Connor

Connor is learning how to "write" his name in school. He is getting better at tracing and I think he is doing pretty good for a 3 year old.

The countdown begins!

Brandon asked me to make a candy countdown calender for the kids for Christmas. This was a tradition in his house and he wanted to carry it on for the kids. I wasn't excited about offering them candy every day for a month, but it was a special memory for Brandon so I caved. I packed 4 M&M's each in a bag for each day. Now, you know I'm not crafty, in fact I kind of avoid crafty things at all costs, but I did it. The kids love it. They can't wait for Saturday to start the countdown.

(why do all my crafts look like a 7 year old made them?)

Random Acts of Cuteness

Connor found an old pair of Brandon's glasses, so I popped the glass out & let him play with them. He wore them all morning. Here is his Harry potter impression.

Hudson has a disgusting habit of sucking on his dog's tail. It is gross! He knows that the dog is only allowed in the bed. So, if he gets caught with it outside of the bed he really turns on the charm to get a couple of more seconds with smelly dog.

This is my new favorite picture. Hudson looks so content. He loves his big brother so much.

Thou shall

Today in Sunday school the teacher asked the kids to write their own commandment. Connor's 11Th commandment was:

Use a truck to help people

I thought it was a perfect fit for him.

Oh Christmas Tree

Last night we put up our Christmas tree. It is kind of early for us, but Connor asked so we did it. Brandon & I put it together, then Brandon strung the lights & I unwrapped the ornaments while Connor put them on the tree. So, we have a lot of spots that look like this:

There are also a bunch of empty spots. I was planning on "fixing" it after he went to bed. But I just didn't have the heart to undo all of his work. So, if you come to our home this holiday season please don't wonder why our tree looks a bit funny. It was decorated with love!

The fridge

I forgot to mention that on Thanksgiving evening I noticed that the refrigerator wasn't quite cold enough. That's right, with all of those yummy leftovers the fridge broke. Luckily we have another refrigerator in the garage. So, I moved as much as I could into the garage fridge. The compressor was still working, & the freezer was still working, but no air was getting into the refrigerator side. On Friday Brandon took it apart and figured out the problem. he ordered the part & it should be here on Monday. I can't imagine what I would do if Brandon didn't know how to fix these types of things. I guess a $100 repair would become a $500 repair or a $2000 new refrigerator.

I stayed away from Black Friday. I only ventured out to Walgreen's to get wrapping paper. I have done most of our shopping online and it has been wonderful. The UPS man knows to hide the boxes from the kids and the FedEx man even carried their big gift into the garage for me & helped me cover it so the kids wouldn't see. That really beats fighting the crowds!

Our Week

Thanksgiving threw my blogging for a loop. I really intended writing a big "what I'm thankful for", blog, but right now I am thankful for my husband taking the boys on a bike ride so I have a few moments to blog. So I will just do one of my famous quick updates.

Last week was busy. So busy I actually forgot to get my allergy shot.

On Sunday night we went out to dinner with Brandon's parents & Justin & Erin. It has been a very long time since we all went out without the kids. It was nice to sit around & talk without cutting any one's food but my own. Our friends Bruce & Kathy (Tara's parents) watched the kids. Actually the picked the kids up, took them to Chuck E. Cheese and then home for bath's and bedtime. Connor's only complaint was he didn't have enough time to play with Kathy & Bruce. The kids had a blast.

On Monday I hired Amelia to come over and play with the kids so I could get some stuff done around the house & then she stayed with Connor while Hudson & I went shopping for Thanksgiving dinner. It was her first time alone with Connor. They both did great!

Tuesday was back to the Dr.. Hudson was given the all clear from the Dr. When Dr. C walked into the room Connor said "Hi, how's your Porche?" I think he heard me complaining that after this month we have paid for the Dr.'s Porche. Dr. C thought it was hilarious. I love our Dr. FYI, Connor is also much better. His cough is just about gone.

Wednesday Erin, Ryan, Olivia, Connor, Hudson & I all went to the park for a picnic & some play. Erin & I both stay indoors most of the summer, so we enjoyed the cooler weather at the park. Wednesday night Brandon took the boys out & I started the prep around 6:30. 3 hours later I sat down.

Thursday morning my amazing hubby took the kids out to breakfast and didn't return for 3 hours! He & Brett decided that if they stayed home Erin & I would just give them chores, so they took all of the kids to the park to play. 3 hours alone in the house made my morning go so smooth. I wasn't stressed at all. Thursday afternoon we had Thanksgiving dinner with Brandon's parents, Justin, Erin & our friend Julie. The only picture I took was of the turkey. Why do we take a picture of the turkey every year? It always looks the same. That's it, this is the last turkey picture. It was 27lbs. The biggest one I have ever made. Everything came out great (if I do say so myself). I love cooking Thanksgiving. It was always my favorite holiday. I still wonder how my Nanny cooked for 40 people, in her pajamas, smoking a cigarette, not breaking a sweat, with one oven & everything was hot & delicious at the same time. She made it look easy, that's for sure!

Today at church

Every year our church has this cute tradition where some church member, mostly children get dressed up as Pilgrims & Indians and bring forward fruits & veggies after the "governor" of Plymouth plantation has visited us. I have always loved this tradition. I'm a cheese ball like that! This was the first year Connor got to participate & can you believe they had a costume big enough for Brandon? What a good sport!

Shhhhh....

Let's just say that maybe I have been asked to leave a place (bar) or two in my younger days. But yesterday takes the cake. After days, actually weeks stuck in the house I had cabin fever. The kids had cabin scarlet fever. They were bouncing off the walls. I decided to take them to the library to return some books. I hate going to the library with my kids. I actually order our library books on line & have them delivered to the house. I know this service is for shut ins, but I believe if you have more than one child you should be allowed to use this service. Since the service is free, I use it. So, we get to the library and things are good. The boys sit down & look at books while I choose some new books to take home. There is a classroom right off of the kids section. I have always thought this was a weird place to put a classroom. Why not put it next to the quiet reading area? Anyway, we get our books together and Hudson starts to go crazy. He is yelling "NO Mommy" over and over. He does not want to leave. He wants to tear all of the books off the shelves as most toddlers like to do. At that moment a woman comes out of the classroom & says "Can you quiet him down or get him out of here?". By the way, the classroom door was open.... I should have said "can you close the door?" I really wanted to say "Why yes, I can quiet him down, but I much prefer him crying and screaming. I really like the attention". What I actually said was "sure" with as much attitude as I could muster up. This witch obviously never had kids as no one could ever love some one so cold hearted. I mean really. He was crying for less than a minute and we were obviously on our way out anyway and how about closing the door?

Today is the 1 year anniversary of my BLOG. I can not believe I have made it this long. Yeah Me!

A tender moment

You know those moments when you see your husband doing something sweet with your kids and it takes your breathe away. I mean really see it. Brandon reads to the kids every day, but the other night I just sat back and watched and appreciated what a great Dad he is.

Every night he gives the kids a shower, puts on their PJ's, reads them stories & sings songs & does prayers. I just wanted to take a moment to say... Honey, I SEE it & I appreciate it!

I'm Thankful I don't have to eat a bread ball on Thanksgiving...

Today at Connor's school they had a Thanksgiving party. They had turkey, green beans, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce & rolls. I volunteered to serve lunch. As expected Connor walked into the room and started to cry. He kept saying "I need my lunch box" over and over again. I was glad I was there to calm him down. I offered him a roll and he didn't even want that. So, I tore the crust off & rolled it up into bread balls. He loved it. Here is Connor showing you what he ate at his school party.... bread balls!

Notice the plate pushed to the side

It was a cute little party and I am glad I got to go. When we got home I made Connor Mac & cheese.

Big Fat Red Ear

This is Hudson's ear after the shot in the butt. It was gross & huge and red before the shot, but thankfully it started to get better very quickly. Today we saw the pediatrician & they think it is cellulitis. Basically a deep skin bacteria that enters through an open wound. They are treating him for the bacteria with a broad spectrum antibiotic & for a possible bug bite reaction with an anti-histamine. He is already looking much better. We go back on Monday to make sure the infection is gone. Is winter over yet?

Updates

UPDATES:

Brandon: Sat at jury duty for 7 hours and didn't get picked for a jury... already working on excuse for next year.

Connor: Feeling much better today. Slept through the night for the first time since Friday. Going to school today.

Hudson: Yesterday developed a big fat red ear. I thought he fell. No such luck. Not sure what is causing it. The gave him 2 shots in the butt yesterday. Much better today. One more shot this afternoon. Poor kid! He was up at 6:30 am... poor Mommy. Seriously though his ear was pretty gross yesterday. Have you ever seen that movie Hitch with Will Smith? You know the scene with the allergic reaction?

Me: Just came up with genius idea. Connor is the worlds slowest eater. Hudson is learning bad habit from big brother. New rule as of today. Whoever finishes meal first gets to choose the next cartoon we watch. Hudson can talk now, but he always chooses CARS. Connor will either learn to eat faster or brain wash Hudson. GENIUS!

For better or worse?

Tuesday we thought Connor had turned the corner and was feeling much better. He stayed home from school, but he was in great spirits. Brandon thought he was up for soccer practice. For the record... I disagreed. He did fine during practice, but afterwards was coughing like crazy. This morning he is worse than yesterday. So, we will be taking it easy ALL day. Brandon has jury duty today and let's just say he wasn't looking forward to it. Connor's school Thanksgiving party is tomorrow and I signed up to serve food so I really hope he is up to going. I'll keep you posted.

Have you ever slept on the back porch for your anniversary?

This past weekend was full of fun and strife. Lets start with the fun. Sunday was our 7 year anniversary. Wow... That went FAST! Saturday night we headed over to our anniversary restaurant, The Melting Pot. It is a fondue restaurant and the place where we got engaged. The best part is you can not possibly complete your meal in under 2 hours and no one rushes you. Plus there is a big bowl of chocolate for dessert. What could be better? After dinner we went ice skating. We haven't skated since before we had kids. Those of you who know me best know that I practically lived at an ice rink in high school. We decided we need to start skating more. Plus, Brandon even said we should get the boys on the ice soon. Well, at least Connor. I would love it if the boys learned how to skate at an early age. I would also love it if they play hockey. I like hockey. I understand hockey. Hockey is played indoors. No playing outside in 100 degree weather worrying about sunscreen and how to keep cool. I can always put on a jacket to get warm. I am not a huge fan of soccer. I know Brandon played soccer and played it very well. I will be a very supportive soccer Mom, but if they decide they want to try other things I will secretly do a happy dance.

Friday night around 1am Connor woke up crying. He ended up sleeping on top of Brandon. (not typical for us). Saturday he had a fever and didn't feel like doing much of anything. We decided to go out to dinner anyway as Brandon's parents raised three boys and can certainly handle the situation. He ended up throwing up in bed and Brandon's Mom changed his sheets & got him back to bed. He woke up in the middle of the night with the "croupy" cough. The only thing that made him feel better was the cold night air. So, my wonderful husband set up a lounge chair and slept on the back porch with Connor on top of him. Sunday wasn't much better. Sunday night Brandon slept in the family room with Connor so they could leave the sliding door open. Monday we headed over to see our Dr. and found out that Connor has an upper respiratory infection. So, he is one a nebulizer treatment every 4 hours, plus a host of other meds. And the fun continues!

random complaining

This morning I took the boys to run some errands. After filling up the truck with gas ($70 by the way) I went to start the truck & nothing. Luckily I was close to the shop and called Brandon to come rescue us. He brought the jump box to give my battery a jump. Only problem was that the jump box was dead. No problem right? I mean you would think that a mechanic or his wife would surely have some jumper cables in their vehicles. NOPE. So, we had to sit there and wait for Brandon's van to charge the jump box & then hook it up to my truck. Then we drove over to the shop & got Bob (that's my trucks name) a new battery.

Hudson has not figured out the time change yet. He has instead decided to just sleep 1 hour less per night. I am not happy with this. I like my hour in the morning to shower and drink a cup of coffee and maybe even check my e-mail. But, Hudson says no. The past 3 mornings we have showered together since he can not be trusted alone. When Connor is awake he keeps Hudson in check and lets me know when Hudson is getting into trouble.

All I know about rabbit's....

All I know about rabbit's I learned by watching Bugs Bunny. Yesterday we had our yard fenced in. It looks great. Hudson & I went outside to play & we found this little guy at the bottom of the slide. Hudson chased him until he hid behind a fence post. I know Bugs likes carrots so I put out a plate of food & we left him alone. When we checked in an hour he was in the same spot & the food wasn't touched. When we checked later that evening he was gone. Food still there.

Perfect Family day

On Saturday Brett took Connor to home depot with he & Ryan to make their monthly kids project. This time it was a pirate ship. Brandon was so sad that he had to work this Saturday, but it was so nice of Brett to take Connor along.

After work we met up with Brett, Erin, Ryan & Olivia at our towns Fall Family Festival. I have to say that the town did a great job. The kids had a blast.

That night I remembered that the festival was going to set off fireworks. We had only minutes to get there. Brandon was smart & asked where they were going to set the fireworks off & we got an awesome spot. It was the closest I have ever sat to a professional display. We made a "tent" out of the back of my truck for the kids to sit in. They thought that was pretty cool. Even Hudson loved the show. What a great family day!

Here is Brett taking Ryan & Connor on the haunted house

And here is Brett taking Hudson & Olivia on the airplane

Here is Erin taking Ryan & Connor on the skateboard

I swear Brandon & I rode some rides too.

Olivia decided to let Hudson have a bite of her corn dog. BIG mistake....

Here is proof Hudson loves Olivia.... He shared food with her. I finally had to go buy him his own corn dog. Wont this picture be cute on the cake table at their wedding?

When Hudson gets sleepy his cheeks start to spread and they eventually eat his neck. After the fair he was especially tired!

Our Guest

On Friday we had the pleasure of watching Olivia for a couple of hours. She was great and I couldn't resist snapping a few pictures.

She staring playing peek-a-boo