its coming....

After some time away from this blog, I am happy to announce an update coming soon!  I know it has been a crazy long time, but we have been having a crazy lot of fun too!

Let's trim the tree shall we?

This year I decided to do things a little differently.  I have been extremely homesick this past year and Christmas has always made me feel better.  So Matt gave me the go ahead to decorate early.  And decorate I did!  I decided to have Christopher help instead of trying to get it all done while the boys are asleep.  The magic in his eyes was so worth it!  Matt also kept up his tradition....he watched his favorite Christmas movie,Elf,  while we decorated.  I think Christopher had a hard time choosing between the tree and the movie.

 I also made a small felt  tree for the boys to decorate.  All of the ornaments were also made of felt so they stuck to the tree on their own!  It was a hit with the boys as well as any kids who came to play, and a few adults too!

He had to get just the right placement.

Showing off my handiwork!

Happy Birthday to me baby!!!

Turning 30 is a big deal!  I mean really!  A BIG DEAL!  And how did I celebrate you ask?  I went skydiving!  No need to reread that last sentence.. I will say it again for you.  I WENT SKYDIVING!  And it was awesome!  I honestly was not scared or nervous at all.  I was a tiny bit hesitant 10 seconds after we jumped out of the plane, but by that time, there was no turning back.  

Afterwards Matt took me pottery painting, and to any of you who know me, I loved it!  I painted a beautiful red coffee mug with black swirls.  We then went to meet all of our friends at Bucca's!  It is one of my favorite places to eat and with all of our friends made it that much better.

Halloween was a hoot!  Christopher went as a cowboy and Henry was a pumpkin.  The were the cutest.

Up until now Chris had never gone trick or treating because he was just too small.  But this year we headed out with our friends Dave and Christine and their kids Trinity and Donovan.  I don't know who had more fun, me or Chris.  

Henry had fun riding in his little car, but the costume soon got on his nerves and he spent the rest of the evening trying to get out of that sucker!

 All of the neighbors commented on how polite our little cowboy was when he said thank you every time.

 He was oblivious to the candy part of it and would ring the doorbell, yell "Trick or Treat" and then run back.  It took a few houses before he caught on.  He even let himself into a few houses.  

                             
My little cowboy!  He can find anywhere!  Even in the dark.


 

WOWZERS! I have been slacking... well actually no I haven't.

The above statement is both true and false at the same time.  While yes I have been doing a HORRIBLE job at keeping you all updated.  I have been increadily busy with other things.  So in this short break away from my kids, and house chores I will try to bring you up to speed!

AND.... GO!

September is a major blur.  But in a good way!  As a family we ran the Stephen Sillers "tunnel to towers" 5k.  If any of you are wondering what that is, THIS will fill you in.  It was amazing to see so many people turn out!  And as it were... I quite literally bumped into someone from my hometown!  She and I have since become FB buddies!

Anyway, we also participated in "Light the Night" walk, to help shed light on research for Leukemia and Lymphoma. It is an organization close to both of our hearts, and we were blessed with friends and family donating money to the cause!

 And now onto October....

It was brought to my attention...

So I realize that it has been a while since I last posted, but life has been so grand and busy I honestly wanted to spend more time enjoying it and less time writing about it!  I have a few minutes to myself so I decided to post about myself.  You see, a friend recently told me that while they love reading about all of the great things that happen in our house, there have very few posts about just me.  Not the food I cook, or the crafts I do with the kids, but just me.  They suggested something interesting!  An entry about me with as many facts as I am old.  Be it past experiences or future goals.  So I thought why not...surely I am interesting enough to put 30 things about myself up.  So here we go!

• I am afraid of the dark.. I always have been.  I think it is because I am as blind as a bat, and when I have no glasses or contacts on I really can't see anything in the dark.
• I love to bake!  I think it is my therapy.....even though it sometimes stresses me out
• I love Disney movies! And I still sing some of the songs from my favorite movies as a kid.
• I try to be the very best friend I can !
  
• I LOVE yarn.  Not necessarily for anything.  I just love balled up yarn.
• I can not sleep with the closet or bathroom doors open.  That is where the monsters stay.
• I can not...CAN NOT grow plants.  
• I am an Army wife and so very proud to be! 
• My favorite color is teal, but I go through different stages of jewel tones!
• I am allergic to melons.
• I am dominantly left handed.
• I love  my name!  I have never in my life wanted to change it.... Except when I got married.

• I have been married for 8 years!  EIGHT! And I got to have two weddings!

• I regularly go snuggle with my boys while they are sleeping... they aren't big snuggle bugs otherwise.
• I love my dog, even though he claims Matt and the boys as his "masters" and gets on my nerves ALL the time. I love him.

My favorite pic of Goper.

• The smell of peppermint reminds me of my grandpa.  

• I only have one tiny picture of my Nana.  I keep it in the kitchen so I see it all the time.
• I do not DO NOT like orange.
• I am living in Hawaii for the second time in the last decade.

• I make beautiful babies! 

 Christoper 

Henry

• I hate to put clothes away.  I can wash, dry, and fold them.  But have a very hard time putting them up.
• I love to make things. I sometimes thing my middle name should be Crafty.  That has a nice ring to it.. Sarah Crafty Hardin.  Although I do love my name.
• I used to teach school.
• I broke my nose on my second date with my husband.
• I am faint of blood.
• I love to do puzzles, but doing them makes me sad because I miss my friend Jenna.
• I have a very big fear of balloons. 
• I have a lot of movies I love but there are a few that will always remain at the top : You've Got Mail, To Kill a Mockingbird, Field of Dreams, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and The Final Season
• I hold my uncle Russell accountable for my love of baseball!  He talked my mom into signing me up as a kid and he even took me to my very first professional baseball game. Texas Rangers vs. New York Yankees.  My earliest memory of him is sitting on the couch with him watching a game.  I don't know how old I was but I still remember what clothes I was wearing.
• I went skydiving for my 30th birthday!  I figured what better view to have than the north shore of Oahu to do it.  It was amazing! I crossed it off of my list of things I want to do and have absolutely no plans on ever doing it again.

So there it is! A small portion of my life in 30 quick sentences.  Did I surprise any of you? 

WHAAAAAAT?

I occurred to me this morning that you all are in SERIOUS NEED of a kiddo update!  And while I do need to update you all on he rest of our summer, this seems more important to me right now... more for my own recollection and documentation! So here we go!

Christopher is 3 years and almost 4 months!  And while he does have a rotten streak sometimes, he does have to sweetest tendencies.  He is about to be enrolled in school since his speech is delayed.  But Dr.s think school will be great for him, and give him he extra push he needs that I can't give him.  He is going to love it!!!  He also loves anything that has to do with cooking!  He also loves to draw on his magna doodle.  And with the help of modern technology, he has even gotten to sit down and draw with his aunt Kiki and Nana.  His vocabulary, though behind, really seems to be blossoming!  He loves to go to school and church to see friends! Helping out mom (that is my name now... not Mama) is a natural for this boy! He really loves to pretend he is Gopher! They are quite cute when they sit and beg for food!  Here are his stats:

• He weighs in at 37 lbs (still)
• He is 38 inches tall
• His favorite meal is PB&J with carrots and goldfish
• His other favorite foods are corn on the cob, beans, cookies (obviously), capri sun, pop tarts, broccoli, bell peppers, and anything that has to do with blueberries.
• I can rarely get him to eat meat.  But I have learned if it is covered in BBQ sauce, it is as good as gone!
• He has stipped taking a bath but still has a quiet time every day.
• He really doesn't have a favorite TV show since we limited tv to couple of hours a week.
• His favorite movies are WALL-E, The Rescuers, and Finding Nemo
• He still loves Angie, but his WOOBIE is a thing of the past!!!
• He is still terrified to get his hair cut
• He is 100% left handed.
• He no longer wants to be called Christopher...it is Chris. And that breaks my heart.

And now for some Chris pics...

 Could he be any sillier?!

 Shaving cream letters

I let him choose his new sunglasses and he chose these! He is going to land a role in the new Breakfast club remake for sure!  (and no they are not remaking it...Im just saying.)

And now Henry....

I am happy  to announce that Hank has been sleeping through the night for a while now, I just didn't want to jinx it.  He is a real snuggle bug!   He loves all stuffed animals and toys he shouldn't play with.  Jumping is also a favorite!  And he absolutely adores Christopher!   I think he might be smaller than Chris.  He is 100% mobile now and while it sill takes him a while to get from A to B he is picking up speed daily.  He has started eating table foods and couldn't be happier!!!  His favorite so far is wheat bread! He said Mama yesterday 8-24-11 and his uncle Josh got to hear him on the phone!  He is long overdue for his first haircut, but are having a hard time letting go.  Now for his stats:

•  He weighs 18lbs and 2 oz
• He is 25 inches long
• His favorite food is anything I am eating.  But bread and baby cheese puffs are his loves!
• He does not like grapes.
• Miller is still his #1 gal although Farly the Frog is pulling a VERY close second.
• He has 2 full teeth on the bottom and 2 top teeth that started breaking through 2 days ago.
• He is completely right handed.  
• He loves to spit when he sun is coming through the windows, so he can see it catch the light.  It is very gross but soooooo funny!
• He pushes his lips out like a kiss and breathes really fast through his nose when he is excited!
• His favorite toy is the door stopper in the hallway that going BOING
• He naps twice a day once around 9 am and then again around 1 pm
• He will fall asleep a the drop of a hat if he is snuggling his daddy.

And now for pictures!

Playing with the door stopper

 Dr. Hardin at your service!

Loving the morning sunshine is a daily routine here!

He really loves baths in the sink!  Can you tell?

As you can imagine, life with two boys is crazy craziness!  Never the less, here is a long overdue video update!  I promise to do a for real, pictures included, update in the next 24 hours... maybe.

The other day I had so many things to do, but I just couldn't pull myself away from these guys.  And I totally think it was worth it!




Henry has been crawling for a few weeks now, but I am just now getting around to putting up some videos.  (I know, "Horrible Mother of the Year" nominee right here..)  When trying to get Hank on the move we found the best tempter was Miller! 

A few funny videos!

With all of the crazy chaos of ER visits, and hospital stays there were a few funny moments!  So I decided to share a few!  I promise to update more on the month of July later!!! 









Are you smiling yet?!

He is is mother's son!

It would seem my silliness is already showing up in Henry... And I am not at all surprised... Christopher was about this age when he started showing signs of his mothers "silly disease". 



But now it is Hank's turn!



Mission accomplished... NEXT!

Crafts, Papa and Jesus!

This is why Christopher doesn't eat muffins very often... he tends to pulverize them. But look how proud he is!

Kiki never falls short on surprised for boy #1!  She sent foam swords that were an instant hit, quite literally.  

I decided to continue with the "year of homemade gifts" with leis for Papa and Melody!  I learned to make them about 5 years ago when our FRG decided to make leis for every soldier in Matt's unit returning from Iraq.. after 300, I got pretty proficient at it!

Christopher decided to make leis too, with a little help from mom.  Hank did an excellent job of watching!

 They were very surprised! 

Papa and Henry's first time meeting!  Needless to say it was love at first sight!  

Henry had to sleep in our room the week Papa was here.  He is very much a cuddle bug and loves the frog his aunt Allison gave him.  Every morning I would wake up to find him like this.  Silly kid. 

Last November Jenna, Jeremy, Courtney and I made a trip up to North Shore and we wandered into Ron Artis studio.  The family was nice enough to give us a live concert!  As soon as the music started Henry went crazy in my belly!  So I decided that we would bring him back when Papa was here.  They scooped him up and let him explore the instruments!  He loved the piano the most!  

 Papa being... well... papa.

Christopher showing off his AWESOME tattoo! 

 They found fish! 

I don't think this kid will every get tired of going to the beach!

Henry seemed to have a fine time watching everyone!

His first time putting his feet in the water!  

He love it!

They filmed Pirates of the Caribbean here, and the Black Pearl is still docked at our favorite beach!  So cool!

We took them to Bucca Di Beppo, and sat at the kitchen table!  Afterwards we introduced them to Dave and Busters!  It was so so so fun!

The next day we went to the USS Missouri.  But first papa needed a little early morning snuggle time!  I don't think Henry minded one bit.

Papa and Christopher played games the whole time they were here.  It was either coloring, or matching or dominoes!  I am so happy that they got to spend that time together!

I also got the privelage to teach VBS this year!  It has been a few years since I have and it was really nice to get back to it.  The theme was Big Apple Adventure and I taught 1st grade with my friend Pam.  He is our classroom!

Our kiddos!

 Me and Pam

Paster D and Mrs. Kathy set a goal of $400. And if we could raise that much money, Pastor D said he would shave his head in front of everyone!

We blew that goal out of the water!  So Pastor D had to pay up!  The kids love it!