A great Valentine's Day

Ever since having kids, Matt and I have never gotten into celebrating Valentine's day on the actual day. We usually go out to eat or celebrate the weekend before when its not quite as busy. This year I had the idea to make it a fun day for our kids since Valentine's day fell on Saturday. Matt let Hadley plan a date for them and Hudson planned a date for us. Then we thought it would be fun for all of us to meet up together for a movie.

 

 Matt rang the doorbell to pick Hadley up for her date. She was more than thrilled to get a bouquet of roses from her daddy. What a thoughtful date! He also got her a card asking him to be her Valentine. It was a chalkboard where she had to answer yes or no. Then she even wrote him her own message. 

 

 

Hudson was a little sad and upset that he hadn't gotten me flowers so we reenacted the scene for him to give me a bouquet...or the same bouquet. I was equally excited and couldn't wait for my date.

Hudson chose Chuck E Cheese as his restaurant of choice. This was NO surprise to me but I was excited about a little pizza and games with my favorite little guy! Hudson actually ate an entire small pizza by himself which is definitely not the typical. He also said the sweetest prayer before dinner that went like this: "Dear God, thank you for the best mommy ever. And for pizza. And games. And I hope daddy and i-e (sissy) are having fun."
We had a great time playing games and being silly. He was excited to cash in his tickets for a couple toys and then it was time to meet daddy and Hadley.

Hadley chose BJ's for dinner but also threw in a little shopping trip to Justice as well. She knows how good her daddy is at saying no to her! Matt said she was a complete sweetheart at dinner and was so excited to spend time with just him. He commented on how strange it is to have a little girl that is acting so grown up, eats her dinner without being asked over and over, and can even get up from the table to go to the bathroom by herself (even if she did accidently go into the mens!). They shared dessert and hurried over to the mall so she could shop before Hudson and I got there.

When we met up with them at the mall we let the kids play in the play area for a little bit until it was time for the movie. Hadley was so excited to show me her new shirt and the bracelets that she picked out. She was all smiles!

We decided on seeing Paddington for the movie. It ended up being great! We giggled the whole time and the Hudson laughed hysterically. I took a cute picture of the kids before the movie and then one more of Hadley during....

....the sweet girl had too much excitement and couldn't hold out any longer. She curled up in her daddy's lap and fell asleep about an hour into the movie. This may go on my list as one of my very favorite pictures!

We all had a great time and I think it was some really special bonding for us. I hope this can become an annual date for as long as the kids will let us!

Valentine's parties

The kids Valentines parties fell on the same day as their school pictures this year so finding an outfit I liked for both was tricky. They were both so excited for picture day and Hudson was happy to wear his new bow tie. Hadley was mainly just happy about not having to wear a uniform!  I took a couple pictures of the kids before we left for school. 

 

Hudson's party was first at 11:00. He was so proud to show me his "love" sign he made for Matt and me. They got to do a craft and had some yummy cupcakes and juice. The teachers made the smart decision to wait on opening their valentines until they got back home. Having 16 4-year olds is probably hard enough so to add more excitement and sugar to the mix seems a little disastrous! Hudson was a little sad when it was time for me to go but we still had a great time and I love spending some time with him up at school.

I ran some errands for a few hours and then headed back up to school for Hadley's Valentines party. Theirs fell at the end of the day so her teacher had no problem feeding them cupcakes and letting them tear into their goodies! I provided the craft for the party which was a little animal they got to design with cotton balls and stickers. I love Hadley's class so much and sure will miss all these kids being together next year. I also love that Hadley gets so excited to have me there with her. I'm not sure how many more years I will get of that but I am sure eating it up while I can.

Straight home from school and going through all their bags of goodies!

Zoo day with Hudson and his buddy, Will

 

Hudson was super excited for his playdate at the zoo with his friend, Will. Sarah and I decided with the great weather that it would be a perfect day to head to the zoo and let the kids burn off some energy....it helps that Mondays are free days at the zoo as well. Look at this sweet, happy face on our way there:



 

We met up with Will and Sarah and the first thing the boys wanted to see were the elephants. A new baby was just born a month ago and he was out with his sister and mom and dad. It was so fun to watch him running around will all his energy. They boys couldn't get over how cute he was.

The rest of these pictures are just thoughout our time at there. We visited the gorillas, monkeys, snakes, and rhinos but I think the boys liked the park the most. They played chase, hide-and-seek, and climbed on everything imaginable. It was a fun day for all of us!

Hudson starts Karate!

Hudson has been all energy since the day he was born. He wrestles, runs, jumps, and is just a rowdy boy 99% of the time he is awake. And the kid has some crazy innate wrestling skills. He can take down a grown adult and knows exactly where to grab their legs to get them down. Its so wild! However, Hudson hasn't wanted to participate in a lot of sports because he is so nervous he wont be good or the best and he can't handle that. We tried soccer last year which didn't end with any participation and so we haven't tried anything else (other than a gymnastics class one day a week). About a month ago I heard about this Christian Karate Academy that focused on confidence and discipline in kids. Matt and I thought all aspects would be great for Hudson. He was pretty excited to start but got a little nervous on the way to our introductory lesson. The first class is done in regular clothes, one-on-one with Master Lewis. Hudson immediately took to him and was excited to join him in a lesson. They bowed before entering the room, prayed before starting the lesson, and then practice some basic skills to determine if Hudson liked it.

 

Well, he loved it! He was so excited and couldn't wait to go back for more classes. We signed him up, bought his gi and went home with an excited little boy! 

 

His first official class was on Monday. We had a few nerves arise again but he did well once we got to class. I just haven't been able to quit taking pictures. He looks so adorable out there and I have to say that he is the best behaved so far. He takes it so seriously and wants to do well for Master Lewis. He tries his hardest and practices all the moves he is being taught. He knows his right and left perfectly now and loves to tell us which direction to turn in the car.

After the first class Master Lewis likes to give the kids some motivation to show them what they are working towards. Hudson was able to get his first belt after breaking a board and completing a test. It is for no reason but to get the kids excited and give them confidence that they can achieve what they work towards. Hudson could not have been more excited about breaking the board and getting his belt. He had the biggest, proudest smile on his face!

 

We have loved Christian Karate Academy so far. We love the morals they teach and what it has done for Hudson in just a few short weeks. Hadley has even gotten to join in on a class when the attendance was low and if she wasn't already involved in so many activities I think she would be wanting to start karate as well!

End of basketball

Looking back through my pictures made me realize I hardly got any pictures of Hadley playing basketball with her Crossings team. I have several videos but obviously spent all my time videoing it instead of taking pictures.

 

Hadley had a great season on both teams. For being one of the shortest she did a great job keeping up with the taller girls and had no problem getting the ball up to the basket. If she continues to shoot well develop her dribbling even more I really think she will end up being a pretty good ball player.

 

The leagues were so different this year. The Crossings team played through Santa Fe family center and was done through the Wayman Tisdale league. It is very structured and focuses the first couple years on developing skills and the knowledge of the game. Its definitely not as fast paced and exciting to watch but Hadley learned a lot and seemed to really like it! Next year they will start keeping score and begin the half court press. The YMCA league was more of a free for all which was a little harder for Hadley being the smallest. There were lots of fouls but it taught the girls to maneuver with the ball and make quick passes. It was definitely a fun league to watch with lots of cheering in all the games.

 

The last game of the YMCA season we took pictures before the game. Such a cute team with a couple pretty great coaches! We are so proud of all the hard work the girls put in and how much they developed over the season. 

 

 

Hudson even dressed to match (unintentionally) and loved cheering his sister on....and eating candy.

Their "first" place medal! So excited to add to the collection.

Papa gets a tractor

Papa got a new tractor for the lake....it's the farm boy coming out in him again. Hudson was SO excited to see it and ride on it so he went to the lake with my parents and Buck for the weekend. They woke up early Saturday morning and played around on it all day. My dad sent me a couple pictures of Hudson on the tractor and he has talked about it ever since. These boys enjoy the lake for all the digging, building, and toys as much as the water!