Merry Christmas...LATE!

Well, I printed out several copies of our Christmas card this year and then only mailed out a handful! Christmas (and Thanksgiving) came and went SO fast this year!! Next year, I hope to slow down and enjoy it a little more.

We hope you all had a Merry Christmas and we hope that you have a wonderful 2009!! Here is the Christmas card that I made and printed....but didn't mail:)

Ryder 'tries' to crawl

Ryder will be crawling ....SOON!! It is SO fun watching him get up on his knees and 'try' to crawl. Sorry the video is so dark.

ABC gift for the kids

Every year I try to do a 'homemade' gift for the kids. Something from Mom, made just for them. I have made quilts, pillows....hmmm...maybe that's it:) Anyway, this year I have made an ABC book for them. All four are the same. I love the badge holders that hold the photos. It will be easy to change the pictures later on as we would like.

If anyone is interested in purchasing the badge holders, let me know and I can find the ebayer that I purchased them from. I bought them awhile ago and don't remember the exact cost, but they seemed quite affordable to me. Must have been or I would not have purchased:) You can also buy the badge holders at office supply stores, but we don't have any of those close to us....and I think they were cheaper on ebay anyway:)

Here are a few of my favorite pages. I printed two per 4x6.

Christmas Program

Every year the elementary school here does a Christmas program. It is always so much fun!! The gym gets packed with standing room only. Here are a couple of video clips of the kids. Hunter is in the green striped shirt in the first video and Jake is in the white shirt on the front row in the second video. I wish I could have gotten a video of their music teacher! She is fun to watch! She does a WONDERFUL job teaching all of the kids their songs and actions!!

Warning...these video clips are long, especially Jake's. They are also pretty shaky, due to the fact that I had a three year old and 7 month old hanging on me:) I will try to get some good pictures tonight. We got to the afternoon program 1/2 hour early and still didn't get close enough.

Santa Baby

My Santa baby!! All I want for Christmas is happy kiddos. ...and a few less fits from the three year old:) oh...and maybe a few more hours of sleep in a row from this little guy:)

Let's get BBQ'd

About a week ago, I was in the kitchen doing dishes(an endless task:)), when Zac came in and said, "Mom, watch me get bbq'd." I figured I must have misunderstood what he was saying. I mean, what in the world? So I asked him what he said. He said, "Hunter taught me how to get bbq'd, come watch me."

So...I went outside with him and this is what he did. Hunter shortly joined him so that I could get a picture of both of my bbq'd boys:)

Almost everyday Zac tells me, "Mom, I'm gonna go get bbq'd, I'll be right back."

Oh..the things kids do and say! They put a smile on my face....EVERYDAY!!

More bean bags and a quick THANK YOU!!

I am such a slacker!! It has been a week since we got home from our Thanksgiving trip to Utah and I am just now posting:) I am SO bad about getting the camera out while we are traveling and visiting!! I guess I just get caught up in the fun. I only took a couple of pictures the day we left. BUT, if you want to see a few more pictures from the Barlow Thanksgiving, check them out at Heather's blog.

We had such a great time in Utah!! Thanks to everyone for all the good food, fun card games, and fabulous accommodations!! I am SO THANKFUL to have such a wonderful family!

This is what I was busy doing the day before the big(10 1/2 hours) drive to Utah. After my boys saw Zac's bean bag, they decided that they needed personalized bean bags and that it would be fun to make some for the cousins that they would be seeing. I don't know if the cousins were quite as excited about them as my boys:) Actually Taylor told me they were so SUPER cool. We had fun making them and the boys had fun giving them, so I guess that is what's important. Right?

Now for the ONLY pictures I took during our Thanksgiving break!! Again, I am such a SLACKER!! I love this picture of sleeping Zac. Jake HATES it when I take his picture while sleeping, or anytime that he is in his pajamas.

Hunter getting ready to leave.

Thanks again Mom and Dad for letting us stay, for the food, fun, and especially the entertainment:)

Who Knew??

That a bean bag could put such a smile on a little boys face. Zac has been trying to steal Jake's bean bag for awhile now. Of course Jake is NOT too happy about it. I told Zac to leave Jake's alone and we would make him his own! Now he is one HAPPY boy. He takes it with him everywhere...he even sleeps with it:)

OOPS!! I should have finished clipping the stings before I took the pictures:)

All by himself

Zac is VERY independant these days. He puts on his own shirts(usually backwards), his own socks(usually upside down, with the heels on top), his own shoes(usually on the wrong fee)...and yesterday he put his jacket on by himself to walk to the bus stop. I think he looks adorable!! As long as the clothes get on, I'm not too picky about if they are backwards, inside out or upside down:)

Late Halloween Pictures

I just realized that Halloween came and went while our computer was gone(being worked on). Just wanted to post a quick picture of the kids in their costumes. The picture of Hunter on the left is from the Halloween parade a the school. Hunter REALLY wanted to be a vampire for the school parade, but our gel wasn't strong enough to keep his hair slicked down, so he was a little embarrassed. BUT, I think it looks great!!:) I took a picture of Jake but he was in such a hurry, I only got the back of his head, so I left that picture out. The kids got SO much candy at the ward trunk or treat!! Hunter had been wanting to go to a high school football game all year, so instead of trick or treating, Ryan took Jake, Hunter and one friend to the last football game for Hunter's birthday. They had a great time!

6 Months

Ryder has been six months for a few days now. I can't believe it has already been six months!! It seems that times has gone by faster and faster with each baby!! I took him to the doctor a few days before he turned six months for a diaper rash(yeast infection) that he had and he weighed in at exactly 16 pounds. He goes in for his 'official' 6 month check-up this next Monday.

Gifted?

Is this kid gifted?



Indeed!! We've always suspected this to be the case and last week we received written proof:) Last week we got a letter from the school district that Jake has qualified for the gifted program based on a test he took last fall. He qualified in on one of the areas. The area is....drum roll please.....Quantitative Battery. What is quantitative battery? That was my question. Guess I am not as gifted as my son, I had no idea what it was. So, if you are like me and have no idea...it is, "...appraises general abstract reasoning skills, particularly inductive reasoning and specific mathematical reasoning skills... and has a positive correlation with reading and mathematics achievement." The lettter that we received said, "Please know that this means that your student represents the upper 3 % of the students in the state whoare academically gifted." He gets to meet with a teacher for the gifted for one hour every month.

So there you go! Good job Jake, now if he only wasn't so 'gifted' when it comes to talking during class!! We are still working on that one!!

From blanket to 'bo'

When I saw Hunter bringing his 'bo' to our most recent 'photo shoot'(see previous post), I just thought I had to share this:)

**Please note that if you are a friend of Hunter's or a parent of any of his friends, please DO NOT mention that you know about his 'bo'. He is very sensitive and gets embarrassed if anyone besides family knows about it or sees it:)

All of my boys have always had a FAVORITE blanket! Actually, I'm not sure about Ryder yet. Hunter's blanket or 'bo' as he still calls it(you couldn't really call it a blanket anymore anyway) has probably been the most loved!

I don't know when the blanket became known as 'bo'. As far as I can remember that is what it has been known as. It started as 'bo'(his entire blanket). Then it became his big 'b0' and his rope 'bo' when the edging started coming off. He liked to chew on his 'bo' and so it got some nice holes in it and started falling apart. So, we had a big 'bo'(large piece) and lots of small pieces. We had long and short rope 'bo's'. We now have lots of little pieces of his 'bo', one kinda big piece of the 'bo' and his favorite piece of his 'bo'...the '5 knot bo'.

He loves to thread his 'bo' between his fingers of put one end in his ear. He carries it around without even knowing it sometimes. One day we got to the store and he quickly handed it to me to put in my purse before anyone saw it. I have also been known to quickly shove it in my pocket for him when someone knocks on the door or rings the door bell.

We have literally spent hours hunting for his favorite piece of 'bo'. There are many nights that I tell him to go to bed and if I find his 'bo' I'll bring it to him. He rarely lets me forget about looking for it. I hear a small voice coming from the bedroom saying, "Mom, have you found it yet."

When we lived in Gilbert, his Grandpa used to tease him and take it and play keep away with it. After the first couple of times of that, whenever we would go to Grandma and Grandpa's house, Hunter would remember to leave his 'bo' in the truck.

Here are a couple pictures of Hunter and the 'bo'.

November 2008

October 2004

Okay, now seriously...ssshhhhhhhh!!! Don't tell Hunter about this post:)

The perfect picture of 4 small boys?????

Okay, so I attempted to get a quick picture of my four boys the other day. I should have known that might be a task I could not accomplish!! I took several pictures of the boys and got two with them all looking at the camera! How many shots does it take to get them all looking at the camera at the same time...10, 20, 30? Well, let's just say I took 20 pictures, they are all cute(to me), but none are quite what I was looking for:) Here are just a few of the pictures for your viewing...ENJOY:)

Picture number one.... not too bad, if we can get Ryder to cooperate.

Oh no, now we need Jake and Ryder to look at the camera, at least Zac is ready! Hunter is mostly ready, if he would just sit up straight.

Whoa!! What happened...Zac, we are NOT done yet.

Well...at least they are all MOSTLY looking at the camera. Looks like I am not the only one that was frustrated by this point! Jake looks like he is pretty much DONE trying to get Ryder to cooperate:)

More weekend fun!!

Brad and Zac had a great time playing at the park while Hunter had soccer practice. We were ALL so sad when Amber, Jesse and Brad left this morning. Zac was perhaps the saddest of all, or at least the most vocal about it. He was crying and saying "come back" for about 10 minutes after they left. We had such a great weekend! We are all going to miss hearing Brad say how old he is and we LOVE how he says, Huntwo for Hunter!!

4 Little Monkeys

and that is for sure:) I LOVE these monkeys! My boys are having a GREAT time with their cousin Brad!!

Our fifth monkey was still at school when I snapped this picture. These boys are having FUN, FUN, FUN!!

Video - Ryder

Wanted to get a quick clip of his cute little laugh.

Happy Birthday Zac!!

Our little Zac is now three! October 10th has finally come:) He used to say is birthday is on October tent. Ryan set a tent up with the boys in the backyard one night and Zac asked, "is this my October tent, my birthday tent?" He is such a fun, happy and sweet boy.

Zac is SO happy about his new Dora movies! Thanks Amber!!

Jake made Zac a paper sword and paper shield. He also gave him some paper money and some cool red dried corn on the cob. Zac loved it!! When he opened the present he said, "oh cool, some more new crackers." Jake told him to open the box:)

He also loved the gifts from his grandmas and grandpas:) Thanks!!

Who wants to win a FREE handbag!?!

I do!!


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http://www.handbagplanet.com/

Picking quite tomatoes

I know...Zac is pretty much the star of this blog! He is just at such a fun, cute stage. Pretty much everything he does and says just cracks me up! The daily temper tantrums aren't too cute though!! He loves to pick tomatoes for me! He used to bring them in calling them "quite red tomatoes", but it has now been shorten to just "quite tomatoes". He really is a big help and he LOVES his new hand-me-down batman jammies.

The first time he wore his "new" jammies. He told me, "mom, now I'm Hunter." Ha ha, Hunter outgrew them awhile ago, but had still been wearing them.

Nap?....No, I didn't nap

Zac quit taking naps around the time he turned 2. Every once in a while he takes a nap. I don't really like it when he naps, because that means a late bedtime for him. I would rather have NO nap, but be in bed by 8. Anyway, one day he wanted to watch a movie. I told him he could watch a movie, if he promised not to fall asleep. He DID sleep. Later when he came downstairs I asked him if he had taken a nap. He said, "NO! I didn't take a nap." I asked him if he was sure, and he said, "I didn't take a nap." BUT....I've got the proof!!

Looks comfy, huh?!

How little boys water the garden plants....

Hunter and Zac were supposed to be watering the garden plants, but mostly Hunter just watered Zac. These boys have SO much fun together(usually). Of course Zac was FREEZING when they came in from playing in the water, so Hunter took care of him.

Outstanding Citizenship Award

Yay for Hunter!!

Peter the Lop

Meet the newest member of the Hall Family. This is Peter the Dwarf Lop Rabbit. One of Ryan's clients gave this to us yesterday. He is full grown and was full grown when Ryan's client got him. We don't know how old he is. They boys LOVE him!! Smokey the cat is not sure yet. He is okay with him as long as he is in his cage, but when he is out the cat will arch his back and tip-toe around him.

Don't mind the cinnamon sugar Zac is saving near his bottom lip:) He ate some homemade leftover oatmeal bread for breakfast and decided to save some of the sweet goodness for later:)

I just love this picture. Don't they just look SO sweet and comfy?!! Also, the cinnamon sugar is not so noticeable.

My Baby....

Could this really be my baby? He is getting SO big, SO fast!! He started rolling over from his back to his tummy 3 weeks ago today. Usually he gets so mad as soon as he rolls over, but today when I checked on him he was holding himself up and looking around. All I have to say is that I am SO glad that the birth control(depot shot) I was using was NOT effective when I got pregnant with him. I can't imagine our family without our little guy!!

Dirty Knees!!

Zac just came downstairs and said, "Mom, can I take a bath? My knees are dirty." He is SO funny. He actually took a LONG soak in the tub last night. His knees aren't really dirty.....he just always says that when he REALLY wants to take a bath:)

Aren't these the dirtiest little knees you've ever seen?

The language of 2

Today Zac told me, "Mom, I pushed my leg sleeve up so it won't get dirty." He had his pant leg of his jammies pushed up while he played with the train set on the playroom floor. I LOVE his leg sleeves:)

Labor Day Camping Trip

We love to camp and Labor Day weekend is always a good time for us to get up on the mountain! We had a blast last weekend and none of us wanted to come home:) We had so much fun riding quads, playing cards and hearing family stories from Ryan's 85 year old grandfather. Ryan's grandpa is AMAZING!! He pulled his own trailer up on the mountain, rode quads with us and even hiked down to check out a prime hunting spot. Jake especially had a great time playing war with Grandpa. I wish I would have gotten a picture of them:) I only got a couple of pictures, but Ryan's aunt got some great ones and is going to get us a cd. I'll post more pictures when I get that.

We got a lot of rain Saturday night and most of the day Sunday. This little creek had no water when we got to camp, but after all the rain it was still flowing when we left Monday.

Ryder wasn't too excited to get his picture taken. haha...no pictures of Zac:( He was riding the 4-wheeler when I took the only pictures that I took of camp.

Three months old

I can't believe my baby is already 3 months old!! Time flies! He is such a good baby. He sleeps 8-9 hours during his longest sleep time at night, then back down for a few more hours. I wish I could get him to stay up a little later, but by 8, he is READY for bed. That's okay. It is nice to have a couple hours with all of the kiddos in bed so that I can relax:)