Change is Afoot at the Huttons...

OK, so you 3 or so faithful readers out there have probably noticed a drop-off in our blogging over the past week or so. A few reasons for that:

We're currently back in 1985 at our house as we are without our latest addiction, AT&T U-verse, which means no TV (gasp! Lost started last night!) and more importantly, no computer. Our friend Miguel and his great crew are working at the house doing some much needed repairs and cosmetic changes (did you know there was such a color as San Francisco Bay? I didn't until earlier this week...it's blue, apparently), but that involved disconnecting the U-verse brain and thus we're without TV and the 'puter. It was funny last night trying to watch Lost on the 11 inch TV that we inherited from my parents which had its first life in my sister's room in high school!

We're also having a huge pecan removed from in front of our house today. Not the expense I wanted to have right now, but I figured that (as it's got some slow decay running into the trunk) it was probably cheaper to have it removed this way than from the top of our neighbors' house! (Hi Dennis and Erin! And Maya!)

Not that anyone will notice, but we also had a roofer (Hi Bret!) out earlier this month to fix a "gash" in the roof right above Annie's room (which necessitated Miguel's internal repairs). So we've had a busy month so far at the Hutton house--just our way of trying to jump-start the local economy!

I'll try to update as I can with pics of the developments--stay tuned!

Oh yeah, one more thing. If anyone was keeping track (Hi Kyle!) of my progress on the Rocket Resolution, you may have noticed that I didn't update the widget on the right side of the page over the past 10 days. Long story short: I hurt my shoulder, tried to rest it by slowing down but ultimately had to give myself about a week off, but am getting back in the saddle effective today. Was able to do about 50 yesterday without problems, so I'll be working my way back up to 100 per. And I hope--before the end of the year--to make up those I've missed between 1/12 and today. Kudos to Kyle who is still cranking them out...and I understand that our friend Jason T. is on the bandwagon as well. Congrats and keep it up, guys!

Resolutions...

Each year, most of us make the same resolutions...eat less, exercise more, help the world, save more money, etc. As part of our New Year's resolutions, and in our own efforts to be more budget-minded and watch our spending, Ames and I decided it was time to start really teaching our kids about money. So on the first day of this new year we sat down with the kids for a little heart to heart. Among other things, we established a new chore system, new expectations regarding those chores, and new allowances....whew! Since I have been falsely accused, on many occasions, including being ratted out to Santa himself, of not paying allowances (even tho part of the deal is doing your chores without complaining), I decided that this would be one of my new year goals, to make sure I followed thru on paying my kids for their efforts. I'm proud to say that last Sunday, after the first full week, all four kids did their part, and we were able to (and remembered to) give them their first allowance under the new system!! Way to go AJWS!

Now, all this "newness" led to a need to reorganize the children's banks, i.e. find them and find the money that was supposed to be in them. As it turns out, our kids were loaded! They had money stashed all over the place!! Gold coins here and there from the tooth fairy, baggies of coins from Big Mike, and various and sundry bits of cash from...well, I'm not sure. So, we counted, organized (into the give, save, spend categories) and decided to set some goals. Annie, Jack and Will each gave me "seed" money for a real savings account which they are all excited to open later this week. On top of that, Annie is well on her way to a savings goal for an IPod. Jack hasn't decided yet where his savings will go, but a Nintendo DS is looking very attractive. Will has his sights set on some new clothes for John his elephant to be purchased at Build-A-Bear. Not bad. All in all, I'd say the four of them were pretty excited once all was said and done. And, they were very motivated to not only keep earning (good for me) but to keep better track of their money from now on (always good).

But what about Sam's goals you might be wondering. Interesting. Now Sammy, who is only 4, has lost no teeth, has never earned allowance even back in the days when I was supposedly paying it, somehow has amassed a small fortune of $26.44!! None of us are quite sure how this happened, but we cracked open his piggy, and there it was. Sam considers himself the luckiest boy in the world, but not for the reasons you might think. Even though he apparently has a magic piggy bank that mints money (could be the only thing that can help our new president out of this mess), that is not why he is so excited....no, no. Sam is excited because he has decided he is lucky. And when you see him, he will tell you without hesitation, "I am a lucky boy." And when you ask him why, he'll tell you, "because I have a Chuck E. Cheezits penny." He is lucky because he is the only one who in all the counting and reconciling, plotting and planning, has found real treasure....a Chuck E. Cheese coin in his bank...a priceless commodity. So, in these rough times, when we all are looking for a little financial security, making resolutions about saving and budgets, and hoping for our future, it's nice to know some things remain steady and certain. You can rest assured that even in our current economy, the future of Chuck E. Cheezits is secure, thanks to Lucky Sam and him money-making piggy bank!

Our boys are....

.....growing up so fast!!! This week marked a couple of milestones. First, Jack lost one of his upper teeth, making him look like a prizefighter...

You should see the other guy!!!

And, Will, trying to be in all ways like his older brother (definitely in that stage of hero worship right now...too cute), tried his first cheeseburger!!

This may seem like no big deal to most of you, but for us, living in the land of chicken and french fries only, this adds a whole new dimension to the Hutton menu options! Way to go boys!!

A complete misnomer....

Sleepovers. Completely misnamed. More like, no sleep while you're over, but I guess that is just too long. We are in that season of our lives (acutally in that season of Annie's life) where sleepovers are becoming an every weekend event. I must start by saying that we are still slightly lucky. I mean, Jack hasn't really started having sleepovers yet (not because he doesn't want to but because his parents are in complete denial that he is old enough) and the little boys are a few years off. Our Jack does get asked over to his friend Jack W.'s house often, but having his friends here, just hasn't happened much yet. The Grahams don't really count, I mean, of course they count, but they are more like family. Annie, on the other hand, is all over it. Last night is a perfect example. Her sweet friend Brigitte came over after school for a playdate. This is always a slippery slope on a Friday. The girls had a fabulous time at the block party that ensued in front of Sarah's house (I think the grand total was 4 moms and 18 kids, not counting the one in Ginger's belly). And I was actually quite surprised at how long they waited before the lobbying began.
"Hey Mom, do you think we could have a sleepover?"
In a moment of weakness I responded, why not! I must say that Brigitte couldn't be a more lovely guest. I guess being the youngest of 4, and Annie being the oldest of 4, and both girls having only brothers, well, they just know to expect and embrace the craziness that comes from big families. So, the block party ended and we went home, the Grahams joined us for dinner and a movie (although I'm not sure this is ever truly enjoyable for Sarah since inevitably one of her boys leaves my house in tears...usually it is Kyle, but he was working late last night). After a couple of quick stories, the boys were out like a light. We told the girls they could stay up until 9:30 (very early by most sleepover standards, at least so I'm told by the girls) which is way past normal (my) bedtime. Ames, Annie and Brig played a fun-filled game of Monopoly, including a hilarious "I won Free Parking" dance started by Ames and perfected by Brig. Finally, at 9:50, the girls settled down on their bed and whispered until who knows when....I went to sleep! At 3:20 I woke to the sounds of more whispers (who am I kidding, I woke to a 4 year old climbing over me trying to get to the good spot in the middle of our bed...but I did hear the whispers). The girls assured me that they had just woken up and couldn't get back to sleep. Too sleepy to pursue the truth and hopeful that it was just a bad dream, I went back to bed. Only to be awakened for good at 6:30 by Jack (don't these kids know it is Saturday and they don't have to get up!!!) Low and behold....Annie and Brigitte were already awake and watching TV in the den!!!!!!!! Yikes, do they ever sleep. So, later today, after friends have gone home and 3 basketball games are played, the crash will occur. Thank goodness we already have a babysitter lined up for tonight! Good luck to her!


Beautiful girls!!! (yes, they do brush their teeth, but couldn't resist this pic after a little black frosting from a snowman cookie....may come back to haunt them someday...heh heh!)

Sam's 4th Birthday!

It snowed on Sam's actual birthday, and typical Texas weather, 3 days later at his party, we played duck-duck-goose in the front yard in our jammies! Happy Birthday Sammy!

First, a little pizza picnic with friends watching Snoopy...




..then a little duck-duck-goose



...red rover for the over 4 crowd!



Followed by delicious cake!! Thanks Casa Linda!

Yea Sammy!! Happy Birthday my little monkey man! We love you!

It's been such a long time....

...but, I'm back!! Happy New Year!! It has been such a long time since I last blogged, and so much has happened, that I don't really know where to start. So the highlights are as follows: We spent the week between Christmas and back to school enjoying time with friends from other places (not necessarily low places, but then again...) as well as good friends from right here in the hood (thanks Grahams for a great NYE and Bertas for a fun-filled NYD). First, Uncle Sambo and Aunt Kendra came all the way from North Carolina to Big D and that, my friends, is a present to my children (and to us) all by itself.
They are such amazing folks and will, someday, make unbelievable parents. I hope time with the Buttons doesn't provide too much birth control. Bring on the cousins!! But sweet Jack, especially, is always very sad to say goodbye and wants to know when we will see our favorite Asheville residents again. February, my sweet little man, February!! Yea!!

Then, we got a chance to visit with our favorite Houstonians (and that is saying a lot for Ames who hates all things Houston). Aunt Valerie (a born and bred Houstonian but we love her so much we overlook that terrible distinction), Dr. Matt (an HP Scot like us who made the ultimate sacrifice for love) and their 3 precious children, Mary Shannon, Rachel and baby Will (he is going to hate it, but he just might be Baby Will all his life). Got no pics to share..so sad....really need a new camera. Thanks for the vino, Christmas goodies and time spent laughing and talking (and maybe there was a little drinking, but I'm not too sure.....).

Last but certainly not least, a brief, but fabulous, visit from the Knippas....minus K-Dawg, the Grand PooBa (woof woof).


...beautiful children, with a gorgeous mother (unfortunately not in any pics). Brad, how did you manage to marry so far up!! Next time, it is all Huttons and all Knippas...let the fun begin.







So, after pick-up soccer games, movies at the mall, sleepovers, playdates and good old-fashioned hang out in your jammies until noon days, our vacation has come to a close. And, as always, it was so much fun to spend our time with all these incredible families. We are truly blessed to be surrounded by such amazing people! Thanks for sharing your holiday with the Huttons!

Nothing like the last minute...

Hook 'em Horns! Congrats on the last minute win!

More on the Rocket Resolution

So a few days ago I teased with announcing my grand new year's Rocket Resolution of doing 100 pushups per day for 2009. Brief update: I've "successfully" done 400 pushups (total) in the first 4 days of the year. So long as you're quantifying "success" in terms of pain.

The real purpose of this post is to give the back story for the inspiration for this resolution. So subject to future factual correction, here goes: We have a friend whose father is a Marine veteran (ooh-rah). Several years after passing his 50th birthday, he (the father, or "Rocket") decided that he would do 100 pushups a day, and he kept very meticulous records of his progress. After getting into his program, he added rules for special days: extra pushups for anniversaries, birthdays of family members, etc. In about 1997, he realized that if he upped his total to 400 per day, he could hit 1,000,000--that's one million pushups--by the turn of the millennium. So he did.

In any event, by the end of 2007, Rocket had pumped out over 1.7 million pushups. (Just ask and he'll give you the exact total!) Somehow, I've known Rocket for over 4 years and I just heard about his pushups last month. So I decided that I'd emulate Rocket in 2009 with 100 pushups a day. I have no intention of making this list, I do want to see if I can do it. My own personal quest, as it were. And I've roped Kyle in to keep me accountable. I'll do my best to update my daily, monthly and yearly progress in the box over on the right. And as I said a few days ago, your positive reinforcement is appreciated!

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!