Hudson's Pics

My friend from high school, Cori, takes the greatest pictures. Check out her blog HERE to her fabulous work and see pictures of the cutest kid ever...my Hudson, of course!

Hee Haws

We went to Hee Haws the other night. Hudson had a pretty good time. I had a hard time getting good pictures because it was dark and Hudson is a turkey when it comes to getting his picture taken. While we were in the corn maze he huffed at me "Quit taking pictures of me, Mom!". Some other mom was there with some huge fancy flash on her monster camera and posing children. I was a little envious. Oh well.

He definitely had fun playing in the corn.

Going down the slide by himself.

I think this ended up being his favorite thing. You are supposed to jump in the middle but he ended up just running circles around it on the hay over and over and over and over....

I thought Hudson would have loved being able to run around with the animals and chase the baby pigs, but he was bored to death and didn't want anything to do with them.

Going through the corn maze.

Almost 3 1/2 ft.

Bean bag toss.

Corn dog.

Girls Weekend

This last weekend my mom and 2 of my sisters went to spend a night at the Homestead in Midway. It was so nice to get away for a little bit and spend time with them. It went by way too fast, though. We are definitely going to try to do this more often!

Natalie, Mom, Valerie

Me, Natalie, Valerie

Me being funny. Ha ha.

Badminton

We did a variety of activities which were fun, but lets just say, it seemed we all came from the same gene pool when it comes to coordination or sports. It was fun to just laugh at ourselves.

Natalie and I showing our red tether ball arms. It hurt! Natalie was a fierce competitor. It was so Napoleon Dynamite.

Playing tennis. It was so funny I was laughing until I peed my pants.

Horseshoes. Also funny. Our highest score was 5, but I blame it on the poor upkeep of the pits.

I taught the ladies how to play poker in a game of Tripoley. Mom won.
We also sat in the hot tub, swam in the pool, and sat in a mineral pool. Watched 13 Going on 30 in the room while eating popcorn and cookies and junk. So fun! We missed having Teresa and Hayli there. Next year, girls.

Hudson Stuff

I have to post these things every once in a while, because inevitably I'll lose my piece of scratch paper that I jot these things on. I feel like if I get them on the blog, I'll be able to find them later.

9/27/09: While the sacrament is being passed at church Hudson asks

"Are they bringing us toast?"

9/24/09:I asked Hudson to give me a big smack-a-roo on the cheek. I got a 3 year old's interpretation of a "smack-a-roo"....a big smack! He seemed all to pleased to have permission to slap his mom across the cheek.


The other day I cooed to Hudson:

He replied matter of factly,

"No I'm not. I'm shady. Really shady."

Mouse in the House

7:43 a.m., Jeff finds a mouse on top of the stairs. All the typical mouse hysteria sets in. Screaming, jumping up on couches, etc. Jeff doesn't know what to do. I don't either so I just figure you do what they do in movies: grab the broom.

The mouse ran from the stairs to under the couch. Jeff wanted me to lift it up (in bare feet) and he would do the bashing with the broom. After about 10 good bashes, he missed. Then the mouse ran down the hall into the linen closet. He was a pretty easy target in there (we thought) but we didn't want him running into any other rooms, so we used towels and a sheet as a feeble attempt to keep barricaded.
It's kind of a blur from here but there was more bashing with the broom, then he must have gotten past the small hurdles because he went under another couch, again tilted up by me (in bare feet) while Jeff did the bashing with the broom. Jeff smashed that broom to smithereens. Pieces of blue plastic were flying everywhere. Then the mouse finally met it's fate. As it lay lifeless on the floor, I told Jeff to take it outside and shoot it, just to be sure. He assured me it was dead.
Hudson and his poor little wide eyed cousin were watching the whole thing. Afterward, Hudson said "Daddy, that was amazing! Where'd you learn to do that?!"

Our mouse traps. Ha ha.

I've been jumpy all day. I know there are more.
But he was kind of a cute mouse, wasn't he?

Witchy Women

Every October, my sisters and mom and I (and the occasional aunt or cousin) get all witched up and go to Witches Night Out at Gardner Village. It's a blast and we all look forward to it.

This year I decided to be a little uglier than I usually dress up. I only saw one other witch there with a hideous nose like mine, so I got quite a few comments, looks, and fingers pointed at me.
*While getting ready, Jeff thought I was pretty hot, nose and all, until I added the finishing touch...the UNI-BROW! He didn't want to have anything to do with me after that! :)

My mom with her punk rocker witch hair.

Me, my little sister Natalie, and my older sister, Valerie.

Hayli's friend Marissa, my neice Hayli, and Hayli's mom and my oldest sister, Teresa.
I didn't have my camera so I stole these pics from my sisters Facebook. I might add some more later if I can get my long, warty, green fingers on some.

A Good Example

I just finished reading all of the NieNie Dialogues archives (don't know what I'm talking about? Check her out HERE. Seriously. If you want a good read, start at her first entry and work your way up to the latest entry.) . It was like reading a novel I couldn't put down and I feel like she's the best friend I've never met. She made me laugh, made me cry, and most importantly made me take a closer look at how I'm living my life as a wife and mother. She finds joy and beauty in the simple, everyday interactions with her children, her family, and the world, and that's what she blogs about. I've been thinking about this a lot the past week or so.
I used to think I should only blog about the bigger things that happened in our lives such as trips, birthdays, etc., but really, it's the everyday moments that make up our lives and the ones that make me happy every day, such as Hudson getting himself ready to go for a family walk at night with frog slippers, pajama pants, flashlight, and the crown he made in church that says "I can be a good example".
Thanks NieNie for being a good example to me, even though we don't know each other. I am now trying to be a better wife and mother, and trying to slow down and enjoy my little frog prince a little more.

Halloween Sugar Cookies

I'd been craving some homemade (homemade meaning we made them from a package...at home) sugar cookies with frosting and sprinkles. Gotta have sprinkles. Plus I wanted to do something fun with Hudson. He loved playing with the dough and frosting.

Frosting removal: 4 fingers at a time!

Yum!

The Elk Hunt & Playing Hookie

Over the weekend we went camping for the end of the elk hunt. The first few hours we were there Hudson literally went through 4 pairs of pants and a few pair of shoes. He peed ON his pants once, IN his pants once, and we were camped by a blasted stream that we kept telling him to stay out of, but of course the temptation was too great for a spirited boy of 3 years and he kept running through it despite the 30ish degree weather and the constant nagging from his mother. For 3 days he constantly had wet pants on a line struggling to dry in the cold and his 3 pairs of shoes were in a constant rotation of drying by the heater in the trailer or by the fire. Fortunately the pee thing was only twice. Unfortunately, running through the river was multiple times a day (although it seemed hourly).
Jeff was unsuccessful at shooting an elk (which I'm relieved so we didn't have to go through the whole gutting, skinning, hauling home, stuffing the freezer full of elk meat process) but we had fun hanging out, playing games and Hudson had fun getting rides on the horses.

Hudson's cousins, Orrin and Cooper with Hudson on the back.

HOOKIE:
Yesterday was Sunday and since Hudson and I have nasty coughs and Jeff had a sore throat, we didn't go to church on account of not wanting to get others sick. We were not too sick, however, to pack up in the car and go for a Sunday drive. We went out to look for deer hunting areas in Levan Canyon. It was a beautiful drive with the colorful fall leaves, although it was slightly annoying that it was so hot in the mountains in the middle of October and our a.c. in the car doesn't work. Then we would get out and it would be windy and cold. Jackets off. Jackets on. Repeat. We also went geocaching along the way. Hudson loves finding "treasure" and ended up exchanging 3 matchbox cars for a sticker that said "I'm not a dodo I'm gunwise" (random), a black rubber bone, and a wooden buffalo nickle. Oh well, he loves it and we let him pick his prizes even though we feel like we are leaving something better than what he picks.
We went through the little town of Wales, and found a geocache near the Wales City Cemetary. We decided to go in and check out the gravestones. There were mostly OLD graves from the 1800's, many of them babies who died a few hours, or a few days after birth, and children, like Olive who died at the age of 4, and Maggie who was 7. I thought the gravestones themselves were pretty cool and I would have liked to do some rubbings. I thought it was a good activity for the day. It felt a little Halloween-y being in an old cemetary and all, a little educational and historical and churchy for visiting pioneer graves.
After the cemetary, we continued looking for geocaches on the way home. One said something about zebras. We drove by some horse coralls and Jeff asked "See any zebras in there?". I laughed at him mockingly. We weren't looking for real zebras, silly. Then, lo and behold, and I wish I had a picture so you would believe me, there stood 2 real life zebras amongst some ponies. It was the weirdest, most random thing I have ever seen in my life....until we investigated further and found that the owner of these zebras lived in a seafoam green double wide. No joke. How does one come in possession of 2 zebras living in Wales, UT in a double wide?
We kept on driving home and saw about 30 pheasants on the side of the road and that about sums up our drive.
Then we came home to the delicious aroma of roast in the oven. Some of you may not know, but Jeff makes a mean roast dinner. I have never made a roast in my life. But this guy has it down good. The meat is always tender, perfectly flavored along with baby carrots, and mashed potatoes and homemade gravy made from the drippings. He even made rolls. And the best part? He does this often. He really is amazing and the best husband ever. I love you, babe!

It's October!

First of all, I have heard that Faaleaga and Samasoni's families survived the tsunami, however, Faaleaga's family has lost everything, and those people don't have much to lose to begin with. But we are grateful to hear the good news that their families are ok.

Now, a few random pics from the past couple of weeks:

How Hudson eats his apples--a one bite ring around and then he's done.

Hudson and I were able to go to work with Jeff one day this week on the Mirror Lake highway. Of course we had to stop to do some fishing and take in the beautiful fall scenery.

Hudson looking spiffy in his new church clothes (and daddy's tie, of course. We have since bought him his own tie in the proper size.)

My mom and I recently canned 71 quarts of peaches. It was my first time canning peaches. I always think canning is insanity while I'm doing (all 2 times I've done it!) but I love the reward of looking at all those beautiful jars full of summer.
This is what became of my stove top. I'm not sure why there are all the different colors, but I thought it was cool and kind of artsy fartsy. It looked cooler in real life than in the picture.

And now....my Halloween decor. It's probably a boring post to most of you, especially since I think I posted pretty much the same things last year, but it's my blog so I'll do what I want! :)

I'm pretty proud of these pumkins cause they came out of our garden! The big one is BIG! The picture does not do it justice! A few of them rotted before harvest time which was sad, but I'm glad the big one survived.

A couple of new things for my porch this year. The pumpkin has a light bulb so I can have a Jack O Lantern without catching trick or treaters on fire.

One of my favorite decorations year after year. My good old skeleton.

This is my favorite little corner in the kitchen now! The corn in the vase is from our garden and I made the whole thing for a decoration in Relief Society when I had to teach the lesson (which went pretty well, by the way. But I'm sure glad it's over!)

I have mini pumpkins EVERYWHERE! We got a good harvest of them again this year. They are my favorite and great fillers for decorating with!

The top of my kitchen cupboards, which I don't usually decorate for Halloween, but I'm loving it!

The pumpkin filled kitchen table.

While decorating yesterday, I played scary music and then that night Jeff bought me one of my favorite movies, The Nightmare Before Christmas, on DVD (I have 2 copies on VHS which I can now get rid of!) which we watched.
Today I cleaned up all the plants from the garden and weeded and pulled out some rocks that have been bugging me all summer. It looks so clean and different without all the wild vines growing everywhere! I must admit, I am enjoying fall and I am excited for all the holidays coming up. I've even done some Christmas shopping!