Christmas letters in April...whaaat?

Hello Family!

I found a stack of Christmas cards I never mailed off and the kids just got their school pictures today.  I thought I would send a letter with updates about our family as well as some pictures, and those of you who never got their Christmas cards...here they come! 

Christian: is still working for APS and tries to get all the over time he can right now before that all goes away.  He and Melody are getting ready to go on their annual daddy daughter camp-out this weekend to Globe.  He just took me and the kids to Las Vegas and we stayed at Circus Circus.  Christian has a really fun talent of being able to win the carnival games.  He won helicopters, guitars, and lots of stuffed animals from very small to very large for me and the kids.   We all had a lot of fun and Christian asked what we’re doing for our next vacation.  He likes to have fun things to look forward to.  Christian has received a fairly recent calling in church as the Gospel Doctrine teacher. 

Emily: has to go for another radioactive treatment in about 3 weeks.  I have to stop taking my medication for a while and have my blood drawn weekly.  Good news is, in 2 months I should be feeling better than ever.  I was getting ready to get a part time, evening job at the Olive Garden close by our house but I will have to wait a couple of months now.  Stay tuned though.  Today I was outside digging and shoveling, getting ready to put in another garden in our backyard.  Each year we add a little something more to our backyard.  At this rate, our backyard will be finished in about 6 years but it’s been fun to work on it together.  As for church callings, I’m the 1^st counselor in the Relief Society Presidency.

Melody: is in the 3^rd grade and very smart.  Now if we can just get her to do a little more work and lot less socializing she'll have it made.  She has lots of friends and loves to spend time with them almost as much as she likes spending time with us.  She loves to be outdoors and loves animals.  She just got a couple of rabbits which she/we named Ginger and Dillweed or “Dilly”.  Christian built her a really nice rabbit hutch to go in the back yard.   She’s always giving us hugs which I really appreciate, and is great at saying “I love you”.  She can do laundry, wash dishes, change diapers, make bottles, there’s nothing that she can’t do and she’s a big help to her mom with her baby sisters.  She found my Percy Jackson series that Christian got me for Christmas and has been asking if I’d read them to her, so right now I’m reading the series to her each night. 

Aaron: is a super smart little boy and is in the 1st grade.  His teacher does an awesome job of making sure he's challenged enough in school.  He moves to different classrooms to learn reading and math. He’s also a great help to his mom and can be very enthusiastic about vacuuming or picking up when he wants to, which is often because he knows it makes his mother happy.  Aaron can also put up a good argument for why he doesn’t have to do things when he doesn’t want to, but I'm still the best at arguing ;).  He is a good money saver when he earns money for doing his chores.  Melody is always trying to borrow from Aaron’s piggy bank.

Dane: joins his very first soccer team this Thursday.  He loved watching Aaron and Melody play soccer and can’t wait to start playing too.  He’s our big time sports player and loves to play soccer, football, and basketball.  His wardrobe consists of mostly jerseys and he won’t let me switch it up for him.  Sometimes I just want to see him wearing a t-shirt or collared shirt, but nope!  Dane is our night owl and he likes his one-on-one time with his mom and dad in the evenings. 

Baylee: is almost old enough to go into nursery.  She’ll be 18 months on April 23^rd and we can’t wait until she can go into nursery each Sunday.  Right now she wanders all around during Sunday school class and the last half of church with Christian.  Our ward members try to pick her up but she’s strictly a “just look and don’t touch” kind of baby.  She slaps the chairs with her hands and has a lot to say.  She started a snack exchange with the other toddlers in Sunday School class.  The other mom’s and dad’s in the room try to coax her over to them with snacks and toys so they can hold her.  She’s our little “tank”, she may only be about 18 months but she’s wearing size 3T and 4T clothing.  She is so busy at home.  She’s constantly letting the chickens out of their coop and filling their water bowl full of dirt so they have mud to drink...she's so considerate.  I pull her off the kitchen table at least a dozen times a day.  Other favorites of hers is emptying out the toy box, emptying out the bottle drawer with the lids, getting into the trash can, and what we like to call “attacking” the toilet paper roll.  I watch her as she walks around the house with a very mischievous look on her face just looking for the next thing to get into and entertain her. 

Abby: has been catching up to other babies her age, finally.  She was a few months behind developmentally but has had a lot of things click for her the past couple months.  She’s still a very little baby and we like to tuck her in our arms like a little football. She’s started crawling now, clapping her hands, feeding herself, and just started to say momma a few days ago.  Her foster case is moving towards adoption on April 25^th and we’ll be able to adopt her by the end of summer, hopefully.  Christian and I are shortening her name to just Abby and giving her the middle name of Jane.  Abby Jane is the name of my great grandmother so we’re pretty happy with it.  She has a half brother or sister (we don’t know which yet) being born in about 5-6 months time.  I’m not sure if I’ll be well enough to take another baby as a placement but we’ll be the first home they call when he/she’s born.  I’ll have to update you later on what we decide to do.  I’m having a hard time imaging 3 babies in 2 years.  Abby turns 1 year old on April 26th.

 

Love,

Emily, Christian, Melody, Aaron, Dane, Baylee, and Abby Hughes 

2010 New Years Eve!!

Christmas was great and so was sleeping in on News Years Day!  We hung out with our friends Cori and Brian on New Year's Eve playing games, eating potato soup, setting off the noise makers/poppers with the kiddos about 9:00 I think, and watching the new James Bond movie.  I fell asleep during the first 10 minutes of the movie though. 

I also got a new church calling on New Years Eve which was a surprise...a pleasant one at that.  I've been called to be the 1st counselor in the Relief Society and I was both happy and apprehensive to accept the calling.  Now that I've had time to let it sink in I think I'm ready for whatever challenges come my way, but mostly I'm excited to work with a committee over the enrichment activities.

Baylee is starting to smile and coo when you talk to her.  I've been told you can't spoil a newborn but this baby girl knows the difference if you're sitting down with her or standing and bouncing her.  She's such a cutie-pie though and it's my fault she's so spoiled.  I have a hard time putting her down.  Baylee is such a snuggly baby.

The kids were excited to go back to school...but not as excited as I was!!!  The first day off I took a much needed nap!

We enrolled Alynna in the 2nd grade and she's already making friends.  She was disappointed not to be in Melody's class but I think she'll do so much better if they're apart and not competing with each other.  It looks like Alynna will be living with us at least until March.  It's nice having 2 big sisters in the house to help take care of Baylee when she's fussing.

Calling all X-Men

I always look at my blog and never know what to write so I move on to reading everyone elses! Which I of course love to do. It never seems like what I have to say is ever as interesting as reading my friends and family members blogs. So here's the Hughes family update! finally...

This past summer has had its challenges but Christian and I are learning to laugh at things and then move on to what's most important. Here are the things we've learned to laugh at.

We've had a finicky upstairs A/C unit that we've been babying through the summer. Van troubles where we've taken the van into get repaired 3 times in the same week (all taken care of though). The A/C in Christian's car went out in June so he's been commuting in a hot car after spending the entire day working outside each and every day (he's holding out for winter). I've been upset with my ex-husband and have been preparing to take him to court yet again. A broken dishwasher (as of Sunday). And the lawn mower is about to give up the ghost. The lawn mower is actually what has inspired me to write this blog today.

My husband is really good at counting our nickels and dimes. He's good at making things last that should have been replaced years ago. The lawn mower we have is one we inherited from my grandpa Crandall who kept it running for a long time. I think due to the summer heat the lawn mower can't function the way it's been jimmy rigged to do :). It takes Christian at least 3 days to mow the back yard because the engine overheats and dies on him. Yesterday Christian was so close to finishing the yard when he could feel the lawn mower choking again. So he quickly mowed a big X on our lawn, calling all X-Men. I don't think we'll be planting any winter grass.

But the things that are important are happening. I've been volunteering in Aaron's Kindergarten class which we both love. I'm getting to know his friends and am doing what I can to encourage him to do his best in school. Slowly but surely I'm preparing for our little baby girl to come in October. I'm gathering up items here and there and have had success in rearranging bedrooms (that was actually kind of stupid on my part, I kept praying not to go into labor while I was moving heavy dressers). We have had Adrianna which has been a really special experience for our family. My husband has a job and he is really good at it. And there has been a lot more than just these things to be thankful for.

Dane is a hoot as always. We moved him into Aaron's room onto the bottom bunk. He's in a big boy bed now and he sleeps in it! And he's able to put up with Aaron's talking at night. Our little baby is growing up.

Aaron is his usual. His talking, crying, yelling, and holding conversations at night (usually with Melody) while staying asleep is still pretty entertaining. He woke up Dane the other night and when I went into quiet Aaron down, he couldn't remember why he was sitting up in his bed. He loves school and is doing well. He gets mad at me if I don't pack him a school lunch everyday. If I don't pack him a PB&J sandwich from home, that's what he'll get in the cafeteria line but he throws the unopened bag of potato chips away. Either don't take them at all or give them to a friend right?

Melody has been a big help at home. She helps Aaron with reading books and doing homework. She hops to it when we need her help with the two babies. Melody is also doing really well in school. I'm really happy for the teacher she's gotten. It's Bro. Harris from the Johnson Ranch ward!

Baby Girl Hughes is due on Halloween but we're taking bets on when she'll actually arrive. It's gonna be fun times with 3 babies in diapers! And no I'm not complaining. I actually do find that rather funny. It fits us. Christian and I are still undecided on the name. This time around I think I need to see her to know what will fit her best.

That's our family update!

Here is what's up!

So Christian and I are still waiting to hear back from Casa De Los Ninos in regards to getting children for foster care. We started this endeavor last March so we are coming up on 1 year of preparation for foster kids. Because of the economy, CPS workers are getting jobs cut, transportation services for the foster kids is being done away with, the government allowances for foster parents is being cut pretty significantly and I'm sure there's a lot of other changes coming, but I'm still ready to be a foster mom. I've been waiting a long time so I'm not about to throw up my hands and say never mind. Besides, I think Christian and I could help some chilren in a pretty significant way. So I'm here at home, trying to keep a home of order (and failing) but at least my kids are happy.

During the week I have multiple children that I watch. 3 Part timers and a whole lot of drop-ins. It's fun to be a stay-at-home mom and to have children that like to come over to "Ms Emily's House". I've dropped all my full time kids because I need to be within ratio for when we do receive foster kids, and I did this not only because...#1 it's the law and I have to follow a certain ratio...but #2 I really do want to give any foster kids that come to us a loving home that will be less chaotic then the one they just came from.

To compensate for the loss of kids I had been watching, I picked up cleaning houses in the evenings. I've started cleaning for family members and friends and I've gotten really good at cleaning homes in 2-3 hours. Christian still doesn't like the idea of me doing this because it's hard work and somehow he doesn't think it's dignified. But I like doing it just fine and I think he'll eventually come around to the fact that it's just not that big of a deal. I also picked up selling Scentsy. I figured having these side jobs would change up my schedule during the week and they are all things I can set my own hours to.

Speaking of watching children and cleaning houses, I think these two things have aggravated my already weakening neck and back over the last year. I'm starting physical therapy to help get my neck back in shape. My neck has absolutely no curve in it and is showing signs of degeneration. Actually, both doctors I went to see last Friday (it was a long day for me) told me it might have something to do with my height and me trying to slouch down all the time to make myself shorter. Perfect example: When we went to the dollar movies on Valentines Day I slouched as far down in my theatre chair so the people behind me could see the movie.

So I know people think I'm totally nuts for some of the things that I do. But if I don't try something, then how will I know if I'm good at it or not?

2008 Hughes Family Christmas Letter

I really dropped the ball on getting out our family Christmas card for 2008 but I wanted to still send out our love to all our friends and family. Here's an update on what's been happening with us!

We moved into our home a few days after Christmas in 2007 so we have officially been in our new home for 1 year now! And guess what! Our garage, my moms, and my mother-in-laws garage are still containing things that have never been unpacked, packed or even moved. I'm sure I'll get a grasp on things when it's time for us to move again. Which, by the way, will probably be never.

Christian and I are Primary teachers over the CTR5 class and of course we love it. We have 17 kids in our class this year! Christian is also a ward missionary and I'm the sacrament music coordinator. I hope I get to have that calling for a while. It's been really neat to help with the music for sacrament. Hopefully I'm doing a good job! Christian and I completed our Foster Parenting course, family and home inspection. We've prepared one of our rooms to recieve children when the time is right which I'm thinking is fairly soon! It sounds like everything has finally gone through the state and we've been approved. We started meeting with Casa de Los Ninos in April of 2008 so we've been working towards this goal as foster parents for a while now.

Christian works for APS and is doing such an awesome job there. He recently transfered to the Casa Grande office and is happy that his commute isn't as terrible as it used to be driving all the way up to Deer Valley. He hasn't had as much road rage which is always good huh??

I'm still trying to find my role in everything. Christian has been a good supporter of everything I've tried or decided to do. He just rolls his eyes at me when I tell him my latest and greatest idea. He's pretty patient with me though which is something that I definantly love about him. I was busy this year planning and holding several craft fairs. Some that did great and some that did not so great. This upcoming year I'm looking to keep myself busy but simplify a lot at the same time. I'll let you know in next year's Christmas letter how I did.

Melody has lost her two front teeth and it happened right before Christmas. We all had fun singing the appropriate "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth" with her. She is such a help with Dane and even changed her first diaper the other day. It took a little while because Dane made her chase him around the room before she could get the diaper back on. She really loves her younger brothers and finds ways to help out and make sure they are taken care of. She loves to read books and write notes to everyone. And she has a picture collection taped up all over her bedroom walls of family, crayon drawings and postcard pictures of the Savior. I keep taking them down because I don't like things taped to the walls but she keeps putting them back up.

Aaron. There are just no words to accurately describe that little boy. He is hilarious and I am glad I get to stay home with him. He is such a cuddly boy with a funny giggle and has the most expressive face ever. He is such a ham and a very witty one at that. He has so much to say all the time and sometimes I have to tell him to take a breath and give my ears a rest for a while. I get a hug, a kiss, an 'I love you Mom', and a 'can I play the nintendo?', from him everyday. I forsee him choosing a profession as a lawyer because he always has an argument and a closing statement for you. Aaron really loves to be with his family. He says that's his favorite thing to do. Well that and playing the nintendo. Our two kitty cats, Dexter and Tucker, love Aaron and he takes really good care of them.

Dane is our little blonde headed boy and likes to be carried around everywhere. If mommy won't pick him up then Melody will! He is such a daddy's boy which I both love and hate. When daddy's around I don't seem to exist anymore but sometimes that's okay with me. He started going to nursery in November which has made teaching in Primary easier on Christian and I now. He loves car rides because he gets both Aaron and Melody's attention at the same time and we usually have to quiet down their loud laughter. Dane likes to mimic Aaron playing the Nintendo Wii. He doesn't care about playing the game but likes to make the same movements that Aaron is making which is always funny to watch.

Then of course we have our family dog, Maggie. She is Dane's best friend. She and Dane are about 4 months apart in age and she is his protector, pillow, playmate and horse. Dane likes to sneak her food from his high chair so I have to keep an eye on those two around meal times.

We absolutely love our family and friends and always hope that everyone is doing okay. We hope you all know how much we think of you. Here's to a happy new year!!

Love,

Emily, Christian, Melody, Aaron and Dane