I think I'm caught up...

As was pointed out by my sister, I've been a bit behind on my blogging. I think I'm pretty much caught up now. This morning we went and had the stitches out. It turns out one of them fell out on its own, so he only had four removed. Three of them came out very easy, but the fourth one had a scab around it so it was a little more difficult. Christian was so brave (again). He only got fidgety during the last stitch. The pediatrician let him sit in my lap, which was super nice of her. I'm just glad the whole ordeal is about over!

The doctor said we won't know for about a year if there will be a scar or not. We're praying for no scar, so please join us.

On to other news, Andrew is crawling around all over the place now. He moves more in reverse than forward, but that's okay. He's even learned to change direction! I'm so proud of my baby, but he's growing up way too fast.

Will's head is healing very well (thank the Lord) - there's hardly any indication that there was once a huge cut on his head. I don't have any pictures, but it looks much better than I ever expected. :)

That's about it. I've got to get creative today...I'm entering a contest online. Right now there are only five entries and they're picking three winners, so my odds are pretty good. I'll post once I've finished my creation - though right now I still have no idea what it'll be! :)

I'm trying to sell a bunch of scrapbooking stuff on ebay. I went through my stash and cleaned out, plus I had some goodies that I bought to resell. So we're running 14 auctions now - I think there will be almost 100 lots total. Scary!!! If you're interested, email me and I'll send pictures of what I have.

My poor Usborne e-show is pathetic...no orders yet. At this point, if you order, you're pretty much guaranteed free or half-price books, so go for it! Please email if you need recommendations for books. The website for the show is http://www.ubah.com/HOS74337, so please check it out.

That's about it for now. We're going to see Thomas on Saturday - the boys are already pretty excited. I'll post once the adventure is over! :)

Thanksgiving adventures...

Everything seems to be an adventure in the Hopkins' household. We went up to Aunt Emily's & Uncle Jim's for Thanksgiving dinner, which was delicious as usual. :)

Will enjoyed spending time with cousin Kenny. They both have a shared love of Thomas the Tank Engine and the movie "Cars".

And while Max and I enjoyed spending time with the family, the real "highlight" of the evening involved Christian. Big brother Will got tired and cranky and threw a pool ball at Christian's face. So we ended up in the ER for 5 stitches! I prayed for a nice doctor, and we got a very kind, gentle doctor. He and the nurse were quite impressed with how calm Christian was during the procedure (Mommy was definitely more upset than him!).

Beyond being very swollen and multiple colors of black, blue, and purple, by Friday morning (when these pictures were taken) Christian was back to his normal rambunctious self!

Aunt Emily's scrapbook...

Here is Aunt Emily's scrapbook, in six parts. We presented it to her on Thanksgiving just after dinner, and I think she really liked it. :)





The blank tags located throughout the book are for Emily and Jim to write down their memories. Enjoy!

Aunt Emily's scrapbook, part 2...

Some more of the scrapbook...

Aunt Emily's scrapbook, part 3...

And here's more...

Aunt Emily's scrapbook, part 4...

And the fun continues...

Aunt Emily's scrapbook, part 5...

We're almost done now...

Aunt Emily's scrapbook, part 6...

And finally, the end of the book...


In the pocket are little notes people wrote to Emily and Jim.

usborne e-show...

I'm currently running an e-show on my Usborne site if anyone is interested. It will close on December 10 (to ensure Christmas delivery). I've decided to make this a mystery hostess (or host) party. Everyone who places an order will be put into a drawing for free and/or half-price books. Exactly how much money will be available for the drawings will depend on the amount of orders received.

I am more than willing to recommend books if anyone is interested. I can even set up an online chat if there's any interest. They really are amazing books; my own wish-list has 25 books on it! :)

There are two ways to access the e-show. You can click on my Usborne link on the right of this page and from there click on my name under active e-shows. Or you can use this address: http://www.ubah.com/HOS74337. If you're uncomfortable ordering online, just email or call and I can take your order that way.

Make sure you check out the bargain books (the Internet Specials change every two weeks). Also, for every $35 you spend, you are eligible for the current Customer Specials (there's a link on the site).

Thanks!

P.S. Make sure you take a look at the Christmas titles - they're adorable! :)

My baby's growing up...

Andrew is totally having a week of firsts. Today he sprouted another tooth (this makes four!!!) AND he crawled!!!!!!! Yippee!!! He still won't roll over, but now he's mobile! And soon I'll be complaining because he's getting into a whole mess of trouble, but for now I'm celebrating! :)




















He started in the middle of the blue blanket and made it over to the basket (about 3 feet) all by himself!

My big news for the day...

Andrew's third tooth came in today!!!!! He's had the bottom two for over three months, and now the top right tooth is in! I'm doing the happy dance for my baby (you gotta celebrate the little things)! I didn't get a picture of the tooth - once it comes in a bit more I'll take some pics. But I did take some all-around cute shots of the little guy tonight. I haven't run these through any photo-editing software, so please forgive the red-eye and dark pictures.

I love my PictureMate...

If you have a digital camera and do not own one of these, go to your local Radio Shak and buy one now (on sale for $50)! They are AMAZING!!!!!!! This is my early Christmas present from Max (I love that guy!) and I've already printed close to 75 pictures. The quality is phenomenal (you cannot tell the difference between these prints and ones from a photo lab - no kidding) and it is so stinkin' convenient to print from home! And they are dry the second they're done printing - the kids pull them off as soon as they're done and no smudging at all! Plus they're waterproof (yes, I've tested). I'm a one-woman commercial for Epson now. Did I tell you how cheap this thing is to operate? Prints average about 20.7 cents a piece (order the value packs from Amazon - free shipping and no tax!). Oh yeah, the ink and the paper come bundled together - how cool is that? Seriously, go buy one.

Kristy will probably be glad that she won't have to relay pictures from Sam's Club to me anymore! I'll still need enlargements though - that's the ONLY downside to my little PictureMate - he only prints up to 4x6 (but he does it so well that I'm not complaining).

Moving on, here's a little picture frame I made for my Instructional Assistant, Jeannie (she covered for me on Monday when I had to leave because of Will's accident). I gave it to her last night and she loved it! :) I always get a little nervous that people won't like my work, so it's nice when something's a hit. She had a picture picked out almost immediately, so that made me happy.

Be forewarned - pretty much everyone is getting something homemade this year for Christmas. I've got about 10 projects on or around my desk right now, so I'll have my hands full these next several weeks. It's all good, though - just give me a jar of Mod Podge and I'm a happy camper! (And if you don't know what Mod Podge is, let me know - I give lessons. Spend a hour, walk away with a picture frame - it's fun, really.)

That's all for now....I'll be back in five minutes or so with my really big post of the day. Of course, you'll have already read that one by the time you see this, but bear with me here - it's getting late and I'm a bit loopy.

Will had an accident...

Last night Will hit his head (on what, we're still not sure) and got quite the boo-boo on his head. I was at work when the accident happened and called between classes to chat with Max. To my surprise my mom answered the phone and her first sentence began with, "Now don't get upset..." Of course, my heart started racing as she told me about Will's injury. By the time I got home 45 minutes later, things were pretty calm. But it's still a nasty injury - here's a couple pics (they're a bit blurry, but you get the idea). The other picture was taken at the same time as the pics of the yucky cut, so you can see that he was smiles by that point (thank God). Please keep him in your prayers that the healing is quick and uncomplicated. Thanks!

cousins...

Beth and Benjamin came by for a visit on Thursday. Of course, with Andrew and Benjamin being so close in age, we let them "play" together - the result being some pretty darn cute pictures!