Happy birthday - and not just to Abe!

Today is a special day as we celebrate the birthday of President Abraham Lincoln.

Today is also a special day as we celebrate the birthday of our friend, Miss Jane.

Brent "volunteered" Jane to participate in a "show" on the boat ride we took with her and Laura while we still lived in Virginia. That's one of the wonderful things about Miss Jane...she has a great attitude about most everything! Even a pastor who volunteers her without asking first!! :) We call this photo "Miss Jane, the Rock Star". You rock, Miss Jane!

When we moved from Texas to Virginia, I was expecting H. I prayed that God would put someone in our path who would be like a grandparent to our children since we would be so far away from both sets of grandparents. Little did we know that God had a very special lady in Virginia Beach who would become such a good friend to us. She was truly an answer to a prayer! And the only person we would let babysit our little ones for quite some time!

It's always a big day when Miss Jane is coming to visit.

All those years of teaching first grade come in handy when you have one kid after another wanting to sit in your lap. Miss Jane knows more kiddie songs and poems than any other person I know.


So Miss Jane, we hope you have a wonderful birthday! Take it easy and have a good time celebrating YOU!!

WE LOVE YOU!!

(Notice I didn't tell them that you're turning 73 today. Oops..did I say that!?)

Ponytails and Campfires

If you've been around C and E for very long, you know they like to "fix your hair". (Just catch a glimpse of me at any Upwards game!) One morning while I was helping H and B with school, the twins were upstairs and were quiet. A little too quiet. So I walked over to the stairs and said, "Girls, what are you doing?" I heard giggles then they appeared at the top of the stairs to show me their "pretty hair" they had done for each other. (This was pre-birthday package, Heather.)

C and E showing off their "pretty hair"

Everything is funny these days with the twins. How many ponytails will fit on one little girl's head?

We've enjoyed unseasonably warm weather this week. Monday evening Dad decided to build a campfire so the kids could make smores. We invited the Notts to come join the fun. Here's most the gang enjoying a smore.

Ethan was a big help with the little ones including his brother, David.

The gang's all here. C, E, H, Ethan, David and B

(Mom, Mrs. Nott and little Jonathan didn't make any of the photos.)

Update:

H's arm is improving each day. We're still not sure if she'll play in the game this week but she'll be on the bench either way.

Super Bowl Fun

Dad and B are at the Nemitz' home tonight watching the Super Bowl with a bunch of guys. So we saved Alexa from a house full of guys by inviting her over to have some "super bowl" fun with us. We had a Cookie Bowl! :) Here are the four girls getting the first batch of cookies ready to go in the oven.

Of course with four girls in the house, there was more than just baking going on. H and A dressed up like fairies (notice the wings). All the girls played outside, watched an episode of Little H*use on the Pr*irie, colored, played Miss Mary Mack, and lots of other fun girl stuff.

Happy Birthday X 2

Four years ago today...we were blessed with two beautiful baby girls.

This was our first "glimpse" of them. It was also the day we found out we were having twins! That's probably one of the only ultrasounds Dad had missed with all our pregnancies. I'll never forget telling him when I got home.

E and C in the hospital just a few hours old.

C and E a couple of months old. Funny how their personalities were already showing at this young age.

It was fun to dress them alike even though they are not identical. They still like to wear matching clothes even though I don't make an issue of it. E is on the left, C on the right here.

C and E last year on their 3rd birthday. See the post below for this years' party photos.

Happy birthday, sweet girls!

We love you!!!!

Springtime in January birthday party

The twins began talking about their birthday party soon after we returned from Texas. Every year they ask to have a "Ducky and Bunny with flowers and butterflies" party and I find another theme. Well, this year I let them have their wish since they will soon be too old for Ducky and Bunny. (Miss Laura gave them Ducky and Bunny when they were born. They have grown up sleeping with Ducky for Corinne and Bunny for Emma.) Thankfully, the Easter decorations were already on the store shelves so the theme was fairly easy to pull off.

Coloring pictures while everyone is arriving.

The guests were encouraged to bring a favorite "baby" as well. Notice Doggie and Arctic (panda bear) were there too.

Miss Laura made the cakes and decorated them then Mom did the "writing".

The girls received some nice and thoughtful gifts. Their friends (moms) know them well! :)

C blowing out her candles.

E blowing out her candles.

Our friends - Lily, Ashlyn, Genevieve, Emma, Corinne, Neely, Jamie and Caitlyn - and their "babies"

The twins had a fun day with two Upwards games this afternoon. They are quick to tell you that they are not REALLY four until Tuesday because that is their REAL birthday. Guess we'll do a little more celebrating then too! :)

Thank you God for our sweet girls the past four years!

Snow...melted of course!

2 and a half days days of snow and about 30 minutes of surprise. I was asleep and Hannah came in my room and woke me up(The twins did to.) But...the day came where all the snow was gonna be melted and there would be now sleding down the big hill...boo hoo! We went sleding 1 time and then...me, Corinne, Daddy and Hannah went sleding 1 more time! Emma said: Daddy, tomorrow can you take me sleding!


brock

Snow, Snow, Snow, Snow

We awoke to a couple of inches of snow this morning. The kids thought it was the greatest thing. By lunchtime there were 4-6 inches of snow depending on where we measured.

Needless to say, we had a "Snow Day".

Our first view this morning. The kids woke us up before the alarm even went off!

Snowball fight with our neighbor, Mr. Smith.

Dad giving E a push for a ride on the sled. We lost count of how many times she went down the hill. (We were on our street for those who have visited us.)

B's turn. He got good at it by the time we stopped.

H was all smiles every time she went down the hill.

Look out for Mom and C! Wheeeeeee!

Mr. Smith giving Dad a push for his ride down the hill. It was fun having some of our neighbor friends out playing with us.

B's snow angel.

H making a snow angel. Dad was going to pull her up.

Catching snowflakes on our tongues.

The kids were back outside this afternoon after warming up during lunch and drinking hot chocolate. They had a few more snowball fights then came in exhausted. They were in bed early tonight!

For my friend, Christy

My friend, Christy, along with her husband and oldest daughter, are in another country this week bringing home their new son/brother. We are all very excited to meet Abraham.

In the meantime, they left 3 other children here in NC with Grandma and Grandpa. So we invited Grandma (Vi) and the kids to go with us to the NC Life and Science Museum on Wednesday to help pass the time during their week-long wait for their family's return. We spent the day learning about being a meteorologist, geologist, botonist, biologist, astronaut, entomologist, zoologist and block builder...just to name a few.

Christy, if you see this...know that you're other 3 are doing great! (Below is some proof.)

Here we are, Mom! All smiles:)

Fun with blocks.


The seven heads Vi and I counted all day!

Watching the roaches eat. (Thanks to the entomologist who let us watch.)

Rock climbing.

Horse grooming.

Ball collecting. (I do believe this was her favorite part of the day.)

We also saw the butterfly house (I forgot to take photos there) and the outside animals (my fingers were too cold to operate the camera). We all left exhausted! (I think Grandma crashed!:)

We are now anxiously awaiting your return!!

Life of Reilly - a must read

You've GOT to read this!

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?section=magazine&id=3789373&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab1pos1

Hoop-time

H began her Saturday at a birthday tea party for her friend, Alexa. It was a good time according to H and her doll, Romania. (Jennie, she still loves that doll!)

After a morning of play-d**gh fun for the younger three, it was off with Dad for some errands and then basketball games.

Dad's play-d**gh creation.

We had our first Upwards games today. H played first. She moved up to an older division this year so it was a bit more competitive. She scored one time, and had some good blocks and steals.

H taking the ball down the court.

It was B's first time to play a basketball game. He did great! Although he didn't score today, he moved the ball very well and passed it like a pro.

B taking off like a rocket!

We have seven more weeks of Upwards...just enough to get us to the beginning of spring soccer.

Back in the Swing of Things

We've been home a week and it feels like a month. After a weekend of unpacking, doing laundry and planning for a week of school, we hit the ground running! In addition to our school lessons, we were seen at KidStuf rehearsal, the dry cleaners (twice), the mechanic for auto inspections (twice), the grocery store, speech, church, 4-H, a birthday party for the twins to attend, a playdate for the older two (so Mom could take the twins to the party), co-op, the bank, and the library.

And it all starts over again tomorrow with laundry, a birthday party for H to attend and two Upwards basketball games.

The kids were excited to be back to co-op today. Here are C and E painting.

E and C with their friend, Lily, at co-op. They made name tags in Elizabethan type. (Lily is turning 5 this month. She was the birthday princess yesterday. Her parents and oldest sister are leaving for another country tomorrow to bring home a new baby brother.) And we can't forget dear Mrs. Fields in the background. We love Mrs. Fields!

I'll be posting photos from our TX trip this weekend. I'll be putting them on the correct date so some "new" posts may have "old" dates.

Home

There's no place like home!

We pulled in our driveway just before 7pm. Dad had H at basketball practice at 7:30 pm. I guess vacation is over.

If you hear news of an unidentified purple flash on I-10 somewhere between Beaumont and Houston, don't fear. That was just me driving my mom's van. Our flight from Beaumont to Houston was canceled due to fog. Thanks to Mom and Tony for getting us to IAH in time to board our flight back home. (We couldn't fit everything in the van so Tony drove the truck and Mom entertained/fed the kids while I drove the van.)

Happy 2009!

Remembering Daddy's Birthday

Today would have been Daddy's 64th birthday. Uncle Wayne gave me a cd of photos of Daddy to use for the funeral. I picked a few of my favorites to share today.

Daddy was the youngest of 7 children...5 girls and 2 boys. Grandmama had a baby just about every 2 years. This is the only family photo I've ever seen of all of them as children/teenagers (and one is missing). The older girls married and moved out while Daddy was still quite young. In every photo I've seen of Grandpapa, he was wearing a hat. Needless to say, that's Daddy in the front making a funny face.

This photo was of Daddy, Mom, John and me around Christmas 1970 or early 1971.

Here are the 7 Hanks "children" again...just many years later.
Bottom row L-R: Daddy, Grandmama, Uncle JW, Aunt Margie
Top row L-R: Aunt Wilma, Aunt Betty, Aunt Rita, Aunt Novis
(I think this was taken in April 2007 at Grandmama's 94th birthday. Aunt Margie was unable to attend due to her health but my uncle added her to the photo.)