Lucy's Big Day

Happy Birthday Lucy! She is seven today, and I am freaking out! Why does 7 seem so much older than 6? It just seems so much not-little-kid any more! We opened the family presents in the morning, after eating the breakfast of her choice: crepes (actually German pancakes, but I won't tell) with berries and syrup. All she wanted for her birthday was an electric scooter, and I don't ever have a picture of the main event! I took video, but no picture. Oh well, we will surely get pictures in the weeks to come. She got an electric scooter like her cousin Rowan. She loves it, but I think Elliott just might love it more! Here are some moments from her birthday bliss:

Elliott picked out her present all on his own. We walked into the store and he ran up to the display and chose the perfect gift.

Lucy loves movies and Tinkerbell, and coloring activities...a perfect gift. He was very excited to give it to her too; what a sweetie.

At school, Lucy passed out Cheetos bags and Juice boxes. She loved the attention and gratitude from her friends!
Here is the birthday girl with her bag of loot!

Because in first grade, the kids turn 7, they get to play "heads up seven-up" for their birthdays.

Here is Lucy at the head of the class.

And onto the party. Due to morning sickness that lasts all day, the extravagent tea party/American girl doll party we had planned was replaced with pizza and a pinata. Lucy had no complaints; a very gracious birthday girl.

I love the look of excitement on the kids faces with each pull. I think the anticipation is as fun as the candy itself.

Lucy gets smart and selects a string from the middle of the bunch to pull...will it work?

JACKPOT!!!

The Wilson family got Lucy a lovely Steelers shirt. She is very happy to be advertising her Dad's favorite team.

Here she is proudly showing her Dad the awesome shirt.

Lucy has been waiting for this hat and scarf from her Harmony for years, literally! She was very happy to get them for her birthday this year.

Wearing her scarf and counting her loot. Aunt Emily and Uncle Jason, and Gramma and Pappa each gave her $10, now she has enough money to buy her American Girl doll hair curling kit! Thanks guys!
She is very serious about counting her money.

And the birthday cake. This was probably the hardest thing of all for me. I love to make cakes! But, I just couldn't do it this year, being so sick, so a Cheesecake Factory Chocolate Truffle cake had to do. Funny enough, no one complained! In case you can't tell in this picture, the cake is about 18 feet tall!

She is making her wish....you can see the hope in her eyes...I love the innocence, I'm glad it isn't gone by 7 years old. I hope we see this look again at her 8 year old party.

And there she goes....it's all up to the magic now.

The kids ate their cake and icecream in the sunshine on the trampoline. No major disasters either, quite an accomplishment, I think.

Happy Birthday Lucy! We love you.

Lucy's excitement

As soon as we found out I was pregnant, I started a baby journal (see above). Lucy thought that was a great idea, so she started one too! I love the drawings she makes because they are such clear depictions of her emotions and excitement about it all.

Here is what she drew on the first day:

I think she is excited and happy, don't you?

Here is her next entry:

Rainbows and stickers. She is so sweet.

Entry 3:
She apologized for my giant hands, but I told her don't worry, they are very lifelike. Hee Hee. I love the nail polish and blue heels.

Number 4:
Ahhhh, the real excitement comes from the presents! She is excited about the gifts at the shower.

I'll keep you posted on her reactions. I love that the kids are both old enough to really get excited and express themselves. I have a video of Elliott talking about it, but it is very long and I haven't figured out how to crop it yet. It's cute though, I promise!

I'm 8 weeks pregnant, by the way! I realized I hadn't said that. My due date is April 10, 2010, and we are sure counting down!

My life is saved

All is not lost!!! At the OB yesterday, he let me try a new, non-medicinal help for nausea...the primabliss. It is magical!! Here is my new favorite thing.



It baby-shocks my nerve and resets my nausea button in my brain!! It works, and it helps with the metallic taste int mouth. Look how happy I am :



Elliott's pretty excited too!!

YAY!!!!

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Something to say

I have something to say, but the kids just say it so much better, so here ya go:

FINALLY, Elliott's first day of school

It finally came! This morning, I heard Elliott's alarm clock going off while I was laying in bed with Mike (I had already gotten up, turned off my alarm clock, and crawled back into bed). Elliott came calmly into the room and said, "finally, it's my first day of school." I had forgotten, but he never would...he's been planning this for a long time. But, before he could head off to preschool, he had to take Lucy to the bus stop, exercise with me, wait for me to shower, watch the repair man replace my windshield, eat lunch, THEN, at 12:15pm on Wednesday, the 15th of September, Elliott He Chol Hynes got to go to preschool! It is called Friendship Celebration Academy, it is a Lutheran Church preschool that some friends recommended, and it looks like it's going to be great!

Here is his FIRST, first day of school picture. He's got Superman backpack with a cape included; he's ready for anything!

He said he was a little bit nervous and a lot excited. He was nervous about his chair and the snacks, and excited about new friends.

He was so excited, he was even high-stepping (ok, he's just showing you his new school shoes).

Here he is outside his classroom!!

His very own cubby with his very own name.

After school he was so proud of his first crafts...a sun and moon. He got to cut them all by himself, which he doesn't get to do at home very often! He was so excited that he got to line up for recess! He asked if Lucy gets to line up at her school, and I said I'm pretty sure she lines up a lot! He loved it, and that makes us very happy.

Here are some old pictures from my iphone.

Eating their last snow cone treat of the summer on a step stool behind the little shack.

The annual Mountain Home Air Force Appreciation Day parade...or, as we know it....CANDY FEST!! This is how we get our Halloween candy every year. This is Rowan (on the left), Lucy (the really short looking Korean lady in the wool dress and sun-hat...too funny), and Elliott ( who was very serious about the whole candy-grabbing thing).

Elliott's watermelon. I don't even know how to pick a ripe watermelon at the store, so picking one out of my garden is proving to be quite a challenge. This one looked great on the outside...it was hideous, disgusting, yellow, not ready on the inside. Oh well, look how proud Elliott is...he didn't care!

Life thus far

Life has been crazy lately, but at the same time, we haven't really DONE anything...weird. Lucy is in school, suddenly I never see my little girl!! Elliott and I have fun filling our time. Here are some pictures of just how he stays busy.



Lucy mentioned a Justin Beiber club her friend at school is starting, and Elliott became obsessed with clubs. So, here is his clubhouse we built. I remember making these in the basement of my house growing up and using encyclopedias to hold the blankets in place; there were many head injuries, we used clothespins here.


Elliott catching a ride on Bo's 4-wheeler with his grandpa while Mom takes a nap...SCORE for both of us! Elliott's doing his hand-megaphone that helps when he wants to talk really loud. Too cute.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The Last Days of Summer and the First Day of School

Before I get to the crazy reality of Lucy being in first grade now, I figured I'd linger on her last summer as a kindergarten girl! Exactly one week before school started...the day after getting home from our Pocatello trip, we went to the fair. It was gorgeous 70 degree weather, a nice change from the usual 100 degrees, and we stayed for about 6 hours!! That adds up to WAY too much fair food, just so you know. Here are some pictures from our last stand of summer.

Lucy loves the flying swings...just like he mamma!

The kids' faces here tell enough of a story.

Not much of a pony ride...nothing compared to Minnesota!...but we take what we can get.

The kids do actually look forward to these pony rides. Wait, maybe it's just Mike and I, I really don't know.

These are the only flying swings Elliott was willing to try, but he DID like them!

There are pluses to mowing the lawn with Dad...look what you can find!

Ok, I guess I must face it and so must you...Lucy started first grade. Geesh, I don't like it one bit. She leaves me at 8:30 in the morning, and comes bouncing back at 4:00 in the afternoon. Then dinner, tae kwon do, and bed! Not cool.

While I was taking Lucy's first day of school photos, Elliott was feeling left out, so here is his "Lucy's first day of school" picture.

She doesn't look excited at all, right?

Bust stop Busco! I like the bus stop, because it is mommy conversation time. I don't like the bus stop because I have to say goodbye to Lucy.

Back home!!!
I think she had a great day, don't you. She likes her teacher, Ms. Unger, and her best friend, Mckayla is in her class. She said her favorite thing about the first day of school was learning. She was exhausted, but she loved it!

My Baby Niece's Baby Shower

Before I get to the shower, I have to show you some pics of Elliott helping me make cookies. I felt like eating Susan Fox's chocolate chip cookies on the drive down. Lucy was having a playdate and Elliott was sad he didn't have a playdate, so he got to help me cook. It didn't last long, but he was very helpful while he was there, as you can see:

Dutifully stirring the dry ingredients...totally on task until....he sees the chocolate chips.

I love his grin here.

And he's done. He eats and few handfuls and heads off to play with Lucy and her friend at the park.

Onto the shower. My family went to Pocatello over a weekend to attend my oldest Niece, Breana's, baby shower! It is crazy that she is old enough to have a baby, even worse that I'm old enough to be a Great Aunt!!!!

This is Lilly at the shower. She pulled these little pacifiers and bottles off the cake....I'm not sure how they made it into her nose. Silly Lilly.

Heather brought her garden carrots to the party, and Emily and Ruth had yummy fun eating them.

Here is the glowing mamma-to-be! You look lovely Breana!

Lucy beaming. I think she looks so peaceful and beautiful in this picture.

Breana and Lucy chillin on Papa and Grama's doorstep before the shower.

The boy cousins all having fun. Even Karver is old enough to play along now!

Again, a gorgeous picture of Lucy.

The Dad's hanging out and watching the grandkid action. There is nothing particularly interesting about this picture, but I like it because I like them.

Little Baby Kason was a huge hit with the little girls (Lucy and Lilly). This is Jeremy burping Kason with a little help from two little girls' hands.

Their turn to love him!

On the way home, we stopped and did several geo-caches. It was very fun. It added a few hours onto the trip, but you can't say no to such great, adventurous Daddy-bonding time. The kids (and Dad) love it so much. I am in the car taking pictures...that's pretty much how it works!

Thanks for a great trip Pocatello Johnsons! We love you Breana, good luck with your little one!