Flava Flave

Hudson is addicted to Fla-Vor-Ice pops. He has liked them for a while but now has a box a week habit. He requests them 2 at a time now. He even eats them in a certain color order. All the blues first, then green, purple, red, and then he mixes up the oranges and pinks. The other night as he was eating 2 purples I told Richard his new nickname was going to be Flava Flave. I guess he could have worse addictions!

P.S. I promise my next post will be about my other wonderful son, Chandler :)

The sweet minds of children

Kids say the funniest things sometimes and it's always interesting to listen to what they think about some things. Here is a conversation Hudson had with me and Richard the other day (paraphrased of course)

Hudson: Mommy, we need to have a baby sister so I'll have someone to marry.
Mommy: (Shocked) Hudson you can't marry your sister. You have to marry someone that's not in your family.
Hudson: But how will I meet her. She has to come to our house cause I can't drive.
Mommy: But, you will drive when you're older.
Hudson: No, I can't cause I don't know the way.

How funny is that?

We've had this discussion before about his not driving because he doesn't know the way. He asked me a couple of days later if he had a driver's license. I told him no and he asked if he could have his daddy's. I told him, no that he would have to get his own and he wanted to go to the store right then and buy one. So...I had to explain how that worked.

Hudson also has a breathing problem. Well, let's just say that he breathes really deep, and snores when he sleeps. When he was a baby and would fall asleep in church, people would turn around and think it was a grown up that had fallen asleep and was snoring. I was so used to his deep breathing while asleep, when I kept other kids and they didn't breathe like that, I couldn't tell without looking if they were asleep or not. Richard swears there's something wrong with him and he needs something removed but the dr says he's fine. The other morning, he got in our bed about 5 am and I could not go back to sleep with his snoring so I went and slept in his bed. Anyway, a lot of the time if we are playing a game and he's breathing real deep, we'll joke and say, Hudson, can I get one of those? (meaning a breath cause he's using all the air up) He also snorts at times. Especially when bowling on the Wii. He was in my bathroom and I thought he was getting a band aid so I asked him what he was doing and he said, getting one of those things for my nose (a breathe right strip) so I won't snort when I bowl. It was hilarious. Bless his heart.

Fishing

Richard has been wanting to join some fishing lakes for quite some time now but me being the spoiler that I am, always tell him no, that it's too much money, he won't go enough, blah, blah, blah. So, for Christmas, Richard's dad got Richard, Russell, and himself all a year membership to Foster Farm's fishing lakes in Marion. Richard was so excited! This past weekend, we all went to check them out. I don't see myself going much but I did go this time. It was a gorgeous day! I didn't really plan on fishing but I did and it was a lot of fun. We caught lots of brim with worms and Rickey caught a bass. Russell didn't catch anything but got lots of bites. Richard couldn't really do much fishing from having to get my, Hudson's and Chan's fish off when we caught them. Chandler finally started doing his own. When Hudson took a break from fishing, he enjoyed running (and falling) and playing with the worms. All boy! I know the boys are looking forward to many more trips. Thanks Rickey!

Finally some pictures!

Why do Christmas trees always look so much prettier in person than they do in pictures?
Hudson's daycare did a Christmas program a couple of weeks before Christmas and Caroline, Sydney and John Evan came to see it. Thanks guys! Hudson's class sang 3 songs and I was so proud of Hudson. He sang big and wasn't shy at all! They made these shirts and it's a Christmas tree made out of their hand prints. His teacher is so creative!
Here's the boys with Richard's parents. They love their grandkids!
Hudson's birthday party at school. Hudson wanted a Shrek party so the cupcakes had green sprinkles on them and we brought Shrek ears for everyone.

I was taking a picture of Hudson and his friend Hunter and this little girl, Alexis said I want to be in it! I don't know what happened with her smile...maybe she was trying too hard:)
When we left school, I took Hudson to Toy's R us to pick out a toy and Chuck E Cheese to play some games.
Hudson with his new bike. Yes, he always wears this hat and it's always backwards!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2008...wow. My blogging efforts have really been sad these last couple of months. I am doing another post without pictures but I promise to update those soon. My camera kept messing up over Christmas so I probably don't have many good ones to share anyway. But, I still need to put some up of Hud's b'day and stuff. So...those will be coming. Hopefully next week.

We had a great Christmas. It just came and went too fast. I think the boys really got what they wanted. We had talked about getting them a Wii this year but then when we saw how hard it was to find them, we just weren't going to worry with it because it wasn't something they specifically asked for. About a week before Christmas, Richard was at the Wal-mart in Thomasville and they made an announcement that they had just gotten in a shipment. After an internal debate with himself, he bought one. They got in 30 that day and he bought the last one! I wish I had a picture of Chan's face when they opened it. He wasn't expecting it at all and was shocked. I did get it on video. I kept telling Richard that Hudson probably wouldn't care that much about it but let me tell you...he probably plays it more than anyone and kicks every one's butt in bowling. He has the high score right now of like 246. He gets strikes all the time and he's hilarious to watch they way he slings that controller around. He loves to play the baseball game, too. Chandler is excited about his guitar. Now I just need to find someone to give him lessons. We really enjoyed our time off work and school and spending time with family. Hudson's daycare was closed until yesterday. Thanks to Caroline, Juanita (Richard's mom) and my mom for helping keep him!

New Year's was fun, too. Chandler spent the night with a friend and Sydney spent the night with Hudson. We did some small fireworks and sparklers as soon as it got dark that night cause they were so excited and let me tell you, they are both some pyros! We caught a paper bag on fire and it scared me for a minute but it was minor. They loved it! Richard and I didn't even stay up to see the new year come in. How sad is that? Oh, well. That's what happens when you get old. Can't wait to see what fun and adventure this next year brings.

Where are you December?

I am so late doing this and I don't have any pictures to go with it cause they are still on my camera but HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HUDSON! Hudson turned 5 on Dec. 4th. He was so excited about his b'day this year. When he woke up that morning he said "Hey mommy, I'm five." Just very matter-of-fact. It was so cute. He thinks he's just a big boy now. We kept going back and forth with what we were going to do for his b'day and we ended up celebrating about 3 times. The Sat before his b'day, Richard's parents, his brother, Russell and Russell's finance, Jill (have I mentioned that before? Congrats Russell and Jill getting married in June) came over to eat dinner and do presents. Sunday we went to church in Bessemer for Kaitlin's blessing. The whole fam was there so we all ate lunch at my mom and dad's house and had a cookie cake and presents there for Hudson. Tuesday on his real b'day, I left work at 2 and took cupcakes (that I made!) to Hudson's school. He was so excited about that. He just thought he was something. I have pictures that I'll have to get up later. Hope you had a great birthday, Hudson. I love you!

This month has flown by! I can't believe it's less than a week until Christmas. I don't want it to get here because I don't want it to be over. I love Christmas. The decorations, music, food, family, everything. It has just come so fast this year. I didn't even get cards mailed out. This is the picture I took of the boys Sunday afternoon with the intentions of doing a card but then I really didn't like the picture and it was Monday afternoon so I just said forget it. Oh well, there's always next year. At least the bulk of my shopping is done! I hope everyone has a great Christmas!

Updates

Well, it's been a while since I've posted. Not much really going on these days but so Ashley won't be disappointed next time she pulls up my blog...I'll post.

School is going well for both Chandler and Hudson. Chandler has made all A's both six weeks. I think 6th grade is actually easier than 5th. He's enjoying youth at church and his busy social life. I am very grateful for all the great friends he has. He's playing basketball with his friend's church and several of his friends are on the team. Their first game is this Saturday. I love watching my boys play sports so I'm looking forward to it even if I don't enjoy basketball as much as baseball.

Hudson loves school. He can kinda write his name and he recognizes all the days of the week and most of the months of the year. He can count to 14 in Spanish. He has lots of good friends as well. A few weeks ago, he taught himself to ride his bike without training wheels! They have a bike at school and he had been trying to ride it so one afternoon that Richard picked him up early, he asked Richard to take his training wheels off his bike at home. He practiced and practiced for about 2 hours and can now ride a bike! We were very impressed that he didn't get frustrated when he fell time after time. He looked so cute with his houndstooth Alabama hat turned backwards. He was so proud of himself! His birthday is in a week and I can't believe he'll be 5!

I have to pat myself on the back. Richard and I joined the YMCA a year ago and I have been consistently for a year. There was a week here or there that I didn't get to go at all but for the most part, I averaged going 3-4 times a week. I know you can't really tell it by looking at me:) I do enjoy it though and I'm proud that I stuck to it. I honestly thought it might last 3 months.

Thanksgiving weekend was great. I was off Friday, too so we had a long weekend. There was so much I could have been doing but we really took it easy and it was wonderful! I love this time of year and am excited to start the Christmas season!

Watching the game

These pictures are a little old and I forgot about them until today. I thought they were really cute so I wanted to post them. One day at Chan's baseball game, Hudson just went in the dugout and propped up on somebody's bat bag and just watched the game. He really got more into watching the actual games this year. Maybe it's cause he plays so he's got more of an interest in it. It's really cute.

This is Hudson and one of his friends. They were playing with this little girl's doll house during one of Chan's games. Allen was quick to say he wasn't playing when the camera came out:)

Halloween!

I guess it's about time I posted some Halloween pictures. I'm a little behind and these are a little out of order but call me lazy, I didn't feel like starting over, just to get them in order. This was my first Halloween without Chandler. It was a little sad. He was invited to go with some of his friends on a hayride/trick or treating. He and a few of his friends were mobsters/mafia men. Richard and I took Hudson to Caroline's neighborhood to go with Sydney and John Evan. My niece, Shelby was there also. They had a great time and were so cute! Thanks, Caroline and Chris for letting us hang out! John Evan was the cutest thing ever! He was a turtle! I really enjoyed carrying him around! He went up to a couple of houses but he was pretty content as long as he had a sucker in his hand!
This is a back view of his costume! So cute!
This is Hudson with our neighbors, Sam and Max and a friend of theirs. They were so cute, too!

Me and the other 2 girls in my department were pirates. They looked better than me but we had fun dressing up for work.
Chan's mobster costume. All i had to buy was the hat!
Chan and his friend, John Todd.
Hudson with his daycare teacher and one of his friends. Their class is called the "Fantastic Fours" so that's what they did their pumpkin as for the contest they had at school. I thought it was really cool but they didn't even place!
A vampire (hudson), Sleeping Beauty (shelby), and Minnie Mouse (sydney). Hudson was cracking me up with those teeth. He looks mad in all his pictures and he was hardly talking at all trying to keep those teeth in. Every once in a while, he would slurp spit real big. It was funny!

My new niece

My sister Elizabeth had her baby yesterday. Welcome Kaitlyn Nell! She is so pretty and I could have just held her forever. Congrats to Elizabeth, Brad, and Shelby!

Champions X 2

Well, the boys were finally able to play their championship games after a week of rain outs! They both won! Hudson and his team won their game on Monday and then Chan's team won Tuesday night. They were both excited. I think we're ready for a break though. We've been playing ball since March. I'm impressed with how much Hudson improved from the spring to the fall and can't wait to see how much better he gets next spring. Richard tells me that Chandler should hit one over the fence next year. I just want him to get one! :) He's come so close so many times. Sorry these pictures are so dark. I really need a new camera. Hudson's team. The 2007 5 year old Yankees.
Chandler's team. The 2007 11-12 year old Twins.
My baseball boys. Love it!

The Crimson Mafia goes to Oxford!

Last Saturday, we went to the Alabama-Ole Miss game at Ole-Miss. We had a great time! Richard and his dad decided a few weeks back that they wanted to go to an away game this year so they decided on this one and called Richard's uncle in Fayette to see if any of them would be interested in going. Well, we had 22 people to go! There were supposed to be 23 but one of Richard's uncles had gall bladder surgery earlier that week and ended up not being able to go. Richard came up with the idea that we should all have matching shirts so we were the "Crimson Mafia" Our shirts said that on the front and on the back they said, "Beat Bama...? Fa Getta Bout it" We were informed by a man from New Jersey that the phrase on the back was misspelled but Richard told him that was the southern spelling :) We also had matching houndstooth "skid lids". See pictures below. We got lots of attention from it! It was a really long day. We left at 5am and got home about 9pm. We had a great time! These pictures are a little out of order. I had to take a picture of this guy and I wish I could have gotten one of him from the front but we were walking so it was a little hard to do. From the front, it was so much funnier! He had a little belly on him and his shorts were pulled down below his belly. Way too low! It was crazy and of course he was a bama fan!
The boys put their jerseys on when we got in the car on the way home. They got sunburn beards. It was hot and sunny and I didn't even think about sunscreen! It was freezing when we left that morning! I know...call DHR!

Me and Hud waiting patiently in the car in traffic to get off on the exit. Chandler giving us bunny ears in the background. Note: Hudson has an "A" tan line on his cheek from these tattoos!
Richard made us a sign to go in the window of the car. It got us a lot of attention on the way to the game! Richard had fun interacting with the fans on the way to the game. We saw some Tennessee fans headed to Mississippi State and he violently shook his Alabama shaker at them out the window. They thought it was pretty funny.
My fam and Richard's dad before the game. I had to help Hudson keep tabs on DJ Hall the whole game. "Where's #22?"
Chandler looked pretty smooth in his hat.
Some other members of the Mafia after Bama's win. Where are we going next year, Richard? ROLL TIDE!!!!!

Obsessions

We have been dealing with some obsessions at our house lately. So, I thought I would share a few. At the moment, Hudson's is this sticker eye black. One morning he asked if his game that night was in the dark. When I told him no, he said he needed some eye black. So, I bought him some. Richard suggested I get the sticker kind so it wouldn't be so messy. Well, he loved it and wore it day and night. To shower, to sleep, to school. I made him take it off before church that Sunday but it was back on that afternoon. It's so cute!
Chandler's is his cell phone that he got for his birthday. Texting and talking all the time. This really gets on my nerves sometimes but I'm trying to be cool about it.
Richard and I share the same obsession at the moment. SCRABBLE! He's always loved the game but I suck and we didn't have it so we never played. I got him the game for his birthday and we have played just about everyday since. Sometimes more than once a day. That's been about a month. Although I am getting a little better and have managed to win a time or 2, I get my butt seriously kicked and swear I'm never playing again. It's great quality time for us and we really enjoy it. I enjoy it more when I win but like I said, that rarely happens.

Welcome to Young Men's!

Chandler attended his first activity as a youth on Wednesday. It was a joint activity with the Young Women and they went to Sokal Park to play soccer. Sounds innocent enough, right? Well, Hudson and I dropped Chandler off at the church and went to the gym. Then we ran home for me to get a shower before we went back to pick Chan up. While I was in the shower, the phone rang. So when I got out, I looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Kelley Wyatt (the bishop's wife) calling. I called her back and she starts the conversation with, Valoree, don't panic, he's fine but...(As a mother, these are the calls you dread!) She then went on to explain that Chandler had busted his head open and that the bishop was on his way to the emergency room with him and that I needed to meet them there. I was fine and very calm until I got off the phone with her and then I started shaking a little bit. So, off to the hospital we went. I called Richard and he met us there. Come to find out, Chandler and another boy, Taylor Miller, both went to head butt the ball at the same time and hit heads. I think Taylor has a bump on his forehead and probably a bad headache. Deena Ennis was at the activity and works at the hospital so she followed the bishop and Chandler there and hooked us up by getting us back quicker. Otherwise, who knows how long we would have sat there. They were busy! Very appreciative of her for that. She also stayed in the room with us while Chan got his stitches. Thanks Deena! I expected that Chandler would have a little blood on his shirt or something but nothing like what I saw. Aubrey Martin took off his shirt and gave it to Chan to help control the bleeding. He was covered in blood, grass, and dirt. I only looked at the wound once and that was enough. Chandler did great though. He was very calm. He turned down pain medicine. The ER doctor, Dr. Pepper (yes, seriously!) suggested that a plastic surgeon sew him up. We know the plastic surgeon that was on call so that was great! Thanks Dr. Menard! He did a great job. The only time Chandler showed any emotion was when they numbed it up for the stitches. That hurt him pretty bad but he was still tough about it. I think I squeezed his hand harder than he was squeezing mine. We're not sure how many stitches it ended up being. He didn't count but it's a pretty big cut. The bishop stayed in the waiting room with Richard and Hudson the whole time. Thanks Bishop Wyatt! Waiting to get a room. This is the dressing they put on the cut in the waiting room.
I actually got the blood out of Chan's shorts. I didn't even try the shirt. I said we should just throw it out but he and Richard both think we should keep it. It accents the skull design nicely don't you think?
After stitches with his face cleaned up a little bit.
This is the next day and after a good shower. If his eye weren't so black and blue and swollen shut, with his hair down, you wouldn't even know he was hurt. Thanks for all the calls of concern and great support we received from friends and family!

A look into the future...

There is this guy on Richard's softball team that looks like what Hudson might look like in 15 years. He plays catcher and at one of the first games, Hudson was standing behind the fence kinda beside him and I was just like, "Oh my gosh...that's what Hudson's going to look like!" They have the same crazy hair. Seth is a little sweaty in his picture and Hudson wouldn't stand beside him for me to take his picture so I had to find one to show for comparison.
A really nice guy. By the way...Richard's softball team is undefeated for the regular season. Tournaments start next week. They'll probably get moved up to a different league but I hope they do well.

Happy Birthday, Chandler!

Last Friday, the 21st was Chandler's 12th b'day! We were a little late throwing together a party but we pulled it off and he had about 10 boys come to the park for some football and food. I think they had a good time. Taking a break from football to enjoy some cupcakes.
Caroline, Chris, Chris' brother Chad, Sydney, and John Evan stopped by. Most of the kids were dressed in Alabama stuff since it was a game day.
Of course John Evan enjoyed the food :)

The boys thought they were too cool for me to take their picture so they did silly poses.

Most of the extended family was at church Sunday for the primary program and Chandler's receiving the priesthood. They came over for lunch after church and it was a great day. I am very proud of Chandler and the person he is and his accomplishments. Happy Birthday, Chandler!