The big day finally arrived

Today was the day! After four grueling years (some years not as grueling as others) , and countless hours studying, I finally walked across the stage and received a little piece of paper that said, "The Walsh College faculty and staff would like to congratulate you on a job well done!" As everyone knows, you don't really receive your diploma at graduation; it comes sometime later. They'll send me an e-mail when I actually receive my diploma. But it was fun anyway. The ceremony was actually pretty okay. I auditioned to be the graduate speaker and you would have heard before now had I been chosen. Of course, as we listened to the speaker I kept thinking I would have done a better job (she seemed very condescending and Mom thought she actually spoke like she was still a teenager). Oh well, they just didn't recognize real talent when they saw it (actually, I woke up this morning and was grateful that I hadn't been chosen because I probably would have been real stressed and wouldn't have enjoyed the ceremony as much as I did -- except for the fact that I have been sneezing most of the day and was petrified I would sneeze while I was walking across the stage). All in all, it was a nice day and Mom was even able to come in spite of the fact that she accompanied Josh Stafford at his Solo and Ensemble competition this morning. She took some pictures of me in my graduation regalia and I will add them to this post. It is nice to be done with that portion of my journey (now on to studying for the CPA exam). Love you all and appreciate your support (especially Mom) over the last four years and the patience when I was gone or studying.

Sorry I look so dour in these pictures; I always feel like I'm smiling but obviously it doesn't translate into pictures.


The little thing hanging down by my sleeves is an appendage that is sewn at the end and made a great place to put my tissues for when my nose was running. When I suggested that to the guy sitting next to me, he thought he would put his cell phone in it (I don't think he ever did). When I first put the robe on I put my hands into them thinking they were sleeves; as I said, they were sewn at the end and were obviously not sleeves. I suggested to Mom that I should put my hands in them when I walked across the stage and she didn't think that was very funny. I wonder what kind of looks I would have gotten from the school president had I done that. It also would have made it difficult to shake hands with anyone; I guess I'm glad I didn't do it after all.



For those who don't know, the hood is for Master degree candidates/graduates and is trimmed with the color of my field of study -- the color is drab for Business/Accountancy/Management. I guess business people are very drab people.

He's 2!

Boy, are we ever glad he came into our life.  He is one big bundle of joy...most of the time.  Happy birthday, Noah!

eek!

I found my first gray hair Wednesday night. Ugh. Jason said, "Well, it looks like the kids are driving you bonkers." You know, he might be right!

New Addiction

So, since I post separately from Kurt, I figured I'd get in on the hot Wednesday blogging action, too. Don't really have anything new to add except this fabulous new time waster I discovered. I love crafting, as you know, so I'm loving using the "Pounce" tool on Etsy. If you've never checked out Etsy before you really should. It is a great homegrown crafting sales website. Most things are homemade or vintage or just really cool. The Pounce tool lets you jump to new sellers or, what I use, most recently sold. It really gets my crafty bone itching. That's a funny visual - would a crafty bone be made of yarn, maybe wool since its so itchy?! Anyway, enjoy!

Guess it's my turn...

I'm glad everyone is taking the time to update the blog. It gets so boring looking at the same-ol'-same-ol' all the time. I don't really have much to update about. Lastnight I was in charge of a PTO activity for moms and their sons. We decided to do dinner at the highschool and then have everyone watch the varsity boys' basketball game afterward. I put together some goodie bags for the boys and we had pizza. I think it went well and Merrit seemed to have fun, although, because I was in charge I didn't get to spend time with him until the game. Next year I'm going to make some changes so that I can spend more time with him. I think I'm going to ask for father volunteers to serve food and collect money so the moms can just enjoy themselves. I knew this year would be the learning year since it was the first time the PTO had done this. Next year should be much better. I'm just glad it's over now.

Wrestling is almost over. Hurray! There is about a month left. Unfortunately, there is an all day tournament on my birthday. YUCK! Right now is mid-term time. I'll probably be helping Charlie grade tests tonight so that he can get all his grades in before Friday. If he does that, his principal told him he could go home early on Friday. We want to go to the Frankenmuth Snow Festival that day, but because of wrestling practice in the evening, we'd have to go during the day. The kids have no school and Lexi has a half day. It would be such a fun family activity. Hopefully it's not too cold.

School is going well for me. I'm so glad I decided to drop back to half-time again. I feel so much more in control of my life now. Things are running much more smoothly. I've rededicated myself to Weight Watchers. I thought I should do something since I gained everything back that I had gained in that weight loss contest I had with Jana. My goal is to be at my goal weight by June. Last time I did Weight Watchers I lost 35 lbs in 6 months, therefore I should be able to do it again, right? At least that is what I think. January wasn't such a good month for me for staying on track, but I've added cardio workouts at U of M to my exercise regime. This should give me some needed help to burn calories.

The kids are all doing well. I had to laugh when I thought about listing the words that my kids can say :). I feel a little left out of the mile stone mapping. I guess I could say that...

Jaxson is learning how to write his last name. He has his first name down pretty good. He is speaking more clearly since being in school. His pronunciation is much better. He is such a funny kid because every morning before school he whines about having to go to school and how much he hates it. Then when I pick him up, he whines that he hates going home and wants to stay at school. I'm not kidding, this is almost a daily ritual.

Chelsea is reading pretty well now and loves to read scriptures, all by herself, with us before bed. In fact, some nights she is the instigator to read them. Chelsea has started taking piano lessons.

Makayla got her first love note today from a boy in her class names Diego. Her friend told her that he slipped it into her desk when she went to the bathroom. She said it makes her feel embarrassed. She told that to Diego and she said that he told he that it made him embarrassed too. She has started to like cooking. She asks to help me with dinner quite often. I need to take advantage of that more often. Unfortunately, I don't.

Merrit has earned his Weblos badge and almost has his Arrow of Light badge and will hopefully be receiving them at the Blue and Gold banquet next month. I'm so proud of all his hard work. Since being released from Cub Scouts, I haven't really thought much about his badges, but he has been very motivated to earn them and has persisted, much of the time on his own. The last thing he needs to do for his Arrow of Light is to have an interview with the Scout Master, which he scheduled (all by himself) for tonight after activities. He is struggling with spelling, which I can sympathize with because I did too. He works hard though and even does extra spelling homework every day, but he still can't seem to pull of an A on his spelling tests. I'm glad he keeps trying.

Alexis is still doing well in her classes. I think she is making friends now too. She didn't seem that interested in having friends at the beginning of the year, but she now mentions doing things with her friends at school. I'm glad for her. The world can be very lonely without friends. She continues to perfect her piano playing talents. She played a piece, piano solo for Silent Night, in sacrament meeting for Christmas and did very well. She would probably tell you differently though, because she did make a few mistakes, but they were mistakes that only those who knew the song would have known. She plays way better than I do. She can sight read fairly well; something that I can't do.

This is probably the longest update of anyone. Thanks for bearing with me through it all. Sorry I didn't include pictures to make the reading more interesting, but it also would've been way longer. Maybe I'll do some pictures later.

The Ypsilanti Hutchinsons

Why don't families refer to themselves by their origin city, anymore? I guess because most families are too spread out.

Anyway, I figured I'd add something here similar to the other recent updates since, besides Jim, I'm easily the sibling with the least posts. I don't have any pictures to post because I'm taking a few minutes to write this at work. I'll try to remember and post some tonight.

Heather has made the transition to three-day work weeks and is liking it. She gets to spend more time with Harvey, and work is much less stressful when it isn't pressing down as heavily. She's been switching up her beading with some crocheting and sewing now and then; she's enjoying the variety. In fact, we've started a sewing project together to make little drawstring bags for ourselves. The bags are two-tone, with a different patterned/colored fabric for the lining. Heather, of course, found her two fabrics in about 10 minutes. The two color patterns are very different, but play well together. I took at least a half hour, probably more like 45 minutes, to finally end up with two solid colors (black and plum).

Harvey seems more grown up every day. His speech is pretty developed in terms of complexity, but his pronunciation isn't the best. I admit I'm probably to blame for some of that. I tend to repeat his mispronunciations because I think they're cute. Unfortunately, that doesn't help him improve. He does mostly speak in sentences now, though. We even finally got him to begin asking for something with "I want" instead of just "ahhh milk". After being surprised when he correctly used the word "finished" after drawing a picture yesterday, I joked to Heather that we should make a list of his current vocabulary, like we did several months ago. It'd basically be impossible since apparently he knows all these words that we don't know he knows.

Nothing's really new with me, personally. Busy time is over at work, which is nice. By the end, I was having a really tough time getting in the two hours earlier that I was trying for. Next year it should be easier, though, because on the days Heather is off, I won't need to stick to such a tight schedule to pick up Harvey on time.

By the way, we are now planning on going to the family reunion in July. I emailed Karen already and she said it wouldn't be a problem to reserve another cabin because the camp hasn't starting reserving them to other people yet. It's still pretty far out, but maybe we should start some discussions on when everyone is planning on driving out.

I guess that's it. Talk to you all soon.

Inspired

Jana inspired me to do an update too.  Not much out of the ordinary has been going on.  Eric's been semi-busy with school-well, busier than last quarter.   This is his last quarter with classes until he starts Med. school in August and this one ends for him March 8.  We are planning several exciting trips in the next few months.  In March we are going to UT/Vegas for 2 weeks and the first week in May we are going to the BIG APPLE to visit his brother-this one I am most excited for, neither of us have ever been there.  And of course there is the trip to Memphis in April, but you all already knew about that one.
Noah will be 2 on Friday and we are having a little party with friends...it's going to be good.  Noah probably doesn't speak as well as Addie-he definitely doesn't say, "No thank you" but he is getting better with saying please.  He recognizes all the letters of the alphabet and sings his own version of the song.  He knows most standard colors-including gray-and likes to count to 10 excluding 5 most of the time.  He asks about Addie and Harvey a lot and likes to point them out in pictures on the fridge.  His other favorite person to point out is Jim and then he giggles.
I started taking fertility drugs in the middle of January and there is a small chance we could get pregnant at the beginning of February-but as it is the first time I've taken them, they don't know my correct dosage yet, so it might not even work to make me ovulate this first time.  Time will tell.  I have also been doing a lot of crafts lately-crochet and embroidery mostly.  And it might interest a few of you to know that my best friend from HS-Jenny Little-is getting married to Kevin Cort at Christmas.  I am super excited about this and I think they will make a great pair.

keeping busy!

I don't know why Addie looks so crazy in both of these pictures!

We've had such a busy January. I feel like I've barely been home (and the cleanliness of my apartment will prove it) but it's been a blast.

(Macie is the oldest here by 3 or 4 months, but she's clearly one of the smallest!)

Jason has been studying like a mad man. His first board exam is in March, so he has his nose to the grindstone. He's concerned there is too much material to review and that he'll never get through it all. I'm positive he'll do well, he always has before! It stinks to have him gone so much, I'll be very grateful once they are done.

I've been dabbling in various things all month long. I can now make balloon animal frogs, giraffes, monkeys, swords, dogs and hearts. Unfortunately, my pump has gone MIA, so hopefully it turns up again soon. The balloons are a HUGE hit with the girls. I've also just finished two more name signs a friend at Stroller Strides is paying me for. I'm charging her $20/sign, but decided that it's not worth my time for that. If someone wants to pay me for one in the future, I'll have to charge more than that. They are just so time consuming! They turned out cute, though, I'm really pleased with them.

Young Womens is keeping me busy. Our Laurel Advisor moved in December, so I've been having to teach each Sunday as well. I'm actually enjoying it. I hated teaching the young women when I was first put in, but now it's not so bad. I'd still prefer to be teaching the primary kids, though.

Addie is a lot of fun. She can speak very well now, my favorite is when she says "No thanks, Mom." I don't know why, I just think it's cute for a two year old to be so polite. She's also very good at doing everything she isn't supposed to do. We love playing pretend together and have been working on potty-training. She's pretty good at #2, but is completely clueless for #1. She Adelyn also is wonderful (too wonderful, almost) at sharing everything with Macie. She'll take out all her toys, one by one, and pile them up around Macie, convinced she needs every toy we have to offer. Fortunately, Addie is also usually good about cleaning up!

Macie can sit up well now, but isn't interested in scooting or crawling just yet. She's great at rolling to everything she needs. She's learning how to pick up food in her fingers and actually get it in her mouth. She's also a little sneak and can snatch up wanted items in an instant! She's very attached to me lately, which hasn't been fun for Jason, but I'm sure she'll grow out of it. She's quick to smile and is so fun to have around! On Thursday we went to the doctor for her checkup and she's still only 12 lb 6 oz. She's so small, her weight isn't even on the chart! Her head and length are normal, though, and she's hitting all her developmental milestones so the doctor isn't worried. I'll admit, though, I have been pumping her full of calories this week!

Sneaking veggies? That's my girl!

Jason and I are doing (yet again) another diet. We're trying to keep an extremely low-fat diet (less than 15 grams of fat per day-much akin to how I was eating with gallstones) and are seeing results. It's been 3 weeks and we've each lost 6 to 7 pounds! Our goal is to be where we want to be by our anniversary and treat ourselves to a nice evening away. We're hopeful! Well, I hope you enjoy the schmorgasborg (sp?) of pictures!

Can you believe we flew kites in January? Memphis isn't so bad afterall...

Chapped hands

After suffering with chapped hands for over 50 years of life (as many of you guys know and now can appreciate), three or four years ago I finally figured out how to avoid them. Someone suggested using St. Ives Swiss Formula moisturizing lotion every night (there are a few different types and they all seem to work about the same; I am using the Vitamin E type right now). I begin when the weather first starts to turn cold and put it on every night before I go to bed. It has worked wonders. There has only been one time in the last three years, once last winter, when my hands chapped up enough to crack and bleed a little. I put on the lotion in extra measures for a couple of days and it had them back in good shape. I swear by this lotion. If you start early enough, before they start cracking, the lotion doesn't sting when it is applied. Take this for what it's worth; this regime works really great for me.

Bryce W. Hill

Brandon and Brianna Hill had a baby boy on Sunday. He was 11 pounds and 2 ounces and 21 inches long! She had him C section, obviously. As far as I know everything is fine, Wayne didn't give much detail. You can check out the baby's picture on facebook, Wayne says. I thought you'd like to know.

delicious recipe!

Mmmmm...we had such a delicious dinner tonight that I just HAD to share the recipe with all of you. My friend recommended it to me off of the website www.ourbestbites.com and it is not to be missed!

Asian BBQ Chicken
1/4 C packed brown sugar
1/4 C soy sauce
2 Tbsp lime juice (about 1 lime fresh, we used the juice in a bottle)
1/4 t cayenne pepper
1/4 t curry powder
3-4 garlic cloves, minced (we used the pre-minced kind, 3 tsp)
1 t grated fresh ginger
8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

Combine everything but the chicken in a small bowl. Whisk to dissolve brown sugar. Reserve a couple of spoonfuls of the marinade in a small bowl and place the rest, with the chicken, in a zip-lock bag. (If your chicken pieces are extra large and you feel like you need a little more marinade, you can always add a bit of water to stretch it.) Pop that bag in the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours, but overnight is best. (We marinated ours for about 5 hours and it was fine.)

Preheat a grill (or an indoor grill pan or broiler). Spray cooking surface with cooking spray and place chicken on it to cook. Cook for 5-10 minutes on each side depending on the thickness.

We LOVED LOVED LOVED it. Our chicken was tender and juicy, and the seasoning on it was perfect. We paired it with a spinach salad and kept mmmmm-ing the entire meal. It was easy and SO GOOD. The worst part (for me, I hate raw chicken) was just trimming off as much fat from the thighs as I could. She recommends making a double batch and having Asian BBQ chicken pizza the next night. We will DEFINITELY do that the next we make this. I can't recommend it enough! Certainly one of the best things we've had for dinner in a while.

Tomorrow we're having our cousin Doug Couregges and his fiance over for dinner and games. It will be fun to get to know them. Wish us luck!

Cute new border!

'bout time

These aren't in chronological order, but it's too late to worry about that right now. We didn't take many pictures for either of our holiday trips this year, which I regret now. Here are a few-

This picture is deceiving. Grandpa was making Macie crack up, I mean really laugh, and then right before we could take a happy picture, she burst out crying. It was too bad, her and Grandpa really liked one another.

Grandpa decided to fix the curtains, rather precariously, right in the middle of the party. After we all stopped freaking out, and after he didn't fall and break his hip, the whole thing was actually quite funny. (For those who don't know them, note Paul and Bronny...er, Bronwin...on the couch.)

Tom came to our party at Grandpa and Grandma's so he could see his grandkids one last time. (He has lost A LOT of weight, I mean A LOT, all from walking up in the mountains nearly every day. After his car accident last year and his depression stemming from it, the mountains may have quite literally saved his life.)

Addie's new weird camera smile. We're working on it.

I got supplies to learn to make balloon animals! I am so excited. Here is my first dog. Pretty good, eh?

A happy first Christmas for Macie!

Let me tell you, balloons make for a very merry Christmas!


Addie just loved unwrapping gifts. Everyone's gifts. She wasn't quite as polite about it as Harvey seemed to be.

Addie did extrememly well on the long car ride out there and back. As long as the DVD player was on (I don't know how many times Jason and I heard Night at the Museum) she was pretty happy.

Macie, on the other hand, was pretty sick of it nearly the entire ride home.

A rare moment out of the car somewhere in Oklahoma, I think. That sun roof does come in handy sometimes.

We had a great time, all in all. Idaho was very relaxing and it was great that Jason's parents were able to spend so much alone time with their granddaughters. They loved it. We drove down to Utah for 3 days and that was hard. There were just too many people to see in too short of time. It was exhausting. Our kids did pretty well considering how many grandmas and grandpas they had to meet, how many times they missed naps, and how many times they were taken in and out of their car seats. They were troopers. On our way home Jason, Addie and I all came down with the stomach flu. It was awful. I eventually put Addie's bib on her and kept asking her to puke in the pocket of it! Not fun. Fortunately, it only lasted a day and the last two days were fairly uneventful, but we will avoid that drive at all costs. Any volunteers to drive out stuff away when we graduate? We're planning on flying! :)

Guess that's it, enjoy the pics!

More Christmas pictures

So here is the link to the rest of our "pictures". Our kids had kind of a drawn out Christmas with opening presents three separate times. The last time was our own Christmas morning, which actually happened on the morning of the 31st. Charlie and I didn't want to wrap all their presents so we just stuck them in separate big boxes and had the kids pull them out. I know we are the most lazy parents ever, but the kids don't really care about the wrappings anyway, right? All in all, our Christmas was great.

Our Christmas pictures

So I could go on and on, but I think I should put the rest of the pictures on picasa and put up a link later. We had a Merry Christmas and look forward to spending it with all of you next year.

Our quiet Christmas

As all of you know, we stayed home for Christmas this year and it was fun, I guess.  I will say that I am excited to spend Christmas next year with all of you.  It was quiet and a little boring, but it was nice.  Noah didn't get many gifts and we got even less, but it was just fine.  I think our best present was the stool that Kurt MADE for us.  We LOVE it!  Noah carries around (no joke) and tells us that it's his chair-it is his perfect size.  So thank you for that and your other presents Kurt and Heather.  Anyway, we had the missionaries over for dinner and 2 families from the ward.  We had the most delicious ham and kraft pudding dessert and we did the puppet show but I haven't gotten around to putting it on YouTube yet.  It isn't that funny because we didn't sing ourselves but it was fun because only the men participated.  The only bummer was that Noah refused to take a nap which made for a fight and a long day.  The last picture is when Noah crashed 45 minutes before our company arrived.  Oh well, at least he slept.  All in all, we had a really good Christmas.