Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Hudson's FIVE!!!

I can't believe I've waited this long to post this about Hudson's birthday party! I put some of these pictures in a post at least a month ago, and I am just now getting back to it! This was one of the most fun birthday party's we have had. Parties are always fun when you use a little creativity and things you already have! There are lots and lots of pictures, so I am going to tell about the party up here and then you can scroll down and see all the fun! The boys usually come up with a birthday theme quite a while before their birthday, and Hudson wanted to have a super hero party. Originally, he just wanted boys and their daddy's, but I convinced him that there needed to be girl superheroes there too! We decided to have it at Grayson Park, where you can reserve a pavillion for free! I made the superhero capes out of an old sheet, ribbon I already had, scrap material and sticky felt I bought. I made their letters out of the die cut machine at school and traced them on the felt. The wrist bands were a last minute entry and I just cut them out of felt that I had on hand and used velcro I already had for the closures. The masks and crowns were made from a pack of foam I bought at the dollar store!
To start the party, I sat all the kids down at one of the picnic tables and asked them if they were ready for some super hero training in order to become super heroes. Their eyes lit up and they were ready to go. My sweet Tony had agreed to be our "super villain" for the day, and he ran up and said he was going to try to ruin the birthday fun. He dropped some balloons that I told the kids were bombs and they needed to diffuse by jumping on them and popping them! After they completed this task, they received their wrist bands. Next, I told them we needed to do some training like super heroes and climb the rock wall at the park...like Spiderman, and then go across the bridge and fly down the slides...like Superman. When they completed this task, they were rewarded with their very own cape. Next, the supervillain was back with what he thought would zap all of their superpowers...kryptonite (rocks I had spray painted green). But, we were ready! The kids had to use kitchen tongs to pick up the kryptonite and put it in our hazardous waste container. I told them if they touched it with their hands, they would lose their superpowers, and they needed those to help stop the super villain. After the kryptonite was disposed of, they were rewarded with their best defense against the super villain, their masks or crowns. I told them that this hides their identity. Finally, the super villain came back one more time and said he knew how to take all of the birthday fun...he was going to destroy the CAKE. I quickly gave them each a water gun and they took off running after the super villain. they caught him by surrounding him and squirting him with their water guns. Then, the police (my brother dressed in some police gear from my friend Christa) came and took the super villain to jail. The super heroes had won! They were all so excited! We put the water guns away and played on the playground for a while before the cake. After the cake, we had our homemade pinata to break. I didn't do favor bags, we just made bags for them to put their treats from the pinata in, and of course, they got to keep all of their super hero gear! Most importantly, my boy enjoyed his 5th birthday party, and hopefully it will be one he will remember for many years to come! I have to say a special thanks to two of my girls in my youth small group from church...Kelci and Brittany. They spent the night with me the night before and helped me finish last minute preps for the party. Kelci made all the masks and crowns and Brit made all the treat bags! They also were great sounding boards for how to get that cake looking pretty cool!









Wednesday, September 15, 2010

5 Things I've learned about being a Parent

Hudson Isaiah Dudish turned 5 last Monday, and it's gotten me thinking about the fact that I've been a Mommy for 5 years. The past 5 years really have flown by and I am so thankful that I get to be Hudson's Mommy. In no particular order, these are some things I've learned about being a parent...
1. You have to pick your battles. Sometimes, you just have to let little things go...like wearing socks with croc shoes, which looks ridiculous! Now, I'm no fashion diva, but I want my kids to look decent and NOT ridiculous. However, the crocs with socks is a battle that if pushed to it, I just let slide. I think part of the battle picking is to have a good radar of where your child's head is at the time. You know, sometimes you can easily persuade a child to do what you want and other's it would be a fight...that's when I choose not to fight over silly things.

2. What works for one child might not work for another. I'm not saying that I parent my children totally differently, but a look can break Walker's heart, while not so much for Hudson. It's part of the parenting to find out what works best for each child and try to parent them in that way.

3. Listen to advice from other people...and do what works best for your own family. In five years, I have heard all kinds of different advice, from how to sleep train your infant to how to nurse them, to when they should start eating, etc, etc, etc. What works for one family just might not fit into your lifestyle, personality and just how you want to do things. So, pick and choose the advice you want to take from others or even baby help books.

4. The person who coined the phrase "terrible two's" had apparently not met a three year old. Seriously...the three's are much harder in our family than two's. Period.

5. It is the hardest job I've ever had, and positively the most rewarding. You surely have to be super flexible and willing to change your plans at the drop of a hat (at least that's how it goes over here). There is no way I could parent alone, and I am so thankful for all the help of Tony Dudish. There is also no way I would even know where to begin being a parent if I didn't have the Bible and a direct line to talk to God...for the times when I'm about to go insane as well as the times when I am bubbling over and oozing out with all the love and gratefulness that I get to parent these little ones God has entrusted in my care.

I love love love being a Mommy and really am so thankful that I get to parent my littles!