Twinkle Twinkle

I finally have some time to update the blog!! The tiny teething monster is snoozing right now and the little bug is playing :)

We, as a family, can finally breath a little easier now that the semester is over!!! Hallelujah!!!!!!!!! It has been a pretty ruff one. It was my last semester for a while, so hopefully that makes everything easier.

We have been chugging along with our normal Christmas/holiday traditions. We were a tad late putting up lights (which has become a continuous project) and our tree because we all came down with a bug for Thanksgiving :( We took the kids to see the Twinkle Light Parade, which has become a tradition for us. We haven't made it to see the Bugg light display yet, but plan to this weekend or next.

ho ho ho

Happy Holidays

It’s that time of year again when we gather together to enjoy the holiday spirit and spend time with family. This is also a wonderful time to reflect back on the past year and remember our joys and all that we are thankful for.

We began our year by being sealed together as a family on January 2^nd. It was a wonderful experience and we were blessed to have so many come and partake of our joy.

On February 24^th we were blessed with our 2^nd child, a little boy named Maximus Myers McCracken. He has been a wonderful blessing to our family. He is now walking all around and waves hello. He enjoys following his sister around and doing everything she is doing.

Lana turned 3 this year. She has really become a big girl in the last year. She is a wonderful big sister and a big help around the house. She is full of life and energy and has recently put it all to use with dance classes. She really wants to be a ballerina. She is also very excited to start school this coming January.

Larry is busy with school working as hard as he can to graduate by next December. He was accepted to the University of New Mexico and is pursing his degree in Nutrition/Dietetics.  He became a certified personal trainer during the fall semester. He fills his spare time playing pranks and going to the gym.

Nina has been busy with school and work. She also became certified as a personal trainer in May. She has worked as a trainer at a few gyms here in town. She also watched a few kids over the year; one being Lana’s best friend Emma. She keeps busy with everyone’s activities and has started doing baking and crafts with Lana.

All in all our year has been a busy one with a lot of people we love. We look forward to the coming year and all it has to bring to us. We wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year from our family to yours. 

Up, up and away

Since we are the poor college students were we skip events that require any type of payment. This includes the International Balloon Fiesta. Every year we find a place close enough to watch the balloons take off or wait for them to come over the neighborhood.

This year was no different. We waited for balloons to com e into the neighborhood and did our annual chase the balloon until it lands.We saw one balloon crash thanks to power lines and then we found the hot spot at the food stamp and SSN office's parking lot We watched 5 balloons land.

The kids each got a balloon card and a balloon pin. They had a good time. Once again I was in sweatpants and slippers for the events,

And he's off!!!!!!!!!

Little man has been cruising around for a few weeks now by holding onto the walls. In last last couple of weeks he has been doing it freely. We were able to capture this awesome moment on camera!!

So we will soon have a toddler on our hands.......... Now I can't wait to finish school!!!!!!!!!!

very over due post

So it has been a while since I lasted posted. I need to make more time for myself :) It's been a crazy summer with school, work and kids. For most of the summer we had an extra 3 kids (awesome kids I might add). I went back to work and my first gym closed :( but they placed me at another gym that was far away. I worked both gyms for a couple of weeks (I'm slightly crazy I suppose). I have recently got a job at a really great gym here in town as a trainer. The schedule is flexible enough that I don't miss out on being mom :)

Larry and I started school again. Larry is splitting his time between CNM and UNM. We are getting closer and closer to Larry being done!!!!!! WHOO HOOO!!! I am only taking two classes since my life is already fairly full.

The kids are doing great! Lana loves Go Diego Go and Dora the Explorer. I swear those shows have taught her things I wouldn't think to teach her. She knows a little bit of Spanish from it and has taking a love of helping/sitting with me for my Spanish homework. Lana tells us all the time she needs to do homework and will get out a notebook and pen. She is a sweetie and we love her a ton. She has been such a great big sister.

Maximus is a cruiser these days. He started holding on to furniture or objects and pulling himself up and walks all around. he even holds the walls and gets around. He has been doing this for a few weeks. Here in the last couple of weeks he has decided to start crawling. I figured he stared this so he could get from one point to another and then walk again. He really loves his sister. He wants to be anywhere his sister is. He follows her everywhere!!!

  The one handed stand man.

Summer fun somethings begun

So this summer has kept us all very busy. A good busy though. I have learned that I can in deed handle 6 kids varying in age. My oldest nephew is keeping us on our toes with normal teenager stuff. My other nephew is a home body, who I discovered has a love for baking. So far this summer, Wyatt, Lana and I have made bread, a cake and some whole wheat Spenda mini M&M cookies. Wyatt has been so happy and excited about each project. It really made Larry's and my day when he was telling his dad about everything. Here are some pictures of our end products. Note: the cake has two different types of frosting on it. lana did the pecan side and Wyatt did the cream cheese side.

Each treat was delicious and brought two wonderful smiles. I love being a mom and an auntie. Now to have Wyatt makes something else.

Here comes the summer.....

        So it has been a while since I have last blogged and their is a good reason for this. I have not just been busy, I have been overloaded. Yes I have (and Larry) done it again. We have piled as much as possible upon ourselves. It's what we are good at and we succeed at it :) So for many people summer is a time of fun in the sun, vacations and down time, for us McCrackens it means complete as much as you would in a semester in less time. We love it though and it keeps us going and gets us to sleep at night, many times in mid sentence.

       Larry is transferring to UNM this fall but is already into his major work. He has a little over a year left (I can't wait!!). He is going for a major in Nutrition (a fav. topic in our house) and is thinking of a minor in chemistry. They go along really well together and the nutrition program requires a ton of chemistry classes. He is loving his classes this semester, 3 classes and 2 labs. They are each keeping him busy. I am finishing up my Social Work degree this December (hallelujah!), although I may continue on to Highlands Univ. for more schooling but I don't know. My classes this summer are a little overwhelming but do able. I am taking 5 classes and a lab. EEK! Three of my classes are on campus. Last month I took my personal training certification test and passed. WHOO HOO! I am a certified personal trainer now. I had been working on that while I was going to school and working. I am slowly chipping away at my goals. I plan to take a fitness nutrition program here in the near future as well. Larry is working on his personal training as well. He should be finished here in a month or so.

           So not only are we going to school, we have our two little angels. They are also keeping us busy as well. Lana has a trampoline and a swing set that she has really enjoyed and she got a new puppy. His name is Scooby Doo and he has kept us pretty busy so far. Now I am sure you are telling yourself, man that's a lot but I am not through :) On top of our two little angels we have three other angels that we watch. My nephews (who arrive at 5:30 AM) are here for the summer, which I thought 13 and 12 year olds didn't need much watching. LOL. Although they are independent they still need to be reffed. We also watch our friend's daughter aka Lana's best friend Emma. Lana and Emma really know how to keep a house busy :) It's a ton of fun though. Thankfully Larry is here to tag team with me.

        Since Larry and I have our schedules worked out pretty well there is even some time for the gym. Oh what a wonderful bliss hour it is. I love the gym, there is nothing like lifting weights to clear the mind and strengthen the body. My weights have gone down since I stopped lifting about 3 months into this last pregnancy. Larry and I have also been riding our bikes to school. That is some nice alone time as well. Somehow we achieve all of this, plus our mini projects and somehow get our homework done. Mini project= 1994 5.0 Mustang. We also have a 1968 Cougar (Vicky you may remember this machine cruising our neighborhood). Both are at a stand still until we are completely fixed on a good schedule.

     I can't wait until we are done with school, but I have no clue what we will do with the extra time. We are hoping to put Lana in ballet this November. She really wants to dance and we are putting the word out that a wonderful present would be a month of dance lessons for her. That means less stuff in our home and our pickle can live her dream.

   Thankfully Larry did some housework while I was at school today, kids are down for naps and I could finally write! I hope to have some pictures sometime soon!! If I am MIA for a while that means this semester got crazy.