Annus Mirabilis and the Rocket Resolution

Happy New Year to everyone! It is my wish that your 2009 is--like our 2008 was--an Annus Mirabilis.

Our "extraordinary year" in 2008 began with Kohler's disease which cut short Jack's first basketball season; continued in Bear Lodge and the kids' first skiing experience in Angel Fire; made a stop in pre-Ike Galveston over spring break; finished a great school year including a graduation from kindergarten; included the trip to Asheville, the updates from which were the genesis of this blog; moved into another school year and our first (of many!) seasons following four different soccer teams; and many other adventures, great and small, along the way.

We have an ordinary life--albeit fun, crazy, exciting and wonderful--which is filled with people, events, traditions, and beliefs that make it extraordinary. Thank you to each and every one of you who contribute to and are a special part of the Huttons' life! And thank you for our Annus Mirabilis!

Oh yeah, one more thing: the Rocket Resolution. To make a long story short (I'll flesh it out later), a resolution I'm making this year is to do 100 pushups every day in 2009. So I would appreciate any and all positive reinforcement to make sure I meet my goal of 36,500 pushups this year! Happy New Year!

Space goob....

I am a huge space goob. I admit it. Anything to do with space just totally fascinates me. And, what is worse, I've created little space goobs out of my 4 kids. So when I saw this article (below) on yahoo today about a totally wicked (thanks Will) celestial occurance tonight, I had to share it because well, it sounds totally wicked!

"A delightful display of planets and the moon will occur on New Year's Eve for anyone wishing to step outside and look up just after sunset. Venus, brighter than all other planets and stars, will dangle just below the thin crescent moon in the southwestern sky. It'll be visible -- impossible to miss, in fact -- just as the sun goes down, assuming skies are cloud-free. Soon thereafter, Mercury and Jupiter will show up hugging the south-southwestern horizon (just above where the sun went down) and extremely close to each other. Jupiter is very bright and easy to spot; Mercury is faint and harder to see, but it'll be apparent by its location just to the left of Jupiter. Jupiter and Mercury will set less than an hour after the sun, so timing your viewing just after sunset is crucial. You'll also need a location with a clear view of the western horizon, unobstructed by buildings, trees or mountains."



Then when I told Jack and Will, well they were as excited as I was (again, junior space goobs). But then Jack said something that stopped me in my tracks...
"Mom, I know why that space thing is happening tonight. It is God's way of welcoming in the New Year. He is just showing us how awesome everything is for a new start." Well said, my little space boy, well said!

Happy Anniversary!!

14 years ago today two crazy 23 year-old highschool sweethearts got hitched! After 7 years of dating, we finally tied the knot. It was the most beautiful, cold, perfect December day when I married the love of my life. We were surrounded by family and friends, laughter and tears and much, much love. Look at us then...



...and we are just as happy today, 14 years and 4 kids later. What an incredible, fun, amazing journey it has been so far, and I'm looking forward to all that lies ahead! I love you sweetheart! Happy Anniversary!

Boys will be boys....

The day is winding down, the children are getting ready for bed, and mommy and daddy are fully in the throes of the bedtime routine. As I walked down the hall I heard an all too common phrase in the Hutton house at this hour. Now first, I must remind you, Annie and I are extremely outnumbered. There is way too much testosterone in this house...sometimes the aroma of manliness (and by this I mean locker-room stink) is overwhelming. But as I was saying, the phrase. The phrase I hear daily when it is bath or shower time....the phrase "get your hands off your penis." Now, I understand the male obsession with their most prized possesion. However, I didn't know until I became a mother that it started this young!! As babies and toddlers they grab, pull, poke and prod until you worry for the possibility of future generations...I mean, there has to be permanent damage! And then, there is the stance. Standing still, listening intently to you, or watching a show or just staring off into space....standing there, with their hand down their pants. Completely unaware that they are even touching anything. Just as shocked as you are when you point out "hey buddy, you wanna get your hands out of your pants?"....they look confused and bewildered about how that hand got there in the first place. It just happens. But in the shower, I guess the temptation is just too great. It is obviously right there so why not grab it. So, get your hands off your penis has become part of my daily vernacular. I guess my friend Sarah is right. All men are really just 6 year old boys in larger packages...I just didn't know the obsession with those packages started quite so early!

Hangover!!!

I recently saw a clip on the news about a study in England that debunked a few common holiday myths. First, poinsettias are not poisonous...good, since we never cared and purchased them each year anyway. Second, that an overabundance of sugar does not cause hyperactivity in children....not sure they would feel the same way were the study conducted at the Hutton house. Third, that there is no cure for a hangover. Now this I believe. As my good friend Sarah told me last weekend, you either need to stop early or have enough to justify the hangover because when you are on that fine line between, you feel bad in the morning without the fun of being overserved. I am finding today (not a new discovery, just a reassurance of old knowledge) that this is true for children as well. As my husband just left to go down to the Grahams to volunteer to help Kyle lay about a ton of flagstone for their new patio, saying "I just need to do something physical to let off a little steam and get rid of some aggression" I realized, our children have a holiday hangover for which there is no cure. Christmas was wonderful, don't get me wrong. We ate and sang and opened until we could do no more. Everyone seemed genuinely pleased with their gifts and there were really no rough moments, a pretty idyllic day all around. Then their was the dawning of a new day. Today has been more like a minefield...which child are you, the angel or the demon. You just don't know until they open their mouths, or hit their sibling for no reason, or look at you and just say "no" when you tell them to do something. All of these things are signs of the hangover. So, when my sweet husband threw them all into bed at 3:00 in the afternoon (way past naptime), left the house seeking an aggression outlet, and left me here alone to listen to their whines, tears and screams all aimed at the evil and unjust imprisoner who is their father, I realized, maybe grownups have holiday hangovers too. It is 3:23 in the afternoon....too early for a glass of wine?????
Enjoy the rest of your holiday!

Merry Christmas, Y'all

To the faithful and sometime followers of this blog--all 7 of you--the Huttons would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas. I hope that you all have the blessings of family and friends as we celebrate this wonderful day.


All Ye Faithful from Igniter Media on Vimeo.

Happy birthday, Jesus and Mimi!

Wonders never cease....

Today being Christmas Eve, one might think this entry is about the wonder of Christmas....the magic of Santa....the gift of our Savior. No. I have been thinking about all of those things this morning, but no, this entry is about an all together different wonder....the wonder of the almighty dollar. It occured to me a short while ago that Annie didn't have any nice tights to wear to church later today, nor did she have any appropriate shoes for the occasion. Her electric blue ballet flats just didn't go with Christmas plaid (go figure). So, although the last time I was there I swore I wouldn't step foot back inside until after Christmas, it was off to Super Target I went, with Will and Sam in tow. I guess that's what you get for swearing. Oh well, at least I remembered now instead of at 3:00 when it was time to go...but I digress. The store was crowded as you might expect; however, I was pleasantly surprised by, well, the pleasantness. There was no shoving, no cursing, no shouting at poor store clerks because they were out of that much needed item. No, people were courteous and kind and just plain nice. People were smiling and laughing and seemed to be full of the Christmas spirit. As was I, until....I saw it. Huge and ugly and right there in front of me...in full view of everyone in the store...just mocking the day of Christmas Eve. There it was....a Valentine's Day display. AUGH!!! (as Charlie Brown would say). And then, to make matters worse, as if I should be buying Valentine's Day paraphenalia on Christmas Eve, right next to it was a huge display of....beach towels!! Now, I'll give ya that it is about 60 degrees here right now, beautiful sunny skies, and not really a Norman Rockwell, picture postcard Christmas outside, but hey, it's Texas, what can I say. 60 degree temps or not, beach towels don't scream Christmas, and neither do pink and red hearts. Oh well, I guess I should be grateful for the lovely attitude of all of us last-minute shoppers, gathering together in the spirit of the season, buying tights and celebrating the wonder of Christmas!

Ready, set....SANTA!!

The big day is here! It is Christmas Eve...time for celebration. The gingerbread cookies are ready (thanks, Mimi!), all the groceries are bought, and most of the presents are wrapped (Mom's got to get busy instead of blogging all the time). Now we just have to keep the kids in one piece (one peace could apply here as well) until church this afternoon, dinner tonight and bedtime. We will feed the reindeer (you can't forget Rudolph!), put cookies and milk out for Santa (although silly Daddy keeps trying to tell the kids that Santa likes a little bourbon, neat) and then it is time for the traditional reading of that old Christmas classic. Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse (better not be, that is what the crazy cat is for). The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nick soon would be there. The kiddies are nestled all snug in their beds while visions of Nintendo DS's dance in their heads (let's face it, our kids don't even understand what sugarplums are, not sure I do either). And Pa in his Texas Santa hat and I in my big brown cloud (fleece to all of you) will just settle our brains for a quite short winter's nap (remember, our kids are up pre-dawn on a regular day, forget it on Christmas). And so the story will go. Merry Christmas to all!!!!

Have yourself a ......

SUPER little Christmas!!

Kid Bartending 101

The other night, Annie--the hostess with the mostest--offered my dad a drink when he was at our house. She offered him "a beer, or a margarita, or a martini." My dad was amused by the offering and asked why those drinks? Annie's response: "You know, that's what grown-ups drink."

So tonight I asked Annie if she knew how to make a margarita:

"Well, yes, kinda."

"OK, how do you make one?"

"You have this stuff in a can, and you pour it in a glass, and sometimes you decorate the glass with fancy salts and stuff...actually, I have no idea."

So be careful what you order and from whom the next time you come over to the Huttons!

Traditions...

...are such an important part of family and holidays. I love that each year our little family of 6 goes to Northpark to see the decorations, drives around and looks at Christmas lights, and makes gingerbread men with our Mimi...just to name a few. I love that we get an angel from the angel tree to help our kids understand how blessed we truly are, and that others may not be so fortunate. I love our neighborhood traditions as well...cocktail parties, ornament exchanges. But I think my favorite neighborhood tradition revolves around...breakfast. Every grade level at our elementary school, boys and girls, has a holiday breakfast each year. Some exchange ornaments, some books. Some just hang out and have fun. What I love about this tradition was summed up beautifully by my good friend Lezlie this morning at Annie's 4th annual Candy Cane breakfast. She said the moms love this breakfast as much as the girls, and we started this tradition because we could see the future. We could see girls growing up, getting involved in different activities and organizations. We could see their lives and ours getting busier and crazier until ultimately those sweet girls in their pjs, squealing and giggling would go...off to college or wherever God has planned for them..to start their own lives. So before any of that happens, we started this tradition...of coming together at Christmas time to celebrate Christ's birth with good friends, watching our girls as they grow into lovely young women...so that years from now, way into the future, it will be part of our established routine. We will all come home for the holidays, wake up one morning just before Christmas, and come together again....celebrating, our tradition.

Me and my precious girl...









Sweet friends having so much fun!

Lights fantastic...

Each year we load the kids into the car and go looking at Christmas lights. Tonight was the night for this fun-filled holiday tradition. We fed, bathed and jammied the kids and headed out with Christmas carols playing and hot chocolate sipping....so much fun. I'm always amazed by how much the kids love the lights. It is so fun for us to sit up front and listen to the ongoing commentary...the "ooohhhhs" and "aaahhhs" sprinkled with the occasional "awesome" and tonight even a "totally wicked" (thanks Incredibles). There was talk of Santa, Jesus and guardian angels (or garden angels as Will likes to call them, you know, the ones that make sure your veggies grow)....and it was, well, awesome.

Tiny tots with their eyes all a glow.....





....did not find it hard to sleep tonight....


Sammy going....







going.....






....gone!




Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

If the video clip fits...

I don't particularly like the tv show "The Family Guy." I think it is silly and inappropriate just for inappropriate's sake (and yet, I like The Simpsons, go figure). However, there is one clip that Ames found for me long ago on You Tube that just fits my sweet Will to a tee. Now, I know you all are saying..."doesn't she have 4 children? why is she always blogging about Will?". I guess his personality is just dominating my brain right now..actually, who am I kidding...his personality has dominated for the last 5 years. It is not that I love Annie, Jack or Sam any less or that they don't give me equal amounts of the joy and grief that Will does. It is just, well, you have to know Will. He is either full on or he is asleep. He is either full volume or he is asleep...you get the idea. To know him is to adore him even tho just watching him go is completely and utterly exhausting. As you can tell from reading this blog (and my inability to center the text with the pictures), I'm not technologically adept enough to photoshop Will's head into the video clip below, so just put this face... ...on the little cartoon boy and enjoy. Welcome to a little bit of life (and this happens just about every morning at say, about 6:00 am) with the lovable, huggable and oh so exasperating....Will!

Have you met my husband....

....the Heat Miser (Ames has always had the most talented hair)



And with all the little misers...

A little Christmas fun...

...was had by all today, even tho we were in shorts and 70 degree temperatures.


The kids weren't sure at first if this was the real Santa or just one of his helpers. But, he knew all their names....curious
...so they told him what they wanted for Christmas, just in case. Better safe than sorry, especially 5 days before the big day!!





What a fantastic idea!!!! Super-sized ornaments and presents just ripe for the climbing! It is always such fun as a parent when you can say "yes, you can climb on that" and the kids had a ball (no pun intended), even if Jack wouldn't smile for his mama!


The day drew towards an end with a little gingerbread decorating...




The elves were hard at work.....



....Voila!! A masterpiece!!






And now, the sun has set, the temperature is dropping (no really, like to the 20s) and tomorrow will feel like the first day of winter! We are snuggled in together watching the Polar Express, having grilled cheese for dinner, and life is good.

Headphones...

..are a fantastic invention. They allow you to have a little privacy in your musical enjoyment and allow others to have a little peace while you listen. We don't all like the same kinds of music, and headphones are a great solution to many an artistic disagreement. Whoever invented the headphones for the car..... a genius! How great that I can listen to my music and the kids can listen to theirs, and never the two shall meet. Except, like all other electronic devices, my kids are more fascinated with the gadget than they are concerned with its functionality. Hence today, while running errands, even tho we were all listening to the same Christmas carols on a CD, the boys insisted on taking turns wearing the headphones. Now, this doesn't bother me. They worked out the sharing system all on their own and it was going quite nicely. My only complaint, that we had to listen to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer over and over and over. The humorous part of the story lies in the volume analysis. We were "that car"...that car that you pull up next to at the stoplight and can't help but look at because it is vibrating!! "That car" where the bass is so high and the volume so loud that you can actually feel the beat of the other car inside your car....you know, you've been there, too. Except herein lies the difference, we didn't have the bass up and we didn't blast it out in volume...no need. I have Will. Will, wearing the headphones, sang Rudolph loudly and proudly. In fact, you could even say he screamed. LOUDLY and proudly. So much so that I worried for the hearing loss of my youngest, Sam. Will sang with such gusto that he literally shook the car. He sang so that he could hear the music in his headphones and still hear himself above it all. Now those of you who know Will, know that volume control is not his forte, but this surpassed anything you have ever witnessed. As we drove down the street vibrating and pulsating to the beat, people could feel our Christmas spirit. And when we stopped at every stoplight, people turned and stared. I'm sure they thought --Bad mother listening to her music so loud with those babies in the car!! No, no....just a little Willie Christmas cheer. So, if you see me later today and I ask you to repeat yourself, or I shout my answer back at you, don't worry. I just have a little leftover Rudolph damage to the eardrums. Merry Christmas!!

Thank you...

Madagascar 2!!! Thank you for introducing my son Will (age 5) to the wonder of breasts! My family loves Madagascar 1, it was silly, yes, but sweet and very funny. The sequel left much to be desired. Wildly inappropriate and just plain stupid (yes, in case my kids are reading this, I know that isn't a nice word, but it just fit). In one scene of the movie there is a male hippo (Moto Moto) who is flexing his very hairy, large pecs. Which brings the question into Will's mind, isn't that a boy hippo? Answer: yes. Then why does he have boobies? My oh my, how the mind reels with possible answers. We deal with the situation in what seems to us an age-appropriate way. Yet, the seed has been planted. Everywhere we go for the next several days, weeks, everything is about "boobies." Hers are big, she doesn't have any, why are boys' so small, do they grow when you are a grown up or is that just for hippos? If boy boobies are big does that mean they have milk inside...and the questions go on and on. First, I must say that I told Will not to call them boobies. That for men, it is just a chest....that somehow translated in Will-speak to "chesties." So, for those of you who need an anatomy refresher...women have boobies and men have chesties. It just won't stop!! Even now as we sit and watch Shrek the Halls, Will doesn't see the funny decorations Shrek has put on their house (including such 5 year old classics as a toilet seat on the door)...no, he asks what are those two circles on Fiona's chest? You know...her boobies? Nice. Thanks to Dream Works for this early education in the differences in our anatomy. I guess we have learned one thing thru it all....Will is definitely a boob man (sorry, chesty man)!

A moment in time....

This may seem silly to most, but to me captured a precious moment in time. We decided to eat dinner in the den, in front of the Muppet Christmas movie (not the same as when we were kids, but the closest my 4 have been to the Muppets..how sad, what happened to the Muppets?). We had the oh so delicious and nutritious dinner of taquitos and nachos which my kiddos love. Seconds were called for and Ames put in another pan of nachos. When they came out of the oven, he called all 4 kids into the kitchen to wait for their helpings and they stood, just like this..


...my little stair steps

....(not for long, poor Annie is doomed to be dwarfed by 3 big boys) all in a row waiting for daddy's delicious nachos. These are the pictures I need to remember when they are driving me CRAZY, running thru the house like wildfire with volume turned up high after way too much Christmas sugar! These are the moments I will miss all too soon. I know someday I'll miss the hot wheels cars under my feet every where I step, the stinky socks and muddy shoes in every room of the house, the wet towels and dirty clothes left in the floor of my room, and much much more. But most of all, I know I'll miss the precious stair steps, waiting patiently for seconds of nachos, eating dinner in the den and watching (and completely enthralled by) the Muppet Christmas movie.

An afternoon with Wags....

Ah, Hut Hut's house....the land of opportunity!!




So many choking hazards, so little time!



Look Dad, forget ducks! I got my first deer!!!!




Wow! Look at all these cords...what does this one do?






Um, I'm a little scared now. Can I call my mom???? HELP!

Birthday blessings

At chapel yesterday, Sammy got to go up front for his birthday blessing. I wasn't going to post this picture since it isn't the cutest of Sam, or my friend Ann the music teacher, until I got Ames' comment when I sent it to him...


"He's a muffin...but in that pic with that face and that sweater, he looks a little like Freddy Kreuger!!"

Nice!
(maybe if Freddy had been this cute and had birthday blessings, there would have been no nightmares on elm street...just a thought)

Interpretation is everything...

The nativity as seen by Sam...three baby Jesus' all in a row, sleeping peacefully on the hutch.




And the nativity as seen by Will...no baby Jesus in sight (he's one of the triplets on the hutch, the one that looks like a bean), but there are the cameo appearances of a hippo, gorilla, lion, elephant and giraffe. It's all about interpretation.

Happy Birthday Sam!!

What more can a boy want on his 4th birthday than to wake up to......SNOW!!!!

Happy Birthday Sam! We love you!






Birthday fun continues...



...with presents, always a good thing


...and cake!





Way to go, Sammy!!

The Christmas Program

It is a little known fact about that first Christmas that all the very dapper shepherds wore bow ties...




...and so did one very handsome wise man.

Holidaze....

Why is it that we wait and wait for Christmas all year and then when it finally comes, we make ourselves so busy, so crazy that we miss it! The house is finally decorated, inside and out (or at least as much as it is going to be), the presents are mostly bought, and school is almost over. This is the beginning of my favorite time of year...when the kids are out of school and the craziness is finished and all we have left to do is rejoice, relax and renew our tired spirits. The most amazing gifts of Christmas for me are the pure and innocent belief of my children, the love and laughter of our family together, and the time to enjoy it all. And although we are missing our daddy right now while he works tirelessly on a big case, we look forward to what we know lies ahead....celebrating Sam's birthday, end of school Christmas parties, Daddy finishing his work, and the true beginning of our Christmas time together. I am the one who is always weeping when the church choir sings Oh Come All Ye Faithful, when my children read the story of the birth of Jesus on Christmas Eve and light the advent candles, and when my sweet husband and I get to finally sit on the couch and snuggle with all 4 little ones sleeping, knowing that Santa has come and that there is peace in our home and in our hearts. It seems appropriate that my first posting on this amazing blog that Ames so sweetly put together for me is about Christmas. Love to him and to all my precious babies, and thanks to God for the incredible gift of his Son, without which, I wouldn't get to experience this magic.

Hutton Dialogues, Part Two

highs and lows.....

sammy: my high is that i got to sing in my christmas program and my low is that i wanted the toy that preston had at school.

jack: i have no lows, only 3 highs. first, my high is right now. my 2nd high is that i have no homework all week. and my last high is....i don't remember anymore.

will: mine are just the same as jack's

jack: yours can't be the same. you don't have any homework.

will: i know. i'm happy that you don't and i can't remember the other one either.

the end

(Ed. note: We do "highs and lows" at dinner every night so that the family can share the favorite and least favorite parts of our days. Cathy was particularly tickled by this one.)

Hutton Dialogues, Part One

jack: mom i have a joke for you

mom: ok

jack: why do fish not like to play tennis?

mom: why?

jack: because they get caught in the net. doyagetit. ido. (said all together..very quickly)

mom (laughing): yea, i get it. good one.

sammy: mom, i have a joke for you

mom: you do? what is it?

sammy: why do fish not like ennis?

mom: why?

sammy: cause they are caught in the nets. do ya get it?

mom: yea, i get it. do you get it?

sammy: no.......(long pause) not really. what's a ennis?

the end

Lucky 21

Twenty-one years ago tonight, I had my first ever date with the love of my life--my wife, Cathy. We were sophmores in high school, we went to see Cinderella (I was so romantic then) and then went to a Christmas party. I was lucky then and remain lucky now to have such a wonderful, loving, blind-to-my-many-faults, patient, beautiful woman be a part of my life and the mother of our children. While it may say something about her judge of character that she accepted my plea to go on that first date, I am glad that she said yes then...and again 7 years later to marry me...and that she's still with me tonight.

Cat--I love you now and always will.

Trees, Plants and Money

Jack brought home one of his school assignments yesterday. It was a very creative booklet he'd prepared called "Thanks for Thanksgiving! By Jack" The front was decorated with an expertly colored turkey, fall leaves, and various appropriate comments such as "not very cold" and "best turkey."

Inside, Jack had three lists--presumably of things he's thankful for--that were so great that I had to post them just as he wrote them:

PEOPLE
-- Mom/Dad
-- Teacher (Mrs. Ratliff)
-- GOD
-- SS Teacher
-- Jack W. (firend)
-- Matt (firend)
-- Me
-- Graham (firend)

PLACES
-- School
-- Home
-- Stores
-- Abretum
-- North Carlina
-- forest
-- Aston
-- W.C. Stateyom

THINGS
-- Trees
-- Plants
-- Money
-- Backpacks
-- Food
-- Animal
-- Water
-- Leaves