Summer

We've finally gotten our summer started! Reed was sick almost the whole first week with some kind of stomach bug.  He missed almost all his Seal practices and then proceeded to give it to Brian (I was using essential oils like crazy and Hudson and I never got it.  Brian jokingly calls my oils "voo doo" but look who ended up getting sick). :)  Reed finally got well, but then the next week was Seals practice in the morning with VBS in the evenings.  We didn't get much done then either. :)  

Here is what we have been up to:

One project we did do was painting canvases.  I let the boys pick out a shape, cut it out on my Cricut in vinyl and stuck it on the canvas.  Then we put blobs of paint on the canvas and used a paintbrush to smear it all around.

They turned out really cute and the boys were so proud - they are both excited to hang them in their new rooms in a few months.

I'm finally starting to see turkeys again!  I've missed seeing my turkeys, but the other day, they showed up and were eating the birdseed that had fallen from the feeders under the tree out the back door.  The first day there were 2 mommas and 11 babies!  The next day, there were 3 mommas and 20 babies!  I had never seen baby turkeys, so it was cool to see so many! 

We had our first swim meet of the season on Friday night in Weatherford. Both boys did a great job.  Reed placed 3rd in both his 25 free and 50 free.  He placed 5th in his 25 breast.   It was Hudson's first time to compete and we put him in 2 events - the 25 free for ages 6 & under and the 25 free for ages 8 & under.  In the 6 & under, he placed 4th and in the 8th and under, he placed 15th.  He told me at the next race that he wanted to swim a longer distance, but he was struggling towards the end of the 25, so I think we'll keep him there for a bit. :) 

This week we stopped after Seals practice to try out the new bake shop off the square.  The boys shared a ginormous piece of chocolate cake and some cake balls. :)

During all of this, we've been busy with the house.  Not me NEAR as much as Brian - he has made so many decisions and getting everything lined up... he has really been working hard.  You can click here for the latest updates. 

Today the boys and I went up to Fort Worth to look for some house stuff.  After 4 "boring" stores (Hobby Lobby, Target, Kirklands, etc.), I took them to the trampoline park and Toys R Us (where they spent every bit of their allowance/birthday money.) :)  

I'm looking forward to more swimming, water parks, and fun summer stuff!

We had quite the busy lady few days with it being the last week of school and all. Monday was Memorial Day - it was cloudy and we didn't really do anything which was nice. The boys had stayed the night at my parents house on Sunday night and my mom texted me that Hudson was running a fever.  When I went to go pick them up, I told him that he probably wouldn't be able to go to his Kinder graduation the next day and he got tears in his eyes and his little lip started shaking. I diffused Theives in the living room after we got home and in his room all night (yes, I have gotten into all this essential oils stuff- if you want to know about it, I'd love to tell you. It's pretty great stuff). He woke up feeling good on Tuesday, so he got to go.  They sang a couple of songs and he got to hold up the first "e" in the word "Kindergarten". 

He was voted "Funniest Kid in Class" which does not shock me at all. He certainly keeps us laughing. Here he is accepting his "diploma". :)

It was been raining off and on for a couple of days, so the ground was soaked.  On Tuesday night, it came out of nowhere and rained HARD for 20 or 30 minutes.  Brian has done a great job with directing the water runoff into our tank - it is filled up.  The water was rushing in and it was such a nice sound!

Of course the boys had to get in it... Even if it was on the chilly side.

Another couple of fun shots I captured...

Then on Thursday, it was Reeds 4th grade awards ceremony. He had a great year. He was on the A Honor Roll all year, he got the Six Flags reading ticket (reading 600 minutes), he was Student Council Representative for his class, and he was 3rd place in his class for AR reading points. (The little girl who won first place in his class had 670 points - the HIGHEST in the entire school district. WOW!)  Here he is accepting his certificates.

Friday was the last day of school. The tradition of decorating the car continued... 

(Hudson liked it, it was just really bright outside and he was annoyed at my constant picture taking.)

And we topped it off with some tank swimming... 

I'm so glad summer is here. Looking forward to some fun with my guys. :)

Reed's Field Day

Yesterday Reed's field day.  It was supposed to be last week, but we got rained out.  I was worried about the weather again, but it ended up being perfect.  It was raining in the morning, but quit by the time we got to the track.  It was a mixture of a little sun with clouds and a nice breeze.  Third through fifth grade field day is a little more hard core - there were tons of events.  Reed started out with the 400 meter relay.  At the starting line...

The kid gave it everything he had...

I was really proud of him.

He's just not much of a runner, so he was very disappointed that he didn't do better.  He really doesn't like to do things unless he's good at it... we're working on that. He also did a 200 meter race and a 50 meter.  Check him out on the far right... just off the starting line and checking to see who is ahead. :)

His last event was the 3-legged-race with his friend Austin.  They were off to a good start..

and then they bit the dust.

They were back up and laughing in the end. :)

We ate lunch and he was done with his events (and wasn't at all interested in the tug of war), so I signed him out and we went to Sonic for a treat.  

It started raining and so we signed Hudson out of school a little early and got home before the hail hit.  We had a nice rain though, much needed around here!

We went down and fed the fish on Friday.  I don't always go, but when I do, I get the sweetest pictures.

We have quite a few fish and they are really starting to get big.

One of the framers asked if he could fish in the tank during their lunch break and we told him yes as long as he threw them back.  He told Brian he caught a bass "about this big" (I would guess about 18" from what Brian showed me with his hands).  :)
We had a huge rain yesterday - no idea how much because our rain gauge broke - but the tank has gotten some much needed water.

Kindergarten Field Day

This morning was Hudson's field day.  Kinder field day is pretty easy - lasts only a couple of hours and it was nice weather today, so it was fun.   We slathered on the sunscreen and he was so excited to be able to wear a hat.  He has a couple of old hats of Brians' from when he was little, so Hudson chose to bring the Chargers hat.  I'm sure it's from the early 80's... and awesome. :)

The first event was a relay race (and I use the words event and race loosely) on a hippity hop.  Hudson was a pro.

The teachers even raced at the end - it was pretty hilarious and the kids LOVED it.

They also did a sack race and this is Hudson waiting his turn... 

Hudson in a nutshell... :)

His teacher asked me today how I got such a sweet boy.  I honestly don't know.  He has always been such a sweetheart and I hope he always retains that quality as he grows into a man.  God has given me two awesome boys and I am so blessed and proud to be their momma.

Pastries with Parents

This morning was Hudson's Pastries with Parents. The kindergarten teachers do it every year - they invite us to the school and we get to eat breakfast with our kiddos. 

It hit me today that this is our last Pastries for Parents.  It made me kind of sad, but I am proud of the little men that our boys are becoming and look forward to all of the fun things the future has in store for us. I sure do love my little guys. 

Super Citizen

Reed was nominated by his teacher for the Kiwanis Club Super Citizen for this six weeks.  It's along the lines of the Terrific Kid, but just for the older ones - 4th & 5th grades.  We were invited to a lunch where they honored all the 4th & 5th graders that were nominated for Super Citizen.   Here he is listening to Mrs. Gibson read why his teacher, Mrs. Herbold, nominated him (he's so shy - he hates stuff like this.)

We're so proud of this little guy.  He's a great kiddo!

Reed's Fourth Grade Field Trip

Yesterday Reed and I went on his 4th Grade Field Trip to Austin to see the capital.  The entire 4th grade, the teachers, the principal and a few parents made the trip down on 2 coach buses.  A few parents followed behind the buses, but I chose to ride the bus with the kiddos... there were definitely pros and cons to that idea. :)  Here we are getting on the bus - it was about 5:45 in the morning.  

I had on a motion sickness patch and took a less drowsy Dramamine and I was able to read a book the whole time!  It was awesome and really helped make the drive go by faster.  The kids were all so excited, so it was chatty on that bus.  Each seat also had a foot rest attached to the bottom of the seat  in front of it.  They would go down when you put the weight of your feet on them and then pop back up if you took your feet off.  All I can say it that those things were in some serious need of a can of WD-40.  The squeaking nearly drove me crazy.

There is a sweet little girl in Reed's class that whipped out her cross-stitch to help pass the time.  Seriously, how cute is that?

This is Reed and his friend Austin.  They were my group to chaperone.  

We finally got there, unloaded the bus and headed to the Visitors center.
Gaston, Reed & Austin

Our first view of the Capital.   

We lucked out on the weather.  It was beautiful - sunny, slight breeze and in the low seventies.

In the visitors center, we had a great little tour where we watched a movie about the capital and how it was built and with what materials, etc.  It was narrated by Matthew McConaughey (of course). :)  They had little activities for the kiddos to do...

Ande here is my little Goddess of Liberty (the name of the statue on top of the Capital dome).

After the visitors center, we went over to the capital.  This is the kind of stuff boys do while waiting. 

We headed in the building and the tour guide asked questions (the kids did great and knew all the answers.  I, however, am sadly very ignorant about Texas history.  This trip definitely made me want to learn more about it.)  In the dome area, our tour guide told us that if you stood right in the middle of the star on the floor and said something,  you could hear an echo. It was pretty cool. :)

Reed listening to the guide.  He loved the tour. 

Next we went underground (which I actually didn't even know it existed!).  They have skylights at ground level and the guide showed us this one where we could see the entire dome.  Pictures don't do it justice - it was really neat.

The tour concluded and we grabbed a class group shot before heading off to lunch.

We had an awesome picnic on the capital grounds.  

A quick pic of the entire 4th grade...

Then it was off to the Bob Bullock Museum.  On the walk over, we saw the 10 commandments on the Capital grounds.  I love Texas. :)

We spent a while looking around the museum and after visiting the gift shop, we decided to sit down and rest.  Did I mention that it was also my kiddos 10th birthday?  How did that happen so quickly? 

We saw a couple of 30 minute shows in the theater on the 2nd floor of the museum where I promptly fell asleep in the cushy chairs.

Yep.

 It was comfortable, cool and dark. I was tired. I am not ashamed! :)

It was funny because the first movie was about weather, so there was rain (and a real mist in the theater) wind (I guess they turned the air on full throttle), loud thunder and lighting (LOUD cracks of thunder and bright flashing lights to go along with the lightning).   I remember jumping because it woke me up but I think I fell right back asleep.  The second movie (which I barely remember ANY of), had something actually move across your bottom in the seat.  Everybody screaming woke me up... I was told later it was supposed to have been a snake. :)  

One last 4th grade pic in front of the Museum...  

And we loaded back on the buses to go back home.

I was hoping the kids would be tired and go to sleep... Uh, no.  They were the opposite of that.  Austin rode home with his mom, so Reed had his seat to himself.  He started out like this...

But ended up like this...

I dozed off a couple of times, but those squeaky footrests were just too much. :)

We pulled into the school parking lot about 8:30.  Reed and I went to Sonic and grabbed a burger (all were brought were snack food for the bus ride).  We got home home about 9:00.  It was a long day, but we had a great time.  Reed rated it a 8 1/2 or 9 on a scale of 1-10.   

Only 4 more years and I'll get to do it all again with Hudson. :)