Weekend Fun

Hey, it's me again! Three times in a week--woo hoo! I got back from Mobile Thursday night. It was a good few days away (if you call 12 hour working days good), but it was even better getting home to my boys. Joel left on a plane this morning to go to Houston for the week, so now it's my turn as the single parent! Can't wait for normal weeks again (but at least I don't have to really cook this week!).

 

The boys looking all handsome this morning before church...

 

 I'm thankful I made it home safe and sound Thursday night. On Friday, Hudson wanted to go to school and Harrison wanted a stay home day with Mommy and right after I dropped Hudson off, I was driving in the parking lot of the school and my steering wheel completely locked up. It was really scary. Thanks to my little minor curb hitting during snowpocalypse, my car is now in the shop for the THIRD time. That little curb I hit, well, it's now up to $3,000 of damage and counting. We are thankful for insurance, but this is getting to be a real pain. But like I said, I'm thankful it happened in a parking lot and not on interstate 65 the night before, and thankful that my parents have 3 cars. I think they are going to start charging us soon though.

Look at these faces! I missed them so much while I was gone!

This two year old is obsessed with Hudson's 4 wheeler. He knows he is only supposed to use it on low, but he will sneak it to high every now and again and he just gives you this grin like I know I'm not supposed to be doing it, but it sure is fun! It's hard to tell him to slow it down!

The boys had two birthday parties on Saturday, back to back. It was so fun, but pretty exhausting too! I took one picture. That is pretty sad because they were both adorable parties! Caroline Powell had her birthday at Yogurt Lab and the kids had a blast eating whatever amount of ice cream and toppings they could dream of. I should have taken a picture of their bowls. They were gross. Then it was off to William Russ' magician party with quite possibly the cutest little old man running the show that I've ever seen. Joel said it was just "sooo Mountain Brook". Too funny! At the end, he made a rabbit appear. I was pretty blown away by it all! I never can figure out how they do it, even though I was totally looking for it the whole time!

 We came back home for naps and Joel went back out to run a few errands before going out of town. Unfortunately, he left with his phone on top of the car, and ended up with a smashed phone, which resulted in a 2 hour trip to AT&T for a new one. It was not Joel's day, bless his heart, and he hates to travel so this was just the icing on the cake. We stayed in last night and cooked out steaks...yum!

Our shot glasses have turned into excellent medicine glasses for Harrison! Ha!

 Horsey rides on Hudson!

 We went to church this morning and then Hudson went with Haines' fam to eat lunch after church and then to t-ball and to play a little bit afterwards at their house. He was SO excited, and I was very thankful that I didn't have to go to t-ball with Hudson and help him while trying to wrangle a 2 year old needing a nap. Mr. Clint was up to the challenge though (thank you!!!)--can't wait to see how it goes!

These next couple of pictures are from a few weeks ago. My kids are not scared in the least of snakes, which does not bode well for me. Joel found this snake in the yard and it was alive, but still hibernating, and the kids had so much fun playing with it. Hudson even tried to throw it at me. I was about to die. I.hate.snakes. After they played with it for a while outside, Joel brought it in and put it under some warm water to try and get it out of hibernation. I had to draw the line. No snakes in this house!

 Please excuse Harrison's outfit. He picked it out all by himself and was so proud. He looks hilarious to me in those jeans. He looks like he's upset here, but he's far from it! Poor snake!

We've had a great weekend and are hopefully going to enjoy the beautiful weather some more this afternoon! Here's to hoping the week goes by fast and that Joel will be home soon!

A Trip to the Cabin

Last weekend, we headed up to Mentone to spend the weekend with my parents. We have had so much going on during the weekends for the past few months that we haven't had a chance to go up there in a while, so this was much needed! As we drove through Mentone on Friday to get to the cabin, we were so sad to see what was left of the Mentone Springs Hotel after it burned down a few weeks ago. We are hopeful that someone will replicate the old hotel because it just means so much to Mentone, but who knows what they will do.  

 

Anyway, the weather was great Friday and Saturday and so we spent the majority of the time outdoors. I didn't take many pictures, but the kids had a blast. From playing on the Cam court with all the riding toys and shooting baskets, taking rides in the gator, swinging in the rope swing, and spending hours on the neighbor's zip line, there was no shortage of things for the boys to do! They also did a good bit of playing in the sand box and golfing on the putting green! Seriously, so much for them to do! And of course Mom and Dad helped so much with the boys and allowed Joel and I to really rest and catch up, which was exactly what the doctor ordered.

 

Saturday morning, we did venture out for a bit to a place about 30 minutes away called the Pocket. It is a protected area that is FULL of wildflowers. We were about a week or two too early to really see the wildflowers in bloom, but it really was amazing (and I'm not a flower person at all). There is a short hike on a boardwalk through the wildflowers and then it goes to a trail where there is a waterfall at the end of it. It was perfect for our crew.

 

The boys love a good hike. They are going to turn out just like their Daddy! It was really fun.

 

 Big Daddy holding up the tree...

 My little man (recovering from another dad gum ear infection last week) and I...

Picture wildflowers in bloom as far as the eye can see in the picture below...it really is going to be beautiful in a couple of weeks. We did see a good bit of pretty flowers starting to bloom, and the botanists were out in full force looking at every single one starting to open up. That part was actually pretty funny (think lots of plant nerds!).

After our hike, we had lunch at a local place which consisted of Harrison screaming crying the entire time, spilling his drink all over Hudson and me, and then the waiter brought out everyone's food except for Harrison (for like 15 minutes we waited on his), so you can imagine how fun that meal was.

Luckily, the 2 year old fit didn't last too long. He's too cute to get mad.

Speaking of the above picture, I took a 2 hour nap in that chair Saturday afternoon. Talk about heaven.

What a good weekend it was!

Back at the Ballpark

It is time to get back to blogging. I am finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel that is busy season, so hopefully the blog will move up a little on the priority list. Hopefully. I don't think I've ever gone 3 weeks without blogging! I miss it, and I miss documenting our little, simple life! Joel is holding up the fort at home this week while I'm in Mobile for work. When I get back home, Joel leaves for a week in Houston. And have I mentioned our house is for sale??? Well, it is. Life has been crazy lately.

 

Hudson started his second year of t-ball about a month ago. We are on practically the same team as we were last year, so that has been extra fun. It is amazing to see how far these boys have come in a year. Last year, whenever the ball was hit, it was a mad dash to see who could get it first. Now, they actually stay in their positions and are trying to throw and catch and get outs! It helps that they have added a practice in this year in addition to the games.

 

Harrison is Hudson's biggest fan. Opening day was a week ago last Saturday, and Harrison threw an absolute fit over what I had picked out for him to wear that day (a common occurrence--he won't let me put him in anything cutesy!). He wanted to wear a uniform just like Hudson! Thankfully, we had Hudson's Cubs uniform from last year that he could wear, and I have a feeling this is going to be his Saturday outfit for the next two months! He was adorable though, and watched his big brother the whole time. 

 

 Our little lefty hitting for the first time this season! He did pretty good!

Our coach makes the boys slide when they get to home plate, whether they want to or not. Mine does not have a problem with the wanting to part. He likes to go head first! Then, he put his head down in the dirt as if to take a nap! T-ball is hilarious.

 Sweet boy! I know he can't wait until it's his turn!

 Hudson playing third base! He actually stopped a ball and threw it to first. We were proud of him!

They had the first game, and then now have two weekends off. Sort of a bummer...but it will be back before we know it!

Hudson's Reptile Party!

We have a FIVE year old!!!!! I cannot even believe I am typing this. In my mind, I'm still 25 years old. There is no way that I am really 32 and have a 5 year old. Ha!

 

I've never seen a boy so excited about his birthday. On Friday, he told everyone he saw that it was his birthday on Saturday and he was turning 5. He could not wait. Not even until 6:30 am the next morning when he was already up...on a Saturday. He requested 5 strawberry muffins with 5 candles for breakfast. He's very easy to please!

 

 Then he got to open a couple of presents (and saved the rest for later!).

 The monster truck track was a huge hit!

 Then it was party time! We decided to hold the party at a park nearby and have Ed's Pet World come and do a reptile show. Hudson LOVES snakes...I HATE snakes...oh the things we do for our kids to make them happy.

The weather could not have turned out more perfect. We really lucked out. You just never know how it's going to be in March, but on Saturday it was 65 and sunny! Yay!

Little Harrison was not so sure about it being Hudson's day. He was pretty cranky the whole time!

 All of Hudson's close friends came and they all played their little hearts out on the park while waiting on Ed's to arrive.

Boys will be boys. Hudson ended up with a goose egg on his head from playing on this slide the wrong way!

 Love these sweet boys!

We sat all the kids on the wall for the reptile show. They were so cute! I had found these little snakes on Oriental Trading at the last minute and decided to get them in addition to some lizard soap and sweets, and they ended up being a huge hit! They weren't supposed to get them until the end of the party, but the birthday boy decided that everyone needed them a little earlier and handed them all out!

 So we waited and waited for Ed's Pet World to arrive. Of course they were late and I was sweating a little bit! I was very thankful for the park and the beautiful weather because if those kids had been in my house I might have died--just keepin it real! We called the store and they said they were on the way and a little while later the guy doing the show called to tell me he was lost. I was starting to lose faith in these people---I have no idea why, I mean, have you ever been in Ed's Pet World??? I should have known better--ha! I had called three times since booking to make sure they still had us on the list, including the day before. I was just a little worried!

Well, I mean to tell you, Mr. Sebastian was worth the wait! This guy was AMAZING! I would recommend him a million times. He was so great with the kids! They had magic words they had to say before he pulled out another reptile and the kids just loved the suspense as to what was going to be next! He was so patient and answered the kids' crazy questions (like does he know Ariel--from the Little Mermaid!), and let the kids hold everything.

He started small with a lizard. I don't remember the type, but it was really neat!

 Hudson got the royal treatment. Everything was all about him and he was the first to get to hold everything! He ate it up and I was very impressed that he was not scared in the least...of anything!

 All of the kids got to hold every reptile, so they all loved that. Next, was a pretty big snake! All the parents were pretty much running back when he pulled this out! We were terrified!

 Seriously???? This is NOT my child! Hey, I'm just chilling here with a big snake around my neck--no biggie!

 The snake's head is just a wee bit close to William's face here! Sebastian wasn't worried though and clearly, neither was William!

Then he pulled an alligator out of a suitcase! Hudson said the alligator was so heavy! What a treat for them to get to hold a real alligator.

And then, the mac daddy of all snakes. Never would I ever hold this thing...

 Check out the girls!!!! They were not scared either!

 YIKES!!!!!!!!!

 Sebastian ended the show with two smaller things, which were a nice change from the snakes and alligator! This was some kind of skink I think...

 And then a bird that talked! Sebastian got the bird to talk into his cell phone and the kids thought it was just hilarious. It was pretty neat!

 At some point during the show, Sebastian brought the birthday boy a beta fish! His name is Salty (at least today it was) and so far, we've kept him alive! Ha! The boys just LOVE having a fish and are very doting! Harrison loves to get right up to the tank and say hey fishy fishy over and over again. I'm just waiting on him to stick his hand in the water and grab him...because I know he will do that at some point! :)

 

After the show, we thanked Sebastian profusely and sent him on his way! Ed's Pet World gave everyone who attended a voucher for a free goldfish, so that was really neat too! I wasn't expecting that! Some of the kids went straight there after the party. How fun! If you can't tell, we loved this party. It was perfect for a pretty perfect 5 year old!

 

Hudson requested cookie cake (easy!) and we did that to end the party. What a fun morning we had!

 

We ended the day with the birthday boy's request for a trip to Irondale to see trains and eat at the Irondale Café. What a great day he had!