In two weeks, Charlie turns eleven.  He lets everyone know that he's not a kid anymore.  He proudly announces that he's a pre teen, which is practically a teenager, which is essentially the same thing as an adult.

Today, he made chocolate chip cookies from start to finish completely by himself.  And they were so good.

If Charlie is in a room, you can bet that he's in charge of what all the kids are doing....who sits here, who does what, and how it's all going to go down.
When he's in a good mood, everyone is in a good mood.  But if he's not, there will be some major harassing on his part and Dylan and Macy usually end up crying.

Charlie knows how to work hard and how to play hard.  He is incredibly self motivated.  I very rarely have to ask him to do his homework, and he is kicking butt in school.

He's joined a club at school called Battle of the Books.  The goal is to read an assigned book once a week.  He has made it his personal goal to read two.  I told him that I would get my own copy of whatever book he's reading and read it the same time he does so that we can discuss it.  But he always finishes it before I even start.

If Charlie had it his way, he would eat all sugar all day while playing football or groundies on the playground.  He loves to be outside and I usually have to drag him in when it gets dark.

He has a crush on a girl and church and tells me that he "steals glances of her when she's not looking."

At night when he's going to bed, he asks if I'll rub his back and sing the Kermit the Frog rainbow song.  It's so cute to be that this five foot something boy who thinks he is a man still wants a lullaby.  I love my Charliekins.




 Macy likes to wear dress shoes wherever she goes.  On our hike, she chose to wear sparkly silver mary janes.  And in all honesty, I was totally impressed with how well she could climb with them on. She has a naturally happy disposition, but if you cross her, watch out.  This girl knows how to SCREAM.  She is feisty.  And I hope she keeps that trait.  I think a girl needs to be able to stand her ground and be a little stubborn to be successful.

She loves playing in the bathtub.  Most days she takes at least one bath, if not two or three.  She has all of her play food in there and serves up all kinds of dishes that she has me pretend to try.

She adores Jude and the feeling is mutual.  She calls him "bubby" and pretends to be his mom.  Which he happily goes along with.

Macy loves to draw pictures.  Mostly of people in our family.  She knows how to spell her name, mom, and dad.  And the rest of the words she writes are just miscellaneous letters strewn about.  I can tell she is just itching to be able to read.

She wears dresses most days.  And if it's cold, she'll just put leggings under it.  Her sense of fashion is amazing.  The outfits she puts together are way cuter than anything I could've though of.  She likes to wear my bright pink lipstick and can put mascara on all by herself.

She's one for drama and can fake cry with the best of them.  She exaggerates a lot and I always try to keep a serious face even though I'm laughing on the inside.  "My teeth hurt when I eat something crunchy.  I guess I can't eat anything ever again. I'm just going to be hungry for the rest of my life."  This was her statement tonight at dinner.

She wants to be able to play football with her brothers, but is apprehensive since she broke her collar bone.  So when they are playing with a ball, I'll usually find her close by me cooking up something special in her pretend kitchen.

I love my Macy y.







 Jude the dude.  Puders.  He is a momma's boy to the nth degree.  I'm not sure if he actually knows how to play with toys because he spends most of his time hanging onto my legs or at least within arms reach of me.  If I move from one room to another, I have to carry him with me.  If I don't, he just lays on the floor and cries.  He holds up his arms and says, "mama hojue" which means, "mama hold you."  He would never think of running away from me.  And if I tell him to stop doing something, he stops immediately (well, about 99% of the time).

If I have to leave him with Justin to go take pictures, he'll run after me crying.  It breaks my heart.  He has figured out how to climb out of his crib and is always to first one to climb into my bed and wake me up in the morning.  Jude puts his cheek right up to my mouth and just squishes it there.  Or puts his nose right up to mine for a nosy nosy.

Just within the past week or two, he has decided to be completely potty trained.  He hasn't had a single accident.  (I'm knocking on wood).  He puts 100% of his clothes on backwards.  And he has to do it himself.  "Jude do it!"  He is determined and if he can't get his pants up easily and right away, he fusses, but keeps trying.  He won't let me help.

Jude likes it when I play 'book' and 'hoopa' with him and could sit and read books with me all day.

I love my Puders.  







 Dylan is obsessed with fast cars. Obsessed.  Trying to have a conversation with him while I'm driving is nearly impossible because he's always shouting out "Dodge Charger!  BMW!  Mustang!"   One day I looked back and could see Macy in the carseat with her fingers in her ears.  "Dylan, do you know why I have my fingers in my ears?  Because I am so sick of hearing about cars!"  It didn't even phase him.  He just went right on shouting out almost every car he saw.

He's at a charter school where they have to wear uniforms and he looks so cute.  And he is really thriving there.  Which is such a relief to me because he had a rough year last year.  I help on Tuesdays in his classroom.  While most kids are still sounding out words and reading a sentence or two, he is reading chapter books.  He has an incredible memory and will come home and tell me every fact about Egyptian Pharaohs or aquatic life that he learned that day.

Dylan adores Charlie and will do absolutely anything for him.  If Charlie wants to play, Dylan will drop whatever he's doing to do what Charlie wants.  The only problem is that the feeling isn't always mutual and Dylan ends up getting his feelings hurt more often than not.

Dylan could sit and listen to me read books to him all day.  He hates brushing his teeth and washing his hands.  He loves his stuffed polar bear and blue polka dot bobbie.  And when I put him to bed, he's usually asleep within five minutes.

I love my Dyls.
Such a beautiful hike through Red Rocks.  I wish every day could be like this.  

 So here's the rundown of our life here in the lovely state of Colorado.

My brother in law Adam and his girlfriend Annie got engaged.

She is so great and I'm excited to have her as my sister in law.


 Macy got big.  Even though I told her not to.  Whatever.  She is my little buddy and follows me around everywhere.  She is incredibly imaginative and is constantly talking.  I love her chirpy little voice.  Except when she's screaming....which is anytime anything doesn't go her way.  She is very passionate and it's all or nothing with her.  I'm glad she's feisty and opinionated.  I hope she stays that way.

She loves to eat raw carrots and cereal with no milk.  She dresses herself and comes up with some pretty great outfits....she loves color and pattern mixed.  Macy loves playing with friends.  The more friends, the better.  She's happy to take the lead and think up games, and she's happy to play what everyone else wants to play too.

Macy loves to "smooth" her hair after a tubbies by brushing her hair and then taking both hands and smoothing it down like she's a 50's biker.  And she lets me snuggle with her every night.  She likes me to sing two songs while I rub her back.  Usually "The Wise Man" and lately, "Baby Beluga."  I will give her a kiss and tell her I love her and then she says in her sleepy voice, "I love you mama."

Jude the dude and his tummy.  It rivals Dylan's when he was a baby.  I can't get enough of it.  Jude is definitely NOT allowed to get any older.  He is a mama's boy and only likes a select few.  Well, actually just me and Susan.  He doesn't use a binky anymore, but still loves his bobbie.  He loathes taking naps and going to bed.  Every time we get out of the car from running errands, he says, "no nap.  no bed."  I'll say, "Yes nap."  So Jude says, "no yes nap."

He will eat anything.  And spends most of his time cruising around the house with a fruit leather and a sippy cup of milk.  Jude also loves him some "canny" (candy).  Justin had a stash of starlite mints in his dresser, which Jude quickly discovered.  Every morning, Jude would come in our room and say, "Daddy canny?"

He likes to do things by himself...mostly getting out of the car.  He'll say, "Jude (long pause) do it."  And he is definitely a snuggler.  He likes to put his nose right up to mine and just look at me.  And if I'm lying in bed and he wants me to get up, he'll just sit on my face.  Two nights ago, he fell asleep on my chest and I let him stay there for a while.  Justin asked why I wasn't putting him to bed and I said I just wanted to soak Jude all in.  He's getting big, but he's still my baby.

 My niece Jenna giving Jude some love.

Dylan turns seven tomorrow.  He has gone to three different elementary schools during first grade.  Needless to say, there have been some growing pains with our move.  He is in love with all things pokemon and if you ask him about it, he'll be happy to tell you as long as you're willing to listen.

When I put him to bed, he wants me to tell him a story.  Every.  Single.  Night.  It's always about the same character: Nalyd the boy prince and his adventures.  As soon as I finish the story, he puts out his arms and says, "hugs and kisses."  Most of the time, when I go back in to check on him at night, he's still awake trying to sneak read a book. He sleeps on top of his covers, and usually with his head at the foot of the bed.  Amazingly, he can fall asleep even when Jude is crying in the crib right next to him.  He still sleeps without pajamas and carries around his blue bobbie in the morning when he's cold.  He can throw a mean tantrum and then give you the best apology snuggles ever.

Dylan loves to draw and is really good at it.  He likes to trace Pokemon print outs too.  He loves to learn about wild cats, and when he grows up, he wants to be an "animal scientist."

And puders kickin' it with Clifford.  I have our coffee table covered in library books, so kids sitting on the couch reading is kind of a regular thing around here.  (It also helps that we don't have a tv.  I know, we're part Amish).  Justin and I both love reading so much, and it makes me happy that my kids have caught the reading bug too.

Charlie is ten going on 16.  He likes to call himself a preteen.  He is just finishing fourth grade and tested reading at a seventh grade level.  He usually goes to bed around 8 and then reads with a flashlight until he falls asleep or until I take the flashlight away... around 10pm.  He lives and dies for all things Pokemon.  Charlie has amazing negotiating skills and can get anyone (mostly Dylan) to trade for the Pokemon card he wants.  He has a binder full of cards and I'm pretty sure has all of their facts memorized.  He studies them all the time.

He just finished playing his first season of tackle football.  He was so hard on himself and didn't always love it, but somehow managed to be the MVP two games in a row.

Charlie sleeps in his flannel football pajama pants and the yellow Thanksgiving shirt that Jamie made for us last year.  He sits up in the front seat next to me in the car.  So when he gets in after school, I'll rub his neck.  I asked him if he would ever get too old for me to do that.  I got an affirmative "no way!"  When I'm putting him to bed, sometimes he just wants to read and be left alone, but most of the time, he wants me to rub his back and sing the Kermit the frog song about rainbows.  He told me he tries to think of the longest song possible.

He loves to play crack the egg on the trampoline, eat anything with sugar, and play "groundies" at our little neighborhood park.

Jamie has an amazing park with an amazing view just a few steps from his house.  Here's the Xan Man checking it out.

And cute Maddie Jene

And Dilly Von

And Parky Do

 And little Miss Sassy pants herself: Macy


Charlie, Jacob and William.  It was so fun for me to see them play together.  It brought back so many memories of them playing as little kids.

Merrill and Xander
 All of the King Fish Hiserman kids (minus a napping Jude)




Jamie pulled three of Dylan's front teeth while we were visiting.  Love that toothless smile.

Cute Emmakins

Justin all tuckered out from watching Lisa cook.

Merrill sporting the pervert stache.

Dylan, Jackson, and Parker playing with the toys that Lisa brought for them.

Jamie took requests for his chocolate chip pancake designs.

And Jamie had matching shirts made for all of us.  They say "King Fish Hiserman Thankstravaganza.  Meat Plugging since 2005."

We stopped and got drinks at Circle K.  I got a diet Dr. Pepper in honor of Sara.  We then went to visit her grave.



 Being all together without Sara for Thanksgiving was even harder than I thought it would be.  It was glaringly obvious that her bigger than life personality was missing.  But also good to be around people who know and love her so much.  It was therapeutic for me to be able to talk about her so much.  I think the best part for me was being able to use all of her kitchen tools.  Random, I know.  But just seeing her bowls and measuring spoons made me feel like she was there.

Lisa's AH MAZING dinner.  I even like the brussel sprouts.

And since Briar lives only a few minutes from Jamie's, she and my mom came by after Thanksgiving dinner for dessert.  Sadly, I didn't get a picture of my mom.  But she was there.

Lisa and I made books for each of Sara's kids.  Each book is individualized with pictures of Sara with them.  For me, that was the highlight of the trip.  I watched Parker take his book and hide under the computer desk and flip through it.  Emma kept saying, "that's me!"  And Jacob sat and went through his with William and Charlie looking on.  Their mom was so special, that we wanted them to remember her.  Hopefully this will help them to remember just a little how much she loves them.

Lisa and William

And the ONE token picture of me.  See?  I did make it on the trip.  Love this Lisa.
On our last day there, Justin got the stomach flu.  But since we don't have a DVD player in our car, and  it's a 9 hour drive, I decided to drive through the night so the kids could sleep through it.  I did on the way to Utah and it worked great.  Justin flew in a few days later.  While Justin spent the day with his stomach churning, I packed everything up.  I got the kids loaded after dinner, and then got Justin and told him to get in.  I gave him plastic bags in case he needed to throw up again.  Rude, huh.  About ten minutes into our drive, he starts hyperventilating and acting like he's going to puke into the bag.  But by this point, we were all loaded, the kids were fed and sleepy, and I had already had some caffeine.  I was determined to get home.  So….I stopped at Walmart and bought some NyQuil.  I gave Justin double the recommended dosage.  Sure, I drugged my husband to get my way.  But it worked like a charm.  He slept for the next 24 hours.  Except once at a rest stop, he got out to use the restroom.  He said he fell asleep on the toilet.  He honestly didn't wake up until 4pm the next day.  And by then, we were home, unpacked, and the kids and I went to church while he was in dreamland.

Thanksgiving together was so much fun.  I hope we can do it every year.  But maybe next year we should just order take out to give poor Lisa a break.