A Hacker?

Does anyone know what Webkinz are?

Let me tell you...

They are these little stuffed animals that you buy from Hallmark. They come with a secret code that allows you to "play" with your pet online. You take the secret code to register your pet, name your pet and then start playing with your pet. You create an ID and a password so only you can play with your pet. Then you can invite others who have Webkinz and you can play together. Jay calls it World of Warcraft for kids...its that addicting, at least for my kids.

Kenna has a golden retriever named Annie and plays Hudson's penguin which he named Doc Hudson.

Jaxon has a dalmation named "Spots" and plays Ty's chocolate lab named Brownie.

Now for the rest of the story....

Jaxon came in today and said " I got another Webkinz online."

"How did you do that?" I asked (thinking he won one playing webkin games)

"I just typed in some numbers in the registration box and it gave me another animal."

"Ummmm, I'm pretty sure you shouldn't do that" I said

Totally innocent he says "Why?"

Off I go explaining how just because you can "trick" the computer doesn't mean you should be able to take what isn't yours....Yadda Yadda Yadda....you know what else I said.

He looked horrified that he might be stealing someone elses Webkinz joy so he went back to his computer and didn't finish registering the non existant webkinz.

That' a boy! It is good to have a child who loves rules and obey's them....

I may not be so lucky with some of the others. =) hee hee

Sometimes the best desicion....

can be the most painful to make.

As of Friday we have decided to take Kenna out of school and home school her for the rest of the year and then start her over in the first grade in the fall. We have known for a while that she might need to be retained but had hope that maybe she would progress quickly and make it to the 2nd grade with all of her friends, but since the second half of the year has started she is falling behind quickly. She is young, wont be 7 till the middle of June, so she could have gone either way. But because she was a girl we didn't really think through "when" she should go to school we just sent her when everyone else went at her age. But now we see that she will benefit from repeating the 1st grade. She does fine in every subject except reading which spills over into all other subjects when it gets harder. We are taking her to a learning center just to make sure she doesn't have a reading disconnect but I really do feel its more her age and brain development more than anything. Jay and I both feel that education is important but its not the most important to us. Who Kenna becomes in the Lord is the most important thing to us and it seems as though the Lord is teaching Kenna a lot about life at a young age of 6. She is so sensitive to the Lord and has grown in her faith and yet for a little girl who is so social, leaving her friends is heart breaking. We started talking with her about it in November and she would sob at the thought of not being in the same class as her friends. Jay and I started praying (along with lots of other friends and family) that the lord would give us wisdom in what would be best for Kenna. We didn't want to give up on her but we didn't want to deny reality either. What brought it to a head was that she just hasn't been herself for the last 5 months. The pressure that she feels in knowing that she doesn't read like everyone else has slowly taken its toll on our sweet little girl. With homework and being at school all day long she hasn't had much time to be a kid and that is no way to live when you are six. Many people have said why not send her to a different school that isn't so academically driven but for us that isn't an option. We love Foundations because they expect more out of kids in the area of character and education. Her teacher has been a God send. She adores Kenna and loves her deeply and has been there along side Jay and I helping us and praying for us. I don't believe at any other school she would have been taken care of in such a compassionate way. Kenna will have the same teacher next year and that will be a huge blessing for Kenna who will have to adjust to making new friends (which I don't see being a problem =)) She will be right where she needs to be next year in the 1st grade. How is Kenna taking this? She is relieved! Which is an answer to our prayers! We have spent so much time praying with her about God's will and what that means and she really seems to have a peace about the whole thing. ALL PRAISE BE TO GOD! Our little girl is preciouse and we pray that she will become a woman who loves the Lord and loves people...two things that seem to be her gift.

I will home school Kenna for the rest of the year. We are going to back up a little and just work on reading and math do crafty things and learn to cook together. Start easy and build confidence as well as skills. Over the week she has become even more excited about staying home and helping me, and having me be her teacher and I too think it will be a growing time for our mother/daughter relationship. I have found the Lord to be so faithful and very accessible through this time and know whole heartily that he is growing not only Kenna but me also. Its not always easy to be refined but in the end it is a beautiful thing. He has taught me that it is better to go to Him first and He has shown me the benefits of doing so. We have spent time talking with friends and teachers but for the most part the Lord has been our director in all decisions. These verses have helped me return to him before anyone else during this time.

Hebrews 4:16

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Psalm 121:2

My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of Heaven and earth.

Because this topic has taken many hours of prayer and thought I wanted to post the details so that I don't wear myself out talking about it. Ive been known to do that! =)

The Winter Carnival in McCall

We spent the weekend in McCall with our friends the Crocker's. It was the opening weekend of the Ice Sculpture festival so we spent a few hours walking around the town of McCall to see the sculptures. Compared to last year it wasn't that great. The theme was the wild west so there were a lot of boots and guns and horses. It was still fun to be up there hanging out with great friends. We had to laugh though....and quiet a few times. Last year when we went to McCall with the Crocker's, we went out to dinner and the pizza place took almost an hour. As we were sitting there waiting and Ty and Hudson were melting down, Mitchell pipes up with a big sigh and says "I guess this is just life with the Hughes". So we brought that saying back to life this year and said it quiet a few times! Again at a different pizza place, trying to get everyones snow gear on, and trying to get the little boys to bed. Someday we wont be such a circus...I hope! But thanks Crocker's for being able to laugh with us and for remaining our friends over the years! =)

Here we are at the entrance of a great little pizza place in McCall.
The Crocker's
Avery, Jaxon & Kenna
This picture cracks me up! Look at Ty! He can barely bend in half!
Here me & Steph are in front of one of the better sculptures.
The parade consisted of lots of sirens and small town groups.
Not what you normally see in McCall Idaho

Huddy had a blast playing in the snow!
Snow angel Kenna.
Nutty boys.

Sledding in the back yard of the Crocker's house.

Upwards!

Jaxon is playing Upwards basketball this year. He played Y-ball in the past and we weren't all that thrilled with their program, but Upwards has met our every expectation and more! Jaxon had his first game on Friday night and it was SO fun! For starters they turn out all the lights, turn on a disco ball and the kids get to run out through an inflatable tunnel that they bust out of with LOUD music! (Y'all ready for this!) They announce each kid by name and just do such a fantastic job of making it a BIG deal! The game was awesome, I'm sure because my son was playing and my husband was coaching! One of the neat things about this program is that they have really thought through everything. Not just what makes the game fun but how to really teach the kids at a young age how to play. Each kid goes through an evaluation and is then scored and placed in a lottery. Every team gets a fair amount of beginners and intermediate players. Then when its game time each kid has to guard someone who is at their same playing level so that no one gets humiliated. It worked really well! Jaxon guarded a kid who had some awesome moves but he was a perfect match for this kid. Jaxon scored 8 points and their team came back to win 30 to 28! We even did the chicken dance during half time. The greatest part about Upwards is that it is a ministry. Each week the kids learn a bible verse and the coach gives a 5 minute devotional.. The goal is for all of these kids to hear the gospel before the season is over.

For me this is one of the highlights of being a mom. To see my son loving something so much that he practices & talks and thinks about it all the time. And then to see him excel at it is awesome. But more than anything to see my son encourage his team mates and even though it doesn't come naturally he has become a team leader. Jaxon, I will always be your #1 fan! I love you!

JAxon guarding his opponent.
Going for the steal! He played awesome defense!
This is a really neat story: This is Jaxon's friend Luke. They went to preschool together but we lost touch with them. In the fall Luke was on Jaxon's football team and they rekindled their friendship. Basketball season came along and Luke was put on Jaxon's team again! As far as I'm concerned the Lord wants these two boys together!

Coach Jay and his star player!

This is after the game...winded and tired but still grinning from ear to ear! Its a joy to watch you play Jax!

The way winter should be

This is what we woke up to this morning....makes me smile=)

The kids had a great time building their own snowman with out mom or dad's help this year. He's a wee little Frosty. Kenna named him Fred (as is what she names most things) and Jaxon named him Ned...not sure were that came from. =)

Furniture-This is for you Mom.

New Years Eve

New Years Eve...Just another reason to have a get together! This turned out to be one of the most enjoyable, most relaxing parties we've ever had. We decided to stay in this year instead of going out to a restaurant. The York's, Moffatt's & the Crocker's came over about 6:30 and we slowly made dinner while having drinks and eating H'ors deurves. The menu was mouth watering, as you will see below.


This is part of the center piece. As you can see it was decorated with cedar branches, white votive's, pine cones, little red balls, and the hurricane globe in the middle. It was beautiful. We kept the light low all night.

Me & April all dressed up (what? we don't have any where to go but we have the dresses and they must be worn!)

Chef John preparing our ever lovely salads.

The table just waiting for us to dine.

This was the scrumptious Multan Lava Cake topped with Tillamook Vanilla Bean Ice Cream that was prepared by Jami for dessert.

Rice rolls for appetizers. We also had Cowboy Caviar and Artichoke/Spinach dip. Yummy!

Just another peak at those great salads! Since they were a little on the fancy side (apples, star fruit, candied walnuts, yellow & red peppers) John, knowing Jay wouldn't go for some of those things, topped Jay's salad with Reese's pieces! It was funny! The salad was topped with a red raspberry vinaigrette...Jay had Wishbone.

We finally sat down to eat the main course at 8:30 pm.

Here is Steph with the amazing Prime Rib. It was our first time making it and it was superb.

Along with the Prime Rib we had Au Jue, Horse Radish sauce, Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes, Grilled Veggies & Dinner Rolls.

Bon Apetite!
The Hughes
The Crocker's

The York's
The Moffatt's
The Ladies!
The whole party.
We finished the night by risking our health by walking outside in the freezing cold weather to hot tub in a tub that was too hot to stay in very long. We were all PINK when we got back into the house, but we were just in time to ring in the new year by watching Carson's ball drop.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!


We had sent all the kids to the Crocker's so not long after 12:00 we headed out to retrieve our children. We really did have a fabulous time!