An awesome backpack treasure

I was cleaning out Drew's backpack Wednesday to see what exciting news I was supposed to know about or report that was due that day or you know any other little prize awaiting me...1/2 a lunch...the list goes on. But this particular morning...a REAL treasure awaited. I found this sweet paper Drew wrote about Hal. I am so glad I cleaned out his backpack & didn't ask him to do it! It is precious! :)He is my hero too, but...shhh...I wouldn't want him to get a big head :)

YAY Drewy!!!

I had my parent teacher conference Wednesday afternoon & Drew received amazing marks once again! He is such a great kid. Well mannered, a helpful classmate, respectful, and STRAIGHT A'S once again! YAY! We are so very proud of him!! :)

He was also selected to represent his School in the State of Idaho special testing. I am unsure of all the details but we received a letter requesting he represent the 4th grade for Skyway in this special testing for The State of Idaho. This is in addition to their standard test. :)

I Sure LOVE this little dude & all his hard work!

A lil' Morning Pit anyone?

The Schools up here block their end of semester report cards/parent teacher conferences right before spring break so the kids get a few extra days off. They started spring break Thursday so of course we had to kick it off with a sleepover...not that these 2 aren't here everyday anyway lol! Friday morning I made donuts to the sound of screaming 11111..2222..33333 and bells dinging! LOVE ME SOME MORNING PIT! Ahhhh...sorry folks this is why I drink coffee :) I LOVE the joy in their faces! It makes me so happy to see their sweet faces just being kids!

Ok, seriously....Formal Living or Dorm Room...

YOU DECIDE!

The other morning I walked downstairs to find piles of Drew everywhere! I know we are busy and running in all different directions this time of year, but this is a little ridiculous! I guess I better be the last one upstairs at night so I can bust these slobs!!

**UPDATE - So this morning Hal almost fell to his death from a grocery sack full of Haliee's crap she left on the stairs last night. Apparently it is too much effort to grab it on your way up. Time for Hunter bootcamp, my cleaning blinds & baseboards while my children leave piles of lovelies is no bueno!! :/

So this is where your orders are supposed to go...

It has recently turned into a teenager graffiti wall! Their favorite thing to do is write things about one another if they are not here that day so they check it when they come over to see what has been written lol! The other day I grabbed my paper I have been writing orders on & shook my head at myself...they are taking over...and multiplying...like Gremlins! {I do LOVE the little love notes to me though! Zoe Bug leaves me one everytime she is over :)}

It's almost...Spring! YAY!

I hope the snow stays away until October...fingers crossed!

Poor Drewy is a tall boy...but still needing some hops to dominate the other tall boy! It's a little unfair dontcha think!?

Because we think she is so super swell &

because she is almost the BIG 1-3...

The Hunter Family Frosty Friday Bus is turning into a super fan bus headed for Seattle...

Have any of you ever heard of the newest pop teen sensation?? He is a bit of a kiwi although relocated to LA to hit pay dirt & follow his dream...

Meet Cody Simpson, the new & improved {according to my daughter} Aussie JB. She has been following him google eyed and mastering all his u tube dance moves, downloading all his songs via i-tunes for a few months now.

So lemme back up a bit to last weekend...Heather & Haliee were in the kitchen blasting the ipod with some Cody Simpson tunes (Of course my favorite thing to listen to while making lunch) when Haliee happened upon tour dates on Cody's Fan Blog. So she decides to look at where he is touring, she suddenly squeals he...is...coming...to...Seattle...MOMMY!!! I doubtingly question when...she even higher pitched squeals MAY...I again even more doubtingly ask what year...to which both girls shrill...2011!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So they are screaming jumping up & down, begging, pleading, planning how he'll jump off stage & propose to them both right on the spot. CAN WE GO PLEASEEEE PLEASEEE PLEASEE...

I blow them off with a "possibly" *wink* They ran off freaking out and planning the next months of their life when Drew comes up & says, "Mom can I please get Haliee tickets from me for her birthday. Please" I phone all the besties parents & make sure they are in..And...the rest is history...we are Seattle bound in May & Haliee was bawling hysterically when Drew told her! {D.D.D.Drama Beats}A quick mid week trip to a standing room only venue with screaming girls...who propose we get there 6 hours early to stand in line & get front row...YOU ALL KNOW YOU ARE JEALOUS! Hal will be chauffeuring us all over but he opted out of accompanying us, he will hang in the quiet hotel room instead (WUSS). He did however propose to the girls we get there a day early & camp out so when Cody arrives in his tour bus he will see they truly are his #1 fans...I will beat this man...

(PS- Not sure if I posted about "Frosty Friday" yet...so for those of you in the dark. My kids decided to invent a little Friday afterschool tradition. Every Friday I pick them up and go get them frosty's ok, that's fine :) So now...it has turned into a middle school carpool line brawl for whoever fits in the Hunter bus for Frosty Friday...well and of course Drew & usually Zoe too) SPOILED...yes, but hopefully when they are grown and sitting at family dinner these will be the memories they carry with them forever...A small price to pay in my opinion.)

Definitely my Favorite Girl...

Haliee received Student of the Month for the 7th Grade for the 2nd month in a row. They have never chosen the same child for 2 consecutive months before & to top it off, she was nominated by the same teacher both times. I LOVE this girl. She makes me so proud.

Here she is trying to pretend she doesn't love the camera in her face...she's going to be 13 next month, ya right...she loves it & we all know it Bobo :)

Happy Happy Birthday Grandma!!

We LOVE you & miss YOU so much!!!!!

See what I mean about regressing...

The girls decided to have a war with Drew and came downstairs looking like this! :) LOVE these goofballs! I am so glad Hal grabbed the camera!

Or how about this picture Haliee made...

Hi Grandpa!!!

Last night my Dad was bustin' my chops for my lack of blogging! :) So I thought I would write a little note to him in the interim :) I LOVE YOU DADDY!!!

Here is a video of Drew when he was 3 to make you smile until I get my next posts up! Love this little man. Why is he growing so fast ??? :(

Cali October 2010

In October we made a spur of the moment road trip {ummm...21 hour road trip} down to Cali. My Grandma & Hal's Aunt are both in very poor health & Hal had already taken some time off for my surgery which ended up being cancelled. So he decided we better make a trip. After much paper bag breathing I agreed. I am NOT a spur of the moment anything. I have lists for lists, so I was freaking out. We had a great time, seeing lots of friends and family we hadn't in years. The kids were awesome. There were countless hours spent just talking and spending quality time with "OLD People" so I am sure it was beyond boring during those times, but they were so good.
Drew had no memory of Bakersfield at all. It was hilarious, we had just started the descend into the central valley on I-5 when Drew asked, "Ummm, Do they water here?" LOL, he had never seen such desolate land. He later added, "I'm so glad we live in Coeur d' Alene, it's like dead and kinda ghetto here." Yep son, we know. :)

I was so glad to see one of my long lost besties from high school & beyond and her 2 babies which were 8 mos. and not even a thought yet when we moved. I am so sad we took no pics :( We were so caught up in catching up, we forgot. :( And one of my bestest cousins Jill and her family. We do have a pic of us all when we were leaving, but...she still hasn't sent it to me...UH HMMM...JILL...???

We spent quite a bit of time with my Grandma & Hal's Aunt whom I seriously didn't want to stick a camera in either of their sweet sick faces. Hal's Aunt & Uncle live on I think like 15 or 20 acres, I can't remember and have a ton of animals. Right away Drew was over the moon & was dying to ride a horse. Uncle Don took him out and taught him all about being a "Real" Cowboy. It was hilarious some of the conversations between the 2. Every once in awhile Don would look over at me, like are you kidding me...don't you teach this boy anything important. LOL. I grew up very near Don & had horses as a kid. I am pretty much a city girl now, I mean, I could easily meet in the middle say maybe a horse with a heated coach saddle??? LOL, but my kids haven't been around anything livestock related besides the fair in years...so ya, they aren't really educated in bein' cowboys. I kept waiting for him to tell me to go to timeout for not teaching my kids about cowboys, lol. Haliee was completely freaked out. She was so apprehensive about riding a horse. He kept saying, now when I put you up here, you cannot scream...ok Haliee. I'm serious... I was cracking up. Look at her facial expressions in these pics, priceless...

Ok Mom, I know you said it was safe...but...

Are you sure??? Like SURE sure?

Ok, you're right, it's FUN!

Next stop, Uncle Sids...Now Sid is a kid who will never grow up. He was having straw wars, putting salt in peoples drinks, amongst other things in the restaurant during dinner. Haliee said, "This is the most fun I have ever had in a restaurant in my life." He got tickled and asked her why. To which she replied, "Ummm...We are NOT allowed to act like this in a restaurant." {NOPE}

He has all kinds of toys for his grand kids and my kids were so excited to ride dirt bikes and quads and go carts. Now again, I grew up here so I got my 1st 3-wheeler for my 3rd birthday. I have grown up like this and it is not at all new to me. Well, ummm...it is very different being a Mommy. I like to had not just 1 but about 30 panic attacks. Hal just fired everything up and away we went. I was freaking out, ummm...we need to teach them. He said, I taught them how to give it gas, brake, and to steer. They have to do it to learn. UGH. So Drew takes off in the go-cart 1st...the only way he knows how...FULL THROTTLE. So I am screaming at Hal while riding this little 50 motorcycle (looking like dumb & dumber) trying to catch up and make my son STOP. So we stop, I yell at him to slow down or we are finished, Hal is dying laughing at me, and what does Drew do, he agrees...and floors it. OMGOSH! I was so freaked out. He is literally driving down this dirt road bouncing left to right off the tumbleweeds on both sides, full stinking throttle. *SIGH* So now I am getting ticked. He comes around the corner & there is this HUGE I MEAN HUGE mud puddle covering the entire road, lol, so Drew goes barreling into it full throttle. Now, I am a few seconds behind Drew & Hal because Haliee & I am not driving wide open, so when I see Hal stopped, my heart sinks, I just knew Drew had wrecked :( So I come around the corner & LOL...hilarious, Drew gets out & Hal is standing next to him he gives it some gas to try and get it out of the puddle & it flings muddy water all over him. LOL, it was awesome! So again, I lecture the this is your last chance to slow your butt down or we are finished, I am griping at Hal too, so Drew gets in, agrees, and floors it...UHHH HHHOOOEEE HHHOOOEEE HHOOOOEEEE, I am ticked. So we get to this area we called "The Playground" growing up. It is a huge hole with all kinds of different trails, and jumps. I tell Hal, you are nuts, NO. I am serious, NO. I am going to throw up at this point. I am praying for God to protect my babies, and freaking out. I say at the very least Drew and Haliee need to switch as the quad went much slower than the go cart. So Drew gets on the quad and immediately barrels off the side of the hill crashing into a tumbleweed because the steering is quite different. I hear him as I race over telling himself, "Drew, slow down, just slow down." I help him get situated, he goes down the hill & can't get back up, I ride it back up for him. Then he wants to try the motorcycle. OH GEEZ, I am ready to beat my husband. He tries it, lays it over, and I finally flex my Mommy muscle enough to go home. I am so not even cool with my kids on motorcycles. What happened to me, I am an old Momma. PHEW, we were back unscathed. Thank GOODNESS!

We slept at Auntie Casie's the whole time & unfortunately didn't get to spend as much time with them as we wanted. But we had a great time nevertheless. The boys and girls had grown up so much :( We spent Halloween with Mark & the boys as it was his Halloween. It was nice to see him too. Broke my heart we had to do it separately.

A last minute thrown together Halloween this year.

Casie would beat me if she saw these pics, we were lounging all day with no showers. :) Notice her new found obsession with Angry Birds thanks to Hal!

My girls all grown up~