Guest Post: Author of Snack Time

My mom wants me to be this “special guest” on the blog so I might as well do it.  My name is Joshua Hancock, but please call me Josh.  I think it sounds much better.  I am 9 years old (almost ten).  My most favorite color is green.  I love soccer and basketball, but I love soccer more.  I enjoy being outside and inside.  I love drawing especially food and weird people.  I am a published author too.  My books are called Snack Time.  I’ve written over ten books but only eight are published.  You can buy my collection of books if you click on the link.  There is either  hard or paper back copies. 

http://www.blurb.com/search/site_search?search=snack+time

The book is called Snack Time and the Wars. 

I like collecting Pokémon cards and have over 245 of them.  I like school but love P.E more.  I love movies that you might like.  I enjoy playing video games like Super Mario 3D World.  I’m in the fourth grade, and I’m the fastest person in my class.  I like playing board games with my family.  I play the piano.  I love Nutella and will have it with almost anything.  I never smile with my teeth anymore because I think it looks weird. 

I love Legos but will not spend an hour doing a set.  I also enjoy doing Rainbow Loom.  That is making bracelets with rubber bands in case you don’t know.  In some pictures of me you may have noticed two scars.  One is on my forehead from running into a side table and having to get stitches.  That happened in 2012.  The other one is on my nose from when a Christmas bell hit me when I was around 3 years old.  Well that is about all I can think of about myself.  If you have any questions, ask me!

Eating the cheese and a police car.

2/16-While making dinner, Ella was watching me and obviously I wasn’t watching her because I turned around and she was eating chunks out of the block of cheese. 

But I couldn’t be mad.  She was being too cute about it. So I took a ton of pictures instead.  And life is too short to get mad about everything. 

 

We went to Chad and Julie’s to play games in celebration of Chad’s b-day.  He got to pick what we played:  Acquire and St. Petersburg.  I WON Acquire which is no small task especially when playing experts like Chad and Darrin.  I was so proud and made them write my score ($47,600) in the lid of the box cause that’s what you do if you’re a Hancock and you do really well :)

2/17—There was no school or work for Darrin because of President’s Day.  I went out for a couple hours during Ella’s nap to get a haircut and do a little shopping.  It was heavenly. 

Then we tortured the kids and went to Costco, and then we grabbed McDonalds on the way home.  Darrin ordered the wrong thing so Andrew got a quarter pounder by accident.  He ate the whole thing.  Darrin was so proud. 

2/18—I often find Ella all snuggled up in Luke’s bed during the day.  Yes, Luke’s still in a toddler small bed.  Someday we will move him out of it. lol. 

It was very rainy and windy.  I caught Ella trying to wash the water off the window all on her own accord.  lol.  I didn’t have the heart to tell her the water was on the outside of the window. 

Josh had a basketball game; it was their first time losing.  They played hard, but it just wasn’t enough.  Josh made 3 long shots. 

2/19—We had the usual volunteering, watching Katie, piano lessons and Luke played at Ethan’s. 

I made taquitos and salsa for dinner.  I forgot how much I like homemade taquitos.  My kids didn’t really eat them, but they ate the salsa with chips.  And salsa is a vegetable, so it’s totally fine. 

Josh’s scout den went on a field trip to the police station.  He said his favorite part was seeing inside the police car.  He thought it was cool that it had a computer in there.  Hopefully that’s the last time he ever sees in a police car.  lol.

In Andrew’s den they worked on displaying a collection.  Andrew brought Pokémon cards to display. 

Luke, Ella, and I hung out at the church while the boys were at scouts.  Luke wrote this on the chalkboard mostly without help: Me gusta el chocolate.  And then drew a boy eating chocolate.  I thought it was funny that he thought to write something in Spanish. 

2/20—Thursdays are usually my days to veg and get caught up on things around the house.  At one point I found myself cleaning up my blog reader.  I had entered so many over the years and half of them I don’t even read.  It was kinda refreshing. 

Thursday after school Josh and Luke had friends over to play: Austin and Ethan P.  They all had a blast together and it made me grateful that my kids have so many good friends. 

2/21—It was 100’s day at school for the kindergarteners.  They made these cute crowns. 

That night we had family movie night and watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2.  The kids loved it.  I’m not a huge fan of movies so I opted to clean the boys bathroom.  I’m really fun, I know. 

2/22--Saturday we relaxed for the most part.  We finished a deep clean of the upstairs.  Ella helped Darrin fix the vacuum. 

I went on a 3 mile run in the morning.  It felt great, and it was such a nice day for a run. 

I also submitted my 22 page assignment for my class.  Boy was I glad to get that done.  Now I just need to take the final.  Yay.  18 more credits to go!

Saturday night we taught the boys to play The Rise of Augustus.  It’s kinda bingo like with strategy.  All our kids loved it.  I won, just for the record :)

And that’s a wrap folks.  Stay tuned this week for a guest post by a famous author :)

XOXOXOXO

Socks, pink eye, and candlelight dinner

2/9--After having no church last Sunday our kids had been cooped up too long and to say they were driving us crazy was an understatement.  To help them release some of their energy, I had them do exercises.  Ella was right there with them doing push ups, sit ups and jumping jacks. 

2/10—Monday ended up being a snow day as well.  Luke went to Ethan’s to play and the other kids stayed around home.  We did make it to the store after Darrin got home.  It was sooo nice to get out!!  We had definitely been home too long together!

We came home and ate banana shakes for a treat and watched the Olympics. 

2/11—I got up and went running with a friend like I normally do.  It was a little bit crazy trying to run on snow/ice/slush mix.  It was a work out trying to keep those ankles from rolling. 

Busted.  This girl has been so grumpy this week.  I finally looked in her mouth and discovered several of her 2 year molars are in the process of breaking through.  No wonder she wants to chew on everything but eat nothing—except Oreos that is.  lol. 

We finally decorated for Valentines.  These blocks bring back so many memories every year when I get them out.  Memories of our wedding and memories of when I made them with a several girlfriends years ago. 

Tuesdays are laundry days. This is what our sock piles looks like at this phase our lives.  So many.

And this is a picture of my helper. 

Luke doing his homework.  I love it when he wears his baseball cap backwards. 

Superhero Ella. 

2/12—Katie came to play with Ella.  Ella’s getting old enough to enjoy  playing with friends.  They like to go up and dance on the bed to music or play with babies and purses. 

2/13—In the couple days prior, Luke came down with a red eye and then it spread to both eyes.  Thursday I was convinced it was pink eye so he stayed home from school.  We had to go to the store to pick up the drops from the pharmacy.  I didn’t want to spread it to anyone, so I told him to walk around the store with his hands in his pockets and not to touch his eyes or anything else.  He did a pretty job. 

We were super excited to learn Brittany had her baby.  A great aunt for the 4th time-Yay!  So excited to meet baby Reagan!  And glad they live so close.

We worked on everyone’s Valentine’s for their classes. 

And Ella worked on flossing her teeth.  Dental hygiene is very important to her right now.  I swear she brushes her teeth 5 times a day. 

 

2/14—I finally made it to the store for groceries for the first time since the snowstorm.  We’d made small trips to buy one or two things, but I needed to meal plan and do a big trip.  Ella’s usually pretty good especially since she’s learned she can get a cookie from the bakery.  She starts asking for one the minute we get to the store. 

The boys came home from school with all their goods from their valentines celebrations.  You would have thought it was Halloween. 

We had a nice dinner with steak, baked potatoes, jello and asparagus.  It was really yummy.  The boys were required to use their best manners.  We even lit some candles and turned off most of the lights. 

For dessert we had fondue.  YUM. 

2/15—Saturday we worked on cleaning the garage, watched the Olympics, ordered pizza, Darrin worked on his talk , and I worked on my autobiography for my BYU class. 

It is the end of an era as I threw this brush away.  lol.  I got this brush in high school and my sisters sister would always steal it and use it.  When she comes to visit she still steals it.  Well it broke, and I bought a new one.  I should have mailed the broken one to my sister.  I know.  A brush?  It’s weird.  But we’ve been through a lot together: high school, college, marriage, kids, etc…  I already don’t like my new one this as much as this one.   RIP.

XOXOXOXOXO

Have a good week :)

Ella-19 months

Man this blog post is way past due.  Totally a slacker mom here.

Oh well.  Better late than never. 

Ella is a light in our house.  Everyone wants to play with her and everyone wants her to like them the best.  She loves to go upstairs with the kids and just play and be with them.  I can trust her for the most part to stay out of trouble and just hang out with them.  And they do a pretty good job of looking out for her. 

Ella calls all her brothers by name, but when she wants to talk about them as a whole she calls them “the boys.”  She calls Darrin daddy, and she rarely calls me by name, but when she does it’s usually just ma or mama.  I try to get her to call me mommy, but she won’t do it.  She also calls her friends Katie, Hudson, and Kylee by name. 

Ella is still a pretty good eater.  She usually eats the most dinner out of all our kids.  And that’s no joke.  She’s a girl that likes variety though.  If she ate 2 graham crackers today, she most likely won’t want another one for a couple weeks.  It makes snacks and lunch food a challenge.  She likes fruits and veggies.  And loves to dip things in ranch or other dips.  She loves popcorn and when given Oreos will only eat the cream in the middle.  She definitely knows what cookies are and will ask for them at the weirdest times. 

Ella loves music and loves to dance.  She will drag her brothers up to her room, turn on the keyboard and then want to have a dance party.   She loves Luke’s bed and will pretend to go to sleep in it.  She recently figured out how to climb on Josh’s bed (the lower bunk) and get into his stuff.  Josh’s loves it. 

She knows most of her body parts.  She calls any button a butt.  So that’s what she calls her belly button.  The boys think it’s hilarious.  She still loves baths, but can be found in the shower with mom most of the time.  She lays on the bathtub floor on her stomach and plays in the water while I shower.  She has to be the one to wash her body with soap and keeps asking for more soap until I say enough.  She’s not a big fan of getting dressed, but likes to have her hair blow dried. 

Ella’s sleep seems to be back on track.  She takes naps every day again and doesn’t fight me anymore.  She usually goes to bed between 8-8:30pm and wakes up 8-8:30am.  Nap is from 1-3ish.  She still sleeps with her binky, but we put it under her pillow during the day.  She fights me on it sometimes, but is getting used to it.  She still has a favorite blanket as well.  The other night she was playing in her crib before she fell asleep.  She had put her binky down her pajamas and couldn’t get it out.  When I went in there, it was clear down past her knees.  Silly girl. 

Ella is still not a fan of nursery…notice all the drool on her dress?  That’s from lots of crying during nursery a couple weeks ago when these pics were taken.  She’ll get it soon.  I just know it!  She’s much better about going to Katie’s to play on Wednesdays. 

Ella loves her daddy.  I’m pretty sure he’s her favorite.  In the last couple days she’s figured out that daddy’s at work when he’s not at home.  She’ll tell me that’s where he is if she can’t find him. 

She loves to help me do household chores.   She’s getting very good at sorting the laundry.  She also likes to empty the dishwasher.  At dinner she can be found on a chair watching me cook or at the sink doing dishes.  She’s pretty much my little shadow. 

Oh Ella.  How we love you so.  What did we do without you in our lives?  So grateful you’re here now.  Love you!

Snowmageddon 2014

The first part of this week was a boring one. 

2/3-We went grocery shopping, cleaned up from the weekend, and had FHE. 

Ella can’t get enough jewelry and accessories.   

Luke was bored and built a tower out of blocks. 

And even wanted to show what the inside looked like.   

2/4--Tuesday night was a PTA night for me.  Darrin took all the kids to Josh’s basketball game by himself.  They won the game by a lot and Josh made 3 baskets.  Sad I had to miss it. 

2/5—Luke had Ethan over to play.  They played Angry Birds pretty much the whole time. 

Ella thought she was cool too and played with them.  This is her new cheesy smile.

We took Josh to piano and sat in the van and waited for him, because it was so cold outside.  Luke had to go to the bathroom so bad on the way home, we had to stop at the Stake Center so he could go.  Luckily it was open. 

Ella likes to help me make dinner now.  This is a much better option then crying at my ankles the whole time. 

I helped with Andrew’s den meeting because Sis. Hill wasn’t there.  We built birdhouses.  The boys did a great job, and it was pretty easy until they had to nail on the roof.  Andrew had to bring his home, and Darrin helped him do it.  He likes to use tools and be handy. 

Brrrr.  It was soo cold.  The wind made it just miserable. 

2/6—I went to the store and picked up a couple things to get us through the snow storm they said we were going to get.  And I finally bought a sled just in case.  I was doubting the whole snow thing…we’ve heard this hype before and had hardly any.  But I was prepare none the less.  About lunch time it started very light, but it started accumulating.  It looked like this when the kids got home from school. 

They played in it as much as their bodies could stand without proper snow gear.  It was so cold and windy, I’m not sure how they stood it for long. 

Darrin came home early as not to get stranded at work lol.  He rolls his eyes about the way this city handles the snow.  He tried to give Ella her first experience with snow, but she hated it and cried. 

2/7—Waking up and checking out the snow.  School had already been cancelled. 

Friday morning we woke up to no more wind, so it was much more enjoyable to go out.  Ella was much more open to it as well.  She actually really liked being out there and cried when we came in. 

For the past several months, if you ask Luke what his favorite food is, he’ll answer: Snow!  He was thrilled to finally get to eat some. 

 

Friday afternoon we got another round of snow.  Loved the view out the window. 

We made snow ice cream. 

Andrew discovered we had snow boots that fit him.  But he still refused to wear pants. 

Andrew buried Luke in snow.  They thought it was sand I guess. 

Friday night it was still snowing.  They went out for a little late night sledding.  Darrin built them a ramp in the front year to sled down. 

Then we watched the Opening Ceremonies to the Olympics.  The boys have loved watching every part of Olympics. 

2/8—We got more snow Saturday morning and then in the late afternoon the freezing rain started. 

We mostly stayed in after that.  It took 2 days to convince Luke to wear these snow pants and then he wouldn’t take them off.  Silly boy.

2/9—Church was cancelled for today.  I haven’t left my house or yard since Thursday morning and I might go crazy soon.  The snow has been melting today but I’m not sure how the roads will be in the morning.  I’m praying the kids will go to school tomorrow. 

In the meantime, we’ve built Lego sets, played outside a little more, and made valentine’s sugar cookies. 

Yay for a little snow.  I wouldn’t want it around all the time, but every once in awhile, it’s a lot of fun!