Anything Happening at HaHa's House?

I never thought I would say it, but I was talking with Handsome Hubby the other day and all of the sudden I found myself saying how much I missed the good 'ole days of having only one car and two kids under the age of two.

Did I just say that?!?

Yeah, I did... WOW.

For me, life seems to cycle. Sometimes I feel like everything is amazing and then I feel like everything is insane. Lately, I've been feeling overwhelmed - you can tell by the lack of blog posts :) Professional blogging is definitely not my thing - but keeping in touch with friends and family - I thought that should be pretty do-able... I thought.

So, I thought I better get posting so you'd know what was going in HaHa Land!

Handsome Hubby

New calling in the church, Scout Master! With the new calling a new something to drive. Our little old Saturn was having problems right & left... so he got to get a little something he's been wanting for years!!!

The Professor, Handsome Hubby & OTG Boy

Headed off to the Stake Camporee Last Fall

He loves his new toy!

He's studying like crazy to finish-up the MBA - he's doing great - and we are ALL looking forward to graduation! With all of his extra-curricular, life at work is pretty crazy, too... new owners, new bosses, new responsibilities - if you're curious give him a call - he'll tell you all about his adventures.

OTG Boy

On the Go, as usual. Biggest changes - he just registered for high school and I am in total denial! In the meantime, he's doing great with school he's in orchestra and choir and also decided to learn the mandolin for Fiddle Club. And just for fun decided to be part of the Year Book Club, too. He has his eye on engineering, but I have to say he's pretty good with graphic design - yearbook club has brought that out. Summer is over, but he's still volunteering at the library - good kid - works hard.

He also loves to play goalie and took weight training as an elective this year.
It's official - he's a teenager!

The Professor

Absolutely loves his classes for school! Online schooling has been a huge blessing in this kid's life. However, he likes to get out of the house sometimes, too. He has so much fun going to his scout activities and tells me everyday about his amazing leaders. He's worked up to a blue belt in his martial arts class and can make one of the best "intense" faces you have ever seen. The Professor's biggest change?

Braces!

I tried and tried - but no matter how many pictures I took - he still came out looking like a teenager. I guess this little boy is growing-up, too.

Bubba

Bubba loves to have fun! His favorite subject in school is recess and his second favorite is lunch :) You get this kid together with his friends and he does not stop talking! He's been working hard at school and making definite progress with reading & spelling... and the kid is a math whiz! The only day of the week he actually enjoys homework is math day - any other day I think he'd actually prefer having a tooth pulled... if he just didn't have to do homework!

Bubba's biggest news is that he was baptized this past year and it was so fun to have family in town! We were lucky to have both sets of grandparents, a couple of aunts, a couple of uncles and a lot of cousins come by for the happy day... it was really great to see everyone!

Junior

Well, what's not constantly changing about this little man? The one constant? He's still a daddy's boy! A day without Daddy is just wrong! He loves playing High Ho Cherri-o and Candyland. His biggest accomplishment since Christmas - Potty Training! No more diapers at HaHa's House!!!

HaHa

Now you can see why I miss the no car - toddler days. Back then I spent my time, all day - pretty much everyday - at home. No commitments. No craziness. No needing to be four places at the same time while Handsome Hubby is out of town. Just walks to the park with my double stroller and playing in the backyard.

These days I'm driving kids everywhere and trying to organize schedules. I spend my days helping The Professor with school. Reading and singing with Junior. Working on spelling lists with Bubba and trying to keep up with OTG Boy.

Junior, HaHa & The Professor the park in Fountain Hills

It's hard to find a picture of myself - I'm always behind the camera :)

Life is definitely crazy... but... definitely good!

And I am thankful, every day, for the boys who make my life amazing!

Summer Round-up

No need to worry about Junior - he can hold his own just fine!

Dear Family & Friends,
You're probably wondering what we did with ourselves this past summer... especially since we didn't take any big vacations, missed ALL the family reunions, and basically haven't left the state since last summer. (Well unless you count Handsome Hubby - he's been off on business trips to California & Texas... but I don't... I like to travel too!)

If you ask the kids they'll tell you they did chores ALL summer - and they did - but here at HaHa's house we pay on commission so, honestly, it couldn't have been that bad - they were pleased with their summer incomes.

So here's the rundown...

Handsome Hubby - worked a lot, studied a lot, has enjoyed his calling as an 11-year-old scout leader, and is basically functioning on very little sleep - I can't believe how much he accomplishes in the day. Thank goodness the MBA will be done by next summer!

OTG Boy - and the award for "Not Wasting Time" goes to... yes OTG Boy. Not only did he attend Scout Camp for a week, he spent the summer participating in Swim Team, played on a water polo team, had a couple of scout camp outs (in addition to camp), cello lessons, Young Men activities and he volunteered at least once a week at the library. The teenage years are upon us - this is one kid who's hard to keep up with.

The Professor - karate, karate, karate... lots of karate! Also, since he didn't have swimming lessons I "made" him spend time in the pool everyday practicing all his strokes. Don't worry - plenty of free swim time too... I'm not that mean :)

Bubba - took swimming lessons from the best teacher he's ever had! He loved getting his gummy worm at the end of each lesson... such a good little fish.

Junior - well he spent a lot of time with mommy in the car driving to everyone's activities. However, he played in the pool every day, too - he loves jumping off the side and swimming to the steps (still needs help, but he's doing great)!

HaHa - driving, driving & driving. In between activities we managed to throw in our weekly Summer Fun movie at Harkins, plenty of trips to the AZ Science Center (one of our favorite places), a wild morning at BounceU, oh and we can't forget, plenty of trips to the library - the kids completed the both the Mesa & Phoenix summer reading programs (and yes, if you are wondering, I am "that" mean - they had to read separate books for each - but my kids love books so really it's better to have a challenge) - can't wait to take the kids to their free Diamondbacks game!

Also, Handsome Hubby and I had tickets to see "Little Shop of Horrors" - Handsome Hubby thinks I'm so funny but, I love that musical.

And to top off the wonderful summer "break"? A family camping trip - that will get a blog post all it's own.

Very great summer! I'm trying to enjoy them and keep track of the memories - my little boys are growing-up - I love it, but I hate it.

Hope you all had wonderful summers, too!

Love,

HaHa

P.S. We hope to see a lot more of you in the next year!

Unforgettable

14 Years ago I went on a date I just can't seem to forget.

My date had flown in to visit his family for Christmas and had arranged for us to meet that night at Temple Square (his sister was singing in a choir concert).

Not wanting to make a bad impression I left two hours early, from Provo, to make it in to downtown Salt Lake. I ended up being stuck in traffic at the Point of the Mountain for an hour... as soon as I made it to an exit I started driving up surface streets. Well, I was 45 minutes late - and hey, this happened pre-cell phones - and I had no way to contact this guy who was sitting in the North Temple Visitors Center thinking he'd been stood up. Finally, I found a spot to park my car and ran - felt like I was in "Sleepless in Seattle" trying to get to the top of the Empire State Building. As I was running in, he was getting ready to walk out... wow... he'd been waiting!

So, we made it to the last part of the concert... met Mom, Grandma and sisters and we were off... the Christmas lights were beautiful!

Next dinner. We went to a restaurant where we were seated at a cozy little table for two overlooking all of Temple Square... so amazing! We were talking, enjoying the view and the food... when suddenly I hear a loud crack and a crash - half of my glass is standing upright on the table, the other half is shattered on the floor. The table, my plate, and myself are covered in pink lemonade and everyone in the very crowded restaurant is staring at our table. Not a very fun situation for a girl who does not like to find herself the center of attention :)

Finally, my date walked me to my car so I could drop him off at the parking garage to meet up with his family. You may remember I had been in a hurry, so I'd taken the first spot I could find - well it was on a hill and when I started my car it would not shift out of park... great... I asked my date if he could get out and push the car so I could get it to shift. He actually did and it actually worked. He got in the car and the short drive to the parking garage turned into several city blocks as, every time I wanted to turn, the roads were closed for construction. Finally, I dropped him off... drove home sticky and embarrassed... thinking I would never hear from this guy again.

He called me the next day...

Happy First Date Anniversary Handsome Hubby! Can I get you a glass of pink lemonade? ;)

So Exciting!

I am so excited... my profile on Mormon.org was just published!
If you'd like to take a look just go over to the button on my sidebar that says, "learn what I believe" and give it a click.
While you're there take a look around... there are so many inspiring stories!

Me

So, this is me... the only girl in a house full of boys.
And what have I been doing this past year?

Plenty!

Aside from the full time, stay-at-home-mom basics... like, chasing after a one year old, being a taxi driver, teaching kids piano, church callings, soccer mom, learning coach, and... does the list ever really end?

I've been adding a few new things to my plate, just in case I wasn't busy enough already. Like...
learning how to cook without eggs.
eliminating all nuts from the house.
taking food dyes out of our diet.
slowly implementing an eating for autism plan.
and
trying to keep my home more organized and clean.

It looks like a lot of my life is revolving around the foods we are eating... and, now that I think about it, it is really true. Between the food allergies and the things I am learning about healthier eating with kids on the autism spectrum, I no longer have the fall-back of prepared frozen foods or grabbing take out. Basically, we cook from scratch and that takes a lot of time. It's good for us though - we are eating a lot more fruits and vegetables and hey... we love rice :)

Amazing how many things change in just a year.

Backyard Fun

When it's 104 degrees - the pool is a wonderful place to be!

Junior loves floating around!

Bubba, the noodle thief!

How about a snorkeling adventure with the Professor?

OTG Boy's up for a little one-on-one any day!

And of course Handsome Hubby and I take turns playing and life-guarding...

How 'bout a swim? Come on over!

Spooky Spiders

Remember last year's October Break project?

I was pregnant and sick and needing to stay off my feet...

but had three busy boys who needed something to do?

I guess we started a new tradition.

I wasn't sick

- but -

you may have heard that the flu is going around, so when OTG Boy had a fever of 102...

Mama called the doctor and the doctor said...

keep those boys at home - don't let that flu bug spread!

I had to find something fun to do?!?

We made spiders!

Even Junior helped - he was a great spider hanging supervisor!

Finding Fall

Here in the Valley of the Sun Fall is different...

After Labor Day I feel the urge to eat soups and chili, wear my boots and put on a jacket...

I'd like to feel that little "nip" in the air and look out my window into a yard full of falling leaves.

Well, frankly that's just not gonna happen, so for October break (after we finished-up with the flu) we headed north searching for Fall.

Bubba didn't know leaves came in any other color but green!

We combined family fun with school research for The Professor - he'll be writing a paper on our findings about some of Arizona's earliest residents.

First we headed to Montezuma's Castle.

Want to know more click here.

Junior loves anything that gets him out of the house - his stroller is his favorite place to be!

Next stop...

First you hike up...

and then go down in...

you're at Montezuma's Well.

Click here if you'd like to read about it.

All those handsome boys!

OTG Boy

The Professor

Bubba

HaHa, Handsome Hubby & Junior

Look!

We found it!

It's officially Fall!

Huge Weight Off of My Shoulders

Sunday Night

Monday Night