hobbsandbean

has everybody picked a moving buddy?

2011-05-19T21:34:00.000-07:00

Okay. It's kind of completely not finished at the new place, but I'm moving anyway. No more blogspot in my name! Please join me at www.hobbsandbean.com.

If you are one of the seventy-seven people subscribed to hobbsandbean, please update your feed. But seriously, seventy-seven? There is no way that is right. I counted up everyone I could think of and I got six. I think feedburner is broken. And to be completely honest, I *think* you have to update your feed, but I'm not sure. I don't understand any of that stuff and the ever brilliant skh did it all for me. I just know that that really is the right feed. Cause he said so.

If you come on over to the new fancy site, you'll get to finally see my six-day-late weigh-in! I know you've been waiting for that. I've also got some completed (yes, that's right, completed) crafty things to show off. But that won't be till tomorrow. Or sometime in November.

Kthxbai.

NB: I lost the comments on my last few posts when we moved...please note the importance of having a good moving buddy. Sorry about that!

160.5 and other pinteresting news

2011-05-07T23:17:00.000-07:00

So, I know I said I'd be updating at the end of the two weeks, but I think the added ~~pressure~~ accountability will help me keep moving along. Besides, the original plan was for me to have a weekly weigh in until I get wherever it is I'm going. I lost three pounds the first week, and I'm very thankful and pleased. The first couple of days were brutal, but I think I'm decently adjusted to the plan at this point. I do really like the structure and am finding that I'm thinking about food a whole lot less than I was, which is a very good thing.

In unrelated news, I am loving Pinterest. It's great. You can find me here. Pin awesome things for me to admire. skh and I were talking about ladies and social interaction and have noticed that just like in real life, it's generally better for us feminas to have something to do while we chat. Keeps our hands busy and our mouths less likely to go places it shouldn't. Ravelry totally wins in this respect for social media for me, but it's quite yarn specific and Pinterest is doing pretty well in my book. It might be a horrible idea if you struggle with envy, but I love having a place to visually file all the little bits and bobs floating around in my "someday/maybe" list and my bookmarks. And there are lots of people there with really great collections of beautiful things to peruse and be inspired by.

easter happened

2011-04-30T22:58:00.000-07:00

And I have pictures.

Click on that picture to see a bunch more.

Kit's shrug didn't make it in time. It did get done, but not for Easter. She was very sad. And cold.

Not really. Here she is modeling her shrug later.

Aren't you impressed that I got an American Girl doll to stand in the grass by herself? I was. Calvin was watching and laughed hysterically every time she fell over.

I also didn't get any hair things done for the girls, and both of the men's ties didn't get made either. Oh well. Who cares about things like that when this is your pack of kids?!?

163.5

2011-04-30T21:52:00.000-07:00

There, I said it.

Okay, for any of you who are here for cute children, here you go.

Now go ahead and skip this post. Not about cute children. Sort of maybe caused by some of the cute children, but not about them.

I weigh one hundred, sixty-three and a half pounds and it's time to do something about it.

Okay, this is where I typed a bunch of disclaimers. And then I deleted them. And then typed them again. Including this picture of my husband who still registers in some "overweight" categories based on his height.

by Lukas VanDyke

Not exactly overweight.

Then I deleted them again. I'm leaving them deleted. Just go with that's how much I weigh and for me to be in good physical shape to give myself to my family effectively, I need to lose some weight.

I'm not sure how much I need to lose. I'm thinking somewhere between 20 and 30 pounds. And for those wondering, no, I am not basing this on my pre-baby athletic self. I am, however, basing this on my pre-two-rounds-of-hyperemesis self, so it still may not be realistic. I guess we'll see.

Step One.

Two weeks of relatively intense (for me) focus on getting rolling down the weight loss hill. I'm bodybugging, staying active and (again, for me) on a tight food plan. A smoothie for breakfast, a Lean Cuisine for lunch and dinner and approved snacks up to 1500 calories. I'm hoping to lose four pounds in these two weeks, putting me under 160. Then I will blog the results, reevaluate with my very wise husband and go from there. Oh, and I do get one freebie meal per week. Sadly, I started this yesterday and used my weekly freebie yesterday on my date night with skh. But today I was very good. And my freebie was yummy. Olive Garden.

Alright, there it is. My extremely silly post about how much I weigh. Thanks for reading! Feel free to encourage or kick me if I need it.

easter sweatshop

2011-04-20T18:10:00.001-07:00

Femina (love it over there) is hosting a little Easter blog party, and check it out...I'm participating! This will make four entire posts for this year. Maybe this will develop into a pattern! Maybe not.

Speaking of patterns, oddly enough I have actually blogged two other Easter related posts in previous years. Any sort of pattern on a blog that gets updated twice a year is strange, really. Remember tiny(ish) Calvin who hated his tie? And last year's skirts?

Anyway, my original Easter blogging plan was to post pictures of the creations once they were finished, but this blog party sounded like fun, so here I am, taking a break from endless knitting to give a few shots of the WIPs ("works in progress" for you non-Ravelry-ers).

First up, THE DRESSES.

You may wonder how, exactly, it is that all the dresses are actually completed sewing-wise. It is not 2am on Easter morning, you know. Well, for some reason I thought Easter was at the end of March...no idea why, but I'm glad I did, cause this is the first sewing project I've ever had done really early. I likey. But that had it's own drawbacks...it allowed time for me to decide they needed embroidery. And then decide that the Target sweaters I bought weren't nearly as cute as hand knit shrugs. And of course we need a matching tie for Cal. And matching hair things. And so it goes.

(Quick question about the dresses...please weigh in on this vastly important matter. Have I crossed the cute matching line into embarrassing territory? It's cute to me, but is this weird mommy behavior? Hey, I should figure out how to add a poll or something. Back to the post now.)

Here is Cal's tie. And the girls' hair things.

Just a little left to do there.

And the shrugs? Here's Keelah modeling hers.

And yes, that's probably dangerous.

For any interested parties, the pattern for the dresses can be found and purchased here (proceeds go to the designer's family's adoption!), the shrug pattern is here (or on Ravelry - Something Beautiful Shrug) and the tie pattern is over here. And big thanks to Ginger and Sage for teaching Maggie and I how to embroider. Every single time I start embroidering I can hear Mr. Bingley saying "You all paint tables, and play the piano, and embroider cushions! I never heard of lady but people say she is accomplished." It makes me laugh. If I turned these dresses into cushions, I'd be accomplished now.

One last thing. Just so you know that I do have the ability to say no, when I stumbled upon these last night, I decided to save them for next year instead of staying up all hours of the night to make fifty gazillion of them for Easter baskets.

Besides, they totally would have ended up in Hallie's mouth.

Alright, thanks for stopping by! See you after Easter!

chicken feet

2011-04-15T22:31:00.000-07:00

Yep, chicken feet.

first braids, first bike and...i'm out of alliteration

2011-03-28T22:30:00.000-07:00

Not amazing, but it's something. Three box braids to be precise.

Mr. Brian brought over his motorcycle and let Cal sit on it. Later that week Mr. Brian let Cal play with his sword from the Marines. Calvin thinks Mr. Brian is just a little awesome.

Hallie accessorized herself. We don't normally keep ear-warmers on our kids when they are inside.

something

2011-01-18T23:41:00.001-08:00

skh says I need to get over how many things I'm not blogging and just post something. So here is something. Two somethings, actually.

Hallie is potty trained. Mostly. Yay! I took a couple of pictures of the trainee.

By the way, on a mothering note...it adds an exciting and mind-challenging twist to potty training when your subject doesn't speak any recognizable language. The listed definitions for "Mo' mo' mo'" in the Hallie dictionary are getting out of control, and this presents a problem when one of meanings is a very urgent "I need to be put on the potty NOW, immediately, post haste, hurry hurry hurry, can't go fast enough". We're working very diligently on "peeeeeeepeeeeeee" as her next word, but so far it sounds a lot like "Boppa".

Potty princess has a pretty cute little sister. Keekster freakster is 5 months old. Actually, she's almost 6 months old, but we'll pretend that's not true.

You know, every time I post something, I think about how much I enjoy blogging. I really do. Too bad that I can't keep any thoughts in my head for longer than 3 minutes.

i can't wait any longer

2010-10-06T00:27:00.000-07:00

We're not ready to really post anything yet, but I can't stop myself from putting this picture up before I go to bed. She's just too cute. Love her so much my head might pop off.

the costs we've been cutting

2010-05-08T00:21:00.001-07:00

I'm not sure how I haven't posted this yet, but here's a little something that's been keeping us busy around here.

The fundraiser is next Saturday, May 15th, and I was just saying that I've begun feeling exactly like I did at the end of Calvin's pregnancy. I really, really, really just want to have this baby. Even if it's an ugly baby.

In all seriousness, we are so excited by what God has already done and can't wait to see what He has in store. Our passion for adoption continues to grow and we are thrilled to get to be a part of helping make this a reality for Ben and Katie. Hope to see you all at The Farm!

watering can purses and flower girls

2010-05-07T23:58:00.000-07:00

It's like a garden theme. But not.

Here's Hallie, modeling a new-to-her dress passed down to her via Maggie. This dress was a gift from Grandma and when Maggie fit in it, she loved it too. We almost missed the window for Hallie, though - I keep forgetting how much bigger she is than Maggie was and as a result, this will probably be the only time she wears it.

The watering can is not a hand me down but is an Old-Navy-clearance-rack-Easter-basket-turned-purse-slash-diaper-bag. Hallie absolutely loves it and whenever she thinks there is a chance we are going somewhere, she runs to get her bag and then stands at the door, ready to go.

Both girls are going to be flower girls twice this summer, once for Ian and Kimmy and once for Uncle D and Clarissa. Maggie couldn't be more excited and Hallie has no idea what is going on. However, she does like to try on her dress and spin around in it. I think she'll look lovely even while screaming at the all of the strangers in attendance. Here she is with some residual annoyance at me for making her stop spinning to pin the shoulders...don't worry, I used safety pins.

And finally, here's one I just love, blurriness and all.

easter kids

2010-04-09T23:29:00.000-07:00

Is it too late to post Easter pictures? I'm not sure of the protocol here.

Well, either way, here are the kids, all clean, shiny and coordinated. I'm not sure how those skirts got done, but I can tell you that a lot of gathering is a close relative of love. Kit got a skirt too, but it was late and I forgot the rick-rack. See?

Also note that Kit does not have a green sweater. That is because Children's Place doesn't make matchy-matchy things in Kit's size...and apparently no matter how hot the dryer gets, you just can't shrink a sweater for a 6-month old to fit an American Girl doll. I'm sure if you weren't starting this process at 8:30 on the Saturday night preceding Easter you would be able to cut the sweater up and sew it to fit the doll...but I wasn't in that category. Kit also went to church shoeless as no one knows where her shoes are and I drew the line at her wearing Strawberry Shortcake's pink booties.

Oh, and just in case you were wondering, I heard over on Facebook that Cal's tie is "tight" and "ballin'"...and now my vocabulary is "fresh".

For any interested parties, these Twirly Skirts are pretty easy to make. It's the same skirt I made for Maggie's 6th birthday...and it works with a tutu under it for the poofiness that is much desired at a tea party.

if you can get past the wal-mart attire...

2010-04-09T22:48:00.001-07:00

...this is oddly enjoyable.

I'm not sure, but I think Hallie's pants were rolled up like that because we'd been trying on sandals. Maybe.

If you're really sad that video is done and you're wondering what to watch next, here's another. I wish I'd caught Calvin's expressions the first few times skh did this. They alternated between horror and glee as he tried to figure out what was really going on.

And it's always fun to end a post by asking the baby where her armpits are, right?

hello? any femina partygoers?

2010-03-02T17:19:00.001-08:00

I didn't really expect traffic via the Femina blog party, but was pleasantly surprised by a commenter (Hi, Marty!), so I wanted to extend a friendly hello to anyone that stops by!

Well, I guess it's technically Hallie extending the hello. Either way, welcome! Maybe I should start posting again. :)

i lack the perseverance

2010-02-01T15:49:00.000-08:00

Our friend Sarah came up with a great idea for a blog post after hearing a little about why I am never, never, never, ever bored around Calvin. She suggested that I write down every question he asked me throughout a day and then post them all for you to enjoy.

So I tried.

It was really hard.

I can't write that fast.

I don't think the internet can hold that much information anyway.

Here is the first attempt. I didn't remember to do it until we were part way through the day...I think we were at the end of lunch, heading into naptime. This series accounts for about 15 minutes, tops. If I have a comment for you, it follows the question in italics.

Have you ever been here before? Not sure if "here" is the table we sit at three times a day or the universe at large.
Have *I* ever been here before?
Who was I when I was a baby? This one hurt my brain.
Still Calvin?
Are quesadillas heathy for you?
But not all people?
Does he really get germs with it?
Why are you having some?
Because you wanted some?
What is he? What is he? What? Who is he and what do you mean what is he?
Mama will you turn the hallway light on?
Will you leave it on?
Will you tell me about the fish not playing drums? Part of the sleeping routine for Cal, made up by Dada.
Can I play with that when I get up?
Can I... This one was cut off by my yelling "I LOVE YOU! GO TO SLEEP!" through his already closed door.

Okay, so the next day I thought I could do it. I was prepared for a lot of writing this time around. Here is the fruit of my labor...oh, and these are pretty straightforward, so no notes.

Can you get me some clothes?
Can I wear my basketball shirt?
Can I play with this flashlight?
Can I get my cowboy stuff?
Where's Maggie?
Can I go potty?
Can I take my socks off?
Can I go get my police stuff?
Can Maggie go out to play?
Can I get my 'struction stuff?
Since my hardhat is in my room, can I go get it quietly?
Where does my meatball go? Okay, this one does need a note. This is actually a plastic boulder that goes with a toy dump truck. He is sure it's a meatball.
Whatchu looking at?
Can I have water?
Can I have ice too?
Can I get my water?
And ice too?
Can I get some of my cars?

I think I lasted for about 6 minutes this time. I couldn't figure out how to do this and actually continue to answer the questions and, you know, care for the other children as well.

If someone out there has a plan for me to follow, let me know, cause I do think it would be funny to have an entire day of his four-year-old questions documented for him to enjoy later.

mutton bustin'...

2009-09-23T16:36:00.000-07:00

...is awesome. It really is.

About a year an a half ago, the very kind Vanderbeken family took our kids for a few days (with about an hours notice) while we went to our annual Elder's retreat. The most talked about portion of their visit was how they got to watch Mutton Bustin' on YouTube and thought it was the funniest thing they'd ever seen.

Fast forward to a month ago at the HigLig dinner table. Somehow Mutton Bustin' comes up, as it has many times since the kids first learned of it. Geet and Bop decide to declare (out loud and everything) that we should all take Cal to go Mutton Bustin'...mind you, this is before we even knew this was a publicly accessible activity. Calvin could not contain his excitement. Fortunately, Google was able to help us find some Bustin' at The Puyallup Fair the following month.

Since Calvin had never been around livestock of any sort, we did take him to a smaller fair before committing to the event. We stuck him right next to a sheep, had him grab a handful of wool and he acted like everything was totally normal, no hesitation of any sort.

On to Puyallup!

We asked a few of Cal's friends to join him as well. Aaron Vanderbeken thought it would be awesome, and we sort of talked Sam Rothenberger in to it as well. To be honest, we didn't think Sam would actually ride, but he did want to come. (When his mom asked him, "But Calvin is going to do it, don't you want to too?", Sam replied with a very final, "Mom, we will sit on the bench and watch him.")

I don't know who was more excited, the busters, the siblings or the parents.

So Monday we all headed down to Puyallup (our van took two potty breaks on the way...that's a detail to make you feel like you were there). As a side note, the Puyallup Fair is killer. Puyallup might be the dumbest city name I've ever heard, but the fair is fabulous. We got the boys signed up and got ready for some bustin'.

I don't know what cowboy first had his kids prepare for bull-riding like this, but Tommy G has turned it into a great show. All the people the kids encounter are great at what they do. Everybody has fun...what isn't fun about little kids riding terrified sheep? It's hilarious.

Here are a few shots before the riding got underway for the three from our posse.

Sam was up first. We weren't sure he was going to go, even here.

But he did!

And he did awesome.

Then it was Calvin's turn, and he was ready to go.

Our boy is bustin'!

Cal's ride ended with a nice face full of dirt.

He kind of looks irritated here as he looks back at his wooly nemesis. He thinks the sheep won since he didn't last the six seconds.

Aaron was last from our group to go, and I'm not sure he was ever nervous; he's been waiting for this!

Bustin' his mutton.

Aaron's dismount was my favorite.

We also ran into some friends who were there separately, the Mallory family. They had two riders from their pack of five future men. These are the most manly boys I have ever met. Which is a good thing as one of their two had his sheep roll on top of him. I cannot believe it, but my camera malfunctioned during his ride, so I have no photo-documentation. I did catch his brother, though...

Click here if you want to see all of the bustin' pictures. (There are a lot.)

Moving on to the video department, I have two perspectives on Cal's ride.

The official Tommy G footage...

Calvin Bustin' Mutton from Sean Higgins on Vimeo.

And the official Higgins-Flip-Video version...

Calvin Bustin' Mutton (Flip) from Sean Higgins on Vimeo.

Eventually I'll be able to post the rest of the kid's rides, but I have to go pack for the big-time date skh is taking me on, and this is not an egalitarian blog.

But here's a great way to end the post...look at all these cuties!

whoa, two posts within a week?

2009-08-26T00:16:00.000-07:00

~~It's Maggie's seventh birthday today!~~

Oh, wait, it's already 12:18am.

It was Maggie's seventh birthday yesterday!

For a multitude of reasons that I may or may not elaborate on at another time when I'm not supposed to be sleeping, we are celebrating throughout the week - Seven Days of Turning Seven!

I really can't believe she's seven. We love this girl.

Check out the pictures by clicking below...

Oh, wait! There's more. Video and everything, courtesy of skh.

Maggie turns seven! from Sean Higgins on Vimeo.

If you have a hankering for more moving Higgins children, you can wander around Vimeo a little as we have a few up that haven't been blogged...since I don't blog.

hey, i've got pictures!

2009-08-20T22:30:00.000-07:00

Well, once again, I come saying that I really do have some posts that have been percolating for many moons. Someday, someday, they may actually emerge. Many things, including my absolute lack of writing skillz, are slowing that process...so for now, I bring you...

PICTURES!

And really, I know that's why you are here anyway. Who cares about serious, thought-provoking posts when you have kids that look like this?

Oh, wait, I don't think that was quite what I was looking for. (But if you click on goggle boy, there are more oddly endearing photos just like it.) You may also be interested in a video of similar ilk.

So, let's get going.

First up, Hallie is ten months old. How did that happen? I have no idea. I feel like I just took this exact picture of Maggie. (Who, despite all of my efforts to convince her to get younger, is going to be SEVEN on Tuesday.) I have taken a monthly picture of each of my chillens, and this is Hallie's ten-month installment.

You may wonder why I haven't posted other pictures from the series...and I wonder that as well. Most of it is because when I start doing that, I think about how cute it would be to post Maggie's and Cal's with Hallie's...and then I start wondering where those (pre-digital, totally unorganized) pictures are and I get up to start looking for them, on the way see a few papers that need to be dealt with, smell a diaper that needs changing...and things go downhill from there pretty rapidly.

So...I'm just gonna go with what I have. Here is Hallie. Did I mention that she's ten months old?

Click the picture to see the rest of the shoot. Unfortunately, this was her least happy session so far, but there is one decent shot of where Hallie has eaten away part of her crib.

****************************

Next exciting event! Last week a big giant box of awesomeness arrived at our house from Grandma Higgins. I was waiting to post pictures until I took a picture of all the stuff, just so you could really appreciate how awesome it was, but that just never happened. So I'll have to tell you instead. It had a lot of great things in it for the kids and I. Sean was left out this round, but he had all sorts of Mom Higgins awesomeness all growing up.

Anyway, the main event for the kids were the matching cowboy and cowgirl outfits. Anyone who hasn't been here for 15 seconds recently might not be aware of the all-things-cowperson obsession that our children have. Calvin, the main addict, spends 95% of his time holstered and riding some sort of "horse".

The outfits, of course, inspired a quick bunch of pictures. And somehow, there is one where all. three. children. are looking at the camera. I know you can't believe it. See for yourself...

Again, you can click it for the rest of the pictures.

****************************

Last, and certainly least, we have some hair pictures. A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, well at least a galaxy before two hyperemetic pregnancies, I used to keep our child/ren immaculate. Immaculate and dressed in non-Wal-mart-shopper-attire. Maggie's hair was also always "done" in some way - never anything elaborate, but combed and out of her face. That has fallen by the wayside for a long time now, but today I was feeling like it was time to start moving that direction again.

Another benefit to this activity is the string-tying that it accomplishes with my very (very, very) girly eldest daughter. She was thrilled with the adorning and eager to talk about how her heart needed to be even more beautiful than her hair.

Awwwwww! Okay, so here is a not-so-exciting picture to prove that I beautified our girls.

Do you see that teeny tiny ponytail? How cute is that. It's even more Hallie Lou Who than ever. And for more...click on those pretty faces.

That's it for now! Hope to (maybe) post again in the somewhat near future.

i can't really tell if he likes it...

2009-07-24T22:19:00.000-07:00

amazoning the process

2009-05-26T17:55:00.000-07:00

Uh, wow.

That's skh's book! I'm so proud.

Obviously a lot of info is missing over there, but still, that's his book!!!

this just in...

2009-04-26T19:59:00.001-07:00

(Yes, I am aware that I NEVER post on my blog. I do apologize. I have a lot of pictures here, three or four posts that have already been started and many more in my head. Getting things to a posting point is the difficulty. I'm working on it, I promise. Until I work harder, here's a quick one for you.)

skh just got back from evening service with the two older kidlets (the younger was crouping it up at home with Mama) and delivered the following Calvin story.

Sitting in church (listening to the sermon like a big boy [!!!]) Calvin tapped Sean's arm, pointed at a few quarter notes in the hymnal he was inspecting and whispered, "Are these golf clubs?".

I found that hilarious. Boppa will be very happy.

canadian swim cap

2009-02-22T16:25:00.000-08:00

andrew mark

2009-02-05T12:53:00.000-08:00

As many others have already posted, please be praying for Andrew, Grace, AJ and Gracie Mark as it is likely that Andrew will be called home sometime today.

I feel much closer to the Marks than I really am. My best friend was one of Grace's first disciplers at UCLA - I already cared for them before they moved up to Washington. Once they were here, my parents began discipling them and became good friends. My dad was there for the first doctor's appointments as Andrew and Grace began their battle with this cancer and he is on his way to Minneapolis right now - hopefully to say goodbye to Andrew (for now), but at least to be there for Grace and the kids during this difficult time. I'm praying that God will use him alongside of the family and great church body that are there to bring comfort as it is needed.

Just the other night Sean and I were watching Prince Caspian (kinda lousy movie for such a great book, but whatever) and I was so struck by the scene where the Pevensie kids are back in the treasure room of Cair Paravel, remembering back to who and what they were in Narnia. I was overwhelmed by how true it was. God's children really do get called back to an amazing place that makes this world look like a dirty subway station. We really do go reign with our Lord in glory. That really happens.

It's happening to Andrew right now.

Praise God!

for the first time EVER

2008-12-25T16:52:00.000-08:00

I have successfully uploaded pictures from an event...THE SAME DAY!!!

Oh, loved ones in Ohio, rejoice with me! Then enjoy the pictures from Christmas. Here are a few of my faves...

Thanks to Grandma for all the fun that came in the (huge) box!

just in case you missed it...

2008-12-25T15:43:00.000-08:00

For those of you not subscribed to our flickr feed, I didn't want you to miss this picture. It's too cute.

If you do look at our photostream, though, Happy Hallie's neighbor is a little disturbing. I'm not sure I like them next to each other.

Trifecta

2008-11-10T21:56:00.000-08:00

posted by SKH

The first video has been in the hopper for a while. In fact, some of you may have already seen it on our Vimeo site. But in case you haven't, you'll want to see Calvin's very own Monkey George tattoo.

Monkey George Tattoo.

The second video is from a couple Mondays ago when I was working in the yard and older kids couldn't seem to stay out of my pile.

The Pile.

And finally, what many of you have been waiting for, some moving sights and sounds of the newest little Higgins baby.

It's a Baby.

i'm guessing this was the only one like it...

2008-11-02T15:02:00.000-08:00

This is what Calvin requested for his first face painting experience. In his words, "a wy-ful gun", translated "rifle gun". Yes, we know it's not actually a rifle, but for some reason he thinks all guns are rifles.

This face painting occurred Saturday night when Sean-the-awesome-dad took the two older kidlets to the Fun Fair that our church had. I'm pretty impressed that one of my small group girls was able to paint such a nice gun with no previous experience (hi Bethany!). Here is Maggie's more traditional face painting choice, executed with glittery excellence by Kimmy...

Speaking of actual rifles, since I still haven't posted pictures from Maggie's birthday, you haven't been entertained by this one of Cal at her party.

Hey, how else is a future man supposed to enjoy a tea party?

like father, like daughter

2008-10-26T21:22:00.001-07:00

You know how when a new baby arrives, everyone tries to decide who the baby looks like? There end up being a lot of discussions that include things like "oh, that's her mom's mouth", "he has his dad's eyes", etc., etc. Sean always likes to interject something along the lines of "You know what? She looks like both of them! It's amazing! It's like they're her parents!". Anyway, of course this has happened with our little ones as well, and continues to be a frequent topic with family and friends.

I have always seen a strong, strong resemblance to Sean in Maggie, but we frequently hear how much she looks like me. This has also happened in reverse with Calvin - he is a carbon copy of my dad at his age, but we always hear how he looks just like Sean. I'm guessing that this has a lot to do just with the fact that Maggie and I are girls and Calvin and Sean are boys. Hallie is still up in the air - the consensus is split between her being identical to Maggie or Calvin.

ANYWAY.

All of that to say that thanks to our friend Joan (and her apparently abundant free time in Photoshop), I don't think I'll be hearing any more about how much Maggie looks like me...

You may need to look a few times to figure out what it is exactly that you're seeing here. Is it Maggie? Kind of. Here's the majority of the picture...

But here's the (darling) face that's been Photoshopped on...

That's Sean's Kindergarten school picture. Look how cute he is! Anyway, I am very thankful that our girl can look so much like her dad and still be a beautiful little lady as well.

i really need to be sleeping, but here's one to keep you from hunting me down...

2008-10-17T00:24:00.000-07:00

baseball or ballet

2008-10-13T10:42:00.000-07:00

posted by SKH

I know you really want to hear about Hallie. That's understandable. Rest assured more will be said and shown of her soon. For now, enjoy the following exchange between Calvin and Maggie as they enjoyed dessert together a few days ago.

Calvin: "After 'ssert play ba'ball?"

Maggie: "Or, we could dance?!"

dinner conversation with calvin

2008-09-19T22:45:00.000-07:00

Well, the title pretty much sums it up. He was in too good of a mood for skh to pass up the opportunity to catch it on film.

Dinner Conversation with Cal from Sean Higgins on Vimeo.

maggie aims for division done rightly

2008-09-19T00:50:00.000-07:00

Mags and I have been cleaning out her collection of church papers that she feels strangely attached to so that there will be space for Hallie in her room. No, seriously, when you bring home 27 sheets of paper every week from church and insist that all of them are crucial to your happiness, it begins to take over your bedroom.

One we came across today gave me particular amusement - it was from Sunday school and featured drawings of various things - cats, pizza, carrots, etc. Maggie had written initials by each of the drawings, and she explained that these were the initials of people that liked the thing pictured. I admired the initialing and then suggested that we throw it away. She was appalled - "Mama! It's to help me remember that Annie...Annie...Annie, I can't remember her last name, but she's in my Sunday school, likes carrots!" I really didn't have a response to that one. I also enjoyed that the initials by the cats were "MH"...I guess just in case she forgets that she likes Newman? Let's not even get into what, exactly, this has to do with whatever they are doing in Sunday school.

Anyway, there was one paper that I felt was worth keeping, and skh took a quick picture for me to share with you.

It looks like Maggie is planning on attending skh's upcoming seminar. We're not sure where she's getting the $50 from, but maybe she's just counting on her dimples gaining her free admission. My favorite part is that her phone number is "2 am".

just a few shots from the iphone

2008-09-16T22:50:00.000-07:00

I really have some great pictures to upload, taken with a real camera and everything, but I'm just not getting a lot of things done right now other than housing Hallie. But skh's iPhone has gotten a few pictures recently that I liked too much to pass up...

First, we had the fall episode of the semi-annual-pre-clothes-shopping-trying-on-a-thon a few days ago. This has been the bane of Calvin's existence previously, and I was dreading going through it. However, as he likes to do, Cal surprised us all by displaying great joy and a willing spirit, even through the piles and piles of shoes. When he tried on his snow pants, he asked if he could "go show Dada 'no pants!", and skh took a picture. Notice how badly Cal needs a haircut - it looks like he's growing wings above his ears.

Here's an ugly girl for you. :) Mags got to go on a date with skh to Starbucks the other night. They both had a great time, discussing many topics, including what subject she was looking forward to most in first grade - art, of course.

We got to go on a family outing to Albertson's a few nights ago for me to check my blood pressure for the millionth time - big fun! Actually, it was apparently lots of fun for the other three who can still hop on one leg...

And then my favorite picture from the recent past. skh took this one last night as Cal and Maggie were headed to the Greens with my parents.

And for all of you kind inquirers, here's a Hallie update.

I have not had significant times of nausea for the past 6 days - praise God! There is no explanation for why it would stop at 35 1/2 weeks, but hey, I'll take what I get. :)
My blood pressure remains elevated but not high enough for concern, so that is a praise as well - it's just causing some headaches and dizziness for me, no danger to Hallie.
Here are the most pressing issues as of my appointment today - Hallie is still solidly breech and seems to have wedged herself into that position, the amniotic fluid looked a little on the low side and the placenta is still not ideally located (although it's better than it was a few weeks ago). All of that adds up to us not knowing anything and me having another good reminder that I'm not in control. So we're having a more detailed ultrasound tonight and depending on the fluid levels and the exact position of both Hallie and the placenta, they will be scheduling an external version next week - a procedure where they try to turn the baby into a head down position. Then after that...well, then we'll see what God has in store. :)

Thanks for your prayers!

i can't look away, and you won't be able to either...

2008-09-02T23:03:00.000-07:00

HT: Purgatorio

i wonder if i'll regret this post...

2008-08-02T20:53:00.000-07:00

Calvin is happily sleeping in his big boy toddler bed right now. No protest, no freak out from our change-hating son. I'll try to snap a picture before I get him up for his late-night potty visit.

The toddler bed has been sitting in his room for a while now, letting Cal get used to it's presence. He has enjoyed laying in it, reading books at rest time, and even asked to sleep in it once, very early on in the process. That lasted about twelve minutes. This time was my idea, and for some reason, he thought it was a fantastic idea.

However, now that I've posted this, he will probably wake up and start screaming his head off in a little bit. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted, and we still have a few months before Hallie hijacks the crib.

lots of fun in the (hideous) whale pool

2008-07-31T18:13:00.000-07:00

My mom called me from the store the other day to see if the kids "needed" a new inflatable pool in the shape of a whale that had a slide and a built in sprinkler. It was on sale and everything! We decided that yes, of course they were in need of said pool, so she brought it home and we set it up. (I'm going to leave out the story of the actual setting up of the pool - let's just say that it took the shop vac, a lot of vacuum attachments that didn't really fit together, three adults, about an hour and resulted in me being very sore the next day.)

It is a very ugly pool. Very ugly and kind of cheaply made - the built in sprinkler broke during the first five minutes of use, the kids were not really interested in the slide, and we started to think we had wasted our twenty-two dollars.

Then the wild side of Calvin kicked in, which triggered Maggie to be a little more reckless, and we decided that even if the pool broke that day, it was totally worth the money. Here is some video of the craziness to enjoy - if your name isn't Grandma Higgins, you will probably only need to watch a minute or two before you've had your fill, but it includes some great snot footage, Maggie showing off her knowledge of the months of the year and Calvin "counting". Right at the end of the clip Dada comes home and the craziness ramps up.

Whale Pool from Sean Higgins on Vimeo.

a few random shots

2008-07-22T15:05:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to post a few pictures that I got particular enjoyment from recently.

First, here's Cal enjoying his first (I'm pretty sure) ice cream cone at the Green's on the 4th. The ever talented Jesse Martin took this picture, as well as an even cuter one on his cell that I can't figure out how to get for myself...so you'll have to deal with this one's slightly lesser level of cuteness.

Yesterday the kids got to have a quick swim in our little kiddie pool before dinner. They both loved it, but while Maggie's little body stays warm indefinitely (Higgins blood), Cal gets cold pretty quickly (Light blood), so he ended up begging to be wrapped up and set in the sun to get warm again. skh captured the warming quite nicely.

After dinner we decided to take a very slow, very short walk as a family - mostly to try to get my pregnant body moving around a little more...months of laying in bed is not very good for you, so for me it was more of a grueling marathon. This was Maggie's first time riding her bike on a family walk *WITH ONLY TWO WHEELS* (as she tells everyone we meet), so she was very excited to go get ready. We were not expecting her to come out dressed like this, though...

the update

2008-07-11T15:22:00.001-07:00

So, did Maggie's non-dramatic bike riding breakthrough transfer over into non-dramatic time in the pool?

No.

It's really too long and ridiculous to type out but I'll sum up what I gathered in five points.

1. When you are pregnant, very ~~emotional~~ cranky, not extremely mobile, pretty nauseous and struggling with outrageous allergies you shouldn't choose that time to take your non-swimming children to the pool.

2. When you are taking one child to the pool who is known to be dramatic in that particular situation, it's really incomprehensible why you would also take your loud, strong-willed 2 1/2 year old with you...especially when there were other capable adults that had offered to watch him for you.

3. The mothers sitting by the pool will show no mercy or pity towards you, even in your pregnant state, when both of your kids are bawling and / or screaming at the top of their lungs, clutching on to your neck, acting like you are drowning them...while only their legs are actually in the water. In fact, they will glare at you and even shake their heads with seething disapproval. They will continue their staring and head shaking even during the time it takes to get your bawling children dried and out of the pool area.

4. 7 years of teaching swimming lessons will not prepare you in any way for this experience. It will not give you an inkling of an idea how to handle any of it. It will only contribute to the rapidly increasing notion that you are a complete failure and a very strong urge to start bawling yourself. On a related note, explaining to your almost 6 year old daughter that not one of the hundreds of children that have been in your aquatic care have drowned will not matter to her at all.

5. Paying $8.00 for approximately 6 minutes of this lovely experience is going to make you even more ~~emotional~~ cranky than you were before.

HOWEVER...

There are some positives. First, I don't plan to be this foolish again. Second, the experience did end with something that made me smile. I had forgotten to bring undies for Cal to put on when we took his wet suit off, so here he is, going commando.

i can't believe this

2008-07-09T16:39:00.000-07:00

For those of you unfamiliar with the degree of Maggie's adventurous spirit, it's about a 1.2 on a scale of 1 to 10. She's not real excited to pursue scary / new experiences and tends to ~~kind of~~ completely freak out when presented with them. We are not totally sure where all of this come sfrom - I fully relate to the lack of excitement as I am not adventurous myself, but my fear of failure / disappointing authority generally kept any freaking out on the inside. I would just force myself into action after confirming that the trusted grown-up really did want me to ride a bike, play the piano during a recital, dive off a starting block holding a nine pound weight above my head, play soccer, etc., etc.

Anyway, a year ago, Mags was experimenting with a no-training-wheels bike at the Green's house - a house full of extremely adventurous children that Mags considers her best friends. She seemed to be ready, so Boppa took off her training wheels here at home and we began to work on this new skill. About sixteen seconds into the first session, Maggie decided that this was a scary / new experience, and the freaking out began. We continued to work with her, on and off last summer and fall, making absolutely zero progress and "enjoying" lots of freaking out. Since riding a bike is not a necessary life skill to possess at the age of 5 1/2, and there is plenty of drama to deal with in the necessary parts of Maggie's life, we decided to just leave the bike as it was and wait awhile to see what happened. When we pulled out the bike this year to see what the status was, Maggie had clearly progressed in gross motor skills but was still freaking out, so we pretty much dropped the instruction again.

And then something weird happened.

Maggie was showing off her "new trick" to us on Monday night, which was kind of scooting around the driveway on her bike. We really didn't pay much attention to this, to be completely honest. She seemed perfectly content to scoot, so we figured this stage would last a long time. Last night, while Geet and I were at a bridal shower, Mags begged Dada to take her outside so she could scoot some more. Dada agreed and he and Cal proceeded to play catch while she scooted around. Sean said that he glanced up every minute or so to check on the scooting, and without warning, one of his glances found Maggie doing this...

I Want to Ride My Bicycle from Sean Higgins on Vimeo.

No drama, no freaking out, not even an announcement of "hey, lookee here, I'm riding my bike!". It was like it was completely normal and she'd been doing it forever. Sean said that she immediately was even able to make pretty tight turns and demonstrated her skidding ability. She absolutely loves it and has been riding for most of the day today...in fact, she's riding right now and Calvin is yelling directions at her through the window - "Leg down! Mah-geeee, leg down! Watch out! Cars!".

So now I'm trying to figure out how to apply this to learning to swim. (Yes, that's right, the daughter of a former competitive swimmer, coach and instructor who has taught, oh, seventy kids between the ages of 3 and 6 how to swim can not swim a lick at the ripe old age of 5 5/6, and has me more stumped than I've ever been in regards to instruction.) The freaking out combined with the public nature of available swimming pools around here has proved an insurmountable obstacle thus far...oh, and throw in Mag's natural inability to float because her body density is so high. It gets old really fast to have everyone near the pool staring at you, wondering what sort of torture you are putting your poor child through that would cause such screaming and sobbing...and it's only her feet that are wet at that point. Obviously it's not going to work to just toss her in the pool to find the equivalent of "bike scooting" and expect a solo swimming demonstration shortly thereafter...drowning would probably interfere with those plans pretty early on. Maybe the new calm, no-big-deal attitude will just carry over to our next pool visit. I'll keep you updated.

yes, alanis, it is ironic

2008-06-26T17:33:00.000-07:00

So, long story short - in my desperate maneuvers to avoid this...

I ended up with this...

(Sorry for the weird picture, it's as good as I could get from my bed with my cell phone.)

Here's what I learned. You can't go for months in a mildly dehydrated state while you are pregnant without ending up with some consequences.

I entered this pregnancy armed with a lot of information about Hyperemesis Gravidarum, unwilling to have the same unknown, awful experience I had with Calvin. I learned a lot of things. One of the things I was most interested in was how to avoid IV hydration, because I absolutely hate IV's. It's not a subtle dislike, it's a full on bitter hatred. I can't stand the thought of a little tube being inserted in my arm, left there to drip "lactated ringers" into me. Ewww! Anyway, I figured out that if I stayed just hydrated enough to continue having some "output" and used sugared beverages just enough to avoid ketosis, the doctor would leave me alone and not try to insert said tubey things into my arm. I thought I was free and clear - it was a struggle to keep up enough fluid intake to do this, but during Cal's pregnancy, I did acquire a vomit-holding superpower, so I made it happen. I thought I had tricked HG and scored a point or two in the game.

Well, I wasn't even aware of this other game that HG was playing with me until it scored it's own points. I am now in the hospital, being treated for a severe kidney infection with antibiotics and hydration - both via IV. It turns out that if you don't have enough intake to properly flush out your system, a lot of yukky stuff builds up and ends up taking over. The final take over is quite painful, shows up unexpectedly and causes you to beg your mother to drive you to the emergency room immediately so that you can go get the previously dreaded IV full of pain medication.

Anyway, this has been another excellent reminder of my stubborn pursuit of reliance upon myself instead of God, as well as His faithfulness to pull me back to Him. You'd think I'd get the message, but it seems to be taking a while to learn. It has also been an excellent opportunity to enjoy the weirdness of hospital life.

Here is what I was brought for dinner tonight...

I thought a tuna sandwich was pretty safe, but I hadn't factored in the possibility of baby-food-tuna-paste as the filling. I am staying in the labor and delivery wing, so maybe it's to prepare you for the gross things you'll be feeding your baby someday? Not sure.

I was also surprised to find that my Pacific Northwest hospital brought me some midwest-y Cool Whip fruit salad...

Yum yum. Fortunately, I have had very kind visitors bring me snacks, so I'm not forced to put any of this in my mouth.

Okay, one last picture, mostly because I'm a little bored and I have internet access. Here's how they covered my IV site for a shower...

I like that I'm a biohazard! That sounds important or something.

Your prayers are appreciated. I get to go home tomorrow morning, I'm no longer miserable (which is a huge praise), and Hallie/Halle/Halley is doing great. Calvin is doing well as long as he doesn't come to visit - seeing Mama in a weird bed, hooked up to weird things while Dada and Maggie are still gone seems to be more than he can handle. I can't wait to get home, cuddle Cal and sleep in my own bed. Sean and Maggie return tomorrow night, and I am more eager to see them than ever!

um, not sure what to title this one

2008-06-17T15:26:00.001-07:00

After enduring some whiny complaints from my mom and I, skh uploaded some pics today so that we could see the fun that he and Maggie are having in Ohio.

I didn't really expect his fun to be crowned like this.

Especially for a birthday party for a dog.

Here's a couple pics of Mags, just because I miss her.

Maggie wears this dress for about 98% of the time she's at Grandma's house. She *loves* it.

skh didn't get any pictures of Midget and Mocha eating their cupcakes (Maggie told me they made them for the dogs too), but here's one of the crowned child enjoying hers.

mystery solved

2008-06-17T13:36:00.000-07:00

The past few days when Cal would ask to go outside, it would be the start of an extended conversation along these lines...

Cal : "Me go out?!"

Grownup : "Yes, you can go out."

Cal : "Me feet flop flop?"

Grownup: "No, you don't need flip flops on."

(Repeat the last two lines about 50 times, and then add the grownup saying "Please stop asking that.")

Cal : "Me doggy feet?"

Grownup : "What?"

Cal : "Me doggy feet?"

Grownup : "Uh, doggy feet? We don't know what that means, just go outside."

Finally, we have an answer about the doggy feet. As my mom was having this discussion with Cal today, she had an epiphany! Doggy feet = Bare feet. Cal sleeps with quite the menagerie, including a doggy and a bear, and he has always seen the two as interchangeable. Anyway, we are glad to understand and he is glad to be understood.

maggie's family

2008-05-19T23:11:00.001-07:00

Here is the previously mentioned family portrait that Mags painted immediately upon returning home from the ultrasound.

From the left, we have Maggie, Baby Girl Higgins, Calvin, a line that apparently represents the child / parent divide, skh and it ends with me on the far right.

Here are a few observations I have.

We are all insanely tall and thin. Well, except for Baby Girl, I guess.
Sean and I have very small heads compared to our children.
Our Baby Girl has shoulder length blonde hair.
Calvin, our white haired child, is sporting a brunette look here.
My mouth is open. (skh found this quite amusing)

The last thing that I noticed, and it's what I love the most about the painting, is that skh's hands are shaped like hearts. I'm guessing it wasn't intentional, but I love the representation of his love for our family through his hands.

bring on the pink fuzzi bunz!

2008-05-14T23:58:00.000-07:00

That's right, InsideBaby is a girl!

I'll try to post some ultrasound pictures tomorrow - my scanner is having some issues currently. For those of you not really in to deciphering ultrasound pics, you can just shut your eyes and picture some mostly unrecognizable gray shapes with accents of black and white.

This revelation puts to rest, at least in my case, the debate as to whether HG (hyperemesis gravidarum, i.e. insane morning sickness) is tied to the baby's sex. Nope. Seems to be tied to being pregnant with anything but my first.

We're hovering very close to a decision on the name, and we'll post that as soon as we finish the summit. We had Haddon Hobbs selected for a boy, so skh did throw out something like "Haddonia" as a possibility. At least she'd never have to tack her last initial on the end to distinguish herself from all the other Haddonias.

For those wondering about reactions from the OutsideKids...Calvin made a loving noise and kissed my belly before running back to his putting. Maggie (who got to come to the ultrasound) was, and is, completely thrilled to have the future bunkmate she's been praying for. When we got home she got busy painting a picture of our new family that I will also try to post tomorrow. I'll give you a teaser - we are all VERY tall and this baby has shoulder length blonde hair.

the (week late) promised owie pictures

2008-04-07T21:41:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know I said I'd do this a week ago. That was before I knew that hyperemesis had scheduled us to have a fantastic long weekend together...and then when that was done, I just forgot. Anyway, here are the pics of the bruise that developed from Cal's owie.

We'll start with this one...this also gives you a nice view of the underside of his tongue, in case you were looking for something like that to frame. Ignore the ketchup on his face, he would only cooperate while eating.

Here's a different angle.

And finally, a nice close up...

don't touch the owie

2008-03-29T21:58:00.001-07:00

don't touch the owie, originally uploaded by hobbsandbean.

I'll try to get an updated picture of this tomorrow, since now he is sporting a great eyeshadow-looking bruise along with the nasty scab.

This owie represents one of the things I love about Teresa Weinberg. Most of you probably know at least some of what the Weinberg's have been through this past week. It's certainly an understatement to say that it's been emotionally draining for Teresa as a mother. Anyway, while skh and I were at the annual GBC Elder's Retreat this week, Cal and Mags (being watched by the kind Vanderbekens - more on that later) got to visit the Weinbergs at the hospital. Teresa, in the midst of this ridiculously difficult week, poured tremendous energy into playing with my kids as they visited, including a wild game of Mrs.-Teresa's-leg-is-a-horse with Calvin. Apparently her leg is a bucking bronco, because Cal ended up connecting his eye with the floor. Teresa of course felt terribly about this, but I don't at all. The hospitality of the Weinberg family is legendary, but to see this spiritual gift displayed in the hospital where their son was recovering from being dead only a few short days before...well, it's pretty amazing. God IS good, and I'm thankful for the scabby reminder above our son's eye.

just the facts, ma'am

2007-12-18T17:16:00.000-08:00

Shiny badge supplied by the ever gracious Pecadillo. Authoritative attitude supplied by the ever ambitious Calvin.

learning disabled, but handsome

2007-11-20T15:03:00.000-08:00

Here is my darling brother, LD. Contrary to popular belief, LD does NOT stand for Lunch and Dinner (he hasn't always been so svelte), Lunge and Destroy (he used to be quite a violent toddler) or Learning Disabled (hmm, no comment). It stands for Little David...which isn't really accurate either, come to think of it. I guess "Little" just means "younger than the other 56 Davids in our family".

Anyway, I'm going to move on to the pictures now. He'll hate that I posted these, but I bet he'll get over it. And for all interested young ladies, he's single, but you'll have to pass family inspection.

dumpster diving

2007-11-17T12:56:00.001-08:00

bossy shoes

2007-11-15T22:18:00.000-08:00

So, I got new running shoes a while ago. I ordered them from Amazon, and upon first look was very happy with the new version of my old shoes - see how nice they look?

However, on closer inspection, I was quite surprised to receive such a personalized pair of very bossy shoes...lacking a comma of course, but can you really expect proper punctuation from a pair of shoes?

Why am I posting this?

Because Mo goed. Or went. Actually, Mo is goING. Today marks Day 25 of my exercise streak. I'm very excited about it. I know it's not much - just 20 minutes of walking or jogging each day (at wildly varying speeds depending on how I'm feeling), but I'm loving it and am glad to see movement in my life towards consistency.

It started as a commitment to 21 days of exercise, thank you Ben Franklin. I joined a group of other cloth diapering moms online (yes, I realize this is weird) who were doing the same thing. It was REALLY hard a few of the days, but I ended up loving it. So much so, that I kept going! I'm now on Day 3 of my second time around, this time with my mom.

Here's to more MoGo.

the downside of rejecting the bumper bonnet

2007-10-29T22:57:00.000-07:00

Our friends John and Lisa have quite the funny blog, and recently they posted some odd products for children that were pretty humorous.

Anyway, I don't have plans to adorn my children's feet with the remains of Chewie, and am only occasionally tempted to use any sort of cage in my parenting. However, I must admit that the first thought that popped into my head when I saw the Bumper Bonnet was, "Hey! Maybe that could keep Cal from looking like an abused child all the time!"

Cut to some recent photographic evidence...

First, he was accidentally "nudged" into a cabinet during dinner rush one night. That is how you end up with such perfectly straight bruising. Nice, huh?

Not more than 12 hours later, Cal was a pillow fight victim (if you can be a victim in something you instigated) that ended with his eye meeting the edge of our coffee table. This resulted not just in bruising, but bleeding as well.

I don't have pictures of the MOST recent injury, which was another (I think this is the twelfth?) split lip. There was more blood than I have ever seen come out of one of my children. I'm trying to act like it never happened. I hope that Cal is remembering that it's not a great idea to stand on the arm of the couch when you have a 104.5 degree fever.

Anyway, after thinking about this lovely, ultra-cool Bumper Bonnet, I realized that maybe I will appreciate these head injuries as an explanation for things that Cal does. Or wears. Perhaps things like this?

um, wow.

2007-10-29T22:45:00.000-07:00

Bet your sister-in-law can't make things like this.

Seriously. Did you see the earring?

It's too funny.

a sad, sad day

2007-10-23T16:16:00.000-07:00

Okay, anyone who comes here just for Maggie and Calvin stuff, leave now. This is a completely self-centered post, with no cute pictures of the kids. No cute stories either. Just a sad story and disturbing images.

As you probably remember, I recently posted a picture of my feet and Calvin's feet in our lovely, one-of-a-kind (two-of-a-kind?) hand-knit Annie Grook socks. Those socks are literally my favorite socks in the entire universe. They might even be my favorite article of clothing. When I am sad, I put these socks on to help me feel happier...that's how good they are. Other than myself, Annie Grook is probably most aware of my love for them as I went through a period where I constantly bothered her, trying to score more hand-knit socks for myself. I finally came to the realization that these were going to be the only socks I got for awhile, and resigned myself to wearing another pair of sub-standard socks while these were in the wash. Anyway, the point is, I REALLY like these socks.

So, imagine my dismay when I saw this...

MY PRECIOUS SOCK HAS A HOLE IN THE HEEL!!!!!!

This is not okay. I was having a bad evening, and went to put these on for comfort, and this hole is what I saw. I actually started to cry a couple of times because it was so sad. My sister-in-law spent a LOT of time making these, and now they are very sad.

I debated whether or not to blog about this, because Annie Grook has her plate full...overflowingly full...with knitting projects, and I don't want to pressure her too much. However, it really is just too sad to not post. :( Poor socks. Poor feet. Okay, I feel a little better now that I have shared my sorrow. Thanks for mourning with me.

maggie gets a job, earns some money, goes to wal-mart and buys two dollies

2007-10-22T21:10:00.000-07:00

The title kind of sums it up, but Mags worked very diligently to help Boppa with a project recently and earned some cash. Little Miss Ramsey gave some to God and some to a gift and then took what was left, along with allowance (for feeding Newman) that she'd been saving up, and went to Wal-mart on a mission. She was looking for the most dolly that $5 could buy, and here's what she got...with 18 cents change too!

Just in case you were wondering, the bigger baby is Mollie and the little baby is Mary. Somehow, despite the size difference, these babies are twins.

how to train for a pretend marathon

2007-10-19T19:34:00.000-07:00

Apparently, pretending to be Dada makes it way more fun when he's gone for Preview Weekend. Here are the kids "running" on the treadmill. For any interested parties, Cal calls the treadmill "DA DA!!!", which I think is hilarious.

Looks like pretend training is way more fun than the real thing.

the long overdue pictures

2007-09-30T18:16:00.000-07:00

Okay, we've already established that I am not the greatest sister-in-law. I am about to prove this further...

My sweet daughter is 5 years, 1 month and 5 days old today. That is a nice, creative way to say that I am 35 days late in posting these pictures. If it makes you feel any better, Annie Grook, I am some 200+ days late in posting Disneyland pictures, not to mention zillions of other pics, quotes and stories that I want to share. I really do have good intentions...and then, well, the road to an empty blog is paved with good intentions.

So on to the pictures...first up, Maggie's face of knowing delight as she showed off her birthday sweater. As she opened it, she nodded and said, "Annie Grook let ME pick the yarn this year. Oh yeah, AND the sweater!".

Here she is , getting comfy, telling us about something or other...

All settled in , and very happy with her new pink sweater!

Thank you, Annie Grook! She loves the sweater, and it's perfect. She'll wear it all the time, I'm sure. She is really happy that it looks nice with her Valentines socks from this year...oh, wait, that's another picture I'm late in posting. Dang it! Hey, Calvin has them on in the picture I posted right before this...does that count?

why cold weather can be enjoyed...or tolerated, at least

2007-09-30T17:52:00.000-07:00

Honestly, I really don't like cold weather...and cold weather starts at about 65 degrees for me. But today I remembered one of my coping strategies...wool socks! They make all the difference. And when they are custom made for your feets by Annie Grook...well, if you haven't experienced it, you can't really understand it, but it's a very good thing.

By the way, in case you wondered, yes, it's very hard to get Calvin to stand still squished in between your knees for a picture like this. There is much whining, writhing and screaming involved.

warning! men at work!

2007-08-20T22:37:00.000-07:00

calvin's five steps to being a (future) man at work when it comes to wet fuzzi bunz...

Step one - open the pail. Well, open the pail lid. Pay no attention to whether or not the pail is actually attached to the lid. That is just an unnecessary detail.

Step two - place the wet fuzzi bunz into the pail, or the place that the pail usually is.

Step three - shut the lid.

Step four - REALLY shut the lid. At this point you may be tempted to wonder if this would be easier if the pail was actually there, but just dismiss that thought and push harder...use your entire body if necessary.

Step five - run through the house looking for more work that needs some IRS...listen to my dad's sermon if you don't know what IRS is. Oh, and pants remain optional until your mom catches you.

...with a mind like a diamond

2007-06-12T23:45:00.000-07:00

This is the fruit of Maggie's first solo note writing endeavor. I think it is excellent and darling. For those who don't get to hear Mags chit-chatting, this is actually a perfect application of phonics - there is no "r" in "from". She was working on it very busily during Ian Lugg's sermon that night and was quite proud of her accomplishment when she gave it to me. She said she had missed me that day (she had spent part of it with some friends) and wanted to write me a letter. I will be treasuring this indefinitely.

(Gold star to anyone - other than skh or Kimmy - who knows what the post title is from.)

benaiah vs. david

2007-06-12T23:32:00.000-07:00

I have been informed quite a few times that my blog is a little lopsided -more pictures of Calvin, less of Maggie and more stories about Maggie, less of Calvin. I have thought about this quite a bit, and this is my conclusion...it is true, and I don't know why. Maybe I'm trying to stop the unstoppable truth that the first child has more pictures than the subsequent children. (By the way, I'm not even close with Calvin - I think I photographed each hour of Maggie's first year and a half.) Maybe I am just currently enthralled by Calvin's white halo of hair...it's the only angelic thing about him. I don't really know, but here's another story about Maggie to push the blog even further out of balance.

Here is a (sort of) recent piece of Maggie's Sunday School "art"... it is appropriately titled "Benaiah Dot-to-Dot". Apparently the green and orange crayons were available that day. (For those of you not up on your flannelgraphs, Benaiah was David's "mighty man".)

When I asked Maggie what the things were on either side of Benaiah, she told me they were his weapons. I asked her what kind of weapons, and she told me - spears. Then she told me that David "did fighting" also, but he used different weapons than Benaiah. When I asked what his weapons were, her answer was "oh, he used golf clubs".

I'm really not sure what to say about that.

kids in the sprinkler

2007-05-30T16:51:00.000-07:00

We've been experiencing some very nice weather here for the past few days, which resulted in some sprinkler play time in our yard.

Here Calvin is avoiding the squishy grass - he got over this aversion quickly, though. Maggie thought the whole thing was great. (Yes, they both own swimsuits, but this was spur of the moment, people!)

Here, apparently, we are experimenting with the sprinkler as a drinking fountain and a hair washing station.

And, of course, anything that Calvin gets involved in has to incorporate a beloved "dodo".

kids in a van

2007-05-30T16:50:00.000-07:00

One of my favorites from the cell phone genre - this is from our California trip in February, but I still wanted to post it.

betcha didn't know...

2007-05-30T16:42:00.000-07:00

that my Dad was 18 months old when he first met Tom Pennington...

(Ok, I admit that this post is a little bit obscure for most of you. However, if you know Tom Pennington, it should be pretty funny. Or weird.)

what to do while stuck in a jogging stroller

2007-05-22T19:57:00.000-07:00

Spend the entire 30 minutes picking lint from between your toes...

look out, sucka!

2007-05-19T00:27:00.000-07:00

We have a very nice teller working in the drive-through portion of our bank. Her name is Susan, and she always asks how many little ones I have in the back of the van and sends the appropriate amount of lollipops with my receipt. Last week was the first time I actually let Calvin have his designated lollipop. I haven't in the past because I wasn't sure I could trust him to not rub the wet candy all over his face, hands, shirt and car seat. I also wasn't sure I could trust him to just lick it instead of bite off pieces that he could possibly choke on. Apparently, I was right not to trust him (don't worry, he didn't choke), but he did enjoy the process of eating his first lollipop.

you can tell a man by his bike

2007-05-15T09:31:00.000-07:00

Cal was so excited about this motorcycle, we thought he was going to have a seizure. The owner saw Calvin admiring the bike and suggested that he hop on to check it out. Cal loved it.

On another note, here is Sean checking out a different kind of bike. Maggie had proclaimed, "Dada can't ride my bike - he's too big!" Apparently, she was wrong. He actually rode it around the gym for quite a while.

speaking of that...

2007-04-24T23:03:00.000-07:00

Tony, since you brought it up, I wanted everyone to see how nice you look in yours as well...

(Yes, I know it's bad photoshopping. I'm no Pyro or Tohu...oh well.)

politically incorrect schooling

2007-04-24T10:44:00.000-07:00

Here is Maggie in her (short i) I-I-Indian headdress. She cut out all the feathers by herself...and yes, that is glitter. It's a very glamorous headdress.

bruiser

2007-04-21T10:11:00.000-07:00

For all interested parties, here's what the black eye looks like now...I'm sure this will be very attractive in the yellow and green stage.

blood, bruises and blades

2007-04-19T20:30:00.000-07:00

The past twenty-four hours have been one of the more brutal days in my sixteen months of raising one of our very own Future Men. Sean tells me there are many more of these days to come, and that they will be even MORE difficult, but I'm trying not to think about that right now.

The events started last night after one28 as Cal was running through the gym, very excited about all the "dodo" (basketball) playing going on around him. He ended up tripping, and in kind deference to his hands, fell directly on his mouth. This seems to be Cal's favorite way to land, actually. He has already chipped one tooth, bitten his tongue badly a few times and split his lip more times than I can count. So of course, he started bleeding and was quite sad.

Okay, so that's not that bad.

So then this afternoon, after a morning filled with normal falls and bumps, Calvin somehow got Maggie to help him up on to Geet and Bop's bed so he could watch the one part of Mary Poppins that he likes (the dancing chimney sweeps, of course). I saw this, and being a wise mother, told Maggie to make sure he didn't fall off while I went to start lunch. This proved to be a bit too much responsibility than a Mary Poppins obsessed 4 1/2 year old can handle. Anyway, I heard a thump and by the time I got there, Cal had already gotten up, and seemed to be more angry than hurt (more motherly wisdom), so I told him to suck it up and be a man...which he promptly did. It was fifteen minutes later as I was feeding him lunch that I noticed the blood dripping off the back of his head onto his shirt. Here is a shot of his cleaned up head...

I guess this still isn't that bad, but I thought it was plenty for me. Apparently, it wasn't.

About a half hour after I cleaned him up, he and Mags were playing rather frenetically on the couch. Already having been proved as a wise mother today, I said something like, "Don't fall off!" and thought that should cover any sort of trouble. Nope. Calvin promptly fell straight off the couch, eye-first onto the coffee table. By the time I picked him up, the bruise was already starting. He was so sad he didn't even protest my ice application. The pictures don't really do the swelling and color range justice, but here are some different angles to enjoy...

That takes care of the blood and bruises - on to the blades! Sean's hard work is paying off...look at this grass!

The little feet aren't too bad either.

a picture for bop + gg

2007-04-19T16:52:00.000-07:00

My parents are in Southern California for a few (2, 3, 4...5?) weeks, taking care of their lovely business, and it is proving to be difficult for our little Magpie. She misses them very much and talks about them constantly. Her major concern is that they won't be home for her birthday...which is in August. She probably doesn't need to be concerned about that, but it's still kind of funny. Anyway, she made this for them...

For those of you not fluent in MaggieArt, what you are seeing here is Bop and Geet's business (the house shaped object) as well as a few renditions of their car as they are driving there. The writing (she got a little help with the spelling) says "ItS FRoM MAGGIE GG Bod", which, when translated, means "This picture is from Maggie, GG and Bop". I thought it was very cute and sweet.

We all miss you, Geet + Bop! Come home soon.

remembering through goats

2007-04-17T22:34:00.000-07:00

As most of you probably know, today is the one year anniversary of my father-in-law's death. In Sean's post today, you can read a little about the bittersweet time this is for him as he remembers his Dad. My sister-in-law has a great post as well. However, here at hobbsandbean, we are taking a straight-on happy approach to the memories...through goats.

Let me start with a bit of poetry...

The goat is still dead.
Being a wandering animal and being outside with the weather, gotchyer
was once again rain upon and got wet clear through to the goatee

We turn Gotchyer upside down to dry out but we were afraid that
the vulchers would come and devower poor Gotchyer.

- Dennis Higgins
(shared as originally typed)

For those of you who haven't made the happy acquaintance, here is Gotchyer, the lovely wooden goat, in all his glory.

My father-in-law had a somewhat strange affinity for goats, and I always think of him when I see them. As this anniversary approached, I was quite surprised to see the following photo opportunity present itself...

Yes, that is what it appears to be. Maggie, all dressed up, holding a baby goat...inside of a nice home...at a birthday tea party. This is something I have never seen, and something I know Dad Higgins would have loved.

Here we have an odd hand-off...a five year old birthday girl (in a dress made poofier by multiple tutus) handing my four year old daughter a goat...which I would have thought she'd be afraid of. Nope, she loved it. Maybe that is a strong Dennis Higgins gene that is present in Mags.

Calvin got in on the action too. He had an equal mix of terror and fascination. Terror of the goat's head and fascination with the rest of it. Annie's mom, Rhonda, is helping him be brave. As long as the goat was looking away, things were great.

I love that we have such a personal God who even set up this nice, tangible way for us to remember Dad Higgins.

enjoying the "happy easter" process

2007-04-09T15:03:00.000-07:00

Now that I have my nifty new camera, I am able to share with you the process of getting our nice family picture. In my experience, it has never been easy to get even two adults to look at the camera properly, so adding in two children is even more exciting. Especially when one of them is Calvin.

Here we have a couple shots that I took to get it set up before I joined the group...in this first one, Calvin is looking to see if he is able to kick Maggie in the head from his current location.

Here Calvin is using his patented ninja move to avoid sisterly affection.

And now we move into a set of pictures showing a variety of faces from Mags and Cal once the real picture taking started...I'm not sure what face this is from Maggie.

Or this one from Calvin.

Here Calvin has gotten distracted by his tie...which he strongly disliked. Maggie is getting wiggly.

Cal is not showing off his tie here, but attempting to rip it off. Maggie is being sweet.

And here, after realizing that the tie is not going to rip off, Calvin has decided to try chewing it off.

I think maybe this is an annoyed face because we made him stop chewing on his tie. Maggie has gotten tired of the picture taking and is hopping.

I have never seen Calvin make this face. I don't know what it is.

happy easter

2007-04-09T14:59:00.000-07:00

By the way, for all of you that have been complaining about the lack of pictures of the entire family, HERE IS ONE. Enjoy it.

where's your...

2007-03-29T16:30:00.000-07:00

ears?

eye (and ear)?

nose (and, um, ear)?

mouth (and ear...still)?

hair (and NO ear)?

really dirty smiley face?

bad attitude after getting cleaned up?

Digital SLR camera : $900
CompactFlash cards : $60
Batteries : $20
Book for Complete Idiots : $15
Ability to take a series of pictures without wasting film : PRICELESS

sometimes the picture is just too cute...

2007-02-22T14:43:00.000-08:00

I just got bunches of pictures developed (including a lost roll from the summer), and while I don't have time to post any more than this, who could resist? Just consider it a teaser for the rest of the California pictures.

yeah, yeah

2007-02-12T21:10:00.000-08:00

Dear Annie Grook,

Thanks for your letter. It was great to hear from you. I know what you mean about being busy. My gg and mama keep saying that I'm wearing them out with how busy I am. In fact, I'm so busy I haven't even had time to learn more words than "dada" and "mama". But I have gotten really good at signing "please" and "thank you". And now I can even run, sort of. Basically it just makes me fall a lot faster and harder than I did before. But I like it. Speaking of things that involve my feet, I've got to tell you this: my feet are really cold. I snuck a look at your blog the other day and saw that I was getting socks...I was so excited. So I started counting the days until Valentine's Day. I even threw away all of my other socks because I was so excited to get these fancy new ones. But I am glad that you were able to pursue some other knitting interests - I'd hate to keep you back from those. I just hope I can figure out a way to keep my poor little feets warm until you can send my socks. Thanks, Annie Grook.

Love,

Cal

P.S. My sissy says that her feet are cold too! Happy Valentine's Day.

your wand is what?

2007-01-02T18:03:00.000-08:00

As Maggie was waving her magic wand at me in the Target parking lot today, she gave this helpful description of what was happening:

"My wand is wanding you around into a FROG!"

By the way, this is no ordinary magic wand...in it's former life it was an integral piece of an orange-glo mopping system.

Calvin's third place?

2006-12-18T20:13:00.000-08:00

posted by SKH

Tonight Maggie (with the help of her mom) hosted a Gingerbread House Making Party for half a dozen or so friends. That meant it was time for Calvin and I to see what it was like somewhere else.

The "somewhere else" we chose to check on was Starbucks. I took Maggie to Starbucks on our first date when she was around ten months old so it was about time for Calvin and I to go anyway. After charming the baristas for a sticker, the Calvinator pounded his very own chocolate milk while I sipped (perhaps somewhat ironically) a Gingerbread Latte. Together we enjoyed a cranberry/white chocolate cookie.

I'm not sure Calvin is ready to call Starbucks his third place, but that's primarily because he doesn't even have a "second" place since he's only one year old. It may also be because he isn't speaking yet.

And for everyone interested, no gingerbread was harmed in the house-making party. Instead they used graham crackers glued to small orange juice boxes.

first wheels

2006-11-29T09:37:00.000-08:00

posted by SKH

It is a big day in a man's life when he gets his first set of wheels. We celebrated Calvin's birthday on Monday night (though he turned 1 on Thanksgiving day), and thanks to Grandma Higgins he is cruising like never before.

fun in the snow

2006-11-27T17:30:00.000-08:00

posted by SKH

We woke up this morning to a gorgeous 12 inches of snow on the ground and an even more glamorous Snow Day. After a hot breakfast and a pot of coffee, Maggie and I headed outside for some fun.

There are two parts to the following video. In Part 1, I throw snowballs at Mo from across the driveway. She's standing at the front door, with the front door wide open mind you, and I accidentally threw one into the house. (Note Maggie making a slide on a mound of dirt as well as the huge snowman we made earlier.)

In Part 2 of the video, Mo and I decided it was time for our cat, Newman, to join in the fun. Apparently, it was more fun for us than him.

germination celebration

2006-11-02T16:20:00.000-08:00

posted by SKH

Mo has been very busy lately organizing our house, actually, she's been organizing and P-touching our entire lives. Anyway, she's been a bit too busy to blog so I'm pinch posting.

A long time ago we began working on our yard. You may remember Mo's post on roto tilling and my post on cultivating man. Though it was without fanfare, we did finally finish installing the sprinklers, cleaning up and leveling the yard, and then seeding and fertilizing on October 5th. Germination took a bit over a week and now we've got growing grass!

Here's a picture of our front yard I took this afternoon. The gray skies make a perfect backdrop for the new greenery.
The dirt closest to the driveway will eventually be a plant bed so don't be alarmed that it is grass bare. And though there certainly is much more grass propagation to come, there is already much grass celebration.

she can be taught

2006-09-22T16:59:00.000-07:00

Not that there was any doubt about that.

Mostly in an attempt to burn up some of Maggie's under-used brain power, energy and attention (all were beginning to be misdirected into various forms of mild troublemaking), we began a tiny bit of homeschooling this month. Maggie has been loving the Phonics Museum program and asks multiple times a day if it is "cool time". Her favorite parts would definitely be any time we get to use glitter glue and getting to show off her homework at dinner.

Last night we went to Olive Garden where the adults enjoyed the never-ending pasta bowl and Mags got a "kid pizza". She wasn't able to finish all of her meal, so she got to bring it home in a little box. When everyone else began to write their names on their boxes, she was very excited to realize that the two letters she has learned so far are the first two letters in her name, which resulted in her first marking of food territory...

bernie ebbers is not my uncle

2006-09-22T15:17:00.000-07:00

Ok, this really has nothing to do with our kids, but it's too weird to not post it.

While this is very old news, I still think it's funny. When my Uncle Herbert and Aunt Stuffy came to visit a couple years ago (hmm, when are you coming back?), they brought this article from Time Magazine that included the following picture of Bernard Ebbers, perpetrator of just a little bit of fraud...

Why is this funny?

Because this is my uncle...

But really, they are not the same person. I promise. A criminal mastermind would never show this much love to a stuffed monkey...

calvin is clean + shiny

2006-09-22T11:54:00.000-07:00

emmett hanson is hungry!

2006-09-22T11:45:00.000-07:00

Maggie begged to feed Emmett his bottle after Tuesday night's staff meeting and Katie was gracious enough to trust her sweet baby to a rookie four-year-old feeder. Mags did a great job, as evidenced by these photos...

zacchaeus was a flat-packed, affordable swedish man

2006-09-21T00:56:00.000-07:00

About a month ago we got a "Wee Sing Bible Songs" cd for Maggie. I had the tape when I was growing up and really liked it. I am now beginning to see that because of my great affection for the songs, I probably drove my mother crazy. Mags has enjoyed singing a lot of the songs, and gets really excited when it is one that she sings at Sunday "cool". One of her favorites is the one about Zacchaeus...here's a little sample of how she sings it :

He cwimbed up in a sit-uh-more twee,
cause da Lord he wanted to see.
And as da Sav-or passed that way,
He look up in da twee,
and he said, "ZIKEA! You come down!
For I going to your house today."

Hopefully Zacchaeus' wife knew that you don't have to be rich, just smart.

maggie's ever-growing wisdom

2006-09-21T00:39:00.000-07:00

Maggie recently started in Awana. She is VERY proud to be a Cubbie, and every night asks if tomorrow is "wana day". (Side note - this question always makes me a little sad - since we live in Washington, tomorrow is never "wana day" for me.) Mags has been a successful memorizer so far - it took us all of about two minutes to teach her the Cubbie motto and first verse. Anyway, this post really is just so that I can brag. Maggie (in her first day as a Cubbie, no less) got herself some very special recognition on one of my favorite blogs. For those of you who haven't seen this masterpiece, maintained by Jesse Martin, you really should check out all the other quotes - pretty funny.

In case you are wondering, there is an explanation (of sorts) that goes with Maggie's quote...but it's funnier just to leave it without one.

curse-killing through roto-tilling

2006-09-19T15:40:00.000-07:00

Some of you may know that before Calvin's birth, I was not sure if I wanted to get an epidural as I had during my labor with Maggie. I don't really know what motivated my being unsure...I'm going to guess that a hormone enhanced fear of man played a large role. I also was wondering if maybe it was wrong to try to avoid the pain of the curse in that circumstance. Anyway, after a few hours of labor, I finally listened to my very reasonable, wise husband and got the epidural. And boy was I glad. (Now, if you are wondering what this story has to do with roto-tilling...or even curse-killing, hang on, I'm almost there.)

When we got home from the hospital, a brand new issue of Credenda/Agenda was waiting for me to devour. In that issue was this article, which has come to be my favorite, by far, from C/A - which is saying a lot. I finally understood, very clearly, what Sean had been saying to me throughout the epidural decision. While God is the one that cursed the process of childbearing, that curse is still a bad thing, a result of sin. We are not to take sin, or it's results, as good or acceptable things, but things to be fought against, whenever possible. (I am not saying that every laboring woman needs to get an epidural...it is the principle, not the specific application that is important.)

As the article talks about, the dirt is another arena for men to fight sin and it's results. My husband has been curse-killing this way for a long time. Here is almost-4-year-old Sean (and Annie Grook) showing off one of his very first weapons - his very own little roto-tiller.

Sean's dad was faithful to teach him diligence in taking dominion...

Recently Sean has had more than enough opportunity to apply this diligence...we have been getting ready to plant a new lawn, and it has been a lot of work. Among other things, he has tilled for approximately twelve hours (still a few more to go), and for two of the twelve he was gracious enough to include Calvin. In case you have never done it, carrying a twenty-three pound baby, who insists on leaning as far as he can to the left, in a backpack while doing ANYTHING for more than about fifteen minutes is quite challenging.

Cal is checking on his dad's progress here...

Posing for the camera - I love the similiarities between Sean tilling at four and at thirty-two. And look at that baby!

Okay, I have to include just one more - look at that little face. How could I resist? I do have to say that his little face was not this clean when he was finished.

calvin's addiction begins

2006-09-14T08:36:00.000-07:00

What is our son hugging and kissing in this picture? Is it a new toy? Some sort of delicious treat for babies? I can't really make it out...and is that a beaming look of pride on my husband's face?

Oh, good, Calvin moved his arm so we can see the object of such great affection. Wait...these cell phone cameras aren't very clear...that can't be what it looks like.

Well, look at that, it is what it looks like. I guess the male Starbucks gene is a strong one.

on demand : maggie's birthday, part 3

2006-09-07T12:04:00.000-07:00

And now to finish the series, we move on to Red Robin for lunch and home for cake.

At Red Robin Mags enjoyed licking a substantial amount of honey mustard off of fries while cuddling up to Aunt Nancy. Later on some of the waiters and waitresses came and sang Happy Birthday very loudly...she liked that too.

Back in January Maggie had found a magazine I had with lots of different birthday cakes in it and had selected a cake for Calvin's birthday (ten months ahead) and one for hers as well (seven months ahead). She was absolutely sure that she wanted a Lollipop Garden Cake. I was absolutely sure there was no way she would eat carrot cake. So, we revised it a little - it was chocolate with green-tinted vanilla frosting. Here is my (sad) attempt to recreate her dream cake. She really liked it, and that's all that really matters for a birthday cake. (If you are wondering why there are two cakes, at our house you get your very own miniature version of whatever cake or pie you want for your birthday.)

Here is the birthday girl blowing out her candles...the end.

on demand : maggie's birthday, part 2

2006-09-07T08:03:00.000-07:00

Maggie has been content riding her tricycle like a maniac around our house and driveway for the past year or so, but recently started asking when she could have a real bike with training wheels. She had been watching the Greens ride their bikes and thought they were really cool. We told her that she could have a bike when she turned six - partly because that's when Sean got a bike and partly because we thought she'd be too chicken to actually ride one. We were all pretty surprised when with just a little encouragement and direction from Boppa, a couple weeks before her birthday she was riding one of the Greens bikes with absolutely no fear. So, we decided to move the bike up a couple of years.

After we reminded her that we had said she had to wait until she was six for a bike, she opened up a package from Boppa and GG that had a bike helmet (with a lovely cat decal on it, no less), handlebar streamers and a basket. Our sweet child was so excited about the accessories, she didn't even mind that there was no bike to use them with. As GG and Sean snuck out to capture the moment, I told her that I had left her gift from Sean and I on the front step. Here is the big moment!

Then she wanted to check it all out and touch everything. Here she seems to be performing a safety inspection...

Once she got her hew-meht on and we attached the basket and streamers, she was off and riding. She would stop occasionally to check on her basket-passenger, a nice little zebra.

Calvin, of course, was fascinated by the whole thing and wanted to get down to ride with her.

He loved it when she'd yell while riding as fast as she could, as evidenced by this picture.

on demand : maggie's birthday, part 1

2006-09-07T07:14:00.000-07:00

Yikes! You better give my sister-in-law what she wants...from instant messaging her yesterday, I've come to realize that my life is in danger if I do not post some birthday pictures RIGHT NOW. So, to keep my children from being motherless, we will begin now with a crazy amount of presents.

Aunt Nancy came for Maggie's birthday this year and gave her this doll. While Maggie loves the doll, she seems to love it's shoes the most and walks around with them on her hands...she even sings a song to "her kids" about how they should wear shoes on their hands.

Uncle Herbert and Aunt Stuffy sent two dvd's for Mags which she is dying to watch - The Velveteen Rabbit and Veggie Tales. I used to say that our kids would never watch Veggie Tales...I also used to say that we'd never have Elmo stuff, and we probably have around 15 Elmo things - some of which I actually purchased. I am, however, holding fast to the ban on Barney.

Grandma sent lots of fun stuff - a cute sweater, an elephant card, animal books, a set of magnetic princess paper dolls and the most recent publication in her series of Maggie books, "Maggie Remembers Grandpa Higgins". Maggie was sure to show everyone all the pictures of her and Grandpa, telling us how she remembered each one - even when she was three months old.

Bop and Geet (this is what Maggie is calling Boppa and GG right now) not only gave accessories for Maggie's bike, but her very own real set of golf clubs (pink, of course). The picture cracks me up. Maggie has a tendency to close her eyes when she thinks your photography involves a flash ("it too bwight!"), so I'm always telling her to open her eyes and look at me, and recently that has produced the face pictured here. It is also impossible to get my dad to look at the camera, so the two of them together always end up looking funny.

Without any further delay, here is Maggie showing off her gifts from Annie Grook. Not only did she get a birthday sweater, but birthday t-shirts and jeans to match!

Here is a better picture of the sweater...

sneak peak : maggie's birthday

2006-08-26T12:08:00.000-07:00

Just a couple pictures that Sean took yesterday...

Here Maggie is rejoicing in her "hew-meht" on her new bike!

Calvin is watching Maggie with some jealousy. He has already been struggling with a burning desire to run like Maggie, and now she has her own set of wheels and can move really fast! But Annie Grook saved the day by sending a cool knitted ball (the ultimate combination of siblings - baseball-Sean and Knitting-Brooke?).

feeding brother

2006-08-14T22:10:00.000-07:00

posted by SKH

It is always nice to have a little help around the house.

not quite, but that baby does

2006-08-10T17:23:00.000-07:00

Sean just sent me this ad that Jesse Martin, our super-photographer friend, recently made for his design business. I obviously had to share it with everyone.

The reason for Calvin's happiness in the picture? Testosterone, apparently. He had just escaped all the girls that had been playing with him at Ichthus to hang with the men (Jonathan Sarr, one of his favorite men, is holding him). For those of you that haven't seen Calvin do this in person, he makes loud grunting noises when he sees men that he knows - it's like he's calling to them, "Hey! I am one of you! Come get me! These girls are boring!".

Jesse, we'll be looking for the check in the mail - Calvin's college fund thanks you.

maggie and calvin hit the shelves

2006-08-04T17:01:00.000-07:00

Sean and The Intern were at Paper Zone the other day (which I find kind of funny in and of itself), and while they were shopping they came across these two die-cut alphabet sets, apparently named after our kids. Kind of weird. I think Calvin's is a little girly for the manly baby-reformer that he is.

big blog bulletin

2006-08-03T09:10:00.000-07:00

Well, I've decided this can't wait any longer. I have about a million other things that I should be doing instead of posting this, but who cares. It's not even a post regarding our kids, which is the actual (often unfulfilled) purpose of this blog, but I'm too excited to keep it to myself. It's a post on my blog about my blog. Pretty exciting.

Things here at hobbsandbean are generally pretty low key. When I first started the blog, I expected visits from Sean, grandparents, aunts, uncles and various other relatives. I'm pretty sure that is what would have happened if Sean hadn't posted about hobbsandbean, but since he did, I have gotten a surprising amount of visitors. Sean also set me up with Sitemeter so I could see where my visitors were and how they got to me. I hardly ever check it, but I recently did, and here are a couple things I learned...

Most hobbsandbean visitors come from tohuvabohu. Clyde, Leila and Ben + Melissa also pass along a lot of visitors from their blogs.
hobbsandbean has been visited through a few Google searches, including...

"Morgan Higgins" - shocking, I know
"Valentine's Socks" - go Annie Grook!
"Breakfast Prayer" - I'm pretty sure that is not what they were looking for.

(Okay, now we're at the really cool part.)

The other thing I saw at Sitemeter was that I was getting visitors from Pecadillo. For those of you not in the know, Pecadillo is an old friend of ours and quite the comical and popular blogger. We here at the Higgins Casa are big fans. In fact, it was an extremely momentus occasion when tohuvabohu became a Gold Star Blog in Pecadillo's blogroll. I was very curious to see how I was getting visitors from his site. I would have been really excited to just to have been linked to in a post or comment or something, but it was even better than that!

I AM ON PECADILLO'S BLOGROLL!

And I'm not just on the blogroll in some regular old category, I have my own! (Mrs. Turk, you better not start blogging. I like my special status.)

Well, that is the big blog bulletin. Hope you are as excited as I am.

how maggie starts a race

2006-07-28T11:35:00.000-07:00

"Ready on your market, go!"

(overheard before she thundered down the deck in her yellow fleece horsey-hat, floral jammie bottoms and leopard-print tank top)

a post for dada

2006-07-20T15:36:00.000-07:00

For my stinkin' awesome husband, all alone at Camp Gilead (as alone as you can be with almost two hundred students and summer staff). We miss you!

And as tk would say, "Preach it, Preacha!"