Trick or Treat!!

I love this holiday. Whoever came up with the idea to dress up in costumes, go around door to door and collect candy was a genius. We had a great time trick or treating around our neighborhood tonight. I debated whether to stay home and pass out candy or go along and I'm really glad I went along. For one thing it was so fun to watch the kids as they ran from house to house and it definitely took 2 parents to watch these crazy kids! It took Mya 1 house to figure out what to do and Max acted like an old pro trying to keep up with the 7 and 8 year olds.

Chris and I are pretty happy with the stash of candy we now have. The variety is awesome...lots of our favorites! Here are a few pictures of the night and one video.





Unfortunately the Vikes can't seem to win a big game, but Chris carved a pumpkin for them anyways..:)

The Trip Part III

The tarantula was 3 inches from my back. We took a picture first of course, and then put a 32 oz cup of diet coke on top of it. The tarantula expanded and jumped inside the cup, but then the nice man who saw it shoved it in the trees and we never heard from him again! Of course...lots of laughs followed and we already have the fabricated story ready to go for the future when we look back on this and the tarantula has grown:)

Friday night we went out to Old Scottsdale and went to a comedy club. The comics were hilarious and we even got called out by the featured comic (The Greg Wilson in case you're interested in looking him up on You-Tube. Mom and Dad---skip this:) because we were a "girls night out" group. He had plenty of jokes up his sleeve about that. After the comedy club we went out to a few places and had a ton of fun.



Saturday morning was spent basking in the beautiful sun that we hadn't seen in 2 days until we had to leave for the airport at 10:30. We dropped Bree off at the main Phoenix airport and then continued on our way to the Mesa airport, but thankfully we stopped for lunch at Old Chicago. It was there that we realized there was not 1, but 2 Mesa Airports and we were headed to the wrong one! Who knew?? Luckily we weren't too far off course and we made it there with plenty of time to spare.

the view from the deck

the "spool"

All in all...a great trip. It will definitely not be 8 years until we do this again. We're thinking 2 or 3:) Big thank you to Megan's family for letting us crash at their place and use their car to get us around everywhere. Also a big thanks to my wonderful hubby who took 2 days off of work and did an awesome job with the kids while I was gone.

The Trip Part II

After waking up disappointingly early on Thursday morning we proceeded to sit around for the next 2 hours figuring out what to do with our lives! We ended up going to get groceries and then hitting the road towards Sedona to stop at Arizona's Wine Country along the way. The 2 hour drive up the mountains was pretty uneventful other than my ears feeling like they were going to explode. The winery was super fun. We all sampled 5 wines and then bought a bottle to share on the back deck along with some appetizers. We decided that if we had a little more time, we would for sure be setting our 2 single friends up with the guy giving us our wine talk:)








Thursday night we got back to Phoenix and made dinner and drank wine. The night ended with a jump in the "spool" (spa/pool) which was freezing cold because it wasn't working! Thankfully Megan's parents got it fixed the next day so we were able to enjoy it warm too:)

Friday was a total chill day. We went to the association pool/spa and almost got kicked out in the first 10 minutes! Megan's parents used to be members, but are no longer so they almost didn't let us stay! However, it was raining and cold and there was absolutely NO ONE else in the entire place, so they let us stay.


The afternoon was pretty uneventful except for ONE OF THE SCARIEST MOMENTS OF MY LIFE when someone walking by to turn on the bubbles pushed me and yelled. This is what we saw.



to be continued....

Happy 6th to our Canine Companion

Chloe Jo turns 6 years old today. It's a good thing dogs have birthdays too because it forces us to pay extra special attention to them at least one day per year! Seems like before we had kids, she got lots of attention, but it has decreased exponentially each year after:) Unfortunately the winds were so strong today that she didn't even get a walk on her big day. I think Max and Mya would have blown over.

In keeping with tradition, we went to PetCo tonight to get Chloe her birthday presents. She got to look through the aisle and pick out some treats and a toy. We also had to get her some food and this time we got her Iams Low Calorie food per the vet's request. Apparently Chloe is 8 lbs overweight (aren't we all??) and won't live to her full life potential unless we get her to around 62 lbs. So...we've cut down on the amount of food we give her and we're trying to lessen the treats throughout the day.



Last year we made a cake and shared some with her, but I didn't think that was in the diet plan this year, so we changed it up a little bit. I looked up a recipe for healthy dog treats online and found one that had powdered milk in it. I don't have that, so then I looked up what I could replace the powdered milk with. I followed the Internet and it failed me miserably. The treats were a total failure and we didn't even get to use our bone-shaped-cookie-cut-out. Oh well...Chloe still got to lick out of the bowl which was probably just as good as the actual treats.



She continues to be a great dog/puppy. Yes...at 6 yrs old we still see some puppy in her on a day to day basis. She loves to chew...mostly the kids' toys, soccer balls, juice boxes, diapers, beanie babies, used napkins off your lap, and Mya's clothes that have aquafor on them:) Chloe still sleeps with Max, either on the floor or up on his bed when the weather gets cold. The big break through for Mya is that she actually calls her Chloe now instead of E-O. She's been able to say Chloe for awhile now, but I think it was a habit to call her the wrong name so it kind of stuck until we kept making her say it right. If you're interested in this year's rendition of Happy Birthday you can see video below. If you're interested in last year's...click here.

The Trip....Part 1

As Chris mentioned in the previous post, I just got home from 4 days in Arizona with my college besties celebrating all of our 30th birthdays! 7 of us were roommates senior year and have remained close since graduating. One of the 7 had to miss the trip because her hubby is a resident at the U of Michigan and they have a daughter so she couldn't get away. Otherwise, 6 of us were able to go on this trip and the best part was that no one was pregnant or breastfeeding! When we planned this trip 8 years ago we were sure we'd have a designated driver, but it was not the case!

It's going to take awhile to write about this trip, so I'm going to do it in a few installments. Here's Part 1:

I'll start with Wednesday. I had a few errands to run around Dubuque before taking off Wed evening. As I was getting some cash at the bank, I noticed that my license was NOT in my wallet! I had a minor heart attack and called my sister who is an expert at losing ID's. She just said to go get another one at the DMV and everything would be fine. So, I went to the DMV and expected to walk out with my new license. Little did I know...Iowa changed their policy on issuing licenses. They give you a slip of paper and send the real one in the mail 3 weeks later!! I again had a minor heart attack, and decided to just bring my passport. It was expired and had my maiden name on it, so I threw in my marriage certificate. Then I threw in my social security card and my birth certificate just to be safe! I REALLY wanted to go on this trip if you couldn't already tell:)

So, with my 18 forms of ID in hand, I took off for the Cedar Rapids airport with Kindel. We got there in plenty of time to have a $7.50 beer to relax my anxious stomach and were chatting with some of the other passengers at the bar. This one guy was asking where we were going. We told him Phoenix and he said..."Isn't it nice not flying into Sky Harbor?" After asking him to repeat this 2 more times, we realized we were NOT flying into the same airport as our other friends!! Who knew there were multiple airports in Phoenix:) So after a couple phone calls and lots of laughs, we sort of had a plan for how we were going to meet up with everyone.

Then, just as we were starting to board the flight, they came on the intercom and said there was a weather advisory in Phoenix and there was no guarantee that we would be able to land there. They said we would either land in Las Vegas or back in CR. Again...the only thing we could do was laugh and we got on the plane anyway.

An $80 cab ride later and we were united with our friends at the condo in Fountain Hills. Megan's parents own the condo and were so kind to let us stay there for our girls weekend. It was midnight Iowa time when we arrived, but it didn't stop us from staying up 3 more hours drinking some wine and eating Luna bars in order to catch up with everyone!

To be continued....


(halloween senior year at the happy house)

Guest Post - Time with Dad

Beth went to Arizona with her college roommates from Wed-Sat this week. I took off Thursday and Friday and we've been having a good time. Some general observations/comments about our time together:

*Turns out getting Max to pre-school by 9am wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. He didn't wake up until 8:05 and then by the time he and Mya are fed, dressed and out the door, we were already 5 minutes behind our departure time outlined by Beth in my instruction manual. Made up a few minutes on the drive and got them there just as the kids were sitting down for story time. Phew!

*Watching Mya run to give Max a big hug when we picked him up was priceless. 2 hours away from fighting like cats and dogs with each other! I don't know how they lasted that long!

*I've never beed a napper - just can't get myself to fall asleep in the middle of the day. Not like I was running all day long, but I was somehow tired enough to lay down and fall asleep. Both days... Maybe I should champion a nap time at work ala George Castanza?!

*On a windy day, it's not a safe bet that the shopping carts at Hyvee will stay stationary as you leave one kid in the seat while you go to the other side of the van to grab the other. Having a stranger look at you funny while saying "I think this is your kid that was rolling away" doesn't make you feel like #1 Dad. We high-tailed it in and out of the store before social services could make it there. Is there an easy way to do this maneuver when you are by yourself?!

*My biggest fights with Mya were over her pajamas. It drove me nuts that she would keep going in her drawer, pulling off what she had on for clothes and putting on a new "princess" gown. It was cold out! No - you can't wear pajamas outside! She might have put on 8 different sets of PJ's in one day and I was close to moving the dresser outside.

*Crisis averted - the red blotch on Mya's head was not a cut needing stitches which I had no idea how it got there - just self-inflicted marker stain.

*Halloween parade in Asbury at night wasn't all I thought it would be. The crowd was light which was good, but you couldn't see any of the candy on the ground or the floats going by because it was dark! My idea to slap those glow sticks on the kids helped big time in keeping track of them in their quests to fill their McDonalds buckets with candy. Next year we will bring flashlights and hopefully Mya won't be scared to death of the Culvers ice cream cone man. Here's a pic of some halloween gear that Grandma and Grandpa Hoden sent down:

















*Max says the darndest things. I can't keep track of them all but here's one of my favorites from Saturday football today. While watching the Ohio State Purdue game...
Announcer: “Touchdown Ohio State!”
Max: “Touchdown Iowa Steak! Daddy, Jake hates Iowa Steak”.

*Jumpin Janes is a pretty cool place to take the kids - my only rule is that it's during a weekday when all schools are in session. You get almost the whole place to yourself that way. I sat down on a table right in the middle, fired up the laptop and was able to work through a few emails, all while the kids ran from one place to another. Good way to spend 2 hours and surprisingly, the kids were the ones who wanted to get going.


All in all, we had a pretty good time together. That being said, I am very happy to get my wife back tonight. It's interesting how I always felt we complimented each other well, and how now I see the same dynamic playing out with our parenting.

pretty good start

Max has finally become interested in letters! I have to be careful about how I try to teach him because when he senses that he's "learning" he puts his hands over his ears! no joke. So, we have been doing letters gradually. One of the best stories is when we pulled up to Target one day I asked him what letter it started with and he said O. Now...O and T are actually letters he knew at this time (Tara and Olivia) so I was confused. When I looked up, I realized he was talking about the actual "target" and not the first letter in the name!


Anyway...I've been working a little bit with him on writing his name and here's a picture of what it looks like. I tried drawing boxes so he would write the letters in the order they should go and in a straight line and I got the hands to the ears, so I'm going to be happy with this:)

Surprise Visitor

We had a surprise visitor today at our house! Well, I knew she was coming, but the kids did not. Can you tell who it was?




It was Auntie Tara! My sister just got back from 3 weeks in Europe and wanted to see the kids, so she came down for the day and surprised them all dressed up. Max was a little leary, but maintained a smile on his face the whole time. Mya...she was so scared she screamed and hung onto me like a monkey and wouldn't even look at Tara! As soon as she took the glasses and hair off, Mya smiled and ran to her. I was surprised she didn't hold it against her!

Fun Fall Weekend

We were a busy crew around here this weekend! My brother and sister-in-law came for the weekend with my nieces Olivia and Grace. We had a great time watching the kids play so well together. Olivia and Mya didn't separate for much more than to sleep..they were pretty much 2 peas in a pod. Hopefully once Gracie gets a little bigger, Max and her can be buddies and team up against Olivia and Mya:) Not a lot of sounds better than 2 giggling little girls.




Saturday morning Amanda and I took the kids to the Pumpkin Patch. For being close to lunch and naps, they all did great. We tried to get a picture of the 4 of them, but it was quite difficult with 2 -2 year olds and an 8 month old who wanted to eat the leaves insted of look up at the camera. We did what we could. The kids enjoyed the bouncy house and playing in the pool full of corn as well as the tractor ride out to the field with all the pumpkins.







Sunday we went to Cedar Falls to see our friends new baby! Baby Troy was born on Wednesday so he was pretty new:) Tate and Adria are being great big brother and sister. Mya was somewhat interested in him, and Max didn't care at all. He was there to play with Tate and nobody was going to get in his way!




We were all totally exhausted at the end of the day Sunday. Max fell asleep watching the Vikings game and Chris and I were in bed around 8:00pm!

Indian Summer Picnic

For most of you living in the midwest, we have had unseasonably beautiful, warm weather these last few weeks. I even caught myself last week wishing it were cooler! I quickly took it back:) It's just that I had to go back out into the storage garage and get Mya's summer clothes that I had already put away!

Today the kids found their lunch boxes in a closet and immediately went into panic mode begging to have a picnic lunch. I decided the back yard would be just as good as a park, so that's what we did!





Our garden is still producing which has been great. I replanted a few things (onions, radishes, lettuce) and the tomato and pepper plants are still going strong!

(please excuse the runny nose. Although the weather has been great, I'm still wiping snot every 2 seconds)


On a side note...our weed ditching lot is now being taken over by 2 houses:( We love neighbors, but we also love empty lots so we can use it to throw all of our yard waste, weeds, etc.! Max loved to dig in that lot last spring before it got overgrown with weeds, so we'll definitely miss that as well. The positive is that the kids have loved watching these houses go up and so has their dad:)

The college years

This past weekend was Chris's 10 year class reunion at our alma mater Luther College. I know most people who had good experiences in college think their college is the best, but we truly feel that Luther is the best out there. My parents very generously let their favorite son-in-law invite his friends to stay at their house and they came down to Dubuque along with my cousin Kelsey to watch Max and Mya. I was just keeping my fingers crossed that no lamps would be broken so they'd do the same for me in 2 years! I'm happy to report nothing was broken or even out of place:)

Since my parents still live in Decorah and I have a brother who coaches at Luther, we get to see campus all the time. It was really fun to see Chris's classmates and their wives see how things have changed in the past 5-10 years. It was also fun to show them the town and some of the new establishments. We of course took in some of the old establishments as well..T-Bocks, Whippy Dip, Mabes, Roscoes... :) For those unfamiliar...Roscoes is the hole in the wall bar that they somehow are allowed to let 19 year olds in that we attended regularly back in the day. The $1 cover charge has been upped to $3. When I told the bouncer collecting my money that it was a crock that I pay that much he quickly reminded me that tuition is now approaching $40,000 per year and I quickly shut my mouth about the $3 cover.

One of the other highlights of Roscoes was that I bumped into a few of my all time favorite students from my teaching days at Pleasant Valley. A couple of the girls were ones Chris and I coached in AAU volleyball for 2 years and when we saw them they were seriously speechless! The 7th graders with braces and glasses are now sophomores at Luther and wearing dresses and high-heels to roscoes!! As surprised as we were to see them grown up, they were just as surprised to see us in that place! We tried to buy them a beer, but they weren't 21 yet and the cops are a little busier these days than they were 10 years ago.

The weekend was a blast and I really enjoyed hanging out and catching up with our friends who made the trip! Here's a picture of all the boys!

Go Twins!

The Minnesota Twins start their playoff run tonight against the Yankees. We're pretty excited about it because down here in Iowa, we get to see something like 15 games per year on TV....and they are all against the Chicago White Sox. Chris is a superfan and "watches" them online, but I can't seem to get into that. Now that they are in the playoffs and are playing the Yankees..they will be on primetime for every game so we can watch! So today we dressed in our Twins shirts to show some support. On the way to a playdate Max was asking me about why we were wearing the shirts. I started telling him about how we were playing the Yankees and without prompting, he started saying that he didn't like the Yankees! I had to pull over and get it on video. So...we are at a stop sign during this video:)