Trains, A Party, & Santa...OH MY!

WOW...what a weekend! I think we crammed as many Christmas activities as possible into one weekend and we all had a BLAST doing it...especially the little man! Hudson and I started our weekend festivities out early by heading to Northpark to meet Aurora & Avery Friday morning to see the trains. Apparently half of Dallas decided to see the trains that morning too which made it crowded and HOT, so the little man wanted to be held the entire time, but he loved looking at the trains.

(Please excuse his pre-haircut hair...YIKES!)
Don't get me wrong, Hudson enjoyed seeing the trains, but his favorite part of the morning was walking hand in hand with Avery through the mall, riding the escalator, eating Chick-fil-A, and seeing the puppies from the SPCA. I think I loved watching them walk hand in hand. Is this cute or what?!?

Friday night we hopped in the car to go see Christmas lights. This is the only picture I got, but Hudson loved it. He kept asking to see more reindeer! :)

Saturday night we headed to the Stock's house for a family Christmas party. The best part? They had a VERY SPECIAL guest come...here is Hudson's face when he saw who walked in:

Yep, Santa came to the party! He even delivered a gift to each kid there and gave them a jingle bell. Hudson didn't hesitate when Santa called his name to get his gift!

Showing Daddy what Santa brought.

Our early bird reached delirium pretty early and was singing and dancing with his jingle bell the rest of the night. Thanks Stock family for such a good time and for having an "in" with the big guy!

We finished off the weekend by going to ride the Polar Express on Sunday. Hudson LOVED it!! We started off by singing and dancing in the tent.

Hudson was SO CUTE...he kept holding George up to see the singers. He was saying "George see too." How sweet!!

His favorite part might have been the "snow" as we were walking to board the train though! I mean, look at that face...pure delight!

Hudson was beyond thrilled to see Santa again on the train. WOW...the big guy had as busy of a weekend as we did I think. He was everywhere!

My two favorite guys!

Hudson was happy to see Santa one last time before we got off the train. It was a busy weekend, but SO MUCH FUN! I love weekends that are packed full of family time, don't you?

8 Boys + 8 Mommies + 1 Great Photographer = Priceless Pictures!!!

A few months ago Cara had the great idea of having professional playgroup pictures taken. I am SO GLAD she had this idea because her photographer Terry outdid herself! I cherish these mommies and boys more than anything and I am so glad that I will always have these pictures to look back on!!!

Love you all!

Made by Hudson

When I used to teach I always wondered what the parents of my kiddos thought when they opened up their homeade Christmas ornament each year. Well, now I know! When we picked Hudson up from Sunday school yesterday his teacher handed us his very first homeade Christmas ornament and my heart melted!!! I seriously rushed in the door and ran to the tree to hang it. I can't wait to add a new one each year that was made by his precious little hands. Here is is masterpiece: The snowman is made from his thumbprint! How sweet is that?!?

Meet Boxhead

Isn't this age the BEST?!? I love how the simplest things thrill him to no end! He spent a LOT of time this morning walking around with a Pampers box on his head...LOVE IT! :)

Birthday Party for Jesus

Last night we went to church for a birthday party for Jesus. It was SUCH a good time and we will definitely make this a tradition. Hudson had a great time celebrating inside, but the true celebration was outside. This is how our evening went:

No birthday party is complete without cupcakes! In true Hudson fashion, he DIVES right in!

Christmas carols were being sung right next to us and Hudson LOVED it! He sat and ate his dinner while he listened to the music. By the way, I must note that his dinner consisted of a cupcake, hot dog, and popcorn! By the end he was dipping his popcorn in his water??
After eating we ventured off to play some games. First up ~ bowling.

Next up ~ ring toss.

Digging for a prize after each game was definitely a favorite!

Silly man!

No party is complete without a bounce house!

Funny story...Hudson received his first stick-on tattoo yesterday. The SECOND after the girl put in on he wanted it off. So, we had to scrub and scrub to get off while the sweet girl kept apologizing. I had to keep reminding her that he was 2 and it wasn't a big deal!

When we finished partying inside, we hopped in the car and drove through the drive-through Nativity Scene that they put on. It was AWESOME! Hudson was mesmerized by all of the real animals and the people that kept talking to him through the window.

He and Noni all cuddled up for the ride.

What a celebration!! It was such a great way to end the night and celebrate the meaning of the season!

Santa! Hmm...

Hudson's Santa experience this year was quite different than last.

Last year: Hudson walked right up to Santa, reached out for him and snuggled right in.

This year: Hudson took one look, SCREAMED, ran to Daddy and cried. Hmm...I think last year was better! Santa and the photographer were SO PATIENT though and played with Hudson by throwing a "snowball" back and forth until Hudson warmed up. Mommy even got to sit in Santa's lap for a while to show Hudson that he was OK. He finally got up there with the big guy:

Then, he got really comfy and told Santa what he wanted for Chritmas. Are you ready for this? He told him he wanted quarters. Yes my friends, my 2 year old son asked Santa for money!!! WHAT?!? I guess Santa doesn't get quarters as an answer very often. I mean, look at his face!

We walked away with a few cute pics and Hudson even gave Santa a big hug before we left. WHEW! We'll see what next year brings!