This was previously the cat's only remaining safe haven in the great Cat v. Toddler battle...until Joshua took over! He loves that wretched cat!!!

Joshua's First Hot Dog

I had to do it, though it broke my heart to! Joshua finally had his first hot dog. He LOVED it-ate a whole one & asked for more...the ONLY thing that makes me feel ok about the whole thing was that he ate the Hebrew National brand....so we can rule out the worst of the terrible things that could be in them!

Boys' Video

Thank goodness for camera phones!

Kids-December through February

Getting used to little brother!

Let's hope they always feel this way about each other!

Don't ever tell your kids you hate cats.....

Jesse's 14th Birthday!!! Beauty & Brains!!!


Joshua's Big Boy Bed!!! (Note the Dr. Seuss book...we read that 14,000 times a day-more on weekends!!).

Trying to help...Joshua is "reading" James the family photo album we made for him.

Anyone who's been through colic knows just how wonderful that smile really is to us!!!

This one too...we were so excited...the colic seemed to have died down for a minute....

then we found out why.... :) Sorry if it offends anyone...we were so amused by this picture...blame it on massive sleep deprivation!! :)

Christmas 2008

Fun with Daddy while Mommy is getting ready for our Christmas party...we'll see Santa soon! Josh prepared by learning the word Santa & what Santa says ("Ho Ho Ho"-it was SO cute!).

Then we saw the real-life Santa...not so excited anymore!

The real thing...there's nothing like kids at Christmas!

Hello Everyone!!

We're SO pleased to have to begin a new webpage! The Happy Hooten Hexad no longer fits our family! James Stone Hooten was born on November 28, while we were in Memphis sharing a wonderful Thanksgiving with Jim's family! I was scheduled to leave on the 30th, so I could be there for his birth (he was due 12/2). They discharged him from the hospital directly to me, and he's been with us ever since!

Everyone is so excited-even Joshua (which we were concerned about at first!). He loves his little brother! He's doing very well. He slept in his big boy (toddler) bed for the first time Wednesday night (2/11) and has taught the other toddlers in his class to sign eat, more and milk! A little teacher, just like Mommy & Daddy!

Jessica continues to impress us with her academic achievement! She has gotten STRAIGHT A's for another quarter! We're SO proud of her!!!! She turned 14 last Saturday, proving to all of us that the first teenage year is survivable!! :)

Nicci and Natalie are following in her rather large footsteps, and have also earned A's & B's! We so look forward to their visit in June! Natalie's birthday is next...the big 1-0!!!!

Jim and I are busy all the time, trying to keep up with the kids & work. Jim has just switched units...pray for us that he stays state-side!

We hope all is well with everyone!