Friday, October 31, 2014

Grandparents Day

Hadley had her 3rd Grandparents day and Hudson was really excited about his first. It is fun to see them get so excited about the day and so proud to show off the school to their grandparents. Unfortunately, this year Lolly and Pops had gone to Florida for Davis and Ellis' birthday so they weren't able to be there. But Mama and Papa were thrilled to spend the day with the kids and see what they had been learning.

Hudson's grandparents day was on Thursday since he only goes on Tuesday and Thursday. He woke up so happy and ready to go to school. He quickly got dressed and even wanted me to take a picture of him (which doesn't happen often) all dressed up for the day. Mama and Papa joined him at school around noon to see all he had been learning and he was so happy to show them his favorite center...the dinosaurs and cars. The preschool class sang their grandparents some songs they had learned and then gave them a project they had worked on for them. Then, because Crossings always conveniently schedules the book fair for the same week as Grandparents day, Mama and Papa took Hudson to the library to pick out a couple new books for home. He even suckered them into one that comes along with a toy. It was such a special day for Hudson and I'm sure it was special for Mama and Papa too!

Hadley's grandparents day was today, Friday. Hadley is always up early and ready to go to school but, like Hudson, she couldn't wait for today. The day went very similar to Hudson's. Mama and Papa started off in Hadley's classroom where she was able to show them some projects she had been working on throughout the year. Then the teacher talked about all they had been learning and they finished up with some songs they had learned. One of the songs had a line that said something like, "If I could pick a grandma, I would pick you." Then they sang it again with Grandpa. Hadley LOVED that song and was so excited to sing it to them. Again, Mama and Papa took Hadley to the library to pick out a couple books for her collection as well. We are so thankful to have Grandparents that love their grandkids more than anything and will drop whatever they are doing to be with them at any minute!



Halloween Night

We hosted another fun Halloween night for our family this year. Mama and Papa picked up chick-fil-a and we had great time filling our bellies for the night ahead. It ended up being a little chillier than the original forcast of 70 degrees but it was still a great night. We took some pictures out in the backyard before getting started.

Love my little 50's girl and Batman. Everyone's costumes were just so cute this year...




Looking so grown-up. And I feel like these glasses just completed the outfit!












My favorite picture of Peyton being silly and laughing at herself:


And Buck was as stoic as he could be. We were making complete fools of ourselves trying to get him to smile!



Baby Jake seemed to enjoy his very first Halloween and was the cutest little lobster.



Group picture. Hudson had had enough and wanted nothing to do with another picture. There were some tears, of course, but we finally got him to stand in long enough for me to snap one pic.



Heading off to trick-or-treat. We loaded as many on golf carts as we possibly could and we were off. The girls didn't seem to think the carts were fast enough and ran most of the time. We had fun catching up with some friends, hitting as many houses as we could, and loading up on candy. Buck and Hudson seemed to be in candy heaven and weren't shy at all about running up to doors and saying "trick-or-treat!"










We all had such a fun night. I feel like each year beats the one before and mainly because the kids are just having so much fun at this stage! 7 and 4 years old is going to be really hard to beat but so excited for all the future Halloweens we are going to experience.

Thursday, October 30, 2014

October pictures


Hudson's class goes to computer class every other Thursday and I signed up to be the computer helper. I was amazed at how well the kids could navigate the computer using the mouse. I couldn't resist taking a couple cute pictures of my little guy looking like such a big boy in class!




The life of a boy! This rarely happens but when you gotta go sometimes you just have to stop on the side of the road and let him go...


While Matt was out of town on a golf trip I took Hadley to soccer practice and then Hudson and I went to the park right beside the fields to swing. This is in Bristol Park (our first neighborhood). It brought back so many memories of the countless hours we spent playing with Hadley in that park!


After a good day I took the kids to Toys R Us for a special treat. Hudson walked up and down the aisles looking for the perfect toy while Hadley just stayed in the arts and crafts section. I love how this first picture shows how exhausting it was for Hudson to make a decision. He was pretty excited when he finally decided on the cement mixer though! Hadley got a bracelet making kit for her and Peyton to make bracelets at Mama's house. She and Peyton were having a slumber party at Mama and Papa's house that night and that was all that was on her mind..




The kids decided they wanted to go on an "adventure" bike ride to go look for treasures. So they packed up their backpacks with all the necessities (a stuffed animal, blanket, toothbrush, and binoculars) and we made our way down the road. We probably got about 10 houses down when they decided they could just look for treasures in their own yard instead.




I just think this "selfie" that I found on my phone of Hudson is so cute! He looks like such a little boy in this picture.


We came home to a fun surprise early in October. We had been boo'd by some friends with a great basket of candy and toys. Hadley and Hudson thought it was just too fun to spread the love and boo our friends, the Fares. The kids got so excited to wait until it was dark, drop the stuff off on their porch, ring the doorbell, and run back to the car as fast as they could so we could drive away before getting caught!


On a Friday evening, Charlotte came home from school with us. When Hadley and I left to take her home Matt put on a movie for Hudson so that he could take a shower. Apparently, Hudson decided he was hungry and could fix himself some mac and cheese. He even put water in it and did everything correctly...except he did 33:00 minutes rather than 3:30. He knew exactly what he was doing but didn't realize he had hit an extra zero. When Hadley and I got home we turned the corner to see the kitchen full of yellow smoke. I yelled Matt and Hudsons name and quickly realized it was coming from the microwave. I stopped the microwave with only 7 minutes left as Matt and Hudson came out of the bedroom. Our house smelled like smoke for several days and still does whenever we run the microwave. But thankfully, the microwave didn't break and more importantly, no one was hurt!



Cute picture of the two batmen!

Hudson loves to show me his muscles...then he got irritated and embarrassed when he realized I took a picture of him. I can't remember WHY he is wearing just shorts, gloves, and a beanie....



I took the kids to the mall one day and wouldn't you know that Quail has done it again...they put another kiosk in front of the kids play area that, of course, will make the parents life miserable if they don't buy into it. Now they have these ride on toys that go with the press of a foot pedal. It is only $6 for 15 minutes so I decided to buy one for the kids to ride around the mall. They had so much fun and were actually great at taking turns. It turned out to be well worth the $6.



Hadley wanted me to take a picture of her showing me how flexible she is. Which, in turn, made Hudson want to show me his tricks too.



Anytime we have a really fun day Hadley seems to throw out "This is the best day ever!" at so point in the day. So when I saw this shirt I thought it was perfect! She was so excited to wear it and I took a few pictures of her once she had it on. I feel like these pictures really capture her fun, joyful personality. This little girl ALWAYS has a smile on her face and has such a wonderful attitude in any situation.







Basketball is approaching and soccer is over! Hadley and Matt got out and practiced shooting while Hudson rode around on his scooter and played around with me. I love these nice weather days when we can all be outside spending time together.



A few pictures of Hudson showing me his strong muscles...






Playing with chalk after school one day. Both of the kids stick their tongues out while concentrating on their pictures.





How different our kids are when it comes to bedtime! Hudson puts up a fight every night. No screaming and throwing fits but we just have to be creative to get him up the stairs. Usually its a race, a game, or carrying him because "his legs are too tired." On the other hand, Hadley can't wait to go to bed. Usually by about 7:30 she is asking to go to bed because she is so exhausted. But she is also the one that is early to rise and goes non-stop all day! I took this picture the other night while trying to talk Hudson into coming upstairs with us. He was pretty determined to stay put right where he was!


Still practicing with my new camera and this is as serious I could get the little guy to be! As the pictures show, it quickly escalated into full blown silliness!






Hadley gave Hudson some "stegosaurus" hair with a Mohawk of ponytails. He LOVED it and crawled around like a dinosaur for quite some time!


Karen Nashert had her annual Halloween party for all her grandkids and friends. They went all out again this year with carnival stations and lots of food. It was a fun, hot afternoon and the kids had a blast. Hudson was actually at a school friends birthday party so I took Hadley to this one and Matt took Hudson to his. He got to ride ponies and had a dress-up party as well so it was a good time had by all!