First Thanksgiving in Our New Home

Being our first Thanksgiving in our new home, I looked forward to getting to host dinner at home.  As I started the food preparations the day before, I started to get a little homesick, thinking of days gone by when the day before Thanksgiving was spent in the kitchen with my mom, working side by side all day.  I'd like to say my sisters were there too, but let's be honest.  When I was a teenager, they were too little to appreciate (or want to do) such things.  So it was me and Mom.  Boy do I miss that.  Every single year I miss it.  Sigh.

But I posted this on Facebook later that same day:

Was feeling quite homesick this morning. Then realized I had the wrong attitude/ perspective. First, I have a FAMILY, who loves me, and I love them, and our close relationships make us miss each other when we're not together. 2nd, I have a nice, warm house to clean. 3rd, I have food to prepare for my family, not just sufficient for our needs, but an ABUNDANCE. Those are just the 3 things I needed a perspective change on. Too many other blessings to list. I am blessed!!!!!!!

I surely AM blessed!  Too many blessings to list.  One great blessing is that Cooper likes to help me cook.  Most days if he's not out playing with friends when dinner time rolls around, he's there by my side, pulling his step stool out of the pantry, wanting to help me cook.  I love it, and call him my sous chef.  When he complains that he never gets to do any of the "fun" stuff, like cut with sharp knives, I remind him that the sous chef helps prep the food, and takes orders from the head chef without complaining. Ha!  No, but really, he is quite the little helper, and helped me make a couple of things for our Thanksgiving feast.

 I really enjoy cooking, especially when there's more than just Nate and the boys to cook for.  As I looked over our Thanksgiving feast, I felt so blessed to have so much.  I roasted a 20 lb turkey, made stuffing from scratch (my FAVORITE), mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, corn,cranberry sauce, and we had rolls (which I did not make this time due to too many things for one oven to handle).  

 We stuffed ourselves and enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving feast.

 Hudson enjoyed everything too.

 Aunt Denise, Uncle Jim, and Allison (visiting from Massachusetts) joined us for the day.

 Hudson was a little tired by the afternoon.

 It was such a great day; a wonderful time with family.  So thankful to have Denise and Jim close by to enjoy holidays like this with them.

Dance in a Flash Mob...Check!

Last October during breast cancer awareness month, I had the opportunity to support one of the amazing women/families I'm blessed to know here in Charlotte.  Kristi Kramer has been battling Stage IV triple negative metastatic breast cancer for years now.  There is no cure for this kind of breast cancer.  Her treatments will continue until she is called home to the Lord.  She is an inspiration of faith, long suffering, and perseverance in the face of adversity.

Kristi's husband, Scott, and son, Colton, were our home teachers while in the Monroe ward, so their family has a special place in our hearts.  Last fall Kristi asked on Facebook about how to go about participating in a flash mob, one of the things on her bucket list.  As the months progressed, her treatments rendered her unable to participate.  Some amazing women rallied around her, and put together a surprise flash mob in her honor.

We danced to Michael Jackson's "Beat It" in the parking lot near the place where participants of Avon's two-day breast cancer awareness walk/run in uptown Charlotte were stopping to eat lunch.

We danced the original dance steps from the music video.  I practiced and practiced late at night after the kids went to bed, and we even held some group practices the week of the event, where we all brought kids to play at a dear friend's home, while many of us practiced.

I invited my friend, Krista Carpenter, a former co-worker from my PBS&J/Atkins days, to join us.  Unbeknownst to me, my friends April Moore and Natalie Gleaves from the Monroe ward were participating also.

 It was a great way to spend a Saturday morning.

 Not only did I do it for Kristi, I also did it for the many women in my life who have battled breast cancer.  I've not been able to be there to support them as I'd have liked to, due to distance, and so this was one way I felt I could honor their battles.

 To this day Kristi remains a fighter.  For several months I was blessed with the opportunity to clean her bathroom in her home once a week.  Then my boys kept getting sick repeatedly, and I had to stop going so as not to expose her to any other illnesses.  Now this sweet lady and her family are moving to Columbia, SC for a new job for Scott.  We sure are going to miss them.  I'm thankful for social media that allows us to keep in touch.

Life With a Toddler (18 months-ish) - Hudderbean

The boys keep me hopping.  Days that may otherwise be mundane, are usually far from it, thanks to their ever-growing ingenuity of how to make messes or get dirty, or both.  Hudson is no exception.

9/30/14: One potty break for mommy, 3 mischievous minutes for toddler.

...later that same day, after just having tidied up this room, I went back in to put away clean laundry, and found my little helper had been at it again.

10/3/14: Because one lovey is never enough, and apparently need neck snuggling to get the full effect. Paci is not optional.

10/29/14: Hudson's favorite phrase today: "Yay! I did it!" He's said it 3 times already today. Love that he's starting to talk. Getting so big.

If it involves a ball and a "bat" of some kind, Hudson is all in.

Hudson was so proud to show me this tinker toy creation he assembled all on his own.  The tinker toys are often strewn all over the place.  Those and all other game/puzzles in the game closet are splayed across the game room on almost a daily basis.

Climbing onto things he can jump off has become a favorite past time.

I'm often finding the house redecorated.  Candles are not meant to be merely displayed.  Apparently to Hudson they're for STACKING! (Not long after this picture was taken, after putting the candles back on the shelf one day no fewer than 5 times, I relocated them to a higher shelf in a different room.  Well, then that freed up the middle shelf on this three-tiered display table, which then must have appeared to be ladder, because I no sooner had removed said candles than he was trying to climb the "ladder."  The entire table was put in storage for future days when toddler-proofing is no longer a necessity.)

What? Washcloths in the bath aren't for sucking bath water for hydration?

Hudson's new "I'm awake, now come and get me" call is not to talk, or cry. No, my child sits and bangs his feet (or worse, his head) against the wall until I come to him.

The boy LOVES a shower

At 18 months old Hudson was finally old enough to enter the nursery class at church.  Hooray!!!  Did I say hooray?  No more chasing him around during Primary!

He was not timid at all about going to nursery.  I wasn't sure what to expect, because he hasn't been babysat or played with other children his age that much.

To this day, he still LOVES nursery.  On Sundays all I have to say is "Are you ready to go to nursery today?" and he gets excited and exclaims, "Nuh-see!!! Bubbahs (bubbles)! Pway (play)! Yes nuh-see!"  He is often disappointed that the first hour of church he doesn't get to go to nursery yet.  Sometimes there are tears involved because he wants to go to class, not to Sacrament meeting.  Such a big boy!

The winter consisted of many, many colds and illnesses for the boys and I, which meant lots of sleepless nights.  One day I fell asleep in the rocking chair, putting Hudson down for a nap.  Nate took this picture of Hudson and I snuggled together.  He loves the time before bed/nap when we snuggle for a few minutes.  He often gets this cute little smile, and shimmies down in my lap/arms, as if snuggling tighter.  I often wonder whether Hudson will be our last child the Lord blesses us with, and I try to cherish moments such as these, even the times when I'm exhausted.

He looks much cuter in these shoes than I do.

Adventures of Coop Scoop at Five Years Old

Cooper is quite the kid.  No matter what he's doing, he's doing it 100%, whether it's playing in the mud, doing chores, throwing a fit, trying to figure out how something works, or being his crazy/silly self.  He lives in the moment with his whole heart.

Occasionally Cooper and Mommy get some time alone.  This was a date with my Coop Scoop to dinner at a local burger joint (his choice), and a movie (also his activity of choice).  We often drive past the movie theater, and he asks when we're going to go on another date to the movies.  Sweet boy.  Last week (it's now June 2015), we spent time at our neighborhood pool on a Saturday morning for a few hours, just the two of us.  We both enjoy spending time together without the distractions of brother or Dad.

10/23/14: Coop came home from being gone for a bit with Nate. He comes to find me in bed reading, and says he wants to snuggle. I asked why he's so snuggly tonight, to which he looks up at me with a big smile and says, "Because I was born to snuggle you!" That boy can push my buttons and melt my heart all in one day.

One day Coop called, "Mom, come here for a second!"  I went in to the playroom, but didn't see him right off.  He was hiding in the stuffed animals bin, waiting to scare me with a "boo!"  It totally worked, and he giggled and giggled.

The week after General Conference (semi-annual world-wide broadcast conference of our church, where the church leaders sit on a stand), I went upstairs to find Cooper sitting in his chair, which he had moved on top of the tv stand.  When asked why he was up there, he said, "I'm playing General Conference!"  I couldn't even be mad that he was up there after that cuteness.

What do you do with an energetic kid on a cold, wintery day?  Make jell-o jigglers, and practice spelling!

Cooper loves the mud.  LOVES.  I cannot keep the boy out of it.  He and his friend, Elsie, played in the mud in our backyard one day for hours and hours.  I had been watching from the kitchen window, but did not realize just how muddy they were until I went out to call them in for lunch.  Elsie is a fun friend, who enjoys playing outdoors with Coop.  Good thing her mom doesn't care about her getting muddy in such cute clothes.  These two 5-year-olds sure are adventurous together.

Cooper is often trying to build a bike jump.  The jumps he builds are often quite precarious, made of random items stacked on top of one another.  He was so excited when Nate helped him make a safe jump to ride his bike off of, and asked me to take his picture.

Cooper's school pictures turned out so handsome.

Late in the fall we had a belated t-ball pizza party, where the team received their trophies.  Great season, Braves!

12/13/14: The mind of this child fascinates me. He's always trying to build/ invent something. Today: "biking coat" out of packing bubbles. "Bullet proof, everything proof! Well, except hot lava."
Then his sweetness shone through. "Mom, if I had enough of this, I could make one for our whole family. Then we'd ALL be protected!" Love him.

This was my boy after riding his bike through mud puddles, or "mud driving" as he calls it.

Never one to blend in with the crowd, Cooper assembled his reindeer hat for his preschool Christmas party according to his own interpretation of the directions, putting the "antlers" in the back. on the bottom.  He's very insistent and independent, not liking to be micromanaged with specific directions.  He's often one to look at a project, and then totally go his own way with it.  He's an "outside the box" kind of thinker.

Cooper's preschool Christmas party included a few songs like "Jingle Bells" and "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer."  Coop isn't much of a singer, but he did like singing "Jingle Bells."

Brothers

These two bring me so much joy.  Watching their relationship develop is so fun.  I hope they are close as they grow up, and when they're adults.  No one gets you quite like a sibling.

Hudson is most often mimicking Cooper, but sometimes the big brother wants to be like the little one.

Cooper is so good to take Hudson on lots of rides on the gator.

Hudson will sometimes sit in it in the garage, waiting for Cooper to come take him for a drive.

 This was an attempt to get a fall photo of the boys together at the park.  Ha!  They were less than cooperative.  You take what you can get with these two.

Aunt Denise and Uncle Jim visited us at church to watch Cooper in the annual children's program in November.  Denise took this picture of the boys in the foyer.

 I love it in good ol' black and white.

  The boys love to play in the dirt.  I was transplanting some daylilies in the fall, and the boys were my little helpers.

 They can often be found outside digging in the dirt together.

 And then there are moments like this, when I find Hudson inside a toy bin...

 ...or Cooper inside a Christmas storage bin.

 These two!  Gotta love the brotherly adventures.