{Pumpkin Patch}

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}

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}

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.