stomach flu, hole in the ceiling, and pretty boy

let's see to get everyone caught up......
Abi, Clara and I all had a 12 hour stomach flu bug, They got to miss school I gotto lay on the couch.
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We had a mushy spot in the kitchen area and Mitch got around to finding the problem on Tuesday, it was the vent pipes in the attic. long story short they got fixed so now we will have to patch the hole!
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Pretty Boy Drew, he is now into doing his hair and putting on Bod Spray. He got into Mitch's last night and boy did he smell "good" The girls said he smelled like Uncle Kris :)
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We are going to see Christmas lights this weekend, packing for Disney, the girls have a Christmas program at church on Sunday and we are going to help celebrate Grandpa Burger's 95th birthday.
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decorating the "tree"

Boys are the strangest. We decorated the tree this weekend. Well, today I was changing Drew's diaper and had to go get the phone. He was running around naked and when I looked up he was hanging an ornament from his penis! I am not quite sure what he was thinking!
Wanted to take a picture but thought boy would he kill me when he is a teenager!

Thanksgiving

We are thankful for our new computer of course!!
We are thankful for healthly and happy kids.
We are thankful for our home and family nearby.
We are thankful for the opportunity to work from home.
We are thankful for the great Thanksgiving dinner at the Davis' home.
I was thankful for coconut cream pie!!
We are thankful for snow!

We are keeping a busy schedule between now and Chirstmas. I will try and post some pics soon lost the good Halloween ones in the computer crash. Look for my Christmas want list soon to come :)

Hoot's Handyman

Our business has been in existence for one year! Haven't written much about it and have not been keeping up with the Hoot's blog (so don't look there). Decided to write because this has been a record month for us! Mitch worked really all summer non-stop and then this month we had some great accounts. We are starting to get repeat business and adding new clients every week! We stopped advertising and are just relying on word of mouth.
He dropped the one part time job and doesn't look like he will have to pick it up again until after Dec. Good thing the lawn mowing season is ending that made things crazy!
He does some work for Matt with One Way Audio, cleans the church every other month, works Richards 2 days a week, 7 Sat. at ND and on top of that Hoot's has been busy.
We are praising the Lord and thanking all of you for your support. Starting a small business is not an easy step but it has been worth it. Mitch is enjoying everyday and only feels the pressure when there is too much work to do. Pray that the winter months will be a little easier this year and that our business will continue to grow.

If the shoe fits

I am going to talk about shoes. Abi (10 year old) has been complaining about her new shoes (size 6) that they hurt her feet. I was ignoring it hoping that she would get used to wearing tennis shoes again after spending all summer in her crocs. Well this morning 5 minutes before the bus came she was complaining again so just to see what happens I literally give her the shoes off my feet and say here try this on. What do you know they fit her! So, once again I was wrong and my 10 year olds feet have grown once again this time into my size. And yes she is wearing my shoes to school today and I guess a trip to the store will be put on the agenda for both her and I! (just went yesterday and bought shirts for her)
Will my kids feet ever stop growing and am I doomed to have all three of my girls wear the same size as me and having to share shoes with all of them. Stay tuned...........

The Critic Corner

You have not asked for my opinion on all the new shows on TV but here they are anyway.
(Remember we do not have cable so this is the normal stations.)
Monday night: Hereos - lived up to all the hype and was even better this week. This will be a have to be home night.
Chuck - pretty unrealistic but funny in a quirky way
Journeyman - hard to figure out why he goes back in time and what the
old finance has to do with the time travel but the acting is
fairly decent
Tuesday night: all I caught was Law and Order SVU and it was terrible I think I am done
watching all L&O since my favorite moved to a cable network

Wed night - watched Bionic Woman Did not like it at all hard to follow and what is with the
old bionic woman turned bad, and using them to fight wars........

Thursday - Survivor I can't believe that show is still on.... What a bunch of loonies on this season
Do you ever think they would run out of people to be on that show!
CSI - OK yeah just OK it was very predicatable and slow. Maybe the season
will get better
Sunday - Desperate Housewives - Mitch and I just started watching end of last season the premiere was really good and funny. I guess you had to be watching the show for years for some of the characters to make sense but glad I am not the only one with issues.

What was your favorite show??

Clara's Birthday

We celebrated Clara's 8th birthday this past Sunday. We had a taco bar and pasta salad and fruit. She wanted whoopie pies instead of cake so I baked and baked and baked pumpkin and chocolate ones. She got an mp3 player, digital camera, high school musical dolls and this nail kit and drawing books. She is becoming quite the artist.

hooton kids

Aren't they the cutest kids around?? Now getting them all to look at the camera at the same time was quite a chore. In case you forgot, Clara age 8, Abi age 10, Drew age 2 and Brianna age 4.

Weekend in St. Louis

We thought the weekend would never come and then it was gone.....
Some highlites from the trip:
Got upgrade on car to a PT cruiser with sunroof and satellite radio
Nice hotel with free breakfast bar with everything you can imagine including a staff memeber to make your waffles for you
Dinner by the river with yummy ribs!
Having to stand at the Cubs game (ok that wasn't the best time)
Seeing all the Cubs fans in St. Louis
Standing by the arch and seeing just how big it really is
Getting shuttle rides from the hotel to anywhere
Having a crazy driver going 70 in a 35!
Eating Papa Johns pizza until we felt like bursting
Sitting in the hot tub
The drive there and back just spending time with my husband and quietness (expect for the radio and the Cubs game!)

Brianna's first day of school

The day has finally arrived! Brianna started pre-K this week! She was so excited. She said the best part was the cookies.

Sweeping the Rocks

The kid's newest pasttime is sweeping the rocks. They played a whole Sat. doing this. They made up stories and created subdivisions. Our driveway is full of pathways and Clara actually wakes up and says can I go sweep the rocks? Who needs expensive toys just a broom and some rocks. Enjoy.

Dirty Laundry Burglar

It is my day to vent no cute pics of the kids, no happy stories just plain old let's vent for awhile.
Just today went to get a clean towel from the cupboard and to my surprise there were no clean ones. Wait a minute I just washed towels twice this weekend. Went around to all the dirty clothes hampers (we have 3 in our house) and they were all full to overflowing. What is up with this I just did laundry. So, I decided that a burglar gets into my house at night takes my children's and husband's clothes (because I don't dirty that many), throws them in the dirt and then puts them in the hamper!
OK got that out of my system so hope you all have a nice day.
Tomorrow I will post the cute pics and happy stories

visit to brookfield zoo

Decided to visit brookfield zoo in chicago this sat. suppose to be a beautiful day but it rained all day. But we still got to visit all the exhibits, see a dolphin show, great monkey exhibit inside and finally arrived home around 10 pm. The kids were exhausted and so was mom. I enjoyed the butterfly garden Mitch liked the bears who were fighting :)

look at me with a butterfly on my shoulder!! (sorry forgot to flip the pic again :(

Abi and Drew Birthday party

Combined birthday party for Abi (age 10) and Drew (age 2). We had about 22 people here had chicken and noodles, mashed potatoes, fresh green beans and fruit. Dessert of choice was dirt pudding with gummy worms and jell-o cake. Drew got lots of trains and trucks. Abi got a new chair, lava lamp and an ipod...... Thanks to all!

first day of school

Abi is starting 4th grade this year. She has moved to the other side of the building and now has regular sized desks. (she was so excited)

Clara is in 2nd grade. She was excited that she knew everyone in her class and she has everything new for school in the color pink

(read more in the blog posted 3 new ones today!

Abi's New Room

Abi got a room makeover for her birthday. Amy and Grandma got it all painted on a Friday night and Sat. morning. We love the color. Mitch is going to make one of the small walls a bullentin board. Don't you love the blue color!

Visit to cow farm

August 10, 2007

We had a great time with Amy and Grandma visiting a cow farm. They milk about 3,000 cows at the one farm. We even saw a calf being born!! They take you on a 45 min. bus tour of the farm. When then had ice cream and went home it was a hot, hot day...

pretty feet

Drew decided to paint his toe nails :) Well he got his feet anyway!

At the Fair

Sunday we went to the Elkhart fair with Amy, Grandpa & Grandma. Had fun eating elephant ears, ice cream from the dairy barn. Drew loved the animals and Clara wants a rabbit.

Tried their hands at a few games never won (I told them they are all a scam!)

A fun and tiring afternoon..........

Men doing housework

Drew has to put away the silverware when we are emptying the dishwasher, he likes to push the broom, pick-up trash anywhere we are and cleans the toliets. I think I will teach him to do the laundry next week :)

Drew gets buzz cut

Mitch gave Drew a buzz cut last night. Now they really look like twins.

potato creek/camping

We went camping over the week of the july 4th. And we survived. A friend loaned us his big tent you could fit two queen sized air mattress in it and still have room for clothes. We had a good time playing games, swimming, riding bikes, chasing Drew, and eating. The weather was great not too hot. We are thinking of making it an annual event. Here are some pics.

Ode to running

I decided I needed to write about my new love/hate relationship with running.

I get up each morning at 5:30 am.
Getting out of bed isn't hard starting the run is.
How to cross the highway without being hit by a car is my first task.
Running down Timothy without getting a tick, stepping on a dead animal or getting chased by a dog is next.
Can you see where the hate comes in......
Then there is the personal trainer in my head sounding an awful lot like Karla tells me just a little bit more.
The love comes in because this is the best shape I have been in a long time ,buying new clothes that fit and only needing to lose 5 more pounds to hit my goal.
Who knows maybe a 5k is in my future...............
So now my ode is done and I am going to bed so I can get up and RUN!

Another Hooton in Heaven

I don't mean just yet but tonight as we are driving in the car out of Martins parking lot, Brianna says, mommy mommy God lives in my heart. I said did you ask God to come into your heart. She responds yes. After a few minutes roll by she says, God had to move my food around to make room! After I laughed, I told her that God living in your heart means wanting to serve him and follow his rules and she said yes she wanted to do that. Later I asked her what made her think about all that she said I don't know I just did. God's timing is strange sometimes but there is nothing like having your child tell you that asked Jesus into their heart with no prompting from you.
Our summer memory verse is the Matt. 5:3-10 or the beatitudes. Join is in memorizing this verses this summer!

Ohio Weekend

We enjoyed a weekend with my sisters and brother-in-laws. of course did some shopping, eating, celebrating Brooke and Isaac's b-days, the boys went to a movie tavern and talked about it all weekend, finished the playset and went to the fountain.

Pic 1 Brianna doing a musical number at the fountains.

Pic 2 Drew and Bri taking a spin in Brooke's new car.

Flying First Class

Let me reaccount my experience in first class for those of you who may never get the chance too or for me because I will probably never do it again.
1. You get to board the plane first
2. You are offered a drink first thing.
3. Lots of leg room and only two people per side.
4. You are offered another drink and snack (pretzels and mixed nuts no peanuts :)
5. You are offered a hot lunch complete with dessert.
6. You share the bathroom with only 20-30 people.
7. You get to get off the plane first.

Hope you enjoyed the experience with me.

Tornado in our backyard!

Many of you may have heard about the tornado that hit New Carlisle, State Road 2 on Monday.
We were all playing outside and noticed really black clouds moving, it started to lightening so we went inside. Did we go the basement no! Mitch went out to get the dog and as he walked into the basement the wind picked up the trampoline and tossed it across the yard. It then skipped over the field and hit the neighbors and took out their barn. I guess we learned two things, one mother nature does some strange things and two go to the basement!!

daddy's boy

Drew's favorite words, outside, shoes, ride, tractor! He cries now when his daddy leaves the house without him. Soon he will be able to mow the lawn all by himself :)

Drew's haircut

Mitch decided it was time for him to cut Drew's hair. The first time was a little rough he just wouldn't hold still. So, the next time even more hair came off. Look how blond it looks!

Haircut #1 Haircut #2

brianna's 4th birthday

Brianna celebrated her 4th birthday on April 17th. She wanted a chocolate cake, vanilla ice cream in the middle and chocolate frosting with m&ms on top! Who does she sound like?? Grandma Smith made the cake. She loved opening her presents and ohh and ahh over everything. She even got what she wanted a Dora blanket. Thanks everyone for the great gifts.

(sorry forgot about turning the pics :(

Easter

Easter seems like alot of stuff to put into one day. We went to church I sang, Glory by Avalon, so we stayed for almost 2 services. Then home to cook dinner, served ham, beef, potatoes, green bean cassorole, red hot jell-o etc.... Then because the weater was awful we hid (matt and Mitch did) about 80 eggs downstairs for the kids (my four plus cousins Isabella and Jillian). It didn't take them long to find all of them. The came away with $ and lots of candy! Today I sorted it all and made one big tub. Then some played hearts, some watched golf and of course Grandpa Smith slept :) It was a nice day! He is Risen! Happy Easter!

Spring Break 07

Hi Abi! She is in Kansas visiting her new cousin Oliver this week. The rest of the Hootons stayed home. We had a fun week we went to the zoo with friends Rachel and Melissa, made sugar cookies, went shopping at Vinnie's and Steve and Barrys, had ice cream twice McDs and Wendys, went to storyhour at the library, babysat the Wykoff kids, cousin Bella spent the night, went to pizza hut. Today and tomorrow we are cleaning and getting ready for Easter. I will be singing for our Easter service. Abi we can't wait to see you.....

Happy Easter everyone and stay warm :)

Indy weekend

The Hootons go to Indy for the weekend. Saturday, we arrived at our Days Inn and found out we had a suite which made things nice because we had two tvs. One for the kids and one for Mitch to watch the ballgames. None for mom but mom is ok if everyone else is happy :)

We decided to have a total kids weekend and had dinner that night at chuck e cheese! Played some ski-ball and had a good time. The next morning we were at the children's musuem. Had a surprise (at least for the kids) and Dave, Karla and kids joined us for the day. The museum is awesome. I liked the dinosaurs, Abi liked the Eygptian tomb, Brianna liked the water play, Clara like the miniature dollhouses and Drew liked everything especially when we let him out of the stroller......

We left around 4:30 and made it home in time for bath and bed......

New Addition to the family

The Hooton family has a new addition to the family....... an old truck.

I told Mitch he looks like an old man driving it! But when you buy cars the Dave Ramsey way you get what you can get.

It is a 95 GMC Serria K1500 4x4 and a sweet ride (so says Mitch I have yet to ride in it or drive it) Should improve the business imagine over the green neon with the duct taped window.

Happy Spring

It's going to be my birthday by Brianna

I have many things I am asking for my birthday. I still want a Dora kitchen (mom & dad say no). When mom asked me where we would put the Princess kitchen if I got a Dora one I said, " we can take it back to santa" I also said "Abi would help me take it there" I was listing all the things I wanted at dinner and Daddy asked me where we would keep everything, I said " we can make the house bigger!" So here is my list with a few things mom just had to put in there.

swimsuit 4T
sandals size 8 and flip-flops
spring/summer clothes (shorts and t-shirts)
tennis shoes size 9
socks for summer
strawberry shortcake movie (full-length)
Flushed Away movie
Cinderella III movie
Dora pillow
Leap Pad Game Dora
Dora kitchen
Dora necklace
craft stuff (glue, stickers etc...)

Thanks Brianna
S

Snow Day #7

We had quite a snow again! I think about 12 inches yesterday. There is a chance tonight but they should go to school tomorrow at least mom hopes. Mitch has been plowing snow he went in yesterday at 10 am and got home at 6 am the next day. He got a few hours sleep ate some breakfast and is off again to plow. I am sure he will be tired when he gets home! Keep warm

Hooton Girls take on Science Fair

Both Abi and Clara and Roanna took 2nd place in their divisions at science fair. Clara did a experiment with smell where you had to smell things you could not see and guess what they were. It came to no surprise that Brianna could guess coffee beans. She said mommy drinks that all the time! Abi did an experiment with taste where you had to taste different things such as lemon juice, syrup etc.. on different parts of your tongue and say where you could taste it best.

Its the little things top 5

This is Roanna's top five things lately that have made life grander......

5. TV show Hereos (have actually figured out what is going on)

4. Lady in the Water M. NightShyamalan movie I love his movies...

3. Coke Zero Cherry (need I say more)

2. Next by: Michael Crichton (ever wondered where genetic testing and cloning will take us
read this book)

1. Have to say it COLTS WINNING THE SUPERBOWL (I did a victory dance!)

The many sides of Drew

One day I want to be a handyman the next day I want to be a princess!!!

Enjoying my kids!

Another snowy day

This is Mitch using the snow mobile to pull the kids in a sled behind. Even Drew has gotten a ride Mitch said he almost fell asleep. He got to ride up front with dad. Today is another snow day. It is really coming down. I will try and keep the kids busy today. We have to finish science fair projects and work on Valentine's day cards. May even work a few puzzles. Mitch is plowing snow in South Bend today. He called and said the fastest anyone is going is 40 mph. And as always Go Colts!!

Holidays are over

Started the holidays by spending Christmas Eve with the Hootons in Matt and Dana's new living area. It was very relaxing. They have enough room for all of us to sit down for dinner. The girls above including cousin Bella played all day. They danced to their Bella Dancerella DVDs. Christmas morning we spent with just us. Kids playing with all their new toys. Then we packed up and left for Ohio. Spent three days with Smith family playing cards, eating, shopping etc... Kids loved playing air hockey and watching cable tv everyday. The days always go to fast. Thanks to all who prepared food, played with my kids and loved on us.