Christmas Morning 2009

These two swear they are twins !!





Landon and Alesha's new puppy !

My little babies Jess and Lolo !

The kids woke us up around 8am to open presents. The kids made cookies with Christine and they were sooooo good. We sat around the house and had Christmas dinner at 2:30 and then just hung out and ate all day. Thekids played with their toys and had so much fun all day. Here are some pictures of Christmas day 2009

This is LOVE !!

Is there a better way to say I LOVE MOM than a tatoo on your forehead????

MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!!

I have been having a hard time posting on a regular basis. I just realized I didnt post anything about Thanksgiving. :(

Here is our Christmas Tree and my Jessie boy (4 year old) decided HE could hang the stockings and they look awesome.

Hope you likey!!!

Family Pictures

Hello Everyone!!!!

Our family hasnt had family pictures done since Matt, Christine, Alesha and Pat were like 7 years old and at that time Pat was in Florida. So, We are all in Illinois together and I took advantage of the opportunity to have our ENTIRE family in a picture, even Eve, my dog. So far I like all the pictures, I dont look as fat as I think I am except in the one where we are standing on the benches, I look fat and wide in that one. Hey Angelica (the photographer) can you make me skinny in that one???? Cant you delete or liquify some of my mid section?????? You will be my bestest if you do!:)

Happy Halloween !!!

Hello Everyone!!!
Here are my kids in their Halloween Costumes for 2009. Jessie is a Power Ranger and Lorena is Cleopatra. I sure hope it doesnt rain on Friday for the parade.

Happy Halloween From Eve !!!!

This is Eve our Chihuahua. This dog was given to us by our dear friends Dora and Benito this summer. She is soooo special. I try to take her with me when I go to town. She loves being in the car (doesn't get car sick :). I paint her nails and give her a bath all the time and yes, I dress her, she has summer clothes and winter clothes. Here she is in her Halloween Costume. Isn't she adorable?????
Oh I think she is a fairy. She does have ears but you cant see them here.

My Kids Love This Horse !!

Look at my babies !!!! They love, love, love this horse. It doesnt belong to us BUT some friends have it in our pasture and said we could ride it so WE DO or THE KIDS DO and they just love her. She is old and gentle and very patient.

Great Pumpkin Patch

Its been a while since I posted anything. Our Desktop had a virus that just kept getting worse until I finally broke down and had it fixed. All my pictures are on my desktop so I didnt want to post without pictures.

On Oct 3 We went to Charleston, Il to visit Christine and watch a play one of her roommates was in. It was a childrens play called Step on a Crack, it was very good. The kids and Paul really enjoyed it, I did too but I think I have ADD cuz I just couldnt sit still and pay attention. We were not allowed to take pictures so I only have a few before the play started.

We also went to Aruthr, Il to the Great Pumpkin Patch, it was nice but the weather was freezing and windy.

Learning to Adjust....

Living in the country has taught me to adjust regarding some things I took for granted. I am a very forgetful person these last few years. I go to the store and forget half of the stuff I went for OR I forget the list at home or in the car. Anyway living in the country, although we only live 2 miles from town it seems like 20 miles. If I forget sugar, then in the morning I have to use brown sugar (if i have it) or no coffee at all, I cant just run back into town like i did when we lived right in town. I have also learned to eat fresh vegetables. Friends have been giving us lots of vegetables this year and normally i would give them away but being that i usually forget to get vegetables at the store(dont know why???) i have learned to cook what people give me. I have learned to cook cabbage on the grill, cabbage cooked in bacon grease, yes bacon grease, it is the bomb!! I learned to eat and like butternut squash and cauliflower. I was telling Becky (my sis- in law) how i was learning to cook and eat all this new stuff and she said 5 years ago i could not have got you to eat all that stuff. Oh!!! I also learned to cook on the grill, with charcoal, not gas. Ive impressed myself since May.

Just wanted to share my new experiences with ya'll. Oh yeah, we say "ya'll" in the country!!!!!

Landon Baby 6 months

I wanted to share a picture of Landon. He will be 6 months on August 20th. Alesha entered him in the cutest baby contest this week but he didnt win. She was sad. But Grandpa(Paul)said he's the winner in his heart!! AWWWW! Grandpa Loves Landon Baby!!

Additions To Our Family........

Paul, Matt, Jessie and Pat were gone ALL Day yesterday and when they came home they came home with these....... puppies. We already have Snuffy (great pyrense), Quintin, Nadia and Sawyer (chinese cresteds), Eve (chihuahua) and now 2 new mountain feists??? cant tell you their names yet cuz everyone is calling them by a different name. They have very good temperments, so far anyway.

August 1989- August 2009, 20 Years Later

Hey There Friends,

I just realized that this year is 20 years since I have been with Paul. WOW! 20 Years!! In 1989 I was 20 years old, wore a size 2, already had Matt and Christine. Now in 2009 I have 3 more kids, a grandson, wear a size 6 ( but on the verge of being a size 8!). It is amazing how time changes us. There are many versions of "How We Met" , dont ask Paul cuz his version is a lie!!!!!
Here is a picture of me and paul 20 years ago and me and paul now.

Hopley Family Reunion

The HOPLEY Family Reunion was this weekend. It is the first time in a LONG time that we had ALL our kids together. Here is a family Picture of the MR and MRS Paul Hopley and kids.
The Family Reunion was at the Firemans Club at the lake. We had a nice time.

Welcome Home Jake (Part 2)

Zac and Lainey


Michelle and Autumn (arent they beautiful)

Lorena and Jayden, these two are gonna be models

Aunt Bj and Lainey

I had more pictures to post to here they are!

Welcome Home Jake!!!

We have a friend named Jake who is from Hillsboro but moved to Homestead when we were down in Homestead. He is doing really well over there but I think he might be ready to come home soon. We had a BBQ for him last night, yes thursday night because he is young and likes to party on the weekends. Lots of great friends showed up and the food was awesome. We had BBQ pork chops, chicken, pork patties, hamburgers and hot dogs as far as meat is concerned. We had potatoe casserole, corn casserole, corn on the cob, salad, coleslaw, fresh tomatoes, taco salad and corn on the cob. For dessert we had banana rolls, pumpkin rolls, brownies and apple pie.
We had a wonderful time and I wanted to share some pictures.

Trip To Florida Alone With Paul

Paul and I went to Florida to pick up his jeep and some of his work equipment. We REALLY enjoyed the time we had ALONE together. Please don't misunderstand me, I LOVE my kids but it was nice to be alone with your husband sometimes. We get soooo caught up in the kids and what they need on a day to day basis that we forget that we need time alone. We had a REALLY GREAT TIME TOGETHER. I didnt take many pictures on the trip but I did get this one of Paul goofing off!! Man I love Him, I think He's so Cute!! ( He was pretending to be playing a guitar)

Officially A Princess!!!!

Lorena competed in the 2009 Junior Miss Firecracker on the 4th of July. She originally wanted to do it because the thought of winning a trophy and tiara just excited her so much but when we had to go do a group picture for the local newspaper she cried, she was scared when she saw all those people there with their kids then a few weeks later we had rehearsal and she cried and said she wasnt gonna do it. The day of the pagent she did GREAT! Her dad was there and I think that makes a world of difference. I think she feels stronger and invincible when her dad is around. I have always thought that all the kids feel like that when their dad is around. Here is a picture of her after she got her tiara, trophy and a necklace with a crown on it. We are all so PROUD of her. GOOD JOB LORENA!!!!!!! Thank you FCB for sponsoring her!!!

4th of July Baby !!!!

My first born was born on the 4th of July at 5:25pm, 21 years ago.

I forgot to mention that until Matt was like 14 yes 14 years old he thought that the fireworks at the lake were for him. He thought his dad and I paid for them each year. That story was harder to keep than the whole "santa" thing.


HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATTHEW !!!!

SUMMER

My kids love to be in the pool. Unfortunately the weather has been crazy this year. Rain, cold I'm surprised we havent had snow!! They get in the pool every chance they get. sometimes they are in there until 9 oclock at night.

COUNTRY LIFE

We have been living in the country now for 1 month. We made our first house payment thats how I know. My husband Paul LOVES it out here and so do my youngest kids Lorena and Jessie. They think this is what life is all about.

The first picture is Jessie's invention. He wants to be able to go outside at night and shoot his BB gun but he needed light, not a small light but a BIG light. (he shot Pauls truck)

The second picture is my kids having fun. It was a nightmare getting all that off of them. We hosed them down outside before the could come in the house.

Landon and Grandma Vita 2009

I'm sitting here while Paul is outside moving bird cages and came across this picture of me with Landon. Hope you like my little Landon grandbaby!

We Live in The Country Now!

I havent been on here for a while we moved to the country. Between the stress of packing and moving and signing a new loan I can hardly keep up! I am exhausted. I am on vacation this week and I thought I would paint and clean windows and pull weeds out of the flower beds BUT its been cold. I do not handle the cold very well. Its June and the temp is 60 degrees! Is that insane!!!!
Here are some pictures of the new house and lolo on her pony Ivana. I will write more later.

DO YOU EVER FEEL LIKE YOUR SELFISH????

Today I read an article about a woman in Ohio who had a face transplant. Her husband shot her in the face with a shotgun and disfigured her face something terrible. A group of doctors and a loving family whos female relative died donated her body and this womans face was used to restructure the other womans face. A small child once called her a monster because of how she looked. I cant imagine how hurt she must of been. This story just touched my heart. It made me realize how selfish I am sometimes. I am soooo lucky to have MY life, my kids all healthy, a husband who loves me, a great house, nice cars, food to eat daily, a job, friends and family. Sometimes we forget all the things we have, it seems like we always want more and more and more and some people have nothing. This poor woman had no face, no nose no mouth. She hadnt eaten or tasted food in years.
So I guess what I am trying to say is unless you are missing your FACE or some crazy shit like that, be grateful for what you have, Live Life, Be Happy, Love, Don't sweat the little stuff, it will all work out. Be happy with who you are!

EIU, Charleston, Illinois

Christine off to college.


Dad and the kids, he was telling them WHY he started wearing suspenders.


My Christine, she will be a Junior in College next year.

Yesterday we drove to Charleston, Illinois to spend the day with Christine cuz she misses us and she is stressing over having her final exams this week. They were having an arts festival at her school and I just wanted to show you all how our day was.

THIS IS MY BEAUTIFUL GIRL!!!

This was taken with my 100mm lens. I love it!

THIS IS MY BEAUTIFUL BOY!!!!!

Jessie boy woke up on Tuesday April 21 with Fever so I had to call in sick at work. I thought he just had alittle something and he'd be better tomorrow well tomorrow came and he STILL had fever so I called in sick at work again, I apologized to my boss cuz one day is okay but two days is crazy, next day (thursday) He woke up with no fever so I called work to let them know I would be there. WHOOPPEE.I got up took a shower and put on makeup. What a great feeling to be clean!! I hadnt taken a shower for 2 days, (gross, i know but i was home with a sick kid, who needed a shower?). I got to work at 11 am and the school called at 2pm to tell me Jessie had a 104.5 fever and needed to go to the doctor!!! OMG I was freaking, I called the Dr. office they said have him there at 2:30 and give him tyenol ASAP!! I ran home got his medicine got to school and my baby boy was in bad shape he was really sick. The school nurse was very sweet. She was worried he could have a seizure cuz his fever was so high. I have 5 kids and none have ever had that high of a fever. I hauled ass (like 80 MPH, seriously)from Hillsboro to Coffeen then from Coffeen to Hillsboro. I got Jessie to the Dr. at 2:26, guess what he has a VIRUS, $70 later, still has fever and I spent the rest of Thursday and Friday at home with my boy Jessie and he STILL has fever. Im giving him IBUPROFEN like the Dr. said. I have been home ALL WEEK and have done NOTHING, NOTHING except lay around with Jessie. My boy is all better this week and I am sooooo happy for him.