Friday, July 31, 2009

Summer Update

Okay, so by now you probably have figured out that I am not very good at keeping this blog updated! Here is a 'catch up' of what has been happening at our house this July:

Carter:
For his birthday Poppa Ron and Mama Helen gave him a week at Bug Camp at the Science Center. I was a little worried when he came home the first day and asked me, "Mom, when are we going to learn about REAL bugs?" As the week went on they did a ton of 'bug hunting' and arts and crafts making bugs. He even made a maggot out of paper plates and glitter and pipe cleaners. Pretty cool! Lee and the boys also found this moth when they were out renting a movie. Yes, it's a moth, yes, it's in my house, and yes, my child is holding it. I guess we have a weird appreciation for bugs, thanks to Carter!



Hudson:
He had a speech evaluation earlier this month and did awesome. As of now, he doesn't need any speech therapy. She told us that his speech is progressing nicely, which most importantly means that he is hearing correctly. YEAH!!! He did get a new home visit teacher this month, which took a little adjusting, but now everything is fine!
Hudson is also your typical two year old. One minute he is so sweet and sharing and the next he is having a tantrum for some unknown reason. He is not yet showing any (major) signs that he is ready to potty train, but we do have the little potty out and he has gone twice...for Lee!



Lee is still taking classes towards his degree. He has taken on some home projects, and hopefully will get them completed with the help of his Dad! A couple weekends ago, they started and completed a shed underneath our deck. It will be nice to get everything out of our garage so we can both park in the garage this winter. He has been having fun taking Carter and Hudson to play tennis and go to the park on the nights I work. They have found some pretty fun parks in our area! We also went to our very first I-Cubs game. The weather was so nice and we had free tickets, and best of all the boys loved it. Hudson stood the just about the entire game!







I have been keeping busy tending to our garden. This project has been awesome! I have also been baking a ton. A friend of mine gave me a couple HUGE zucchini, so I have been baking and freezing zucchini chocolate chip muffins, zucchini bread, and have a couple more recipes to try soon. It will be a nice change to have zucchini bread in the winter, rather than our normal banana bread!
Last Thursday, I graduated from my 10 week boot camp workout class. I love/hated every minute of it! Now Lee and I are trying to make the most of our YMCA membership!
I also, have had fun doing play dates with other Mom's from our church. I actually hosted a playtime/picnic at my house for 9 moms and 17 kiddos! It was a beautiful day, so the kids played outside, and we had some fun social time.




Great! Now I am caught up!!

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Summer Project

Back in May, Lee and I decided to plant a small garden. He built me a small garden box that is off of the ground so Sadie wouldn't get into it. It turned out really nice. Then a few weeks later when we were going to get 40 - 40lb bags of soil, he threw out his back bending over to pick up his shoes. OUCH! So when Mother's Day weekend came, I decided that I needed to get my garden going! After church on Mother's Day, Carter and I went and purchased the soil, plants and seeds. We got it all put together, while Lee watched from the window (poor guy, I just know he wanted to help). We planted beans, onions, pepper, cucumber, baby carrot, tomatoes and a watermelon.


This is 2 weeks after.

Garden about 2 weeks ago. Currently we have about 20 tomatoes that are still green, but really big. We also have several cucumbers that are growing literally overnight! Onions coming out of my ears, and our watermelon plant is about to take over the whole garden. Lee and I have already talked about expanding the garden box next year!

Look what we got to eat this week...fresh beans!!

This garden has been a blessing for several reasons. One, Carter and Hudson love going out to "take a check" at the garden every morning after breakfast! If I don't go with them, they always come and tell me how much things have grown! Second, both boys' vocabulary is expanding! This is super important for Hudson, but this has also been a great for Carter too. Last, it has given us something to take care of and nurture as a family. It may sound silly, but we have really enjoyed it!!

Monday, July 6, 2009

Fourth of July.. a big day! Part I

We had a fun, but jammed packed day on the 4th. We started the morning out with the Annual Jeffrey Drive parade. We brought the Jeep that Carter got for his birthday, so no strollers to push this year! Yeah! Poppa Ron filled the back up with candy, so the Carter had fun throwing the candy, and Hudson enjoyed eating about 18 pieces, before anyone noticed! I got to see my friend Renae, and her adorable family! So fun!


My Mom, leading the parade!

The start...

Love this jeep!

At noon, we headed down the street for the picnic. There was a ton of great food, and we had fun chatting with neighbors that we don't see very often. I didn't bring my camera, but there was even a great moment, when my Mom and Shirley (our next door neighbor lady..who has 6 grown kids that we grew up with), did the hula hoop contest! Hilarious!!

After we were all done stuffing ourselves... we headed back to get ready for the second part of our day.

Stay tuned for Part II.....

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Happy Birthday Hudson!


Happy Golden Birthday to my 'baby' Hudson! I can't believe you are already 2!


We love you so much! You have come leaps and bounds this last year and we couldn't be happier! You love to follow your big brother and do whatever he does (good or bad). I love that you are more independent, but love to snuggle when you are sleepy. You are a champion eater and have a very flirtatious personality.
We spent Hudson's birthday in Lincoln. We went to Chuck e Cheese with my parents, then had a great little ice cream cake! Here is a few of my favorite pictures from his day!


Flirty smile

Look at those blue eyes!

He cracked into a HUGE grin when we started to sing to him. He loved it! We finished and he said "Again!"