Mommy's Little Helper

Most mornings, I make our bed before the boys are up.  This morning however, I was practically running out the door to get Hudson to school.  (I'm still adjusting to school starting...ha!)  Anyway, I should probably wait to make my bed every day because Holden absolutely LOVES it when the pillows are on the floor.  This is what he does every.single.time!!  He runs and throws himself down, crawls all over them, then repeats, screaming and laughing the whole time!!!  I grabbed my camera this morning because I don't want to forget these sweet, silly moments with my boy!!

I love this crazy child!!!

2nd Grade

Hudson's first day of 2nd grade was Monday, August 24th.  He was a little nervous, but excited to see friends that he hadn't seen since last year.  When did my baby get so big?!?

Meet the Teacher - 2nd Grade

We headed up to school on Thursday, August 20th for Meet the Teacher.  Although I think I'm in shock that Hudson is in the 2nd grade, we couldn't be more thrilled to find out that he has Mrs. Patsy as his teacher.  I really feel like we've hit the jackpot with teachers at his school!  I'm praying that all of his former teachers will still be there when it is Holden's turn!  Here is my BIG 2nd grader with his sweet teacher:

Hudson has been in the same class with Jaxon all 3 years so far!  Here they are holding up 2 fingers for 2nd grade!

 We couldn't leave without saying hi to his previous teachers.  They were both nothing short of amazing!  Here he is with his 1st grade teacher, Mrs. Williams.  Don't tell anyone, but she is his favorite teacher to date!!  

 Here he is with his Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Bray.  

Meet Henry

Hudson has wanted a dog for some time now.  Chopper died when he was 4 months old, so he has not grown up with a pet.  We were contemplating getting a dog before we found out we were expecting Holden.  Needless to say, with Holden (a.k.a. tornado), a dog isn't a good idea right now.  So, a while ago Hudson started asking if he could have a hamster.  By asking, I mean, begging daily for one!  With his birthday approaching, I asked Paw-Paw and Nana if they would like to get him his first pet for his birthday.  They were very excited to fulfill this sweet boy's dream of getting a hamster!  They wrapped up a book about hamsters along with some hamster treats for Hudson to open on his birthday.  He was beyond excited!!  We went to Schlitterbahn on his actual birthday, so we waited until we got back and took a trip to PetSmart.  Hudson picked out a brown, boy hamster and named him Henry.  Here are he and Henry ready to go home!

 Here's Henry Aaron Donnell.  :)  Welcome to the family little rodent!

Ready, Aim, FIRE!!

A few months ago, I asked Hudson what he wanted to do for his party this year, and he mentioned laser tag.  So, Kelly and I took him to play to make sure he liked it, and he was sold.  I have to say, it was probably my favorite birthday party to date.  The kids AND adults had SO MUCH FUN!!!  

He wanted cookies to pass out for party favors.  They turned out SO CUTE!!

 The poor cupcakes melted on the way to the party, which is crazy since they were in the front seat of the car with the AC blasting on them.  Only in Texas!!  Oh well, everyone said they tasted good!

 The kids listening to directions before they were allowed to go in to the arena.  

 We got to play two, 30 minute games of laser tag.  Everyone was dripping with sweat by the time it was over.  There was a lot of competition going between adults and kids...it was a blast!  After the second game, we headed to the party room for pizza and cupcakes.

 Holden was happy to have Noni sit and feed him pizza and cupcakes too!

 My BIG boy with EIGHT candles!!!!  How is that even possible?!?

 My family of 4...I sure love being surrounded by my 3 crazy boys!!

 Luke posing with Nana and his mommy.

 After pizza and cupcakes, the kids got to go play games with their tokens. Here's Aurora and Avery dancing.  :)

 Cooper, Mallory, Peyton, Hudson, and Clark racing.

 Uncle Geoff and Aunt Tara shooting more things.

Leslie, Griffin, and Stone shooting.

 

 There was a lot of shooting going on!!

 Holden had fun running around chasing a bouncy ball and "playing" the games.  He's at that great age where he doesn't need the game to be on...he thinks he's playing all of them!  :)

 Paw-Paw and Hudson trying to earn more coins.

 Oh dear, Holden had a gun...

 After the party, we came home so Holden and Luke could take a much needed nap and Hudson could open his presents.

 Hudson has been asking for a hamster or gerbil for weeks now.  Paw-Paw and Nana decided they would get him one for his birthday.  They wanted him to pick it out though, so they wrapped some books and food for him to open.  It took a few minutes for Hudson to understand why he was opening books and hamster food, but he was beyond excited once he figured it out!!

 BIG hugs for an exciting gift!!

 Posing with Aunt Fern.

 Hudson and Nana trying to play one of his new games while Luke and Holden "helped"...easier said than done.  Ha!

Since Aunt Fern's 85th birthday was the next day and Aunt Tara's birthday was the following week, we went to Maggiano's for dinner to celebrate all of the August birthdays.  I snapped a few pics of our ever growing family at dinner.

 This sweet boy could not get enough bread!!  :)

We had an amazing, family filled, fun weekend celebrating Hudson's 8th birthday!!!