Baby Sam's Blessing!

Kelly just sent these photos from Sam's blessing in their church the other week.
He is such a cute baby and the kids really love him!
What a sweetie!!

Saturday morning chores...

As many of you know, JT loves to sweep. Well, this past Saturday morning the men came to trim the Palm trees and JT loved watching them. When they were done there was quite a bit of debris left and so Scott and JT went outside to sweep it up! They had such fun sweeping the the trash, and it was so cute to watch those two sweep together. When it was all done they took their brooms and went inside for the Saturday morning nap!! Such fun!!

YUM-YUM!!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Fun @ the park and dessert too!!

Today was such a fun day! We took JT to the little park by our house and had so much fun watching him go on the slide and run around the park. When we came home Melissa made some strawberry sauce for the angel food cake we picked up and JT had lots of fun eating the mini strawberry shortcake we made for him. It was a lot of fun and he was a big mess!

Our little sweeper!

JT loves to sweep everything, and he's been using our regular broom and our small little broom and dustpan. Sarah and Scott went out and bought him the cutest toddler broom and dustpan so that he could sweep whatever he wanted! Normally he does his best to sweep with our big broom which is like gigantic compared to him, but now he has one just his size!!

Big Boy Potty!

JT who is 19 months old now, has been showing lots interest in using the potty like a big boy. So, Scott and Sarah went a bought him the cutest potty! It has Elmo on it and you give Elmo a hi-five and he talks to you about going to the potty, it's the cutest thing...potty training here we come!!

Our Very Fun Tuesday!!

Today was such a fun day, we decided that we wanted to go to the mall, but instead of going to our normal mall (BREA) we decided that we would go to Puente Hills and visit that mall.
Neither Sarah or myself had been there in quite sometime, so we thought it would be a change of scenery for us. We were surprised at how slow and empty that mall was...I mean, I know that it was a Tuesday morning at 10 am, but Brea usually has significantly more people than we encountered!
Our favorie part of the trip was a stop at the pet store, where we fell in love with the cutest English Bulldog puppy! Scott has always wanted this breed of dog and I'll tell ya, we were this close to getting that puppy, but there was just one issue...it cost $4500.00, so really it was like 4500 issues!!! Other than that we totally would have bought that little guy, instead we'll have to settle for a pic of the doggy, which JT fondly refers to as "ruff-ruff"!
After the mall we ate some lunch at Arby's and JT just loved the few french fries Sarah let him have!
The afternoon concluded with some playtime in the yard, where JT chased the cats, laughed at the birds flying by, and picked some flowers off the bushes to give to his mommy!
Sarah just loved the flowers, and JT was so excited to help fill a little bowl with water and put the flowers in it!
It was such a fun day! But I think that next time we will go to Brea Mall, it's just more fun and alive..I mean, when you pass the same 15 people in the mall like 10 times in an hour, the mall is just too dead for me!

What's Roseola??????????

So for the last 4-5 days JT has had a fever, sometimes low-grade, sometimes as high as 103.3, either way he's been warmer than necessary. Sarah took him to the doctors on Tuesday, and they said he has a virus and that it would subside in a few days. Well, last night at bath time we noticed this rash on his belly and back, and we thought, hey maybe it's that Roseola virus we've heard about, well, we looked it up and sure enough, he has all the symptoms. Rash, fever, poor appetitte, and the clincher...IRRITABILITY!!! He has been so awnry the last 5 or so days,he's been a terrible sleeper, which means no one gets any sleep either, so very un-JT like! So, JT has Roseola, and they say it will go away on it's own, and that's good, but more importantly we can't wait for the awnry JT to go too!

OUR FAVORITE VALENTINE!!!!!

Just wanted to post a cute collage of our very favorite valentine!
CLICK ON THE COLLAGE TO ENLARGE IT!

Baby Sam

Kelly just sent these cute pics of Baby Sam, so we thought we'd post them for everyone to see! He is such a cutie! Kelly says he's a very sweet baby, and that the kids just love him! We think he's adorable too! We love you Baby Sam!!

Our Little TOP CHEF!!

JT is an amazingly curious little boy, which basically means he's into EVERYTHING!! We can't turn our backs for one minute, which can make doing things difficult! So, you can imagine that cooking with him under foot can be a bit tricky. So, since he's so curious we have started to let him cook with us, and he loves it! We give him a bowl and a whisk and some flour and spices and let him have his fun. It can get kinda messy, but hey it's only flour and it washes right off. So tonight, Melissa decided to do semi-fried chicken and so JT made is own version, not to mention a huge mess! But it was so cute to see him having so much fun. He loves to do what we do and we love to have him with us, so its a win-win for everyone!! Watch out Emeril and Bobby Flay, our JT is the next Top Chef!!!

Fun Valentine Crafts!

So, JT might be a little too young to do some of these but we thought that we'd share a few of our favorite V-day crafts with everyone, you might want to make some of these with your family! There are really great website that you can look at for inspiration, you can download directions and templates, and a lot of the materials you probably have on hand! We love to look at the Martha Stewart website and then make a simpler, less fussy project,her site is great for ideas. The whole point is to celebrate the day, to have fun and to spend time with your family.

(This project is super easy and can be done by kids of all ages. It's a great craft to make for the grandparents, or aunties, or special people in your life. It's great because it's a keepsake of the child's hand prints and it's fun for the kids to make as well!!)

(This is one of our favorite projects, melted crayon hearts. You take broken up pieces of crayon and put them in either metal heart-shaped pans sprayed with PAM, or for best results use those silicon baking pans, they work best. You put the pans in the oven at 250* for a few mins until all melted, then place the pans in the freezer for a few mins, and then they will slide out. You can attach them to construction paper with a cute message, or package them in cute containers. The best part is that the crayon hearts are totally usable, kids love to color with these! Stay away from using black or purple crayons as they muddy up the colors!)

(A sweet project, is this cute candy necklace. Just tie together the ends of the wrapped candy, and voila, you have a sweet necklace for the girls in your life!)

(A super cute idea, and great for the older kids, are these sweet sentiment hearts. You can purchase these plastic hearts at any craft store, we got ours at Michael's for around 50 cents, you write sweet little notes or inspirations on little strips of paper(enough for a month), roll them up and put them in the heart. You can decorate the hearts with bows or stickers and then the recipient can open a new thought or inspiration every day of the month!)

(These projects are super easy and fun, and kids really like to make them and they are great to give to the especial people in your life.)

(This is an easy bookmark to make, you take a calendar and cut of a week, and glue it to some card stock, and them decorate with stickers and a ribbon on the end. You can write a cute saying on it like: You make my day, or It's a date! )

( This heart wreath is super-easy and super-cute to make. You cut out several colors of hearts and then cut out the center of a paper plate and then glue the hearts on the plate..EASY!! You can even add stickers or ribbons or glitter to make them even more special!

Powerful tips for a better life in 2009

Sarah's friend posted these and we liked them so much, we thought that we'd share them with everyone! These are really very powerful. Implement whatever you can.


1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile.
It is the ultimate anti-depressant.
2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. Buy a lock if you have to.
3. Buy a DVR. Tape your late night shows and get more sleep.
4. When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement, 'My purpose is to __________ today.
5. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy.
6. Play more games and read more books than you did in2008.
7. Make time to practice meditation, yoga or stretching, and prayer. They provide us with daily fuel for our busy lives.
8. Spend more time with people over the age of 70 and under the age of 6.
9. Dream more while you are awake.
10. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured from plants.
11. Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat blueberries, wild Alaskan salmon, broccoli, almonds & walnuts.
12. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
13. Clear clutter from your house, your car, your desk and let new and flowing energy into your life.
14. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
15. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
16. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.
17. Try to pay an honest compliment to someone you wouldn't normally.
18. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
20. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
21. You don't have to win every argument. Agree todisagree.
22. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil thepresent.
23. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
24. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
25. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years, will this matter?'
26. Forgive everyone for everything.
27. What other people think of you is none of yourbusiness.
28. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
29. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick.Your friends will. Stay in touch.
30. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
31. Envy is a waste of time.. You already have all you need.
32. The best is yet to come.
33. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
34. Do the right thing!
35. Call your family often.
36. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements: I am thankful for _____. Today I accomplished ______.
37. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.
38. Enjoy the ride. Remember this is not Disney World and you certainly don't want a fast pass. You only have one ride through life, so make the most of it and enjoy the ride.

Introducing...Samuel James King!

We want to welcome this little bundle of cuteness to the family! Samuel James was born on January 19, 2009 @ 1:50 PM. He weighed in at 8lbs even, and measured 18.5 inches long. Mother and baby are fine and the whole family is just so excited to have this little one home. I must say, I think he's super-cute!! Congratulations you guys!

Baby Update...

Kelly called us around 2:20 pm to let us know that the newest addition to the King family has arrived!! Baby boy King was born at 1:50 pm mountain time (12:50 pm California time). Mommy and baby are doing well. The labor was short at around 5 hours, and the baby weighed 8lbs even, (the smallest they've ever had) and measured 18 1/2 inches long. Kelly says the baby is super cute. The kids will be visiting their new baby later tonight, and sometime soon we'll have a name and a picture of this little blessing to post! Congratulations King family we are so happy for you all!!

Baby King Update

Today is the BIG day for the King family! Kelly is checking into the hospital today for an induction. We will keep you posted as we get the info from Rich and the family as to the newest arrival!

Happy Birthday Kelly!

We want to send out birthday wishes to Kelly who turns 35 today! Happy Birthday, we wish you lots of happiness in the year to come! Hope that you get all that you wish for! Eat some cake for us!

It's WINTER...or so I thought!!!

Okay, so I've lived in southern California all my life and the one thing we don't really have here, are seasons...at least not the way other states have them. I have worn shorts to Thanksgiving when others have had snow, I've seen the leaves change on the tree in December, when the leaves are dead everywhere else, and other crazy stuff like that. I am proud to live here, always bragged that we have great weather, except that if you know me you know how I hate hot weather...and with no A/C in a house with backwards ventilation, you'd learn to hate hot weather too! My point is that, the weather here has been so crazy, you'd never know that it's winter! My sister in Utah has had lots of snow, but today Sarah and I took JT for a walk and she was in a tank top...it's weird, but I love it! I don't want it to get any hotter than it has, I draw the line at like 88*, I prefer 80*, but I will deal with 88*, anything above that and I start to get irritated at all the bright sunshine and the hotness of it all...so I'm picky, sue me! I have friends whose Easter Lillies are in bloom, some who still have summer strawberries growing in their yards, and some with Spring Tulips blooming, and we have this flowering bush right in front of our porch area, and every year when Spring begins it blooms with the most beautiful magenta flowers, when that happens I know spring has come...we walked out the door today to the first flowers on that tree! I'm tellin' ya it's like the seasons are schizophrenic! The weather guy keeps telling us that winter storms are on their way at the end of the month, and that rain will come in February, I 'll believe it when I see it, for now I will enjoy the spring flowers in my yard, maybe I'll go eat some strawberries from my friends garden....the possibilities are endless! HAPPY WHATEVER SEASON THIS IS...LET'S ENJOY IT WHILE IT LASTS!!!

We'll miss you Dave!!

We want to send out our congratulations and best wishes to Dave Mc Entarffer (aka Tio Dave) who is leaving sunny southern California for the cold snow of Peoria, Illinois. Dave recently graduated from the fire academy and was offered, and accepted a position in the Peoria Fire Dept. Way to go Dave!! We will all miss you! We know that there are wonderful things in store for you! Don't forget all your friends and family back here who love and miss you!!

Christmas at The Huckeba's

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

A Year....

My dear sweet Mom,How can it be that you have been gone a whole year?!!? How can it be that the world has continued without you?!??! It feels like everything should have stopped when your heart stopped. But it didn't. The world carries on as if nothing happened, when, in fact, it lost the most precious, sweet, kind, loving, beautiful person!!!! But I've struggled to carry on. I am so broken living without you! It hurts so intensely not to see you, hug you, talk to you, laugh with you, sing with you, and spend time with you. Every part of me aches in longing for you and finds it excruciating to live with only shadows of the mom you were. Every morning I wake up hoping that this was all somehow just a bad nightmare and that I'll enter the kitchen and find you cooking, or talking to the baby or watching one of your favorite shows. But it's been a year now. This nightmare is my reality.Yet, this reality is not for eternity. I have tremendous hope. I picture you on the shores of heaven laughing, running, dancing, jumping, singing, and doing all the things that angels do as you wait for all of us down here to join you. How glorious it will be to have unhindered relationship with you in the presence of our Lord. I yearn for our reunion...and I want this hope to shape the rest of my time here on earth. Mom, if loving you means living with this gaping wound of loss for the rest of my life, I would enthusiastically choose it again and again; no amount of pain can compare to the gift of being your daughter! Every moment I had with you is worth far more than any heartache. You are an incredible gift!!!! I feel so honored and blessed to call you mom. Thank you for teaching me so much with your life! I miss you tremendously my sweet Mom, but I will live expectantly with the hope God has given that I might honor both Him and you with my days.

Every ounce of my love,

Missa

Vanished

A poem written to honor the upcoming 1st anniversary

of the homegoing of my sweet mom:

My sweet, sweet mom,

A year ago you breathed your last.

Ever still I miss your smile

And long for moments past.

Plunged into depths of sorrow

When you vanished from this place,

I've endured each new tomorrow

Without the beauty of your face.

My every breath is marked with pain

Like thorns crammed in my chest,

And happiness I cannot feign

Since you've been laid to rest.

With quiet desperation

I take on each new day.

Scarred by separation

From my mom who could not stay.

I wonder how I will survive

A lifetime with this ache,

But thankful that you live and thrive;

True life, death could not take.

My precious mom, you disappeared.

12 months have vanished too

My heart is deeply, deeply seared

And now begins year two.

But someday, all these hurts will clear

I'll embrace your frame anew.

This painful life will disappear,

Your face again in view.

FRAYED

I would describe myself as an emotional wreck the last couple weeks. I feel as though this gnawing sorrow is causing me to fray, like a rope that is falling apart, my grief has worn me thin. My edges are ragged and any little thing can cause my emotions to give way.My soul is threadbare. After a day of being frazzled and tattered from lament, feeling as though I have been unable to keep it together recently, I found a stack of cards with verses given to me by some friends from church. I decided to peruse the stack. This was the first card I read:






The previous verse in that Colossians passage describes how ALL things were created by Him, through Him, and for Him-everything! Therefore, the Lord holds it all together; even my life, my soul, and my world are upheld by Him.This does not mean I won't be in emotional turmoil. This does not mean I won't be worn thin by my loss. This does not mean that I will never feel like I am falling apart. But it is a promise that God will sustain me and hold all things together, even when I am significantly frayed.