just sort of been chugging along, and I've wanted to capture some thoughts but they seem to be too fleeting for me to remember and blog about. Sometimes it's easier for me to think about my life in terms of "status updates" like on Facebook and I've considered just writing a post with those, but like I said, they've too quickly left my brain before I could record them. :-) I'm an out of sight - out of mind kind of girl, like if I don't write it down, I probably won't remember it too well, if at all. So maybe that means I should be even more careful to blog or journal on paper or something!

To recap a little bit of the past while, here's a pic of the bagels we made. It was so fun and really easy (it took about 4 hours from start to finish, but it was worth it and lots of that time was waiting for the dough to rise). They were delicious, and I told my friend, Kristi, that I'd save her some, but somehow they all got gobbled up, so I guess I'll have to make them again and share them this time! We did Asiago cheese and Cinnamon and Plain. Here's the recipe.

We were having really nice warm winter weather until a couple of weeks ago when the rain set it, so we took advantage of it by being outside a lot.

We went down the the aquarium with Robyn and Ocean and had fun seeing all the wonderful creatures! Livi had fun playing in the Splash Zone and spraying water.

Valentine's Day at our house always involves chocolate fondue....so delicious and fun, I think we all ate till we had bellyaches!

Livi made a "feeding machine" for her baby, and she wanted to take a picture of me feeding her.

Livi is officially completely out of diapers!!! She'd been wearing them at night for a long while, but once we realized she was drinking too much water at night and stopped that, she was able to stay dry all night. After earning stickers for staying dry 10 nights in a row, we decided to try undies for good. Only one accident during the night has occured and that was several weeks ago, and it was my fault for forgetting to have her go right before bed.....so yay! It's so great to be diaper free! She got to go to Toys 'R Us and pick something out as a prize. She wanted this swim baby....but got scared by it in the tub, so now she just plays with it without batteries. :-)

Our days have been filled with goodness & mercy, I'm so thankful for the life God's blessed me with. Maybe some deeper thoughts will be posted in the coming days. :-)

Food

2009-01-19T21:07:00.000-08:00

Here are a few recipes I've used recently and really enjoyed....so maybe you would like to add them to your menu this week. :-)

The first I got off of a blog I stumbled upon called Confessions of a Bake-A-Holic.....she's got some great recipes on her site. So here's the link to a really delicious black bean soup - super easy and healthy. Add some cornbread and maybe a salad and you're set! Easy shmeasy.

We've also tried her Raspberry Coffee Cake, and that was delicious.

And I can't WAIT to try these bagels....they look so yummy.

Actually I've tried several of other recipes on her blog that have all been wonderful....so take some time to browse thru and maybe you'll find some things to add to your weekly eats.

Also, after my friend Amber mentioned she was making Truck Stop pancakes, I googled it and found the best pancake recipe I've come across....they are really good. A new family favorite, so thanks, Am, for the inspiration! :-)

Tidepooling in January

2009-01-18T22:49:00.000-08:00

Projects

2009-01-11T17:01:00.000-08:00

Here are a few things we've done in the past month or so that we've had fun with, and since they are more "wintery" things instead of "Christmasy" things, you could still do them and have some fun, too!

Felted Pomander by betz white
Granola by Everybody Likes Sandwiches
Merengue Mint Melties by Everybody Likes Sandwiches, oh yeah, and that UBC cake is really yummy, too, as is the Snack Mix, both of which she mentions in this post....I like her stuff! Doesn't she make her food look so pretty and delicious?! Today we made her Migas for a different kind of breakfast & Jason even liked it!
Apron by CraftStylish
Quilled Snowflake Ornament by reese dixon.....very easy and turned out really cool!! I unfortunately tried to increase it's coolness by adding glitter, but the kind I used was too big and it ruined it so much I had to throw it away....bummer. It looks so intricate and hard, but was simple to make and so pretty!
Glittery Window Clings by Family Fun magazine

Christmas in Review

2009-01-10T10:19:00.001-08:00

Carson had a Christmas program at his preschool and it was SO cute! He sang all the songs with enthusiasm and looked so happy up there. We've never seen him do anything like that before, and it was so precious.

Carson the Paleontologist

Livi lovin' on her new baby with her cradle.

Carson was thrilled to get mountain bike gloves. Jason took him out for a 4.2 mile ride thru the redwoods last week and they had so much fun. I love that they can do that together.

Livi's been really into dancing lately and now has the outfit to do her moves in.

Tree & Eggnog

2008-12-21T22:02:00.000-08:00

One little Hughes family tradition is to wait to have our first eggnog of the season when we put up our tree. Yum.

O Christmas Tree!

2008-12-19T15:10:00.000-08:00

We went to Johnson's Farm again this year, we just love that place. Nestled amongst the redwoods, it just has a really wonderful feel there. It was a gorgeous day to be there, and we took the tractor hayride up to the top of the hill where we got to roll small pumpkins down the hill and try to get them through a big tractor wheel, so fun. We found a perfect little tree, and he's made a nice addition to our living room. I always love to browse thru the little shop they have in their old barn. Teri (the owner of the farm and who is in my Bible study) has great taste for the things she has in the store, cool ornaments and home decorations, toys, etc. It was a fun day.

Carson was lovin' the goats!

If only the kids didn't look so blah and disinterested, we could have had a good Christmas card picture! I think they were nervous about the man taking the photo. :-)

Thanksgiving Week

2008-12-04T21:31:00.001-08:00

My parents and brother came out to visit for the week of Thanksgiving, which has sort of become a tradition since we moved out here. It was a great week, but it went altogether too fast. The kids had such a great time playing with them, and I really enjoyed their company and help! Like usual, I don't pull out my camera enough, and for Thanksgiving day my camera was lost for a while, so no pictures of our delicious food and our family gathering....but here are a few pics from the week. Mom, Dad & Matt....I miss you like crazy!!! Thank you for coming out to visit us!

We took them to Gilroy Gardens for the last open day of the season. It was busier than I've ever seen it down there, so we didn't get to go on everything, but it was fun for the kids and to show them what it's like.

Uncle Matt

Can't wait till the next time we can be together again!

The Paint Job

2008-11-25T22:39:00.001-08:00

So you remember this sneak peak photo from my last post?:

Here's the reveal:

We really like it. It's added some nice warmth to the room and makes us excited to find some other nooks we can paint!

Things we've been up to:

2008-11-18T22:20:00.001-08:00

We have lots of white walls in our house. But painting them is hard because the walls in one room lead to another with no breaks and that leads downstairs, etc....there are not many good stopping points. But we have this little window nook in our living room that we decided to spice up a little bit. I loved it on the paint chip, but when it first went on, it kind of freaked me out. But Jason finished it up when I was gone at a birthday party for the afternoon, and when I came back, it was SO awesome, I love it. It really warms up the living room. I haven't taken any after shots yet, but when I do, I'll put them up.

My friend Bethany had made some really cute little creations out of rocks, acorns, dried up moss, and googly eyes. Hers were way cuter and much more "natural" looking, but the kids had fun painting the rocks and giving them some character....they make me smile. Googly eyes make anything funny.

Grandma Patti (Jason's mom) came to visit last week, and I didn't get any pictures of her.....Patti, you'll have to email me some if you can! Patti is a really great cook and she roasted some sugar pumpkins and we made pumpkin puree for some pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting, very delicious and so fun to use fresh pumpkin.

We went to the aquarium in Monterey, I just love that place. There's always something new to see each time, and there are so many amazingly crazy creatures out there. My favorite part is the Jellyfish.

We went to the beach on Saturday. It was perfect weather and I can still feel my sore muscles from playing frisbee for a long time. It was a great day! Gotta love Livi's get-up...the sunglasses that look like ski goggles, the crazy hair and the undies. :-)

Livi loves to take pictures....this is one she took of us the other night. She does pretty well!

Gingerbread Pumpkin Pancakes

2008-11-03T14:11:00.001-08:00

I wanted to repost this recipe, because it makes for such a delicious autumn breakfast.

This is one of our favorite recipes. We got it from Trader Joe's on a day that they were sampling these and they are so good! They make a great breakfast, but they are also good if you make extras and put them in the fridge and then pop them in the toaster for a snack. It makes about 22ish thick, hearty pancakes, but you can easily halve the recipe. Enjoy!

Beat together 2/3 cup brown sugar and 4 eggs
Add 1 cup canned pumpkin
1 1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup butter, melted
Mix together.
Then add 3 cups flour
4 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. ginger
pinch salt
pinch nutmeg

Cook on your griddle and have a great breakfast!

Halloween 2008

2008-11-01T10:50:00.000-07:00

Carson dressed up as Robin Hood this year, and Livi was a Super Baby (Dora's little sister). Livi was really excited to dress up, but wasn't very happy when we were out with our friends last night. She kept saying she was tired and cried a lot....so we didn't get very many good pictures of her outfit, but she had fun wearing her costume. Carson had a great time dressing up and trick-or-treating!

This was when we got home and Livi's "diaper" had been taken off and Carson's face is covered with all the chocolate he ate in the car on the way home. :-) It was a Happy Halloween and we always have fun being with our friends for this night.

The Box Bag

2008-10-30T09:05:00.000-07:00

I found this box bag tutorial a long while back and was excited to have some time to make one for my mom's birthday. It was really easy once I worked out some of the kinks from the tutorial, and I definitely hope to make some more. I used some Peltex, heavy interfacing, to make it really sturdy. I think it would make a really great toiletry bag or for some yarn and needles for a take-along project bag. :-)

2008-10-27T21:44:00.000-07:00

Usually at least a couple days out of the week, we try to do a quiet time in the afternoons when Carson is at school. Livi's pretty good about staying in her room and playing and sometimes she'll crawl up in her bed and go to sleep. Lately she's been wanting me to pull out the trundle bed so she can sleep halfway on that and halfway on her bed, silly, but it works. Last week, she was playing nicely for a while and then it was quiet so I went down to check on her, hoping she'd fallen asleep, and here's what I found:

She had taken out every piece of clothing from her dresser and strewn it about...

And then, here she was, in dreamland somewhere under these pink covers...

And even though she really didn't have fun cleaning it up, she decided to do it again during her next quiet time, after which I ordered some other consequences besides having to clean it up again and she didn't like those ideas, so she hasn't done it again....yet. And now we have newly sorted and organized drawers, which was probably much needed.

Pumpkins

2008-10-27T21:27:00.000-07:00

We had fun getting pumpkins this year at the same patch we've always gone to. I love the location, how you can see the ocean down the hill and the colors of the orange pumpkins up against the tan hay, the bright blue sky, the green fields & blue ocean down below is so cool.

Fall Fun

2008-10-27T21:16:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago we went to Gizdich Ranch for a birthday party and Carson had loads of fun in the apple orchards when he went exploring with Jason.

Sewing fun

2008-10-17T11:20:00.000-07:00

About a month ago I made this purse for a friend, and I had so much fun making it. I had made one for a different friend early this summer and she was carrying it one day and someone commented on it to her at a coffee shop and she told her her friend made it for her and told her my name cuz she wanted to order one, and come to find out we knew each other from playing Bunco a few years ago! What a small world. So I had ordered this awesome canvas from JCaroline and it was calling out to be made into a bag. I love the way it came out. These are the kinds of things I wish I had more time to make, but there will be a day and time. :-)

LIFE

2008-10-17T09:43:00.000-07:00

I have to say that I just love these days of early childhood. I don't know what's in store for us in the days to come or what it's even like to have older kids, but for now I'm loving this stage.....don't get me wrong, it's hard, hard work and I usually plop on the couch with exhaustion at the end of the day, but there are just some things that I want to savor for now, for gone soon will be the days of laying in bed in the morning waiting to wake up until my kids come in or call out for me from downstairs. I know alarm clocks will soon be a necessity, but for now I'll have it be the voices of my sweet kids. And gone soon will also be the days of playing at the park in the mornings and slowly getting ready for the day, and having the kids trying all kinds of crazy experiments to keep themselves busy during the day. I know Livi (and I) will sure miss Carson when he goes to school every day, they play so well together, entertaining each other for hours on end. Not that that gives me any free time, for they constantly need monitoring, as their creativity can sometimes lead to chaos, messes, destruction, etc. but they sure do have fun together, and play so nicely! I'm thrilled and thankful for that, it sure is a blessing to have them get along so well and love each other.
Some day I'll get to do more of the things I want to do but can't right now....sewing, paper projects, cleaning and more home maintenance, deeper conversations with friends over coffee during the day, etc., but for now I'll try to squeeze those things in when I can, but savor this ever so fleeting time I have with my young'ns.

Livi in Pink

2008-10-14T07:46:00.000-07:00

I just loved the rain boots with the skirt!

She brightens my days...

Carson's Golden Birthday

2008-10-08T21:33:00.000-07:00

Carson celebrated his Golden birthday this year, he turned 5 on October 5th. I can't believe he's 5 already! We love you Carson and think you are awesome!

I came home from the MOPS convention in Dallas the morning of Carson's birthday, so when we got home from the airport we hung out for a bit and then went to the Boardwalk for some rides, and that was so fun! Carson's favorite was the log ride, which was really fun. He's kind of a thrill seeker, and tends to love the roller coasters and crazy rides the best. It was a beautiful day down there and we had lots of fun.

We came home and had a little party in our driveway with the neighbor kids. It was a dinosaur party, complete with a dinosaur egg pinata that we made several weeks ago out of paper mache & a balloon. Fun stuff. The kids all went up to the court and rode their bikes and scooters till dinner time. It gets a little crazy out there with 14 kids riding around, but they all have so much fun and I'm super grateful for such great neighbors, it's such a blessing.

The next day we had a little playgroup party at the park with a few friends and more cupcakes. :-) Thank you everyone for celebrating our big boy, he had a very special birthday and we are thankful for all of our friends who love him.

We love you sweet boy!!! Happy 5th Birthday!

Jason's Birthday!

2008-10-08T21:24:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Jason's 31st birthday with a chocolate cake for dessert, complete with a messy face contest. :-) Happy Birthday my love.

An afternoon at the River

2008-09-14T22:59:00.000-07:00

We went to a local river a couple weeks ago to let the kids have some fun and to spend some time with our friends. It was so pretty and Carson was loving exploring the rocks, the rope swing, the water and the surrounding trees. Livi had fun making soup on the beach with her friend Tori, and she even ventured out onto the rocks a couple times. It was a nice afternoon, and then we went to our friends' house afterward for some hot dogs, watermelon and fresh tomatoes from her garden. We had good conversations and I left wanting to spend more time with them. It was kind of a "summer's ending, bring on the fall" type of day. Very pretty.

A Post Script

2008-09-04T18:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Carson realized that he "won't have to go on any more boring errands...cuz you and Livi can do them when I'm at school!" He's a smart cookie. I'm not sure how often I'll take him up on it, but maybe sometimes. :-)

Carson's First Day of Preschool

2008-09-03T22:15:00.001-07:00

Carson is doing a year of Pre-K at Baymonte Christian Preschool, at the Little Red Schoolhouse campus. We are so excited for him. He'll go in the afternoons, and his class only has 7 kids in it right now, which is pretty neat.

Last week, there was an orientation at the school for us to go and play and get some more info. On the way home, I said, "Carson...you get to start school next week!!" And he said, "Without you?" "Yeah!" (wondering in that split second before he answered if he was sad or okay with that) And he replied with great enthusiasm, "Yesssssss!!!". I'm so glad he's thrilled....but doesn't he know it makes me kinda sad?? :-)

We dropped him off today and got him settled for a minute....he seemed like he was right at home. We waved to us thru the "waving window" and said goodbye, as I was waving off the welling in my throat of those happy/sad tears. He was very happy to be there, which made it so much easier for me.

His teacher, Mrs. Lemmon

Livi and I headed back home to eat lunch together and go for a walk, all the while she was relishing the one-on-one time with me. I think these afternoons are going to be very special for us. Then she went down for some quiet time in her room. After about 20 minutes she was very quiet and I went down to check on her and here's what I found....so precious.

I love that she just gets in her bed and covers up and drifts off. She's done this a handful of times, and it's just so sweet. I had to wake her up to go get Carson. The 3 hours flew by, it was really amazing.

Carson had a great day and really connected with one of the other boys, they played most of the time together. He made a cool apple craft, and is excited to go back.

Praise God that he's given us this little boy to raise, we are so grateful for him and are excited to see where the Lord takes him.