Hurst Family News

First I wanted to show you my handsome boys all ready for church.  Secundus wanted to be like Primus and make grumpy faces... both turned out pretty cute I think.     Ian got to participate in his first ever Primary Program yesterday.  After the narrator he was the first one.  Remembered his line and didn't even use his silly voice. So proud.  Sang some of the songs- mostly jumped around and said to daddy, who was sitting next to him in case of a jail break, "Look Mom's singing!" Because I happen to know the songs and I was trying to encourage him to sing or at least stop jumping.  So he tried, in vain, to get Daddy to sing them too--but Daddy wasn't the Primary chorister so he didn't know them (some were a bit obscure). He managed to get a few laughs from the congregation though. After church it was time to CARVE PUMPKINS! I wasn't super thrilled at the idea (still groggy from my nap that should have just been an early bedtime) so I cleaned/roasted p...

Well I may not get any other pictures for Halloween so I figured I'll give you what I've got.  Ian wanted to be Bob.   Like I mentioned before, Landon wanted to be an airplane but will have to make do with the flood style dragon.  He's had the roar down since he was less than a year old.    I don't remember what they were dancing and singing to but it was pretty cute.  Side view of Sir Dragon Maybe I'll remember to take pictures of the wee one in his getup later too. 

My tough boys all got Cars tattoos before working on Nena:   I asked Landon a week ago what he wanted to be for Halloween.   "AIRPLANE!"  "How about a Dragon?" (I happen to have this costume on hand from when Ian was a dragon... ) "No. AIRPLANE!" uh...ok.  Looks like he takes after Grandpa Wittwer in his love of airplanes. So yesterday morning I brought the cardboard boxes inside before it started raining (brilliant move on my part thank you) so I could have decent cardboard to work with to attempt an airplane.  Well the morning was hectic as usual and I was hoping to work on it during a certain big brother's nap (because he often likes to help and this mama gets frustrated with little helpers especially when they are not allowed near Ex-acto knives).  Then the wind picks up and POOF! the power is gone.  We waited for a few minutes to see if it would come back on....and nothing happened.  The quiet was nice--it's amazing how much noise ever...

Behold: He likes it when I crinkle my nose. I love that the boys love each other.

So yesterday was Granny Night aka Date Night.  I left it to Sean to plan it.  All too often my brain is fried at the end of the day.  So he called at 3pm saying I had to be ready to leave right at 5 so we'd have daylight.  I figured that meant we were going hiking or something.  Ding Ding Ding- I win--he had indeed planned to go for a little hike.  Good thing I figured it out and thought to bring along the Moby for Charlie.   We dropped the kids off with the grandparents (the boys and I had been at Aunt Dani and Uncle Fielding's house) and headed south.  When it starts to get chilly, like it happens to do this time of year, heading South is the best option.  Drop elevation- warmer climates.  (The opposite is true in the summer.  One of the many great things about living here)   Well we weren't out of town yet and Sean turns off the highway.  To the old Ruins Road.  Leading to none other than Make Out Point. ...

Mr. Blue Eyes There's the money shot!  Sweet Boy "Mom, gimmie the camera!" "Hmmm..." (PS- There is another post for today.  I had to post this one for the grandparents though.  To see the other post: Click on "Hurst Family News" at the top and scroll down)

So much for my blog every day goal.   Oh well.  Life happens.  On the housing front: waiting.  I'll let ya know. On the kid front: all sleeping.  Charlie didn't want to be put down at ALL today but he's kinda cooperating at the moment.  Wish I could get a nap in though. (Watch, as soon as I hit post one or all 3 kids will magically wake up and that 3 minute nap I was hoping for will vanish...) On the crafty front: we made puppets today but the boys don't totally get the idea of acting out a story so I told them to try just telling a story... we'll see.  Pretty cute to see them get so excited though.  We're going to have to make more puppets.... I just need to get more felt first- a task not so easy given my limited resources.  I think we need to get a tension rod for the doorway too so they can have a curtain to hide behind, like the wizard in the Wizard of Oz...everything is more magical that way.  The cardboard box they are curre...

Small town living means a few things: Run into my father in law almost every time I go to buy fabric.  The fabric is sold at the hardware store. Business hours=shut down when the sun goes down (and I think I should sleep then- silly winter) Options? What options? Speed limit 30.  Movies? you mean MOVIE singular. We have a theater here that has one screen and plays one movie.  It usually runs for a week or two and then onto something else.  Understandably so when the population is less than 5000 how many of those people are really going to go see every show every week or have enough demand for more variety.  So a few months ago the Book Club read The Help by Kathryn Stockett.  I thoroughly enjoyed the book.   I loved Skeeter.  Gutsy.  Finds her voice and helps others to have a voice.  The other characters?  Hilly- Bully.  Elizabeth- Spineless.  Minnie- Large and in charge--a says-it-like-it-is character.  ...

So I missed yesterday. Sorry. I did get feeling better but didn't get around to posting.  My bad. We looked at another house last night.  (The first one accepted the other offer and since ours was second in line we'd only get it if the people backed out or the money fell through- neither of which are likely.  Ce la vie) This other house is better suited to my liking except that it's not finished.  As in-- it has sturdy walls but no insulation- plumbing for bathrooms but no toilets- plumbing for kitchen but missing a wall and hm- pretty much everything else in it.  But it has new windows and a new roof and is laid out well to do the finishing work.  It is small- but would suit our needs and we'd get to design a lot of it ourselves since we'd being doing the work.  And the lot is a third of an acre- good sized but not overwhelming.  It's been on the market for a while and we're hoping there's not a lot of back and forth bargaining on the price...

Woke up sick. No blog. I hope this passes quickly.

So grateful that the sunshine is back!   I firmly believe that all living things are solar powered- not just high-fa-lootin' cars.   We spent the morning making cards to send to loved ones (hope they make it in the mail sometime this century) and Charlie learned to love his new swing.  $2 at a yardsale and it's exactly what I've been looking for! It's a wind up kind so no worries about batteries.  Also only swings long enough to calm him down so it's not incessantly going all the time.  I kind of like it myself.  It looks like THIS   (mostly).  It works for us and I only put him in it if I'm around-- I do NOT trust his siblings. A little common sense goes a long way.  Saves my back too because usually if he's really upset I'm swing him in his carseat for a minute to calm him down- and it kills my back.   We had Charlie's blessing this weekend (similar to a Christening) and my Dad and Step-mom we able to make the long trek out here for ...

Friday: So far so good.  Haven't done a whole lot today except watch about 9 episodes of Lie to Me.  Pretty sweet gig this vacation business.  Not my vacation mind you- but my Sister in Law's and Sean managed to take the afternoon off (seeing as he worked late earlier in the week).  Which kind of makes it my vacation too.  More people to play with kiddos less laundry folded than there should have been- a stay-cation if you will. Today it was cold enough outside that I was grateful I left my case of soda in the car so that I didn't even have to wait for it to be refrigerated to enjoy its bubbly goodness. One of the perks of Fall.  Another is that my birthday is just around the corner... HINT HINT BABE- Don't forget :)  Looking forward to more family time this weekend for Charlie Bucket's blessing. It's no Physics Phriday but I'll take it.

All three are asleep- two with the promise that if they take a nap they can stay up until Aunt Trish gets here.  They're pretty excited.  :) I even tucked Ian in with wishes of "Snug as Aunt Trish in her Mustang"--he liked that one. So we put in an offer on a house last night and now we wait.  I'm a firm believer in the "do-what-you-can-but-if-it-doesn't-work-out-it-wasn't-meant-to-be" philosophy so I'm really just waiting to see what the next step will be.  Working on gathering the essential documents.  That's the really fun part.  I'm not over the moon excited but not full of dread- just peacefully waiting.  Don't get me wrong- it IS exciting and I AM excited.  Just not "oh-my-gosh-this-would-be-perfect-and-the-world-will-stop-spinning-if-we-don't-get-it" kind of excited.  Also wouldn't be jealous if someone else got it.  That's something I'm learning about living in a small town.  If you apply for a job,...

Well Hello Wednesday. Remember back in February and April when I mentioned finances?  Yeah me either.  Well we're back in the saddle again.  Did up a new budget with the new income.  I'd like to say it's exciting to see exactly where the money is going... but... how is it possible that it still feels like we don't have much?  If rent got bumped up to $850 a month we could manage--- but just barely.  Apparently that's what housing costs around here.  Which is ridonkulous if you ask me.  So we're looking at different options: renting vs buying.  And when I say buying I mean cheapo- fix it up type- so we can get this debt out of the way and pay less than we would in rent.  Today just may be one of those days but I'm kind of hating money and bills and all things grown-up. In other news: made it to the gym today.  And now I'm thoroughly wiped out for the remainder of the day.  So I wonder--- is it worth getting up extra early (5...

Here's the mail  it never fails,  it makes me wanna wag my tail  when it comes I wanna wail MAIL! (Ah Blue's Clues how we love thee) This morning there was a knock at the front door- and that usually means one of two things: Either the neighbor kid is here to see if Ian can play or there's mail that wouldn't fit in our box.  Both are good things and today it was the latter.  A bright green Snoopy envelope lit up the boys' faces when I told them who it was for.  "To Ian, Landon and Charlie"  "It's for US MOM!"   Open it up and there are shirts and a book for the boys.  Ian and Landon immediately decided they needed their Thomas the Train shirts on.  And Charlie was just excited to be out of bed.  Now we're off to read some of Little Critter.  I *Love*  Little Critter and suspect that perhaps the book is for Mommy too, not just the boys.  THANKS OMA!  WE LOVE YOU! and not just because you send us mail :)

Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project  suggests blogging a little bit every day.  Interesting idea and hard to fit in but I like the IDEA.  Probably won't happen but we'll see how far I can make it.   The boys are watching Peter Pan and napping (Charlie is the only one napping) while I take a moment on the computer.  Lest you think that Landon is going to end up with middle child syndrome (you know- nothing new, no pictures to document his life, never big enough or too big...) let me share some things about my second born: He knows most of his colors now- though pink throws him off.  He leans towards warm colors- red, orange, yellow, hot pink for his favorite things.  The other day we went to the Teddy Bear Clinic where the kids each get to choose their own bear and go through the doctors' office to show that it's ok to go to the doctor.  The bear got a cast at one station and the kids could choose what color they wanted.  Landon ...