We may not have it all together, but together we have it all.

Yesterday for church my kids looked so darn cute that I had to take a picture and post it. I was able to sing in the Christmas choir, we were just about the whole Sunday service. We sang about 5 songs and there were a couple other groups that sang with narratives in between. I also got to watch Scott suffer through sitting with Madelyn. HA! Except she wasn't as naughty as she usually is with me there. Why is that? Anyway it was a great Sunday. It completely set us in the mood to celebrate Christ's birth and enjoy our family. If they would hurry and get here! Grandma, Grandpa and Anna are coming for Christmas, and we will probably spend New Years with the Andersons as well. Merry Christmas!

I have to tell you a story about Rylan that his school teacher told me today. Mrs. Waters not only goes to our church, but she also is our next door neighbor (we love her that much)! Well today at church she told me that at school they had been writing poems about the upcoming Christmas, the fun commercial part, the Christmas tree, Santa etc. Well Rylan asked her, "Mrs. Waters, when are we going to write a poem about Jesus?" So sweet, my little boy. Very proud that he was concerned about celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. We talked today at dinner about why we don't talk about Jesus in class at school, or why his teachers can't teach about him. But we also told him that he can always tell his friends about Jesus and how he believes in him. To that he replied, "Well I do believe in him!"

Last weekend we went to Provo for my niece's blessing. We arrived at their church house and the instant we got there and it was quiet while people were getting ready to worship, Maddy starts fidgeting with her dress and says out loud multiple times, "I wanna be naked!" I wanna be naked mommy!" It must have made her itch for a second there. We distracted her with something and she didn't mention it again. Sweet baby Elizabeth Lynnette (named after my mother) was born back in October. She wore the blessing dress that I was blessed in and that Maddy was blessed in. So we had to take a picture. Maddy really didn't want to sit still, and she was for sure not going to smile. This was the best we could do. Doesn't it look like I am smuggling a basketball under my shirt? It is just a perfectly round ball isn't it! I had to tell her that we were taking a princess picture with all the girls. That helped a little. She loves princessess. In fact everytime she wea...

Yep today is December 9th, my day of birth. No big deal, except I turned 29! My last year in my twenties! FREAKY! No, I am ok. I am in a good place in my life, I have everything I could possibly want in life. Plus I have 5 weeks to go until the baby comes and I get comments all the time how small I am. I will take it! You should have seen me with Madelyn, . . . huge. However this pregnancy is totally different, I am probably small because the baby is in my back, with the placenta in the front. It is a big debate, which is better to be huge or to have random nerve spasms and numbness? I don't know, I am just anxious for this little guy to come. I have been excited, yet after I watched my friend's 5 week old today I am REALLY excited to have a "little baby" Here is what I have learned in my 29 years on earth: No one but you is in charge of your happiness Fake it til you make it In almost every situation, it could be worse, or there is always some one else who is...

After hearing the horrible side effects of kids who use the binki long after they are toddlers, I decided that it was time for the binki fairy. (Actually they weren't that horrible. But I thought Madelyn was old enough to understand the concept, plus she wasn't using it during the day (we stopped that habit when she was about 18 months) and she wasn't waking up at night and asking for it. So my motherly instincts thought that it was time to give it up. We talked about it for about 2 days then we gathered her binkis and placed them in a basket in her room. I hope that was all of them, these are the ones that survived. The green one we got in the hospital when she was born. The blue one was purchased in Grangeville while visiting Scott's parents after we lost two during Border Days, and that pink one was purchase not too long ago, probably her favorite. Anyway, we said that if she left her binki's in the basket then the binki fairy would come take the binki's and...

Rylan's school is offering free breakfast for any child that wants it. I don't know how I feel about this. Sure it is nice for the kids that don't get breakfast and I can understand how it would help tremendously their focus on their school work, but I kind of feel like, shouldn't they spend the money on something else that the school needs? Can't parents afford a box of $2 cereal a week? Maybe they can't and I am naive. They serve it in the first 10-20 minutes of class time, so our teachers have to give up teaching time and supervise breakfast, take time to serve and clean up. Um, is it making that big of a difference? I will have to ask Ry's teacher (who is also our next door neighbor) in a couple months if she thinks so. Anyway just wanted to get your thoughts on this issue. What do you think?

Setting: In the car after picking up Rylan from school. Characters: Rylan and Maddy Maddy: Rylan, you think my hair pretty? Rylan: well it is kind of messy . . . Maddy: No, my hair beuuuuuutiful!

This picture was taken by Rylan before we went to a city pumpkin walk, I am a peanut M&M...haa haa get it? SO here it is ladies and gentlemen...the bump! I am 28 weeks, so that means I just slid into my third trimester, or my 7th month! I am feeling pretty good, this baby prefers to hide behind the placenta because the placenta is in my front and the baby is in the back....yes MY back! Kinda painful and I am sure that the bigger he gets the more painful it will be. Back pain, and nerve spasams this time around. But eh I am not complaining, I am so blessed to be bringing another beautiful Hoogland baby into our home. We are very excited to have another boy (Scott more excited than anyone). We are due January 12th, I have never had a winter baby before! Rylan wants to teach this baby "boy" things. Madelyn just wants to hold him she says. See ya in a couple months sweet baby boy!

Our little girl is growing up! She transitioned into a big girl bed a couple weeks ago, and she is doing really well. She had a couple times when she was playing in her room instead of laying in her bed, but now for the most part she stays in bed and goes to sleep. It was so funny she was going down for a nap and I went into to check on her and she had a book in her bed, (note: I did not give her a book to have in her bed). I asked her if she got out of her bed and she said in her snobbyness voice, "no, mommy I not!" Then I said, Madelyn, you got out of your bed to get that book didn't you?" Then she said, "I in my bed!" Oh she is sassy isn't she? Also one time while she was supposed to be sleeping I checked on her and she had put on her cowgirl boots and was dancing around. So funny, it is hard not to laugh at her and be tough. We kept the crib up in her room and told her that if she got out of bed she would have to go back into the baby bed. She only ...

Rylan started a new season of soccer in September. He loves soccer and it is a perfect fit for his active lifestyle. He came up with his team name, "the Killer Bees" and the rest of the kids loved it. I swear he never gets tired and the coach has to tell him to take a break, or else he would play the whole game! He is a great defensive player, with his great sprinting skills he can speed up to the opposing team who is making a break towards the goal and steal the ball away from them. Offensively he has yet to really grasp keeping the ball and dibbling down to score. If he is in the right place at the right time by the goal he can score, but as far as taking the initiative to do it on his own, he isn't quite there yet. He is learning to be tough, during one game a ball hit him square in the chest -HARD-! He kept playing and when he ran past me next he said, "mom, did you see that, I got hit with that ball bad and it didn't even HURT!" I love it when he tries ...

It has become tradition to go to Gardner Village in October with our friends the Tophams. Shelby the witch Lena the toothfairy They have witches hidden all over that the kids have to find in a scavenger hunt. If they find all of the witches on their list they get a cookie for 25 cents at the bakery. Rylan as Obi-Wan Kenobi protecting Shelby from the green witch. They also have a fun wagon ride where they take you to a real witches house. The women that play the witches are HILARIOUS! They interact with the crowd and tell us gastly stories of rotten apples, frog-eyed stew, and their sister who was turned into a goat. They also talk in sort-of an English acent, which makes my friend Karin and I do so also! Maddy was a witch as well, and she loved dressing up, it t...

After a couple times of trying to get the kids together and it not working out we FINALLY were able to go to Provo so Maddy and Ben could play. Grandma and Grandpa were there too! Playing "this little piggie . . ." Maddy and Ben are so cute together and they only had a couple little squabbles. Usually it is Maddy being territorial over a toy she was playing with and Ben happened to look at it! They shared marbles, and Maddy even let Ben hold her kitty. Ben is very loving and could careless about what Maddy is doing to him or to his things. Well Ben had an apple he was munching on and Madelyn thought ohh that looks good. Pretty soon we caught her leaning in for a bite, and Ben didn't mind. They shared this apple right down to the core! We hope they will be great buddies as they get older!

Rylan started 1st grade at the end of July. He was very excited to go back to school, he had been out since the end of May. His teacher this year is actually our next door neighbor Mrs. Waters, so he was very comfortable going into class already knowing that he knew and liked his teacher. He just finished up his 1st term (geez that went by fast) and he is doing great! His reading skills are above average, and he is at a 2nd grade math level, writing skills could use improvement, but hey he just started writing, so he will naturally improve with time and practice. We are very proud of him. He gets stars everyday (the best on the behavior chart) and his teacher says that he is a responsible kid and helps other kids stay on task, and is always aiming to please. He took his report card into a local doughnut shop and they gave him 6 free doughnuts for his good report card! Rylan was tickled, and we all pigged out on them today after his soccer game. Way to go Rylan, we love you! On Scott...

Madelyn turned 2 on Sept 9th! We went camping with Grammy and Papa and the Brant family during labor day weekend so we celebrated there and at home. Eating Tinkerbell cupcakes with Rylan I thought this was a cute picture of Scott helping Rylan use a knife to carve a stick. For her home celebration we opened some presents, and went to our new favorite ice cream place Menchies: Then the next day we went to the Utah State Fair. We grew up going to the fair, but this fair was HUGE! Maddy really wanted to see the pigs, she thought they were pretty funny. They had a little tikes farm exhibit, where the kids got to pick apples, plant seeds, harvest their crops, drive a tractor, gather eggs from the chicken, feed a cow, milk a cow, and then sell their crops for money that they got to spend at a general store. They both thought this was super fun and wanted to do it over and over! Here is a video of her dancing, isn't she a hoot! I love this girl!

By Rylan I went bowling for my 7 th birthday. It was fun. I liked my presents. I liked my friends there. They were Jesse, Caleb, Rem, and Conner. We had pizza for dinner.The birthday cake was Phineas and Ferb surfing made by my mom. I got a gumball machine. My Grammy helped me make a pinata, it was blue and red striped. I hope you like my birthday pictures I know this is a post about Rylan's birthday, but Maddy was sooo funny that day! She kept saying it was her birthday, and she was teasing me about opening his presents. This gives you an idea of her character, did you see that eye roll when she said, "I don't know mama?" She cracks us up!