The Party, Super Heroes Of Course!

We had a Super Hero Party for Hogan at one of our favorite parks.  

It was so much fun.  All the kids running around in their Super Hero Capes was priceless.  Hogan had a wonderful time.

In the next picture Lauralee was saying, "Don't take my picture, Mama."

Happy Birthday to Our Little Man

If Hogan read that title he would correct me, he is NOT a little man, he is a BIG man!  How is it possible that my little baby boy...

... is 4 years old??  It scares me.  Time is going by too fast.  I wish I could freeze each age and keep it forever.  


Adam blew up a bunch of balloons and we taped H's door up with crepe paper to surprise him on the morning of his birthday.

He was laughing hysterically when he had to bust through the crepe paper.  We had cinnamon rolls for breakfast, as a special treat, and sang Happy Birthday to Hogan before he and Lauralee got to dig in.

When I told Hogan he was four he refused to believe it.  He said he didn't look like a four year old.  He was expecting all his clothes to be too small for him and to have a beard and mustache.  It finally sank in that he REALLY was four, but it took all day.  


H and L waited, not so patiently, for their Daddy to get home from work so H could open his presents.  When the time finally arrived they got down to business.  Hogan let Lauralee help open every single gift, it was so sweet.  I took pictures to prove this amazing occurrence because otherwise you might not believe me.

This is a picture of Hogan reacting to a Super Man figure that Adam and I gave him.  His reaction was absolutely priceless.  We are kicking ourselves for not having the video camera out.  He was beyond excited.  I have never seen anyone so thrilled about a gift.  He kept saying, "This must be my lucky day!"  

We had hotdogs and cheese balls for dinner and chocolate chip cookies for dessert.  We sang to Hogan again and this time he had the whole candle blowing out thing down.

Moving Up

I made these "Thank You Jars" for Hogan to give his Sunday school teachers at church last Sunday.  He is moving up to the four and five year old class.  He has been blessed to have the kindest, most dedicated teachers and they have made church such a great experience for him.  He is not very happy about moving up to a different class.  He and Lauralee are in the same class right now and more than anything he doesn't want to be separated from her.  She isn't going to be too happy about it either.  But it will be good for both of them.  On the way home from church he told us that he wished the earth would stop spinning so that it wouldn't be tomorrow and he wouldn't have to be four.  Heart breaking, right?  He doesn't like change.  But I know in a couple of weeks I will be able to write a post about how much he loves his new class.  He already has some good friends who are in the class and I know that once he gets comfortable he will have a blast.


- My wonderful Husband stayed up with me and helped cut out all the little circles that we glued onto each Hershey Kiss.  He is amazing and I love him.

Itsy, Bitsy, Fuzzy, Wuzzy Worms

These kids have developed a love for worms.  Not the "fuzzy wuzzy kind", but the squirmy, slimy looking ones that burrow in the dirt.  Their Daddy digs them up earth worm after earth worm in our back yard.  Today they had a whole "family" of earth worms in the back of their dump truck.  Hogan had the mama and daddy and Lauralee had the baby.  They were so proud of them.  When they were done with them they found a special place in the dirt for them to continue on with their earth worm lives.  I still find it hard to believe that Hogan likes to hold earth worms... my how times have changed.

There is so much that I want to remember about Hogan and Lauralee at these ages.  They are best friends.  They really are.  They can't wait for the other one to wake up in the morning and they do everything together... because they want to.  Hogan is such a good big brother, he helps Lauralee, watches out for her, and takes care of her.  And she does the same for him.  Hogan told me that when he grows up he is going to marry Lauralee.  He sees that whoever you marry is who you spend all your time with and he just couldn't imagine spending all his time with anyone but his best bud.  

They have the funniest conversations and are constantly cracking each other up.  One evening Hogan said, "I am going to be a knight when I grow up, and Lauralee is just DYING to be a mama."  Lauralee looked at him and said matter of factly, "No.  I want to be yellow."  Some nights they will lay in their beds and talk to each other from across the hallway for almost an hour.  They have the sweetest conversations.  One night I heard Hogan telling Lauralee, "God is with you.  He is with you everywhere.  He is with you at McDonalds.  I know he is not next to you but he is with you.  He is with me too.”  Sometimes they discuss super heroes, sometimes their plans for the next day, and sometimes they just talk silly nonsense.  I hope they will never forget how much they mean to each other.  

Random Words or Memories That I Don't Want to Forget:

-  Hogan, driving home late one night, “I can’t see the man on the moon, I don’t think he is telling us to go to sleep.  I think he is asleep or on vacation in Florida.”

-  Lauralee hugging me tight at bedtime and saying, "I love you, Mama." (in the sweetest little voice that I've ever heard)

-  Going for walks with Hogan dressed as various Super Heroes, or just wearing plain crazy outfits.  

-  Hogan and Lauralee racing their Daddy from one point to another when we go on walks.  I love watching them run and laugh.

-  Hogan and his "coo-jom-vuz" (pajamas)

-  Lauralee singing Jesus Loves Me and Baa Baa Black Sheep while she lays in her crib at night.  

Painting the World

I made some paintable sidewalk chalk.  It was so much fun and looks a lot prettier than normal chalk.  H and L loved it.

My Boy

I love that Hogan is "Hogan".  He is 100% himself, he has his own ideas, his own style, and a big personality.  He is really, REALLY into super heroes right now.  Notice the belt?  It goes on the second he wakes up in the morning and is an everyday accessory.  Where we go, it goes.  And always like that...because that's how super heroes wear their belts.  And the mittens?  Luckily, they are not an everyday accessory, but they have been pretty popular.  Why?  Because super heroes wear gloves...obviously!  This kid is awesome.  We love him so much.

Here We Go

Ready to go to the store!  Pick your battles, right?

Memories from Florida

We were so lucky to get to spend five out of the last six months in Florida.  It was hard not having Adam for most of that time but it was great to spend time with our families.  I am so glad that my kids have been able to spend so much time with the people who mean the most to us.  We were, as usual, spoiled by Noni, who not only let us invade her house but also pretty much waited on us hand and foot and catered to Hogan and Lauralee's every whim.  They are some lucky kids, that's for sure.

We got to see baby Elijah grow and change for the first two months of his life.  We love that little guy!  Here is a picture of Lauralee giving him a kiss.  We also love the elusive Uncle Noki :)

My mom, sister, and MayMay threw me a baby shower while we were down there.  Here is a group shot of my wonderful family members who were able to come.

Of course we loved spending time with Beyta.  We miss that little animal!

We spent countless hours looking at catalogs with MayMay and the kids must have ran at least 10 miles worth of laps through MayMay and PopPop's living room and kitchen.  They love their MayMay and PopPop so much, and so do I!  We did tons of swimming and PopPop showed the kids how he can do backflips and frontflips into the pool.  Hogan and Lauralee also ate their weight in Cheeze-Its while we were there.  They knew exactly where to find them and helped themselves as soon as we walked in the door.  Hogan got to get his hair cut at the barber shop with PopPop several times while we were there and every time he made sure he came home with a lollypop for his little sister.  

Every morning Noni read them whatever books they picked out and helped build castles from wooden blocks.  This knight book was always a popular choice.  She also read to them almost every night, always Droofus the Dragon.  I think everyone in our little family has that book committed to memory for all eternity.  Hogan loved it because it had knights in it.

Noni made them super hero shirts...what can be better than that?!?

Hogan and Lauralee got to spend lots of time with their cousin Naomi.  We love that little girl!  Hogan and Lauralee think she is so much fun and talk about her all the time.  I am so glad they have cousins close to their age, and such wonderful ones at that.  These kids have so much fun when they are together.  They are silly, sometimes naughty, and there is no end to the laughter.  They are all the best of friends.  They love their Aunt Marinda and Uncle Isaiah and Hogan still talks about his battles with Uncle Isaiah.

Hogan was so happy to spend some time with his good friend Johnny, and we loved getting to see his adorable little brother, Preston.

We had so much fun.  We miss everyone more than words can say.  I hope I will sit down and add a long list of memories to this post.  There is so much to remember and cherish.