In My Butt

I'm in the kitchen. Hudson walks in and the following conversation takes place.

Hudson: Mommy?
Me: Yes, Hudson?
Hudson: I hear fireworks.
Me: Where?
Hudson: In my Butt.

While he said the last line he turned around and stuck his behind at me. If a video camera had been running we would be $10,000 richer.

Speaking of money. The other day Hudson was driving Connor crazy. Here is a conversation from that day.
Connor: Mom, Hudson is driving me crazy.
Me: What are we going to do with him?
Connor (thinks for a second): Let's sell him.
Me: How much?
Connor: Six dollars

chopping broccoli

Quick notes:

Boys ate broccoli, Hudson ate noodle soup.

Went out for Pops birthday and the boys were great. Ate great, behaved great. 1 1/2 hours in a restaurant isn't easy when you 1 & 3, but they were really well behaved. We brought Connor's newest toy, stacking cups. Have you seen these kids who can stack & unstack cups in a matter of seconds? He thinks it is pretty cool. Plus we think it is good for hand - eye coordination. We really don't want to get him any video games so this is our substitute. I know video games can be good for the hand-eye thing, but I am not a fan. Luckily Brandon isn't either. I know that one day he is going to beg for a game system, but I am going to try to push that day off for as long as possible.

Party time

Today we went to a birthday party at Birthday World. It was awesome! They had rides, an arcade and bounce houses. They even had a small mini golf course . I am usually not a fan of having a party at one of these place as the kids tend to never really play together, but I really enjoyed this one. Connor & Max (the birthday kid) rode the roller coaster together 5 times in a row.

OK, so when getting ready for the party I figured we might be getting into and out of bounce houses so I put on a pair of flip flops & took off. It started to pour on our way out of the house. When I got out of the car i thought my shoe felt weird. Well, while walking around the party my shoe started to fall apart. I mean more like disintegrate. These were not cheap shoes either. The just hadn't been worn in a couple of years. So, there I am with Connor & since I don't know any of the parents I can't leave him. I had to wait for Brandon to get there with Hudson & take off to the place next door to buy a pair of shoes. HOW EMBARRASSING!

A light at the end of the tunnel

Last night the boys ate hamburgers (from Omaha steaks...YUM), carrots and sweet potato wedges. I almost cried. Connor is willing to try anything I put in front of him. He puked the first time I "made him" taste a hamburger last year. Last night I actually heard the sentence "take another bite of carrot & then you can have your hamburger". And I heard "Mommy, can you help me get this carrot on my fork". OK, so if your kid never went through a food strike phase you don't understand what a relief this is. But, for those of you who have been witness to Connor's weak stomach, you know.

Only problem is Hudson has begun being picky about his food. Poor kid does not stand a chance. We know better. We are stronger now.

If you little one has just started a picky phase then my only advise to you is DON'T GIVE IN. Don't make chicken nuggets because that is what they like. Just offer them what you are having and eventually they will get it. Plus, rewarding good eating with a small treat after dinner really helps us. Out kids are over the moon when they get their 5 M&M's after dinner.

If your kid has been picky for a while I want to say that you CAN change it. Our pediatrician told me that in 20+ years he had never seem a more severe case of food sensitivity that Connor. So, if we changed it you can too. It was not easy. In fact, some days it sucks. But I am going to keep trying!

This weekend should be fun. We are going to a birthday party at one of those mega party places in town. We have never been there so we are all looking forward to it. Then on Sunday we are all going out for Brandon's Dad's birthday. We are going to a restaurant. Wish us luck!

food

I switched Connor to Zyrtec (instead of claritin) and today I gave him a full dose instead of a half dose. That seemed to be a big help with the runny nose. I AM sending him to school tomorrow.

This morning I toasted mini wheat bagels & put some grape jelly on them. Connor tried them and loved them. He even asked for 2nd's. Hudson liked them too. Then for dinner they had pork loin, stuffing and baked beans. Not exactly gourment, but they tried everything. If this keeps up I just might enjoy cooking again.

yummy, yucky

We received a great phone call last night from Rev. Paul. He made his home made burritos and had set aside a bunch for us. Paul is a great cook, but there are a few of his dishes that are over the top. His burritos are one of those dishes. He gave us enough for 2 dinners. Even the kids ate them.

Connor's school decided to try to enforce a no runny nose policy. Seriously!

Connor has had a runny nose for 6 weeks. It is winter. Everyone's nose is running! Allergies are crazy all year here. So, I sent him to school. More than half of his class was out. 3/4 of the 2 year old class was out. I keep him home when he is sick, but if I kept him home every time his nose was a little runny he would be home schooled. The teacher told me that she thought this rule was crazy since if she followed t she would have been home for the past 4 weeks.

Why Dad's are more fun

Last night it rained. I had a bunch of stuff to do around the house so Brandon took the kids into the garage. He set up the bounce house. That is something only a Dad would think of!

No Pickles

On Sunday Hudson and I stopped at Starbuck's. Here is the conversation at the counter.

Coffee guy: what can I get you?
Me: Grande latte, non-fat, no whipped cream
Hudson: And no pickles!

Everyone in the place started laughing. When my drink was ready the girl even called "latte, no pickles"

Connor went up for the children's story at church. Rev. Paul asked the kids if they loved their Mom's and how much. Connor stood up, threw his hands out and said "I love my Mom this much". I was feeling pretty good. Then Paul asked if they loved God and Connor said "no". The whole church burst out in laughter. Every week the congregation waits to see what Connor will say next!

Retreat!

On Friday evening I went on our church's annual officer/staff retreat. I haven't been on a retreat since I served as a Deacon, 3 years ago. We always go to the same retreat camp in Leesburg, Fl. It is on 87 acres and you feel like you are truly in the middle of no where.

We have some time to come together as the leaders of the church to discuss some issues facing our church. We also play games, have some great discussions and have a worship service. This years worship service was outdoors. I love outdoor worship services. They always seem more powerful to me.

The only bad thing about the retreat place is the rooms are not exactly fancy. They are very bare. No television, no frills. No problem. We are usually pretty busy. I took an ambien and was asleep within 5 minutes of getting to my room anyway. When we left our rooms to go to the evening lesson I noticed a bunch of the men looking at the water. They were looking at a 10ft. gator. That's right, I said GATOR! At that point I was rethinking the water front room. I made sure I walked everywhere with Bruce (Tara's Dad). Here are a couple of pictures I snapped of our friend the gator.

Here is a closer look at the gator.

Some of the men took great pleasure in teasing me about animals in the woods and kept telling me that the gator would come right up to my door. Just goes to show that most men are still 13 year old boys at heart!

Valentine' Day

Connor's class handed out Valentine's. He is what he got in class! What happened to the days when you only got/gave to your closest friends? They each got to have one piece and then most went into the garbage. What a waste.

I made dinner for my three Valentine's. Brandon and I had flat iron steaks (yummy) and awesome potatoes from Omaha Steaks. I let the boys choose anything they wanted for dinner, so they had hot dogs and the same potatoes. I made them all chocolate lolly pops. I got the boys each a Transformer. When Connor opened his, he said "get out of dodge, Optimus Prime".

Ok, so I know most of you enjoy seeing the gifts the boys pick out for me. He is the picture. First, a barbie card. It didn't say Mom, but it was the one they wanted. It is the first card Connor has ever signed his own name in!

The gifts also included knee hi's. Idon't wear knee hi's, but they liked the package they came in. I also received a balloon, huge lolly pop, big hershey kiss, chocolate hearts and a gift certificate for a pedicure (that one is from Brandon).

Pot Roast

The boys ate Pot Roast for dinner last week. This should not be a big deal, but it is. Hudson used to love pot roast, but as he got older he refused to eat it because Connor didn't want to eat it.



They ate the carrots, potatoes & beef. Hudson even asked for more carrots! Yeah!

Uncle Joe

Last week my uncle Joe came to visit us. He was in town on business and was able to get away for an evening. The kids warmed up pretty quick. Connor had fun building towers with Uncle Joe.

Ever since the visit Connor has been bringing up Unlce Joe at random moments. On the way home from the church dinner the other night we were talking about who we got to see at the dinner. Connor said "where was Uncle Joe?".

We had a very nice visit, but it made me miss my family even more! Time to schedule a visit home!

Connor's projects

Every month Connor goes to Home Depot to build one of their kids projects. Everything is free and they even give the kids a free apron & pin with a picture of the project.

Serving Tray
Pirate Ship

Castle
Football bench

He has also made a firetruck/crayon holder. What a great thing for the HD to do for kids. Connor loves it.

Hudson says ABC's

Another try at a video. This time I didn't use youtube. Keep your fingers crossed!

Video Testing

You have no idea how hard I have tried to get video to work on the blog. I swear staying home with the kids has made me stupid! I think I've got it now. Let me know if it doesn't work for you. If this works i will start posting more video. Please work.

Super Sunday

On Sunday we went over to Bruce & Kathy's house after church. They had everything set up for the boys to go fishing. Hudson even had his own little pole. He knew just what to do. Connor was sad that they didn't catch a fish, but they had a great time. Kathy spoiled them with ice cream & cookies. She brought out bubbles & shovels & pails. The boys looked around for something to dig up. Bruce remembered that he had dumped some sand & covered it with much after a project. So, they dug up the mulch & there was a "secret sand box". They thought that was very cool. Kathy even let them fill up the back of Bruce's pick up truck with sand. Our boys are so lucky to have people like Bruce & Kathy in their lives! (If you don't see the slide show click on the X in the top right corner)

On Sunday night we went over to a friends for a Super Bowl party. We had a great time. The kids played. And how about those Giants? I wore my Giants jersey. I haven't worn it in a bout 15 years. Guess it's my lucky jersey now!

Boy stuff

On Thursday night we let Connor help put together some shelves for the office. He loved using the drill. He put in every screw. He ended up staying up and hour after his bed time. It was totally worth it. He was so proud of himself.

Brandon was cleaning up the saw dust from his latest project and Hudson thought it looked like a good idea to walk in the saw dust . We thought this was funny until he decided to swim in the saw dust. He was a mess!

On Saturday we went back to Fun World. This time we took Pops with us. The place was empty. Hudson was just under the height limit to be a passenger on a go cart. The guy let Connor ride with me & Hudson ride with Brandon since we were the only ones on the track. It was awesome. I can't believe I didn't have a camera with me. We had such a blast!

Connor ate a bean!

Connor ate a butter bean. That's it. No post. Just excited that my kid ate a bean.