Bouncy Ball

Today while working with Katie on her schooling, she ended up sitting on my legs (which I had propped up on the coffee table). I asked her not to do that and she asked me why. I told her she could break them (esp. since she was bouncing as she sat!)...Alex's answer to that was "yep, and if mommy broke her legs, she would bounce around on her bottom, like a bouncy ball"...she then proceeded to show us how that would look! Very funny from my shy 3 year old!

I hope that you are warmer than us! We started today in the mid 40s - ending the day in the negatives (before wind chill of up to -25!). Yikes! Lots of things are being cancelled, including Awana, due to the blizzard like conditions that are expected. We will be staying inside tonight! Warm blessings to everyone!

Has anyone seen Kayla?

Last week, the girls informed me that they lost one of their dollhouse dolls "Kayla". I don't know one doll from the other, but they seemed to know which one was missing. That afternoon Alex came to the kitchen and asked me for a piece of tape, being the lazy mom that I can be (and trusting!), I gave her the whole roll of tape. I went downstairs a bit later and found 8 pieces of paper taped to the wall (and the girls weren't done!). The papers were taped up with 4 pieces of tape - each at least 4-5 inches long! Needless to say, I didn't get that roll of tape back. Today, as I finally got around to taking the pieces of paper down from the wall, I noticed one said "Have you seen Kayla" while the others had a picture of a girl or a scribbling from Alex. I asked the girls who the girl was and what Alex's notes said. I already knew their answer would be Kayla...sure enough, it was! Thursday, while I was doing laundry, Alex ran in...too excited to talk...she said "Katie found Kayla!!!!" and ran back out. Even Mom & Dad knew that she was missing. Maybe they heard about it on the 10:00 news!

Home Repairs

Everyone knows that with a house come repairs...Everyone who knows us, knows that we AREN'T handy! We are so grateful that God has placed handymen in our lives though! Last weekend our downstairs toilet went on the blitz. So the handyman in Matt placed a roll of masking tape over the seat so that the girls wouldn't use it. We then called our good friend Brad and he graciously informed Matt that he would be happy to supervise Matt's installation of a new "toilet inard" (there...you see how inept I am!). In the meantime, I honestly had a dream that our house flooded. We warned Brad about this but that didn't phase him. Today, Brad, Kari & new baby Amy arrived for lunch, fellowship, shopping at Menards and THE FIXING OF THE TOILET. While Matt & Brad were downstairs fixing the toilet, Matt CONVENIENTLY got a call from work. So, poor Brad was left to fix it by himself. After Brad & Kari left, the girls and I made a ceremony of taking off the "Bathroom is out of oreder" sign that Katie had made and taped on the door. Thanks again Brad for giving up your Saturday for the sake of a friend. We love you guys!

The Twinsees Birthday Party

Will & Maddie's birthday party was lots of fun. It was actually very relaxed, which is a nice thing! We met at my parent's home (lots more room to move around!) and had Aunt Barb, Uncle Willy & Aunt Fran join us for pizza, ice cream and a big cookie. Will loved the cookie and frosting. He dug into it as soon as he saw it. Maddie, on the other hand, wasn't sure about it and really didn't attempt to eat it. We were blown away by the generousity of our family & friends. They got LOTS of new toys & outfits. It was total chaos for a few minutes but it was fun to watch.

A very special thank you to Mom & Dad for opening their house and all the work of cleaning and helping us with the kids. We love you both

A Date with Alex

Today was the much anticipated "Daddy & Alex Date." After my Chiro appointment I picked up my beautiful date and hit the road. We ran a couple of errands before I asked Alex where she wanted to eat -- "Taco Bell" came the answer from the back seat. "Okay, McDonald's it is." "NO, TACO BELL!!" We both laughed. We enjoyed our lunch together, then headed for the Library where we picked up the 8th Season of Little House on the Prairie and I let Alex pick out a book for herself and a book for Katie. After arriving home we started gearing ourselves up for a big moment in the girls young lives . . . going to the movie theater for the very first time to watch "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything, a Veggie Tale Movie". Due to financial reasons this may be the only time they get to go to the movies -- though God did bless us in that Alex was free (who knew). They really enjoyed themselves though they were "a little freaked out" at the Cheese Curds.

Back home we had bath time, an activity all our kids enjoy. Will has a thing with animals and he just laughs, giggles and waves at any animal he sees -- at the petting zoo, a dog across the street a picture of a pig . . . anything. You will notice there is a duck protecting the water spout and a luffa that looks like a pig in this next picture (there is only moderate nudity, I made sure nothing "too private" is seen)

I hope that you enjoyed reading about our day as much as I had in living it!

God Bless

Happy Birthday Will & Maddie

It is hard to believe that our "little twinsees" are 2 years old already! They are both FINALLY starting to talk and jabber up a storm. Both have wonderful manners and say thank you for everything. Maddie will keep saying "DA" (thank you) until you acknowledge her. I have had times where she follows me around the house saying "DA" and I don't realize she is doing it! I finally realize it and turn to tell her "you're welcome" and then she turns and leaves. She maybe rolls her eyes too!

We will be heading to my parents for pizza, ice cream & cake tomorrow to celebrate their birthday. I am sure that they will have lots of presents to open as well. I will try to post a video or pictures of both of them at their party.

Maddie

We are very familiar with nebulizers - unfortunately, all of our kids tend to get sick with the bronchial type of stuff every year. Maddie is going through some stuff right now - every night around 10-11 she wakes up coughing and breathing heavy so we have to do a neb treatment for her. For only being 2, she does a wonderful job of sitting on our lap and letting the mask be on her face for the 10 minute treatment. She never squirms - I think she knows it helps to breath better. Last night we tried having her hold it and wow! we underestimated her! She sat in the rocking chair for 10 minutes holding the mask to her face (even smiling a few times). What a little trouper we have! Thank you God for the medicine you provide for us!

Crazy Hair Night

Katie & Alex are both involved in a local Awana program. Last Tuesday was Crazy Hair night. The girls were so excited to have their hair done in a silly way. Katie also had another reason to be very excited that night...she received her Sparks Workbook. To receive this book, you have to do the entire first book and then do it again as a review. Very few make it through the first book 2 times...we are very proud of Katie & Alex with all of their hard work with the memory verses!

Godly Habits

We started a new reward/incentive program with Katie & Alex. About a month ago, we started to give them a punch on their "Godly Habits" card whenever we "caught" them doing something good. They would get a punch for eating their meals well (without us nagging them!), helping us around the house or anywhere else when asked, being nice to each other (that is a BIGGIE!), using their manners, going to bed good, no complaining, etc. We decided to use this strictly as a reward program and have found a lot of success with it. We also have a card for their schoolwork. Once their cards are filled up, they will get a special treat (tea party with Daddy, special outing for Ice Cream, trip to Family Museum). They will get an EXTRA special treat this next week with the completion of their first card...They will get to go to their first "in the theater movie"...Veggie Tales! They are so excited!

Attack of the Dumpster

Ok, ok, so last night I tell Becki that it would be neat if we figured out how to do our own Blog. 10 minutes later she turns to me and shows me our first post. How about that? Isn't she wonderful?

Today at work I went out to take the trash out to the dumpster, and while it would take pages to describe exactly how it happened I will just tell you the end result; I was attacked!! The gate to the dumpster attacked the web of my left hand, between my thumb and pointer fingers.

Fortunately I work in the medical field and had nurses at my disposal. While the debate heated up on whether or not I needed stitches, I just stood there and bled. The only thing they all knew for sure was that I needed to get a tetanus shot (it will be 10 years since my last tetanus shot this coming November).

While I didn't get any stitches I am bandaged and wrapped up and am having great difficulty in typing this post.

Back to this blog, we hope in using it in connecting my family out on the west coast to us through pictures and video. Also, we will share our Letterboxing adventures here as well.

For those who aren't sure what Letterboxing is, I will explain when I have more dexterity! :-)

Though I will explain the Hart x6, that is our trailname and what other boxers know us as. Our signature stamp is posted above.

Until next time,

hx6

To our Oregon Family

We had made a video with the kids to send you Christmas wishes...however, I never got it sent off. Now you get to view it here! I am sorry that it is the unedited version, but I figured that you would love to watch it anyway.

Where'd it go???

Will has had this fetish with putting things down his pajamas & shirts. He stuffs whatever he can into his shirt or jammies and then comes to us with his palms lifted up and shrugs his shoulders, while saying "where'd it go?". It is rather comical. So, this morning when I got him out of his crib, I realized that he had a few things in his pant legs. Upon extracting the items, I realized that he had 4 chip clips and a small ziplock baggie in one leg and a small toy and his water sippy cup in the other leg. I am not even sure when he put the ziplock baggie and chip clips in his jammies! Must have been while he was playing before bed! It was pretty funny watching and listening to him walk around this morning with the water sloshing and the baggie crinkling.

We have informed the girls that our trip this summer is going to be to WI, MN, IA and SD to follow the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder. They are so excited and we have been watching the Little House series for the past few months. Matt & I are now called "Ma & Pa" while Katie is Mary, Alex is Laura, Maddie is Carrie and Will is Jack or Willy. Mom is making them Laura & Mary outfits for their birthdays, just in time for our trip. Every time that we go to Mom & Dad's, they ask if the dresses are done yet...poor Mom! Once they are finished, I will upload a picture of them as authentic Mary & Laura!

The traditional Hart Family Picture

Every Christmas, we place all of us in front of our Christmas tree for our annual Hart Family Picture. Before digital cameras, we would take a whole roll of pictures, hoping that one of them would turn out. What a blessing digital cameras are! It took a few times to figure out the timing on the camera, but the self timer's music actually held the kid's attention! Here are a few pictures to show the end result.

Ahhhh, Technology!

We have finally decided to figure out how to start a blog. I am thankful that it isn't too hard! I am anxious to get this up and going so that we can keep in touch with family and friends all over. So, hopefully in the next few days, I will be able to put some pictures and stories on for you to enjoy.