Hawkinsgirlsnbry

Winter Fun!

2009-03-22T19:06:00.000-07:00

This is at Rotary Park, just down the street from us. It has 2 huge, and I mean scary, hills. This is what I'm gonna miss! Sledding is such a blast!

This is when Hannah says, "Mom, I can't wait till we move to California!"

This is the girls at the beach. Lots of snow on the beach.

Outdoor ice skating. Also lots of fun, if it's not too cold outside. This was a perfect day!

Twilight

2008-11-25T15:44:00.000-08:00

So I went to Twilight on Friday night. We had a blast. I think the theater was 90 % teenagers though. Other than kids movies, I don't think I've ever heard so much screaming in a movie theater before. It was pretty funny. I thought the movie was pretty good. It was fun to get a little more Edward. It was really fun being out of the house without my kids!:)

Mary Craig, Kristi Poulson, Leah Scharp, Mary Bailey, Jessica Snyder, and me.

Julia's First Birthday

2008-11-24T09:40:00.000-08:00

It was Julia's first birthday! Oct. 8th. I can't believe she's a year old already. Time goes by so fast!

She wasn't too sure about this birthday thing, until she saw that cake.

Ooooh, that tastes good.

Oh, ya!

This is the best day of my life!

Grandpa Bill

2008-11-16T15:44:00.000-08:00

My Dad came to visit on October 8th which is both his birthday and Julia's. It was so great to have him here. We had so much fun.

This is us eating breakfast out at Rosa Linda's.

We went apple picking, our favorite fall time thing to do. I think my dad ate like 50 apples while he was here.

My dad got to watch a few of the girls soccer games. It was the end of the season. Luckily he watched Alissa's game first, because she pulled her hamstring muscle and couldn't really do anything for her 2nd to last game and then she got sick and missed her very last game:(

My Dad was such a good sport, happily attending all our activities. Here, he was at dance with us, watching the girls, and taking pictures.

My Step-mom, Helen made these adorable backpacks. She also quilts and makes so many beautiful things. She's so talented and we have reaped many of the benefits. She is a wonderful person, and we're so lucky to have her in our lives. We missed having her here!

Everyone loved Grandpa Bill!

2008-11-06T19:27:00.000-08:00

Hannah's 7th birthday- Sept 15th.

2008-11-05T14:09:00.000-08:00

Here's some soccer pictures.

The first day of School-yay!

2008-11-05T12:46:00.000-08:00

Camping

2008-10-28T14:24:00.000-07:00

So we decided to go camping at the last minute over Labor day weekend because at the last minute Bryan discovered he had a three day weekend-weren't expecting that! So we went camping 8 minutes from our house. The first night we left and ate at Wendy's- I know, we were really roughin it. And the 2nd night we had hot dogs- "Alright kids, you hungry?- here's your stick, now cook your own dinner." Aaaahhh. Nice- I highly recommend that kind of camping. I also took Julia home at night to sleep in her own bed. Mostly because we had to pay an extra $50 for another tent (we only have a 5 man tent and a 2 man tent- and now we have six stinkin people in our family). But it was really nice to sleep in my own bed. I don't feel like I missed out on anything.:) We had a blast, and it was so nice to spend some time together as a family.

It was the girls turn to build the fire. I think we did a pretty good job.

2008-10-28T11:17:00.000-07:00

We got ice cream at Martels

And of course we had to get fried dough at Old Orchard Beach- Julie's favorite.

Matching shorts.

2008-10-28T10:22:00.000-07:00

This was at the local amusement park Funtown/Splashtown. After six years we finally got to go. It was a blast. The kids were beyond excited. I think it truly was the best day of their lives.

I thought this was so cute of the little girls.

This was "Dragon's Descent" where it takes you up really high and then drops you straight down. Alissa was a little nervous at first, but as we got off the ride, shaking, she grabbed my hand and said, "Come on Mom, let's go on it again!" She's crazy!

2008-10-28T09:55:00.000-07:00

Let me just say- I don't know how all you people find the time to blog so much. You all must be lazy.:) Ok- starting from way back. Bryan's sister Julie, her hubby Cyrus, and their two cute kids came to visit us in August. After raining for three weeks straight, we finally had some good weather. Which is amazing because usually when Julie comes to visit, it's bad weather. So we went to the beach...

a little bright for the girlies

Hannah and Cyrus hangin

This is on the Saco river, right down the street from our house.

Christopher with the ladies

2008-10-28T09:42:00.000-07:00

This is Alissa at her 1st birthday......

And this is Julia at her first birthday. Kinda funny.

2008-08-03T14:28:00.000-07:00

And I had to throw this picture in. This is in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. Beautiful place my mom likes to visit each time she's here. The lighthouse in the background is called the Portland Headlight.

2008-08-03T10:16:00.000-07:00

My mom was here for 3 weeks in July. We had lots of great beach days.

We also went to the Yarmouth Clam Festival. Lots of seafood and carni rides.

Mom had a little too much fun on the tiltawhirl.

Julia had had enough. She also had a fever that day and wasn't feeling too well.

Mom's new husband, Mel, came to visit. It was great getting to know him. We took him to all of Mom's favorite spots. Old Orchard Beach was one of them. We had a great time riding some rides and eating some fried clams. And of course we stopped at the candy store.

Ella was finally big enough to ride some big rides. She got a little scared on this one. But in the end she said she loved it.

And of course we had to show Mel how to eat some Maine Lobster.

I love my mom and wish she lived closer. We always have a great time when she's here!

2008-08-03T08:01:00.000-07:00

My mom got married! June 7th was the big day. Here's some pictures from the wedding. Of course I wasn't able to make it which makes me very sad. But my mom is very happy. Doesn't she look beautiful?

My family- missing a few- including me.

Still more

2008-08-02T17:13:00.000-07:00

Just a couple more of Julia.

More Julia

2008-08-02T16:35:00.000-07:00

Anyone who knows me well, knows that any kid of mine had better like the beach. I'm happy to say, Julia is a great beach baby. Or at least she was- until Daddy showed her how fun the water is. And now she thinks she's one of the big girls, pulling the boogie board down to the water. I'm now constantly having to bring her back away from the water, which is not very relaxing. But she does take great naps on the beach, which allows me to have some sweet 7 hour beach days. Thank you Julia!

Julia

2008-08-02T15:51:00.000-07:00

Julia is growing up so quickly. She started to stand on her own when she was just 7 months old. And she was walking at 8 months. She's so much fun. She brings so much to our family. The older girls just love her!

Fourth of July

2008-08-02T13:23:00.000-07:00

On the fourth of July, we went strawberry picking at an orchard about 30 minutes away. Julia thought she was in heaven. She kept pulling the leaves off of the strawberry plants and eating rotten strawberries that were on the ground. I didn't get much picking done. The kids did most of the picking. We ended up with quite a few tiny, unripe berries.

Hannah was all business!

At night we went down to the beach with our new friends, the Craigs, who just moved here from Arizona. The kids had fun with their sparklers and we watched all the firework shows, large and small, down the beach. I love the 4th on the beach- when it's not raining. Bryan, of course, had to work all day and was on call that night.

Julia was a little afraid of the sparklers.

Early Summer Fun

2008-08-02T12:33:00.000-07:00

We went to a Portland, Maine Sea Dogs baseball game in early June.

We went to Chuck E Cheese to reward the girls for the 558 stickers they got on their sticker chart for doing good things. I make them work for their fun!

2008-06-19T09:39:00.000-07:00

Ok- I've been yelled at by several people for being a blog slacker. So finally- here ya go.

I'll start with dance. The girls had their recital on May 24th. Yes Joni, I finally got the fake hair pieces. Definitely saves a lot of time! The girls did a great job. Bryan leaned over to me during the recital, moaned, and said, " I have 15 more years of this." Poor guy- he's a good sport.

2008-04-05T18:51:00.001-07:00

Well I've finally set this thing up. Bryan's on call tonight and is sleeping in the call room. So I finally have some time to myself now that all the kids are in bed.

Just to fill you in on our lives here in Maine. We've been here for almost 6 years now. Bryan is in his 2nd year of residency. We have a little over 2 years left until we are finished and are out of here. We love it and we hate it here in Maine. Right now we really hate it. It's still pretty much winter here. But, ask me in a few months and I'll say I love it. Cause I'll be sitting my big butt on the beach all day soakin up the sun! The beach is about 10 minutes from us and provides hours of free entertainment in the summer time.

This winter we've gotten like 115 inches of snow. That's a whole lotta shoveling. So we're definitely ready for some warmer weather. But it really doesn't start to get warm here until July. Ok, we have a few good days in June if we're lucky. (You can tell I love the weather.) But I really do love it here. We have met so many great people, many who have moved away. The lifestyle here is really laid back. We bought a house two years ago and are loving it. Much better than our 755 sq ft condo we lived in before.

The kids are great. Alissa's 8 and is in 2nd grade. She just got baptized in our church. She was very excited. She's giving a talk in Sacrament meeting next Sunday. She's such a smart girl. She gets that from her dad (amongst other traits). She reads like crazy-in her bed at night, and 1st thing in the morning. She's always in the middle of a book. She's very independent. I never have to worry about her homework, she always makes sure it's all done the minute she walks in the door. And she's always reminding me of events coming up. She's my little calendar. She's about a foot taller than all the kids in her grade- about 2 feet taller than all the boys. She doesn't seem to mind yet. She loves to dance and play soccer.

Hannah's 6 and is in 1st grade. She's a dinky little thing. She's a very obedient little girl. She's quick to do what I ask, which is really really really nice- especially cause Alissa's the opposite. She's very happy and pleasant almost all the time. She's always sharing everything she has. And even though she's the youngest in her class, she's excelling, earning student of the month awards. She likes to read as well and went from only being able to read the word "the" at the beginning of the year, to now reading chapter books. She also loves soccer and dance.

Ella is 4 now. She still sucks her finger and sleeps with her blanket. She still feels like my baby, probably cause she was for so long. She is an awesome big sister. Julia loves her! She's constantly making Julia crack up. Ella's always been really easy going. And now it's just turned into pure laziness. She doesn't want to do anything that involves work. She loves to help me in the kitchen. Just the other day she dumped a whole bowl of flour and sugar all over the floor- twice. She is so excited to start preschool next year. She also loves to dance.

Julia is now 6 months and is such a sweet, happy little baby. She still never sleeps. She's been doing better at night, but hardly takes any naps during the day. She doesn't want to miss a thing. She gets up on her hands and knees and does the rocking thing now. She'll be all over the place soon and I have a feeling she's going to be into everything. She's a lot of fun and the girls all love her!

Bryan's always busy of course. He's not especially enjoying his job. He can't wait until he's done with residency and can do what he wants. He's looking forward to the summer when he can go fishing and catch us some delicious bass. And he got a surfboard last year (thanks to Cyrus) and is dying to get out there and catch some waves. Some huge 2 foot waves.

I'm still trying to recover from this 4th kid. It's been a killer. I don't think my brain will ever be right again. But I love being a mom. I'm so happy and so blessed! I'm so thankful for this opportunity to be here, although it is difficult sometimes. It's really hard being so far from family. I look forward to moving to San Diego in 2 years. I need some sun. I'm lookin old and worked.:)