A horse named Penny

Recently I was privileged to offer Sabrina a ride on the horse at our grocery store.
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Molly and Babo

Took this quick snapshot of Molly entertaining Babo at lunch today. The whole crew went out to lunch at T.G.I. Friday's and the kids did exceptionally well. Molly was very cute in her expressions and kept Babo very entertained. Fortunately it was a very nice day and we might have eaten outside had it not been for the stench from the newly re-surfaced parking lot.
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Reading to the birthday girl

Tonight, Christopher read two books to Molly. For the record, she's not much of an Iron Man fan.
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Happy Birthday Molly!

Today is Molly's first birthday! She has 2 teeth, she can walk and she is starting to babble. The past year has gone by very quickly...

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Lost a friend (con'td)

Here's a photo of the tree.
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Lost a friend

Last night's storm took out the tree in our backyard. The kids were grieving this morning over their lost friend.

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Fun in the backyard

This past weekend we played outside all weekend long.  On Friday we rented a tiller and began to prepare the soil that will eventually become the garden.  Saturday was spent creating an area around our 2010 Christmas Tree which is showing signs of new life.  Yesterday we played out in the sun again until it rained.  All in all we had a great time and have some great memories from the weekend.  Now all we need is for the sunburn to go away and we'll be in great shape!

Bottle before bike

Annette is shown here "topping off Molly" before our Mother's Day bike ride.
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Grandma Birthday

Keeping with tradition, this is a photo of Grandma blowing out her birthday lighter. Let's just say the "cake" was fresh and too hot to hold a boring old wax candle.
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New Room for "Big Two"

The Big Two have a new room. We've officially moved them downstairs into the basement giving everyone a little bit more room in the house.  So far the transition has gone very well, but we're only on the second night.  Now all we have to do is find a gate for the top of the stairs that meets everyone's criteria. 

Talkin' Bout God

Today, Sabrina informed me that her Cinderella doll was "Talkin' Bout God." I asked, "What is she saying about God?" Her response? "The Lord beef with you." Priceless.

Tee Ball

Just wanted to share a photo of Christopher on the Tee Ball field.
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Good times in Wisconsin

This should have been posted several weeks ago but we're just now getting caught up! We headed up to the north woods during spring break and enjoyed all that camp (and great company!) had to offer. Some highlights: meeting new twin cousins, making s'mores by the campfire, the Madison Children's Museum, canoeing on Lake Jake and spending time with family!

First Family Bike Ride

Adam has been assembling different parts for the family's bike entourage. Yesterday afternoon he picked up the final piece... the Odyssey is officially hitched. So we hooked up the Yakima bike rack, attached the bikes and went for a ride. Here are some photos from our good times in the "Bike Church" parking lot.

Easter kids

Here's a photo of most of the Hoeben grandchildren gathered on the couch for Easter Sunday brunch at Grandma's. 

Adam's birthday

For Adam's birthday in April, he wanted to have all the kids gathered around as he blew out his candles.  He needed the help and they were willing to oblige.  In exchange for the help, Molly decided she'd like to have a handful of apple pie. 

Photo of several Hoeben Grandchildren

This crew was mostly cooperative in posing for this photo taken in March at Grandpa Hoeben's birthday party.  Several shots were taken and this was the best of the bunch.  Trust me.

New bike, clothes and sunglasses

In this photo, Clara is riding her bike at Granny's house while wearing hew new outfit and sunglasses she received for Easter.  She has only had the bike for a few weeks but is already learning how to ride it with ease. 

The Morning After

This shot was captured at the breakfast table after the circus and an unusually late bed time. When asked which part of the circus she liked best, Clara replied, "Everything!" It appears it was worth the lack of sleep.

The Greatest Show on Earth

We're not sure if the Greatest Show on Earth is the death-defying stunts, artful acrobatics and funny clowns of Ringling Bros. or if it's the looks on the kids faces as they take it all in.

Traditions when Mom's out of town

Whenever I was growing up, we had some traditions when mom left town for a weekend conference.  Pops would always allow the three boys to sleep on the floor in the living room on Saturday night and we'd usually watch Clint Eastwood movies.  I can't remember what kind of snack we got to eat, but I'm sure it was a good one.  She was pretty surprised when her young sons would greet her upon her return with, "Go ahead.  Make my day."

Recently when Annette and Molly were out of town, I found myself running out of steam at about one hour before bedtime.  So, following with the tradition, I popped in a movie for the big three to watch.  We didn't watch "Dirty Harry" or "Fistful of Dollars."  Instead, "Beauty and the Beast" was the DVD du jour.  Christopher and Clara made it through the whole movie, but unfortunately Sabrina got a little squirrely and had to be ushered off to bed. 

Goldilicious at bedtime

Here's a photo of Adam reading to his three girls at bed time.  They're looove their Pinkilicious and Goldilicious stories. 

New tooth?

In this photo, Annette is inspecting Sabrina's mouth for an alleged
new tooth. New teeth can wreak havoc on our home.

Conversation Contest

Recently, this line was said in the house with a rather aggravated tone.

Annette - "Because he likes them and he thought they'd make good dinosaur poop!"

Here's the contest ... you need to come up with at least three lines of conversation with the fourth line being the one above.  Got it?  Let's see what you can come up with ...

A story

Tonight before putting Clara to bed, she was complaining about having to brush her hair tomorrow. I (Adam) told her that she could get a shorter haircut like her brother. She said, "But then I'd look like a boy." After giving this some consideration, she decided that she would like to look like a boy ... with earrings! She said, "Some boys wear earrings, I could too!" I told her she's not going to become a boy. She insisted that she'd like to be a boy with earrings, and then she told me that she's seen boys with earrings ... Any guesses where she's seen said boys with earrings?

At Granny's church!

Happy birthday to Todd!

We had a great time in Louisville with Todd, Heather and Tim this past weekend (& Stella too). We spent much of the day at Cherokee Park traipsing through the woods looking for things high and low. We hope you enjoyed your birthday celebration as much as we did, Todd.

Even Superheros Have to Eat Breakfast

How does a Superhero start his day? It's an age-old question Christopher helped to shed some light on one morning this past week. We're still wondering, what super-concoction is in the mug??

Love of Learning

I am so excited how much our kids love to read! Christopher is quickly learning to read to us. Sabrina and Molly are learning too as Sabrina has been sitting for 'big kid books' and Molly is turning pages.

Clara's Winter Village

Of any of my kids (so far) Clara is the one who loves to be outdoors most. Be it cold or hot, digging and building outside are her favorite things. Our recent snow falls have been a great source of building material for our little construction worker. She recently donned the snow suit and set to work. Even I was surprised at her industriousness. After only an hour she had created an entire snow man village! Ugh, 'snow man family' actually, she tells me.

Molly's Milestones

Our Molly turned 8 months this past week and she's been busy trying keep up with the big three. She's up on her knees, though she still prefers the low crawl for speedy maneuvers. She's also begun eating 'finger foods' and I recently found her standing in her crib after nap time. Her are a couple shots of her recent progress.

Pop

At first, Christopher wouldn't read to me (Adam) his assignment from class tonight. So I suggested that he read to his baby sister instead ... and this worked! It's pretty cool watching him learn to read - and dangerous too. We have to be careful when spelling things at the dinner table now because he picks up on what we're trying to say. That's a good problem, I suppose.

More costumes

Molly wanted to get in on the act also. (Note - this image was taken with my new BlackBerry and the other with the iPhone - hence the "flash.")

Dress up time

Tonight the two older girls got into the dress up box and put on
random things. Clara's wearing a yellow and black tutu from when her
mother was the same age while Sabrina has on a blue dancing outfit.
Christopher is just wanting to be in on the action and not wearing any
costumes. Those of you who know him will understand.

Pig Tails or ?

Would you call these pig tails or what? Sabrina has taken recently to having her hair pulled back at the beginning of the day. Pretty cute if you ask me.

Hanging around at Todd and Heather's

Took this snapshot whenever we were in Louisville last week at Todd and Heather's. This post is for two purposes... 1. To update the blog and
2. To test this update method using the new BlackBerry