~Hodo Happenings~: November 2009

I've been so bad about blogging lately...it seems I just never have the time to sit down & update anymore....and of course with the holidays coming up, I don't see my time freeing up at all, but I will do what I can. :o)

Let's see what's been going on...we've pretty much finished the renovations in both the bathroom & kitchen. Both still need some finishing touches, but, for the most part they are done, which is very exciting for us. We only have about 10 more months of "manpower" to finish any other projects we want to do before Brian deploys next year, so anything being completed is a huge relief.

We had a fun visit with Grammy & Papa over Halloween. It was so good to see them & spend some time with them. We just wish we could do it more often! The kids LOVE having them here and the adults don't mind them much either :o)

Lily brought home a very impressive report card last month and we are SO proud of her!! She received excellent grades in all her subjects and has progressed from a reading level 11 to a 22 in just 4 short weeks! Way to go Lily!! She loves reading. She is already reading chapter books (the Junie B. Jones series being her favorite) and she amazes us on how well she can read them. She started gymnastics classes this year and absolutely loves it. She seems to be a natural gymnast (maybe some of moms talent from my younger years has been passed down to her :o)) and is constantly practicing cartwheels, splits and anything else she can think of from her classes. She's also involved in Girl Scouts again this year. She is in a different troop from last year, but seems to love it just the same. We've participated in a nature walk, visited elderly people in a nursing home, earned 4 merit badges and completed her investiture ceremony so far this year. Lily has lost 2 of her baby teeth so far & just last week realized another one is wiggly. Hopefully we can make it through Christmas pictures without losing any more :)

It seems JT has been growing at warp speed lately. Every day is seems he is doing or saying something new. He's talking a lot now, only some of which we can understand, but he's trying really hard! So far he is saying Vroom, Shoes, Ball, Dada, Mama, Duck, Book, Car, Bye-Bye, Uh-Oh, Hot, Bus, Moo, Baby, VaVa, Sissy, Choo Choo, and the newest words are "Mami" (Grammy) and "BaPa" (Papa). He runs everywhere he goes (why walk, when you can run?!) and keeps us all on our toes. He loves to be around his sister, although I can't say the feeling is mutual, and he is already learning to annoy her on purpose. (What are little brothers for, right?) He is almost always in a happy mood and just wants to play and joke all the time. If you ask him where his head, eyes, ears, mouth or tongue are, he will point to them. Such a smart boy! He's also been cutting more teeth...his molars & eye teeth have been coming in, and other than a lot of drooling, he doesn't seem to be bothered by it.

I guess that's all for now. Can't think of much else to update everyone on. I'll try to be better about blogging, but I can't make any promises :o)

Hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving!!