Indiana Jones

I'm finally getting around to putting up the pictures of our newest addition. Meet Indiana Jones! He's a great little fishy and the boys are really enjoying him...even if I couldn't get them to pose nicely for a picture. It's hard to tell in the second from the last picture but the fish is actually looking right at the camera like he's posing for the shot! :) Caleb loves to run out first thing in the morning and say hello to Jones and Kaden's job is to feed the fish, but between mommy and Kaden we always get way to much food in there.  We love our little fishy...but maybe our next pet will have fur and be a little more cuddly!

  

Weekend Review

Well, our weekend is quickly coming to a close, but have no fear the fun is not quite over yet. Let's see, shall we start from the beginning...Saturday started bright and early...well not bright since it was overcast, still dark out, WINDY, and COLD ...but anyways it started and registration for the race went smoothly thanks to all the volunteers! I was excited to get to run the race as well as help work it. My goal was to finish the 5k (3.1 miles) in 27 min. The Lord really blessed me and I was able to finish in 26 min and 13 sec! And I was the first girl in! That made me pretty happy. Our Saturday birthday party was a Transformer B-day party so that made Kaden's day! Saturday evening we took the boys over to Papa's house for haircuts, and for those of you who know Kaden's history with haircuts this one went much better with minimal freaking out! Then it was off to Walmart where we purchased a pet...a Beta fish named Indiana Jones but we're calling him Jones for short! The boys are so excited. I'll have to get pictures of Jones soon. Caleb just keeps pointing to him and saying fish and then looking at the rocks and saying rock...I'm not sure which he's more excited about.

  Today we had church, family dinner, and our b-day party at the skating rink. I wasn't going to skate for fear of falling and making a complete idiot of myself...but I did and had so much fun! But I can already feel my calfs starting to ache! Kaden did really well too but spent most of his time in the ball pit. Tonight is family movie night for us and the boys, and then after mom is done working we're having a big family movie night so thats a great way to end out the weekend and head into Monday.

  The pictures are from after church today. Matt wanted his dad to see how much they looked like his dad and his older brother when they were little...they're definitly Van Hook boys! I love the one of Kaden laughing and the last one of Caleb screaming at the ground, to funny.

  Hope you have a great start to your week! Jesus loves you

  

Weekend plans

Well, my weekend starts at 6 in the morning! I'm helping my dad (along with the city) put on a 5k race. I'm in charge of registration which shouldn't be to difficult...I hope!  As long as we get everyone registered before the race starts we'll be good! I'm planning on running in it to so that should be fun. After that, we have two birthday parties so the fun will just keep coming! :) 

  On a sadder note, Caleb got his shots today so we'll see how much fun he's up for this weekend. Hope you all have a fun filled weekend too!

Big Boy Bed

Well, I'm totally bummed cause I can't get the other pictures to load up on here, but here's one shot of Caleb in his big boy bed! We decided to take the side off his crib and bought him some Mickey Mouse bedding. He's so excited and we have the safety rail for when he's sleeping so he stays in when he's supposed too! Very nice. Sad part was putting all the baby stuff away! It may be time for another one! :) They just grow up way to fast!

Nap vs. No Nap

Can you tell which of my boys had a nap! Poor Kaden just couldn't make it through dinner, but Caleb had plenty of energy for everyone. Hope you all have a good...restful...weekend! 

Delayed Valentine Pictures...

well I was going to post pictures of the Valentine's party but I can't get any pictures to upload but these two! So here's a couple pictures of the boys with their Valentine presents. Kaden picked out the Abominable Snowmonster  from the Ruldolph movie and better yet it was on sale for like 85% off! And We got Caleb a Dora book with 3 Dora stories inside! Very exciting. 

  The party itself went really well. We had only one injury and no real fighting...with 18 kids that's a great party! And maybe someday I'll actually get to post the pictures. Hope you all had a good Valentines day too. Jesus loves you!

Shoes

Caleb really likes shoes. He likes his shoes, Kaden's shoes, dad's shoes, my shoes, anyones shoes. And he loves to point to shoes and say, "Shhoooeeess". Yesterday, we were getting ready for church and I caught him walking around in my shoes. So cute. Can't wait to show these to him when he's 16! :) 

  In other news, Caleb has the croup. Poor baby, sounds just like his brother used to. We've been doing lots of shower treatments, vicks vapor rub, and humidifiers. He had a real high fever last night but seems to be doing better today. Sweet baby, I hate it when they're sick. Hopefully we'll be better in time for our Valentine party on Wednesday....31 people...19 of them kids! Not sure how we're all going to fit but it should be fun! 

  Well I'm off to cuddle my baby. Have a great start to your week.

Why Iron?

The boys and I found an alternative use for the ironing board today! I'm not much into ironing so this is the most use it's gotten in a really long time. An ironing board makes a great car ramp! 

  Sorry I've been absent this week...it's a long story for a different day. Hope you all are having a great week. Jesus loves you.

  

From the mouths of babes

  Caleb has officially said his first sentence and not surprisingly it relates to his first word. I walked into the nursery on Tuesday to pick him up after Bible study and after giving me the obligatory cry of , "I missed you" he looked at me, held up his hand smashed full of crackers and said, "I  gotta cracker!" :) It's so so cute and every time you ask him to say it he's happy to oblige. He's also started saying, "I wanna cracker!" at least he's a man who knows what he wants!

  On our walk to the park today, I was pulling the wagon and I heard Kaden say, "Mommy?" "Yes, Kaden" "I can see your bottom moving when you walk! Hee Hee Hee!" :) Don't you love when your children point out all your highlights! :)

  Have a great weekend everyone! Jesus loves you

  

The boys

After Kaden got dressed today he asked me to take his picture...to show off his new jeans I guess. :) Caleb was also wearing a new outfit (one we got when he was born! I love when you get new things when they are born and you get to use them much later makes the celebration last longer!) and since it's hard to get both of them to pose for pictures I thought I better take advantage of the opportunity. So here's some silly pictures of the boys laying on the floor and then posing by the fireplace...our favorite pictures spot. 

Looking Good

We got Caleb all dressed up for church on Sunday and thought we'd snap a picture of our smooth looking baby. I just love him in his little blazer! And I love how he posed himself in the second picture! :) Seems like just yesterday and Kaden was wearing that same coat! 

  I did get away for a great girls day on Saturday. We went to Olive Garden and it was AMAZING! When you don't have something for a long time and then you get to experience it again...it's so good. And of course nothing tops Target and Starbucks! Matt and the boys seemed to have a good day too and they all got toys when mommy got home! :) On top of the girls day out, I also got to complete a half-marathon on Saturday. I was so thankful that God allowed me to run it and that He helped me get a time of 2 hours and 13 min. Not to shabby. 

  Hope everyone's week is off to a good start. Jesus loves you.

Live and Learn

Kaden and Caleb had two friends over today...and being the crafty (yeah right) mother that I am, I thought it would be fun to make something while the boys were here. I had this great idea to make shakers...you know the little things you shake and they make noise and are just fun to dance with and play with. I figured I had paper plates, rice, a stapler, and crayons and stickers for decorating. So we went to work on our project. The boys did great decorating the plates and I got busy stapling the plates together so we could put the rice in. By the way, stapling two paper plates together in a perfect circle is much more difficult then it seems! I got the rice poured in, closed up the plate, and gave it to Kaden to shake. It worked great. I even shook it over the counter a couple of times just to make sure the rice wouldn't fall out. The other three boys finished their project but weren't into shaking it around so they ran off to play. Kaden on the other hand was jamming to the music and shaking himself all over the living room...and then he pointed out that his rice was leaking out....all over the living room! There was rice EVERYWHERE! My friend showed up to pick up her boys and I explained that she might not want to let her boys shake the plates...then she pointed out that if you glue the plates together first and then staple them things are not as likely to leak out...that would've been a good idea! So as soon as they left we vacuumed up what we could...but I'm pretty sure we'll be finding rice all over the house for a very long time! :)

Our Turn

Well, Matt and I finally caught the stomach bug from Caleb. I'll spare you the pictures and the gorey details! :) Let's just say the hour between 3:30 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. were pretty miserable. Praise the Lord, I'm feeling better now and have even kept my coffee down...probably not the most nutritious thing to drink after being sick...but I'm a big fan of my one cup a day! So far we've just spent the week in recovery mode...hopefully by this weekend we'll all be feeling better. I may even get away with some girlfriends to San Angelo...a 2 1/2 hour plus drive to meet half way...and to get to a decent resteraunt, Starbucks, and Target! Sad when that's the closest Target! :) 

  The picture is of the boys playing in my bathtub. That's their favorite place to play when I'm getting dressed and ready for the day...at least it keeps them contained! :) 

  Hope all is well on your end. Jesus loves you!

200!

So this is my 200th blog...Isn't there a prize or something?! :) The first two pictures are of Kaden and Caleb jumping off the fireplace...probably not the safest past time but they get such a kick out of it...and Caleb doesn't actually jump by himself we have to help him down.

  The other pictures are from this morning. The boys were dancing around our bedroom with the little rings from Caleb's stacker toy around their feet and arms. So cute..and that was the high point of their energy. Caleb, who threw up at breakfast again, was pretty mellow all day and Kaden has come down with a cough/fever cold and took over a three hour nap today. Neither of them are eating much so they don't have a lot of energy. I hate seeing them so sick, sweet babies. Hopefully they'll be feeling better tomorrow. Good thing we didn't have much planned for the three day weekend.

  Hope you all are having a good, sick free weekend! 

The happenings

Not a whole lot going on here in Del Rio and I still haven't quite figured out how to download pictures onto the new computer and then find them again! :) So that is one explanation for the lack of posting! Caleb must have caught via computer the stomach bug that Hope had because he also woke up at 12:30 crying and had thrown up all over! I just felt so sorry for him. Caleb and I spent the rest of the night camped out on the futon trying to sleep. He's doing a bit better today (this happened Wednesday night) but is running a low fever and isn't eating much. I'm so thankful as this is our first sickness this season. At the same time, I'm anxiously watching Kaden to make sure he's not getting sick. Oh well, guess we'll take it one day at a time! Good thing we don't have much planned for the three day weekend. 

  Really that's about it on the excitement meter...We did go bowling yesterday with some friends which was so fun to watch. The boys would get so excited every time a pin fell over...no matter how many pins fell over. And when I say excited, I mean jumping up and down, whooping and hollering, high fives all around excited. So cute! 

  I hope everyone has a good weekend...I now have Caleb sitting on my lap eating kix cereal so maybe we're on the mend which is great but it's making typing much more difficult! :) Until next time...Jesus loves you

  

St. Louis

Just a few random pictures from our awesome time in St. Louis. Why does time go so quickly when you're having fun!? God always uses Elizabeth in my life to challenge and change me...things that I need but not things I always like! :) But she is a true friend, she sees the worst and loves me anyways. Kaden also made fast friends with Huntly (who is also 4 but quickly assured Kaden that he was a young 4 because he just turned 4 and he was an old 4 because he is almost 5) Kaden and Huntly were insperable the whole time we were there, it was so fun to watch...even at night when we had to keep telling them to settle down an stop talking! Seth and Caleb were pretty good friends too... as long as they stayed out of each others way! I didn't get pictures of Thad and Maddison...because again I am horrible at taking pictures but I'll just tell you that they are beautiful! 

Grandma's 80th Birthday

 I just realized as I started to write this post that I don't have any pictures of my Grandma at her own Birthday Party! Yeah, I never claimed to be a good picture taker! But here are some shots of the boys at the party with their Grandma, cousins, and Caleb exhausted after the party! It was a fun day filled with family and people that I don't know! All the family got together for lunch and then from 2-5 was an open house. Grandma enjoyed it so that made the day perfect. 

Home Again, Home Again

Praise the Lord, we are home safe and sound...and healthier then when we left! :) We had an awesome trip up north to both sides of Missouri ( from Kansas City all the way to St. Louis). The farm is such a special place and I am always so blessed to be there. We got in on Thursday and had most of that day and all of Friday to just be on the farm. We got to "play" in the snow...and actually the snow was just perfect...there wasn't much of it and it melted within two days! :) It was perfect for Kaden too! He couldn't believe how much snow there was, he'd never seen so much snow and thought the farm was the greatest thing ever. I didn't bother to tell him that these were juts patches of snow! I love the picture of Kaden showing Caleb snow for the first time. Kaden even got to ride with my Uncles and Great Grandpa to feed the cows...he was very impressed, especially with the amount of cow poop! Kaden and Caleb were also very impressed with their cousin Joanna! Boy, was she awesome to have around! It was almost like have a free babysitter whenever she was around!

  Saturday, was Grandma's Birthday party, which was so much fun and a great time to watch all the generations interact and the second cousins play. The pictures for that are in the other post. 

  Sunday, we went to church and then headed to St. Louis to see Elizabeth! Also in the other post.

  We were back on the farm Wednesday afternoon and we left on Thursday...way to fast but we enjoyed every minute of it. It's always so good to reconnect with everyone and my heart just thrills to see the boys loving on my grandparents who are so precious to me. I'm always blessed by the realization of heritage that comes from being on the farm. I am so privileged to come from generations that love the Lord and I'm so grateful that I can pass that onto my children. 

  

I'm leaving on a jet plane...

Just a note to let everyone know that we are headed to Missouri for a week...yes I know I'm heading north in the winter...crazy. But it's my Grandma's 80th birthday and that only happens once and then for a few day we (the boys and I Matt is staying in Del Rio) are headed to St. Louis to visit my dear friend Elizabeth. I just didn't want anyone to fear that I had stopped blogging or something! :) I'm sure I'll have lots of farm pictures and Michelle freezing in the cold pictures to post. 

  Oh and by the way Matt wants everyone to know that this is my first blog from our new iMac computer!...which will be even more exciting when I learn how to type on this tiny keyboard with out so many typos! 

  See you in a week!

Just to say...

HAPPY NEW YEAR~ May God continue to guide and keep you all as you keep looking to Him!