SIX years

Happy Anniversary Babe!!! Wedding day...August 31, 2002

Nov 2005

May 2006

Nov 2007

March 2008

In our SIX years of marriage we have…

-Survived 4 years of college together… (We still have the hardest two years ahead! But it will be worth it!)

-Moved ten times, lived in 5 apartments, 4 houses, and 1 condo in three different states...phew!

-Made many great friends along the way

-Had several U-haul trucks break down on us while moving. (Don’t ever go with U-haul! Chances are, you will get one of the trucks that broke down on us!)

-Accumulated more stuff than we could have thought possible (we started with a few suitcases full of stuff, and now we have enough to fill our whole house!)

-Had three of our siblings get married, and we have one nephew. (We are waiting for more!)

-Bought 4 cars and sold 2

-Blown a head-gasket in our car (word from the wise: check your oil in your car EVERYTIME you go on a trip!)

-Had more random jobs that we can count.

-Went through two pregnancies with the added bonus of throwing up over 500 times! But we have two beautiful girls!

-Had a few great arguments where we both ended up laughing till we cried! (We are both terrible debaters)

-Mastered the Settlers of Catan board-game…anyone up to playing a game?

- Been blessed far more than we deserve.

-Made many wonderful memories.

-More love for each other!

Two blue-eyed, pocka-dotted pals...

Whenever the girls are watching a movie, many times I will find Madi and Avery on the couch or sitting on the floor holding each other one way or another. Madi either has her arm securely around Avery's neck or holding her hand. These moments really make it all worth it! To see them getting along and loving on each other!

Come on in, the door is open BUT excuse the mess!

Welcome friends! I hope you have been feeling at home with the Hodges...haha... cuz you are about to see another side of us. That's right! Here are the rules: No cleaning, no straightening, no wiping kids noses....go take pictures right now! (Thanks Angela for the tag...not! haha! jk, this could be somewhat fun...except I did it a little bit different...;)

I love going to the parade of homes and seeing the many different design styles and decorations in each home, so it will be fun for me seeing your homes, those of you that want to do this tag...

But first, you get an inside peek at what our home looks like from day to day! Lucky you. (Again, these pictures can be somewhat frightening... for a warning, see previous post). And those of you that live here in Pocatello have already seen most of our home, so you can ignore this post if you wish! Now, on the tour we go, of our lovely abode. ;)

I thought I woud first start with the downstairs and work my way up... this is the kids play room, and as you can see it's a mess! I only get around to cleaning and organizing it once or twice a month, too bad it wasn't clean for the pictures now!

And that piece of metal over on the side of the wall, well that's something I used to run on...(notice the past tense)...it' been awhile! I guess this is a good reminder to get on and get working out!

This is my craft room...looooove it! Yes I know, I am spoiled! I love that I can work on something and come back to it when I have time later, and I don't have to clean it up each time! Yet, it can be a bad thing, because I won't ever want to give it up!

On the main level is the kitchen, all I have to say is, I guess I should be cleaning it rather than blogging. Oops!
Our bedroom...(look Mom, I made the bed!!) ok, ok so I might have cheated on thie picture...I just had to make the bed! We always had to make the bed every morning growing up, which is great and all, but after moving out of the house, I went through a rebellious period of not ever wanting to make another bed again! Of course that's really realistic! Now I am trying to get back into the habit, because it is nice to have the bed made...yes mom, you were right...sigh...again. :)


This is where most of the fun happens!My kids...goofy, messy and cute!

This is the attic or the girls room. I absolutely love their room!

This is the reading area...no toys allowed. Ryan and I both love reading, so this is a perfect, quite spot where we can instill that in our kids!And last but not least, this is the spare room, next to the living room. This is where all the studying, jamming out on the piano, and blog creating is done...whoohoo! So there you have it. You just got the hollywood tour of our home...don't you feel better?

There are two bathrooms...but you can learn A LOT about a person from their bathrooms, and well, I don't want you guys knowing that much about us. haha!

Thanks for stopping by! Can't wait to see some of your homes! (And I better see more people doing this tag than the last tag!)

Apology...

Well it is a good thing I put up a warning the other day about my blog! Only then, was I just joking around about the images you might find, but as I got on this afternoon I shocked to hear that one of the songs I had added to my playlist had an inappropriate swear word. It was obviously the wrong version of the song by James Blunt, You're Beautiful. He is rather Blunt in that version!! Anyway, it's a beautiful song but I am not one that takes to swearing lightly, it's just not cool in my opinion, so I hope I didn't offend anyone if they had heard that song while on my blog, and if you had, then I hope you accept my apology!!!

Warning Labels

Have you noticed there are warning labels on virtually everything?! And I mean everything! Toilet paper even comes with a warning label! I mean come on, I think we all know what toilet paper is used for and how to use it! It just doesn't make sense to me that there are people out in the world that are really that ...well, how do I put this nicely...dumb. We live in a world that is a major sue-happy-place and anything without a warning about the possible dangers (or almost impossible dangers-only those "dumb" people can make possible), the product could impose on someone, the company could be sued! I am not talking about people in third-world countires that have never seen or even heard of some of the technologies that we so easily have access to, I am talking about the people right here in our own country. I don't mean to be negative either, but when I hear stories of people suing because they dropped their own coffee cup on themselves or because they tripped on the sidewalk and are suing whoever owns the sidewalk, I just shake my head and think...dumb, dumb, dumb...I mean why is it, that we let people get away with stuff like that?! If I was on a jury where someone was suing over something so trivial, I would want to say, "You mean to tell me, YOU want money, because YOU tripped, and spilled YOUR coffee, on YOUR lap?! Yet, YOU are wasting MY time to sit here and listen to this! I trip every day of my life, and that is MY own fault but you want ME to give YOU money for it?!?! YOU are dumb and crazy!" haha! Yet, in a positive light, I guess in a way I am grateful that there are those "dumb" people out there, because without them, some of us wouldn't have professions...judges, lawyers, stenographers, writers and the list goes on and on....

So with warning labels in mind, I want to make sure I add a warning to those viewing my blog:

Any pictures that I have previously posted on my blog or that I will post in the future may contain images that may be considered disturbing to some viewers. In some instances pictures may cause:

night terrors,

sleep deprivation and grogginess,
sudden convulsions or nausea,

foaming of the mouth,

loss of or increase in appetite,

aggression or feeling agitated,

identity confusion,

Feeling depressed or incompetent,

bulging of the eyes,

and/or sporatic screaming.

(Side effects other than those listed here may also occur. If these symptoms or any other symptoms occur please seek immediate medical attention. This information is not intended to replace the advice of a doctor. If sudden panic attack occurs, please cover both hands over face like this. Thank you.) You have now been warned, so you can't sue me! haha! jk!

***And one last warning, mostly to myself...

Thanks for the warning.

Sunday Drive...

Growing up as a young child, I remember going on many Sunday drives after church. I was born in Arizona and moved to Sumner, Washington when I was eight. The area we lived in had many hills and all kinds of green trees everywhere. I felt as if I was living under a canopy of trees as the sky always seemed green rather than blue (everything was green in Washington as it rained 9 months out of the year!). It was very beautiful at times, seeing the hills covered it different shades of green, or in the fall; reds, oranges, yellows, and browns. But my family never did get used to all the rain and green, especially my mom who lived in Arizona most of her life. It was hardest for her to try and adapt to the rain as she was so comfortable in the desert heat and constant sun shine! It reminds me a lot of Bella in the Twilight series...(those that have read those books will understand). Anyway, I am getting off on a tangent here, so back to my point, as a child I remember taking many drives not just on Sunday but during the week as well. I think it helped my mom to get out of the gloomy house to try and find some sun somewhere or maybe it was just finding her sanity!

These pictures were taken a few Sundays ago, but for some reason it reminded me of the Sunday drives I took as a child. The girls were taking turns pushing each other on their little push toy, of course Avery couldn't push Madi as well, but it was cute watching them on that Sunday afternoon driving it around the house together.

Don't you just love the kitchen floor?! I know! It's an incredible floor pattern, huh? However, it does hide dirt very well and well, pretty much everything else! Sometimes I don't even know there is food on the floor around Avery's chair until I step down and a cracker breaks or I step on something sticky! Gross! But hey the rent is great so I can't complain!

Obsessed...

These pictures speak for themselves... our little Madi is absolutely obsessed with dinosaurs. Obsessed might be an understatement. I don't think you could find a child as obsessed with dinosaurs as she is! Every moment of the day, it's nothing but dinosaurs. Even when she is taking a bath, she wants all her dinosaurs in the bath with her, and is not content with just a few. Tonight during her bath, Madi started crying frantically in the tub, so I ran in to see what was wrong thinking that she got soap in her eyes or fell down, but what I found was, both her arms full of dinosaurs and she was panicking that she couldn't hold all of them at one time! haha! I started laughing so hard!! I guess it was one of those things where you had to be there...haha.

Our baby is ONE!!!

Happy Birthday AVERY!!!

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Yesterday was Avery's 1st birthday and I can't believe our baby is ONE already! Where did the year go?! We had a little party for Avery while we were in Rexburg at my parent's house. Ryan and I bought Avery a baby doll, and she loved on it right away, patting it and carrying it all around the house. It was surprisingly cute to see her walking around with a baby, as I have been so used to Madi carrying around nothing but animals and dinosaurs. She got some books and a ball from Aunt Genn and Uncle Adam. My parents got her some clothes and a toy pony. Thanks guys! We bought her a chocolate cake for her birthday...and what baby doesn't love chocolate cake?! She dug both hands in, giggling with delight, as her legs kicked in excitement devouring every little piece that her fingers could pick up!

Cousins!

She loves her baby doll

I thought it would be good to list for my own record, some of the things she has learned to do or things about her:

-she's a cuddle-bug, and just loves to be held

-she is a mommy's girl!

-she has such a funny personality and loves to laugh and make us laugh

-she is pretty easy going and doesn't cry a lot, unless someone steals her food! ;0

-she is a really good baby, usually waking up happy and smiling

-she is a good sleeper, and ususally sleeps anywhere from 10-12 hours a night!


-she has eight little teeth in her mouth

-she is a good little eater, loves pretty much any food and whenever she hears a wrapper or anything that sounds remotely like it could be food, she is on the move!

-she likes to climb up or down anything. She climbs up and down the stairs fairly well without
help.

-she likes to help me cook, yes that's right...she is my assistant and is always there holding onto my legs as I walk back and forth across the kitchen from the sink to the stove, making sure I do everything right! ;)

-she likes to clap, dance, give high-fives, give kisses, and wave hi and bye!

- she jabbers a lot, but she does say a few words: "dadda", "momma", "uh-oh", "hi", "go" and she said "down" a few times the other day.

-she knows a few signs that I have taught her; dog, milk, and more.

-she loves to play with Madi and follows Madi around the house


- she loves to play peek-a-boo and likes to hide behind things, or she covers her eyes (ususally just one) like she is hiding.


-she actually is delighted when I sing to her, even though I am not so good at it!


-she started walking about two weeks ago, almost running now! (well as fast as a one year is able to anyway)

-she likes to wear hats like Madi, but it's a struggle to keep hair bands on her most of the time!

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I also thought it would be fun to list a few things I have learned:

- I have learned to cheerish the time I have with my kids so much more, because I realized with Madi that they grow up way too fast...(even though I feel that I appreciate the time more with them, it still goes by way too fast!!)

-I have learned to slow down and take everything in, live in the moment, and try not to miss a single facial expression or sound

-I have learned to rely on the Lord a lot more, I am still not perfect at it, probably never will be, but being able to pray whenever I want to or need to, is so comforting and such a blessing!


-I have learned that the greatest joy in life is truly being with my kids and my family!

-I have learned that being a MOM is the best!!!

3 years of bliss!

Happy Anniversary to Adam and Genn today!!!

We love you guys!