9, 5, 3

God is good. Life is good. We are good! 

Hope - 9 as in N-I-N-E. 

She is smart, she is beautiful inside and out, she is kind and she makes me proud every day. I want to be like her when I grow up! I still say I don't deserve her, but man, it is awesome to look at her and say, "She's mine!" She is playing tennis, she loves singing, listening to music, playing games. She also needs her space sometimes, which has become more difficult since her little sister moved in with her a couple of months ago. Sorry, kid. She is growing up for sure, no matter how hard I try to pretend she's still  itty bitty. 

Noah - 5

Noah Red is amazing. He has done better in kindergarten than we ever dared to dream. He is happy, he is smart, he loves batman, rocks and Legos. He runs miles at a time with his daddy, and he is about to try T-Ball for the first time. He still loves who he loves, and could leave the rest, but his giant heart has let more people in now! His biggest new love is his kindergarten teacher, Ms. Grant. She is truly a blessing to our family. A God thing is the only way to explain her. Noah Red is a God thing too. ;) 

Emmy - 3

My little baby isn't a baby anymore, but please don't tell her that! She is in her first year of preschool, and those two day every week are her two favorite days for sure. She loves her friends and her teachers! She is smart, she is sweet, she is strong willed, she is not a bit shy and she makes us laugh out loud all day long. Her favorite thing to do is to pretend she is a kitty cat, specifically a princess kitty cat named Anna. We don't know. ;)

John has a new job with his former company. He is working from home most of the time and is loving his new role. I am still enjoying eating Bon bons and watching soap operas while people fan me. 

8 years of Sunshine

I cannot say enough how much I do not deserve this sweet, precious child. She is good. She is kind. She is smart. She is funny. She is loving. She is the. Type of child that others look at you and ask about our parenting styles, only to be disappointed when my answer is, I have no idea how she has turned out so well.

That's not to say we don't have our moments. She can't function in the mornings, and getting her out the door for school is absolutely the most stressful time of the day for the two of us. I hate this because I feel like I send her to school feeling like I am upset with her. She is also forgetful. She forgets thins like bringing home homework or her jacket or water bottle. For weeks, the water bottle. I know she came by this trait honestly. She loses one of every shoe. She honestly walks around with one shoe on her foot sometimes in the house, and I'm like, are you serious? But, these things are obviously minute and just her quirks. We like quirks.
She cares so much for everyone that sometimes I worry she won't fight for herself. She doesn't say mean things about people, and this is one of her best traits. She doesn't care if she looks silly. She doesn't mind being last. She will give her brother the last drink of her special sonic treat from carpool just to make him feel special. She will let Emmy destroy her room, she will let me braid her hair. She will let her daddy play her turn on the wii. She just wants everyone to be happy. She is imaginative. She loves American Girl. She loves her puppy, Coconut. She loves Just Dance on the wii. She loves movies about princesses and mermaids. She loves her Ooh Ooh Monkey. She loves ballet. She loves her friends. She loves her church. She loves a lot. She does not love beans. She does not love new foods. She does not love homework. She does not love bedtime. She does not love math facts. She does not love things that seem unfair to her. She does not love car rides. She does not love picking up after herself. She does not love waking up before she's ready. She does not love fireworks. She does not love storms.

Hope Louise, I love you more than you can ever know. You make me proud every day. You make me smile ever day. You make me better every day. I am so so lucky to be your mommy. Happy 8th Birthday, my Sunshine Girl.

Emmyisms

Emmy is so crazy funny right now. She has so much 'tude in that little body. She has more words than she knows what to do with. And she thinks she is just as big as her brother and sisters.
•Emmy is a manipulator. She hates doing her nebulizer treatments, but has figured out that when she does them, we let her watch her favorite show, Doc McStuffins. So now, when John and I attempt to watch anything not animated, she says "I need my medicine. I watch Doc McStuffins?" And so we do, of course because a peaceful 10 minutes of nebulizer beats 10 minutes of screaming any day. Every day. She also likes to say "It's Pewfect!" (Perfect!) anytime she thinks she has a great idea she wants you to agree with. For example, "I have candy? It's pewfect!" Or, "I sleep in Mommy's bed? It's pewfect!" "We go outside? I have shoes! It's pewfect!" We went to a shoe store today and she tried on a pair of black flats and exclaimed "It's pewfect!" I thought the sales lady was going to die from the cuteness. So yea, we bought those pewfect shoes.

•John cannot always interpret things she says. She will ramble on to him for 5 minutes and he looks to me for answers. I will get a teeny bit frustrated and say, "John, she wants chocolate milk in a princess cup with a straw lid. It's perfect!" I mean, come on, dude.

•Emmy loves her Evie. She calls her BFF Ebby, and she is always very concerned about where Ebby is and what Ebby is doing.

• She plays dr and tells us it's time for our check up. (This is from watching doc mc.) if you do not stop what you are doing that second and let her measure you and listen to your heart? Well, I can promise you that you will not earn a sticker or a candy from Emmy Stuffins.

Silent auction for Julee and Preslee Turner

I am sure most of you have heard about the sudden death of Arkansas's news anchor, Matt Turner. As an Arkansan, this story would have touched me anyway, but as a reader and twitter friend of his wife, Julee, it left me unable to move, hand over my mouth stunned for a long while. They have been on my heart and mind ever since, all of them. I can't even imagine how those close to him and Julee are coping. When I saw they were doing a silent auction to benefit little Preslee, I thought it was a great idea, and now that I have seen some of the items listed, I was inspired! I don't have much to give as a way of donating, but because I do sell clothes online, I happen to have this sweet little New with Tags Swanky Baby Vintage knot dress in a size 2! The retail value was $48, and it is now retired! I couldn't decide whether I should keep it for my Emmy, or sell it! It is seriously precious, and for sweet Preslee, I am more than happy to offer it up for Auction! All money will be donated to Julee and Preslee Turner. And if you don't have a size 2 sweet girl, then bid anyway and we will send it to Preslee herself :) Happy Bidding!

 In real life photo

stock photo

Here is some info on how to bid!
To Bid on an Item: 1. Read through the list of items below. If you see something that interests you, click on it and you will be taken to a page where you will be able to leave a comment with your bid. 
2. Bids should be placed in $1 increments. (Example: If previous bid was $9, your bid must be at least $10.) 
3. When you leave your bid, please include your name and email address. 
4. Check back often to make sure you haven't been outbid. You will NOT be notified if someone outbids you, so you'll want to be sure to check in on items as the week goes on. Bidding will be closed on Friday, October 19th, at 10pm EST. Winners will be notified via email. All invoices must be paid by October 31, 2012.

Please visit Knee Deep in Munchkin Land To see all of the other great items up for auction this week!

I am also donating shipping, as are all the other sellers! I can only ship to the US! Sorry international bidders! I can still ship the dress to sweet Preslee though if you would still like to donate!

Noah is 4!

Have you heard that our very own SUPER HERO turned 4?!

 I am still not believing it. And it happened 2 months ago.

 He brings so much to our lives, that it's hard to imagine our lives without him.

 And at the same time, it seems like only yesterday that he came to save our world!

 Thank you, God for Noah Red!

Here's some Noah Red Bullet Points at age 4.

• Weighs 30 lbs. Teetering between 30 and 31 depending on the day. Tiny tiny boy.
• Is NON STOP!
• Ridiculously smart. Does math in his head, gives complete directions to different locations. He knows names of interstates we are on, as well as where we are on our way to even if I drive a different way. His sense of direction is scary. He has so much information in his little head, it amazes us everyday.
• Still getting some Occupational Therapy each week. Miss Joy is his beloved therapist and he calls her his "coach!" Love it. Love her.
• Super emotional. Super. Emotional.
• Still loves Batman above all else. 
• Needs his Mama.
• Going through a phase of needs to be held to fall asleep. Not sure what this is about, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't look forward to those snuggles every night.
• Loves all fruit! He would pick strawberries over chocolate any day.
• Still needs a set routine. Don't mess with his routine. Do. Not. 
• He is pretty sure Daddy hung the moon. I love this. And I can also see the worry in his little eyes that he is afraid he hurts my feelings when he chooses daddy over me for something. 
• Loves the people he loves. Not sure about the others. :)
• Is trying so hard to be "Brave!" This is not something we push, but he it proud that he is "Brave of storms" when Hope is not. And he recently decided he was "Brave of fireworks" from the safety of a car. Hope is not "Brave of fireworks" in any way, so this is a big deal for him. 
• He loves to go to the grocery store for a quick trip with just mommy or daddy. He pushes the little Kroger cart, and is VERY SERIOUS about finding all the things we need. John and I love this time too, so it works out well. 
• Is an amazing boy and we are so proud of him!

Noah's Birthday Shirt was made HERE. You should order from her too! She's local for you Central Arkansas friends! 

Great Wolf Lodge for Noah's 4th Birthday!

Noah is a little guy who does not like to be the center of attention to a lot of people. Mommy, yes, lots of people, no. And Noah was right in the middle of a phase where he and Emmy were just not getting along. Emmy has learned to push his buttons, and Noah has not learned how to deal with his sister's aggravating.

So, instead of a party, we spent a couple of days at Great Wolf Lodge! And Emmy went to spend some quality time with Mimi and Ninny and the rest of the extended Hoover crew! 

I have to say that Great Wolf Lodge was AWESOME. It was the easiest "vacation" with 2 kids I could imagine. We did what we wanted to do, rested when we wanted to rest, and never left the building. We stayed 2 nights, and stayed until dinner time on our last day there. School was still in session, and yes we let Hope miss 2 days of school for this. But it meant that there was NO ONE in the water park. We rode rides over and over again. We genuinely enjoyed each other and there wasn't any fussing the whole time we were there. It was a great recharge for our family. And we missed our Emmy, but she certainly was well loved on, and I really wanted to focus on Noah and filling up his love cup. I think we did. He was a joy the whole time. Emmy would have had to have naps, and early bedtimes, and certainly wouldn't have slept in. I do look forward to her going with us another time though! 

The birthday boy in his new batman pjs.

Presents!

I really thought we would skip a cake, but about a week before we left, it was clear Noah was expecting a Batman cake. 

Even with just the 4 of us, he was totally uncomfortable with us singing Happy Birthday to him. :)

Story time!

 We partied till he was partied out! We literally left moments after I took these pics. :)

Special memories for a special boy!