Christmas 2010 in pics...because I'm too tired to talk about it.

 Pumped about his football!

 Lots of paper and happiness about Santa

 Baking a cake with Mammie Christmas morning.

 Yum

 He got a grill from Mammie and Deedah. Now he can grill with dad!

 Bailey got a sweet little furball from Santa. Introducing: Honey!

 We all got a little snow for Christmas. :)

 Hudson loved it

 My sister and her family. Plus my little camera hog.

He helped Bebe and Poppy make a gingerbread house Christmas Eve...or he ate all the candy. Im unsure.

Christmas countdown

Only 4 more days till the big guy in the red suit arrives!!! I am so excited, I feel like a child. I haven't been this excited for Christmas in a long time. I think my excitement stems from Hudson. I feel his energy and anticipation and it fuels mine. This is going to be such a fun year with him. He has really grasped the concept this year. I think Christmas morning will be absolutely delightful. A tornado of wrapping paper and squeals and I CANNOT WAIT!!!!

Whenever he gets a present he says "FOR ME!?". It is so sweet! Amazing how things change as we get older and start expecting things.

I love his innocence right now. I know it will only be a matter of time before that precious innocence is gone and it breaks my heart. I hate the thought of all the things he'll be exposed to over time. I just want to bottle him up. There's nothing sweeter than this time we've been given with him. There are days I get so frustrated with him and he drives me crazy. There are times when I want the questions to stop, the whines to come to an end, times I want some peace and quiet besides bedtime, and times that I wish he would stop following me around the house. Then later I feel guilty for wishing those times away because I know this time with him will be fleeting in the grand scheme of things. I know all you moms out there can relate.

Most importantly I pray you all remember the reason for this season and share that with your families. God sent his son to earth. To walk with us in the flesh. To be ridiculed by the ones He made and ultimately die for us. Be thankful.


On a lighter note: here are some pics of Hudson and Santa from last weekend. He loved Santa this year. They were an adorable pair. I hope you all have a very and blessed Merry Christmas!!!!

 He was starstruck.

 Talking to Santa. Look at that little hand. :)

Oh Christmas Tree

I really wish the lights had been on in this pic...

Thankful for my little helper

This past weekend was Thankgiving holiday. I wish I could tell you about all the fabulous things that we did, but that would be a lie. Other than a couple of family gatherings, a couple hours of Christmas shopping on Black Friday and photo shoots we stayed at home all weekend. We had a little lazy time, a little movie time, a little kitchen cooking time and a some cleaning/organizing time.

See...a couple of weeks ago I started a cleaning out and organizing project which will have to be a post all on its own because its that ridiculous. We trudged through a few to-dos on my list and I felt like we got a lot accomplished.

Sunday morning Hudson helped me make homemade biscuits or bippits as he says. You've heard me say before and I'll say it again: HE LOVES TO HELP!!!!!! He gets crazy with his desire to be involved. Even when I tell him I'm doing something that he can't help with, he starts literally climbing the cabinets to get up and watch and TRY to help. It dawned on me that he would probably LOVE flouring, rolling, and cutting out biscuits so we dove in--elbow deep in flour. And he loved it! I threw the bippits in the oven and left out a handful of dough for him to play with while they were baking. He made snakes, turtles and balls with his dough. He almost didn't want to stop playing with it long enough to enjoy the wonderful warm fruits of his labor.

Anyway, this is a good example of our Hudson-centered weekend. I am so thankful for him. He lights up my life and brings true joy into every moment. We love that boy so much and he absolutely steals my heart every day. I know you other moms can relate!! Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Pumpkin. Monster. Lion. Racoon.

I guess its a sign that Hudson is slightly indecisive when we've changed Halloween costume ideas 4 times in 4 weeks. I can't imagine where he gets that.

I started thinking about a costume back in oh...May or June. I asked Hudson what we would like to dress up in for Halloween and he said a "punkin"! Everything looked very big boy-ish or very little boy-ish.

Then Jamie posted on her facebook that she was selling her boys' little monster costumes from last year. They are adorable (both the costumes and the boys that wore them!)! So I thought I'd hit the jack pot. Then we were never able to make our schedules match up (aka: I am so busy I can't find 10 minutes in my scchedule to stop and meet her on the way home from work). So on to the next idea...

I again asked Hudson what he wanted to be for Halloween because Mommy really needed to buy something. He said " A lion! ROOAAARRRR!!!". There's no reasonably priced lion costume out there that looks decent. On to idea number four...

I gave him time to forget about the lion idea and asked again what he wanted to be and he said a "RaccOON!" There was a recent episode at my in laws' house with a raccoon, so we think raccoons are cool now. For two more weeks he consistently said he wanted to be a raccoon, so I knew I had to deliver. If I'd shown up with a lion, monster or any other costume it would have been a huge bust and would have resulted in the melt down of the century and worst mom award for me.  Now where to find a raccoon?

My mom who happens to be the worlds most creative grandmother in the world, that's where! Mom created a little hat, tail, and mask that was a big success.

Since Lantis and I were out of town all weekend so believe it or not we actually haven't seen him in his raccoon gear and didn't get to take him trick or treating, but dont feel bad for him. He was with the grandparents, my sister, and his cousins all weekend and I assure you that he had more fun with them than he ever would have with us. I think they crashed every fall festival in St Clair County and did plenty of trick or treating. I am so thankful for my precious family and my precious little raccoon.

When we take Hudson out this week to our friends' houses to trick or treat you know I'll get plenty of good pics. For now, here is a pic from my mom's phone:

Hallowdega

We needed a little bit of fun and I think we should be more careful what we ask for! We had too much fun this weekend.

We attended a costume party at  The Hamer's lake house. What fun that was!! Most everyone participated and dressed up. We had great food, fun and music .

All the crazies that dressed up! :)

Bret Michaels and his groupie. :) I know my hand looks deformed. Just look away.

Jason Courson and the band serenaded us into the night.

Heidi and Jonathon absolutely cracked me up! Great costumes.

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday we attended the NASCAR race at Talladega. Again, SO MUCH FUN! We got hooked up with some hot pit passes so we were able to get up close and personal with everyone.  Saturday night Denny Hamlin's rental car was left over at the Hamer's house and somehow Lantis and I ended up driving it back to the track on Sunday. Luckily he left his rental paper work in the car. Otherwise no one would have believed that it was Denny's vehicle and we wouldn't have even made it past the first gate much less to the motorcoach!

The fortunate remainder of Denny's rental car paperwork which got us through the gates.

Hangin' outside the motorcoach getting ready for the race to start.

Brian's car tools and stuff in the garage.

Denny's pit

waiting on driver introductions

Jeff workin the crowd

Us and Montoya. Lantis is obsessed with anything/anyone spanish.

Lantis and his crush, Jamie Little.

Us on pit road.

Me and Jeff

Me and Jimmie

Race time!

watching a pit stop. So cool!

Becky driving the golf cart with a hi-jacked "tow" sign from Denny.

National anthem with Gordon and his crew.

Inside Jeff's hauler.

We are Macy's and we'll put everything on sale for any darn reason

I heart Macy's and other stores like them who will put the entire store on sale for any reason. Oh its Flag Day? Great! Take 50% off. What can I say, they--like me--are festive and will take any opportunity to celebrate any occasion...or get rid of inventory. Whatever the case may be, I love it.

I swung by Macy's last week to take advantage of their ginormous 4th of July sale. If you recall my kitchen craze post a couple of weeks ago you'll know that I'm in great need of a few kitchen necessities. I'm happy to say that I was able to stock up on a few items that we genuinely can use:

These awesome Pop Containers by OXO. When I stumbled across these I felt like Carrie Bradshaw (Sex and the City) when she spots some prized shoes in a store window. "Hello lover!". Seriously, I haven't been this giddy about something since New Kids on the Block came to town. Our pantry has never been so organized. Now all of our pantry items will stay freshy fresh and its neat. Win, win. There's nothing worse than pulling out a box of Triscuits that you had your heart set on, only to find that they are stale. No more of that, my friends!



Next up, I found some Calphalon pans that were included in the sale. Saute/fry pans were the first items on my "to-be-replaced" list becuase ours were in terrible shape. These were a must have. I've cooked in them a few times already and again, I'm in love! Nothing sticks, easy clean up, and I swear it just tastes better knowing that it came from a quality pan.





I got this little knife. a) its cute, b) I didn't have a santoku knife, c) it was on sale for $10 and d) Martha Stewart says they're great for cutting up sticky items like vegetables. Well, there you have it. No one cuts up sticky veggies more than me. Lots of chopping is required for frozen pizzas, so that was a no brainer.


Last and my most fave, I got some new kitchen towels. I'm sure none of our guests really care that my kitchen towels are stained and holey, but I do. I cleaned out the kitchen towel drawer, sent the grimey ones to the can-be-used-for-cleaning pile and put the new ones in their place. I couldn't find a pic of my adorable new towels online, so this link to their matching oven mitt is as good as its gonna get. They are precious!

http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=447518&CategoryID=30192



So this holiday season I'm very thankful for our country and the freedom that that we have and for stores that cater to gullable people like myself. I will buy anything that is on sale. I use the term "sale" loosely because we all know that they are simply reducing it to only a half-way-rip-you-off-retail-price. Regardless, I'm happy and I feel like I made some good purchases!

Celebrating Freedom...but we'll use any excuse!

I know you are all anxiously awaiting my next post all about our 4th of July festivities, right? Well, unfortunately I don't have a lot to tell except that we had a fun weekend.

First and most importantly: thank you to all the troops and veterans who have and are fighting for our freedom so that I can enjoy a weekend with my family and friends. Thank you to the families of those who have given the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

So let the festivities begin.

Friday night we went over to the Courson's to swim, eat pizza, play pin ball, and of course listen to a Jason and Hudson play a few tunes on the guitars.

Saturday we spent the entire day out on the water with friends and watched fireworks on the water that night. Here are a few pics of our day on the lake.

Julie and Alesha

Julie photographing my Sports Illustrated cover.

Christa taking a snooze

Julie and me

Alesha and Richie jumping off the rocks

Lantis on the wakeboard

My surfer dude

I love this pic. Everyone looks so happy. :)

Me and Alesha

Sunday was spent recuperating from a long day on the water the previous day. Finally Sunday afternoon we went out and got some ribs from the new little rib shack in Leeds, Huck's. I have to say they have the best ribs I've ever had!! It was great. Hudson loves it because they have a giant pig and chicken on top of the building. Then we went home for kid-friendly fireworks in the driveway. This picture just cracks me up! Hudson wasn't scared of the sparklers or fireworks, but he was acting silly and it sure looks like he was!





Monday I had the bright idea to try to get some updated pics of our little family. We went to my in-laws house and used some beautiful settings in and around their house. Silly me, I should know that when Bebe and Poppy are around, nothing else matters. Especially not my camera. I didn't get many good shots, so we'll have to try again on a day when its just the three of us. Here are a few half-way ok ones.

Hudson with Bebe and Poppy.

Hudson isn't going for pics with mom.

ok. Maybe one, but I refuse to look at the camera!

Hud-n-dad

Down on the farm.

I actually do like this one! :)

and this one.