A favorite morning sight...

Is finding Ms. Kitty warming up on the window sill!

Our Jungle Gym

Last night Sean told Carter that the couch was not a jungle gym - this morning the boys are actively trying to create a jungle gym. I overheard Carter telling Lincoln "don't let mommy tear this down while I am at school". And in their ever changing direction, now they are in swim attire telling me they are going to swim in my bathtub.

The Ugliest Gingerbread House in America

In my determination to make it an All-American Christmas I bought a gingerbread house kit yesterday - what resulted is THE UGLIEST GINGERBREAD HOUSE IN AMERICA. Seriously, it is rather hideous - although the falling apart roof does look a bit like the new construction in Silverhawk by Jeff Click! On that note, his stuff is amazing - slanted roofs just scream 70's to me!

Back to the house, I'm actively planning the one I will create next year - using that glue they call icing ONLY to make the house and then using my pretty stuff to make it look delectable - hmm, will the boys be invited to that party? Maybe a house for the boys and one for me!

Beds

Camp Carter

Camp Lincoln

Our children have lovely, cozy beds yet we find them in random places sleeping. The hallway is a good choice but if you want a smidge of warmth, you must curl up behind the couch! Boys, boys, boys!

We took the boys to Build and Grow at Lowe's last weekend for the first time - we will be taking advantage of that again! Sean came home to join us, and good thing not sure I could have built two trains with two boys alone. They were so into the project and did a great job - I was so impressed that a) I made one without help and b) we got to bring home the cute aprons and put on their first patch!

I laugh at what I find some days, the other day I found Alvin & Lukey laying on my bed on a large washcloth & they each had a baby sized washcloth on them for a blanket - happy resting to the fuzzy family members.

Going to Iowa

The boys like to play a game called going to Iowa. Basically, they pack up their things and haul them around the house - no big deal, no harm done. Today was a little over the top, however, for the little guy - he unloaded every piece of clothing out of his closet (and his boots, swimwear and piggy banks) and packed away - when they were putting them in the wagon and trying to charge the truck I got a bit scared - I think they would have at least made it to the end of Lariat Trail today. I told Linc we needed to wait a few weeks until daddy could go to Iowa and he informed me that daddy should just drive his own truck and we could go today. Glad they love their family and the motherland!

Christmas is a comin'

The helpful Hogan boys thought they'd assist in tree trimming while I was gone one afternoon (note to self: do not leave decorations out!) anyway, when I returned they were awfully proud of themselves and their creation that included ornaments 4 ft. and under & my glitter sticks tossed at the tree. My OCD self had to take a few deep breaths and wait until they were out of the room to do a little redecoration! I let them crawl on the FLOCKING FLOCKED tree the other night for a picture which meant a jammie change due to snowed kids!

Go Clones!

We also got to have a little Cyclone experience while in Iowa - we got to see The Battle of the Birds and luckily Cy came out on top, barely and unreviewed but we won in a crazy, exciting game! I'd forgotten how much fun going to watch basketball could be.

Dancin' the night away

After missing far too many family functions - we made it to one! Paul and Katie (Sean's cousin and his wife) were married on the 20th and we were able to celebrate with them. The 6 Hogan cousins enjoyed themselves and did lots of dancing - except cousin Cael who preferred the candy table - and let's be honest who can blame him! Carter informed me that "Charlee says we are boyfriend/girlfriend" but I'm trying to forget that comment so that I don't pull it out when they are 16 and mortify them. He worked pretty hard on some break dance moves and entertained us! Lincoln thought being with a grandparent was a much safer place than the dance floor! Good times in IA.

Ms. Nan's Followers

Carter got in the car on Friday and announced that "Ms. Nan says it is a good night to stay inside and watch a movie". It was raining and cold and in fact was a good night to watch a movie so that is exactly what the boys did - they snuggled up on the floor and watched Tom & Jerry. I told Becky that Carter had announced it movie night and in fact Jack had done that same - these boys are Ms. Nan followers...but I'm fairly certain that she didn't say every night should be movie night as Carter has been requesting!

Thunder Up!

Last night Carter's school had a night out at the to-be-named, formerly Ford Center - OKC Arena, possibly ThunderDome (yep...the place needs a proper name). Anyway, we had the pleasure of sitting in the 2nd to last row at the top. The view actually wasn't that bad (although I'll admit to liking the seats that we usually get through Sean's work MUCH, MUCH better) but the boys enjoyed their first Thunder game of the season. Think we will do it again but might send just one boy and one daddy to enjoy as it would be a little easier with 2 than 4 (seems they get together and make paying attention more difficult for the other). Sean was really struggling trying to decide who to root for, however, since they were playing the Spurs and we are also Spurs fans from being former San-Antonio-ites.

More building...

The building continutes - this week they've constructed a "rocket ship" in the garage, complete with 4 rolls of toilet paper for decoration (won't leave that stash near their reach again). We also had a small build in the living room - luckily all the pieces of the games stayed in their boxes this time. Here are some pictures.

The petite architect has been at my house, this particular one uses every piece of every game we own to build structures in front of the fireplace - a great plan unless your mom is OCD about "stuff" being out and your little brother has a tendency to break everything in sight! This structures did withstand 4 days of above mentioned mother & brother before the materials were sorted and returned to the lumber yard for the next build.

Halloween

My pictures are pretty horrible - my targets were moving a bit too fast! Our police officer had a short trick-or-treat this year because he wasn't feeling well and Buzz Lincoln-year rejected many pieces of his costume but over all it was a successful Halloween. The bats and pumpkins moved out promptly on Sunday night and a few new turkeys flew in yesterday...and I planned the thanksgiving menu as well - see you later Halloween, hello Thanksgiving!