Christmas Day 2009

Merry Christmas! If anyone didn't receive our Christmas "letter" (via email) and would like it, please email me for it.

We had a very loud, very exciting Christmas morning. Rest assured, Granddad, your grandchildren were not neglected! Santa Claus, Daddy, and Mommy made a great team. We are proud owners of scooters, a toddler roller coaster, new Bibles, a nice leather bag for Daddy, a fantastic SLR camera for Mommy and... a new canoe! We're looking forward to many Saturday morning adventures on the Chattahoochee and Big Creek. Thanks Scott and Nancy and David, too, for our gifts. It was fun having you here this morning.


The roller coaster!


(This isn't ours, but here's a representative shot of what a toddler roller coaster is!)

Scooters!



Bridger's beloved football (which added much excitement to the day -- HEADS UP, y'all!!!):

(Now might be a good time to mention that he threw a massive fit the night we returned from the Ford Christmas party because he had to leave Granddaddy's big football behind. No, I didn't run out and buy one... it was already under the tree!)

And last, but not least... The canoe! Thanks, Daddy! What a surprise!



It was a wonderful, much less-stressed holiday season for us this year. We enjoyed seeing Santa, riding the Pink Pig, baking Christmas cookies and a birthday cake for Jesus, the Ford family Christmas party, Brooke's performance as a sheep in big church, shopping for charity donations, Christmas crafts, and many loud exclamations of "Christmas lights!!!" Bridger yelled "Jesus born!!!" a lot today, which gives me hope that as the kids mature, they will associate a deeper meaning beyond all of the presents. (Please, Lord!)

Me, I'm happy for a silent night now! Time to go play with my camera. (And feel smug that I'm the first of the sisters with a Christmas Day post. Hey, I've got to enjoy any small victory after such a blog-neglected year....)

Happy Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Happy Halloween!

We've gone from Easter to Halloween with a whirlwind of life and activity in between! Our theme for last season was "Celebrate Summer," which we did so mightily that we lived instead of blogged. It was fun. Here are the annual Hobbs Halloween family costumes and pumpkin! I rediscovered a love for Mary Poppins this year (as the kids were introduced to her) and we had fun recreating the characters. Introducing... Mary Poppins with Miss Jane and Master Michael Banks! (Brad was going to be Bert, but was ill that night. Too many tea parties with blokes on the ceiling, I'd say.) And of course, the corresponding Popkin: Bridger quickly figured out how to beg for candy: The costumes mostly came from thrift and craft stores, although Brooke's dress was one of Mom's when she was a girl. (I remember wearing it, too.) We went to Central Baptist's Halloween carnival on Friday night, where we won the prize for the best family costumes. I had several children come up to me thinking I was the real Mary Poppins! One little girl said she saw me on TV. I smiled and said, "Oh, I loved being on TV! It was so much fun!" One of the best moments was when Brooke came around a corner and saw me dressed for the first time. She jumped, stopped, and then looked for a few moments, and finally said, "You startled me!" Even though she had seen me mostly dressed a moment ago, the full picture took her off guard and she thought I was really Mary for a moment. Magic!

It was fun celebrating in Kentucky for a change. (I'd love to write more on that, but I need to go to bed!) Cousin Elizabeth was very cute as Tinkerbell. You can see the effects of the excitement and candy on the kids:

It may have worked in our favor for Brad to have been sick this year. Brooke's solution is that we can all be the same characters next year so that Bert can wear his costume! Especially since that saves me a ton of work and we'll probably be back here among friends who missed the Kentucky fun... that works for me!!! Quite right -- practically perfect in every way! :)

Happy Easter!

I've decided that Easter is my favorite holiday because of the significance of the resurrection. Without it, I and everyone else who trusted Jesus as Lord would be fools. Because Jesus rose from the dead, he is the Christ, my Savior. If he had just been another good teacher or prophet, I could pick and choose what I want to believe about Him. He'd be another good man with good ideas, but with no power to actually save me from God's penalty for sin. Because of His victory over death, I know that He is worthy of my worship and a life fully surrendered to Him.

So, I was very excited about celebrating Easter this year! It's sweet to see Brooke understand more and more every year. And yes, it was fun to have Easter baskets, hunt for eggs, and gussy up the kids! We had a wonderful afternoon at Mama and Papa Ford's house.



Brooke's dress is one of Gran's old dresses from her childhood. Or maybe an aunt's? I'm sure someone can identify it! Gran also supplied Bridger's Easter outfit. I was disappointed to find on Easter morning that he had outgrown his saddle shoes. (And no, I won't dress him up so "sweetly" when he's older, but I will enjoy my little cherub now!) They were absolutely precious together and I'm so grateful to be their mom.

Time for a new post

Funny how every now and then I'll be checking blogs, and then will check ours. I'm secretly hoping that somehow the Blog Fairy will have posted and amazing update, complete with gorgeous photos and dripping with wit. Hasn't happened yet. (Confession time: I also harbor the idea that my keys should always be on the hook, even if that's not the last place that I left them, just because I've seen them there so many times. And, even though we've lived in our house over 5 years, I still have a wonderful recurring dream that I'll find a new door, open it, and discover a full daylight basement....) So, yes, I've just been living in denial for 3 months that our last blog post was of Christmas Day. I've taken very few pictures of the kids the last few months. I have a dying camera battery that will only stay charged for a few shots at a time, and, we've been too busy stimulating the economy, spending lots of money (and time) dealing with house projects lately. More on that later...

Here are a few pictures, though. Enjoy!

Brooke had a wonderful train birthday party (her first drop-off party) with a James cake. She still loves showing everyone her 4 fingers to show her age.



Brooke loves tents! She received one for her birthday, which she quickly named her "tabernacle," thanks to BSF and our Life of Moses study! She slept in it every night, on top of her bed, until it was replaced by Uncle David's Thomas tent from Christmas. (Now the rule is that she can sleep in her Thomas tent if she hasn't had any time-outs that day.) The tabernacle is a great place for a tea party with her big girl tea set, which was her birthday present from us. Bet you didn't know that the train Diesel likes peppermint tea!


Bridger loves balloons. In fact, he woke up crying in the middle of the night last week and I went in to check on him. I picked him up and asked him what was wrong. The reply? "Boon! Boon!" For the record, kid, I do NOT appreciate being dragged out of bed at 3 in the morning to hear a request for a balloon! (And no, he didn't get it. Mean old mommy, not letting him sleep with a choking hazard!)

Check out Bridger's "Balloon Game." This is the mild version! Fortunately, it's not always directed at Brooke. He just loves to swing balloons as violently as he can. Maybe Elizabeth can teach him the calmer game from the Waggener sisters' childhoods during our visit next week.