Life is Hood

3 Months in 30 Seconds

2010-01-10T21:57:00.001-05:00

Go!

Amy the Lady Bug,

Kala the Bumblebee

(note the stinger),

Sara the Dragonfly,

and Claire the Butterfly.

Amy the 6 Year Old,

with best friend Anna Grace,

and Kala the Birthday Chorister.

Pile of Christmas presents before...

...and after.

Happy Amy, and

CHEESE!

Done.

Pumpkin Phun

2009-10-26T19:08:00.000-04:00

Sara picks out a proportional pumpkin...

...And so does Daddy

Kala and Claire with their selections

Sara helping with the annual pumpkin-porch placement ritual (Photographer: Amy)

Daddy leads everyone in a stirring rendition of "Twinkle Twinkle Pumpkin Star" at Mikala's request (Photographer: Amy)

MUD RUN '09

2009-10-25T20:46:00.000-04:00

We were excited to try the mud run this year for the first time. I had a friend on facebook who had a team with an opening, so I signed up. It was interesting not knowing what to expect. I was a little bit nervous--the mud run is 4.2 miles, through obstacles, and, you guessed it--mud. There was also a pollywog course for the kids. The kids were really excited; Mikala was born for this, but Amy chickened out when she realized she would have to get dirty. The Mud Run will definitely be a tradition...

Team Mud Pies, pumped and ready to go.

Amy and Mikala in Line at the Pollywog course

Kala dives in.

"Victory!"

"Victory?"

6 Miles, 4 Kids, 2 Bikes

2009-09-16T12:08:00.003-04:00

... and 2 bike trailers, of course.

It's been a while since this family has been on a bike ride. We can make all sorts of valid excuses involving real logistical problems--but we really want to be a bike family again. We dusted off the old bikes, and supplemented our one trailer with another from a friend, and voila, a Hood Bike Caravan.

For our first trip, we went to Riverfront Park, which has a path that runs 3 miles each way down the old Columbia canal. Here are some pictures:

Amy and Sara (yep, it's a little tight)

Claire and Mikala

Amy: Happy to be out of the Trailer at the End of the Trail

Lunch at the Canal Lock (yes Heidi was with us too, we fixed up an old bike from the shed that was just her size)

Kala Performing on the Stage

Sara, Otterly Excited

St Louis

2009-09-13T17:37:00.016-04:00

OK. First of all, obviously we've had an Extreme Makeover - Blog Edition. We're going with an "elegant-modern" look inspired by our most recent photo shoot of the girls (photos of the shoot will be coming in a later post).

Because we've neglected the blog over the busy summer months. We are going to catch up, starting with our anniversary trip to St Louis:

The Arch

St Louis Union Station (where we stayed)

Tammy at the Zoo

Again, Tammy at the Zoo

Joe at the Zoo

Again, Joe at the Zoo

At the Base of the Arch

Tammy in the Tiny Cylindrical Arch-Elevator

The Shadow of the Arch

Us at the Top

Tammy with a 1/2" thick piece of stainless steel between her and 600 feet of nothing

Why St Louis? Well, why not St Louis. It's the gateway to the West. The arch is very romantic, and St Louis Union Station is gorgeous. It really had nothing to do with the fact that we got the the hotel, food, and half the airfare paid for because we coupled our anniversary adventure with a business trip.

Pop Quiz #2

2009-07-05T20:40:00.004-04:00

It's that time again! Who will earn the highest score?

Here's how to play (for those of you who are new to this game):

below is a list of words our children say, spelled phonetically. Simply reply with your answers in the comments.

1. I scay-wee (Claire) (hint: fireworks) (1 pt for what she says, and 1 pt for what it's s'posed to be)
2. bay-bee-soup (Mikala) (hint: Pine Island) (4 pts)
3. goy-car (Mikala) (hint: singing time) (5 pts)
4. pick-a-bud-da (Claire) (hint: snack time) (1 pt)
5. clock-a-muk (Claire) (hint: snack time again) (3 pts)
6. blib-blop (Amy) (hint: summer fashion) (2 pts)
7. hock-a-bus (Claire) (hint: ocean friend) (4 pts) <-- our favorite
8. chiths (Sara) (hint: Moooo) (5 pts)
9. Laaah! (guttural) (Sara) (hint: ceiling) (2 pts)
10. Neh-wah (Amy, Mikala, Claire) (hint: relative) (4 pts)

On your mark, get set, GO!

Winner gets a fully stamped Marble Slab Club Card good for one free ice cream that expires 9-30-09 (at the Lexington location--sorry to those of you who moved away!)

Evolution of Amy

2009-07-01T08:45:00.006-04:00

As a follow up to our last post, here's a look at Amy throughout the shoot. She really made an honest effort, but there was only so much she could take . . .

Yep, That's Really the Best One

2009-06-22T07:29:00.003-04:00

We tried to get a family portrait done at the grandparents for Father's Day, and we utterly failed. We think we know why, and want to offer some suggestions on how NOT to prepare your kids for a decent photo:

1) Don't feed them crepes with chocolate-hazel nut spread, whipped cream, powered sugar, and toffee chips for breakfast. It's great and all to have a dessert breakfast for Father's Day, but we set the kids up for a major crash--and crash they did.
2) Don't expect to have happy kids after an hour drive, where they have enough time to get very, very tired, but not enough time to have any productive sleep.
3) Don't try to do outdoor shots when it's 95 degrees and 80% humidity. The kids no likey.

The Big Mo

2009-06-07T20:04:00.006-04:00

We went to the Big Mo to see Up and Night at the Museum 2. Amy's been on this "Thumbs Up" thing lately. So, let's see how the kids rate the trip:

An hour and a half in a little van with my 3 crazy sisters?

THUMBS DOWN!

A little extra caffeine to keep us up until 1:00 (AM)?

THUMBS UP!

Daddy says no rides!

THUMBS DOWN!

Playing Connect Four with yourself--you can't lose!

THUMBS UP!

Front Center Parking Spot

THUMBS UP!

"Look Mommy I'm Daddy!"

2009-05-19T20:41:00.001-04:00

Kala loves to dress up. Now her dress up has become cross-dressing in Daddy clothes--from Mommy's clean laundry pile. We're hoping she never grows into them.

Easter Dresses

2009-04-15T15:57:00.004-04:00

Will Work For Food

2009-04-10T21:18:00.003-04:00

Ahh, the childhood rite of strawberry picking! It's only natural that children, who are so good at picking (and eating) things, are drawn to this ritual . . .

Look at our hard working team! (shown here with friend Heidi) A couple of minutes later, Mikala will complain that her basket is "too hebby" and Mommy will have to carry it the rest of the way . . .

Sara is shown here eating a strawberry that's apparently a little sour, but she will eat it anyway because she is a human garbage disposal. This is why she has to be strapped to Mommy's back for strawberry picking--at least until she's out of the dirt-eating phase . . .

Claire apparently doesn't care that her parents take it upon themselves to dress her like a New Kids on the Block groupy. She was a pretty good worker.

So, that's a sampling of our recent strawberry picking trip. Hopefully we tricked the kids into experiencing a little work.

In Hot Water

2009-03-21T17:57:00.007-04:00

Our water bill has been rather high for the past two months (by rather high, I mean $100+) which means a leak. We spent a month looking for a leak, and we figured it must be our "you-gotta-jiggle-the-handle" toilets, so we replaced the innards of those, but the leak was not gone.

Then we found a mysterious pool of hot water in our backyard by the house. A hot spring in our yard? nope. Looking up, we could see the source--the water heater emergency drain pipe, not dripping, but poring. We went up into our attic to inspect our water heater (yep, we store literally a ton of scalding water, right over our heads, reason #1,356 why its time to move). The old heater seemed to be oozing water from several orifices--hot water. So, we're paying for water AND electricity to make our little hot spring.

The above picture is of the NEW water heater. Here are some fun facts about the installation:

Price of new water heater: $298

Price quoted from Lowes to install: $450 (difficult installation)

Price for materials for us to install: $190 (most was for tools we keep--bonus!)

Number of trips to Lowes for project: 5, so far

Number of marketable skills learned in process: 3

Number of people it takes to lift a 50 gallon water heater into an attic: 4

Number of people we had to lift a 50 gallon water heater into the attic: 2

Number of days without a shower: 2.5

Number of loads of dirty laundry waiting for us: 13

Number of date nights spent fixing the house or car: 9

Call us if you need help sweat-fitting copper pipes, installing dielectric unions, or extending a 240V electrical circuit with 10/2 wire. We know how to do all that now.

Sugar Babies

2009-03-10T21:01:00.005-04:00

Try to imagine the most disorganised, hectic moments in your house--then multiply that by 10, and that's what the Hood's house is on Sunday mornings before Church. Mikala and Claire took advantage of Mommy and Daddy being distracted last Sunday morning, and snuck off to the laundry/pantry closet (yep, we have a small house) and found a bucket o' sugar and went to town. By the time we noticed they were hiding, I fear they got several spoonfuls of sugar down each (sneaky Mikala tried to close the bucket and play dumb as we opened the door to the closet)

Sick House

2009-02-26T12:58:00.003-05:00

The Hood House is currently riddled with Group-A Streptococcal bacteria. You will stay away if you know what is good for you.

Amy and Mikala are mostly recovered, The parents are starting to feel better, Claire is in the middle of it, and Sara is the little miracle baby who has amazingly remained strep-negative so far.

My little munchkins (more from Grandma's House)

2009-02-12T09:55:00.008-05:00

Sara's cute little mischief mixed with some cousin interaction

Amy's new favorite hobby...we're so proud!

Monday at Grandma Baker's

2009-02-09T21:47:00.014-05:00

The girls got to spend all day in Newberry at Great-Grandma Baker's House--and Aunt Maria and cousin Cadence were there too. Here are some pics:

There are 4 girls in Grandma's Yard. Can you tell which ones?

Well, one of them isn't Mikala, she was sick on the couch the whole time.

Meanwhile, Claire was practicing her parallel parking.

And Cadence was getting down in the driveway.

Amy was found making her mark.

Then the little ones had some bonding time on the swing.

Crossfit Claire

2009-01-30T21:53:00.006-05:00

Claire stands up on Mommy's hands and goes "up" and "down." Keep an eye on Sara wandering into the picture. Also, this video shows how "strong-willed" Claire can be.

Holes in Nana's House

2009-01-27T07:12:00.006-05:00

Nana and Pops (Grandma and Grandpa Hood) had a fire in their house that started in the chimney. We took the kids to see the aftermath, hoping to make it an object lesson about the dangers of fire. Mikala was utterly enthralled with the wreckage. She jumped up and down with glee. Amy, however, was devastated.

Last Saturday Night, Amy was asked to offer the family prayer. She told Heavenly Father that "Nana's house had a fire, and Nana's house has holes in it." She asked that Nana's house could be fixed.

If you are wondering, the cause of the fire (as determined by the Fire Marshall) was faulty construction that did not allow for proper clearances between the chimney and the frame of the house. Nana and Pops are completely covered by their insurance, but will be living in an apartment for a couple of months. Pops will be doing the general contracting and much of the labor associated with the repair work.

And the result of our object lesson for the kids? As far as we can tell, Amy will never so much as roast a marshmallow over a campfire as long as she lives, and Mikala will probably burn our house to the ground as soon as she learns to strike a match.

SC "Snow"

2009-01-20T21:51:00.004-05:00

It's white . . .

It's cold . . .

Maybe it's snow!

All I Want for Christmas is...

2008-12-17T13:54:00.002-05:00

Sara's two front teeth! It's been a full six months since Sara cut her bottom teeth. It seems like she's been teething that entire time--drooling, gnawing, smacking, biting. I just hope she gets some more teeth soon (not another six months from now) so we can get this stuff over with and start eating some REAL food!

Top Ten Reasons Why it's Good to Have All Girls #2

2008-11-30T18:35:00.012-05:00

#2: You Get to Poke Holes in Their Ears.

(For those of you who are new to the blog, you can catch up on the other Top Ten posts here)

I have wanted to pierce my girls' ears ever since Amy was about 6 months old. Joseph was dead set against it. Our compromise was this: At the age of 5, the girls should be able to understand pain and the responsibility associated with taking care of pierced ears and can then decide for themselves. So, for the past year, I have subconsciously convinced Amy that she wanted earrings. We just happened to be in a mall in Savannah on Black Friday (another story for another time) which was the day after Amy's 5th birthday. As we entered the mall, Claire's was right there. I asked Amy if she wanted to get her ears pierced and--surprisingly--she said yes. We went and picked out a pair of earrings, but after watching another girl get her ears pierced, Amy said: "That hurts. I don't want earrings." We walked out of the store, but she kept looking back. She changed her mind at the last minute, and decided that she did want earrings after all. She was very brave and only cried from the initial shock. She has been modeling her pretty blue-green earrings ever since.

Leaves

2008-11-24T15:03:00.002-05:00

Anniversary Post!

2008-11-18T19:53:00.007-05:00

To mark the 1st anniversary since our first blog post, we're posting our family picture taken after Sara's adoption was final. I thought it only fitting since our first post, entitled Sara Christine Hood, was about introducing her to everyone.

This is what we wore as a family to the court room. We had a hard time getting everyone to settle down . . . and we're lucky we got them to look toward the camera, much less get any smiles.

So, in celebrating our blog's 1st anniversary: here's to you--all ye who dwell in the bloggernacle--may your posts be fun and your comments be many!

While I'm at it, I may as well mention some milestones from the past year:

1-The kids are all still alive, and relatively well (this was harder than you think to achieve).

2-I'm not crazy . . . yet. But I am suffering from some sort of Post-finalization Depression (I went through PPD with the other three and it's fitting for it to happen with Sara--just means I have truly accepted her as my own) who knew!?!

3-Our cars are still alive, but our HVAC system, washing machine (twice), dishwasher, stove, alternator, 2 car batteries, and the radio in the van all died beyond repair and had to be replaced. (yes, all while paying for a VERY expensive adoption)

Pumpkin Polling Results

2008-11-12T10:52:00.008-05:00

Ok, the pumpkin polling data are in:

The correct answer was "B"

Name That Pumpkin Carver

2008-10-31T22:17:00.012-04:00

Our family pumpkin was carved into the logo of our beloved Alma Matter this year. And, for a little friendly competition, we're going to play that game we all know and love: "Name That Pumpkin Carver."

For those of you that haven't played for a while, here's a refresher on how it works:

Choose one of the following options and record your choice in a comment to this blog:

A) Joseph (good choice, the "awesome artist")
B) Tamra (also a good choice, the "patient perfectionist")
C) Amy (bad choice, the "4 year old that's not allowed to play with knives")
D) No one, its a fake pumpkin (another good choice)

The winner will be chosen randomly from the correct guessers and will get their personal pumpkin carved for free next Halloween into anything they want by the expert carver who created the above masterpiece*.

*Offer void if the answer is C, because even though Amy will be 5 next year, she still won't be allowed to play with knives. Winner will be responsible for purchasing the pumpkin to be carved. Winner will be chosen at random via the eenie-meenie-minee-moe method. All rebates to dealer. Offer void in California. Also, effective retroactively, the winner may not request their pumpkin to be carved to resemble a TIGER PAW.

Good luck!

Find Your Pumpkin Self

2008-10-20T19:11:00.005-04:00

One of our Fall/Halloween Traditions is to Get a pumpkin for each member of the family. In our second year of this tradition, we decided to give our pumpkins more personality, and we created a jack-o-portrait for each of the kids.

Sealing

2008-09-27T12:18:00.004-04:00

No words, just pictures . . .

How to build a backyard - Part 3: Hiatus

2008-09-13T21:07:00.005-04:00

Step 1: Put all tools away (because there's a chance of rain for the next three weeks straight--not to mention the hurricanes.)
Step 2: Dam up dirt piles so they stop spilling into the sidewalk.
Step 3: Turn wheelbarrow over so it doesn't become a cess pool of mosquito larvae.
Step 4: Wait....and wait....and wait. Wait 'til your husband is back into the swing of grad school, wait 'til you're used to waking up at 6:00 am so that Amy can catch the bus at 6:30 am, wait 'til all the school orientations are over, wait 'til all this adoption mess is final, wait 'til Tammy, Sara, and Claire's birthday parties are over, 'til formal family portraits are taken, 'til Sara is sealed to us for time and all eternity, 'til Sara is blessed, and FINALLY, wait 'til after General Conference is over before getting back to work on the most important project for the house. Maybe the weather will be nicer and you can work for longer than 15 minutes before almost passing out and being forced back inside for water breaks to recuperate from the humidity--maybe.

Finally, Finalization.

2008-09-06T18:51:00.008-04:00

It's official--this little girl's name is Sara, and Joseph and Tamra Hood are her legal parents. The adoption was finalized on Sep. 5th, 2008. I know what you're asking, and yes, all of her sisters were there in the courtroom and there was NO order in the court. There were however a lot of smiles. We are a happy family

How to Build a Backyard Part 2: The Wall

2008-08-21T13:00:00.005-04:00

Yes, it's time to check in on our major backyard renovation. We have completed the demolition work and are now building the wall for the lower level. The walls are being built out of treated wood timbers, rebar and a gravel foundation. The wall is supported by perpendicular "deadmen" that tie the wall into the earth behind it.

For anyone thinking that the Hood's must be expert wall builders, check back with this wall in a couple of years and see if it's still standing. The only thing we're going on is some how-to websites and common sense. We'll see how it works out.

4 Little Girls + Sleeping Parents + Markers =

2008-08-17T21:05:00.013-04:00

Amy sports a phat goatee . . .

Claire contracts a rare case of Smokey Mountain Spotted Fever . . .

Sara's outfit gets a makeover . . .

Mikala draws an amoeba, while Amy experiments with a new subject: a One Eyed Monster . . .

Amy practices her art next to Daddy's artwork on the playroom wall (Amy is understandably confused about why she is not allowed to draw on the wall) . . .

Mikala thinks Amy's artwork is very hip and commissions body art based on her One Eyed Monster.

Lessons learned:

The Olympics are fun, but sleeping is better.
Do not leave markers where children can find them.
If you absolutely must leave markers where children can find them, remove the sharpies from the mix.
Use a Magic eraser for the walls, baby oil for the babies.

Nebulizer Baby

2008-08-05T22:14:00.005-04:00

Sara had a bad cough--bad enough that we had to take her to the urgent care to have her checked out. Apparently, she was working on getting pneumonia, and she was almost there. Her treatment is a nebulizer, steroids, and antibiotics. She doesn't mind the nebulizer too much, except that she hates it. She pulls it off constantly so you can't leave because you have to hold it in place the whole time. Anyway, her cough went away very quickly and she's pretty much back to normal.

In other news, Sara's crawling now--not the commando crawl, but the real thing. That's right, she's able to get her belly off the floor and stop mopping the floor with her shirt. Good news for her, bad news for the floor.

How to Build a Backyard Part 1: Excavation

2008-08-02T11:58:00.006-04:00

This is the first in a new blog series about our major backyard rebuild. We decided that whether we sell the house now, or live in it for while longer, we need to make the backyard usable. Our backyard has been a useless slope since we moved in. The plan is to terrace it with retaining walls and make three level areas, with a patio on the lower level. Our plan is also to do it for a $1,000 instead of $10,000.

The Plan:
The first step to this process is moving several tons of dirt. This is very brutal work. It's a good thing we waited until the hottest part of the year to do it (heavy sarcasm).

The Excavation:

We will keep you posted on the progress.

Not Just an Empty Threat

2008-07-24T19:43:00.010-04:00

A couple of months ago, Amy picked up a bad habit from one of her friends. She started chewing on her hair. For months I threatened, and threatened, and threatened some more. The more I threatened, the more I bluffed. I couldn't stand to see all that soft, pretty, curly hair go away. So, whenever Joseph would ask me when I was going to cut her hair, my answer was always something close to, "whenever I get a chance." Yeah, right. Like anyone in their right mind would ever cut gorgeous flowing locks like Amy's. (For those of you who are having a hard time remembering, please refer to: Top Ten Reasons Why it's Good to Have All Girls #6.) Well, last Sunday, Amy chewed on her hair nonstop. I got so fed up that I told her she was getting her hair cut in the morning. And voila...we have the new Amy!

And the flipside...

Bye bye beautiful locks. :( (Hopefully not forever though).

Oh, and after I was done cutting Amy's hair, I went to give Kala a trim while I was at it, and found her like this...

here's another angle...

and one more for good measure...

Sweet Memories

2008-07-21T11:10:00.004-04:00

A Different Kind of Tag:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together (either with just me, just joseph, or the family). It doesn't matter if you knew us a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

Thanks for playing along!

How to Replace an Alternator in a 2002 Kia Sedona

2008-07-18T11:42:00.014-04:00

This is Joseph, and I'm hijacking the blog today to perform a public service. Usually when I do car work, I google for instructions and get complete details on how to do the work. This saves me from extra work, injury, and death. However, when the alternator went bad in the Kia, I could find no online help for a 2002 Kia Sedona. I have learned the hard way how to replace this alternator, and I'm passing this knowledge along to all.

And for all you female readers of this blog: I know this is not the type of post you are used to on this blog, but just think--you could have bragging rights with your husband (i.e. "I know how to replace an alternator in a 2002 Kia Sedona and you don't, so there!").

Step by step instructions:

1) Are you sure the alternator's bad!?!? Replacing an alternator in this vehicle is NOT an easy task and is not recommended for men with high blood pressure, or women who are pregnant, or may become pregnant. Side effects include nausea, insomnia, and very dirty fingernails. If you experience that it takes you longer than 4 hours to remove this alternator, call your mechanic immediately.

To make sure the alternator needs to be replaced, google "how to test an alternator" and invest in a good multimeter if you don't have one.

2) Remove battery terminal connections and wait at least 30 min for the airbags to be disabled.

3) Remove the air filter intake (large black plastic thing on top of the radiator that connects to the air filter housing).

4) Remove support beam above radiator (6 x 14mm screws and 4 x 12mm screws).

5) Remove radiator hoses connected to the pipe that runs along the front of the engine block. There are two, one on the left that connects to the radiator, and one on the right the connects to the thermostat housing on the side of the block).

This will cause antifreeze to spill all over your driveway. Ideally you should put something down to catch it, but if you didn't, this would be a great time for those disease-ridden stray cats to come around looking for a snack.

6) Now remove the pipe that these hoses were connected to (2 x 12mm screws). You will now get a visual of the alternator, which is a good thing considering you have to replace it.

7) Remove both fans attached to the radiator. This is the hard part. There at least 4 screws holding each one down, one on top, one on the bottom, and two on the side. The side screws are very difficult to get to. You will need one or more of the following to get them loose:

Extremely small and agile fingers
Psychokinetic abilities that allow you to move things with your mind that you cannot possibly reach with your hands
The proper tool (flexible ratchet extension)

After you remove the fans, you will have created a path to move the alternator across the front of the engine block and out.

8) Loosen (or remove) the serpentine belt by loosening the manual adjustment pulley. This is the pulley with the 12mm nut on the side and underneath. If you do not know how to loosen a manual adjustment pulley, you are dumb. (google it if you need to know how to do it)

9) Remove the black support bar the connects the alternator to the engine block. (2 x 12mm screws)

At this point, your kids (who should be asleep by now) will be crying at you through their bedroom window because it's so unfair that they have to go to sleep while Daddy gets to play outside and have fun.

10) Ignore them. You have work to do. Remove the three bolts on the left side of the alternator. Two of them will not come all the way out because of lack of space, but they will come out far enough to remove the alternator.

You will now have to install a light because it has taken you longer to do this than you thought could ever be possible and it is 10:00 at night.

11) Disconnect the hot connection to the alternator (11mm bolt) and the wire harness for the voltage regulator and ground connections.

12) Remove the alternator.

13) Buy a new alternator. This will cost more than you will want to pay. Mortgage your house, sell one (or more) of your kidneys, or embezzle funds from work as necessary.

14) Attach the new alternator and put the car back together better than you found it.

15) When it comes time for you to put those stupid fans back in, do what you should have done before--get your wife who has small and agile hands to do it for you. 16) When you are completly done, sit back and admire your work:

You will probably have at least two screws left over:

They probably don't go on anything important. If you do not have any screws left over, then:

You are an amazing mechanic and should probably do this for a living.
You dropped most of the screws into the engine in tiny crevices where they will never be recovered.
You're just reading this blog for fun and haven't actually replaced the alternator in your personal 2002 Kia Sedona.

17) Disinfect and bandage wounds.

18) Sleep for the 2 hours you have left before you have to wake up and go to work.

All done.

Top 10 Reasons Why it's Good to Have All Girls #3

2008-07-03T20:48:00.006-04:00

#3: Creative Color Coordinating: Claire has found a new hobby...munching on markers. Claire is very sneaky in this endeavor. She takes markers from Amy when neither Amy nor mommy are looking. Then she hides. Claire likes to experiment with different colors (and her 5 senses). So, sometimes they mix. But Crayola has made things way more complicated. It's not just "green" anymore. It's "mountain meadow". And with all this creative color coordinating, we must match Claire's skin tone with "piggy pink", her eyes with "beaver", and her hair with "desert sand". (Shout out to Crayola for always making their products non-toxic!)

Two Teefs

2008-06-25T21:52:00.003-04:00

Guess who bit my finger at Stake Conference? That's right folks...Sara has two teeth that broke through on Sunday. I've been wondering when this milestone would come her way. With her being premature and all, I really wasn't sure. She's been acting like she was gonna cut teeth for about 4 months now, but her gums were never swollen. Oh well, maybe now I can start feeding her some actual food instead of mush.

Genesis 43:1

2008-06-23T20:50:00.006-04:00

We came home from our week long trip in Chattanooga to a special treat: crunchy grass!

It is a liberating feeling to finally embrace the fact that our lawn is completely--and utterly--dead.

The previous two summers were marked by feeble attempts at watering and worrying about the grass. This summer, we were just unwilling to pay for the water or lose any sleep over it.

Well, gotta go mow the weeds. . .

Excuses

2008-06-13T23:41:00.022-04:00

What has kept the Hood's so busy that they've been virtually blogless for the past 2 months? Let's see . . .

It all started when Joseph was sent on a week-long business trip to Las Vegas . . .

Red Rocks Canyon, NV

. . . Where he learned about fancy engineering things and had to go to Red Rocks all by himself because all his engineering friends were too busy trying to get rich quick.

Anyway, with Joseph gone for a week, Tammy was left to fend for herself against the heathens . . .

Mikala Wearing her War Paint

. . . And then Joseph was sent to New York for week . . .

China Town, NYC

. . . Where he learned about fancy engineering things and ate chinese food in china town, which coincidentally tastes a lot like chinese food in South Carolina.

Anyway, again, this left Tammy alone all week with the demolition crew . . .

Claire Taking a Quick Breather between Demolition Sessions

And then Joseph was sent to Chattanooga for a week. (A pattern has emerged) . . .

Lover's Leap at Rock City, Chattanooga

. . . And, because Tammy couldn't stand being left alone for another week with the infidels, we packed 'em up and made the Chattanooga trip a family vacation . . .sortof.

Sara and Claire, Just Thrilled to be on a Business Trip

After all this traveling hither and yon, we had a lot of work to do with the adoption . . .

Daddy Instilling Musical Genius with "Popcorn Popping . . ."

Tammy and "Sissa"

. . . And just when we thought life was back to normal and we could go back to our old blogging ways, the washing machine broke. More specifically, "there was an arching fault in the main relay on the motor inverter circuit." Unfortunately, the 1 year warranty was up a week ago . . .

The Late Washing Machine Motor

~ 2007-2008 ~

What you have just read is our post created directly after the washing machine was fixed the the backlog of clothes finally began to get washed. We are now out of excuses and excited about sharing our adventures again on Life is Hood.

Post-poned

2008-04-24T21:42:00.003-04:00

Sorry our blogging has been put off for the month of April. Tammy has been a single mom for half of the month, raising anywhere from 4-6 kids at any one given moment. Meanwhile, Joseph has been living it up in Vegas and NYC. So, don't give up on us now. There will be more of our beloved posts, but probably not until the month is o're. Our apologies again--and as tigger would say, "T-T-F-N, ta ta for now!"

Synchronized Swinging

2008-03-30T20:01:00.006-04:00

We went to the lake last week, and yes, the water is still very cold. The kids had a blast, especially Mikala, who loved the water so much we had to manually regulate her temperature by pulling her out into the sun each time her lips started to lose color. Eventually, as the sun started to go down, we had to make the water off limits all together, and we all retired to the playground.

Mikala and Claire both wanted to swing. Because there are four swings in a row, we thought that it would be perfect to have them all swing at the same time. Mikala and Claire were loaded into their swings. We then put Sara in hers, and she didn't cry--which we took as a sign of approval.

Amy, however, had a sudden surge of her trademark fear hormone preventing her from consenting to the swing idea. Amy is very keen about always remaining well grounded. Any activity that separates her feet from the ground is a good candidate for her activity blacklist. Amy did want to push Sara however, which allowed her to keep her feet firmly on the ground and kept her in complete control of the situation.

Makala just wanted to go "High-ah". I had her going so high at one point that I had to wonder if Myth Busters ever busted that myth about being able to do a 360 swing. Makala would love to be the one to prove it right.

Claire had a swinging angle limit of about 30 degrees. Anything above that would consistently cause the tensed-up-shake-of-fear, which every parent is familiar with.

Sara was mostly unimpressed and apparently thought the whole swinging thing was way overrated. She would only laugh with Mommy make funny sound and faces at her, otherwise, she tended to doze off. She doesn't do the tensed-up-shake-of-fear yet, but she does express herself quite well with her spit-ups and vomits when in scary situations.

We should have more lake adventures soon, especially when the water warms up.

Pop Quiz: Answers

2008-03-26T18:23:00.004-04:00

For those of you who are absolutely dying to learn how to speak Am-mik-clai-ra, here are the answers to your first quiz.

1. pay up, peh-yup, amy.
English: ketchup (this one gets me stumped every time)

2. pappy, pah-peee, kala.
English: passy, or pacifier

3. da do, dah-doo, care bear.
English: peek-a-boo

4. caugh cry, a-hah-haa, sara.
English: i'm hungry, i need to burp, pick me up, change me, any or all-of-the- above

5. nanay, neh-naiy, kala.
English: bandaid--usually for some miniscule boo-boo

6. putt, putt, amy.
English: cup (in some upside-down world)

7. nuk, nuk, kala.
English: milk

8. hu oh, huh huh, clarie.
English: uh-oh

9. goggy, gawkey, kala.
English: doggy

10. heh pader, heh pawdher, amy.
English: Heavenly Father, normally followed with "anis aiy" aka--thank you for this day

Thanks to all those who participated. I'll give you the opportunity to grade yourselves. I have found out that context clues are vital. Maybe next time I'll be a bit nicer and include some...maybe.

Easter Weekend in Savannah

2008-03-25T21:27:00.015-04:00

Amy...
going into a sugar coma.

Kada, Ainslee, Amy & Tyler...
like kids in a candy store.

Amy & Claire...
enjoy long walks on the beach.

Kada...
in her own world.

Tyler & Kada...
blown away.

Ainslee, Tyler, Amy, Uncle Thomas & Claire...
getting their feet wet.

Sara...
just chillin' ... yo

Claire...
gold digger.

Claire & Sara...
having their day in the sun.

Tyler & Amy...
best friends forever.

Pop Quiz

2008-03-19T19:57:00.003-04:00

Thought you were done with school were you? Welcome to Basic Needs 101! This is a foreign language quiz. Let's see how well you can decipher Am-mik-clai-ra! I will give you a word, pronunciation, and the origin of the "word" (aka who said it) and you see if you can guess what word it would be if translated correctly into English. Can anyone make a perfect score? Pop quizzes will be given throughout the year. Good Luck! (Answers will only be counted if given in the "comments" portion of the quiz.)

1. pay up, peh-yup, amy.

2. pappy, pah-peee, kala.

3. da do, dah-doo, care bear.

4. caugh cry, a-hah-haa, sara.

5. nanay, neh-naiy, kala.

6. putt, putt, amy.

7. nuk, nuk, kala.

8. hu oh, huh huh, clarie.

9. goggy, gawkey, kala.

10. heh pader, heh pawdher, amy.

Stay tuned for the answers.

"She's been sighted, she's been sighted!"

2008-03-14T18:15:00.015-04:00

We have received several anonymous tips from people who believe they may have seen Tammy Hood.

This photo, believed to be of Tammy, was taken on Y mountain in Provo, UT. This corroborates reports that she is staying with her sister, who resides in the area.

This photo of a woman on a moped, submitted anonymously, was analyzed by our experts who have confirmed that the moped is registered to Tammy's Sister, Maria Torres. The person riding the moped is a partial facial match for Tammy.

Our photo expert team has also confirmed that Tammy "looks like a dork" in the photo.

This is a photo believed to be of Tammy at the Phoenix airport, another hideout she is thought to have used. She reportedly stayed there for a total of 20 hours between March 9th-10th. To avoid suspicion, she would claim that her "fight was canceled."

Because of your help, and the expertise of our photo analysis team, Tammy has been found! After much persuasion, she has agreed to answer her husband's emotional plea to come home. We have since learned that Tammy has made it home safely, and is helping her husband recover from his battle with scurvy as well as thanking him for being such a good sport during her absence.

Have you seen this woman?

2008-03-06T19:11:00.005-05:00

If you have any information about the whereabouts of this woman, please contact the authorities immediately. She was last seen fleeing from her family at an airport near Charlotte, NC. She may have boarded a plane. She reportedly left a sink full of dishes and several large loads of laundry undone. The latest information suggests that she may be staying with a relative somewhere in the western U.S.

Her husband has made an emotional plea for her prompt return. He is apparently not sleeping well and is having to change "lots of stinky diapers." He is also suffering from scurvy caused by his diet of cereal and hot pockets.

Top 10 Reasons Why it's Good to Have All Girls #4

2008-03-02T00:21:00.010-05:00

#4: Natural Hair Styling Skills: Kala has two habits--her passy, and her hair. Lately, she has been teething and not feeling well. When this happens, she twirls her hair so much that she curls it! (And it actually looks really good.) Well I guess if you can't have a kid with curly hair, at least have one that will curl it herself!

Growing Up

2008-03-01T23:25:00.004-05:00

We have waited for this moment for a long time. And not only is she smiling, she is cooing and laughing as well! We are so excited to finally feel like we are truly bonding with our little belle. She is healthy--gaining weight with the best of them. (A whole 12 pounds.) Sara continues to grow more beautiful every day. She enjoys interacting and playing with her sisters, which is also exciting to watch. We can't wait for her next milestone.

Peekaboo Claire

2008-02-22T22:42:00.009-05:00

Claire's First Word is "Peekaboo" . . . or something close to it.

Little Peeper?

2008-02-18T09:46:00.011-05:00

I've been meaning to post this funny episode for a while now.

We at the Hood home woke up one morning to find this little bugger camping out in our toilet. (It is a mystery how he got there.) We had fun looking and pointing, and then getting on with our day--me trying to convince Joseph that he needed to release it into the wild, and vice versa. Well, later on, after Joseph had gone to work, junior suction toes was gone. In my naiveness, i thought Joseph had saved him. A few hours later when I was cleaning the bathroom, I found him behind the lid of the toilet seat as I was putting the lid down. He freaked me out. He was the last thing I thought I'd see. And yes, some of us--who will go unnamed--were peeped on. When I calmed down, I got up the courage to capture him in a cup (which I later threw away) and then sent him packing.

I've always wanted to be tagged!

2008-02-14T22:19:00.008-05:00

this one will be a little different. this tag will be a joint effort b/w me and joseph.

10 years ago: i was freshmeat, and joe was a senior in high school dating a junior in college!

5 things on my list to do today: get a lawyer (for sara), make a valentine, do three loads of clothes, change a diaper, get primped for my date. (joe) create the cheapest valentine's dinner ever (full explanation to come), finish homework, work on an assignment at work, spend time with the girls, suprise tammy with a really expensive present (hence the cheap dinner).

what I would do if I were suddenly a billionaire: fulfill my dream to pay lots of tithing, get voice lessons, build a home with tons of land a magnolia tree and a weeping willow on the bank of a pond with a swing in its shade, tour joseph's mission and visit old friends. (joe) write music all day and learn to paint, start a vast college scholarship program for young married couples.

3 of my bad habits: smoking, drinking, and beating my husband. j/k we thought this one would be more fun if we answered for each other so...(joe answering for tammy) reproducing, piling up stuff in high traffic areas of the house--constantly, and looking beautiful. (tammy answering for joe) not cleaning up after himself--he's another kid in this aspect...like i don't have enough of those already, using the laptop everywhere but where it was meant to be used, spoiling me rotton.

places I've lived: Newberry, SC, Lexington, SC, (joe) Columbia, SC, Amsterdam, Alkmaar, Nimegen, Kortrijk, Dordrecht, Antwerpen in the Netherlands and Belgium.

jobs I've had: babysitter, gymnastics teacher, dental assistant, wife, mother, (joe) ice cream server, house cleaner, construction worker, missionary, carpet cleaner, administrative assistant, vending guy, student, software develper, junior engineer, assistant engineer.

things most people don't know about me: i broke the school record for most pull ups for girls and boys--i did 27, the girls record was 7, the boys record was 25, and to this day, it has yet to be broken, i was offered a full scholarship to BYU for gymnastics before i got hurt, i've had three casts, but never for a broken bone. (joe) he was the most outstanding artist in high school, he hates video games and sports on tv, he has a really hard time in vector calculus (I don't understand why he would use this as an answer.)

Thomas, Heather, Beth, Melissa, Anne, TAG...you're it!!!

Top Ten Reasons Why it's Good to Have All Girls #5

2008-02-11T22:09:00.002-05:00

#5: Culinary Prowess: Yes, that's a load of flour all over the stove. Mikala (shown in time-out) wanted to make bread. She was caught white-handed, shamelessly flouring the kitchen. We're not quite sure why she would do this, except for the pleasure she receives watching Mommy clean up her gratuitous messes. Amy wanted to help clean up. The thought was appreciated, but she only managed to make it worse. Keeping the Hood House clean is an art. It involves constantly cleaning while at the same time preventing Thing #1 and Thing #2 from coming in behind you and destroying your work. If you get behind, it takes a village to catch back up. Here are some housekeeping stats for the interested reader:

Average numbers per Day:

2 loads of laundry (yep, two full super-sized loads everyday)
0.75 dishwasher loads
2-3 living room cleanings
12-16 diaper changes
2 children bathed
5-10 soaked barf rags (Sara)
10 changes of clothes (mostly for Sara)
10-30 time-out sessions
4 books
6 prayers

and much, much more!

A Walk in the Dark

2008-02-09T21:21:00.001-05:00

It's difficult to go out in the evenings as a family this time of year. It's also diffcult for 4 little ones to be couped up in the house all day, so we took a walk along the river in the dark. The three older girls loved it, while Sara was bundled up and fast asleep in the stroller. The highlight of the evening was a large line of cyclists riding by. Amy and Mikala cheered them on like it was the Tour de France. We had to fudge on the bedtime a little bit.

My Prophet, My Friend

2008-01-29T10:54:00.000-05:00

I was there when you spoke of the 6 B's. It made me think more deeply, and changed the course of my life. I was there when you announced smaller temples. I was filled with joy in receiving one so close to home. I think of you every time I see it. I was fortunate to be there when you graced us with your presence, and was filled with the spirit. I strive to have your countenance. I enjoyed your sense of humor. My heart is full--you are a big reason why I am where I am. I have wondered what this moment would be like for a long time. All I could think about was how wonderful it was for you to finally be reunited with your beloved wife. President Gordon B. Hinckley, we miss you deeply. I still hope to someday shake your hand and say, "Thank you." Till we meet again.

Photo taken by Boyd Ivey; November, 2000.

Mikala's World

2008-01-27T21:32:00.000-05:00

Tammy left Mikala alone in the living room for a few minutes. Joseph left the camera out where Mikala could reach it. This was a bad combination, resulting in a dozen pictures of the living room rug and a very dirty lens. Mikala had a difficult time not getting herself in her pictures. The ones we posted were selected as her finest pieces. Enjoy. (note: the "Kada's Tummy" picture was removed so that Mikala can't get upset with us when she's older for posting less-than-modest pictures of her)

Don't worry about the site logo

2008-01-24T22:44:00.001-05:00

If you liked the window sticker theme, don't worry--we did too and it will be back. We just wanted to have a little fun playing with the logo.

(no, joseph wanted to have fun playing with the logo. he seems to have this strange attraction to the google theme [why don't you marry it]. here's the conversation:

"hey tammy, isn't this the coolest logo for our family for the blog?"

"nope. not really. i like the other one better. what's so special about this one? and what's this thing at the bottom with all the o's? are you just trying to make it even on the page?"

"it's the google font. isn't that cool? it's our name with the google font. i changed our stick family robinson to this new logo. and anybody can see that the thing at the bottom is the google thing that tells you which page you're on. everybody knows that."

"ah. well, it's not that obvious because i had to ask about it. can you change it back please?"

"yeah eventually. i was just trying it out anyways.")

Top Ten Reasons Why it's Good to Have All Girls #6

2008-01-21T21:15:00.001-05:00

#6: Luscious Locks
Hood-hair is special. Just ask Joseph. It sticks straight out of your head until it reaches a terminal length, at which it falls down with thick, wavy, gorgeous locks. This is great for hood girls. This is not great for hood guys. Just ask Joseph. Except for Joseph's short lived John Lennon phase as a teenager, he has had short hair. Short hood-hair cannot be cut like normal hair. It must be painstakingly sculpted. Just ask Tammy. Sometimes the sculpting doesn't go so well. Just ask Joseph's snickering co-workers.
The girls have it made. They can live their lives with hood-hair to the fullest. Good hair days will be the norm for them, and they won't ever have to have their hair sculpted.
By the way, Caleb and Thomas have figured out the secret to living with hood-hair--Going Bald and buzzing off what's left. Joseph is contemplating this solution.

Blizzard - SC Style

2008-01-18T21:53:00.001-05:00

It snowed for about 45 minutes Wednesday night. The snow quickly turned into sleet and then rain. It was fun while it lasted. We debated waking up the kids to see it, but the prospect of grouchy kids all day Thursday deterred us. Oh well. Maybe they'll be able to see snow 5 years from now when it comes again. Snow is a very special event here. These little flurries were enough to delay half the state the next day for 2+ hours, because there was a possibility that maybe somewhere there might be a chance that there could be a bridge with some ice on it, . . .maybe. I don't think there were any iced bridges.

Take 47

2008-01-12T20:55:00.001-05:00

Christmas picture of the girls in their Christmas dresses (with their cousin Cadence).

Top Ten Reasons Why It's Good to Have All Girls #7

2008-01-09T21:11:00.001-05:00

#7: They're so dern beautiful

Claire's 6 month pictures have arrived. On picture day, Claire had two bruises--one on each side of her forehead. If it were only one bruise, we could turn her head the right way to fix it. Since there were two, we just embraced the contusions. Luckily, we're pretty handy with photoshop, and once the photos were scanned in, we made the bruises (mostly) disappear.

Top Ten Reasons Why It's Good to Have All Girls #8

2008-01-06T20:33:00.001-05:00

#8: All the Drama

There's never a dull moment at the Hood Home. The current percent-crying-time estimates for all the girls are: 15% (Sara), 12% (Claire), 4% (Mikala), and 6% (Amy). Combining these percentages, the probability of at least one child crying at any point in time is 37%. This means that about a third of the time, someone is crying or whining or pitching a fit or throwing a wobbly (as the Australians say it). We do not have a lot of crying pictures. This is probably because crying is typically ugly. And, as a rule, while picture taking, one tends to avoid ugly.

These pictures have a story. Although this is cheating, Amy's picture is not a genuine pouty face. She likes to make faces while posing for the camera. This was taken in Newberry behind Grandma Baker's house. Amy, however, is the ugliest of them all when she throws a wobbly. Mikala actually had a good excuse for her wailing. If Mikala's picture had included her hands, you'd see them covered in bandages. She burned her hands on a hot merry-go-round (ouch). Claire and Sara need no excuse to cry. Their default activity is crying. If they are not sleeping, eating, or being held, they tend to break out in a cry-chorus. Cliare does have her moments lately when she has so much fun playing that she forgets to cry--until she see mommy walk by, or just hears her voice.

At the Hood Home, we know drama.

Grade Report Fall 2007

2008-01-03T20:49:00.000-05:00

Digressing from the top ten for a while, Joseph would like to post his grade report for this last semester. He would also like to point out that he got these grades while working full time, raising a family, adopting a child, and obeying Tammy's every whim for the past 4 months. Furthermore, he would also like to point out that he is a 4.0 grad student. Booyah.

Tammy would like to point out that if her every whim had been obeyed, than the playroom shelves would be built, the front bathroom toilet would not be ringing, the fan in the car would be working, the backyard would be finished, the dishwasher would not be leaking, and the heat pump would be pumping heat.
Booyah.

Top Ten Reasons Why It's Good to Have All Girls #9

2008-01-01T11:43:00.001-05:00

#9: Motherly Instincts

Amy loves to hold Claire and Sara. She has a very gentle way with the babies and is always concerned when they cry. Amy always says: "I wanolder," which, being interpreted, means: "My I please hold her?" She then talks to them in a very high-pitched "mommy" voice to try and keep them happy.

Mikala's motherly instincts are slightly less developed at this point (I think that's an oxymoron: "developed instincts"). More precisely, she has the motherly instincts of the boogie monster. She likes to make Claire laugh, but it often turns into a laugh-cry and soon develops into a cry-cry as Mikala get more excited and louder. Mikala does love her sisters very much, she just likes to express it in her own way.

Top Ten Reasons Why It's Good to Have All Girls #10

2007-12-30T23:32:00.001-05:00

#10: It's really easy to make them match.

These are the girls' Christmas dresses for 2007. They had their pictures taken in them, along with their new cousin Cadence (the new daughter of Tammy's sister Maria and hubby Will). Cadence had the same dress as the rest of the girls. When the pictures come in, we will post. I wish that we were able to go the studio, sit for a picture, and immediately walk away with a digital file that we can do with as we please. Instead, the studios are still taking analog photographs, and they still "own" the image, and it is probably illegal to even scan it to post it on a blog. Oh well..

We are all decompressing from the holidays. The kids are enjoying their new things. There is a problem with the train table though. The kids like to take the track apart, and it's so complicated to put together that it just ends up staying apart until a tall person comes along to put it back together for them. We are probably going to just glue sections of it together and leave them a few track pieces separated so that they can be creative.

Sara is slowly becoming more interactive. She has smiled (real smiles) for Mommy a couple of times (all Daddy gets is gas smiles--except for one time that looked like it may have been real, but was still very likely just gas). It is difficult to have to wait so long for the interactive phase. She is almost 4 months old (but only 2 months from her due date). She has beautiful blue eyes, and she's somehow looking more like a Hood everyday. I guess you are what you eat.

Google Bomb

2007-12-27T15:05:00.003-05:00

This is kinda cool. We are now thoroughly googlable. Just enter "Joseph and Tammy Hood" into Google and see what you get . . .

Update: When this blog was first posted, searching "joseph and tammy hood" in Google would show our blog at the top. Well, It seems that's not the case anymore for some reason...

Christmas 2007

2007-12-26T18:17:00.001-05:00

Santa brought the kids a new playroom. The kids got a train table, an easel, and a play table . . .

Grandma Baker helped Santa with the train table (it was a little out of his price range) . . .

The big man even had time to doodle on the chalkboard after setting up the presents and eating his cookies . . .

Amy and Mikala had never seen something so cool as the train table (at least not anywhere besides Books-a-Million). They ran straight to it at 7:30 and we finally coaxed them away from it at 10:30 by explaining to them that Santa had also left them presents at Grandma and Grandpa's house . . .

Claire was plenty content just dreaming of sugarplums and fairies . . .

And the littlest elf stayed asleep through it all.

Christmas 2007

2007-12-26T18:05:00.001-05:00

Date Night

2007-12-22T13:59:00.001-05:00

Nothing says date night like a Glock.

Caleb and Katie (Hood[3]) took us to the firing range Friday night for date night. Caleb brought his gun, and we rented one at the range. It was Tammy's first time shooting something more than a BB gun. For Joseph, being the man of men that he is, it was not his first time, it was his second. Shown above is the result of a little friendly competition between Tammy and Joseph. Tammy's shots have circles and Joesph's shots have x's (hard to see from picture).

We shot at 7 yds, and it was a tie. Afterwords, we all went to California Dreaming. Nana and Pops (Hood[0]) watched all the kids, half of which slept the whole time.

Reserved Assigned Parking

2007-12-18T18:01:00.001-05:00

The humble working man has always striven to find new ways to stick it to the man. This resourceful recumbent cyclist has found a way to park in the big boss's parking spot--audaciously attaching his preposterous vehicle to the ominous "Reserved Assigned Parking" sign.

We just got new cell phones. Who knew they were making phones with built in cameras? Anyway, expect more 1.5Mpixel pictures on the blog (instead of the normal 6.0Mpixel ones). It's easy to just pull the cell phone out for random things we see as we're oot and aboot--like Grandpa's bike parked at his work place - the TOC (Transmission Operations Center)

Generation to Generation

2007-12-12T13:00:00.000-05:00

This tape is 20 years old. My Grandma Baker gave it to us (my generation) to listen to on Sundays when we came to visit. Some of my earliest and fondest memories are of me sitting in the corner next to the tape player, pressing my ear to the speaker (the volume was turned down low because the adults didn't want to hear it), and mouthing the words.
I recently asked my grandma if she still had that tape. She said she did but she didn't know where it was. One Sunday, she handed me the tape on our way out the door to go home. She had found it when she was getting her Christmas stuff out of the attic. I was ecstatic. I couldn't wait to play it for the girls. I started wondering if we even had a tape player. I knew the stereo on the entertainment center had a tape player, but it's ancient and i didn't know if it worked. The CD player on idoesn't work so why would the tape player work? I popped the tape in, and voila. Amy and Mikala LOVED it! They started dancing and singing right away. This song is "Itsy Bitsy Spider" at the part, "Out came the sun, and dried up all the rain."
Here they are dancing to "Ring around the Rosie." I hope they can enjoy some of the same memories I had as a child.

Christmas Queens

2007-12-09T20:43:00.000-05:00

Amy (middle) and Mikala (bottom) saw a dress up opportunity when we brought out the Christmas stuff. The tree skirt became a cape, and the stockings were actually used as such. We have been very busy this year, and our Christmas decorating has been neglected. This time of year is usually marked by Joseph performing treacherous acts of bravery involving icicle lights, a latter rated for 200 pounds, a greater than 200 pound man, and a 30 ft gable. We also usually have a real tree. This year, it's a 3-ft-walmart-charlie-brown-fake tree. Once again, we have a crawling toddler (isn't she cute?) who would not enjoy anything more than to eat the tree ornaments, so the charlie brown tree is on top of our entertainment armoire. When the semester's over in a week, we'll get the house lit up and stuff. One day we will be out of school...

Name That Baby

2007-12-07T23:37:00.001-05:00

One of these photos was taken years ago. The other was taken yesterday. Let's play Name That Baby. In fact, let's play:

Name That Baby
Name That Year
Name That Location
Name What's on that Baby's Face.

The winner will receive nothing. GOOD LUCK!

Fall

2007-11-28T22:01:00.000-05:00

The Hood[1] and Hood[2] cousins spent time together at Virginia-Hylton park with thier dads. The mothers were able to get some much needed time to decompress (i.e. clean the house). The leaves were the rich, beautiful colors of fall: bright red, brilliant yellow, and bold orange.

Thank You NICU

2007-11-26T21:30:00.000-05:00

State-of-the-art, just-like-the-real-thing, you-must-really-love-your-kid bottle. $7.48 each

Hopital issue, disposable, you-might-as-well-take-em-home-cause-we're-gonna-throw-em-away-anyway bottle. $0 for a bag full

Finally finding a bottle Claire will take?

priceless.

Thanksgiving

2007-11-23T14:19:00.001-05:00

Some of the Hood side extended family gathered at the Hood home for Thanksgiving Dinner. Present: Hood[0], Hood[1], Hood[2], Hood[3]*, Jessica with Fiance Jamie, Grandma Scott, Tiffany with this month's boyfriend, and Janis' kids Hanna and Haley. A few more were in and out during the day. We had an excellent meal, and of course, we brought out the traditional "Sombrero of Thankfulness," donned by Mikala this year.

*Family Array Notation: surname[index], will be used throughout this blog to provide a shorthand method for addressing Hood Family branches. Hood[0] refers to the Root Node (Thomas E., Nancy and family members still at home). Hood[1] refers to the branch of the first born (Thomas N., Heather and their offspring). When a Hood child leaves home--i.e. flies the coup or cuts the proverbial apron strings--their branch will then be assigned an index equal to their birth order. This convention can be extended to future generations simply by adding a dimension to the array, i.e. Hood[2][1] for Amy's branch (or Hood[2,1] if you prefer rectangular array indexing). This convention was officially adopted by the Hoods in 2002, and clarifies statements such as: "We'll meet you at the Hood's House at 6:00, and the Hood's will be Babysitting, and the those other Hood's will met us at the restaurant at 7:00."

Sleeping Child

2007-11-21T21:46:00.000-05:00

The most powerful combination of emotions in the world is not called out by any grand cosmic event, nor is it found in novels or history books, but merely by a parent gazing down upon a sleeping child.

-Thomas S. Monson

They are angels of God in disguise; The sunlight still sleeps in their tresses, His glory still gleams in their eyes, These truants from home and from Heaven, They have made me more manly and mild; And I know now how Jesus could liken The Kingdom of God to a child.

-Charles M. Dickenson

...and through the woods

2007-11-21T06:52:00.001-05:00

Amy and Mikala spent the day yesterday in Newberry with Grandma and Grandpa Baker. Their favorite part about going to Newberry is the trampoline. "I wanna bounce" is the first thing Amy says when she gets there. The rest of our family joined them after work for a pre-Thanksgiving dinner. The kid's cousins were there too: Ethan, Evan and Ari. Mikala was pretty grouchy (Grandma let her stay up too long the night before--invoking her grandmotherly right to lax discipline). Amy's cousin Tyler has made Amy scared of monsters lately. Every time she would hear a sound, like an acorn falling or crickets chirping, she said that it must be a monster. Some good news is that we were able to drive the van up to Newberry. It needed a repair that may or may not be permanent. Unfortunately, that leaves us crossing our fingers every time we drive it.

Today by the Numbers

2007-11-19T21:46:00.009-05:00

162,795 - Mileage of our Kia Sedona

2200 - Price to replace automatic transmission for Kia Sedona

0 - Amount we budgeted for automatic transmissions this month

83 - Percentage of our family that fits in our Ford Escort

248,131 - Mileage of our Ford Escort

Sara Christine Hood

2007-11-18T19:18:00.000-05:00

This being our Inaugural Blog Post for our newly created blog Life is Hood, we thought it would be appropriate to post a photo of the most recent addition to the Hood family: Sara Christine. Sara was born September 11th. We adopted Sara on October 8th. She was born two months premature and has been home with us from the NICU since November 2nd. Sara is one of the many reasons why Life is Good at the Hood Home. Three other big reasons are her sisters: Amy, Mikala and Claire. Even though the big sisters are a little jealous of Sara right now, they love her very much and like making her laugh. Between Sara and Claire, we get very little sleep these days. We average about 5 hours per night (weekends are better). We find that good time management is the key to our success. We keep a detailed weekly schedule, planned to 15 minute intervals. Heather has been staying with us for the past week while Thomas is in Savanah working at his new job and buying a house. Tyler and Ainslee are here too, and it can get to be quite a mad house sometimes with 6 kids confined to 1200 sq ft, but Amy and Mikala do have a lot of fun with their cousins.