Austin Meets the Christmas Tree!!

At last Christmas season is finally here! We were so excited and ready we put the tree up on Saturday...in stages between Austin's naps! But OH by dark it was up and lit and he was a HAPPY BOY!! Now for the next month and some change what you will hear multiple times DAILY in our house is NO TOUCH AUSTIN! He is completely totally FACINATED by the tree! And the "STAR", "BALLS", and "FOOT-BALL" on the tree! Yes we do have a Longhorn section on the tree...I know none of you are shocked! But in that one section is an ornament like a foot-ball with the longhorn symbol on it! Well that one ornament is a source of constant torment for my precious son who, like Daddy, LOVES FOOT-BALL!! 2 of his many words these days are foot-ball & touch-down!! SAD REALLY!

Santa has left one of his helpers at our house! We have a Christmas Puppy Elf (can you believe after 3 stores you cannot just find a plain old ELF!) that is watching over Madison & Austin! He reports back to the North Pole every night once they are sleeping to let Santa know if they are being a good little boy & girl! Then in the morning when we get up the Puppy Elf is in a new location and we have to find him! This morning he was on the mantel! Madison is loving this little edition to our holiday fun! I'll post some pics of them with the puppy elf later! Stole this idea from a friend in another blog! Thought it would be big fun since Madison actualy GETS the idea of Santa this year!

Hope you all have a wonderful week! Happy Monday!

Happy Turkey Day!!

HAPPY TURKEY DAY to all our family & friends!!
So here are the kiddos ready to head out for our day of festivities, those of you with multiple children will understand, Austin refused to give up his binky, and Maddie was just in a silly mood and continued to try to "pose" for the camera! So this was the best we could pull off! Maddie wanted everyone to see her cute turkeys we made to put in the window, and our indian feathers! BIG FUN!

1st stop the Sharps to visit w/John & Susan, and Uncle Josh!
Then later in the afternoon we headed over to Great Aunt Gerry & Great Uncle Cotton's house for a big family Thanksgiving! Every one had a blast and the food was fantastic!! Everyone pitched in this year which was fun!

Then it was back home to get ready for Daddy's big game...as you can see below he had a little cheerleader helping him out!! HOOK EM!!

We hope everyone had a great turkey day!!

Love, Anna, Jeremy, Madison, & Austin

Stone Soup Day

Today was Stone Soup Day at the day care! So I took an extra hour lunch to go eat lunch with Madison (couldn't let Austin see me b/c he doesn't quite understand "I have to go back to work!") And we learned this morning there would be a little mini-recital with her dance teacher!! Since we didn't get much notice most of the girls are without their dance gear, but you can still see how fabulously cute they were!! Their teacher got them each a little skirt to wear which they had fun with! This is a little dance they learned in just 3 weeks!! Impressive for this age group! They are preparing for their annual spring recital in May. So enjoy Madison's cute little tap dance!! (I really hope I posted this right...my 1st video attempt!!)

The Story of Stone Soup (done every year at the day care for the last 20+ years!)

Once upon a time, somewhere in post-war Eastern Europe, there was a great famine in which people jealously hoarded whatever food they could find, hiding it even from their friends and neighbors. One day a wandering soldier came into a village and began asking questions as if he planned to stay for the night.
"There's not a bite to eat in the whole province," he was told. "Better keep moving on."
"Oh, I have everything I need," he said. "In fact, I was thinking of making some stone soup to share with all of you." He pulled an iron cauldron from his wagon, filled it with water, and built a fire under it. Then, with great ceremony, he drew an ordinary-looking stone from a velvet bag and dropped it into the water.
By now, hearing the rumor of food, most of the villagers had come to the square or watched from their windows. As the soldier sniffed the "broth" and licked his lips in anticipation, hunger began to overcome their skepticism.
"Ahh," the soldier said to himself rather loudly, "I do like a tasty stone soup. Of course, stone soup with cabbage -- that's hard to beat."
Soon a villager approached hesitantly, holding a cabbage he'd retrieved from its hiding place, and added it to the pot. "Capital!" cried the soldier. "You know, I once had stone soup with cabbage and a bit of salt beef as well, and it was fit for a king."
The village butcher managed to find some salt beef . . . and so it went, through potatoes, onions, carrots, mushrooms, and so on, until there was indeed a delicious meal for all. The villagers offered the soldier a great deal of money for the magic stone, but he refused to sell and traveled on the next day. The moral is that by working together, with everyone contributing what they can, a greater good is achieved.

IT HAPPENED!!!!

For the very 1st time this morning Austin proclaimed when Madison arrived into my room, "MADDIE!!!" loud and proud!! Madison was so happy, she got a big cheesy grin on her face! She has been trying for MONTHS to get him to say her name, repeating it to him s-l-o-w-l-y every day in the car..."Say M-A-DDIE" and to that he would always laugh & grin at her. Austin truly adores his sister, and she him. It's sibling bonding at it's finest, and I am going to enjoy every minute because I know before long it will be yelling & arguing, and all that other lovely stuff that siblings do to torment eachother! But my baby is increasing his words every day and it's fabulous! Before our very eyes he is turning into such a big boy! So congratulations to Madison for doing such a fine teaching job with her baby brother!

Soccer with Birdie!

Madison is finishing up with a program called SoccerTots, it's pretty much like soccer practice, but she loves it! She goes with a few of her friends from day care every Saturday. Her final practice is this Saturday for this session. We'll probably sign up again in the spring to prepare because she'll be old enough to start in the city soccer league next fall! She has really enjoyed it and is actually pretty speedy! Sorry the pics aren't all that great, the lighting is horrible on the fields.

Austin is in LOVE!

First of all a BIG Thank You to Steve & Alexandra Staudt! I know you couldn't have known it at the time, but the so very soft & fuzzy airplane blanket you bought for Austin is his absolute FAVORITE thing EVER!! He loves to wrap it around his face and smell it! It is so funny I had to include some shots of him with his lovey! He must have it to go to sleep at night, and whenever the mood hits him during the day he will go pull it from his crib and wrap it around his head and lay down on the closest surface he can find...floor/chair/sister...whatever! Too funny!

The smelling of the blanket!

The Wrap & Roll!

EXHAUSTED!

This has been one of those weeks in my house...let's see where to begin...
So I go to work Tuesday, just my normal every day routine, kids to school, me to work and so on. Then at 230pm my cell phone rings, caller ID shows the day care...the dreaded call. Austin's in the office with 103 temp! LOVELY! So I race out of the office and to the school, and then to his pediatrician's office, only for him to say "It's a virus, just has to run it's course!" GREAT! So we go home. Now he is getting some of his big teeth, but 103...a little too HIGH for teeth. But I actually spend the next 2 days enjoying my 15 month old son, one on one! Because other than the fever, he's in a great mood (but anyone that knows him knows that he almost always is!) he had a few cranky moments when he was tired, but other than that...enjoyable! With sister gone to school though he was confronted with something new...boredom! So he was on me all day both days to find things to entertain him! We colored, we watched Backyardigans, we played with the megablocks (well we dumped & picked up multiple times), we had snacks, and I did major cleaning while he was napping, so all in all it was a pretty not too bad illness time! Yesterday we got out of the house for a bit to run a couple errands, Austin's favorites...to GO, and to PEOPLE WATCH!!

So last night I watch my Grey's Anatomy, and prepare to go back to work today. Then it happens...everything falls apart! Austin gets up at 12AM like ready to party! It takes me 1.5 hrs to get him back to sleep. Then at 4AM Jeremy yells at me from the bathroom to get up he's coughing up blood (he had a tonsillectomy last Thursday!) So I bolt out of a dead sleep and he is flipping b/c he's bleeding. I run to the neighbors house and beat on their door until they wake up so they can come sit w/my sleeping children until my Mom can get from Denton to my house. (I had called her too!) So we bee-line it to Trinity ER. He had blown the stiches from his left side. Lovely! So here I am at work, Jeremy is in the ER (or being transfered back to Plano Presby where his ENT is), the kids are at school, and I am about to fall asleep on my desk! UGH!! And no I am not a bad Momma for leaving him there, the bleeding had already stopped, and remember I just missed 2 days w/Austin. I do feel bad for him having to stay alone, but it could not be helped. SO needless to say I am just hoping to get some rest this weekend!

Hoffman Halloween 2008!

Happy Halloween to ALL!!
This year awarded us with many opportunities to wear our Halloween costumes! So 1st we had Maddie's birthday party (Austin was far too busy to put his on!) but Maddie wore her's after much negotiations! Then we had Annual Halloween Parade & Party in the morning on Wed the 29th at the kids day care! (Austin wore a last minute backup costume so as not to dirty up his real one for the evening festivities!) That same night we had the Annual "Fall Festival" at the day care and it was a BLAST!



Mommy & Austin @ the Fall Festival

The "Big Bad Wolf" at the pumpkin roll!

Pa-Pa & Biddy helped us by decorating their trunk for the "Trunk or Treating" and the trunk decorating contest (WHICH WE WON!!) Welcome to Grandma's House!!

Cooper & Madison @ the Fall Festival with their fish they won as prizes and who now live in Pappaw's pond (WINK WINK!)

Madison...bobbing for pumpkins...kind of!

Austin in his backup farmer costume with Madison as Little Red Riding Hood...ready for the school Halloween parade & parties!

Hope everyone had a fantastic Halloween!!

Madison is 4 years old!

What can I say...I still cannot believe that my baby girl is 4 years old! Madison turned 4 on October 27th. We had her party on the 25th (Daddy's b-day). We ended up doing a joint party this year with Madison's very best friend Evan, from school! So together with Evan's parents we hosted a Halloween Birthday Costume Party!!

The kids had a BLAST! We had 2 bounce houses, decorated "pumpkins", cracked open a pinata, decorated Trick or Treating Buckets, ate pizza, and had cupcakes! Even the adults had FUN!! So another year and another birthday party success!

10 Things I love about my 4 year old...(Thanks Meghan!)
1. I love how much she loves her baby brother
2. I love how observant she is...what 4 year old knows when you steal your hubbys shirts!
3. I love how excited she gets over "surprises"
4. I love that when I put her to bed at night I know that at the very least I'll see her 10 more times!
5. I love that she loves to be outside! Riding her bike, taking walks, going to the park
6. I love her little chatterbox talk! (OK maybe LOVE is not really the right word...sometimes I want to jump out the closest window because it is truly NONSTOP!)
7. I love how petite she is, but that her size never stops her from anything!
8. I love how every night I can depend on her asking "What day is today on the 1st number?" which means what is tomorrow and what will I do?
9. I love how much she enjoys school and thrives on learning!
10. I love how snuggly she is! She LOVES to snuggle...morning or night!