Lots of Holiday Fun!

We love Christmas time here at the Hacker House. Everybody has been busy with holiday related activities. Here is a few pictures of what we have been doing the past week:

Keira and I made cut out Christmas cookies. She used an ENTIRE thing of colored sugar to decorate them ... uuuhh, yum?!?

Wade and Keira built this lovely Gingerbread house. Wade said the frosting the kit came with was super gross ... Keira didn't seem to notice!

The Parks and Rec department here put on a Candy Cane Hunt. So Keira got to go outside and search for Candy Canes and then come back in for prizes! Santa also visited and their were crafts and cocoa and cookies. It was a lot of fun. This was Mallory's first visit with Santa. She wasn't too impressed. She was ok with looking at him and there were no tears, but she really wanted nothing to do with him holding here - In this pic she is trying to wiggle her way out of the chair.



This is Mallory being bashful with Santa - which is really ridiculous because she is not at all shy!

Keira and Daddy making Candy Cane Reindeer.

Mallory enjoying a cookie at the candy cane hunt. She somehow got ahold of an entire cookie and was NOT letting go! Hey, it's Christmas, right?!?

I hope you are all enjoying the season. I am thankful for no snow yet. Yippee! It has been quite chilly. I traded in my flip flops for a pair of those line crocs. For the record, yes, they are the most hideous things I have ever seen, but they keep my feet warm and I can just slide them on and go. Some days there just isn't even enough time to tie my shoes!

We have a school christmas program and a christmas ballet recital coming up, so those should produce some good pictures! Talk to you soon!

Painting, Painting, Painting.

We finally got the main area of the house painted -- it is really one large room that encompasses the kitchen, dining and family room. I hate painting. It took pretty much all the non-waking hours of the kids over two weekends for us to get it finished. I hate painting. It was complicated by the fact that the windows you see to the left (there are 5 of them) cannot be reached with a ladder because they are over the stairs. I hate painting. So Wade constructed a platform (we named it Matt) to span from the railing to the window sill. And yes, we did in fact check to make sure the life insurance and the disability were paid up. I just basically ignored what he was doing and did my stuff because the more I thought about it, the more I freaked out about it. Have I mentioned I hate painting??!!?? Anyhoo, the result was great - the color looks fab (SW Virtual Taupe). And the christmas decorations kinda complete the room!

Chocolate Turkeys!

Keira is super interested in crafts right now. So while Mallory napped on Thanksgiving and I worked on getting dinner on the table, Wade and Keira made chocolate turkeys from malted milk balls, reese cups, and oreo cookies. Yum! (well, sort of - I hate malted milk balls, bleck). They turned out really cute. They had a good time putting them together and Keira mostly loved eating them. :)

So many pictures!

Oh my have we been busy the last couple of weeks ... Mal's b-day, Halloween, Grandma visiting, Daddy out of town a bunch, Wonka's visiting, stomach flu, runny noses ... you name it, we've had it/done it lately! Here are a few pictures from the last few weeks. Also, sorry ... these are in crazy order, I can't get them to move!

Happy Birthday Mal! Have some cake!

Oh my goodness, Look at those presents! Really, she was more obsessed with the balloons, she could have cared less about the presents!

Sick Days - we moved the futon mattress in front of the tv, hung out in our pajamas, drank lots of fluids, and did very little else. Peanut was happy to join in.

Yum, cake!

Yum, more cake. I think we had 3 birthday cakes!

BFF Lexi visiting. I pretty much didn't see the girls all weekend - they ran off to play together as soon as Lexi walked in the door!

Bonding time with Grandma. Pink fingernails and toenails!

Snuggling with Mom.

My poor sick baby.

Sisters having fun!

Mallory is 1!

My baby is 1 today. I cannot believe it. The year has passed so quickly. I would like to say that I am more rested than when she was first born, but she was up for a couple of hours last night because her teeth are bothering her, so not really sure that is true! Here are a few pictures of her from the day she was born and from her 1 year photo shoot. **Sorry, I know the pics are crazy, blogger is being a pain and I don't have the energy to fuss with it.**

Thanks, but I'll do it myself.

Mallory has decided that anything we eat, she should be able to eat. After a bunch of whining, we just give in ... here she is eating some fun stuff.

Outtakes from the Pumpkin Patch

Every Mom can commiserate ... sometimes it is just impossible to get pictures of your kids. Here are a few outtakes from our recent trip to the pumpkin patch.

Mal: "I am outta here!"

Keira: "There is something way more interesting going on over there"

Mallory decided she needed to tell a story right as I was taking a pic.

I have no idea what is going on here, especially with hair!

This is Keira's fake smile.

Sisters

99% of the time, the girls are best of friends. Mal simply adores Keira. chases after her. Wants to do whatever Keira is doing. It is so cute. On occasion, Keira refuses to share, but she has learned pretty quickly that when Mallory is playing with something, it is usually for about 10 seconds and then she is on to something else. Today we were at Costco and they got some veggie straws samples. Mallory had one in each hand and was sharing with Keira by leaning over the cart and giving Keira a bite. Keira thought it was hilarious.

Soccer

So we are trying another sport ... t-ball wasn't really a favorite, so it's on to soccer! So far, Keira loves it. It is a 3 on 3 co-ed league and there are 7 kids on the team. And Keira is about a head taller than all the kids ... even the boys!

Not only am I walking ...

but I am climbing too!

Friendship

Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather is one of those things that give value to survival." C.S. Lewis





We went and visited the Wonderful Wonka's last weekend in Kansas. As expected, it was a great trip. Keira was thrilled to spend some time with her best bud and I am pretty sure that Henry and Mallory are going to get married (at least if Mallory has anything to do with it! She tried to kiss him on multiple occasions, but he made her talk to the hand!).


The weekend made me think alot about friendship. (And a bit about the attitude I have been having here - I've been sorta over the making new friends thing, it is a lot of work). Moving is hard. To live in a city for not even 2 years and put down any type of roots is difficult. And it is a lot of work. And I am not the worlds most social person, definitely an introvert, so it is uncomfortable for me. But I guess, there are two schools of thought here. You either don't even try and suffer through the amount of time you'll be there OR you stick your neck out, try to make some friends and let the good times roll. I learned this weekend that really, friends are what make the world go round. Not that I didn't know that before. But it just became very clear for me this weekend. I was literally brought to tears watching Keira play so excitedly with her "Kansas Friends" as she calls them.

I am glad to say that in both Kansas and Ohio, I found some friends (couldn't have survived without them) who will be with me forever. They have been there through the sleepless nights of infancy and will be with me through the sleepless nights of teenager-hood! I love you girls (you know who you are).


I hope to find a few in Missouri as well. Guess I'll put that on my to do list. :)

Mallory -- 10 Months Old!

Where does the time go? I just don't know. Mallory is growing up so quickly. She is learning lots of new skills. The most important of which is that she is *almost* walking. She can take about 12 steps on her own and today is doing more walking than crawling, she is almost there. She totally does the George Jefferson walk where her shoulders are back and her arms behind her, fairly hilarious - of course, no pictures of that, but see below to see the other fabulous new skills she has learned.

Look Mom, I can get in the refrigerator and get my own snack ...

and I can feed myself - and Peanut, and the floor, and my hair ...

And I can totally sleep with my cute little booty in the air! But wait, one more skill ...

I can take OFF my own diaper!