The Hickman Herd

Amazing Grace...

2009-07-21T11:29:00.001-07:00

It has been a while since my last update! I decided last night I probably should spend a little more time updating my blog! Recently, well about a month and a half ago (June 13th to be exact), my sweet girls were baptized in a private ceremony at church! We had a peaceful afternoon ceremony. The girls did such a great job! They really enjoyed the water sprinkling on their pretty little bald heads! Afterwards my mom cooked a great meal and baked a beautiful as well as delicious baptism cake! It was a very special day for everyone! God has blessed us so richly!!

Gettin Around...

2009-06-30T05:12:00.001-07:00

Well, the twins are crawling...EVERYWHERE! They have been figuring it out over the past couple of weeks and now they are on the go! It used to be so easy just sitting them down in one spot and being able to come back to where I left them, now, my eyes have to be on them 24/7! They are explorers...they love to discover new things...especially things that I haven't yet child-proofed! Now I've got 3 kids on the go, what a great free gym membership!

Summer is HERE!

2009-06-11T18:40:00.000-07:00

Parks has been on a 3.5 week vacation from Mom's Day Out...he starts back to the their summer program next week! So I have been having to find alot of activities for us! But its already in the mid 90s and so humid outside, the best activity I've found is SWIMMING! Parks LOVES to go swimming and I LOVE to get sun! So we get along great :) And afterwards he is sooo exhausted he falls sounds asleep before we even make it home! Parks has really enjoyed swimming with his friends Anniston & Emma Reid! This is such great fun for them! The days we don't go to the big pool, we stay at home and enjoy our mini blow-up version! We had a great visit from Addison Gay recently and she was able to enjoy some swimming with Parks man! His favorite summer activities so far are SWIMMING and EATING ICE CREAM CONES! I couldn't think of a better way to enjoy the summer!

Splish Splash...

2009-06-11T18:31:00.001-07:00

Last Thursday night the girls ventured from their pink plastic newborn infant tub (thanks Janel!) to the big girls bath tub! I filled the water to maybe an inch since I was on double bath duty and they are VERY ACTIVE beginner sitters! Before, we would bathe and dress them individually, but now, its a cinch! And I must say, they feel like BIG GIRLS now! They love to splash around with each other. Its so much fun to watch them explore new things, especially their new big bathtub!!

Beach Trip...

2009-05-31T20:22:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a much needed beach trip down in Destin! We left Tuesday and got back today (Sunday)! It was a great trip!! There were ALOT of firsts on this trip! This was the girls very first beach outing! They LOVED everything but the sand! We took them out on the beach and they napped the entire time! And Parks, well, this was the first year he actually enjoyed the beach! He played in the water and built sandcastles. He had so much fun! He also LOVED the pool! There was very little downtime for mom and dad! Will and I did go out one night to have dinner at Hammerheads in Baytowne and our last night we took Parks to ride go-carts! He LOVED it! Luckily, my mom came with us to help us with the babies. She was fantastic! We are so glad to be home, but greatful for an wonderful family vacation!

Sitting Up...

2009-05-18T13:29:00.000-07:00

The time has come! The twins are sitting up!! Collier beat Anne Collins by a couple of days, but thats ok because Anne Collins beat Collier when it came to rolling over! Now they can REALLY play together! I just sit a toy between them and they play away! Anne Collins is alot more aggressive. She wants the toys to herself! She is very very playful. And Collier is very laidback and observant. She watches Anne Collins, but don't get her wrong, when she wants something, she lets you know it! They are so much fun to watch! At 7 months, they already have such a great sisterly bond!

Playing the Blame Game...

2009-05-14T19:01:00.000-07:00

So we all know twins love to play tricks! But like every other sibling, they love to play the blame game! My great friend Janel captured an unforgetable moment between my girls! It looks as if Collier is blaming Anne Collins for something and Anne Collins is happily accepting the blame!

Me: "WHO DID IT???"
Collier: "She Did It!"
Anne Collins: "Hee Hee...I did it!"

I've got alot to look forward to!

Sunny Days...

2009-05-11T18:33:00.000-07:00

The kids absolutely love the park! Parks is a climber! He loves anything with steps. The park always brings so much excitement to him. And the girls really enjoyed their first recreational activity...the baby swings! The funny thing is, Parks is terrified of the baby swing. Who knew? We try to go to the park at least once or twice a week. Its a great way to let Parks get rid of all that high energy he holds near! We recently ventured out to a nearby park and played for a few hours, afterwards there was no doubt I had a brood of sleepy kiddos!

Afternoon Chit Chat...

2009-04-27T12:43:00.001-07:00

The twins love the outdoors just like Parks! They are so happy kicking back, relaxing and having a little afternoon chit chat (baby style)! They love hanging out in their bouncy seats, on a big blanket and their bumbos! You can always find the biggest smiles on their faces when they are outdoors!! You can actually find them smiling just about anywhere for that matter...these girls smile at just about anything...even a paper bag blowing down the street! And they both have their very own distinct smile and laugh...thats another way we tell them apart. Love my happy babies!!

"Its a Beaut Clark!"...

2009-04-23T19:57:00.001-07:00

Parks is ADDICTED to Christmas Vacation! Every night when he gets his pjs on he wants to watch it! He loves Chevy Chase!! He will watch it over and over again! I mean I am a huge fan, its my favorite Christmas movie, but this kid is mesmorized by it all year long!!

Planting Flowers...

2009-04-23T19:36:00.000-07:00

I've always known Parks was an outdoorsman! He loves everything about being outside. He would camp outside if we would let him!! Maybe when he gets a little older Will can build him a treehouse and he can spend as much time as he wants out there! Well yesterday while he was at school I picked up a couple of planters and Forget Me Not Roses to plant. I thought this would be a fun activity for both of us! The planters are heavy and the soil is even heavier!! So when you pour the soil into the planters and add a little water to it, you can hardly lift the planters to position them. Well thank goodness I had my super-duper handy outdoorsman on hand! Parks was eager to come outside and help me plant our new flowers! He put on his gardening gear and got to work! He loved my gardening gloves, he kept calling tham "hands" - and he wanted to do all the work BY HIMSELF! Can't argue with that! And I think he did a great job! He really enjoyed watering the flowers! He LOVED to fill the planters all the way up and watch the potting soil spill out everywhere! What a mess! He had a great time helping!

Girls trip to the Salon...

2009-04-17T12:08:00.000-07:00

No haircuts just yet!! We still have QUITE a while to go! But the girls did have their first LIVE experience of what they have to look forward to! Today I had a hair appointment and brought along the twins to let them check things out for themselves! We had a fun girls morning just the
3 of us!

NOTICE: Anne Collins checking out those toes...pedicure perhaps? I think she's my girly girl!

We then headed to pick sweet Parks up from school...I think he was glad he missed out on the morning festivites with momma and sisters! He was pretty sleepy too I might add! He stayed up way past bedtime last night and must have played hard at school today...he passed out within 5 minutes of getting in the car! I arrived home and couldn't resist taking a quick snapshot of that
sweet sleeping face!

ST--RETCH!

2009-04-16T20:06:00.000-07:00

These girls love to play on their tummy's! I will put them on their back for floor time and they always roll their belly's! They have so much fun positioned this way.

Twins first visit to Chappy's

2009-04-16T13:00:00.000-07:00

Today we had lunch with my mom at Chappy's - and the this was the twins first visit! Collier had her first taste of a french fry. Anne Collins wasn't too sure about it though! And Parks, well he loves Chappy's! He likes to sit in the booth with the mirrors so that he can check his self out and put his hand prints all over the mirror.

!

Creamed Chicken and Biscuits

2009-04-14T13:32:00.000-07:00

Want a fast delicious meal your family is sure to love?

Cream Chicken and Biscuits

1/2 lg. onion, chopped

1 1/2 tsp butter

4 c. chopped cooked chicken

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 c sour cream

1/2 c milk

1/2 chipped pimiento

1 c. shredded mild cheddar cheese

6 thawed biscuits

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottome and sides of 11 x 17 inch baking dish. Heat butter in small non-stick skillet over med-high heat until melted. Stir in onions. Saute until tender. Combine onion, chicken soup, sour cream, milk and pimiento and mix well. Pour into baking dish. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with 3/4 cup of cheddar cheese. Arrange biscuits in single layer over top. Bake until biscuits are ALMOST golden brown...about 15 minutes, add remaining cheese and bake another 5-10 minutes until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbly!

Great comfort food recipe!

Bananas and Carrots

2009-04-14T13:27:00.001-07:00

Well, after trying over the past two months to get the girls to eat their fruits and veggies, I think I finally succeeded! I have been diligently working with both of them to eat solid foods (other than the rice cereal that I put in their bedtime bottle). I would try for a few days, then stop. My pediatrician said that this wasn't a big deal whatsoever. She said as long as they were drinking milk, that was fine. But I could certainly introduce it to them if I wanted to. And I did...and several attempts later they finally caved in and enjoyed it! It was so great to see them actually eating it! They finally lost their tongue thrust! This morning they had bananas and for lunch they had carrots! You go girls!

They loved it! Anne Collins couldn't stop licking her lip!

Easter

2009-04-12T19:29:00.000-07:00

What an amazing Easter we had! And a busy weekend at that. On Good Friday I took the kids to a friends house for an Easter Egg Hunt. Parks had such a good time! He was eager to find as many eggs as he possibly could. He understands what is on the inside of those eggs...his favorite...candy! He packed egg after egg in his basket. When the hunt was over, he proceeded to go inside and open each egg as fast as he could. Well, as I was on momma duty with my other 2 children, I happened to loose track of a seemingly quiet Parks. It is rare for Parks to be the one not making all the noise. :) So in the midst of chatting with friends and playing with the girls I noticed Parks was making his way down his Easter basket, opening every egg and stuffing his mouth with all kinds of candy! See, candy is a treat around our house - and we use it as a potty training tool! So when he gets that much at one time, its like an adult at a casino that just hit the slots big time! So I walked over to him and tried to gently explain that we cannot eat all the candy at once. But how do you tell a 2 year old who just found a massive pot a gold, that they can't have it all?? It wasn't easy. He started to get upset with me. And I hated to take his candy from him. He just simply doesn't understand why I'm doing it. Luckily my friend Ashley grabbed Parks up and took him outside to play on the trampoline while I vigorously opened every egg, emptied the candy into a little bag (to save for potty training treats) and put the eggs back inside the basket. By that time he was back inside the house and I gave his basket back to him (and he was certainly glad to have it back) it didn't even phase him about the candy at this point, he just wanted his Easter basket with all the eggs inside, and I was happy to give it back to him! And back outside to play he went! Even though its hard to explain "why we cannot do something" to a 2 year old, it is super easy to switch gears and shift their attention to something else!

Saturday arrives and we're back at it again! Our church held their hunt at Montgomery Catholic High School. They had several activities for the kids (face painting, crafts, dancing, dying eggs), pictures with the Easter Bunny, lots of snacks and of course a BIG Easter Egg Hunt! We even won a door prize!! It was an Easter Basket filled with more candy! Just what we needed! So after the prepping for the hunt, Parks was after it again! He had some help from his daddy, but Parks doesn't need much help when it comes to finding Easter Eggs...he's got that down to a science!
Will and I took turns strolling the girls while Parks found as many eggs as he could. The girls always have a good time watching their big brother in action. He's like their own little activity! Its so much fun to watch their eyes light up when they are watching Parks. Sometimes they look at him like he's hung the moon! And I must say myself that during the rush rush of the busy day, I couldn't help but to look around myself at all the blessings around me. I cannot tell you how greatful I feel to have such a wonderful family. God has blessed us so richly. Easter is such a magical time. And the togetherness we shared as a family on Saturday meant more to me than anything else in this entire world. My family means so much to me. I could spend every Saturday like that!

Finally... EASTER SUNDAY! Well the morning started off fantastic! I baked cinnamon streusel muffins and made sure everything was in tip top shape from the Easter Bunny. Parks woke up, and wanted his "coffee" which would be his milk. The first thing he has when he opens his eyes every morning and after every nap! But we reminded him that the Easter Bunny came! The days leading up to Easter Sunday we explained to him the true meaning of the day. And told him that if he was good, the Easter Bunny would hop his way and drop off a few treats. So at that moment, the look on his face was like EUREKA! And off he went into the living room to see what awaited him. He went straight to his Easter Basket to look for those darn plastic eggs with the candy!! Now I am only a novice as the Easter Bunny, this is only my third year playing that role - so I regretfully stuffed his basket with a solid milk chocolate Easter Bunny, Cadbury Cream Eggs, Reeses Peices Eggs, Easter Bunny Gummy Bears, Pez Dispenser and a ton of plastic eggs stuffed with candy! Note to self, NEVER EVER do this again! He tried to open everything! So I had to once again shift his attention to the non-edible items outside the basket! I use the "attention shifting" card often! I love the way they are easily amazed by other things. So he graciously thanked the Easter Bunny out loud for his Easter Basket!

After the morning hooplah ended, we proceeded to get dressed for church. Around our house it takes us a good couple of hours to get ourselves and the kids dressed as well as pack backpacks/diaper bags! And of course I wanted to take a few pictures before church, so I had to carve out a little extra time for that. So once we completed those many tasks, off to church we went! Now, Parks doesn't do well in "big" church, so we have to take him to the nursery during mass so that it is quiet. Well, this Sunday (EASTER SUNDAY OF ALL DAYS) they didn't have a nursery! So we got the luxury of taking all 3 kids to big church with us!

Luckily we had an extra set of hands, my mom! So I made sure I packed Parks' bag full of stuff: a couple of small toys, a crayon and color sheet, a snack and his juice...any and everything I could use to occupy his time. Well, on Easter Sunday, folks will come out of the woodwork to go to church! I wanted to be sure we sat on the last pew so that if we needed to take Parks out, we could make a quick dash for the door. Well, since EVERYBODY came to church that morning, there were tons of people surrounding us, there were people front to back - side to side - people standing - people standing outside the church in the lobby - just a sea of people. You always have to arrive 30 minutes early on Easter just to get a seat! And we knew with 3 kids we had to get the "perfect" seat! So as mass began, Parks wanted to talk to everyone around him. He was super friendly. And Collier and Anne Collins wanted to get out of their carriers and look around. So as Will held AC, my mom held CC. Parks was practically all over the place making us very nervous! We were just waiting on him to say something or do something during one of the silent times of mass. And he did!! Then Collier and Anne Collins started babbling loudly. Sweet noises, but LOUD noises! I felt like we were the mass! We should have just sat on the alter! So as we were trying to quiet our friendly brood, I felt like millions of eyes were on us, watching our every move. People were all around us! You felt like you were seeping further and further into a black hole! We were the noisy bunch! Will was pretty uptight so he proceeded to take each child out one at a time! I know we probably over-reacted, but it is an uneasy feeling when you have noisy children who do not want to sit still! That is why they have a nursery!! Unfortunately for us, it was non-existent on the busiest church day of the year! My mom and I were fortunate enough to get to finish the mass and left after communion!! What an adventure that was for everyone!

We then went home and had a nice relaxing Easter meal at our house and concluded our day with a big fat nap! The day was quite eventful, but so incredibly meaningful! Easter is an amazing time of year! And it gets better and better each year!

Enjoying Spring

2009-04-09T18:39:00.000-07:00

The past couple weeks have been so much fun and pretty eventful around the Hickman house! Parks goes to Mother's Day Out 3 days a week, so the days he's at home, we stay pretty busy! Even though spring has sprung, the weather has been pretty unpredictable lately! It's cold one day, warm another. And April has already brought in its fair share of showers! So we have done a nice balancing act on activites over the course of the past couple of weeks. We enjoy going to the park often on those warm sunny days as well as pitching in and doing a little yard work with daddy! On those rainy days we dyed Easter Eggs, kicked back, relaxed and I got to enjoy tickling sweet belly's instead of rushing around. Sometimes those can be the best days! Nevertheless, there is never a dull moment in our neck of the woods!

Sleeping Beauty's...

2009-04-09T18:27:00.000-07:00

Our Sweet Girls...

2009-04-09T17:49:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to share some great shots of our sweet girls! They are so much fun!

Photos by Jackie Lucas!

Great Day to be Outdoors...

2009-04-09T11:04:00.000-07:00

As I was putting Parks to bed last night I explained to him that if he would "hurry and go to sleep...we can hurry and go to the park in the morning!" (Parks isn't the easiest child to put to bed, and I blame that on myself. He has a bit of the spoiled-child-syndrome! We have a routine at night that involves reading several books, saying prayers and rubbing his back through 2 songs! Will has been helping me do the first phase of the "Parks Hickman bedtime routine" and I will come in and do the final phase - kiss good night and rub his back through 2 songs - Well last night, as most nights, he wasn't ready for me to leave after the 2nd song. So I told him that if he hurry's and falls asleep it will be morning and we can go to the park! Telling him what the next day's activities include has been a great way to escape his room at night! I tell him the sooner he falls asleep, the sooner a new day begins and what is on our agenda. So he's eager to to close his eyes, as long as he has his firetruck next to him. Whatever it takes...

So this morning I got all 3 kids ready to venture out to a neighborhood park at Mulder UMC - about 10 minutes from our house. As soon as we pulled in the parking lot...he was super pumped! We had a wonderful day, despite the millions of bumble bees we had to dodge while we were there. The twins enjoyed their first park activity outside the stroller - they got to enjoy the swing for the very first time. There was no greater joy than watching the smiles on their faces!! Parks was a sweet big brother...he helped push them a few times in the swing...and he really enjoyed that! We absolutely love this weather and take advantage of getting outside and enjoying it before the summer brings in the dreaded heat!!

What a beautiful spring day it is today! God is so good!!

Growing up way too fast...

2009-04-08T18:06:00.000-07:00

Well it is certainly hard to believe but my little man turned 2 and a half on Monday! And what an amazing, eventful time we've had with Mr. Parks Hickman so far!! He has no doubt brought so much joy and laughter to our world! Each month seems to be a bit more adventurous than the last! Parks is an awesome big brother and a great help to me! He has the most creative mind, fun-loving heart and free-spirited soul. Watching him grow these past 2.5 years has been truly indescribable - a treasure I will keep in my heart forever.

To blog or not to blog...

2009-04-08T12:50:00.000-07:00

I love the idea of blogging - but where do I find the time? I've been encouraged on many occassions to start so I decided I would give it a shot! I've always wanted to create a blog, but I never could find the time to sit down and learn how it all works. I have so many amazing things to share so I decided there is no better time than the present to get to work!