Motherhood

I was preparing for my lesson in YW for Sunday and I remembered this Mormon message my dad sent to me a while back. I tear up every time. Thanks dad.

Articles of Faith

As of January, Boston is know longer a Sunbeam in primary!  Kind of sad for me but SO exciting for him.  He LOVES to be in the CTR 4 class and is happy to finally be BIGGER then some of the other kids in primary. 

 Back in December Boston got to give his first talk in primary.  He was asked to give his favorite scripture story.  He chose Samuel the Lamanite because he LOVES that they threw rocks and spears at him and he was protected by the Lord and didn't get touched by a single one.  He was SO proud to give his talk.  A friend of mine snapped this picture and sent it to me. 

Lastly, this year our stake is focusing on learning the Articles of Faith.  We have been working on teaching them to Boston to memorize and so far he has the FIRST and SECOND down.  We are currently working on the third.  Boston has a pretty good memory and has been able to pick them up pretty quickly. 

Please excuse his silliness towards the end.  He had TONS of energy after church that day and I was lucky he was as calm as he was for this video.

Happy LOVE Day!

I might mark this year as one of the BEST ones yet!

Family Time

Last weekend we had a GREAT time together as a family.  We had NOTHING going on that Saturday and just spent the day together.  We headed up to The Woodlands to shop with some gift cards I've had for MONTHS and just hangout and eat dinner up there.  I love the whole atmosphere and can NOT wait for this kinda thing to be built closer down by us (hopefully sooner than later)!  When we were finished at the mall and letting the kids play at the play area, we headed down to the waterway for dinner.  Usually I let Boston play in this splash area in the spring/summer but its February and MUCH too cold for this! Hudson the explorer tried on MULTIPLE occasions to run through it regardless of HOW chilly it was.  Thankfully, we only walked away with a little water on his pants (you can kind of see it in this picture).  

Can you tell how HAPPY Boston was to feed the ducks??  Since I had ZERO bread, we improvised with baby puffs!  Hey, the ducks LOVED it! 

While we were walking around, they had music playing. Louis, Louis came on and Hudson GOT DOWN and put on a show for a few people! It was pretty hilarious!  My son's got moves!  This kid seriously cracks me up!  I just can't help but love him.

 After about an hour wait, we finally got into the FAMOUS......

A friend told me that Grimaldi's was up in The Woodlands and I was ECSTATIC!  After going to NYC, walking the Brooklyn bridge PREGNANT JUST to get some ORIGINAL GRIMALDI'S pizza only to find out they were CLOSED, I have been DYING to get my hands on this pizza!  Well, come to find out we are lucky enough to have one here in HOUSTON!  I told Kent about it and we were there the next weekend!  (Sorry my pictures are sideways.  I took these with my phone and for whatever reason, my computer won't let me rotate them!) 

 Boston got to play with the pizza dough.  He was SO excited about it....can't you tell? ;)

 You get to customize your own pizza so Kent and I decided to get the BIGGEST pizza and make it margarita style!  IT WAS TO.DIE.FOR.  Needless to say we downed the ENTIRE pizza in one sitting.  Pigs?  Maybe so but it was just that GOOD!   Kent said its the BEST pizza he's had since Italy!   

Other than the disgusting couple who were making out at the table right next to us, it was a WONDERFUL experience and I'm totally tempted to go back again this weekend!  I've always loved going up to The Woodlands and now I love it EVEN more!!!

Changes

Before Christmas, I was SO tired of tripping over toys every where I turned.  Without hardly any hesitation I told Kent one day that it was time to move the boys into the same room and make Hudson's bedroom the playroom.  I knew we were going to come home after Christmas with even MORE toys and by that time I probably would have lost my mind.  So into one room they went.  I LOVE IT!  It really hasn't come with TOO many issues.  Some nights the boys will play and some mornings Boston wakes up at 6:45 am to relieve himself since he can't seem to hold in any longer (trust me, this drives me crazy but I'd rather him pee then have an accident I guess...), it causes a few issues but overall its been great.  Part of me LOVES them playing upstairs when they should be sleeping.  Why?  I guess I just love hearing them laugh and bond together.  Although TRUST me, by 9 pm I'm OVER it!  Thankfully if Hudson gets woken up by Boston's early morning potty breaks, he usually cries for a second and goes back to sleep.  So all in all, its been working.  Now when Hudson is in a big boy bed, it might be a different story.  I do LOVE, LOVE, LOVE having Hudson's old room dedicated to toys.  It makes me happy every time I walk by it and it makes me even HAPPIER when I walk downstairs and there are NO toys!  Since we are still in our little townhouse for a little bit longer, I've had to make due and make room where I can.  I feel like we are busting at the seams (this is the LONGEST we have ever lived in ONE place) but I guess that means I just need to reorganize and throw stuff away (we have done LOTS of that lately).  Funny how much happier I have been since we've been doing that!  HALLELUJAH!

On another note, here's a fun video of Hudson walking.  This kid has been walking for about a month now and I just love seeing him roam around like a little man.  He is clumsy and runs into stuff CONSTANTLY (as you will see).  This brings a new bruise to the face daily.  I swear people think I probably beat my child but trust me, he does it ALL on his own!  Oh!  Notice the brush in his hand.  THAT is a favorite for him to carry around with him (that or the aquaphor..). 

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Basketball

We tried basketball for the first time and it was a HIT!  I asked Boston if he preferred basketball or soccer more and he responded, "BASKETBALL...because its SO much easier than soccer!"  He was probably referring to the fact that there's not as much running and chasing AND he made more points in basketball.  Is my son lazy or what?

I didn't get very good pictures this season because I was trying to take pictures AND handle Hudson on the bench.  Kent helped assistant coach (Boston's friend Kyler's dad, Jason, was the head coach...yes he was brave) so he was either on the court or on the sideline helping out so he obviously couldn't help me out.

Boston prefers to dribble LEFT HANDED and LOVES to race down the court when its time to switch baskets.  It was fun to see the team progress throughout the season.  It felt like when the season was just ending they were all getting SO good!

Here's a video of Boston scoring from the last game.  He's SOOO happy and proud each time he scores.  He was constantly reminding us after each game how many goals he had made this season (he finished with a total of 8 shots)! During soccer season, we started the tradition of getting a candy bar every time he scored.  Well, apparently Boston felt it necessary to carry it on during basketball.  Once he learned what a candy bar was, he wasn't about to give that up!

It was a great season and fun to see Boston try something new.  We've had 2 weeks with NO GAMES and its been nice but now soccer season is starting.  I'm accepting that this is going to be my life now....

Part 3: New Years Eve

Our last day of fun filled memories continued when we went bowling New Years Eve.  This is one of Boston's FAVORITE activities and he was on cloud nine when he found out what we were doing that day!

 Can you tell how excited he gets?

 Bryson doesn't look as thrilled (promise he really was)!  Bryson became Boston's big buddy!  Love the friendship they formed!

Once we finished up bowling, everyone headed over to Golden Corral for dinner.  I hadn't been there in YEARS but kids never turn down endless dessert so they were in heaven!

 We ended the evening with fireworks at Kelly's house.  The kids LOVE to light sparklers.

 See them all begging Jeff for another? 

 Once all the sparklers were finished, all the guys put on a BIG firework show.  Boston has sensitive ears and HATES loud noises so apparently fireworks STILL make him nervous.  He sat on my lap the whole time with his hands AND my hands covering his ears.  Hudson on the other hand, hung out with all his big cousins and didn't seem to mind it ONE BIT!

We didn't stay until midnight because the kids were DONE so we headed back to my parent's house where I was DETERMINED to ring in the New Year AWAKE.  It seems like the last few years, we've been exhausted and end up falling asleep before midnight.  We're such exciting people, right?  Well Kent zonked and I BARELY stayed awake with my dad while we watched Training Day on TV.  Exciting, no but hey I was awake!  One of these years I'd LOVE to throw a New Year's party....ONE DAY!

For now, HAPPY 2012!

Part 2: Girl Day vs Boy Day

On Friday, the girls planned their day while the boys planned their's.  The boys stayed back and watched football before going go kart riding while the girls hit up the jump house then planned to go ice skating.  Since Boston and Bryson wanted to do the jump house, we let them come too until it was time to meet up with the boys!

 Kent hung out at the jump house so he could bring Bryson and Boston to meet up with the guys.  And just FYI see that little mini basketball hoop?  Yeah, I defnitely shot the ball back from where I was taking the picture and totally made it....yes, I have skills, thank you!

 The kids spotted hula hoops and went to town.  Boston could not figure out how to work it...

 But the girls dominated!  Sidney and Ashlyn were pros!

 After driving downtown to the ice rink, we found out it was SOLD OUT so we had to come up with a Plan B.  Everyone decided it would be fun to hit up Celebration Station where they have mini golf, arcades and go karts (where the guys all were).

 Boston was too little to drive the big go karts but can't you tell I was THRILLED to drive him??  Sadly, we got the SLOWEST car!!! 

 Once we had burned the rubber off those tires, we met up with Carol for dinner at RAISIN CANES!!! We LOVE this place and are SOO excited that Houston is starting to get one on every corner!

 Once we were finished, Hillary thought it would be fun to head to see the Zoo Lights.  I had never been and it was fun to see all the lights they had surrounding the zoo.  We couldn't really see any animals.  Some we were able to shine our phone lights on and see but mostly, we just walked and enjoyed the light show.  Here are all the HOOPER COUSINS (minus Jordan & Riley)

 Janine was Boston's little buddy the whole time.  They walked around holding hands and looking at all the lights.  It was adorable.

 I love Alan-Michael's cheese dog smile in this picture!