Star Student

We are so proud of Handley!  She is this week's Star Student for her Pre-K class.  She was very excited to show up yesterday and see her star student poster hanging outside their classroom.

Last week Harper fell asleep standing up and yesterday she fell asleep on the stairs!  That girl really can crash anywhere.  I stopped having her nap a few months ago because she was having such a hard time going to bed at night.  She now rests with Handley on the couch or in my room.  They watch a movie or a few PBS shows to have some downtime while Hudson is napping.  If Harper is still for long enough, she will fall asleep.  Especially on the days she goes to school. I think she wears herself out chasing after all the boys. :-)  

Tonight Hudson discovered how to splash in the bath and did it repeatedly until I got him out.  I can't wait for this summer at the pool and the lake because I have a feeling he's going to follow in his big sisters' footsteps and be quite the water baby.  

Nothing like an old friend

Our weekend was pretty fantastic, but it was busy!  The first soccer game of the season was cancelled on Saturday due to rain and wet fields.  The storms that came through our area thankfully missed us, but I had my emergency stash ready by the basement door, just in case.  We spent the morning around here relaxing and then Handley had a "drop-off" birthday party to attend that afternoon.  It was a rock-star party and she came home sporting glitter nail polish, eye make-up, and her very own VIP backstage pass.  It was a really cute party idea and she felt so big to be attending all by herself.  

Trey and Stefanie came over to visit on Saturday night, which is always a treat.  Even though we live so close, we don't see them nearly as often as we'd like because we all just stay so busy.  This morning my parents left to head back home and while we were sad to see them go, we are happy they will be back in just over a month for Harper's birthday.  

I just love these pictures of Hudson attacking my mom with hugs and kisses.  When he decides that he likes someone, he loves to show it! 

 This afternoon one of my closest friends from college came over for a visit!  Stacey and her husband, Joey, are expecting their 3rd child and it just so turns out we are getting rid of some baby gear at a neighborhood garage sale next weekend.  She came over to pick up a few things they will be able to use for their newest little one.  There is just nothing like an old friend.  I don't think we've seen each other since right after Harper was born, but I can tell you that it did not feel like that long when they were here today.  We always pick right up where we left off and it was fun to see the kids playing together, too. They ran around the house playing hide-n-seek, dress-up, and all sorts of other games.

This afternoon/evening we attended Addyson's 5th birthday party!  I forgot my camera and didn't take one picture of the adorable carnival theme her mom planned for her party, but it was precious! The girls won lots of tickets playing games and cashed them in for all sorts of fun prizes.  

Now the house is quiet and I'm enjoying a little down time before starting up another busy week, which will include getting ready for the big garage sale. If anyone is looking for ANYTHING at all, I can assure you our neighborhood will have it.  We have about 25 families selling and will have everything from furniture, electronics, kitchen items, clothing, toys, baby gear, books, household items, and MUCH more! 

Had to share this picture Handley drew at school on Friday.  It's she, Harper, and Hudson snow skiing (although the white snow didn't show up too well in this picture).

PLEASE VOTE FOR US!!!

Hi Friends!  I entered a local magazine's cover search contest and I need your votes!  You can vote for us one of two ways (or vote both ways to help increase our chances of winning).

1. On their website.  Click the link for "Little Black Dress, Little Red Wagon" and scroll down to see our photo. Check the box and then click "vote" at the bottom of the page.  You can vote as many times as you want to help us out.

2. On facebook.  Click the link HERE and "like" their page to be able to vote.  Then click on our picture and "like" the picture to vote.

If we win,  the kids and I would appear on the cover of one of their summer issues and we win some pretty fun prizes, too.  Thanks in advance for helping us out!

Mimi and Dadaw are here!

Hooray for Mimi and Dadaw being here this week!!!  Robby is skiing out west so I'm really happy it worked out that my mom and dad could be here this week.  The kids and I are enjoying their company and their help.  My mom spent last night helping me tag for a consignment sale and of course their help with the kids has kept me sane. :-)

Today I had my first parent/teacher conference with Handley's teacher.  She had nothing but great things to say and while I think Handley is bright and doing fantastic at school, it's always good to hear it from someone else, too.

This afternoon I took Handley to ballet while Hudson and Harper stayed home with Mimi and Dadaw and then we came home and enjoyed the warm weather outside.

We discovered that Hudson loves to play with balls and is actually able to roll them to us!  So cute and sweet to see the little boy in him coming out already.

*Harper, who was loving ballet, is no longer interested in going.  I'm thankful they are in a month-to-month ballet program, so it isn't a big deal to take a month off. I'm hoping she will get back into her groove and want to start back up next month, but we'll see. 

Officially a soccer mom

Tonight, I officially became a soccer mom.  Handley is playing her first season of soccer and is absolutely thrilled.  She's on a team with several of her girlfriends and leading up to today's first practice she had been kicking the ball around in our yard and asked me a ton of questions about the actual rules of the game.

She was really excited about her pink cleats, pink shin guards, and pink soccer ball.  She kept telling me how cute they all were and I wondered how she would actually do playing if all she cared about was her pink gear.  She also changed outfits 3 times tonight before practice, because the first two just didn't look cute enough.  :-)

However, when we got there, she did great!  She tried her hardest to keep up with the more experienced kids on the team and loved being their with her friends.  Her coach discovered about half-way through practice that she is left-handed (and left-footed), which is why she kept trying to kick with her left foot when he was showing them different things.  The perfectionist in her showed through, too.  She may have been just behind the other kids, but it was only because she wanted to get it just right.

Her team is co-ed, but I believe there are 8 girls and only 2-3 boys. I feel like it's a great mix for her first time though.  I was so proud of her and can't wait for their first game on Saturday!

Harper had fun playing with the younger siblings and enjoyed kicking around the soccer ball and pushing her baby in the stroller.  She kept telling me she wants to play soccer and I had to assure her that next year she will be old enough to play.

One other funny picture to share of Harper napping this afternoon.  Poor thing was so worn out she fell asleep standing up!

Redneck Fun

There's nothing like a little redneck fun on a Sunday afternoon.  Leave it to Robby to come up with an even better way to do Turtle Toppin'.  Those that have been reading my blog a while might remember when Turtle Toppin' began and if you don't just click here.

I was inside getting things together for a consignment sale and heard all kinds of laughter and squealing going on outside.  I just had to peek out and see exactly what was going on.

Once again, we've managed to find a great use for the golf cart. :-)  They were making laps around the house and then decided to head across the street to have more room.

The girls wanted to hold Hudson with them on their ride, but I had to draw the line somewhere.

Our friends from down the street saw what was going on and they came up to join in the fun, too. Annabelle loved riding with the girls and Hudson was happy to have his friend, Emerson, keeping him company.

The girls were completely covered in dead grass by the end of their fun.  Keeping in our redneck afternoon, Robby decided the best way to get the grass off was to break out the blower.  Seriously.

We ended our day grilling out a delicious salmon recipe I had pinned earlier this week and hanging out on the deck.

He's back!

The happy Hudson is back!!!  I don't see that any of his teeth have actually cut through yet, but he is much happier than he has been in a long time, is smiling more, is content again, and sleeping great, too.  We are all happy that our sweet little Boo-Boo is back.  (By the way, he's got lots of wacky nick-names: Boo-Boo, Bugga-Boo, Bubba, or really anything that rolls off our tongues.)  He's also starting to experience separation anxiety and really loves it best when we are all very close to him and in his line of sight.

I just had to share this cute butterfly snack idea I found on Pinterest.  We made it it for our playgroup today, and they worked great because we played outside and this way the kids could have their snacks and run around at the same time. The girls loved helping with this and it was really simple to do.

1.  I clipped the clothes pins on a plastic bin and let the girls paint them. (I did this so they would stand up straight and could be painted on both sides quickly instead of letting one side dry, then painting the other side.)
2.  After they dried I drew eyes and a smile on the part that grips.
3.  Next, I cut a pipe cleaner in half and wrapped it around the back side of the part that grips and formed the antennae.
4. Clip a snack-size baggie in the center with clothes pin and then fill each side with snacks.