Friday, July 31, 2009

Happy 28th Lukee!

I love this picture of Luke. You can really see both his mom and dad in him really well.
Luke wanted a cheesecake so I made a cooked one for the first time instead of just the easy fridge kind. BTW, homemade graham cracker crust is much better than the store bought if you have the extra time. We have plenty of crackers because of Gracie. That was her contribution to dad's birthday.
We surprised Luke with these push-up bars too, but the day before he had decided he wanted different ones. Back to the store these will go.
Luke finally got his select-tech dumb bells he was wanted for quite some time. It was a splurge but he found some used ones on Craigslist with some other workout stuff that the owner wouldn't split. So we bought it all for $400 but now we can sell the rest of it and only end up paying like $50 for the dumb bells and the stand instead of the full $550 you would pay to go buy it brand new at the store. The only sad part is that I had this whole day planned around his surprise, that I had already bought the stuff at Sports Authority. He was planning to make a trip downtown to get them but I already had them for a week. But then when Luke found these on Craigslist and was adamant about getting them that night and putting off dinner and everything else. All in all, it turned out a good funny day, even though my whole plan to surprise him that I had worked out with my friends and a babysitter etc. were kaboshed. I did get a little emotional (crying of course), but then when Luke locked himself in the car and I had to go rescue him, and we didn't eat dinner till 8:30, well by then we were both laughing. Crazy fun day. We got a deal even though it wasn't how I had planned it. I am not sure if I will ever go to all that effort to surprise Luke again. Just kidding. I probably will cause I will forget how it feels when it doesn't go as planned and get excited in the planning again. Sorry we couldn't surprise you Luke!
My soon to be even more muscular man!
You're getting up there Luke but you still act like a kid! That is a good thing... I love you.
We were able to surprise Luke at work with some cupcakes. Gracie walked in first and Luke couldn't see anyone in the door. He looked own and there she was. I am glad that surprise worked. It was fun.
Surprise!!! We even did a speech and language session based around the cupcakes. That was fun for me cause I miss doing therapy with the kids.

Gracie and her boyfriends...

Gracie has lots of boyfriends. She loves hanging out with them. They were all born within 1 month of each other so it is pretty fun to see the development from week to week. We also have fun seeing the differences between boys and girls.
Do you think that this picture is a foreshadowing of what is to come? It reminds me of a picture I have of one of my favorite Halloween nights when me and 6-7 of my guy friends all got dressed up and went bowling. What can I say? I liked hanging with the guys. I do have 6 brothers! Gracie even gave kisses to the birthday boy after all the others went home. That is not like me though, well maybe a little. Like when I worked at Scout camp and would give the boys a kiss on the cheek if they got a bull's eye at the archery station. Most of them turned all red and ran away if they won a kiss. It was pretty funny!
Gracie you're doomed... for lots of tears and fun. Don't be a heartbreaker though!
This is how Gracie was sitting almost the whole night. Notice the legs crossed and hands in her lap. I am not teaching her to be a lady. She is a natural!
Happy Birthday again Nixon. You had a great birthday party. Thanks for inviting us. We still can't believe you are 1!

We had so much fun at your party! We can't believe you are one and Gracie is almost right up there with you. Thanks for the pizza and cake too.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

I love getting occasional reaffirmations of truth...

Heavenly Father is so real and he loves us. I already know this. I have known for sure since I was 14. I have been fortunate enough in my life to never doubt that there was a God. I have never really understood when people that I have chanced to meet in my life (some close friends like Stuart and Chris) that don't believe there is a God. Chris even believed there was a devil but no God. I felt bad for him and tried to help him understand what I know to be true. I don't know what would motivate you to get up every morning if you didn't know there was an eternal purpose to your life, where you came from, why you are here, and where you are going. I am so grateul that I have been given the gift of faith to get me through this life and help when others' faith is faltering. Luke and I cannot think of anything that could happen to us, even if one of us were to die or something really bad happen, that would make us blame God and deny our faith. That is not to say that it wouldn't be hard, but I know without a doubt that our Heavenly Father loves and cares for his children and we cannot see the purpose or timeline for events and challenges in life. The gospel and plan of happiness has been given to us to help us cope and hope for things better and teach us how to serve one another. To me, everything in life shouts evidence that there is Grand Design and Diety watching over us. It only makes sense that we are God's children and he cares for us and wants to bless us with everything he can. But he also has to let us learn on our own no matter how hard it is on us. It is easy to question when we have challenges in our life why we have to go through things but it is to prove something to ourselves and learn truths about ourselves or about life. It reminds me about a question I asked is in seminary once- "If God knows everything including what choices I will make and the consequences and how I will end up, then why doesn't he just judge us and put us where we belong right now instead of going through this life?" The answer is, "Well because we would be upset and not believe that our result is really what we deserve because we didn't have a chance to prove ourselves to... ourselves. We would always think that things might have gone differently had we been given the chance." I loved that answer because it makes sense for why we are here. And that God loves us enough to let us suffer through pain to learn for ourselves, and be satisfied and feel real joy (Gracie's middle name) when we choose the right. I am grateful that Jesus Christ is our Savior and provided a way to come back home after proving ourselves.
Oh man, I am getting off on my testimony of the truth of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints. I was just going to get on and tell you how I love to get occasional reaffirmations of the truth. (But since I just bore my soul and it is typed now I will just leave it.)
I have been so worried about my wedding ring that has been missing for about a week now. I started getting really worried about it on Sunday and I have been looking all over and trying not to think about it at the same time. Today I woke up and searched a little and kept telling myself I need to pray. Like when I was a kid and would lose something and would always find it shortly thereafter. Well the morning got away from with the thought constantly nagging, just stop and pray to find it and you will. So finally I put Gracie down for a nap, and walked out and knelt down on the floor right there. I was frustrated with myself because I should have just done this earlier because I know he will help me find it. Well I started thanking Heavenly Father for my blessings and how he always helps me through things and then I told him my problem. I told him where I had looked already and that I knew he could help me find it. Then I said, "The only places left to look are..." I paused and all the sudden a disconnected thought came to my mind "beach bag front pocket" but then I kept thinking more and said, "so I could look in my beach bag and my purse and if they are not there I don't know where to look. I need your help." And I closed the prayer. Then being silly me I still looked in my drawer again and my medicine cabinet till I finally was like, "What are you doing Hollie? Duh, the beach bag was the first place you were told to look." So I ran downstairs found the beach bag, and sure enough, my wedding ring was inside the front pocket. I have NEVER received such an IMMEDIATE answer to my prayers. The answer was given to me right in the middle of the prayer. So crazy and awesome! I love my Heavenly Father and I am so grateful to find my ring. SO QUICKLY I can't believe it. Here's my ring and this is where it is going to stay. I am so giddy right now I wish I could bottle it up and save the extra for another time when I need it. I better watch out or I will hurt myself.

Monday, July 27, 2009

New 11 month pic...

She does this face all the time and sometimes with a little sound effect "oooh!" I love it. It made me realize how much her parents do it to her all the time when she finds new things or learns something new. And hey this one is free again.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Look What I Made...

I put this new birthday banner that I made up a little early. There are 4 people that I love whose birthdays are this week. So happy birthday to you... Haylee (my niece and I am her middle namesake)-27, Nixon (Gracie's boyfriend)-28, Karl (turning an old man)-29, and Luke (turning 28 and having a pre mid life crisis)-29. Have a special day!
Look at my new model since my usual one was unavailable. What do you think? Also the bibs are reversible with terry cloth on the back to give the wearer super absorption powers!! Yes way!
This one is thanks to the inspiration from Kara's and $3.00 at DI!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

I am mentally challenged!

Luke came home from work today and said, "Maybe I should stay home and be the mom and you go to work because you like being mentally challenged."

We both smiled and laughed out loud. I think he was scared at first what reaction I was going to have because the words came out wrong but he didn't know it until he said them. It was so funny! I do like a good mental challenge and I miss that about mommyhood!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Not a Black Widow! I have no guts...

I am not gutsy enough to take closeups or even look at them for very long, but Luke is. This was right on the left side of our doorstep where Gracie stands all the time while I water our garden. Scary! I am glad the missionaries spotted it and Luke killed it, well he tried. It got away but Luke then sprayed the area thoroughly. After Luke drowned it in Ortho Home Defense it came crawling out slow enough that he could squash it. I did have enough guts to clean out his web. And I do have guts to do other usually stupide things just not buggy things. What about you? Do you have guts?

Sunday, July 19, 2009

I definitely don't want to but...

It has been brought to my attention by some sweet someones how some things I write and post could hurt us if they got in the wrong hands. So just to get rid of the minute chance that something could go wrong, or my child was endangered, or I could get arrested, I am sadly going to make this blog private. I have resisted for a while because I didn't like it when others went private and it is such a hassle to have to log in to see a blog and not know when it is updated. I am always too optimistic about the goodness of humanity. But I do want the freedom of saying anything I want and posting anything I want because this is like a journal for our family. So for my family and the people I care about's security, please comment with your email address if you wan to have permission to read this blog. Also let me know YES/NO if you want an automatic email notice that "Hukenlollie" has been updated. That is the only way I can see around the inconvenience of going private. So sorry guys! You can give me a swift kick in the kiester when you see me next. Understand?

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Our AC went out and I stayed in my swimsuit for over 24 hours!

It stopped blowing cold air about 4:00 pm on Thursday. We didn't know what was wrong but the AC guy couldn't come until the next day. So I still (stubbornly) followed through with cooking the ribs I had prepared with homemade BBQ sauce even though the oven would have to be on for an hour. If it's hot, why not just add a little more?
Then after eating we decided to go swimming to cool off, but then the missionaries dropped by and they left right before 9:00. We just went for a quick dip anyway. It felt so good.
We came home and watched Rush Hour cause Luke just bought it in the $5.00 bin. (Don't you love/hate that bin?) I fell asleep during the movie which makes me feel old and pathetic cause I never used to fall asleep during movies, even if I wanted to- you all know those times when you were trying to fake that you were asleep or the movie was just so boring you wish you could sleep...
So I pooped out on Luke in my swimming suit. He woke me up when the movie was over and I hurried up to bed trying not to wake up. Which means... YES, I slept that night in my swimming suit and I didn't brush my teeth or take my contacts out. It was a really hot night though and neither of us slept very well. It makes you really grateful for the AC. I wouldn't get anything done without it. The AC guy came at about 8:00 the next morning, thankfully. Then the whole day I was planning on going swimming with Gracie so I just stayed in my swim suit, but naps and other things took precedence and things got canceled. Then finally at about 7:00 pm after dinner, we went with our friends Kara and Clay and Nixon, swimming. Then we came home and got changed to go play volleyball. (I still hadn't gotten dressed for real.) We hurried over but the church was being used for a wedding. Dang! So what do you do if you can't burn calories? You go eat some. We ate very few calories, though, cause we went to Golden Spoon. It was delicious. After a good day and night with our friends and Gracie past bed time, we finally got back home. And I got dressed "for real" after taking a shower. It has been a very long time since I have worn my swim suit for that long and I am not planning to repeat it. We love cold AC!

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Gracie walking the Indie 500: 13 continuous laps ending with...

Luke says, "Feel free to replay the falls as many times as you would like. They are classic falls that get better every time you watch them." Seriously. And who wouldn't want to hear Luke scream like a girl some more. The one where Gracie is chasing Luke has a G rating as apposed ot PG like the others because I finally put a diaper on her. :) They are each about 3 minutes without replaying the falls so choose wisely!!

This one demonstrates some good walking and another classic fall.

C'mon ya'll, make your pants into shorts!

So if you are given tons of cute kids' clothes that don't fit the season, don't fret.
Cut'em off and make'em work for you. Cut the worn crawlin' knees off and add some bows. Maybe even make a heart or butterfly out of the leftover pants to make a matching shirt. And why stop there? Use the elastic hem at the bottom of the leg to make a matching headband (see the beautiful model.)
Can't you just see how these cute outfits will just make my girl work? I can't wait for her to wake up from her nap. And now she won't get heatstroke from the 112 degree weather here in Las Vegas. It's hot! More projects anyone?

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Walking proof...

On Sunday she took off! And here's the proof. Grammy just barely missed it, sorry. She would go for a while and then the next week it's like she forgot how. Now she is doing it again and better than ever. No hands at all. I don't thing there will be too much digression now. Here are two short videos. Tomorrow I will post her other ones that are a little longer and funnier. I caught a couple of falls including one couch slam after she was so tired from walking for like 45 minutes. I also have a video of her chasing Luke around our kitchen island. She went around it 13 times (some consecutive laps without touching anything) and squealing like a little girl- wait she is a little girl. It was hilarious! I apologize about the nudity- she has a diaper rash.


In Target yesterday, she had a ball just going from clothes stand to clothes stand and then across the isle from mom. Then she would look back and get all scared. She would almost run back while breathing hard and grab onto my legs. Then she would wimper and get a sad face like she had been gone from me forever and I would pick her up, love her, and she would do it all over again. It was so fun.


Also yesterday, I ran her over with the door because I am not used to her being able to walk wherever she wants. I went outside with her in our living room and when I opened the door she had walked to the end of the hall to follow me outside. Sadly I knocked her over. Now the back door is adorned with a sign that says "WATCH OUT FOR GRACIE!"

Gracie's Diva Shoes... Finally now that she has outgrown them!

I am so sad because Gracie has outgrown her Rockstar Diva shoes. They were the perfect little shoes for her skinny feet and for learning to walk in because they are so thin. Everywhere we went, we would seriously get so many comments about her shoes. I learned that now when I find something I really like, I better just buy a couple of them in different sizes because I can't find them now. And of all places to find the cutest shoes, Walmart. Say goodbye to your cute shoes Grace cause we are on a hunt for some more. Nothing quite compares...

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

The girl who won a bag of dirt...










One day there was this girl who won some dirt. She thought it was pretty cool to say that of all things she had won in past contests (she won pretty regularly), that her most recent win was a big bag of dirt. This win increased her motivation to grow a garden because what good is bag of dirt sitting around your house when you could be reaping the reward of planting in it. So she took several trips on her bike with her baby loaded in the bike trailer to Walmart in the middle of the sweltering heat to buy the seeds, pots, and plants she needed. She was kind of silly because she didn't realize how heavy the clay pots would be on her ride back home. But she made it! And drank a big ice cold bottle of water as her reward. Then after a few days she finally made the time to plant the seeds in her pots. But then, much to her dismay, some people saw her pots and told her that she had crammed too many plants in too few pots. They said they would fight and crowd each other out. She then had visions of plants wielding. swords and punching gloves followed by black and blue bruises on their tender leaves. It scared her so bad that she went on a ride to the store again despite the weight of the pots and bought some more. She also raided the clearance isle, which she never knew existed, but which turned out to be a bad idea. She got lots of killer deals, but when she went outside to put them in the bike trailer, she had a problem. Would it all fit in the trailer? There was an employee taking a smoke break by the bike rack and she just stared and stared at the impossible feat which the girl was about to attempt. Nobody knew, except her husband, that this girl was an awesome assesser of space and a super packer; she had proved it many times in the past when naysayers said that an item wouldn't fit in a said space and she got it to fit by packing it just so. She always felt great satisfaction and gratitude that her geometry skills paid off. So she put her baby in the bike trailer and carefully packed the back compartment. It fit like a glove. She had one package left to fit in the bike trailer (which was her gift for Mother's Day that year) but she had no fear. The employee just shook her head and said, "Are you crazy?" The girl said, "Maybe, but I don't think so." She gave a little laugh and put the box right under her daughter's feet in the front compartment. It proved to be a perfect foot rest. The girl stood back up and wiped her brow. What was she thinking, doing this in the middle of the day without having eaten any breakfast or lunch in the big melting city of Las Vegas? She nodded her head to admit to herself that she was crazy, but she had to follow through. So she hopped on her bike, pushed the pedals and wobbled a bit. The smoke breaker employee laughed out loud and the girl pedaled off. When she made it over the bridge and was coasting down the hill, all the thoughts of insanity were replaced by triumphant ones. You can always do more than you think you can.
At home again, she drank another ice cold bottle of water. Her baby went straight to bed for a nap, but the girl went out to tackle the green contenders before they could yell "knock out." She successfully quarantined the cucs in their own smaller pot and placed the zucs in timeout. They were separated by the maters who would serve as the bouncers in case there was any foul play. The cute docile melons were set to lounge in their own luxury suite. The girl decided nothing could be done about the squash, lettuce, onions and carrots in the other pot. She just wished she would have done a planter box instead, like a boxing ring which would have rules in place and keep everything fair. Stealing water would definitely be prevented! "Oh well," the girl said to herself and hoped for the best.
From that point on she carefully tended to her plants every morning and night. She had to endure the death of all but two of her lettuce leaves, the wimps, and then the onions died because they should have been thinned and hilled up more, too bad! But she carefully watched her remaining lettuce contenders, 3 stalwart onions, and the carrots as they buoyed each other up in one pot. The squash always wanted to over take them, but the girl protected the others from him. The melons grew and developed such lovely tendrils and curls of light green. One time they got in a nasty cat fight with the dainty flowers next door, but the girl intervened when she saw the melons' viny hands wrapped several times around their fragile necks. The girl showed the melons how to use their aggression wisely on the wood fence that she had given them to rule over. They were pretty good at following the counsel except for a few times when they forgot and went after the yellow beauties at the end of the fence. The girl also watched over the cucs which eventually grew some yellow mops on their heads, and the zucs which couldn't hold on to the yellow on their heads every time they came back. This was probably due to the heat which immediately turned it browned and crunchy. The girl still held on to hope for them while she dreamed of fried buttery zucchini slices, moist zucchini bread with butter, and chocolatey zucchini brownies. She would keep a prayer for them.
The girl watched day after day as she fought away the bugs and bathed the plants in cold water daily to get them prepared for the heat. One time she came home from church and found all the leaves of one of her bouncer tomato plants were missing. He was naked. Even the little green tomatoes were picked off and half missing. The girl never found out if the neighbor kids pulled them off, or if bugs conquered them, or if they got burned off by the sun. But the mater kept standing tall and strong. The girl hoped that she could be like that Mater when the time came for her next challenge, standing tall, strong, brave, and unwavering. She hoped the Mater could still bear some fruit but didn't know for sure.
Finally, one morning, the girl got a first taste of her labors. There were 5 RED tomatoes hanging on for dear life to the second bouncer mater. They looked so juicy and delicious. The girl looked closely at the prizes and selected one to taste, leaving the others for tomorrow and the next day and the next and one more for the next. She nestled the precious baby tomato right between her palate and her expectant tongue and gently applied pressure. The sweet juice tantalized her taste buds and played a game on her tongue. Sooo good! The game ended almost just as it had begun and the juice went down the "wet n' wild" shoot to the black hole. The girl thought about the precious tomato baby as she pictured herself riding on a the waterslide at Downetta Hot Springs heading for the pitch black underground drop and waiting to see the light again as she plunged into the cold water at the end. The girl shook her head crazily because she couldn't believe that one little baby tomato could make her daydream about a waterslide. That must have been one special tomato. Probably because of the challenges it went through out there in the heat and fighting for room in the pot. BUT... it made it and that was the difference. The girl was so delighted that she got to taste the fruit of her labors, that she knew the rest of her day was going to be good no matter what happened. It was a magic tomato baby. She could not wait to see what the next one tasted like tomorrow.

Monday, July 13, 2009

Can I have seconds on patriotism please!

I think there should be more times in the year that we celebrate the greatness of our country. (Then again I guess if I went to sporting events more often I would get to sing the national anthem and put my hand on my heart. I think I want to start attending some just so I can do that.) I love our country... the promised land. I hope we as a people can always live well enough and love well enough that we can keep our freedom. I am grateful to all of those people who have given their lives through history and are serving right now for the freedom of the USA. Unfortunately we know that sometime in the future the government will hang by a thread and our freedom and peace that we enjoy so easily will not be there. We cannot take it for granted. I love the song "I am proud to be an American" where at least I know I'm free, and I won't forget the men who died who gave that right to me, so I proudly stand up and defend her still today... God bless the USA!
This is Gracie's new thing. To say "ooh" all the time and suck the air in. Apparently her parents say it all the time when she finds new things.
Thanks James, for sharing your flag and Cassidy for the cute pics!
James and Gracie played together after the BBQ on the 4th. It was fun!

I love my little stinker who rarely gives kisses anymore.
And this is what happened earlier in the day on the 4th of July and the reason why we didn't get to go swimming like we had planned. I had to take some dessert to the two "BARBER-cues" we were going to that night and so I decided to make some of Bakerella's cake balls because they were a hit last time. We made chocolate with chocolate frosting. I don't have a picture of the end result this time because... well... Luke... started a chocolate fight. I enlisted his help to be the "cake ball scooper" using our cookie scoop and he plopped them out real fast. But as I was finishing the last couple- rolling them perfectly by hand, you know me... Luke whips out some chocolate and slaps it on my face. Then he proceeds to lick it off!!! Of all the things for a loving husband to do. So I had to get him back of course. And the rest of the fight was tit for tat and lick for that. (That was the cleanest "previously holding chocolate" bowl I have ever seen.) It took some time to clean up and clean ourselves up before going that night. We had no home furnishing casualties, so that was lucky. We were an hour late to both BBQ's but it was fun. Thanks Bakerella for getting my husband and I in a chocolate fight. We made up while cleaning up! And I have vowed to beat Luke next time. We will let you know, next time I am brave enough to make cake balls.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

BOGO Jamba Juice! Go get some with this coupon...

Comment if you love Jamba Juice!! Click on it and print out the picture until 7/12/09 if you want some.