First Soccer Practice

Two words. Hated it.

All of us. Hudson hated the practice and even the idea of the practice. I hated the feeling I got when I realized that he didn't even want to try. I'm upset that I allowed myself to get mad and frustrated by this situation. I'm ticked that I've allowed society to tell me that my son should be playing soccer. It's really like putting a square peg into a round hole.

Hudson has never shown interest in balls. Never. In the back of our minds I think we always hoped that Hudson would learn to enjoy sports or that once he got around other kids he would see how fun it could be. He just doesn't. (his brother is another story!!)

When it was time to get dressed for practice, Hudson began to moan. He fought Jason as he tried to dress him and Hudson began to cry before we left the house. I told him that all I expected was for him to try. If he participated in the practices and played the games and at the end of the season it still wasn't something he enjoyed, then we would not force it on him. I just wanted him to give it a chance. We were outside for a few minutes and he was already complaining. The other boys began to kick the ball and run after it. Hudson just stood there. After a while he walked back over to Jason and told him that he didn't want to play. After some discussion, Hudson began to cry and get upset. We felt embarrassed and disappointed. My first thought was, "he's not like the rest of the kids. Look how much fun they are having." I quickly reminded myself that Hudson has NEVER been like the rest. He walks to the beat of his own drum.

Instead of just leaving, we had Hudson move over to the side and kick the ball with Jason. That only lasted for a few minutes.

Then you have brother upset because he can't get on the field and play. Sheesh!

This picture pretty much sums up how we all felt.

We drove home in silence as I thought about what just happened. I won't lie. It's hard for me and I struggle with my feelings. Part of me says that he's just 5 and that after more exposure he may come around. The other part, deep down inside, knows that he probably won't ever like sports. That's okay. I just wanted him to at least TRY.

We got home and ate dinner. As we were eating, Jason discovered that our sink faucet was broken and there was a crack in some of the pipes. We had some leakage and water issues under the kitchen sink. Of course, Hudson was all over that and wanted to watch and see what was going on. I told Jason that we should just send him to Maytag Repairman School and be done with it!

This week I have really had to pray about my feelings. I have such mixed emotions and at times I feel let down because Hudson doesn't respond or react the way I would like for him to. Then I feel guilty for feeling this way. I know that God has great things planned for him. The sooner I realize that he doesn't follow the "norm" the better off I'll be! I'm sure tomorrow I will regret this post but I believe in being honest. I never want to pretend that my life is perfect or that our family never has problems. I know in the big picture, life could be much worse. However, this is something I have dealt with most of Hudson's life and at times it's just hard. I love him more than anything and honestly would not want him any other way. It's just a journey for me and one that is often hard.

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13

First Day of School

Today was Hudson's first day of kindergarten. I've really been quite emotional about this day...even before Hudson was born. As I teacher I would always get emotional about the beginning of a new year, even though I didn't have kids at the time. It's such a big day, a time that you must let go and let your child become so independent of you. As a mom I'm so mixed about this. I know it's my job to love and nurture my boys and shape them into independent men. I know this. The Bible tells me this and ulitimately that is what I want for them. But the sensitive side of me wants to hang on forever to that little boy.

All summer I've been praying about kindergarten. Praying he would get a good teacher. Praying that he would love it and make great friends. Praying that I would be able to "let go" and proudly walk him into that room and then walk out, without him.

Our morning was pretty busy trying to get everyone up and fed. My mom spent the night last night so that she could stay here with Cooper. We wanted to be able to focus on just Hudson and make his morning special. The boys were pretty excited because they got cinnamon rolls for breakfast which is saved only for special occasions.

Here is our big boy before school

We drove towards school and noticed that traffic into the parking lot was crazy busy. I decided to pull into the neighborhood right before the school so we could walk the short distance to the front, without getting caught in all the traffic. The entire time we walked, we held hands and I began to have a "chat" with myself and also have a quick prayer with God. I told myself that this day wasn't about ME. It's about him. It's not about how I feel but how Hudson feels. I prayed that God would allow me to get him to class without losing it. And I did...... sort of.

Daddy helping Hudson find his cubby.

With Mrs. P

I did great until the very end. Luckily Hudson had started to color his paper and we had already said goodbye. I felt my eyes begin to fill with tears and I had to walk out. Jason and I walked back to the car, hand in hand, while I cried. I had officially handed my baby over.

Back at home, Cooper must have been tired of all the fuss over Hudson and his first day of school because he was adamant that he begin to practice using his new nap mat in preparation of preschool.

It was time to go get Hudson (he's only half day kindergarten......I'll post about that another time!) so we waited in the pick-up line for him. A teacher brought him to our car and he got in. You may remember me telling you that Hudson is not a man of many words. Last year I basically had to pull teeth with him to find out what he did each day. Thank goodness they sent home letters in preschool or I would have had no idea what he did that day.

Grammy (my mom): "So Hudson, did you have fun at school today?"

Hudson: "Yep."

Grammy: "Is your teacher really nice?"

Hudson: "Yes."

Grammy: "What did you learn today?"

Hudson: "I don't remember."

See where this is going? Nowhere!

So we took the boys to eat at Fridays. While we are waiting for our lunch I decided to ask Hudson a few more questions. I said, "okay, so tell me the one thing you did today that was your favorite." He sipped on his water and shrugged his shoulders. I prodded, "just tell me what your favorite thing about today was." He sipped and thought about it for a minute and then said, "leavin'." Nice. I honestly think he had a good day he just doesn't want to let me know about it. Not yet. I'll get it out of him eventually.

Here is one of the traditions I decided to start this year. I took a piece of paper and typed Kindergarten and then the year on it. I made a hand print of H's hand and then had him write his name underneath it. I'm going to have him write his name on it again on the last day of school to show how his handwriting has improved. I'll do this each year to see how his hand size changes too. I've got another neat tradition but I haven't taken a picture of that just yet so I'll post it soon. For now, I'm going to play with my big kindergartner. I hope everyone had a great first day of school.

Friday's Favorites

The new look of my blog.......it's my new favorite! Run over to Sweet Cheeky Designs and let Traci hook you up. She's extremely talented and so, so helpful. I know that her prices are increasing a little bit on September 1st so contact her now in order to get in on these prices! You won't be disappointed. She's also going to have a "new blog giveaway" so make sure you comment and earn a chance to win!

Have a great weekend!!

Test Run and Meeting the Teacher

This morning we did a test run to see how we could successfully get out the door in time to meet Laurie at McDonald's. We met at 7:30 to eat breakfast and then let the boys play. Luckily, Hudson woke up early on his own and Cooper did really well when I woke him. One thing I hate doing is waking a sleeping baby! Tomorrow we plan to get up really early and take our dog to the groomers. We need a couple days of practice to get us ready for next week. What big boys! It's hard to believe that Hudson and Brady became friends when they were just months old and now they are heading off to kindergarten. We are sad that they won't be at the same school but at least we get to see them at church and small group.

All this commotion about Hudson starting kindergarten has caused me to forget that Monkey is about to have a first of his own. He's about to start preschool for the first time! I guess since it's still a couple of weeks out I haven't fully processed that but I did want to mention it so that he doesn't feel left out.Yesterday Hudson got a letter in the mail from his teacher. I read it out loud to him and it talked about all the fun things he would do and learn this year. It seemed to pique his interest a little bit.......until today and he didn't think much more about it. You see, I'm afraid that I can't write about how excited he is. He's quite unsure of this "kindergarten" thing we speak of and as his mom I'm pretty nervous for him. He's a homebody, a mama's boy, and not your typical 5 year old. I pray that he finds his niche and finds someone in his class that will discuss smoke detectors and fire alarms with him.

This evening we went up to his school to meet his teacher and look around. The cat managed to get Hudson's tongue sometime between getting out of the car and entering the building. We found his school supplies and began putting them in the piles that the teacher labeled. They have community supplies and we divided everything up like she wanted. We stood in line to meet her, all the while we were looking around. Hudson sees a speaker in the ceiling and starts asking me about it....and Jason looks at me and says, "we better get this over with now and answer all his questions for him." It was hilarious. It was our turn and Hudson was pretty shy. He looked up at me for reassurance and I pretty much answered the questions for him. I've heard great things about his teacher. Robyn taught with Mrs. P last year and said she's wonderful. I'm thankful we have her and just pray that she can love and accept his interests. I'll keep you posted on how things go next week.

When thinking about Hudson I can't help but think about that scene from the movie Sixteen Candles. You know the one where the parents are literally dragging their son to the dance? Will that be me one day? (insert nervous laugh) I tried to find a picture from that scene and was not successful. I did find this one though....

.......and I hate to say it but this one may be true too! Ha ha.....just kidding Hudson. I love you!

Beginning of School Traditions?

I started thinking a couple of weeks ago that I'd really like to do something neat for the beginning of school each year for the boys. Since Hudson starts kindergarten next Monday, I need to figure something out pretty quick. So, do any of you have any neat traditions you do for the beginning of the school year? It can be something simple like eating a certain breakfast or eating from a special plate. If you have something, please share. (even if you want to leave an anonymous comment you can )

This morning after his bath, Hudson was putting his clothes on while I was dressing Cooper. He came in with just his shorts on and they were pulled way up high. He looked a lot like Steve Urkel to me!

Then here is my child that used to hate the camera- he would run from it or refuse to smile any time I tried to take his picture. He has recently had a change of heart and any time he sees the camera he follows me around saying "cheese!!"

Poor Hudson has been dealing with growing pains in his legs for a couple of years now. It comes and goes but at times, will wake him up at night. Recently when I was rubbing his legs, trying to get them to feel better, he said, "If you rub it too fast it will hurt mucher." Sweet thing.......I didn't have the heart to correct him at two in the morning.

Friends and Flashback

In lieu of Friday's favorites, I'm going to post about friends and flashbacks. (which happen to be some of my favorite things too!)

Friends

I had the privilege last night of hanging out with my girls from the good 'ole ACU days. We met at a Mexican restaurant, had some drinks and yummy food, and then headed over to play a couple games of bowling. We had so much fun!!

Fischer, Robyn, me, Laura

Not sure what we were doing here but it sure made us laugh!

We can NOT wait until the next girls night out!!

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Flashbacks

When thinking about "the good 'ole ACU days" I couldn't resist pulling out a scrapbook to look back on some of our memories. One year, several of us did intramural bowling and we had so much fun. In fact our entire team dressed up in 70's attire. I had these huge bell-bottoms that would often cause me to foul because the material would cross the line. So, I took a few snapshots of some pics in my album.....some of bowling and some of just friends. Enjoy!

Rae, me, Andrea, and Laura on the Kojie bowling team.

Bowling in Abilene

Kojie Stock

Sing Song '98

Laura and me before a Moonie social

With Robyn (oh, what I'd do to have that stomach back!!)

No flashback post would be complete without a pic of Gim and me and our Big Tex drinks! If you went to ACU the same time I did then you probably saw me around campus with my drink. Gim, did we ever go to chapel without one? In fact, a few of us got to know Bobby and Marty- the Texaco workers- because we went in there so much. I'm shocked I even have kidneys that function.

Laura, Mandy, Lynley, me, Robyn, Gim (up top), and Fischer laying across.

The four of us at my graduation. Yes, I'm the old lady of the bunch. I transferred in my sophomore year (the spring) and didn't pledge until my junior year so all of my friends were a year younger than me.

Spring Break '99- we took a trip to Eureka Springs, Arkansas during March. I called ahead and was told that it was nice and warm during the day but that early mornings and late nights could get cold so we needed to pack a few jeans and sweatshirts. Good thing we did because as we were driving in, Laura's car got pelted with ice chips and it snowed 13 inches the first night we were there. Our car got snowed in, all the electricity went out (yes, Robyn and I built the fire), we had to heat water.....although we got snowed in, we had soo much fun! We built snowmen, drank lots of warm coffee, played spades, and laughed way too much!

We all had to share sweaters and sweatshirts because we each only brought a couple of things. The snow was certainly unexpected but it turned out to be so much fun!

I could go on and on about my college days and about much fun I had. I'm so thankful for the memories and the friendships I made while there!

Kinder Prep, Dancing a Jig, Time with Friends

It's second nature for me to teach my kids.....guess that's just the real teacher in me coming out. I will admit that I was a little overboard with Hudson when he was young. Hey, he was our only child and I had countless hours to focus on just him. I remember him sitting in his exasaucer and I'd pull out all kinds of flashcards and "teach" him about objects, colors, and letters. I laugh about that now and how much life has changed now that we have two kids. Poor Cooper. Hopefully he won't hold his lack of early education against me! Anyway, this spring I planned to do all kinds of things with Hudson in order to prep him for kindergarten. I had the greatest of intentions but as summer started I realized that we needed to just hang out and have some fun. I don't want him going to school and being bored because I've already taught him everything.

Of course as part of our bedtime routine, we read 3 books and he enjoys that. A couple of weeks ago though, I couldn't help myself, and I did pull out some of the dolch sight words and we started looking at those together. Here is his little name tracer card. I have not been good about this either but from now on we are going to practice printing our name. On the top line, he asked me if he could color the letters in because "it looks cool" and on the second line he "made wires" coming out of the letters. Hmm, think of that! The last two lines were sincere attempts and I'd say he still has a way to go!

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For the first time we pulled out a boom box that Hudson got for Christmas. We put it in his room and the boys danced to some different CD's. It was pretty funny to watch them dance all around the room.

He really is his daddy's son....All White. No moves.

Dancing and acting goofy!Loving his boom box!

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Today we played with Robyn and her kiddos. We went to a place near us that neither of us had ever been. She had some free tickets so we thought we'd go and check it out. The boys had a blast!

In the ball pitPlaying with Jace

Sweet baby Kyla was just as perfect as she could be! We didn't hear a peep out of her.

I'm beginning to feel the clock tick.....we only have a few more days where we can do playdates anytime we want to. Summer, slow down!!

Three Ring Circus and a Milk Stand

No, this post is not about how our house has turned into a three ring circus lately. Today we went to the real circus in Dallas with Poppy, CeCe, and Maya. It was a lot of fun. It was Hudson's first time to see a circus and he really liked it. When asked what his favorite part was he said the lighting....so when prompted again in order to get a normal answer he said that he liked the dog act. It was pretty cute! All excited about his electric pinwheel that changes colorsWith Maya before the show

Thanks Poppy and Cece for taking us along. We had a great time!

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The Milk Stand: (conversation last night)

Hudson: "Dad, can we have a milk stand? Like outside and sell some milk?"

Jason: "What about a lemonade stand?"

Hudson: "Oooh, yea...that's even better!"

(can you tell what we drink around here?)

Friday's Favorites and Chair Update

So, the shock has now worn off (okay that's a big fat lie but it's sure sounds good!) and I'm really okay with it. Of course, I'd rather that it didn't happen but how can I stay mad at my Monkey for too long? Especially when you have others around you that are in much worse situations. Like this couple, that I don't even know, they are burying their only daughter this morning. What about this sweet family that is mourning the loss of a daughter they didn't get to know. And finally, this mom that is holding on hope that her unborn son will live. How can I honestly be mad and stay mad over a pen-stained chair? It just seems so trivial. I'm so thankful for the worldwide web and blogs especially because it reminds me that my life isn't so bad. I'm able to connect and read about families that are in heartbreaking situations. I'm sure any of them would take my chair in place of their loss. So, I'm over it. I'm thankful that I've got a healthy, curious little boy that melts my heart each day. The chair can be replaced. My family can't.

I was able to get all the marker off the coffee table. Crest toothpaste came through last night! It did take the shiny coating off but at least it's not black. A while back I did some research on toothpaste and we have since switched to a healthier brand. Quite frankly it scares me to think that toothpaste was able to remove it. And, it's stuff we put in our mouths every day? Luckily, I kept the trial size that came from Hudson's recent trip to the dentist.

As for the chair, I tried toothpaste with no such luck. I'm somewhat relieved because if it had worked then our entire chair would have smelled like wintermint. I then tried a dry erase marker. I read on a few posts that if you take a dry erase marker and mark over the permanent line and then rub, that the chemical will lift it off. I think this probably works on flat surfaces like walls and counter tops but not fabric. I just did a test spot with some rubbing alcohol. I think it may have taken the line off but it's hard to tell since it's wet. I need to let it dry and see. I'll keep you posted. I've got a few other things I want to try before I throw in the towel. We are kind of torn as to what to do if it DOESN'T come out. I don't really want to buy a new chair for fear that my kids are still young and it's quite possible it could happen again. (but it better not!) If I slip cover just the chair then that will look weird. Hmmm, decisions...decisions.

Now, on to Friday's Favorites.

1. Guardsman Touch-Up Stain Pen - This guy is a must have if you have a rough and rowdy monkey like me. Last week, the boys were playing in Hudson's room. Cooper decided to transform a few TinkerToys into a pretend hammer and he began to pound all over Hudson's furniture. It made many knicks and dings and I was not happy with him about that. I was able to get it all looking new again with this touch up pen. You can get them at a local hardware store and three come to a package. They have three color choices, ranging from light to dark, and they are wonderful for touching up areas that get banged up.

2. Pampered Chef Creative Cutters- These shape cutters have many uses. I have used them to cut food into fun shapes for the boys. The other day, Cooper and I used them with play dough and he enjoyed that. They are a great size for his little hand. Plus, it's a great way to teach and talk about shapes/objects while playing. They come in a great storage case too.

3. Air- Need I say more? I am so, so thankful for air. We are typically a 72-degree kinda family but lately we have been keeping it on 75, in order to conserve energy. Every once in a while I get a hot flash and bump it down a degree or two (I'm such a rebel!)

I'm still holding out for recipes........I know last night I said to forget about 'em but I've had a change of heart. We still have to eat around here. Keep posting and I'll keep checking.