{hello again}

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}

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}

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

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!

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

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

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.