It's been awhile

Sorry for the lack of posts! We have been busy!

Playing in the leaves...

The girls had a whole bunch more fun playing in the leaves than Barry did cleaning them up!

Visiting Santa, Mrs. Claus and the elves...

Hanna asked for an ipod and Halli asked for a real live baby doll! We even got to ride on Santa's horsedrawn carriage. He couldn't bring the reindeer into town, so he used a horsedrawn carriage. You would have thought we could get around that city ordinance, but the City Administrator is a stickler for rules!!

























And, decorating for Christmas!
The girls were very excited to put on the ornaments and did an excellent job!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

We carved jack-o-lanterns on Wednesday night. The girls REALLY wanted to do it, until we got started and then Hanna wanted nothing to do with digging out pumpkin guts! Halli helped a little, but Mom & Dad did most of the work. But they were excited when we were done!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! The girls had a wonderful time trick-or-treating. We went downtown and then up& down main street and then we just went to the neighbors. We got home and Hanna and Halli sat out on the front porch to pass out candy. I could hear Hanna yelling "we have candy here, come get some candy!" Of course, most trick-or-treaters didn't actually get out until it was pretty dark, but Hanna was still able to answer the door and pass out candy. She thought that was pretty cool. Hanna was Ariel from Little Mermaid and Halli was an OU cheerleader. We caught a little flack for that. Barry said he was glad she didn't understand that they were giving her trouble, she would just say "Go OU!" Barry was a proud Daddy!

Highschool Musical 3

We went to Highschool Musical 3 on Friday night. It was opening night, so we went to the theater in Concordia to avoid the mob. The girls thought it was really good and Halli couldn't keep from dancing. Of course, Barry stayed home. Barry and I then went to the KSU vs OU game in Manhattan on Saturday with Jason and Theresa. Barry was a little nervous the first quarter, but was sighing with relief by halftime. It was great to see Jason and Theresa and spend some time with them.

Character bracelet

Hanna came home from school today with a Good Character bracelet in her folder. The school has been passing these out when students show good character such as respect and kindness. Hanna said they were playing basketball at recess and Casey wanted the ball. She said she got the ball next, but gave it to Casey so he would have a turn. She said the teacher gave her a thumbs up and then she got a bracelet.

Mr. Stinky Feet

Last Tuesday we went to a concert in Salina. The performer's name was Mr. Stinky Feet. He was very good and the girls had a great time. They were a little disappointed that they didn't get to go up on stage, but Hanna said they would be able to go up next time. When we first got there Halli saw a boy from her preschool and had to quickly get over to Bailey. She was very interested in where he was during the show and after when we were standing in line to buy a CD, she told Mr. Stinky Feet that his name was Bailey and he went to her school. I asked her later if she liked Bailey and she said "yes, he is my girlfriend." I asked her if she meant boyfriend because he was a boy and she said "yes, but don't tell Daddy." I asked if she let him kiss her and she said no, but she tried to kiss him. I let Barry know when we got home and he had his you have to ask me first if you want to kiss a boy or a boy wants to kiss you. She agreed, but I don't think Barry believed her.

Pumpkin PaZOOla

We started out our day by heading to the Rolling Hills Zoo for their "pumpkin party" as Halli kept saying. The kids had a great time. It was a beautiful day and it is always neat to see all the animals. They got to pick a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch and color it with markers. They completed an inflatable obstacle course, dug in the hay for a prize and got their face painted. I could have done without the 2 HOUR wait to get their faces painted, but we kept telling them they could get their faces painted AFTER we looked at the animals. Barry headed to the truck and I faithfully kept our place in line while the girls danced to the music. My legs were more tired from standing than from walking all over the zoo! What a wonderful (or absolutely crazy) mother I am! They are SO worth it!!!

Playground fun

We went to Hanna's school playground today. Hanna had been wanting to show us how she can do the monkey bars now. They had a good time! We also went and bought Hanna some new ballet shoes. Dance has started again! Halli will start next year and will probably have an advantage after watching all of Hanna's dance lessons. Their feet are growing fast and Halli is catching up to Hanna rather quickly. She can already wear the dance shoes that Hanna wore last year! It is hard to tell that there is actually 3 years between them. I think Halli is going to catch Hanna in no time!

Halli wraps presents!

Last Saturday I had a hair appointment, so the girls stayed home with Barry. Halli had been playing upstairs and when she came down Barry asked her what she had been doing and she said "Daddy, come look; I wrapped presents!" She was very proud of herself! It looked more like a series of runways, but she was happy!

Bee stings and foot things

It seems I am allergic to bee stings. I had never been stung by a bee...until Tuesday! I was walking into work after a home visit and as I walked through the grass I thought I had a sticker in the side of my shoe. I reached down to get it out and a little bumble bee came out. I went into work and my coworker saw the little sting hole on the side of my left foot, we made sure the stinger wasn't in there and she made the comment that I must not be allergic because it didn't swell or look red or anything. Until the next day! Wednesday, mid morning at work, I noticed that my foot was starting to swell a little and I had a red, hard area on the top of my foot. Things proceeded to get worse and by Thursday it looked bad, so I went upstairs to the clinic at work. I received an "oh my gosh" look and was started on steroids, an antibiotic and a steroid cream. He said that red area was the starting of cellulitis (not good). It is starting to look and feel better, but I am really scared of getting another bumble bee sting!

They grow up way too fast!

Well, the girls seem to be enjoying school. Hanna is usually tired by the end of the week. She talks a bunch about recess and how boys chase her and want to kiss her. She also says she thinks the boys think she is "hot!" (She is 6!!!) Now, how she knows that word I will never know. They seem to know a lot....hence the following story: Hanna was talking about the boys wanting to kiss her and Daddy said "What do you do if a boy wants to kiss you?" and Hanna said "run away!" Well, Halli proceeded to get up and say (and demonstrate) "you run and kick them in the nuts!" (as she is kicking at the air) (She is 3!!!!!!). A little flabbergasted I told her that we don't talk like that and we don't kick boys there. Hanna said "yeah, we don't talk about their privates like their "peanuts." Okay, so now I am trying to keep from laughing and Barry is just sitting there with a sly grin. We just left it at it isn't nice to kick boys in their privates.

School Survival

The girls both had a great day at school. Halli said she listened to Ms. Becky and they sang "Christmas applesauce" (criss-cross applesauce is what they say to sit down and cross your legs)

I guess she didn't quite understand :-)! I snuck a picture of Halli getting on the bus to head back to Tara's. It was raining out, so she used her backpack as an umbrella.

I didn't get a chance to be at Tara's when she got off the bus because I had to be at the grade school to eat lunch with Hanna. Tara got a picture of her getting off the bus and with all of Halli's grace, she fell! She literally has fallen over just standing. And Hanna is the one who has had a broken bone and stiches, go figure! So, Barry and I went and had pizza and chocolate cake with Hanna at school. She had a loose tooth last night, but was scared to pull it. Sometime during lunch her tooth came out and she swallowed it! She had no idea! She looked at me to tell me something and I saw that it was missing! So, she wrote a note to the tooth fairy telling her that she lost the tooth, but still wanted money! Her other tooth is already coming in.

1st DAY OF SCHOOL

What a morning! It is finally time for school to start. School has been delayed here due to construction on the school. Here are my little divas!!It was Hanna's first day of 1st grade! I can't believe how fast time is flying by. I took her in to school and took some pictures and left thinking how big she already is. She has a locker and everything! She was excited and was ready to see all of her friends. Next we were off to pre-school. Yes, I said pre-school! Halli started the Tuesday/Thursday class today. She has been very exctied about going to school and has been taking her backpack with us everywhere. Finally, she was able to take it to school. She didn't seem to have any trouble with me leaving. She said she was going to have fun! I don't know if you can tell in the picture, but they are smiling very cheesy like!She will ride the bus with Grayson back to Tara's. Barry and I will go and have lunch with Hanna and then pick Halli up for a special ice cream treat and then I will pick Hanna up after school. Hopefully she will have lots to tell me right after school and won't forget it all like she usually does when I pick her up after work!

Labor Day weekend 2008

We began our weekend by heading out to Kingman, Kansas. Barry's grandmother died on Wednesday night and her memorial service was Saturday. It was a very nice service and the room was full of wonderful pictures of Evelyn and her family. The girls did great. We were very proud of how well they behaved! They had some time to play with their cousins and Hanna was very excited that she was related to all those people. She said she was lucky and I told her that was very true. She did OK when Barry had told her that her great-grandma had to go to Heaven. She said "She can play with Major." Halli said..."Don't take me to heaven mommy; I don't want to go." I told her I wanted her to stay with me for a long time and I wouldn't take her to Heaven. She said "Good." and that was that.

Sunday we stayed home and the girls swam in their little pool in the backyard. They swam and swam and swam. They both went under the water several times. Hanna on purpose and Halli, well, not really on purpose, but she came up every time saying "Mommy, I went under, I am a big girl!"


Monday we loaded up and went to Lovewell lake. It was quite windy, but we all managed to have fun. We ate cold fried chicken (a lake must) and watermelon! We did find a nice little place where it wasn't so windy and did some fishing. The girls had their barbie and princess fishing poles that Grandma & Grandpa Hodges got them and Barry put a crappie jig on them. Halli caught the first fish, but when Hanna started catching them, she was non-stop. I think she caught the most.





When the girls wanted a break to climb the rocks (Hanna) or put rocks in a plastic bottle (Halli), Barry and I tried our hands at the pretty little poles. We both caught a fish and I was very excited to get a picture of Barry fishing with a Barbie pole! It was a nice family day, but we had to get home realtively early so the girls could be rested for the first day of school.