traditions...

Backtracking, just a touch, we had a little celebration for my birthday a couple weeks ago. I got the day off (I don't believe in going to work on my birthday :)) and we had cake and ice cream, which is a must at our house.

31. Ugh. I almost hate to type that. Last year didn't really phase me, but I'll admit to a breakdown or two this year. I'm over it now. I think.

Jon made this awesome marble cake and we had vanilla ice cream. It was delicious. Well, I should say, Jon, Brooklyn, Mason and I had cake and ice cream. Julianne had frosting and ice cream. She is her father's daughter....

On to Christmas. When I was young, my mom used to bake and bake during the holidays. As Christmas got closer, the baking increased. She would make candied nuts, pumpkin roll, chocolate roll with colored marshmallows, pies, cookies, fry pan cookies, suckers, peanut brittle, caramel popcorn and more that I can't think of at the moment. While I'm not that ambitious, I have been slightly nostalgic lately and made some goodies to have around our house (which I'm not sure is the best idea....).
Caramel popcorn. It's a weakness. Popcorn is a weakness, really. This stuff is gooey and caramelly and yummy. I've been munching on it for days.
Oh look, a pic of my birthday cake. See? Doesn't it look yum?
This recipe is one my sister sent me and we decided to do it for teachers and neighbors. It looks pretty cool in jar, I must say. It's hot cocoa and it's made with powdered milk, cocoa, sugar, chocolate chips and crushed candy canes. How can you go wrong?
This morning was the first day we stayed home during Christmas break (yesterday consisted of errands). The kids have been really good to play together. I've told them I won't be referring any fights. I like to pretend they're getting better at working stuff out...

Today I attempted Ginger bread cookies. We don't have men cookie cutters so we improvised. I don't remember my mom making these, but we have to have Hibshman traditions, too ya know? I think they turned out ok. There's a reason there isn't a pic of them after I 'frosted' them. It didn't go well. They never turn out the way they look in my head. Oh well. It's all about the taste, right?
We sent letters to Santa. We mailed these on the same day. Mason and Julianne got a letter back today. Not Brooklyn's yet. We'll be watching the mail for that one...
Finally, my favorite. The pumpkin roll. I could make these all year. How can you go wrong with pumpkin and cream cheese? I practically eat it myself, though. Which turns into the problem. The kids have discovered the yummy deliciousness of pumpkin now, so hopefully they'll help me a little in the eating department.

There are more traditions to come. We'll be making a feast on Christmas eve and leave some cookies for Santa. Sunday morning we'll work out presents and church and relax all day long. It's going to be great!

Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope you feel the spirit in your hearts and home and find comfort there as well. Merry Christmas!!

Happenings

As promised (shockingly), here are some more fun times from the Hibshman House. We bought a real tree this year and I was so excited. Unfortunately, it doesn't smell as good as I was hoping but it is beautiful and I love to sit with the tree lights on at night (when I'm home, anyway). The kids had fun decorating it, although I think it's a little plain. I'm on the lookout for just the right garland. We'll see if that comes to be before Christmas gets here. As you can see below, Julianne has become quite the poser:

Not really sure when she picked this up, but I rarely get a pic of her these days without it.
Here we are decorating, lights, check. Ornaments, check. Now what? Presents, of course!
Before we decorated, Jon's dad was here for the weekend. The kids love love love the weekends when he comes. We love it, too. Him being in MO is the best!! For us, anyway. I won't speak for everyone else in the family. Anyhow, I thought this was a sweet picture and I couldn't resist stealing a snapshot of them.
Oh look, more decorating. I can't seem to get my pics in order these days!

And, turns out, whenever Jon and I plan a night out (more on that later), it snows. Last year we were going to go out for my birthday, got a babysitter lined up (first one ever), and it was the biggest blizzard of the season. Needless to say, we ended up staying home. This year, it snowed the day before and hardly at all so we actually made it out. For a minute or two. But, the kids have enjoyed the snow and I was glad to see it, too. It did make the drive home on Thursday night rather interesting, though.

Bathtime and a tree. How can you go wrong??
For some odd reason, the kids have rediscovered our bouncy balls. And have been bouncing like crazy. Julianne's legs are finally long enough and Mason has figured out how to get some serious air. Brooklyn enjoys them too but these shots are from when she was at school.
I tried to get some action shots but they were pretty blurry so, somehow, I got them to hold still for about 5 seconds...
And, tonight, my Christmas holiday would not be complete without the classic "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". It was awesome, just as it should be. Bring on the Holiday movies!!

No picture for this last little snippet, but Jon and I went out last night and it was so fun! We found a babysitter (I have stressed about that in the past. Would the kids freak? Would they be good? How much do I pay them? yadda yadda yadda). This girl turned out to be awesome (which is why I asked her) and it was so great to go out, just the two of us, and be together. Unfortunately, just before we headed home, I got a call from our sitter. "Brooke just threw up." Great. So, we ended our date with puke and spent a good portion of the night dealing with it several times over. I felt really bad for the babysitter but luckily Brooklyn made it to the bathroom so she didn't have to clean. Oh well. At least we know we can go out and leave them with her! yay!
Tomorrow's the big day. I venture further into my 30's. We'll leave that ramble for another day....

Christmas beginnings

Last year Jon's mom sent us this great count down calendar. We had it strung across this door with just the icicle string but it kept falling and didn't look very cute. So, this year I got creative. I wanted to get a big board and make the stockings into the shape of a Christmas tree. I figured that I would need a 36" square board something and thought that might be a little spendy. On to plan B. I went to Home Depot and looked at their "remnant" bin (for lack of a better term). I got 3 decent sized boards for $.51 each. Sounded reasonable to me!

Unfortunately, these boards weren't quite big enough for all 24 stockings, but I got up half. I will just switch it as we get through them. Turns out, finding 24 little trinkets and candy for these babies is kind of a pain! I barely had stuff for these 12, so I have 2 weeks to find 12 more! I painted the boards, hot glued the icicles and clothes pins on and hung the boards on the door. I'm enjoying it so far! Hopefully the hooks hold out. They were hooks I bought to hang towels on and they couldn't stick to the door. Oh well. The kids are loving it!
The other thing I attempted today was a chandelier decoration. Sadly, it didn't turn out. Back when I worked at Archiver's a customer came in to buy ribbon and said she was hanging little tiny ornaments from her chandelier at different lengths. I thought it sounded so cute and I've been dying to try it! I found these babies at Target in the $1 section so I snapped them up! Picked up some ribbon and got to work. And, it looked awful! So, down they came. Oh well. I'll find somewhere to string them! They are too cute to pass up.
This was a failed attempt at a delicious cake my friend makes. It has pumpkin and cake mix and other cakey things. To get the pumpkin cooked, I left it in too long and burned the cake. We threw the whole thing out. I was sad but haven't made a second attempt, yet. I will, though. One of these days.

Yesterday wasn't so merry. It marked the 3-year anniversary of my mom's passing. I successfully avoided thinking about it all day and then it hit me as I went to bed. We miss her. We will always miss her. Someday I won't have to miss her anymore. At least I was lucky enough to have her for a few years. I'm tearing up just thinking about it. Ugh.

More Holiday merriness to come! Happy Holidays!

ah... new beginnings, sort of

As usual, these pics are out of order, so you'll have to try to follow me. Back in 2005, it was Brooklyn's 1 st birthday and Jon's birthday (May) and we got our first digital camera. I got it for Jon for his birthday so he wasn't really involved in the decision, but we got a cannon 3 mega pixel and thought we were all that and a bag of chips; and consequently took pictures like crazy! We loved that camera. And, 6 years later it's still running. Sort of. The battery lasts about one picture and sometimes the shutter won't go even after it focuses. So... We finally broke down and got a new camera!! HOORAY!! Maybe, now I'll actually take pictures and blog! maybe... We shall see. Here are the first pictures from the new toy. I only had a 16 mb card available and we filled it up with 5 pictures, but that's ok. It was fun to play with anyway!

Every girl needs a dump truck, right? (new camera)
Brooklyn thinks the camera is fun to play with, too. Sometimes it's, "Unfortunately, Brooklyn likes to play with the camera, too...". :) (new camera)
She likes to take pictures of whoever is nearby.... (old camera)
And a pretty sunset. We've had quite a few of these lately (old camera)
Finally, we went to visit Santa the other day for the first time (new camera). It was kind of spur-of-the-moment and Brooklyn wouldn't sit on his lap. I have no idea why she wouldn't, but when she saw Mason and Julianne's coloring books/crayons she wanted to go back. Too bad her mom is mean and makes her stick with her original decision to skip it. Sucks to be her.

So, here's to hoping that a new camera will prompt some blogging. Now, the debate is, make a case for it (to throw in my bag) or let Jon buy one?? :)

my not-so-baby

Don't you sleep with your hat on and a book on your lap? She is still napping (most of the time) and it is so crazy to me! She is chatty and lovey and I can't believe how big she is. Definitely my little buddy. But, she will NOT sit on the potty. She even has cool panties and couldn't care less. Sigh.

sigh....

I've been loving hearing this song on Pandora (I need to just buy it) and I have been wishing on airplanes lately. Couldn't hurt, right? I wish I made a little more $$, I wish family was a little closer. I wish I was a better Mom. I wish.....someone would pay me to be crafty.....

Why won't someone pay me to be crafty..... It's so much fun!

Halloween festivities

Sorry about the hiatus. I have had pics to blog, but I'm just lazy and unmotivated. I just downloaded pics from my camera for the last two months. That's how bad I am. But, there's no time like the present so here we go!

Every year my sister sends the kids a Halloween package and this year's consisted of Halloween cupcakes. During this fun activity I was passed out on my bed from my traumatizing dentist visit, (don't worry, all dentist visits are traumatizing for me. I won't bore you with the details).

Any who. Apparently aprons were in order and some mixing.
Then, of course, you eat the frosting. ...And leave most of the cupcake. Oh well. They enjoyed it and that's all that matters! Thanks Aunt Sara and Uncle Chris!!

This year we decided to venture out to the pumpkin patch. It was so fun and I wished we had more time. Unfortunately for us, the sun went down so we were done sooner that we thought :). Oh well. We rode the wagon (tractor) and picked pumpkins and that was the point.
Plus had some serious nostalgia and missed some friends, but it was all worth it!
Friday brought the carving. I really really need to get some pumpkin carving tools so the kids can actually help. I'm too chicken to hand them the knife so Jon and I take directions and carve for them. It works for us, but I'm sure it would be fun for them to actually do it...
Oh, look. Another cupcake. Yes, he enjoyed his frosting as well...
Back to the carving. The pumpkins turned out great and we had so much fun!
Then came time for Beggar's night. Or the ward Carnival... I forget what pic this was. Whenever I was asked what I was going to be my answer was: The mom of a bat, a witch and Minnie Mouse. Let's see you pull that one off :). The kids loved it and Julianne actually wore her costume this year. A serious improvement...
Here we are all ready for Beggar's Night. The Yates share our fun and we love it! Thanks for coming, Yates!!
Night jack-o-lanterns....
During the carving. I had to prove I was there.......and the other two....


And, lastly and unrelated. If you have ever wondered what the 2-year-old does while the other two are at school....
Sometimes she naps and sometimes....
She randomly lines up cars and blocks from one side of the top floor to the other....

She actually lines up cars a lot. As Jon said, too bad they're not as neat and organized when we ask them to clean up their toys. Just while they're playing with them.....

Happy Halloween!!

Who knew...

...that my life was so boring. Oh wait. I did. Nothing terribly interesting to blog at the moment. Maybe I'll dig up some pics just for fun.

Soccer in full swing...

Brooklyn had her first soccer games last week and they were so fun. She's not as aggressive as Mason but she runs back and forth with the crowd. She generally only kicks the ball if it's right in front of her and there's no one around, but at least she gets the idea...

Usually for the first part of the game she keeps up with the group and then as the game wears on, she runs slower and slower.

Not that I blame her, running isn't my favorite past-time, either. She runs enough laps in my house, I figured she'd be totally good to go on the soccer field. :). She likes it though and looks forward to soccer days. That is enough for us right now. GO BLUE!!And, lastly, because I can't just let it pass by without a mention...

Tuesday was our 10th anniversary! Holy cow! I have no idea how the time has gone by so fast. After dropping Mason off at school, Julianne and I went to have lunch with Jon. Thanks to soccer that evening we just had cereal for dinner and spent the evening at the soccer field. I've taken this whole weekend off, though, so I'm looking forward to spending more time together than normal :). Happy Anniversary, honey. The best choice I've ever made!

Mason's First Day of Preschool

I was really worried about Mason and school. Church is an ordeal, even after 3 years of going (pretty much) every Sunday. But, I worried for nothing. He walked right in and wasn't shy at all. He washed his hands and wrote his name and I had to stop him to give me a hug good-bye. He loved it and I'm so glad. I was really worried and fretting about whether or not I should have sent him.

He chose a Darth Vader backpack and was so excited he could hardly stand to put it down.
Julianne was excited, too. Until....we actually dropped him off. Then she kept asking when we could go get the kids.
Since it was his first day of school, Jon packed him a lunch. He ate at home with me, but it was still fun to have a lunch box...
Mason at his locker. Crazy that he has a locker.
Finding his name and writing it for the Teacher's Aide.
And, finally it's just the two of us. It was very strange just shopping with one kid.