Happy Birthday, Boys!

It was Blake's birthday on January 29. (Yes, I'm behind) Jacob's birthday was March 24 and I haven't posted about that either. Brandon's birthday is coming up on April 17 followed by Joshua's on the 28. I figured I can't blog about Brandon turning 12 this year if I don't first blog about Blake turning 10. So here is a recap of my boys....Blake Kimball Hull is the smartest 10 year old I know. Really. He got 100% on both the math and science portions of his standardized test last year. He asks me questions about things and I have to go Google the answer. He also is a very hard worker.
He also inherited some of his mother's athletic abilities. Poor guy. Some physical things don't come very easily to him but he has the determination to practice until he gets better at them. Take baseball. He decided he wanted to play baseball. During tryouts during his first year he didn't even know where to go when they asked him to go play Shortstop. They said, "Between 2nd and 3rd." He went somewhere else. Then they said, "Between the two cones." Then they just told him to start walking and to stop when they said to. He eventually made it to the Shortstop position. Needless to say his first year in baseball was played out in left field. (Nothing against left fielders...) But he decided last year that he wanted to pitch. So everyday after school he went outside to practice his pitching. He got better and better and last year was able to pitch a few games. This year he is one of his team's pitchers.
He also is really good at making and keeping goals. When he started Cub Scouts he decided that he would earn his Wolf badge before the next pack meeting. That gave us about 6 weeks. Guess what he did for six weeks straight? He earned his Wolf badge.

We are so glad he is in our family. Even though there are days when I wish there was a mute button on that boy our home would be too quiet without him. Blake, you are an amazing boy. We love you!!
Blake and Jacob

Jacob Taylor Hull is the sweetest 6 year old boy. He is our third child and Heavenly Father knew exactly what I needed when he sent him to us.

I was seriously doubting my abilities of my being a mother when I became pregnant with Jacob. It was a difficult time for me. Then two things happened that changed everything. We moved to Yucaipa and Jacob was born. After being in our English ward for almost 1 year our family was called to serve in a Spanish Branch. Dan was called to be a counselor so that meant that I would have the children by myself. I also played the piano during Sacrament Meeting. Jacob sat in his car seat the entire time. When he outgrew his car seat he would actually sit next to me on the bench while I played. He sat!!! I had never had a child who would sit during anything. If I needed to got to the dentist he would actually stand in the corner and wait for me until I was done!!!!! I didn't even have to bribe him!!! I had never before experienced anything like this. He was a great infant and toddler.

Now 6 years later, he is still a sweet boy but definitely has his mother's stubbornness. He has to think an idea was his if there is any chance of him doing it. If I ask him to make his bed he will dance around the issue. If he says, "I know something...I will make my bed in the morning" he will get up extra early and make his bed...with a smile. He loves to give us hugs and kisses and I'm so thankful he is in our family. We love you, Jacob!!

I Had the Munchies

After the Saturday evening session of Stake Conference I dropped the babysitter off at her home and headed to the grocery store to buy some bananas and milk. Then I realized I just needed a little something...not sure what that was but I was sure I would know when I saw it.

So what went in my cart? Processed foods laden with sugar and artificial sweeteners. I was seriously laughing each time I put an item in my cart. First, bananas. Then it went downhill from there. Breyers ice cream...Oreo and Vanilla with Orange. Ben & Jerry's Strawberry Cheesecake....the little container with the plastic spoon. Fig Newtons. Keebler's Frosted Animal Crackers. Saltine crackers. Sour Patch watermelon candy. Chile Limon Cheetos. Already made chocolate milk. (Why buy chocolate syrup if it's already mixed?) I did exert some self control by not getting the Sprite at the check out stand.

I was embarrassed by the items in my cart. I'm sure people were thinking, "Umm....excuse me, big pregnant lady, but do you know that's not good for you?!?" My reply would've been..."Yes....but you're not the boss of me."

Now this morning...none of the food I got sounds good to me.....well, maybe the ice cream does. And the chocolate milk.

My Fair Lady

It's been a busy few weeks at the Hull household. We've had family visits, a Disneyland day trip, playing in the snow days, baseball practices, basketball games, Scouts, sicknesses, everyday routines, and of course the ever popular Science Fair.

Because I have a son, Brandon, who doesn't like to procrastinate and he has a mother who doesn't mind working with a deadline, I had been reminded at least once a day about the project deadline for the last 2 months. (My other son, Blake, really doesn't care one way or the other.) So we did the actual experiments a few weeks ago and all that was left was all the written stuff and the assembly of the board.

Brandon's project had to do with whether or not an ice cube melts faster in water or in air and Blake's project was whether or not a hard boiled egg spins longer than a raw egg. I must say that I do enjoy experiments. I think it's a great way to learn. I just don't like having to oversee all the paper work.



But as each year passes I'm getting better at letting the boys do their thing. (I figured that by the time this new baby has to do a project I won't even know there was a Science Fair and she'll just ask her brothers for their projects.)

I used my sister Edna's motto: The least amount of effort possible. So that meant the boys did it all. This year, we didn't take out the glue stick. The boys stapled their boards together. Their pictures were not printed on photo paper but on regular paper. There wasn't any cardstock to make borders for anything. I just provided the typing and formatting on Publisher. They were pleased with their projects and Blake was one of the three winners of his classroom. Way to go, Blake!

After all I had my day when as a fifth grader I set out to answer the question in every fifth grader's mind: Can Probability Be Tested? I won the school fair in my category, Math and Computers, because I was the only project in that category. Then I went on to the county where I didn't place. There were 5 projects in my category and ribbons were given to 1st -4th places so guess where that left me.

This is Blake's project. I don't have a picture of Brandon's. Don't worry...it looks exactly the same. The only difference is that his title is in blue.

We are having a............

Girl!

Jakey Jacob

Jacob makes me smile. He was Student of the Week last week so we had Blanco Bear visiting our home. We got to document the many activities of Blanco Bear and Jacob. Here they are pulling weeds.

Jacob is a funny boy. He constantly says things that makes us smile. We love him!






Here is a short conversation we had while reading The Polar Express.

Me: (reading) "We sang Christmas carols and ate candies..."

Jacob: (pointing to the words "Christmas carols" ) I know that! "Christmas carols" is in If You Take a Mouse to the Movies!

Me: You're right! It's part of that book.

Me: (reading the next page) "We traveled through cold, dark forests, where lean wolves......hid from our train as it thundered through the quiet wilderness."

Jacob: (pointing to the word wilderness) I know that word! That's in the Book of Mormon!

Me: You're right!

I thought it was cute. I love all my boys. They truly are amazing little people.

Self Evaluation Quiz for Homemakers

I was at the church last night for Cub Scouts and noticed more items on the We Are Cleaning the Library So Help Yourself to Whatever You'd Like Table. (At least that is how I interpret it) I found a Homemaking manual from 1983. I skimmed through it and found recipes and sewing patterns and so I picked it up.

When I got home I started to browse through it and found this quiz towards the beginning. This quiz is "for individual women to use to help bring to mind homemaking goals they might like to set."



1. My house is:
a. immaculate
b. liveable
c. could be better

2. I organize my time:
a. pretty well
b. sometimes
c. don't have time

3. I have a place for everything:
a. yes, I do
b. sometimes
c. don't know where to look

4. At the grocery store, I:
a. comparison shop
b. compare a few prices
c. buy on impulse

5. I take time for beauty:
a. oh yes, every day
b. I've let down
c. when?

6. When I see old furniture, I:
a. get excited
b. sometimes see new possibilities
c. live with it or throw it away

7. Clogged disposals, broken plugs and stopped-up toilets:
a. I can usually fix
b. make me wonder, "Where do I start?"
c. scare me to death

8. I feel decorating and "personal touches" in a home are:
a. important
b. nice if I have time
c. a real bother

9. My walls can be described as:
a. attractive
b. need some updating and change

10. Our one year storage is:
a. completed
b. depleted
c. deleted

11. I spend quality time with my children:
a. often
b. sometimes
c. when they're sick

12. My yard and garden:
a. flourish
b. need improvement
c. won't grow

13. Holidays and birthdays are:
a. fun to make special
b. bound to happen
c. a nuisance

14. Our Christmas decorations and traditions are:
a. dear to our family
b. needing a spark
c. getting worn out

15. Our meals each week are:
a. excellent
b. of fair variety
c. getting dull

16. I entertain:
a. with flair
b. pretty well, considering
c. only when absolutely necessary

17. When it comes to sewing:
a. I enjoy it and save money
b. I could, if I had some help
c. it's more frustrating than fun

18. My laundry is:
a. clean and in order
b. a struggle
c. stacked in the corner

After taking this quiz I have set some goals for myself. I will start with question 5. I will do that by shaving my legs more often.

How do you rate?


Gabby's fine print: I believe in making a house a home. I believe that as women we should strive to create an environment where children can blossom and nourish. I believe in nurturing marriage. I believe we all try our best and there will be days when I won't be able to entertain with flair because a stopped-up toilet scares me to death.

Won't You Be My Neighbor?

My next door neighbor is the sweetest lady. She gives me lemons from her trees and lets me use her phone when I've locked myself out of my house. She's let me know that I can call her anytime I need anything. She really is very kind.

Yesterday I realized that I should be more like her. On Wednesday afternoon she came to my house to let me know that she had thrown a ball over to our yard thinking it was ours. That ball, a pool table ball, had broken her dining room window. After she threw the ball into our yard she realized it couldn't be ours because her dining room is on the opposite side of our yard so our boys couldn't have thrown it. I assured her that it wasn't our ball, after verifying with the boys, and told her I felt bad that her window got broken. I told her I'd send Dan over to see if he could help her cover up the window while she got it replaced. She said she would be fine.

OK..this is the part where I need to be like her. Yesterday, less than 24 hours after the incident, she had a glass company there replacing her window! Less than 24 hours!! We have had a broken window in our house since May and it's still covered with cardboard!!!! Jacob threw a baseball and broke one of the panels of our kitchen garden window. Dan did what anyone, besides our neighbor, would do....cover it with cardboard and duct tape.

What makes this even funnier to me is that since that incident in May I have reminded Jacob to not throw the ball close to the window because we don't want it to break.

His response? "Yes, we don't want it to break because we don't have any more cardboard."

Who can Hula?

Not me. But Jacob, our 5 year old, beat us all in hula-hooping. We did it for FHE last night and then he wanted to do it again tonight.

His time to beat?
10 minutes, 39 seconds!

Grateful for....

We had a great Thanksgiving. It was so nice to feel well enough to cook and bake and eat! We ate at about 1:30 and by 3 we were all taking naps. It was a great day!



It's so nice to have this time of year to reflect on our blessings. During our dinner we each took a turn to tell three things about each family member that we are grateful for. I love my boys! They were all very kind to me and even said I make the best dinners.



We enjoyed having Dan home for a few days and we used the time to catch up on some projects. We finished some touchup painting and finally got around to hanging family pictures on the wall. We have been in this house for 5 years and I've had 3 packages of frames up against my bedroom wall for almost a year and we finally got around to hanging them up. We also put up our Christmas tree and our decorations.





Of all the things we did the highlight of the weekend was:



The Hull Stratego Tournament of Champions.



I know you're thinking, "I wish we had gone over to their house!" Dan brought home this game a few weeks ago and it is all the boys want to play. Luckily for me I was able to advance to the semifinal round. I felt very pleased with myself when I beat Jacob. I'm sure this will become a tradition for years to come.