Happy 1st Birthday, Mister Hudson!

Saturday was party day at our house - celebrating ONE year with little Hudson! He is just the cutest little guy around and we had such a fun day with him!

The circus kicked off at lunch time with hot dogs, pasta salad, dips, watermelon, caramel apples & ice cream sundaes. Yum! Hudson got so many great toys - lots of things with wheels - trucks, tractors, race cars & fire engines =) He got his first basketball & football, too. Justin is anxious to get him out in the grass at our new house to learn a few moves =)

We are so thankful everyone who has shown him so much love this past year! He has changed so much - hard to believe that the precious newborn I held in the hospital a year ago is now an on-the-go boy who is walking and babbling up a storm! Where did the time go??


Mister Hudson, we love you so so so much! You bring us a ton of joy and we are very, very glad to have you in our lives!

Schools Out...For Tha Summer!

Well, folks! We did it! Year one of preschool under our belts!

We had a lot of fun (well, mostly fun...there were definitely times of struggle, some "I can't!"s, and some lazy days where neither of us wanted to do much of anything...) but we successfully completed the alphabet =)

I am very proud of Lillianne! Her favorites this year were: mazes, coloring & craft projects, doing pages in her workbook and snack time (of course!) She can write her letters A-Z --- struggling through a few (the S, C, G, and J were tricky ones for her to get) but I was glad that by the end she was willing to give it her best shot. Lillianne tends to not want to do things that she knows she is not good at. She will simply refuse. I've given up on numbers for a bit - the 3, 5, 6 and 9 were too frustrating for her. I was given a few fun ideas for the summer to hopefully get her comfortable making those harder letters less intimidating for her.

I just finished attending a Classical Conversations practicum in Blacksburg. We are thinking about what to do next year and I'm just getting my feet wet with all of the homeschooling possibilities! There were some things that I really liked about CC - other things seemed a little intense and overwhelming. But everyone that I talked to LOVED the program, the support/group, and their kids seemed very bright and well-behaved. My kid on the other hand - completely stripped to her undies when I went to "camp" to pick her up. That's how we roll....oi!

We may or may not be invited to visit the weekly meeting in the fall =)

*** The photo above was taken on her first day of school in September --- how did she get so big, so fast?!

Cha-Cha-Changes....

Several years ago my parents decided to leave their beautiful (this is it - the place we will be for the rest of our lives) home in the mountains of NC to be closer to us. I was so excited to have them in our town but couldn't imagine their rational behind leaving what they had worked so hard for. I remember my dad sharing Matthew 6:19 " Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy..." Such an easy answer and clear direction from God on determining the value of our earthly things!

I've thought about that verse over the past 3 years as we've lived in our own "beautiful mountain house". There are so many special things about the house that we've enjoyed, unique features that make it so much fun. However, at the end of the day, its still just a house. There's nothing about our house that makes it any different than our neighbors, friends down the road or our old town home in Christiansburg. Having these  feelings and wanting to be better stewards of our finances  led us to put our house on the market. (We knew that by making this decision we would make God, Grandma - and Dave Ramsey - happy =) ....we'll be able to once again scream, "We're debt free!!" 

Our house sold while we were at Disney World and its been a whirlwind, crazy month of packing, planning, and purchasing a new home! We are very excited to head back to Christiansburg - our old stompin' grounds =) Closer to our family & just up the road from our great friends...just like old times! 

We close on May 31st and will spend the week before moving our stuff into our new house. Lillianne is excited to move to "Aunt Janie's" (we unknowingly purchased a house from someone who goes to our church!) and is excited to get the "baby doll" room (Janie's granddaughter's). Hudson will have lots of new rooms to explore --- and it won't take long since he is walking everywhere! It will be a fun adventure for the whole family =) 

The best part of the passage that I noted early is actually the following verse..."but store up for yourself treasures in Heaven..." My prayer is that I will take this verse and run with it - that I will use my available resources to work for the Kingdom - and that my character, decisions and choices will reflect His desires. In  all things - to Him be the Glory! 

Guess This Is Growin' Up...

So, Hudson is walking! Not all the time and not super far but he's getting braver and going further every day! Now, I'm really in for it =)

And Lillianne is constantly amazing me with how much she can do independently. Monday, Aunt Erin gave her a stained glass picture to take home and color. She was very excited about her homework and colored several times that evening. Her final product was beautiful! She stayed in the lines so well and really concentrated to do her very best!

I'm so proud of my growing babies! 

I Scream, You Scream....

We all SCREAM for.....BUNCO! Last night was another FUN ladies night in with our Bunco group. It was an "Ice Cream Social" theme. Kate and Dianne brought yummy ice cream, brownies and all the toppings. It was a wonderful dinner dessert!! All the caffeine made the ladies crazy --- there was so much yelling going on last night, it was LOUD! Mam is on the verge of being kicked out of the group, since she walked away the big winner again!! Judy and Polly each won $20 gift cards to Ben & Jerry's. Way to go, ladies!

Until next time...

H is for HIPPO

Lillianne as Belle