The Hall Family

The ladybugs are swarming!

2009-11-02T07:00:00.001-08:00

For some reason unknown to me, our house is being attacked by ladybugs. There are 13 crawling around on my back door right now, and nearly that many on any window. I can see them flying around outside. Is this a sign of good luck? Are they plotting something? They're getting inside through our poorly sealed doors and crawl around on the ceiling. In the morning our floors are covered with little ladybug carcasses. The kids like to gather up handfuls and carry them around. I'm really not sure what is going on.And not to sound paranoid, but these pumpkin bats are glaring at me.

Especially this guy.

and This Boy...

2009-09-25T12:32:00.000-07:00

Spencer Rollie Hall
born Tuesday morning at 2:47am
9 pounds 8 ounces
21 inches long

Just a few thoughts/feelings-
surprise he's a boy
surprise he's so huge! (my girls were 5 pounds)
glad for another VBAC even though it took castor oil to get him here :)
11 days late- really, is that necessary?
tired but so happy

This boy!

2009-09-19T06:26:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if it's just another difference between boys and girls, but this little boy gets scraped up all the time! Yesterday was a doozy. Maybe it's his shoes?
Both knees scraped-
His upper lip, nose and forehead. It looks even worse now that it's scabbed over. What a rough-and-tumble boy! But super cute still, eh?!

Oh, and no baby yet. I'm a week over now, and I am tentatively set up for a c-section next Friday if my body is still doing nothing. Such a bother. :)

Stupid Cervix.

2009-09-12T06:24:00.000-07:00

Things to keep busy

2009-09-09T13:06:00.000-07:00

Knowing full well that my due date will come and go with no baby, I'm trying to stay busy.

I crocheted the edges of this baby blanket. My mom always gave us two blankets when we had a baby, and my kids have loved theirs to death. They love to finger the edges until it pretty much falls apart. Since that's not going to happen anymore- I'm making my own. I'll make the second one after the baby is here so I don't have to be so gender-neutral. I also want to ask around the ward for someone to teach me a different edge. I really like doing it, and it reminds me of Old mom. :)

I also got a fabulous pedicure. :) It's seriously one of my favorite treats to myself. If you are in Ames, get yourself to Serenity Nails!

I also made two Sunday dresses for Brighton, which I'll have to take a picture of and post later. I can't find dresses that are long enough or are the right style, so I'll probably be making a lot of dresses in the future. Brooklyn has to wear a size 6 just for the length, and she normally fits a size 2/3.

Iowa State Fair

2009-08-25T13:05:00.000-07:00

"Our state fair is a great state fair, don't miss it, don't even delay..."
Anyone seen that musical? Anyone??

I'm really bad at taking pictures, so I don't have a ton here. This whole week has been a family fun week since James had a break between his internship and start of classes. It has been so great!! He cleans the house and entertains the kids and I mostly just lie on the couch and look useless. He's making me look bad. :)

Anyways- back to the fair. I haven't been to a fair since I was twelve, and this was huge and amazing and exhausting!! This first pic is Brooklyn hugging Clifford at the PBS kids booth, where the kids enjoyed listening to a great storytime.

Looking at the baby ducks. This was probably my favorite thing- they had baby turkeys, chicks, piglets, calves, goats, and I think that's it. I've had a cold for forever (or three weeks) and my sense of smell and taste might never come back. So thankfully, I couldn't smell any of the animals. However, I couldn't smell any of the yummy/fattening fair food either. :(

Brighton's favorite thing: This area where they dressed up as farmers, got to plant and pick pretend vegetables, collect eggs, milk a cow (all pretend), and ride a tractor. At the end they sold their wares at the market and got a $1 to spend at the store!! Pretty cool! :)

I wish I had taken more pictures. The weather was not so great- it kept sprinkling on and off all morning. By the end of the day my legs weren't working very well. I've been taking it easy since then, doing more laying on the couch. Next week James is back to school, and we're going to miss him!

Nauvoo

2009-08-23T12:36:00.001-07:00

We went on a family vacation last weekend to Nauvoo. I think it was our first family vacation- we were all really excited to go. We got to stay in a hotel for the first time!! :)

James' parents live a few hours away from Nauvoo and they drove up to spend one of the days with us. This is J and his Dad trying out the stilts at the Pioneer Pastimes. Definitely a skill to work on. :)

Pioneer Pastimes was Brighton's favorite place. She loves to pretend and got completely into character as soon as she was dressed. They had a little schoolroom, a kitchen, place to wash your clothes, games to play- lots of fun stuff!! She told me that her house (the school room) was built after her father died, and the concerned look on her face here is the worry that she won't get to the sheep in time. It was her turn to take care of them. :)

The weekend we went was the last weekend the young performing missionaries were at Nauvoo (fun times, hey Bethany?!:) and so we went to as many shows as we could. Sunset by the Mississippi was a variety show with the senior and young missionaries, and so fun! There was a children's parade before the show, and the kids got to decorate hats and pick musical instruments to play.

Nauvoo closes down around 4, so we found a park to play at until dinner. The weather was so great! This really has been a fabulous summer. We only had one really hot/humid week, otherwise it's been really mild with a nice cool breeze. We're still loving it!!

Other favorites from Nauvoo: wagon rides, the traveling Brass Band, the temple, running into friends from KS and my sis-in-law Rebecca's parents (random!), the hotel pool, the bakery, the blacksmith shop, etc....

Barely Pregnant?!?!

2009-08-12T15:17:00.000-07:00

After all those comments from my last post about looking barely pregnant, I thought I better set the record straight. Barely pregnant, my eye. (Brighton took this pic, by the way.)

I'm definitely feeling it this last month! Too much baby stuffed in too little space. But I'm trying not to be that cranky complaining pregnant lady. Even though someone always asks me how much longer I have whenever I go out in public. Every. Single. Time. So fun!

I also have the unique experience after Wymount of being the only preggo gal in the ward. Whereas in Utah I'd be one of twenty. :) I'm definitely a spectacle.

So, there you go. Me pregnant with #4 at almost 36 weeks. Meh. :)

The Bix

2009-07-27T08:32:00.000-07:00

James ran in his first 10K on Saturday, the Bix. It's a pretty big race- the biggest non-marathon race in the US, actually. Even though most people have never heard of it. :) There were around 13,000 people running this year. This pic is of the start- you can't even see the end of the runners. Pretty cool. We tried to find James in the crowd, but there were just too many people.

Here we are with my mom-in-law (dad-in-law is taking the pic) bright and early to cheer James on. We brought breakfast and the kids were more interested in that. :)

After the race-

This was the 35th year of the Bix so everyone that finished got a medal. The girls thought that was pretty cool. :) Brighton kept saying, "I knew you could do it daddy, I knew you could get a medal!" Any subsequent races that don't involve a medal will be a let-down.

I was very proud of James. He had only run a distance of 3.5 miles, and it took him about 45 min. I was expecting him to finish in an hour and a half, maybe two hours- but his time was just over 60 min! Way to go James/Daddy!! We're hoping to race together next year, provided we're still close and I'm not pregnant. :)

Life doesn't get better than a cardboard box

2009-07-11T13:15:00.000-07:00

Except for two cardboard boxes!! Our dishwasher broke and was out of order for a week. I know I don't get any sympathy from some of my readers... :) It wouldn't have been that big of a hardship if I had a drying rack and if the water hose from the dishwasher didn't keep falling on the ground and spilling sewer-smelling water all over the floor. Anyway.

Our new dishwasher arrived- in a great sturdy box! The girls quickly latched onto it and made it into a playhouse. Our maintenance man- Russ- saw how much fun the kids were having and later dropped off another box from another replacement dishwasher. (He's a sweet guy, and likes my kids. Probably because they always watch him, fascinated by whatever he's doing, and Brooklyn always tells him that he's a good worker. :))

During the two weeks these boxes lived at our house, they were a playhouse with attached garage, a rocket ship, a kitten's box, a mermaid's grotto, a camping tent, and I'm sure a few others that I didn't catch. After they started to sag, I harvested some of the thick cardboard to cover with felt and make into a felt board for the Sunday Box. I saved a bit more in case I thought of more uses. Any ideas?

Superpowers

2009-06-28T16:41:00.000-07:00

Two superpowers that I would like to have:

1. The ability to slow time a bit so I was never late for anything

2. The ability to know what exactly I am mad about when I get frustrated about something

Tumbling Class

2009-06-22T12:47:00.000-07:00

The girls started a tumbling class that is offered through the Park and Rec, and have been loving it! I got to sit in the first time, and now I just drop them off. It's only for about 45 min, but it's still weird to just have Logan.

They do a lot of practicing at home, using my broom layed out on the floor as a balance beam. It's fun to see them so excited about learning something new. And using the fun equipment!

My 2 year old

2009-06-13T10:34:00.000-07:00

A few things about Logan:

he just had his 2nd birthday
looks so cute with his big-boy haircut
started finally talking! I think he can say at least 30 words. I love it when he calls after his sisters, "guys! guys!" He also reminds everyone to share. :)

The girls picked out what kind of birthday cake Logan got. Brooklyn was sure that he would want an Ariel cake, but then we decided on a car. Daddy made this racer!

His car collection. He looooves to play with his cars. Mostly lining them up- on the stairs; on top of books; on the edge of the couch cushion; on the coffee table... his favorite position to play with them is laying down on floor. I'm not sure why, but it's pretty cute!

Logan got a train set for his birthday, and he got right down on the floor to play with it properly. He loves his choo-choo train!

This guy is so sweet and mellow, I could have three more. He loves to follow his sisters around, and is an especially good friend to Brooklyn right now. They chase each other around, play with balls, dance and sing- whatever! We love our Logan!!

My least favorite chores

2009-06-04T09:21:00.001-07:00

1. Mopping
2. Cleaning the bathtub
3. Underwear sniffing

My Spouse's Stinky Schedule

2009-05-22T13:31:00.000-07:00

Monday: work from 7-5:30pm
Tuesday: work/TA from 7-10:00pm
Wednesday: work from 7-5:30
Thursday: work/TA from 7-10:00pm
Friday: work from 7-5:30pm
Saturday: class from 8:30-4:30pm

Poopy, I know. I make every meal and the kids don't even see their daddy two days out of the week. I've been spoiled and I miss it! Only 10 more weeks left! :)

Our six-state tour

2009-05-19T06:45:00.000-07:00

We had a family trip to visit my sister and her family a few weeks ago that took us through six states. Quite a trip! Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee and finally Georgia. I think in that order. It was about a 16 hour drive. It was so fun to have James actually go on a big drive with me!! I've done the last several all on my lonesome. We stayed for a little over a week, and packed our days with fun-ness. I don't have any pictures, which is why I haven't blogged about it. I was hoping that Dawnelle would do it and I could just direct everyone over to her blog. But she hasn't. And it's been a month. My conclusion: She doesn't love me. *Sniff*

Some of the fun things we did:
*ate hot dogs and pizza at Costco
*went to IKEA
*made a raised bed garden practically by ourselves!
*bought a lot of food
*got a pedicure and massage
*semi-participated in a city-wide service project that their stake was in charge of
*had a birthday party for her son Carter who turned four! I made a really tacky fireman poster. I have not art skillz.
*filed papers
*watched DVR'd TV
*ate a lot of food
*went to the Dollar Tree
*James did a lot of fix-up work on their house
*got slushes at Cherry Limeades at Sonic
*saw illegal immigrants waiting in parking lots for jobs
*went to the zoo in Atlanta
*drove around and gawked at the huuuge houses. And that was just in her neighborhood! :)
*I mentioned The Pioneer Woman too many times and embarrassed myself. Seriously, I'm sure I sounded like a crazy person.

Easter flashback

2009-05-07T12:45:00.001-07:00

We made this fun treat for easter, trying to use up our peeps. Which none of my kids like. :) Cute little peep chick in a rice crispy nest, complete with chocolate eggs! Cute, eh?!

I got the idea from my sister's friend's blog- www.thislittleproject.blogspot.com. I've used her blog several other times for fun/cute crafty ideas. Check it out!!

Everyone had fun making them, and even more messy fun eating them.

Front Room: before and after

2009-05-02T15:52:00.000-07:00

Our front room got an updated look with some "new" furniture! (hand-me-downs from my sister, thanks Nelly!) This was our front room before. Ugly Betty (treadmill), small table, very little lounging room.

After: Bigger new table! We can actually fit food on it- hooray!

The luxury of TWO couches! Love it love it!

Not a big change or anything, but I love it. The couches just happen to match perfectly. And we've already had missionaries over to test out the new dining table. Fabulous! I also picked up a new silverware set while in Georgia (at Costco) and that also makes me happy. They feel heavy and sturdy and shiny. The cheap set we got seven years ago definitely needed to go. Fun stuff!

I heart Strawberry Jam!

2009-05-01T09:11:00.000-07:00

I was filling my fridge back up after our trip and found some really cheap strawberries. So the girls and I made jam- yahoo! They really loved crushing up the strawberries.

I found these cute little one cup containers, but now I'm thinking they are too small. Since we ate half of one for breakfast. I'll just have to make more!

Things

2009-04-15T11:14:00.001-07:00

Things I'm tired of:
1. socks
2. winter coats
3. Kids that can't buckle themselves in their car seats with winter coats
4. Brighton wearing holes in all of her pants. Every single pair!!
5. Carpet under our kitchen table. And the gallons (2 so far) of OJ spilled on it

Things I love:
1. Two days of 65 degree weather in a row!
2. Having events to look forward to- a parade and a trip to see my sister
3. Daily naps for me and Logan
4. The Easter candy being gone
5. The bag of twizzlers hidden in my sock drawer

Yes, I Can!

2009-04-10T07:44:00.000-07:00

Look at these beauties. I just canned something all by my lonesome for the first time. I feel so empowered! This is roast- and it can be made into a yummy gravy to have on top of rice or mashed potatoes, or used in enchiladas, or something like that.

My mom canned all the time, especially around Thanksgiving. Since I am squeemish around meat, I was usually in my room and not being much help. Now I wish I had learned the ropes.

I was really nervous about canning, afraid I'd do it wrong and I'd ruin the meat or make the pressure cooker explode or something. Thanks to several calls to a friend in the ward, I made it through. (Thanks Deb, for holding my hand and not rolling your eyes every time you saw my name on your caller ID!:)

This really was easy, and now I want to try canning chicken. Next time for roast though, I will get a better piece of meat. This roast was the fattiest, bloodiest piece of meat to ever to make a mess of my fridge and countertop. I did the roast in two batches, and the second run I was even cocky enough to do it when my kids were awake. Brighton was thrilled by the hissing of the pressure cooker. Hooray for food storage!

Signs of spring-

2009-04-09T09:58:00.000-07:00

You know it's spring when you start seeing people dressed as foam Statue of Libertys and pizza slices. :)

Enough of the bad day-

2009-04-06T17:42:00.000-07:00

We're moving on. :) Here are some pics of the girls doing a"learning time" activity. I think that this is actually a stalling technique of mine to avoid getting my homeschool act together. I need to figure out what I'm going to do. I have a vague idea, but that needs to be a lot more solid. Soon.

And I need to figure out what I'm going to do with Logan and Brooklyn while I'm doing school with Brighton. It's not going to take hours- more like one hour. I don't think kindergartend needs to be very intense. I'm making a goal to get on the phone with the other homeschooling moms in my ward and get it figured out by the end of the week!!

Amanda wants a bad day-

2009-03-16T10:00:00.001-07:00

Well, today isn't really bad. Yet. :) The sun is shining, and we have plans to walk to the park this afternoon. But I am out of diapers for Logan, and my neck is out of alignment and I've had a headache all day yesterday and today. Brooklyn sat at the table for an hour this morning refusing to eat her breakfast, and she has been at the lunch table for 45 min so far. And counting. The rule is that you have to stay at the table until you've finished. Brooklyn's record is two hours. Once she decides to eat she's fast, it just takes her a while to decide. But I swear that most of the food she eats is cold and mushy because she takes so long.

Brighton has a cold- cough, runny nose- and is grouchy. She's complaining right now about not liking the sun in her eyes. She hasn't really smiled all day, poor kid.

I wanted to get to Walmart this morning, but haven't managed to leave the house. I've been going through clothes boxes to figure out what the kids need and haven't done reading/writing with Brighton.

Somewhat of a less organized morning, we'll see if I can get my act together after my nap! :)

A day in the life of this mommy

2009-03-14T10:46:00.000-07:00

I'm always interested in what other moms do during the day. So I'm posting this in hopes that it will inspire others to do the same! :)

7:30a Wake up. Sit up in bed and blink my eyes for a few minutes. Read scriptures for 10 minutes. Head downstairs and join the fam for breakfast. After breakfast, J hops in the shower and I tidy up. The kids are usually happy to play by themselves for a bit in the morning, so I get some chores done. Clearing the table, cleaning the kitchen, vacuum the floor under the table{yuck}, head upstairs to make my bed, open the blinds in the kids' rooms and make the girls' beds. Get dressed, then call to the kids to get dressed. Brush four sets of teeth.

around 9:30 Sit down and do reading/writing with Brighton. This usually takes about a half an hour. Try to convince Brooklyn that she doesn't have to sit on top of me. The kids have snack and then watch a movie for about 45 min. I usually put my makeup on during that time, and play around on the computer.

around 11:30 James leaves for school. Make lunch for the kiddos. After clearing up I let them play until 12-12:30 or so, depending on how happy they are and how tired I am. Logan goes off to bed, Brooklyn goes down for quiet time (listening to a tape in her room for about 20 min) and Brighton plays on the computer. After Brooklyn's tape is over she heads downstairs to watch Brighton. On a good day, she stays down there. On a bad day, she wakes up Logan from his nap. Or me.
Anyways, I take a nap for about 45 min. Half of that time is usually just me trying to get my brain to shut off. Don't you hate that when you're trying to take a quick nap?!

1:30ish Up from my nap. I do learning time with Brooklyn and Brighton. Hopefully Logan will sleep until after we're done, but he's been taking short naps lately. We only spend a half hour or so. Something I did this past week is have them trace the outline of the letter we're working on -B-, and then put stickers on the outline. Then we made bear paper bag puppets. I try to let them do as much of it as possible themselves. Brooklyn's on this big "I can't do it" kick and we're trying to move past it. So frustrating. After that, they played with their puppets for a while, mostly taking off the googly eyes and glueing them back on. Logan insists on having his own puppet.

2:30-3 Snack time. I play the piano for a few minutes while they eat. Oh, I eat too. :) James comes home around 3:20 and has ten minutes before he leaves for Des Moines. He takes my car, which means I am stuck in the house. Rats. We'll pretend that this was one of the warmish days and we can go outside.

3:30 Coat up and head out. Brighton loves riding her bike, and Brooklyn loves the idea of it. As soon as she gets on her bike, she's easily frustrated, and then starts in with the whining and the "I can't do it!" I would love suggestions on how to stop this attitude. She ends up walking with me and Logan to the park for our apartment complex. We play pirates, swing, chase squirrels and such until we get too cold.

4:30 The kids get to watch a movie, again for about 45 min -1 hour while I make dinner.

5:30 Eat dinner. Clear the table and then chase kids upstairs for bath. We have to have lots of bubbles, because Logan freaks out if he sees himself going pee-pee in the tub. Which of course he always does as soon as he hits the water. This kid is so funny! So, the bubbles help. Logan is done with the bath first, after being soaked by his sisters. I get him lotioned up and dressed. The girls splash a lot and make a big water mess and then get out. They get their pj's on. If it's not too late, we play for a little bit, then do a quick clean. Brighton is a big helper with cleaning right now. Brooklyn, not so much.

7:00 bedtime. I put Logan down, then tuck in the girls. I read them a chapter from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Sing them a song, say good night. Threaten them just a little. They've been going to bed pretty well since I had Brooklyn stop taking a nap.

I finish cleaning up the house and get my pj's on. I try to decide what I'm in the mood for- sometimes I'm productive and get some sewing project done or go over the budget, but usually I sit and watch a movie and eat a mug of ice cream.

9:30 Head to bed. James gets home around 10:15, and I'm usually fast asleep.

So, there you go. A really long post about what my day is like. I didn't include the tantrums and all the whining that goes on. And the times I lose my patience and start counting a time out for someone. But I've been feeling better, and have more and more good days like this. And James is home a little more on other days. So. What are your days like? :)