The Haechrel Catch Up!

Hi Everyone,

I just posted lots of stuff....so make sure to scroll down, I was a little behind!

Thanksgiving

We had a grand time with the Haechrel's and extended family and friends at Thanksgiving. So very thankful we could all be together and especially thankful for the opportunity to spend some time with

Grandma Agnes, who had only met 1 of the 5 Idaho/Washington great-grands!

Grandpa Bob, Mitch, Great-Grandma Agnes (Bob's mother), Chris and Amelia

Great Grandma Agnes, Amelia and Cousin Paige

The "5" Haechrel Grandkiddos

Amelia steeling kisses from Uncle Eric

Aunt Stephanie starting to wonder if she has some competition with Amelia.

Grandma Sandy and her two baking helpers! Making fabulous chocolate mint cookies! Which we quickly gobbled up!

Cousins Reece and Paige wishing Amelia and Mitch goodbye.

Brooke and Drew enjoying a few quiet minutes together.

Thank you everyone for a great holiday! The drive was well worth it.

The food was great, and we so enjoyed our time together! We must do it again soon.

Ahhhhh.....Amelia

Well, Amelia has had a few adventures in the last week.

First, she cut her hair.

She gave herself a mullet. It wasn't pretty.

But it turned out okay. The bangs are a little heavy, but it will grow.

It is choppy in a couple of places, but it will grow, right?

Then she gave herself a shiner. Yes, a big ole' black eye.
Whew....it looks terrible and is still healing.

She was chasing with the cousins and Mitchy at Grandma and Grandpa Haechrels over Thanksgiving. Slipped on a rug and ran into the corner of a wall.
Ouch. She cried, a lot.

But she isn't so distressed over it anymore, as you can tell.

It is still painful for me to look at though.
I am glad we got the mullet fixed before she got the black eye though. She would have looked like she belonged in the backwoods of the Appalachians with it all going on together.

Happy Birthday Drew!

So, on Wednesday November 19th, our littlest baby turned 1 year old. I can't even believe how fast the year has gone. Too think that just over a year ago, I was 5 days overdue with our 3rd and last baby and was convinced it was a girl (no proof on the girl thing though...). WOW, how things change in such a short time. Who couldn't love this cute little dimpled baby BOY!

Drew had a fun little birthday with just our family.

Poor kid, I think his sister and brother overwhelmed him just a little bit with their excitement. I remember when both Amelia and Mitch turned 1, they just seemed so grown up and big, and Drew just seems so little.

Drew had a great time though, really liked the cake, although the frosting was his favorite. He mostly just sucked it off the cake and then through the rest on the floor.

As for presents, he didn't hardly have a chance to open them. We practically had to tie the other two down so Drew would have a fighting chance and even getting to them. But all in all, he got lots of his very favorite thing....balls or toys that have balls associated with balls and toys to push too! And he has played with all of them.


And last but not least...the "almost" picture. Ironically Drew, this almost picture is taken while you are sleeping on Mom and Dad's bed, where in all reality you have spent a better part of your first year either sleeping in our bed or in our room. For some reason, I just haven't been able to move you out as quickly as we did the other two. Some it is is due to lack of space, and trying to get Mitchy sleeping a bit better, but other of it is just cause you are the baby.

As I think on this last year, I think about all that you have brought to our family. We have settled into a family of 5, and Drew, you complete us. You are a precious little babe. You have been an easy one from the get go. Sleeping through all the noise and chaos in our home, nursing like a champ and toting to the office with me for so many months on the days I worked.

But the first thing I remember was seeing your little face and thinking

"Wow, that baby GIRL sure does look a lot like Mitch".

And then we realized you were a little boy.

And then we saw your dimples and heard your cute little cry.

Your little dimpled grin, your quiet but not to be forgotten disposition all are so perfect. You are such a laid back baby, not much to say, but determined to get what you want (a bit like your daddy I think). You are the baby, and we love to treat you like the littest of the "short ones". But that doesn't mean you don't demand to keep up or put up and you have no problem sassing back to Amelia or Mitch when needed.

We forget that you should be getting close to walking....we just carry you everywhere and don't even make you stand up to try. But I am really okay with carrying you, cause I just can't rewind and make you little again, and soon, you won't want me to carry you at all. So, I will just carry you as long as I can.

We love you Drew Baby and can't wait for many more fun memories to come!

The BIG "3" for our Mitchy

Mitch turned 3 this last Wednesday, the 12th, and well we just had a blast celebrating with him! He totally got that it was his birthday, and was most excited for cake, and then for presents.

But what kind of fun cake do you make for a kid who specifically requests, "chocuate, mom, I want chocuate mom, wif chocuate frousting."?????

A football cake of course! And even better, the kid sat and helped me make the cake, pretty much from start to finish. He does love to cook, and we had fun doing it together.

Powertools, flashlights and jerseys were the name of the game this year! Thank you everyone for the great gifts!

Using his new jigsaw to cut his cake (well at least pretending too).

And lastly, every year, on the night before their bithday, while they are sleeping, I take a picture of my kiddos. For some reason I just have to capture that last moment before they are officially a year older. I can't believe how much they change. The pictures aren't always great, but I love the memory of doing it. Chris thought it was corny at first (which it is), but now he reminds me and brings me the camera.

"Almost 3"

"Almost 2"

"Almost 1"

And best of all....the things we love about Mitch at age 3.

You are wild and crazy! You keep us hopping, always into something and yet so smart and inquisitive. Just when I think you are not listening, you have absorbed way more than I even thought possible. You love to wrestle, jump, and tackle. You pick on your sister and brother and they both give it right back. You love to play with tools...whether out of dads tool box or out of moms kitchen.

You love to be outside, the fresh air calms your little spirit and yet gives you a new energy at the same time. Your cheeks are always flushed from either the heat or the cold, and with that I know you have had a good time. The love of being outside is something I hope you never loose....whether playing ball or raking leaves, you are there!

You are the PERFECT middle child and God certainly knew what he was doing by giving you to us when he did.

You love the book "Where the Wild Things Are", so as the book says

"...let the wild rumpus start"!

We can't wait for all the fun to come!

Halloween & Its Damage

Oh what fun we had dressing up and trick or treating last night! Chili with the Johnsons and the Morrisons and then out for a round of candy collection.

Drew....after Mom lets him have a lollipop while we were out. He was making such a rukus watching the other kids get candy that I let him have his own lollipop. Needless to say, he quit fussing.

Ahhhh....Motherhood....

I NEVER would have let Amelia have a lollipop at this age.

Short one #3 has it easier already.

Amelia, Abby and Mitch all wired up after plenty of sweets.

A great smile from the cutest butterfly on the block.

And now for today's BIG DAMAGE! I let Mitch take his candy bucket to rest time with him. Yes, my brain had left the building. He was quietly watching a movie and I thought he fell asleep (he was exhausted from last night). But about an hour and half later he pokes his head downstairs and I notice chocolate on his face. I proceed to my bedroom and find the below scattered across the bed.

And when asked "Mitch, how much candy did you eat?", he sweetly responds, "Way too much." However, later in the evening, coming off his sugar high was not a very pleasant experience, tired, cranky and lots of sugar don't go well together! ;)

Pumpkins!

So, today I realized I hadn't loaded our pumkin carving pics from last week....I am so good to take pictures and then I have such a hard time remembering to download them. That is probably why my camera has pictures on it from early June still!!!!

Anyway, back to pumkins. So, sadly, this is our first year carving pumpkins with the kids. Previous years Chris was either out of town, or I was big and pregnant, or we were swamped with a new business....but this year, it was perfect! Chris was here, I am NOT pregnant (and won't be anymore) and we are all just havin' a bit more spare time to be together. And the kids are actually old enough to know what is going on. Unfortunately, little Drew missed all the action, cause he was so sleepy, he was already in bed asleep when we started carving.

So, first...our cute little pumpkins, from the local pumkin patch. Which of course I forgot the card in my camera at so we really didn't get any of our own pictures. Thank goodness Sarah had her camera and we did get a couple of shots of the family.

Then to the backyard for the opening of pumkins......

Continuing to work on pumpkins! Mitch was very impressed that we let him use a little pumpkin carving knife.

The finished product! The pumkins are a bit scary, but I think the scariest part of this picture is that Mitch is holding the box of matches! Eeeeck! How did that happen!

We moved the pumkins to the front step, and lit them up. This is a picture of one of them as we sat on the steps, with the pumpkins turned facing us (pumkins facing the house), and we ate popcorn. Turning the pumkins to look at us was Amelia's idea. She insisted that if we were going to eat our popcorn on the step, that we had to look at the pumkins at the same time. It was actually quite fun hanging out in the dark with 3 glowing faces looking at us. Maybe it is our new family tradition!

Happy Halloween!

Snow! And a few cute kids....

So we had our first big snow storm this last weekend. The kids thought it was GREAT! Mitch is such a little penguin that I could hardly keep a coat on him, much less gloves...so don't think we are bad parents! I am hoping we get enough snow this winter to replace the kiddie pool!

Mitch....having a blast!

Drew didn't play in the snow...but he did do a little pose for us wearing a hat. Isn't he just the cutest thing? We think so.....

And since I am posting photos, I had to throw in a few cute shots of the boys. For some reason we caught a few good ones recently....now we just have to try to get a few good ones of Amelia.

The love of a kiddie pool

This summer, I do not know how we would have survived without the beloved kiddie pool. Or I guess I should say, how would Mitch have survived? The boy just loves the thing, rain or shine, hot or cool, his favorite activity was to go crazy with the pool and the water hose. And his favorite water is the icy cold stuff straight from the faucet. So today, as summer is starting to feel a little more fallish, I realized we did not have any video of my favorite stunt of his in the kiddie pool, so I decided not only to record, but to share. These kids change so fast and we all know that by next spring Mitch will be on to different antics and the move will be lost forever. Now, I wonder what we are going to replace the kiddie pool with this winter????

Preschool already?

So Amelia started preschool last week.

She was so cute and all ready to go to school. It is so scary how fast these little ones grow up!

Montanta, oh how we love you!

Okay, really we just really love the PARTAINS!

What a fun time we had spending the Labor Day weekend with Tammy, Seth, Isaac and Silas!

Amelia teaching Isaac a few desirable stunts!

Uncle Seth teaching Isaac and Amelia the benefits of electronic gadgets (ipods no less).

Can Drew's legs really be that much longer? I know this isn't the greatest picture, but the point is to show the difference in these two little boys. I mean Drew is 4 weeks YOUNGER than Silas and yet I think his legs are 4 inches longer!

BEST OF ALL MY BIRTHDAY!

And one of the best parts of my weekend....my birthday! And even better was getting to celebrate with the gang! It was 9 years ago that I think I last got to spend my birthday with Tammy & Seth!

The kids are really lovin' all 34 candles on that delicious cake! Talk about a fire hazard!