Chaos Is Beautiful

{Pumpkin Patch}

2011-10-20T16:00:00.000-07:00

Last week we went to the pumpkin patch w/ our Hopkins side and had a fun time! All of my kids wanted a HUGE pumpkin, so I told them if they could carry they could have it....which led to....

...even if he couldn't have lifted it, honestly how do you tell this face no?!? Or these faces....

(awww my niece Jade, so stinkin cute!!)

{Biggest summer regret}

2011-10-11T14:11:00.000-07:00

I was going through our pictures of things we did this summer and we had sooo much fun! However...... my husband, w/ the urging of 2 of our good friends, thought it would be a good idea to grow a MUSTACHE!!! Unless, your name is Sam Elliot or Tom Selleck, you don't have the right to grow a mustache. This is purely for your viewing pleasure.......

..... enough said.

{hello again}

2011-09-29T17:28:00.000-07:00

Yep, it's that time of year again! Time for me to recommit and do better on my blog. This is solely for me to keep a "journal" about my life and kids....shocking I know, cause the Hopkins' household is pretty exciting for others to read about.
Updates for our family:

-all the kids are in school! Both boys are preschool and Chris and I feel like we've officially entered the "taxi stage" of our life. It's a little tricky w/ both of us working full time but it works.
-Halle is in second grade and loves it! She did her first science experiment, (a lava lamp) and it was so fun to watch her give her presentation to the class. Oh how easily entertained 7 yr olds are....I forgot.
-Last but not least, we're are expecting baby number 4!!! It's amazing to me how i dodged the "morning sickness" bullet w/ my first 3 and caught w/ this one. Why?!? Why number 4? Aside from that, I couldn't be more excited to be able to have another child. I'm almost 5 months now and I'm very excited to have another baby in my house!... it's been a while.

{Spence turns 3}

2010-08-01T22:22:00.000-07:00

My baby is 3. hmmm...... Where to begin to describe my Spence. Is it possible for my whiniest kid to be my giggliest kid? No? Well, he is. It's so funny. Spencer does so many things that I love and crack me up.

1. He wears a glove on his right hand, daily.(example on the left) Most might worry when there little boy wants to constantly wear one glove. Who does he think he is Michael Jackson? Nope. This boy of mine is obviously wearing a mitt!

2. Spence is the boy you see in the grocery store in the middle of the summer in moon boots. (That was until I hid them.)

3. He tells me almost daily that he wasn't talking to me, he's talking to his dad. He is a daddy's boy.

4. We have the same nightly ritual. I sing "rock a by" to him, and there is a line at the end of the song where it says, "to fetch a little rabbit skin to wrap baby Spencer in". To which he replies, "I'm not a baby!" as he giggles the entire time. Every night it's the same conversation and reaction and makes me laugh. We then sing Pete's Dragon, as Spencer plays with my hair and tells me, "oh mom I fixed your hair."

5. Spencer throws EVERYTHING!... EV..ER..Y..TH..IN..GGGG! It gets so old. (He already broke one of my in laws windows)

6. Spencer's favorite foods are: strawberries, grapes, hot dogs, yogurt, pizza and strawberry milk.

7. Spence has always been very shy and he is now starting to come out of his shell. Whenever he talks to someone he now looks at me and gets excited and says, "mom, I talked to them!"

I love this little "surprise" of mine and I'm grateful that God knew I needed him in my life at a time that I didn't. No one tries to get pregnant w/ a 3 month old at home, but that's what happened w/ Spence. He is a blessing in our family and we love his little spirit. He is constantly making us laugh...and most importantly he can fake snore like no one else! He has a gift. I love, love, love him.

At one point this candle was a 3...until Spencer ate it.

Poor Spencer...rockin double pink eyes.

{Halle's growing up..literally}

2010-06-03T22:04:00.000-07:00

This is what I came home to from work today w/ specific instructions:
1. I am to start knocking anytime I need to go into Halle's room.
2. I am to knock because she could be hiding her money. (all $2)
3. I am to knock in the morning, because she could be getting undressed.
(please note the smiley faces and the hearts. At least she broke it to me easy)

Halle's Kindergarten Graduation
(please note my daughter is a head taller than the other kids)

Full of smiles, this one was.

Totally humoring my mom w/ this picture. I grew up hearing the phrase"Carrie close your legs!"...please refrain from the "that's what she said" jokes...thank you!

I've never seen someone fight a smile so hard!

Monkey turns 4

2010-05-11T21:11:00.000-07:00

My self proclaimed mama's boy(he informed Spencer that I am his and Spencer is dad's) turned 4 years old on Mother's Day! I can't believe how big he is getting. Ethan had two requests for his cake this year...he wanted a grasshopper and ants on his cake. After walking around Walmart for 2 hours trying to find some plastic bugs to put on his cake (who knew it would be that hard) I struck gold when I found this cake in the bakery. It had bugs on it, more importantly a big beautiful green grasshopper! yay! After adding a trail of chocolate sprinkles (wallah, there's your ants!) and gummy worms, Ethan was sooo excited about his bug cake! The following picture is of Ethan telling me to take a picture of him and his grasshopper....this was the best $20 ever spent....

We went to the park w/ some family and had a bbq...

The kids showing us the "fish" they caught. Notice Spencer's huge catch!

I'm so grateful for this loving little boy of mine. Ethan loves to do what he wants and heaven help the person that tries to disrupt his "plans". ...We had a pretty big scare w/ Ethan in November when he had to undergo 2 surgeries and a week long hospital stay for a staff infection in his neck. It was the longest week of my life, but such an eye opening experience to so many things...mainly...how much I love this little boy and second how naughty this sweet little boy of mine can be! He was.

1. When he does something wrong and you are trying to talk to him about it he likes to say, "mom I just like you!"

2. He loves to pretend to hunt all of the time. He even misses his targets! We were driving the other day and past a field full of deer and he aimed his gun and shot and yelled out, "I missed! Oh deer I'm gonna get you!"..he got it on his second shot.

3. I get asked at least once a day, "mom, what's that I smell?" The kid has a nose on him...I usually get told daily "that I smell so good and that I'm perty!"

Ethan's favorites: pb&j, cheetos, dinosaurs, animals, any book about animals, movies, jumping on the trampoline, roasting "jallows" marshmallows, loves to pretend and fake scare with his dad.

I love him so much! I'm so grateful for his unique little personality and I'm so lucky to be his mom and have him in my family!

Lady GaGa finaly died!

2009-12-29T20:41:00.000-08:00

Halle (Halle aka Cinderella)

Halle entertains me daily. I would like to get in her head someday and see exactly what goes on there. Today on the way home we had the following conversation....

...lady GaGa playing on the radio......

Halle: Mom, did lady GaGa die?

Me: whispering to Chris, "Oh I hope so!", but then answering: "No, she's very much alive."

Halle: "Well doesn't she smoke?"

Me: "yes, I think she smokes."

Halle: "Well, she should be dead. Smoking kills you."

Me: "It can give you cancer that can eventually kill you."

Halle: "Well will you take me to her concert?"

...gulp.....

Me: "By the time you can go to a concert I don't think she'll be singing anymore. (only if I'm lucky enough!)

Halle: "Maybe I can go to Adam Lambert then."

Me: " How about Susan Boyle?"

Halle: "I DON'T EVEN LIKE HIM.....WHY DON'T YOU LIKE ADAM LAMBERT, HE'S REALLY GOOD. I KNOW HE WEARS MAKE UP BUT I LIKE HIM!"

Chris: "Susan Boyle's a woman."

......on the radio now singing is Sean Paul.....

Me: " What about Sean Paul?"

Halle: "MOM, HE DOESN'T EVEN SPEAK ENGLISH! WHAT IS THIS THAT HE'S SAYING? I CAN'T UNDERSTAND HIM!"

The conversation ended by me saying when she turns 15 years old, cause that's how old you have to be to get into a concert, we can go to a concert together that we both agree on....This girl is very detail oriented. She makes me laugh so hard! It doesn't help that she gets sarcasm and uses it on Chris and I. Aaahhhh, funny.

Ethan

2009-12-16T21:40:00.000-08:00

I get to look at this face EVERY day, I am so blessed!

This past month was a little stressful and scary for us. As many of you know, our oldest son, Ethan was admitted into the hospital w/ a deep neck infection. It happened so fast and literally over night. This infection then turned into an abscess (which was staff bacteria) underneath his curated artery...3 cat scans, 2 surgeries later and a week in the hospital and this entertaining son of mine is back to his loud self. The only proof that something was ever wrong is the 2 inch cut on the side of his neck. I'm so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father, who answers prayers. I've never felt so helpless as a mother, but through trials and hardships comes humility and blessings. Chris and I are blessed with the greatest support group...EVER! We have the best family and it's very humbling as they continue to help us out in so many ways.

Highlights of the worst week ever:

1. Ethan was so ornery to everyone, those poor nurses! Any time they asked Ethan if he needed anything he yelled, "I told you, nyooo!" completely naughty, but hilarious coming out of Ethan in his mumbly voice.

2. While at Primary children's Hospital, Carlos Boozer and Jerry Sloan came to our room to give Ethan a signed basketball. Ethan says nothing to him, but slaps the ball from Carlos Boozer's hands...they sprinted out of our room.

3. By the end, whenever a nurse would come in the room to do vitals, Ethan would say without looking at them, "I don't need anything, fanks guys!"

4. Whenever they would come and give him his medicine through his i.v...he say, "Mom, what happened to me?"....so sad, yet so cute said in Ethan's voice.

THANKFUL

2009-11-19T21:46:00.000-08:00

I'm so blessed! I love this family of mine.

I was supposed to be Daisy duck, but after a "minor"

panic attack, I became a caveman. Seriously, I'll never give

my mom crap again about being claustrophobic again.

My adorable family provides me w/ the comic relief that is needed in my life......

More Hopkins funnies:

1. In the car the other day Spencer let me know that the sun was in his eyes. Ethan said, "Dencer don't worry I'll keel (kill) the sun!" I looked in the rear view mirror to see some FIERCE blinking going on from Ethan towards the sun.

2. Halle informed me that she speaks Spanish, which I already knew because I hear it all day and night. It gets better, when I was watching my one year old niece the other night Halle informed me that Shea didn't understand what I was saying because, she too speaks Spanish. Who knew?...Halle.

3. After seeing her aunt snuggling w/ a boy, Halle informed me that Sharise was laying on her friend's lap, THAT IS A BOY! She then went on to say, "I'm going to have to talk to her tomorrow about that."
4. Spencer has been going around telling me to "spank der booms", ( spank there bums). Examples of what he wants me to spank.. a chair, Ethan, his blanket, a flower arrangement, Ethan, the dogs, Ethan, his ball, his sippy cup, and Ethan. Before child services are called, he's just playing. It's a thing my family does, we say, "I'm going to spank your bum", and then we give a nice rump slap.

5. Spencer was watching basketball on t.v tonight and started yelling at the team, "cum on guys, pass the ball!" He's TWO! Seriously, it's moments like this that give me a glimpse what the future holds for me and my t.v. time.

Funny Hopkins moments

2009-09-10T21:49:00.000-07:00

1) We went to a family reunion on Chris's side and as we were getting ready to leave, Halle said to my mother in law that she was sorry that she called her relatives weird..
Lucinda (mother in law): "I didn't know you called my family weird."
Halle: "I did Grandma. But, they're not weird they're just old".

2) Halle and I were driving past some cows and Halle asked me why people have cows. So, I told her that some farmers/ranchers raise cattle then sell them to other people or to stores for meat. Halle's response: "Mom, wait a minute. Are you telling me that milk and hamburger BOTH come from cows?"
Me: "That's what I'm telling you."
Halle (now making this weird throaty noise) says: "mom, that's disgusting!"
Me (laughing): "I know, it actually is when you think about it. Are you going to still drink milk and eat hamburger."
Halle: "yep."

3) I was saying to Halle one day after picking her up from school, how old she's getting and fast she's growing up. She looked at me w/ this concern/sass and says, "mom, I'm not dying. I'm just in kindergarten." ....very true.

4) Chris informed me today that he found out that his great-grandma was an alcoholic. (he really knew that, he had just forgot!) Anyways, he told me that that explained everything.
Me: "what does that explain?"
Chris: "why I'm so addicted to Mtn. Dew. Carrie, it's the burn I love!"
Me: nothing was said.....I just laughed.

5) Spence (my youngest) is severely, annoyingly, adorably attached to his blanket. I snuck it away from him and got it washed and dried without him knowing, (I think my friend Micah would know what an accomplishment this really is!) Well, when I went to hand it to him it was still warm. He grabbed it and said, "Hoh, mom. Hot, blow on it." It makes perfect sense, I blow on his food when it's too hot so naturally I would blow on his blanket that was too hot...smart kid.

6) The other day after I got Ethan and Spence buckled in their car seats I went to go let Halle know it was time to go. As I was walking away I heard them start yelling something at each other. My father in law asked me what they were yelling about and I told him I didn't know. Well, as I got closer to the car I heard:
Ethan: "Stop it Dencer (spencer), she's my mommy!"
Spence: "No, she's my mommy."
Ethan apparently can't come up w/ another response so he stares Spencer in the eyes and just starts screaming. Don't worry I broke the fight up and then started it over again when I said, "I'm both your mommy. I'm Halle's mommy too!"

7) We were eating ice cream the other day. Ethan got distracted, of course, and went off to play. Well he came back into the kitchen and looked in his bowl and let out a gasp..
"Mom, my ice cream dead!"

8) Ethan got hurt on his finger and came over to me crying. I picked his finger up and kissed it. After looking at his hand, he grabbed my mouth and pulled it open and said, "Mom, owie gone!"...I AM pretty amazing.

Halle's belated birthday post. I can't believe she's 5!

2009-08-19T21:22:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HALLE!

Where to even begin with Halle. Halle is the most complex 5 year old girl I've EVER met in my life! She is the sassiest, sweetest, girliest, tom-boy you'll ever meet. She has always acted so much older than she is, maybe that's to go w/ the fact that she's always looked 2 years older than she really is. As I was going through all of the pictures w/ Halle in them, I noticed that over 3/4ths of them are Halle hugging or holding one of her brothers...that's Halle. She has always been so maternal and such a great big sister. She adores her family, especially her Grandmas'! She loves to be outside, fishing, camping, and going on picnics with our family. Some of my favorite things she did as a little kid is call bumble bees, "bum bum bees". When we were potty training her, her motivation was gum. She couldn't have it until she actually pooped on the toilet so every day she'd go up to chris and say, "Daddy, don't eat my poop gum, k?
Just recently I had to go to our neighbors house and have a talk w/ our neighbor about Halle peeing on their lawn. They were swimming, she didn't want to walk home ( 2 houses down), so she did what any sensible girl would do....she pulled off the swimsuit and peed. She seriously cracks me up! I'm so grateful for this adorable little girl in my life and the sweet little spirit she has. Our family would not be the same without her...you know, since she runs the show! As frustrating as she can be sometimes Chris and I have said many times that we wouldn't change anything about her, we love her so much and just the way she is. Sass and all.

She's 2 in this picture.

Halle on her birthday. She likes to relocate flowers that I put in her hair. I would get Halle ready for school in the mornings and Chris would drop her off. Well, when I went to pick her up, her flowers were always moved to the very front or right on top of her head. One day I went to pick her up and she was in full makeup. Don't worry, chris helped her blend in the lines. We all know we don't want lines in our makeup. The other mothers thought it was hilarious and I just loved the fact that Chris blended her makeup for her instead of wiping it off. funny.

Halle and Chris. They are so much a like! If Chris goes anywhere, Halle is there right beside him.

Isn't she beautiful?...I love her!

The bruiser turns 2!

2009-07-06T19:47:00.001-07:00

Awwwe Spencer! I can't believe that my youngest is 2! If you would have told me that I'd get pregnant with a 3 month old, I wouldn't have even laughed. why?..that's not funny to someone with a 3 month old. Well, God apparently had a surprise for us and could see the bigger and better picture....Spencer. What a blessing this little boy has been in our lives! He loves to make people laugh. Even at such a young age, he loves to be funny and make his brother & sister and mom & dad laugh! He is such a sweetheart, but has a quick temper..aka (the hot dog story). Spencer is proof that athletic ability is born with you. He can throw a baseball with speed and accuracy, he catches a football and he can hit a ball that is pitched to him! It's a little creepy. I love this little scaredy cat of mine and his complex personality!...he really is scared of everything!

Chris and Spencer

Spencer in the hospital during a 2 a.m. feeding.

He's always had the most kissable cheeks!

He has ALWAYS slept like this. When he's relaxing, watching a movie or asleep in the car or crib he has his arms up like this.

Spencer is totally a Grandpa's boy. He loves his Grandma and mom, but if Grandpa or dad are around, it's all about them.......and did I mention Spencer can swing a bat like a pro?! He usually hits balls on his tee or on the ground, but every once in a while he catches an unsuspecting victim. Case in point............

me.

Who could get mad at that little face? I love this kid to death!

Procrastination= one big blog!

2009-06-08T19:39:00.001-07:00

Our family funnies/updates:

Halle has had quite the last month. First, she graduated from preschool and is so excited that she finally gets to go to "Cody's school". The last week of school her class went on a field trip to one of the local fish ponds and Halle caught a fish. As we were walking into the house I heard the following statement:

"Fish, you used to be alive, but I went and caught you and killed you....I'm so sorry about that. But, I really like to eat fish". It made me laugh!

Second, Halle came into the house one day and told me that she wanted to show me something. We went outside and she went to get on her bike. She told me that she knew how to ride her bike and I said that her dad needed to take the training wheels off, because they had broken, and teach her how to ride it. She insisted that she knew how, so I let her prove me wrong. Well, she got on her bike and took off. She had taught herself how to ride her bike! I was so proud of her! Chris came out and took the training wheels off and she rode up and down the street all night, turning, standing up and pumping to go up the hill. It was pretty impressive. And Halle's final milestone, one that I'm most proud of, is that Halle has learned to receive emails in her head. What?!, you might say. Halle informed me the other day that she received an email that Lydia had gotten home so she was ready to play with Halle...(we had just called Lydia 3 minutes before that.) You know I should have seen it coming, with her dad being a wizard and all!

Memorial Day:

Memorial Day weekend we were pretty busy. On Saturday we went to Chris's softball tournament and the kids had a blast running around while their dad played. I thought it was time I put some pictures/posts of Chris doing "manly" things, because I wasn't portraying his "manliness".

Ryan was frustrated about the hit he had just done....so sad.
On memorial day we went to a park, where they had a pond. We had a big bbq and did some fishing. It was a lot of fun, but I loved this picture of Halle and Chris!

This little kid was so cute. He came over and showed Spence his fish, since we couldn't catch our own. Spence eventually built up some courage and touched the fish. That is a milestone for him, seriously he scared of EVERYTHING!

After the bbq we went over to the cemetery so we could put some flowers on my dad's, grandma and grandpa's graves. When I was getting the flowers ready earlier in the day Halle came up to me holding a small rose plant that my mom had given her a couple of weeks earlier. Honestly, it had seen better days. She told me that she wanted to give this to Grandpa Loveridge because he would love it! She was right, he would love it. So, she drew a heart on it and then signed her name. In between all of those sassy moments, there is one of the sweetest little girls I've ever seen! Oh how I love her!

The zoo:

This Saturday (for my birthday) kind of...I own it because it was the day before my birthday, and lets be honest that the older you get the more anticlimactic your birthdays get so I need some excitement. So we'll just pretend that we went to the zoo to celebrate me and not the fact that my kids were stoked to see "real" animals. Anyways, we went to the zoo and it was so much fun! This is me and my cute sister in law, Lindsey.

This is Ethan's reaction at seeing the elephants for the first time...priceless...and this is Spencer's reaction to the elephants................can you just see the excitement on that face?!

This was more up Spencer's ally. Nice mellow...monkeys. There was this baby orangutan, playing with this sheet. Spence was glued to this thing. The monkey would dip it's "blanket" into the river below, pull it up and then drink it. It was fascinating! Spence loved it up until the monkey dropped it's "blanket". He literally gasped and said, "monkey dopped it's dankut". For 5 minutes he said this. The monkey had moved on, oh but not Spence. This child of mine has a connection with his thumb and blanket and he was so sad for this little monkey..it was so cute.My cute family and our day of fun, ( I'm the one in the subtle yellow cardigan). I told you this was a long post!

'I'm Eee-fan, I'm fee!"

2009-05-17T19:27:00.000-07:00

This is what Ethan said all day long on his birthday. He just celebrated his 3rd birthday last week on May 9th...I know, I know, way to be on top of things Carrie! I'm pretty sure at the age of 3 Ethan had my dream birthday day...he lounged in my bed all morning demanding drinks, goldfish and movies. While he lounged I made the beloved "volcano" birthday cake, he wanted a cake like Luke's. How do I explain that I'm not as artistic, creative and talented as my older sister, better known to Ethan as Luke's mom, so I just went with it and it turned out how it turned out....he LOVED it! He would come into the kitchen ask me to take off the foil so he could see it and then he would knock one of the dinosaurs on the head with his dinosaur he had in his hand and growl. He honestly did that at least 10 times through out the day...and that's Ethan. Ethan is such a funny, affectionate, impatient little kid. I think when they made the saying, "wrapped around their finger", they were talking about Ethan. He has a way of sucking everyone in that's around him. He will cause you pain or frustration one minute and then is immediately kissing you and telling you that he loves you. In fact tonight I had put him to bed in HIS bed, he's notorious for getting into Spencer's crib once the door is shut, well sure enough I heard them talking and laughing and hitting the wall with something. So, I got him out of the crib and carried him over to his bed. As I'm walking to his bed he's yelling, "help me dencer (that's spencer)! help me dencer!. I ove (love) you mommy!"...that's Ethan. I love this picture! He has the same profile as his dad.

I've always called him monkey. Do I really need to explain?

Ethan and his volcano birthday cake. I'd like to give a shout out to Amy for inspiring me and setting my kids up for disappointment. Thanks sis!

Ethan on his birthday. You thought I was kidding! Nope, he really did lounge in my bed watching movies.

Anyone that knows Ethan has made the same comment about how this is a perfect representation of him. What a stubborn cutie! I love him so much and I'm so grateful to be his mom. Who knew frustration could be so endearing?!

Business in the front and a PARTY in the back!!!

2009-05-03T21:40:00.000-07:00

So my boys' have needed a haircut for a good 2-3 months now and I finally decided to do it. You don't understand why I have to mentally prepare myself for it....it's because Spence screams the ENTIRE time. Not cries, not whines, but screams and shakes the whole time. This adorable son of mine is scared of EVERYTHING. You'd think he'd be used to the clippers by now. He had 6 haircuts before his first birthday. I'm not kidding, my boys are half monkey. I tried to get before and afters of Ethan and Spencer but I didn't even want to deal w/ Spencer and the camera....I think you can get how bad they both needed it by this picture of them with Halle.

I really thought of leaving it like this and not saying anything to my mother-in-law when I dropped him off at her house the next morning. I wanted to see if she would have said something to me.

5 Funny things...

2009-04-07T21:15:00.000-07:00

So, I don't want to forget some of the funny things that my kids say and my friend, Micah, had a good idea and writes 5 funny things a week that her kids do or say.....

1. So everytime Ethan is away from me...whether it's a nap, me going to work, him going to nursery for a couple hours...whatever it is, as soon as I see him again he says, "oh I missed you today! Did you miss me?"
2. Ethan will give me HUGE kisses and pull away and say, "Oh HONNNEEEEY".
3. Halle told Chris that she was sorry that she just hit him in the "peanuts".
4. After watching Jurassic Park and hearing what "real" dinosaurs sound like. Ethan has started doing an awful gasping coughing noise, because he's obviously one of the veloceraptors. Chris didn't know what he was doing and asked him if he was ok and needed some water and he said, "Dad, I just playing dinosaurs!"
5. Spencer doesn't say too many funny things yet, but he is a funny kid. He takes it upon himself to discipline Chris when he teases him and he plays the annoying little brother role perfectly. He grabs one of Ethan's toys and takes off, because apparently when you stick your neck out, that means that you're running...I'll have to try it!

9 Long Years

2009-03-05T21:18:00.000-08:00

It has been 9 LONG years since my dad passed away. He died on February 29, 2000. That's right he died on a leap year so everyone, every year could be confused as to what day his death anniversary is....Feb 28th or March 1. It doesn't matter anyways because I think about him everyday. Every time my kids do something funny I think of how much my dad would have enjoyed that or days that I want his advice on something. I think of him daily and I miss him more and more. I guess he's been on my mind a little more than usual lately because of the time of year and the older my children get I want them to know him, so I find myself telling stories about him. Anyone that knew my dad, loved him. He was one funny and loving man! The sad thing is I don't think I ever fully appreciated him or understood him until I became a parent myself. I always thought I was so much like my mom, which I am. But, the older I get I realize that I'm so much like him too. I love picnics, I love going on drives with my husband and kids, I love openness (is that a word?), I love my privacy, I love being outdoors, I love Don Williams and most of all I love being with my family above anything else but I will never love Cherry Cordials or Maple Nut Ice cream...there, we will never be the same. I was going through some pictures tonight and found these. I suck at scanning...first time, but I wanted to show these pictures. The picture below was taken at Strawberry Reservoir about 13 years ago. It was my dad, mom, Joe, Dolly, Neil, me and Jer (he was taking the picture). All 7 of us crammed into this tiny tin boat and headed out to the middle of the lake. I kid you not the water was only 1-2 inches from coming into the boat. It was such a memorable fishing trip and I think the smile on all of our faces shows how much we loved it!...

This family picture just made me laugh! I love the look on Matt's face. Classic mormon, 1980's family picture.....

and I LOVE this picture of my mom and dad! I love that my mom's glasses take up 3/4 ths of her face and she still looks adorable. They were such a good example of what a marriage should be and what is of the most importance in your life...family. I love them both. I miss my dad so much, but have been lucky to have some very special experiences since his passing. I know he is doing more important work somewhere else but that he cares about what is happening in his family's lives. I don't think it ever gets easier having him gone, I just get used to feeling that void in my life...I do have an amazing father in law though! I just pray that I can help my children get to know this wonderful Grandfather of theirs through stories.

"I'm eating cow?"

2009-02-24T20:04:00.000-08:00

On Sunday I made a roast. I'm getting some cups to put on the table when I hear the following conversation between Chris and Halle....

Halle: That looks like some good chicken!
Chris: That's not chicken Halle, that's beef.
Halle: What's beef?
Chris: Beef comes from cow.
Halle: Why would we eat a cow?
Chris: Because it's good.
So later that night I'm sitting on the couch and I hear Halle say, "mom, blah blah blah blah?" So I asked her to repeat herself and she said, "do you mind if I set my cow on the chair?" I look over and Halle had gone into the kitchen and got herself a huge chunk of roasst out of the fridge and was getting ready to put it on my nice chair. Since sunday I have heard Halle ask me at least 3 or 4 times if she can have some more cow or when I'm going to make some more cow. I have never in my life been disgusted by the thought of meat....until now.

My kids

2009-02-20T20:36:00.000-08:00

She is definitely my daughter! As a child I used to torment my older sister Amy, who is afraid of EVERYTHING, by chasing her with bugs. Halle found this HUGE snail in the window well in her bedroom and insisted that I help her catch it. So she went and picked some grass while I pryed the snail and 2 others from the window well. She thought this was the greatest thing ever! She named them Pongo, Ping Ding and Ping Ling....don't ask......I'd like you to notice the two random bright red fingernails that are painted.

This is Spencer. There are four things that this adorable son of mine can't live without. The first two things he asks for in the morning is, his ball and "where's my dad?" Those are his exact words. His world revolves around his dad. The other two things he can't live without go hand in hand....his blanket and........ his thumb. Sure it's cute now, but when he's 10 and he wants his "woobie" and thumb in the middle of 5th grade, how cute is it then? Ehh, I guess we'll deal with that when we get to that point.

Ethan, famous for the girl on girl post, went to the dentist for the first time. Don't let this picture fool you. This is AFTER the dentist when he's riding their electric horse out front. He starting crying from the time they put the led apron thing on him, while they tried to convince him to lay down to watch a movie and while the dentist prodded his teeth. He kept looking at me and saying, "mommy, I done. We can go." As soon as we walked out the doors he said, "mommy, I did it!"
I didn't have the heart to tell him...."well actually son, no you didn't. You just cost mommy the most expensive horse ride in history." Oh well, he was happy and look at that face.

THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS SEXUAL CONTENT: PARENTAL DISCRETION IS ADVISED

2008-12-03T21:12:00.000-08:00

Tonight I was in the kitchen cooking dinner. When my husband yells for me to come into the family room and to bring the camera. What did I find, you may ask? Well, I found the following.....

Disturbing that my little boy was playing with barbies? I think NOT! I think we have no need to worry about Ethan. I think he is a healthy, normal little boy who thinks like every grown up boy!

The Wizard

2008-11-22T21:11:00.000-08:00

My husband is great! He constantly gives me the comic relief from life that I need every day! The other night as we were getting ready for bed we had the following conversation:

Chris: "You know how I've been getting a lot of headaches lately?"
Me: "Yeah"
Chris:"I think I've figured out why"
Me:"Could it be because you've been reading book after book the last 3 weeks?"
Chris:"Nope, in my book that I've been reading, the men start having a lot of headaches when they've discovered that they are wizards! Carrie, I'm a wizard."
Me:"Well, where do we go from here?"
Chris:"We have to find me a sorcerer to fully release my powers".
Me:"I'll get on that. I'll call all of my potential sorcerer friends to get your powers released"......we laugh.....then laugh even harder at how ridiculous we are.
Me:"At what point to I start to worry that you really think you're a wizard?"
Chris:"When I start wearing a robe around."

This is why I married my husband.

8 is GREAT!

2008-10-30T20:32:00.000-07:00

I just got my first tag from my friend, Carly...so here it goes...
8 tv shows i watch:
1. The office
2. The fringe
3. The biggest loser ( not this season though, the contestants are really pissing me off!)
4.30 Rock
5. espn...not by choice!
6. espn2....again not by choice
7. sports center...actually I do enjoy this because Kenny Maines is hilarious!
8. The food network..drive inns, diners and dives, and the iron chef we are valiant watchers of. Also, that gross guy that eats crazy animals and things that shouldn't be eaten. I don't know his name but it's disgusting!
8 things I did yesterday:
1. Woke up while it was still dark outside...I hate that!
2. Changed diapers
3. Raked leaves, played in them with my kids.
4. Went to work....boo!
5. Changed more diapers
6. Made dinner
7. Did dishes
8. Went to sleep way too late. Yes 11:00 is too late for me! It was a really boring Wednesday. You should hear about my Thursdays, they're wild!
8 things I'm looking forward to:
1. Chris being done with school, so I can quit my job! Don't worry, I've already given them my 2 year notice....May of 2010 I'm outta there! I like to think I'm that irreplaceable and it will take them that long to find a suitable replacement for me.
2. Thanksgiving
3. Christmas
4. Ethan to be potty trained..I've been putting it off and it's time.
5. The weekend
6. Tax season...I love my kids, especially around jan/feb because they are some good deductions and credits. I love them for other reasons too, calm down.
7. The day when I don't get woken up by kids at night. How sad is it that it's my 4 year old that wakes me up?
8. To be able to make a comment in church without rehearsing it 10 times in my head first.....Oh, I also want to be a powerful speaker like my husband.
8 things on my wish list:
1. My own house
2. Chris to be graduated
3. To be skinny
4. To have more babies, which won't help w/ my number 3 wish. Don't worry, I don't want another one until Chris is finished with school.
5. To be the best mom!
6. To be able to give my husband the bulldog that he wants so bad.
7. Be able to overcome my addiction to reality shows....it's a weakness of mine.
8. I want to be a better member of the church.
8 friends I tag:
1. Jalyce
2. Micah
3. Mandy
4. Heidi
5. Marlyce
6. Brooke
7. Hayley
8. Annie
I'm a little embarrassed that you all know how utterly boring and repetitive my life is. Oh well, at least I like my husband and kids and we can all be bored together.

You don't love me!

2008-10-22T18:56:00.000-07:00

My daughter, Halle, is hilarious! She drives me crazy, good crazy, about 75% of the time! Last night my brother and mom were over watching t.v. w/ chris and I. The movie was starting to get a little gory, and it was getting close to Halle's bed time, so I told her it was time for bed! Unlike my friend Micah's daughter, who suddenly gets paralysis of the legs during her temper tantrums, my daughter starts spewing ridiculous things at me. So....when I told her it was time for bed she started crying and throwing her little temper tantrum. I told her to stop and she looked at me and said, " you don't love me! You don't even like me!" I seriously start laughing about it right now, a day later. The 8 yr old in me wanted to respond and say, "No, no I'm not a big fan of you right now. You're right!" But, don't worry..I told her I always love her even though I didn't like what she was doing...blah, blah, blah. She's ridiculous!

She came up to me tonight, out of the blue, and said: "I'm going to lick your face and kill your boobs!" What? I don't even know if I should laugh or be scared! For all of you who are thinking she overheard me and Chris dirty talking....NO! We're much more imaginative than that!
For as crazy, hectic and loud as my house can get at times. It definitely is never boring! Kids really do say the funniest things!

Family Pictures

2008-10-15T19:31:00.000-07:00

The last family picture we had taken was in 2004 and Halle was 3 months old. 4 years and 2 kids later we decided that it was time that we took another family picture. I had this fun day planned in my head, we were going to have so much fun and our pictures were going to turn out beautiful! Apparently I forgot that we have a 4 yr old, a 2 yr old and a 1 yr old. Seriously, the only word to describe it was CHAOS! Here's the best of the bunch. I tried to find the best pictures of each of us. So, even though it was total chaotic, it turned out to be a success. Chris and I. The only man that can ever make me feel petite! I would like to point out in our family picture that we look the same height. Those who know me and Chris could tell by looking at the picture that we were obviously on a hill, since Chris is 6' 7" and 9 inches taller than me. This picture is a lot more accurate. I love him!
Halle started crying 2 frames in because she had forgotten how to smile. Really? I didn't know you can forget how to smile, but we have the pictures to prove it folks. I would also like to point out her crazy hair. I had a really cute clip to put in her hair and of course she wouldn't let me put it in, so hence the lion mane. But, other than the crazy hair I think this picture is adorable!
Next I'd like to tell you about Ethan. He was a complete TIRD! I love my son, he is hilarious, but he does what he wants when he wants. He wouldn't look at the camera the entire time for his single shots and the one time he did, we got the following picture...... That's the BEST picture from the whole shoot, but honestly it cracks me up! That is totaly Ethan.
Aaawww Spence! Isn't he adorable? Look at how angelic! Don't let him fool you. He's not quite so sweet and innocent all of the time. Don't get me wrong he is a complete sweetheart and is happy 90% of the time, but the other 10% he is one angry 1 yr old. Quick story...last night I opened our freezer to get something and Spencer was standing right below me. Well, as I opened the freezer door, a package of frozen hot dogs came down on his face! It was so sad! I really almost starting crying because I felt so bad. He started bleeding right below his eye and it was immediately black and blue. Well, he had his head on my shoulder and was crying, when suddenly he lifted his head, cocked his arm back and slapped me right across the face! He then layed his head back down and continued to cry. It was the saddest, funniest thing I've ever experienced. Talk about being honest with your feelings. Now, that is Spence!

My Kids Roles

2008-10-15T19:20:00.000-07:00

I've decided that each one of my children play a certain role. I discovered this the other night as we were driving home and we were listening to the radio. Well, there was some music playing that had a real good beat, so I took it upon myself to bust into some moves....mostly the robot. I do a mean robot, if I say so myself. Well, immediately Halle and Spencer start laughing! They are loving it as much as I am! Halle, I think just gets pleasure in seeing me make a fool of myself and Spencer is just my little pleaser. I keep thinking to myself, "oh yeah, I was a dancer born in the wrong body!" I'm minding my own business, popping and locking when from the back my Simon Cowell (American Idol Judge) pipes up, "Ewwwe, stop it mommy!" For all these years I thought I had some really pretty good moves, but it took some honest criticism from my 2 year old, Ethan, to bring me into reality. I now know how all the losers from American Idol feel when Simon dashes their dreams and.......it hurts!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRIS!

2008-09-10T20:19:00.000-07:00

Chris, You are my everything! You are such a wonderful husband, father, son, brother and friend. Everyone who knows you are blessed to have you in their life. I love you so much and I'm so grateful that I'm lucky enough to be married to my best friend! We have so much fun together. Whether it's playing softball, camping, talking or pretending that you're paralyzed....don't ask......I feel like we're always laughing. Thank you for being my husband and making me laugh! I love you. carrie

Camping trip

2008-09-08T21:06:00.000-07:00

While on a camping trip w/ some of our friends a couple weeks ago. Our friend Tim took some pretty cute pictures of our kids! Thanks Tim. Halle's dilemma: wanted to go in the river w/ her dad and fish, but didn't want to get all wet. Solution: take clothes off and fish in her underwear. Smart girl!

Anyone that has met our kids are very familiar w/ this expression. Notice they both have the same look on their face. This is the morning after we had already spent a whole day w/ everyone! Disclaimer to anyone that tries to make my kids smile, you know the grocery store, park, doctors...coworkers....it takes at least an hour to get comfortable around people. It's funny!

Ethan kept eating dirt. I really thought we were passed this stage!

Millions of Peaches!

2008-09-08T20:54:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm officialy my mom! Ask me what I did this weekend? Friday night I......drum roll please.........made 17 pints of peach freezer jam. Then my crazy Saturday night consisted of me and my wonderful husband, Chris staying up until 2 a.m canning 22 quarts of peaches. Watch out folks, it gets pretty wild in the Hopkins' home. As I was peeling my hundredth peach, I asked Chris if he felt like we had become our parents. We both agreed that we had, and we're okay w/ it! I love my husband, I love my boring weekend, and I love my life!

Halle's First Day of Preschool

2008-09-02T19:34:00.000-07:00

Halle started preschool today! I can't believe I have a 4 year old! She was so excited, she couldn't even eat breakfast. She ended up holding her cup of milk for 30 minutes, so we celebrated afterword by going to Carl's Jr. together. She told me all about her teachers and school and how they made playdough.....that's right, playdough! How do you go wrong w/ that? Now those are teachers after my own heart.

No business!

2008-09-01T20:51:00.000-07:00

I have no business doing a blog! I've been sitting here for over 20 minutes trying to figure out how to post a stupid picture! Is this like the time that my sister, Amy, tried to take me snowboarding? "Don't worry," she said. "Everyone falls down on their first time, you'll be so much better next time we come". Well, there wasn't a next time folks! After having people refuse to get on the lift w/ me, falling 45 times and having to roll out of the way of the other skiers and snowboarders exiting off of the lift, I rode the snowboard down the mountain like it was a sled! Jalyce or Brooke I'm putting the responsibility on you two to teach me how to do this. Good luck!