Catch up and Costume Peek!

It has been a while since I last posted! A lot has been happening, but mostly the usual! Emmitt has cut another tooth as well as perfected the phrase, "UH, OH!" It is so sweet when he says the "OH" part his mouth gets in to the smallest "o" shape! He is standing independently more and more. It scares him though unless he does it on accident. He is still into EVERYTHING!

Fall is finally here and we have been scrambling to find clothes for the upcoming fall/winter seasons. It has proved to be quite a challenge for Jesstine! She is in the bigger girl sizes on top and the little girl sizes on bottom! Makes for some difficult shopping! In my opinion some of the bigger girl styles are just TOO grown up for my 4 year-old! I guess them's the breaks when you have a tall skinny 4 year-old!

We did finally complete their Halloween costumes though! Here is a sneak peek!

Have I mentioned her favorite color is pink???

Bet you can't guess this famous zigzag!

And a few videos for fun:

Tiny Dancer!

UH OH!

In Him,

The Hutchins Family

Fifths Disease

Yup. My kids have it. It isn't as bad as it sounds though. At least not for the most part. I am only posting about it because I like to use this blog to reference later. Don't worry, this post won't be solely showing pictures of my poor baby's rash. So on with the pictures!

It started on his tummy.

And his legs.

I got concerned that perhaps it was a reaction to the Amoxicillin he was on when I noticed it on his arms and palms of his hands. After Jesstine showed up with it (albeit not so bad), we decided it must be fifths disease.

Poor boy really didn't look like he felt well this day. 

With fifths disease, there is no telling how kids will react. Some get hardly any rash and no fever. Some get fever, terrible rash and body aches. I think E has it pretty bad. He has been pretty fussy. Strange thing about it though, it is only contagious for the 24 hours before the rash shows up. So, you don't know you have it when you spread it!

In other news, we got to try out some of the "hand me overs" that Aunt Jenni gave us! Doesn't he look dope in this hat?

And this shirt for church today!

He tried beans for the first time (baked beans) and LOVED them! Must be like his Papa!

So what has J been up to? Well, her usual self other than her rash. She had a short fever. Tonight before bed, she smashed her toe pretty badly. We may have a lost toenail. To make her feel better I gave her an Elmo boo boo buddy (ice pack). She decided she needed it in bed, so I rigged this up so it wouldn't get lost in her bed. Looks pretty funny!

Here's to hoping things get better for us around here!

In Him,

The Hutchins Family

Sharon Joyce Callis Parks, 1949-2012

During my first and second years of teaching, I had the privilege of working with a phenomenal woman! Sharon had such joy! She had a passion for teaching children to sing and to enjoy doing it! She also had a passion for spreading the Word of God to as many people as she could, especially those who didn't know about it! During my first year of teaching, I was sick a lot. That same year, my grandmother passed away unexpectedly. The school at which Sharon and I worked was just a few blocks from my grandmother's house, so it was a weekly thing for me to stop by to see Grandma before heading home for the evening on the nights I worked there. Sharon was with me the moment I heard the news that my grandmother had died. The following year, my very first baby was stillborn at 37 weeks. Sharon was one of the faces I saw most often up in the hospital. She was such a support for me through many dark times in my life.

We both moved on to different schools following that year, but we kept in touch. She was in her final year of teaching before she was to retire and she got word that she had cancer. The cancer was abdominal, but that was all she knew. Later it was determined to be ovarian cancer. She was devastated. She fought though and was able to endure treatments going into remission just a year later. At that time, she retired and had started to make plans to move closer to her son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren. This last summer, her house went up on the market and sold within the first week for the asking price (which is amazing considering the current market). She went ahead and went down to Texas to start moving in while her husband stayed behind to close on the house. Just before she left, she got word from her doctor that the cancer had returned. She was very quickly put in the care of a doctor in Texas who determined that she now had brain cancer as well as the returning abdominal cancer. She fully intended to fight some more, but the brain cancer required surgery rather quickly. The surgery left her very weak. She also had lost the ability to form vocabulary words. Very soon after, she had a bowel obstruction due to the abdominal cancer. At this point (which was just a few short weeks ago), she decided that resistance was futile. She made the decision to no longer receive treatment for her cancer. Plans were made to keep her as comfortable as possible, teach her family how to best care for her, and live the remainder of her days surrounded by the ones she loved in her apartment. Last Thursday, Sharon had a seizure. Her organs had began failing. She started to retain fluid. Today, she went to be with the Lord!

I rejoice in the fact that she is no longer in pain and that I will see her again some day! I rejoice in the fact that I was blessed to be called her friend in her time here! She had such an infectiously joyful personality (although a "closet cusser" as she called herself particularly when driving). She had a desire to share the Word of God with anyone who needed it and especially those who did not know about it! (She passed along the Gideon Bibles up until she was no longer able to, even in the care facility in which she spent her remaining days.) I pray for Sharon's family as the grieve her death. I know that my Babe B. has already run to her and welcomed her to sing in the choir of angels! I know she has scooped my little girl up in her arms and given her all of the hugs that her mommy as so desperately been saving for her. Thank you, God for bringing Sharon into my life! Thank you for the opportunity to learn so many things from her!

From left to right: Don, (Sharon's husband), Tamera (daughter-in-law), David (son), Sharon, Nathan (son), and Nathan's wife.

"Take my life, and let me be a living prayer, my God to Thee!"

From "The Living Prayer" by Ron Block, Sang by Alison Krauss

In Him,
The Hutchins Family

Clowning Around

In Him, 

The Hutchins Family

Football, Teeth and Tiny Lectures

It's that time of year again! Let the brainwashing begin! I decided that Emmitt needed some football pacis to go with his Cowboys gear. So I searched the west side of the city for some. Finally found some at the last store I stopped at! Here are they guys and Emmitt with his new paci.

"Are you ready for some FOOTBALL?"

He really likes the top of the stairs too! It just poses a problem when Jesstine needs to come up and the gate is closed for Emmitt's safety:

And as promised pictures of his two front teeth. The one of his right (your left) can't be seen as easily unless you can see underneath it.

I guess we will have to start watching how we talk to the kids. I caught Emmitt lecturing Jesstine the other day:

I am so proud of my two blessings!

In Him,

The Hutchins Family

Tooth Number Three

Well, we joked that when they finally came in, they were all going to come in all at once. Well, the third tooth popped through this morning.

In Him,

The Hutchins Family

Feeling Better

After a rough week with all of us having a cold bug and Emmitt cutting another tooth, we all finally got a good night sleep last night! Today, the kids even took great naps! Emmitt has been much more energetic and happy today!

"You won't believe what I have been up to!"

"Trying to be just like my big sis!"

(Jesstine on the left at 13.5 months; Emmitt on the right at 10 months)

In Him,

The Hutchins Family

Standing On His Own Two Teeth...er...Feet

Well, we are having a full week here! So we went to the fair on Monday. Emmitt turned 11 months old on Tuesday. By Wednesday, the sinus infection that Jesstine and I went in to be treat for on Sunday had struck two more victims. First Emmitt and now Daddy. To top it all off I discovered that Emmitt could stand without holding on or without me holding him! Right now I have to trick him into it, but it is just a matter of time before he KNOWS he can do it! You know what comes next. To finish it all off now it appears that we have passed our little bug to Grandmom. AND today I discovered that Emmitt has another toot! The one directly above the first tooth! I kinda figured it may be on it's way in because the gums up there were swollen to the size of a grape last week and there was a little break in the skin on the bottom where the tooth finally made its appearance. So, here's to hoping we all get over the crud and we can all get sleep again soon!

In Him,

The Hutchins Family

State Fair Time

It is that time again around here! Jesstine was super excited when we told her that we were going to take her to the State Fair after school was out. She gets out at 11:30, so it worked out great! We went on Monday because it was Dillon's Dollar Days. All coupons to go on the rides (except the big slide) were $1 and it was free to get in if we showed out Dillon's Plus Card! Here are a few pictures of the fun we had:

Daddy's sweetheart walking toward the fairgrounds hand in hand with her Daddy! That is the grandstand in the background.

First stop is always a pony ride! She got the same horse this time as she did the first year she rode the ponies, Diego! She was stoked! There was no hesitation this time. As you may recall last year, we had to bribe her with popcorn!

This was Emmitt's seat throughout almost the whole thing. He got to get out a few times (you will see in a few pictures to come). Here he is jealous of Jesstine riding the ponies. Did I mention he loves animals?

Sitting next to Daddy waiting for the pig races. It was hot! We waited too long to find seats and ended up in the sun for the whole thing! Kinda a bummer and the bummer didn't stop there...

Had to put my hat on little man so he didn't get overheated!

Here it is! The PIG RACES!!!

Front row seats!

Here they are lined up in the starting gate ready to race.

And they're off!! We were cheering for the pig in red, "Brittany Squeals!" HA HA! (Yes that is what the pigs name supposedly was!)

They just rounded the bend (to the right at the bottom of that speaker stand).

And the winner gets to the prize first....a fig newton (I kid you not).

The pig races were a bit of a bummer for two reasons. One I mentioned already was that we had to sit facing the hot sun. Not so fun! We burned through our water supply fast (which in case you didn't know, it is always best to bring your own water because fair prices are sky high on stuff like that!). Second was because the announcer was a bit....shall we say, lack luster in her presentation. She mentioned how it was her last race for the day because she was getting a little overheated. I would have to agree with that after what we heard! It just wasn't as entertaining as usual. Most of the fun is in the introduction. The pig races themselves are fun, but only last a short time! I digress! Off to our next stop, the fountains!

This is the first year we have let the kids (of course E was still inside the womb last year) go through the fountains as last year it was too cold and the year before, I don't know why we didn't. They enjoyed it! I packed an extra set of clothes for this purpose!

Up next was Jesstine's favorite part of the fair...the big yellow slide! If you don't remember, last year she screamed all of the way down (almost a scared scream) and jumped up at the end wanting to go, "Again! Again!" SEE HERE This year she was super excited and hardly made a peep on the actual ride itself (at least with me, I got to ride too!!!). Here she is with Daddy on her favorite ride:

It's a long way to the top.

They are on the far right in the middle almost to the first hill.

Here they are at the end! What a blast!

No trip to the fair is complete without seeing the butter sculpture which was a train this year!

Jesstine wanted her picture taken with a REAL princess. So we thought Mrs. Kansas would do!

We even found Wilbur of Charlotte's Web fame (we are currently reading that book). Jesstine sat in as Avery and I played the part of Fern!

Oh how my little sunflowers are growing!

My cheesy kiddos!

Jesstine decided that she wanted to have a pig race of her own. Unfortunately for her, her big was an old sow! 

The highlight for me was taking Jesstine on her very first EVER Ferris wheel ride! Okay so it was really a gonadala (sp?). 

Can you find us?

There we are!!! I am the one waving!

Emmitt was a trooper! We ended the fair with his favorite part, a trip through to see the turkeys, ducks, geese, and bunnies! We even saw a few goats (to which he was calling out to, kinda cute) and horses!

So long for now state fair!

In Him,

The Hutchins Family