I've Been Tagged

Thanks a lot Tammie! It took me forever to come up with this list. I wanted to put something that people may not know about me but it's hard to come up with 100 things. So, here we go.

100 Things About Me

1. Spring is my favorite season
2. I like to watch UT football
3. I don’t eat anything that moos, oinks or swims
4. I’m afraid of flying (and heights)
5. I used to dress up like Annie and sing for my family when I was younger
6. I was in the audience for a taping of the Sally Jesse Rafael show- and I got up and asked a question. Soooo not like me! What was I thinking?
7. I graduated from ACU with a degree in Elementary Education
8. I’ve always lived in Texas
9. I like to bowl
10. I get upset if I miss the previews before a movie- so if you go with me, better not make me late!
11. I still wish it was the 80’s- I love everything from that decade
12. I already cry when I think about Hudson starting kindergarten. I can’t even think about college……
13. I pray for my boys’ health, lives, and spouses every day
14. I’m unorganized
15. I have an entrepreneurial spirit
16. I hate the smell of fresh cut grass
17. I would love to own a vacation home in Montana
18. My first job was at a tanning salon
19. I enjoy time alone when I can get it- it makes me a better person
20. I’m terrified to speak in front of a crowd
21. I wear contacts
22. I would love to have laser eye surgery but the thought of it freaks me out
23. I’ve never had stitches
24. The only bone I’ve broken is my toe. I’ve sprained my wrist though
25. I don’t eat cheese
26. I bite my thumb nails when I get nervous
27. I enjoy taking pictures
28. I could take a vacation every couple of months- I love to travel
29. I cut all the edges off my chicken before I eat it
30. I take the cheese and toppings off my pizza and just eat the crust and sauce
31. I had a pet duck when I was little
32. I can’t stand to be late
33. I love to read mysteries
34. I can say all 50 states in alphabetical order
35. I like to scrapbook
36. I took French in high school…..I guess to be different. Lot’s of good that did me.
37. I always iron our clothes
38. I’m craving a hazelnut latte from Starbucks right now
39. I like to go fishing
40. I can’t stand the feeling of chalk on my hands…..it makes my mouth dry
41. I used to teach 2nd grade and then was a reading specialist before I quit
42. I love peppermint ice cream
43. My college friends call me Townie
44. I am very sensitive and cry easily
45. Dr. Pepper is my favorite
46. I love living close to family
47. I enjoy creating traditions for my kids
48. I’m very picky about my pillow- I like it not too fluffy and not too flat
49. I like to play board games
50. I’ve been known to talk in my sleep……..a lot
51. I got baptized when I was 18
52. I had kidney stones during my first pregnancy and the stones were WAY worse
53. I require a lot of sleep
54. I love taking baths
55. I am amazed every time I watch the sun rise
56. I have a 6 year old sister-in-law
57. Mosquitoes love me
58. I get carsick if I don’t ride in the front
59. Jason and I went to the same high school, grew up at the same church and lived a few miles from each other, yet we didn’t start dating until our 20’s.
60. I am a morning person
61. When folding laundry, I hate trying to match the socks up
62. I must be pretty boring because I’m running out of things to write
63. I like to blog about my family
64. Grey’s Anatomy rocks!
65. Netflix is my new best friend
66. I’m catching up on Lost. I’m on Season 2 right now
67. I love being a stay-at-home mom
68. I know that I was meant to mother boys
69. I’m the youngest child
70. I rarely carry cash because I’ll spend it and not know where it went
71. Is anyone even reading this?
72. If so, do you care about this stuff? (smile)
73. I’m so done with Lindsey Lohan
74. I eat waffles for breakfast every morning
75. I don’t like to clean
76. I like sour candy
77. I’ve been married for 7 years
78. I’m 31 years old
79. I like antiques
80. I rarely salt my food
81. I wear house shoes/slippers almost all the time…..I wear them out pretty fast
82. I’m not very good at computer or technical things
83. Thank goodness Jason can fix pretty much everything around here
84. I’m sentimental and find it hard to throw things away
85. I went toilet papering some as a kid……and now that I’m an adult and have a home, I feel REALLY bad about that!
86. I wasn’t allowed to watch Threes Company or MTV as a kid
87. I’m really close to my mom and sister
88. I get annoyed at really slow drivers- especially when I’m in a hurry
89. I don’t like leftovers nearly as well as Jason does
90. I don’t usually wear a watch so I look at my cell phone for the time
91. I don’t like to dress up for Halloween (me personally)
92. I’m so thankful for my health
93. I’ve changed several flat tires by myself
94. My pregnancies were REALLY hard
95. I love the feeling of clean sheets on my bed
96. I do not have a green thumb- I kill almost every plant and flower I own
97. I don’t like to call people past 9pm (fear of being rude)
98. I look forward to all the holidays- especially Christmas
99. How wonderful that I’m a Christian and that Jesus died for me!
100. I’m so glad this list is over because it’s taken me forever to do this!!

That's it- 100 Wonderful things you didn't know about me. I tag Laura, Laurie, and Kyla.

Fish Sticks and Chicken

Before having kids, I remember saying the phrase "I'll never be the mom that lets my kids eat chicken nuggets all the time." Then again, when Hudson was born and we were beginning table food, I quite often said "my kids won't eat chicken nuggets." Has anyone else proclaimed these lies before? I mean seriously. My intentions were good but somehow, some way I've failed. I know that I really tried hard to avoid this issue. I made homemade baby food for goodness sake. I can probably count on one hand how many "jars" of baby food Hudson consumed. I had a gourmet baby food cookbook and I created wonderful recipes for him. Jason would often come home, following the amazing smells from all the way in the garage and into the house and then ask "what's for dinner?" I had been slaving away for hours making up food for him, freezing it up, and then too tired to worry about what we were eating. I would reply "I don't know, want a sandwich or something?" Yes, this is true! (now that I think about this, I do feel sorry for Jason. Poor guy!) My point in telling you this is that I really made an effort to provide good food and help him develop a taste for healthy foods. Somewhere along the way, probably around 18 months or so Hudson became a picky eater. Over time, he would not eat many foods and me being the first time mom, I guess I just caved. So now, we fast forward 3 years and my almost 4.5 year old is a picky eater. I'm sure my mom is laughing and thinking "what goes around, comes around" because I was and still am a picky eater. So my question to you is: how do YOU get your children to eat a wide variety of foods? I'd love for you to comment on ways to sneak in veggies or get your kids to eat new things. At lunch time, I am pretty flexible- we eat sandwiches, fish sticks, and nuggets but for dinner I've been better at making them eat what we eat. So does it require cutting these foods out all together until they are so hungry they have no choice but to eat the pot roast? If you have been a lurker on my blog, now is the time to come out of the closet and give us some pointers on this topic. Any suggestions are appreciated!

Yesterday morning, I was feeding Cooper his yogurt and Hudson woke up and came into the kitchen. He said, "mom can I tell you something?" He was really excited to share his information with me. He sat at the table and said "look, these match."

He put his feet together and showed me that both sides match. He was quite impressed with himself.Who needs toys when you have the toilet paper holder thing- you know, the white tube with the spring that holds your toilet paper on the rack? Hudson realized that he could put something on top of it, pull it down, release it, and watch the object fly up into the air. He had a blast with it.

This morning we went outside and played in the pool and with our water table. Cooper loves the lawn mower and all of the songs it plays. He gets frustrated though when he can't push it through the grass so we keep it on our porch to avoid a melt-down.

I feel like I always blog about Cooper climbing on stuff or getting into something. I have failed to mention that he gives really sweet kisses- you know the kind where he keeps his mouth wide open and just leans in to you? They are not quite perfected yet but they are precious. He also loves taking a bath, playing hide-and-seek, going "bye bye", and pretending to talk on the phone.

Am I Getting Paid for This?

Seriously, I laugh sometimes at my life because there are rarely dull moments around here. When I really sit and think about it though, I've got the best job in the world! Here are some of the perks to being a stay-at-home-mom:

1. Flexibility- We can wake up and choose what we want to do that day. There are no set schedules (other than Tue/Thur preschool during the school year) We can have a really busy day or one that is spent inside all day......it's up to us. I can't think of any other job that lets YOU decide what you will do that day.

2. No work clothes- that's right, no dresses or high heels for me. In fact, I have the right to stay in my jammies all day if the mood hits me. Every once in a while, we don't get out of our jammies all day and it feels so good to be lazy. Even on the days that I do get up and showered before the boys, I dress very casually and comfortably. I can't think of a job that will allow you to wear a T-shirt and jeans and still compliment you on looking pretty (Hudson tells me I'm pretty even if I'm not dressed up)

3. Cartoons- I must admit that I love the Backyardigans. They are the cutest things (except for their names!) and their theme song is so catchy. I've also picked up a little Spanish here and there from our good friends Dora and Diego.

4. Precious nap time- oooooh, this is the best. Now, over the last month or so Hudson has been fighting his nap. If we have a really active morning then he will still go down. I've tweaked it so that the boys nap at the same time and I get that amazing silence that is music to my ears. This is when I get to check emails, update my blog, catch up on phone calls, or even take a nap myself if I'm just beat.

5. Job Security- No chances of getting fired here any time soon. Although some days when it gets crazy, I may offer you to come and take my place!

6. Snack Breaks- Who knew that snacking on mini Nilla Wafers could be so exciting?

Obviously, there are many other "perks" to staying home- like all the things I get to experience with them. Although it is very tiring, I can't imagine not being here. In fact, I took the boys to the park today. Next to the play area there is a long sidewalk that takes you down a path and eventually leads you to a really pretty fountain. As we were walking, Hudson was pointing out all the flowers and bugs and he whispered "shh, we are in the forest. Don't wake up the spiders!" It was so silly but so fun and real to him. I'm walking next to him, Cooper is in the stroller soaking it all in and I think to myself "I've got the best life ever." It really doesn't get any better than this. I'm so thankful for each and every day I get to be here with them.

As you can see, our little Tarzan is still up to his usual stuff- climbing on everything!

This week, Cooper's favorite thing is to pull out a chair at our kitchen table, climb up into the chair and place himself in the middle of the table. Last week I went to the restroom and came back to find him in the middle of the kitchen table. I was so scared that I didn't find time to get my camera. He was not thrilled either that he was removed. I hate to think of what would have happened if he fell onto the tile below. I really have to watch this kid!

Hudson is beginning to talk so big. Yes, he still has a few things he says incorrectly (see previous posts) but sometimes he will say something that seems so big boy to me. For example, last week I took him to the library. He picked out some books and a few movies. After we left, I wanted to go to Borders to find a book for myself. He was ready to go home and not pleased that we were taking a little trip to the "mommy" library. On our way there, he said "mom, how about Cooper and I just stay in the car while you go inside." Okay, nothing really big about that but just hearing him say "Cooper and I" seemed so big. I remember teaching school and I could hardly get my second graders to speak like this. It just struck me that he's really getting older.

Mr. Chick N. Pox did not come to visit

Yesterday morning, I noticed that Cooper had a couple of red spots on his face. By the afternoon, he had several of these spots on his face and back of his neck. My first thought was chicken pox. Then I started to think back to the last week and we have been outside a lot and I've put sunblock on his face a few times. Maybe it was heat related or maybe he was having a reaction to the sunblock? We gave him some Benadryl and just watched him. Jason stayed home with him last night while Hudson and I went to church. By the time I got home, he was already in bed. This morning he had another spot on his hand so I decided to call the doctor. They wanted me to go ahead and bring him in. They gave me specific instructions for this visit:

1. Come in through the front

2. Hand the receptionist a piece of paper with my cell phone number on it

3. Go back to my car and wait for a call

4. When I get the call, move to the back of the building where someone will be waiting for me.

I showed up at 11:30 and did as I was told. I felt like I was doing some kind of illegal deal in the underground black market or something. It was so rushed, quick, intense for a minute while they were leading us through back hallways into the patient room. We waited for Dr. K and as he entered our room Hudson informed him that Cooper had "chicken pops."

I had done some research myself and I was thinking that by this point he would be covered head to toe if it was in fact the pox and Dr. K confirmed that it was not. He seems to think it is some kind of insect/bug bite of some sort. I just can't figure out how he keeps getting bit and I never see it.
Yesterday, I looked through his bed really good but today I did a complete transformation in his crib. Jason kept telling me to just take the bumper pads off in case some little creature was hiding there. You see, Jason swears that at one point in college, he had a little Charlotte that slept between his mattresses and every night for about a week she would come out and bite him and walk across his body while he was sleeping. He's pretty paranoid about this so I went ahead and followed his suggestion. I got home and stripped the sheet and removed the bumper pads. I hate the way it looks now, so plain and hard. We may put them back on but for now we need to make sure there isn't something there that is hurting him.

During the process of looking for little creatures that may have taken over my son's bed, I noticed that my little gopher has been having fun lately with the tassels on this bumper pads. See the lovely chew marks? They look wet but in fact, the suede material has been rubbed/eaten away. Lovely. I guess I can ditch the idea of reselling this one day. My plan was to sell them, along with the rug and many other accessories from his room once he outgrew the crib. You know how it is with the first kid- we spent WAY too much on this bedding and I kept justifying it with the fact that BOTH boys have used it and I could sell it and get some of that money back. Other than this, everything is in excellent shape. Gotta love that!

So, it's great to know that we can carry on about our lives, not having to live in quarantine. My college friends will be relieved to know we are not contagious, since we have a play date scheduled for tomorrow morning. Let's just pray that whatever has been snacking on my son's face will stop!

A day with new friends

A few weeks ago, I met a really nice girl at the park. She and her family have not lived here long and I could tell that she doesn't have a huge network of friends yet. Our kids are pretty much the same age and our older boys seemed to play well together. She asked for my phone number and said she'd call when she got back from a trip to visit family. So, she called last week and we planned a swim day together at her neighborhood pool. We got there around 10 this morning and the kids played and swam until noon. We had a great time but I was a nervous wreck trying to keep an eye on both kids, kids that wanted to go in completely opposite directions. Many of you know from reading previous posts that Hudson is no avid swimmer yet. My saving grace is that he is my cautious child. He would not willingly just jump into a pool. I do know that accidents can happen so I obviously watch him like a hawk but I don't fear that he would ever do anything intentionally dangerous. Wouldn't you know about 1 minute before we left, Cooper fell near the kiddy pool and scratched the side of his face up. Poor kid!

The wonderful part about hanging outside and swimming for a couple of hours is that your kids are zapped and take really good naps. I should have joined them because it's 9:20 and I can barely keep my eyes open. I'm so wiped out!

Although he took a great nap, Cooper was a bit fussy tonight. I tried to get some pictures of him but for some reason he was obsessed with my camera. Here he is, upset that I won't let him play with it. Little bit of an attitude!
Look at this boy! He turned 16 months yesterday and he just looks so big to me now. What's this in Hudson's hand? You guessed it. It's a garden hose sprayer. This is his favorite thing of the week. Do you think he naps with it? You bet. In fact, we took it to the pool today so that he could pour water into the opening, hold down the handle and see the different kinds of sprays that it could make- mist, shower, stream,.......he's got them all down. Your kids take water guns and beach balls to the pool. Mine takes a sprayer. It's pretty close, right? Earlier this evening, Cooper picked up the sprayer (that Hudson had abandoned and not touched in at least an hour) and of course Hudson immediately wanted it back. We have really been working on sharing, waiting our turn, just letting Cooper play until he puts it down, etc......right as Cooper picked it up, Hudson looked at me and got this high-pitched voice (to mock me) and said "hey mom, what about sharing? That would be a great idea!".........as if we were needing to teach Cooper to share with him. Wow, kids learn manipulation fast these days!I remembered another cute thing that Hudson says as we were getting ready to leave this morning. He said "mom, where is my babe-ing suit?" It's so cute the way he says it and I don't correct him. He's got the rest of his life to talk like a grown up.

New Pool

Last week, my mom and I were at Toys R' Us and she wanted to get the boys a new swimming pool. I guess the blue plastic kind just wasn't enough. No, my mom just knows how much Hudson loves running water so she wanted to get a soft pool that would allow both of them to play and still let Hudson play with his cups and water toys. We settled on one that has a small slide, a little arch that sprays water as you slide, a little basketball goal and some hoops that you can toss onto the pegs. Of course, the day we got it home Hudson was ready to use it. I got out our air pump- it's the kind you plug into your car- well, in about 15 minutes time you couldn't even tell it had air inside. I knew this would take days if we used this. I told Hudson that we needed to get another, stronger pump. Shopping for air pumps would not be complete without Hudson tagging along. He wanted to look at the choices, have a say in which one, etc....... We selected a heavier duty pump and took it home. By the time we got home, it was into the evening so we quickly began the pump-up process. This pool has several "parts" so it's not a simple matter of pumping up one large pool. Hudson was quite a champ- hanging outside with his dad, watching it fill with air. Although the entire process did take about an hour, it was almost dark by the time it was up and ready to go. I promised him we would use it the next morning.

Hudson was bored at times so he found ways to entertain himself

Are we almost finished?Are you sure we can't just fill this up and take a swim now?

Have you guys ever seen these bug bracelets? They are very cool. My poor kids must have inherited my sweetness (just kidding) because mosquitoes love them just like they love me. I'm always afraid to use Off- since I've got 2 thumb-suckers on my hands so this is a perfect solution. Hudson didn't get one bite that night- minus the bite he got before we bought the bug bands.The next morning we got in the pool and had a great time. It was pretty overcast on Saturday morning so the water was a bit cool but we still had fun. At one point, Hudson and I started singing some songs. At times, I just stopped and listened to his sweet voice, taking it in as I know he will mature and lose that little voice one day. I got tickled because we were singing "You are my Sunshine" and his tongue got twisted and he kept saying "you are my shunshine, my only shunshine ........" It was really cute. I also know that as he gets older, he will begin to say everything the right way. What I mean by that is, he will no longer say the cute things like:

"can I have a candy can (candy cane/mint)"

" I sleep on my mat mat (instead of nap mat) at school"

"I want a butter jelly (PB&J) sandwich please"

"I saw that movie lasterday" (he says lasteryear and lasterday instead of yesterday)

"Lemamade" (lemonade)

"My leg is hurtning" (hurting)

I know there are others but I can't think right now. As he gets older, the number of these will get smaller and smaller (and they should!) and we will begin a new phase in his life. I'm enjoying him so much right now and can't wait to see what God has in store for my sweet Hudson.

Movie Ratings

Has anyone gone to see the movie Ratatouille yet? I took Hudson on Saturday, just the two of us. He has been seeing the previews for quite some time now since they are at the beginning of our "Cars" DVD. It finally came out so I decided that he and I needed some time together. We headed out, grabbed our popcorn and Dr. Pepper at the concession stand (after we took out the loan to pay for it......just kidding!) We found our seats and waited for the movie to start. It finally did and Hudson seemed to enjoy it. I was amazed though at the rating of the movie vs. the content of the movie. Okay, maybe I'm a little old fashioned here but back when I was a kid, examples of G-rated movies were Bambi, Fox and the Hound, Dumbo....... in my opinion this was NOT a G-rated movie. The story line was pretty cute and did show some examples of good morals but those were quickly overshadowed by the mild violence and language. When I say violence, I don't mean people getting killed or anything but there was a TON of yelling and one scene where the rat was running across a ceiling rafter and looked down into an apartment where a couple was arguing, one was holding a gun, the rat ran off and you could hear the gunshot. It didn't show anything but led you to believe someone got hurt. The rat ran back and found them "making up" by kissing. Was that really necessary? Then you have the beautiful words like shut-up, idiot, stupid, hell.......just to name a few. I cringed every time a word was spoken and was quickly distracted by my sweet and innocent 4 year old looking up at me with his huge brown eyes and shaking his head saying "they shouldn't say that." It makes it so hard for us parents to take our kids out and expose them to decent entertainment when there is no decency left in this world. I mean, are there any good movies out there for kids ages 3-7 anymore? Or any age for that matter? Well, a couple of days ago, I got my Parents magazine in and this very topic was discussed. They listed a few good sites that you can look at before you take your kids to a movie. It will rate it and tell you everything you need to know before seeing it. They are: http://www.screenit.com/ (I think you have to pay for this one) and http://www.kids-in-mind.com/ and http://www.commonsensemedia.org/ I will definitely be reading the reviews next time before we go. I really wish our society would not feel the need to expose our children to this filth!

Okay, off my soapbox........ I remember when I used to be a teacher, I had this mom one time tell me that she could always tell what kind of teacher her kids had because the daughter would come home and play "school" with her stuffed animals. The mom said she could always tell how the teacher talked to the students depending on how her daughter talked to her toys. Well, I think something similar happened today. This morning we loaded up and headed over to a play date with a new friend I met at church. Cooper was getting fussy and Hudson started to get on to him. I just sat there and listened and found out what kind of mom I really am. Now granted, you would need to be here to really understand why I say some of the things that I do but regardless, it was funny to hear him talk to Cooper. **Most of these phrases are things I say to him. He looked at him and said "please settle down Coop." Cooper kept on fussing......"You really need to obey me"......Cooper still fussing and almost sassing back to Hudson......"you need to take care of yourself and worry about YOU"........now Cooper is just upset and crying........"wow, someone sure is tired"...... Cooper just making noise............"that is sooooooo fake!" ............ I'm laughing so hard because as he is saying this, I am reminded that I DO say these things throughout the day at times. Although none of it is mean or bad, I just had to laugh at the little parrot in the car with me. He sure will make a good daddy one day!

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Schlemeel, schlemazel, hasenfeffer incorporated

For some reason, this picture brought me back to the days of Laverne and Shirley. I put the boys into the bath, went to get their pajamas and came back to find Cooper looking like this. Hudson used a small cup and poured water down his head and it caused his hair to come down to a point. If this doesn't remind me of Squiggy then I don't know what will. I remember as a kid when Laverne and Shirley would come on I would sit and really listen hard to the beginning of their theme song, trying to figure out what in the world they said before the song started. Did anyone know? I doubt it. In fact, most of us just mumbled something and sang along, pretending we knew the words. While googling to find out the lyrics I realized that what I muttered probably came close to the actual words. What in the world? I didn't take the time to read up on what these words really mean but I can say that I've never heard of them before. My spell check will love them. This week, Cooper is really into my measuring spoons. They are the clanky metal ones and he loves the noise they make. Here he is, all over the house with these spoons....making lots of racket and being mischievous.
Can't you just hear them now?

Yes, this is a favorite for him. I'm trying to teach him that we don't climb or sit on coffee tables and he gets really upset with me. Now, if he even sees me coming he starts screaming because he knows that I'm going to get him down........ such a rough life!

Hudson had his last swim lesson on Friday. I know I told you that he got a slow start but by the end he was doing great. Is he an accomplished swimmer? No. Will he need lessons again? You bet. But he did come a long way (for him) and we are just encouraging him and hoping that each year he will just get better.

Way to go Hudson!

Botanical Gardens

We took the boys to the Botanical Gardens in Grapevine today. It's very quaint and pretty there. I love that it's not too big, they don't charge you to go there, and they have a park right beside it. We enjoyed looking at the flowers, watching the butterflies, and following Hudson as he discovered a new waterfall. Our goal was to get some good pictures before we left. Anyone who has small kids knows how hard it is to get both of them to look at the camera at the same time. It didn't happen this trip. We got many individual shots but none with the both of them. Maybe next time!

Hudson is checking out the overflow from the fountain

Lots of exploring to do

Lots of pretty flowers....................

................and lots of ants too!

Hudson and dad

Having fun at the park

Very tired after a long, hot day

Happy 4th

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July holiday. I know we sure did. We had our families over for a cookout.

Having fun with our cousins- Colton and McKenzie

Our parents enjoyed a game of Sequence where the girls beat the boys...again

Aunt Julie playing a game of Scooby-Doo with the kids

4 Generations- Great Grandma Ruby, Mimi, Daddy, Hudson, and Cooper

Our Family

Hudson sucking a pickle

Acting silly with Colton

At 8:45 it still wasn't dark but my little Cooper man was so tired that I was afraid he wouldn't make it much longer. I wanted him to get to see the sparklers so we went ahead and did them before it turned dark. They don't show up as good but the kids still had a good time.