Day 3: GIVE a monetary donation to a charity

I've been thinking the past few days about which charity I would give to for this project. (Don't get me wrong; I regularly donate to United Way, our local Helping Hands, and various other charities through work!)

My neighbor, and great friend, is participating in the Purple Stride next week, in honor of both her mother and grandmother who lost their battle with pancreatic cancer at much too young of an age. Last year, I just had to sit back and watch as this terrible disease ravaged her mother's body in just a few short months. Their entire family walks each year in memory of them and to help raise awareness on this horrible disease.

You can donate too at http://www.purplestride.org/

Day 2: GIVE encouragement to children

First off, let me be clear, that me 'giving encouragement to my children' is not a special occasion just for this Giving project. I give them encouragement everyday! But today was a lazy Saturday for us while Jordan was at work and I was trying to wrap up a million things for the big superhero party next weekend, as well as finish painting the house. Anyways, these sweet boys (at least 90% of the time!) of mine are in such a learning phase right now. We've been working with Austin alot on his handwriting these days and that kid loves to write, draw, and 'make comic books'. He's constantly stealing paper out of my office! Constant encouragement is what that kid needs right now, because he can get frustrated easily when he can't get his letters right.

 

Chase loves to draw as well, and is always asking for me to draw a piggy and a puppy for him. Then he draws one right by them. He's also big on #'s right now, maybe thanks to a few too many episodes of Team Umi Zoomi. The other day I bought a new clock and I sat there and watched him count each of the numbers over and over.

 

Encouragement goes both ways. By giving to them, they learn to dish it out as well. Last night we were moving the china cabinet so that I could paint the wall behind it, and Austin wanted to sweep up the dust/dirt that was revealed. I told him he was the best sweeper in the world, and he proceeded to tell me I was the best painter.

 

Love these boys to pieces!

Day 1: GIVE a clothing donation to a family in need

Yay! First day of 'giving'! Today I got to go get my baby fix with sweet baby Reid! One of my great friends from college had a baby two weeks ago that I've been itching to meet. My crazy friend and her husband decided NOT to find out what they were having and waited til his big arrival to find out the gender. Needless to say, at the baby shower that kid received alot of gender neutral clothing (aka yellow and green). Once I found out she had a boy, I pulled my remaining baby clothes from the attic. (Since my new nephew was born in the summertime, alot of my hand-me-downs were for a different season.) I showed up today with a big box of little boy clothes, because he was in some serious need of some blue! :)

And to top off my afternoon, I got to hold him and snuggle for a while. Definitely miss the baby snuggles, but not enough to have another one of my own. Ha, that ship has sailed.

Happy Fall, Y'all!

Finally getting around to posting about our Fall activities. A fall festival, fun at the State Fair, trip to the pumpkin patch, carving/painting pumpkins, and ending with trick-or-treating. It has been a busy month in the Hougham House!

I'll just post the highlights, because I've got a party to plan and 30 days of giving to get to! :)

Chase finally got to venture to the fair with us this year. We determined he was finally old/big enough to not be too much to handle. And Austin loves riding all the rides. We hit up the typical attractions: barnyard petting area, Little Hands on the Farm, corn dogs, cotton candy, ice cream, and lots of rides. They were both pretty well behaved, and since we went on a Thursday it wasn't all too crowded.

The next weekend, we hit up the pumpkin patch with the fam for a full day of fun. Lunch first, then a train ride, then the pumpkin patch, complete with bounce houses. Needless to say, we were beat when we finally made it home that night.

We waiting until the weekend before Halloween to carve and paint our pumpkins. I swear, Austin bugged me every night about wanting to do the pumpkins! Basically, the kids painted their little pumpkins, while Jordan and Logan took care of carving the big ones out.

Last year, we did a Toy Story theme for Halloween get-ups, which was pretty fun. This year, Austin insisted on being a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. And I refused to be a damn ninja turtle. And Chase wanted to be Mike (aka the eyeball monster from Monsters, Inc.). This all resulted in no family theme this year. We trick-or-treated around the neighborhood for a bit grabbing up the goods, and then came back home so that Austin could pass out candy. He got so excited every time someone would come to the door. For a few girls, he gave them more candy. When I asked why, he simply said 'because they were special.' Looks like trouble to me!

Can't believe the end of October is here and we're quickly approaching the holiday/birthday chaos that the next 2 1/2 months old!

November: 30 Days of Giving!

Seriously, it's October 30th. Where has the year gone? November is tomorrow, yikes! This year I've decided to celebrate the month of November with 30 days of giving. A friend (and fellow blogger) of mine came up with the idea and we brainstormed on all the ways we could 'give'. (I won't comment on some of Jordan's suggestions!) Some are monetary, some are time, some are just giving encouragement. Looks like it could be fun.........and difficult to keep up with posting everyday. Because let's be honest, my posts are seriously lacking lately. But I'll do my best! And I don't plan on doing this all myself; I plan on roping in the boys and the hubby wherever I can.

 

 

In no certain order, here is my 'to give' list for the month........

1. GIVE a 100% tip
2. GIVE to a child in need for Christmas
3. GIVE the driver behind you in a drive-thru a free meal 
4. GIVE a back massage (better be the hubby!)
5. GIVE a clothing donation to a family in need 
6. GIVE a monetary donation to a charity
7. GIVE free house/dog sitting to a friend
8. GIVE Jordan the choice of a date
9. GIVE cookies or treats to a neighbor   
10. GIVE to a local food drive
11. GIVE treats to a service provider  
12. GIVE thanks/encouragement to a co-worker
13. GIVE a handmade gift to a loved one 
14. GIVE teachers a gift of appreciation
15. GIVE Brady a walk around the neighborhood 
16. GIVE a phone call to a loved one
17. GIVE a home-cooked meal to a family     
18. GIVE a thank you card
19. GIVE encouragement to your spouse
20. GIVE a great party
21. GIVE breakfast to co-workers
22. GIVE a cooking lesson to the boys
23. GIVE thanks for everything we've been given
24. GIVE encouragement to children
25. GIVE a treat to first responders 
26. GIVE toys to children in need
27. GIVE Austin the choice of a family date 
28. GIVE thanks to grandparents  
29. GIVE a note of encouragement to somebody in need
30. GIVE the house some holiday cheer

Sea World......Round 2!

Whew! It has really been over a month since I last blogged. The Houghams have been super-busy lately! I’m officially in full planning mode for Austin’s 5^th birthday party in three weeks. We’re doing a superhero theme, and you know I go big or go home! Needless to say, lots of things to do on my list!

 

Anyways, onto the point of this whole post. J At the end of August, we planned a big trip to San Antonio for the sole purpose of going to Sea World. Well, as you can tell, that didn’t quite go as planned. Then my Mommy-guilt got the best of me, and I knew we needed to plan a make-up trip to actually deliver on my promise of dolphins, penguins, and whales!

These kids roll in style!

We took a few days off of work, loaded down the Tahoe again, and made the 5-hour trek back to San Antonio. We didn’t splurge on the big resort again, since I was pretty sure the weather was going to be too cool to utilize the vast amenities of the place, so we stuck with a basic hotel this go around.  We arrived early Thursday afternoon and got settled in. We utilized the indoor pool at the hotel for a bit and then had some dinner. Later that evening, we had another family join us (the same couple that went with us on our cruise this summer brought their kids to San Antonio the same time). The kids enjoyed themselves running up and down the halls like crazy before we wrangled them into our room to try to get a good night’s sleep. But I swear, my boys are night owls and it was after 11:30pm before they got some shut eye! Good thing Sea World didn’t open til noon on Friday so we were able to sleep in a bit.

Little rascals!

 

How sweet is that?!

We got our cooler and bag all packed and headed out! We made an excellent choice by coming on Friday, as it wasn’t crowded at all. We were able to enjoy the Shamu show, a Pets show (who knew you could train cats, pigs, birds, and even a mouse!), sharks, penguins, dolphins, etc. We pretty much hit all the major attractions on the first day. Not to mention that we cooled off in the splash park at the Bay of Play and played on all the nets, slides, and tunnels. Chase was a bit of a weenie, but Austin rode a lot of the kid rides. Since it’s close to Halloween, the park was decorated in fall décor and even had some characters dressed up where the kids could trick-or-treat for some goodies.

The best we could do with a family pic

 

Shamu!

 

Austin was super-excited to see all the characters and trick-or-treat

My sweet boy!

Exhaustion was finally upon us and we decided to call it a day and head back. The kids were asleep within a minute, while clutching their souvenirs in their hands. It was so damn cute!

We headed back again the second day, but since it was a Saturday, it was super crowded! So glad we were able to take in the more popular attractions the day before, with only a few extra things to cross off our list. We took in the sea lion show, dolphin/acrobat show, and rode some more rides. We called it a day earlier and decided to hit up the indoor pool at our hotel. Then we ordered in pizza and had a ‘picnic’ in the lounge area down by the hotel bar. Yep, 4 adults, 4 kids, 2 large pizzas, alcohol, 3 iPads, and 2 DVD players made for some relaxing time on our last night.

We had a great time at Sea World and enjoyed having another family to hang out with. And I’m pretty sure that Chase may have a crush on Ella. J Luckily, we waited so late in the 2013 season to buy our fun cards for Sea World that we ended up buying the 2014 passes with the Fall 2013 free. That means our passes are good through the end of 2014, so we’re sure to go back again!

 

The boys had a blast and I was glad that I was finally able to deliver on my promise of a trip to Sea World. As the boys are getting older, these family trips and memories get even better!

The Houghams have a busy couple months ahead with lots of blogging in store. We ventured to the State Fair yesterday, a trip to the pumpkin patch this weekend, Halloween at the end of the month, Austin’s birthday in a few weeks, then Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Chase’s birthday right after the New Year. When will I ever sleep?!

Welcome to the World, Connor!

I'm a little late on announcing the arrival of my new little nephew, but hey, I've been busy. :)

We had been awaiting the arrival of this sweet little boy for what seemed to be forever. But Kat & Lo just celebrated their one year anniversary at the beginning of July and we were anxiously waiting for Connor to arrive later in the month. Kat and I aren't only sisters; we're best friends. Just ask Jordan and Logan; we're attached at the hip and pretty close. (That wasn't always the case when we were younger, but we grew up!) Kat even lived with me and Jordan while she was in college for about 3 years, so she was here through the births of both Austin and Chase. She was practically a second mom to them sometimes, so I was definitely looking forward to having the same relationship with her little one.(We used to joke when we would go out with Austin about his two mommies.)  And since I had two boys, I saved all of their baby clothes and all that fun stuff to pass on to my sister. Let's just say, she got lucky with all of my hand-me-downs that are going to save her $$$!

Kat went a full week past her due date before she finally got scheduled to have an induction. This induction date just happened to be the day before mine and Jordan's 10 yr anniversary and we were staying the night at the Gaylord for a night away. Talk about being double-booked! However, after a long day of laboring, Connor William arrived via c-section a little before midnight on 7/25, weighing 8lbs. 10oz. and 20 1/2 in. long and as perfect as can be. He was nearly born on my 10 yr anniversary!! I think he looks a lot like Chase did when he was a baby. :)

How cute is he?!

 

Anyways, Connor is doing great and I get to babysit him for the first time next weekend!