The Harwick Hubabaloo

Life.. Slow Down, You Move Too Fast!

Well, I knew it would come one day ... having suffered a mundane and boring existence here in the Armpit of America for 2+ years... having lived through: a Redneck Circus, armadillos, fire ants, lovebugs, Wal-Mart, country roads, Boll Weavil monuments, a serious tornado, backwards health care and a school system run BY morons FOR morons... I just settled in and accepted that fabulous lives were for other people! .... but not for long...

I am happy to announce that we are MOVING! - I am so stinkin excited!!!! I was ready to pack up and go the day Aaron got his orders (which is another story altogether - as many of you know we were originally headed to Clarksville, TN, which was exciting.. but now we are headed to Fort Bragg in NC!.. not as exciting, but close to my family).  

Our original plan was for the kids and I to stay here in the armpit until the end of the school year. I for one was dreading this for a number of reasons:

1. how fair would it be for Aaron to get to leave the stinky armpit while the kids and I suffer another 4-5 months?!

2. Aaron is leaving in April/May (? - I have selective amnesia here) for Afghanistan (is that spelled correctly?) for a year. As if the move will not be traumatic enogh for the kids; they will also have to deal with Daddy leaving.. not cool!

3. I would be moving with the kids ALONE. Finding a house, organizing a move, unpacking, alone.. no thanks!

So, I started looking for a job in NC. The DODEA had no love for me, but Cumberland County did (as a matter of fact they are in serious need.. if you are an SLP and you need a job look no further and they have pretty good compensation).  Just as I paid $40.00 for a duplicate Praxis Score report (seriously, I was mugged.. I paid them over $200.00 in testing fees almost 10 years ago and because I lost my copy of the scores they charged me $40.00 for a new report.. what?).. anyway, just as I shelled out my $40.00, the DODEA calls me and wants to do an interview! - It went swimmingly and they offered me the job! Now, I am pretty sure my current principal hates me because I am leaving, but I for one am ready to go!

Now begins the work.. we have to find somewhere to move, clean up this house, organize the move, get this house on the market, clean, clean (did I mention clean?) and pack and get ready to go.. and the days are running by faster and faster... help!

Which reminds me, I have laundry to tend to...

but I want to leave you with a quick view of two of the things I WILL NOT miss here in Enterprise, AL:

You thought I was lying, eh?

and

(and you are no longer wondering why they call them LOVEBUGS, are you?)

Will be back soon to share some of our January adventures with you, but I wanted to make sure to share the news!

xoxo

Trish

Happy Belated New Year!

Yep, January, 11th.. time to update! Is it still ok to say "Happy New Year"?, or is that over and done? - not sure, but either way.. Happy New Year from the Harwick Family!

Once again we have been quite busy and have lots to share this post.. stay with me if you can!

December 19th was the last day of school for the kids and of course this means parties. Both girls were required to bring a present for themselves and a food item.... yes, a present for themselves.. I am still confused about this and how it promotes or teaches the spirit of Christmas.. but oh well. Hannah got a new Hannah Montana doll and Hailey got a Digital Pet Shop doll thing. They were happy. I was instructed to send in "chips" for Hailey's class.. and I was in baking mode (see previous post) so what did I send in? .............. yep

chocolate chips! (well, it just said chips)

When Hailey took them in the teacher asks "what are the chocolate chips for Hailey?" to which Hailey replies, "the party"..

Well, turns out we were supposed to send in POTATO CHIPS! - quick trip to the store saved the day! (and Mom wears the dunce cap for the week)

Hannah was asked to bring cupcakes (I always get cupcakes, why is that?). So, we had to outdo last year's Snowmen cupcakes- Here is what we came up with:

On December 20th, my baby turned 8!!! 8!! can you believe it? (I cannot!) It stinks for her to have her birthday this close to Christmas because most of her friends have left town or have company and cannot attend a birthday party.. so we always make a big deal about it at home. Grandma Candy came for the big day (she has yet to miss a Hannah birthday in 8 years now!) and we had decorations, cake, ice cream, singing and presents. Here is my big girl:

 

 

Let's see.. then, after Hannah's birthday we made the obligatory pilgrimage to Dothan to the mall to visit with Santa. The girls were armed with their lists which they painstakingly cut and pasted from the Target and Toys r Us toy catalogs just in case Santa required visual aides!  Holly had already told me that she had NO intentions of speaking with the bearded man, informing me that the "ghouls" (or girls in English) could tell him what she wanted because she wasn't having "nothing to do with that big red guy"... sure do hope the ghouls got it right. Brody was oh so not sure either. Despite our month long preparation of Santa introductions, Brody didn't want anything to do with the big guy in red either.. We did manage to get a decent picture with the 4 of them.. Mom's dream!

Hailey with her list:

 

Hannah with her list:

 

and Holly with her list:

 

They  don't want much, eh? Brody's list was left at home; not that he really wanted a Barbie or a Cupcake Maker, right?

Here is Daddy trying to convince Brody that Santa is good:

 

and here they are waiting:

 

and the big moment finally arrives (there was a LONG line this year!)

 

Here is my angle of the group photo - The actual one was a little better (although they had a cruddy photo printer so it isn't that great!)

 

We also did some last minute shopping and had some ice cream before heading home.

During Grandma Candy's visit we also decorated some ceramic ornaments for the tree:

 

and made Sugar Cookies for Santa (these are his favorite in case you didn't know)

Christmas was a success! Santa treated the kids very well!

 

(Someone needs to teach me how to Photoshop out that stupid speaker and light.. they are distracting! Any takers? )

Everyone got what they wanted (well, some of it) and they were all happy campers! We spent the rest of the day building, reading instructions and playing toys.

Grandma Candy left on the 26th and Grandma Patti came the same day. We had a second Christmas with her and enjoyed a quick visit.

New Year's Eve - We prepared and ate our traditional fondue dinner.. YUM! YUM! YUM! (we need to do this more often, so yummy and fun to sit around and talk, not just rush through the meal!)

 

 

We then let the kids stay up for as long as they would last:

Brody: 9:30pm delirous, we put him to bed

Hailey: 11:00pm passed out on the couch watching tv

Hannah: begged her to go to bed at 1:00am

Holly: begged her to go to bed at 1:00am

Here is Hannah and Holly toasting in the New Year (sparkling apple cider of course). This one came out blurry and weird, this is the best I could do to save it with my limited skills.. LOL!

 

So, that was that!

I have lots more fun stuff to share - especially scrappy stuff, but I have to run and make some brunch (guess it is past breakfast time now, huh?).. Will try to come back this week to give you guys (who don't already know) our good news/bad news and some upcoming Scrappy fun!

Oh, also, I decided to do a 365 project this year. For those of you who don't know what that is; it means I am committing myself to take a picture a day every day this year.. I might be actually committing myself at the end of the year, but so far, so good! You can check out my photos here:

365 Flickr Group

See you all soon!

xoxo

Trish