THOSE HOHO BOYS

Catching up! Posts from January...

2012-01-21T21:33:00.000-08:00

Sorry family, I promised Micha I'd take over posting, and this is the first time I've gotten to it! In the interest of getting more pics up here I'm going to just do a big post with lots of 'em :)

Christmas Eve at Basia's house with the Krider kids! As crazy as it looks.

Christmas morning

August's favorite germ: The Common Cold

As you may know, August has been obsessed with germs for awhile.
His big present from mommy and daddy was a microscope.

The boys!

Back in Austin, August and Daddy paint some wooden race cars.
August's is red like Lightning McQueen

Daddy's turned out to look like a reject from Ikea.

Nothing like french toast on the patio on New Year's Day!

August's new bike from Gramma Sue! It's named...AIRSTRIKE

This guy.

Took us about four hours to rake some leaves together.

No comment.

Oh yeah, here's our house.

The next few pictures are entitled, "A typical Saturday."
Here we are at Donut-7.

Swimming lessons.

Mr. Cool Guy.

With his new Lightning McQueen spatula from Micha's yoobs girls
and fancy pancake batter from Aunt Nancy we had a true pancake feast--every Sunday.

On my drive home

Our Saturday Project: Take couch box, add pvc pipe for rocket thrusters
and spray paint to make one awesome rocketship.
Of course, August named it after his favorite donut shop.

Family hangout in the back yard.

This will be our Christmas card next year.

Mid-October

2011-10-28T18:49:00.000-07:00

Ray and Danielle's Wedding

2011-10-28T18:39:00.000-07:00

On the first weekend of October, Chris, Brooksie and I loaded up in the car and drove the very long way to Natchez, Mississippi to be part of our good friend Ray's wedding. August got to stay in Austin with Pops for an exciting grandfather/grandson weekend.

Brooksie got to wear the cutest little outfit ever. He also got a lot of love from Barb, Casey, Maarten and Andrea. It was a great weekend.

Go Phils!

2011-10-28T18:29:00.000-07:00

In honor of the start of playoffs, August and Chris both wore their blue and red to church. (Don't worry, Grama Sue, they took their hats off during church.) Too bad their rallying didn't work for the team.

caterpillars and butterflies

2011-10-28T13:41:00.000-07:00

Jamie and her little boy Cameron had to leave town for their family vacation so they passed along the special caterpillars they had ordered so they could watch them turn into butterflies. They were already in their chrysalis. We had so much fun watching them, especially since August is a scientist.

Then one day they popped out of their cocoons and flew around their net. August took them to show and tell and his classmates got to help him release them.

Amazingly, they came back to visit that weekend. :)

Solid foods for a solid boy.

2011-10-28T13:26:00.000-07:00

Oh, yes, Brooksie was hungry. So, he started eating solid foods in time for his 6 month weigh in at 19 pounds 10 ounces.

Big rolly thighs, 12-18 month clothes. Oh, these Hohorst boys...

Cookie Fail

2011-10-28T13:16:00.000-07:00

So I got a box of red velvet cookie mix that looked so good. Then August and I tried to make it and they turned into red velvet cookie pancakes.

So we took pictures. (Forgive my general unkemptness. It was one of those days.)

babies and kitties

2011-10-28T13:10:00.000-07:00

Brooks and Ezra had spent amount of Brooksie's life apart from each other. So it was only natural that they snuggle once Ezra was back in town.

Brooksie sits up!

2011-10-28T13:05:00.000-07:00

I forgot to say that T-Rexy made a major step in his life on August 30th, the first official day of his seeing the world like the rest of us. (He was 5 1/2 months.)

It's good to sit up. He agrees.

(This was taken the morning of his big accomplishment.)

Moving in!

2011-10-28T12:48:00.000-07:00

After 6 weeks in a temporary home and three months away from our stuff, we moved into our rental house on September 9th. Ezra arrived in Austin the night before and moved in with us. We sighed a big relief and got busy.

(This is our backyard, by the way. We loooooove it.)

First Day of Preschool

2011-10-28T12:39:00.000-07:00

August went to his first day of preschool on August 30th. It was a bad day.

Then, he started his first day of preschool co-op on September 13th. It was much better. We love Co-op!

5 months old today! (August 16)

2011-10-28T12:31:00.001-07:00

Welcome to Austin

2011-10-28T06:21:00.000-07:00

Oh, Austin! We were just so happy to see you, so thankful to be with Chris again, so thrilled to live in a town where we could wear shorts and eat tacos whenever we wanted, that we didn't notice it was 110 degrees. Every day. For a month.

And then we noticed. So we did what any newbies to such heat could do: look at the deer in our temporary apartment's backyard, feed those deer our leftover celery, swim at the apartment complex's pool, and find fountains ("splash pads" the Austinites call them) to splash in.

This was our month of August. It was good.

(Here is August standing on Texas on the Capital city. Just in case you couldn't tell...)

Big enough for a bumbo!

2011-10-27T21:32:00.000-07:00

Brooksie was tired of looking at the floor or looking at the ceiling. That boy wanted to see the world. His bumbo arrived just in time. Happy sitting up, baby.

Goodbye Amarillo!

2011-10-27T21:22:00.000-07:00

We were off to Austin...FINALLY! But first we needed to give a lot of goodbye hugs. Errr, at least Brooksie did.

with Memaw
Luke
Ellie
Owen
and Karsen

Cousins Camp (end of July)

2011-10-27T20:52:00.001-07:00

By the way, I stole the really pretty pictures from Jason...

Dinosaur Tracks!

2011-10-27T13:51:00.000-07:00

We ended our vacation in Amarillo by heading out to New Mexico for our annual Cousin's Camp in the mountains.

On our way, we stopped near Clayton, New Mexico, where my dad has always wanted to take one of his grandkids. (August was the first who was interested.) There in the middle of nowhere was an amazing patch of preserved dinosaur footprints.

It was incredibly hot and there was no shade, but August was in a blissful state. He loved every minute of exploring those tracks.

He's a scientist, you know. A paleontologist to be exact. (If he hasn't told you so, he will soon.)

Brooksie's First Haircut

2011-10-27T13:37:00.000-07:00

Brooksie's bangs were a bit out of control by the time we got to Amarillo. (But he's just a 4 months old...I can't cut his hair! I was having a difficult time letting go...)

But, once those stringy bangs came off, he was such a cute little blondie. With hair coming in to match on the rest of his head. I just hadn't noticed.

Here's the play by play.

A cut and a little gel...

With Kathy, who has been cutting my hair all my life.

And...then to Amarillo!

2011-10-27T05:49:00.000-07:00

After our visit at Basia's we were only 3 weeks into our epic summer vacation. Chris had already moved on to his new job in Austin, but we still had 3 more weeks to go before we met him in Austin at our temporary home.

So, I loaded the boys into the most difficult double stroller contraption ever, said goodbye to Basia (with great fear and trepidation) and flew for the first time across country ALONE with two kids. We survived. And ended up at my parents house for a couple of weeks of cousin fun.

Here's what we did:

Big smile from August on the airplane!

Brooksie finally got to meet the rest of his family...

Two Brookses
Getting to know Pawpaw...

Best cousins: August is wearing Pops' 50 year old cub scouts hat...

Biggest basketball and hoop ever!

We went to the Discovery Center with Ellie and Owen. There were big, electronic dinosaurs that August was excited to see. But roaring T-Rexes are kind of scary. So he didn't venture into that part of the building.
Riding the range!

See that scary T-Rex?

At Basia's in July...

2011-10-25T20:09:00.000-07:00

After Maine, we stayed at Basia's for two weeks. Because she has a pool in the backyard, our summer visits to her house are full of swimming and sharing the pool with friends who come to visit.

August started out scared to death of water. (He'd fallen in 3 times in one day before we went to Maine.) But slowly he decided he was willing to wear his floaties ("muscles," as Basia calls them). It took days but he got up to his waist, then his chest, and by the time we left Philadelphia for Texas, he was dog paddling like a pro.

Brooksie and Grama Sue spent lots of quality time together working out all his muscles. It worked! By the time we got to Amarillo he was doing his best to sit up.

Maine Maine Maine

2011-10-25T05:36:00.000-07:00

We landed in Philadelphia, spent a few days with Basia, then drove the long (extra long for people with three month old babies and potty training pre-schoolers) road to Chris' family house in Maine. There we met our friends Brian and Sarah and their 2-year-old Miles, along with Jeff, Christina and their girls Elena (4) and Charlotte (1).

We ate a lot of lobster and loved seeing our kids play together. August and Elena had an amazing time together. It was the 4th of July that week and we got to enjoy a small-town Maine parade, where we caught a lot of candy thrown our way. That night all the big kids went with the daddies to get ice cream and watch the fireworks.

It was a wonderful week, full of relaxing, eating, reading, and playing in the kids' lighthouse. August loved every minute of it. (Read more here.)

A special week with friends we love:

Monterey Aquarium (One last California Weekend)

2011-10-24T20:28:00.000-07:00

We decided to do one last thing in California before the move. We'd already said goodbye to all our friends and had our final Sunday at church. So we headed out of town Sunday morning for the Monterey Aquarium, which we had heard was one of the best in the country. It was a mini-vacation: a day at the aquarium, then playing outside, then sleeping in another hotel.

The next morning it was time to drive the hour back to San Francisco, do a final walk-thru our apartment, leave the car for the movers, and taxi it to the airport in time for our flight to Philadelphia.

Moving Day

2011-09-05T21:50:00.000-07:00

After August's birthday party, we cleaned up and got started with another party. This one was a goodbye open house. We spent Friday night saying bye to friends into the wee hours. (No pictures. Sad, I know.) Then Chris and I stayed up till 3 or 4 in the morning packing what we would carry with us for the next three months. (As I type this it's Sept 5th and we have 3 more days till we see our stuff.)

The next morning the movers arrived and boxed our house. I spent my day doing some of these things. August went for one last play date at Alton's. (Alton has been his best bud for the past year.) When I came to pick him up, Alton's mom Katie and I (both feeling emotional) laid out our babies for a goodbye best baby friend shot.

And here's August playing in his empty room. (It looks a lot sadder than it was. He was happily playing cars.)

Then we spent the night in a hotel, which was awesome for August. Notice the happy smile:

Happy Birthday, Aug-Dawg! (June 24)

2011-09-05T20:41:00.000-07:00

Thursday night we took some amazing Goodbye SF Family Pictures, but they were too big to fit in here. So, I'm going straight to the big, last day we spent in our home.

It was August's 3rd birthday and it was full of sweetness. Here's a play by play:

Our little family tradition--Birthday breakfast in bed! (August's favorite: pancakes)

And presents!

Lightning McQueen and Mater...

And lots of dear friends.

I have a great happy birthday video I'll try to find and post later...

Our Last Week in SF (June 18 thru 23)

2011-07-23T06:36:00.001-07:00

Our weekend was full of important events. Sunday was Father's Day, our 7th Anniversary, and our last Sunday at City Church. Chris and Brooksie had to get a good nap in together on Saturday to prepare themselves for the big day.

We celebrated Father's Day in the morning and our anniversary in the afternoon. (Because we're so organized in our celebratory ways and all.) Here's August giving Chris his recordable book "Dad and Me!"

After a sweet morning at church we walked to our neighborhood farmer's market, bought some cherries and bread and headed to Alamo Square park for (what else?) a goodbye picnic. (We have a problem with making everything a goodbye.)

One last swing over the city-view...

Sometimes you've gotta take off your shirt when you eat cherries and chocolate milk...

Cozy baby...

And the Father:

Then a friend came over to watch the kids and Chris and I went out to the DeYoung Museum and a (what else?) goodbye dinner at The Slanted Door. This is the only picture I got of that event and we're not even in it.

We spent some time Monday making goodbye pictures for August's teachers.

Then it was time for one last walk across the Geary Street bridge from the playground to the post office.
We came home and found a package in the mail of little airplanes from August's godmother Nanette!

Monday night I hosted my last Yoobs Bible Study. Here we are in a cinnamon roll hug, because, that's what should be done.

Tuesday was August's last day at school. Here he is walking with his class from the park back to his school building. (Actually it's more like a "school room.")

Goodbye Ms. Jenny. (Notice the Lightning McQueen balloon his teachers got him for his last day.)

Goodbye Ms. Julie.

Goodbye Choochie (aka August's most recent "girlfriend")

Wednesday was our last Mom's Group at church. I wish I'd gotten a picture of the kids. But I did (actually!) get a picture with my mom friends.

Thursday evening Chris' friend Jonas took family pictures at Alamo Square Park. August and Chris had to shave first...

Alamo Square pics to come in our next installment. And that was our week. The next day was August's 3rd birthday! And the day after that, moving day. And the day after that, a trip to Monterey. Whew!

Hair, Beautiful Hair

2011-06-22T20:45:00.000-07:00

I'm not one to name names, but someone in our family has gone completely bald, save for a circular patch of bangs that hang down almost into his eyes (unless his mother is faithfully sweeping it back).

I cannot bear to cut the hair of a, let's say, 3 month old. It just feels wrong.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

2011-06-14T17:14:00.001-07:00

August and I had so much fun making Chris a birthday cake (and then surprising him with it) yesterday.

Here's a play by play:

Grateful June

2011-06-14T14:46:00.001-07:00

At Mama:Monk we're practicing a month of being grateful. Here are some sweet moments to be thankful for...

Our opportunity to move to Austin and this new job that Chris is loving so far. Here's T-Rexy in his Austin t-shirt showing the lone star state some love.

We're thankful for potty time and that August likes to read to himself. Also, I love having this generic potty picture. I think every child since the invention of the indoor toilet has had this picture taken. :)

Spending time with sweet friends...

Brooksie's thankful for his little green froggy.

And August is thankful for his teacher, Miss Jenny, and his "girlfriend" (or so he says), Beatrix (aka "Choochie") at school. His last day is next Tuesday.

August is old enough to go to Vacation Bible School! It's this week and such a sweet way for him to have one last hurrah at City Church. Here he is today in his VBS shirt and really cool sunglasses he made.

T-Rexy's Goofy Faces

2011-06-11T22:52:00.001-07:00

These bangs are really getting in my eyes...

There, that's better...

Bedtime Prayers

2011-05-07T21:57:00.001-07:00

Chris recorded a few nights of August's bedtime prayers for you all. I've spliced them together so you can experience the sweetness. :)

The first video is pretty dark so don't adjust your screen...it'll get brighter eventually.

August's new haircut

2011-05-07T17:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning I took August for a pre-summer haircut. We chopped those shaggy locks. When we got home August looked in the mirror and said, thoughtfully, "I have...somebody else's hair!" (We talked for a while and figured out it was his friend Emerson's hair.) Here's some photos of him and Chris before bed last night.

Around the house

2011-05-07T17:44:00.000-07:00

I think I feel sad, Daddy...

Morning hangout in Mama and Daddy's bed...

My lip hurts, Daddy.

2011-05-07T17:40:00.000-07:00

More family funtimes

2011-05-07T17:15:00.000-07:00

Grammy Kate with Brooks. What a sweet face.

I think August either blinked or was really really sleepy.

A snuggle with LuLu

Nothing like an evening car dance with Auntie ChaCha

Papa and Grama out at dinner with us...

And then, August entertained us during dessert.

Easter Cuteness

2011-05-07T16:47:00.001-07:00

We were blessed to spend Easter Sunday with lots of family (in town from the East coast). Chris' dad Jim (Grampa), step mom (Grammy Kate), little bro and sisters (Uncle Will, Auntie Lulu, and Auntie ChaCha (Louise and Charlotte, respectively) spent five days with us. Chris' grandparents (Grama and Papa Hoho) came the day before Easter and spent Easter day and the following Wednesday with us. (Papa's brother lives in Sonoma and they stayed with him.)

We spent Easter Sunday morning at church with ChaCha, Grama and Papa Hoho and Chris' great aunt Lori and great uncle Peter. Then we met up with the rest of the fam for a brunch overlooking the ocean. We took an afternoon rest and then Chris, August, Brooks and I joined Jim for a drive up to Sonoma and had dinner at Lori and Peter's house.

Here are the pictures to commemorate Brooksie's first Easter:

My failed attempt at an Easter brother portrait

But, come on, how fancy is that baby? Suspenders?! Ahhhh...

Grama got to hold him during church

Then ChaCha got him and they had a little conversation.

Then he and Daddy looked at each other.

At brunch...
The creepiest Easter bunny ever.

Four generations of super tall Hohorst men

August loves his aunties. They love him too.

Brooksie and Papa Hoho at the restaurant

Snuggle time with Grampa

August showed off his Easter clothes in the parking lot.

With Papa at Easter dinner in Sonoma
Right before Chris and August went on a T-Rex hunt outside Lori and Peter's house

And finally Grama got to hold him again.

Church Easter Picnic and other Basia fun

2011-04-18T17:59:00.000-07:00

Our church has an annual Easter picnic and egg dash. It was this past Saturday, while Basia was in town. Do you want to see pictures of August playing games and hunting eggs with his grandma? Yes! You do!

Hanging out with his friend, Lyla...

The bunny hop race:

And the egg hunt:
We also spent a morning at Ocean beach with friends.

And lots of running and throwing sand into the water...

Life at home...

2011-04-18T17:02:00.000-07:00

Brooksie is doing great. He's following in his brother's footsteps in terms of heft. He was 11 pounds a week ago and I have a mother's feeling that he's gained another pound this week. His 0-3 months clothes we just pulled out are looking snug...

He's following his namesake (Uncle Brooks) in terms of hair. This is what it looks like right after bathtime. Fine, straight and sticking straight up in the air. Yesssssss!

He's growing up and August is helping (most of the time).

Welcome T-Rexy!

2011-03-19T16:47:00.000-07:00

This past Wednesday morning (the 16th), we had the privilege of meeting Brooks Andrew, our newest little Hoho hero. (8 lbs 6 oz, 20.5 inches long)

He's a sweet baby with lots of brownish-blond hair, sweet little features (a much smaller face and head than August's was), and a pretty mellow personality (which we're grateful for).

Here's a little peak into our past few days...in and out of the hospital.

August's Awesome Cardboard Rocket!

2011-02-26T16:26:00.000-08:00

August has some great loves in his life. Among them are dinosaurs, volcanoes, Thomas the tank engine and his friends, Lightning McQueen and his friends.

And, of course, rockets!

Last weekend he and Chris worked very hard to make the greatest cardboard rocket of all time, with a missile shooter (thanks to his stomp rocket from Basia for Christmas) attached to the side.

Family Baby Bump Photos

2011-02-26T16:14:00.000-08:00

While we were in Amarillo, my wonderful sister in law, Sunny, did a little photo shoot of our growing family. Here's a little sampling:

Post Christmas in Philly

2011-02-26T14:27:00.001-08:00

Having so much fun with Aunt Michelle and Uncle Andy...

Christmas in Texas

2011-02-26T14:11:00.001-08:00

Playing with cousins Ellie and Owen!

Gingerbread cookie time with JoJo and cousins Blythe and Karsen.

Finally getting to hang out with his super cool friend, Cameron, whom he hadn't seen since they were 6 and 8 months old (respectively).

Gingerbread train made by Mommy, Daddy and August
Happy Christmas Eve!

Decorating for Christmas!

2011-02-26T12:41:00.000-08:00

As soon as Thanksgiving ends, my family is forced into my favorite time of the year! I love decorating for Christmas. I love cheesy Christmas music and I love putting on my cheesy Christmas sweater. (And I love that my husband puts on his women's applique Christmas vest.) We listen to Amy Grant, drink wassail, and smile for pictures.

Thanksgiving

2011-02-26T12:28:00.000-08:00

We spent Thanksgiving without family (for the first time ever). Though it was a little sad, we were grateful to open our home up to some sweet friends who were also far from family for the holiday. Christopher made us a beautiful turkey. I forced people in to craft/thankful time at the kiddo table, and August got to spend the day with his best friend Alton. It was a lovely day.

My friend Brendon took amazing pictures but I can't find them anymore. So you're stuck with mine:

(August's Thankful Tree)

Halloween

2011-02-26T12:11:00.000-08:00

Though we hadn't planned for it, we ended up in Philadelphia for the weekend of Halloween. Chris grandfather (whom we love and miss) passed away the week before and we were able to spend some sweet time with family that weekend before jumping back on the plane to the west coast.

It was a gift to spend Halloween trick-or-treating in Basia's neighborhood with our good friends the Kriders. August is smack dab in the middle of their two beautiful (curly hair! angel faces!) daughters' ages. So he had no complaints about trick or treating with them.

Originally, he was supposed to be a rocket. We had a big cardboard outfit. But with the change of plans I was able to find a Buzz Lightyear costume. (At that point August hadn't seen Toy Story...so I told him he was still a rocket and he was thrilled.)

My pictures are blurry. But here's the fun the we had:

Here's where I apologize

2011-02-26T12:05:00.000-08:00

Friends,

I'm sitting here hugely pregnant at the end of February having to tell you how terrible I feel about not keeping up with this blog since October. Sorry.

I have lots of excuses that I feel pretty good about: mostly moving, starting a part-time job, and getting a poetry writing gig in the month of October. Those things carried busyness over into lots of loss of free-blog-about-August time. I should have come back strong in January though. And, alas, I did not.

So now you will witness a Saturday afternoon of trying to catch up on our life in pictures since the end of October.

Thanks for your patience. Our new baby (T-Rexy, as we lovingly refer to him) is coming in the next month...due date's in two weeks. I promise to keep up with this so you can meet him.

Much love,
Micha

Singing in the bathtub

2010-10-27T21:43:00.000-07:00

Too tired for the stairs...

2010-10-22T21:34:00.000-07:00

August, I know that the two flights of stairs leading up to our apartment can be tiring, but really?

Really?

A JoJo and Pops Surprise!

2010-10-22T21:00:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, my husband surprised me by bringing out my parents for a visit. I got to have a couple of wonderful days with them before I was whisked away to Carmel for a weekend with my hubby.

Here are some pictures of August having fun with his grandparents:

And here are some pictures of the two of us in Carmel and Big Sur. (It was chilly and rainy but still beautiful.)

(that's Pebble Beach...as in the golf course.)

We had so much fun with JoJo and Pops. For a story about how much August loves them, click here.

And it's....A BOY!!!!

2010-10-22T20:48:00.000-07:00

And now for the first official pictures of Baby Number 2. He's planning to be a regular feature around this blog...

And for the big news:

2010-09-09T22:28:00.001-07:00

He will be a big brother sometime around the middle of March. And he's excited. So are the rest of us! We'll keep you updated...

Rocket Book

2010-09-09T21:19:00.000-07:00

August's current phrases:

"1, 2, 3, 5 BLAST OFF!" (He evidently doesn't like the number 4)

Instead of no: "Maybe not" to everything he doesn't want to do.

Everyone is: "my friend," as in, "Mama, is my friend" (the man behind the check out counter) "gonna play with me?" or today in anticipation of his aunt and uncle's visit tomorrow: "Daddy, I want my friends Brooks and Sunny!" (which was accompanied by tears and stomping).

I've already told you how he loves reading. And how he loves rockets. Last week he woke up with a plan (did he dream it?) that he would get a rocket book from the library. Thankfully, our library (and its small selection) had one rocket book, which he has read so much that it is now memorized. Proof? I found him reading to himself yesterday morning in the hallway:

What August Loves

2010-08-26T14:25:00.000-07:00

Rockets. August is pumped about anything that flies in the sky. But, of course, if you love things that fly, then you love rockets the most. Now instead of "Ready, Set, Go" on the sidewalk before he takes off running, he shouts random numbers: "1, 2, 14, 5 BLAST OFF!" He says "blast off" before jumping, while swinging, and prior to sliding. He loves rockets. A few weeks ago, Chris took him for some special daddy/son time at the park. They bought a model rocket from the hobby store, put it together and set it off (never to find it again). Here's the two of them just before setting it off.
Jumping in the air and landing on his bottom (aka seat drops). How does it not hurt to land on your seat in the grass? There must be some special hormone released among little boys that makes them able to stand the pain of their adventures, particularly the wrestling moves and the jumping and landing on knees, bums and various other painful spots. August also loves playing with friends. This week during one of our miraculously hot days (it was in the 90s! and we got to wear our swimsuits!), we met our friends at the beach (which is usually waaayyy to chilly to hang out at) and played in the sand. Here he is doing some sweet moves with his buddies Alton and Elisha.
Cupcakes. Last week, my mom sent a birthday package for me which included cupcake sprinkles. August was so excited that we had to immediately head down the street to the market and pick up cake mix and frosting. Sure, we ate my birthday cupcakes four days early, but there were still some around on Sunday so I could blow out my candles. August helped.
Books, Books, Books. Chris and I are very proud to be creating a little book nerd. That boy can read in the jammies all day long, which is a great thing because I love staying in my pjs too. His teacher in his little art program told me he has fun doing the art projects but then sneaks away as soon as he can to look at books. This morning I found him on the couch like this:

A Fishing Video Montage

2010-07-31T20:29:00.000-07:00

Unlike most people of my generation, I'm a little technologically delayed...That being said, I worked all afternoon to give you this collection of fishing videos (mostly of August, Blythe and Pops) from our time in Colorado. I actually added music to it (to the best of my ability)! Special thanks to the great Catherine Prewitt, whose song Ms. Cat V. 1 is in the background...

Cousins Camp!

2010-07-31T16:00:00.000-07:00

I have much to catch you up on in the life of August Henry. So we'll start here: at Cousins Camp, a four day adventure in the mountains of Colorado with all the Boyett cousins, their parents (minus Christopher) and my parents (JoJo and Pops). We hiked, we fished, we rode rides a mini amusement park, we fed giraffes crackers at the zoo, and we made amazing crafts with JoJo. Exactly what cousin camp oughta be.

Crawling through a fake hallow tree on a kids nature trail.

All the kids on the same tree trunk.

Fishing, fishing, fishing...

I really wanted a picture of him with Ellie, but he's not much for posing these days.

One of the JoJo crafts was decorating your own hat to wear to the zoo. August really got into sticking balls on his. But, unfortunately, he also got into bejeweling it. It was very sparkly with every color of jewel. Thankfully, his father wasn't there to put a stop to his wearing it publicly for three days straight.

We learned that August is NOT the amusement park rides type. He wanted nothing to do with any of it, especially when I went with Owen on the Ferris wheel. August screamed until we came down. Here's the closest he got to a ride. The Carousel. And, he did not love it...

He did love that he could feed the deer at the amusement park. (I'm not sure why there's a petting zoo through a chain link fence there.) August and I went back about five times to get more food for the deer.

Blythe liked it too.

Feeding giraffes at the zoo. I had no idea how long giraffe tongues are...trust me, it's disturbing.

I'm not sure what the kids are looking at, but they're at the zoo so it's something.

Posing with Blythe

On our last day all together, the kids posed for a special cousins picture for JoJo. Don't they look angelic?

Good times. Thanks for Cousins Camp, JoJo and Pops!

4th of July!

2010-07-06T13:39:00.000-07:00

We spent the day with our friends Brendon and Julie. And, thankfully, Brendon also has a new iphone, which he used to video our big guy. It was a chilly day so a lot of it was spent inside...

Playing catch at the park! Picnic! Drawing with Brendon! And burgers!

It was a happy day despite the sweatshirts...

August's Birthday

2010-06-26T15:38:00.000-07:00

Here is the big day documented by pictures.

Part 1 -- Opening Presents! (I've always felt birthday presents should be opened first thing in the morning...it just feels wrong to postpone.)

Thanks for the legos, Deenie, Brownie and Vicki!

Train tracks from Mama and Daddy.

A sweet teddy bear from Uncle Bruce and Aunt Debbie.

A tee ball set!

Part 2, The Zoo

Hopefully this will be the only birthday of his life that he's wearing a snow hat and mittens. Don't worry it warmed up to the high 50s. :)

Watching the baby gorilla and her mama.

Lunch with the Flamingos
We almost got on the steam train but then August felt this sad about it:

Striking a pose before we leave...

Goodbye Giraffe.

Part 3, the Party

2 Candles in the blueberry pie (August's request)

Elisha, his buddy from church.

Sweet Sophia, a church and neighborhood friend

August's best pal, Amelia

The proud mama and daddy

August's Birthday Party

2010-06-24T21:54:00.000-07:00

I owe a million pictures of all the great things August has been doing with his life since I last posted. But I'll have to go in reverse because today our hero of this blog turned 2 years old. It was a fantastic day: full of skyping with grandparents, frolicking through the zoo, building legos, opening presents, eating various things with blueberries (pancakes for breakfast, pie for the party), and throwing a few tantrums (not cool, August). Overall, a wonderful day of celebration.

We had a sweet, laid back party at the park in 50 something degree weather. Oh, San Francisco. One of our newest friends made a beautiful video (I had no idea he was even recording!) of the night, that I have to post for you here. It's amazing. (And, yes, it has the wrong date at the end but just pretend it says the 24th.)

Enjoy!

First Day of School!

2010-05-18T15:42:00.000-07:00

No, August is not really going to real preschool. And (for my Texans out there) for some reason the rest of the country has never heard of Mother's Day Out. So there's nothing besides preschool and day care to take your kid to. (And everything is crazy expensive.) So, August and I have been content at home every day.

But I found out there's an amazing preschool art program in our neighborhood for 2 to 4 year olds, for one to two days a week. August is just old enough to start. So for the next few weeks we're trying a trial run on Tuesday mornings.

Today was his first day. Here he is in front of our house before we left for school.

Is that an excited kid or what? He did great! He loved it. He loved his new friends. And he even loved the class snake. I loved having a morning off as well.

Ahhhhhh.

Shaving with Dad

2010-05-18T15:32:00.000-07:00

There is a time in every young boy's life, when he needs to shave with his father. August's time came this past Sunday morning. That's a popsicle stick in his hand. (Sorry for all the shirtlessness!)

Might as well brush his hair while he's at it...

The Slide and the Tent

2010-04-27T21:34:00.000-07:00

August and I just came home from ten days at JoJo and Pops' house, where he has some serious fun with his cousins.

He also got to benefit from Pops' amazing gift of making up super fun kid games. This time he and August created the "slide into a tent in the middle of the living room" game. Awesome.

More Fun With Basia

2010-04-27T20:43:00.000-07:00

I promised more pictures from Basia's trip. So here they are, finally.

We'll start with August's favorite place in SF: the Aquarium. He's an old pro there, so he set out to show Basia around, including petting (for the first time) a bat ray. He also touched the sea stars, but he's done that before.

We also spent some time at the beach near our house. (It's not much of a beach, but it's still got sand to dig in.)
Playing with Basia at the park.

Feeding the ducks at the Botanical Gardens.

Oysters at the Ferry Building!

Hiking at Muir Woods (Redwoods!)

This is a banana slug. Yes, it's big and yellow.

Thanks for coming, Basia! We loved having you here and we miss you.

Easter with Basia

2010-04-10T10:03:00.000-07:00

Christopher's mom, Barb (whose grandma name is Basia), arrived in SF just in time for Easter. She showed up right in the middle of some chilly rainy days...not an East coaster's dream for her time in California. But, thankfully, the sun came out this past Monday and we had a wonderful week of visiting gardens, taking walks and eating delicious foods.

Knowing that our Basia is the greatest cook ever, we decided to share her gifts with all our new friends who had no family to eat Easter dinner with. So, her first Friday and Saturday here were spent shopping for food. August helped out.

We took a Saturday drive out to a local cheese farm where we enjoyed the views and August and Basia went in search for some chickens and baby chicks.

We came home from the farm and went to work coloring Easter eggs.

Finally, the big day! August woke up with some special veggie and fruit toys in his Easter basket.

Then, it was off to church. We forgot to take a picture of August in his Easter shirt. But here he is after eating hummus in his Easter shirt. Not the full effect, but you get it.

We didn't get any pictures of our friends or the amazing spread. But here's the table beforehand along with our appetizers...yummy cheese from the cheese farm.

And don't you love this cake my friend Julie brought? So cute.

Happy Easter! Thanks for being with us for it, Basia.

More pics of Basia's visit to come soon...

Laurie!

2010-04-10T09:16:00.000-07:00

I was so excited that the amazing Laurie Hartsfield, one of my dear Young Life girls from Radnor, chose to spend five days of her spring break hanging out with me and August in San Francisco. We spent our week shopping, seeing really cool things (like the SF Museum of Modern Art), riding the ferry, eating In & Out burgers, and walking, walking, walking.

This is at the MLK Jr waterfall memorial at a park downtown...

Sweet friends.

August did not like the Carousel. Look closely and you will see a sad boy.

Here our ferry is pulling away from the Ferry Building and a great view of the financial district (where Chris works) on our way to Laurie's aunt's home in Larkspur.

One last view from Coit Tower in the rain...

Saturdays are for hiking

2010-03-23T14:40:00.000-07:00

We have had a wonderful past week and a half. My mom and Aunt Vicki came in town and we saw as much of San Francisco as possible and spent a couple of days visiting family in Los Osos, California. Somehow, when my mom was here I took only four pictures, always assuming that I'd just get them from my mom. Of course, I have failed to do that so far. Hopefully, I'll have a post soon full of fun pictures. But for now here's a happy JoJo and a happy August playing with dinosaurs at bathtime.

After dropping JoJo and Vicki off at the airport and experiencing a sad August riding alone in the backseat of our car, we figured we'd better do something really fun to make ourselves feel not so sad. So, we decided to put our new hiking backpack to use! Here's a more thoughtful post on mama:monk about the hike.

We had so much fun and you can see in the pictures that August was actually giddy about his backpack. He's still talking about it.

And here is the amazing view of the ocean we had from our hilly spot at the top...

Family Dance Party

2010-03-05T15:59:00.000-08:00

In the midst of a sickly week (August and I have both felt yucky), something happy has been born. It's the family dance party!

We've decided that it makes us all happier to dance a little after Chris gets home from work, before we eat dinner. Here's some rare footage of our second ever pre-dinner dance party on Thursday night.

Splashing in Puddles

2010-02-26T17:49:00.000-08:00

Unlike our friends in Philly who are trapped in 20 inches of snow (what?!), today was a rainy day here. We spent most of it inside but the sun came out just in time for a walk to the park in our matching rainboots.

We walked to Washington Square park down the street in search of squishy mud and splashy water.

(August had some crazy bed hair after his nap. He apologizes.)

The light was so beautiful and I had to get a picture of the church.

Our muddy boots.

Three days with Cat!

2010-02-18T13:25:00.000-08:00

We love Cat Prewitt in the Hohorst house and we've missed her. So it was such a joy to have her here from Sunday to Tuesday this week. August played lots of AhBoom on her air matress. We walked, ate, and danced--a lot.

Here's a video of us dancing in Sausalito (on the other side of the Golden Gate bridge) after some yummy seafood by the water.

The three days she visited were absolutely beautiful...really the most beautiful the weather's been since we moved. Here are pics of the highlights. I hope it makes you all want to come visit!

Valentine Cookies

2010-02-18T13:15:00.000-08:00

On Saturday night, August and I made Valentine cookies so they would be fresh and delicious when our friend Cat arrived for her three day visit. We made a video but August was not very charming in it, so I'm just giving you a few photos of our cookie making process. We didn't take any pictures of the final product but I just ate one thirty minutes ago and I assure you, it was delicious.

Pet Ezra Soft

2010-02-12T08:28:00.000-08:00

August is learning lots of important truths. One of those is that his cat likes to be petted gently. And if you pull your cat's tail or pinch his skin, you will sit in the sad chair.

Oh, yes. Music does come out of that wire.

2010-02-12T08:19:00.000-08:00

The Boys in their Phils Caps

2010-02-12T08:11:00.001-08:00

I tried to get a picture last Saturday of my guys heading out for some man-time at the playground, wearing their Phillies hats. August is turning into a natural in front of the camera, but my sweet husband just has that blinking issue. We have to do something about that, Christopher.

That's it, Chris! Just don't look at the camera!

Reading The Grouchy Ladybug

2010-02-12T07:31:00.000-08:00

August has been trying to learn that it's okay to play alone sometimes. It's a hard thing for a firstborn, who has no preexisting playmates living with him, to figure out that his mother isn't going to follow him around obeying his every play command, especially when I need to wash dishes or cook something, or, (gasp!) not read the same book 20 times in one day (which would be his preference.)

So, I was thankful on Tuesday when out of the corner of my eye, I saw him walk into the dining room (which is connected to the kitchen, where I was cooking), carrying one of his favorite books, The Grouchy Ladybug.

If you're not aware of the Eric Carle book, it's the story of a rude little ladybug who wants to fight everything but isn't really brave enough to do it. So he approaches bigger and bigger creatures, asking them to fight, but making the excuse that they're too little to fight anyway. (Now that I'm writing out the plot, I'm thinking: wow, that doesn't sound like a very nice book. Well, it's got a redeeming ending, which makes it ok, right?)

So August walks into the dining room and stands in front of a chair, with the book opened on it. He flips through each page reading the story out loud to himself, which basically sounds like this: "No! [insert August's phonetic version of the animals name here], burd!"

"No! stunk!"

"No! gwill!" [that's gorilla]

And at the ending, when the ladybug comes back to his original ladybug friend he was rude to and is forgiven: "Oh! Yesh. Oh!"

We have a story teller in the making...

Just Hanging Out

2010-01-25T08:54:00.000-08:00

After flying cross country every month since we moved here, it's been really nice to spend the weekends this month just relaxing.

August is getting more and more helpful around here. He has a special love for cleaning. A couple of weeks ago I accidentally knocked over a cup of water on the floor. Frustrated, I worked on getting the books and clothes out of the way (what?! No I never leave books and clothes on the floor!) and didn't notice August's mysterious disappearance until he arrived with kitchen towels in his hand and got on his hands and knees to start wiping. Yes! Best kid ever! Now, if I could just teach him to clean the toilet....

Cool picture, August. What is it? Wow, Mama? (Some parts of motherhood have not been good for my self image.)

So happy to finally have carpet to play on in the living room. (Thanks Deenie!)

Daddy made Aug a new chair out of the laundry basket.

After a week and a half of rain everyday (but one), August is getting used to his rain coat.

The dat is home!

2010-01-12T17:48:00.000-08:00

For the past four months, we have been living without our dear super cat, who has thankfully been staying with Basia and her two cats.

But, the time finally came for him to move to San Francisco. So, we put him in a bag and carried him on to the plane and he moved into our house. August is so happy to have his cat back. When they lived together four months ago, August called him Eh-ah. In fact, Ezra was one of his first words, after dada (before mama).

So, it makes me laugh that he now calls Ezra, "Dat." (His version of cat.) He walks all over the house, calling "dat? dat?" and when he finally finds Ezra, he kisses him and says: "Hi Dat!"

Here they are bonding (August enjoys bonding more than Ezra):

Christmas in Philly

2010-01-12T15:01:00.000-08:00

Of, course, being behind as usual, you probably don't need to read a play by play of our Christmas in Philadelphia. Just know that it was fun. We loved being with Christopher's mom, visiting his dad and family in Connecticut and ringing in the new year with dear friends.

Here's some photos of the trip!

August may look super scary and naked. But the truth is he's just playing "AhBoom!"on Basia (his grandma)'s bed. This is his favorite pre-bed activity. We used to call it, "wrestling on the bed." But August has renamed it "AhBoom!" due to the fact that the whole time we're all wrestling, we seem to say "Ah...Boom" over and over.
On Christmas Eve, we went to our church in Philly's Children's Christmas Eve service. This is August with our friends Joe (his godfather) and Kate's four daughters (is there such a thing as "godsisters"?) . They are the cutest girls ever and we love them.
A Christmas Eve kiss.

Two happy boys opening presents from JoJo and Pops on Christmas morning.

A mid-presents opening Christmas dance!

August's new tricycle from Basia...woohoo!

With Basia and a super HUGE shark from Grama Sue and Papa Pipe. August loves this shark and all sharks in general.

Playing with Grama Sue Christmas night.

Two shirtless boys at Grampa's house in Connecticut, reading a dinosaur book.

At the Aquarium in Connecticut with Auntie ChaCha, who loves August almost as much as he loves her...
Peaking in at some penguins...

Decorating the Christmas Tree

2009-12-18T12:35:00.001-08:00

One of the great things about having a little apartment is that your tree gets to be the same size as your 18 month old...which makes decorating very fun for that little boy. (It doesn't help the mom who is constantly trying to keep that little boy from taking the ornaments and pelting them with brute strength against the hard wood floor.) That being said, we have had a lot of fun these past two weeks in our sweet new home all shinied up for Christmas. Before we leave tomorrow for our Christmas in Philly, I thought I'd share some pics of our holiday cheer. We have a few decorating traditions in our house: 1. We drink wassail. 2. We listen to Amy Grant sing Christmas songs. And, 3. Chris and I both have stored among our decorations: a brown (women's) Christmas vest with applique snowmen...which belongs to Chris and a children's navy santa sweater which belongs to me. It is our rule that as soon as we find these cheery Christmas tops we must immediately put them on and wear them for the entire fesitivity. And we should try to wear them to at least one Christmas party in the season. Chris wore his vest to work last week.
I've got my sweater on... Most awkward hug position ever. And here is Chris a couple of years ago in the vest. Wow. This was August trying to help decorate last year. Here is August this year:

I recently came into the living room to find August's favorite ball (one JoJo made him to match his blanket "Bup") pressed into the middle of the tree, highlighted by the blob of icicles we keep trying to hide from him. He just has an eye for this stuff.

More Fun in Amarillo

2009-12-03T11:52:00.001-08:00

After Thanksgiving, we also got to help Jojo and Pops decorate their tree.

And the next day, Blythe, Luke and Karsen came to stay with us for a couple of days while Sunny and Brooks went out of town. On Sunday, Amarillo had it's first snowfall, a good three inches. So we got to spend some time outside building a mound of a snowman.

More playing...

Yes, that's a hamper.

Thanksgiving in Amarillo

2009-12-03T11:04:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving was full and happy for all of us, especially August, who idolizes his older cousins. He was such a big kid this time at home and it was so fun to see him actually experience my family's traditions. It was also so nice to be able to enjoy Thanksgiving with my family since I haven't been there for the holiday for six or seven years.

We always have soup night on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, which is usually followed by the kids helping Pops make his pies. Here's our family eating soup and some of Pops' helpers.

I also have to include a video of August playing with his cousins that night. Or really just walking on a cushion and throwing his little turkey ball Jojo made him.

On the actual day of Thanksgiving our family had to eat separately from my cousins and their families who were in town, simply because our houses cannot hold all of us. But afterward we all ate pie together at Meemaw's which was the first time all her grandkids (and their kids) were all in the same place in at least a decade. It was commemorated with a picture of all their descendants (and in laws)...

Later, we had our annual who can beat Brownie (my 88 year old grandfather, whose ping pong skills are intimidating) ping pong tourney. Chris made a strong showing. And we followed that by the first ever Boyett family football game. It was awesome. Here are the cousins that night.

The Apartment!

2009-11-22T19:14:00.000-08:00

Yes, I promised many people pictures of our apartment, like, a month and a half ago. But it's just more than I can bear to stick photos for eternity out into cyberspace of a home full of boxes on the floor and absent a dining room table. In other words, we just finished unpacking this past week. So now, I will give you pictures.

Before I do so, I have to give a shout out to my stud of a husband who decided: heck no were we going to buy some bookshelf or shelving unit from Ikea! No, he was going to buy some wood and sand it and drill it into the wall. And, my goodness, he did it.

And that bookshelf looks good. Real good.

Go Christopher! My newly minted woodworker! Now we can seriously move into that commune of our dreams so he can make sausage and wooden sunglasses. Here's our sweet little San Fran home.

Every time we leave the house, August sits on this step and waits for me to open the stroller we carry down. He's a good boy.Here he is in front of the stairs. Our door is on the far right at the top of the stairs.

The view of our street from where August is sitting. Down one block is Washington Square Park and a lot of cute Italian restaurants and coffee shops.

Our sweet little kitchen.
Our dining room and the table we finally got this past week. Yay! No more eating meals on the couch!
Another view of the dining room.

Our very long hallway, standing in the dining room, facing the front door.

August Henry's little boy room.

Our Craigslist found mid century modern couch and chair...We love them very much though I can't wait for some new, less mustardy upholstery.

The rest of the living room and a good look at those handmade bookshelves. What a man!

Halloween and ChaCha's Visit

2009-11-22T14:51:00.001-08:00

The weekend of Halloween, Chris' little sister Charlottte came to visit for four days. Our days were filled with seeing parts of the city we hadn't seen yet, eating yummy food and shopping some super cool consignment shops. Charlotte's a junior in high school so we also spent an afternoon looking around UC Berkeley, while I tried to convince her that she should move in with us and be August's full time nanny. :)

August calls his Aunt Charlotte "ChaCha," which is the both the cutest thing ever and also entirely suitable. ChaCha is the coolest and just as fun as her name. She and the Aug-dog did some serious cuddling and bonding.

She also joined us for the North Beach neighborhood Halloween party, complete with trick or treating from decorated cars, a hay maze, and, of course, a taco truck.

Here are some pictures of the weekend.