Clay * Amber * Elyse * Madyson

Christmas 2010

2011-01-23T12:16:00.000-08:00

Pearce's First Christmas! He had a really cute little Christmas outfit, but I forgot to get a picture of him in this.

Elyse showing off one of her dolls.

Madyson in her Tinkerbell dress up outfit. This was a big hit!!

Elyse and Madyson with their toys from Santa. Elyse asked for an America Girl Doll. She must have been a really really good girl this year. Madyson asked for a train set. She loves it! She loves putting it together and taking it apart.

I can't believe that another Christmas has come and gone. The girls had a great Christmas this year. Next year I would like to make it a little more simpler if that is even possible. Since we did not spend Christmas with any family the girls seemed to have a lot more gifts to open on Christmas day. They are so loved from their grandparents, aunts and uncles, and of course Santa Claus (wink wink.)

On Christmas Eve we spent the day making goodies and then that night we took the goodies around to our neighbors and friends in the ward. The girls had a lot of fun taking turns delivering the goodies. Madyson fell asleep really early (she did not get a nap that day). So unfortunately the other festivities I had planned for after goodie delivering did not happen. I let Elyse open her pajamas and Madyson opened hers first thing in the morning before opening their presents.

Blessing Day-Pearce at 6 weeks

2011-01-09T18:58:00.000-08:00

Pearce and Grandma having some one on one time!

Isn't he the CUTEST little guy ever?!?! I think so!

At 6 weeks Pearce was given a name and a blessing at church. I found this little outfit with the suspenders to have him blessed in. He looked so cute! My Mom and Dad and brother Eric came to be there for the blessing. It was so nice to have my family come to be here with us on such a special day!

Clayton "Pearce" Hooten

2011-01-09T18:38:00.001-08:00

Mommy and Pearce! How I LOVE this little man! He nestles his little head on my chest and I am in HEAVEN! I love that he does this and has done it since the day he was born.

Elyse holding her newest young sibling. She loves being a big sister. And quite honestly she is very good at it. She is at a perfect age now to have a younger baby brother. She is a big help and was from the day he was born!

Now this is the proudest Daddy I have ever seen! He loves his little boy! It is so fun to watch him with this little man of ours! Clay has waited a long time for this day!

Proud Big sister Mady!!!

Our First Family of 5 photo!

Proud and excited Grandma!

My mom came and was there that day. She spent all day

at the hospital with me. I am so thankful that my mom could be there
for me. She means the world to me.

Pearce's official weigh in!

I never finished my blogging from last year. The only thing I can do is move on and do better this year! That is my goal.

I have never officially introduced the newest addition to our family. He truly has made me the happiest mommy. My girls made me a happy mommy (and still do), but there is nothing like the look a little boy gives his mommy. I LOVE it! Pearce is very special to me. When we first found out we were having a boy we also learned that I had an amniotic band inside my uterus. Apparently if the band attaches itself to the baby then there could be a loss of limbs and so forth. I was very scared when I found out this news. I called Clay just crying ( I told him he could leave the doctor's office after the sonogram and go back to work). I was really scared. That weekend we had a friend come over and Clay and Rob administered a blessing to me. In the blessing Clay told me that the baby I carried would be fine. I felt so much peace after this blessing. This little boy truly is what I need at this time in my life.

Clayton "Pearce" Hooten was born on November 1, 2010. I labored 15 hours with him. By far the biggest of any of my children. Around 7 pm. The doctor decided it was time to go ahead and have a C-section. I was so scared. It was an AWFUL experience. Having experienced both natural and a C-section. By far having a baby natural is the NATURAL thing to do. It was much more enjoyable with the girls. I was in a lot of pain for about 3 weeks. After that I felt normal again and could pretty much do what I had done before. I will say it was worth it though for the BEAUTIFUL baby BOY I was given!

Pearce weighed 8 lbs and 2 oz. He was 21 inches long! He had a head full of dark hair. He is my biggest baby so far, but not by much. Mady was only 3 oz less.

Looking back on 2010

2010-12-07T10:28:00.000-08:00

This year has been a whirlwind of a year. I wish I could say that I have written down every memory of the year when it happened, but I can't. The only thing I can do is look back and remember and hope that I do much better next year.

January 2010

We started off the year by moving into a larger home. Some friends of ours here in San Angelo were needing to rent there's and we needed a larger house and since we still weren't quite ready to buy a house we chose to rent another year and move into a much larger and nicer home. We have thoroughly enjoyed having more room for our growing family and now we don't want to leave. We just signed another 1 year lease so we won't be moving any time soon...Phew! In order for me to have the motivation to unpack we decided to host a New Year's party with some friends from the ward. Our house was full of people. It was a blast! I love having people over at the house.

This year also brought in a new job for me which was another reason why I needed motivated unpacking. I knew that I wouldn't have much time to spend on the house once I went back to work full time. I took a position as a Math aide at Lincoln Middle school in San Angelo. For numerous reasons taking this job was the right thing to do for me and my family. I had a really hard time going back to work, but I loved every minute of my new job. The first day I was there I found out that I was to be teaching a 7th grade math methods class. This is a second math class that the students had to take when they didn't pass the math TAKS test. It was challenging, but oh so worth it as you will see.

This pretty much sums up January.

Balmorhea, Texas (June 22 -24, 2010)

2010-07-04T16:06:00.000-07:00

While I am actually sitting down at the computer I thought I should probably try to get a few blogs out of the way. I have been so bad this year. Since going back to work I have not been the greatest at keeping up with my blog and what the girls have been up to. Speaking of going back to work...I finally got a job as a 5th grade Math teacher! I am so excited!!! It is going to be a tough year with a tough class and being pregnant, but I know that it will be successful! Besides I get to take Elyse with me and that makes it worth it just to have my daughter at school with me!!!

Clay and I were very lucky this summer. We got a two week parent vacation from our children. I know some may say that I am horrible for doing that to my kiddos, but it was probably more of a vacation from us to them! They had fun visiting two different sets of grandparents for two weeks! the first week they spent with Grandma Sherry in Ruiodoso, MM. This was the week that I went to Girl's Camp (which was absolutely wonderful this year! It was not nearly as hot as it could have been, the facilities were nice, and the girls that were in my level were wonderful young women!) The second week the girls spent with their Grandpa and Grandma Hooten in El Paso. They were able to attend a vacation bible school in the mornings and play with their cousins in the evenings. They were definitely kept busy while away from us!

On our way to pick the girls up from El Paso Clay and I took a mini vacation to a neat place in West Texas called Balmorhea. If you live in Texas it is a MUST SEE! The pool is a naturally fed aquifer that is crystal clear. It was like swimming in Hawaii. In fact I haven't seen anything like it since I have been to Hawaii. It was a fresh water pool that had fish in it. Clay and I did snorkeling for two days! It was wonderful! The campgrounds aren't really anything to talk about other then it was just a place to sleep.

On Friday evening we went to the McDonald Observatory in the Davis Mountains and were able to look at the stars through telescopes! It was pretty neat!

We had a great time together. It was fun to work together to set up the tent and to cook dinner. We haven't really been camping since we went to Utah 3 years ago. we decided that this little place is going to be our place for our family every year to go to. It is only 3 hours from here and is well worth it.

After our two days there we drove another 3 hours to El Paso to pick up the girls. We drove home on Sunday...we made a spur of the moment decision to take the girls to the pool at Balmorhea. Elyse LOVED it! Madyson not so much. She was actually scared of swimming with the fish. We couldn't get her beyond sitting on the stairs. Oh well! Maybe next time!

My mama would be so proud!!!

2010-07-04T15:56:00.000-07:00

I have officially accomplished something that I have wanted to learn FOREVER! I have tried braiding Elyse's hair for about 3 years and could NEVER do it. I began to think I wasn't cut out to raising girls because EVERYONE can french braid...well except me...until NOW! I am proud to say that after spending a week with a bunch of teenage girls who love to have their hair braided at Girl's Camp I have officially learned to French Braid. It is not perfect, but it is getting better...trust me! It has looked much worse! Thanks to Elyse for having so much patience with me to practice on her. Madyson was a trooper this morning. Usually she doesn't want me to touch her hair, but on Sundays it is a completely different story. She loves to get dressed up for church and will let me do her hair. I was almost halfway done before she decided she didn't want her hair done anymore when Clay bribed her with some candy...hey...can I do that every day just so I can do the child's hair???

June Scrap Swap photos

2010-06-10T14:22:00.000-07:00

Here are my June Scrap Swap photos for those who need them!

Madyson's Birthday!

2010-04-20T09:52:00.000-07:00

I am such a terrible mommy! I forgot to write yesterday for Madyson's birthday. Better late then never I guess. I can't believe my baby girl is 3! She is NOT a baby anymore. Aughhhh. those days were nice! But she is growing and learning so much! She has flourished this past year! I can't believe how much she has learned. Madyson really started talking this past year. For about 6 months after she turned 2 I was beginning to wonder if she had some speech problems! Well not anymore!!! She is as verbal as can be! She says complete sentences and has learned many new words this year. Including a new word for her yesterday..."ours." It was so sweet to hear her sharing with her big sister! Another big milestone for Madyson was learning to go to the bathroom. We started training her around 2. It did not happen as quickly for her as it did for Elyse. In fact it was awful! She finally became pee pee potty trained just after Christmas. She hasn't had an accident in a while. For a while there it was a more than a couple of times a week. Now it is very rare for her to have an accident. Noticed I said that she was completely pee pee potty trained. The other has been a struggle. She would wait until her pull up was put on at night and then do her business. But something FINALLY clicked!!! She is now officially potty trained! Yay!!!!
Mady had a great day! I am really sad that I have gone back to work and have missed spending the day with the girls on their special day. It is frustrating for me yet at the same time I know I am doing what I need to be doing at this time.

Madyson...Mommy loves you! I love your laugh and your smile. I love how you talk about all of your primary and church friends when you come home. I love your prayers. You are thankful for everything! That makes mommy's heart swell with pride. I have loved you since the day you were brought to me. I know that you are a sweet daughter of Heavenly Father. I love you for who you are and the brightness you have surrounding you!

Love, Mommy!

The big 5!

2010-04-01T11:12:00.001-07:00

April Fool's Day is here again! This date honestly had no significance to me until 5 years ago when we welcomed a brand new baby girl into this world. She was beautiful! She was so tiny and I was so afraid that I would drop her. I loved wrapping my fingers around her small fragile hands. She was a gift given to us by our Heavenly Father to keep and cherish FOREVER. How I miss the little girl that I could hold and rock to sleep. The little girl that would lay down and take a nap with me when I got home from school. I miss those days when she was a baby, yet...I love that she can clean up her own toys, go to the bathroom by herself, play with her little sister, be concerned when I am sick in the mornings with every smell known to man bothering me. I love the little girl that she has become! My Elyse Bryanne has sure grown up so fast. And I love her just as much today as I did when she was given to me to hold for the first time.
Elyse has accomplished much this year. She started preschool here in San Angelo. She has made so many friends and I have seen her blossom from September until now. She has learned to read...although I can't say she is a proficient reader she is doing really well learning how to and I admire her courage for trying something new. Elyse is learning how to ride a bike with training wheels. It is a little scary for her and I admire her willingness to try something new even when it may not be comfortable for her. The GREATEST accomplishment Elyse had this year was the will power to STOP sucking her thumb. She has been sucking her thumb since she was a year old and it was really hard on her, but with lots of prayers and perserverance it paid off for her. I will tell that story in another entry at some point.
My baby girl is growing up...I guess that is what they have to do no matter if we as parents like it or not. I love my Elyse with my heart. She is the little girl that reminds me of myself and I LOVE her for that!
Happy Birthday Elyse Bryanne! I love you so much!

I will post pictures soon!

Shame on Me!!!

2010-03-05T09:35:00.000-08:00

I have been so bad about posting since I have gone back to work. I have thought about the things that I could blog about, but I just have not had the energy. I am really enjoying my job. I am teaching a 7th grade math class as well as helping other teachers. I am hoping to get a full time teaching job in the fall. Clay is really liking his job. He is working tons of overtime which is good for our pocket book.
We are having Clay's family in town this weekend. We are really excited! The girls are super excited to see their cousins and Grandma and Grandpa!!! We are going to have a fun weekend!
The girls are growing up so fast. Elyse has started reading and is loving it! I am so proud of that girl...it's not even funny! I can't believe that my little girl turns 5 in less then a month now. She is enjoying preschool. This week is Dr. Seuss week and they have being doing a lot of fun things. I wish I were better at taking pictures!!! Elyse also started soccer two weeks ago. She is showing some athletic potential that I honestly thought that she wouldn't have. She is doing great!
Madyson continues to make us laugh. Last night I took the girls to the park before Elyse's soccer practice. A lady from church was their with her daughter and gradaughter so the girls had fun playing with them. When it was time to go I told Madyson that we were leaving and Madyson turns and shouts at me, "I'm not finished, Mommy!!!" It was hilarious. If looks could kill you from laughter I would have done that last night! She is a doll.
I will try and be better at posting. I think it is a great outlet for me and a way to remember what is happening in our lives!
Our last piece of news that I am sharing is that we are expecting baby # 3 sometime in November/December. I am honestly not sure when because this is very recent. We are excited yet at the same time I am really worried about having to work with 3 kids. We now need my job for the insurance not the money (who would have thought?)

Job update

2009-12-10T15:32:00.000-08:00

So it looks like I have a request to post about our job situation. Thanks Crystalee for the reminder! Clay did the job with the air force base here in San Angelo. He started about 3 weeks ago. HUGE pay cut, but what else can we do in this economy. We will make it work. As far as my job...I had that interview in October. I did NOT get that job. I was really disappointed, but became ok with it once Clay got his job. I did get another job I applied for. It is not an official teaching job. I am a teacher's aide in a math classroom. SAISD is a really hard school district to get into for obvious reasons. The first is that there is a pretty big university in town so they hire their student teachers. The second reason is that it is such a small town with no other school districts around competing for teaching jobs. Anyway...I took this job because they told me if I did this I will have a permanent job in the fall whether it is at this jr. high or at another. It works out because Elyse will be in Kindergarten in the fall and I will only have to pay for one child to be in daycare.
In other news...we have decided we need a bigger house. Our 1100 ft2 house is not cutting it. We are moving to a much larger home for only $200 more than what we are currently paying. We are renting it from a family in our ward who is moving to San Antonio. I couldn't be happier. The only bad part of this is that I have to be out of our current house on the 1st and we can't start moving in until the 26th. It should be an interesting next few weeks!
I was in Dallas on Tuesday night. My piano teacher called and asked me if I would drive with her. She had a friend pass away that lived in Denton and didn't want to go by herself. I really felt that I needed to go so a few hours later we were on our way. I was able to go home for the night. My brother just returned home from his mission about 3 weeks ago. He gave his report to the high council on Tuesday night. I was so happy that I was able to be there for that. The Lord truly blesses us!
Anyway...sorry about my super long post. I hope that answers any questions you all have had about our family!

Nap Time

2009-11-10T11:23:00.000-08:00

This is where Madyson wanted to take her nap today. Looks like she was serious about wanting to sleep on her bookshelf because this is how I found her when I went to check on her. Too cute!!!

Trunk or Treat

2009-10-30T17:36:00.001-07:00

We have had a whirlwind of a week! On Monday night we carved pumpkins for Family Home Evening! The girls had a ton of fun. We got some extra funny parts on video. Elyse and Daddy carved a witch on their pumpkin. When we asked Madyson what they were carving she said..."think of a word that rhymes with witch." It was hilarious. I know we are horrible parents, but we kept getting her to say it because it was so funny. Even when we tried sounding out the w for her she still didn't say it right. Fun Times!!!

Elyse and Madyson were the cutest fairies ever!!! I made their tutus. It was fun doing because nobody had their same outfit!!! I found shirts at Michael's for under $2 each! (What a steal!) Thanks Aunt Jessica for the suggestion! They get to wear makeup once a year...only on Halloween! They were really excited about that! This is before we left to go to the Trunk or Treat at church. They had a really good time seeing their friends. They had music going for dancing. Elyse spent some time with her friend Hannah dancing in the back of their truck. It was really cute!
I LOVE this picture!!! She is such a happy little girl!

Madyson at her school's Trunk or Treat. I had so much fun being there passing out candy. They kids were all so adorable! When Madyson saw me she came running to me and gave me a hug. It made my day! I decided to dress up and have a little fun.
Elyse with her friend Lindsey from her class.
Elyse had a really good time. When she walked out to the parking lot I could tell she was looking for me. I was dressed up so I don't think she recognized me until I called her name and got her attention. I love my daughters! I am so glad I was able to help with the Trunk or Treat and see them in action at their preschool! Have a Happy Halloween!

Again...

2009-10-07T18:36:00.000-07:00

First of all it has been way too long since I lost wrote! The girls have been enjoying preschool. Madyson comes home singing songs that I haven't taught her! I love it! I have been enjoying my time alone. I am taking piano lessons and that has been keeping me somewhat busy. I enjoy practicing and just sitting and playing. It brings me peace.
We are out of a job...again! I am not sure how many more times I can handle this. Apparently the good Lord knows that I can so it happens again. Although I get the feeling it happened this time because we are supposed to be here in San Angelo. I think we have something we need to accomplish here before we can go. Not sure what it is, but it is a strong feeling that I get. Clay actually had a job interview on Monday that went really well. It is for the Core of Engineers here at Goodfellow AFB. It should keep us here 2 more years at least. They are doing background checks and stuff right now. I know that he will get this job. The only problem with that is it is a big cut in pay. So I am now job hunting as well. I have a substitute teacher orientation that I am going to attend tomorrow. I also have a job interview on Friday for an English teacher position at the middle school. I am really excited, but really scared at the same time. I haven't been in a job interview in 7 years. And it wasn't for anything professional either. I am really nervous, but hopefully it turns out okay. I am hoping they love me and I can start working by the end of the month! That would be awesome.
We are doing okay with everything! I am so thankful for the gospel. I am thankful that I have the promptings of the Holy Ghost. I feel him strongly in my life. Otherwise I would not be at peace right now. Everything will work out. This is just our challenge. I can HANDLE IT!

Preschool

2009-09-09T14:38:00.000-07:00

My precious daughters!
Thanks Grandma Minson for the cute new outfits. Thanks Grandma Sherry for the Tinkerbell backpacks!!!

My 4 year old trying to make the same pose as Madyson. She is so cute and is growing up so fast!

100% Madyson's personality on camera!!!

The girls both started preschool today. They were so excited. So was Mommy until I dropped Mady off. Then I realized I wasn't ready for her to go yet, but I got over it REAL QUICK!!! I really think the girls need some structure and this was the best way to get that for them. I am also feeling really stressed at home trying to get us ready to move again. I was able to get the office pretty much packed. There are a few odds and ends that I still need to do something with. This will be good for me to have them somewhere 3 days a week so I can get some things done. I wish I were a better Mom and able to handle them and everything else on my plate. Honestly, I think this will help me to focus and be the mom that my girls need me to be.

Clay learned that his project finish date is October 20th. So we could be here in San Angelo until at least then. We still have no idea where we are going. I am trying to put on a cheery face, but it still makes me nervous on the inside. It shows on the outside sometimes as well!

Clay and I had a good weekend in Dallas last weekend. The BYU game was AWESOME! I am so glad we were able to go. We had a good time with the Hooten Family. The cousins all got to play together and of course we took cousin pictures. We stayed with my mom and dad so they also got to see Grandpa and Grandma Minson. My brother, Scott, and his wife Jessica came in on Sunday night and we were able to see them for a little bit before we left Monday morning. It was a great Labor Day weekend.

Elyse and Madyson! I am so proud of both of you! I know that you will do well and listen to your teachers! Please know that you are my pride and joy. I am glad you have this opportunity to go to preschool this year. Love, Mommy

Summer Catch up!

2009-08-31T15:10:00.000-07:00

It has been WAY TOO LONG since I blogged last. I have been a slacker this summer. I guess I haven't felt like writing. No excuse! Here I am ready to go. This post would be way to long if I posted about everything so I guess I will do the highlights from the past 6 weeks or so.
We sold our house on July 23. Thank goodness! We were lucky that our neighbor across the street (who was renting) wanted to buy about the time that we were selling. It worked out so well I know that Heavenly Father was watching out for us! We LOVE San Angelo though! Our ward is great. We have made some good friends here and it will be sad to leave when we do. Good thing for technology!
The girls took swim lessons at the YMCA for two weeks. Unfortunately the last two times it was raining with thunder and lightning so they missed the last two days. They are both learning so well in the water! I was impressed with what they could by the end.
We spent a week in Dallas with my mom and dad. We had a great time there! The girls had so much fun playing with their cousin Tyler.
We are going to Dallas again this weekend. We scored some tickets for the BYU vs. OU game at the new Cowboys stadium. Thanks Grandma Hooten! Oh and thanks in advance Mom and Dad for watching the girls so we can go! Hopefully I will be able to post about that. My goal is to try and post a few days a week. If not once a week. I have been staying busy.
I took a little job babysitting a friends' kids while she is in school. It is only for two weeks. This is my last week. Her school started before the kids preschool started. They have been having fun with the girls. Our kids are the same age and get along pretty well. I know this post is pretty random, but at least I am writing stuff down.

Disneyland

2009-07-09T19:00:00.000-07:00

Sleeping Beauty's Castle

Now to the Disneyland part of our trip!!! We had so much fun! We spent one full day there. It was plenty of time yet it wasn't enough time (if you know what I mean). We started the morning by riding rides. We arrived at the park at 8:45 and landed ourselves in Fantasyland! Dumbo was our first ride of the day!Elyse getting ready to ride the pink Dumbo!

Daddy and Mady getting ready to ride Dumbo!!!Elyse and Mady on one of the rides sitting together with Mommy and Daddy in the back!
Mady and Daddy on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride!

Dumbo is a MUST (for the little ones that is!) Elyse's favorite ride from all of that was probably Peter Pan. We rode 4 rides in an hour. Which was really good! After each ride she asked if she could ride it again. We told her there was a lot more rides that we needed to ride before we could come back and do them again. After the four rides we went and saw the Disney princesses. That for sure is a MUST for little girls! It was great! We waited an hour in line. After we were through Clay and I looked at each other and asked if it was worth it and both said that it was so worth it because of the look on Elyse's face. I will never forget that happy smile! I loved that they spent time talking with Elyse and trying to talk to Mady. Mady was a little shy of them. I wish I would have gotten it on Video Camera. I was more focused on the pictures. Not sure why? Elyse met Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and Mulan. She LOVED Mulan! I think that was the highlight of the trip.Hooten "Princesses" with Sleeping Beauty!

I really liked Snow White with Mady. She was the only
one Madyson would go up to by herself!Elyse with Mulan. I think Clay took some better ones with his camera. At least I will have those for my scrapbook!

After the princesses we made our way to see Mickey and Minney. Here again you can't leave Disney without seeing the ones who made it famous!!! Elyse was really excited to see Mickey. Madyson was scared silly of him so we only got the picture of Elyse with Mickey Mouse.

Elyse happy to be sitting on Mickey's Chair in his house!Elyse playing on Mickey's Crazy Piano!!!

Mady and Daddy waiting to see Mickey. She looks excited...ok not really.
Elyse with Mickey Mouse! She was so excited to see him! Can you tell on this one?!?!Elyse and Minney Mouse!

Hooten Family with Minney Mouse! My favorite photo from our Vacation! Well, this may be the only family photo we have.

Minney was another story. Mady LOVED Minney! She even took a good picture with all of us in it! It was great! I bought a frame that will go perfectly with that picture! Elyse loved Minney's house and would have spent ALL day in there if I would have let her!

After that the girls were starting to get tired so it was off for a snack and to get Fast Pass tickets for Toy Story Mania. By the time we got the Fast Pass tickets Mady had fallen asleep. So it was off to give the girls and us naps!

We came back and weren't sure if we could use the Fast Pass tickets since it was way after the designated time and sure enough we could! Which was good and bad. Because if I would have known this I would have grabbed Fast Passes for all the popular rides because the park was ridiculously crowded by the time we came back.

Then it was off to buy the girls their Mickey Mouse ears of there choice. Unfortunately I don't have a photo of Mady in hers and it got lost between the Disneyland and the hotel that night. :(Elyse's Princess Minney Mouse ears! They even monogrammed her name for free!

Elyse like Toy Story, but not as much as the rides earlier in the day. We rode Autopia next. That was a fun ride! They even gave the kids there own driver's license. Elyse LOVED that!

We also went on...
*The Jungle Cruise (a nice break from the heat!),
*Pirates of the Caribbean (couldn't go to Disney without going on that ride! When the 1st movie came out that was our first date!) They even had Jack Sparrows character from the movie. It looked IDENTICAL to how Johnny Depp looked in the movie. I had to do a double take a few times! It was great!
* The Haunted Mansion (Elyse thought it was scary at first and then at the end she said it wasn't scary. I think it just scared her that at the beginning the lights went out and it was completely black inside.

The wait times weren't too bad for the rides. Clay and I talked about it and they actually have things for you to look at while you are waiting. Disney was a GENIUS! That is all I have to say!

Unfortunately we didn't make it on any of the big rides that I wanted to do. The lines for those were ridiculous! I didn't want to wait an hour and a half with a toddler and a preschooler. TORTURE! Next time they will both be big enough to ride them and that will give them something to look forward too!

We had a great time! When it started to get dark we went and saw the Fantasmic show! AMAMAZING!!! The girls were so tired by this time we put them in the stroller and found a good spot to park and watch the fireworks. They were both SOUND ASLEEP before the fireworks were even over! We went and sat under a pavillion. Earlier in the day Clay went and bought me a T-shirt (that was too small) so I needed to go back to the New Orleans area to return it. Clay stayed with the girls so that we wouldn't have to fight the crowds with the stroller. I brought back some Clam Chowder for me and Gumbo for Clay. We sat peacefully and ate dinner. It was totally a date night at Disneyland! It was great! We both looked at each other and decided we should where the girls out when we want to go out late and bring them with us ASLEEP!!! Granted it was 11pm PST and 1 am Central time. They were exhausted. After our yummy dinner we went shopping in Downtown Disney.

Clay had so much fun for not really wanting to take the girls yet! He spoiled them rotten! But we went to Disney and I guess that happens! It was a great day! I had so much fun with my little family! I love spending time with them! These are moments that the kids may not remember but Daddy and Mommy certainly will!!!

California!

2009-07-09T13:18:00.000-07:00

Before I write about our trip I wanted to announce who won my giveaway for the cubes!!!

Da Ta Da da.... Rosie and Jessica! Congratulations guys! I just need you to email me with 9 pictures and tell me if you want them on photo paper or regular paper. Remember the regular paper causes it to smear,but it still looks way cute! Also Liz and Crystalee I need your 9 pictures as well so I can work on yours, too. The sooner the better we are still moving sometime between now and September and I would like that project off my plate before we move!!! Again my email is amber0684@yahoo.com.

Okay now for California pictures and stories!!! I am so excited to write all this down. It has been well over a week and I totally miss it! I would move there in a heart beat! Cross my fingers that some time with Clay's job we will make our way there!

Day 1 (Mon June 20)

The girls and I packed the car and headed to El Paso after I went to my successful Weight Watchers meeting. (Yeah for the success because I probably would have been more cautious on what I ate while on the trip.) We left San Angelo around 10 and drove 6 hours to El Paso where we visited Grandpa and Grandma Hooten for 1 1/2 days. We drove in and were greeted by Ashlynn (Elyse and Madyson's cousin!) We played in the pool all afternoon. And then Aunt Cari and Uncle Marshall joined us for dinner at the house after dinner. Our stay in El Paso was fun. The girls had a great time with their cousins Ashlynn and Bryson. I am so glad my girls have a girl cousin their age. It is sad that all the girl cousins their age live far away from us!
Elyse, Ashlynn, Madyson, and Bryson
The Hooten Clan!!!

Day 2 (Tuesday June 21)

The girls spent the day with Grandma while I went to the dentist, got the oil changed in the car, and bought a new phone. I wasn't happy about buying a new phone (neither was Clay) my phone has been acting funny for the past few months. Thanks to user stupidness but that is neither here nor there. I got a new phone and I actually like it better than my other one so hopefully I will have this one for the next few years. Clay would say FOREVER! It was a relaxed day. Elyse and Mady got to play with Ashlynn again. (Grandma watches them during the day.) We went to bed early to get up and make our 10 hour trek to California.

Day 3 (Wednesday June 22)

We left El Paso around 7 am. I realized earlier that this was WAY TOO LATE in the day to leave because of how hot it got in the desert! I had the sun directly on me for most of the trip. My legs and chest were sunburned after that! We stopped in Tuscon and ate lunch. We also stopped at a rest stop (not sure where), but they had AWESOME rock mountains. I had to take some pictures and some of the girls! (Top picture on blog)

10 hours later and we made it to our hotel in La Mesa, California just 20 minutes outside of San Diego in the mountains. We stepped out of the car at 4 pm Pacific Coast time and LOVED that it wa only 72 degrees outside! Now that is my kind of weather!!! We took a wrong turn when we were headed to the hotel and found a Dominoes was having a sale for $3.99 Medium pizzas. I was in LOVE right from the start. Who can get a $4 pizza in Texas?!?! We unloaded our stuff and then drove back to Dominoes to pick up a pizza. When we got back to the hotel. The girls and I had a "GIRLS NIGHT!!!" It was so much fun! I am sure that was the first of many more to come! I knew I LOVED having girls! We jumped on the beds! I know... a no no at our house, but Hey we weren't at home! ;) We then ATE pizza on the bed! AGAIN something we don't do at home! I think that is what made it special for us! I will remember that night for years to come! I had so much fun with my precious girls! We went to bed early Pacific Time not so early for our Texas time!

Day 4 (Thursday June 23)

The girls woke up SUPER EARLY! 5 am! It was partly my fault because I was awake and I turned on the light to read to try and go back to sleep. MISTAKE on my part! They were up for the rest of the day...well until nap time. I turned on a show and then tried to go back to sleep! After we got dressed for the day we called my new Sister-in-Law Jessica and made our way over to her house! We visited for a while and I got to hold my new nephew Bradley. I wish I had taken pictures of me holding him! He is ADORABLE Scott and Jessica!!! I did get a picture of Elyse holding him with my phone. It is not very good. Oh well. I am going to see if Jessica took a better one. Jessica was so fun to get to know! She has such a sweet heart! I am so glad that she is part of our family!!!

After we visited for a while we got our things together and all went up to Camp Pennelton to see my brother while he was "Working." In quotes because I don't think that we was really working. HA HA! We went and bought our discounted Military Disneyland tickets! Thanks again Scott! It was great not having to pay full price even if the discount wasn't great!!! We then went and had lunch. After lunch I went and took Jessica back to her house and the girls and I headed to San Diego to
Elyse's first small taste of the ocean. A much bigger taste came a few days later!!!

Elyse practicing her gymnastics on this brick wall. She was sooo cute to watch! I love this photo with all the boats in the background!

Mady playing on the playground at the park on the Harbor!

We then went and had lunch. After lunch I went and took Jessica back to her house and the girls and I headed to San Diego togo pick our Daddy up at the airport. We got there a little early so I drove around San Diego for a little bit. We were driving around the airport and happened to find a park on the beach near the Harbor. It was the perfect spot. We were less than 3 minutes from the terminal and had some time to kill so we got out of the car and played!!! Elyse had fun being on the beach for the first time. She wanted to put her feet in the water. She said it was cold. In my opinion it was FREEZING!!! Madyson would have nothing to do with the water. Nor would she stand still long enough to take a good picture. I did get one of her playing. What happened to warm water? Apparently not in San Diego at least not this time of year! She LOVED it though. We went and played on the playground for about an hour! It was then time to pick up our Clay.
We picked up Clay and started driving to Anaheim!!! Yeah for this next part! We surprised our girls (well mostly Elyse) with a trip to DISNEYLAND while we were there! She didn't have any idea until Clay told her at dinner once we arrived in Anaheim. She was so excited. She started dancing and yelling, "I'm going to Disneyland!" It was so CUTE!
After dinner we made our way to the hotel and settled in for the night. The hotel that we chose was called the Carosoul Inn and Suites right across the street from Disneyland. It was perfect! I will definately do that again the next time we go.

Just as a side note...this was also the day that we heard Micheal Jackson had died. My mom texted me. I was saddened by this information. I really thought he was a great performer no matter what his personal life was like! He will live on in his music that is for sure. It was interesting to read in my baby book that when I was born he was the most popular musician. But i guess he pretty much ruled the 80s!!!

Day 5 ( Friday June 25) DISNEYLAND!

This should be a post all in itself. In fact I think I am going to do that. I have already been on the computer FOREVER! I am going to take a break and make my next post just on Disneyland! Stay tuned! Hopefully I will be able to get that up sometime tonight!

Sorry for all those who were jealous of Boston

2009-07-01T16:43:00.000-07:00

I am sorry for posting about us moving so early on. While I was away on vacation I found out that we are NOT going to Boston! His company sent us through a big loop! Oh well! So I am sorry for announcing it! We thought it was a done deal, but apparently not. I am slightly disappointed and relieved at the same time. I don't know how I can live THAT far away from my mom! Besides at least we are not moving in the middle of July! I am not even home from vacation yet! Just think of how crazy packing would be for me! So I am more relieved than disappointed. Hopefully next time we find out where we are moving it will be a for sure thing and I won't embarrass myself!

I have lots of pics to post from our vacation to CALIFORNIA! I will save that for a post all by itself!!!

2009-06-20T18:21:00.000-07:00

This past week I had the opportunity to go to Girls Camp with our Stake. It was a GREAT experience. I went up as the craft lady. I had so much fun! They had some really neat crafts that they did. I really LOVED getting to know the girls in our ward. It was a neat experience going as a leader. I had a lot of time to observe because the craft was my only responsibility. These girls are so beautiful! I found love for each of them and I didn't even know them. I wish I could serve the youth of the church. Maybe that is why I loved it so much because I don't get the opportunity to associate with them very often.

We found out yesterday where we are going to be moving....BOSTON! I am stoked! I have NEVER been back east. I am really looking forward to it. I know the winters are going to be cold, but I grew up in cold winters. I must say I have been spoiled the past 8 years that I have lived in Texas. I am going to miss Texas. It is my home. I have been praying that the Lord would send us where he needed us to be. I am sure this is where we are supposed to be for the next two years.

I leave on Monday for California. I am really excited. I get to go see my nephew and my new sister in law! And of course my brother. We are going to Disneyland next Friday. I can't wait to take my girls! I promise there will be pictures to come!

100th Blog!!!! and a giveaway?

2009-06-15T06:46:00.000-07:00

Really? I can't believe that I have hit 100 blogs. I am actually really proud of myself. Since this is basically my journal because a journal for me is nonexistent. Some day I will print my posts off and make a book.

We took the kids this weekend to see UP! What a way cute movie! We saw it in 3D. I am going to have to say that this is the way to go if your child will keep the glasses on. Elyse did really well with the glasses. Mady not so much. At least Mady pretty much stayed in here chair. We didn't have to take her out once! HALLELUJAH! I guess we can see movies a little more often now! After the movie we went to Sam's and got the kids a small big pool. A small pool meaning it just blows up, but it is fairly big. I can fit in it. So that is great. We are going to blow it up today and do some swimming this afternoon! It has been EXTREMELY HOT here this past week. We were at 106 on Saturday. Not sure what the temp got to yesterday. We stayed inside besides going to church in the morning.

Okay now for the drum roll please............

I am introducing my Father's Day gift and my 100th Blog GIVEAWAY. Yes you heard correctly! It doesn't necessarily have to be for Father's Day. In fact I don't think I can get it done in time for Father's day. I am leaving for Girls Camp on Wednesday and then going to California pretty much the day after I get home. So... On July 1st Elyse will draw 2 names for whoever wins this Cool Photo Cube! If you win I will announce your name sometime after that. I will need you to email me pictures for it though. You decide if you want the pictures printed on photo paper or regular paper. The photo paper makes it so it doesn't smear. I did mine on regular paper. The ink smeared a little, but I liked the look. It gives it an older look. You get to decide. This is also what I am doing for my Pay it Forward Homemade item. So if you were lucky enough to respond... Liz and Crystalee you will also need to email me pictures. I need 9 to be exact. One for each of the sides and one for the top part of the cube. I am really excited about this! Here is the email address to send me pictures. If you win I will remind you again. amber0684@yahoo.com

By the way this project was not my idea i got it from the following website...I feel I need to give this person credit because it is a GREAT idea. Check it out and you can make some too!

http://www.alphamom.com/holiday/2009/05/handmade_mothers_day_photo_cube.php

The past few weeks...

2009-06-11T06:58:00.000-07:00

I still can't find my SD card. Elyse admitted to it yesterday. I couldn't tell if she is just taking the blame or if she really took it. I do need to write about what we did the past few weeks though. A few weeks ago we took the kids to Colorado. We had such a nice time! The weather was nice and cool. It rained, but usually it would start when we were finishing up whatever we were doing. We were not hindered in the least with our activities!!!
The first day was awful! I got soooo sick. I swear it was the flu. Clay didn't think so, but I had all the symptoms of the flu. It lasted a good 24 hours. I layed in bed all day the first day. So we didn't really do anything. It rained the whole day so it wasn't a big deal. The second day we went to Garden of the Gods near Colorado Springs. It was absolutely beautiful. We packed a picnic lunch and then went for a hike. Dang! I wish i had my pictures. Oh well. After that we took the girls up to the North Pole ( a Christmas themed amusement park.) It was fun. Definately for little ones. Elyse got to go talk with Santa. She was excited about doing that. She asked for a real piano. Which Santa seemed to grant this to us a few months early!!! Yes we finally got our piano! I am so excited as was Elyse. Thanks to Clay's cousin Mike for giving his to us!
Saturday we went to Boulder to a Festival they had going on there. That was a pretty neat little town! We had fun just walking around.
On Sunday we went and walked on the grounds of the Denver Temple. I was so happy that the gates were open. We have been to the Dallas Temple when the temple was closed and the gates have been closed. There was quite a few people doing the same thing we were doing that day. I guess it made up for NOT going to church? We took some lovely photos. (which again I don't have). It was actually the prettiest day of all the days that morning. We also were bad and broke the Sabbath by taking the girls to the Denver Children's Museum. I know...at least we were spending time as a family. That was pretty neat. I wish that we had a children't museum here. I would definitely get season passes if we did. What a great place to take the kids when you want them to go play and explore!
Monday was Memorial Day. We drove to Fort Collins and went and drove around Colorado State University (Clay's Alma mater). It was actually a really nice campus. We headed back after that so we could get the Uhaul to load the piano. That piano was a bugger to load since there were only 2 guys and me. Thank goodness unloading it wasn't so bad. I didn't have to touch the piano! The missionaries and a few other people from the church came over and helped! I love our church for that aspect! (well many more aspects, but this is definitely a perk to being a member!) We have built in movers pretty much wherever we go!
We headed back home really early on Tuesday. We stopped in Dallas to drop the girls off with Grandma and Grandpa Minson. They stayed with them for a week. So I was childless for a week! It was wonderful!
Our anniversary HAPPENED to fall during this week so Clay and i took a much needed getaway to New Braunfels (just outside of San Antonio). We stayed at a Bed and Breakfast! The breakfast was sooo yummy. Definitely not weight watchers friendly! Oh well. We went to Schlitterbahn. We had a blast. We never made it to the temple because I completely forgot our temple clothes at home. I got side tracked with other things. I think that is how Satan gets us. I was side tracked with things that were important but I should have put those things off until I had packed our clothes. Oh well. It was nice being able to sleep in on Saturday. We went and had a couples massage on Saturday. It was awesome. Although Clay picked the girl over the big dude. I told him he was crazy. Afterward he said that he should have taken the big guy! Told you so! On Sunday we went and visited Clay's Ama and Papa who happened to be at there timeshare there at the same time. It was a nice visit. We had lunch with them and then we were off!
The past few weeks have been great. I am having a hard time being a stay at home mom. Especially when a lot of friends from college are geting jobs for this school year. I guess I want to work because I am fresh out of college and want to get some use in. I know someday I will just not now. For now I need to be content that I am blessed to be at home with my girls. Even though it is the HARDEST JOB ever! I feel like everywhere I turn there is a mess somewhere. It is very frustrating. Then it is frustrating when I lose things because my children have taken them. Anyway, my goal is to be more patient this week.
The next few weeks are going to be just as busy as the past few. I am going to girls camp next week as the Stake Craft person! I am really looking forward to go. Hopefully I will have some personal time where I can reflect and ponder my life without interruption of kids. I miss going to girls camp when I had those spiritual experiences as a youth. We are also going to California when I get back. The girls and I are driving to El Paso and staying there for a couple of days and then off we go to California to visit my brother and his new wife and baby! I am really excited. Did I mention we are also taking the girls to Disneyland. SHHHHH....they don't know. It is a surprise. At least until we get to our hotel which is just across the street. Apparently you eat breakfast in a room full of huge glass windows that gives a gorgeous view of Sleeping Beauty's Castle! I can't wait!

Oh yeah...we also have a CONTRACT on the house! It will hopefully close in the next few weeks! Thank goodness! We also got some insider news that we may be moving to Little Rock, Arkansas. Not as bad as I thought! It will be sometime in the next few months. So I will be packing yet again when we get back from Cali!

2009-06-07T14:50:00.001-07:00

I am having problems has with my computer. There is no space left on the C drive for me to upload any more pictures. I think our computers days are numbered. Anyway...I am going to work some more on it tomorrow! If not I need to write down what we have been doing the past few weeks and will have to add the pictures later! Hope everyone is having a wonderful beginning of summer!

Happy Anniversary!

2009-05-29T12:34:00.001-07:00

Today is our 5th Wedding Anniversary! I can't believe that it has been 5 years since we got married. We now have two beautiful girls! We enjoy being married. This past year has actually been great! I think we are finally understanding each other! I can't believe it took 5 years, but I guess that is what you get when you only know each other a year before you get married.

Things I love about Clay:
1. He is my best friend! I have never had a best friend (very good friends, but never that one best friend)! I can safely say that Clay is definitely my best friend.
2. I love that he makes me laugh!
3. I love when he watches chick flick movies with me... (and cries :)
4. I love that he gives me everything that I need and want! He is a good provider for our family and is supportive of the decision we have made for me to stay home.
5. I love how forgiving he is! This is VERY important in marriage!
6. I love when he plays with our girls and makes them laugh! It is a joy to see him so close to them!
7. I love that he loves me for me! I have things I need to improve and he loves me through them!
8. I love that he is a faithful and worthy priesthood holder! He amazes me with his testimony and love for our Savior!
9. I love that he gives me WONDERFUL back massages! They are the best especially when I am sore from working out!
10. Most of all, I LOVE that he is an EXAMPLE to me. He makes me want to be a better person! He is my hero and my life.

Clay...I am so proud to be married to you! I love you very much. Thank you for making me a part of your family 5 years ago. It has been a tough road, but I know that it can only get better for us! Thank you for loving me and being an example to me! Thank you for being the BEST Daddy ever to our beautiful daughters. They love you so much! I am so thankful to you for all that you do for our family! Love, Amber Lee

Now that the mushy stuff is over it is time for me to head out the door. With NO kids we have decided to go to San Antonio for the weekend!!! Yeah...temple session in the morning, massages after that, and a day at Schlitterban Water park!

OLD NAVY 50% off already 50% off clearance!

2009-05-28T08:23:00.000-07:00

I KNOW I need to post about our trip to Colorado. There is just so much going on! I will say that we had a great time and hopefully I will able to post and write about it in more detail soon! We got the piano loaded in the house last night! I can't wait to take my first piano lesson tomorrow! Who knows maybe in a year from now I can actually play in church!

I went to Old Navy yesterday and they are having 50% off their already low marked down clearance prices. Spent about $120 for $400 maybe more worth of clothes! The girls didn't need clothes so I just bought larger sizes and will use them for Christmas and for birthdays next year! As for me...well I bought some clothes that I can wear now! (Oh and don't feel bad for Clay...he got a few things. The men's selection wasn't as great as the womens!) Go check it out if you get a chance. It was a great deal!! I literally bought some stuff for .97!

Yesterday...a day from you know where!

2009-05-20T08:09:00.000-07:00

Today is the day for our Colorado trip! Am I packed? No! And I still find myself at the computer blogging. Call me crazy We don't leave until tonight. I am such a procrastinator though. My two year old is driving me crazy as well. Yesterday was NOT a good day. Hence the reason why I am still not packed. I put Mady down for a nap as soon as we got home from the doctor and thought she was sleeping. I went in there an hour later and she has poop every where! I thought that she was out of that stage. Apparently NOT! She is ready to be potty trained, but I have been delaying it because of our Colorado trip. I guess after this week it is time I got myself into gear. Then after that I put the girls on my bed to watch Wall E so I could go mow the lawn. Well, that wasn't a good idea either because when I came back Madyson had gotten a hold of some wild flower seeds and spilled them all over my bed. I am going crazy by this point!!! To top it all off. The girls would not go to sleep last night. They played in there room until 10:00 last night. I went in there 5 times. Finally Clay put Madyson in the office in the pack n' play. She did not like it, but you do what you have to do, right? Needless to say, I am looking forward to our vacation to Colorado and the girls going to Dallas for a week after that! I think I am going to make the girls an outfit while they are gone. I found a really cute pattern last night at Walmart. It says it is easy...how hard can it really be? I think I will stay off the computer for the next week...afterall I am on VACATION!

sick AGAIN!

2009-05-19T13:57:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I am almost at 100 posts. That is amazing for me even though it took me over a year to accomplish that! Elyse isn't feeling well AGAIN! We went to the doctor and she had a little bit of a red throat so they gave her antibiotics.I am glad they did because we leave for Colorado tomorrow and I don't want her to be sick the whole time. I am also not feeling well...UTI. I haven't had one since before Madyson was born. Clay will be calling his grandpa sometime soon so I can get some medicine before we leave. The drive will be MISERABLE if I don't.
We had a really good FHE last night on Tithing. Elyse started doing chores around the house for $1 a week. I know we are cheap. We traded her last night for 10 dimes so we could explain how tithing works. I think she understood. We will see next week how well she remembers. She is saving her money to buy a movie. We told her if she saved half we would help her with the other half. We are also having her put 20% into her piggy bank as well.
Madyson is as cute as can be! She has been in a stage where she doesn't like her hair being done, but since we have come back from Dallas visiting Granpa and Grandma she will let us put pig tails in her hair! She is so cute. The next time I do her hair like that I will post a picture.
We are really looking forward to our Colorado trip...not the drive though! We are doing it at night so that the girls will sleep in the car. The only problem with that is they are going to want to be awak on Thursday when Clay and i want to sleep. Oh well. I look forward to going to Colorado and spending some family time! We look forward to seeing mountains again!

June Srap Swap

2009-05-18T08:08:00.001-07:00

June's scrap swap theme is Woodland Creatures. I decided to do this. Okay the picture is not that great, but you get the idea. I wasn't sure how realistic it needed to be. I thought that this would be cute, but I tend to think girly when it comes to stuff like this because I have two girls. Liz, let me know what you think. (My feelings will not be hurt.) If this doesn't work I will buy some stuff and probably still send this with something else. Anyway... I look forward to seeing what comes from everyone else!

house cleaning

2009-05-18T07:44:00.000-07:00

This weekend we took another trip to our house in Celina. What a money hole that thing is becoming! As you know from previous posts we evicted our tenants based on numerous reasons. We had to go back this weekend to clean up. I thought for sure they would have cleaned a little when they left. Boy was I WRONG! I have NEVER seen a house so dirty in my life. How can you live like that? I should have brought my camera and taken pictures, but I didn't. Probably for the better. I don't want to remember my house being that way. Their dogs chewed the door jams, chewed a deadbolt, and scratched the heck out of the back door. As well as peed all over our carpets. If we rent this house again NO DOGS! We spent from 8:30 am to about 4:00 pm working. I cleaned the inside and Clay worked on the jungle of a yard! Just to give you an idea of how dirty the carpets were...I listened to the whole Hannah Montana soundtrack and half of the Police soundtrack while vacuuming. My arms are so sore from that. I think part of the problem was the vacuum. We borrowed my mom's vacuum and I have to say that was the HEAVIEST vacuum I have ever used. At least it is cleaned now! Still not ready to go on the market. The carpets look HORRIBLE! They were in the house for 2 months and the carpets looked worse than when we had the carpets cleaned after 4 years! After seeing this I realized that I do keep a pretty clean house. Not always organized, but at least it is clean! I am so glad to be home!!!

Is there an afterlife? YES!

2009-05-15T13:51:00.000-07:00

This afternoon I was watching The View and the question was raised during Hot Topics, "Do you believe in an afterlife?" As the ladies were giving their answers it became more clear to me how many people really don't know the Plan of Salvation. I am so thankful for the knowledge that I have that there is an afterlife. I know that when we die that there is an afterlife. I am thankful for this knowledge. How scary would death be if we didn't know what was to happen to us? I know I would be scared to die. I am so grateful for a church that teaches clearly what happens once we die. I know that Heavenly Father is a just God. He is going to take careful considerations in how we are judged. One of the ladies on the View used to be a Jehovah's Witness and she said that only 144,000 people would be able to live with Jesus Christ. What an AWFUL concept. I know that through our faith and through our actions in this life and by receiving the ordinances that given way back to Adam and Eve we can live with our Savior and our Heavenly Father again. This topic really made me start to think how thankful I am for the restored Church of Jesus Christ. I am so thankful for Joseph Smith and his desire to know which church to join. I realized how important it is for me to teach my children those precious truths that we know and sometimes take for granted. Sorry about bearing my testimony. This is kind of my journal and I felt strongly I needed to write this down.

It feels like Christmas!

2009-05-14T18:39:00.000-07:00

I made this (well 8 sets)...

and got all this... It came in the mail today! It was literally like Christmas! The anticipation was well worth the wait and well worth me making 18 cards! Liz you should have seen me tearing the paper to get into it! I am so excited! This will definitely get me back into the mood of scrapbooking! So worth it!

This also came in the mail with my other stuff. My friend Liz made this as part of her homemade gift to me. It is a 12 Days of Christmas tradition book. You should see the inside. This is super cute! I think this might be what I make my visiting teaching sisters for Christmas this year! I love this Give and Get thing going around! Now I just need to get in gear and start thinking of what I am going to make for my gifts!

As for an update on the family...we are doing well. Clay and I went to the Lubbock Temple with the Youth last Saturday! We had a nice time. I love the temple! I sat and watched the youth do baptisms for my ancestors. What a neat experience it is to know that my family who has been waiting for the gospel for so long that they can finally receive the ordinances they need to live with our Father in Heaven again.

Some friends and I did a Girls Night last Friday! We had so much fun. My visiting teacher/the sister I visit teach have birthdays around the same time and we decided we wanted to go out with some friends for our birthday. We went to Olive Garden to have dinner than came to my house for some Wii Fun! We played Wii sports and Rockband. Rockband was so much fun! I love the girls in my ward! It was so much fun getting to know them better! I feel like I have made friendships here that will last a lifetime!

As for the next few weeks we will be super busy! We are off to Dallas this weekend to go work on the house. We are getting it ready to go up on the market again. Next weekend we are going to Colorado to have a little vacation and to pick up my new PIANO! Yeah! Than the following weekend is our 5th Wedding Anniversary and Clay and I are going to San Antonio without the kiddos and spending some quality time together! I am so excited for the next few weeks! We are going to be busy, but it is going to be well worth it!

sick kids

2009-05-06T08:43:00.000-07:00

I DO NOT LIKE when my kids are sick, but I sure LOVE to be needed! Call me crazy! Mady got sick last night. She was not herself at all. I rocked her for a while and then laid down with her on the couch. Honestly...I miss having a baby to baby. Oh well. The Lord will bless us when we are ready!

Weekend

2009-05-05T11:26:00.000-07:00

Our trip to Dallas was NOT so exciting! Well besides seeing my parents and going to church it was AWFUL! It is really hard to see a house that you love and have lots of memories not look good when you go to see it. We honestly didn't even recognize our house. It has rained a ton in the area and when that happens you need to mow frequently. The yard looked awful besides the flowers that I had planted last spring. There were weeds growing like crazy and the side of the house looked like a jungle. The backyard was awful with a grill toppled over and charcoal all over the place. The weeds were growing like crazy back there as well. I don't think they had ever mowed the backyard. Not to mention how much trash was in the yard with cigarette butts and beer bottles. YUCK! I have pictures I will post as soon as my neighbor emails them to me. We were really disappointed with how the tenants were taking care of our house. They were 21 days late last month which was our deciding factor in getting up there. I am really glad we did. We found out they were unable to pay this month so they got their eviction notice and are supposed be out by Thursday evening. I hope and pray that Heavenly Father is mindful of our situation and will help us to be able to sell the house. That is what we really need right now. So if any of you know anyone that needs to buy a house please think of us in Celina!
Other than that everything else was GREAT! We got to spend some time with some of our neighbors. Thanks Ron and Anna and Darla for helping us with the yard! You guys are seriously AWESOME! We really appreciate your willingness to help us out and hurrying to do it as well before it rained! Darla if you read this: Thank you for lunch! You are so sweet.
We came home that night and had dinner with my mom and dad! Thanks mom for making such delicious lasagna and cake! The cake was awesome! Clay and I ate some last night after the kids went to bed.
It was also fun seeing everyone at church. We really do miss our ward out there. We love it here, but there is nothing like going home where you know most everyone. I still don't know very many people in the ward that we are in now.
I am trying to think positively and know that Heavenly Father will take care of us. We will more than likely be back again in two weeks to make sure the house is ready to be back on the market.

Excited!

2009-05-01T10:25:00.000-07:00

I am so excited! We leave to go up to Dallas tonight. We are going to check on our house which has been rented out and we would like to go and meet the people who rented it. Clay also needs to do some work up there. The girls get to spend some quality time with Grandpa and Grandma on Saturday. This is a short trip I wish we could stay longer...oh well. We are going to go to church at the Prosper Ward on Sunday and then coming back home after. I also get to celebrate my birthday with my Mom and Dad! I turn 25 on Wednesday.

Circus!

2009-04-29T18:16:00.000-07:00

Last night Clay and I took the girls to the Barnum and Bailey Circus for the first time! They had such a great time. We did also. Clay surprised me a few weeks ago and asked if I wanted to go. So we bought the tickets and went! When I asked Elyse what her favorite thing was she said..."the swinging lady." Elyse loved eating her cotton candy and snow cone as well! Madyson enjoyed the show, but she didn't want to sit down. At least she watched while standing. By far Madyson's favorite part was the Tigers. She sat on my lap and watched the whole part! Thanks Clay for the great night!

Facial hair...yuck!

2009-04-28T14:35:00.000-07:00

Clay had this thing for about two weeks of NOT shaving! I couldn't believe that he would do it especially when I specifically told him that I HATE facial hair. But to know avail he continued to grow it out for about 2 weeks. This is what it looked like when he finally shaved. What makes it even more funny is that the night after he shaved I dreamed that he had facial hair again and I actually liked it. Hmmm... dreams are weird because I still do NOT like facial hair, but I still LOVE my husband.

Creative?

2009-04-28T14:28:00.000-07:00

I have NEVER considered myself creative, but I might have to take what I said back. I joined a scrap swap group and have had a ton of fun creating and putting together our first months assignment. The assignment was birds.When I first heard that was what we were doing I didn't think I would be able to do it, but after some research online I came up with this. I chose to make two cards per person this time. I found a bird pattern online and came up with the rest myself. Not too bad for someone who says she's not creative. I had fun doing it even if it is not the most creative thing out there.

Nap time

2009-04-21T13:52:00.000-07:00

Grandma...does this remind you of somebody???

Madyson has really found the love for reading. She started babbling while reading about a month ago. So there was no surprise here when I walked in her room at nap time today to find her passed out with her book still in her hand! Like Mother like Daughter. You can still find me doing this at times. Clay can attest to it!

No more stitches

2009-04-19T19:38:00.000-07:00

We finally got the stitches out on Thursday! Here is Elyse with the stitches gone! It still doesn't look great, but it definitely looks MUCH BETTER! She is still a beautiful little girl boo boo and all!

Mady's 2nd birthday!

2009-04-19T19:01:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday Mady!

I cannot believe that my youngest is already 2! How fast time flies. She is such an adorable 2 year old with her super blond hair and bright blue eyes! She brings so much happiness into my life with her happy go lucky attitude. She really is a happy little girl. She always has a smile on her face. She loves following her big sister around doing big girl things. Madyson loves to read and can be caught talking out loud while turning the pages. I have no idea what she is saying, but she does! In fact, today during nap time she probably read out loud for about 30 minutes before finally giving in to take her nap! Like Mother like daughters!

Last night (Saturday) we took the girls to the lake (less than 10 min from the house) with some Whataburger (wasn't that great and I blew a gazillion weight watcher points on it). It was a little windy, but it felt nice except for the fact that I came down with something the previous day and hadn't been feeling too hot all day and Clay all of a sudden got a really bad headache. We tried to make the best of it, but only lasted about an hour. We got out the fishing poles that Grandpa Minson got for the girls and tried our hand at some "pretend" fishing. Clay didn't actually put a hook on it. He wanted them to practice first. I think they enjoyed the time that we spent with them!

Look at all these presents! You would have thought that she had a HUGE birthday party! Actually this was from all of her Grandmas and Grandpas that couldn't be here today! Thanks everyone for making Madyson's day so special!

"Ummm...this present is really big! I wonder what's in here???"

She was really excited about her Minny Mouse and Daisy Duck. She said, "Oh boy!" This was a hit Mom!

Tonight we had an ice cream cake for Madyson's cake! It was super yummy! I love Baskin and Robbins! What a treat to have a two year old in our home! They are so sweet and I have enjoyed every minute of being a mommy to Madyson!

What Madyson has been learning this year:

*animals and their sounds (dog, cat, cow, duck, sheep, bird)
* we have started working on colors
* Says "please" and "thank you" at the appropriate time! I love this one! It makes my heart melt.
* to talk on the phone! She loves talking on the phone...my little social butterfly!
* can eat with a fork and a spoon. Still using a sippy cup though. For my sake!
* puts away her own toys. And sings the "clean up song" while she does it. It sounds more like "peen up peen up" It's really cute!
* Learned to play with Elyse

Madyson... you bring a special spirit of happiness into our home. Heavenly Father knew that I needed a little girl that had a smile on her face all of the time! I am so proud to be your mommy and look forward to many more birthdays!

*** I can't believe I am all out of babies! :( Time really does go by really fast! Too fast. I need to spend more time cherishing the special moments that I have with my beautiful daughters!

Happy Birthday my sweet Angel!

Saturday Night Incident

2009-04-14T14:33:00.001-07:00

All right... I know you are all dying to know about our excitement the night before Easter. If you are on Facebook you might have already seen. Okay... I am going to start by telling you about our day first. On Friday I got a call from my visiting teacher asking if I would like to go to the temple with her, another sister, and her mom. Going to the temple here is an all day excursion and by all day I mean ALL DAY! I knew this would be a hard one to get by Clay, but it actually wasn't. He said I could go! I was so excited. We left at 5:30 am to drive 3 1/2 hours to Lubbock. It was so wonderful being in the temple. Of course before we drove I offered the prayer and made sure I mentioned to keep our families SAFE while we were away. Of course, Heavenly Father answers prayers when you are doing what you should be doing. I had a nice day at the temple. Things came to me that I never thought of before and I think after 4 years I am starting to gain a better understanding. Yeah!
Clay spent the day with girls. From what I understand they had a fabulous day. A little girl in our ward had her birthday party at the park with an Easter Egg Hunt. I was happy because I felt I could check off the Easter Egg Hunt off my to do list. I knew that there were a few things that I wanted to do with the girls when I got home. I didn't get home until about 6:30. We ate dinner and then started our pre-Easter festivities. We had a Saturday Night Family Home Evening. I could feel the spirit and I could tell that Elyse was learning. We talked about Jesus and how he can heal us and make us feel comforted because of the atonement. We then talked about his death and resurrection. It was a wonderful night. Afterwards we decorated Easter Eggs. That was fun! The girls loved it! We only did 6 eggs because that was all we had. Honestly, 6 was enough! We put Mady to bed and I sat on the couch with Elyse.
It was getting close to Elyse's bedtime when I told her that she needed to get a book to read. Of course she told me she didn't want to go to bed. (This is a nightly ritual.) I then explained to her that the Easter Bunny wouldn't come if she was awake. So she immediately became really excited and jumped up to go pick out her story. DON'T READ THIS IF YOU HAVE QUEASY STOMACH! She was so excited that she jumped off the couch (we have told her numerous times NOT to do this). We have a tile landing leading up to the kitchen with a tile edge. Elyse jumped...tripped over her feet... and landed smack right on the edge of the tile with her head. Of course, I tried not to make a big deal out of it and went to her. She is screaming bloody murder. I am holding her and notice that my hands are becoming very wet. I turn her over and she is bleeding profusely. I see a whole in her forhead, next to her eyebrow, the size of a nickel maybe even a quarter. That scared me so I screamed at the top of my lungs for Clay. It has been almost 3 days and my throat feels so soar from my screams. Clay came running in and grabbed her and put pressure on her head. He made a head wrap for her. When he looked at it we knew that she was going to have to be taken to the hospital.We could see her skull bone from the wound.
IT'S OKAY TO READ NOW! I am so grateful for good friends. The Lord has blessed us with some good friends that live fairly close to us. We can call them day or night and they will come running. I called Brandi and her husband answered and he came over immediately. He and Clay gave Elyse a priesthood blessing. As soon as Clay asked Heavenly Father to comfort her she immediately calmed down and didn't cry until the anesthetic was put into her wound. Our friend Mike took Madyson over to there house to sleep while we took Elyse to the ER. He also came back to our house and cleaned our carpets for us where the blood was. What an amazing friend!

When the doctor looked at it they wanted to do an Xray to make sure there was no bone damage where she hit. It made me a little nervous especially when the word Facial Surgeon came up. Luckily Heavenly Father was watching out for my little girl and there was NO bone damage. Just stitches.
I was able to have a bonding moment with Elyse while she was laying on the bed in the room at the hospital. I asked her if she wanted me to sing to her. I started to sing to her I Am A Child of God. I felt the spirit very strongly and I began to cry. Elyse just looks up at me and I can tell she feel the spirit too because she has a tear drop rolling down her cheek. We then had the discussion of what it feels like when we can feel the Holy Ghost. It was a neat moment for me that I will cherish and remember Forever.
Elyse did get stitches. 8 total. It looks much better, although her eye did begin to swell and bruise today. I am so proud of my little girl! She is so brave. I am so proud of my husband who holds the priesthood and was so willing to give her a blessing before we went to the hospital. I am so thankful to good friends who are so willing to help. Most of all I am so thankful to my Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ who listens to prayers and waited for me to be at home when this happened. I would have been a basket case if this happened while I was at the temple. We are so blessed. I realized how blessed we truly have been because nothing like this ever happened when Clay was out of work and we didn't have insurance!

One more small story. The next morning Elyse saw her booboo in the mirror and said, "Mommy, I don't like this booboo. I want Jesus to come down and heal me." We had a talk about the priesthood blessing she was given and how that was acting on behalf of Jesus. I also told her that she could say a prayer and ask Jesus to help heal her. She said the sweetest prayer without any help asking for Jesus to heal her. These experiences are meant to strengthen our testimonies. I truly feel like my testimony has been strengthened this Easter weekend. We truly learned the meaning of Easter and what Jesus Christ was sent here to do.

Birthday "Tea" Party

2009-04-14T13:47:00.000-07:00

Elyse celebrated her 4th birthday with a "Tea" party with some friends. Unfortunately I scheduled the party right smack during conference. I didn't realize I did this until I had already printed the cards. So I just decided to leave it alone. I was really nervous about people coming, but it worked out. We didn't have too many kids and honestly that was perfect!

***I made Purse invitations for each of the girls. It was fun to do with my scrapbook paper that I hardly ever use.

***We decorated Tiaras, purses, and made necklaces. The girls really seemed to have fun doing this.
*** I read a story called The Teacup that Talked. The kids absolutely LOVED it! It had such a neat message. In the story the teacup tells a grandpa and grandma, who are looking for a perfect gift for their granddaughter, about how it wasn't always a beautiful teacup. I found a really beautiful teacup at an antique store and gave that to Elyse when I was finished with the story. She was able to drink out of her teacup when it was time for lunch and "tea" (lemonade)!
*** I was a little CRAZY and let them use my china tea cups. They felt like such big girls drinking lemonade from the tea cups. Luckily, not a single cup was broken. Thank goodness! I was a little nervous a few times.

Elyse's Favorite part of her birthday

Elyse had a lot of special moments this birthday. She loved having her friends come. Thank you for coming... Karleigh, Gracie, Claire, and Anna! You made Elyse's birthday so special. But the best part to her birthday party was that her Grandpa and Grandma Minson and Uncle Scott came from McKinney and surprised her! She was so happy. They drove in the night before. She had no idea they were there until she woke up and someone was in her bathroom. When Grandpa opened the door all she could say was, "GRANDPA!!!" I think that made the entire trip worth it to my Dad and Mom! We had such a nice time with them! We even got to spend some extra time with Grandma because she stayed a few extras days and then flew home! This will be a birthday that she will always rememeber... I think.

Next few blogs

2009-04-14T13:42:00.001-07:00

There is so much I need to catch up on from the past week and a half. I will be doing some pretty heavy blogging for the next few blogs. There will probably be a lot to read. So if you want to skip some...do. Except don't skip the blog about our Easter excitement over here. You probably won't want to miss this. Trust me... it wasn't exciting in fact it was VERY scary.

slight delay

2009-04-10T09:08:00.001-07:00

I have a slight delay on posting pictures from Elyse's birthday party. I lost my SD card. I can't find it anywhere. Unfortunately I had not uploaded her pictures onto the computer yet. My mom is going to send me some of her pictures. It was a really nice party and I am so disappointed that I lost it. Hopefully it turns up somewhere soon!

Coming soon...

2009-04-04T19:19:00.000-07:00

Elyse had her birthday party today! It went really smooth despite my set back of setting the time during conference. I think having less kids was a relief. A more detailed post to come soon. I am really tired and just need to go to bed. I do not feel like trying to upload pictures to the computer.

Happy 4th Birthday

2009-04-01T19:55:00.001-07:00

First of all... I can't believe I have a 4 year old! Elyse is such a sweet little girl who brings me so much happiness and joy! She is my little April Fool's baby! Today we had a whole day of celebration with just our family. We love our extended family, but it was so nice to be together just the four of us!

Elyse wanted to go to the park so we went and got Subway and met Dad at the park for lunch. We had a blast!

Tonight Elyse wanted to go swimming, but Mommy strategically talked her out of going. I was so tired! Instead we played with her new VTech game system that Grandpa and Grandma Hooten got her.

I asked Elyse a few days ago what she would like for her Birthday dinner. I told her that I would make anything she wanted. She asked for Fish and rice and cooked carrots! My healthy little eater! The birthday girl got what she wanted!

Earlier today I took her to Baskin and Robins and let her pick our her very own cup of ice cream. She wanted pink ice cream so she chose strawberry. Of course, mommy and daddy needed some to. ;) I probably should have gone without some, but it was so good. That is what the candle is on. I decided not to make her a cake because she is having a birthday party on Saturday. Her cake is being made by a friend from church. Stay tuned for pictures of that some time next week.

To top it all off she was able to play with her friend Karleigh tonight while we (I mean Clay) watched Karleigh and her siblings. They had fun. I had to run some errands for 30 minutes of the time.

Happy Birthday my Elyse Bryanne! You truly are a beautiful girl!

Top 10 Things I love about Elyse

1. She gives me hugs when I am sad! I know I shouldn't be sad in front of her, but she makes me feel so good when she does that!
2. She is a very caring child! She suprises me at how much she cares for her friends.
3. Elyse is very forgiving. Why is it that I can get mad at her or lose my patience and than not even a few minutes later she has forgotten the whole ordeal.
4. She plays so well with her little sister Madyson. I know now why I had my girls 2 years apart. They are so in love with each other. Elyse wants Mady included in everything she does. In fact she asked me yesterday if she could invite Madyson to her birthday party on Saturday. Of course you can baby! It makes my heart just melt watching them together!
5. She tries and tries. She is a little girl with lots of perserverance! She is an example of when you fall you try again! I know that she will be able to use this to her advantage some day!
6. She is the best snuggler! She still is waking up at the crack of dawn. I cannot get that child to sleep in unless she is snuggling with me! Bring on the snuggling because that means mommy gets a few more zzzz's in the morning!
7. Elyse is very artistic. She loves to color and draw! I can see a lot of talent developing in that area for her. She is much better at it than i was/am.
8. She remembers all of her family in her prayers! I love hearing her pray! I know that she is very close to her Father in Heaven. I pray that I can continue to teach her and that the relationship that she has will always be like it is now!
9. She is happy over the smallest things. We recently just put her in gymnastics and she is so happy to go each week. She loves when we do little things for her and her appreciation shows! That makes me want to do plenty more things just to see her happiness!
10. The thing that I love most about Elyse is that she is Elyse! She is my little girl who is the light of her mommy's eye. She doesn't try to be anyone else on herself. This little girl means so much to me. I am so thankful for the bond that I have with Elyse. She is my first born and most mom's out there can agree with me that there is a special bond between a mother and her first born.

Elyse, I want you to know how much I love you and how proud I am of you! You are such a big girl! You have learned to do so many things this past year! You are a precious little girl. Never forget that! Have a happy birthday! I love you!

Love,

Mommy

Pay it Forward Recipient

2009-03-27T13:47:00.000-07:00

Thanks Amy! I love it!

I am still working on my own Pay it Forward craft. Actually I am still "thinking" about it! Nothing spectacular has come to mind yet! I will figure something out soon!

Child's Prayer

2009-03-16T08:27:00.000-07:00

I was really touched by Elyse's prayer last night at dinner. She asked Heavenly to help her to stop sucking her thumb. I know that our Father in Heaven hears prayers. Surely we will hear this little girls prayer. She is the sweetest thing and I know she is close to her Father in Heaven. I am so thankful for this lesson that she taught me. That He will hear our prayers and help us with things that are habits or weaknesses. It was really special. I love your faith, Elyse Bryanne!

I took a Time Out

2009-03-16T08:01:00.001-07:00

Time Out For Women was a BLAST! There was some minor issues, but they always come up, don't they? We spent some time SHOPPING! We had MANICURES! I spent time with my MOM! We ate CHEESECAKE from the CHEESECAKE FACTORY! YUMMO! We enjoyed beautiful MUSIC! We listened to Fabulous SPEAKERS! I didnt go to bed until 1:30 every night! We got lost in AUSTIN on the way home! We got hit on by some 16 year old boys driving on the "strip" in Brady, Texas at midnight. I can't tell you the last time I drove on a strip. I could guess that I still lived in Idaho when I did. My friend Brandi and I were laughing so hard. We thought it was hilarious because we were in my minivan. We laughed non stop for about 30 minutes after that. We saw 142 DEER in about a 2 hour time period. Don't ask... I made it a game to count deer (it kept me awake). I even skipped church on Sunday. Clay took the girls and apparently they were FABULOUS for him. Sounds like I should skip church every week. JUST KIDDING! And fnally one MOMMY and WIFE with a very FULL CUP. Hopefully to last me quite a while!

Time Out

2009-03-11T14:22:00.000-07:00

I am so excited! I leave tomorrow afternoon to go to Time Out For Women in Houston! This is a much needed break! I am looking forward to lots of shopping, spending time with my mom and my new friend Brandi, good music, and excellent speakers! I love going and how it makes me feel. I look forward to coming home refreshed and ready to take on the world again! Lots of pictures to come!

The family

2009-03-10T13:36:00.000-07:00

The world we live in today is a scary place. I am so amazed at the changes that have occurred in the not so many years that I have been alive. It really concerns me watching the news and reading on the internet how much the Family is truly under attack. Satan is doing everything in his power to destroy the home. I feel it at times in my own home. I am so thankful for the gospel that teaches us about families and the importance of a true family establishment.
I am always amazed that the leaders of our church know what we need to hear. In primary we are talking about Eternal Families this year. Wow! Can I say that the primary presentation given in October will touch hearts everywhere it is heard. It is so neat to see that these principles are being taught to our future generations. The generations that we need to prepare to meet our Savior. If we think it is bad now I truly cannot image how much worse it will be when my children are grown and have families on their own.
Today I am really touched by the March 2009 Visiting Teaching message. As I was pondering this message I can't help but feel that Heavenly Father has sent us here at this time to be protectors of our families. Think of all the ways that filth can be let into our home... What an important calling our Father in Heaven has given to us as men and women, husbands and wives to honor what he has established since the beginning of time.
Some answers were given to me about how to defend the family in this message. With all the issues that have occurred in the past few years about changing constitution of marriage I have often wondered how I can defend my family without having to go and protest and things like that. It is simple... by teaching my children the importance of marriage and the family I am defending my family. I can't defend all families, but I can defend my family. I can defend my family by putting up barriers to the outside world by teaching my children the gospel, daily scriptures and prayer. I feel Heavenly Father's influence in raising my precious daughters as I do these things. I know that he is there to help us in all things. I know that he wants to help us in raising our children.
i truly believe in the sanctity ofmarriage. I am so thankful to a husband who took me to the temple even though he didn't fully understand the importance. I know that as I teach my daughters to live the gospel they will be able to confront the struggles and challenges that we continue to face. It is only going to get worse and I pray that I can do everything in my power to let my daughters know of the importance of the family.
My heart is so full. I haven't fully pondered the visiting teaching messages in so long and for some reason this particular lesson hit me hard.

I am also attaching a video that some of you may have seen floating around on You Tube. It is entitled "Save the Family" with beautiful music by one of my favorite LDS artists Janice Kapp Perry. Enjo! Okay... Never mind. I cannot figure out how to attach it in my blog. If any of you know how to do this please let me know! I guess just go to You Tube and look it up by its name.

Welcome Home!

2009-03-06T12:29:00.000-08:00

Welcome Home Scott! We are so proud of you. I am glad that you made it back from Iraq safely! Look forward to seeing you on our short trip to Dallas in a few weeks!

This is a picture that was taken yesterday in San Diego. Scott's girlfriend Jessica was able to meet him! Thank you Jessica for going. We appreciate that you were able to be there for him when we couldn't be.

Last weekend...trip to the mall

2009-03-05T09:00:00.000-08:00

I know you are all anxiously waiting at the edge of your seats to see what I was going to write about while we were at the mall last week. Okay maybe not! I went to take a picture of what we did, but I did not have my sim card in the camera. So I am going to have to retake Elyse's picture. But to update you all in the meantime. Elyse got her ears pierced while we were in Abilene last week. I know... I just did it. Clay and I had been talking about it a few weeks prior and so I thought then would be a good time. Don't ask! I sometimes just do things before I totally think over it. Elyse did very well ,she did not cry and after it was over she said, "It did not hurt at all." She is a brave little girl! She looks absolutely adorable and I am glad that we did it. Pictures to come soon!

Stake Conference

2009-03-01T15:36:00.000-08:00

I really enjoy going to stake conference. Especially when it is broadcast from Salt Lake and we get to hear from general authorities. Although I will have to admit that I woke up this morning and said that it was pointless to go. I think I say that every stake conference because the girls are fidgety, they don't listen, and we spend a lot of time in the hall. Or in the case of the last stake conference we went to walking around the stadium at UNT. I will have to say that the girls did it again this year...but it was handled and by the end they were so tired which was good because the last speaker with President Uchtdorf (who I am growing to love). He has such a sweet spirit and wonderful testimony. I loved how it felt like he was speaking directly to me even though he was talking to 74 stakes in Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. My favorite thing that he said was that he knew the people in these areas were not there by chance that we are supposed to be where we are. That really hit me. I have been really homesick lately. I miss my parents, I miss my friends, I miss my house, I miss my old ward. Don't get me wrong I love San Angelo. I have met some of the best people, but I can't help but missing things in North Texas. Lately I have been wondering why we couldn't stay where we were comfortable. It just answered my prayers that Heavenly Father knows and has sent me to San Angelo and I am here for a purpose. It reconfirmed what I already knew, I think. I love that he spent time talking about the things that we should be doing. It was interesting that he talked about temple recommends. Our stake made that a theme last night during the adult session in Abilene. They are really concerned about adults going to the temple and holding current temple recommnends. When President Uchtdorf spoke on this I was truly amazed that our Father in Heaven knows all and is aware of each area.
I loved going to the adult session last night! That was the first time in our married life that we have ever gone to the adult session of conference and it was an hour and half away! Clay needed to go the leadership meeting anyway and I didn't want to be stuck at home all night without him so the girls and I tagged along and went to the mall while he was in his meeting. Then we went to dinner with some friends that have become good friends. Then we went to the adult session. They actually provided babysitting. I think if the other stakes that we had been in provided babysitting I would have been more inclined to go to the adult session more often. :)

***Just a sneak peak for my blog entry tomorrow. It involves the mall and a little girl who was really excited to do something.

No Go!

2009-02-26T06:57:00.000-08:00

Since when is potty training this hard? Okay I will have to admit that I put Elyse in Montessori school during the hard part. I only had to introduce her to it. They taught her the rest. I suppose that I need to take it a little more slowly with Madyson and spend some time just introducing it to her. Maybe she will catch on in her own time instead of me pushing for it to get done in a week. Better luck next time, right?

Potty Training Day 1

2009-02-24T08:53:00.001-08:00

Potty Training Day 1

Today I started potty training Madyson. I am pretty sure that she is ready, but now I am rethinking. I am having a hard time with her staying seated on the toilet even with candy as an incentive. She has had two accidents already and has peed in the toilet once. I think that I am going to take a break for the rest of the day and try again tomorrow. Hopefully I will have some progress to report tomorrow. In the meantime, look at how cute she was sitting on the toilet with her book.

On a more exciting note... I lost 3.6 pounds last week. For a total of 6 pounds now lost. I had issues about a month ago where I was gaining weight. I am working out and lifting weights and I think that had something to do with my weight gain. Now I am losing again. Hopefully by the time I go to Houston for Time Out For Women I will have lost 15 pounds. At least that is my goal.

Pay it Forward

2009-02-23T07:02:00.001-08:00

The first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive a hand made gift from me during this year. When and what will be a surprise. There's a small catch though...

You must post this same thing on your own blog and then come back and leave a comment telling me you're in. Fun, huh? Remember, only the first 3 comments receive the gift! For those who "win" my hand made gift...
1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2- What I create will be just for you.
3- It'll be done this year. (might be a little while)
4- You have no clue what it's going to be (I don't yet either).
5- You are not allowed to judge me for my lack of "hand made" skills ;). Post wisely!

What the...

2009-02-20T07:01:00.001-08:00

We went from having only 1 offer (for sale) on the house in the past 2 1/2 months since it has been on the market to having 3 offers in one day! How does one decide which to choose? Actually all the 3 unfortunately are for lease. Which is okay I guess. I am hesitant because we are somewhat far away and after this year we might even be further. I think we have made our decision with the help of Clay's awesome brother who happens to be our real estate agent. We are totally deferring everything to him. The lady that he thinks we should choose wants to lease the house for 18 months which hopefully will get us out of the housing market lull by then. Anyway... someone should be in our house by next week! Thank you Heavenly Father for answering our prayers. He sure does answer in His own time though. :)

It's here... Finally!

2009-02-19T12:03:00.000-08:00

It's official... My diploma from the University of North Texas has FINALLY arrived! I thought for sure it would get lost in the mail because of our move, but nope! The nice mailman brought it to my door and put it in my husband's hands. This accomplishment means the world to me... So YES I am proud! I also received my Texas State Teaching Certificate as well. So now I am officially a certified teacher that is currently taking on the job as a Stay At Home Mom. While I miss the classroom I love being at home!
I have been doing preschool with Elyse and I seem to be using some of what I have learned the last few years. I am going to be posting some of the things that I am doing with her when I get some time. But what I am doing with her is nothing new... teachers are really good at stealing or borrowing whichever you want to call it. So I must say thanks to Bethann for the WONDERFUL lesson plans that she has put on her blog. They have sparked some creativity in me while borrowing some ideas from her. I am also going to be posting books that the girls and I have read together. What I love to do with books is read them and come up with a literacy lesson for the book. So that is what you will see with most of my ideas for preschool.

Sooo... Embarrassed

2009-02-18T10:34:00.000-08:00

I am so embarrassed. Since it was such a gorgeous day outside I decided to take the girls to the park. Our ward has play group on Wednesday mornings at the park when it is nice. So we get there and Elyse has found some of her friends from Church and is playing with them. Mady was following her around so I thought it was nice that I had some time to chat with the other ladies. As we are talking I glance over at the sand where they are playing a few time and notice that they are playing really well together, including Mady as well!!! That is a plus! The next time I turned around I saw Elyse with her pants around her ankles peeing on the sand! I could not believe what I was seeing. I started running and telling her NO!!!! Looking back I shouldn't have drawn attention to it than nobody else would have seen. I was so mad! Not at Elyse, but at Clay for teaching her to do that. I will admit that the one time he let her do it it was an EMERGENCY! She peed all over her pants so needless to say our trip to the park was short lived. Aughhhh!!! I called Clay as we were leaving and told him that he needed to have a talk with her. Poor guy heard it from me. I still can't believe that she did that! She really does know better. I told her that she should have come to me to tell me she needed to go potty. There were port-a-potties not even 20 feet away. I guess she didn't want to go in there. Who can blame her I guess? But peeing in public! She usually just asks if she can go in the grass and we tell her no, but I have never had her just drop her drawers and go. Anyway... sorry for the venting. If any of you have some embarrassing story about your kids that will help me feel better I would love to hear them!

A weeks worth!

2009-02-14T15:36:00.001-08:00

This week has sure been a busy week. The girls and I were in Mckinney late last week visiting my Mom and Dad. We had such a good time. I realized that I miss living in the city, but do not miss the traffic and how long it takes to get anywhere! Last Friday my mom and I took the girls and their cousin Tyler to a bounce house. We had so much fun! Even my mom and I went on the slides! I would show you a picture of my mom going down, but I know that she would be mortified!

Madson loved the bounce slides! She climbed up the tallest one all by herself. It took a little coaxing from us to get her to come down. We had so much fun and the kids to a GREAT nap when we got back to the house!
Sorry for the picture being sideways. This week was my turn to teach Joy School. I felt so busy all week because I spent a lot of time preparing and getting ready. On Tuesday we had a field trip to go on a nature walk. We took the kids to the park and walked around and then had parents come and meet us for lunch. They all seemed to really have a lot of fun! On Thursday was our Valentine party. In advance I had the kids make handprints on some paper. We put together this Valentine for their Moms and Dads.
We wrapped it and they had something for their parents to open. The only problem was I let them write their names on it and some of them pushed down a little too hard (like my daughter) and their names went through to their paper. Oh well, you live and learn. The kids also had a great time passing out their Valentines to their preschool friends. It was so fun! I actually had an enjoyable time having it at my house. I have been thinking about teaching preschool, but will probably wait until Madyson is ready to start. We will be in a different area and hopefully will be there a little longer.
And then of course... Happy Valentine's Day! Clay brought this home for me two days ago! It is so gorgeous! I had a smile on my face all day on Friday! I am glad that he gave them to me early! Tonight we are doing our traditional night in. He is currently making our favorite dinner of Fettuccine Alfredo with Shrimp. We put the girls to bed early and eat a somewhat late dinner. It is something that we have done since we have been married because when we were first married we didn't have time to go out to eat and then a year later we didn't have a babysitter. So it is a tradition that I think we both enjoy!

Oh yeah... I took on a babysitting job. I pick up some kids from school and take them to my house for two hours until their dad comes to get them. For a hundred dollars a week it actually is quite good. The girls LOVE it! And I do too because I am not having to entertain my little ones!

Getting Together

2009-02-06T08:15:00.001-08:00

I really had good intentions of wanting to see all of my girlfriends while I was in D-Town, but I don't think it is going to work this time while I am here. I am really disappointed, but I could not find a time that would work for everyone so I decided that I will go back tomorrow morning to go home and prepare my talk for Sunday and my Primary lesson. I am really sorry to those of you who commented and wanted to get together with me. If you commented hopefully I will also give those of you a call sometime today to let you know in case you don't constantly look at my blog. :)

2009-02-02T07:03:00.000-08:00

Thanks Anna! Elyse will be so excited to come and spend some time with Alex!!!

I am really excited to be going back to Dallas this week! I wanted to stay through Sunday, but I forgot that Clay and I are giving talks on Sunday. I guess this would be a good way to get out of it. No I better do it since I already committed. We haven't given a talk in church since we went through the temple 4 years ago. It's amazing at what moving into a small ward does to you. Now we are looking at at least once a year.

I am coming home!!!

2009-01-30T09:35:00.000-08:00

So next week I am going back to Dallas for a few days. I have some family things that I really need to go take care of. I am curious if anyone happens to be available on Thursday February 5th to watch some cute little babes??? If you are leave me a comment or email me alhooten@gmail.com. This would mean a lot to me if someone were available to take them for some of the day on Thursday.

Also... I would like to get together with as many people as I can so I've thought that whoever wants to get together on Saturday for lunch we could do that and have some GIRL TIME! Let me know on the comments as well. Hopefully I will be able to see some of you next weekend!

Update

2009-01-27T13:18:00.000-08:00

The potential buyers on our house in Celina backed out! Grrrrr... We really need this house to sell. We are all doing well. Just really cold! That is all right, it is supposed to be nice again this weekend. I have lost 5 pounds in the past two weeks which is exciting for me! Hopefully in the next couple of weeks I will finally be under 140 lbs! I have been exercising and i started Weight Watchers, which I love! I love being able to eat pretty much whatever i want. It makes me want to eat better. We joined the YMCA and that has given me something to do during the day.

Back Up your blog or create a blog book

2009-01-23T07:56:00.000-08:00

One of my friends had this on her blog and I thought I would share it with others. This is a website that you can backup your blog. It also has the capability of publishing your blog into a book! How Awesome! Thank you Kristin for posting this on your blog!

www.bloggled.com

Playing together

2009-01-20T15:18:00.001-08:00

So Cute! Need I say more?

BTW...Love the weather!!!

Long Awaited Photos of Our New Home!

2009-01-19T14:45:00.000-08:00

The LONG AWAITED pictures of our new house have FINALLY arrived!
This post is dedicated to Liesl! Thanks for reminding me that I needed to post this. I promised that I would post them and now I am finally keeping up with my promises.

Enjoy Everyone!

BTW... keep us in your prayers our house in Celina has a potential buyer and we are in the middle of negotiations.

Our new house on Notre Dame Avenue

The backyard car port where Clay's truck is stored since he now has a company vehicle! Yeah no more gas on this baby!

The left side of our backyard. There is still another side that I did not post. This yard is huge! We live on a corner lot which helps a ton.

The Dining Room part of the kitchen. Kind of small, but we bought a table that actually looks pretty good there.

Our SMALL kitchen. More cabinent space then before, but the counter space is a lot less.

Our new T.V.

FINALLY... the long awaited day for new furniture! We have been married for almost 5 years and I finally got a new living room set. YEAH!!!

The Living Room with the view of the built in shelves.

Still part of the Living Room with double french doors going out into the backyard.

The girls and my bathroom. Clay gets the master bathroom. Trust me I don't want it. Not enough space. Besides he gets to clean it which leaves only one bathroom for me to clean!!! Hee! Hee!

Elyse's side of the girls bedroom. I am too embarrased to show Madyson's side. There are a few boxes where the bedframe is and a pack n' play. I thought that she would be ready for a big girl bed, but I was WRONG! I need to go get her crib back out of storage. I just haven't found the time and quite frankly she likes the pac n' play so I am delaying it. Too lazy I guess.

Our SUPER SMALL Master Bedroom. Oh well... All I do is sleep in there. Clay gets the closet in there and I get the closet in the office. I don't mind. We are doing what we can in the space that we have.

I hope you all enjoyed the tour of the new Hooten Home! We miss you all!

We are getting a piano!!!

2009-01-16T14:36:00.001-08:00

Sorry that you have to scroll down so much to see it and that it is a bit blurry. The picture came out really small and I can't seem to make it bigger without making it more blurry. Anyway... the story behind the piano! We spent Christmas with the Hooten family this year. We went to a Christmas dinner that most of Clay's cousins were at. He has a cousin, Mike, that lives in Denver and just bought a house there. The piano came with the house. While we were at the dinner Elyse was up on the stage playing with the piano that was there. While she was playing we started talking to his cousin about it. He said that he had a piano that he would GIVE to us. WHAT?!?! Did I hear that correctly! Yup!!! We will be the proud owners of a piano in June when we can go out and pick it up! Thanks Clay for humoring me! Now I can take lessons and learn the piano before the girls! I am soooo excited!
Big Thank you to Mike for letting us have the piano!!!

The "Joys" of School!

2009-01-15T11:45:00.000-08:00

Elyse started Joy School this week! She was so excited to get back into school. It has been a while since she was in school. If you don't know what Joy School is I will give a brief explanation. Joy school is a bunch of moms that get together and do preschool by switching homes on a weekly basis. We do it two days a week for 2 1/2 hours. We teach basic values in life. They have a preschool curriculum, too. We just decided that most of the kids weren't ready. Elyse is ready, but i will be doing some stuff with her on my own.
Elyse really loves Joy School. It has been nice for her to get to know some other kids in our ward. I really love Joy School as well! It has been nice having a few hours to spend with Madyson. We typically go and run errands that are a little more difficult with two kiddos.

Weekend Trip

2009-01-13T07:22:00.000-08:00

Can I say I am so glad to be home!!! We have been doing quite a bit of traveling lately. I guess that is what happens when you move away from one family and a little closer to another. We have more opportunities now to go and visit Clay's family in El Paso. When we lived in the Dallas area it took us 11 hours to get there and now it only takes 5 1/2. We went this weekend to celebrate Clay's grandfather's 89th birthday! What an exciting milestone! I love all of his grandparents so much. I guess I just love older people because they have so much to contribute and they have seen so much more than a 25 year old girl. Anyway...

Happy Birthday Grandpa Ayub!

Our family posing with the Birthday Boy!

Our family with Grandma Ayub! Thanks Grandma for letting us stay with you!

2009-01-09T12:30:00.000-08:00

Your Word is "Think"

You see life as an amazing mix of possibilities, ideas, and fascinations.
And sometimes you feel like you don't have enough time to take it all in.

You love learning. Whether you're in school or not, you're probably immersed in several subjects right now.
When you're not learning, you're busy reflecting. You think a lot about the people you know and the things you've experienced.

All I have to say is I agree 100%. It is funny that by answering a few questions it tends to describe you right on! Have a good weekend everyone!

New Years Resolutions

2009-01-06T10:11:00.000-08:00

I think that if I write down my New Year's Resolutions for ALL to see than I will more likely be held accountable for them!

2009 New Year's Resolutions

1. Spend quality time with my wonderful girls!
2. Be prepared to teach the CTR 5 class each Sunday! In the past I have not been too prepared with my primary callings. Hence the reason I think I keep getting called into Primary.
3. BE FIT! I want to lose 25 pounds. This moving thing caused me to gain a little weight that I did not want to see. No, I did not gain that much, but I just want to be down to the weight I was when I became pregnant with Elyse.
4. Write letters to my family each Sunday. I haven't lived far from my family in 6 years. I know that they miss the girls. It is for my benefit as well since I don't keep a very good journal.
5. Meet new people. I want to be better at going out of my comfort zone to be social with others. We have already made some friends here and that has helped tremendously!
6. Scrapbook more often! I loved having the scrapbook group in our last ward even though there was just a couple of us. Each month I would come home with 2 new pages. I am ready to get back on it again!
7. Learn something new! I want to learn how to do something that will make it look like I have talents! Ha! Maybe needle point work, or crocheting or knitting. Something...
8. Give service more often. Now that I actually have time I would like to be better at helping others who are in need. I know that I couln't have done it without the help of some very good friends and sisters in the gospel.
9. Be more creative when it comes to activities to do with my girls. If any of you have ideas that you want to share... I am new to this staying home thing and I need ideas to keep them busy.
10. Talk kinder and be more patient with my wonderful Hubby!

Now that I have shared my New Years Resolutions with you... what are your new year's resolutions? Maybe we can help each other stick to our goals a little better!

Have a Happy and Wonderful 2009!

P.S. Our house is still for sale or lease, so if any of you know anyone who is moving to the area that might want to live in Carter Ranch in Celina let me know! It is a wonderful neighborhood with lots of really cool amenities. It is a 3 bedroom, 2 bath with 1860 square feet. Newly painted. It honestly looks brand new! As it should for only being 4 years old.

Back online!

2009-01-02T11:06:00.000-08:00

I am finally back online! It has taken us the whole month of December to finally get the computer and desk up and and running! We have such a busy month, but a great month after everything is said and done! We really enjoyed Christmas! We were able to have my mom and dad come to San Angelo the weekend before Christmas! We had a nice time with them. We then went to El Paso to spend Christmas with Clay's family. We had a nice time, but we were ready to come to our new home. On the drive back from El Paso I really wanted to go home. I don't mean to San Angelo, but to the house we just left. For me it takes leaving something to fully appreciate it. I loved our home in Celina. Sometimes I wish that we were back there. I know that we are where we are supposed to be though. We actually drove back from El Paso childless. Wow! You may say to yourself. How did they manage that?!? I have a wonderful Mother-in-law who wanted to spend some time with her grandaughters and I told she could without any hesitation. Actually just a little bit with Mady. I wasn't quite ready for her to be gone from my sight for a week, but I have dealt with it. We really needed this time so thanks Sherry for being so kind to take the girls for us!!! I have been getting the house in order and hopefully will have everything in its place when the girls come back tomorrow! I have spent all week doing stuff around the house and pampering myself! For graduation my other mother-in-law, Pam, gave me a gift certificate to the spa here in San Angelo! I had a day of pampering! It was wonderful! I had a manicure and pedicure while laying down? Now how many of us can actually say we have done that? I hadn't until this week! It was wonderful! Thanks Pam for thinking of me and giving me something that was much needed to help me relax from such a stressful semester. I will post some pictures soon of the girls and Christmas. I might even throw in a graduation photo!

2008-12-05T14:04:00.000-08:00

I DID IT!!! My last day of Student Teaching was today. It was bitter sweet for me. I have grown to love the kids, but at the same time I am ready to be finished. I have had so much fun during this past year. I really liked my last mentor teacher. She is the one that I can give all of my credit to for all I have learned about being in the classroom. I had her as a mentor teacher last semester as well. I have seen improvement in myself from when I taught my first lesson last semester in her classroom to teaching the last lesson yesterday. I love teaching and having fun with them. Yesterday I made the kids laugh and I had to laugh with them because it was funny. I talked to inanimate cubes. A long story, but I got my point across on fractions and mixed numbers!!! Most of them got 100s on their homework last night and that makes me happy that they understood the lesson that I gave even though I looked like a complete idiot! LOL. College has been one of the best times of school for me. I have enjoyed every minute of it. I am going to be taking a break from school for a few years, but don't be surprised if you find that I have gone back for a master's degree. I need a break right now though.

BY the way... I am having a graduation party/ going away party on Friday the 12th of December. If you are in the area and have nothing to do come and say by to us! It is at Valerie Sauter's home in McKinney. The address is:

4104 Carmel Mountain Dr, McKinney, TX 75070

It is an Open House and it starts at 4:30 pm.

We would love to see all of you come and see us off!!!

Pathetic

2008-12-01T17:35:00.000-08:00

I know! I am so pathetic. I have not had a moment to blog in FOREVER! I have been checking on all my fellow bloggers, but have not taken the time to blog. We moved last Friday! Thanks to all that came to help. As the men were loading the truck I couldn't help but think how blessed we have been to have such good friends! I am going to miss the Frisco area! We got everything out of our house on Friday (the day after Thanksgiving.)
I took a well deserved Saturday off and relaxed in the morning. I went to lunch with the sister missionaries, who I love and admire so much. They make me wish that I had gone on a mission and not gotten married so early. Although who can resist having such a beautiful family! I know that I wasn't meant to go on a mission. Maybe that it is why I appreciate them so much!!! We went to a birthday party in the afternoon and came home and relaxed some more.
On Sunday I went to the house to clean. I know I broke the Sabbath. I figure the Lord knows my heart and how much I have to do before we leave this area. As I was finishing up so that I could get home to go to church with my parents, Elyse came to me and said that she was really cold. When I went to hug her she was burning up! She ran a fever all day yesterday and through the night. I took her to the doctor after school today for there to be nothing wrong with her. DON'T YOU HATE THAT??? There was nothing they could do for her. Maybe it was my imagination that she was sick. At least that's how they made me feel.
I also want to give a big Thank You to those of you who helped me pack and clean! It really does mean a lot that so many people came to my rescue.

I Heart Shopping!

2008-11-11T18:34:00.001-08:00

Though I love shopping (especially for girls) I can't help but have a smile on my face when I can go shopping right from my very own attic! Here are some of the 18 month clothes that I found up in the attic for Madyson! How wonderful! I am so excited! Time to put away the 12 month summer clothes! Winter and Christmas here we come!

Random Picture Tag

2008-11-02T14:36:00.000-08:00

I really liked this picture tag so I am going to do it.
Here are the rules:
1. Go to your folder that has all your pictures.
2. Pick the 4th folder and the 4th picture.
3. Post the picture and write a story about that picture.
4. Do it if you want to! I thought it was a fun way to look back in the past and remember what some of my pictures are!

Here goes....

This picture was taken with Elyse and I on her first Christmas. (Elyse was 8 1/2 months old.) Actually it was an early Christmas with my family since we spent Christmas that year with Clay's family. We were at my parents house and this is Elyse and I opening her Christmas presents from Grandpa and Grandma Minson! I love Christmas time and look forward to the next few months of cool weather and the anticipation of Christmas!

Reflections of Christ

2008-11-01T08:53:00.000-07:00

This came on my email today from Deseret Book. It is a slide show of Christ. I was so touched by this slide show! I just want to tell all of you that I truly have a testimony of my Savior. The pictures in this show truly reflect who the Savior is. Throughout the time that Clay was without a job I truly became closer to my Savior. I know that it was through our faith that he held us up during that trial for our family. I know that the Savior loves each of us! I know that quite a few of you are going through trials right now and I tell you "Lean on your Savior. He is there waiting for us to come unto Him."
Here is the Link. Let me know what you think!
http://deseretbook.com/reflections/

Prop 8 must see

2008-10-30T16:04:00.000-07:00

This is a must see! I know most of us don't live in California, but I can't believe this is something that we will have to deal with if Prop 8 gets passed. I thought that this was definitely worth sharing and you watching if you have about 6 minutes of spare time this week! Happy Halloween to all!

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1815820715/bctid1822459319

Scary or Not?

2008-10-29T15:34:00.000-07:00

These girls aren't scary on Halloween they are Pretty as Princesses and Giraffes.

These pictures are for you Clay!

Tonight we are going to the ward's Trunk or Treat. This is a great time for me and the girls to spend time with friends from church. We haven't been to church in ages it feels like. It has been not stop around here for the month of October. Hope everyone has a safe trick or treating this Friday. And for those who I will see soon I look forward to seeing the costumes you have for your kiddos!
P.S. Mady wouldn't take a pictures by herself for some reason. Hopefully I can get some tonight!

So in Love

2008-10-28T17:34:00.001-07:00

I am so in love with my daughters. They bring such happiness into my life. Mady looked so cute today that I had to take her picture and when I did I received the happiest and cutest smile EVER! She is in the cheese stage! She loves saying cheese and gives the cutest smile when she does. My mom put her hair in pig tails for the first time today and she sure looks cute in them and I think that she knows it. Mady loves talking on the phone. She especially loves talking to Daddy at night. Daddy is working during the week down in San Angelo. The girls miss him! I think it is taking its toll on all of us, but it is a sacrifice that I have to make at this time! We miss you and love you Daddy!

Last night we carved pumpkins. I had so much fun with my girls. Elyse had fun! She was really intent on getting all of the seeds out of the pumpkin. I love this time of year. More to come hopefully soon with Halloween pictures.

What we Want...

2008-10-14T15:36:00.000-07:00

I got the cutest t-shirt this weekend. It made me smile! Here is how it goes!

What we Want...
A bear-huntin'
ice-fishin'
wave-makin'
corruption- bustin'
God -fearin'
head turnin'
game-changin'
lipstick-wearin'
pistol-packin'
Mama.

Sarah Palin for Vice-President!

I usually don't express my opinions about politics because usually people tend to disagree on that and I am not a confrontational person, but GO MCCAIN AND PALIN!!!

PLEASE HELP!!!

2008-10-12T13:51:00.000-07:00

This is the first time that I have ever had to move somewhere far away while on my own. Those of you have moved and know what it is like can I have tips from you. Especially those who have had to sell or rent their houses. We are renting ours so we at least know that we have somewhere to go if we ever decide to come back out this way. I am sure we will eventually. I am addicted to DALLAS, TEXAS!!! I love this area and am really sad to have to move. Our house is going on the market at the end of October. I need to have the house somewhat packed by then. Anyone up to helping??? Just thought I would put it out there! Thanks for all the ideas. I will take whatever ideas I can get.

Conference Weekend

2008-10-05T18:28:00.000-07:00

I sure love conference weekend. We usually miss Saturday sessions because we tend to always have something going on, but this weekend I was able to at least get in the 1st session live and then the 2nd session I watched while Clay was at the Priesthood session and after I put my girls to bed. The talk that I came away with the most out of was Elder Holland's talk. I love how he talks. He reminds me of my dad for some reason. I loved his talk on angels. I cried throughout his whole talk because I had a witness during that talk that I have had angels watching over me and my family. I felt so strongly of this during the time that Clay was laid off. We have felt comforted and at peace. We have also had many angels on earth in mortality that have watched out for our family. I want to thank those "Angels" who have helped me or my family. We have been so blessed by those around us in our time of need. I don't know I can ever repay the generosity that has been given unto us. I know that someday I will have the opportunity to repay in a way of me being an angel to someone. I love this gospel. I love how caring we are for each other. It truly is the work of the Lord. I know this with all of my heart.
Clay left this afternoon to start his new job in San Angelo. He is really excited about this. I am looking forward to this move not because I want to get away from here (I love it here!). I just want to meet new people and have more opportunities to share the gospel with my neighbors.I look forward to serving in the kingdom of our Savior. I know that our family is doing the right thing. This is what our Heavenly Father wants us to do at this time.

UPDATE!!!

2008-09-21T15:58:00.000-07:00

I have good news and not so good news! The not so good news is that my daughter decided that she wanted to be just like Sister Hoquenson (can't spell). For those of you who don't know who Sister H. is she is a missionary in our ward who is a licensed beautician. It is not bad that my daughter wants to be like her, but it is bad that my daughter wants to be like the beautician. She cut her beautiful hair all by herself yesterday. I should be a proud mommy or NOT! She came in my room yesterday morning asking me if her hair looked pretty. Me being a little bit drowsy still told her her hair always looks pretty. Than I started looking at her and realized that she cut her hair. Her is the picture of her hair cut. You probably can't see it that well, but she pretty cut one side of her head pretty short. Luckily I can't part her hair down the middle and it is not very noticeable.

Now for the good news! CLAY FOUND A JOB!!! YEAH!! We are so happy and excited for this next adventure in our lives. He got a job with a military housing company. This will be a stable job I am sure, but it is requiring us to move from our beautiful home in the Dallas area! We have loved it here. We have such wonderful friends. We live in a great ward with a wonderful Bishop! There will be a lot that will be missed. We are going to San Angelo, Texas. From my understanding it is about 3-4 hours south west of here. There we will be in between my family and Clay's family. The bad part to this is that I cannot leave right now because of my finishing up school. I will be here with the girls during the week and Clay will be able to come home on most weekends. I know that it will be tough so don't be surprised if I am calling some of you to relieve me or at least talk me back into sanity! I will try and keep everyone updated. I am sure as it gets closer to graduation and getting everything ready to move that I will need some help so if you are interested in helping a friend I would love it! Just let me know!

10 things

2008-09-06T16:53:00.000-07:00

Finally a free moment to blog! This week has been so busy. I know that I keep saying this, but that is my life right now. I had a better week with my classes at school! These are the things that I have realized these past few weeks...
1.) Being a teacher is hard work.
2.) I love teaching middle school! Call me crazy but it is awesome!
3.) I especially love teaching 8th graders math.
4.) I love teaching the struggling learners. It is fun seeing their successes.
5.) Math is the greatest subject!
6.) I love the technology that we are able to use today. It is so much different than when I was in middle school or high school. It is great!
7.) I don't mind being observed by other teachers. One of the special ed teachers came in and observed the class that I was teaching and I really wasn't nervous. It was really exciting and she told me that I did a really good job! That for sure boosted my self esteem a little!
8.) I have not had time for anything personal whatsoever. I hardly even read at night which is so unlike me! I am so tired at 8:30 that I go in my room, read my scriptures and go to bed.
9.) An all boy class is really hard work. I can't decide who talks more boys or girls. I am beginning to think that boys talk more than girls do.
10.) Sleep is very important! It is hard going from not working for 3 1/2 years to working. Where I was able to pretty much get as much sleep as I needed I am now forced to go to bed much earlier and get up much earlier! I like it though. My days definitely feel more productive. It is certainly an adjustment period that I am going through.

I did teach my first class this week. It is nice that my teacher is letting me teach two of her classes because she guides and helps me for the first one and than I can pretty much do the second class without any help. I am now dreading teaching this advanced boys class. I will try to step up to the challenge sometime this week or next.
I was able to help the sister missionaries out this week and it really made my week! I love giving service to others even though I am so busy. I love having the sister's in our home and feeling of their sweet spirits!
This pretty much sums up my week! Hope the rest of my bloggin' friends had a great week as well!

1st week

2008-08-30T07:54:00.000-07:00

I thought that I would catch everyone up on my first week of student teaching. It has been really busy that is for sure! My mentor teacher is really intense and I had a hard time with her for the first few days. We had a nice chat on Friday and I feel much better about her now. I will be teaching my first lesson on Tuesday after the LONG weekend! This middle school has about 5 advanced math classes (algebra). They are piloting a new thing with having an all girl class and an all boy class and the rest of the classes are mixed. I am going to be teaching the all boy class. I am really excited! They seem like a great group of kids and I am anxious to see how this works! I am also taking a night class on Wednesdays. This week was the first class. I drove all the way from Allen to Denton to wait for 45 minutes for a teacher who never showed up. I was pretty upset because I had been at school all day and the last thing I wanted to do was drive for an hour and then sit in a class. Anyway, apparently there was a technology glitch and the teacher didn't know she was supposed to be teaching the class. To me it sounds like someone didn't check his or her email. That is me being a little critical though. This week has been great overall. Clay has the girls twice a week and is finally realizing what I do everyday is not easy! My mom is taking the girls the other days. I am so thankful to her for doing this for me! She is really helping us out a bunch. I love you Mom!

First Day of School

2008-08-25T16:46:00.000-07:00

All I can say is I am exhausted!!! I did not get a nap today. Ha Ha! It was a day of just information overload. The middle school that I am at reminded me of an elementary school. I have never seen teachers have to walk the students to the bus when in middle school. Hmmm.... Maybe Junior High is different then middle school because this was nothing like my junior high experience. I guess probably because I am looking through it from the eyes of a teacher and not a student.

What Olympic Sport are You?

2008-08-22T08:47:00.000-07:00

Thanks for the Friday Quiz Sarah! This fits for sure. This has always been my favorite sport and I LOVE watching it on the Olympics!

You Are Volleyball

You enjoy a fast paced, somewhat chaotic life.

You don't like to over think things. You like to act in the moment.

You are good at solving problems at the very last minute.

What Olympic Sport Are You?

Going Private

2008-08-21T16:37:00.000-07:00

I was trying to avoid going private at all costs because I have enjoyed coming into contact with friends from Idaho and staying in contact with friends from Texas, but I have decided that I need to go private. I am still debating it, but think that this is probably for the best. I was placed in a middle school for my student teaching, but since kids are so computer savvy these days I am afraid that they will start looking at my blog and want to get into my personal life. Does anyone have any comments on whether or not I should do this or not? Rene any comment? I really don't want to. I will give it a little while if I do decide to do this. Please email me if you want to keep up with us! I would really love it especially if all my friends from Poky will email me so I can put you all on my blog. Here is my email: alhooten@gmail.com. Anybody have any good ideas that I can try before totally going private???

Waiting Game

2008-08-19T18:55:00.000-07:00

I hate playing the waiting game. It is not fun! Clay's job interview went well yesterday, but they did not offer him anything yesterday. I don't know why I was thinking that they would. They said that they would let him know in 4-5 days! 4-5 days! Seriously! We have been waiting for a month for this interview and they want us to wait that long! Oh man... I am so not a patient person. I know that if he is supposed to get this job than they will hire him. It is just the waiting that really stinks! I will let everyone know when we hear something. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers from my fellow bloggers!

Favor!

2008-08-18T13:56:00.000-07:00

Who's finished with Breaking Dawn that is willing to let me borrow??? Anyone??? I don't want to buy it since I did not buy the first 3.

Wish us luck!

2008-08-18T07:34:00.000-07:00

Wish us luck everyone! Clay has a job interview today!!! This is a great opportunity that he is being interviewed for. We are really excited and are praying that he gets this job! I will let you know what happens later!

Summer Lovin'

2008-08-08T18:37:00.000-07:00

With Summer coming to an end I thought I would pay some tribute to some of the things that we have done. I have 2 weeks before I am in the classroom doing my student teaching and have mixed emotions about going! I have had so much fun being home with my girls this summer, but at the same time I am looking forward to getting out of the house during the day and doing what I love! Teaching young minds!! I feel like I am not a good SAHM because I am not good at the homemaking things that go with the job. Yes I get my housework done and I make sure my kids are taken care of and that dinner is on the table (okay I might be going too far by saying dinner is on the table. There are some days that I don't even want to cook even though I have been home doing nothing.) I just don't feel like it is satifying to me. I know some of you might look down on me for saying this, but this is how I feel. I like that I chose a profession where I can have a few months out of the year to spend at home. I feel like I don't accomplish anything when I am home all the time. Sounds unusual and maybe selfish, but it is what it is. We have done some fun things this summer. We started off the summer doing well by going to library just about every Friday. We slacked off towards the end though. We LOVE story time over here. My Elyse loves to read. She is taking after her Mommy. Mady is getting where she loves to read to. Elyse got her first library card this summer and she was so excited. BTW we have the COOLEST Library here in Frisco, Texas! It beats any library I had while growing up.

Here is Elyse getting her Library card and checking out her books.

Tyler, Mady, and Elyse on the boats having fun playing with the bells. That was a hit for all of them!

Here we are with my sister Jenny, her son Tyler and Elyse and I on the Tilt - A- Whirl at the the Sandy Lake Amusement Park in Carrollton.

We have been spending summer evenings outside playing with our next door neighbor Alex. He is a good kid and Elyse loves going over there. This is them having some ice cream before saying Good Night.

The best part of the Summer was that my brother Scott came into town. He is the handsome Marine that I have previously mentioned and did not have a picture of a few months ago! He is awesome! We spent a lot of time with him when he came in town last month! We had a couple family dinners at the Minson house and then went bowling in the middle of the week at Main Event. We had a lot of fun! We had dinner one night at my house and played the Wii. It was fun! My dad and I had a boxing fight and he beat me. I think this was one of the best times I have spent with my family in a long time. My dad made the BEST blueberry cobbler ever! Scott leaves for Iraq on Wednesday. Please pray for the soldiers to do their jobs and to come home safely and in a timely manner! These guys are great for serving our country. We all are in debt to them for what they do to keep our country the way it is!

Sorry for this post being so long! I needed to catch everyone up with pictures and things from the Summer. Hopefully I will be able to keep up with blogging somewhat once school starts! Wish me luck!

The Joys of Blogging...

2008-08-01T13:28:00.000-07:00

Messes! Need I say more? Apparently I need to spend more time focusing on my children even though I left them in the kitchen eating breakfast for 20 minutes this morning. Mady began to fuss and Elyse being the good big sister that she is decided to pour Mady some more cereal. Except that she poured what was left of the Kix onto the floor and covered the high chair. It's a good thing that she didn't come up with the idea of pouring milk. That really would have been a disaster to say the least. A funny moment, but I was a little upset. It's a good thing I hadn't swept already! Apparently I need to spend less time checking on all my favorite bloggers and more time with the kiddos! It is so addicting and I love it! But perhaps I should spend a little less time blogging. Oh well, my blogging days will be less once school starts in 3 weeks.

Crazy!

2008-07-30T07:42:00.000-07:00

How would you like this thing living with you? My brother sent this picture to me from his mission in Ecuador. This little guy (iguana?) was inside his apartment.

Tagged

2008-07-25T12:57:00.000-07:00

I know this tag is going around so I chose not to tag anyone else. Do it if you want to!

Here ya go...4 Things You May Not Know About Me:

1. I secretly or not so secretly love ice cream! That is my favorite thing at night. Hence the reason why I can't get the last 10 pounds of baby weight off!

2. I have to brag...I graduate in December and will be graduating Magna Cum Laude which means that I had a 3.8 for my end in college! It is exciting! I know I should be humble, but I am proud of myself considering the fact that I had kids for the majority of my college!
3. I love to read just about anything! I have a new found love that should have been a love a long time ago...the scriptures! I love the Book of Mormon and cannot put it down! This is only the second time in my life that I have read it. I know call me horrible!

4. I am shy and have a hard time meeting new people. Once I get to know you I don't seem so shy anymore.

4 Places I Go Over and Over:
Walmart
Church
the neighborhood pool
my Mom and Dad's House

4 People That Email Me:
Sarah
Brooke
Elder Minson (My brother)
Dad

4 of My Favorite Foods:
Homemade pizza
anything my husband cooks
a good steak
shrimp

4 Places I'd Love to Be:
On the beach in Hawaii
San Antonio
Utah with family
Florida

4 Movies I Watch Over and Over
I don't really watch movies over and over.

Memory Tag

2008-07-18T08:07:00.000-07:00

This is a great idea so I thought I would play along. I would really love to hear about memories that you all have had with me.

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

Girls Night!

2008-07-18T08:05:00.000-07:00

Okay...what do you get when Mommy's are in need of getting out of the house + delicious food + awesome husbands who take care of the kids? Well of course a fabulous girls night out! This is what I did last night! Tons of fun! Thanks all you girls who shared this with me! It was tons of fun! Maybe we should make this a consistent thing!