Snowboarding, Sledding, and Sleepover!!

Cameron came over this past weekend. He is going to be in Boston with his dad this year for Christmas (we will miss him)!!

Connor went sledding for the first time this year...He hated the snow last year because he could not walk in it with out falling!! HE LOVED SLEDDING!! Craig would give him a huge push and send him flying down the hill!! He even hit a jump on the last run and went in the air...I thought tears...but...he said "mom did you see me THAT WAS SO AWESOME!!"

Cameron is not only my height now at almost 10 but he is also my boot size. My snow board was put to good use on the hill in our local park!! Cameron did well!!

Good Packing Snow!

I can't help but post every adorable picture I get of him. My camera did not make it to Thanksgiving but we had a great day. We spent the whole weekend outside hanging lights, building snowmen, and snow forts!

The snow packed so well we built a snow fort and ...

A family of snowmen!!

We also hung up Christmas lights, put up the tree, and had a snow fight!! Hope you had a wonderful holiday and may you finish all your shopping early and with ease!!

The minute the snow started sticking the boys suited up and raced outside! Connor began licking all the snow he could...Hope he steers clear of the metal poles on the trampoline!!

When my three year old slows down I can capture on camera what I see everyday. His sweet face, long lashes, and good nature!!

Carson came flying at me with his snow covered gloves!! Our family had a great snow fight on Sunday...the kids are still talking about it!!

Peter Pan and Clown

The boys enjoyed every bit of their candy. Look at Carson's face. That is the face he makes when he is busted sneaking more candy after he was cut off!! You should have seen the face he made when people called him Robin Hood instead of Peter Pan!!

OK, so Connor's makeup job is reminiscent of my middle school experiments with it...but he loved it!!

It was beautiful in Michigan on Halloween and the boys raced around our small sub and begged me to go across the street to the huge sub. The glow sticks were helpful because by the time we got back it was late!!

October Recap!!

We Carved pumpkins this week at Aunt Lisa's house. The kids were eager to grab the knives and cut but when it came to pulling out the guts not so much!!

Connor put his hands in and pulled them out quickly. The boys had a great time with their cousins!

YOU PUT HIM IN ONE MICKEY MOUSE COSTUME AND THE ATTITUDE EMERGES! As for the dress well Connor enjoyed it. We are still undecided on the Halloween costumes. Carson's school parade is on Friday!

We took our annual trip to the orchard for fresh baked cider and doughnuts!

Grandma and Grandpa said goodbye to us and drove to Texas for the winter. Their sledding are over!!! They live in a nice retirement park not far from South Padre Island. We are hoping for an early spring so their motor home rolls into town early this year!

The October birthday list!!!! Carson 13Th, Me 16Th, Connor 21st, Cliff (papaw) 18Th, cousin Stephanie 11Th!!! Birthday's are endless in October. My husband gave me an Ipod, some cool picture frames, and two dozen of krispie kreme doughnuts!!




The boys got their fair share of sugar and gifts too!! Carson wanted Ice cream cake on his actual birthday...and for the party mamaw made her delicious ho-ho cake!

Spider man cupcakes! Red frosting Prompted me to hand out rags to parents for when the kids were finished eating at the party!! There were 13 kids at the party!! Thirty two people in all in MY HOUSE! We ordered a 6 ft long sub from tubby's and I made veggie and fruit trays! Toni made Pasta salad and we had just enough food! We always do!

This was the first year I attempted this...The pinata was a ton of fun!! It took forever for it to bust open! All the kids went crazy hitting it! Not one person was attacked with the bat!! I packed the treasure trunk with four pounds of candy plus other gifts and gave the kids their own buckets! I think the candy was on the floor for all of 2 seconds before they had it cleaned up! If I could only get my boys to clean up their toys that fast! I love a basement for this reason! The kids played in the bounce house down there and the adults played ping pong! We also played football outside! when the party was over Carson gave me a great big hug and said "this was the best party ever mom!" That made all the work worth it!

The kids officially have way too many toys!!! ahhhhhhhhhhh! Charlotte and Victoria Carson's girl friends came and that was a great present for Carson! Chey and Ethan are such hams for the camera (bottom right). They will be coming out for a weekend to stay with us!

Brandon (Craig's cousin) got married to his little woman Stacy this month! Craig was the best man. The wedding was beautiful.

This is our new red paint color that took 6 coats of cover the wall. The other walls are a off white color. Craig and I painted the computer room and living room before the kids birthday party. Also this month I had my wisdom teeth out...all four of them!!! They put me under for the surgery and all went well! Yesterday Craig won radio tickets for opening day of the pistons so he took Carson to his first game! Carson had a smile plastered on his face the whole time! It was an adorable father son moment! No cameras aloud in the Palace!

The Training Wheels are off!!

I took the training wheels off Carson's bike and he found his balance immediately!! He was so proud of himself!! Starting is still a little hard for him but a few more days and we will have it!!
I was not sure how the first time would go so he had helmet, knee pads, and elbow pads!! I cannot wait to take him to the trails near our house and let him loose on the hills!! The first thing he asked me this morning was to go out and ride his bike!
He quickly learned that if you stay close to the grass falling does not hut as bad!!
Yesterday was also the annual fund run at Carson's school!! The kids collect donations per lap that they make in a 15 minute period!! This year's goal was 15,000 dollars!! If the goal is met then the principal will be dressing up as Hannah Montana and doing a concert at the schools assembly!!
Carson did 12 laps and was very red in the face when we picked him up!! He did more laps than most of the older kids!! In fact the kindergarten class were the overall winners proving that energy is endless when you are 5yrs.!!

Our Busy Weekend

Saturday Craig and I went to my cousin Elizabeth's wedding! I just love flower girls...when you have all boys...N-E-way the older girl looks like the little girl in Desperate Housewives...you know the one that is Lynette's step daughter who causes all the trouble and yet has that sweet face!!
The Bride and her stepfather uncle Jimmy have a dance to a country song in typical Hauk Style.
Cousin's Rachel and Brent have a Dance together!
My sister Jen showing her husband some lovin' after some drinkin'!!
Sunday we went to the St. John's Apple fest held every year in Fenton!!

This year was different from the past few!! Connor was not afraid to ride this time!! This was a good thing because Carson did not want anyting to do with the "baby rides!" It is good to see that Connor could do this on his own because he is shy to begin with and he also has that little brother syndrome!!
Carson did not want to go on the "baby rides" but was not tall enough to go on a lot of the older kid rides!! After running into his "best friend" (see picture below) he managed to enjoy some of the kiddie rides!!
We ran into Shelia and her kids at the Apple Fest! Garrett and Carson have not seen each other much since school started! They had a GREAT TIME together!
We found a ride that would fit all four of our kids...I love the boys laughing in the front of the car and see Connor in the back with his little girlfriend!!
After the all the rides, fun houses, games, and elephant ears we could handle we went over Toni's house and had a fried chicken dinner!! Home cooked fried chicken, mac-n-cheese, mashed potatoes, salad, corn, rolls, and cake!! After the fair, wedding, and Toni's dinner I need to go on a diet!! The picture is Carson saying grace...if you have not been privileged enough to see this you need to!!

Baking and the usual FUN!!

I have had so much zucchini that I have baked, fried, grilled, put it in salads etc... The kids however like the zucchini bread the best!! For those of you wondering I did not tell the kids what kind of bread it is ( FYI: Carson does not like zucchini)! The kid I babysit ate it up and he has yet to eat any kind of vegetable in the six months I have watched him.
Picking raspberries was fun! Even better the six individual homemade pies! Every time I turn around the kids are digging their hands in the pints of berries!! Carson ate his fill while picking! Connor practically filled all six of my pints (my little helper)! Yesterday we went down the trail near our house on the bikes! Carson, his friend, and Connor and I went two miles. I am proud of this...three kids under the age of six two miles...what's that I think I hear clapping? The older boys enjoyed the "secret trail" we found that had a ton of fun hills to ride on. The rest of the day was spent at the park. Today was PICTURE DAY at Carson's school. Carson has been practicing his smile for days and promises me that he did a great job today!! Looks like a rainy weekend so it's time to break out the games, build forts, movies, and popcorn!! You know you want to come over and play!!!!!

ANYONE ELSE NEED A BEER TODAY??
We are going to pick raspberries today!! They came in late this season out by me!! Hope you are all enjoying the last bits of produce Michigan will have for some time!! Bring on the sweet potatoes and winter squash!! My tomatoes were huge this year!! I froze about ten bags of them!

MICHIGAN RENAISSANCE FESTIVAL 08'

I go to the festival every year but this is the first year that the kids came with me!! This week was canned good week and if you brought 4 then it was BOGO TICKETS!! The kids are free 4 and under! To my surprise the boys loved people watching and all the rides!! I was kind of bummed that they were so good because I had the jail card in my back pocket the whole day!! For those of you who do not know the festival has a jail you can throw people in and the prisoners have to dance and sing with the jailer to get out!!
We went with Stephanie and Chad (Craig's cousin)! Carson fell in love with them and would not leave their side all day long!! If you are long time fan of the ren. fest. then you may have seen Chad dressed up in years past!! For those of you who do not know they are engaged to be married on 10-10-2010 in Mexico!!
It's not a trip to the festival without a visit with the "insulting tomato guys"!! Craig was called many unmentionables!
Carson was pumped to be able to throw tomatoes at people!! He actually hit the one guy in the head (the whole crowd clapped)!! They called Connor a redneck for having a tractor on his shirt and he frowned and handed over his share of the tomatoes for Carson to throw!!
The swings...All of the rides are people powered!!

Jousting for the kids. Put your kid on a horse with a stick and try

to get it through a ring while riding down a cable on a wooden horse!!
Connor was a bit nervous and decided to just ride rather than hold onto the sward!
I always feel like spraying down the back of these face things with some disinfectant before letting my little ones stick their head in the hole!! The back side was once painted white and now is brown/black!!
The harder you pull the rope the higher you go!! How much can we make the boys sweat?? It was world beer week at the festival so they were willing to do whatever we asked for a beer!! Stephanie and I were the beer wenches for the day!!
After all the rides we had soup in a bread bowl and headed off to Charlie and Cindy's for their annual labor day party full of good eats, volley ball, bonfire and smores!!