I’m trying to catch up again, so this post will be full of random goodness.

The week before last was starting to get too cold for the outdoors, so Julie and I decided another trip to Monkey Joe’s with the little ones would be fun. Chloe and Violet were actually playing with each other this time. So the play date actually was what it was intended for, go figure.

While I was away at a church meeting one night Mike stayed home and played with the girls. The next morning Annie revealed to me that she didn’t do any of her homework the night before. Mike’s just as much of a kid as those girls. This is the kind of stuff they were doing all night. Apparently, Violet loves this stunt and stiffens right up when it’s time for Daddy to lift her in the air. Too funny!

On Sunday the weather was a little chaotic with snow and tons of wind. Our church congregation decided to only gather for the first hour and dismissed afterward. Since we had 2 extra hours to hang out at home we invited Alyssa over to enjoy the Sunday with us. The girls frolicked out in the snow (even with those whipping winds) for a long time, then had hot cocoa and popcorn while watching a movie, and they also played dress up. I’m not sure what look they were going for, but all I could think of was Little Red Riding Hood.

Alyssa has been begging her parents for a dog (or maybe a cat) for a long time now. She spent a lot of time hanging out with Sadie and Lucy. Her parents aren’t convinced that they need another being to take care of. After all the stuff we deal with our pets, I’d say they are probably wise.

The girls also pulled out the balloons and air pump and did some balloon “launching”. Lucy got a bit freaked out from the noise (I suspect it sounds a little too much like fireworks which scares the whiskers off her) and nuzzled in and under Mike.

Our ward Christmas party finally took place this past Friday night. I was so relieved when the day came and went. After countless meetings, trips to the stores, and hours of setting up the morning/afternoon of the party, I was so ready for the party to happen and be over. Everything went off without a hitch, and I hope that the attendees enjoyed themselves. Santa stopped by for a visit with the kids at the end of the night. Annie and Mimi are big enough to appreciate this special treat. Violet, not so much.

After the party Daddy was the baby wrangler while I helped clean up. Violet finally calmed down enough to nestle up into Daddy’s jacket and fall asleep.

There you have it, a haphazard blog post full of different bits, but it’s what we’ve been up to. How ’bout you?

Last week was the longest week in history. I didn’t think it would ever end with activities going on every single day and night. Monday: unpacking from our weekend trip, Annie’s piano lesson and girls’ ice-skating lessons. Tuesday: church young women sewing activity that I was in charge of (errands all day getting ready for the event). Wednesday: finally got some grocery shopping done and then meeting about ward Christmas party that night. Thursday: lunch and Christmas shopping with Julie and Chloe and then Relief Society Christmas party at night. Friday: ward Christmas party set-up and actual party at night (errands all day planning for the event). I don’t understand how people can handle that on a regular basis because I know that many do. My mind and body just can’t manage that much on a weekly agenda.

The weekend before was busy for us as well because we drove to Indiana to visit some friends. You may remember my childhood friend Rebecca visiting last year about this time. Well, I guess you could say there’s a tradition in the making with our visit to their home this time. Mike and Brad, Rebecca’s husband, really hit it off and have vowed to get together to hunt again. Brad wanted to host on his turf this go around. Rebecca and I were pleased just to have an excuse to hang out with each other again. On the first day we went to the Indianapolis Children’s Museum. I grew up going to this museum at least a couple of dozen times when I lived in Indiana, and it’s one of my favorite places ever. Mike always teases me when I say this, but I’m convinced that it’s the biggest children’s museum in the whole wide world (Mike thinks I think everything to do with Indiana was either first or the best). Ha, I was right: the Indianapolis Children’s Museum is rated #1 in this artice, “The 10 Best Children’s Museums“. I just had to check. The place boasts 4 stories of magical fun, so how I could not think that? I’ll show more in a minute.

The next day Rebecca and her mom took me to a craft fair that took place at the high school Rebecca and I attended. I was all excited to see my old stomping ground, but it turns out that they built a new high school a couple of years ago. The old high school is used for the middle school now. Oh well, it was still fun to get nostalgic and even see some old high school classmates. I do wonder how many of my former high school/junior high teachers are still around. Can you believe that that was a couple of decades ago? It’s just not possible. The huntsmen didn’t get back until way after dark that night but still wanted to eat out for dinner with us, so the babies were not very pleased by the time we sat down for dinner. It wasn’t so bad though as I got to see more of my hometown’s growth with tons of new restaurants and a new, fancy shopping mall.

Sunday morning we got packed up and headed home not long after breakfast. We did manage to squeeze in a quick photo shoot of Rebecca’s family. Even though it had snowed the day before, the temps plummeted which made for a bitter time outside. Kamille was not pleased.

Now for some pictures from the children’s museum. I won’t overload you with tons of pics, but I will mention some of the exhibits. There was an exploration section where the kids could explore nature and building and such. A personal hygiene and healthy area was fun for the kids to learn about how to eat properly and the best way to take care of their bodies. There was a real fridge that lit up when opened and had some turntables with healthy and junk food and dinged when the proper foods were chosen. There was a whole section devoted to displays of 70’s and 80’s era toys and games. I had the most fun in that space reminiscing. Rebecca was convinced that most of that stuff would make tons of money on eBay. The kids rode on the merry-go-round (I can’t believe it’s still there after all these years). There was a section devoted only to toddlers and babies. Violet had so much fun and didn’t want to leave.

One of the girls’ favorite places was their “trip” to Egypt. The museum always devotes an entire area to decking out the place to look like a foreign country. When you first enter it’s as if you’re on a commercial airplane with real seats and a video by a flight attendant. Then you “exit” the plane and enter Egypt. There was a marketplace with a few shops including a grocery and clothing shop, a restaurant, some homes (inside and out), and then there were famous monuments such as the Pyramids. I remembered being so impressed by this area as a kid, and it didn’t disappoint this time either. I just wish I could remember some of the countries they did in the past.

The last area and by far the girls’ favorite was Barbie Land. They had hundreds of Barbie dolls on display, a reception area, a fashion catwalk with real clothes to try on and model, a make-up and hair salon, a display with vintage Barbie commercials being aired. It was hard getting the girls out of there. If we lived there, I think the girls would be happy just going there to hang out in Barbie world all day long on several visits. The museum also has a planetarium and movie theatre. Like I said, it’s big.

Here are some pictures from our day at the museum. I took about a million and one, but I will force you to view 6 or 8.

Best friends. One comment about this picture. Right before I tried to take of Violet’s jacket, and she completely lost it and was crying in the picture prior to this one. As soon as I put the jacket back she was all smiles again. Weirdo.

Everyone needs a good nose brushing now and then.

Tunnel fun.

Up in the treehouse.

A real Indy 500 race car.

Annie is the official Barbie world receptionist.

This glass sculpture towers the entire 4 stories. Then you can go below it and sit on a round “couch” that slowly moves in the circle to view the bottom of the sculpture.

We had a really fun time and hope we can plan something together again in the future. Thanks, guys!

Our annual tradition of going to MN for Thanksgiving continued this year. We got all packed up to go and headed out of town on Tuesday night. The trailer needed to come with us because Mike took his future dental chairs to store at his ma’s house. Lucy and her kennel started out on the trailer as well, but it became clear once it got dark that it was going to be too cold for Lucy out there. So she came into the Suburban and sat at Violet’s and my feet. Matt Larson came along to see his folks and sat up front with Mike.

Everything was going fine until we stopped for gas about 2 hours into our trip. Something was missing, but we just couldn’t place our fingers on it. What could it be, what could it be. Aha, the kennel is missing. What a relief to know. Wait a second! The kennel is missing!! The kennel is a very large, plastic box and flew off our trailer while driving at speeds of 55-65 mph!!! Our stomachs sank to think what havoc that event must have caused. Mike and I just pray that it didn’t result in any accidents or injuries. If it did, then we are truly sorry and would feel just horrible.

We arrived late Tuesday night. Wednesday was a busy day. Mike drove to SD to meet with the builder of his future office in Watertown, and he took Annie and Lucy with him. On the way out there another tragedy happened. A deer family decided to make their way across the highway at the same time Mike was passing by. One of the deer was unlucky and got hit by Mike. Mike, Annie and Lucy suffered no damage and returned home safely but the same cannot be said for our Suburban. The whole front end will pretty much need to be replaced:(

While Mike and Annie were off in SD I got to spend the day crafting with Sara and my oldest niece Katie. Mimi and Violet spent the day with Grandma. Sara, Katie, and I had a fantastic time listening to music, eating lots of sweets, and chatting and giggling all day long. This year we decided to make Christmas crafts. Sara and I both planned weeks in advance to have the cutest crafts to make. See for yourself. Sara’s craft was the ruffly Christmas trees, and mine was the fabric-wrapped wreath. They both turned out awesome, and I can’t wait to find a place to display them for the next month (or several months depending on when we get around to de-decorating for Christmas).

We had another huge group for the Thanksgiving feast. All of Mike’s siblings (except Jenni, sniff sniff) and their families were there. I think we had a total of 27 people. Sara was gracious enough to share her pictures with me because I was too lazy to take out my camera the entire visit.

Apparently, Mimi grew a third leg on Thanksgiving and was quite shocked.

The girls couldn’t keep from being themselves and wrestling most of the day. However, once all the cousins were there they kept busy running around.

Violet acted shy when folks started to arrive, but she warmed up right away to Uncle Jim. He must be the baby whisperer.

Lucy got a special treat of Turkey skin. I was convinced she would turn her nose up at it. Guess I was wrong.

As you can see it was a full house, but it was so nice to spend the day with family.

Since we most likely won’t be visiting Minnesota for the rest of the year, Jake and Steph decided to have Maya’s birthday party while we were visiting. The one big request from Maya for her birthday was to have all her cousins there, so we couldn’t disappoint. The theme for the party was ladybugs, tigers, and unicorns. The ladybugs came in the form of the treat boxes, the tiger was on the cake, and the unicorn was the pinata. The pinata was actually burro with a cone taped to his head, but the kids didn’t seem to notice.

Here’s the birthday girl enjoying a carrot. She was so thrilled to have all her cousins and Uncle Mike attend (for some reason she just adores Uncle Mike).

One of the birthday girl’s presents was a dress up box. Both Owen and Violet got in on the fun. Initially Owen wanted to try on one of the dresses, but he soon realized that that probably wasn’t a good idea for various reasons.

The rest of the week was spent relaxing and seeing a few friends. Annie missed her piano lesson on Monday due to parent/teacher conferences, so we decided it would be fun to have Grandma give her a lesson. Annie was so thrilled and practiced the songs and skills constantly. As a treat to end the week, Grandma let and Annie and Mimi each get a turn on the big organ.

Of course, the visit would not be complete without a horsey ride.

The girls discovered the mega balloons that Grandma MN got for them and came up with some unique configurations. Even Violet got in on the fun and was not happy when the balloon was finally taken away from her.

Violet and Mimi loved walking Annie around on a leash the other night. No, I didn’t let my children walk their sister around on a leash like a dog. A friend brought over his pet Dachshund, also named Annie. Violet fell in love immediately and wanted to walk her around the entire time. I actually had to break up a fight between her and Mimi about who’s turn it was to walk the dog. Poor Violet doesn’t understand the concept of turns yet. And shame on Mimi for trying to argue with a baby. When Annie decided she wanted to go downstairs with her owner Violet was so upset that she cried until Annie came back up a long while later.

In other news, Violet really enjoyed the piano concert that Mimi put on for her. She even dressed up for the event.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mo7ebuWWiAs

I won’t be around for a few days since we’ll be going to MN again for Thanksgiving. I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. Eat lots of great food:)

That is the only man in this family. Can you guess who that is? Michael is now 37 years old. He apparently doesn’t feel any older because he forgot that his birthday was even coming up. When I asked him what he wanted to do for his birthday his was response was taco salad. It can’t get any easier than that, folks. Happy Birthday, Mike!

Of course, we couldn’t celebrate a birthday in this house without cake, so I baked one while Mike was away on errands yesterday. Nothing fancy, but it still tasted delicious and made everyone, including the birthday boy, very happy.

This morning the girls presented Daddy with a wonderful present. He hasn’t taken it off since.

And what better way to celebrate his birthday than a dental cleaning for the dog. Always the dentist. I do have to say that anyone who knows what it’s like to give a dog a cleaning are amazed that Lucy would sit still like that and let Mike scrape at her teeth like that.

Kathy and I got a big kick out of when I said, “I’ve got to blog about our skyping!” Ten years ago that statement would have been complete gibberish, but now most modern day Americans would know exactly what I was talking about, even Grandma. Annie made the request this evening to Skype with Grandma MN, and I thought that that was a great idea. Fortunately, G’ma was around and up for the occasion.

Each girl got a turn to talk one-on-one with her, and G’ma was even able to get a good look at each girls’ missing teeth and new ones sprouting in. Oh, how I love technology!

At some point during our conversation, Violet came up to me with the Bat Girl mask and demanded I put it on her.

Even Mike got in on the action. Good times!

Over the past few weeks Violet has been discovering her love of clothes and shoes and other accessories.

If Violet sees her coat laying around, then she insists that I put it on her.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQwt5fMkxHM

Let’s not forget about the shoes. Same thing, if she sees her shoes not on her feet, then they must be on her feet.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYp05X0ILKI

Wait a second! The look is not complete without her headband.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBmBfKPHle8

Surprisingly, we’ve been treated with nice weather the past few days. Temps have been in the upper 60’s/low 70’s. The girls were even playing outside in short sleeves one day. Not to let it go to waste, Julie and I decided to take the toddlers to the park yesterday. We have both been craving Pot Belly’s after our museum fiasco a couple of weeks ago (it was the original plan to eat at Pot Belly’s which was close to the museum), so we decided to eat at the nearest one in Gurnee, IL and find a park nearby. I think Julie and I wolfed down our sandwiches in record time, and then we were off to search for a toddler-friendly park. My navigation system has a “Points of Interest” feature and lets you pull up all the closest parks to your location. Fortunately, it only took 2 tries to find a satisfactory park; the first attempt led us to an apartment complex park with one swing and a slide. The park we found had 2 baby swings, a smallish play area for the toddlers to roam on, and a 4 seater teeter-totter among other things. Violet was mostly interested with playing with the mulch on the ground.

But the highlight of our day was the conveyor belt slide. It was so cool that I wanted to give a go.

It always makes me melancholy to see winter approach and the warm days disappear for several months. However, as I get older the days/months fly by, and spring reappears in no time. Is that a good thing?

It’s apparently part of the deal for the girls’ school to have the Thursday and Friday off from school before Halloween. The fact that it happened last year and the year before didn’t seem to register in my pea brain. The Johnsons and I wanted to think of something fun and Halloweeny for the kids to do while having that many days off from school. Upon searching the googler we learned that the Children’s Museum in Milwaukee was having a “Not-So-Scary-Halloween” event where there would be trick-or-treating and Halloween crafts/activities in and amongst the exhibits on Thursday.

Julie failed to warn me that this particular museum is in the heart of downtown (sorry I have to give her a hard time), so we made plans to eat lunch beforehand somewhere close by and then head over to the museum. But wait a second, turns out there really weren’t any restaurants nearby, and parking costs a pretty penny all over downtown. Julie vaguely remembered there being a small cafe inside the museum, so we took that risk. Whoops, it turns out the only “food” to speak of in the joint were “snacks”. So the kids subsisted on bags of chips, fruit cups, cookies, and soda. Fortunately, I also had a sippy of milk for Violet, too. Everyone managed to survive though, and we took off for our adventure quickly after eating.

Julie did warn me though that the place is usually busy and cramped tight with the exhibits. I didn’t heed her warning because I almost had an anxiety attack from the way the place was set up. The line for getting tickets has a gap between the line and cashiers which is also a walkway. They had a lady who was in charge of keeping linegoers out of the walkway and “kindly asked” us twice to stay out of the walkway. The second time I snipped back that the “snack” line we were in didn’t allow for people to enter into their gift shop. I was on edge, people. Once we got into the swing of things the stress slowly melted away, and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. In fact, I don’t think the kids even took notice of my agitation.

The favorite place seemed to be our first stop at the news station where the kids got to see themselves on t.v. giving news reports.

Even VIolet loved watching herself on t.v. Joey stayed by her side all day long. Unfortunately, he’s gone missing in our house somewhere (at least I hope he’s in our house somewhere). She misses him dearly.

Julie and I thought the funnest part was the life-size board game. It was based on eating healthy, and the kids had to make healthy food/lifestyle choices at each station in order to proceed. It was pretty elaborate. Everyone’s favorite station seemed to be the “Price is Right”-like spinning wheel. If it landed on junk food, then they had to keep spinning until it landed on a healthy food.

Another choice station was the video dance game.

At one point we discovered a storybook and puppet theater, and Julie and I were glad to take the break. Most of the kids got to volunteer to help out with the stories or puppet shows, so they were thrilled to get that opportunity. Right before entering the room there was a trick-or-treat station with string cheese. Each of the devoured their cheese in mere nanoseconds, so I guess the “lunch” we gave them may not have been enough food.

The girls thought they were so clever when they held up their cheese while saying cheese. Ha!

I won’t overload y’all with more pictures, but there is tons more to do at the museum. I just wish it hadn’t been nearly as busy. The kids had a ton ‘o fun though, so that’s all that really matters I suppose.

Apparently, to be completely christened into the Hawley family you must receive a black eye because now all my girls have had at least one. I don’t think I ever posted about it on the blog, but Annie got one while Mike was in Iraq after falling off the couch and hitting her eyebrow on the edge of the coffee table on the way down. I think the reason I never posted about it was because I felt so guilty and like a bad mommy for letting my toddler play on the couch. Then many of you got to see the gruesome pics of Mimi’s shiner. I think it gave some people nightmares. That sucker lasted about 2 weeks, too. Violet has finally gotten her chance to be like her big sisters, and Annie was happy to assist. While playing on my bed (after I told Annie not to put the baby on the bed) Annie bounced Violet off her feet and planted her face right into the footboard. Annie felt so bad, but Violet got over it pretty quickly. By day 4 the swelling and color have already decreased.