Updated Photos

Hannah Montana

About a week ago, the ever so awaited for day of the Hannah Montana, Miley Cyrus concert came!!! Taylor was very excited. She got out of school a little early and had a day at the girl spa!!







After the spa, we went to dinner. We had to decorate Tori's car for the ride to the arena. Taylor was so happy she got to order off the adult menu.



Everyone needs a sparkly pair of shoes for their first concert!!!

Taylor and Tori enjoying the concert!!!

Hannah Montana

Pumpkin Carving!!

Carving pumpkins with 5 kids and one adult proved to be a challenge. I did learn something though!! The ever so elaborate carving kits are a joke!! I went back to the days of nothing but a serving spoon a knife and a sharpie. Of course none of the kids wanted to touch the "yuckies" inside the pumpkin so that left me cleaning them all out!!! Yippeeee!!! Without those carving kits though, I got through all 5 pumpkins in 40 minutes!!! So they all kind of look the same!! Who cares. They are going in the trash on Thursday anyway!!!! Another year down!!! That's what I like to hear!!!



I guess I should explain this photo. Maddie doesn't really seem bothered by all the spooky decorations. However, she cries every time Tori's fiance' comes around (In all fairness she is getting better!!) She sat and played with a really gross looking Werewolf for quite some time but wouldn't have any part of Shawn. This creepy head didn't seem to bother her either!!!!

Trick or Treat!!!

Here are the photos of all the little Trick-or-Treaters!! We were quite the group!! The kids had a really good time and came home with quite a haul!! Here is the breakdown on who was what!! Taylor was Sharpay (not a dog)from the movie High School Musical. Zack was the evil Spiderman in the black uniform. Chris was Lightning McQueen. Tim was Nemo and Madelynne was our little Tootsie Roll. She didn't last too long on the Trick-or-Treat. She was out in about 3 houses!!

Anyone think she really lost it????

I am told this is permanent color, much to Ashley's embarrasment!! Pardon the photo expression as Savannah was apparently bothering her mother!!! (No doubt for some "flare" of her own!!)

I think I myself am going to go for a little lime green!!

I am thinking the shade of pink will be a beautiful accent for our bridesmaid dresses!!

Hello Again

Here is one of Maddie. She is getting so big!!

I just wanted to post some more recent photos of the kids. I know I haven't added anything lately but I am trying to find time!!

5 kids, 10.5 years, 4 sutures!!!

Not really sure how I have managed to have 5 kids, 3 of which are boys, and only have made now 2 trips to the ER for wound closure!!! Unfortunately for Chris he is the pin cushion. He is the only one so far to have stitches or staples!! I am feeling pretty lucky so far since I do recall growing up seldom a month going by that one of my brothers wasn't in for stitches or causing one of the girls to take the trip to the ER!!!! Here are the most recent stitches!! These 2 were caused by a cold pop can falling from the top shelf of the fridge (which all children were told to stay out of) and the can of pop hitting Chris right between the eyes!! The great mom moment comes when I immediately began to scold him for getting in the fridge (no crying yet) and he turned around with the blood running down his face!! He did tell me he will stay out of the fridge. (we will see about that!!)

First Day of School!!

Ahhhhh!!! The First day of school. Most commonly refered to by me as Mother's day. Although Greg thinks I am crazy, It has become a tradition for me to walk the children to school on "Mother's Day" and wish all the mom's on the way back home a Happy Mother's Day!! I didn't realize the value of the first day of school of course until I had two going. I can only imagine what I will do in 5 years when all 5 are in school!!

The first day walking crew. We all walked to school together. It was a very exciting day!!

The happy siblings!!

Fifth Grade this year!!

Second Grade this year!!

Zack's Baptism

Zack turned 8 on August 4th and was baptised the next week when Greg was able to make a trip home. We had a little party for him the next evening.

Dad and Zack before the baptism.

Zack ready to go!!

Zack with his Transformer cake. Gotta love sisters!!

Tim was so excited about the party he could barely keep his eyes open.

Madelynne was pretty crazy about the whole event as well!!!

Hello Again!!

Well, it has been quite busy around here this month. I obviously haven't posted anything new. At the beginning of August I had my neices and nephew for a few days so their parents could enjoy a trip together to Texas. We mostly stayed around the house since the parent to child ratio was 1 parent to 8 kids and we don't own a bus!!! (And won't!!!) Here are some fun photos of the kids enjoying themselves around the backyard.

The kids really enjoyed splashing around in the pool and the sprinkler. It was like 100 degrees with 100% humidity!! We were also under a watering ban so the lawn appreciated the extra drinks of water. (Playing in the water was not banned!!)

Mealtimes proved to be interesting. I felt more like I worked in a cafeteria!! They all did really good though!!

A nice pose from Addison. She walked around in these shoes for quite some time. She was ready to hit the town!!





We did make a rather brave adventure and attempt a trip to church. I know it was pretty daring but it was a successful event. They all did really good and I enjoyed two hours of them all being in Sunday School!! What a welcome break!!

Here are the Hughes grandchildren in order from oldest to youngest!! Taylor, Zack, Josie, Chris, Jack, Tim, Addison, and Madelynne.

More of our Trip to Oklahoma City

We were able to go down to the Oklahoma City Zoo. It is definitely not the Henry Doorly Zoo but it was still lots of fun. The kids were able to try to feed the Lorikeets. Zack was not to happy when one took up residency on his head. He did not feel that that was part of the whole deal!!

Tim felt that being in the butterfly house was a perfect opportunity to teach Madelynne about Butterfly Bingo!! She was very interested!!

Madelynne thinks going naked is the best option with sight seeing. I am not really sure what good the hat is doing her since she has no clothes on!! Whatever, I was doing my best.

On the way home, Timothy decided he was in charge and was giving out the orders. It did make me feel better that Zack was reacting the same way to Tim as he does with me. (They think that if they can't see you, then you can't see them!!!)

Our Recent Trip to Oklahoma City!!!

Greg recently had to participate in a training class in beautiful Oklahoma City!! We decided to make the most of him being closer and squeeze a mini family vacation out of it!!! We had a good time. Even with Greg in class the kids and I found plenty to do down there.

We visited the Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. They had a beautiful (expensive) art exhibit in town just in time for 5 kids with one parent to visit!! It was beautiful for the kids to see and a very stressful time for me!! All the zeros after the prices may have been to blame for that. Here the boys are enjoying riding some barrels. Tim isn't too sure about being that close to the Longhorn steer!!

We drove about 40 minutes south of Oklahoma City to check out the Children's Museum. It was well worth the drive. The kids were able to unearth some dinosaur bones!! They had a fire station, a huge maze outside, a train ride, the bubble factory, and those are just some of the favorites.

One of the evenings after Greg's class we picked him up and went downtown. We enjoyed dinner at Toby Keith's I Love This Bar and Grill. That was some fun atmosphere. Then we went on the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial Site. That was something else. It was great for the kids to see that. Taylor has just been learning about that stuff at school and for her to go there and put it in perspective was really neat. This is just one of the beautiful parts of the memorial.


This is part of the children's memorial. These tiles were made by children around the country in support of the children that had to endure that horrible event and lost loved ones there.

4th of July Highlights!!

The Artillery!!

T R O U B L E !!!

Double Trouble!!!

Matching Body Art!!!

A Small Sampling of the Carnage!!!