Why I have the best husband. . .

Jeremiah is such a sweety. He got really excited for Valentines Day this year 'cuz he wanted to do something really fun for us.
He got me and the boys this:


He even had it delivered to make me feel even more special. I know what you are thinking, "awww, so sweet." Yep, it's true, I have the best husband ever!

He tried to keep it a surprise. He told me he was waiting for a package that was for his dad and it would be there between 9 and 3 and I couldn't leave the house just in case they delivered it. I knew he was up to something. . .

It is a giant balloon and a cookie basket! mmmm!


Simon loved it too. He thought it was a real live hot air balloon. He even wanted to ride in it.





Ryan just wanted to play with it.


I couldn't get my computer to turn this pic but. . . This is the card. It says "I love you guys THIS MUCH!" So cute.

The balloon is still hanging out in my kitchen. Floating just as well as they day I got it. Jeremiah wanted to suck all the helium out of it but I didn't want him to pass out :o) Thanks Jabers, I love it.

This is me being happy because I love my hubby!

10 reasons why I love Jeremiah:

1. He always thinks of me first

2. He works hard to take care of our family

3. He is so cute!

4. He has beautiful blue eyes.

5. He lets me be right (most of the time)

6. He loves me too!

7. Our 2 handsome boys.

8. He likes to surprise me

9. He has the most fun personality

10. He is spiritally strong.

These are only a handfull of the things I love about you Jabers! I am thankful everyday that I have you. You are my perfect match. I LOVE YOU!

GO CARDS!

So, we booked Melesa's flights and didn't realize that she needed to be at the airport right in the middle of the Superbowl.
Needless to say, Brett was not very happy with us.
Well, to show our support for our very own Arizona Cardinals, Melesa and I went shopping for Cardinals shirts. We found nothing. Saturday night at WalMart we found some red t-shirts and got a brilliant idea to make our own! (Anyone else would have thought I was crazy; but Melesa, she gets my insanity.)
Somewhere between packing, making dinner, and taking care of the 4 boys we managed to make 3 bleach stencil shirts. They were done just in time to take a few forced pictures and go to the Airport.

You can clearly tell that the boys were tired, grumpy, and not in a picture taking mood.




Jackson is posing so well, showing off his new T.




This sums it up. "Mom, I'm tired, leave me alone."
(But you gotta love the Go Cards shirt!)


I love this picture. Jackson was so mad that he had to get his picture taken again. This is the only pic I got of Kimble facing the camera. He is a little busy body.

I learned how to do bleach stencils when I went to Iowa to visit Melesa so it was great being able to do them here too! Thanks Melesa.

Boys at the park

Boys love dirt. . .

And what better place to play in the dirt and sand than the park. Melesa and I hit 3 different parks while she was here. This is Enid Park, which is right by my house. The boys had a blast just being boys.

Digging in the sand.

Jackson and Simon racing the quad.

Going down the slide. He looks so intense.

Monkey on the monkey bars.

Here is cute little Kimble carrying his snacks around the park. I think he ended up getting dirtier than the other boys did.

Auntie Aimee and Ryan.

Jeremiah's family came too. Here is Aunt Karissa and Ryan. She is such a good Aunt. My boys love it when she is around.

Everett and Keaton came too. All the boys got together and built a road in the sand.

(BTW this week is Keaton's last Chemo treatment. YAY! We love you Keaton!)

It is taking me way too long to get all the pics of from when Melesa was here but I still have some goodies that need to be posted so. . . there is more to come!

Things I learned in January:

1. My kitchen counters really do exist. (Had not seen them since Ryan was born)
2. Kids can survive off of Goldfish crackers.
3. Macaroni and Cheese does expire. (yuck!)
4. Never go to Ikea with 4 boys unless you all got a good nights sleep.
5. I really really love brownies. (And now I have a new recipe for Zucchini Brownies from Melesa. All the chocolate without all the guilt! *drool*)
6. I am a horrible coupon shopper. (but willing to improve)
7. Jackson's name really isn't Jackson, it is. . . Batman!
8. I have a new favorite kid's book, "The Adventures of Bathman" (We got this one at the library especially for Jackson.) Who knew you could save the day with a rubber stamp of Elvis!
9. I don't need the TV to keep Simon occupied. (At the boys' Doctor visit this month I learned that more TV can lead to more violent and sexual children. SCARY! So, we turned it off. Now, besides and occaisonal Disney or Thomas show, it stays off!)
10. Train tracks make good swords and remote controls. (I love Simon's new found imagination!)
11. I love my dog! He kept the boys occupied for hours! Good boy Zeus!
12. The catch of the day doesn't have to be fish. It can be. . . feathers!
13. Flashlights are great for finding "Bad Guys."
14. I am taking all of this Arizona sunshine for granted. I need to go outside more and recharge my Vitamin D.
15. Hitting a tree with a stick is a real game. "Take that you bad guy!"
16. Always check your camera before trying to take pictures. More than once my batteries were dead or the memory card was full.
17. Native New Yorker has the BEST wings!
18. There is nothing like fresh homemade juice. Yummy and healthy. Carrot juice is the best.
19. Boys will be boys. Need I say more?
20.Talking to Melesa is like talking to myself, without all the strange looks from other people.

I stole this pic from Melesa. This is "The Adventures of Bathman" BTW: cute smile Heidi ;)

I'm sure I could go on and on. January was filled with good times!

Penny Diving

Lucky me! Thanks to some great connections, (Thanks again Karissa!) Melesa got to fly out and spend 3 weeks here in AZ. Two of those weeks were spent here in Mesa with me and my boys! Yay!

Unfortunately, I didn't get as many pics as I wanted. It seemed that everytime we had "Kodak moments" my camera was either dead or the memory card was full. But. . .

I did get handful of priceless memories to share with all of you.

On the even brighter side, Melesa has done an amazing job blogging about her AZ getaway. Here is her blog site: http://meleandmakani.blogspot.com/

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Our first excursion was to the library and the Riparian Preserve Water Ranch. Simon LOVES this place.

This time he had a buddy to go penny diving with.

Simon and Jackson collected all the pennies their little hands could reach and then threw them back in as wishes of thier own. Jackson was so cute. He would close his eyes really tight, throw in his penny and say "I wish I was Batman!"

A little later the boys moved to the other side of the fountain, away from Melesa and I, and Jackson again closed his eyes tight and threw in his penny saying "I wish I was Batman!" Simon followed along and threw his penny into the fountain and said "I wish . . . choo choo train!" Jackson looked over at Simon and in his most serious 4 year old voice said "No, it's Baaaaatmaaaan!"

(Melesa, I had to tell this story too. It was just tooo cute!)

Right next to the library is the Water Ranch.

The boys loved the water but they loved the ducks even more!

A Duck!

Look, another duck!

Here is Melesa doing what she does so well, taking pictures!

These two boys were inseperable. They climbed all over this wall. I must say that I am surprised that we didn't lose a boy or two in the lake.

At the end of our afternoon all the boys were hungry and tired and all of our goldfish crackers were gone. That is one thing I learned while Melesa was here:

Kids can live off of goldfish crackers and water.

"More fishy crackers mom."

I got an Award!! Woo Hoo!

I don't know if you all have heard of this site, if not, you have to check it out!!! it is WWW.CRAFTSTER.ORG!
Melesa intoduced me to it and since then it has become one of my faves.

I recently got an award for my "Bleach Stencil Tutorial" which I also posted here on my blog.

Congrats!! Craftster Best of 2008!

Yay! Best of 2008!

Everyone can check out my Tutorial here: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=278418.0

Also, take some time to check out the site. It has some AMAZING ideas. It is all posts from people like you and me of all things crafty.

Enjoy!

Happy V-Day!

Make a Smilebox greeting

Ryan's first real food! yay!

OK, this is my third post tonight and I still have TONS more to go. I haven't even touched the last 3 weeks when Melesa and her two cuties came out to AZ to visit.

This was a big moment in the Hall household: Ryan's first real food! Rice Cereal.

"What is this stuff mom? blech!"

Playing with his food.

I always think these pictures are kind of gross when it is other people's kids. But when it is my kids, I think they are adorable! ;)

Spicy?

Everyone who knows our family knows that we live off of Mexican food. Tacos, burritos, nachos, quesadillas. . . you get the picture. Jeremiah also makes some killer homemade salsa. And he likes it really really spicy. That is what makes the following conversation blog worthy.

Simon: "Mommy, can I have some juice?"

Me: "Not right now sweety, how about some water?"

Simon: "No, I don't like water"

Me: "Why don't you like water?"

Simon: "Water is toooooo spicy!!!"


I'm starting to think that he may not be our son after all ;o)

Simple Simon

Ah, what a month it has been. I have to much to catch up on.

WARNING: major blogging to follow.

I wanted to start out my blog update with a poem:

Simple Simon met a pie man

going to the fair.

Said Simple Simon to the pie man

"Let me taste your ware."

Said the pie man now to Simon

"Show me first your penny."

Said Simple Simon to the pie man

"Indeed I have not any."

Simple Simon went a fishing

for to catch a whale

but all the water he could find was in his mothers . . .

Dump Truck?

Simon went fishing in his dumptruck today. I asked him what kind of fish he was catching and he pulled out his "fishing pole" and said "I caught a whale!!"