The sweetest gift of all...

I think Jim got the best gift of all on Christmas morning....Andrew said his first word...Da Da! :)

Christmas 2009!

This year was such a fun Christmas with the boys! Christian was so excited about it and Andrew had lots of fun too!

me and my cousin Tammy

GoGo's Christmas tree

Christian had a blast opening his gifts and loved everything he received!

Pops and Christian setting up his trains

GoGo and I trying some instant egg nog mix....not so good. ;)

Andrew got a new sippy cup and some Gerber puffs in his stocking!

Santa brought Christian a pirate ship and some other surprises too!

Andrew got an activity table from Santa!

The boys watching the parade of TV

Our Happy Birthday Baby Jesus cake

Andrew got a new cell phone and not me??!! ;)

Christian opening his new fire truck from Aunt Kimberly and Uncle Wrenn...he LOVED it!

When we got home, Jim and Christian set up his new art easel with a white board and chalkboard. This is the first thing Christian wrote on his board. So sweet!
Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!

Dear Santa, I've been very nice...

I think Andrew may actually make it on Santa's nice list this year! ;)

Andrew as Santa Claus

Christian with a bubble Santa Claus beard too!

Christian likes to give Andrew crazy hair when they are in the bath together!

The boys in their matching "I'm with the band" jammies with drum on them

Andrew does not sit still for very long these days...above you see his little foot as he crawls away and Christian is pointing at him. ;) I thought that pic was funny!


Christian with his Santa number beard on he made at school

Andrew says Santa Claus is coming to town...

So you better be snug in your bed on Christmas Eve...

Because Santa Claus comes tomorrow night! :)

Merry Christmas from the Hopkins Family!

Mom's Ministry Christmas playdate!

This morning I hosted a Christmas playdate for my Mom's Ministry ladies and their kiddos!

We had breakfast casserole, muffins cocoas and yummy butter toffee coffee!
Thanks to everyone that came over! The kids had so much fun playing and I enjoyed getting to visit with everyone!



Uma loved holding Andrew


Uma liked to pretend to read to Andrew too!

Christian's Kindergarten picture!

What a handsome young man! He looks so grown up in his kindergarten picture!
It is hard to believe it is already half way through his first year of school. Christian is out of school for the next two weeks for winter break. He returns on Jan. 4th. We have lots of fun things planned to do and also some time to relax as well. This week we plan to bake lots of cookies and decorate a gingerbread house. Andrew is also excited to have his big brother home with him for the next two weeks. They have so much fun playing together!

My 32nd Birthday!

Yesterday was my 32nd birthday. Even though I celebrated with friends and family last weekend, I still had a wonderful day! After church, Jim took me and the boys to brunch at Copelands. I love their brunch especially because they have live jazz music too! It was yummy!
We drove down to Van Buren and got to visit with family in the afternoon and GoGo made dinner. We watched old videos of when Christian was really little too. I can't believe how long ago it feels when he was a baby. Time just flies by! It was such a special way to celebrate my birthday!
Thanks to all my friends that sent me special Happy Birthday wishes too!

1 Corinthians 13 (Christmas Style)

I received this message in an email from a friend and wanted to share it! A wonderful message during the Christmas season!

If I decorate my house perfectly with lovely plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights, and shiny glass balls, but do not show love to my family - I'm just another decorator.

If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals, and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, but do not show love to my family - I'm just another cook.

If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home, and give all that I have to charity, but do not show love to my family - it profits me nothing.

If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties, and sing in the choir's cantata but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point.

Love stops the cooking to hug the child.

Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the husband.

Love is kind, though harried and tired.

Love doesn't envy another home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.

Love doesn't yell at the kids to get out of your way.

Love doesn't give only to those who are able to give in return, but rejoices in giving to those who can't.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.

Love never fails. Video games will break; pearl necklaces will be lost; golf clubs will rust. But giving the gift of love will endure.

Mom's Ministry Cookie Exchange!

This past Thursday was the last day of the fall semester of my Mom's Ministry women's study group at church. It has been a wonderful semester! We started our semester with "The Frazzled Female" then just wrapped up "Who's Pushing Your Buttons?" study.
Our last day of the semester we have a tradition of doing a cookie exchange and our secret pal reveals! Thanks Natalie for being such an AWESOME secret pal! ;)

Our group also published a cookbook for our church that we have been working on all year!
It turned out great! Luckily, we have already sold enough to cover our costs and we are now making profit that goes towards playground equipment for our children's programs at church.
So if you would like a Central United Methodist Cookbook, give me a holler! :)

I have several of my favorite recipes in it including my additive corn dip and Mexican Chicken Pot Pie!

To all my Mom's Ministry ladies, I hope you have a Merry Christmas with your families! Looking forward to our spring semester!

8 months old!

Andrew turned 8 months old over the weekend! Time is flying by! Here is a little update on what he is up to...

Andrew is pulling up on everything! He loves to stand and let go with one hand. He will even stand there and bounce like he is dancing, too cute.
He is still sleeping 12 hours, 6pm to 6am with no 10pm bottle for the past month or so. He has started waking up around 5am sometimes, so I am trying to work in a late afternoon nap so he might stay up a little later at night to fix that situation. We will see how that goes. But the past two nights, he slept until 6am. :)
He is eating 3rd foods and loves eating puffs. We are working on getting him used to a sippy cup. He understands how it works but he likes to play "drop the sippy" and see how often Christian or I will pick it up for him. Turkey. ;)
He has also started to learn to wave hi and bye bye. He has done it twice on his own.
He is truly just the sweetest thing and watching Christian and Andrew interact with each other is so fun! Here are some recent pictures of Andrew...
In some of them his nose looks a bit orange, pediatrician said it was ok, just from a lot of beta carotene like carrots and sweet potatoes. So I have tried to lay off the orange foods for a few days. ;)

playing in his book basket

an early reader ;)

Playing peekaboo!

Eating his first cheesy poof. Well, Gerber calls them "little crunchers" but they are really just a cheesy poof for babies. He was not sure if he liked them or not.

This is one busy boy!

Girls Night In!

This past Saturday night, some of my girlfriends came over to celebrate my birthday!

Everyone brought yummy food and Susan even surprised me with a BEAUTIFUL birthday cake she made for me...

I made pretty holiday drinks....champagne with cranberries and green sugar rims! Yum!




We sat around eating LOTS of food, talked for hours and hours, watched SNL (which I have not watched in forevs) and some Dane Cook comedy. The next morning, I made a breakfast casserole and we sat by the fireplace sipping coffee and watching HGTV home shows together! It was SO fun! Thanks again ladies for wonderful gifts, food, but especially for the great company! I love you all!!!