Birthday Party

Today was the boys' joint birthday party. Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate with us, and it started pouring down rain at 8:30 a.m. Due to that, we decided to move our 10:00 a.m. party indoors at our house since the temperature had cooled too much to swim comfortably, and the playground was all muddy from the recent downpour. When I planned a pool party a few weeks ago, I never expected all this rain and low temps in early August in Arkansas!

We had three families attend the boys' party, so it was a nice size group for an indoor gathering. I really didn't have a free weekend to reschedule the party now that I have to start my new teaching job this next week, plus we already had some existing plans over upcoming weekends. We emailed everyone that it was going to be moved indoors, and I did some last minute internet searches for indoor party games! I hadn't cleaned my house recently, so I hope that was overlooked by my guests.

We played a few rounds of musical statues, Doggie Doggie, Who's got the Bone, and hot potato. Then, we attempted a contest to wrap partners in toilet paper like mummies to see who could finish first. That game was harder than it sounded, as the toilet paper kept tearing every few squares.

The boys chose a "Cars" theme from the Disney movie for the cake, and we had chips, cheese balls, Doritos, and pretzels, along with the cake and ice cream. The boys opened their gifts, and then the kids spent a bit more time playing and chasing each other around the house with foam swords.

The boys still stated that they had a great party, so that is all that matters. I'm sure that playing musical statues wasn't as fun as splashing outside in the pool on a warm, sunny day; however, you have to take the weather as it comes! So for this August party, we made the best of Plan B.

Happy birthday, Owen and Hudson! I hope the day was lots of fun.

Habla Espanol?

Yesterday, I asked Hudson to count to 20 out loud again, as we have been practicing certain skills for kindergarten readiness. He can actually almost make it to 100!

He looked as me very seriously, and he asked, "Do you want me to do it in English or Spanish?"

Wordless Wednesday

Just another way to relax and watch tv!

Hudson is Cracking Me Up

This child is so hilarious! Besides taking self-portaits on my camera, he is really into learning to read and write these days. I really feel that he is ready for kindergarten (he is begging us to go, and it helped Owen get moved up on the waiting list by having another enrolled sibling at the school). So, even though he has a late summer birthday, my last little boy will be heading off to "real school" in August.

He now carries around a Spiderman notebook where he has been writing his little stories and lists. At first, the "writing" was the scribbly line that was supposed to be a word, and he would translate it for me. Now, he has actually progressed to trying to use actual alphabet letters to write words phonetically! That is very exciting for me to see, and I remember Owen learning to do this once he was already in kindergarten. Yesterday, Hudson wrote, "pupe," which was "puppy." He was close; he got the two "p" sounds and added an "e" at the end since that is how it sounds.

Today, he brought me his journal and wanted me to write some more words in it for him to read. He is doing really well with memorizing sight words. He has also been able to read rhyming word groups such as, "frog, bog, dog, etc." However, today he asked me to write, "avocado" and "mango."

Hmm. . . okay.

I don't know how many other kindergarteners are going to be discussing avocados and trying to spell that one! He was so serious about it, too. Too funny! A few months ago when we asked him his favorite color, he said, "chartreuse." Yep, I wasn't even sure exactly what color that was, so he explained in Spanish, it was like, "verde."

By second grade, he'll be way past my level!

Smiles and Tears

Hudson had a large fall on Saturday that resulted in a goose-egg size knot on his forehead! He was apparently trying to jump from couch to couch (against house rules!) and fell headfirst on the edge of the wooden couch leg. Normally pretty tough, he cried quite a bit over this injury, and Stuart and I fretted over whether he had a "traumatic head injury." We spent several hours watching him and asking him things like, "How many fingers am I holding up?" and "Do you feel dizzy?" Luckily, it appears that he suffered no permanent damage and doesn't have a skull fracture!

Arden finally has enough hair for a little bow now! Isn't she cute! The boys can't get enough of her, but that might change once she gets mobile and figures out how to get into their stuff! She has had her own tears lately due to more teething . . . she is cutting her 7th and 8th teeth now. She appears to have little tolerance for pain and spends 7-10 days crying in the middle of the night every time we cut a tooth. Stuart says it's just the drama of being a girl!

Birthday Bash!

We celebrated Owen's 7th birthday and Hudson's 4th birthday this past weekend with a joint party on August 2. We rented out a local gym and invited several families from our church as well as a few of the boys' school friends. We ended up with 18 kids plus their parents! My brother Asher flew in from Colorado for the weekend and was able to attend. Stuart's parents drove up from south Arkansas, and my mom was also in town from Bryant for the event.

The boys (and three girls) had a great time playing in the gym! Nothing else can beat running, chasing, jumping, and swinging! The highlights of the event were the inground trampolines, foam pit with swinging rope, hide-and-seek, and a few strong dads who got into the action by throwing boys into "the pit!"

After an hour of running and jumping, the 18 red-faced, sweaty kids were ready for cake and ice cream! We had a dinosaur theme party with a cake shaped like the character Chomp from the cartoon "Dinosaur King." It scored well with the kids! (Many thanks to Sam at http://www.cakesbysam.com/ for another special cake).

We survived the 102 degree heat outside, and we survived another birthday party. We were exhausted, but we have a year to recover! The boys said it was the best birthday ever, and that was worth it all!

Happy birthday, boys! You're growing up so fast!

Bye Bye Blankie

Hudson has an attachment to his blankie -- two of them in fact! We started out with one, and then we bought an identical one "just in case." That one was supposed to be the spare for when the other was being washed or if it got lost. However, Hudson somehow found out there were two of them and captured them both at the same time. That was about two years ago, and now they have both been by his side at bedtime ever since.

Thankfully, he doesn't drag his blankie around the house or take it to preschool, but it is a definite necessity at bedtime. We've spent many hours looking for a lost blankie at bedtime, wishing we had a spare that was still hidden!

Lately, the blanket has seen better days. In fact, I don't think most people would recognize this long strand of fabric as a former blanket that was once a soft, satin rectangle, embroidered with the saying, "Go barefoot and follow your dreams." The letters have long fallen off, in pieces, the edges have come unraveled, and the interior batting has come out. Now, it just looks like scrap fabric that is matted and frayed.

Recently, we have gotten rid of one of the two blankets. It just "disappeared" one night, never to be found again. We are down to one, original blankie that Hudson declares is the best, sweetest smelling, softest thing in the world! We've offered to buy him a brand new, fresh, in-tact blanket that is just like this one (minus the holes, stains, odors, dampness, and missing batting). That was not an acceptable solution, as Hudson declared, "I like the holes!"

Hudson's desire to hold onto this old, torn, and tattered blanket made me think about how we often do that too. We frequently hold onto things in our lives that God wants us to give up or change because we like the comfort of the familiar. Hudson's blanket is comfortable; it has a history to him. But it doesn't mean that it's the very best thing that's out there! He is turning down a better blanket for an item which is worn out and tattered. Likewise, we are limiting God when we try to hold on with tight fists to our stuff, our jobs, our houses, our community, or any other item that we fear losing. God often has bigger and better things that He wants us to experience, if we could only let go and trust Him. If we could only see that there was a better "blankie" out there, or that maybe we really don't need the "blankie" after all.

Our Little Rascal

Hudson has become quite the handful lately! Our quiet, sensitive little boy has turned into a tornado of energy, strong will, and assertiveness since he turned three. Just when I thought we escaped the "terrible two's" unscathed, we entered the terrible three's! I think God is definitely trying to teach me patience since all of these changes occurred right after I got pregnant with #3. Obviously God knew that if this had happened before another pregnancy, I would have rethought the whole idea of whether I could handle another child! I think God must have a sense of humor, but I know that He promises not to give us more than we can handle! Hudson and Owen now share a room, and they moved into bunkbeds together around Halloween. That has had both pro and cons. It's fun to see them playing well together and hearing them giggle and talk together once the lights are out at bedtime. It reminds me of "The Waltons" and their dialogue of, "Good night, John Boy" and "Good Night, Mary Ellen." However, Owen definitely needs his "space," so we often find him locking Hudson out in the hallway with Hudson crying and banging on the bedroom door to get in. All Hudson wants is to be with his big brother, and he has no concept or need for "alone time"! I seem to spend an inordinate amount of time resolving fights over who has whose sword, convincing Owen to let Hudson into the bedroom, or explaining to them why we don't dive off the top bunk and try to land on the beanbag chair!

Recently, Hudson has taken to climbing on the kitchen counters to get things that he needs or wants. We have been disciplining him for these acts and telling him that it's dangerous, against the rules, etc. The other morning, I noticed that Hudson had a package of Smarties candy in his fist, tightly hidden from me. These treats have been used as recent bribes for staying dry overnight in his underwear. I questioned him about where he got the candy (I knew the package of Smarties was in an upper kitchen cabinet and off limits to the kids). He looked at me very seriously and said that he got them from the kitchen cabinet. When I asked how he managed to reach them since he wasn't supposed to climb on the counters, he replied, "I have very long arms." I couldn't help but laugh!