breaka my heart
June 29, 2009, 8:41 pm
Today our dear old friends and next door neighbors Brian, Tiffany and Kadin moved. They're only down on 123rd Street, a pretty easy subway train ride away, but nothing beats walking down the hall in your pajamas for some dishwasher detergent or a spontaneous play date. Huck has shared a bedroom wall with his best buddy for a long time now, and he's certainly gotten used to hearing Kadin run down the hall giggling. We're already making plans for family sleepovers and lots of get togethers, and over the past few days we've had a lot of fun quality time with Kadin while his parents worked hard painting and moving. Here are some pictures from the last days of being next-door-neighbors, including an unexpected hammock nap down by the riverside.;)
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[ 2 comments ] ( 25 views )lord have mercy it's hot in kansas!
June 25, 2009, 8:41 pm
We returned last night from our annual summer vacation to Kansas, finally happy to feel the chilly New York City air. We accidentally chose the hottest 12 days ever to hit Kansas in the entire history of civilization. Thank goodness for all the ice cream people kept feeding us, and thank goodness for some incredible air conditioning. And this swimming pool and raft were very helpful, too.;)
We spent the first weekend in Shawnee, Kansas at Aunt Lori and Uncle Steve's beautiful home where all us Hottmans gathered for a reunion. Many of us met my niece Kayla's baby Hayden for the first time and we all fought over who got to hold him, get him to sleep, feed him his bottle, etc. What a looker! This makes my sister a grandma, and so of course we tried to call her that as much as possible.
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My dad got to celebrate his birthday a few days early with all his children and grandchildren except for Megan, who we missed very much.
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Of course most of the weekend Huck ignored the adults and just played with his cousins Lauren, Noah and Lily. Lily gave Huck a manicure and pedicure which he really, really loved. Maybe a little too much.
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On the last day some of us got to watch my brother in-law Nathan finish a 70 mile half Ironman, which I apparently once referred to as a "little run," proving how completely ridiculous I can be.
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And speaking of how completely ridiculous I can be, on the second day of our little family reunion I stuck a protective ear putty device all the way into my ear before getting into a pool. I had to go to the emergency room where a sweet doctor worked for two and a half hours until he finally got it out, afterwards telling me that was the longest it ever took him to get a foreign object out of an ear. My sister Lori took very good care of me (even replacing the nurse for the last hour or so) and insisted on documenting the event with pictures. I spent the rest of the trip on antibiotics.
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And then we began traveling across Kansas. Here we are in Oskaloosa playing water guns with Burke and Finley in between our fabulous five course meal ...
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And here we are in Newton with Nana and Papa David. An incredible thunderstorm began brewing upon our arrival and then the incredible 103 degree temperatures took over our lives. I’ve had some problems in my relationship with Mother Nature this month and I’m sorry to say we’re still not speaking. Thank goodness for various pools of water.
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We visited the wonderful Sedgwick County Zoo where we wished we could jump into this waterfall or take a swim in the river our boat rode down.
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Troy and Huck camped out in this tent for two nights and made me hot and uncomfortable just thinking about it.
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Here we are with Great Grandma Twyford at Uncle Lew's and Aunt Paulette's where Huck kind of went fishing.
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Next stop was Aunt Tina’s and Uncle Scott’s in Wichita for a weekend of bubbles, four square and forts.
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We got to celebrate Father’s Day with Grandpa Schremmer …
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… and Grandpa Hottman. Here we are for a few days in my hometown of Salina with the old parents.
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We spent an afternoon with Troy’s sister Pam, niece Shelby and Aunt Tina swimming and riding go-carts …
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… before ending our trip in Overland Park with Krishna, Todd and Addie who will be visiting us in NYC next month and will see what I mean when I say our entire apartment is the size of their master bedroom.
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In addition to all of this, Huck got to watch a marble being made, catch fireflies in several back yards, see a magician perform at the library (who made all my dreams come true by calling me up to be his assistant), visit Wichita's Exploration Place (which we thought he'd never leave), watch Lauren's pet chameleon eat a fly, race cars on Wii (I always got 12th place out of 12), visit Coronado Heights and climb an old castle, pick vegetables out of Grandpa's garden, and stay up late every single night. He discovered he hates chocolate cake, loves salads and Subway sandwiches, and has a desire to collect rollie pollies only to squish them to death.
One day I heard Lauren ask Huck the difference between Kansas and New York and he answered, "Well, Kansas is famous for wheat." And though we're staying put in our beloved New York City, he did tell me about 100 times that he wished he lived in Kansas.
Thanks, family.
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[ 3 comments ] ( 43 views )about a boy
June 11, 2009, 7:20 pm
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As you can see from these pictures, gone is the little baby boy we all knew and loved. In his place is a kid who will talk your ear off with some pretty articulate sentences ... who often says, "It's not fair!" in the saddest, most offended voice you ever heard, but then listens attentively if you give an example of something really, really not fair ... who actually says a very clear and distinct "Hmph!" when disgruntled ... who also says things like, "The shows at the zoo happen every five minutes just like a lady's contractions when she's about to have a baby" ... who follows me everywhere and talks non-stop, never seeming to notice that all my answers are generic and slightly bored "oh, yeahs?" and "neats!" ... who says he loves me most because my ear lobes are soft ... who daydreams about pre-school (see picture below) ... who imagines life one day as a building builder in the morning, a scientist in the middle of the day who will prove the earth actually spins very slowly, and a surgeon at the end, insisting that he will be the one who sleeps in till 8:00 while the mommy gets up with the kids ... who never wants to go outside when he's inside and never wants to go inside when he's outside ... and who is unbelievably excited to spend a couple of weeks with his grandparents, cousins (including meeting brand new second cousin Hayden!), aunts and uncles in Kansas. Even the fact that we all have to wake up at 4AM tomorrow makes him happy. So family? Get ready for your boy.
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[ 4 comments ] ( 29 views )perfect blendship
June 7, 2009, 10:41 pm
In order of appearance: Shana, Shannon, Cheryl, Kadin, CJ, Parker, Kadin, Russell, Daddy, Michael, Mommy, Olive, Olive, Gus, Olive, Gus, Olive, Charlie, Kadin.;)
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[ 2 comments ] ( 20 views )not from planet earth
June 3, 2009, 10:12 pm
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Four year olds are a little mixed up, and I like that in a person. Here are a few examples of Huck's view of the world these days, accompanied by some adorable pictures of him with the people who understand him best, his fellow four year old space aliens Olive and Gus.
The other day Huck went down the long tree slide at the Bronx Zoo and afterwards tugged on his shorts and announced, “I have a tushy!” A few minutes later I noticed him really, really tugging on his shorts and beginning to stick his hands down there so I asked if he meant he had a wedgie. Yes, as a matter of fact, he did.
Sometimes I make Pappy T do things for me (like refill my glass of water or hand me the remote or rub my feet) and I call him Coco during these hilarious moments. Recently Huck joined in and confused us both for a split second when he said something like “Hey, hand me that frisbee, Hot Chocolate.” He thought the joke was just calling Troy various hot beverages, which isn't a bad idea actually.
Whenever Huck is given hot food he insists that I blow on it because my "blower" is colder than his. Aw, shucks.
The other day I was wiping Huck's tushy (not wedgie) after a number two when he angrily shouted, "Mommy, you reached too far into my digestive system!" Not true.
A couple of weeks ago Huck had a subway escalator accident that I’m still suffering nightmare flashbacks from, and it resulted in a couple of torn up toes that required tender loving care for a good long week. Finally we decided to go without Band-Aids and put a little Vaseline on his toes, as they were getting very dry and scaly. We got dressed and were rushing around getting ready to go somewhere and Huck said, “Don’t forget to put the gasoline on my toes.” And no matter how hard I tried to explain the differences between gasoline and Vaseline, he kept shaking his head and telling me I was wrong. (Because it's very difficult to argue with a space alien.)
And lastly, today Huck pointed out that if your fingernails are dirty and you pick your nose you can hide the booger in your nails and it looks like dirt. My point is: don’t let him shake your hand.
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[ 4 comments ] ( 39 views )