Fitness Fest!

Posted by Mari Jo on January 11, 2011  about Family, 3 comments

In 2011, I am trying to be the best version of me there is (think “Mari Jo…upgrade!”).  Do not confuse this with my struggle with perfectionism, as that is not what I mean, I plan to leave the perfectness to God, but I am trying to improve my skills specifically as a wife, mother, daughter, and overall person.

One of the ways Brandon and I both plan to improve on ourselves, is by getting in shape.  We have both committed to Fitness Fest 2011.  We plan to work out, and eat right and see where we are come June.  That gives us around 6 months to de-lump, de-bulge (or in Brandon’s case, bulge, as he plans to work on gaining muscle, he is already very trim and fit), de-lazify, and kick our rear ends into shape!

So, here are my dreaded before pictures.  I haven’t convinced Brandon to post his yet, as he will probably have to do his shirtless (like I said, he is basically perfect.  Remind me why I am doing this with him again?).  Maybe if we all start chanting “Brandon! Brandon! Brandon!”

Don’t stare too long if you value your eye sight.  And no, I am not wearing make-up either.  I plan on wearing it in my after pictures as it might make me look thinner. 

Brandon! Brandon! Brandon….

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A heaping portion of fun!

Posted by Mari Jo on January 10, 2011  about Family, Comments are off

Today Cousin Micah came over for a play date, and the three kids had a blast!  AA dressed herself in her most regal princess attire, and Micah dressed himself as one handsome bear.  First we put on classical music and danced a ballet, next made “drums”/shakers, then we did stations, watched a short video, and had a candy sandwich for lunch (for those who don’t know, I call peanut butter and jelly “candy sandwhiches” because that is essentially what they are, and I won’t be convinced other wise!)  All in all, a fantastic day!

Here are some pictures:

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Christmas 2010

Posted by Mari Jo on January 10, 2011  about Family, Comments are off

This season has been VERY full.  Full of cookies, activities, surprises, and of course, the Christmas spirit.

I have had many people ask if I was doing my advent calendar again this year, and we did, but I didn’t have time to make daily posts on Facebook about it like I did last year.  Some of our advent activities included:  Picking out a Christmas tree, seeing the Nutcracker ballet, buying toys for kids who need our help, visiting the convalescent hopsital, having a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory party, watching lots of Christmas movies, and taking thank you cards to our neighbors who put up Christmas lights.  Needless to say we were busy, but it was all worth it.  Here are a few pictures from our advent calendar:

This Christmas, the Hopkins side of the family came down for several days.  It was wonderful to have so much time with family.  We enjoyed all the regular traditions.  Game night, chinese (or in this case Teppenyaki) food, wrapping paper wars, stocking bartering, poker, and of course lots of quality time was all on the agenda.  It was a fantastic time, and both of the kids enjoyed having family around, and all the extra attention.

After the Hopkins side of the family headed home, we spent the day with Mamaw and Papaw opening presents.  It was a wonderful time.  Mamaw made a delicious Christmas dinner, as usual, and once again the kids were showered with love and attention.

Landon spent his first Christmas being passed around by everyone.  Aubrey Ann spent her Christmas being a wild child, living on a perpetual sugar high due to the large amount candies and cookies lying around.  They both did great, and I couldn’t be more proud of my Christmas angels.

Thank you everyone for making our Christmas so special.  I cannot imagine spending this holiday with anyone else.  We truly appreciate each and every one of you!

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Three things you MUST know about our family

Posted by Mari Jo on January 8, 2011  about Family, 1 comment

There are three things I have recently learned about our little family, that I want to clue you all in on.  I know, I know, you are DYING to know what it is.  Surprisingly, I learned three new things (ok, they really aren’t all that new, but they are now solidified in my mind as absolute truth) all in one evening.  Want to know what it is?  Well then read on my friends.

Fact #1

Brandon and I are crazy.  Not just regular ole’ forget your first name, wear your clothes backwards crazy.  Like, actually crazy.  Like, take a 3 year old and a five month old to the movies crazy.  Yes, you heard it hear first, Brandon and I took Aubrey Ann AND LANDON to the movies.

Now, this is atypical for me as a mother, as it was not only completely out of the realm of my comfort zone (I typically believe in putting children in situations where they have the opportunity to succeed i.e. NOT the movie theatre) but the movie didn’t even start until 6:40 pm.  No, that wasn’t a typo.  Let me spell it. Six-forty-in-the-evening.

What has happened to me?  Desperation.  Desperation makes people do crazy things.  Like taking their kids to see the new Rapunzel movie at 20 minutes till bed time.  It has been freezing, and none of us have left the house for anything other than grocery shopping for far too long.  Much, much too long.

This didn’t start out as a “parenting suicide” mission, it just ended that way.

Originally we had planned on taking the kids out to Johns Incredible Pizza, which in and of itself is crazy, but lets save that for another post.

We arrive at John’s Incredible Pizza at 5:30, and it is packed.  Like, think of Disneyland on Spring Break, Island water park on the hottest day of the summer, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade packed.  P-A-C-K-E-D.  Packed.

So there had to be a backup plan, we had already promised Aubrey Ann that we were going to John’s incredible Pizza.  Plan A had clearly failed, as I was not about to fight a million and one people over the last slice of cold pizza with a side of the flu.  Plan B was Ice skating, but sadly the next session didn’t start until 7pm, and did I mention how cold it has been?  Which left us with nothing but plan C.  What was plan C, you ask?  Ding, ding, ding, you guessed it.  The movies.

This is how I found myself, Mari Jo, typically reasonably sane, responsible mother at the movies at 7pm on a Saturday night with a three year old and a (almost!) 5 month old.

Yes, we are insane.

Fact #2

We have been blessed with a second child who is very much like his father.

A typical 4-5 month old would have spent an entire movie crying, fussing, shaking noisy toys, and whining for who knows what reason.  Luckily for us, Landon isn’t your typical 5 month old, most of the time.  Sometimes he saves his crankiness up for weeks, and chooses to expel it over a 2-3 day period in which I think I am going to go insane. Landon chose to spend his first trip at the movies quietly cooing, and making googly eyes at me, grabbing my face and snickering, and finally dozing off to sleep.

I would love to take credit for his even temperment, but I just can’t with a clean conscience.  He is his fathers son.  During times where everyone else is falling to pieces, Brandon is always calm and collected.  God really knew what he was doing when he paired us together!

Fact #3

We have also been blessed with a first child who is very much like her mother.

Now, don’t get me wrong.  This isn’t a complaint, as I have found that certain aspects of my personality which are “out of the norm” have served me well as an adult.  I am more sensitive than your average person, which means I cry at the drop of a hat, feel for my family and others deeply, and often feel emotional about random things at random times.  But some of the personality traits make for interesting toddler and preschool moments, I am sure my mother can attest to this.

Aubrey Ann chose tonight, of all nights, to display her…ahem…more sensitive side.

The movie had gone great.  Landon was passed out in Daddy’s arms, Aubrey Ann had come to snuggle on my lap.  It was as if she knew what was coming.  And then it happened.  SPOILER ALERT…

The prince in the movie dies.  But don’t worry, he is brought back to life with one of Rapunzels tears, but that is not the problem.  The problem is my extremely sensitive three year old who decides that the quiet movie theatre is the perfect place for an open display of sadness.  She didn’t just cry, oh no, that couldn’t possibly describe the noise that came out of my daughters mouth.  When I try to accurately describe it, I think I would have to call it a “wail”.  Like think of the old mourners who use to tear their clothes and put ashes on their heads kind of wail.  I am pretty sure nobody, NOBODY has cried that loudly at a movie EVER.  Titanic has nothing on Disney’s Tangled.

The noise was so loud and piercing, that it literally sent a shock wave through the audience.  Everyone jumped and turned around.  Thankfully, we happened to be surrounded by parents who were equally as insane, as they were also at the movies with their kids at 7pm on Saturday.  The crowd let out a loud chuckle just as the Prince said his final words and Rapunzel started to cry.

Yes, she is her mothers daughter.

I immediately went about my task of trying to get her to be quiet without chastising her for feeling so deeply (as I understand how truly heart broken she felt, first-hand), and she looked at me and said (quiet loudly I might add) “Why is it so sad?” To which my only answer was “I promise it ends nice.  Can you please cry quietly.”  This worked to quiet the wails, but not the sniffles that went on for several minutes until the story got happy again, to which she happily announced, quite loudly again, “Look Mama, it’s back to the way it was!”

Sigh.  I love that girl, wails and all.

So there it is.  Movies at 7pm on a Saturday with a 3 year old and 5 month old: parenting fail.  Happy baby, and lovingly sensitive three year old: parenting success.

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Who knew leaves could be so fun?

Posted by Mari Jo on January 7, 2011  about Family, 1 comment

Undoubtedly the most exciting chore at in the Hopkins home is raking leaves! I have the pictures (and Aubrey Ann has the giggles) to prove it!

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What I learned from 2010

Posted by Mari Jo on January 1, 2011  about Family, 1 comment

I hope I never stop growing as a wife, mother, person, and child of God.  This year has brought many highs and it’s fair share of lows.  But more than anything, it has brought growth.  Not just for me, but for all of us.

One thing I learned in 2010, is that I can do this “mothering thing”.  I think since Aubrey Ann was born, I have always questioned myself as a mother.  I have constantly wondered if what I was doing was right.  I questioned my instincts, my God given maternal feelings.  This year I learned, that it is ok, and even good to trust myself to do the right thing.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I still question myself, and try and run my thoughts and feelings through God’s filter, but time and again in this past year I have found that my instincts are good, and even ‘right on’.

I have learned that it is ok to not have it all together, all the time.  All my life I have pushed myself to be ‘perfect’.  This year I have learned that there is no such thing as ‘perfect’, and if there was, I don’t want to be that!  I have learned to love my flaws, and laugh at them.  Now, I am not saying my perfectionism is cured, in fact I would say it is far from it, but I am starting to recognize that my weaknesses allow others to display their strengths.  That is a good thing.

I have learned that a mothers love is endless.  I could have never imagined loving another child the way I love Aubrey Ann, but along came our sweet little Landon, and I love him with the same depth and intensity that I love his sister with.  Truly, my capacity to love has risen with the birth of our beautiful baby boy.  I am confident that if we are blessed with another child someday, that my heart will grow all the more.

I have learned to laugh more, hug more, kiss more, and worry less.

I have learned that my husband is always right (unless we are talking about cooking, and in that case, he is almost always dead wrong).  I am so blessed to have a husband whom I respect so deeply.  I would follow him to the ends of the Earth.  He is the reason I work so hard to make a comfortable home, cook yummy dinners, and put on makeup.  Without him, I would be a complete and total mess.

I have learned that I like me.  I like that I am a total mess when I don’t get sleep.  I like that I am willing to work myself into exhaustion to make something special for our kids.  I like that I can cry at any given moment about my family.  I like that I love to cook, hate to do laundry, love to read, hate to do dishes, and love love love the holidays.

I have learned that I am stronger than I think, but weaker than I’d like to be.

I have learned that God is good, all the time.  I don’t have to agree with or understand what He is doing.  He is my God, and that will always be enough.

I have learned that boys are soooo sweet!  So much sweeter than I ever imagined!

I have learned to give until it hurts, then give just a tiny bit more.

I have learned that being a mommy of more than one raises all sorts of new challenges, and by golly these kids aren’t always easy to figure out!

I have learned that there is never enough cheese, gummy grins, hugs from a certain three year old, or hours in the day.

I have learned that a simple “I love you” and a chocolate chip cookie heals all sorts of wounds.

Looking back 2010 has been a good year.  Now, onto our next adventure!

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