Hurst Family News

I never intended to be a parent that always says No. Rarely yes. I try to remember to say yes.  But most of the time around our house it is "CHARLIE NO!" that you hear.  I'll often answer the phone with "Charlie NO!" due to the inevitability that when the phone rings he thinks it is time to rip books, or flip over the back of the couch or whack his brother in the head with a train.  He doesn't talk and I think that is part of our frustration.  He is frustrated that he can't communicate what he wants/needs and I get so tired of charades and guessing. Maybe it's our fault for nicknaming him Menace.  But it seemed to fit and he's grown even more into it now.  Don't get me wrong here, I love my kid. DEARLY.  And the thought that he is likely the last baby in our house saddens my heart so I try to hold on to the little bit of babyhood/toddlerhood before full blown boyhood.  He's so sweet. Always wanting to give hugs and kisses and ugga-mugga...

It's a good day (or part of the day I should say) when Wee #3 keeps his diaper on for a nap.  Lately he has become a ninja and figured out how to undress himself.  Yesterday he mastered the trick of pulling off his diaper while keeping his onesie on.  I fear it's going to get worse.  He sits on the potty but doesn't know what to do.  I'm not pushing, just encouraging.  But man oh man- I just don't get it.  Why do I have to wash/hang dry/fold/put away 5 bajillion loads of laundry if my children insist on running around sans pants? I think I'll keep a few outfits (for going out in public) and church clothes and the rest will be given to other needy families.  If there are other moms out there with the same problem our family could single handedly clothe dozens of families of naked boys.  And think of the saved time and effort and money of doing laundry.  I could waste time on pinterest  blog more.   In any event the mountain...

We love Summer. We love the pool. I love the cheesy smiles. 

For the family reunion this year it looks like we'll be taking our monkeys to see the kids at the zoo. In honor of that (and to give us all a project-summer vacation anyone?) we're making animal shirts using mostly stuff we have on hand. (i say mostly because i had to buy freezer paper and i didn't have black paint already, but I'm sure they will come in handy door future projects as well). Ian used to say the peacocks said "ah! Ah! LOUD!" He requested a peacock tie dye shirt 3 years ago. I've spruced it up for Chollie Tortise this year. More projects to come.

We go together like..... ...Peanut Butter and Jelly. ...Fries and a Frosty. ...Bert and Ernie. ...Airplanes and tutus. Did that last one throw you off? Sorry.  Life of an almost 4 year old deems that airplanes and tutus do in fact belong together.  So much so that he freaks out if is airplane is missing its tutu.  It all began rather innocently. We're trying to teach the kids about money by giving them an allowance.  They pay a %10 tithe and then the rest they can spend how they choose (though Mommy tries to talk them out of buying goodies with them because Mommy already buys/makes too many goodies as it is). So what do they set their hearts on? Toys of course.  Because they don't have too many of those yet.... We were at our "local" (local being the next town over) secondhand store a few weeks ago and the boys were insistent that they NEEDED to spend their allowance.  So I let them.  They fought over who got the train.  Ian did b...

Me: I love you Boychild: I love you more. Me: No, I love YOU more. Boychild: No. I love *YOU* more. Me: Dangit. You win. Boychild: smiles and lays his head back down on the pillow. "Goodnight, sleep tight. Don't let the bedbugs bite.  If they do take your shoe and beat them till they're orange and pink." "No, Mom! It's Black and BLUE! " "Oh sorry. Black and Blue." Snug as a bug in a rug. Snug as a train in his shed. Snug as a boy in his bed. Grandpa: See ya later Alligator. Ian: How soon Baboon? Grandpa: After while crocodile. "Mom, if the Polar Express comes tonight I'll wake Landon up so he can come too." "That's so nice of you to make sure he doesn't get left out." Charlie now signs Please, More, Sorry (though that's only in context because he's actually signing Please again) and Finished/All gone.  Landon can count to 36.  At least he shocked Ms. Melissa when he randomly co...

Seeing as my last post was so cheery and I loved seeing it every time I open my blog (to see if anyone ELSE updated) I thought I'd save you guys the pain and write a new one.  But first an update: Things are still pretty much the same as before.  Busy with no nap in sight. Sean didn't go to the play meeting- and then had to turn down the director when he came over and practically begged.  Grateful for that.  I bet he is too actually because then he got sick.  Don't know what's wrong except that it's not appendicitis like the doctors thought it might be.  Good news for Sean's appendix.  We're hoping to have more answers next week after some tests.  Until then Sean is working from home.  Grateful he can.  His coworkers are getting a bit of a crash course on how the system works but things seem to be going ok so far.  There ARE silver linings.  Just hard to see them sometimes.   In other news: I made 1/2 of a d...

With both brothers having birthdays recently and the big hurrah of Big Bro heading off to school- Middle Child sometimes gets left being the Middle Child.  You know.  Not big enough. Too big. But while Brother Boy is at Kindergarten- Charlie Bucket usually goes down for a nap and we get some Mommy and Landon Time.  IT ROCKS! We color, play Duplos, Lincoln Logs, Wobble Cars (plasma cars), Trains, work at the Blue House (I agree with Lacy - it needs a name). All manner of goodness.  Today, as I'm feeling a bit under the weather (trying to fight this back to school head cold that Ian has been so gracious in sharing around our house), I decided to play Rest on the Couch while Lando plays with Blocks.  I put down my book and closed my eyes.  About 10 minutes later my sweet boy comes over- removes my book so he can lie down with me.  And he does.  Snuggles for a good three minutes or so before he heads off to the kitchen in search of food.  At whi...

My little Charlie is 1- it's hard to believe.   He likes to practice walking and being a big boy.   My monster got his very own monster cupcakes for his big day.   And a swing...  ...that he adores.  He didn't know what to do with the candle- but grabbed a cupcake as soon as they were in reach.   Delicious.   But creamy vanilla ice cream is way better than cake.    Gimmie MORE!  The green one kind of looks like the aliens from Toy Story.  OOOOOooooooo! And my favorite (bottom middle) looks a bit like BoB.   From Monsters vs. Aliens.  "What's romantic about Fresno?" Here's to a year of joy and laughs with my wee #3.   Thanks Tertius for being born.  We love you! Here's a look back at his First Week .  What a Stud!

 My firstborn started school today.  I wasn't angst ridden.  Didn't cry.  He didn't seem overly nervous.  I think we're both ready.  Though after he walked off to class (by himself, at HIS request) I did have second thoughts. Did I teach him enough?  Does he know who to turn to if he needs help? Will he ask for help?  Will he make new friends?   Will he be the bully?  Why didn't I walk him to his classroom like I saw all the other moms doing?  Oh well.  It is what it is.  I think he'll do great and I look forward to the recap on the bike ride home.   I  can hardly believe we're at this stage in life already.   Kind of exciting.  

I can't get over how much my wee #3 looks like his oldest brother.  See?  And he's not so wee.  He's trying to walk and will be one in 17 days.  THIS boy is almost 5 and will be starting school in two weeks. CRAZY!  "Mom, let's take pictures of each other taking pictures." I don't know how to get the pictures from Ian's camera however.  He inherited it from his great grandpa.   Now here's my sweet Landon Boy.  Growing by leaps and bounds.  Knows his ABCs, 123s and can recognize that L is for Landon that's good enough for me!  Here's one of the FEW pictures I took from our Family Reunion. We hiked Donut Falls and I had to stop to feed Charlie and got left behind.  (But I wasn't going to take him up there anyway) The rest of the gang headed UP the falls and even waded in the icy cold pool.    Droop Shot.   This is often how my boys play together.  Ian on the game boy but next t...

Land that I love.  So grateful to celebrate the freedoms we are blessed with with those I love.  My mom came out for the 4th and we showed her how small town America celebrates. Melodrama Midnight Madness (softball games all night)  Parade with lots of candy (two buckets full) Carnival with booths and super nummy food Greased Pig Catching (or chasing in Ty's case) Concert in the park and FIREWORKS The town shuts down for the 4th (basically) and it was great to see the whole town coming together to have a great time It was a long hard week with the death of Sean's Grandpa July 5th.  Grateful my mom could be with us to help us and we sure enjoyed her company.  I'm not feeling so good with words today so here are the pictures.  See the wet street? The much prayed for rain came just in time to cool things off for the parade and then again just as the fireworks finished.  Pretty cool. This is Lando's "Wobble Tar" that he decorated for ...

Keeping up one house with three children under five is a mighty task.  Keeping up TWO houses? MonuMENTAL! I'm in the process of packing up one house to go into storage for an interem move while trying to get the blue house ready to move in.  So this is my excuse for not blogging. The craft/playroom has its second coat of paint now and needs the trim painted and the shelves need to be hung.  The bathroom is in complete disarray with the ceiling gone now.  I'll have more pictures soon I hope.  I think they're on my Incredible....but they might be on Sean's work phone.  (On the to do list for later.) Meanwhile we spend mornings at the pool where Landon has decided he's not quite ready for swim lessons. Ian on the other hand is a little fishie and loves his lessons.  It can be hard to make it there on time and they start at 9:30.... we'll see how this fall goes with kindergarten in the morning....  We spent a bit of time at the pool after swim l...

We went hiking with the in-town in-laws for Easter up Butler Wash . It was awesome.  We like to wear out tiedye shirts when hiking- easy to spot.  Cousins sharing snacks First Ruin Happy Baby At Big Cave Ruin*- Peek A Boo (*my name for it- not official) Inside the cave looking out. Third Ruin- Hard to get into. Us Girls+Charlie stayed behind on that one .  So we could give the baby kisses.  Then we went back home for naps and met back at Grandpa and Grandma's for Egg Hunting.  Holding hands before we let them loose on the yard Look how many I got Mom! Charlie loved playing with the plastic eggs.  Checking out the loot: It was a glorious Easter weekend full of sunshine and happy memories (and Ian and Landon learned firsthand about the dangers of Cactus- they lived to tell the tales.) HAPPY SPRING WORLD!