The Hibshman House

Sunday, June 8, 2014

The cut.

A new season, a new 'do. We dig it.

Here is the before.

Sure you want to donate it? Absolutely sure??

And it's gone!

All gone!

I just love the bob on her.

A little shorter than she thought but perfect to donate it and ideal for Midwest summers! Now. How long to grow it again? I think that length was 2 Years in the making, if I remember correctly. :). Change is good.

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Audrey Hepburn

The fourth graders in Waukee do a research and report on a person. I'm not sure exactly what the guidelines are for choosing this person, but Brooklyn chose Audrey Hepburn. She did research and wrote a report and put together a "getting to know me" type of speech. Then, the entire fourth grade dressed up like their people and put on a wax museum. They stood like statues until someone pushed the button by their display. They then recited their speech and went back to the original position. It was pretty fun to see. A little crowded for my taste, but big crowds of people I don't know make me uncomfortable. Regardless, without further ado, here's Audrey!

Brooklyn did a great job. She made her speech look like a book so while she was reciting it, it looked like one of her props. It was fun to see who everyone chose and how they portrayed that person. When Julianne and I got there, Brooklyn wouldn't acknowledge us until we pushed her button. After her speech she gave Julianne a hug and had a grin for me. Before that, she was NOT going to give up on her statue, though. Oh these Kids. One more day of school and then SUMMER!! Heaven give me patience. LOL. Happy Summer!

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Wrapping up School and Another Birthday

A couple weeks ago, Mason's class had a party to celebrate all that they have accomplished this year. He got to share his "leadership notebook" with Julianne and me, and we had treats together. It was really fun to see all they had done and for him to show us special things in his classroom. He's really going to miss his class this summer.

I have mixed emotions about school being done. While I'm looking forward to foregoing the morning battle, the day-long battles that ensue may not be a great replacement. Hopefully the kids remember how to get along within the first couple days or it is going to be a VERY long summer....

Next, we had Jon's birthday. His parents stuck around to celebrate with us and it was so fun! Two cakes we got to share and this one was rather tasty as well (if I do say so myself). It was a carrot cake of Jon's choosing. Topped with cream cheese frosting and pecans. Yum. Yum..

We put away the trick candles for this one, but Jon took his sweet time thinking of a wish; much to the kids' dismay. They were asking why he hadn't blown out the candles yet!! He took the day off from work and spent the day with his dad refinishing a bed for Mason. Although it wasn't the most relaxing of birthdays, he enjoyed all the time they were able to spend together. What a great visit we had. We can't wait to see everyone in a couple months!!

Double digits

Holy cow. I don't know how it has happened, but somehow, my baby has turned 10. Ten!

She had a great day. It was Monday, so she spent most of it at school. She did take treats for her class; which, bytheway, are very much NOT fun anymore.... The list of "you can't brings" is ten times longer than the list of "things you can bring". I'm not even sure it's worth the effort. I was 2 minutes late and missed the class singing to her, but oh well. She enjoyed passing out treats. Next year, I probably won't go, but she will still have a special day, I think. Jon joined her for lunch at school that day and she loves that sort of thing.

When the kids came home from school, the waiting commenced. Grandma and Grandpa were set to arrive that very afternoon and we couldn't wait!! It was a very long 2 hours, I assure you. (Although, not nearly as long as their 17....). Once they came, we pretty much immediately left and went to Red Robin for the birthday dinner. Brooklyn's choice. We passed on the singing and the ice cream, though. We had a very special, Brooklyn-designed cake waiting at home.

She wrote out the instructions and (I think) drew Jon a diagram. It was pretty awesome and, as she said, looked like a smarties lollipop. We broke out the trick candles one last time, and tricked them all!! Good thing it was a pack of 10!

It was a very tasty cake and a very good change to share some with Grandma and Grandpa instead of having them watch us eat over Skype. Brooklyn thoroughly enjoyed all the presents and attention and was set to spend her birthday money gifts right then. She is such a good kid. She still has quite a tender heart, but is very good at being bossy to others. It is a balance we are working on. She helps me around the house every time I ask and only complains a little when she has to help clean up a mess that's not hers. She thinks she's ready to start babysitting and is proud as a peacock when she "babysits" Julianne and Mason. She'd still rather come with us when we run quick errands than stay home most of the time, though. She's our sweet baby girl and we love her to pieces. Happy Birthday, Babe!

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Easter

Ah, Easter. I love holidays and I love Spring, but sometimes I'm not so sure what to do with this one. We had a great day (mostly). We woke up to hidden eggs and treats from the bunny. Having o'clock church has its perks. Like all day to tinker with new toys....

I can't get my blogger to let my type between pics so It'll have to be this way. We went to church and went we came back we had a yummy roast dinner with rolls, funeral potatoes and coconut cream pie. Yum! Plus, it was gorgeous weather so we got some good outside time in too. Before church, Brooklyn made herself a necklace with her rainbow loom and it worked out great. Happy Easter!

High 5's

Well, my little stinker did it. She went and turned 5. I keep telling her I'm going to buy a shrinker but she doesn't believe me anymore. She was SO excited it was finally her birthday. As usual, my pics are out of order so we'll just do a picture by picture jumbled recap. The top pic is cake time! She wanted chocolate cake with white frosting. I couldn't get it out of the pan, so the look was lost a little, but I was going for a lego brick. She didn't care and it was rather tasty. I also pulled out the old trick candles for her. She found it slightly more amusing than Mason did....

We had a pretty low-key day. We started out with a couple presents before everyone left. One was her new iPod. She was super excited about that. I talked her into laying with me while she listened to her tunes and she ended up falling asleep! I was really surprised, but glad too. I could tell she was needing a little more sleep. Darn growth spurts!

FINALLY everyone came home. We got some dinner at Culver's (her choice) and headed home for the rest of the gifts and cake and such. She got legos and a hot wheels track and cars. She was in heaven. Mason helped her build her Eris and Brooklyn helped with the lego set. She played with the hot wheels track for days.

This was before school. They got the track up and running. Endless entertainment. Perfect!

More lego building. How can you go wrong?

After dinner we Skyped with Grandma and Grandpa Hibshman for present opening and cake singing. Too bad we couldn't send them a slice! This girlie was Spoiled!

Can't go wrong with a birthday nap! I was surprised at how long she slept!

Ta da!! We are so in love with this girl! She is always considerate of others and will play with anyone. Her favorite things include legos and playing outside. Her birthday list pretty much sums up what she loves:
Captain America Mask and Shield
Ninjago
Hot Wheels
Ipod shuffle (any color but blue)

She's so funny. We just adore our Julianne. Not too long ago she asked me when she could get some church pants. Sorry babe, not gonna happen! Happy Birthday to the sweetest five-year-old around!!

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

7 years to the day...

Holy cow. He's 7. How did he get to be seven? He was SOOOOOO excited that it was finally his birthday! He got several lego sets and some nerf guns. After he'd built all his legoes he played with the guns. He was kinda bummed that he had school on Monday. He thought he should be able to stay home and play with all his new toys. Sorry, bud!

Present opening. It took some patience for him to wait for everyone to wake up.... Almost as good as Christmas morning, for him anyway.

Legos!

And, on Friday, we did treats for his class and they sang for him. When the kid is self-conscious, he cannot keep his hands out of his mouth. Drives me nuts, he doesn't even notice, I don't think....

One big seven-year-old. The pics of the cake and such are on the camera, so I'll try to add those later. We had chocolate cake and chocolate frosting after we enjoyed some homemade mac n cheese (although it's really penne and cheese, technically). His choice. We also had some dear friends over to help us celebrate. I thought I was so funny and bought some trick candles. Mason was slightly confused at first and then he just said, in a really annoyed voice, "Mooom...." I thought it was funny. The other kids enjoyed it. Needless to say, everyone got to try to blow out the candles. Hee hee... I think I'll be using those babies again!

Mason is a good kid. He's very adept at pushing my buttons, but when he chooses to be, he's very sweet and creative. I still think he'll grow up to be an architect or something. He loves to build with his legos and draw things. He's also discovered how fun creative writing can be. His handwriting is a little rough, but he's working on it. He is considerate to others and would love to play with Brooklyn more. Unfortunately for him, she's kind of outgrowing that... Given the choice to go out and about and say home, he would rather stay home 99% of the time. Unless the out and about means he'll be shopping for something for him. Then, he's totally game. Julianne is always game to play with him and plays with his legos as much as he does. They make quite the building team. He had a great birthday and thoroughly enjoyed being spoiled for a day. He got some cash as part of one of his gifts and he's been begging to spend it since Sunday afternoon. I like to say it's burning a hole in his pocket and I think it's scorched his leg.... Silly kid. He still loves to sleep with his blanket, although we had to retire Do-do Bird.. It was getting so frayed that I had to keep cutting strips off so he didn't get choked in the night. Fortunately, he let me convince him to put it away for safe-keeping and to use the other blanket Grandma Carole made. It's not quite the same for him, but it's getting the job done. He's is just as attached to froggie as he was to do-do. It was really windy Sunday night and he came down to us several times saying he was scared of the wind. Each time he came down, his blanket was in hand. My little Linus. I hope he doesn't outgrow that for a while. Mason was my baby that was born in Iowa. It was a little surreal to be here still (technically, again) for his 7th birthday. Who knew we would enjoy it so much when we came out nearly 9 years ago? Happy birthday, bud! We sure love you!