All dressed up

Rex & Shawna
(man, she looks good!!)

Last night we went to Joe's work Christmas Party. The new
location this year was at the Top of the Tower. The view
was beautiful, the food was yummy and the company
was excellent. We had a lot of fun, ate, played games and chatted.
I enjoyed getting all dresses up (thanks Rachel!) doing my hair ( I poufed it)
and taking pictures with my hunky husband. We sat with Paul and his
sister Grace, Todd and Rex and Shawna. It's nice to get dressed up and enjoy
a fun evening every once and a while.

Four fun boys

Right before Thanksgiving we stole the Everhart boys for the a couple
of hours to play. The boys all did great and had a lot of fun.
It was fun to see them play and listen to their different games.
Ben and Ethan played pirate ship with swords on the slide and equipment.
And Simon and Asher wandered around together climbing
and jumping on rocks. But all boys came together
to chase squirrels up trees. Later in the day I told Joe that if we
had 4 boys I could do it :) he laughed
and said "I like our 2."
I agree with him. But having Ethan and Simon was a lot
of fun too :)

Black Friday Madness

This morning I participated, for the third year in a crazy tradition of
shopping in the early a.m. at multiple stores-Black Friday Madness!
But never have I experienced the madness of Wal Mart first hand.
I woke up at 4 a.m. got ready and left for Wal Mart to try to
get a 4.5 qt 250 watt Kitchen Aid Mixer for $130.
I walked in received a map and proceeded to find the Mixers in
pallets in the center aisles all around the store and wrapped in black plastic.
And there I saw there were four women camped around the Kitchen Aids.
They had been there since 3:30 a.m. and their carts were blocking the Mixers.
Did I mention it was a door buster?
And there were only 10 Kitchen Aids and 15-20 women standing around them :)
As soon as it was 5 I heard a wooshing sound as the plastic was ripped off all the surrounding pallets and then I
was shoved from behind and squished up against another women ahead of me. All the while
I was being pushed hands were reaching around me and grabbing.
People were yelling and shoving it was INSANE.
I got my hands on a mixer, grabbed it by the handles and started to try
and get away. Suddenly another woman grabbed the mixer by the bottom
and started pulling it from me. Praise the Lord I had the handles
because I twisted the box gave it a hard yank and left the lady behind as I
headed up to the checkout. I was DONE with Wal Mart.
But once I got to the next store I realized in the struggle I had lost
my cell phone. So I went back to Wal Mart looked around the scene
of the struggle and didn't find it. So I went to Customer Service left my info
and headed back to Target. All the while I was thinking,
"So I got a mixer and lost a cell phone, is that the price I have to pay for a mixer?"
I was pretty sad but Joe was so sweet he was just happy I had not
gotten hurt by any crazy shopper women.
Later Joe stopped by Wal Mart and they had found it!
So, I am pretty sure I am never doing a Door Buster at Wal Mart again! But I am happy
to have gotten a Kitchen Aid and not a punch in the eye.

What have we been doing? well...

Sleeping

practicing acrobatics

mountain climbing

gaining weight

hoping to get our license soon

and growing...weird noses


Just thought you all might like an update on the day to day affairs at the Hawkinson home.

The Big 2

Asher Dale Hawkinson Nov 1, 2006 8 lb 13 oz




The Big 2

Gabriel and Brooklyn
showing off their crafty pumpkins

present time

dirt and worm cupcakes

I was sad to realize I never posted Asher's 2nd Birthday party. We actually did it a week early because of craziness on his actual birthday. But we had a great time with Johnson cousins, the Blooms and Everharts. The kids decorated mini pumpkins and then had cake and hot chocolate. And lots of playing commensed afterwards.
We are so thankful to have been blessed with Asher for 2 years. His sweet face and silly words make me smile. And watching him grow and want to be like his big broher (how he says it) and his daddy is such a joy.
Happy Birthday Asher. You are a sweet, crazy one of a kind wanna be hunter/superhero and I love you sooo much!

99 Balloons - Get ready to cry, and thank the Lord for your Children.

Such a sweet little boy, his parents are expecting again :)

Boom Baby!

Watch your step at our house

Are you cheap too?

I am sitting in my bed cuddled under blankets with the laptop keeping my legs warm and I am COLD! But will I turn the heater on???

A no. I am too cheap!

Joe said. "Just turn it on." I answered, "go find the space heaters."

The boys are bundled and have a space heater in their room as well
(just in case you think I neglect to keep my children warm).

My answer all day= more layers, "keep your socks on" :)

So anyone else cold and not turning on their heaters?

Fun with Friends

Checking out giraffes

Giddy up bear

Cheese

Choo Choo! Train ride.

A fun day at the zoo and then Gage Park for a picnic and train ride. I honestly can't remember the exact day (I have been meaning to post these for a while) but the boys had a great time with Ethan and Simon. And I liked hanging out with my friend Rachel too :)

Free Muesum Day

Hey check out my sis-in-laws Michelle's blog for some information about going to a museum this Saturday the 27th for FREE!
We are planning to go to KC to a children's museum because of the free admission
thanks Michelle!

Some new additions

Here are the new additions to our house, new curtains and a stained water sealed front porch! After living in our house for 4 years I finally have curtains in my house and I love them! Also, after saying 'we should water seal the front porch' 4 years later we finally did it.

Daddy, the Hero!

Yesterday I took the boys on a walk and we went to the park on 6th and Garfield it is called Willow Park right across the street from the hospital. The boys weer enjoying the merri-go-round and we see a stray dog walking around the park. The boys started asking to pet it and I told them we don't pet dogs that don't have owners because they could bite.
The boys kept playing and I kept watching the dog. It looked like it had left the park so I was encouraging the boys to play on another piece of equipment like the swings or another tire swing. They were very happy to stay where they were and it turned out to be the safest for us as well. The dog came back and came right up about 3 feet from the merri-go-round and started lunging and barking at us. So I got on the merri-go-round and gave us a big push so we would go fast (I figured the dog couldn't jump on if we were going fast). While we were spinning I grabbed my phone and thought, do I call Joe or 911?

I called Joe because I knew he was close to home. He was at 6th and Kansas and got to the park in 2 min :) On the way he called animal control. Joe came to the merri-go-round with a big piece of metal something in his hand which he waved at he dog (he debated getting his gun out of the trunk but thought against it). The dog saw him coming and tried to circle around him and was continuing to bark. So Joe got on the meri-go-round with us and we waited for animal control to show up (they were not quite as fast as Joe was). They came and tried to get him but he ran across 6th and they lost him.
My heart was racing the whole time, I was so glad to see Joe coming like a knight in shining armor. Joe made the comment that if he had to he would have killed the dog, and he told me that he had no doubt that if the dog had tried to hurt the boys I would have killed it as well. I agreed what mom wouldn't defend her children? But all in all it was a pretty interesting day.

Kids Club & a Story

Last night we started Kids Club at our Chapel. We had a good turn out of eleven kids including Ben, who is offiically too young but his parents are helping so what can you do?The ages are 5-12 but Chapel kids are the exception :)
Scott was the speaker and he spoke to the kids from Luke 18:15-17. About the parents bringing their children to Jesus, and the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, "Permit the children to come to Me," One of Scott's points was, 'Sometimes grownups make it hard' the disciples were making it hard for the children to come to Jesus. But salvation is not hard, Jesus made it easy to come to Him. Believe and Receive-those were two key words Scott impressed upon the kids. He did a great job the kids listened and had a lot of fun. We are looking forward to the rest of the year, and Lord willing more kids.
I give this introduction because I have a sweet retelling of Benny today. I was talking to Benny last night and this morning about how God loves Him, and made him just the way he is, and how God knows all the hairs in his head and the words he is going to speak. So, on with my story :)
Ben got a nerf gun yesterday with two arrows aka "shooters" and he happily played with it all day and lost one of his two "shooters". Today he started looking for the lost one and said to me,
"I have an idea mom, how about we pray and ask God to help us find the shooter." And so he prayed and asked God to help him find it and walked around the house asking,
"Is God helping me?" I said yup, and then five minutes later he found it! He was very excited and then prayed and thanked God for helping him find it. So sweet! I had to share it.

What kind of season changer are you?

I was thinking today about how much I love Fall weather. Jeans, long sleeves, crisp cool air and cozy nights. But I also started wondering how other people handle the 'change' in the weather. So here is my question to everyone;
"What kind of season changer are you?"
Are you an All- Out kinda person?-all your summer things are already packed away and warmer clothes already fill your drawers.
Are you a Clinger? Are you still doggedly clinging to Summer and all of its accessories? Shorts, short sleeves and flip flops.
Or, are you a Blender? Slowly edging out your summer styles and blending in more Fall type apparel. Jeans with a short sleeved shirt and flip flops. Shorts with a long sleeved shirt.


Personally, I am a Blender. I am still wearing my flipflops and I have not put my Summer stuff away. Mostly out of laziness as opposed to weather change.

Maybe you have your own category. But, let me know I want to hear from all of you out there.
What kind of weather changer are you?

How Boys Play

bang bang

I took the boys to the park earlier this week and it never fails when ever we go, one if not both of them "shoot" squirrels. This day it was Asher on the hunt. As you can see he did get pretty close.
I love being the mother of two boys but they do me laugh. I have gun shooting, bear fighting, knife wielding hunter boys-we have so many sticks aka guns on our front porch from walks and parks you can hardly walk on the porch without hitting one. But they are treasures and prized guns we can not throw away. I love having boys

Heavenly Deals

Chair #1

a little ouchy here

chair #2

a little unraveling here

I drove by Big Lot's today and on a whim I turned in. I was looking for a umbrella pot/tin for my childrens sticks that are all over the porch and I found these beauties. I was so excited because I have been praying and checking Craigs List for two white wicker chairs for the front porch. I saw these chairs and chair #1 had a big red sticker on it that said, $10.50!!! Seriously I started shaking I was so excited. Chair #2 had no tag but I saw the unraveling on the leg and I was hoping they would give me a deal. Oh, and Thomasina was my cashier which I thought was pretty fun. So, chair#2 rang up for $17.50! My heart was racing and my hands were shaking I was so excited and I still am because both the chairs were originally $70. Isn't the Lord so good??!!!

Perfect Peace

Peace, perfect Peace, in this dark world of sin? The blood of Jesus whispers peace within.

Peace, perfect Peace, by thronging duties presses. To do the will of Jesus this is rest.

Peace, perfect Peace, with sorrow surging round? On Jesus' bosom naught but calm is found.

Peace, perfect Peace, with loved ones far away? In Jesus' keeping we are safe and they.

Peace, perfect Peace, our future all unknown? Jesus we know, and He is on the throne.


I have found myself singing this song a lot today. Probably because Peace is not how my day or house is feeling. Lots of crying, meltdowns and discipline are going on here.
I love the third verse of this Hymn. "On Jesus' bosom naught but calm is found." It is reassuring to know that in the Lord calm can be found even in the most chaotic of days and tantrums of children.

Ezra Lee

Asher holding Ezra

All stretched out

We took dinner to Jeff and Ashlee last night and got to spend a little time with sweet little Ezra. He is so sweet and tiny. While I was holding him Asher asked to hold him, he didn't seem very excited but when Ezra had to have a diaper change Asher was a little upset that he was not holding the baby.
Ashlee looks AMAZING! Joe said she does not look like she just had a baby, and I completely agree. And she told me she weighs less now than before she got pregnant. Can you hear a little bit of jealousy in my voice? Or maybe that is hope, or wishful thinking on my part. :) I am very happy for her. And I guess from what Ashlee says that he eats and sleeps well-what a blessing!
It was so nice to hold a little new baby, Joe told me I couldn't hold him too long-Baby Fever ya know ;)

My Addiction

I am pretty sure I am addicted. It is all I want to in the last few days;
WATCH OLYMPICS!!!!!!
Seriously, Joe and I have not left our seats after the boys are down
we just sit, watch and cheer. We watched the men's gymnasts last night and cheered and
gritted our teeth and were on the edges of our seats. It is so exciting.
Michael Phelps is also amazing, as is beach volleyball, the US volleyball team,
and I could go on and on and on. It is times like these I am so glad
I have bunny ears on my television.

My Sweet Lu Lu

My niece Felicity aka LuLu came and stayed with us for two weeks in July. She was able to be at Camp Enosh with and had a great time. We were so glad she was able to hear such great teaching about the Lord. She told me she had a lot of fun and was learning stuff she didn't know about in the Bible. :) (That right there makes it all worth it for me. )
The boys just love her, and she loves them just as much! Asher went around the house yelling "WuWu, where are wu?" And Ben could spend hours playing with his fun fun cousin she was great entertainment for the boys :)
We are looking forward to having her come again!

Fun and Family at KBC

They are all being doggies in matching shirts

Darling Rachel

Sweet Daniel

Asher wrestling with Uncle Andrew

Mr. Paul

Aunt Michelle and Aunt Magen

Just some pictures from our week at KBC in June. I am pretty behind in posting but so goes life :)
We had a great week and a lot of fun with our family.

A Poopie Day

Can't see it?

A closer look

Yup that's poop


So, I was upstairs doing Pilates and Ben comes upstairs to play. Asher stays downstairs and then calls for me. I answer, " I am upstairs honey." I continue with my Pilates, and Ben is calling for Asher to come up and asking me to call for him. After I finish my 10 min I decide to walk down and check on him. And I found him lounging on the recliner covered in his own poop, and very happy I might add.
Did I mention that two weeks ago Joe took the boys and LuLu on a dough nut drive and then stopped by the DeGroff's to let the kids play. And Rebekah come down and informs Joe that Asher just ate some of his poop. Apparently he just reached in and grabbed a handful and helped himself. AAAAAA!!! So Yucky!

And all you moms would have been so proud of my reaction. I did not scream, yell or vomit. I just took him off the chair took some pictures :) wiped him down with wipes and bathed him.

Hope you all have a great Poopie Day.