hurst happenings...

a Sunbeam indeed...

2012-01-18T11:40:00.001-05:00

Little boys come in all shapes and sizes,

Shy and adventurous, full of suprises,

With misshapen halos and mishchievous grins,

Small dirty faces, and sweet sticky chins

They'll keep you so busy, and yet all the while

Nothing can brighten the world like their smile.

And no greater treasure has brought home more joy

Than a curious, active, and lovable boy!

Welcome to Sunbeams Rhoane Coy!

Mommy loves her handsome big boy!

Feeling tender today...

2012-01-09T12:16:00.005-05:00

Last night we lost our Grandpa Bert. He was (and is) such a precious person.
I'm lucky to have been blessed with him as a Grandfather. Many of the traditions

that have carried over into the lives of my children, started with him and my Grandmother.

He touched so many lives, and will be sorely missed.
I'm feeling quite tender today, but have a great deal of comfort and peace in my knowledge of the Plan

--Heavenly father never ceases to amaze.

I'm feeling a great deal of gratitude today too; I've been blessed with a number of wonderful people in my

life who have touched me in more ways then they realize. Family is Golden.

Family is Eternal.

I love you, Grandpa Bert Chesney.

Until we meet again.

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-12-02T18:18:00.002-05:00

Thanksgiving was chock-full of...

Good Food

Great Conversation... especially of the plate-waving, bug-eyed sister gossip kind... (ref top-right pic)

Adorable Kids...

all shared by One Amazing Family

Happy Thanksgiving

indeed.

So thankful for this blessing I call Family.

I love you, all.

Adeline

2011-11-12T14:47:00.005-05:00

Adeline,

My sweet sweet baby girl, you are TWO. It's a hard fact for me to wrap my brain

around. You've already been so many places, and done so many things in your

first two years of life. I'm pretty sure you won't remember a lick of it, but

boy do we have pictures!!

I think it's safe to say, that this is the age at which I want to bottle you up,

and keep you in forever. You are so dear. I was trying to think of a few things

that make you so perfectly you, when I realized it's absolutely everything you

do! It's in the way you rock to one hip, and tilt your head just so; the picture

of feminine perfection. It's in the curiosity of your blue intense stare, and in

the way the sun hits your blonde curls, seeming to set them ablaze. It's in the

way you scrunch your nose when you think something is cute, and in the way you

smash your face into mine... you seem content to stay like that for a long time.

I cherish that. The bond you have with your Daddy cannot go unmentioned here,

there really is something to be said about what happens to a man when a baby

girl is born into his life. Wow. It's beautiful to watch you two together. You

find such comfort in him, and I completely understand. He has a way with you

that only you two share. It's deep and unyielding. And that is something you're

sure to cherish as you grow, and the inevitable mother/daughter clash ensues

(though in my heart of hearts, I hope that clash never happens). You wake up

happy, which is something none of your brothers ever did. It's been pleasant to

say the least. You do, however, have an ornery streak a mile wide (of which I

secretly love). I doubt I'll ever have to worry about you sticking up for

yourself. You are independent and unafraid to try new things, and/or scale new

heights... sometimes you even jump off said heights!!! Luckily, you've come away

unscathed thus far.

My dear sweet Adeline, you are mine, and I'm so blessed to be your mother. And

that for a span of time in your lovely life, I get to be your #1. I love you

baby, enjoy being two!!!

Love, Mama

Gotta start somewhere...

2011-10-25T07:34:00.002-04:00

Hey Blog World, it's been a while hasn't it! And is it just me, or is staring at the same blog post for the past 6 months flat-out obnoxious? Sorry for that. I've definitely got some catching up to do. But for now, I'll leave you with the knowledge that we are back in Oklahoma as of this past June, and we are elated! Jared's job opened up an opportunity for us to head back this way, and we jumped on it. Although I must say, the process of moving is for the birds! Taxing I tell ya. I'm happy to report we are thriving and life couldn't be sweeter. I am sad that it's taken me so long to post, there is just so much to tell you about; Sam losing his first tooth, falling in love, turning 6, and having a tonsillectomy all in the same month. Leif turning 7, and losing his first tooth, our trip to Boston, Roo turning 3, Adeline being adorable... aye me, the list goes on! But for now, I figure I've gotta start somewhere, right?! So here we go!

My family put on their annual Halloween costume party, and this year we got to be in attendance. It was a carnival type theme with games like bottle toss, balloon pop, mummy wrap, ducky pond etc. I even got to help out, which was fun for me. I was in charge of the graveyard...bwah ha ha ha (creepy music in the background)...

Pilgrims and Indians

Some of the kids gearing up for the Spook-walk through the woods.

Games

It was a ghoul time :-)

Is it deserving of a title? I think not.

2011-04-14T09:08:00.003-04:00

Oh blog world, it's been so long. Too long. I want to croak under the pressure. But alas, I must return. Meaningless details of monotonous everydayness coming soon. Stay tuned ;) do I even have readers anymore? Oh me.

Soon soon.

-Coty

Ps I hate this background... It's gonna change soon, too. Peace out.

Where's Mimmer?

2011-01-21T13:56:00.000-05:00

(known as "Mimmer" to her family.)

(grainy phone pic)

Adelines favorite game as of late is... "Where's Mimmer?"

What gets me is that she actually thinks she's hiding, and that Mommy can't possibly see her, unless she peeks out from behind those little hands; so adorable.

She makes me melt.

For real.

holiday catch-up

2010-12-21T10:23:00.001-05:00

It's been awhile since my last post. Blame it on the holiday bustle ;)

We enjoyed our stay in Oklahoma, unfortunately there aren't any pics of it to document. Now that we are back in town, we've been preparing for all things Christmas. We went and found the perfect tree at a tree farm down the way from us. It was a cold blustery day, the kind where your face stiffens in the wind and it's hard to even move your mouth to talk. Brrrrr. Anyhow, we found our tree while the boys munched away on powdered donuts we picked up at the convenient store for breakfast ...Mother of the Year over here!!!

Rhoane isn't happy in the picture, he wanted to hold the box of donuts

but it just wasn't going to happen.

"Seriously Mom?... it's too cold to be pausing for pictures"

L scoping out the best location to hang his Nutcracker.

Our sweet simple tree! Of which A has successfully un decorated the bottom half of!

With the younglings we couldn't risk (I didnt want the hassle of) having the breakables out. So it was plastic bulbs, and stuffed gingerbread garland :)

Random: A's kissy fish face. I love it.

Hands Across Northeast.

At the boys school, the kindergarteners made ornaments to hang on the big spruce out front of the school. Sam made a wreath. Afterward we all gathered in a big circle and sang Christmas carols :)

Gingerbread House

After a few safety violations (note: scissors in eldest boys hands, soccer ball in sink) I decided the part where we put the house together would be mine...they helped to decorate it.

Leif's personal G-bread house he created at school.

I made these holiday gift bags from scrap paper and Dollar Tree bags.

In them were these...

I handmade these for my Young Women for Christmas this year.

Along with them I included a journal and some highlighter pencils for their scriptures.

Jared tells me they are very "Relief Society"...better to prepare them for what's coming next, I say ;p

Santa Claus is coming to town...

Good for you if you stayed with this post all the way thru. It's kind of long...and picture-y.

Happy Holidays to all of you.

May your days be merry and bright!

Love the Hurst's

home for the holidays...

2010-11-19T15:46:00.004-05:00

We'll be heading home for the Thanksgiving holiday...and I'm feeling so thankful. Thankful for family, for friends, for love, and for all the comforts of home; especially during this holiday. I'm thankful for the opportunity we have to see so many people that are dear to our hearts, and have blessed our lives. I'm thankful for the opportunity we have to spend this time with them, and let them know how much we care about each of them. I'm thankful to see my children run and play with their cousins, and blissfully spend these carefree days using their imaginations. As for me, I'll be like a sponge this Thanksgiving, soaking in all the moments with family... and taking in my Oklahoma.

Mmm, life's good.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you, too.

May it be blessed with love, family, and all the comforts of home.
and lots of scrumptious food, too ;)

Halloween Hullabaloo...

2010-11-03T10:31:00.003-04:00

Although we didn't get to do trick-or-treat this year (because of a nasty 24hr bug that cycled through the family :(... we still had a lot of fun in the days leading up to Halloween!

In fact, this has been a great Halloween month, filled with all kinds of crafts, parties, parades and spooky treats for us.

Here are some highlights from our 13 Nights of Halloween, and some other fun Halloween-y pics.

I made Sam's costume this year, from an old white bed sheet, a little sewing, and a little pinning :)

Dead Man's Toes

(I was calling them dead man's thumbs...but the children quickly corrected me) *shrug*

Sam's Stitches Night...

I'm not sure this can be catagorized as a "highlight" night, but it certainly was eventful.

Instead of a fun meal or craft...we spent two hours in the ER after Sam kissed the concrete :( Poor guy, he's okay now and has since had his stitches out. For what its worth, his stitches looked great on fright night when he was Frankenstein!

Ghost Pot Pie Night

& craft

Fright Night

We painted the kids faces, and made scary face pancakes. Easy does it :)

A baby wipe worked great for taking the face paint off.

Sam was Frankenstein, Leif was a skeleton, and Roo was a puppy!

A Jumble Night :)

We crafted paper pumpkins,

and ate skeleton ribs for dinner!!!

This night kind of makes me laugh. We got started on our craft late, and before I new it it was time for dinner and I hadn't even started cooking! So we ordered a Stromboli and cut it into "Skeleton ribs" ... Jared drew a quick skeleton head to give it the affect.

Um, this could be a really cute and fun idea if it were a little better planned :) Oops!

Dressed for the Halloween Parade at school...

Leif was a Bat this year, and Samuel was a Mummy.

I had to leave a space unwrapped in Sam's costume so he could pull his pants up and down, incase he needed a restroom break ;)

My sweet little Harvest Fairy.

She turned One on the 30th of October...can you believe it?

Oh my.

...stay tuned for her One year pics and her "party".

My little Cowboy. What a cutie!

Roo is obsessed with all things "Woody"

from the movie Toy Story.

Drawing jackolaterns and drinking ghoooul-aid.

Dont worry, I removed the eyeball to prevent any choking hazards :)

On top of being sick, the temp outside was in the 30's on Halloween.

So, instead of trick or treat, we carved our pumpkins.

Jared and I did most of the carving, but the boys sure helped clean out the guts ;)

Happy Halloween 2010

Life with a 2yr old

2010-11-02T16:54:00.003-04:00

So, I spent the better part of last evening hugging the porcelain throne, in a violent battle with the evil 24hr bug that ruined our Halloween Trick-or-Treat. Boo. And can I just tell you that the morning following such a battle can leave a mother weak and fatigued, too distracted to pay attention to the fact that her 2yr old is sprinkling the bathroom and the hallway with Comet?! Oh.My.Word. ....seriously?
Now, before you go judging, and thinking I'm a mother of 4 who ought to know better than to leave such potentially harmful chemicals within reach of a child, you should know that my husband, in a 3:30am haze the other night, placed the Comet under the sink to block the rat that was chewing it's way inside through the little hole where the drain pipe comes in. I know right. It was more like a field mouse...but in my book it may as well have been a RAT. Ahem, so anyway yes, my 2yr old was sprinkling Comet all over the place. Exasperated sigh. But before you go thinking this is merely a one time catastrophe...I should tell you that less than two weeks ago, that same 2 yr old shorted out my flat screen using the Windex that I mistakenly left out while hurriedly cleaning before company came over....are we seeing a trend? Okay, now you can go ahead and judge ;) but for what it's worth at least I got a new TV out of that ordeal. I can't say the same for the Comet. I got nuttin' other then a huge headache and a call to the poison control over that one. Should I go ahead and mention that he also doused the hallway with baby powder about two weeks ago,, what a MESS! it took me three days to clean that up [insert eye roll here]...

So, what is/was life like for you raising a 2yr old...does/did it look anything like this?

(baby powder)

Another weekend trip :)

2010-10-26T10:49:00.002-04:00

Every year from October 1-31st Salem Massachusetts hosts Haunted Happenings: a month long Halloween celebration of parades, costume balls, haunted houses, tours of Salem etc... it's a good time for all.
The weekend of October 15th we packed up the troops and headed to Salem to check it out -boy were we glad we did! Just traipsing through the streets was a treat in and of itself; there was so much to see and do. There's just something about that whole festival feel, and in a quaint little town too, with so many creepy attractions and sights.

*every text that is orange, in italics, underlined, and bold is a link to more information.

We hit the historic Witch Museum first, but couldn't take many pics once inside; the flash would have taken away from the ambiance. It was so creepy cool, and the kids stayed intrigued the entire time (accept A, jared had to take her out :( )

For a little bit of History on the Salem Witch Trials you can go HERE...

Above is the only picture I took once inside the Museum. The story was depicted in scenes all around the room.

Following the Museum, we walked the streets for a spell.

I loved how we would randomly stumble across a dark cloaked figure among the crowd.

We met tons of witches, but this witch was our favorite by far! She looked like a bronze statue until you put tips in her jar. While you stood next to her for a picture, she'd reach out and touch you or do something else silly and unexpected. When it was our turn the boys didn't dare get too close, they knew she was up to something "tricky"...I laughed so hard.

Just look at all those books stacked in the windows...a gal could get lost in there ya know. I love it.

The first of the accused Salem Witches to die by the rope.

"Pressed to death"

..sounds horrible doesn't it? Too bad he'd already accused his own wife of being a witch--Karma? I'm just sayin'.... ;)

The pirate ship tour was a absolute MUST. It also helped that it happened to be free that day... :)

This thing was SO cool...out there floating in the harbor and all--sure gave it that realistic feel.

Little pitstop for some Halloween sprinkled icecream...

Then it was on to The House of the Seven Gables-

made famous for it's fictional role in Nathaniel Hawthorne's book: The House of the Seven Gables.

Following that, it was time to continue touring the streets and gobbling up as much fried dough, cooked sausage and cotton candy as we could :)

We also stopped in the Common, so the children could play at the park.

What a fun trip! We hope to go back again next year, but we may be heading back to Oklahoma by that time soo...who knows! All the more reason for us to have visited Salem.

Before heading home, we stopped by a few more towns that were just beautiful -Gloucester and Rockport.

If you are ever over that way, and have a moment...GO! The waves crashing on the rocks, the scenery and all that wonderful wind...it was just as I'd always pictured New England's coastal states!

There were lots of pictures in this post :) I just couldn't decide, so I took you on our trip with us! We were so glad to be able to go and visit such neat places--especially around Halloween, so creepy cool and fitting for this time of year wouldn't ya say!

Halloween is just around the corner...what are you going to be?

13 Nights of Halloween: Night #1

2010-10-20T15:17:00.002-04:00

We made mummy pizza bagels -cute huh!!

This was fun, and really easy! I just schooled the boys while I made mine, and they followed. I did assist Rhoane, however.

And Adeline happily munched on pepperoni's while we worked.

Notice Sam's change of shirt...

a minor fiasco ended with both Sam and his pizza bagel face down on the floor (stupid chair). After a few tears were shed he changed his shirt and got back to business :)

This was our craft for the evening..."Skull Garland".

The older boys insisted it be in their room. Since Roo couldn't have cared less... that's were it went :)

Fun times.

I won't blog every one of our 13 nights, but I may make a recap collage of each night in pictures... at the end. Anyway, I just love this time of year. Not like you care or anything, but if you are curious... we started the 13 Nights of Halloween to extend our favorite holiday; instead of one creepy cool Halloween night...we have thirteen! Tell me what fun things you do to keep Halloween going as long as you can -I'd love to know!!!

ps...the skull garland and some of our other Halloween craft ideas came from here: http://papercrave.com/ they have freebee templates for several different cutouts that you can print off right at home!!!

Post-nap happy...

2010-10-05T15:31:00.003-04:00

Sissy romping around after her 2hr nap today

Rocking out to some Mickey Mouse...

she's been dancing lately. a lot. somebody's just like her Mama!

Don't you just love a well rested baby? I mean, I luuuv this little tot no matter what, but there is something about a well rested, smiley baby that makes ME happy!
Our little A has gotten so big. I keep having mild panic attacks each time I remember that her one year mark is approaching (soon, too soon).
What a joy she is!
Lately I've noticed she's looking more like a toddler and less like a chubby baby :( She's gotten longer and leaner. And guess what else...she can't STAND wearing head bands, flowers, clippies...none of it! This breaks my mother-of-a-little-girl heart, I tell ya! I can, however, still get her in her leg warmers...if she ever despises those...I'll just die, DIE I say!
Yay for sweet, happy, pink little girls...

ps she is now a pro at "Mama, Dadda, and NO!" and has recently started pointing at everything. so sweet. she's trying to walk as well; that I'm not so excited about... i won't have my little baby anymore, I'm sad about that part. I get teary eyed at the thought of it :(

Come, take a drive with us...

2010-09-27T05:01:00.002-04:00

Let's enjoy the fall colors...

A regular occurance, slowing for an Amish buggy.

I live in the heart of an Amish community. They don't like their picture taken you know...

Let's keep driving

Okay, maybe we'll stop and observe some...

Back home again...

That's A's playpin (sans A) out under the trees,

she loves to be out in the great middle of everything, when we work/play in the yard.

I feel so blessed for the opportunity to see a north eastern fall -WOW! is all I can think of to say at the moment...

Okay, maybe not all I've got to say. I fell in love with fall back home (in Oklahoma), because it's the start of so many great things...football season, decorating, kicking of the holidays, wool sock weather (even if we do hit an 80 degree day in December)... but I'm not sure I even knew what "Fall Foliage" was until I moved here lol.

It's beautiful!

I take the kids on drives every day, in the morning and again after school, just so I can stay out in it longer. We spend our Sunday drives out observing, too.

Growing up, I never would have imagined my road leading to Pennsylvania???

(btw, that's not an insult to all my PA pals who read this)

But I'm taken with it's beauty.

Okay okay, and I know I never got to the rest of our family trip...we hit Harpers Ferry, Gettysburg and then my entire family made it all the way up to my place, here, and got to see our world. Yet another blessing that I never saw coming, but will never forget. Good times...

ps none of the photos are shopped. All true to color.

Random autumn contentments and daydreams...

2010-09-20T13:17:00.002-04:00

Ahhh, there's something about the house being clean, the windows open, the aroma of spiced fall candles and a cool breeze blowing that puts my heart at ease.
It's beginning to feel a lot like fall around these parts, and I'm feelin' good. the trees are flirting with the idea of color, the sky is clear and the air is crisp!
I can't wait for fall to be in full swing!!! Time to bust out the leather boots and cardigans -mmm-mm.

and now for some random images that make me smile.

oh to be fashionable, organized and have my home perfectly decorated...

think I can convince my children to keep their room this clean???

random yet againmy kiddos in the field after school on friday.

*sigh*

Oh the dreams I can dream in Autumn hues!

OBX 2010

2010-09-09T17:27:00.092-04:00

Well...

We were lucky enough this summer to be able to have two family reunions!...one with Jared's family, and one with mine! We had a week of vacationing in the Outer Banks planned for my family, too .... but, Hurricane Earl had another idea in mind :(

The threat of the hurricane caused a mandatory evacuation of Hatteras Island -the island we were staying on- so our vacay was cut short! Major bummer!

We ended up only staying in OBX for three days and three nights, which pains me, but we did thoroughly enjoy ourselves while it lasted!!! my only regret is that I didn't get the time to take more pictures of my family together! There were 24 of us total, pretty large group huh! It was so great to be able to see everyone, and it meant a lot to me to be surrounded by my "Oklahoma Crew" again. Would you like to see a few of the pictures we did get from our stay? You would! Okay then...

my brother, Cameron

these are some of my nieces and a nephew,

Scout, Mattie, and Gunner

Mimi (my mom) and Sam jumping waves...

My kid brother, Colton, sifting the sand for shells...

Lillian and Rhoane.

Lilly is obviously not interested in what R has to say...

niece, Brooklyn

that's a horseshoe crab that Leif is inspecting...

Mimi and Papa Dave

Each night a different family cooks dinner for everyone.

On our night we made both chicken and beef kabobs...

The last night we were there, we took the kids to ride the go carts and the bumper cars.

The pictures from that night were really blurry though, but here are a few of the boy cousins together!

And lastly, here we are saying goodbye to the beach. As you can see in the pics, there were no signs of the hurricane save the big, beautiful blue waves that it was creating -It made leaving that much harder.

Adieu to the big blue...

(forcing smiles here)

pouting faces...

All 24 of us on the beach one last time...

(cept Jared, he's taking the picture).

So! What did we do with the rest of our vacation time???

Stay tuned for the upcoming posts to find out :)....

Back to school...

2010-08-29T00:44:00.001-04:00

Morning of the first day of 1st Grade and Kindergarten...

It was 50 degrees out, so we dressed in layers.

Seriously, how cute are they in their flannel and chucks?

I love that their moods shine through in the photo below...

Sam = eager and happy as a clam. Leif = too cool for school.

at their school...

See ya, Mom.

Leif raced through the doors and off to class without a second glance back at me. But Sammy stopped, smiled, and yelled "GOOD-BYE MOM" at the top of his lungs; I can always count on him to remember me.

However, a teacher that was on duty when I dropped the boys off, was kind enough to come out to my car (while I was loading Adeline and Rhoane) and report that " Leif ran all the way back down the hall and asked me, "Do you know where my Mom went?" when I told him you had already left, he replied with a very disappointed "Awwwwe, okay then" and slunked back to class ". Atleast he gave me an afterthought, right ;)

The first day went GREAT!

Now, lets just see how they feel about it over the next 9 months ;)

Watching her garden grow...

2010-08-25T10:46:00.004-04:00

this was my bucket garden at the beginning of summer...

sweet peppers

loose leaf lettuce

cucumbers

roma tomatoes

i harvested the lettuce and replaced it with hot peppers.

this is my garden today...

i found these just the other morning...

pretty sweet, eh?

(ignore my morning hair, please)

speaking of my "garden growing"...I simply cannot believe that TWO of my children will be going to school (all day) this year. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't super nostalgic, and a wee bit teary at the thought of it, but it'll be good for them. They start tomorrow!!!

Here are some pics from Leif's Kindergarten Graduation (that I never posted about. Oops!)

singing "Toe-Knee-Chest-Nut-Nose-Eye Love You"

Just look at how confident my little graduate is, getting up there in front of all those scary grown-ups!

Way to go Leif!

My garden IS growing...(but no, I'm not pregnant ;)

Where ARE you?

2010-08-22T13:44:00.002-04:00

Oh my! Where did I go people? Let's just say that the month of August has really socked it to me when it comes to busy. Nearly every day on the dry erase calendar has had something "pressing" penciled in --dentist appts, hair appts, mutual activities, back to school orientations, feed the missionaries...you name it! Also, the boys began soccer this month and, they love it! Which means, I do too! It's just practice right now and next month the games start. Here are a few pictures of them with their game faces on...

every time Sam kicked the ball, his mouth flew open -it's his signature move ;)

When Jared saw this last picture he said, "Oh Mama...he's gonna be a Killer"

...I have to admit every time I see it, the lyrics to that Queen song "We will, We will Rock You" plays in my head, and makes me grin :)

Leif in action...he's so fluid.

Sissy in action on the sidelines....wonder what she's thinking in this one?

booooring!

what a cutie!

And can you believe that in all the hubbub, there is not a SINGLE picture of Rhoane??? He was there, I promise! Poor guy, you'd think I'd hauled off and left him at the grocery store by accident. Bless me that I never do that to one of my children. And bless me that I didn't just jinks myself...

****

In the midst of the busy-ness, we were able to make it to Oklahoma last week! That was a welcome change! It was really nice seeing family and friends again, eating scrumptious food, and having good conversations while the children played (in the 100 degree temperatures). Jared, myself and the kiddos were all teary eyed (okay okay, some of us were full-on bawling) as we pulled out of my parents driveway in Oklahoma. As beautiful as it is here in the East, Oklahoma is where our hearts are. There are very few pictures of our trip...but here are the ones I did get. Uncle Jake and I took the boys fishing...

Cousins!

with uncle jake in the background bating the hooks :)

Fun times.

****

Lastly, I never really got a chance to post about it, but in July we were blessed with the opportunity to attend the Hill Cumorah Pageant. It was a beautiful pageant and each of us felt the spirit so strongly at different points throughout the show. A favorite of all of ours was when the Savior came at the end. A certain peace and stillness came over my children, it was neat to witness.

Lehi prophesying

The Tree of Life

Abinadi

Samuel the Lamanite.

The birth of the Savior.

The Savior visiting and blessing the people after His Resurrection

The Prophet Joseph Smith teaching the people.

When Christ comes again.

Well guys, if you stuck with my post up until this point, you are amazing. It's a real doozy ;) We have one more family reunion to close out summer with, which I'm extremely excited about! and then its FALL FALL FALL time! Until then....

ps ..just because, here is a pic of Sweets.

I took it today, she's in her PJ's...isn't see delightfully delicious? I'm sooo lucky.

Dizzy in my desire...

2010-08-04T08:52:00.001-04:00

Dizzy in my desire for Fall! are we there yet?

I'm so ready!

Sweets...

2010-07-30T19:25:00.003-04:00

We. are. enamored.

9 months ago she came into this world, a much anticipated presence...and our lives have never been the same.

We love you Sweets!

Happy 9 Months Day!

conclusions...

2010-07-21T11:45:00.001-04:00

"Mom, I guess I must be in charge now...I've got hair growing in my armpits...I can feel it!"

Me: "Op, it's time for a bath"

Niagara Falls...

2010-07-16T13:20:00.001-04:00

In case you couldn't tell, we've been trying to make the most of our time here in PA. We never know when we might have to leave, so we wanted to capitalize on the fact that we are less than a days trip from lots of fun places to visit.

I've always wanted to see Niagara Falls State Park, and knew the kids would think it was cool. So, we figured we'd saddle up our ponies, and head that way! Sure glad we did, it was a really neat sight to see!

Roo spent a lot of his time chasing down these guys. It was funny to watch...

After scoping out the views, we decided to head right down into the falls via the Maid of the Mist boat tour.

What a rush! The mist was amazing; alot of it, too. We were soaked! Of course the boys were in heaven ;)...

Question is...did Adeline enjoy it or not? I'm not sure...think she spent the majority of the time trying to catch her breath in the shock of the cold mist :) the poor dear!

It was nearly impossible to get a good picture of the Falls while on the boat...

the camera lens stayed wet the entire time.

Leif, bracing himself against the Mist!...

Some dude had these shoes on. I thought they rocked! On second thought though, it might bug me to have all my toes seperated with rubber like that...hmmmm.

Anywho. This was a fun time, really great for the kids. It was overcast the day we went, which ended up being perfect temperature wise; all the walking we did would have been miserable in the heat.

8 years today...

2010-07-13T09:08:00.003-04:00

I need ya

i got ya

i'm keepin' ya

love ya.

Jared, I love that you and i can rock the bug glasses and still manage to look so hip (and in a grainy photo no less!)...just one of the many reasons i love ya :)

Happy 8th Anniversary, babe.

thanks for making these past eight years of my life, the BEST years of my life!

4th of July weekend...in pictures!

2010-07-07T15:10:00.001-04:00

Name of the acreage we live on.

Pics of the at home fireworks. A few different days included...

The most anticipated fire cracker of all was, the Tank.

turns out, it wasn't what it was cracked up to be... ha, I slay myself.

I love the above picture of J's face, it looks so intense; they're just sparklers, babe.

In line for the local Fireworks Show.

A lot of people attended, more than I thought even existed in this tiny township I call home :) .

We enjoyed a fun and relaxing 4th of July weekend. The kids were excited and giddy the whole time; which makes their Mama happy, too. In addition to popping off several of our own fireworks here at home, we attended the local firework show. And I have one word to describe it : AWESOME!

Call me crazy, but I was literally thinking (and vocalizing) that the Show (being local and put on by a small township) would just be "something fun for the kids to watch" ...but boy was I wrong! This was hands down the best firework show I have ever seen! The grand finale was somethin' else...it shoulda made the papers, I tell ya!

It's also a tradition of ours to review and discuss the Declaration of Independence on or around the 4th of July. I say "review" because we all know that there's no way on this green earth that my children are going sit still long enough to read that whole thing! dream on!

All n'all, it was good times y'all!

it ain't every day....just saturday...and on occasion monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday, friday...

2010-06-24T11:25:00.004-04:00

It ain't every day that Batman and Robin patrol during saturday chores...

while a shy snake-eyes figures out his costume.

(sam's costume is actually a bakugon costume, but he coined himself Robin for the day. whatever works :)

I guess it makes doing saturday chores a little more tolerable :)

Maybe I should sport a Wonder Woman costume while I prune my flowers?...a novel idea!

Ahh, a glimpse of saturday morning with the Hurst's; we're characters!

in awe...

2010-06-18T11:09:00.001-04:00

Is she really all mine?

...all mine to squeeze, kiss, hug, squish, love and get lost in those cheeks! I'm still so in awe of my little adeline. she's such a ray of sunshine -just lights my day right up every morning i go to get her from her crib.

what did i do to be so lucky.

OBX 2010 -Cape Hatteras- Philip and Liz Hurst Family (uber long post)

2010-06-13T02:09:00.003-04:00

It was high time the Philip Hurst Family got together again.

This past Memorial Day marks the coming together of the Philip and Liz Hurst family for the first time in years. And what better place to get together than the Outer Banks of NC; waves crashing, salty air and breathtaking beaches -yes please!

As if that wasn't enough of a treat, we were spoiled with additional Hurst family (some of Philip's siblings and their families) came to join in on the fun -The more the merrier!

However, just a little FYI: the photos on this blog feature mostly the Jared Hurst family, with snippets of everyone else. What can I say...that's just the way it goes ;)

Beaching it up

Treasure Hunt!!!

Aunt Hanna and Grammy Liz organized a pirate treasure hunt for my boys -Thanks Auntie and Grammy!

Visiting Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

FYI: My boys love lighthouses. They've loved lighthouses since they were teeny tiny and can name you just about every lighthouse along the OBX. So naturally, we couldn't go without visiting a few of them.

Below is Jared and his brothers, Jacob and John. Jacob is in the middle (all 6'4 of him)

After visiting the lighthouse, the whole herd headed to Eddy's for some ice cream! If you're ever over that way, and happen to stop by Eddy's...be sure to get the Hatteras Sunrise, it's the best ;)

Almost all of us in the shot below. I'd say the icecream shop made bank on this day, would not you agree?...

Ocracoke -we took a ferry ride over to the island of Ocracoke. We went visit the lighthouse there, and too explore a little. It's been two years since we were there last, we'd missed it!

First, we stopped in for some grub at Jimmy's...I'm pretty sure I gained a good 3lbs by the time all was said and done. We ate out a lot this trip, and it was sooo worth it!

Pool play.

We'd hit the pool early in the day before heading down to the beach. The kids got a kick out of it.

If you look in the photo below you'll see behind me is the view of the beach from our room. Nice, eh? at night we'd leave the windows open and only the screen shut so we could hear the ocean -best sleep I've ever had I tell ya!

Jared and I on Date Night!

We saw the new movie Robinhood (after eating of course lol). Okay, so can I just say really quick how nice it is to be able to go on a date for the first time in 5mnths, but adding to it's luster was the fact that when we walked out of the theater, we were still at the beach and on vacation! --ah, simply heaven.

This night we took the boys go carting and bumper car riding -this was way cute and super entertaining for the entire family. We laughed so hard we nearly peed our pants! The boys were being so funny!

And of course we couldn't end the night without another stop at Eddy's. Since Rhoane was too small for the bumper cars...he got first dibbs on icecream. Icecream makes everything better, doesn't it.

The rest of these pics are just some fun ones we got while vacationing.

Aunt Leah, Uncle Corby and their cute little one, Lewis.

I'm fully aware that my children are not coordinating in the family photos...but whatdayado when every store between PA and NC happens to be out of black shirts in kid sizes? get a navy one right? And what if all of those are gone too? Well, then you just call it good! lol.

Gotta love the family photos where the kid's interest in on anything but smiling (prettily) for the camera :)

Okay, that about wraps it up!

This was a great vacation. I wept on and off while packing up and heading home; I love the OBX and We had such a good time with everyone! Can't wait until we can do this again!

ode to motherhood

2010-06-09T15:31:00.001-04:00

I wonder if by the time I get to bed tonight I'll recall the fact that my duvet has baby poop on the underside, and my crisp white sheets show remnants of last nights lasagna dinner -straight from the mouth of my two year old ...ah, something tells me I wont even bat an eye. and I may even be asleep before my head hits the pillow.

hmmm, here's to motherhood :)

Track and Field Day

2010-05-24T10:54:00.004-04:00

Upon getting out of bed every morning for the past month, Leif has asked me if "today is track and field day". And every time I asked him about it, he'd proudly explain that "it's where the little kids get to go to the HIGH SCHOOL TRACK..." and he left it at that. Apparently, going to the high school track is all-the-rage if you're a kindergartener -who knew? ;)

I happen to remember Track and Field Day growing up, and yeah...it was pretty much a big deal; whose competing in what, predictions on whose gonna win. Ahem, maybe even a little "betting" going on....
anywho, bottom line is, i was just as excited for Leif to get his golden day at the high school track as he was.

Track and Field Day 2010

The events Leif signed up for were the Baseball Toss, the Three Legged Race and the 100 and 200 meter races. For those of you who do not know what Track and Field Day is, it's a program organized by the school, where the students get to compete in various different athletic events. And it's great fun!

Baseball Toss:

Three legged Race

fueling up with a Capri Sun between heats.

Then it was on to the 100 and 200 meter races...

On your mark, get set, GO!

The Fan Club:

after sitting from 9am-1pm...we're all sporting major farmer's tans ;)

there were pre-prepared jugs of water for the students competing in the days events...sam helped himself to several cups of it before i caught on... what can he say, being a spectator is a grueling job.

Happy Birthday Rhoane!

2010-04-29T13:37:00.001-04:00

Bug Party!

on the menu:

burgers, baked beans, chips, mud n' worms, and CAKE!

beetle cake!

after we ate, Roo and the boys played outside with his new ball.

Our neighbors Joy, Jason and Jason Jr. joined us for dinner and celebration.

The boys decided to play with bubbles and sidewalk chalk;

then came the water guns, and water balloons. So eventually, the kids lost their shirts.

time for cake!

Roo got the whole beetle head to himself :)

This is when things got a little messy.....but hey, he was enjoying it;

dig in Birthday Boy!

One day while browsing the aisles at K-mart, Rhoane fell in love with a dinosaur pinata; like a" fit-inducing-when-ya-put-it-back-on-the-shelf " kind of love. So, I snuck it into the cart when he wasn't looking. I figured I'd suprise him with it at his party. He was excited, although I half worried he'd be traumatized when he realized what we were gonna do to the pinata...luckily, he wasn't. He seemed more than pleased to participate in the pinata's demise :) as long as he got first-dibs.

R got a few good whacks in before his brothers got ahold of it.

and then things got a little brutal.

In the end, they claimed their prize, and everyone was content.

a very happy 2nd Birthday indeed...

one for each hand!

Adeline Olive

2010-04-22T09:32:00.006-04:00

she's got her mama's thighs...badonka donk ;)

this is Adeline's crib & bedding... she loves the butterflies.

Adeline turned 5months old on the 30th of March (so technically she's nearly 6months).

She is absolutely a JOY to have in our home. She's really starting to get mobile; she flips on to her tummy and then hunches her legs up underneath her as if she's trying to crawl. The only thing is, she can't pick her head up when she does it :) all in good time, right?

She loves her brothers and they love her. I should have thought to put some pictures on here of them holding her, because they ask for a turn to hold her at least once a day. They give her lots of "kisses and hugs" too -So sweet.

Oh, and our latest craze is...her first TOOTH! it just broke through the gums a few days ago. We were so happy for her, because she'd been waking up a lot throughout the night and was quite uncomfortable. She bit down really hard on Jared's nose Monday night (he actually yelped, shh don't tell ;) and then she grinned a really big grin after she did it. It was pretty much adorable. Every thing she does is adorable in our eyes though. Eew, am I getting totally mushy or what. How can I not though, I mean look at her. I'm constantly fighting the urge to squeeze the bah-gee-bee's out of her. I'm only sorry to say that my computer has really been giving me fits over posting video's so I can't show you her crawl attempts or her rolling over :( you really wanted to see those, huh! ;)

oh oh oh, and she weighs 19lbs! what a tank :) I forget how long she is...is that sad? she is my fourth kid you know...maybe that's not an excuse...shame on me.

addendum:

trying out the ol' solids...she was not impressed. but she ate it and is now a pro!

Every summer...

2010-04-16T11:21:00.002-04:00

I end up having to purchase a swim suit for some reason or another.

The only difference as the summers go by is...pre babies all I cared about was the print on the swim suit...

post babies...all I worry about is wether or not the suit is gonna hide my lumps, make me look boobalicious, flat-tummied, tight butted and tan.

oh, and to not look like I stuffed rocks in my dairy area.

I've YET to find that suit.

I placed my swim suit order, and since then have been breaking out in cold sweats every time I see a mail truck...

I'm gonna need a gallon of Ben and Jerry's to get thru this.

ah, sweet summertime.

Palmyra Trip and Easter Shinanigans...{huge post}

2010-04-12T18:24:00.000-04:00

The friday before Conference we had the opportunity to visit Palmyra, NY. Where the Prophet Joseph Smith grew up. We really enjoyed seeing everything and recounting the stories to our kids about the events that took place there many years ago ~The restoration of the Gospel.

now mind you, it was hot out and we were clicking pictures strictly to prove we were there ;) ...not really any posed and proper pics

the Visitor's Center

trucking up the Hill Cumorah

(where Moroni hid the plates, and Joseph was directed to find them)

Palmyra Temple

Smith Plantation

the room where the Angel Moroni appeared to the young Joseph Smith

For those mother's who are interested...this is called the Birthing Room. Boy, technology has come along way, eh?

this is the fireplace.

under this brick is one of the locations where Joseph hid the plates from the angry mob.

The Sacred Grove

Adeline fell asleep in Jared's arms and the boys wandered off on their own. The kids were actually quiet during the walk. We had explained that Joseph saw God the Father and His son Jesus Christ in this grove. I'm pretty sure it sunk in for them. We also saw a few deer while we walked through, that was neat.

We stopped by Lake Ontario on the way out and skipped rocks.

Apparently, we missed out on some delicious food/icecream in Palmyra, at a place called the "Chill Grill"...we'll have to go by there next time ;)

On to our Easter Shinanigans...

dying eggs...

oh yeah, and the boys got hair cuts! ~cute huh!

"show me your eggs"

then we did the traditional placing of carrots and greens on the front porch for the Easter Bunny.

and it paid off...

the Easter Bunny brought stuffed lovies for the babies, and underwear for the big boys ;)

Then came the Hunt....

Sam took a tumble so we all helped pick up his scattered eggs...oops!

Okay well, that was another huge post, eh? We had a great time despite the fact that it was like 90 degrees wih no breeze out. It was a good experience for all of us.

Stayed tuned because "Sweet's"
(otherwise known as Adeline) 5mnth sats are coming soon and plenty of pictures too!

Thanks for stopping by!

PS Conference was wonderful this year. It really called us Mother's to put our best foot forward in Motherhood. I loved that it emphasized teaching Gospel Principals in the home. I was reeling by the time it was all over. I need to step up to the plate! Hup-too!

Washington DC Getaway...{huge post}

2010-03-30T09:51:00.007-04:00

This past weekend the family and I headed to Washington DC for a much needed mini vacation/getaway from everyday life. Jared took Friday off and we headed out early. It took us about six hours to get there, but it was worth it. The kids were actually fairly well behaved (can't say that for the trip back home...) so that was a nice little surprise. We stayed at a hotel called the Westin, in Alexandria, VA. It's just a stones throw from all the sights and sounds of DC...with a view of the city from across the river. Thanks to Priceline...we were able to afford a two night stay -YAY! love that.

This place was really something. We drove through the streets of Old Town Alexandria, which was so charming with it's cobblestone roads, gas lamps and old town houses.

here are a few web images...

On Saturday, we awoke to a crisp day; blue skies and sunny with a high in the mid 50's....perfect Zoo weather huh!

Smithsonian National Zoo, Washington DC

best parts were that the zoo was huge and it was FREE... except for $20 parking ;)

My bum got a major workout hauling this sucker (double stroller) up what seemed like mountains at the zoo...

I'll just warn you now...there are quite a few pics of the backs of our heads (or sides) while we oooed and awwwed at the animals ;)

A quick stop for some gummy bears and some souvenirs.

Here's a little FYI: Roo is REALLY into bears lately; His favorite book is "Brown Bear Brown Bear, What do you see?" we read it like 18x a day. Lucky for us...the newest addition to the Zoo were the Sloth Bears (we didn't actually see any Sloth Bears...but we had good intentions of doing so. This zoo is huge, and after 4hrs, we were tired).

Then it was on to the reptile house...one of the favorites.

Everything was in bloom...it was so beautiful.

Lunch time! -then Panda Bears!

Here are my boys, doing exactly what they were told not to do; climbing on the guard rail at the zebra exhibit.

Four plus hours later....we left the Zoo, loaded up and headed over to the

Cherry Blossom Festival.

(click on the title for the link)

half of my clan were passed out in the backseats...so we decided we'd check out the kites and celebrations from the car -the cherry blossoms were just gorgeous.

Kites peppered the sky.

The pics above were taken by me. However, below are a few web images, because I really needed a break from being behind a camera lens. So, I just enjoyed seeing the blossoms in real life ;)

Pink Magnolia trees and Cherry Blossom trees were in bloom absolutely everywhere in DC. They were all along the streets and in the parks...just breathtaking. After seeing all the earth in bloom like this...it makes me think of the Savior. It's Easter week this week, and despite the fact that I was skeptical as to wether or not spring would EVER come...alas, it is here. It's a pleasant surprise every year. I truly am reminded of the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior.

We eventually headed back toward the hotel, and after we grabbed some shut-eye (the boys watched Alvin and the Chipmunks), we took a dusk drive over to the Monuments. While there, I couldn't help but feel such an appreciation for the courageous men, who set forth to make America what it is today.

(sans recession, but who's asking)

On the drive home, we visited a little town called Harpers Ferry (best known for it's role in the John Brown Raid and the American Civil War...you can read about it here ), it's located in Jefferson County, WV - where my husband, Jared, grew up. It's the cutest little town nestled in the Blue Ridge mountains, right were the Shenandoah and the Potomac rivers merge. We hope to go back again sometime in the fall -it's gorgeous in the fall.

And then came the drive home...not so pleasant when the kids are sick of being in the car! I don't blame them. All and all, we had a good time. Oh, and sorry there are no pics of the White House...who goes to DC and doesn't take a pic of the White House?

apparently me.

Anyway, what a great family trip; can't wait to go back!

Adeline

2010-03-20T10:50:00.000-04:00

Long fingers, long toes

rose bud mouth

and a button nose...

presenting ...

Miss Adeline

ah, what can't i say about my little peach...she's breathtaking. having a little girl is everything i ever dreamed it would be; a chunky little bundle clad in pink...smothered in pink, if you will. Adeline is so sweet, and just smiles all the time. she's super ticklish too, everytime i try and pull those lumpy little arms through her shirt sleeves, she just can't help but squeal. i love it.

i must say, she truly does have the sweetest disposition of all my children; my boys tend to be demanding and slightly self absorbed ;) but not my sweets...she just goes with the flow. if i so much as look in her direction, she gets a mile-wide grin...the grin is so huge it's almost like her little face can't hold it all! see...

Adeline's brothers absolutely ADORE her. it's so funny and cute. they call her "sissy, sister, or sis"...or "mimmer" (not sure where they derived that one...but leif has given all his siblings their nicknames and they just seem to stick). the boys cheer A on at every turn. she has a bumbo that we put her in to practice sitting up...everytime she's in it they hoop and holler about how great she's doing and they clap for her too. rhoane really likes to coo at her, his favorite is "ooooohhhh siiissy". they all like to snuggle her and want to be the one that sits next to her. now that our "sis" is here...i can't imagine life without her. what a complete and utter joy it is to have her little spirit in our lives. such a blessing.

adeline is currently attempting to roll onto her tummy from her back, and she chats up a storm. i have plenty of video of her, but for some reason my computer is not allowing me to upload it right now -the blasted thing. my favorite is of her in her bouncey...she kicks her left leg really fast and gets to bouncing something fierce. it's the funniest thing ever. she does it every time she gets excited about something. i'll try and post a video of it in the coming days. too cute. she also loves her colorful word book...well, she loves chewing on it ;) and she now weighs in at a whopping 15.2 lbs....what a lumps-o-luv, huh! i could go on and on, because she is simply a dream, but alas i've 4 gremlins to keep after now, and my motherly duties call....

until next post!

ps A colors are pink, peach and sherbet orange, they look smashing on her... ;)

been snowed in

2010-03-04T08:47:00.030-05:00

Last Thursday found us huddled up, biting our nails in anticipation of Bradford County PA's first Winter Storm of 2010. the big one. the forecast predicted it...and mother nature delivered. the snow began falling falling falling early thursday morn, and continued to fall throughout the night. the wind howled... our house creaked and groaned under the frigid temperatures. we held tight to each other, our jaws clenched in terror as the candles flickered and the creepy music played...

okay, so not really (the candles, fear and creepy music part). but i sure set that up for ya didn't i? you were feelin' it.

truth be told, a winter storm did indeed smack into us. leaving in it's wake about two feet of actual Snow Fall. But the snow drifts were what did us in. It took days to get outta the mess. We accumulated nearly three feet around our house and atop our roof -Crazy!

We knew the storm was headed our way, so early that thursday we decided we'd take all necessary precautions (aka race to the grocery store and buy up all the junk food and soda in sight). Then we settled in and prepared for the storm to begin...

Just look at our walkway. the snow is waist high on leif!

dad had to do lots of this...until the neighbor brought out the skid loader and saved the day!

once the excitement ebbed, we did a lot of just plain old hangin' out.

and watching the Winter Olympics of course! thank goodness they were on.

can you tell daddy dressed me?

okay, this was a few hours in. we blasted the stereo and did what we'll refer to as "let loose".

a little air guitar goin' on ;) we um, did a lot of this.

Yes. Sam is wearing mittens on his feet....he calls them his "monkey feet"

momma gettin' funky. just look at the passion on my face. an arm raising good time ;)

dancing with sissy...is she not such a dolly? she was asleep for a lot of our activities...so there are (unfortunately) not a lot of pics of her as a result :( she is just a peach though. i absolutely ADORE having a little girl. my favorite daughter ever ;)

then it was time to bundle up and brave the elements.

(it was either that, or try and brave mom and her lack of patience for the next several hours ;)

after getting rid of some pent-up energy outside, it was time for a bubble bath....the kids only took about a billion baths over the long weekend (what can i say... we'd already read every book we own and i was outta creative ideas :)

(do my boys need a haircut or what!)

"shampoo hair-do"

...remember those when we were kids ...(or still?!)

and last but not least, we celebrated Sam and Leif's 5th and 6th birthdays (while being snowed in!) ...they're FIVE and SIX???...what-the-what? where has the time gone?

we tossed a stellar dinosaur/reptile birthday bash...complete with wooden snakes. The boys got a Wii (which also tickles me pink! so fun) from their Mimi, and some odds and ends from us (new sneakers etc...)

make a wish!

Happy Birthday Boys!

well, how was that for an uber post, eh?

last weekend was a lot of fun (and extra special because daddy got to be home for a 4 day weekend! that's a rarity and we absolutely ate it up). i loved that fact that we had absolutely no where to go, and nothing to do but hang out with each other, eat too much, down gallons of chocolate milk and celebrate birthdays! good times......now we better not get another one of those storms until next year. ya hear me Mother Nature?...lol.

ps get ready, cause the next post is all about adeline! i've been horrible about updating on her (huh hanna!) so i'll be sure to get on that.

hiccups

2010-02-24T12:48:00.005-05:00

" hey mom. i need to find a mirror so i can scare myself and get rid of these hiccups..."

(i laughed so hard. and then i called his daddy, and we laughed again. sam's the best.)

dude, wrong bug!

2010-02-16T19:15:00.007-05:00

so, just before the start of a lovely weekend of making valentine treats, eating way too much candy, and basking in the reasons why we love each other so much ...my family got bit by the bug. no, not the love bug...the sick bug. 24hr bug to be exact. yep, and it was nasty nasty nasty. it started on wednesday with sam, then leif and i (had it at the same time) shortly thereafter it attacked rhoane and jared. what-the-what cupid? wrong bug dude (or poison arrow or whatever...)! anyhow, the crew and i spent our saturday recovering (in our pj's watching movie marathons with our barf buckets still in place "just in case") my kinda relaxing right there -not!

lucky for my family, i am a awesome mom, and recovered just in time to save the day ;) no not really. well yeah, sorta i did. i was up saturday evening, flipping between PBR and the Winter Olympics (love the Olympics don't you?). as i watched, i busied myself cutting hearts and making homemade valentines for the kiddos. who wants to pass up valentines? not me! and i've always done something fun for the kids. i didn't want to let the day pass without showering my precious family with a little love.

heart attack, 3 dollar walmart animals and candy -can't go wrong!

not a real rose ;)

and a yummy belgian waffle breakfast!

so, not your ideal valentines weekend ...but a good one nonetheless ;)

be mine valentine...

2010-02-09T21:55:00.005-05:00

these are the valentine cards my boys picked out this year...i mean, don't you think the little girls are gonna love getting one of these in their valentine box???....hmmm, probably about as much as the boys are going to love getting "princess" valentine cards in their boxes.

i think i'll get the hubby a valentine that includes an appointment at the spa (for me)....and he can get me a valentine with a gift card to bass pro (for him). totally sounds like a plan to me.

i love the way kids think. heehee.

more valentine fun coming soon. rarh!

"pinch me" moments...and some humming.

2010-01-16T23:17:00.012-05:00

i had a "pinch me" moment in the car today.

we were driving along, somewhere between pennsylvania and new york...and i could feel "the hum". that is the best way that i know how to describe it. we are a family that hums. no -not like humming a tune kind of hum (we do that too), but more like our physical beings..and the air around us, hums. it does. it's a delightful little hum and i can feel it. weird right? my house even hums. i attribute "the hum" to all the little bodies that live with me. they fidget so. and they chatter alot. and they giggle even more. and when you mix all those noises, and the fidgeting, and the heartbeats and the love together -we hum.

back to the story: so as i was feeling the hum, a thought crept into my head... "this won't be around forever" it said, and "20 years from now, you'll be lying in your bed listening, feeling, and your house won't be humming anymore."

wait. what? you mean to tell me that all i eat, sleep, and breathe (aka children) won't be around forever? we won't be the family that hums? my house won't hum?

whoa. no way.

and then, allbedarned if i didn't start feeling the dreaded lump in my throat, and my eyes starting to sting. and then my heart melted. it just flat out melted. families CAN be together forever -duh, coty. and i get to be a part of this. this is me. i am the mother of a humming family ;) it is true that the kids won't be little forever, and my house won't hum nearly as loudly with all their busy little bodies gone out into the great big world, but we will always, always be a family, together forever -sweeet.

thanks be to my Father in Heaven for giving me a humming family, and allowing me those "pinch me" moments when i realize how great it is to be Mother. poop and all (i just had to add that. because around here nearly every catastrophe involves excrement. gross. but true.) i'm thankful for the Gospel and for the Knowledge that i have of the eternal family unit.

and now i've got to hit the hay, because me and my humming family have church in the morning.

good night.

ps you should try and see if you can feel your family humming too. it's neat i tell ya.

the bow...

2010-01-13T16:44:00.005-05:00

little too big for miss A!

(not to mention, little more hair wouldn't hurt)...

but she doesn't care! -she knows she's fabulous! ;)

ps i know i haven't been posting any B.I.G. posts lately...but life has found me busy! I'll update on all things hurst, soon. we've just been fighting tooth and nail to establish a "routine" ...and are grappling with work and new church callings too! me oh my. in the mean time...enjoy miss adeline ;)

music to mama's ears...

2010-01-04T18:23:00.003-05:00

Go, go, go Pat and Dan.

I see a cat.

I see a dog.

I can see Pat.

I can run.

how sweet these sentences are when they are rolling off my 5 year olds tongue!

Leif is READING!!! i mean really, reading!

its so precious...and he's so good at it!

he's learning fast fast fast, and i couldn't be more proud of him. he's known his ABC's since he was 2 1/2...but now he knows all the letters AND their sounds. and he's reading sentences now! -too cool!

Way to Go, Leif!!!

2009-12-30T09:00:00.009-05:00

the Big Apple.

call it a case of cabin fever...but we just couldn't take it anymore. we had to go see what we were missing (at least some of what we were missing).

sooo, the day after Christmas, lollipops in and funny faces on -we're ready for the road trip!

entering the lincoln tunnel, it goes under the hudson. leaky down there.

it spit us out into down town NYC and we headed to the

west side

and from there we just drove around as much as we could in the space of an hour, to see what all we could see. we only touch the corner of Time Square...but boy was it bustling!

NYC copper...hardcore!

g.l.a.m.o.r.o.u.s.....(ooo flouse-y flouse-y)

love the bag. says it all, huh!

we plan to go back when the weather warms up. it was so awesome to see NYC (for the first time) right in the midst of the holiday season. it was so intriguing. all the hustle and bustle -the umbrellas, busy feet, and blurry people racing about and chattering. i loved the noise!

NYC smells like newspaper, pizza and cigarettes -city life. it was neat. now i want to go back when the sun is shining and have a picnic in Central Park (or as leif calls it, Neutral Park??).

stay tuned...because if all goes well, pictures of Boston are coming soon!

Happy New Year!

sweet adeline...

2009-12-21T08:30:00.004-05:00

is smiling now, such a girly little smile. just makes me melt.

fruits of our labor...

2009-12-20T13:27:00.003-05:00

don't you think the neighbors are going to love them? the boys sure did!

what's better on a snowy winter day...than to light up a fire, and bake a little bit of love for family and friends? ... i should think nothing!