{Zucchini Muffins & Five Year Check-Up}

Last week a neighbor brought us some of their fresh, garden yummies. I spent all last Saturday making Zucchini muffins, cookies and bread. My kids loved them and gobbled them up all during the week.

Now, flash forward to present day...I took L in for her 5 year check up this afternoon. I was a little alarmed when she couldn't pass the hearing test in her left ear. The nurse did it 5 times and she couldn't hear ANYTHING. I kept hoping the nurse was doing it wrong, but after 5 times, I realized that wasn't the case.

As we sat in the exam room waiting for the doctor, I couldn't think about anything else but how wonderful the gift of hearing is. I hoped like crazy my daughter would always enjoy that blessing.

Finally, the doctor came in and immediately checked her ears. He was obviously concerned too. Usually he does his friendly chit-chat and plays a little with the kids before he gets down to business. After looking in her left ear, he said, "Let's get this ear cleaned out first. There is some wax in there." The nurse came back in and cleaned her ear out with a water/hydrogen peroxide solution. Then, she scrapped a HUGE piece of wax out and wiped it on the clothe that lay on the exam table next to L. My jaw dropped at the size of this ball of wax. When L saw it she said, "Mom, is that one of the muffins you made?"

Seriously, it was big!

The doctor tested her hearing again, and viola...she hears perfectly!!

{First Day of Preschool}

I'm so proud of L for being brave & showing her happy smile (to her teacher) on the first day of Preschool. I remember those First Day butterflies so well. I was shy just like my L, so my heart goes out to her in these new situations.

When I picked her up from school she had the perma-grin from ear to ear. She LOVED preschool and seeing all her friends again.

Additional Note:

I experienced my own little mommy milestone today as well. You see, I picked for her, what I thought to be, the cutest outfit to wear on this special day. I had it planned weeks ago. However, when the day came, she had her own opinions about what she should wear. I couldn't argue. L is definitely teaching me clothes don't make the girl. Anytime we get into a debate about what she should wear, I remember her telling me "Jesus doesn't care if my clothes match"

{First Day of School}

It's time for second grade and I just realized this may be my last year of coolness around his friends. I could only squeeze in two pictures and I barely got a good bye kiss at school today. E is in a 2nd/3rd grade split class and his teacher seems fabulous! We are so excited for this new year and E is really looking forward to learning new things. I love that about this kid....He LOVES learning!!

Last night we went to the Open House at school and he is excited about the friends in his class and he really likes his teacher. It's a recipe for an AWESOME year. I can't wait to see how his first day went.

{Back to School Party}

Our evening began with a yummy dinner prepared by Daddy himself. The menu consisted of his famous lasagna, with a green salad, homemade bread sticks and sparkling cider.

{Thank you J for making the best lasagna ever.}

The guests of honor wore their special crowns.

And Bear was a good sport and didn't fuss at all that she didn't have a crown.

After dinner we played some "back to school" puzzle games I downloaded from the Internet. Then, we kicked off our 2009-10 family theme of Be NICE (which the kids chose) by making a "Be Nice" jar. Each week we can draw a slip of paper from the jar and complete the good deed written on the paper. I'm really excited about this jar of treasures & hope my kids enjoy giving.

Next on the agenda came their Father's blessings.

We then took some time to each write down some goals for this school year. This was adorable. It was the kids first time setting long-term goals. They each wrote multiple goals, but I thought these were cute:

E wants to "be early" (he took that from his dad's goal list). L wants to "make peoples beds".

And last, but not least, we had dessert: Strawberry Boston Cream Cake. Yum!

It was such a fun night. We all agreed this has to be our new back to school tradition.

NOTE:

I totally stole this "Back to School Party" idea from Stephanie, who I admittedly blog stock. I thought it was a cute idea, so I ran with it.

{See Honey, our family does benefit from my endless late night blog reading}

{Camping}

I love camping! I have such great memories of camping when I was a kid & even in college. When J and I were first married, BK (before kids) we'd decide to go camping and be ready and off exploring in an hour. However, once we became parents, the thought of camping did not bring happy thoughts. It screamed more work. The days of throwing some food and your sleeping bag in a pack and setting off for the back country were over once we started having children. Family camping consists of planning, packing, planning, packing, and some more planning. Ugh!

This summer I have secretly been jealous of all the camping J has been able to do with the Scouts. We kept saying we'd take the kids, but never got around to it until last week (the last week of summer vacation). One of the great things about having a husband laid off from work is that we can be free to go and do whenever we want. Camping mid-week was awesome! We had our pick of spots and didn't have to worry when one of the kids had a melt down and cried at the top of their lungs (which only happened once)

.

The kids had a blast exploring and playing. I think playing at the river was their favorite part. They enjoyed the fire at night and roasting marshmallow's. I was a little nervous how K would do sleeping in the tent. I laid down with her for a few minutes but all she wanted to do was play with my face. I decided I was a bigger distraction than help, so I left the three kids & went to enjoy the camp fire with J. When we went to bed a few hours later we discovered E & L had helped their baby sis fall asleep. L had given K her blankie and E had snuggled with her until she fell asleep. What great kids. My heart was so happy.

We all can't wait to go camping again!

{Game Farm}

We made the 2 + hour drive out to the Game Farm yesterday. If you haven't been there, it's a park you drive through (you're not allowed out of your car) and you can feed bread to roaming wild animals. There are llama, prairie dogs, eagles, a white rhino, bison, zebra, yaks, deer, elk, fallow deer, and peacocks. They also have Black and Kodiak bears you can feed and they even do cute little tricks like wave or stand up to get some food. They also have caged wolves, coyotes, tigers, lion, and a couple of cougar....but they looked pretty sad and lonely. All in all, it was a nice experience because E & L had a blast, but I was preoccupied with K (more on that later) to get too upset about the conditions these animals are really in.

So our first stop on the tour were the llama's. We witnessed a baby llama seconds after birth. It was all slimy & trying to stand. The placenta was just a few feet away. It was all very gross, but beautiful at the same time.

O, did I mention I forgot my camera? Yep, I'm pretty disappointed, but it turns out I probably wouldn't have been able to take many pictures anyway.

You see, our next stop was to see the yaks...and that's when our nice little day trip got interesting. While feeding the yaks some bread my darling little K, who was sitting on my lap in the front seat, started to "yak" all over me. I started yelling for Jason to get me something and to help in some way, but it was as if he was frozen (to his credit, our backs were to him, I was only asking him to "do something...get me something" and there was nothing near him except his fleece, which he gave up for family). I was stuck with one hand holding K, one hand holding her throw up and there was a yak fogging up my window waiting for me to feed him some bread. It's not like I could roll down the window and hold her over the edge to puke outside....not with wild yaks surrounding our car waiting for bread. Finally, Jason came out of his paralyzed state and helped clean us up. The rest of the ride/tour I tried to focus on K, be excited for the other kids as they experienced feeding these animals at such a close range, and I really, really tried myself not puke from the awful stench permeating my clothes. Of course I did not bring a change of clothes for anyone. It was a day trip, remember.....and I haven't carried a fully stocked diaper bag in 6 years. When do you ever need that stuff when you actually are prepared and have it?

We did have an encounter with a mama bison. You're advised upon arrival to keep your car moving at all times in the bison field because "they can get aggressive and damage your car". Well, we had to stop because there was a mother in the way who refused to move. As we crept closer, she decided to shield her baby and step in between our car and the calf. Jason called her bluff and crept forward, little by little (and may have gave her a little nudge). As we sat and waited patiently, the other bison surrounded our car waiting for bread and fogging our windows with their breath. I was about to wet myself because they are soooo huge and all I could hear was the warning upon our arrival, "keep your car moving because they can get aggressive". I don't like my kids to know when I get scared so I started my nervous laugh. Then I was trying to be quiet so I didn't startle the bison....then I got even more nervous. I think Jason wanted to feed ME to the bison at that point. Finally, the calf decided to move then the mother left.

After driving away from the bison, we entered fallow deer territory. These small deer stretch their necks to reach up and grab the bread from your hand. We started moving forward and they started to follow, so we sped up a bit and they pursued. Now the boys started holding the bread out the window trying to see how fast they would run along side of us before rewarding them for the quarter mile, record time.

We were approaching the end of the park (I was quietly giving thanks while the kids were exchanging loud, sad sighs) and there was one last, large elk wanting some bread. E wanted to feed him, so he rolled down his window and gave him the last piece of bread. His velvety rack was so beautiful I forgot, for just a second, there was an enormous, hungry mouth inches from my first born. It was a trip to remember. Sadly for K, her memories won't be so great. As for me, I will never again be able to look at a Yak without thinking of the time my daughter "yakked" all over me.

{the New Wheels}

L has needed a bigger bike for a while now, so when Granny & Papa H came into town, they decided to take her shopping. She had a great time picking out her new ride and being treated to a special afternoon with her grandparents. The day was full of spoiling. L's smile was priceless!

Thank you Granny & Papa!!

{Can she really be TWO?}

I'm in denial. I can't believe my baby is TWO! It really just seems like a few months ago I was checking into the hospital to have her. That experience is still so vivid in my mind. I remember every moment: when I held her in my arms; when our eyes met; when I fed her; checked out her fingers and toes; smelled her hair; and watched her sleep peacefully.

And now, two years later, I am still in awe as I hold this sweet little girl in my arms and watch her sleep. My heart just melts every time our eyes meet and she gives me a big smile. I'm having so much fun being her Momma.

I love her shoe fetish.

I love her addiction to Popsicles.

I love to watch her play with baby dolls.

I love it when she says, "baby want you" as she hands me one of her baby dolls.

I love when she calls her daddy "Daddy-Waddy"

I love it when she yells for her brother to come get her out of her crib in the morning.

I love her happy smile.

We love you BEAR-BEAR! Happy Birthday!!

{Skirts}

I started making these skirts and have sold a few recently. They are super cute and super comfy. My girls love wearing them with a tee or tank. They make great gifts! If you'd like to order one for the little princess in your life, send me an email @ rachelhudgins@hotmail.com

{Catch Up}

I've been horrible at blogging since Christmas. I could blame it on Jason, since I blame every thing else on him, but it's mostly because we can't access the internet from our computer (don't ask) so we are borrowing my mom's laptop and I don't want to download all our pics to her computer. Then my genius sister suggested we just download to the external hard drive and plug it into the laptop. Duh! I wish I would have thought of that a few months ago so I didn't have to play such catch up.

Anyway, here are a few random pictures of different 2009 happenings

L is a speed-demon on her little bike. Seriously, you need to watch her or she'll run you right over. I wouldn't challenge her to a game of Chicken.

K...my ice cream-popsicle lovin' child. She wears more than she eats.

This picture reminds me of myself when I was young. Mostly because the pony tails are crooked and mine were ALWAYS crooked because my dad did my hair.


Here Kitty-Kitty

{Another Milestone}

If you heard a strange noise the other night, it was me shouting from my roof top. I am so excited to finally say: "L is not wearing Pull-ups at night anymore!!" I'm not sure what happened....well, I think I know. Last month when we were shopping for E's birthday presents she kept finding all kinds of treasures she wanted to buy for herself. Her dad said, "Well L, maybe we can have a party for you when you stop wearing Pull-ups and you can get some of these presents." Ingenious I tell you!

L talked about this "Pull-up Party" she was going to have someday to EVERYONE. No one knew what she was talking about, so I had to constantly explain...yes, even to the grocery check out lady. But, it finally worked. And her prize....A date with Mom, Dad, and NO K (that was firm in L''s contract) to Build-a-Bear Workshop. It was so much fun seeing Lauren's happy face. She is so happy about her accomplishment and so are we.

{E lost his first tooth}

E has been waiting and waiting to see his name on the Tooth Chart since he started First grade. He wiggles his teeth on a weekly basis and claims one is loose on a regular basis. So when he came home from school the other day stating he ate a cookie that made his bottom tooth loose, I said, "Oh really? Let me see." totally expecting to feel a solid tooth with no wiggles. But suprise, surprise...my boy was not day dreaming and his tooth WAS wiggly. It took about a week of working on that tooth before his dad had the honor of pulling it out. I missed all the excitement but they did grab the video camera to try and capture it on film. Jason just didn't keep filming while he wiggled. Where is the videographer when you need her?

I love this video because he seems in shock still that his tooth FINALLY came out. Poor kid had been waiting and waiting and even had younger friends loosing teeth before him.

{Seven}

I can't believe my boy is SEVEN!! It seems just like yesterday I was sitting on the floor with him stacking wooden blocks and then watching him giggle himself silly when he knocked them down. Now we sit at the table and do homework. Or sit on the couch while he reads to me. Both things I absolutely love doing with him, I just can't believe we are there already.
E-Buddy, I love you so! I love your big heart, your determination, your sense of humor, your silly side, your desire for knowledge, your caution, and all that you are.

Happy Birthday E-Buddy!!!

{Easter}

Last year, right before Easter, I was really sick so my sister made Easter happen for my little family. My kids never had such a great Easter!! Aunt Sunny did an amazing job....from the great baskets (filled with real presents NOT from the dollar store) to funtabulous egg coloring (not the traditional, boring coloring kit I usually buy....she brought Star Wars and Tie Dye kits). Eeeeew....Aaaaaah!

So, this year was a no brainer...Aunt Sunny was in charge of Easter celebrating. It's our new tradition. Even my Dad had to come over and join the fun.

This next picture is right after our egg hunt outside. The kids had to be quick because those sneaky squirrels were breaking open the eggs and stealing the candy. They even found the Golden Egg and broke it open...but we found the $5 bill that was inside.
We love all the Easter fun this holiday brings. And we had a great time celebrating the fun stuff on Saturday with family. But I have to say I love Easter Sunday. I'm so grateful for my Savior and for His sacrifice.

{Pedicure anyone?}

K decided it was time to give herself a little pedicure. Nope, there's no more polish left in the bottle.