Hanging of the Greens

Last night we took the boys to the hanging of the greens at our church. It is a special service put on by mostly youth of the church. They explain the history behind the decorations we use for Christmas. It was so cool to hear the history behind things like the Christmas tree, wreath, poinsettia and lights. The boys had to sit in the church for almost an hour. After the first song the kids sand Hudson said (very loud) "Can we have cake now?" He did very good for his first time in a service.

Connor is ready for dessert

We can remember Melinda as a toddler and now there she is taking care of our boys.
Do you think it was hard for Fletcher to play with Connor's chin resting on his game

Gobble Gobble

Our church has a fun tradition every year the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Some members dress like Pilgrims and Indians and bring forth food for a feast. We even have Governor Bradford read a speech about the first Thanksgiving. I love this tradition, but this was the first year I actually dressed up.
Do you think Brett & Erin knew when they joined the church that they would have to dress up too?We helped the kids make fun decorations for the table. Hudson's are the ones in the middle. Let's just say that he had less interest and therefor needed more help. In other words, the ones in the middle are mine & Brandon's. Either way, it was fun.It was a small feast for us this year as we just had Brandon's parents over. The part I was most proud about was the turkey soup I made after dinner. It was awesome.

Turkey Day at School

Brandon and I went to help out at the boys school last week for their Thanksgiving party. I stayed in Connor's class and Brandon went to Hudson's. I love that we are able to go do things like this with the boys.

Our little Indians. Hopefully Olivia doesn't read the blog. Or Julie is in big trouble.

Connor ate more than just bread this year. No turkey though.

2 parties

Yesterday we went to 2 parties in one day. First we had Connor's friend Dylan's 5th birthday party. It was at birthday world, a fun indoor carnival type place for little kids. They had a blast. I left Hudson home with Pops as I really am not the type of parent who can just let my kids run around without knowing where they are. And chasing two of them is just no fun for anyone. This way I was able to take pictures and help Connor with the games when he needed it. When Connor first got on the bumper cars he couldn't get them to move because his arms were too short to push the levers forward. I told him to use his feet and it worked great!
He drove great with his feet!Then that evening we had a party for the soccer team in order to give out the trophies. It was in a restaurant and you can only imagine how loud 8, 4 and 5 year old plus their siblings were. By the time we got home I was ready for bed!

say cheese

The other night when i was putting Hudson to bed he said, "Mom, go get the camera and take a picture of me" So, I jumped at the chance.Then of course he wanted to see the picture right away as all 2 year olds do. Then he said, "Take a picture of ducky"."Now Take a picture of my feet""Now my belly""now my hand" I think he just figured out a clever way to delay bedtime!

Berkley!

We had a very special guest at our home this weekend. Berkley the bear. Connor is Star Student of the Week at school. This means that he got to take home Berkley for the weekend and we needed to fill out Berkley's travel log with what he did all weekend and pictures too! It also means that he gets to lead the pledge, be line leader and update the calender. Oh, and bring in something for show & tell on Friday. Let's just say that Connor was kind of excited about this. OK, he was ecstatic! So, Brandon and I usually have a rule that we try to leave toys at home. And when toys do make it to the car they do not leave the car. That way we don't worry about losing them. Plus, we are not stuffed animal people. The kids each have 1 stuffed toy and that toy only leaves their beds to be cleaned. Since we all have allergies I try to keep dust collectors out of their rooms. That being said, this weekend we broke all of the rules! Here is the entry we put in Berkley's Travel Log:

Hi Everybody! I can’t wait to tell you about my fun weekend with Connor. As soon as I got in to his Mom’s car Connor called his Dad to tell him he was Star Student of the Week! Connor’s brother, Hudson was very sad that his class does not have a Berkley of their own.
On Friday night Connor took me with his family for a long car ride. We went all the way to the beach to watch the space shuttle take off. That’s the shuttle behind me.

I even got to go for a ride on Connor’s Uncle Justin’s shoulders. It sure was high up there!

When we got home Connor read me a story before bed. Did you know that Connor can read 5 books all by himself!!
After Connor fell asleep his Dad came into the room and explained that it wasn’t anything personal, but since he didn’t know if I had ever been washed I had to sleep in the freezer to kill any germs on me. I thought it sounded pretty crazy. Good thing I am covered with fur or I would have been very cold! But don’t worry I had good company in there. His Mom buys LOTS of ice cream. On Saturday morning I had to say goodbye to Connor for a little while so he could go play soccer. His team is the Rangers. His team won 12-5 and Connor even scored a goal!

After the soccer game, Connor came home and took me for a bike ride with his brother and his Dad. I got to ride on the front of Connor’s bike. He sure does ride fast! That night Connor’s friend Max came over for dinner with his Mommy and Daddy. Some of you might remember Max from school last year. We sure did have fun playing Transformers and Star Wars. Before bed Connor read me some more stories. That night I got to sleep in Connor’s room. I sure was glad I didn’t have to sleep in the freezer again!

Then on Sunday morning Connor’s Dad woke us up super early so we could get ready for church. I got to meet lots of nice people there. I even got to go to Sunday School with Connor. His Mom & Dad are the teachers. They are very good teachers. When we got home from church we all had a pizza picnic on the family room floor while we watched a cartoon. Then the whole family packed up and went to the park for a bike ride. That afternoon Connor & his Mom took me to the movies to see Madagascar 2. It was a FUNNY movie!
I sure did have a great weekend with Connor & his family.

3, 2, 1 Blast Off!!

Last night we loaded up the boys, and Uncle Justin to go watch the shuttle launch form Kennedy Space Center. We drove over pretty early and found a parking spot about 1/2 mile from the water. Across the water we could see the launch pad. It was a night launch and that made it seem even more special. The boys were great considering they had to wait an hour for the launch. And really we left the house 3 hours before the launch.

Here is the shuttle on the launch pad as take off begins.

Blast off!
Connor watching from Uncle Justin's shoulders!

Thank goodness Uncle Justin came along, or those would have been my shoulders!

It was such a cool thing to watch the shuttle take off. We can see it from our house, but this was much cooler. We could hear it and feel it. The boys loved it. I would like to share my video with you, but I was so into watching it that I hit the off button and only got 2 seconds of it!

When I was your age gas cost $75 cents...

Dear boys, 6 months ago Mommy and Daddy were paying $4 a gallon for gas. And then last night we saw this....

Mommy, Daddy and Uncle Justin all yelled with excitement at the same time. I have no idea what gas will cost when you start driving, but I thought it would be cool for you to see what we were paying. Also, now you know what dorks we really are. This is the kind of stuff that excites us these days!.

Love, Mom

I stepped in it

While I was filming Connor in NY he had a problem.

I can see the polling place from my house

(written on Nov. 4Th) This morning I took the boys with me to vote. Luckily we were done in about 15 minutes. They were so well behaved. I was proud to show them the process. I think I will continue to make this a tradition every year.

After voting we went to the mall to buy Connor some pants as he has grown a couple of inches since last year. Poor kid had high waters the whole time we were in New York.

Then we went to the toy store to make their Christmas lists. We are going to keep Christmas small this year (sorry boys!) We bought a nativity set and they played with it for an hour. I really want to make sure we drive home the point of the real meaning of Christmas with them this year. Plus they really do not need any more toys!!

Oh, and I really can see the polling place from my house!

Hudson & Olivia

For 4 Mondays I have had the pleasure of watching Olivia. Connor has school, but Hudson is home and it has been a great distraction for him. We have a routine. We take a ride to church and pick up whatever paperwork I need. Everyone faints over their cuteness as they walk in holding hands. Then we go to a grocery store so I can shop and they can get a cookie. Everyone tells me what cute twins i have. I say Thank you. Then we usually stop by and see Brandon on our ride home. Once we get home I make them lunch while they play or watch a cartoon. They always ask for the same lunch. Grilled cheese, strawberries, sharp cheddar cut into cubes and rocket soup (tomato soup). They are not very good at eating soup yet, but I love to watch them try.

They talk to each other like adults. Last Monday they broke up and got back together 6 times in the grocery store. Here was one of their conversations:

Hudson: screams something at Olivia

Olivia: If your are mean to me I'm not gonna marry you, I'm gonna marry Connor

Hudson: NO Olivia, you're gonna marry me

Olivia: NO, Connor!

Hudson: (hugs her) I'm sorry Olivia

Olivia: That's OK Hudson, I'm gonna marry you

Hudson: Thank you Olivia

At this point I think I actually blacked out for a minute from the cuteness.

Hangin Tough

Katina, Erin & I went and lived like teenagers for a night. We went to a New Kids On The Block concert. That's right, I said it! I'm not embarrassed! We listened to NKOTB the whole ride there. I know it made the drive easier for Katina to have Erin & I serenading her.

We went to dinner before the concert and the entire place was full of thirty something year old women dressed like this:

The crowd was amazing. LOUD. SO LOUD!!!

The boys from Boston did not disappoint. Really NKOTB and Katina's husband, Freddy are the only two things from Boston I have ever liked.

The choreography is still spot on!

And yes, Danny is still break dancing!

Halloween

Against all of my coaxing, Connor & Hudson insisted on being Power Rangers for Halloween. They loved their costumes with the built in muscles!Hudson loved wearing the mask and Connor did not.I asked them to do Power Ranger "moves", and this is what I got... We dumped out all of the candy and let them each have a piece before bed. Then we sorted through it all and threw out half. Then weput the kids to bed and sat in front of the TV and ate candy until we passed out!
Hudson could not wait for his tootsie roll (his favorite) to be unwrapped
Oh and we stopped by John & Judy's house and the had a bunch of fun stuff for the kids AND... and apple pie for us!! Now that was a treat!