hudson the soccer player

Hudson had been telling people for over a year that he played soccer.  When the time finally came for him to actually play, he was thrilled.  I took him to get new cleats and new soccer clothes and you would have thought the boy had just seen Santa he was so excited.  After spending multiple seasons on the sidelines watching Boston play his sports, he was finally getting a turn...and Boston got a taste of what it was like to hang out at practice after practice and watch game after game on the sidelines (it was good for them both). 

Hudson was totally confident and ready to go at his first practice with team SEATTLE.

Thanks to a TON of rain in Houston in April/May, we had a TON of rain out practices AND games. This meant the season went longer than expected.

Hudson scored 2 goals this season. 

One at his FIRST game and one at his LAST (the only two games we played where there wasn't a professional little Pedro who dominated the whole game on the other team).

Hudson is my rough and tough boy so I didn't doubt that he wouldn't get in there and go after the ball. 

.

 Team Seattle only won 3 of 10 games BUT showed improvement throughout the season.  I'm so proud of Hudson and he was SUPER proud of himself.  It was nice to see him in the spotlight for a change. 

His favorite part was receiving his medal at the end.  I think he wore that thing for a week straight afterwards. 

And I'm SO bummed about my picture taking.  Kent was rarely around for practices and games because of his busy schedule so I NEVER got any good shots since Nolan demanded so much attention on the sidelines (I forgot how much I hate taking a baby to this kind of stuff) and when Kent was there, I forgot to take pictures. 

 #momfail

boston turns 8

Boston has been looking forward to his birthday for a long time! Turning 8 is a pretty big deal around here.

Since it's an even year, Boston got to have a "friend" party.  He requested a laser tag birthday party.  Simple enough (especially in the midst of the move).

 The friend list went from 10 to 18.  Since we were moving, I didn't fight it and just went with it.  Thankfully, not all 18 showed up and it was more like 15 (I know still not much of a difference). 

After a couple rounds of laser tag, some pizza, some video gaming, cake and ice cream and opening gifts, I would call it a successful birthday party.  This boy is lucky to have such good buddies.

 Sunday was his actually birthday.  More celebrating!  He really wanted to open a couple of presents before church and since the birthday boy gets what he wants on his birthday, we let him open a couple.

 He's officially 8!  I can't even believe it.

 Seriously, this picture is for the books.

 After church, we opened the rest of his presents

 Boston is not a "toy" boy.  As he's getting older, he's liking them less and less which makes it harder and harder to shop for him.  You can't just go to Toys-R-Us any more.  Christmas is really going to be a challenge. 

 Since it was Sunday, we didn't go out for the usual birthday meal.  Instead, we stayed in and Boston choose frozen Costco pizza.  Easy enough for me.

 I got smart this year and didn't worry about a second cake.  Instead, there was still plenty of birthday cake from his party left over.  He didn't seem to mind.

 We finished his birthday going to celebrate Brooke!  She left on a mission to Spain so we went to say our finally farewells to one of our FAVORITE babysitters.  We sure do love her and are SO proud of her!  Can't wait to see her when she gets home in 18 months.  Spain is lucky to have her.

Boston said his birthday weekend was the greatest which means we did it right. 

 I'm so proud of that kid and the little guy he has turned into so far. 

 8 years FLEW by just like that!

2nd grade play

This play seemed like it was MONTHS in the making.  In March, Boston got his lines for the play.  He was a camp blogger and had them all memorized in a day.  That kid has an amazing memory.  As the play got closer, he would come home singing the songs, repeating his lines and even came home a few other times with more lines Mrs. Stelly (music teacher) decided to give him. 

I wasn't quite clear on what the play was all about besides summer camp, blogging and spider costumes that I had helped make (basically I just helped stuff spider arms).  So after a few months of this I was beyond ready to see what this final production was going to turn out like.

 It was adorable.  These 2nd grade kids were SO excited to present this play and it was quite entertaining (especially when certain kids got WAY into it).

 Boston nailed his lines and as a bias mom, he was the best blogger. 

I must say, I did get a tad emotional thinking that Boston's days at Birkes were numbered at this point.  All the friends, parents, and teachers we had made over the years were ones we wouldn't be seeing anymore.  I'm not one who always loves change.  But I really am just grateful for all these people we met while at Birkes.  Love that school.

date night

Mid week date nights don't occur very often in our house but with our weekends in May COMPLETELY booked, this was the only night we could make it work.

I was THRILLED when I found out that Newsies was coming to Houston.  Not only do I LOVE the movie but I also LOVED the play when I saw it in NYC.  Kent didn't grow up going to Broadway plays (his first was last year when we went to NYC) so I love sharing this love of mine with him and really wanted to take him to one of my favorites. 

 

I couldn't help but dance in my seat and sing along to the songs.  Kent may or may not have been laughing out of embarrassment to be with me.  Our good friends the Buchanan's came along with us which always makes for a fun date night.

The play of  course didn't disappoint for the 2nd time around and I would DEFINITELY see it again. 

9 months

At 9 months he's ALL about calling for "mmmma mmma!" and waving and I LOVE it. 

 

9 month stats:

Weight: 21 lbs

Height: 28 inches

Remember last month when he just started to climb the first step....

 We are definitely in trouble now.  The stairs are his favorite place to sneak off to whenever I'm busy cooking in the kitchen.  He thinks he's big boy status for sure.  He still prefers to army crawl everywhere although he does get up on all fours and then after about 2 or 3 little moves, he plops himself and belly on the floor to make it the rest of the way.  That stinker.

 

He doesn't seem to mind the water thankfully.  Life would be pretty miserable this summer if he didn't want to be near it.  He thoroughly likes to just sit and splash and chew on pool toys.

 Nolan is LOVING his food.  I've slowly started to let him suck on and eat a few little table foods.  So far he's been a fan of everything I've let him try.  He LOVES to hold a carrot and just chew on it.  He gets pretty upset when you take it away.  We also tried out some pineapple and the boys found it pretty hilarious to watch his reaction and then keep going back for more and more.  I'm really hoping Nolan turns out to be a food lover like Boston.  Hudson hands down gives us a run for our money in the food department. 

 We pulled out the walking toy and he's attempted it a few times with little success.  He prefers to just sit and play with the wheels than stand and walk behind it.  It's a work in progress but something new and fun for him to explore. 

 

I'm so thankful Hudson has taken a strong liking to his little bro.  He takes his roll as a big brother very seriously and probably is on the lookout more than I am sometimes.

  "Mom, Nolan is by the plant!"

"Mom, Nolan is by the stairs."

 "No, no Nolan you can't have that!"

It's quite adorable and impressive since Hudson isn't my most cautious child when it comes to his own life.

hello austin

Our move is coming closer and because of that, we decided to make one quick girl's trip to Austin.  Sadly, a lot of people couldn't make it work that weekend but we had fun with those who could!  It's hard working everyone's schedules in May.

  Most of us had never really explored Austin.  It's crazy to think I've lived in Texas for 8 years yet haven't been to our state's capitol! 

We left right after the kids got to school on Friday morning and made the drive over.

By the time we arrived it was lunch and we headed straight to a recommended Mexican hole in the wall food joint--Habeneros.  This honestly was probably my least favorite meal of the trip but still wasn't bad. 

Also, Mimi was only able to come for the day on Friday but we were glad she came for at least PART of the trip.

The weather was a tad rainy but we decided to go with our Segway plans and tour downtown Austin.  I think I almost peed my pants and laughed so hard I cried.  I'm pretty sure we thought we were going to die when we had our test lesson and I think our tour guide didn't realize what she was in for.

Can you make rain ponchos look good?

After a few mishaps, we can say we raced and became so amazing we could do it with no hands!

Afterwards, we headed to our ADORABLE hotel, Hotel Ella, to say goodbye to Mimi and clean up for dinner.

That night, we ventured to HOPDODDY for dinner.  There was a long line outside so Ash and Em headed to grab pizza and cupcakes across the street to taste test while we waited (both delicious). 

When we finally got seated and ate, that burger and fries DID NOT disappoint. 

To.die.for. 

This picture I feel like sums up the weekend, laughter and more laughter.

We hurried over to Congress Bridge where MILLIONS of bats are perched underneath. 

Every night at sunset, they all fly out. 

We waited and waited and WAITED.

Finally some came out but it wasn't quite like we thought it would be.  The little bat man we ran into informed us that their babies are about to be born so May/June time isn't the best time to see the bats.  A tad disappointing.

Afterwards, we decided to explore 6th Street which came with some interesting people. 

We never quite found the dueling piano bar we were in search of...

And although this wasn't on 6th street, we did see this protest while we were there just outside the State Capitol.  They're really trying hard to legalize that stuff because after all, they are "norml".  I swear the people watching in Austin is amazing.

The next morning we found the Gourdough's food truck.  Can we say DELICIOUS?!?!  I mean really!  The donuts were HUGE and put us in a serious sugar coma but were totally worth each bite.  In order to calm down our sugar rush, Ashley and I tried the breakfast tacos of the truck right next to Gourdough's and they were as equally delicious.

Our goal was to go paddle boarding that morning but because of lightening, we couldn't make that happen.  So instead, we did a little shopping.  Shopping always makes you hungry so we headed for a light snack before lunch. Many people recommended the KOREAN BBQ at Chi'lantro.  We had NO idea WHAT that was but tried out their kimchi fries.  They were to die for.  I'm still craving them.

I was thrilled to spot Shake Shack!  I had NO idea they were anywhere outside NYC.  After speaking to the manager, she informed us Dallas will be getting one soon.  SCORE!

When we filled our bellies, Emily and Jan convinced us to rent bikes and ride around the river.  When we saw tandem bikes, we knew it was a must.

We rode and we rode and we RODE some more.  Jan and Em said we wouldn't ride around the whole thing but somehow they missed the turn off (terrible navigators) and we were forced to bike the WHOLE thing.  TWO hours later, we made it back to the bike shop RIGHT before he was ready to lock his doors for the night.

Our quick little getaway was coming to a close but NOT before we hit up SALT LICK BBQ on the way out.  I'm SOO glad we did because that place was DELICIOUS!!!!  It lived up to all the hype and I seriously can't wait to eat it again (I actually feel that way about EVERYTHING we ate while in Austin....I think I'm starting to turn into a foodie). 

We finally hit the road and made it home just past 1 am, JUST in time for Mother's Day. 

Love these girls and LOVE that we got to spend a hilarious weekend together!

And Austin, you did NOT disappoint.  The city was clean, the people were friendly, and the food...oh that food.