I took a lot of pictures with my phone this weekend (which is not any different than most weekends), but it seems like we packed a lot in on a weekend when we really had no plans at all. So here it is, Saturday and Sunday in pictures.....
The kids rode around in the church parking lot on Saturday morning. We were thinking we'd spend as much time outside as we could before the rain came (but it never came).
Harlow talks on that play phone constantly. She keeps it in the trunk of her bike and is always calling Grandpa. The conversation goes something like this each time, "Hi Papa! You in your tractor? Is your porn (corn) still down (drowned)? Yea, okay. Bye Papa!"
We sent a silly snap to some friends. I'm sure we made their day with those faces!
They rode and rode and rode some more!
With the pending thunderstorms that were expected to reach us by the afternoon (again, they never came), we opted for some indoor swimming at Vogel. Even though I think they're more excited for the vending machine snack after swimming than they are about actually swimming, all the kids have fun there. We were a little disappointed to find out that they've changed the rules since our last visit and you now have to be 6 years old to be in the hot tub. The lifeguards didn't question Paxton, but they did ask how old Harlow was. That conversation went like this, "Excuse me ma'am, how old is she?" I answered that she is 2 years old, to which he said, "Oh, well she has to be 6 to be in the hot tub." Really?!?!? Was it necessary to ask me how old she was if she needed to be 6?? Does she look anything close to 6? I think I was just frustrated since this is a new rule and the hot tub is the kids' favorite place to be. Harlow was a rule breaker for the rest of our time there and still stuck her feet in.
Isn't she the cutest TWO year old you ever did see?
I mean seriously!!!!! Look at that face. I think I tell her how beautiful she is a million times a day.
All the kids had their pictures taken with Marsha on Sunday morning at Schell's Brewery. They did such a good job, we were so proud of them. Those professional pictures will be posted on the blog once we get the disk, but the sneak peek was adorable!
They were all bribed and promised a toy if they did a good job at pictures. We walked in to Target and the boys ran straight to the $1 bins. Jamie turned to me and gave me a thumbs up! Best thing Target ever did for parents!! Instead of buying three $20 toys, we got out of there with two $1 bird houses to paint and $1 animal crackers. It was no surprise that Harlow picked food as her toy, but she was NOT happy when we got home and the boys were both painting their bird houses.
We had a picnic lunch at the park, again spending as much time outside as we could because of the thunderstorms that were heading our way (which never came again!).
Once we realized that the clouds weren't coming, Grandma came in and we all headed to the kiddie pool. Jamie decided that he could handle the kiddie pool too as long as he could sneak beer in. Rule breakers at yet another pool!
A couple videos....The first one is kind of long, but wait it out, Harlow falls at the end :)
Watch for me accidentally hitting Harlow on the head with my phone when I try and push her. I wasn't sure if I really hit her when it happened, but watching it back now, clearly I did! She didn't even notice.
At six years old, Hudson finally learned to ride his bike without training wheels. And it probably never would've happened had a training wheel not broke off. He tried to fight it, saying he didn't want to ride his bike, he had better things to do, but I got home from work on Wednesday afternoon and there he was, over in the church parking lot, barely moving as Jamie ran behind him holding him up, begging him to keep pedaling. Hudson could only stay stubborn for a little while, I think he realized pretty quick that he could do it, it wasn't that hard, and it was actually pretty fun. Before we knew it, he was off! Taking laps up and down the parking lot, a little cautious at the turns and stopping but that will all come with practice. My favorite part, the smile he's trying so desperately to hide. He's too proud though, that smile shines through. And we're so proud of him!! Let's hope his 6th year brings many good things!
(Please try to ignore the whining little orphan child in the video!)
How is it that every year our babies get older?!?! And why is it that it never seems possible?!? How could our Hudsy be 6 years old?? SIX!!!!! I posted a "last picture at 5 years old" picture of me kissing my 5 year old the night before his big day, along with 6 reasons why I love this kid.....
1) He is capable of having a mature conversation wise beyond his years.
2) He is extremely detail-oriented; with his stories, how he likes things, his memories.
3) He grew out of his rude, bad attitude, snot phase (thank God!!).
4) He is great at playing with Paxton and always willing to include Harlow.
5) He has a kind, sympathetic heart and believes in fairness.
6) He tells me he loves me out of the blue.
Per tradition on their birthday mornings, they wake up to balloons. The night before I asked Hudson if he still thought he needed balloons now that he's six. He thought he'd still like them and then offered to help blow them up. Apparently at 6 years old, the excitement of waking to a house filled with balloons has worn off and you just do things yourself. So out to the garage he went with his dad and used the air compressor to blow up his own balloons. So no surprise the next morning when he woke up and found them right where he had left them. For his birthday breakfast, Jamie suggested a blueberry muffin from Perkins, so the two of them headed out in the morning for a half dozen muffins. Harlow and Paxton sang to him and each took a turn blowing out the candle (video below). When they were done, Harlow looked at me and asked, "Harlow's birthday over now?" The girl is obsessed with her birthday and I think with celebrating Hudson, she finally realized that her special day was over. Time to get over it Harlow!
Aren't they the sweetest?!?!
And the silliest!!!! I absolutely LOVE this picture!!
It was no surprise that Harlow started crying when I told her all of the presents were Hudson's. And of course, it was no surprise that Hudson let her open almost all of them. I actually had to stop her and remind Hudson that its his special day and he should get to open at least some of his own presents. He did and proclaimed that he loved them all! And I have to admit that I was pretty excited and proud of myself that each gift was thought out and right up his alley! The best being a ghost and werewolf costume for the boy that LOVES Halloween and spends most of his days in costumes.
And jelly beans, more specifically the Jelly Belly Bean Boozled game. You spin the wheel, eat that color, and its either a delicious jelly bean or a DISGUSTING one! I knew he would love this, and would love trying to trick people, which he did! He got Zevlen, Maddi, and Uncle Arnie. I think Maddi ate barf, Zevie ate toothpaste and stinky socks, and Arnie ate booger. Harlow ate a handful of all of them and wasn't even fazed by it! I had to hide them from her on top of the fridge! She had the worst canned dog food breath!!!! They are SO GROSS! Beware if Hudson offers to share his candy with you.
One of the gifts he asked for was dinosaur bones. He and his best friend Eli pretend to dig for dinosaur bones at school, so I knew he'd love this fossil. He dug and found teeth, bones, and fossilized poop!
Happy Joe's was his pick for supper with the family. For the games of course, not the food. Him and cousin Carson shared their tickets and he was able to get the police light he's been wanting. Thanks to Carson who gave him over 1000 of his own tickets! (Love that boy so much!)
Hudsy and his godparents, Maddi and Zev.
Back to our house for more presents, cake and ice cream. He's excited to light those fireworks from Logie at his big party!
And a half orange and half purple cake, per his request.
Happy 6th Birthday Hudson Alexander!! I couldn't love you any more than I do today, but tomorrow I will!
After the big storm this past weekend, we had a couple large tree limbs down and lots and lots of smaller branches. The daddy and kids started the clean up process while the mom was still at work (yippee!!) and when I got home, it was fun to see them all working together in the backyard.
Hudson thought he was helping by chopping up the large branches, but in reality he was actually making more of a mess, sending bark flying all over the place. I let him at it for awhile because he thought he was pretty tough, swinging that "hammer" with his big muscles. You can almost see them there in his upper bicep, ha!!
Paxton, a.k.a. mini-Jamie, grabbed his chainsaw and went to work on some bigger branches. Note the ever present concentrating tongue out. He loves wearing those headphones, he listens to music and he's even MORE oblivious to the world around him than he normally is, which is pretty hard to beat! (Also, please don't judge the boys for wearing socks with their Crocs. Daycare requires them to wear socks everyday, but both boys still LOVE their Crocs, so this will be their style Monday-Thursday this summer. Live with it Hunter!)
We have a row of peonies in the backyard that Jamie has been begging to dig up so he can plant asparagus. I love how the flowers look so I've always said no, but realizing that the flowers only last about a week, and the whole family LOVES asparagus, I finally gave in and Jamie started digging immediately. And where there's mud, there's Harlow!
A bath was a necessity after all of their dirty work. I wish I would have gotten a picture of Harlow before I put her in the tub. She was literally mud from head to toe!
This big box was delivered about 2 weeks ago and the only one who knew the contents was me. I knew better than to tell the kids too early. Actually, I knew better than to tell Paxton at all, so I just shared the secret with Hudson this weekend, he's the only one to be trusted. So with all the anticipation, I think the kids were just as excited to open Dad's present as he was. They had all been begging for days, including Jamie!
A set of gravity chairs!!! He's been saying we should get some for years now. And what a deal that I found, 2 chairs for the price of 1!
So the kids hopped on for a picture, and at first Paxton was perfectly happy standing behind them, even gave me a big cheesy smile, then all of a sudden he felt left out and was TICKED OFF!!!! And when Paxton gets mad, his eyebrows come out, he stomps his feet, makes a little growl sound, and will not let it go! I thought about zooming in on the happy three, but it was Father's Day, just wouldn't be the same with one less child. We spent the rainy/humid/then sunny day indoors (with Hudson being sick too), we watched a lot of movies, played board games, and then prepared a good supper for the grill. Jamie set up his "juicy lucy station" and filled burgers with lots of goodies. As usual, Harlow has to be right in on any action happening in the kitchen. She's quite the helper!
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY JAMIE, FROM THREE OF THE GREATEST GIFTS EITHER ONE OF US COULD EVER GIVE OR RECEIVE!!!
Harlow started gymnastics this week, and as expected, she loved it! I knew she would, but I was a little worried about how well, or not well, she'd listen to direction and wait her turn. All in all, I was impressed. She tried to run off and join the big girls team a couple times, but otherwise, took her turn and waited in line pretty patiently. The coach made several comments about her strength. Especially on the bars. The coach was prepared to lift Harlow up, and when she realized she didn't need much help, I think her eyes about popped out of her head as she said, "My goodness she is strong!". I replied with, "We know!". Finally, this girl has an actual sport to put her freakish strength and ability to climb on things to good use! And it's so fun to watch her! She would look up to the balcony for Daddy and brother's applause many times, even yelling for them to watch her, making sure they were paying attention.
Listening intently to the coach.
Practicing pointing and flexing those toes.
Getting ready to race her "ladybugs" out to the middle.
Hudson had his last ever day of preschool on May 29, 2014. Three years of preschool later, my boy is grown up. He's more confident, more social, and very intelligent. I think math is his thing. He loves money (and he's a saver!!) so he's always counting and adding his money. For the most part, Grandma has been taking him to and from school, but on his last day, Mom and Dad wanted to take him. I picked him up early to go on an extra special lunch date together. His pick- Taco John's because he remembered that's where we went on his first day of school. He has an incredible memory (I had to look back on Instagram!). At lunch I asked him a bunch of questions just for fun....
What's your favorite color? RED
What's your favorite song? POMPEII by BASTILLE (song from Mr. Peabody commercials)
What's your favorite thing to do with your brother? PLAY SCOOBY-DOO DRESS UP
What's your favorite thing to do with your sister? PLAY IN HER CRIB WITH HER
What's your favorite thing to do with Dad? SLEEP IN THE BASEMENT
What's your favorite thing to do with Mom? CUDDLE
What's your favorite thing to do at school? PLAY WITH ELI
Who's your best friend? ELI
What's your favorite food? WATERMELON and CORN ON THE COB
If you could do anything what would you do? GO TO VALLEYFAIR, THEN CLIMB HERMAN THE GERMAN, THEN HAVE A SLEEPOVER AT GRANDMA AND GRANDPA'S
What do you want to be when you grow up? A GARBAGE MAN
Hudsy and his teacher, Ms. Schugel.
So that's it, we're ready for Kindergarten this fall. When I think back to this time last year, when I cried and agonized over sending him to Kindergarten at a young 5 years or an old 6 years, I am so glad we made the decision we did.
