The Fly Whisperer

So on the return trip home from Oklahoma, we stopped over at Tom & Micaela's house again.  It was a bit challenging to get Hudson to leave because he was on a mission to catch a fly buzzing around their house.  Let me tell you, he was in the zone!! 

Then, wouldn't you know it, once we got home there happened to be a fly hanging out in our house.  Again, Hudson was determined to catch this fly and make him his friend!  To our surprise he accomplished BOTH of these goals!!  He caught the fly and carried it around for a few minutes just like he is in the first picture.  Then, he set the fly on his arm and amazingly it chose to hang out there and not fly away.  It remained on his arm as they walked around the house chatting friendly chatter with each other until London decided she would like to have a turn with the fly.  This fly was no dummy!  It took off as soon as her little finger began to reach in it's direction! 

Since then we have had a pet rollie pollie who Hudson recently informed me is now lost in our house somewhere. (or possibly dead---I have no idea what their lifespan is!)  He also had a frog for a night but the boys left it in a bucket outside and sadly and strangely, it was all dried up and dead the next day.  Sorry froggy!!!  Lesson learned!!  We now have a new goldfish, Charlie.  So far, things are going well and he has had a much better experience at our house than the rollie pollie and frog.

Look at this proud face!  I love it!!!

Grandma & Grandpa Holladay

The next day, Jason's parents made the journey to Poteau to meet us at Uncle Don and Aunt Carol's house!  Hudson was in quite a mood at first because he was extrememly tired.  We had really pushed him to his limits with all of the traveling and the late nights.  However, his world was turned right-side-up with the magic of a Happy Meal!  After all of the lovely happiness was released, he became his usual entertaining self.  He broke out his crayons and paper and asked Aunt Carol and Grandpa to draw with him!  He also got Grandpa to tell him one of his infamous stories!  Then Grandma and Grandpa sang songs with London.  We enjoyed our special time with them as we don't get to see them often enough.  It always does the heart good to spend time with our families!  We love you all!

Family Fun

After our visit with The Black's, we woke up the next morning and finished our journey up to OK.  We spent some time hanging out with my parents, showered, and re-energized so we would be ready for the much awaited Spoons Tourney with my cuzzies!  We used to play Spoons during the holidays and I must say it has become quite competitive over the years!  However, now that we are all grown up and live in different states, I am sad to say that we rarely get to spend the holidays together anymore.  So, we decided to make up for lost time! 

We hung around outside for a while and caught up.  It was the first time for Hudson and London to meet their cousin Sunny!  They had fun swinging and chasing bubbles!  Once it started getting dark and the mosquitos came out we decided it was a good time to go inside and get our game on!!  Our parents were awesome to help keep the kiddos entertained while we got into competition mode!  We did give Londie a big scare when Cassie and I were wrestling over the last spoon.  She thought Cassie was trying to hurt me...and maybe she was...hehe, just kidding...it was all in good fun!  You must fight till the end for that last spoon!!  Good game Cassie! : )  It ended up being Jason and Erika in the finale two with Erika taking this year's Spoons Champion Title!  So fun!!!

 

We had SO MUCH FUN spending some quality time with our family!!  Too much time had passed by since we were all last together.  Thank you ALL for the unforgettable memories.  Love you bunches!!

Memorial Weekend

We decided to head home to Oklahoma for a visit with our families over Memorial Weekend.  On our way up we stopped over at The Black's.   We had a great time swimming, catching up, and enjoying much needed time with some of our best friends.   

All of our kids had fun splashing around in the water, chasing each other with play swords, and all of the other crazy ways kids find to play.

Micaela had a fun art project for the kids!  We made some glow-in-the-dark sidewalk chalk!  The kids really enjoyed creating their masterpieces on the driveway and watching them glow!

After all of the traveling and fun, it was time for bed.  Hudson and Evan camped out in a tent in the upstairs family room!

Many thanks to Tom, Micaela and family for having us over and for such a great visit!! 

Aiden's 1st Birthday

I finally uploaded pictures off of my camera....

Back on April 9th, (also Aunt Jean's birthday---Happy Birthday Aunt Jean!!) we went to the Moffitt house to help Aiden celebrate his 1st birthday.  His room is decorated in a surfer theme so it was only right that his 1st birthday be celebrated with a Luau!!  The kids had fun playing with all of the other kids there and Hudson always enjoys the loads of toys Eli and Aiden have in their toy room!  Aiden had a delicious Neapolitan flavored cake which was decorated with monkeys and surf boards!

Here's the birthday boy:

 I think she's trying to pull out her bow in this picture.  I was so excited to have a little girl and put pretty little bows in her hair but she just rips them right out every time!  I'm hoping she'll grow out of that soon!

Happy Birthday Aiden!  We love you!

Frosty Boaster & Dogbite

I was sitting outside grilling and watching the kids play when I looked over and noticed this little turtle sleeping behind our flower pot.

 Hudson asked if we could keep him.  We didn't have anything to keep him in so he spent the night in our bathtub...sadly, probably terrified.  The next day, Jason went to PetCo to look for an aquarium for him.  However, after talking to the reptile department, he realized keeping a turtle is A LOT of work.  More work than we would like to take on at this point.  So instead, he brought home a box for him and we turned it into a temporary home.  Hudson named him Frosty Boaster Holladay and we kept him for one week before letting him go to live in our backyard again. 

Our next temporary pet was Dogbite Holladay (another excellent name by Hudson...he has a gift.).  Dogbite was (is) a chameleon that Hudson caught after returning home from the grocery store on Mother's Day.  He saw it sunbathing on our fence he surprised himself when he reached down and caught it on the first try.  I truly don't think I've EVER seen him this proud of himself.  He began shouting, "I caught my first lizard!!  I caught my first lizard!!"  He had the absolute biggest smile on his face and I think it was there all night long.  I'm sure he even dreamed of lizards when he was sleeping that night.  In a bargaining attempt with his Dad the following morning, Hudson managed to talk Jason into letting him take the lizard to school in exchange for letting him go when he came home that day.  I'm betting the school wasn't especially pleased when they came walking in to class with a lizard in a jar but the kids loved it and Hudson was truly proud.  We he came home that evening he went to let the lizard go but the lizard was content hanging out with Hudson.  Hudson kept telling us that Dogbite loved him and they were buddies!  They walked around together all evening until it was time to eat dinner and say goodnight. 

Easter Day 2011

We colored our eggs the night before Easter and left them out for the Easter bunny to hide.

Then we woke up and Hudson found his and London's Easter baskets!  They had fun going through them and checking out all of their goodies. 

Then it was time to head outside and find all of the eggs!

We spent some time going through all of the eggs.  Then we ate breakfast, got cleaned up, and went to church.

After church, we ate some lunch, took a nap, and went swimming! 

Kemah

The Saturday before Easter, we took a trip to Kemah!  We went early so it was not crowded at all when we arrived.  The temperature was perfect and the ocean breeze kept us from getting too hot as we waited in line at the rides.  Our first stop was the Ferris Wheel!!  Hudson and Jason went as London and I stood back and took pictures. 

Here is London watching Hudson and Daddy go around and around on the ferris wheel:

Next we rode the carousel:

 After the carousel, we rode the airplanes. 

Then it was time to fill up our bellies and enjoy watching the fish at the Aquarium:

By the time we had finished lunch the crowd had grown exponentially.  We rode a couple more rides and then called it a day!  A great day!

School Egg Hunt

The Thursday before Easter was the egg hunt at school!  The kids had been busy making their egg baskets all week and were eager to fill them up! 

I arrived in time to capture a couple pictures of all the eggs left by the Easter bunny that would soon be snatched up in a matter of seconds!

I went into London's class first and they told me the big kids would be going first.  I took London with me to go watch Hudson so she could learn how this egg hunting thing is done!

 Hudson's class was all lined up at the door with their baskets in hand!  The were ready!!!  They couldn't wait to see all of the eggs waiting for them on the other side of the door. 

 Since Hudson has been so good at school, he has been made the official door holder and he is very proud of that job.  He had to hold the door for everyone else as the went outside to start gathering eggs.  If it had been me, I would have been all upset that everyone else was getting a headstart.  Not Hudson.  He was proud to do his job!

 Then he was off!!  However, I have to say, he was not the most aggressive egg gatherer.  He was more concerned about finding the perfect egg to give to London!  He found her a big pink Dora egg.  What a sweet brother!  I kept trying to tell him not to check out each egg but to grab as many as he could! 

 He started grabbing faster once he realized how quickly all of the eggs were disappearing!

 Then it was London's turn and she did learn by watching Hudson!  She also wanted to check out each egg and see what was inside before moving on to the next one.  Once she opened one up she would, in true London fashion, quickly and sharply throw it into the bag and move on.

 It didn't take her long to get distracted by the treehouse and decide it would be more fun to play than pick up eggs and put them in a bag. 

 It was a fun egg hunt and I think I enjoyed watching the kids as much as they enjoyed being outside and hunting Easter eggs!