From near to far, from here to there...

...Funny things are everywhere!

I tried to get a Cat in the Hat-esque picture of the kids looking at the squirrel out the window.  They are wearing bibs because this is how they ate lunch, watching the squirrel for at least 30 minutes.  

 Here are some noteworthy things the kids have been up to lately:

Jacob

• Whenever there are two or more of something he will often say that there are three ("free!").  
• He has picked up a nice set of adjectives from somewhere, "That scarf just made Rebecca so pretty!",  "Rebecca is so cute with pigtails!" and my favorite, "That was just a lovely song!"  
• "Do you want to see my silly game/talk/walk/thing?"  It is usually something he has done once and then wants to show us.  
• We read a few Dr. Seuss books in close succession earlier this week (we have almost all of them) and the Cat in the Hat logo was on them and I think he realized maybe it was by the same person. So I told him about Dr. Seuss and how we could even celebrate his birthday on March 2nd. He said, "Oh, I think maybe we should just call him and tell him thank you for writing these nice books." 
• He has learned the First Article of Faith this week and should be able to pass it off in Primary tomorrow. He recites it almost to the tune of the song up until the end where he says "in the Holy Ghost!" and gets very high in his range.  I was so proud when he totally got it yesterday!  
• In April our Primary is having a party where the kids can get the same number of ice cream toppings as Articles of Faith they have passed off. Jacob is excited for this and can't wait to get more "ice cream coughings!"  
• He loves being a Sunbeam and asked me today if I was going to come peek at him again tomorrow. Last week he saw me in the back when I was doing RS attendance and the week before that I went in to help him say the prayer, so I guess he thinks it will stick.  \

Helping take the Mickey window clings down after Christmas.

Jacob won Candy Land the first time he played it!  

First day of Sunbeams pictures with Dad while Mom was at choir...these are all hilarious but I think this is my favorite.

Helping Rebecca put her clip in.  

Rebecca

• She is learning lots of new words that are fun to hear. A few of her newer words are popsicle, popcorn, Cheerios (said it today for the first time), stir, boo (as in Peek-a-boo), frog, turtle, brother, Grandpa (Pa Pa), Grandma. 
• Yesterday I told her we were going to call grandpa and so she said Papa and then a minute or so later I was being silly as I pulled my phone out and said we were going to call Grandpapa and then she smiled and said Papapa?  
• She likes to be my little echo sometimes when I say prayers, so I am trying to end sentences with words she doesn't know how to say yet just to hear her try it out.  
• She loves nursery. It took a few weeks to get used to it but she really loves it and sometimes nearly breaks into a run to dash to the cultural hall after Sacrament meeting.  

Jacob playing video games with cousin Peter

Rebecca found a fun seat to enjoy her snack during our Hoopes family cabin stay.

It looks like Jacob built this snow cave. But really, Jeff and his siblings worked on it and Jacob came in and tried to take credit for all the hard work.  :)  

One of the funnier moments of our vacation. We went in to go to bed one night at the cabin we stayed at before Christmas and found Rebecca asleep in the pack 'n play and Jacob was not in his bottom bunk...but in our hamper with the dirty clothes emptied out on the floor.  

The kids had a blast making a gingerbread house with Grandma Hoopes!  

That is one happy wise man!

Cousin picture...Kirby, Myklin, Fallon, Jacob, Rebecca and Tys at my sister Jamie's house. 

Enter now! The Twelve Hour Kix Giveaway! *Updated with winner*

And the winner is...Katja! I'll email you right now to get your address. Sorry for the delay in posting the winner! Thanks for all the great ideas. I'll let you know what changes we make to breakfast time.

I loved eating Kix when I was a little girl, and I still like the cereal now! My kids are not picky at all, but it still makes me happy that I can share this cereal with them that I've loved for so long.

Recently our family received a fun package courtesy of General Mills and MyBlogSpark. In it was a box of Kix, a box of Honey Kix, counting flashcards for the kids, a snack cup, a straw cup, and a giant animal counting puzzle. The cereal is long gone but we are still enjoying the other goodies. How would you like to win the same Kid-Tested, Mother-Approved prize pack? Just leave a comment before 12 Noon Eastern Time on Wednesday, Jan. 12, answering the following question. Please be sure to leave a way for me to contact you to speed things along!

What are some things you do during your busy morning routine to still make it a fun family time? If you are just eating by yourself in the morning, do you have any special routine you follow? This is something I'd actually like some advice on. Some mornings are slower than others with just a toddler and a pre-schooler in our house (no school bus to catch or anything like that!) but I could use some good ideas on something to do during breakfast besides just eat! I usually do picture time with the kids before naptime where we look at a picture and discuss a scripture together - maybe that would be better done in the morning!

I'm excited to choose the random winner of this prize pack tomorrow at noon - it was loads of fun to have the "Man from the Puppy Truck" bring it to us! (That's FedEx in case you don't understand Jacob's lingo!) Thanks again to Kix and MyBlogSpark for sponsoring a great giveaway!

Messiah

I remember when my two children were born.  As I would look at them and hold them in my arms, I had many, many thoughts and feelings.  But, one of these thoughts was an utter sense of amazement than I could be part of creating something so amazing.  This was a little person--with working eyes, ears, hands, feet--all the body parts, my kids had them!  It was just amazing to think that Stacey and I could have done that.  Well, I recently attended the performance of Handel's Messiah by the Grammy Award winning UMS Choral Union, and had a similar sense of amazedness--as a Choral Union member, Stacey was part of creating the amazing, rich, powerful, and inspiring sounds I heard from the stage.  She helped build this sound and experience that was so amazing.  Stacey.  Wow.

So, Saturday night was the first performance and Handel (this year) by the Choral Union.  It was the culmination of a lot of hard work and determination by Stacey.  First, she decided she was going to try out for the choir.  She went to the try outs, and was a bit unnerved.  Many who try out do not get a position, and she feared she would be among them.  But, she was not.  She made the team, and, so, the practicing began.  For the last many months Stacey as been practicing every week, and this last week, she has had several practices.  It has been a lot of hard work, a lot of focus, and a lot of singing, but, it paid off.  The music was amazing.

Here is the choir, symphony, and soloists on stage at the Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor's premier concert venue.  I was seated on the second balcony, and the sound was amazing.  The Hill Auditorium was fashioned after the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, so its acoustics are very amazing.

Here is Stacey with her sister, who came all the way from the commonwealth of Virginia for the performance. 

Here is Stacey with me, and with my brother and sister-in-law, who came up from Ohio for the performance.



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Here is a short video of clapping after the whole thing was over. It took several minutes for the clapping to end.

Hopefully my posting this brief post will not discourage Stacey from posting something herself, so we can hear what the starlet has to say about her first big show.

New Shoes

The father of my officemate and cohort is in town from China. He has met Jacob (and saw Rebecca enwombed), and so brought them each a gift. Here they are, showing off their cool new slippers. Jacob was quick to note the presence of Tigger on the sole of the slipper, while Rebecca was extremely pleased to tromp around showing off her new footwear. They both wore their shoes when we went out to dinner on Saturday, and around the house as well. They are very appreciative of their new footwear, and the slippers are certainly cute.

Jacob was not terribly cooperate in the picture-taking department yesterday, so, it was difficult to capture a good picture of the two of them.  But, you get the point.  Thank you, Mr. Qu.

Both opted to go pantless so as to make sure their leggings didn't distract the eye from their slippers.

Virginia

For Thanksgiving, we had the amazing opportunity to go to Virginia to visit Stacey's parents who live there. It was a grand time. Here are a few pictures:

Here is Jacob and aunt Erin (who came back with us from Virginia) looking at some fish in the Baltimore Aquarium

Here is Grandma M and Jacob jointly flying a kite

We had a little get together with three of Stacey's friends from high school/college who, for one reason or another, find themselves in the DC area.  Here are the children of everyone.

It was a great time in VA.  Thanks for the good time, Grandma and Granpa McKoy.

Chicago

So, a couple weeks back, we went to Chicago. I went to the National Tax Association annual meeting there, and Stacey (along with my mother), played with the kids (and reportedly had a good time). Here are a few pictures.

Jacob rides the luggage into the hotel

Jacob at some childrens museum, having a good time

Rebecca touching the big shiny bean thing

Rebecca and my mom looking at the shiny bean thing

J, R and I in front of the bean

Jacob driving a trolley car at a childrens museum

Rebecca showing us the city skyline, in front of a fountain (that was waterless, as it is now cold in Chicago)

Visit to Utah

So, a couple weeks back I went to Utah for a conference.  It was a good time at the conference, and then afterwords, I spent a bit playing with my siblings who live there.  One of my siblings is stabling my little Nissan truck that I drove throughout high school and college.  We took it up Provo canyon to have a fire while I was back for the conference, and here I am standing in front of it.

"Happy Halloweeny "and A New Kind of Candy Bar

 

Here are a few cute pictures from our Halloween festivities. For the third year in a row I took the kiddos down to Main Street downtown to trick or treat at the businesses on Friday. Saturday our ward had their trunk or treat and a big Halloween party so the kids were delighted to dress up again. When Jacob saw Jeff in a champion wrestler/superhero costume (which was it, Jeff?! (: ) and when he saw me in my ridiculous nerdy costume he asked us "what kind of lion are you?"  So, Jacob was a lion, and Rebecca was a cow, and they played their parts fairly well.  

This year for Halloween I got in on a great deal with SheSpeaks and was chosen to be one of many bloggers who handed out a NEW kind of Snickers on Halloween.  I really like the new candy, it's like a regular Snickers but with the addition of creamy peanut butter and fewer actual peanuts.  We have some left over if anyone nearby wants to come raid our kitchen!

In addition to being provided with this new candy (and the original) to hand out to trick or treaters, we also received a fog machine, "fog juice," as Jacob calls it, a strobe light, some spider webbing to hang up, a large sign declaring that it was no trick - this was the only house to get this new treat, Snickers caution tape and window clings and a trick or treat bag.  So we decorated our house as best we could. The kids had a great time helping me "scissor" the caution tape and stretch out the webbing across our door, and my husband helped hang up the big sign once we had the rest all done. The Snickers Peanut Butter Squared will be available in stores later this winter, and in case it means anything, I recommend it! :) 

Where's Jacob?

Oh no! There's a lion in the sandbox!

Visiting Dad's floor at the business building, the kids took some time to show our good friend Venky how solving the world's accounting research conundrums is more fun when you scribble in the middle of your work.

They both fell asleep on the way home from trick or treating on Main/having lunch at the Institute/visiting Dad's office.  That is one tired cow...

And one sleepy lion!  ("Wimoweh," anyone?)

Some more playing in Venky's office. He let her ring this bell for a little bit, and I wished I'd looked for a cow bell for her to wear that day.

The doorstep in the middle of decorating it, and Rebecca sporting her Happy Haunting sweatshirt.

Mummy wrapping at the church party! Jacob kept asking, "Where is Daddy, I just can't find him ANYwhere?!"

Eating a cookie with black icing is so fun and colorful for the teeth.

Jacob decorated his own cookie. I think it turned out quite well.

The family in costume! You wish I didn't have my jacket on so you could see the rainbow suspenders better, and that you could see my uneven pigtails and poorly rolled up jeans.  And you wish Jeff had his cape on for the picture.  But here we are nonetheless.

Our cow could stand on her hind legs; she's fairly amazing. 

Throwing caution (tape) to the wind from Jeff Hoopes on Vimeo.

fog machine from Jeff Hoopes on Vimeo.

KT Tunstall Tiger Suit Album Review

This will be pretty short since I'm not feeling fantastic this evening.  Thanks to One2One Network I received a copy of KT Tunstall's new album Tiger Suit to review.  The only song of hers I knew before I got this cd was "Black Horse and A Cherry Tree." Most of the songs on the new album have a great dance beat, it might be good if you are in to running while music is playing, and it has kind of a natural feel to it.  Her voice is so different it's almost hard to classify, likely due to her being Scottish and having her own unique style of music writing and singing!

From Amazon:
"KT Tunstall has had a recurring dream since she was a child. She sees a tiger in her garden and goes outside to stroke it. She returns indoors and is seized by the fear that she could have been killed. Over the years, it has occurred to her that the reason the tiger responds so passively is that she herself is disguised as a tiger. That she is wearing a tiger suit." Click here to listen to some song samples.

Full disclosure: These amazon links do not have any affiliation to me, and I received the cd to review it and give my honest opinion, which I did!  I will also be entered into a drawing for a gift card for completing this review. 

Beanie Blessings

Something has been missing from Jeff's life for a few years, and tonight he was reunited with a whole 25 lb of his dehydrated refried bean buddies from the past.  It was a picture-worthy reunion. I almost shed a tear.

TWD: Caramel Pumpkin Pie

 Janell had her turn to host this week, and she chose Dorie's recipe for Caramel Pumpkin Pie. 

Things to do differently next time:

- find time to make my own pie pastry (I had some in the fridge and it was speed v. taste and texture today)

- ensure that the crust does not shrink during prebaking (I swear I didn't stretch it!)

- put foil on the crust during baking time so it doesn't get as dark

- don't prebake at all, maybe?

- cook the caramel for a bit less time so it doesn't have as much of a burnt aftertaste - though it never really burned as I cooked it, the flavor was a bit too full, perhaps

- try it with the streusel

I had fun putting this together with my kids tonight and just enjoyed two slices for myself.  This might be a good pie to remember if you have some pumpkin, but not enough for a pumpkin pie, since it only calls for 1 C of the puree! 

Three Cedars Farm

 The other night we packed up some dinner and met our friends the Nielsons at a pumpkin patch/cider mill/donut shop/animal farm/corn maze/hayride kind of place that's not too far from us. It was very fun!  Here are a few pictures of our time there. I recommend going if you live near us, and if you come visit sometime in the fall, you should ask us to take you there. I'm sure the kids will gladly go again, the little ones and the two big ones... :)

A wee bit fuzzy...but a nice picture nonetheless. Maybe I will work on fixing it some...

Blurry but I love her little crossed legs in this one!

New Bed

So, a few weeks ago I decided to make Jacob a bed. So, I did. I used almost solely wood I had scavenged, and did not design the bed before hand, and so it did not turn out so well. Jacob has been sleeping in it for a bit, but, I resolved to build another one. So, this morning, I did. Jacob and Rebbecca helped, and it is a bit sturdier than the last one I made. Here it is:

Did I mention Jacob sleeps outside?