Merry Christmas!

There's been a lot going on around here.....Last week we had Miles' parents here and his brother and sister-in-law. We had an early Chirstmas with them and took a trip to a ski area in Virginia. We had a great time and loved having them all in our house. In Virginia we took a short hike with the kids, but as you can see it was foggy, so we didn't have much of a view from our hike. This is how Hudson hiked.....and he fell asleep like this. There wasn't any snow there like we hoped, but there was some fake snow on the slope for the 3 or 4 people there skiing and tubing. We brought snow pants and stuff so that we could maybe join them, but in the spirit of Christmas we headed over to the indoor water park instead.....which looked like this....

with huge buckets of water that fall on the heads of unsuspecting girls when they are not looking while floating down the lazy river.... which ended the fun for the day for one little girl who then complained the rest of the time.

Hudson however was happy all day and loved bouncing and splashing in this swing.and testing his walking skills in water... Overall it was fun....and so warm and surreal being in a bathing suit all day that we forgot it was winter outside.And who knew my husband could body surf so well!Last night we got started on one of my favorite Christmas traditions that we started 3 years ago....baking and decorating gingerbread men (and women) cookies. No complaining here....and okay I helped decorate this one....
Santa will be very happy when he comes to our house tomorrow night. And so will Mrs. Clause b/c she has a cookie wrapped up to go that Camryn is leaving for her.

And Miles will be happy he doesn't have to stay up really late putting together a doll house or a play kitchen this year.

So, from our house to yours, Happy Christmas!

still a little wobbly, but he's got a good weeks worth of practice now....so here go goes!

happy holidays

Since I haven't been a very good blogger lately, there's too much to write about. About the last 6 weeks have been busy with traveling, holiday stuff, Christmas shopping, working on Christmas Cards, cooking for lots of different parties, etc.... Sunday we went to our staff Christmas dinner. Here's a picture of our lovely staff team. We are the only ones with little kids now. Sad. But here's a little update on a few of us.....

Miles is still recovering from having Sinus surgery a week ago. He was getting a really bad sinus infection about every 3 weeks, so the Dr. got the permanent infection out and fixed some other things in there, so hopefully he will feel much better in the long run. He has had to take a break from running while recovering, but still has his sights set on a marathon in the spring.

Two things I love about Hudson right now other than how cute and sweet he is.... 1. He LOVES his daddy. He loves to go to Miles and cries when Miles leaves the room sometimes. The girls always preferred me and still do most of the time, but Hudson loves for Miles to hold him. I kinda like it. It gives my tired arms a break. 2. He is so happy walking and can now walk across a room. He looks so cute doing that b/c he's so young. He never sits still. We had to give him a sucker when we were trying to take our Christmas card picture.

Sadie is my little drama queen as it turns out. Whether it's in a good way or a bad. She LOVES to sing for me. She'll think of 3 songs and let me choose which one I want her to sing for me. Usually from a Barbie movie and I'm always amazed at how she knows the lyrics.

And then somedays she uses her dramatic ability to whine and just drive me insane. Camryn also went through a 3 yr. old whiney stage, so I know it will pass.....just not soon enough.

Camryn can read now and she is loving it. When we are driving she reads signs and brings home an easy book from school everyday and has no problem reading it. She still loves her baby brother and is so good with him. And I keep trying to upload a picture of hew with him and it's now working, so I'm going to watch the Office now instead.

hudson walks at 9.5 months

Here's a couple of really short videos showcasing hudson's new talent. It's hard to get it on video so I'll have to get a better one in a week or so

He's a few days away from being 9.5 months and he's WALKING!!!! Only a few steps at a time, but see for yourself. Yesterday he turned a corner and started letting go and walking a few steps and kept doing that all day. It was like all the sudden he got this new confidence and now there's no turning back.

My girls walked at 12 months, so this is super early for us.

this blog needs an update

Happy Birthday Camryn! Can't believe you are growing up so fast. You are so fun and sweet and kind and I'm so lucky to be your mom. You are a great big sister and I just love being with you! Stop growing so fast!!! Camryn has been crying some about turning 6 and I finally got it out of her.....she was scared of getting shots. She thought she was getting some like she did when she turned 5 and those were traumatic for her. I have been planning and shopping for a Tinkerbell birthday party b/c that's what she wanted but now she has decided that she just doesn't want a party afterall....which saves me money and stress....so we celebrated today as a family by doing things Camryn wanted to do.....like right now she's getting to stay up late and is watching Camp Rock for the first time. And she wanted to go to P.F. Changs for dinner and she wanted to go to the grocery store and pick a birthday cake from the bakery.....which we did, but after dinner she didn't want any cake. Sadie ate a little bit but I'm starting to worry that it will probably be me who eats most of it.....as if the 5000 calories I ate on Thanksgiving day weren't enough.

Here we are on the moving sidewalk of the aquarium in Gatlinburg, TN where we spent 3 nights this week with my mom and my nephew John. And here we are walking the streets of Gatlinburg, but it was cold and rainy and the kids were sick so we didn't spend much time outside. But we had a great time just all being there together.
well, that's all for now. this is taking to long b/c i keep looking up to read the pop-ups on camp rock. i'm going to watch the end of it with camryn and then go to bed to try to catch up on the many hours of sleep i've missed with kids coughing all night for like a week now.

The Gym

Since i wrote about miles and his quest to get healthy and in shape, now i'll say a word about my own. well, a few words.....the other day we were joking b/c someone asked about the gym we go to and we said we have a membership there, but we can't say that we actually GO there.

In May we joined a gym and had good intentions to go often. It's very close to home and we did go some over the summer, but then fall came and we are sooooo busy. And Miles started his running which takes up all of his "exercise" time. Oh, and we got a really good deal....it's only $12/month, which unfortunately is not enough to guilt us into using our membership.

Tonight i went to a class called something like body blast.

It killed me.

But as hard as it was, i found it funny that i couldn't stop yawning. i must have yawned 10 times during the class. is that normal? i mean, i know i'm sleep deprived, but to feel like i could lay down on the floor under flourescent lights with the bass of an aerobics techno mix of a kelly clarkson song playing too loud and people all around me, is that weird? I am obviously way more sleep deprived than i thought.

AND, you know how the teacher gives you ideas for an extra little hop around the step bench for added workout?

Can't do that anymore.

Also realized half way through how hungry I was and that i should have eaten dinner, so I REALLY wanted to leave the class early, but that would have required exactly 3 trips across the room to put away all the STUFF we used in the class.....which was a ball, mat, step bench, 6 risers for bench, one barbell, and 3 sets of dumb bells of various weights.

I think everyone would have noticed.

I guess I better work out more.

so I have to add an update to the half marathon. miles has officially declared himself a "runner" and has his sights set on another half marathon in february and a marathon in april. he has also gotten into running gear. he keeps ordering stuff from sierra trading post....lots of stuff....and keeping a couple of things and sending the rest back.....like a running hat, running shorts, pants, shirts, socks, and of course shoes. he's really excited about his new running goals and i would post a picture of him in all his new gear but i just can't put a picture if him in running tights on the internet.

my husband the 1/2 marathon man

I have to say I'm really proud of Miles this past 6 months as he's been on a journey to getting healthier. Today he ran a 1/2 marathon in Wilmington, NC. It started at the beginning of the summer.....he first went on a low carb diet and shed a few lbs., then did Colonix, which involves taking some pills, drinking some weird drinks and tea....which cleanses the colon.....he cut out a lot of things in his diet like french fries and coke for a while and also started running pretty regularly. Now here he is 6 months later running a 1/2 marathon.
Way to go Miles. I'm proud of you!!!

need some perspective?

so, there's a blog i read a lot called thebigmamablog
she's just a mom like me from Texas. i've never met her and i forget who told me about her blog, but she's very funny and this week she is on a trip to the Dominican Republic with Compassion. I've enjoyed reading this week and seeing the kids she is meeting. But careful, you may end up wanting to sponsor a child if you read!!!

halloween week

It's been a busy week around here with all of the Halloween festivities. Starting with the Halloween Carnival last weekend and a trip to Ganyard Farm the other day. The "hay mountain" there gets bigger every year. Here's C. on top of it. Hudson was covered in hay after crawling around in it.

C. took her time looking carefully for the perfect pumkin to take home.

And of course we got a lot of pictures kinda like this one....

Miles parents came down to visit. Here's his mom with the kids on the Hay Ride. We had it all to ourselves.

S. didn't really want me to take this picture b/c she felt like she was about to fall off this hay.

Because everyone who pays for the hayride gets a free pumkin, we had to carve SIX this year.

Camryn didn't object to putting on her halloween costume which means there was a lot less drama than last year right before going out to trick-or-treat. And she was a SKUNK! A very cute costume.

Overall it was our best Halloween ever. The kids had a great time and really got into trick-or-treating this year. They were happy=no whining=less stress for me.

However it was bitter-sweet. It was our last time to hang out with Eric and Natalie, our good friends and neighbors on Halloween. We have spent the last several Halloweens eating dinner together and trick-or-treating and just getting to know other neighbors.

Today was our neighborhood halloween parade and carnival. Of course it rained as it often does at these things..... here's Hudson with his buddy Caleb in a UT jersey.

Hudson rode in his car for the parade and fell asleep at the wheel.....and was a bat!
One little girl there asked me what Hudson was dressed as and I said "he is black with wings and sharp teeth, what do you think he is"? and she said "a pig"?
Sadie was a butterfly and her friend Anna was a very cute cheerleader!
Camryn is just like her mommy when she was a little girl and does not like wearing costumes as it draws too much attention to herself. She does of course like to pick out a costume and purchase it. Hopefully she will wear it for trick-or-treating. I volunteered Miles to drive the Hay Ride which was a new addition to the carnival this year. It was a BIG hit. Sadie got to ride 4 times.

And, on a sad note, our good friends Eric and Natalie who are in these pictures with us will be moving in 2 1/2 weeks. We will miss them a lot. These neighborhood things won't be the same without them and our kids will miss having each other to play with.

a field trip

This past tuesday I went on Camryn's first school field trip to the Museum of Life and Science. I especially enjoyed seeing how she interacts with her classmates. These are some of her friends....

Here she is holding "little doggy" who goes everywhere with her....
Sadie and Hudson also came along.
This is her good friend S. They sat next to each other at school for the 1st few weeks.

S. likes to give Camryn lots of hugs and if you notice in this next picture her arm is on Camryn's back. You might also notice the really bad haircut I gave Camryn. hmmm.....it looks worse in the picture than in real life, but now i'm thinking I should give up cutting her hair. But it's just so fun....And Sadie has that big eye thing going again.....

this is her teacher with some of the boys....And here they are in a spaceship counting down to blast off, but Camryn is holding her ears and wants out....that's my Camryn....

an update

Little Man: He's into EVERYTHING.....and he's happiest when he's standing up holding on to something.....so proud of himself.....his favorite places are 1) holding onto the bathtub which is the perfect height for him 2) his swing....not to swing in, but to climb in to and right out the other side, or he gets kinda stuck in there with a look on his face like this one....."help me"
Sadie: The highlight of her week is going to The Little Gym for her dance/gymnastics class. She loves it and I love to watch her. She continues to challenge my parenting skills.....and she now likes to try to be in control of Hudson by picking him up, or moving him if he is getting into her stuff. Repeatedly. Over and over. Especially when I tell her not to.
But I love how funny and silly she is.....like at dinner tonight with this pear in her mouth. She makes my laugh one minute and makes me want to scream the next when she disobeys.

Camryn: Today I went to my first parent/teacher conference with her teacher. Which wasn't much of a conference, but a formality which was about 2 minutes of him showing me some things she writes and how many numbers and letters she knows. He said she's ahead of the curve. Although, she's not really reading. I look forward to that. She recoginzes lots of words, so it's coming soon. I love her teachers and school. She still sometimes says she doesn't want to go to school in the mornings, but when she gets home she's excited to tell me what she did and goes straight to the kitchen table to practice writing words. It's fun to see her excited about learning and it is now more apparent to me than ever that I wouldn't be a good homeschool teacher b/c she is learning at school much better than she ever has from me. I just said that like I was once considering homeschooling....

which I wasn't

Not that it's not a great idea. Sometimes I wish I could do that, but I'm just not organized or patient enough and I would procrastinate too much and never teach anything. Although, when we get to middle school I may change my mind if it's true that the middle school in our zone has gangs. I really hope that's not true.

okay, that's all for now.