SANTA

As in years past BERO invited us over to share in their traditional visit from Santa! I swear you can't sit with this man and not believe. He is amazing with the kids and adults alike!He had the boys lists in his pocket! Then he tells them he has it memorized so I can have it back for their memory book.

Robes

Cool Janet made the boys robes. That's right...I said made them! That's why she's Cool!

Gingerbread men

Mine
Jen'sConnor'sHudson'sBrandon'sPoor gingerbread men didn't stand a chance!

Cousin Jen

A few weeks ago my cousin Jen came to stay with us for a few days. The boys weren't sure what to think at first, but I assured them that Jen was fun and she would play dinosaurs with them. They had so much fun with Jen. She played for hours! It took them 1 evening to fall in love with her. She was an awesome house guest and we all had fun getting to know Jen all over again. We went ice skating, decorated gingerbread men and she even got to see us light the advent candle at church. Jen joined us in the boys Sunday School. She built the biggest train track they had ever had (even went to the store to buy more track) and she read to them for HOURS! Jen took our Christmas card picture for us and I just had to snap a few of her with the boys. When it was time to say goodbye the boys were sad to see her go. But the worst was definitely Hudson. It was his first experience missing someone. He cried for her for10 minutes at bedtime. He has asked for her EVERY day since she left. Then the other day he asked if we could go to the airport and pick up Jen. We told him that she wasn't there. He said then he wanted to put on his comfy clothes (he means warm clothes) and go to NY and see her. Wearing their "Jen" shirts

The main reason Jen was in town is her niece Ashley was at the Pop Warner Cheerleader national championships at Disney. Ashley is Tiffany's daughter for those of you who know the family. Brandon and I went to the competition and got to hang out with Jen, Tiffany, her boyfriend & kids and Uncle Joe & Aunt Carol. It was great to see everyone even if it was for a short time. The best part was that Ashley's team won the competition. Go Falcons!Ashley is the one on the left on the bottom row.

Letters To Santa

Oh My Lord

On Sunday the boys sang twice at church. In the morning they sang in choir robes and I forgot my camera!!!! That evening they opened the children's Christmas play with the same song. Only this time they were in costumes. Hudson was a wise man (more like a wise guy, hehe) and Connor was Joseph (which he kept pronouncing JOFISS). Oh, and I know Olivia is not our kid, but so many of you know her, I just had to share our sweet little angel!

Hudson sings!

Last week Hudson had his Christmas program at school. He did great! He sang all the songs and did all the little movements. I was so surprised since all the other parents said their kids were practicing at home all month and Hudson hasn't sang one song in front of me. He told me it was a surprise.He kept his eyes on us the whole time and between each song he would say (as loud as he could) "Look, there's my Mom & Dad!"After the show I took him out for a "date". We went to lunch and then to Starbucks for hot chocolate. He LOVED it!

You might be a red neck....

I grew up in NYC and didn't even have a clothes dryer until I was almost 15, but I never really thought I would need to relive those days! On Tuesday our dryer broke. I looked up the "symptoms" online and repaired it. It worked for 1 more day and then on Wednesday it officially died. Brandon took it apart and brought the part to work with him. Did I mention that there was a load of the boys clothes in the washing machine when he did this? I had set the timer the night before and forgot about it. So, when I woke up there was a load of clean, wet clothes waiting for me. I got right to work making a clothes line. I used kite string and tied one end to the light on the side of the house and the other end to the gutter. This, by the way is a bad idea! As soon as the line was full the gutter began to pull away from the house. I managed to get it hooked up to a piece of wood on the side of the house and repair the gutter. Laughing at myself the entire time and constantly checking for the "candid camera"! Thank goodness it did not rain that day. I am left wondering how we hung clothes for all those years! This was no fun!

How do you play board games?

The boys have never been fans of the original pieces that come with the games. So, as long as it fits in the square we let them use it as their piece. Way more fun this way!

I am the girl, Hudson is a gormiti, Connor and Brandon are dinosaurs.

Low Speed Electric Vehicle

Our new golf cart arrived yesterday. It is totally street legal. No, we don't golf. We got it to drive around the neighborhood. Haven't met anyone here who doesn't have one. We were going to buy a used one next year, but there is a tax credit this year on low speed electric vehicles. So...we were able to purchase a new one for what we would have spent on a used one. Or, we would have been able to had we not opted for the jacked up lifted one. But really if your gonna have a golf cart it might as well be bad ass. They delivered it while Brandon wasn't home. I got my driving lesson and took the boys for a spin. I thought i would pull it in the garage to surprise Brandon.....only one problem....IT DIDN"T FIT!!!! Brandon removed the roof rack. Now it fits...but where am I going to put my groceries?

Thanksgiving 2009

Our Church has a long standing tradition of the Pilgrims and Indians visiting on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. This was Hudson's first year to dress up. The kids always want to be Indians because they get to be barefoot in church. Brandon is always an Indian because there isn't a pilgrim costume big enough. Really the Indian costume is pushing it! I am always a pilgrim as there aren't any adult women Indian costumes. Plus, I have a great pair of black pilgrim type shoes!

Dear Barrett

Dear Barrett,

Welcome to the family! This note is long overdue as you are now 7 weeks old. Years ago I thought your Mommy was about to tell me she was expecting a baby and I immediately started crying. As it turned out she was saying something totally different, but that moment let me know just how much I was waiting for Connor & Hudson to have some cousins who lived in town. In February when your Mom & Dad let us know that you were on the way my reaction was pretty much the same. In fact, I think I screamed out loud! It was great to be able to watch your Mommy grow while she waited for your arrival. I will never forget the night you were born. Your Daddy kept me updated through the whole process with text messages. And when I woke up in the middle of the night there was the news that our newest nephew was here. It has been fun getting to know you over the past few weeks. I have known your Mom & Dad since they were teenagers and it is a privilege to watch them move into this next phase of their life. They finally get to know the secret that all parents know. The secret of unconditional and immediate love. The term "love at first sight" is often used, but only a parent truly understands the meaning. Only a parent can understand what it means to meet your child and instantly know you would give anything to protect this little baby in your arms. God has blessed you with wonderful, loving parents who will always have your best interest at heart. You also have a great extended family on both sides. Connor is anxiously awaiting the day when you can "play". Right now he doesn't really know what to make of you. Hudson on the other hand has been enamored with you from the moment he laid eyes on you. He is obsessed with buying you shoes of all kinds. Even though I keep reminding him that you wont be walking for about a year! Your Uncle Brandon and I are so excited to get to be a regular part of your life. We will always be here for you when you need us. We love you bear!

Love,
Aunt Ilene (I know that's hard to say, so if you want to give me a nickname that's OK with me!)

Barrett 12 hours old

Hudson loves Barrett!This may not be comforting, as he loves Connor very much and this is what he does to him!The Woods' Boys! (minus Pops, Uncle Damon & Tucker)

Chores

I made the boys chore charts to keep track of how they help around the house. They both have been asking for extra chores so they can put more magnets on their charts! Let's see how long this lasts. The other day i ran out of chores so I told them they could wash they windows. Now I have to rewash the windows, but they sure did have a good time making a mess! Plus, they thought they were really helping me out!

Halloween 2009

This year for Halloween Connor was a clone trooper and Hudson was a "happy" skeleton. Connor was sick and Hudson was just getting over something so we didn't go with the BERO for the first time in 4 years! We started the night out at Uncle Bruce & Aunt Kathy's house. The rest of the night Brandon pulled the boys in the wagon since they were both not feeling well. As is our tradition we ended the evening at Aunt Judy & Uncle Johns. We came away from their house with gift bags (with new toys) for both boys, a steak for Brandon, a bottle of champagne for me and an apple pie (also for me). The boys got a ton of candy. Since they were both sick I sorted it and put it all away that night. They never asked for it again. Seriously, they each had about 3 pieces and I ate the rest!

With Aunt Kathy

How sick kids trick or treat

Our "take" at the Dalles'

We still bumped into BERO at the Dalles'! Just can't stay away from them on Halloween!Candy!!

Dear boys

Dear boys... I took the past 2 1/2 months off of blogging. Sorry, but moving really knocked my socks off! I will do my best to blog some of the highlights from the past few months. Let see, what have you been up to?

Connor, you have really become quite the little reader. You have read about 40 books! The best part is you have finally stopped being so hard on yourself when you don't get a word right away. You are sounding out some pretty impressive words. You teacher tells us that you behave great in school and always participate. Soccer season just ended and you were our star player. You scored almost every game. You had a set back a few weeks ago when you started having some breathing trouble. Looks like you inherited your Dad's asthma. We have an appointment this week with a specialist and we are going to do everything we can to help you out. You just passed you last karate test and you are now a green belt! You have been saving your allowance like a miser lately. When I asked what for you told me for a truck when you are 16. When I asked what kind you said "Uncle Bruce's truck". I told Bruce and he said he would save it for you. Though you want to put monster truck tires on it and paint it red, white and blue! How patriotic of you!

Hudson, you have started reading as well! You are up to 20 words. They are all three letter words. We have been shocked by how fast you took to reading. You get pretty anxious when you are not sure of yourself, but once you get the word you are so happy. Your favorite word so far has been BUT...go figure! We let you practice with Connor's soccer team all season. You even beat a couple of the 5 and 6 year olds when it was 1 on 1 time. You are going to be an amazing athlete. Now remember....Mommy likes Camaro's....you know, if your looking to buy me a gift with your signing bonus one day! A month ago I could not get you to sit down and color for anything and then one day you just decided you liked it. And now you are impressing everyone with you ability to stay in the lines. You have started writing your name and your letters. You ASK for homework every day. These past few weeks we have been getting great reports from babysitters and your teachers about your behavior. You seem to be turning a corner where that is concerned and that is a relief to all of us!You both love our new home. There are so many "secret short cuts" as you call them and so much room to play. You wanted to share a room and your Daddy and I take great joy in listening to the both of you bond every night. You stay up for about an hour talking. You are horrible at being sneaky, but that's OK with us! I am sure you will get better at it. That's why we put the alarm system in the house! Our new neighborhood is awesome! I will tell you all about it in another post.

We just had a wonderful Thanksgiving with Grammy & Pops, Uncle Justin & Aunt Erin, her family & the newest member of our family Barrett! You new cousin....but I'll tell you all about him in another post!

Looks like I am off to start posting some pics of our past few months. i will do my best to never take a break that long again. If I do your Aunt Betty just might show up at the door and tie me to the computer chair!!

Love, Mom