Monday, December 27, 2010

A Very Merry Christmas

We truly had a very Merry Christmas! Even though this was Rebecca's second Christmas with us, she knew the drill - and knew it very well indeed! All the kids were really, really sweet about wanting us to open gifts from them as well as wanting their siblings to open the presents they had bought for one another. It was so nice watching them being so kind and caring! Not that they aren't that way, it's just that they seemed to really be in the spirit of giving instead of just getting - if that makes sense.

Emma's favorite item in her stocking was meat sticks, which really tickled her papa. One of the first English words she learned was "meat" and she's pretty much been a carnivore ever since! She'll still pretty much take a piece of meat over any other food offered.
Rebecca's favorite present was a doll house and some barbie things. Emma never really has been a barbie kind of girl, although she does have one she plays with in the bathtub. So needless to say, there's not any barbie things laying around for Rebecca so she truly relished the ones she received.
I picked this out for her as well as a little coin purse in the same colors. The funny thing is, my sweet sister sent her a matching monogrammed hat - and she didn't even know I had picked out the same color scheme for some of the things I had bought! Now how fun is that?! Rebecca was wearing it around and saying she was a baseball player. Well, not sure about playing ball in a cute monogrammed/polka dotted cap - but that works for me!



Ryan's favorite gift and the thing he has been bugging me to get for months and months and months (or so it seemed) was an airsoft gun. He and his buddies have been having airsoft wars and he is totally into it. While not exactly what I prefer for him to be 'into', I guess it's better than a lot of other things :-)

For some reason this really cracked us up. We saw this view several times throughout the morning!

The messy aftermath.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Brian & His Fishing Buddy



We've recently discovered that Emma loves fishing with her papa & let me tell you, that's made one papa a very happy papa! She now has her own pole & will be getting some new fishing things from jolly ol' st nick. She is a daddy's girl through and through!

Monday, December 20, 2010

Tutu's & Boots










Really no need to add any commentary to these ...

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Horse Time













My brother was so sweet to saddle up a horse for the girls and let them ride while we were in Oklahoma. Little Rebecca, I think that baby girl could ride all day! She kept going out to the fence and talking to the horses and then would really crack up when I would play with their mouth and make their lips move and I would talk like it was the horse talking. She would SO be at home living in the country!

Friday, December 17, 2010

Bex and her Boots

A few years ago my sister mailed some clothes out to Emma and in the box was an adorable pair of little Justin Roper boots. She said they had been passed down through several families but as a typical pair of Justins, they were still in good shape. Since I've been away from the whole horse scene thing for a long time I really didn't have any idea if those kinds of boots were still in style or not but I still had very fond memories of my boot wearing days and was very, very happy to have them.

Little Emma though wasn't nearly as impressed with them as I was so they basically just sat in her closet. That is until little Rebecca came into our life. It didn't take us long at all to realize that Rebecca loves all things cowgirl related - boots, horses, "fahms" (farms) and really any kind of animal. Deep down in her little soul is a cowgirl! She noticed the boots right away and loved wearing them and while she seems to have a knack for being very rough on shoes, those little boots held up for her for a very long time. When it came time to replace them we looked in several places and could not find any child size boots other than a pair at Target. Needless to say, those didn't hold up under her wear very long at all!

My brother knew about Rebecca's love for boots and when we went to Oklahoma for Thanksgiving he took both of his little niece's to the local feed store and bought them both a brand new pair. I think the only time she's had them off since we've been home is on Sundays when I make her wear her pretty dress shoes. Who would have ever guessed that a pair of boots would make one little girl so very happy!




Wednesday, December 15, 2010

'Tis the Season

Lots going on around the Hunter household. I'll spare you all the details, but goodness it seems like we're never home anymore. My plan was to have our Christmas trees up before we left to go to Oklahoma for Thanksgiving, would be able to do my shopping and get cards done as soon as we got home ... but you know the saying about the best laid plans ...

We had a wonderful trip to Oklahoma, the girls are ready to pack up and move but while we were there my computer went completely down. It's taken until just this week to get a new drive in, get everything re-installed and all my data retrieved. Whew. That on top of basketball starting, dance, gymnastics, church, shopping to do, a never ending pile of laundry and a messy house - you know the drill. Then the washing machine went kaput too, not fun. Not fun at all.

This past weekend it snowed and in my mind it was going to be the PERFECT opportunity to take pictures for our cards. I had bought the cutest red dresses for the girls and a new sweater for Ryan and I had this image in my mind of their little faces flushed from cold air and pictures of them frolicking in the snow. What I didn't factor into the equation is them being so cold from 'frolicking' without coats on, nor a grumpy son from not getting enough sleep over the weekend and therefore not in the mood to 'frolick'. Needless to say, good pictures of smiling happy children were not to be had that day. Well, Emma was happy - but she's always happy.

At this point Christmas cards are still not done and I'm not holding my breath that it's actually going to happen this year.

With that said, this is the best I got ... and from our home to yours - MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Monday, November 29, 2010

In Case You're Wondering

We celebrated Thanksgiving in Oklahoma this past week, wonderful week of catching up with friends & family!!! Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Bad news is, the laptop has crashed again - this time most likely permanently ... so uploading of pictures isn't gonna happen for a while :-( Not even sure at this point how I'm going to get Christmas cards made.

Hopefully I'll be back to catch up soon. I do have some funny little Thanksgiving week stories to share!

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Trying Something New




Back about a month ago I took the kids down to the park, trying to scope out a new place to take pictures for a certain 'look' that I wanted to try. They weren't dressed up, their hair wasn't fixed, their clothes didn't blend, I wasn't getting the 'weeds' quite how I wanted and subsequently didn't quite get the look I was looking for - but goodness they had fun and I had fun capturing some of their antics. Sometimes I think maybe these make the best pictures.

But then again, there'll come another evening when the sky is that perfect color of blue & I'll force them to put on nice clothes, comb their hair & try this again :-)

Happy Fall Ya'll






The ol' laptop is back in working condition, now I need to work on getting back in blogging condition!

Happy Fall Ya'll!!!

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Sabbatical

In case anyone is wondering, my laptop is on the brink o' death and Brian hasn't had time to fix it. I'll be back once it's back in working condition!

Sunday, October 17, 2010

For Today


Outside my window: It's dark and somewhat warm for a fall night. I know I'll regret saying this later, but I'm ready for some real fall weather.

I Am Thinking: About my sweet hubby. He works so hard, has such a stressful job and then it seems like there are so many things around here that need to be done. He worked all weekend trying to finish up our bathroom. I'll be so glad when we are done with remodeling and can start getting out and about again.

I Am Thankful For: My family. I fuss at all of them from time to time, but I enjoy them so much. Each personality so different and so enjoyable in their own way. I watched the three kiddos out the window off an on all afternoon yesterday as they made up their own little game with sand pails and hickory nuts. Not quite sure what all they were doing but they picked up a bunch & then played and played with them.

From The Kitchen: Made fajitas yesterday which were yummy! Last week I was really in a cooking mood and made a meatloaf, some yummy pecan pie muffins (that are DELICIOUS!).

I Am Wearing: Blue & white shorts, yellow t-shirt ... not so sure they match :-(

On the 'Go Organize' Front: Cleaned out Ryan's closet - that child has hit a big growth spurt and nothing from last winter fits. Also went through the girls clothes and made a goodwill pile and a friend pile. Saved a few summer things for next summer but can tell that 5T's will not be fitting next summer. Makes me a little sad that we're completely out of the toddler sizes now :-(

I Am Going: To bed soon. Busy weekend wore me out.

I Am Reading: Just finished a rather odd book that my mom sent. She warned me ahead of time that the title and subject was not something I would typically read but encouraged me to give it a try. She said it was really good, not so sure I agree, but for some reason couldn't put it down either. The book is called "Imperfect Endings: A Daughter's Tale of Life and Death". It was basically about rights to die - which is weird to me, but the book was well written. Unsettling, but well written. Now I need something new to read!

I Am Hoping: That Brian can get some relief from the stress of his job.

I Am Praying For: A family we know who was in the process of adopting, they were there for the child's birth - no red flags from their agency, all seemed like it was going well but the birthmother changed her mind. The family is crushed to say the least.

I Am Hearing: Football on the tv ... sigh.

Around The House: Clean! Brian was busy with remodeling things, the kids played all afternoon in the yard and so I was able to get the whole house cleaned! Well, except the dining room - but that's another story.

One Of My Favorite Things: FALL!!! Beautiful gold and orange trees. Cool air. Opening the house up. The fresh smell in the air!!! I was going to take the kids to the park and take pictures but just didn't make it this weekend. I did take Rebecca on a test shoot last Wednesday & found the perfect foliage. I would upload my favorite ... but my laptop went kaput.

A Few Plans For The Rest of The Week: Baseball is over. Fall break is over. So it's back to a somewhat normal schedule with no sports for a few weeks. Gymnastics for Emma on Wednesday, Dance for the girls on Thursday. Ryan is leaving for a class trip to Chicago on Friday. A church 'senior social' on Saturday that we're really looking forward to. We will be helping another Sunday school class host this and the theme is HeeHaw - we did this last year and it was a blast!!! The class we are helping has a room full of talented people who are just natural at these skits. Funny, funny stuff!

Have a great week everyone!

Monday, October 11, 2010

Autumn Moon Festival

Summarized from wikipedia ... The Mid Autumn Moon Festival is a popular harvest festival celebrated in China. It dates backs over 3,000 years. It is one of the few most important holidays in the Chinese calendar. Farmers celebrate the end of the summer harvesting season on this date. Traditionally on this day, Chinese family members and friends will gather to admire the bright mid-autumn harvest moon and eat moon cakes.

In China, the Mid-Autumn Festival is held on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar, which is in September or early October in the Gregorian calendar. It is a date that parallels the autumnal equinox of the solar calendar, when the moon is at its fullest and roundest. The traditional food of this festival is the mooncake, of which there are many different varieties.

Our local FCC chapter has a celebration every fall but several years ago we started celebrating with other adoptive families that we are friends with and a new Shelby county version has emerged! Our friends the Bailey's have hosted this fun party and we have had a blast, this year being no different. It's a laid back affair, and not necessarily scheduled with the full moon - but that's really irrelevant to all the fun we have together. Watching the girls play together is more fun than any parent should be able to have!

Here's a few pictures from the fun & festivities!











Wednesday, October 6, 2010

A New Take On Playing In The Yard







The girls were out playing not too long ago and Brian came in and told me I needed to bring my camera and come out. I protested, too much to do ... yada yada - house too messy - laundry to do. He persisted and so I finally went out - and found this! They crack me up!!!




Monday, October 4, 2010

Of Blogs and Time

Goodness, has it really been over two weeks since I blogged! That's pretty bad when you get emails from friends wondering if you've dropped off the face of the earth or not.

Random thoughts by me in no particular order. The last two weeks have consisted of:

  • Homework
  • Ballgames
  • Homework
  • Gymnastics
  • Dance
  • A birthday party where both girls were invited (such a treat for me - I didn't have to hear "that's not fair" a single time).
  • Ballgames
  • Homework
  • Gymnastics
  • Dance
  • A new remodeling project start (the basement)
  • Some progress made on an existing remodeling project. A dear friend brought an electrician over to finish up some things in our bathroom. This is the project that started in March 2009 and will end by ______. Not that I'm counting or anything. On a side note, even though that was the first one that kicked things off, even though it got put on hold - we did get lots of other things done - just haven't gotten that one completed.
  • A sick husband
  • The ushering in of cold weather and a mad dash of a shopping trip to buy jeans for Emma as she only had two pair that fit. I think she would wear shorts 12 months out of the year if we'd let her.
  • An attempt to sort pictures that turned my only organized room into a chaotic mess with pictures all over the floor and me without the heart or gumption to even step back in there.
  • A concussion for Emma. That was fun. Not. Scared the bejabbers out of me - she was talking NONSENSE and wasn't remembering much from a short term perspective. She's back to hand stands, cart wheels and constant pestering so she must be on the mend.
  • A husband who has the knack of making me laugh even when I'm in a really testy mood.
  • "Survivor Weekend" for the youth - beautiful day for it, the kids had a blast as did the grownups. The big kids let my little kids join in the fun. We are blessed to go to church with what's got to be the nicest people on the face of the planet. It really is amazing, and I oh how I enjoy watching people being so kind to my babies.
  • Busy, busy time at work - which is a blessing.
  • Two lunch outings with friends. Another blessing. I love my friends :-)
  • Lots of laughter at both lunches - I love laughing with my friends!
  • Allergy doctor visit for Ryan with a side trip to Starbucks afterwards to partake of a vanilla bean frappachino - quite the treat for us! And even more of a treat to surprise him.
  • Nursery duty this past Sunday - not sure what was going on but we only had one baby, he's a snuggler and I got to hold him the entire time. Not sure who enjoyed it more, me or him.
  • The opportunity to catch up with another friend during our nursery hour - she called it our 'therapy hour'. Another hour filled with fun and laughter.

So, I guess other than remodeling, a sick husband and a child with a concussion - I've gotten to laugh a lot these past two weeks. Laughter is good for the soul isn't it?

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Checkups, Outings and One on One Time











Rebecca had her 5 year checkup the other day where I found out that she has grown 2 1/4 inches this past year (WHOAAA!) and gained 3 lbs. I am a little concerned that she is going to end up being taller than Miz Divine. Since I wasn't able to take off a whole day to spend with her on her birthday, I did spend a few hours with her after her appointment. Our first stop was Build-A-Bear. She's had several bears made for her but has never gotten to make one for herself and my oh my did she enjoy herself! She picked out a little dog that has a puppy that is held in the dogs mouth by a magnet. Cute, cute, cute! Then instead of an outfit we found a leash - which really cracked me up. She has taken belts off of dresses and any kind of string she can find and has been making her own leashes for her various animals. Now she has one that really is a leash! A big ol' chocolate chip cookie was the grand finale for our time out - YUMMY! Baby girl loves her "chocolee"!