Glue and Gum

Two funny Lexy stories from the past week:

First...

One day after school last week, Lexy casually mentions to me "I told Brooke she needed to take a bath tonight." I had that internal shudder-of-fear for what might come next. We often joke around the Hughes Zoo that someone needs to take a bath because they are a 'stinky, dirty bird.'
Thankfully, she continued by saying, "She had glue all over her hair, Mom. ALL OVER." I breathed a sigh of relief. And silently chuckled to think that Lexy has become a little mother hen of her friends.

Fast forward to Monday morning. I am waiting at the kindergarten drop off gate before school when Brooke's mom approaches me... She says,

"So, apparently Lexy decided that she needed to let me know what was going on with Brooke's hair. She sent me a note-- stuffed in Brooke's pocket. She drew a picture of a girl with long hair, pointed an arrow towards it and labeled it 'Brooke'. Then she drew another arrow to her hair and wrote 'Glue In Hair'. I asked Brooke about it, and she said, 'yeah, she wanted to make sure you knew what happened.'"

Oh My Word.
Mother Hen to to the nth degree.
And so cute. :)

Second,...

The kids and I surprised Daddy on Valentine's Day by bringing him lunch during his work day. We happened to arrive on campus at the end of the brunch passing period. As we were pulling into the parking place, I looked around and realized we were totally witnessing Valentine's Day gift exchanges between young loves... And all the other things that hormonally-charged teenagers are wont to do. But no matter; we were not deterred. The girls took the food to Daddy's classroom, Daddy was equally surprised and delighted, and we went on our way.

Later that night, as we were all going through the bedtime routine, Lexy says to Bill, "Daddy, today at your school, I saw this boy and girl... and they were kissing. I think they were switching gum, or something. I don't know. I think they were maybe boyfriend and girlfriend. I don't know though, don't ask me." Bill and I both had to bite our lips to keep from laughing.

"Switching Gum."

I love it.

And thankfully, it sparked a great conversation about kissing-- who kisses, when it's appropriate to kiss, etc.

Teachable Moments!

Thankful Day 25

Today I am thankful for 5 1/2 hours of uninterrupted sleep.
May not seem like much, but it is the most I'd had in longer than I can remember.

Liam and Lexy both currently have double ear infections. This on the coattails of the single ear infections (and prescribed antibiotics) they had last week.

Needless to say, I've spent a lot of the nighttime hours awake, playing the role of comforter and nurse.

Last night, Bill took over with Liam and let me sleep.
It was glorious.

And I feel like a new woman.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING.

Thankful Day 18

Today I am thankful for 'roots'.

The thought hit me today as I was walking home from Lexy's school....
It is such a neat feeling to live in a community where I have 'roots.'

Backing up a bit....
As I was walking her to school at 7:58am, I came across a friend of mine that I have literally known since preschool who was frantically trying to get her kids to the proper places before the bell rang. With a slight pang of panic in her voice she said, "Jenn, can you take Annabelle to her class for me? I forgot her Pilgrim costume at home and I have to go get it!"

This morning was the kindergarten Thanksgiving Feast, and all of the kindergartners were supposed to come to school in their previously-made Pilgrim or Indian costumes.

So... I grabbed Annabelle's hand-- a child whom I have never really talked to before-- and we all walked the rest of the way to the kindergarten classrooms together, without a second thought.


I stayed and enjoyed the Thanksgiving "Feast" (term used very loosely as the meal consisted of goldfish crackers, popcorn, pumpkin bread and apple juice) with Lexy and her classmates and then headed home.

As I walked home through the gorgeous tree-covered paseos, I replayed the morning's events in my head and I was struck with one of those "I'm so thankful" moments. And for lack of a better word, I realized it was the 'roots'. Being part of a community for 34 years allows for some very long-standing, deep roots, and I am grateful for the blessing they are in my life. AND I am very aware that I may not always have the privilege of being 'rooted' in the community in which I live, so I will celebrate the blessing of my current 'roots' all the more.

Thankful Day 17

Today I am thankful that we have a break just around the corner.

Tomorrow is Lexy's last day of school until the Monday after Thanksgiving, and boy, do I need the break. I'm not sure why, but I just feel exhausted. Like I need some time to catch up. So, this upcoming school vacation-- Fall Break, if you will-- is just what the doctor ordered.

Now, if you'll excuse me... I must head to bed because I have to have my afternoon kindergartner at school by 8:00 am tomorrow morning. Busy, busy morning.... but she'll be FREE by 11:40!
Hooray for vacation.

Thankful Day 15

Today I am thankful for our ability to give.
God has blessed us abundantly, beyond all we could ever need. We consider it our joy to share His blessings with others.

This morning, the girls and I packed up shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child.


I really *love* giving that involves the kids. They really understand that we are wrapping up presents for someone else, and...who doesn't like to be the bearer of gifts?!


I only wish there were similar, kid-friendly programs the other 11 months out of the year!

Thankful Day 12

Today I am thankful for the innocence and imagination of childhood.

**sweet anticipation**
waiting for the cookies to be done
"A watched cookie never bakes" ?? :)

**wardrobe queen**
All set for a "Cinderella" play with all our friends and neighbors as part of the cast.

**Look out Meg Whitman/Sarah Palin**

playing "President of California", busy answering phone calls all day long

Thankful Day 8

Today, I am thankful for doctors and medicine.

We have had a rough couple of weeks health-wise.... Two cases of croup, 3-4 colds, and 2 ear infections. Last week, Lexy complained about her ear hurting, which is pretty much a guarantee that she has an ear infection. Thankfully, a miraculously QUICK trip to Urgent Care (only 10 minutes!!) took care of it. This morning, Liam was diagnosed with his first ear infection during his Well Baby check-up. (Oh, the irony.) :)

So, we are on the road to recovery. And I am thankful that I have access to trustworthy doctors and inexpensive medicine that restores health to my precious little ones.

Thankful Day 7

Today, I am thankful for naps.

You'd think we wouldn't need a nap on Day Light Savings Day-- after that 'extra hour of sleep', wink, wink-- but everyone seemed exhausted this afternoon. Maybe it was the early morning wake-up for the race (which went well, by the way)... Maybe it is the gloomy, chilly weather that is making us all want to curl up in our warm beds... Maybe it's the toll of the busy week we just finished.... Or maybe All Of The Above. Not sure. But we can all say it was wonderful to rest.

Here are a few shots from this morning. Bill and I ran the 5K (not pictured) and Lexy ran the Kid K Fun Run.

***getting ready for the race***

***all business***

***pure joy!***
(waving at her sister :) )

And one from our trip to Aunt Barb's on Friday...
Looks like we've got another water baby!! Liam loved the water. :)

Ruth and Boaz

We have started checking out childrens' movies from our church library on a weekly basis, and the girls really enjoy them. Currently, we have "Bible Animated Classics: Ruth" on loan, and they like it so much we actually renewed it for another week!
Here's when you know maybe they have watched it a few too many times....
Tori walks around the house saying, "My God, MY God." (I don't think she knows how to say 'your'.)

"Where you go, I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God." Ruth 1:16b

And the real kicker....
Lexy had a great suggestion the other night:
"Hey Mom, how 'bout we name the baby Boaz?"

Boaz Hughes.
Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? :)

I had to laugh. At least they are hearing (and hopefully learning!) about trust in God, obedience, and kindness from the story of Ruth.

The New 'Do

In case you didn't crack the code of Bill's previous post (which he has now deleted), Lexy and her little scissors decided to cut all of Tori's hair off last Thursday afternoon.

I was tutoring, and the girls were both supposed to be asleep. I had left out Lexy's Arts & Crafts bin on her little table figuring she might wake up sooner and would need something to occupy her. Although she had a episode with a friend's doll's hair last spring, she really hasn't had any issues with the rules for scissors, so I didn't think it would be a problem.

So, apparently neither of them ever went to sleep, and Lexy had invited Tori out into the family room to do Arts and Crafts.... ON HER HAIR.

They both walked up to the table while I was tutoring with huge grins on their faces saying, "Look Mom! Look at Tori's hair!"

I was in total shock, as was the girl I was tutoring. We were speechless. Thankfully, I had just heard a talk that morning at MOPS about how we shouldn't be yelling/screaming at our kids. Since the message was still fresh in my mind, I heeded the advice and chose silence instead of screaming.

I took Tori back to bed. Lexy resumed her arts & crafts (ON PAPER, this time), and I finished tutoring (although my mind was a little preoccupied, as you can imagine!).

When I had finished tutoring, I made a 911 Hair Emergency call to a hair-stylist friend and she said she could try to fix it at her house right then. It was a tough fix, since there wasn't much hair left to work with.

So, here she is in her new 'do. It's cute.... but clearly, not a hair cut I would EVER in a MILLION YEARS give a 2 year old.



Since then, Bill and I have had plenty of discussion with Lexy about WHY she would cut her sister's hair. Bottom line, we think there might have been a touch of jealousy over her curls. Which is even a BIGGER parenting issue to tackle. Ugh.

We don't believe in the concept of karma, but we did end up in at Urgent Care on Friday night for Lexy, who jumped off the couch and hit her forehead on the edge of a chair resulting in a little, but deep, cut that, thankfully, didn't require stitches. She is currently sporting about 8 steristrips (sp?) on her forehead and has been told to keep in dry for 5 days. I guess swimming is out of the question!

The good news in all of this is that Tori seems totally unfazed by the fact that she now looks completely different. In fact, those pictures were taken Friday afternoon when she was looking at herself in our bedroom mirrors, admiring her new look. I think she might even LIKE it.

I just hope it grows a little before we take our family Christmas picture....

Hughes Look-alike Meter-- update #2

And then there's the original comparison for Lexy and today's...

That's a 7% swing! That must mean Bill has lost 7% of his hair since last time.

But I still think she has Hughes blood coursing through those veins.... :)

#3

Lexy and Tori are thrilled to announce....

They are going to be big sisters!

Our new Little Love Bug is due on February 14th.

Faces of Summer

Frozen Treats

Wordless Wednesday: From this side of the lens

The Purple Camera

Since about January of this year, all Lexy could talk about was wanting "a purple camera."

If I heard it once, I heard it a thousand times.
"I want a purple camera for Christmas."

She didn't quite understand that next Christmas was 11 months away. She had spent the previous 4-5 months saying, "Maybe I could get [x] for Christmas...." We hadn't converted her to the concept of BIRTHDAY presents yet.

So, I went online and did a little research to see if, in fact, a kid-friendly purple camera existed.
Not only did I find a digital camera designed for kids, but JACKPOT!, it was made by Fisher Price. The mother of one of the girls that I tutor is a Mattel employee and can get toys for DEEP discounts. Gotta love that.

So, the birthday came, and we were so excited to give her The Purple Camera (that is actually pink with just a smidge of purple on it).
We captured pictures of her opening it, and they are priceless.

She is gazing up at me while I'm asking her if she remembers what she has been asking for for her birthday.... And then the "I think I know what it is" smile sweeps across her face.

I love the open-mouth awe in the second shot, even though I KNOW she knew what was coming...

And the sweet look of a successful birthday present.

(Sidenote [because we are all about the sidenote]: check out what Tori was up to while the presents were being opened.)

Then we took a family walk to a local bagel shop for her birthday morning breakfast, and lest you be curious to know how it went, our little photographer-in-the-making documented the whole trip.

Daddy in the driveway getting ready to leave. Apparently he is too big to fit into just one picture.

Some bushes! With berries! And me telling her to stop taking pictures of bushes and catch up.

The patio at the bagel shop. And some unsuspecting patrons of the bagel shop.

Scenic long walk home. A Not-To-Be-Missed block wall.

And more of the long walk home.

At this point, we got tired of waiting for her, so we strapped her in the stroller (against her will) for the remainder of the walk.

But let me tell you, what a stroke of genius that turned out to be! We got some MOTION pictures out of it!

I like to call this particular shot "Asphalt".


In all seriousness, though, we are very excited for her to have her own camera! What an adventure it will be to see the world through her eyes. And expect regular blog installments of "Lexy's funniest pictures". I already have some pics in mind for that.... :)