Sweetness

3 healthy girls + 1 amazing husband = the BEST Christmas ever!

We had so much fun this year. Ryen and Madelyn were old enough to really get into the Christmas spirit. The singing, the shopping, the baking, the anticipation, the giving, the wonder, the magic... Oh, the MAGIC! Someday I hope to share Christmas with my grandchildren and I will look at their beautiful little faces and see my girls as they are right now. How I treasure each of these perfect moments!

Merry Christmas!

Gingerbread Hurricane

I don't know where we went wrong. Maybe it was the icing. Maybe it was the construction crew. Maybe it was just destiny. Whatever it was, our gingerbread house was a flop. An epic flop. However, despite looking like our little candy house "got hit by a hurricane" (according to Ryen) both of my giggly girls have never had more fun in the kitchen!

BFF's

I love that Ryen and Madelyn are best friends.

Bowling Buddies

Ryen loves the bowling game on Sonny's Wii so when she saw a billboard in our town advertizing the local bowling alley, the begging began. Sonny took her and Miss Maddie last week, but I missed out. So, we decided to take them back when we could all go. It was so fun! Ry loooooves to bowl, that girl! She did a little dance after each turn and got totally into it. Madelyn wasn't quite as enthused. She liked dancing to the music and stealing my pink ball, but wasn't too into the actual bowling part. That could have been because her ball was rarely thrown hard enough to make it to the pins. (The people at the desk loved us!) I think we'll start going more often to encourage Ryen's newest passion. The only downside is the cost. $30 for our little family to bowl 1 game. Ouch. Oh well. It was worth it to hear Ryen exclaim over and over, "This is the funnest night ever!!!"

Rock Star Ryen

Heads Up

The only thing more fun than buying Christmas presents for my kids is buying Christmas presents ON SALE for my kids. When I find a sweet deal, I feel it is my duty as an American citizen to report it. So... I've been eyeing the V-Motion game system for my kids for quite a while now, but haven't wanted to pay $80 for it. (We would absolutely need the two controler version because I refuse to referee the fighting that would ensue with only one!) Well, imagine my surprise when I saw this cool item at Sam's Club today for 50% off! I didn't even know they had sales at Sam's Club, but apparently they do. Tons of their toys were selling for great, reduced prices. I was so excited to pick this up for only $40. (Buying a single controller alone costs almost that!) If you've been thinking about getting one, this is an awesome price! But you better hurry! There was only one more left at our store.

*I just found two other great deals at Amazon.com. There are actually some great prices there right now, but two things I found particularly great were the EyeClops BioniCam for $19.99- usually $79.99 and The Cat in the Hat game (so cute!) for $7.99- usually $19.99. I'm done with my Christmas shopping, but I grabbed these for Ryen's birthday. And if you buy anything at Amazon, make sure you go through the link on Leanne's blog so she gets credit!

Ally's Latest Nickname

Smoochie.
Can you see why?

Jolly Old Saint Nick

Be a loaner!

Sonny discovered an awesome site that facilitates micro-loans to alleviate poverty. Have you heard of Kiva? Very cool. In their own words:

"The people you see on Kiva's site are real individuals in need of funding - not marketing material. When you browse entrepreneurs' profiles on the site, choose someone to lend to, and then make a loan, you are helping a real person make great strides towards economic independence and improve life for themselves, their family, and their community. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), you can receive email journal updates and track repayments. Then, when you get your loan money back, you can relend to someone else in need."

How cool is that! It's not only an amazing opportunity to help those in need, but a wonderful opportunity to teach our children. When we're helping, we're happy! Our family has decided to lend to Lina Pizango Cordova. Please consider joining our team! Click here to learn more.

Oh Christmas Tree

This year we let Ryen and Maddie decorate the tree all by themselves. Sonny did the lights and then the girls took over. They asked me to place a few ornaments up high so I put them just where they pointed. There is a serious clump of ornaments on our tree and it looks like they wadded up the garland and threw it into the branches. I'm pretty sure it never occurred to them to decorate the sides or back of the tree. Still, I have made a concious decision to not change a single thing. Madelyn and Ry are so proud of themselves. I know that someday in the future I will miss Christmas trees like this.

I love my girlies.

I am just amazed that I get to be the mother of these 3 children.

Madelyn Jose

Madelyn: Mom, is my middle name Olivia?
Me: No, Maddie. Your middle name is Soleil, remember? Madelyn Soleil Hastings.
Madelyn: Oh. Madelyn Jose?
Me: No, honey. Soleil. So-lay.
Madelyn: Jose?
Me: Soooo-laaaaay.
Madelyn: Jose?
Me: Sure.
Madelyn: Ryen, my middle name isn't Olivia. It's Jose! I'm Jose!

Maddie, Maddie, Maddie. The things that girl says sometimes! When Sonny asked her how she slept last night she enthusiastically said, "Like a rock!" A while ago she asked me when she was going to be "bath-tized." She's pretty excited about that bath-tism. :) She is also extremely excited about the giant inflatable nativity scene we have on our front lawn. It is set on a timer and self-inflates each evening. So, all morning and afternoon Madelyn walks around telling anyone who will listen that we are going to blow up baby Jesus tonight. I know! Ahhh! We have been desperately trying to add the word "inflate" to her vocabulary... before she gets kicked out of school or we get hit by lightning.

Class Treats

Instead of making goody bags full of treats and treasures for my girls to give their classmates this Christmas, I decided to customize candy bars. If I had thought it through, I would have chosen granola bars instead of Hershey's, but it honestly didn't occur to me until it was too late. Oh well. Their dentists know where to find me. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. We missed being with our family, but had a nice and mellow time together with our own little clan. This past week has felt like a never-ending Saturday. Perfection! I have so very much to be thankful for.

Madelyn's Big Show

Mmmm

I don't like gingerbread cookies. At least, I didn't until we were given a plate of them by a seriously sweet woman in our ward. They were chewy and yummy and awesome! I got the recipe so the girls and I could give them a try. Mmmm. Even I didn't mess them up! I've never shared a recipe in my life, but this one is definitely worth passing along. (Click on the image above if you need to enlarge it.) Also, I recently discovered this pan and HIGHLY recommend it. Each year I get so frustrated making sugar cookies with my kids because they get ruined when we try to get them from the counter to the pan. Never again! It is going to be a totally fun holiday season at our house. I can just feel it.

4 Months

Every month I tell myself I won't make a huge deal over Ally getting older. After all, it's only one month. But every time the 24th rolls around again, it hits me. I only have this tiny window of time to cherish her as my little baby. Knowing she is most likely our last doesn't make it any easier. Oh, but the JOY this girl has given us over the past 4 months! I love you, my Ally.

Fun Food

I'm not a good cook. So... the few things I do make, I try to make fun. My kids go crazy over my peanut butterfly and jelly sandwiches. When I'm feeling especially ambitious, I also slice pickles to look like grass and cut green grapes in half and line them up to make caterpillars. Sometimes I serve their butterflies with "ants on a log"- celery with peanut butter and raisins. (My mom used to give us that as a snack when I was a kid and I remember loving it!) Another simple thing they go nuts over is my octopus hot dogs. I make the ketchup look like waves on their plates and add some goldfish crackers. Sometimes I cut their cheese into stars to make starfish or I put a toothpick into a pickle to make a ship with a triangle of cheese on the other end for the sail. (The "octodog" looks pretty cute on top of a bowl of mac and cheese too.) When the girls are feeling daring, I slice their hot dogs into "worms." They love to pretend to be disgusted. Sometimes just changing the name of a food they are hesitant to try or serving it in a creative way makes all the difference.

Being The Youngest

I was helping Ry and Maddie clean their room a few days ago. I had to run downstairs for something so I left Ally on Madelyn's bed boxed in by pillows. I was only gone for two or three minutes, but when I came back I found Ally in a doll stroller wearing a doll's hat and a green necklace. They tried to put a tiny purple tutu on her head as well, but I guess it didn't fit. Poor Allyson. It's not easy being the youngest.

Leaf it to Maddie!

We had some warm fall weather last week so we took the girls for a little walk around our neighborhood to check out the leaves. We were all having so much fun goofing around together, playing in the leaves, and taking pictures. I crouched down to get a photo of Madelyn running towards me and all of a sudden, she halted, turned, dropped her pants, and "watered" the grass in someone's lawn. I am not that easily embarrassed, but I have to say... we haven't walked down that street since.

Star of the Week

I'm a little behind in my blogging. I should have posted this two weeks ago! Oh well. Better late than never. :)
Ryen was Star of the Week at school. To most kindergarteners that is a big deal, but to Ryen it was an ENORMOUS deal! She has been waiting for this since the first day of school. When she found out the Friday before that it was going to be HER week, she acted like she had won the lottery! She is so funny. I did everything I could to make it special for her. She brought in lots of pictures and shared her favorite things with the class. She showed them her teddy bear, Hobbes, who was given to Ry at placement by her birth-aunt. (She loves that bear, Adria!) She also brought in some of her favorite books and the infamous Yellow Blanket. I got giant chocolate chip cookies for her class since that is Ryen's favorite (along with chocolate ice cream). She was a celebrity and loved every single minute of it. I asked Ryen if she wanted to share her adoption with her class and she didn't hesitate for even a moment. Her words were touching and simple. I am so proud of her. She was a star for one week at school, but she'll always be my star!

Sonny saw snow!

He called from work to tell me. You know what that means...

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Mother-in-love

Ryen's birth-grandmother sent us this quilt for Ally. Can you believe that?!? My jaw dropped when I opened the box... which was also filled with gifts for Ry and Maddie. That woman is amazing! She is truly one of the most thoughtful people I know. I am the luckiest person alive to have an incredible mother, mother-in-law, and mother-in-love. Thank you Lona!
We love you so much.

Reminder

I may not seem like the type, but believe it or not, I am a news junkie. I listen to talk radio and watch the news every day. I check google news every time I get online. Though I usually consider my desire to be informed regarding current events a positive attribute, lately I have begun to reconsider. Why? Because there never seems to be any good news. Angry mobs defacing LDS temples, burning scriptures on church doorsteps, carrying signs that say "Mormon Scum." These are just a few of the things I read about this afternoon. To top it off, my girls are all sick and it has been raining and dreary outside all day. Ugh. This evening I was ready to cash in my life savings for a one way ticket to Tahiti when I happened upon this story accompanied by the above photograph. It was a perfectly timed reminder to look at the big picture. "Good news Megan... God knows what He is doing." Of course I already knew that, but it's nice to be reminded.

And the photo book goes to...

Congratulations Leanne!!!
Miss Ryen Olivia picked YOUR name out of the jar!
Thanks to everyone who participated! :)

This is officially my 500th post.
From a girl who can't fill up an actual journal to save her life, this is quite a feat! When Ryen was a baby, I created a website so that her biological family could stay updated about the goings on at the House of Hastings. When blogging started to catch on, I gave it a try and loved how much easier it was than maintaining a website. I chucked my first blog on typepad and created this one- which has since turned into our family journal. But, unlike any other journal I have tried to keep, this one actually gets written in! That is in large part due to the comments and encouragement left by you, my loyal readers. ...Both of you. :) To show my appreciation, I am giving away a classic Shutterfly photo book. Yaaay! Just comment on this post and I will throw your name in the hat. And, as an added bonus for my true blue commenting comrades, I will also throw in the names of everyone who commented on the post before this- so you lucky ducks could be entered twice. Thanks for reading and happy blogging!

A Hastings Halloween

Happy Halloween!!!
What a busy week it has been! I volunteered at both Maddie and Ryen's schools and had so much fun spending time with them in their classes. On Halloween night, we went to our ward party where we danced, ate chili/PBJ's, and went trunk-or-treating. The girls had SO much fun! After we came home, they each picked out 3 pieces of candy and put the rest in a jar for the Great Pumpkin. Ryen devised an elaborate plan to get a picture of him this year, but we convinced her that it may be unwise. In the morning, they were elated to discover the treasures left by the Great Pumpkin and I was elated to discover they still had healthy teeth! Win/win. :) Hope your Halloween was a great one!

Think Tink

Ry and Maddie have been looking forward to seeing the movie "Tinkerbell" for months now. I picked it up yesterday while the girls were at school and surprised them by decorating the house with green streamers and balloons. They had so much fun at our Princess Premiere when they saw "Sleeping Beauty" for the first time that I decided to turn this movie into a celebration too. It's fun to spice things up. And who doesn't love a party? :)

3 Little Pumpkins

We "decorated" pumpkins for Family Home Evening tonight. I decided to try something new with these Mr. Potato Head-style pumpkin parts. Though I missed that jack-o-lantern glow, I did not miss the hours of carving and cleaning up pumpkin guts. The girls had a blast creating their own silly characters- which they wouldn't have been able to do on their own otherwise. I think we'll be cheating again next year!

Ryen's Secret

Madelyn: Daddy, I had an accident. I'm sorry. Are you mad?
Sonny: No, Maddie. I'm not mad.
Ryen: What happened?
Sonny: Maddie just had a little accident because she didn't get to the bathroom in time.
Madelyn: I just went in my "pantsies" a little.
Ryen: I do that all the time! I just don't tell anybody!

Little Star

Ally Pie

Ally turned three months old yesterday. She has brought so much joy into our lives. She loves to "talk" to us and is so smiley and cheerful. If a herd of wild elephants trampled our house, she'd sleep right through it without even flinching. She already crawls/scoots around and is able to sit up with only a small amount of help. She is just amazing! Ryen and Madelyn love her dearly. The way they interact with her usually makes me so proud, sometimes makes me terrified, but most of the time makes me laugh. It's so fun to watch them talk to their baby sister in those high-pitched little girl voices. Every day Ally gets a new name. Yesterday it was "Ally Pie Sweetie Sweets" and today it was "Lovey Lovey Lover Baby." She is so lucky to have such good big sisters. I love my little family!

Stop Drop & Roll... Again

I went with Madelyn today to our local library for a safety puppet show. That Sparky the Fire Dog is quite the entertainer! I can't believe it was a whole year ago that I went on the same field trip with Ryen. This was probably the first of several repeat field trips, but I'm looking forward to each one of them... each time!

Matilda

It's hard to get my kids to settle down at the end of the day. It's even harder to keep them in their beds. Something that helps? Matilda! She's a bedtime fairy born of a star (and total desperation) who can't come to life until two little hooligans are soundly sleeping. She leaves stickers for them when they are good and has been known to leave fairy sparkles on their pillows at night. Ryen and Maddie love to hear stories about Matilda's adventures in the fairy forest and how she is even related to Tinkerbell. :) I may be crazy, but at least my house is quiet by 9:00 pm!

You And Me Down By The Sea

We had such a great weekend at the beach. Ry and Maddie loooove our vacations! It was pretty dreary and cold while we were there, but the girls didn't seem to mind. Their favorite thing to do is swim at the hotel anyway.

Dear Mr. & Mrs. Hastings,

Today, Ryen has struggled to follow the classroom rules. She has been running around the classroom and making animal noises throughout the course of the day. When I asked her what was going on she stated that you're going on vacation tonight and she is wound up and excited about the vacation. We are still working with her to earn stickers, but we are having a challenging day. I just wanted to keep you posted on how things are going.
Thank You,
Miss G.

This is an email I got from Ryen's teacher today. While her behavior concerns me, I have to admit that I laughed so hard when I read this letter that I almost fell off my chair. It's just hard to be a kindergartener with ADHD!

Tagged!

TV shows I love to watch:
(The only shows I regularly watch are #1 and #6. What my kids call "Mommy Shows" are few and far between!)
1. The Office
2. Battlestar Galactica (kidding!)
3. I Love Lucy
4. SpongeBob SquarePants (serious!)
5. Antiques Roadshow
6. Masterpiece Theatre- but not the mystery stuff they've had on lately
7. So You Think You Can Dance
8. Mighty B

Places I Love to Shop:
(This is supposed to be places I love to eat, but I don't ever care where I eat)
1. Target
2. Ebay
3. Ross
4. Pottery Barn/Pottery Barn Kids
5. TJ Maxx
6. Digital scrapping shops
7. Land of Nod
8. Gap/Old Navy

Things That Happened Yesterday:
1. Had a meeting with Ryen's teacher
2. Met Sonny for lunch
3. Bought baby leg warmers
4. Tried to kill a squirrel with a slingshot
5. Laundry laundry laundry
6. Ate dinner made for us by someone from church (I don't know why, but it sure was nice!)
7. Taught my kids what a wedgie is
8. Read my kids stories to try to calm them down from #7

Things I Look Forward To:
1. Taking the girls on trips to foreign countries
2. Living closer to family
3. Planting my own apple trees, cherry trees and berry patches
4. Riding in a hot air balloon
5. Seeing my girls grown up and happy
6. Taking some classes
7. Christmas
8. Celebrating my 50th wedding anniversary

Things I Love About Fall:
1. Leaves leaves leaves
2. The way the crisp air smells
3. Fall portraits
4. Going to the pumpkin farm
5. Halloween costumes
6. Making treat bags for school
7. Family walks
8. Getting to use our fireplace again

Things On My Wish List:
1. This bedroom for Ry & Maddie
2. A pen tablet for my computer
3. Maid service
4. An awesome playhouse for the kids
5. Just about anything from children's clothing designer Meli Meli
6. A Hello Kitty waffle iron
7. World peace :)
8. I seriously don't need a thing in the world!

Okay, so I tag the following people:
1. Rachel H.
2. Kris
3. Carrie
4. Suzanne
5. Caity
6. Lauren
7. Amber
8. Tiffany

Silly You Are

I'm not a big Star Wars fan, so I don't know if Yoda ever had a girlfriend. But, if he did, I'd imagine she looked something like this...

Princess Premiere

Disney's "Sleeping Beauty" came out yesterday and, of course, I picked it up for the girls. They had never seen it before and were so so so excited. Even without seeing the movie, Ryen has always loved Princess Aurora because she was named Aurora at birth and also because she looks the most like her. According to my girls, matching hair color is vital when choosing a favorite princess. To celebrate the movie, we had our own little premiere where we all dressed up like Princess Aurora (Sonny was the prince, of course) and transformed our family room into a cuddle zone. We had tickets and popcorn and everything. The girls loved the movie, but I think their favorite part was dancing with their prince/daddy when the music video came on at the end of the show.

*Happy birthday to Princess Rozlyn! We were thinking of you, sweet girl!

Funny Face

Ally is going to hate me for this when she is older, but I have to document these pictures of her infamous "taking care of business" face. She's been making that same face since she was born, but it still cracks me up every time.

Thank Goodness for Butterflies

When Ryen was in preschool, she never played with boys. Every day I would pick her up from school and ask her what she did that day. Every single time she would give me some sort of generic response and then end with, "But I didn't play with any of the boys!" Now that she is in kindergarten and surrounded by more children and more influences, I wondered if her feelings had changed. (At what age do the "crushes" start, anyway? I can't even remember.) So I asked Ryen if any of the girls and boys loooove each other. She told me that they didn't. Just for fun, I asked her why. She anwered, "Because boys like to talk about soccer and girls like to talk about butterflies." Sounds about right.

My 3 Girlies

I have been freakishly blessed.

Broken Record

Why is it that kids get stuck on the same movie and insist on watching it over and over and over... and over? And why is it that those movies almost always come with songs that get lodged in your mind so that YOU end up singing them all day long?

Ryen's Gallery

Click the artwork above to check out Ryen's Gallery.