Monday, December 29, 2008

Princess and Knight Party!

So, about 3 months ago, Kate and AJ turned 4! We had a fun Princess and Knight birthday party for them. It was a fun way to incorporate girl and boy things. The girls came in their pretty dresses, and I made and bought things for a knight's costume for each boy. I read too many good ideas online and got the idea to make a cardboard castle. Mike agreed to it thinking there was no way I'd be able to procure enough refrigerator boxes to make the castle. Lesson to Mike: Don't tell me I can't do something!

The night before, everything was pretty much ready to go, except the castle. Then AJ gets a fever. We took him to the after hours clinic and found out he had strep. We decided to test Kate, and she had it too. So, do we give them shots so they can have their party, or do we get the normal meds and miss the party? Mike gave them the choice, and they both said they wanted the shots so they could have their party! Wow, we couldn't dissapoint after that! We finished the castle that night at 1:30. What dedicated/crazy parents.

Here's some fun pics of the party. The girls' game is a version of pin the tail on the donkey, it was kiss the frog prince, which they loved because they each got to wear lipstick for it. The boys had an obstacle course with quicksand(couch pillows on the ground), slay the dragon(dinosoar costume hanging in doorway), ride the horse to the castle, go through the castle, cross the moat(blue plastic tablecloth with lily pads and alligators), and then get to the treasure chest of chocolate coins.

Sunday, December 28, 2008

AJ Answers

The same questions, and at a diferent time, since they tend to copy each other if asked at the same time.

1. What is something mom always says to you? it's my birthday
2. What makes mom happy? obeying
3. What makes mom sad? when you don't obey
4. How does your mom make you laugh? when you tickle me
5. What was your mom like as a child? if you love me (hug)
6. How old is your mom? how old are you mom? I don't know
7. How tall is your mom? super big
8. What is her favorite thing to do? play with me
9. What does your mom do when you're not around? not playing
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? you, it's going to be for you, mom
11. What is your mom really good at? playing with me
12. What is your mom not very good at? not trying to catch me
13. What does your mom do for her job? try to fix walls
14. What is your mom's favorite food? salad
15. What makes you proud of your mom? (thinking...) that means I love you
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? good, maybe you have to think of it yourself if you want
17. What do you and your mom do together? play a game
18. How are you and your mom the same? when we're taller
19. How old are you and your mom different? when I was little
20. How do you know your mom loves you? real big

I love his last answer, because Mike and I will ask them, "How much do I love you?", and they spread their arms and say, "Real Big".

Monday, December 22, 2008

Slacker Returns...

I know, it's been a long time. I would guess most people have stopped even checking. As another friend of mine said, blame Facebook.

A friend of mine, Traci, had this on her blog a while back and I copied it. These responses are Kate's.
1. What is something mom always says to you? I love you
2. What makes mom happy? when I smile
3. What makes mom sad? when I whine
4. How does your mom make you laugh? making funny faces, that's what I like best
5. What was your mom like as a child? I don't know, do you know?
6. How old is your mom? 33
7. How tall is your mom? can you show me?
8. What is her favorite thing to do? playing with me
9. What does your mom do when you're not around? do your own things
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? us
11. What is your mom really good at? taking care of us
12. What is your mom not very good at? um...hmmm...you're not very good at putting up Christmas decorations
13. What does your mom do for her job? you don't do what we want
14. What is your mom's favorite food? salad
15. What makes you proud of your mom? doing things as we should do together
16. If you mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? um, like Little Einsteins; like Annie
17. What do you and your mom do together? play games
18. How are you and your mom the same? dressing up the same; smile
19. How are you and your mom different? as we wear different clothes
20. How do you know your mom loves you? Hugs and kisses

I really do have quite a few things to blog about, and the next edition will be AJ's responses to the same questions.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Fall Fun-Overload!

If you want to look at all the pics, get comfortable. Since it's been over a month, we have a lot of catching up to do.
Playground fun. Pumpkin patch with friends, Brynna and Addy. First choir "performance", in their pj's. First Fall Festival, AJ is a dinosaur. Feeding the ducks. Second Fall Festival, AJ is a cowboy riding "Bullseye" from Toy Story(only one lousy pic of that, it was a crazy night). Dress up day at school, AJ is Batman. Trick or Treating, AJ is Spiderman. We have so many costumes, I just let them pick which one they wanted to be each time. Kate wore her dance recital outfit(pink one) 3 out of 4, and as you see, AJ mixed it up. Kate suggested he wear his "Bullseye" costume to school. His response, "Ka-ate, I wore that last night". A little worrisome there:)

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Family Pics

We love this photographer, Jonnye, who has taken pics of our kids now for 3 years. If you want to check her out, her website is www.jbowerphoto.com.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

First Day of Preschool

My sweetie and buddy started their new preschool on Tuesday, and did great, or so their teachers told me. They are in separate classes and have teachers that are perfect for them individually. I look forward to seeing them grow and learn even more this year. I also had a first this week, I started a part time job while they are in school two days a week. All sorts of changes going on around here, I know, it's hard to keep up with our exciting lives!
And, AJ decided he wanted to wear a costume to the doctor's office the other day because we just found the body part of it in a box. Before then, we only had the head part, and we called him Simba-head. Since I was taking pictures of AJ, Kate wanted in on the action, so there's a pic of her in the car as well. Gotta be fair!

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Kate's Ballet Recital

Kate and her friends, Brynna, Noelle and Carly, all participated in their first ballet recital and more than loved it. The girls were so cute together.



Sunday, August 17, 2008

Fun Summer Pics

A day at the lake and their new "Marble Parade", as they call it.

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Fruit Ices

So, I decided to make some popsicles for Kate and AJ, just for fun. They LOVED them, so I thought I would share the recipe with my friends. Just follow the link below. We did the blueberry and banana ones because that's what we had on hand. Be forewarned, these were very messy, but I bet some of the other fruits would not be as bad as the blueberry was. I think next time we have them, we'll be playing in the sprinklers with swimsuits on.
http://www.parents.com/recipes/cooking/kid-friendly-food/frozen-desserts/?page=3
Kate looks a little Joker-esque.

AJ hadn't gotten as far as Kate, so he wasn't as messy, yet.

Monday, July 28, 2008

HTTC

By now, many of you know that I will be competing in the prestigious Horney Toad Texas Classic August 9th at Suger Tree Golf Course. If any of you are interested in following me on my quest to bring the championship back to Murphy, you are more than welcome to come out and cheer me on. The HTTC has not been too kind to us Murphyites in recent history after my friend and inaugural champ Brent Baldwin brought the Championship first to Murphy and I followed it up the next year by keeping it in the neighborhood. Much like the US Ryder Cup team has gone into a slump, so too have we. Fortunately, it is a new year and a new opportunity. I am reminded of the immortal words of Goonie Mikey Walsh "Down here, it's our time. It's our time down here." Down here in this case is Murphy! I also have adopted "Anything less than the best is a felony" as my personal battle-cry as I seek to reclaim the sacred Toad.

Below is a story of interest:

It’s Official –
A.P. Report: July 28, 2008 - After years of being pursued by Callaway, past HTTC Champion Mike Russ has agreed to play their ball in the upcoming HTTC. In a bidding war that came down to the final weeks, Srixon succumb to the deep pockets of larger golfing giant Callaway Golf Company NYSE ELY. Srixon worked quickly to disseminate information that the Callaway ball was $8.00 less per dozen (due to a $10.00 off sale at Golf Galaxy) and might have contributed to him switching sponsorship. New Callaway CEO William C. Baker is quoted as saying that “we hope Mike does for Callaway, what Tiger has done for Nike!”, also “the Toad and Callaway and Mike, go together like winners do – we look forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship.”

Please check the Hornok family blog for more information regarding the HTTC.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

July 4th Fun

Oops, didn't remember to put some cute pics up of the kids. Mike left for Australia on the 2nd of July, so he wasn't able to celebrate with us this year. Kate, AJ and I went to my sister's house to play with their cousins, eat some good food, and for Kate and AJ to have their first fireworks experience. The past three years we opted out of fireworks because they were all well after bedtime. And, even though I think it is un-American, Mike doesn't really like fireworks, so he was fine missing them. They enjoyed watching them, but were tired fairly quickly since they'd been going all day to keep up with their cousins, whom we all adore.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Far?

I know that it has been a while since I have posted something on our blog...(that's right Bekah, it is OUR blog, just like it is OUR camera), but I have been busy traversing the globe.
Some background -
Growing up, I thought that there were only two places that existed, where I lived and Tennessee. You see, every year, our family vacation was spent in Johnson City, TN visiting both sets of grandparents. Disney World was this magical place that really didn't exist except in dreams, and the rest of the world, that was something that you just read about in history books! I also grew up with parents that gave me a skewed idea of what "close" and "far" were. My earliest memories in life were of living in Cottage Grove Minnesota. There was a Target and a Kmart in our town. To this day, I still like Target over Kmart, but at that time, my family was a dedicated Kmart customer - why? Because it was "close"! As a kid, I really did not challenge my parents on that, but as an adult, I had the opportunity to re-visit Cottage Grove. What I found (much to my disappointment) was that Target was 2 blocks away, whereas Kmart was 1 block away. So to re-set the stage, Tennessee was the only other place besides where I lived and 1 block = "close", 2 blocks = "far".
Why am I giving you all of this background? Because after July, I will have traveled over 70,000 miles this year alone. For those of you keeping track, that is 70,000 trips to and from Target or 140,000 trips to and from Kmart - depending on your shopping preference and not one of those miles has been to Tennessee.
This year, I have been to New York, Chicago, Tampa, Shanghai, Beijing, Bentonville, Nevis (Caribbean) and last week, I got to go to Australia!!! I spent 5 days in Sydney and another 4 days in Melbourne and the surrounding cities of Ballarat and Bendigo. I highly recommend Sydney and Australia for that matter. Interesting side note - did you know that there are more kangaroos in Australia than people and there are more people in the city of Shanghai than the entire continent/country of Australia! The main reason for my visit to Australia was to visit some of our clients that we do work for out of our China office, but I did get a weekend for sight seeing in Sydney. On Saturday we walked all along the harbor and around the opera house. While walking around, we stopped (with about 500 other people) to watch a street performer apply his trade. He was a bicycling juggler, but not your standard run-of-the-mill bicycling juggler. For the grand finale, he climbs to the top of a 20ft pole that he has affixed his bike to and balances at the top while juggling an apple, a machete and a flaming torch. The pole is quite an elaborate contraption. For the finale, the performer also calls on members of the audience to participate. At one point he asks for help from the biggest guy in the crowd. As soon as he said it, I knew it would be me! As I am drawn out of the crowd and into the performance area, the performer begins to ask me the same series of questions that he has gone through with the other "volunteers". Side note: for those of you that play golf with me , you know that I have this amazing knack for what is known as "the early call". It is when I think that a putt is made or a shot is good, to find out that it is pretty much the opposite. So while I am being interviewed by the performer, I "early call" one of his questions when he asks me what state I am from...Dallas I said (as he had asked the previous volunteers the more generic - where are you from?) - the audience erupts in laughter - stupid American, he thinks that Dallas is a state.
I also went jet-boating in Sydney harbor, which happens to be a really cool way to see the city and surrounding area. Here is a picture of me ready to get wet. If you have ever been jet-boating before, you understand that the point is to go really fast and then stop, turn or dive the boat to essentially drench the people sitting in the front two seats. Notice where I am sitting! At one point I am laughing so hard and then the boat submerges and I pretty much drown.
This year has not only been the year of travel for me, but I also have had many close encounters with animals. While scuba diving in Caribbean, I was close to a shark (I think that it was either a 20ft great white, or a 7ft nurse shark, I'll let you decide), all sorts of fish and a sea turtle. I hung out with cows and monkeys while playing golf in Nevis and on this trip, I got to pet wallabies, kangaroos, wombats and koalas. I am like a real life Beast Master. I am going to start wearing only a loin cloth and walking around with a bow staff and sword! Also, Bekah is going to have to grab my leg and wear skimpy clothes all of the time. It's going to be awesome. Look for pictures of that in our upcoming blogs.



Even with all of the fun places that I have been, I would still rather be at home with my wife and kids and a Target close ("far") by.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Kate, too!

Just so all you moms of boys out there know, my daughter has some need to comment about her poos, as well. And it went like this...

Kate: MOMMY, I POO POOED, COME WIPE MY BOTTOM!
Me: Good girl, Kate.
Kate: Do you think my poo poo is as tall as you?
Me: No, Kate.
Kate: I think it might be as tall as me, though.

There was no way of knowing, at least, no way that I was going to test.

Side Note: I saw on a friend's blog that his son has been treating his poos like the clouds, you know, finding objects in the shapes. AJ's newest fascination has been any kind of marine animal, especially sharks. So, you can imagine his joy when he thought his poo looked like a shark. Of course, he couldn't flush it until I agreed with his findings.

I hope to one day get past all the potty humor and on to other types, but we seem to be stuck here.

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Cheating, as well...

I've seen this on a few blogs, and thought, since I have digressed to writing only about my kids lately, I should do something different. You know, mix it up. So, I would love to see this on some more of my friends' blogs soon.

I am: trying my best at being a mom and wife
i think: my best is not good enough
i know: I am going to heaven when I die
i want: an interior decorator and a big budget
i have: the best husband
i wish: I could lose 10 pounds
i hate: cleaning toilets
i miss: Matthew and Mike's mom
i fear: losing my children and husband
i feel: thankful
i hear: the TV, Mike's sports
i smell: the chlorine on my skin from swimming
i crave: something sweet after pretty much every meal(hence the 10 pounds mentioned above)
i search: for better ways to be a mom
i wonder: what my children will choose to do when they are grown
i regret: a lot of things I said to Mike early in our marriage
i love: snuggling into the couch with Kate and AJ to read them book after book
i ache: for children who are unloved
i care: about my friends
i always: wish I'd eaten less/better
i am not: very good at keeping my house clean
i believe: I can get better at it if I manage my time better
i dance: to have fun with my kids
i sing: and think I'm better than I am
i cry: at anything where a family is being torn apart
i don’t always: keep up with my friends as well as I should
i fight: even when I know I'm wrong, because I don't like to be wrong
i write: something I love about my husband, and each of my children each night before I go to bed
i win: when I play sudoku
i lose: my temper too easily
i never: get drunk
i confuse: Roth and Traditional IRAs, no matter how many times someone explains them to me
i listen: to my children's laughter with joy that just wants to burst out of my heart
i can usually be found: at home
i am scared: of losing control of what I have control of(really, though, is that anything?)
i need: time to talk with Mike every day
i am happy about: my awesome answers to this questionnaire

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Self Taught

So, I was sitting outside on the phone while Kate and AJ played with sidewalk chalk. Kate says, "Excuse me, Mommy. I wrote my name."
By golly, she did, and I didn't even get to teach her how!

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Sprinkler Fun!

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Happy Father's Day!

I had fun copying an idea from a magazine for Mike's Father's Day gift from the kids. I dressed AJ up as "Weekend Daddy" and Kate as "Work day Daddy", in their daddy's clothes. They had a blast doing it, the pictures turned out cute, and Mike loved them, which was the goal.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Ballet and Soccer

Kate had her first dance class this morning with a few of her friends from the neighborhood. I was too slow in registering AJ for soccer and they were full, so I took him to the park while Kate was in class to play with him. Kate loved dance; AJ did not love soccer. Either mommy is a poor teacher or soccer is just not his thing. He did like the gear, though, so he's like his daddy in that respect.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Ahhh...Nevis

What a great week we had on vacation! Nevis was a great mix of something to do and nothing to do. We relaxed by the pool, read, ate, went scuba diving twice, Mike golfed twice, I got a massage, and enjoyed the quiet. We went with some great friends, the Fudges, and yes, we are still great friends. It was just the right amount of time, and we were happy to get home to our families. I'm sure some funny stories will come from Mike soon, but I thought I'd let you all see where we were.

Saturday, May 31, 2008

Bon Voyage to Us!

We're headed to the island of Nevis in the Caribbean for a week without our kiddos, in celebration of our 10 year anniversary. Pumped is what we are! We'll post pics when we return. I'll make sure to edit out the ones of us on the nude beach.

Sunday, May 25, 2008

The Shack

A book by William P. Young. This book took me a long time to finish because there was so much to think through after each chapter. I loved it! There are a few things I don't whole heartedly agree with in it, but it is an amazing picture of the Godhead. I don't think I will ever think of God in the same way again. I highly recommend it.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Mother's Day

Really one of the few times a year that I get in the pictures with my kids. Love it!

Friday, May 9, 2008

Gardening

Russ Style, which means it's in a pot and will probably turn brown before it flowers. I don't have a good record with keeping plants alive, but I'm getting therapy. We got our gear on and AJ was more interested in his froggy gloves, but Kate was focused on putting soil in the pot one small shovel full at a time. It was a great time killer.
We did this over a week ago, so we already have some sprouts coming up. Kate and AJ love going outside to count and water them. So, hopefully, they will survive because two 3 year olds will remember to water their plants.

Monday, May 5, 2008

"Camping"

I've been trying to find a weekend when we could go camping as a family and have not found one yet, so we decided to just "camp" at home. So, the tent went up and we kept wondering why we hadn't thought of it before. We couldn't keep Kate and AJ out of there, they loved it. We read books, played games, and even slept, most of the night, there. Mike bailed at midnight, and at 2am when I was running out of covers to keep us all warm, we took the kids inside and finished the rest of our night in bed. They never woke up, thank goodness. We ate all our meals at the picnic table and made S'mores for dessert the next night. Kate and AJ were not too sure about them at first, but when they realized it was pure sugar, they gobbled them up. Enjoy the pics!