20 Months and Friday Five

Ok, so I really can't keep up these days. Hudson's 20 month birthday has come and gone and I never got to post about him.

I will say it's a bit harder the older he gets to write about him because he isn't changing as quickly as he used to. Don't get me wrong he's still growing up so fast, it's just different. So I tried something a little different to keep track of his interests.

A few other cute things that he is doing that I want to mention also...

Every time we walk into the house he says, "dada shhhh" and puts his finger over his lips.

He picks out his shoes every morning, if I try to pick them out he will tell me no, put them back, and get the ones he wants. And believe it or not he does not acquire this shoe problem from his mother!

He is still working on answering questions and right now most of the time the answer is no, we are working on answeringyes more. Why is it that they just like to say no?

And just for my records:

Wearing 18 month shirts and 12 or 18 month pants (depending on length)

Size 6 shoe

Size 4 diaper

Weighs about 25 pounds

 Hudson, you are becoming more independent every day and are so fun to watch! You are such an observer and love to figure out people and the way things work. You always make our days brighter! Mommy and daddy love you Hudson!

And here's is my Friday five:

1. fall weather

2. my fellow Kdg teachers

3. my husband

4. that parent conferences only come twice a year

5. a God who is bigger than life daily troubles

I am thankful for way more than 5 things, but it's such a reminder to stop and think about the things we take for granted too often. What are you thankful for?

Pumpkin Cookies

I have to share this recipe for the most heavenly pumpkin cookies I've ever experienced. They are soft and chewy, just my kind of cookie! And they have chocolate chips for an added surprise!
Here's what you need:
1/2 c. Unsalted butter (softened)
1 1/4c. Brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 c. Canned pure pumpkin
1 tsp. Vanilla
2 c. All-purpose flour
4 tsp. Baking powder
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. Ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. Ground cloves
1/4 tsp. Ground ginger
Let's be honest for a minute, I don't actually have all of those ground spices in my collection so I like to use pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon and nutmeg. But it's your choice!
And add as many chocolate chips as you would like :) I use about half a bag.

Here's what to do:
Cream margarine and brown sugar. Add eggs and beat well. Add pumpkin and vanilla. Beat until smooth.
Combine next 7 ingredients in a small bowl. Add to margarine mixture in two additions, mixing well after each.
Stir in chocolate chips. And throw a few in your mouth or put them in a small bowl for your 1 1/2 year old. I'm such a bad influence ;)
Anyway, drop onto cookie sheet about 2 in. apart. Bake in 375 degree oven for about 15 minutes. In my oven 14 is the perfect number of minutes.
Enjoy! And share the fall goodness with your friends, they will love you for it! My kindergarten teachers did, well they love me for other reasons too (like apparently being the most tech savvy). What?! Enough rambling go bake some cookies!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Family Fun

I'm all for family time and a few weekends ago we had a whole weekend of family fun!

We started the weekend by celebrating Jean (Ryan's sister) and her pregnancy with Rachel Ann. She's expected to arrive in just a few weeks, can't wait to meet her!

Here are the ladies of the family (and John) who could make it to the shower. 

And the beautiful nieces! It was so nice to get together and hang out, we don't get to do that very often.

Ryan's mom wasn't able to make it to the shower because she was still in the hospital due to surgery and recovery. We skyped her during the shower and then took her dinner and an early birthday cake. It think it made her feel god to have most of the family together, even though she was still in the hospital.

I'm not lying when I say it was a family filled weekend. The next day we headed to Missouri to visit family and celebrate my grandparent's anniversary. With my family, story time always seems to be involved (shown above). 

My grandparents celebrated 45 years! Isn't that awesome?!

Hudson obviously enjoyed the cake too! 

Love these ladies!

The family that was able to be there! My grandparents have four children and their spouses, ten grandchildren (some with spouses), and two great grandchildren! 

And one of the most entertaining parts of our day...the dog.

Does your dog skateboard? More to come about the skateboarding dog soon!

The County Fair

Hudson needed a play date with his best buddy Ayden and it worked out perfectly that we could get together the same weekend as the county fair. You have to understand that Pawnee county is not exceptionally large so the fair consists of animals, and a building about the size of my house for contests and a concession stand. No rides, no sparkling lights, no "fair food." You can stare at every animal and prize winner for a long minute and be out of the place in 20 minutes tops.

Although small town, it's the perfect setting for two independent 1 1/2 year olds.  Hudson particularly loved to pet the "dogs" or goats. And he loved to point and say "duck." 

Neither boy was very interested in touching the cows, saying moo was plenty fun. 

The two buddies ran their tails off so they were hungry after their twenty minute tour. So after our  fair fun we took them to Click's, had some play time, and shopped in Ayden's closet. Hudson ended up way better off in this deal than his buddy Ayden, with four new pairs of shoes, a coat, jammies, and several outfits. I'm thankful he has buddies who share! And thank goodness for play dates and animals-they keep these cute boys happy!

Football and Fall

Nothing says fall like the opening weekend of college football! Don't let the pictures fool you, it definitely did not feel like fall at this event.

We have been excited for this game for quite some time! The sweet lady who bought our house, asked if she could take us to the game. She wanted us to come back and see the work she had done and invited us to go along to the game with her.
It was so cool to go down memory lane, but it's so weird when the house looks COMPLETELY different! I don't have any great pictures yet because the house is still under construction remodel, but when we have pictures of the finished project I will definitely share! She has moved doors, built walls, gutted the kitchen, and put down new floors. And there is so much more she has done too! It's adorable and Ryan was in heaven because the kitchen is a gorgeous OSU orange with black cabinets. If I let him decorate our house, that's exactly what every room would look like.
Anyway, after we went to visit the old place we all headed to the stadium for a small tailgate and the game.
Hudson had a lot of fun running around the tailgate and even found a little girl who wanted to love on him. He just played hard to get...good boy Hudson!
I can't say he felt the same way about the game.
He was a pretty happy camper until the pre-game festivities started and he was overwhelmed by all of the noise. You have to understand that we were on the front row behind the visitor's bench so everything was right in his face. And everytime the coaches would yell at the players he would just cry like they were yelling at him. Poor guy has a sensitive heart like his mama.
After taking turns hanging out with him in the tunnel, lots of M&M's and ice, and some time to warm up to his new environment he decided he liked it ok. I think as he gets more used to all of the action he will enjoy it much more. The poor guy wanted to cheer so bad, but couldn't get his "yay" and clap out due to all of the tears. And did I mention it was WAY past his bedtime?
Thankfully the third and fourth quarter were much more enjoyable for him and I think we are on the verge of enjoying live football. To top it off we won (Go Pokes!). It was such a fun day and we were so thankful for the opportunity to visit our old hometown. The rest of the weekend was nice and relaxing too and the temperatures started to cool off to reflect the season that we have been longing for! I love football and fall and am excited they are both making their way back into our lives! Anyone else anxious to see the leaves change, wear hoodies and eat soup?

My Sweetness

Isn't he hilarious? I love that sweet smile so much!