Christmas in Review

We had a great Christmas this year! I'm not sure how to write about it all so it's going to be written in highlight form. I feel like we took a lot of pictures, but when I went to get them off the camera there weren't that many!

Highlights:

Getting to see family. My Grandma was in the nursing home in Decorah for a brief stay to recover from a heart attack and she was able to spend some of Christmas Eve with us which was really nice. We spent time with the Kruses (my cousins) as well as Chris's mom's family and his cousin Deirdre's family.

Getting to go to Luther to let the kiddos run off some energy before church on their big wheels, bikes, skateboards, scooters, etc., while the big kids played half court lightning.




Chris and my brother getting a Wii from my parents. I wasn't sure any gift could convince my brother that "practical" gifts weren't all they were cracked up to be. Before opening presents he was overheard saying the only gifts he ever wanted from now on were practical ones. I think he changed his mind after the Wii.

Getting the front row at church reserved for us again this year thanks to my parents donation at the church fundraiser:) We walked in 1 minute before it began and marched right on up to the front while hundreds of people stared at us as if to say.."how dare you think you can get a spot up front when you show up this late"



The whole Christmas Eve at my parents house was a great highlight for me. We ate a delicious meal in partial peace and quiet while the kids watched Dora. Then, after we put the kids to bed we played a new game called "Bezzerwizzer" with the whole family. We laughed a lot and believe it or not there wasn't all that much taunting! Following the game, we had a giant sleepover. My brother lives just down the street, but they all stayed overnight so they wouldn't have to go home when it was the girls' bedtime. The next morning was a little hectic but only one fuse was blown with all the electricity we were using:)

Christmas morning we got up and out the door by 9:10 which was a huge accomplishment since we didn't pack anything the night before. We headed to Chris's grandparents in the twin cities and luckily the weather cooperated for us so we didn't have any trouble. We had a great day celebrating Christmas with family. The kids were spoiled rotten by the Bloomington Santa. Max got a couple of big trucks along with a huge train track and lots of trains to go with it. Mya got a baby (of course), a grocery cart and a Dyson vacuum! I was especially proud of the kids at Bev and Bill's because they had to look at a huge stack of presents for about 4 hours before opening!

Each time Mya got clothing for a present she had to strip down and put it on RIGHT THIS MINUTE. Grandma Bev gave her a pretty dress with a matching dress for her baby so that was a huge hit. She got some new pajamas for Christmas and they were the sole reason I was able to get her to go to bed the following 3 nights.

Max's love of the outdoors this vacation. There were igloos built at both grandparents and he also did some major sledding in Minnesota. For a kid who is normally pretty cautious,it was great to see some of these videos of him trying to flip the sled over. One of the igloos caved in on Chris and my sister saw it happen. I thought she was going to have a heart attack! Luckily he got out right away before she could dial 9-1-1:)





The 6 person tent that we got from Chris's parents was a highlight. My initial reaction was..."Great! Chris and the kids can go camping and I can have some alone time!" For some reason Chris didn't think that was so funny. In all seriousness, I think it will be really fun to do some camping together this summer as a family...even if it's just in the backyard:)

We also played a really fun family game in Minnesota. It was called Whoonu (by Cranium) It's a game about how well you know the people you're playing with. We laughed a lot and I definitely learned some things about Chris's family! For example...I thought Jeff liked hot dogs a whole lot more than he does:) I'd recommend buying this game if you are in the market for one.

Our 7 1/2 hour trek home was actually a highlight for me too. We stopped a couple times along the way and got to see our friends Tracy and Joe and their kids in Cedar Falls. They recently moved to Georgia so it was especially fun to see them and their 2 month old little boy.

Overall it was a great Christmas and our kids did really well considering how much we did and all of the traveling. Max had croup one night but thanks to our nebulizer and our good friend Dr. David, we were able to nip it in the bud right away so he had no problems after that one episode. Of course after we got home and saw the disaster in the living room with all the presents the kids got, we decided next year we are going to tone it down a bit. We'll see if we remember that 11 months from now when black Friday comes around again:) We spent some time trying to teach our kids that Christmas wasn't all about Santa and presents. Max pretty much got it, but Mya just kept yelling "NO!! IT'S MY BIRTHDAY" over and over again when we were telling her it was Jesus' birthday:) Maybe next year....

...and it begins:)

Santa definitely received our letter about coming early to the Hoden household this year because he came last night!! We weren't sure that he got the letter, but we set out Christmas cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for Rudolph just in case!



Max had some trouble sleeping last night because he was a little worried about the intruder in our house:) I ended up sleeping with him. The kids got up around 7 and we had to pull them away from Curious George to go see presents. I don't think they quite knew what they were in for:)

Here's a timeline of how it all went down.

7:01 Max runs into the living room and doesn't even notice the chair sitting there with his name on it. He starts opening his first gift.

7:01 Mya runs and jumps on her chair and says "New chair! It's not broken" over and over. I have no idea what she was talking about. We don't have any broken chairs.

7:02 Max opens his second gift

7:02 Mya sees a baby in her stocking. She pulls it out and proceeds to hold it for the next 10 minutes totally oblivious to the fact that there are 6 wrapped presents with her name on them.

7:03 Max opens his 3rd gift

7:04 Max opens his 4th gift

7:05 Max opens his 5th gift

7:06 Max opens his last gift and before opening says.."I think this is my walkie-talkie bears" Chris and I shoot each other a look. We still have no idea what a walkie-talkie bear is:)

7:06 We start taking things out of their boxes and putting batteries in Max's presents.

7:10 after much prompting, Mya sees there are other presents to open but wants Max to help because opening presents would require her to put the baby down.

7:10-7:14 Mya's next 4 presents are opened (mostly by Max) and pushed to the side.

Lesson Learned: Get your kids what they want and nothing more. Mya's $8.99 Circo brand baby from Target was all she wanted and Max just wanted some walkie-talkie bear that we obviously didn't look hard enough for! He did really enjoy the roller skates, the skateboard and the knee and elbow pads too. It's 10:00 right now and the pads haven't come off yet:) Mya's baby's clothes have been changed at least 8 times!

Mya and her babies

Mya is obsessed with her babies. I always hoped I'd have a daughter who liked to play babies, but this is a little out of control! Her and I have "adult" conversations during the day about these little things and sometimes it feels like they're my 3rd child! The conversations are usually about whether or not the baby is hungry, tired, sad, has a poopy diaper, needs to get dressed, etc. Her babies are the closest thing she has to a "lovie" and it's the first question she asks when we go places. "Do they have babies?"

Thankfully she has stopped changing her own clothes 5 times a day (it's down to 1 or 2) but now she has to change her babies clothes all day long. This outfit is too big, this one is for a boy, this one doesn't match, etc. Her babies need diaper changes often and she thinks she has to fold up the dirty diapers and throw them away. I secretly retrieve them and then put them back on the shelf so we don't throw away 10 clean diapers per day! As I've said before, she can't get enough of these babies. She has started to use her animals as babies too!

Here's a video of her singing her version of rock-a-bye baby to one of her beloved babies I took earlier this fall.

Santa, Snow and Spritz!

We had a nice day yesterday knowing that we had no place to go! It's amazing how much closer you watch the weather forecast when you have to be on the road or someone you know has to be on the road. We went to see Santa at the mall yesterday morning before the snow started. I knew Max would be a fan, but I wasn't sure about Mya. She ended up loving him (from 2-3 ft away)! Max asked for a walkie talkie bear (no clue what that is..not sure Santa knew either) Mya of course asked for babies! I told Chris we need to get her a baby even though she has 20 already. I don't know if a nearly 2 1/2 year old knows how to feel disappointment, but if it's possible, she will feel it if she doesn't open a baby for Christmas. It's all she talks about! Chris and I got a good laugh out of Max. Right before he saw Santa he told us what he was going to "order". I guess we must talk internet shopping too much around him:) Sorry...no pictures with Santa. The cheapest package was $14.99 and the only way you could take any with your own camera was if you bought the package. We didn't buy it out of principle.

After coming home we put Mya to bed and started in on some Christmas baking! Chris took the spritz cookies and after realizing that 1 stick of butter does not equal 1 cup of butter....they turned out great:) Max and I worked on holly wreaths, nutter butter reindeer and rice krispy bars with caramel in the middle. We're going to do a few more today and hopefully find people to give them all away to!





By this time the snow was coming down like cats and dogs and all the neighbors were outside building snowmen, so we joined them. Well....I mostly took pictures and Chris joined them:) Max could be outside in the snow for hours. I swear the kid doesn't feel cold. We have to beg him to come in and usually it's kicking and screaming we get in return. Now I just need to remember to have him go potty before he goes outside! Mya could take it or leave it. She gets really uncomfortable out there in the elements and is almost afraid to take steps in the snow once she gets cold. Who knows...maybe I'll have a friend in the ski chalet when we go on family ski trips:)





our 2 headed snowman!

Stall tactics 101

Mya is quickly becoming the queen of stall tactics. She is full of them. Chris and I alternate putting Mya to bed because it's so draining. Tonight she was in rare form. Chris put her down and he heard mostly the norm. Here's a run down. More books, twinkle twinkle, rock-a-bye-baby, rock 2 more minutes, rub her back, pull on your hair, hold your hand, drink of juice/milk/water (she asks in that order), and has to go potty. Then when she finally relents, she has to be the last one to say night-night, love you. She keeps saying it until you walk out and then she wins.

After Chris had gone back into her room 2 more times, he passed the wand to me. She tried pulling out all the original tactics, but she wasn't getting anywhere so then she pulled out the big ones. She told me she had a headache and needed a vitamin. So, I let her have a vitamin. Then she proceeded to ask me to sing Happy Birthday to her and everyone else that she could think of. And to top it off....she asked to get her fingernails cut. I'm not joking. This kid is out of control and if Chris and I didn't laugh about it, we'd be in the insane asylum. Check out her hair. She rubs her hair all night (when I'm not with her) so this is what it looks like first thing in the morning. We think if actually fits her pretty well.




I'm guessing some of you blog readers have heard something like this before. I'm interested to hear them! Leave a comment if your kid(s) have any good ones up their sleeves!

Turkey Trot 2010

AP Nov 30, 2010 - Decorah Iowa - There are many Turkey Trot races touted throughout the country over the Thanksgiving holiday, but perhaps none quite as unique as that found in Decorah, Iowa over the last 10 years. Once every year siblings, spouses and children of the Huinker family head to the local high school track and run a mile for bragging rights. No matter the weather, how much was eaten for lunch or whether or not they are pregnant, the race is held. On one occassion, it was even held at two different locations simultaneously since not all could be in the same place at once. As much as certain unnamed family sources informed me they would like to see it end, the willpower of the elder brother forces the tradition on.

2009 saw the resurgance of young Tara Huinker, winning in convincing fashion over a ill-prepared (and in some cases actually physically ill) field. Brian Huinker had won the prior year to take away the throne from multi-consecutive-year-winner Chris Hoden. This year was sure to be either a continuation of the young dominance or a rising up of the old fogies.

Race start time was approximately 11:45am on Sunday, November 28th. Temperature was a very pleasant 45 degrees with sun. In attendance were Chris/Beth/Max/Mya Hoden, Brian/Amanda/Olivia/Grace Huinker, Tara Huinker, Roger/Pat Huinker. And the dog Chloe.

Chris and Tara broke out to an early lead which they would hold the entire race. Chris hung right behind Tara for 3/4 of a mile, not wanting to let her get too big a lead like she had in the prior race. Chris appeared to contemplate passing her going into the 4th lap, but he showed patience and stayed stride for stride until with an 1/8 of a mile to go, Tara broke into a fast and furious pace. Chris stayed with her stride for stride and took the inside of the track as he moved next to her. Both were close to out of breath when with 40 meters left around the backside of the last turn, Chris found that extra gear and sprinted it out leaving his sister-in-law behind. Another nail-biter and close win for the aging ex-champion. Unofficial times were as follows:

Chris - 7:17
Tara - 7:19
Amanda - 8:17
Brian - 9:01
Beth - 9:06
Max- 15:10

The real surprise of the race was young 3 year-old Max Hoden setting the child bar high for all future siblings and cousins. He moved those little legs faster and longer than anyone thought possible, even saying he wanted to keep going after he had already run 4 laps! With 3 laps down, he turned down assistance from both Uncle Brian and Aunt Tara telling them "I can do this myself" and "No thank-you" when they offered to jog along side him. The only time he stopped was to do his "hands on the knees" like Auntie Tara told him to do if he was tired. Jerry McGuire was seen driving up after the race no doubt scouting future talent.

As for the win, Chris commented "I'm glad I ditched the eliptical machine last year. That thing was a joke for training for a run. It feels good to get my mojo back." Young Tara was discourged but showed great sportsmanship. "Chris is a competitor. I really thought after last year that I had this little race in my hip pocket at least for the next 12 or so years until the kids got older. Looks like I may have to make another call to the Luther cross-country coach for another 1-mile training plan." Amanda was very happy with her time after claiming to not train even a little bit. Those comments were met with question. If true, Amanda could have the potential to shake up the leaderboard in the future. Brian and Beth both had hoped for better finishes and looked forward to another chance. Actually, only Brian was looking forward to another chance. Beth was heard saying "Maybe we don't need to do this race any more? Then again, it did help that it forced me to take Chloe for a few runs to help her lose those 8 pounds the vet told us she was packing".

As far as the 4 littlest competitors in the race...Max Hoden was heard asking people "Did you see me, Did you see me, Did you see me?" for at least an hour after the race. Mya had this to say: "Enough with the "Team Tara" gear. That t-shirt was like 8 sizes too big for me. Next year I'm bringing my own uniform and Max better watch out!" The only thing Olivia had to say was "I'm just mad that my mom wouldn't stop and pick me up as she ran by me on the track. I don't think she has ever blantantly ignored me like that in my entire 2.4 years of life!" 10 month old Gracie Huinker just shook her head in wonder as to why she was woken up from a perfectly good nap to witness that:) Early predictions for turkey trot 2011:

Chris - 7:05
Tara - 7:08
Amanda - 7:50
Brian - 8:00
Beth - 8:30
Max - 14:00

Thanksgiving

Whew! We are home after a crazy, but fun Thanksgiving with our families. The holiday got started a little earlier than we planned. It was 2:00pm on Tue and I was shopping at Target and got a call from Chris saying we needed to leave Tuesday night or we probably wouldn't be able to go to Minnesota until Thursday because of the weather. Thankfully my parents were down for the day so they took the kids to Decorah and we had a little extra time to pack, but we were out the door packed for 5nights by 5:30. We spent Tuesday night in Decorah and arrived in Minneapolis right as the snow/ice was starting on Wednesday afternoon.

Thursday we went down to Bloomington to spend with Chris's grandparents and extended family. The food was delicious and Max thought he was in heaven getting to play with Savannah and Taylor (8 and almost 6yrs old) Mya was pretty leery of the dogs so she stuck by my side most of the day, but managed at times to be herself. Here's a picture of the 4 great-grandkids.



Friday was mostly spent shopping! We definitely took advantage of being in a big city on Black Friday. Chris and I work best when we shop alone, so we split it up. He did the very early bird shopping and then I did mid-morning and afternoon and then he went back out late afternoon. We got lots done and more importantly got some great deals!

Chris's mom is still pretty sore from her arm surgery a few weeks ago. It's tough to not be able to do much for yourself, but it was good for everyone else to step up and help out! Chris and I went to work Wednesday in the kitchen. He made chex mix, I made fudge and an apple pie from scratch! I'm sure it was tough for Linda to sit back and watch me do it, but she let me do it my own way and just gave a few helpful hints along the way:) I know there's a picture out there of me with my pie, so if I get it, I'll post it. Here's the Hoden family Christmas picture for 2010.



Saturday we went to Decorah and spent the rest of the holiday weekend with my family. Most of the day was spent admiring Tara's new iPhone, playing scrabble, drinking wine, and cursing the Hawkeyes. (well, not if you're Chris:) Sunday was the annual Turkey Trot. I look less forward to this each year that passes. My brother (the founder) was complaining that his foot was really sore so I suggested we skip this year and he acted like I said we skip Christmas. Apparently this is not something that is going to go away anytime soon. I won't tell you the winner just yet.(If you're a facebook friend of my sister, then you already know) The winner has to write up his or her summary of the race so when that is finalized, I'll post it on the blog. Obviously it's not me or else the post would have been up minutes after the race:) Enjoy a few of the pictures from the race.









Here's Team Tara relaxing after the race watching a You-Tube clip for the 500th time.

...and black friday begins now

It's 8:51 on Thanksgiving night and I'm forcing my eyes to stay open because Chris and I are headed to Toys R Us in about an hour in order to get the 10pm doorbuster deals!! I'm pretty sure we're crazy, but there's just something about a deal that gets us really fired up. Not only are we going out tonight, but here's the plan for tomorrow:

4am: hit up Ultimate Electronics for a camcorder
5am: WalMart with all the other crazies for a printer, external hard drive, some movies, and a few gifts I can't share because they are for blog readers:)
6am: Menards for hot wheels ($.49 per car), pillow pets (2 for $5) big wheel, and some other gifts.
7am: home to sleep (if the kids allow it)
9am: GAP (50% off store wide), Pottery Barn Kids, Bed Bath and Beyond, Starbucks (for a burst of energy) Target, and possibly more!
Later in the afternoon: Ridgedale Mall to hit up Macy's among others.

I will most likely hit a wall at some point and have to come home to take a nap, but it's fun to plan! Chris spent hours looking through the ads today writing out what he wanted, comparing prices, making a game plan, etc.

Hopefully our Christmas shopping will be almost done at the end of the day tomorrow! Now is when we are very thankful for the mini-van:)

stages

I was just thinking the other day about how many different stages we go through when raising kids. Just when you think things are going really great, they get immunizations and everything goes to hell. The opposite is true too...just when you think things can't get any worse, your twins finally sleep through the night on their 319th day of life! (right, Marie??) We worry about all the milestones...is my child going to roll over on time? Sit up? Eat solids? Switch to whole milk with no problems? How come my kid can't put a puzzle together? When did your kids know their colors? I could go on and on and on and on. I am by no means a "seasoned" parent, but as each day goes by, I feel less and less stressed about these things and more and more confident that they will one day know their colors (probably in 6 different languages too) and things will be just fine.

Anyway...I was thinking about the stages we've been through and the ones we're at now, so I decided to write some down. Chris is laying on the couch yelling some of these at me, so I can't take all the credit.

1. We are no longer in the changing 2 kids' diapers all day long stage, but now we are in the stage where you better make sure both kids go potty before we walk out of the house and locate the public restrooms before doing anything else at each and every place we venture to.

2. We are no longer in the stage where the kids are getting up at night...err...wait. we're still in that stage most nights. It's for different reasons now, but it's still happening.....:(

3. We are no longer in the stage where I have a daughter who is completely bald...now we are in the stage where I just wish she'd leave her pony tails or barrettes in all day long!!



4. We are no longer in a stage where we worry so much about who is watching our babies and now we worry that the kids are nice to the babysitters so they'll want to come back!

5. We are no longer in a stage where we worry that they won't ever talk. Now we worry that they won't ever stop!

6. We no longer in the stage where we rush to our children when they are crying. Now we are in the stage where we first ask ourselves if they are manipulating us!

7. We are no longer in the stage where we worry about whether our kids will be adventurous human beings, try new things, etc. Now we worry that our daughter has no fear and will do another super fly off the arm of the couch straight into the back of the other couch!

8. We are no longer in a stage where we are scared shitless to drive in the car to Minneapolis for Thanksgiving for fear we will have to stop at a hotel halfway due to some crazy screaming fit. Now we are in the stage where we worry our kids won't agree on the DVD or worse yet, WE will memorize the words!

9. We are no longer in the stage where we have to bounce our kids in the bathroom with their ears up next to running water in order to get them to sleep. Now we are in the stage where we wish all it took was some running water!!

10. We are no longer in the stage where we go through 2 or 3 pairs of pajamas per day because they pee through. Now we are in the stage where they go through 2 or 3 pairs of pajamas per day because they think changing clothes is such a blast!!

11. We are no longer in the stage where we have to carefully monitor the number of ounces our babies drink for fear that they will not be the right percentage at their next well child visit. Now we are in the stage where we have to monitor the number of ounces they drink for fear that they will pee the bed!

12. We are no longer in the stage where I have to watch very carefully that they don't put anything in their mouths, but now it's the stage where I have to watch very carefully what comes out of my mouth!

How about you?? Any stages you'd rather go back to than deal with the ones you're in now??

Milk moustache

Finally after nearly 2 years of living in Dubuque I have finally found some milk that I actually like! I hadn't had a full glass of milk since I've lived here. Call me crazy, but I think different brands of milk taste different and most of it tastes bad. I'm a little bit picky with my milk in that I want it hormone free and I don't want to pay $6.99/gallon for organic milk.

A few weeks ago we were at Mendards of all places and guess what we stumbled upon??? KEMPS milk! Chris and I grew up on Kemps milk and I personally think it tastes the best. The only Kemps they had was the original kind which was not hormone free, but one call to the grocery manager and they are now stocked with Kemps Select and we are frequent customers! It's a little strange that I walk into Menards and walk out with 3 gallons of milk and nothing else! Other people are catching on too...most times we have had to buy 1/2 gallon or pint jugs, because the gallons are snatched up!

Best part...now we don't have to make up some story about why Max and Mya drink milk for dinner and we drink water! It's milk moustaches all around!