summer 2013

So much has changed in just a few months. We spent the beginning of the summer fixing up and clearing out our home with the hope of being able to sell by owner. We wanted to sell our house before beginning to build a larger home. We painted, we cleaned, we organized, we patched, we hired out some cleaning, and hired a home stager for a consultation. After all that, I made a web site loaded with photos of our home, ordered professionally printed yard signs, and shared our listing with local facebook groups. We had two showing and two good offers in four days, and closed the sale in August.  Suddenly... we had to find a place to live! Luckily, a friend had moved away and had an empty home that she hadn't put up for sale yet. So, here I am, in a farmhouse on a gravel road! We've been busy working on house plans, and hope for construction to begin in about a month.

I was hoping to redshirt Hannah from going to kindergarten this year, feeling that she'd be a more confident student if she was a year older.  She is so much shorter and smaller than her peers that they treat her as if she is much younger.  Being shy doesn't help things, either... although she's getting much better as she grows older.  I had hoped to send her to a private half day kindergarten and then to public kindergarten next year. It didn't work out, and the private school canceled kindergarten because of lack of enrollment.  I had just over a week to figure out what I was going to do, and chose to go ahead and send her to public kindergarten out of district, but in the district where our new home will be built.  Thankfully, she loves it and is doing very well.  She was a little sick two weeks ago and we kept her home from school for two days.  She cried because she was so sad that she wouldn't see her girlfriends, and worried that her class would learn new words without her.

Hudson continues to be a typical two year old boy.  He plays hard.   Eats a lot.  Sleeps well.  Loves well. And tests us daily.  Recently, he had no problem expressing displeasure.  He'll tell us "I wanna go that way!" from the back of the car and demand that we drive right... when we need to drive left.  He'll also get in my face, look me in the eye, and say, "I say no!" just like Daddy says to him when he needs to get his point across.  Little stinker!  This is also the little boy that crawls into my arms and kisses me on the lips and tells me "I wuv you."

"I win!"

Friday evening I watched the kids play tic-tac-toe on the iPad together after dinner. They were both laughing and yelling "I win!" over and over. Hannah loved it because she had an enthusiastic opponent and really did beat him each time, and Hudson loved it because he was allowed to touch the ipad with her but had no clue what he was doing. Later while I worked in the yard, they ran around the yard in circles getting dizzy, took turns pushing each other through the grass on the tricycle, and played on their swing set. I heard lots of "Come on, Hudson!" and laughter. The kids helped me put down more patch grass seed and each used a watering can (half full so they could carry and use it). They're so excited to help plant new grass. I can't imagine our lives with out BOTH of these crazy kids... and cried a little.

Hannah's first lemonade stand

The sweetest lemonade in town could be found for sale in our driveway during our garage sale. Hannah's first lemonade stand was a success and made over thirty dollars. Pretty good for a little girl who kept nudging me and whispering, "Mommy! Mommy ask them. Ask them if they want any lemonade." She felt too shy to initiate conversation with our garage sale shoppers, but she would tell people her name, how old she was, how much the lemonade costs, and what she wanted to do with the money she earned. Hannah was so cute that some people would may a dollar for a cup and let her keep the change, and others gave her a dollar and didn't want any lemonade! We took Hannah to Target where she purchased some small Lego city sets with her earnings.

language explosion

We've been enjoying Hudson's language explosion over the month of May.  It thrills me that he's able to express himself.  We get little surprises every day with new things he has to say, and sometimes quite loudly.

May 7th:  My favorite Hudson-ism to date: He brings us a diaper grinning and exclaims, "I'm a stinky boy!"

May 10th and 13th:  His phrases keep getting longer and longer! "Mommy, can I have cookies?" and "Mommy, can I please choo choo train?" Long phrases get you what you want, big boy!  Please and thank you are very important words, and he's learning that he's more likely to get what he wants when he remembers to use them.

May 14th  We enjoyed a great steak that Kevin grilled for dinner on the back porch. Hudson commented, "I like steak!"

May 27th:  Hudson cries from his room. "Good morning, Hudson!" I pick him up. He stops crying. "Would you like some breakfast?" "CEREAL. MAMA, CEREAL." I get him a plate of corn flakes and blueberry yogurt. "MAMA TV WATCH. TV WATCH, PLEASE." Hahaha! "Well, what do you want to watch, Hudson?" No response. "Bob the Builder? No response. "Thomas?" He nods happily and does the happy Hudson eyebrow dance. I turn on Netflix and find my boy some Thomas the Train. "TANK YOU!"

may in photos

Preschool visited a dairy farm. Hannah is into stacking cups. We're working on addition and subtraction. Hannah thinks this is a game, and it is such fun! We visited the Butler bulldog.    Hannah is better at opening crab legs than I am. She's not a cheap date!   Daddy bought Hudson a big wheel. The kids were very excited and helped put the big wheel together.   We book the kids to their first baseball game.   Kevin bought Hudson a box of Cracker Jack. I asked Hudson if he'd share with me. He shouted, "No! Mine!" About ten seconds later he decided to share, and put a piece of Cracker Jack into my mouth that was all wet. Thanks, kid.

Redirect: America through the eyes of my TCKs

I'm enjoying Morgan's blog.  She's an American, living in Taiwan with her family, and is now an adoptive mama too.  They are visiting the states with their family for several months before returning to Taiwan.  I love what her third culture kids have to say about visiting America.

Hannah's grocery list

  On Tuesday Hannah went through the pantry and made a grocery list of things she'd like to buy.  She copied the words off of packaging.  Kevin texted me this pic while I was at work.  I *love* this!!!  We figured out that "fuzzy sticks" were pipe cleaners for crafts, and "expo" referred to dry erase markers.



Hannah and Kevin are really into building Lego sets together right now.   Kevin's mom and dad mailed us all of his old Lego sets, and they are keeping busy.



I saw this photo in my facebook feed this week. I think is would be a wonderful gift to give a child brought into a family via adoption.



We're loving these Taiwanese Ramen noodles that we picked up at Juncle Jim's.  Nom nom nom!

    Last but not least, I could have written the above someecard.  :)

"I wuv you!"

My mama's heart swells. While putting Hudson to bed last night he said back to me for the first time, "I wuv you!" and blew me a kiss back.

It's okay with me if he never stops saying "dad-doo" for thank you, too.  :)

Easter

I'm a bad blogger: Feb/March photo dump

  I'm a pretty bad blogger these days. I'm busy with sticky.  Waking up at 3am for the crying child. Trying not to yell and be patient when someone spills half a box of Cheerios on the floor. At those times I'm thrilled that our dog likes to snag people food.

  I felt really old pushing a snow ball around on my knees. I was thinking about taking some more ibuprofen while making this snowman. Yes, he has strawberries for eyes. And I have no sticks, so we used broom handles for hands.

  Any sunny day over 40F feels like a heat wave.

  We DROVE to Florida to visit Grandma and Grandpa... and Disney World. This was Hudson's first time out of the Midwest. He had diarrhea the whole drive to Florida. I changed poopy diapers in Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida. Probiotics and Activa yogurt fixed it as soon as we arrived in Florida. That's what I'm going to remember about this trip!

  We saw princesses.  We went on rides.  We had great food.

  And we walked a lot. This is my favorite photo from the trip. It says a lot about Hudson's personality.

  Long days make for very tired little boys.

  Hannah watched Phineas and Ferb on Netflix all the day to Florida. She was allowed to pick one souvenir, and chose a stuffed Perry. She's sleeping with Perry the platypus every night now.

  This is another one of my favorite photos from the trip, Hannah and Grandpa holding hands.

  The kids' favorite ride was the Buzz Light Year ride.

  Hannah spent a lot of time picking flowers at Grandma's house. She got to help water Grandma's roses. When we came home to Indiana, she asked  if she could help me water our flowers. My rose bushes are covered with 8 inches of snow. I don't think they need any water right now.

  The Matilda Jane Good Hart line takes my breath away, and it took a lot of my money this spring. I picked up an extra day of work to pay for it. Yes, it is that cute.  The strawberries did me in.

  Bounce house.  Wanna join us? I think this is a fantastic idea.  My kids love it, get a lot of exercise, and get tired. Then they sleep really well at night. But I have to drag Hudson out of bouncer kicking and screaming. That's fun.

  Speaking of sleeping, Daddy converted Hudson's crib into a toddler bed. Sometimes he'll put himself down for a nap. We seem to have less screaming at bed time because he climbs himself into bed instead of being placed down into his crib.  Totally a control thing.  Totally. Of course, Hannah needed a photo taken of herself in her bed when I was taking one of Hudson.
    Is it spring yet?  I can't imagine finding ice in the sand box would be pleasant.