"us"

Yep, I titled this one "us" because this is just "us", nothing really special here. The first picture is Wendell in his new jammies that he got for Christmas. I'm not sure what he thinks of them but we sure think he's cute (of course). You can't see it from the picture but it has a cape on the back of it. Phil said we should have bought him this for his halloween costume.


This next picture (below) is Wendell watching Phil shoveling snow. This was the most recent snow that occurred last night (maybe 1-2 inches this time). I think this month we've gotten enough snow and ice to last us the rest of the winter season. Normally, Phil enjoys shoveling but he says he's had enough. Hopefully if it stays warm then Wendell and I can go out an play soon. We haven't gone for a sled ride in a few weeks due to his cold/cough and the cold temp's.

And this last picture (below) is us on Christmas morning. We are believers in hanging out in your pajama's on Christmas morning so this is us, unpolished. Please don't zoom in, we seriously didn't even comb our hair for the picture.

Hope you all have a Happy New Year!

Santa

Santa came to our house the other day to visit. We were sitting eating supper and all of a sudden Buster was barking like crazy... we noticed some dust coming out of our fireplace and we could hear some ruckus on the roof. We just sat and looked at each other wondering, could it be?

Ok, just kidding, we don't have a fireplace but Santa did come to our back door and knocked. Either way it was fun. We have survived 3 family Christmas' and a birthday party over the weekend. There were good moments and frustrating moments.. just like any other year.

I hope that each of you can spend some time reflecting on the true meaning of Christmas and that is about a precious baby being born over 2,000 years ago. I know personally, Jesus, is a best friend to me. He is always listening to me and helping me get through the tough times in my life, he is my mentor and guides me in life. I am never alone in this world, even when Phil's at work and Wendell's napping. I always have a shoulder to cry on. So of course, in honor of my friend. Thanks Jesus, and Happy Birthday!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

Wendell's First Birthday Party At Home

We had our first "kid's" birthday party at our house today. I invited moms and kids over for a food and fun. The first activity was to make our own birthday hats, the kids colored on some construction paper and then we made little hats out of them. The second activity on the agenda was playing with homemade play dough. The recipe is pretty easy to make and turned out well. Here's the recipe if anyone's interested:

2 cups baking soda

1 1/2 cups water

1 cup cornstarch

Mix with a fork until smooth. Boil over medium heat until thick. Spoon onto plate or wax paper.

And our third activity was actually just watching a short video of the Veggie Tales. Then we ate homemade pizza, had some quick cupcakes and ice cream before everyone had to leave for naps. I think Wendell's highlights were drinking out of two cups, one in each hand, taking turns between the two. Then playing with the balloons and of course just having his friends here. Surprisingly, he wouldn't eat the cupcake or ice cream.. I guess next time I'll just make him chocolate chip cookies since I know he likes them. Thanks everyone who made it and prayers to those who stayed home sick. The last picture is of the "cake" I made. It's a caterpillar made with cupcakes and candy. Wendell actually turns 2 on Sunday, so I'm sure we'll have more birthday pictures to come!

disappointment

For all us UNI panther fans, we had a big disappointment yesterday. On home field, in the semi-finals, UNI lost at the last few minutes by one point. It was such a disappointment to go through the game with hope and then loose in the end. Phil's Christmas present this year was tickets to the playoff games so I feel kind of bad for him but we'll look forward to next year.

On a good note, we've been decking our house with our Christmas decorations and getting excited to have fun, food, and family time in the next few weeks. Phil has taken a few days off so that will be nice to have him around. We've got our house decorated and Wendell loves the Christmas tree. Now if only our outside Nativity set would stay up, then we'd be set. As you can see below, Wendell has lots of stuffed Christmas animals but his favorite is the green and red moose because it shakes and plays music.

The other exciting upcoming event for us is that Wendell will turn 2 next week so we're having a "kid" birthday party on Wednesday, and a "Grandparents" birthday party on Friday, and then his actual birthday is on Sunday. I will take lots of pictures and keep you posted.

We'll be busy the next few weeks so I apologize now if I don't get any new postings soon. Hope you all have a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

cute couple? cute boots?

Wendell has lots of "girl friends" that he plays with but pictured above is Kate, the girl that Wendell has hugged and kissed the most, yes I said kissed. I think he has kissed her once, and she kissed him once or twice. They used to hug off and on but this last play date, Wendell tried to wrestle with Kate but I don't think she liked it. As you can see above by the kids' faces, the sledding date, wasn't quite the hit. Next time they want to go sledding, Sarah (Kate's mom) and I have agreed to hire a babysitter for the kids so us moms could have a fun time sledding.

Since sledding didn't go so well, along with playing at the park afterwards, we decided to come back to our place. As some of you know, Wendell has a thing for shoes, but most of you probably don't know that he loves girl shoes. Here is the latest of Wendell borrowing boots from his "girl friend" Kate. I guess he prefers the pink ones over his blue ones??

Future warning to Wendell's girl friends: keep your shoes on or he might borrow them, and usually he doesn't like to give them back.

winter is here

Yes, winter is officially here. We got about 3 inches of snow this past weekend. Every time I looked out the window, I was amazed that it was still snowing.

Here's Wendell getting a fun sled ride this morning. We decided to go out and venture in the snow and this is the first thing we did. He didn't seem too thrilled the first time but when we stopped he was ready to go again about ten minutes later.

This is what it looks like out our front door...

and this is out the back door.

Who's that?

I thought you might like to see a picture of our family trick-or-treat adventure. Do you see the three of us in the picture?

This is our son being his usual goofy self. Do you think he gets this from his mom or dad?

new floor and mop head to go with it...

Hi all, I just wanted to share pictures of the floor that we replaced this past weekend. We just did linoleum in the kitchen and porch, but it looks really nice. (Thanks dad for helping us out!) Phil and I had the joy of the weekend to ourselves (Grandma and Grandpa H. took Wendell for the weekend) so we took the opportunity to get this last big project of the year done. We have some paint touch ups and then we'll be done with this project. We also had a date night Saturday night, went to a movie, out to eat, and cruised around like a couple of teenagers. We've already decided that we'll need to do this again soon!

The last picture is just a wild hair day, and no we didn't use this "mop head" to mop our new floor. Sometimes, Wendell's hair has a mind of it's own.. it's long over due for a haircut but when you get these wild hair days it's makes it hard to want to cut it short.

Who's that doggie in the window?

Ruff, ruff... it's Wendell, dressed in his Halloween costume. We had the joy of surprising my grandparents and a few other people as well. Phil and I also dressed up so when we knocked they didn't know who we were. Since we traveled an hour to see them without calling then they didn't expect us. I don't have any pictures of Phil and me in our costumes but my mom took some.. maybe I'll post them when I get a copy, depending on how dorky we look.

The second picture was just too funny not to grab the camera. Wendell and I went out to an apple orchard yesterday and this is what he did on his way home. I pulled 12 apples out of his car seat. I ordered a "bushel" of apples and really didn't know how much that was.. so now I have two boxes loaded up (you can see one of them in the picture) and a lot of work ahead of me. I'm hoping to make applesauce, apple pie and apple crisp. And hopefully freeze some apples for this winter. Let me know if you have any good recipes that includes apples.

** And no, this doggie is NOT for sale : )

What is a placemat?

According to Wikipedia a placemat is a protective table pad used to protect the dinner table from water marks, food stains or heat damage. Wendell had a different idea for his new Halloween placemat that he got from Grandma Val and Grandpa Jim. As soon as he got up from his nap and I showed it to him, he knew just what to do with it. Kids do the darnedest things.. what have your little ones done lately?

Our little helper's...

This weekend we played outside in the leaves and raked them all up, it's just too bad we didn't bag them too because they are now gone with the wind, our piles are pretty much gone. We had fun though.

Buster did his part by breaking down sticks for us.

Wendell decided to he was going to help out by raking, here he is with the BIG rake.

Here Wendell is getting a kick out the leaves, he enjoyed throwing them up and letting them fall on his face.

KWWL Channel 7 News Station

If you get a minute, you can watch this on KWWL channel 7. It will be on at random times.. possibly at the end of the noon news tomorrow (Wed.)

Update on my Life

Attached is my most recent favorite picture of Wendell... my little angel.

Recently, Wendell went out to a local farm fall festival and he got to touch hay bales (but didn't want to climb on them), he touched the pony (but didn't want to ride it), went on a hay ride (and amazing sat on my lap the whole time) and played with Kirby the Kangaroo. So that was a fun afternoon.

This past weekend we went to Davenport to see Phil's family. We had a nice relaxing time.

And I thought I'd take a moment to update all of you on my life. If you've kept up on my posts you will see that discipline and cleaning have been of concern lately. I agreed to do my 30 minutes of cleaning per day (see other post), and did quite well for a few days. I'd say my house is pretty organized right now, but there are still lots of projects that could be done... I know this will be a forever battle but if I do a little bit each day then I don't have to feel guilty (thanks for the advice Sarah!). I'm also looking forward to my parents taking Wendell for a few days as a mommy vacation is long overdue. As far as discipline goes... well the time outs continue to go well (he sits for them and it at least gives me a break). He continues to not listen to me when I am talking to him and this can be very frustrating. Yesterday morning didn't go so well, I had become quite frustrated because it seemed like I'd put one thing away and Wendell would pull two things out.. I was not making good progress with cleaning up and Wendell wasn't really helping matters. Basically, I got really angry and yelled him (because he wasn't following my directions nor listening). Of course, 3 seconds later, he's smiling like it never happened (and I'm red at a tomato with fire coming out of my ears). So I tell him very sternly " you need to listen to me" and point to my ears (did I mention I'm not very happy at this point). So what does he do?? He smiles his little happy grin and points to his ears like we're playing a game. Well, at least he doesn't hold grudges... I am learning that as a human, I become angry (even with my precious little child), and it's okay to be angry but sometimes I need to take a break and get some space... so the game plan for next time, is that instead of yelling at him, he will be going to his room (great idea Kathryn!) so I can cool off in a more loving manner. Any other ideas on how to deal with anger?

cleaning lady?

Some days I think I'd like to hire a cleaning lady. When I sit and think about the odds-n-ends cleaning "projects" that I'd like to do, I realize my list just goes on and on. Not to mention that about the time I'd actually get the list done, then I'd have to start over. Recently, I FINALLY got the blinds and windows cleaned in our house, something that I've been meaning to do all summer. So I cross that off my to do list and start to think the list is starting to look pretty short (Hah!). I took a moment today to think of what I need to add to the list and here is what I can think of right off hand: vacuum/sweep the basement floor, paint the hallway/upstairs bedroom, put in the new linoleum floor, dust and vacuum upstairs, wash/iron/rehang the curtains, clean off the top of the fridge, sweep/mop under the stove and fridge, clean the carpets, vacuum out my car, clean out the garage, wipe down the kitchen walls (where the food splatters), wash down Wendell's toys, go through the black cabinet on the porch, go through my cupboards, better yet, go through all the storage tubs in the basement, clean out the computer hutch, get out my Halloween decorations, update Wendell's baby book... now here is Phil's list: rake the leaves, tear out the garden, can some more pickle relish. Not to mention our "normal weekly to do list": vacuum, sweep, dishes, spot clean the bathroom, take out the trash, pick up after Wendell (and ourselves), laundry, did I mention dishes (we have two dishwashers - my two hands), give Wendell a bath (Phil's job), take my own shower/get dressed, cook, exercise, keep Wendell occupied/out of trouble ... right now I'm lucky if I've showered and put on clean clothes by the end of the day let alone crossed something off my list. So what's on your to do list? Would you ever hire a cleaning lady?

A or B kind of mom?

Do I want to be an A or B kind of mom?

(this is the effect of an "A" mom -notice the smile)

A = Pushover mom who believes in "compromise" but feels very loving about it

B = Unhappy mom who says no and sticks to it but feels mean and strung out all the time

I need a little advice from you.. I've been a "pushover" mom since day one but have realized that I need to start standing my ground. I feel like I've been telling myself that compromise or win-win situations are the best.. but are they the best with a toddler?

Example #1. The other morning Wendell didn't want to take his p.j. shirt off so I decided to put his t'shirt on over it. (Looking back, I realize that was totally a pushover mom but it was also a compromise, right? nothing wrong with having two shirts on?)

Example #2. Wendell, Buster (our dog) and I decide to go for a walk. Wendell would rather push his little lawn mower around but Buster is wanting a walk too (and both can't happen at the same time), so I ask Wendell to get in the stroller and he does but he brings his mower with him. So for 1/2 block he is pushing his lawn mower while I push him in the stroller (later we ditched the mower and put it in the back of the stroller). Pushover mom? I see it as a "survive the walk" tactic.

Example #3. Wendell is outside playing with his car and pushing it around. He decides to go in the neighbors driveway (which is okay) but then decides to go up closer to her house (which he knows he's not supposed to) so I give a warning, "you need to turn around" in such a sweet loving voice, he does not respond, so the second reminder I say "you need to come back, now or we'll go inside" a little more serious... and still no response. The third time, in a very stern/mean voice "come back now or we go inside"... and Mr. Wendell looks toward me with his little grin and comes back like a sweet little angel. Why did it take the 3rd try? My "stern" voice? Now I feel like a mean mom who's out in public yelling at her kid.

So, what kind of mom are you? A or B.. and how do we survive this roller coaster?

(this is the effect of a "B" kind of mom)

Take 1

Take 1: Wendell goes down the slide. We are experimenting with the video part of our digital camera. So far, so good...

Our "master" chef

Here is our master chef trying his latest new recipe. I thought it looked so good that I needed to take a picture. It was pizza crust with baked tomatoes and cheese on top... no meat, veggies or actual pizza sauce.

Here is the "tart" (on the right) which we had instead of breadsticks and then the "pizza" (on the left) that we had with it.

It was delicious!

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

And I did it! I painted our living room. I was convinced that the green was going to be too dark but after seeing it on the walls I've decided that I really like it! And when I had the first coat of cream, I thought it looked yellow but it all worked out great. So about 2 weeks later.. it's all done and put back together. We also got new stairs to the front of our house. Phil took about 5 swings at the old ones and they were all crumbles (where's our "that was easy" button to push?).

Our little chef

Wendell has learned how to open the microwave door....

...and has since found a new place to store his flip flops.

Why didn't I think of that? I'm always looking
for better ways to organize things.

Let's just hope he doesn't learn to turn on the microwave or we might end up with shoe soup for dinner.

Hmmm... what to write about?

As requested, I am making a new post for all our fans. I think I'll show off where we stayed this past weekend. Us and the extended family went to the Dells in Wisconsin to a resort called Glacier Canyon Lodge (a timeshare).

I was a little worried about how Wendell would do on the ride there and back but he did great, slept 1/2 the way there and back and kept us company the rest of the way. Anyways, back to the resort. It was so nice! We stayed in a "condo" type place that had a living room, dining room, and 3 bedrooms. The place had 3 indoor and 3 outdoor waterparks right there at the resort! So we enjoyed about a dozen different water slides, 3 toddler water areas, 2 lazy rivers, 1 wave pool, 1 rock climbing wall, 1 lazer tag, and we drove a few miles to do go-carts. My parents were gracious and paid for 99% of the trip, we just had to get there and back. Thanks mom and dad!!

We don't usually get to stay at such nice places so it was definitely a treat!

**Attached is a picture of Phil and Wendell enjoying the water, you can't really see it on here but Wendell is actually smiling while being in the water.

Superman or Batman?

An old villain returned to the Hunt household last night. Around 3AM, Mrs. Hunt noticed just a slightly odd sound in the home but awoke to silence. Not sure what was going on, she rolled over and Mr. Hunt awoke as well. At first it appeared to be nothing and the Hunt's rolled over to go back to sleep but in doubt the Mrs. asked Mr. Hunt to turn the light on "just to be sure". A moment later, Mr. Hunt made a soft shout and quickly informed the Mrs. that the old villain had returned... a bat was in the house. This was not the first time the Hunt's had awoke to a bat in their home. Approximately, one year ago, the Hunt's had also awoke to a bat in their bedroom during the night. Could it be the same one? Fortunately, being a "Super" (or would it be "Bat"?) Man, Mr. Hunt got the bat out the front door in a record 5 minutes by simply opening the front door and closing off all other doorways. Mrs. Hunt (AKA: Wonder Woman) assisted by holding up the sheet to the doorway between the dining room and living room. After returning to their cozy, and still warm, beds the Hunt's pondered the events. Here was their final conversation before drifting back to sleep.

Mr. Hunt: I hope we don't get another one or I'll have to kill it.

The Mrs: Why?

Mr. Hunt: Because it might be the same one.

The Mrs: Then it'll be our friend.

Mr.Hunt: No, friends don't wake you up in the middle of the night and scare the $#!* out of you.

A final note: the young child and dog went undisturbed during the occurrence.

*** Attached is the picture of Mr. Hunt taken from last year's disturbance of the peace.

family vacation

We're back! We went to Fun City (hotel) in Burlington, IA for our annual family vacation with my mom, brother, sister and kids. This hotel is pretty neat if you ever get a chance to go, it's an indoor/outdoor water park and also has arcades, bowling, and go-carts all at the hotel. We left on Monday and got back Wednesday and had a good time seeing family (my sister came from Ohio, my mom came from Florida, and my brother and I live in Iowa). Anyways, I've been busy visiting with my mom but have tomorrow (Saturday) free.. in fact Phil and Wendell are going to a parade in the morning and I'm taking the morning off. I'm hoping to sleep in and take my own little vacation... maybe read, watch a movie, and be a bum. Well, I look forward to "blogging" some more later. Hope all is well!

** Attached is a photo of us at the pool. It took about an hour before I could unpeel Wendell from my arms.. and then he barely would let his toes get wet. He wasn't too fond of the water but by the last day he did go down one kiddy slide and rode the lazy river without crying (which was a pretty big accomplishment).

Starting a blog...

Hello everyone,

I've decided to try "blogging" so I hope you join me! I have no idea what to expect so this should be a fun ride. I'll start by telling you a little about my family. I'm married to a great husband - Phil - since January of 2000. And we have an adorable little boy - Wendell - who was born in December of 2006 (you can do the math to find out how old he is : ) We live in the great state of Iowa, all of us born and raised here. I'm a proud stay at home mom during the day and have a very interesting job at night... I get paid to sleep during the overnight (and yes, I do sleep) at a house with three ladies who have disabilities. I also work a couple of hours in the morning getting them out the door to their day programs and then I go home around 8:30am when Phil goes to work at the local TV station. So I work 2 full time jobs.. and the best is being at home with Wendell. My husband and I like to garden, read, and (for the time being) exercising. We love to cook and try new things so if you have any new, fun and somewhat healthy recipes, we'd love to try them! Enough about me, I'd like to get to know you... hope to hear from you soon! Heather


** Attached is the most recent picture of Wendell being silly, he's wearing Phil's work goggles while eating his pancake for breakfast.