sunday at the park

Since Sunday was BEAUTIFUL, possibly the last summer-like day we'll have this season, we spent the morning/afternoon at Herman the German and park. Such a simple activity, but a favorite for all three kids. Hudson even offered to pay the admission fee himself if I agreed to walk him over (I didn't make him!). Harlow went up for the first time with Jamie this summer, so this was my first time climbing up with all three kids. She got as far as the very last ladder when she finally asked for my help. I lifted her up and she turned to me and sweetly said, "Thank you Mommy, I needed help. I was a little bit scared."

Aren't we a good looking bunch, ha!

After exerting our energy on Herman, we got the idea to have a picnic at the park, but since I didn't plan that ahead of time, we quickly walked back home, packed up a picnic lunch of peanut butter sandwiches, chips, carrots, juice boxes, and a cookie for dessert and headed back. 

Seriously, could this squinty-eyed, pigtailed blondie get any cuter!?!?! 

dead bird

Snapchat picture from Sunday:

Sunday afternoon as I was getting supper ready in the house and the kids were outside picking up sticks in the backyard, Hudson walks in to the house from the deck holding a rather large DEAD bird and proclaims, "Paxton found this dead bird in the yard." I scream and yell for him to get that thing out of my house. He walks back out to the deck and just plops it down right there. I yell again to get it far away from the house and he yells back, "Well you screamed and scared me!" Of course I screamed, you brought this gigantic dead bird inside of my house!!! He tells me that it doesn't matter because it's dead, not like it's going to start flying around or anything. But it's G-R-O-S-S!!!! So Paxton swoops in and starts to pick it up and I scream yet again not to pick it up with his hands. Then Harlow thinks she'll be the brave hero and she goes in to grab it with her hands, yep, you guessed it, I scream again!! Can someone please go get a shovel and get this thing off of my deck!?!?! So Hudson grabs a toy grabber/pickerupper thingy, grabs the bird and finally carries it to the outside garbage. Then I tell them they all need to come in and wash their hands and really grind it into them that we DO NOT under any circumstances pick up dead animals! 

homecoming parade

After going back and forth between walking in the Homecoming parade or watching it, at the last minute, Hudson finally decided on walking in it. He was torn because he really wanted to watch with his best buddy, and I was actually surprised he was even considering walking in it. My shy boy, I envisioned him hiding behind others, not looking around, and certainly not smiling and waving at people. But he did! Not frequently, usually only when he knew someone, but he still broke out of that shell of his and did it! I was a proud mama walking beside him (since a parents were required to walk along with the kindergartners). 

lacrosse, wi

The whole family plus Grandpa and Grandma piled in the Pathfinder to LaCrosse, Wisconsin on Friday to the spend the weekend away for a cousin's wedding. We got a late start Friday evening with a pit stop at Red Lobster for their all you can eat shrimp, per the request of the men in the family. The boys traveled great, Harlow....eh, she could've been quieter, maybe slept a little longer, and did less whining. But everyone perked up when we got to the hotel! All three kids love staying in hotels more than anything else, and it's mainly for the pool and hot tub. This particular hotel was nice enough to provide pool toys. Harlow loved that she could float around all by herself in the inflatable ducky, mostly in the hot tub because she could touch around the edges. 

The boys went from the hot tub to the pool, back and forth, in and out, floating, jumping, cannon balling, and belly flopping. 

Saturday afternoon we got all dolled up and headed to the wedding in Cashton, WI. We thought we had figured out the mileage and best route, but we were wrong and left about 10 minutes too late. We were all rushing to the car and I mentioned that there was no way I was going to wear the high heeled shoes I had on all night. Paxton overheard me and said, "Oh Mom, cut it out, you look great!" Ha, so sweet and funny coming from him. The wedding was at a barn in the middle of nowhere, and after about 20 miles of winding roads with Jamie driving much too fast in a hurry, we all had to hang on for dear life! We made it right after the bride walked down the aisle, and it wasn't at all embarrassing walking in late as a family of seven, nope not at all!

The barn and land had lots of nooks and crannies for the kids to play around in. Bridges, mini-rivers and creeks, pebbles to throw, and flowers to pick. By the end of the night, everyone knew who Harlow was! She knows how to grab the attention of a crowd. At one time, she thought it would be a good idea to get a cup of ice, and hand out ice cubes to random strangers. They all accepted of course, because how could you say no to an ice cube from this cute face?!?!

Paxton and his best buddy (cousin) Alex ran around like absolute crazy all evening. When it finally got dark (and really, really cold!) we had to coax them inside. Once the dance started, they were at it again.

She's beautiful. And it appears as though she was sitting nicely, posing for a picture by the gorgeous scenery.....but she wasn't! She had her hands in that water fountain and I happened to catch her mischievous smile as she knew she was doing something Mommy would most definitely say no to!

The only posed picture of part of the family that I got.

cheerleader

She might be their good luck charm! Harlow wore her Vikings cheerleader outfit 2 weeks ago when they won with a blowout. Seems with a loss the following week, their cutest cheerleader might have to keep wearing that adorable dress and pose just like this.......

Have I mentioned lately that I'm obsessed with this girl?!?!?! Because I am!

Como Zoo- a couple weeks ago

We went to Como Zoo the weekend before school started. One last small hoorah before more strict bedtimes, routines, and depressing Mondays.

The gorillas were really enjoying playing around with the kids. They'd get up close to the glass, dance around, put their arms up against the glass. It was like nothing I've ever seen before. Harlow got a little nervous, nearly backed herself right off that ledge! Paxton thought it was pretty awesome.

Per the norm, the rides were a bigger hit than the animals. Carson was with and went on the few bigger rides with the boys, and I went back and forth to every ride Harlow could go on. She went on these cars about 10 times but loved it each time.

Nothing compared to the Frog Hopper though. She was actually a tad short but I snuck her on because I knew she would love it! And she did! She screamed and laughed, and listened closely to the operator about when to put her arms up. So stinkin' cute!

Carson and Hudson had a little fun on the ride home taking selfies.

First Day of Kindergarten

The 2014-2015 school year brought on Kindergarten for Hudson! Kindergarten, real school, five days a week, this is big time! He was excited, and ready! I cannot say enough how glad I am that we waited the extra year (with a summer birthday). It was such a difficult decision and I'm thrilled we ended where we did and he's entering school with another year under his belt. He's much less nervous, with little anxiety and just plain happy to go. The night before he spread the magic "Ready Confetti" from Mrs. Maudal under his pillow for a good nights sleep. He woke up refreshed, didn't complain about wearing "hard" pants (meaning anything other than athletics shorts), got dressed, brushed his teeth, let me do his hair, and had some breakfast. He didn't care for posing for these pictures, but he kindly obliged with a fake smile. 

A little hand in pocket posing, completely done on his own! So adorable.

The school-aged boys, Paxton ready for pre-k and Hudson for the big K! Harlow not to be seen because she's pissed (pardon my language, but she's serious!!!) that she still has to go to daycare while her brothers go to school. It's a battle every morning, and even though I keep telling her to let it go, it doesn't seem she will be any time soon. When I make the right hand turn onto daycare's street, she yells at me that she does NOT want to turn that way. Poor girl. 

And boy we were on the ball for our first day. Everyone was up and ready in plenty of time. I even enjoyed a cup of coffee while we watched morning cartoons. With three different drop offs, I was sure to give myself ample time and it all went smoothly.

Hudson is a hand holder. No matter what, no matter where we're walking or if he's excited, scared, nervous, or bored, he grabs for the hand of whoever is walking with him. And I love it. And look at that sweet face. I have to leave that sweet face in the care of his teacher for 7 hours a day. I have to hope and pray that he's safe, happy, taken care of, and treated well, not only by teachers and other professionals, but by kids too. I truly believe that he will cause us no problems this year, at least with his behavior. He is kind, mature, conscious of others, thinks about his actions before reacting, and just plain loveable. The only thing holding him back would be his nerves around big groups and kids his age. He's always been better at either leading younger kids, or following older. He needs to find his niche with his own peers, come out of his shell a little more. I hope that happens for him this year. Break out buddy, and show them how awesome you are! 

We could not be any happier with his teacher, Mrs. Maudal. She is the perfect match for Hudson. I've already gotten several emails from her, one just simply saying, "He is perfect, what a honey he is." My heart literally burst out of my chest with pride!!! 

There were no tears when I left him. He was brave. I could tell he was nervous, but he didn't let it hold him back. He did his morning jobs and found an activity to keep him busy until the bell rang and his day began. Leaving my kids somewhere is literally the hardest thing I do. I want to stay with them sooooo bad. I hate missing things. I want to be a fly on the wall. I might be what they call a "helicopter mom", always hovering around, but I can't help it! I'm sure that I'll ease up with time (I hope!). But he didn't need me. He kissed and hugged me good bye and didn't look back. I made it all the way out to my car without tears but when I let it out. Emotions of pride and anxiety mixed with already missing him. Thankfully on that dreadful first day, I got to go back at lunch time and see him! I was asked to volunteer during the lunch hour every Thursday and I was more than happy to do it! He assured me then that his first day was going great, no complaints. I cried leaving him again, obviously. 

When I picked him up at the end of the day, he knew he was good. He knew I'd be proud, and he knew he could manipulate his pushover mom into taking him to Target to buy him something for such a successful first day of kindergarten. And after that, he worked more of his manipulating magic to go to McDonald's for an apple pie. This kid is good. And it was all well deserved. 

(Day 2 update: After our hug and kiss goodbye, I already got the should shrug off and a "yea, yea Mom you can go now". Not quite sure how I feel about that yet.) 

Back to Preschool

Paxton started his second year of preschool last week. He was most excited to wear his new backpack and school shoes! Other than that, he was so-so on returning to preschool. He's a kid that doesn't care for structure, has no time for education and learning, and would rather just run around and play. But he does like his teacher Ms. Schugel, and was really glad his friend Zander was going to be in his class again this year. So sure, he'd go back!  

Harlow has a different view of this school year. She hates it! She is NOT happy in the mornings when the topic of school is brought up and one of her brothers isn't going to daycare with her. She wants to go to school too, she does not want to be left behind. I'm not looking forward to the days when I'm dropping only her off at daycare.