Hope's Birthday!

Our little girl is growing up. Hope turned 2 on the 29th and had a ball at her party. We had quite a full house for her party, 35 total people with about half of them being kids. She's really not "into" anything right now except NOT wearing skirts and dresses. She always insists on wearing pants so I decided to make her a jeans cake. Learning how to hold up two fingers!!

Growing into Mommy's old formal.

Claire

Mark and I were in the middle of a home improvement project in our basement the other day when all of a sudden we heard a man's voice upstairs calling our names. The next thing we saw was a girl dressed like a crazy Colt's Fan and her bus driver Russ. Russ, a huge Colts fan had decked himself out on Friday to hype up the game. I guess he decided that he'd have fun with the last two kids on the bus. So he dressed them up in his wardrobe and brought them in the house to show the parents. Needless to say, we were quite surprised! Claire has loved Russ from the start, she even asked to invite him to her b-day party a few years back. We reminded her how blessed she is to have Russ as her bus driver and friend. We all have memories of our bus drivers, but mostly Mark and I's aren't this fond. What great memories she'll have to tell her kids about Russ and his Big Old Bus (what we like to call it around our house). And now to the part where we like to be proud parents. Claire got a letter a couple weeks ago saying that she had artwork that was chosen to be part of an art expo at Saint Joseph's College. Yesterday there was a ceremony to recognize all the artists (grades 1-4 with 8 area schools participating). We were so impressed with the professionalism that was given to the kids and their art work. We were also very proud when we arrived to her schools section and her art teacher greeted us and said that Claire actually had two pieces chosen. Her "jungle" themed one is pretty hard to make out in the photo but the the "repetition design" shows up well. Thanks Mr. Geleott for being a great art teacher and inspiration to Claire. Isn't it fun to see the talents that the Lord has blessed your kids with?

Merry Christmas!

I know this post is a bit picture heavy, but hey it's Christmas and I don't get the opportunity to post often. This is a picture of Grandpa and Grandma Hurley with all the grandkids. We had a wonderful day last Saturday celebrating Jesus' birthday with the whole Hurley gangHere's a picture that hasn't been taken in quite a while. Mark's immediate family. Back: Janet, Steve, Kyle - Front: Mark, Rita, Craig

The eldest two of the Hurley Crew. Brock and Hope ready for snow play. Yes I know Brock looks like a girl! It was a hand-me-down when Claire was three or four. He doesn't even realize purple is a color for girls, so let's not tell him until he outgrows this. It only took twice as long to get everyone bundled up and unbundled as it did to actually play outside. That's an improvement from last year!!

SANTA WAS HERE!!

Lightening McQueen Race Track

Claire with two new outfits for her A.G. dolls. We now have softball and soccer stars in the house.

Hope got a grocery cart and obviously Santa thought she needed real groceries instead of that silly play stuff. It took some work to convince her otherwise.

Opening the stockings is always a fun highlight for the kids.

The doorbell rang today and there was a dozen roses for me from "My Secret Admirer". Quite a shock since I was unaware that I had an admirer at all, let alone a secret one. As far as I know November the 18th holds no special anniversary, birthday, etc. Thank you Mark - I Love You Too!! On our way to Indianapolis this past weekend we stopped at Lafayette for lunch and Claire spotted the weinermobile in the Walmart parking lot. It's not everday you get to see the weinermobile, so we stopped for pictures. We weren't the only ones out taking pictures. Mark told the kids they probably needed to stop at Walmart for some mustard and buns.

We had a great time with two of my college friends and their families. This is a picture of all the kids, plus Val holding the newest baby Mae. Not the best picture, but we all know how hard it is to get kids looking forward with smiles.

Valerie Detwiler, Shelly holding Mae, Cherise Hall. We all lived together for 3 years at Maclure Cooperative.

Weekend Highlights!

Here are our little crayons ready for Trick-or-treating. We had a great time with Aunt Kim, Bowdy, and Brooke trick-or-treating as a box of crayons. They became a little dull as the night wore on and the hats came off. We actually had a FUN time making the costumes as well. Claire had her last cheer exhibition this weekend as well. The girls did an excellent job and had so much fun together!! She's getting very flexible and can do lots of tumbling tricks these days.

Claire's latest activity

Claire has tried several different sports since she started school. The rule is only one activity during any time period. This fall she decided to try cheerleading. We really had no idea how much time was involved before signing up for this one. She practices 3 days a week for 2 hours and then has games on the weekends. She absolutely LOVES it! I think last weekend she spent more time upside down than right side up. She's always practicing her cartwheels, round-offs, splits, etc. Because she's the smallest girl on the squad she gets to be on the top of the stunts, even though it's not very high. Last weekend she was able to participate in the Little Cousin Jasper parade and a show as well. Mark and I are hoping she gets this out of her system and we can try something different and not so time consuming next fall.

Camp Hurley

We had our 4th annual 'Camp Hurley' last weekend at the Indiana Dunes State Park. Despite the weather, we had a great time and can't wait till next year. The highlights included biking, playing on the dunes and in the water (even though hypothermia about set in), painting camp shirts, smores, puddgie pies, singing around the campfire, and feeding the birds and squirrels at the nature center. It is a tradition that the kids love and talk about all year long. Brock showing off his glow stick

This is the 2 and under crowd. A real hoot to watch interact. (RtoL: Hope, Elyse, Kevae)

Here's Mark buried in the sand. This was the tide pool that was irresistable, despite the cold weather. The whole gang!!