Posting Away

Wow! Four posts in one night! I'm on a roll.....actually I'm just sick and should be resting in bed. So this will be a short one. My husband just finished his latest Reality Shoot image of the Hopkins family. Check it out here.

This is Halloween......

Bryan decided the kids were old enough (?) to watch "Nightmare Before Christmas", (his personal favorite Halloween show), and now both of them have been marching around singing, "This is Halloween, This is Halloween...." I should have got that on camera. Anyway, we had a fun Halloween.

This pumpkin was the one Ethan picked from the pumpkin patch for his school field trip, and he let Daddy carve it for him.

Last year Ethan was Buzz and Austin was Spiderman. This year Ethan was able to reuse his costume and Austin dressed up as Woody.

Ethan is trying to show Austin how to push his "power buttons." The fun of having boys......everything is about superheroes and pushing their power buttons.

This next one cracks me up......for some reason Austin is holding his hat in a way that reminds me of some musical where the cowboy is singing to his lady. And Austin loves to sing!

These next two are from Ethan's Halloween party and parade at school.

Field Trip Fun

One thing I like about Ethan's school is the high parental involvement. I enjoy going in once a month and teaching them about the Composer of the Month, and I also get to help out occasionally with centers, activities, and field trips. Hmmm..... I guess that's why I'm even busier now with Ethan in school. We've already gone on two field trips, and they have another one planned in a few weeks. The first field trip was to an Apple Farm in Ojai, and the second was to McGrath's Pumpkin Patch here in Camarillo.

The first day of school Ethan met a boy in his class named Joshua, and they have been buddies in school ever since. I guess Joshua has an older brother named Ethan, so he connected with him right away.

Off To School

Ethan turned 5 in July and started Kindergarten in August. He's almost been in school now for three months and is really enjoying it......except for the part where he has to wake up early and get ready. We are still struggling with that. Here are a few pictures of his first few days.....

Handing in his name tag at the end of the day.....
Austin was so funny the first week or so. He insisted I pack him a lunch and was very disappointed that he couldn't stay with "E-E" as he calls him.

There is a really fun park next to Ethan's school that I would take Austin to every day the first week as he adjusted to his brother being at school. Now he calls this park "my preschool."

Summer Fun

I am a little slow at getting this up, but here are a few of the fun things we did this summer.

Ethan turned 5 in July and got this Tony Hawk bike for his birthday.

I think this next picture is hilarious. From the left is Gavin, Bailey, Austin, and Ethan. Gavin and Bailey are my twin sister's kids. They live in Utah and came for a visit in August. Bailey is making a peace sign with her fingers and Austin is trying to figure something out with his. ;)

Ethan surprised me on this next one. I didn't think he would want to try the zip line, but he didn't want to stop!

Days at the beach.......

Fun rides in Bryan's kayak....

Pirate Days

at Channel Islands Harbor

Santa Barbara Natural Museum

Butterfly Exhibit

with Kami, Ian, and Quintin

Ian and Ethan

Wings Over Camarillo

It started out to be very windy, but not for long. We had fun watching all the planes.

Wish I Were a Farmer

As I plan out my day of things to get done, I realize I am going, going, going from early morning hours until after the kids have gone to bed and I am struggling to keep my eyes open. And while I have thought of several blogs in my head that I could post, I have not found the time to actually 'blog' them.

Seeing my husband's latest work of art, (and also going with my son on a fieldtrip to an organic farm yesterday), makes me wish I were a farmer. Some people would disagree and say, "but then you have to wake up at the crack of dawn." Since I currently wake up at 5:00 a.m., which to me is the crack of dawn, I naturally started to compare the pros and cons of being a farmer.....okay, maybe just the pros. Instead of waking up extremely early to sit in front of a computer, typing speedily away at doctor's clinic notes, hoping to find some time for some physical exercise, I would be able to go outside for most of the day and enjoy nature with the bonus of physical exercise, a sun tan, and growing our own food. Sounds good to me. :)

With that thought in mind, click below to see Bryan's latest image he created for XanGo's Go Magazine:

Bryan's new image

Underwood Family Farms

This summer we have had a fun time going with friends different places. One of the places we have gone to is the Underwood Family Farms. We've gone to the Moorpark location twice and Somis location once and had a great time! The kids got to pick strawberries and blueberries, see goats, horses, pigs, etc., ride a little train, and go on a tractor-pulled ride. I'm always taking pictures of my kids and I'm never in the pictures, so thanks Jen for taking this one of us!

Ethan's 5th Birthday

For those of you who don't know, Disneyland is letting you go for free on your birthday this year. We decided it would be a good time to take Ethan for the first time, and also because Austin was free, since he is under the age of 3. We were hoping to get there early, but had a rough morning and didn't get there until noon, but we made up for it by staying until midnight! We had a fun time and I'll share a few pics here, but if you want to see more I post all my pictures on a site my cousin created called Louish Kids. So you can go here to check them out if you'd like: http://www.louishkids.com/4.1795.louish The night after Disneyland, Ethan was lucky to have both his grandparents over for cake and ice cream! He had a great birthday!

God Gave Us Families

I am currently serving as a primary teacher and I'm really enjoying it. I especially like Sharing Time and singing all the primary songs, maybe even more than the kids ;) Ethan is in Sharing Time as well, but he sits in front of me and so I never know if he is singing the words. Recently the Primary Presidency gave all the kids a CD with all the songs they will be singing for the Primary Program in the fall. We love listening to it and it's a great way for them to learn the words! I am pleased to report he does know the words, well most of them. I know I just posted a video of Ethan singing, but I couldn't resist this one. He is such a cutie! He's just singing the chorus here. To get him going I have to say the first word, so he starts off "......gave us families." Turn up your volume, he's singing pretty quiet. It's kind of early to tell, but I am hoping the boys get Bryan's genes for singing and not mine!

Succumbed Blogger

Well, I've succumbed to the blogging madness. I promised a couple of people before I moved that I would start a blog and now it's nine months later! I don't know how often I will be able to keep it up, but better late than never, I guess. One of the setbacks of starting a blog was where to start. I've decided to post a video of my boys singing, "I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home." I guess it's really just Ethan singing with a little encouragement from Austin. Then if I feel so inclined to add things from the past, I will, AND CAN, because this is MY blog. :) Hope you enjoy!