Donnell Days

Thanks Pinterest!!

2012-01-30T19:13:00.000-08:00

I have to admit that I have a slight addiction to Pinterest. I have found SO MANY good ideas, recipes, and fun activities on there and have finally started putting some of them to use! I have been so inspired that I sat down and wrote some of my "Fun for Hudson" ideas down on the calendar and have been doing one of them a week. Hudson is LOVING the activities so much and I am having just as much fun as he is! This is what we've been up to:

First up, glow balloons! (I could NOT figure out how to get a good picture of this...I definitely need help figuring this out!!) We literally sat in his room for an hour at a time in the dark throwing balloons back and forth. The child was in heaven!

Before bath, we popped the balloons and he took a glow bath. SO FUN!

Next up...a giant color sheet/play sheet! I simply drew a city on a shower curtain liner...
Here he is checking it out.

...he started out by coloring on it...

...then he brought cars, planes, and eventually horses on it. Again, played on this for about 45 minutes straight. The best part is that I just folded it up so we still have many more hours of fun with it!

Homemade bathtub painting was next. I let him add the food coloring to the shaving cream. He had fun mixing the colors and guessing what it would make once I stirred it up.

Our finished product:

Then, he was ready to go.

We were working on letter B, so I figured he could get some tracing practice in there!

I think he loved making a big mess the best! Can't wait to see how our next few weeks of activities go. Thanks Pinterest!!

Bowling Party

2012-01-24T13:44:00.001-08:00

Two weekends ago, Hudson was invited to a birthday party for Zachary, a boy in his Pre-K class and Sunday School class. The party was at a bowling alley and Hudson was so excited because he hasn't ever been bowling before. He LOVED it! He needed quite a bit of help from Daddy, but got the hang of "granny rolling" the ball! They even got a strike together!

Even though he doesn't look excited here (no idea what he is looking at) he had a great time!

December Photo Session

2012-01-17T07:27:00.000-08:00

The first weekend in December we met the photographer we use for a mini session at a museum in Carrollton. The goal was to get one great family picture and some pictures of Hudson to give to family. She was amazing as always and captured some GREAT pics! I even have a new favorite of my little man. It is hard to believe how fast he is growing...he looks so big to me!

L.O.V.E.

Christmas in January

2012-01-10T14:22:00.001-08:00

This past weekend we headed up to Oklahoma to FINALLY celebrate Christmas with the rest of our family. It was so weird to have to wait that long to see everyone, so we were all really excited for the trip! Paw-Paw and Nana left all of their Christmas decorations up and the whole family spent the entire Saturday together just like it was Christmas. Hudson couldn't believe he got to open more presents...he was a little excited!

He and Uncle Todd being silly. :)

You are never too young to be a super hero!

Daddy (Robin), Hudson (Batman), and Uncle Todd (Superman)
Needless to say, Hudson LOVES his new super hero costumes!

After opening presents, Hudson couldn't wait to show everyone his new bike riding skills. Lucky for him, I come from a family that loves riding! Uncle Todd, Aunt Shani, and Paw-Paw all rode with him.

Later, he decided he needed to ride his 4-wheeler to be able to catch up with them!

One of his favorite things to do at Paw-Paw and Nana's...take a bubble bath!

So glad we finally got to celebrate Christmas with the rest of our family!!

Christmas 2011

2012-01-03T10:56:00.000-08:00

Christmas morning was magical this year! Four is definitely the best age so far...watching Hudson's excitement Christmas morning was SO FUN! I wish I could bottle up how excited he was. Just like last year, he bypassed the tree and ran straight to the plate of milk, cookies, and carrots to make sure they had been eaten. He was so excited to find out they had been and then he turned around to see this:

The Batman Batcave was THE present he wanted...if anyone ever asked him what he wanted for Christmas he always named the Batcave first, followed by a Batmobile and the Lion King movie. He was beyond excited to find the Batcave!

Then, he found a surprise gift from Noni...his first bike!
Happy boy opening his movie! :)

After a few more gifts and his stocking, he realized that there was a letter telling him that one gift was waiting for him in the study. He couldn't believe his eyes when he rounded the corner to find this:

(Thanks Paw-Paw & Nana!) After gift opening, we sat down for a fun breakfast. Rudolph pancakes were a HIT...we will definitely make those again! :)

We had originally planned on going to church after breakfast, but time had gotten away from us and we missed it. :( So, we bundled up and headed outside to play with his new toys. I was amazed at how fast he figured out how to ride his bike. He got on and immediately started going. (He has ridden it EVERY DAY since too...he is IN.LOVE with his bike!)

Next up was riding his go-kart. He is a bit of a maniac driver!!

Check out this speed racer's face!

It is definitely a good thing we live four houses down from the school so he can have plenty of room to ride!

For the first time ever, we didn't go out of town on Christmas day. As much as we missed seeing the rest of our family, it was so nice being able to watch Hudson play with all of his new toys and spend the day together! We definitely had a very blessed Christmas!!

Christmas Eve

2011-12-29T14:02:00.000-08:00

We had such a wonderful Christmas Eve this year. We started off the evening by going to the 5:00 Family service at our church. The past few years we have attended the 3:00 Children's service, but I have REALLY missed the candlelight part, so we braved a new one this year. Hudson could not have done better! I was really nervous because he spends Sunday mornings in Sunday School...hasn't been in the sanctuary with us in a few years, but he did fantastic!! He did great taking communion and LOVED holding the candle and singing Silent Night. After church, we headed to Poppy's house for a yummy dinner and gifts with Kelly's side of the family. Hudson received many Batman gifts and was ONE HAPPY BOY!!

LOVE this face!!! Not sure who is happier...Hudson or Uncle Todd!

Uncle Todd, Hudson, and cousin Marcus

Hudson with Aunt Tara

We got home REALLY late, but still continued with our Christmas Eve traditions. First up, opening new jammies from Mommy & Daddy.

After setting out cookies, milk, and carrots, Hudson snuggled up to read Twas the Night Before Christmas. :) He kept telling me to read faster because he needed to go to bed so Santa could come. It was HILARIOUS! We haven't had that fast of a bedtime ritual in ages!

Such a fun, family filled evening!

Golden Tickets

2011-12-28T14:14:00.001-08:00

We started a new Christmas tradition this year that I found on Pinterest that was a HIT! The day before Christmas Eve, we went to put Hudson to bed and when we pulled down the covers, he found these tickets:

He immediately decided that Haddy (our elf) put them in his bed. They were Christmas express tickets which meant even though we were all in our jammies, we were to immediately go get in the car and go look at Christmas lights!
He wasn't excited or anything!! He immediately started jumping up and down and couldn't believe that he didn't have to go to bed right then!

We also told him that he could get ice cream or hot chocolate for the road and he chose ice cream. :)

We went to Deerfield in Plano to see some beautiful lights! It was beyond packed though, so we only got through a few streets. (We know to go earlier in the year next year!)

Such a fun night...this will definitely be a tradition we continue!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...

2011-12-28T14:09:00.000-08:00

The week before Christmas a few of us met up in Allen with the kids with the idea of taking a Santa picture like last year. Even though we got there at 10:05 and checked in, the wait was already an hour and 45 minutes! So, we ended up letting the kids play their hearts out in the little houses, have lunch at Mooyah, and then play some more by the giant Christmas tree before heading home. It was such a fun morning!

The kids were mesmerized by the giant tree!

Landon, Grant, Ellie, Wyatt, Tanner, Nora, and Hudson

Merry Christmas 2011

2011-12-26T19:39:00.000-08:00

Our 2011 Christmas card. :)

SANTA!!

2011-12-20T14:24:00.001-08:00

I think it's safe to say he liked the big guy this year! :)

Riding The Polar Express

2011-12-20T14:13:00.000-08:00

This past weekend, we headed to Grapevine to ride the Polar Express again. We have done this the past several years, so Hudson was really excited to do it again.

He started out the evening by drinking hot chocolate on Noni's lap while waiting for the show to begin.

He loved walking through the "snow" with Daddy trying to catch the snowflakes.
Waiting for the fun to begin.

First up, Mrs. Clause. Hudson loved talking to her this year. :)

Then, he caught sight of the big guy! LOVE the look on his face...he was so excited!!

This year, Santa gave each child a bell.

I think it is safe to say that Hudson rang his bell the rest of the trip! :)

Such a fun tradition!!

Polar Express Party Day!

2011-12-20T14:06:00.001-08:00

Last Thursday was Hudson's party day at school. It was a Polar Express theme, so he had to wear jammies to school of course! :)

Here he is before heading off to school.

I got to go to the party and when I got there, Miss Amber was just sitting down to read The Polar Express to the kids.
After drinking their hot chocolate and making jingle bell necklaces, they had a book exchange. He and Adan exchanged books.

His sweet class with their books.

They ended the day by singing Happy Birthday to Jesus and pointing up when they said "to you" each time. :) Love it!

Hudson with darling Miss Amber in her super fun Grinch jammies! :)

Such a fun day! :)

Birthday Party for Jesus

2011-12-20T13:58:00.001-08:00

We went to our church's annual Birthday Party for Jesus a few weekends ago, but this year Hudson was so excited because his friend Landon was there! These two had SO MUCH FUN going around to each station together. Precious!

You can't go wrong with the bean bag toss!

A little putting...

The hit of the night was definitely the guys making ballons "things". Landon and Hudson were mesmerized by this teenager...it was hilarious! They both picked a candy cane to be made...

...and promptly turned their candy canes into swords! Of course!

How cute are these two?!?

Two Special Ladies

2011-12-20T13:48:00.000-08:00

Hudson has been fortunate to have a FABULOUS babysitter for over two years now. Jamie has come every Wednesday and Thursday afternoon to watch Hudson while I tutor and she is definitely like family. Hudson absolutely adores her. Sadly, we had to say goodbye to her last week because she is headed to Texas Tech to get her degree in nursing. We are SO HAPPY for her, but there were tears shed by all when she left last week. :( She has promised to come visit when she comes home to see family and we are going to hold her to it!!

Hudson and Jamie

You might remember Miss Amanda from posts when Hudson was in gymnastics. We hated saying goodbye to her last August when Hudson quit gymanstics. We promised to stay in touch and we finally got to see her a few weekends ago! Hudson asks about her on a weekly basis and always tells me he misses her. So sweet! So, she came over for lunch and to play and Hudson was beyond excited!! We have promised to not let so much time go by before we see her again!

Hudson and Miss Amanda
We have been beyond blessed to have so many wonderful people in Hudson's life...he is one lucky little boy!

Annual Playgroup Christmas Party

2011-12-12T14:03:00.000-08:00

This past Monday was our annual playgroup Christmas party. I can't believe that Hudson was only 4 months old at our first one...crazy! Alli hosted the party and the kids had an absolute BLAST! They did two crafts, ate pizza, watched part of a movie, and played, and played, and played...you get the idea! They play so well together and it is so fun watching how "old" they seem now...they have such great imaginations and there was a lot of good guy/bad guy stuff going on. :)

Here they are looking all grown up:

Porter, Quinn, Sutton, Landon, Reid, Tanner, Hudson, and Chapman

Hudson decorating his tree.

The kids eating dinner and watching Cars 2.
Some of the mommies...so sad...Amy and Annie had already left at this point.
Meredith, Alli, Brittney, me, Kara, and Cara

These girls and their sweet kiddos are definitely something to be thankful for this time of year...LOVE THEM!!!!

Hudson's 1st Christmas Program

2011-12-06T13:38:00.001-08:00

This past Thursday was Husdon's first Christmas program at school. He was SO EXCITED! He couldn't quit talking about how he would get to be "on stage" and how he was going to be a lamb while singing. I have to say that I was beyond excited to watch him in his first program. We got there early and Noni saved us second row seats while we took him back to his classroom to get ready. The 3 year old class performed first and they were adorable. Then, it was the Pre-K's turn. I was excited again when Hudson was front and center! Then, the program started. He started out singing... ...and doing arm motions...

...and then quickly become DONE with the entire thing. He stared at me the rest of the time with this face:

Sweet love...

Poor thing. He was definitely ready to go and had no problem making a quick exit when it was all said and done. Oh well...maybe next year! :)

A Thanksgiving Surprise!

2011-12-01T10:40:00.001-08:00

The weekend after Thanksgiving we headed to Oklahoma to Paw-Paw and Nana's house. We arrived early and right after we ate lunch, they had a surprise for Hudson...

Yes, they got him his very own 4-wheeler to ride at their house. It took all of about 1 second for him to FALL. IN. LOVE. with it!! After a quick riding lesson with Paw-Paw, he was off.

Can you say pure joy??

The last morning we were there, Paw-Paw was reading the paper and Hudson promptly hopped up right next to him and told me he needed the paper to read too. :)

LOVE it!! Two peas in a pod!

Thanksgiving Feast

2011-12-01T10:34:00.000-08:00

The Tuesday before Thanksgiving, I went up to Hudson's school to take pictures of their Thanksgiving Feast. The kids were absolutely adorable! I just love that I get to be so involved in his school!!

Here is Chief Stomping Red Foot! Ms. Amber told me he came up with the name himself! :)

Four classes lined up eating their Feast.

When they were done, they got to play in the gym for a while. I was cracking up because Hudson kept convincing his sweet classmates to drive him around on the back of a tricycle. Toot!

So blessed by his school!

Country Boy at Heart

2011-11-15T11:11:00.001-08:00

I never would have guessed when Kelly and I first starting dating that he was a country boy at heart. He doesn't dress the part, talk the part, or act the part, but when dove, deer, or duck hunting season come around, my darling husband is pure country. He can't get to the fields/stands/lakes fast enough. It is something he did growing up and is very much a part of him. It has never really affected me (the polar opposite of all things country) other than the fact that he goes out of town a lot during those seasons. UNTIL now...I'm pretty sure I have another country boy at heart on my hands. We took Hudson to Poppy's ranch this weekend and to say the child was in heaven is an understatement. He was IN LOVE with the ranch. He actually cried when we left and continues to ask how much longer until we can go back. This non-country girl might have many more ranch weekends ahead of me.

Hudson had so much fun playing air hockey...especially now that he is tall enough to do it by himself!

LOVE the faces!

I don't have any pictures, but he also LOVED riding four wheelers and the Bad Boy Buggy. His favorite part of the weekend though, was hands down...riding horses!

Going fast with Poppy! Check out that smile!!

I have to admit...isn't that pretty??

Hudson and Daddy before leaving on Sunday.

I guess I need to find a cute pair of boots, huh?? :)

Weekend Visit

2011-11-10T10:00:00.001-08:00

Guess who came to visit this past weekend??

Paw-Paw and Nana sandwich! :)

Halloween...Batman Style!

2011-11-01T14:04:00.001-07:00

Several months ago, when I asked Hudson what he wanted to be for Halloween he immediately told me he wanted to be an ostrich. WHAT?!? I explained to him that there aren't any ostrich costumes and mommy isn't quite crafty enough to make something like that. I offered MANY other suggestions, but it always came back to wanting to be an ostrich. Thankfully, he was invited to a birthday party that was a costume party and he said he wanted to be Batman for the party. Once he put on his Batman costume he was sold and never mentioned the ostrich again. THANK GOODNESS! So, Batman it was this year and he loved every.single.minute!

Ready to trick-or-treat...Batman Style!

A quick pose with Mommy and Daddy.

Then, we were off. Hudson did not have to be told twice what to do...he has trick-or-treating DOWN!

We ran into his friend Ella...

A house a block over actually had a haunted house put up in their yard. Hudson and Daddy went in and he said it was fun. Definitely NOT his Mommy's child!

My brave boy coming out of the haunted house.

We also saw his friends Pearson and Aaron...

...and Stone.

He DID NOT want to quit trick-or-treating, but was quickly convinced when we told him he could go home and look at all of his candy and pick one to eat.

Happy boy! It was SO FUN watching him trick-or-treat this year. When I was putting him to bed, he asked when it was going to be Halloween again and was sad when I told him it would be another year. Sweet love!

Trick-or-Treating at Noni's Office

2011-11-01T13:58:00.001-07:00

Last Friday we headed to Noni's office for their annual trick-or-treating with kids and grandkids. Hudson was SO EXCITED this year...he knew what to do and was definitely ready to get some candy!

He was happy to pose for some of her friends that were taking pictures of the kids. I snuck in behind one of them to get a picture.

This year, they had some activities set up for the kids once the trick-or-treating was done. He and Noni had a lot of fun playing games.
Fishing and making silly pumpkin faces out of stickers.

Thought this picture was cool...Hudson said the cars below looked tiny. :)

Crazy to think that next year will be his last year to do this...sniff, sniff!

Fall Festival

2011-11-01T13:44:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday was Hudson's Fall Festival at school. I volunteered to bring a fun snack and then help with the festival for the rest of the day. It was so fun being on the other side of the party...as in, not the teacher, but the parent! The kids had so much fun and I was so impressed with all of the fun activities that his school and teacher planned for them.

First up, I dropped off the fun snack for the kids to enjoy while the festival was being set out.

I made Spider Krispies for the kids and their job was to put the spider "legs" in! They loved them and I have to admit that I think they turned out pretty cute. :)
I also brought the jack-o-lantern oranges...loved them!

Once they got into the gym, the kids rotated through fun stations...painting pumpkins, apple tasting, acorn painting, a sink or float station, and some fun games.

Hudson really enjoyed painting his pumpkin. He even added glitter. :)

He and Zachary being silly.

His precious little class.

Once they got back into their class and finished lunch, Ms. Amber had another fun thing planned...pumpkin carving. The kids LOVED playing with the "guts" of the pumpkin.

So fun! I am so glad I get to be a part of his class!!

Yearly Pumpkin Patches

2011-11-01T13:33:00.001-07:00

This year, we made our yearly rounds to several of our favorite pumpkin patches with friends. I didn't take a ton of pictures...just let Hudson enjoy the time with his friends running around. Here are a few from each pumpkin patch we visited.

First up, was the Arboretum...it was just gorgeous this year! Hudson's favorite part was playing in the hay maze. Not running through the maze, but moving hay around to different spots. They seriously did this for at least 30 minutes. :)

Hudson, Stone, Colton, Brody, and Rowan

Next up, was the Flowermound Pumpkin Patch with Colleen, Reid, and Adalyn. The boys had so much fun playing in the bounce houses at this one. I don't think they really cared about the pumpkins, but how do pumpkins compete with bounce houses??? :)

Sadly, the best picture I got of Hudson and Reid. Really?!?

Our final pumpkin patch to visit was Owen's Farm with Aurora, Avery, and Greyson. Hudson LOVES this one because of the animals. He and Avery spent a lot of time feeding the goats. They had ZERO fear and just stuck their hands right on in the fence. They even refused to feed a "bully" goat who was pushing the smaller goats aside. Too funny!

So much fun with friends at all of the pumpkin patches!

Hudson's 1st "Field Trip"

2011-10-24T13:14:00.000-07:00

This past week, Hudson had his first "field trip" at school. They didn't go anywhere...the fire department came to them, but he was super excited. The school wanted a parent volunteer for each class to come and take pictures and I of course, was so happy to do it!

Here he is with his sweet little class waiting patiently for the firemen to arrive.

Learning how to STOP, DROP, and ROLL.
Taking a tour of the firetruck.

How cute are they sitting on the front of the firetruck? Love it!

I'm so happy I get to share some of this with him...so fun!!

OU/TX

2011-10-10T13:49:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday was the OU/TX game...also known as "Our House Divided Day" around here! We packed up and headed out early to Garret & Jaclyn's house for a full day of fun and football!

How fun are these? Holly had them made for the party! :)

Kelly and I's yearly photo!
Kelly has brain washed this poor little child. Poor thing.
(Hudson wore his TX shirt the first half and then changed at halftime.)

All the kids at the party. They had SO MUCH FUN...played for hours, swam, jumped in a mini bounce house, and even watched a movie. Hudson was loving life and didn't want to leave!

Our only family pic of the day...I forgot to get another when after Hudson changed. :(

Not a good picture, but the only one of Hudson in his OU shirt.

Check out that score...GREATNESS!

Such a fun family rivalry! Can't wait until next year!

The Cat in the Hat

2011-10-10T13:27:00.000-07:00

The Cat in the Hat...AKA...Hudson!

Can you tell who just finished a Dr. Seuss unit at school?? He even ate green eggs & ham one day! He is having so much fun with Ms. Amber...loving Pre-K! :)

My Grammy

2011-10-06T08:47:00.001-07:00

My Grammy was a true Grandmother in every sense of the word. She was the grandmother who had fresh baked cookies waiting when you got to her house, the grandmother who literally would play board games with you ALL DAY if that is what you wanted to do, the grandmother who tucked you in at night, the grandmother who would make different meals for my sister and I because we wanted something different to eat. She pin-rolled my hair, made crochet blankets, and sent cards for every reason imaginable. She kept her house so clean you could eat off her floors and she was a social butterfly...had more friends than you could imagine. She loved me unconditionally and referred to me as "My Dena." After being sick for a really long time, my Grammy went to be with Jesus two weeks ago. I will be forever grateful that I was able to see her the week before. As hard as it was to say goodbye, I know that she is up there with my Grandad and I look forward to the day when we see each other again and play board games all day long.

My first picture with My Grammy. (And my Dad.)

Grammy with her Grandkids in 1999.
My sister and I's last picture with Grammy in April of 2010.

Our last family picture outside of Grammy and Grandad's house after her funeral. If I could bottle up the memories made in this tiny town, I would in a heartbeat. Some of the best childhood memories a kid could ask for.

I love you Grammy.

First day of Pre-School 2011

2011-09-27T13:34:00.001-07:00

I realized that I never posted pics of Hudson's first day of pre-school. Oops! Better late than never, right?? He is attending Pre-K at our church this year and so far it is going GREAT! He adores his teacher (I do too!!) and he is learning SO MUCH! His favorite things so far are getting to go outside (typical BOY!), go to music, and go to Spanish. His favorite friend that he talks about is Aiden. The only complaint he has is "meditation time" which is where they have to rest for at least 5 minutes. I am so excited to be the room parent for his class this year...right up my alley after teaching. :) I can't wait for his first class party!! Here are a few pics of his first day:

Yep, he asked if he could ride his scooter while wearing his backpack!
Walking in...his backpack looks bigger than him!

Ready to get to work!

Here's to a great school year!

4 years old!

2011-09-19T12:29:00.001-07:00

We had Hudson's 4 year pictures taken at Babe's Chicken in Frisco this year and I could not be more pleased. They definitely show his personality!! :)

I also did a little Q&A that I stole from one of my friends to remember some of his favorite things at this age:

What is your favorite thing to eat? "Mini-Wheats"

What is your favorite restaurant? "Chick-fil-A"

What is your favorite show to watch on TV? "Curious George, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, oh, and Mickey Mouse"

Where is your favorite place to go? "Amazing Jakes"

Who do you sleep with at night? "All of my friends." (Meaning a million stuffed animals!!)

Who is your best friend? "Colton and Tanner and Stone"

What makes you happy? "God"

What makes you sad? "Someone that hits me."

What are you scared of? "When it gets really dark and there is no power." (Can you tell we had a big storm before I interviewed him??)

What is your favorite thing about mommy? "I love you." I love you too Hudson, but what is your favorite thing about mommy? "Helps me and gives me baths."

What is your favorite thing about daddy? "Us fighting and cuddling." (Play fighting obviously!)

Oh, he makes me smile!!!

Summer of Swimming

2011-09-13T13:25:00.001-07:00

This was definitely the summer of swimming for us this year! Hudson started taking swimming lessons at Emler Swim School in April and is actually still taking them. To say he loves swimming is an understatement...the kid is a FISH! It helped that he had his friend Tanner in the same class and he also had the sweetest teacher ever, Miss Lisa. I took the camera to one class to try to capture this stage of his swimming and the pure JOY he has on his face!

Swimming to Miss Lisa.

Floating on his back while Miss Lisa sang the Tiny Turtle song.
One of the big skills they teach is jumping off the wall and then swimming back.

They also practiced with these bars a lot.

Hudson and Tanner with Miss Lisa

Hudson and Miss Lisa :)

Like I said, he is still taking swimming through the Fall. He moved up a few levels and has a different teacher now, but we still get to see Miss Lisa every week. The class he is in now is MUCH tougher, but he is adjusting. He is actually working on strokes and swimming on top of the water instead of swimming under the water like he was previously. It will be interesting to see how much he improves in the next few months!

Goodbye Gymnastics :(

2011-09-08T09:41:00.001-07:00

Hudson started taking gymnastics at ASI with Miss Amanda when he was 18 months old. His first class was a mommy and me class that I did with him. After a while, he was ready to move up to a class by himself and I just watched. We have gone to gymnastics every week for the past 2 1/2 years and I can definitely say that Hudson has loved every single minute of it! A huge reason he loved it was his darling teacher, Miss Amanda. She is WONDERFUL and holds a very special place in Hudson's heart. This summer Hudson also started taking swimming lessons. He instantly fell in love with those as well and told us that he wanted to keep taking the lessons. We told him when Pre-School started, he would only be able to take one and he chose swimming. So, a few weeks ago, he had his last gymnastics class and I'm not going to lie...there were tears shed by all. We might have said goodbye to gymanstics, but we didn't say goodbye to Miss Amanda...we exchanged all of our information so that we could keep in touch. Hudson has already asked if we could meet her for lunch, so I'll be planning that soon! :) Here are a few pictures of his last class...what a change from his first class!

Songs and stretching.
Chin ups!

Not sure I could do this one...

Hudson always had stories to tell Miss Amanda...he kept her laughing!

Ringing the bell...always a favorite!

It took about 2 years for him to finally swing on the rope!!!

Hudson with sweet Miss Amanda!

Hudson's FOURTH birthday!!!

2011-08-24T13:23:00.000-07:00

I don't know where the time has gone, but my baby is now FOUR! I think it is safe to say, he had a WONDERFUL birthday!! Since his birthday was on a Saturday this year, we decided to do his party on the actual day. It was so fun having him wake up to family already being here and then get ready to go his party!

Here is the birthday boy running out of his room!

He immediately wanted to open some presents. :)
Definitely one of his faves...

After playing and eating breakfast, we headed to his party. He started telling me MONTHS ago that he wanted his party at the same place as last year. He NEVER waivered, so that is where we had it! Since he is really in to Buzz Lightyear, the theme was an easy choice.

The kids watching the safety video before bouncing.

Very serious stuff here.

Then, the bouncing began. I thought I got a picture of all of his friends, but of course I didn't. Oops!

Hudson got in and played with the big boys!

The giant slide was definitely a favorite!

The big kids liked the slide too! :)

Lining up to go to the next bounce room.

The spider climber was the favorite in the second room.

Next, we headed to the party room.

Hudson's party favors this year were Hershey bars with Buzz Lightyear wrappers.

Buzz cupcakes and decorations. :)

Singing to the birthday boy.

Cupcake time!

After the party, we went to lunch and Hudson took a much needed nap. When he woke up, he was ready to roll...

After riding his scooter and playing with his new toys, we headed to Amazing Jakes. His day kept getting better and better!

Being four rocks!

Posing with Aunt Shani and Mommy. Look at those wild eyes...somebody was TIRED!

Hudson turning FOUR was a blast for all of us! It was so special being able to spend his actual birthday with most of his close friends and family.

Happy Engagement!

2011-08-09T13:55:00.001-07:00

This weekend we headed up to Oklahoma for my brother's engagement party. We were SO excited to celebrate Geoff & Tara and can't wait for the wedding this next summer!!

Tara & Geoff...how cute are they?!?

Shani and I

Notice the clouds in the sky. Yes, it RAINED on us right as the party was starting. Did I mention the party was outside? It hasn't rained in months, but decided to Saturday night. Crazy weather! The good thing was that it cooled things off, which was fabulous!
Kelly & I

Todd & Kelly

Two sets of sisters: Shani & I with Tara & Jen

LOVE IT!!

After a toast, Geoff told the story of how he and Tara met and how he proposed. It was very sweet!

Can't remember what was said here, but I know everyone was laughing and I'm pretty sure this is my favorite picture from the night!

Love you two and couldn't be happier for you both!!

Buds

2011-07-27T06:55:00.000-07:00

We went swimming with Leslie & Griffin yesterday and I just had to snap a few pictures of these cuties! When I came home and looked at the pictures I just couldn't believe how big they look. It is crazy how fast time is going by...(insert tear)...

Griffin & Hudson

Silly faces!

One last hug before heading home. :)

Thanks friends...such a fun morning!

San Antonio 2011

2011-07-12T13:12:00.001-07:00

Since our trip to Sea World last year, Hudson has brought it up at least once a week. So, about two months ago when I told him we were going again in July he talked about it each night before going to bed. We even had a countdown going! It is amazing to me how much he remembered from a year ago. To say that he was excited to go back is an understatement. The child was THRILLED! So, this past Thursday, Noni, Hudson and I loaded up and headed to San Antonio. (Daddy had to fly in on Friday night after work.)

Hudson woke up Friday READY.TO.GO. to Sea World!!!

One happy boy right here!
Crazy enough, we ran into The Poe Fam! How fun to see friends! We of course had to get a picture with Brittney and Quinn. :)

First stop, Shamu! I'm always amazed at this show...blows my mind.

Check out baby Shamu!

Next stop, the ski show. Hudson loved this so much that it surprised me. He always asks how old he'll have to be to ski when we are at the lake, and now he is asking me when he can ski like this. Hmm...never...please???

He LOVED the sea lion show!

How could you not love this guy?

I didn't get a picture, but they had the walrus do sit ups...crazy!

Look closely below and you'll see the baby sea lions...precious! They were still furry. :)

Noni told Hudson that he could pick out a treat while we were there and he found it immediately! Last year he picked out Shamu and this year he picked out this baby seal pup and promptly named it Locky. (No clue as to where the name came from, but he hasn't let go of it since this picture was taken. Locky has gone everywhere with us!)

After he got Locky, we decided we had had enough of the heat for one day and we headed back to the hotel for a nap and swimming. Kelly arrived Friday night around dinner and Hudson went to bed dreaming of ANOTHER Sea World day ahead!

Saturday morning we headed back out and let me just say that it was PACKED! Going on a Friday was MUCH BETTER for anyone planning to go.

Our first stop was the dolphins. We didn't make it for feeding time, but Hudson loved watching them on Daddy's shoulder.

We then headed back to the Shamu show because we didn't sit in the splash zone the day before and Hudson wanted to get wet. So, we braved the splash zone, and thankfully didn't get soaked! (Just a light drizzle!)

Baby Shamu was just too cute!

Waving to the whales.

Cool dude.

Next was Azul and I have to say, this show is awesome. There is so much going on and Hudson loved every minute of it.

See the beluga whale with its nose poking out??

We had planned on playing in the splash park after Azul, but Hudson wanted to climb instead. (The splash park was BEYOND packed anyway, so it worked out perfect.)

Hudson and Daddy way up high!

That evening, we headed to the River Walk for dinner. Hudson LOVED it too...we didn't think ahead enough to get tickets to ride a barge, but will definitely do it next year because Hudson was really interested in it. Oh well, dinner at Casa Rio was absolutely wonderful!! We of course had to take some family pics while we waited.

Take 1

Take 2

SUCH great long weekend! Hudson is already asking me to count down the days until we go back. It is going to be a long count down!

Sweet Momma's Getaway!

2011-07-12T07:55:00.001-07:00

I never could have guessed 4 summers ago when I met for a playgroup (which most of us were still pregnant at the time) that I would end up becomming such good friends with this amazing group of girls. We have watched our kids grow together, we have grown as moms together, and have grown as friends. I am truly blessed to have these "Sweet Mommas" (as we have named ourselves) in my life! We decided a few months ago to have our very first kid free getaway. We were so excited when we found out that a friend of Alli's from church was going to let us use her house at Possum Kingdom Lake. It COULD NOT have been more perfect!!

Check out the back porch...awesome for morning chatting!
Several of us slept in these bunk beds. Totally reminded me of church camp...LOVE IT!

Amazing views all around!

When we arrived and unloaded all of our stuff, ate lunch, grabbed a fun cocktail and headed to the pool!

A lineup of sussies we brought for each other! :)

A quick pose before getting some sun.

This pool was AMAZING!!!

When we had our fill of time in the sun, we headed back to the house for dinner. Don't you love this shot of us toasting??

Since Meredith's birthday was right before we left, we did a little celebrating. Cara made these precious rainbow cakes in jars. They were DELISH!

We took our cakes outside to eat in our jammies. Does life get any better than that?!?

That night we had a little "favorite thing" gift exchange. It was SO FUN and will definitely be a part of our getaway tradition.

We stayed up late, talking, laughing, and TALKING and LAUGHING!!! The EXACT thing we were there to do!

The next morning after sleeping in and a leisurely breakfast, we headed back to the pool. SO RELAXING!!!

A few pre-dinner pictures.

Being silly...LOVE IT!

We went to dinner that night at Wildcatter Ranch. It was awesome, but even better than dinner was our little photo shoot we had outside the restaurant. The people watching us probably thought we were insane..we were cracking up and taking a million pictures. There wasn't even any wine involved!!

The next morning we had to say good-bye to the lake house. :( We were sad to go, but so incredibly THANKFUL for the time we were able to spend together.

We grabbed lunch at a precious little sandwich shop in Mineral Wells before offically going home.

Below: Cara, Meredith, Brittney, Dena, Alli, Kara, and Amy

Cara made this to remember our first "Sweet Momma's Getaway!" It truly says it all. LOVE YOU GIRLS!!

Sweet Kids

2011-07-12T07:21:00.001-07:00

At the very beginning of summer, a few of us headed over to Kara's house for an inpromptu lunch. Amy brought her camera and captured the sweetest pictures of the kids.

Ellie, Reid, Porter, Tanner, Hudson, and Jace

Such sweet boys!

Lake Days

2011-07-05T19:35:00.001-07:00

We spent the 4th of July weekend with family at our cabin at Lake Texoma. I know I have said this before, but it is SO FUN watching Hudson LOVE going to the lake as much as I did growing up. It is definitely a major part of most of my summer memories when I think back to my childhood. This post probably should have been named "At the Lake with Paw-Paw" because Hudson was definitely Paw-Paw's shadow this weekend...wherever Paw-Paw was, Hudson was. It was so sweet and I'm pretty sure it made Paw-Paw's weekend! :)

It all started Friday night when Hudson and Paw-Paw had milk and cookies before bed...

Check out that lake hair!
Two of Hudson's favorite things...swimming with Paw-Paw...

...and driving the boat with Paw-Paw!

Sunday night we watched fireworks on the shore. This was the first time that Hudson was able to stay up late enough to watch fireworks.

He loved them! Nana and Aunt Shani taught him to oooh and aaaah at each one.

Then, we headed back to the cabin to do sparklers. He LOVED them!

Before heading home on Monday (the actual 4th), we were able to go on one last boat ride and play in the water one more time.

Happy boy!

Destin, FL 2011

2011-06-14T19:27:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday morning we headed out of town for Destin, FL. But first, we flew to New Orleans to stay with Aunt Diane and Uncle Al for a night before we all headed to Destin together. This was my first visit to their new house and oh my word...it is amazing. If I could just live on their back porch I would be happy. (Picture below) As soon as we got there, we changed into our bathing suits and went swimming. Swimming was definitely the theme to this vacation...since Hudson has been in swimming lessons for 6 weeks now, he is one happy boy practicing his skills!

Poor Paw-Paw got stuck hiding behind the water fall and then swimming across the pool with Hudson. OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN!!

A view of their back porch. AMAZING!

The next morning we headed to Destin. Beautiful as always!! The beach is definitely my happy place! :)

This is what we walked out to each morning. HEAVEN!

Once Hudson got used to the idea that he couldn't practice his swimming skills in the ocean he was a happy camper.

Nana teaching him how to jump waves.

Every afternoon after Hudson's nap we swam at the condo pool. His swimming teacher would have been so proud of him...he seriously practiced a lot of the skills she has been teaching him.

Shani & Todd

The newly engaged Geoff & Tara (Congrats!)

Kelly & I

One morning we took Hudson to the Gulfarium. It had two "shows" and some other sea creatures to see. Hudson posing (but looking at the sea lions) with Paw-Paw and Mommy.

We had family beach pictures taken again and headed to Fudpucker's afterward for dinner. Hudson checking out the alligator.

The coolest part about this restaurant is that you can feed the alligators. To say that Hudson loved it is an understatement. Nana went back for alligator food so he could keep feeding them. We even got to touch an alligator!

One of the hungry gators.

One morning Hudson and I decided to go fishing in the ocean with nets. He was REALLY into it!

A man came by and dropped a fish that he had caught with his bare hands in Hudson's net. He and another little boy looked at it forever and then my brave little boy picked it up and threw it back in the ocean!

Then, Hudson and I caught a little fish all by ourselves! I'm not going to lie...I might have been really impressed with myself because those suckers are fast!! HA!

Hudson and I posing with our catch! Yep, I know you might have to squint to see it, but he is holding it up!

When we left Destin, we headed back to New Orleans before flying home. We had one more day of swimming and relaxing before heading back.

Shani & I

One of Hudson's favorite pool activities...being thrown as high as possible.

One last family pic. :)

We had SUCH an amazing week spending so much time with family! Hudson actually asked if we could live there...sweet love!

Noni's candles

2011-06-07T06:09:00.000-07:00

We had Noni over for her birthday dinner last weekend and Hudson was totally focused on dessert. He literally could hardly wait for all of us to finish our dinner so he could put candles (his color choices) on cheesecake. Yep...cheesecake always needs candles, right? :) He wanted to sing Happy Birthday all by himself. Precious!

The second he was done singing, he leaned over and blew out the candles as quickly as he could. Stinker!
He was quite proud of himself too!

Kisses for Noni.

Happy Birthday Noni!

Surprise Paw-Paw!

2011-05-31T05:54:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we headed to Oklahoma for Paw-Paw's surprise 60th birthday party. Since we had recently been up there, we decided to stay at Shani & Todd's so Paw-Paw wouldn't catch on. Hudson was so excited to get to stay at Aunt Shani & Uncle Todd's house...this was a first! :) They of course spoiled him rotten...complete with s'mores after a pizza dinner Friday night.

The next morning while Aunt Shani was on her bike ride, Uncle Todd was brave enough to swim with Hudson. The water was COLD, but neither of them seemed to mind. Thanks Uncle Todd...this mommy and daddy were VERY happy to not have to get in the water!

The next day we got to the party and Hudson had a little snuggle time with Nana before the party began.

SURPRISE Paw-Paw!!

The birthday boy was surprised!

Hudson helped start off the birthday song with Aunt Shani. Too cute!

My Dad and I. :)

Kelly actually paid Hudson to smile in this picture...yes, paid him. What has he started?!?

Posing with Uncle Geoff.

SUCH a fun weekend! So glad we were able to help Paw-Paw celebrate the big 6-0!

Sweet Teachers

2011-05-31T05:43:00.001-07:00

"It is not so much what is poured into the student, but what is planted that really counts." ~Unknown

I am so thankful for these two amazing teachers:

Mrs. Tiffany (Hudson) Mrs. Sheila

Hudson had such a great experience his first year of "school" this year and I know it was because of his awesome teachers! Even though he told me (many mornings!) that he'd rather stay home with me, these sweet ladies took him under their wings and loved him. I am so grateful that he was placed in their room this year!

Happy Mother's Day to ME!

2011-05-16T20:29:00.001-07:00

Two years ago I started a little tradition for myself. I decided that as a Mother's Day gift to myself each year I would have a picture taken of just Hudson and I. I am normally behind the camera and good pictures of us are sometimes few and far between. So, as long as he will let me, this will be our little tradition. :) I am one lucky mommy to have this precious little boy be all mine!!!

Here are a few of the other pictures that were taken on Mother's Day. :)

LOVE THEM...SO BLESSED!!!!!

Fun with Friends!

2011-05-16T19:55:00.001-07:00

Last month we went to the Village Beach Club with Colton and Brody to celebrate their birthdays. This is seriously one of Hudson's favorite places to be and he loved playing with Colton! Sweet little Brody got brave enough to crawl across the sand and Hudson and Colton just had to get in on the action. Hilarious!

After playing, and playing, and playing we went to Purple Cow to get some ice cream. The boys were making their funniest faces while we waited. Hmm...

Digging in...YUM!

Such a fun morning with friends! :)

ALL Boy!

2011-05-10T14:17:00.001-07:00

Sometimes, it amazes me how ALL BOY Hudson is. The other day I was watching him play and he lined up all of his Toy Story characters and then started using his Buzz Lightyear laser to shoot them all down. Yep, even the "good" guys!

He is such a BOY and I love it!

One last hunt...with a puppy...

2011-05-03T13:51:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, we headed up to Oklahoma to visit family. It was one of those nice visits, where we didn't go for any reason in particular...just to visit. SO nice to not rush around the whole time we are there! I didn't take many pictures, but I did capture the cutest thing. Aunt Fern brought Hudson an Easter basket since she didn't get to see him over Easter weekend. He had so much fun going on yet another Easter egg hunt, only this time he had a friend...

(Hudson and Aunt Fern with his basket)

...Uncle Geoffrey's new puppy was LOVING the egg hunting action!!
She even got one of her own...see the pink egg in her mouth? Too cute!!

So thankful for a relaxing weekend with the fam!

Celebrating Easter

2011-04-26T13:32:00.001-07:00

We started celebrating Easter a few weeks ago. Our first event was an Easter egg hunt with our playgroup. Look how many kids there are now (and this is minus 4 of them)!! They are all such sweet friends...I love it!

My little monkey would be to the far left saying he didn't want to sit...stinker!

This past Saturday we went to the Easter Eggstravaganza at our church. Such a fun tradition!

I think Hudson loved the bounce houses more than the egg hunt!

Posing with his friend Ella right before the egg hunt.

The first thing he wanted to do Easter morning was open his last Resurrection Egg. This is the first year we did this and it was AMAZING! By Sunday, Hudson could open each egg and tell you what the item meant...hearing him tell us the story of the resurrection of Jesus is truly one of the sweetest things ever.

The first thing he said to his Sunday school teacher when he walked in was, "Jesus is Alive!" He then proceeded to tell her all about his last egg being empty. LOVE IT!

After that, he ran to the front door to see what was in his Easter basket. He even wanted to take his goodies to church, but we finally convinced him that wasn't a good idea!

A few shots before we left for the day. Love him!

That afternoon, he died eggs and we had an egg hunt at home.

After finding eggs once, he hid them over and over for us to find. Sweet boy! Such a great Easter this year!!

Washing his ride!

2011-04-19T13:38:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, Hudson wanted to go for a wagon ride and when he saw some dirt in it, he decided he needed to wash it. It was so cute watching him wash it with Daddy's help!

He made sure to get every tire!

Clean and shiny!

Working with Paw-Paw

2011-04-10T14:07:00.000-07:00

Last weekend while in Oklahoma, Hudson got to "help" Paw-Paw with some jobs in the yard. He was so excited to "work" with Paw-Paw and I think Paw-Paw was thrilled to have an extra set of little hands. :)

First up, cleaning the pool. Next, riding on the lawn mower. Can you tell how happy this made him?!?

Look who's driving! No hands from Paw-Paw!

Such fun for a 3 1/2 year old!

Disney on ICE!!!

2011-04-04T13:13:00.001-07:00

This past Friday morning, we loaded Hudson up for a big surprise...going to see Disney on Ice...Toy Story 3! He was SO EXCITED! I'm not going to lie, I was pretty excited too. I remember going to see Disney on Ice when I was a kid and was hoping that he would love it as much as I did. Let's just say that it did not disappoint. Hudson was MESMERIZED the entire time. It was so fun to watch it through his eyes. On the way out, he asked if we could go back! :)

This was his face the entire time...soaking up every last minute!

He was super excited when Buzz Lightyear made his appearance... Andy's toys

We had to snap a few family pics at intermission. Our boy was being a little silly!

Hudson is a HUGE Mickey Mouse fan, so he was thrilled when Mickey and the gang came out at the end of intermission.

Had to get a pic of Lotzo.

SUCH a fun morning!!! I absolutely love things like this...they won't last forever, so I am soaking up every bit of it with my little man!

Spring Break Fun

2011-03-21T13:24:00.001-07:00

This past Wednesday, Paw-Paw and Nana came for an extended weekend visit. They wanted to do some fun things while they were here and when we asked Hudson what he wanted to do, he immediately said that he wanted to go to Amazing Jakes (shocker!) and the zoo. So, that is just what we did...along with a few other surprises.

First up, Amazing Jakes. Even though a lot of the things here are for older kids, Hudson asks to go here ALL the time. One of his favorite things to do is bowl and he is getting good at it. He'll be ready for the real thing in no time!

Next up, the zoo. The weather was perfect!

Giving the chimpanzee the "I love you" sign. :)

Side note: if you haven't been to the Dallas zoo recently, you need to go and check out their new exhibit. It is amazing!

Funny...when we asked Hudson what his favorite thing at the zoo was he said the Carousel. Nice...could have just taken him to Stonebriar! Ha!

Hudson's surprise for the weekend was going to Medieval Times. Oh my goodness...he LOVED it!!!! He is already asking when we are going to go back.

He really got the hang of cheering for our knight.

In awe of our red and yellow knight.

Eating with his hands was a definite bonus. :)

I think his favorite part was the fighting...hmm...

Our little knight!

Thanks Paw-Paw and Nana for a fabulous visit!! Can't wait until next time.

Just playing...

2011-03-07T12:42:00.000-08:00

As Hudson was busily playing with his Lincoln Logs this morning I realized that I haven't taken any pictures lately of him just playing. So, I snapped a few pics of him...pj's, bed head, and all just to remember how cute and sweet he is when he is totally in the "zone" of play time!

OK, so maybe he wasn't just playing with his Lincoln Logs...the bucket makes a great hat and drum. LOVE his imagination!

LOVE this sweet boy!!!!!

3 AND 1/2

2011-02-15T19:32:00.001-08:00

I really don't know where the time has gone, but Hudson was officially 3 1/2 this past Sunday. He was so excited to be able to tell people the 1/2 part too...so cute! I told him I wanted to take his picture since he was now 3 1/2 and we decided to take some pictures of his "faces" he makes. It was hilarious! Excuse the after nap hair. :)

First up, happy face. Here are a few things that make him happy: blackberries, play-doh, painting, ice cream, pizza, playing board games, cutting with scissors, raspberries, Cheerios with a sliced banana, bacon, doing things BY HIMSELF, bath paints, stickers, being outside, snow, gymnastics, Miss Amanda (his gymnastics teacher), Jamie (his babysitter), his family that spoils him so, all of his friends, Amazing Jakes, bounce houses, Curious George, Mickey Mouse, hide and seek, and the list goes on...

Surprised face! This face really does come around when playing hide and seek. :)
Mad face. Yep, we do see this face...actually the version where he isn't trying to smile too.

We see this face when: things aren't done the way he thinks they should be, when he can't do something BY HIMSELF, when he is in time out. There are probably more times, but we won't focus on that one. HA! I'm thinking face. He actually does this a lot and it cracks me up every time. This face is normally followed by the statement, "I have an idea!" I also get this face when I ask him if he is going to eat the vegetables on his plate. He normally tells us he will eat them when he gets big, or he will take the smallest bite you have every seen in your life!

This is his little stinker face. Need I say more? He wears this face MOST of the day, EVERY day!

Sad face. :( His actual sad face is MUCH more pitiful than this one. Sad face normally visits if he has gotten hurt, if family is leaving, if Mommy is leaving, and sometimes he even tries to use sad face to get something he wants.

Those are some of Hudson's many faces at 3 1/2!

On the night of his 1/2 birthday, Noni came over with some of her famous homemade brownies. YUM! Hudson was so excited that we put a candle in it and sang Happy Half Birthday to him.

Happy 3 1/2 Hudson...I love you more than words could ever say...you are the absolute light of my life!

Snowed In!

2011-02-08T08:17:00.000-08:00

Last week we were basically trapped inside from Tuesday - Friday because of the horrible ice/snow storm that hit our area. Tuesday was Hudson's first official "snow day" from school. His sweet teacher actually called in the morning to make sure we knew. So, we had fun staying inside and wearing our pj's most of the day. Then came Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. We were both DONE by the end of the week. I'm not going to lie, we were both a little cranky from being trapped in the house! He was upset about missing gymnastics on Thursday and each morning asked me what we were going to do that day and where we were going to go. I have never claimed to be a homebody and I think I have trained my little man to be a little like is mommy...oops! So, we tried to make the best of it and I did manage to plan a few fun things to keep my busy guy occupied while IN the house.

First up, building with marshmallows and toothpicks. I used to do this with my Kindergartners and had completely forgotten about it until I saw it on some of my friends blogs. So glad they posted it because he loved it! (He loved eating the marshmallows too!)

More marshmallow fun...painting with marshmallows. My original idea was to make snowmen, but he just liked stamping them. Hey...it kept him happy for over 30 minutes, so I took it!!!

We did go out to play in the snow a few times too...mostly when Daddy was home! :)

Making smores at night was a big hit.

He definitely doesn't like it when the marshmallows catch on fire though...little man backs WAY up!

YUMMY!

We also made snow ice cream. Gotta love it!

There is more snow/ice in the forecast for this week...guess I'm going to have to pull out a whole new bag of tricks!

Hudson & Woody

2011-02-03T14:26:00.001-08:00

Uncle Todd gave Hudson a stuffed Woody for Christmas and Hudson has loved him ever since. Not sure if it is because it was from Uncle Todd or because he is loving everything Toy Story right now, but it is pretty cute. The other day he was giving Woody piggy back rides and I just had to snap a few pics! :)

Too cute!

Relaxing with the Fam!

2011-01-30T18:55:00.001-08:00

This past weekend Paw-Paw and Nana came for a visit. We purposely didn't plan a single thing...they just wanted to relax and spend time with their favorite little man. It turned out to be a BEAUTIFUL weekend full of playing with Hudson.

While Daddy and Paw-Paw played golf Saturday morning, Hudson, Nana and I went to the Beach Club to play in the sand. Seriously, the weather COULD NOT have been prettier. We played, and played, and played some more. We even got lunch from Purple Cow to go and had a sand picnic!

After a nap, we headed to the Stockyards to see the animals. Hudson wasn't thrilled with the cows, but loved all of the smaller animals. When we got home, Paw-Paw handed Hudson a jar of coins for his piggy bank. He does this every time he visits and Hudson loves putting the coins in one by one. Let's just say that the piggy bank is almost full, so we'll be making a trip to the bank soon. Hopefully he won't freak when his piggy bank is empty!!

This afternoon before they left we were playing with Hudson's Tinker Toys. I built him a microphone (his favorite) and he put on a little show for everyone.

We rocked out to Wheels on the Bus and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Too cute!

What a great, relaxing weekend! Now to prepare for the FREEZING weather that is coming our way. YUCK!

Recipe Blog!

2011-01-25T13:20:00.000-08:00

Here's the deal...I LOVE trying out new recipes. Lately I have been trying to make a new recipe each week. I get a lot of my recipes from some of my friend's recipe blogs. It occured to me a few weeks ago while I was giving my sister a recipe over the phone that I should start my own recipe blog. My goal is to add a new recipe each week. Now, some of these will be some recipes that I have had forever and some will be new. Hopefully, you will be able to try some and enjoy them as much as we do!

I did my first post today: Chicken Swiss Bundles...YUM!

Dinner with The Donnells

Sunday Snowday

2011-01-11T10:44:00.001-08:00

Hudson was beyond thrilled when it started snowing on the way home from church on Sunday. He immediately wanted to build a snowman. I had to explain to him that we had to wait until there was enough snow on the ground to build one. I told him that Daddy would be home from his hunting trip when he woke up from his nap and that there would be plenty of snow by that time. He checked the window every 5 - 10 minutes all afternoon waiting to see if there was enough snow yet and then proceeded to take a very short nap. He was one happy boy to discover that Daddy was home and ready to play in the snow.

First order of business was eskimo kisses!

Next up, eating some snow of course. :)
After playing for a while, they called me outside to see their little snowman. How cute is that?!?

Love these boys!!!

Oops...just now posting these...

2011-01-07T14:36:00.001-08:00

It occured to me today that I never did post these pictures...OOPS!!! Back in SEPTEMBER, Courtney from Anthologie Images did this photo shoot for us. For the second time, she amazed me with the wonderful shots she got of Hudson. She is fantastic!!!

Here area few of my faves:

Thanks again Courtney!!

Christmas 2010!!

2010-12-28T14:15:00.000-08:00

I think everyone who has a 3 year old would say that Christmas this year was magical! I cannot express how fun it was to experience Christmas through Hudson's eyes. From all of the activities we did leading up to the big day, to the day itself, it was WONDERFUL!

Hudson came running out of his room Christmas morning and didn't stop at the tree...nope...he went straight to the plate of milk and cookies to inspect it...

The snacks must have been good because Santa only left a few bites!
After that, he was ready to tear into his stocking.

LOVE this picture...him taking a picture of me with his new camera as I took a picture of him. Let's just say his memory card is probably close to being full already!

Playing Whack-a-mole with Mommy...tongue out in full concentration!

After a relaxing morning at home opening gifts, eating, and spending time with Noni we headed to Oklahoma. Hudson literally walked in, went straight to his toy closet and had Paw-Paw and Nana sit down and play!

Doing ANYTHING but eating his dinner!!!

The next morning, the whole family came over to celebrate. Funny story...while Hudson and Uncle Geoff were playing, Hudson accidentally got hurt. He was hysterical and I was having a hard time calming him down. Finally, I asked if Uncle Geoff needed a time-out and he said yes. Poor Uncle Geoff sitting in time-out:

After giving Uncle Geoff "the talk" he gave him a hug and told him he could get out of time-out!

Hudson has a small obsession with Humpty Dumpty. He tells the nursery rhyme ALL THE TIME, and he constantly asks me to cut out Humpty Dumpty's so he can cut them in half and glue them back together. Aunt Shani searched high and low for a Humpty Dumpty toy and when she couldn't find one, she MADE this:

Hudson's very own Humpty Dumpty! THANK YOU Aunt Shani!!

This year, instead of Santa bringing us our huge stockings, he brought us Santa bags! Hudson was REALLY excited about his!

The "kids" with our Santa bags:

Uncle Geoff, Aunt Tara, Daddy, Hudson, Mommy, Aunt Shani, and Uncle Todd

Pretty cute Christmas gift...

Before bed, Hudson was using his other Uncle Todd as a human jungle gym. Not sure what it is about him and his Uncle Todds, but he sure is a lucky little boy!

I can't believe this Christmas has already come and gone. It definitely went by way too fast as always. Can't wait to see what 2011 brings!

Christmas Eve

2010-12-28T13:48:00.001-08:00

We started out the day on Christmas Eve by making cookies for Santa. Hudson and Noni made sugar cookies shaped like snowflakes, candy canes, and Christmas trees. Hudson always LOVES helping when the mixer is involved. :)

While the sugar cookies were baking, Noni started on dessert for Christmas day...chocolate mousse...YUMMY!!!!! Hudson wasn't far from the action and even got to lick the spoon.

After playing super hard so he could go down for an early nap, we headed to the family Christmas Eve service at church. It was fun hearing Hudson participate in the Christmas story this year since we have talked and read about it so much.

After that we headed to Poppy's house to celebrate with Kelly's side of the family. Sadly, I must have been too busy chatting away because I hardly have any pictures. I do have these though that make me smile. Hudson holds a special place in his heart for Uncle Todd. Poor Uncle Todd gets a workout when Hudson is around and doesn't get left alone for a SECOND, but he seems to enjoy every minute of it and gives Hudson ALL of his attention. Hudson was beyond thrilled that Uncle Todd gave him a keyboard for Christmas and that Uncle Todd would just sit and play with him. :)

Leaning over to give Uncle Todd a big kiss for his gift. Too sweet!

When we got home, we had Hudson open his Christmas jammies...a yearly tradition.

Modeling his jammies!

After that, it was time to set out Santa's milk and cookies and the carrots for the reindeer.

Too funny...after setting down the plate, Hudson took a bite out of a carrot. Very strange for a child who doesn't eat ANY vegetables!

Before bed, Hudson put his final ornament on his advent tree. This was SUCH a fun tradition that was started this year and I absolutely can't continue it every year.

Christmas lights & Dinosaurs??

2010-12-28T13:35:00.000-08:00

The weekend before Christmas we headed to the Heard Museum to walk their lighted nature trail. Hudson was so excited to go at night since we have been there during the day to see the dinosaurs. He was off like a rocket...

...until he got to the dinosaurs. He has always had a love/hate relationship with these things. It was definitely more love this time around though because they were wearing Santa hats, had wreaths around their necks, and mostly because they weren't turned on!

Have no clue as to what he is looking at in both of these pics!

Even though it was FRIGID to say the least, it was such a fun, new Christmas tradition that we will definitely do next year! :)

Merry Christmas

2010-12-24T21:01:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas 2010!

Santa!

2010-12-20T18:44:00.001-08:00

I was VERY nervous about seeing Santa this year, but after talking it up for DAYS, the little guy did GREAT! HOORAY!!!! He even gave Santa a great big hug before walking away. :)

Playgroup Christmas Party!

2010-12-17T13:24:00.001-08:00

This year our playgroup Christmas party was at Allie, Chapman, & Cole's house. Instead of doing a gift exchange this year, we decided to buy a goat for a family through World Vision. We are going to make this a tradition each year and I cannot express how much I LOVE this!!! Alli had all of the materials sitting out for the boys to make a goat ornament to represent our donation. How fun is that?!?

Hudson painting his ornament. To the left is the World Vision magazine to show the boys what we are doing for a family in Africa.
Of course, we had to get a group picture and this year the boys were eating candy canes. Check out those red little mouths!

Reid, Quinn, Landon, Tanner, Sutton, Hudson, Porter, and Chapman

When Mr. David got home, he took the boys down the street to see a train in one of their neighbor's front yards. Talk about impressive...I think the boys could have stayed there all night!!!

How sweet are those excited little faces?!?

Thanks friends for a wonderful night of fun!

All Aboard!

2010-12-13T12:43:00.000-08:00

Last night we went to Grapevine to board the North Pole Express for the second year in a row. To say that Hudson was excited was an understatement...he was BEYOND excited about riding a train and seeing Santa. When we first arrived, we waited in the tent and sang Christmas songs while we waited to board. Hudson wasn't too crazy about this...he was READY to board the train!

You can see that he was clapping, but the look on his face was like this the entire time in the tent!!

The excitement started to build while walking through the "snow" on the way to the train.
Checking out the view...it was actually really cool going at night. We went during the day last year, but I think we will go when it is dark from here on out...it was fun to see all of the lights.

Getting ready for Santa...

(They asked people to not take pictures while Santa walked down the first time and to wait until he came back through. So, I followed directions and didn't get the precious picture of Hudson shaking hands with Santa and BEAMING from ear to ear. On the way back through, Santa didn't stop, so I didn't get ANY Santa pics. Boo!)

Our VERY HAPPY boy!! :)

Gingerbread Houses!!

2010-12-13T12:35:00.001-08:00

This past weekend we went to the cutest little party at Annie & Sutton's house. It was a Gingerbread House party and it couldn't have been more fun! Annie had a house for each child and ALL of the fixings!! The kids came in their pj's, ate some yummy breakfast food, and decorated away.

Hudson was very serious as always when it comes to doing a project...look at that tongue out in concentration.

After they were done decorating, the kids did a book exchange and Hudson was really excited about his books! Check out this smile:

We of course couldn't leave without a group picture. :)

Thanks Annie & Sutton for SUCH a fun morning!

These boots are made for walking...

2010-12-09T13:57:00.001-08:00

Hudson walked (very steadily) out of our room the other day with a pair of Kelly's ranch boots on. I had to snap a few pics because he was too cute trying to steady himself in boots that came up to his knees! :)

Love it!

Happy Birthday Jesus!

2010-12-09T13:41:00.001-08:00

This past weekend we attended our church's annual Birthday Party for Jesus and drive through live Nativity. Hudson loved all of it again. I just love that our church does this for the kids!!

(I felt so sorry for the fabulous volunteers doing the live Nativity...it was FREEZING outside.)

He loved the scenes with the live animals most of all. He told us he wanted to get out and ride the camel. Hmm...
Once inside, he had a blast playing games, eating pizza and cupcakes, and listening to the Christmas story from our pastor.

This kid LOVES bowling games!

Wish I would have clicked when he threw next because the blue ring actually went on a peg!

Had to end the night with a picture with Mommy!

It's a Family Tradition!

2010-11-30T20:20:00.000-08:00

My Great Aunt Fern started the sweetest family tradition for us when my sister, brother, and I were little. Each year she bought us a dated Hallmark Christmas ornament that "fit" us or our stage in life. They were all saved in their boxes and given to us when we went out on our own and had our own Christmas trees. It is so fun each year when I pull out the ornaments and am reminded of my "stages" of life...from teddy bear ornaments (I had a small bear obsession as a child) to a teenager ornament with a hair dryer and curling iron (Ha!)to angel ornaments (Pi Phi days)...then to teaching and first years of marriage and first baby ornaments. They are all so special to me and I look forward to each Thanskgiving when she passes out our new ornaments to see what is inside that precious Hallmark box. The best part about this tradition is that she also started it with Hudson. This years ornament might be the cutest and most perfect ornament for Hudson's "stage of life" I have EVER seen:

Opening his precious little box...

Tongue out in full inspection.
Yes, it is a Curious George reading a Curious George book...could it be ANY MORE PERFECT for him?!?! :)
Giving his GREAT, GREAT Aunt Fern the sweetest hug. This picture absolutely melts my heart. This is truly one of my favorite family traditions and I am so thankful that she started it all those years ago.

I had to include this picture...after the opening of the ornaments and a bath, Hudson curled up with Paw-Paw to have some milk and cookies before bedtime. :)

Going, going, GONE!

2010-11-23T12:55:00.000-08:00

Hudson is at that stage where he is in between sizes in his pants. A 2T is definitely too small, but 3T pants only fit right if they have an adjustable waist. He needs the length, but his little waist just doesn't quite fill out 3T's. That being said, all but two of his pants have the adjustable waist. He found out quickly what happened in the pants that don't when the runs down the hall. We were both CRACKING up and I can't even tell you how long he did this for...HILARIOUS!

GOING...

GONE!!!

Pure joy!

Thankful.

2010-11-08T13:06:00.001-08:00

When Brittney emailed us the pictures below she titled the email Thankful. I couldn't agree more!!! I never could have imagined how much these kiddos and their mommies would mean to me when we first started getting together for playgroup over 3 years ago. (Most of the kids weren't even born yet!) Thankful almost seems like too simple of a word, but thankful I am! Love you all!!!

So, this playgroup was the day after Halloween and as you can see, most kids had already taken off their costumes or never even put them on. We couldn't resist getting a group pic...HILARIOUS as usual. (Please don't ask why Hudson is covering up his ears...we were singing Jesus Loves Me like we always do and he said we were singing too loud. What?!?)
The lineup: Grant, Ellie, Tanner, Landon, Sutton, Hudson, Quinn holding Nash, Chapman, and Reid holding Jace. (We missed Amy & Porter!!)

Halloween Fun!

2010-11-02T12:45:00.000-07:00

We told Hudson that there were going to be a lot of fun things to do when he woke up after his nap on Halloween and I'm pretty sure he loved all of it! The first order of business was carving a pumpkin. He wasn't too sure about sticking his hand in it, so Daddy got him a glove and he went to town!

Check out that face!!!
He was very intrigued by the fact that we were going to roast the seeds and eat them.

Getting them ready...

YUM! He LOVED the roasted pumpkin seeds. We actually had to take them away because he was eating them so fast we were afraid he wasn't going to eat dinner!

Our finished product!

Next up...a Jack-O-Lantern pizza from Papa Murphy's. How fun!

After dinner, he suited up to go trick-or-treating. He had so much fun this year! The funny part though is that he is a REALLY slow trick-or-treater. Kids were literally running past us on the sidewalk while he just slowly walked along. He was happy just looking around and shining his flashlight on things!

Off he went...

We ran into some friends...Ella, Stone, and Hudson. How sweet are they?!?

Once we got home Hudson asked if he could have a piece of candy. We said just one and then swooped him off to bed. Check out that sweaty head from his fireman hat though...yuck!

Such a fun day...now...what to do with all of that candy???

Noni's Little Fireman

2010-10-29T13:04:00.001-07:00

Every year, Hudson and I head to Noni's office for their annual Halloween Trick-or-Treating and pizza party. Hudson really "got" what was going on this year and was so excited!! He was a very serious Fireman when he went to each office...he put a lot of thought into which piece of candy he wanted and then gave a really quiet thank you when he was done. This fireman meant business today!

OH, how I love this sweet face!!!

One Last Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-29T12:50:00.001-07:00

This past Wednesday we went to our last pumpkin patch of the season with Colleen and her two kids, Reid, and Adalyn. The older boys DID NOT want their pictures taken...can you tell??

The bounce houses were a huge hit!
We asked them to show us their funny faces...hmm...

Hudson didn't want to go down the slide by himself, so he made friends with this precious little girl who went down with him several times.

Look at this face! A little scared, but SO HAPPY once he was down. He immediately wanted to go again and his new little friend happily went with him!

These pumpkins were a little bit too heavy to pick up, but Hudson wasn't afraid to try!

Such a great pumpkin patch! Till next year pumpkins...

Hudson hearts A Little Artsy!

2010-10-25T19:19:00.000-07:00

Hudson loves all things art. So, a few months ago when my friend Jessica told me about A Little Artsy, I knew that this would be right up Hudson's alley. I set up a little class for him to go to this morning and it did not disappoint! This is definitely something we will do several times a year!

The first art project was painting a pumpkin.

He was concentrating so hard the entire time, so he looks really serious in these pics!
The second project was a spooky tree. I had to draw a tree with some sort of white thing (you can tell I'm seriously artistic huh?) and then he was supposed to paint over it and the tree would pop out. Very cool!
Next up was using these dobbers. Afterwards he said this was his favorite part. I think Santa might need to put some of these in his stocking! :)

The teacher asked him to tell her what his picture was so she could name it and he called it "Circles and Trees"...how cute is that?!?

His three finished projects!

The kiddos got suckers for doing so well.

Hudson, Avery, Ellie, and baby Greyson

When I put Hudson in the car I told him his tongue was blue. He asked me to take a picture so he could see it. NUT!

Thanks A Little Artsy...we will be back!!!

Owens Farm

2010-10-14T13:58:00.001-07:00

Today we went to Owens Farm with some of our MOPS group. This is the third year we have gone and Hudson LOVED it like he always does...SUCH a fun place!

It took a lot of convincing, but he finally posed for this picture.

He was a little unsure of the goats this year. He only wanted to feed the babies, but it is a little tricky with the big, pushy ones around. He finally started dropping the food on the side.
He absolutely LOVED running through the maze this year!

We spent a LONG time looking at the chickens and roosters. Hudson even asked to go back to look at them once we had left, which is funny because he was terrified of the chickens at the Arboretum!

Goofball! This is definitely a Fall tradition that we will continue!

Pumpkin Head

2010-10-12T12:47:00.000-07:00

A week ago we made our first trip to the Arboretum. This is definitely an October tradition...Hudson's first trip was when he was 2 months old! This year he was all about putting the pumpkins on his head. Who knows where he gets this stuff?!?

This face cracks me up...you would think the pumpkin weighed 50 pounds...HA!

My little pumpkin head!
Avery decided she would join in the fun...

Then Stone...

It was a great first trip this year with several more trips planned!

SURPRISE!!!

2010-10-05T10:54:00.000-07:00

My birthday is at the end of September and it was great this year! I spent the weekend before shopping with family, the actual day with some friends and then that night with Kelly and Hudson. Then, I went to a fun lunch the following Sunday with some of my besties, and then another fun dinner the following Monday with some more of my besties. I kept joking that it was the best "extended" birthday ever because it just kept going. Little did I know, it wasn't over yet. My sweet hubby threw a surprise party for me this past Saturday and I walked in from shopping to a house full of friends and family. It was the best surprise ever! The best part was that it was OU/TX so everyone was decked out in their gear and we watched the game while the kids played and played and played. OU was so sweet too...they won the game for my birthday. Wasn't that nice of them?!? :)

Walked in to see this on the other side of the dining room!
The weather was perfect and many of us stayed outside to watch the game!

The annual OU/TX game shot of Kelly and my Dad. (Kelly wasn't smiling like this at the end of the game!)

At half time, all the kids took turns blowing out the candles. It was precious!

I didn't have the camera out until later in the day, so I missed getting pictures of everyone there, but I did manage to snag a few.

Kara, Dena, Cara

Leslie, Dena, Aurora

The best husband in the world!

Hudson sporting his TX shirt now. He had to switch shirts after his nap. Poor thing...he's going to be so confused!

As you can see, we celebrated until dark. It was the best day and I am so thankful for all of my friends and family that were able to help celebrate!! Love you all!! :)

Abstract Artist

2010-09-27T13:31:00.001-07:00

Hudson loves all things art. So, when his birthday was approaching and gift ideas were being asked, I immediately knew he needed an easel with paints. Aunt Shani and Uncle Geoff jumped on the idea and stocked this little man up. He now asks to paint at LEAST once a week and it is the cutest thing. He LOVES mixing colors and is definitely an abstract artist! :)

This particular day he told me he was going to paint a rainbow. It started like that, but quickly turned into a big blob!

I love his look of concentration...he is always very serious while painting.

The finished project!

Shaving with Daddy

2010-09-15T18:50:00.000-07:00

Kelly normally leaves for work before Hudson wakes up in the morning, but every once in a while he goes in a little bit later and these days are always a special treat for Hudson. This morning was one of those mornings and I walked into the bathroom to find this cuteness:

Daddy and Hudson shaving together! LOVE it!
No worries...this razor doesn't have a blade attached.

I love mornings like this! :)

A Hat

2010-09-07T09:28:00.000-07:00

Definition of a hat: noun, a shaped covering for the head, usually with a crown and brim, esp. for wear outdoors.

I think this works! :)

1st Day of School

2010-08-31T13:08:00.000-07:00

Today was Hudson's 1st day of school! I tried to get a pic of him wearing his backpack, but I was told it was too heavy!! Then I tried to get a pic of him sitting with his "school" stuff, but he was in no mood to sit next to it. This was the best shot I got:

I must admit, I was very nervous dropping him off this morning. We talked during breakfast and on the way there about how much fun it was going to be, but I was still prepared for tears. To my pleasant surprise, he gave me a hug and kiss, and walked right on in. His teachers told me when I picked him up that he did great. YEA!!! I was trying to get some info out of him on the way home and he told me to stop asking questions! STINKER!! Oh well, he told me he had fun, so that is all that matters! Here's hoping each school day goes well this year! :)