Hook Holiday Card 2010

Sweet Cinnamon Collage Christmas 5x7 folded card

Turn your pictures into personalized Christmas cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

New Button

If you check our blog you might have noticed a new button on the side for www.diapers.com. They are the people that put all those cards in the parenting magazines that fall out all over the floor. I used them once before with Maggie to use a first time offer of 10 dollars off/free shipping, but I always ended up going to our local BJs.

Now that we have Becky and it is freezing cold, and gas is topping over 3 bucks a gallon, I try to not go anywhere that I don't have to. As a result, most of my shopping for Christmas was done online (YAY for the Amazon Mom program...if you sign up you get free 2 day shipping!)...even the Black Friday deals were all available online also, most with free shipping so I got to sit in my PJs instead of freezing in a line.

So I decided to price check diapers.com to our BJs and they are cheaper than BJs for most diapers. But in the past 2 years they added Soap.com to the site. At first I think, that's dumb, I'll just buy it at the store, but I didn't feel like braving the craziness so I ordered a Tide powder online since it was about the same price (free shipping also!).

I got it the next day. Seriously, less than 24 hours, but I was disappointed that a little of the powder leaked in the box so I called to let them know. Their customer service was so awesome that they sent me TWO boxes of Tide to replace the first box! So now I have enough laundry soap to last me about 3 months and that is pretty cool at the rate we do laundry around here. On top of that we got 30% cash back in our account that we can use for our next order. So that definitely beats BJ's prices!

So I wanted to share my online shopping wonderfulness with you too. If you enter ETOWNHOOKS for the promotional code, you will get 30% cash back on diapers and 15% off the rest of your order. Go ahead and order the mega pack of Charmin...:)

*If anyone uses this code at check out, not only do YOU get great deals, but we get a 10 dollar credit for future purchases.

The hatter taps

Otherwise known as noise part II...

Getting Portaits

I love having pictures of the girls, but I don't love the process.

Usually I just end up a sweaty mess by the end of it from the stress of keeping outfits clean, hair in place and people happy and cooperating.

Maggie wasn't a fan this time. She cooperated for a family photo and we got a single picture of the 3 girls (Becky really slid down so you can't really see her in it.) Afterward, Maggie let us know she would not be taking Maggie pictures.

Katie loves it...when Maggie said no thankyou to her turn, Katie piped up that she would like more taken of her. (This is also the girl that announced that she would like the 8 x 10 from her school pictures to go on the wall of her room.)

Becky slept through most of the whole session.

Two Girls Tapping With a Becky Cameo

"Meeting" Curious George

Most people know how much Maggie loves Monkeys. Her pal Monkey goes everywhere with us (with blanket) and he is becoming a part of the family by getting his teeth cleaned at the dentist and everything. I have visions of them going in her backpack to preschool and I still shudder when I remember foolishly taking her to get her flu shot without her loveys. Not a good plan, eh?

Anyway, back to George. We love Curious George and are thrilled that we get to see him on PBS. (When Katie was her age they still showed teletubbies and boobah which were just odd. I'll leave it at that.) Elizabethtown library has a "Snorey time" program that kids come in pjs to hear stories and meet characters. And Curious George was coming!!!

We signed up a month in advance but nothing went right. Becky was about 6 weeks old and delayed us a bit. Then Maggie delayed us further with an opinion about footwear. (No you cannot where dress up high heels in the cold, Margaret.) So we would have been on time, but no spots in the parking lot. We went to the municipal lot...all full...so we drove to another lot and got a space as someone was leaving. By the time we parked, unloaded, and walked to the library and up the stairs the librarian finished 2 of the 3 stories.

Maggie spies the giant George and immediately started to whimper into my pant leg. So thankfully Becky was asleep in her car seat because I had to cuddle Maggie (and blanket and Monkey) to assure her that it was OK that George was as tall as Mommy. (Seriously people, would the man in the yellow hat be the same size as George? Think about it, of course it scared her.)

So thankfully it was time for a craft (Monkey puppets.) Maggie wanted to glue first, but we had to listen to Katie's discourse on the merits of coloring first and gluing second. So George is ready to leave and thinking of all the trouble we went to get get there, I try to talk the girls into a picture with George. I get a "uh-uh" from Maggie (she is looking at me like ARE YOU KIDDING ME?) and Katie tells me that she is too old for George. OK. So I do what any other neurotic mom would do and get them to stay in front of me with George safely 15 yards behind them holding the puppets just so I have a shot of them with George.

Mr. Postman bring my free cards to me....

Wait Mr. Postman!
Ever since we learned the joy of online bill pay, we find that we don't use stamps much. Usually they are reserved for occasionally mail or the bill that we sometimes find that there isn't a way to pay online (gasp!). I am determined to send out Christmas cards this year. We have a rather spotty record with getting cards to the mailing stage. Usually it is because I don't have any stamps...or stamps any higher than a 42 cents. (What are they up to now, anyway?)
So it is December and I've been thinking for a month and a half that I have to get started on my Christmas cards...Enter Shutterfly. I love Shutterfly because I can send out a picture (or pictures) of our girls as the card instead of buying separate cards and slipping in snapshots. The quality is wonderful, so when Christmas is over, if you want you can cut the card and put it in a frame. So I start to browse through the cards when I see a blog post from my friend Liz about free cards.
Wait...free?
Yep....seriously...Shutterfly is giving away 50 free cards.

We love free, especially if it was something we wanted to buy anyhow.

I am a huge fan of Shutterfly's photo cards that we had the invitation for my parents' 30th anniversary party made with a picture from their wedding day. We just thought that they (and everyone else) would enjoy the picture of them leaving the church smiling. It is one of my personal favorites.

Wouldn't it be fun to personalize invitations for your next party with a picture?

We still haven't made up birth announcements for Rebecca Jean (See previous post about Maggie's lack of participation...) but now that we have a few photos we need to get on that...she is only 2 months...it isn't THAT bad...yet....:)

But I have to say that I LOVE the new story cards they have! It combines the letter that I always would like to send out with the pictures so they aren't separate. I am so torn between collage cards and the ones with a story line inside. There also is a great one called a Year in Pictures that could be wonderful for a birthday invitation that has a photo from each month.

Want in on this awesome promotion? Check out Shutterfly for more info!

Grandma's Leaves

I love this last picture...

Sister photo session

We were trying to get a picture of all three but this was the best one with Maggie in it. Yep, not interested at all. Maybe we would have had more success telling her to get out of the picture or to frown??

Biggest with the littlest. Katie wore that outfit for her first Thanksgiving.

Becky taking a break on her new blanket...Thanks Mom for taking these pictures!

One week

It is amazing how much time is flying by with our little Becky, Maggie and Katie. Within the last week, Becky went on her first car trip to Grandma's to visit Uncle Doug and Brittany, Aunt Glenda, and lots of other friends and family. She did really well (thank you Doug for the batteries from Walmart for the swing...) It was a short visit, but Thanksgiving will be here soon.

I love how Becky reacts to her sisters' voices, how she can look at us with an amused expression (so this is my family?) and she started to suck on her right hand, so yep, my guess is that we will have a trio of thumb suckers.

Katie's busy in first grade, loving math and learning about shapes and vertices, and writing in her diary. We are getting in a great routine, sometimes only going out in the evening for choir and dance class...well, since Katie gets home from school around 4, there isn't much time for homework, supper, bath and playtime as it is. Maggie gets lots of big sister practice in the morning while Katie is at school and today she happily went with me to BJs for lunch (uhhh...free samples....in my defense it was chicken tenders, meatballs and bread and she fell asleep on the drive home) today. She loves having her hood up, and strings to tie on the waist of her pants, and collects bouquets of leaves.

So in one week we:
eat roughly 28 bowls of cereal
change about 140 diapers
scrub the kitchen floor three times (at least under the kitchen table)
do 5 homework assignments with Katie
trip over mommy's shoes several times when I kick them off in the hallway instead of putting them away.

A week isn't long (except when it is, and you know THOSE weeks...) but when it is 1/5 of Becky's life, I'm sad that it is moves so fast....

Pumpkin Carving

Katie and Maggie got to carve their first real pumpkin at Grandma's with Uncle Doug and Brittany.

Hook Girls at 1 Month

Betcha can guess who is who!

Happy Halloween!

This was the only picture that turned out. Yep. One.

I felt pretty brave tonight and took the girls trick-or-treating by myself since John was at work.

Becky wasn't in the picture, but she was off to the right in her car seat all snuggled up in her little hat and blankets. We took the double stroller, while it seemed silly when Maggie was walking in the beginning, I was so thankful for it when we got down the street and Maggie needed a lift.

If you didn't realize, Katie is supergirl and Maggie made her own costume...a butterfly ballerina. Katie went to most of the houses with her friends and Maggie, Becky and I just tried to keep up (again, much easier when Maggie was IN the stroller, not collecting leaves for her crumbly leaf collection.) The bags were filled with candy accordingly (Katie's very full, and Maggie's rather empty) so we might need to divide the candy in (shall I say it?) a more socialist way...

Happy 1 Month, Becky!

I can't believe a month has gone by since we got to meet our smallest princess. Becky is growing so fast, becoming more alert, and will crane her neck to find her sisters when she hears them. I know the next 11 months will go fast too.

Like the little "1 month" circle? You can download your own for free here:

http://sprik.blogspot.com/2010/08/monthly-baby-photos.html

Maggie's Morning

On Monday we were all up early.
We got Katie off to school, and Becky was fed and went back to sleep.
Since it was such a beautiful day, I asked Maggie if she wanted to go for a walk, which she happily ran to get her shoes. Her little legs can really go! We did a large loop around the development, stopping from time to time to pick up leaves (One of her favorite things to collect, though Daddy banned them from coming inside the house because of a couple of leaf crumbly messes we had.) which if I remember correctly is somewhere around a 1/3 mile.

We ended up at home, with the perfect opportunity for Maggie to get to play with the rake since Katie was at school. Our trip to target resulted in this clearance purchase, and what better way to trick the girls into doing chores (or instill great work ethic? Does that sound better?).

I hope the weather holds for a while...this is my favorite weather.

Our three girls

Double Big sister Katie holding Becky....


Big sister Maggie holding Becky (kind of...)

I love our girlies!

Becky's Best Sister

Excuse my cheesy talking during the video, but it is easy for forget in a few months how old she was when I might look at the video a year from now.

The fun part of this video is Katie and Maggie at the end arguing who Becky likes best.

Becky pictures

Upper left is Becky in her swing, just kind of relaxing;
Big Sister shots, then one from today with Becky just relaxing on the duckie quilt that Grandma made before I turned her over for tummy time, or as Daddy calls it, 'torture time'.

Becky is getting into a bit of a schedule now, as much as a 2 week old can. She is more alert and loves to lay on a blanket during the day. She started to sleep in her crib this week, too. I already feel that she is growing too fast.

Poor Missy

+

+

=

Applesauce Uh-Oh

The new thing I tried to do this year is make applesauce. So I took the girls to the Farmer's Market and got a bunch of seconds apples. You would think that since I never did this before I would get a small amount and try it out. Somehow my pregnant brain reasoned it would be much better to make applesauce out of a bushel of apples. So away we went.

It was pretty easy, but Katie was my helper with the sugar and cinnamon. Can't see any problems there, right? Since I didn't find any real recipes with amounts we just tried to do it by taste, but some of the batches are pretty sweet and cinnamon tasting. So....maybe some adjustments for next year?

Maggie (and Katie) are still fans of it, and this is from when Katie was at school and Maggie wanted applesauce for a snack. I left the container on the table while I was doing dishes and when I didn't immediately come over when she asked for more, she decided to help herself.

Just
a
little
messy.

Maggie Goes Shopping

(This was from a few weeks ago, but since our computer wasn't working much at all, it was difficult to post some cute pictures, so excuse going backward a bit.)

This weekend John took Katie out to Pittsburgh to meet our new nephew, Timmy. Since I wasn't allowed to travel that far anymore and Maggie wouldn't do an out and back long trip in a day well, she and I went to church. Now that she isn't as clingy to Mommy, the church nursery is the funnest place ever, and I usually come back to some sort of tea party in the kitchen area.

As a special treat, I took her to Darrenkamp's afterward to pick up some milk and a treat and she got to push her own cart. Even though I probably looked a little nutty taking her picture in a grocery store, I couldn't resist because she was so cute.

Introducing Rebecca Jean

Rebecca Jean joined our family on September 28th at 8:54 pm.
7 pounds, 10.9 ounces and 20 inches long

One Crazy Summer

I know summer's not over yet, but with Katie starting back to school in less than a week, I thought a little visual re-cap might be in order. Most of the pictures are from our trips to Grandma's and Sesame Place (just in case you thought Cookie Monster and Zoe were at Grandma's, too).

If the girls are Princesses, does that make me Queen?

OK, so this is a few weeks old, but we have been in constant motion it sometimes feels like. Really the reason is that our computer acts like it is 80 years old sometimes and I lose patience before I finish a post. :)

The top picture is a shot of Katie and Maggie dressed up to meet the Princess of Dutch Wonderland. She came to the Elizabethtown Library to host story time and the girls had fun getting all dressed up. Seriously, we spent 2 hours primping Katie as if it were her first dance, but that is part of the fun with girls, right? I've been waiting for the days that I could put her hair up in curls.
A shot of Maggie (in dress up Cinderella shoes!) with her ever-present pal, Monkey.

After some persuasion from big sister, Maggie joined in the picture of the three princesses. I'm thinking Princess of Dutch Wonderland could be a fun job for Katie in 10 years, right?

Maggie is now completely in fancy dress and dress up shoe mode. Never mind she has perfectly acceptable normal shoes to wear...her choices of footwear fall between dress up shoes with heels and Katie's flip flops. Yep, got her a pair of flip flops in her size. I'm told that they aren't big enough. Hmmmm....