FRONT PAGE NEWS!

The new middle school ribbon cutting ceremony was Monday night. CJ sang in the choir. We got to meet the teachers and see the beautiful new school. Man, what a difference from the old school.
Well, guess who gets the recognition? The 2 below!!! They made the FRONT PAGE of the Elgin Courier. This is a weekly newspaper, it comes out every Tuesday. It is also the ONLY picture from the ribbon cutting ceremony that made the paper. The others can be viewed at their website. Really? They didn't even print the actual ribbon cutting!!!!

The caption reads: The Musical Program presented by the Elgin Middle School choir prior to the ribbon cutting of the new middle school Monday night was enjoyed by everyone, even 2 1/2 year old Hollister Hodges. Hollister's brother, CJ, a sixth grader, was singing in the performing choir. Pictured with Hollister is his Dad, Trevor.






Here's CJ in the choir. FRONT ROW!!! Nice posture huh?

Pumpkin head

How to make a pumpkin head

1. Start with a pumpkin

2. Lay out your pieces

3. Start pushing them in your pumpkin. If its a little tough, poke it with a sharp object.

4. Viola! A pumpkin head!

For our visual learners here is a slide show of each step.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Hogeye Festival

yes, you read that title correctly. We went to the town "Hogeye Festival" It is a huge event here in Elgin. They even provide shuttles to downtown! They have live music, arts and crafts, carnival rides, parades, and of course FOOD!
we took advantage and rode the shuttle, why fight the traffic? This was Hollister's first bus ride. He thought it was very cool. When we got there we were lucky enough to see the giant pig. Hollister really liked it. We just started walking and enjoying the day. Hollister was sacked out pretty quickly. Not before we saw the "pigs" though. Hence the photo above. We didn't do anything super special, but we really enjoyed it. We don't do or allow our children to do carnival rides, much to CJ's dismay. But its just way too unsafe for me. We enjoyed the car show, some really cool cars were lined along the street. Trevor enjoyed the fried foods. he just kept eating and eating and eating. it was crazy! Hollister kept sleeping and sleeping and sleeping. Elizabeth "window" shopped without windows. I really could have bought lots but I kept thinking, can I live without that? and of course, I could. CJ enjoyed himself too. He kept running into people from school. That was a relief for me, he actually does know people and they know him, by name! Whew!
Hollister finally woke up and ate french fries. We did buy him a baseball pillow. yes, he could live without it, but his room couldn't. (hee hee) he is getting a baseball themed room at some point and this will be perfect. I have done a lot of looking of baseball material and this was the best, and it was cheap, couldn't pass it up. Hollister has carried it all around the house with him.
So, we headed back to the shuttle and then headed home. I think Trevor and Elizabeth are the only ones who napped afterward. Just cat naps of course, we had football to watch. We all really enjoyed it and thought, "Good thing our town loves pigs so much to have a whole festival for them!" for those of you who don't know, Elgin is the sausage capital of Texas. Oh, I forgot to tell you, we saw them roasting a whole pig!! It was weird. we were so close we could see his hair!!! No, we didn't eat any sausage while were there. Can't do that to the pigs. :)
Here's a few photos. enjoy!













At the shuttle before heading home.
Hollister really want a picture by this pig. They had a barrier, but he didn't care. What a rebel!

the "hottie"

This is the picture CJ is referring to. I don't think I look much different now.

out of the mouth of babes? no... of middle schoolers!!!!

Hollister has gotten into "reading" my scrapbooks. he really loves looking at the photos and talking about everyone and everything in them too. Tonight we were going through them as a family and there was a picture of Trevor and I when we were dating. Trevor said, "Look at that hottie" I just smiled. CJ says, "hey, let me see" he looks, and then says "wow Mom, you've really let yourself go"
Trevor burst out laughing, which in turn made Hollister laugh. So, this is why CJ will not be blogged about any longer :)
real funny kid genius!

Boy Genius

for those of you that think I leave out my older two boys.....
CJ's first middle school report card. ALL A's!!
GREAT JOB SON. Keep it up!

what a goof!

oh my word, he is the CUTEST thing ever. It is hard not to just eat him up in this!!! I still can't believe he is actually wearing it!!! The costume is actually too small and I have to go exchange it, but he's a GOOF and we love him!

Stickers or Stamps?

EEK! Hollister found stickers! He loves stickers. He puts them everywhere! Wait, those aren't stickers, they're STAMPS!!! I panicked a little then realized they are only 41 cent stamps and I don't have any penny stamps. Still, he has MONEY on his arm!!! Then I started thinking, maybe he's trying to tell me something. Maybe he wants to mail himself to his Daddy. Daddy's in Phoenix and on his way to Denver You'd better come home quick Daddy, Hollister's getting ansy!

Summer Slip and Slide Fun

Yes, I know its October, but indulge me! Since I just started and I'm learning, I am back tracking a little. One of the funnest things we did this summer was a slip and slide in our new backyard. We finally have a yard, and its HUGE and perfect for this. It was so fun to watch my guys doing this. It took Trevor one slide on his stomach to remember he isn't 10, he slid on his knees after that. It took Hollister a while to warm up, but when he did, he was non stop. Enjoy the show!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

My vision for our blog

So I have been thinking about this blogging thing. I see it as a great way to keep in touch with family and friends both near and far, especially far. Trevor's family lives in NM and we only see them a few times a year and that's being generous. My immediate family is all in Texas, but we rarely get to see each other anymore as our families have grown larger and older. School kids can't just pick up and go on the fly like toddlers and babies. Plus, what about the extended family in the north? how great that they can see this too!

Friends, well, what can I say? we all get busy with our lives and even e-mail is scarce.

The best thing about the blogs I have read and enjoy is I feel like I am sitting down and having a conversation with that person. So, that is my goal. I hope to share a bit of our lives with you and hope you enjoy reading about it. I think we're pretty dang funny most the time. If not for laughter, I'm afraid to think what would become of us.

So, sit back and take a minute to have a chat with me!

We need to update you!

Friday Night Lights! Friday night has become High School Football Night here in our small town! GO WILDCATS!



















We have a small pumpkin patch here in town. It was perfect for Hollister's age. We went on a hayride, saw animals like chickens, horses and even watched a llama poop! oh yes, that was quite the highlight, lucky you, no pics of that!
Then Hollister got to pick out his own pumpkin. He LOVES it and he can carry it on his own.

And here's my honey! Trevor is a handyman in every sense of the word. I am sure I will be posting his work on this. He remodeled our first home and is now working on our second home. He has also made a part time (HA! really its full time) job out of this hobby. Right now he's off golfing in Phoenix Arizona while we are here enjoying the rain that we rarely see around here.

This is the oldest, Kendrick. He's 17 and a junior in high school. He loves to read, watch movies and play video games!







This is CJ. He is 11 and in 6th grade. He loves books, TV and video games too. His new hobby is texting!!!

And then, there's HOLLISTER! He's 2 and all boy! He loves his Dad, cars, Mickey and "choc milk" He is our sports guy. His first love is baseball, but is quite interested in football too. He also takes "nastics" at day care weekly.

Jumpin' In

I saw a fantastic blog today of a stay at home mom I used to work with and it made me think I wanted to try this. I want to show my family off and let others know how we are doing. Time goes by so fast and there's never enough of it to go around. This could be the answer! Enjoy!