Girls Only...

Our wonderful children's ministry at Graystone Church, led by sweet Katie Landress, planned some fun activities for kids this summer. One of the ones we got the chance to participate in was a Pajama party for sweet little girls ONLY! And oh boy (or I should say girl) was it cute!
I didn't remember until I just looked through these pictures that Finley wore her sunglasses for the entire first part. She had them on when we got there and she wore them through the reading of the book...in the dark! I know she couldn't see a thing! She was totally cute! When we first arrived, the gals got to play a little, then they all gathered around Miss Ashley, and turned the lights off and she read the book If you Give a Pig a Pancake with a flashlight. After the book, the girls got to actually eat pancakes for breakfast. Next, they played a little relay game using the dolls or stuffed animals they brought. Aunt Lori helped me out with pictures of this part, as I was off feeding Sawyer.After that, they decorated a little purse with stamps and shiny things. Then, we all went outside and the girls blew bubbles. Finally, we came in and got tattoos, girly ones of course. Finley had so much fun! Her cousin Kylin was there and Finley always loves to see her! Uncle Justin made it possible for me to take Finley and Sawyer by keeping the big boys, who LOVED getting to stay with him! Thanks so much to "Miss Katie" for having such fun activities for our little ones!

Lots to catch up

So, I don't know why I haven't gotten to this blog...I guess I've just been doing other things!? Hudson finished preschool and registered for Kindergarten! He'll be going to Grayson ES with me and I'm excited/quite emotional about it!

Hudson and his sweet teachers, Miss Donna and Miss Carolyn.

The Monday after Hudson's graduation, and before my last day of school, we went to the zoo for FREE! We checked out the zoo video that you get from the library and then you get a pass for two adults and two kids for free! The little ones were free b/c 2 and under are at the zoo. We had so much fun! Walker wanted to take a picture with just about every statue...it was totally cute! When we went to see the pandas, the mama panda was sitting up against the front glass munching on some bamboo and we got to see her really close! We also rode the train and sweet Walker LOVED the petting zoo. He went as quickly as he could around to all the animals, petting them and brushing them. It was so fun to be in there with him and watch the excitement!



Hudson got to go to Sports Camp at our church, Graystone Church, this year, and he was SO excited! He chose to do baseball and football and he had a blast! We learned Bible verses, sang lots of songs, and JUMPED a LOT! The final night there was a motorcycle guy jumping over stuff and I let Walker come with us that night. The boys were totally cute and so excited! I taught Music that week and also had a blast!

The week after Sports Camp, we went on vacation to Orange Beach/Gulf Shores, AL. It was probably our best vacation by far! We did some great and free activities that the kids loved! The second night we were there, Uncle Justin took some family pictures...they're wonderful as always! Monday, we went to the beach, where Finley didn't want to have anything to do with the water or the sand and thus sat in her chair the ENTIRE time with her shades and hat firmly ON! The boys let Justin bury them, which totally shocked me! Tuesday, we went to a train museum in Dothan. There was a little wooden train you could ride, which was a BIG hit. Then, inside, there were all these model trains and tracks with a huge city set up. It even had a working drive in movie theater, a circus tent, and lots of other interesting things to look at. The guys working there let the kids push the buttons to make the trains whistle and Hudson even got to be the "conductor" of one of the trains by starting it! Thomas even made a showing! After the train museum we ate lunch at Lambert's...the restaurant where they throw rolls! Great fun! Wednesday, we drove down to Pensacola, FL to watch the Blue Angels practice. I'd say it was on of the highlights for me! The kids enjoyed this too...it was really, really LOUD! Finley held her ears the entire time. After the practice, we went into the Naval Aviation Museum and walked around and looked at all the jets, and naval memorabilia. The pilots came in and everyone cheered...it was spectacular. This same day was also our 9th wedding anniversary! To celebrate, I tried to convince Tony that we should para sail...no such luck. Instead, we went and had a fun dinner at this place called Cosmos. I got what Tony has said was the very BEST meal he's ever had. It was the chef special...pan seared scallops with bacon risotto and a blue king corn cream sauce! Sounds yummy and it seriously tasted even better! While we were out, the kids went on a walk/parade of sorts with grandma and grandpa. They got varsity hats and leis. We also went to the indoor and outdoor pools lots during the week and had fun eating out at various restaurants around! We had found a car top carrier on Craigslist before vacation for $35.00 which totally made our trip possible (NO WAY we could have fit all the things we took if we hadn't had it!).
Father's day was the Sunday after we came back and we celebrated our sweet daddy with breakfast in bed and some of those funky soda shirts from Target!

And just because there are no pictures of sweet Sawyer by himself...he's eating lots of baby food and almost sitting up. He gets all around the floor by rolling and moving himself, not crawling yet...I'm in no rush! He is 7 1/2 months...time is flying!I have a few more things to post about in order to catch up, so maybe I can get to it later this week! The big kids are staying with grandmama and granddaddy!

Mother's Day

Absolutely...ONE.OF.THE.MOST.AMAZING.THINGS.IN.LIFE...being a mommy. I always wanted to be a mother. I dreamed of what it would be like to become a mother. I came up with names and wrote them down, dreamed of what little sweet voices would sound like calling me that beloved word...Mommy! And I have to say, it's even better than I imagined! I adore being a mother...adore it! It is definitely the most challenging and rewarding job I will ever have! I love watching my little ones love each other and depend on each other. I always try to be very deliberate with them and remember that even at the young age they are now, that I am teaching them and training them to become beautiful people! I just listened to a podcast tonight about being a mom, and heard this saying...I love it, it's going to become what I say to myself on "those" days..."when you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on!" Isn't that great!?

I LOVE these pictures of the moms in my life! My favorites are these last ones with my littles...Walker didn't get a nap yesterday, and he was just done when we were trying to take these. I think it's hilarious to see he wasn't in the picture, walked into it but wouldn't stand close to us and then just walked out. I also think it's so funny that Hudson is holding up some dead leaves? and then that he and Finley are playing with my hair?! And, my sweet Sawyer is sitting there eating his sweet hand and then smiling! I love these little ones and find it such a sweet blessing to be there Mommy!

Blessed...

I've been thinking a lot about how we use this word. "We" as in our culture, generation...me, my family. After those horrific tornadoes came through Alabama and Georgia, I started reading things people put on Facebook about how "blessed" they were that the storms didn't hit their house or their town. That made me think...so by saying this, are we thinking that those people whose houses/towns did get hit with those horrible tornadoes are not blessed, or not as blessed as we are? I said this to Tony, and he said...well, we all deserve hell, so anything above that is a blessing! So true, but also makes me think what do you say when something horrific happens to someone and you are spared? Then I started thinking of those great verses in Matthew 5...
Jesus said:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Easter

We had such a busy weekend over here! It started Friday night with a 7:15 p.m. t-ball game. Saturday morning, we got up and celebrated Easter with Tony's family at 11:00. The kids were asking from the moment they were up when we were having the egg hunt at Grandma and Grandpa's. They carry on this cool tradition Tony's Big D.O. and Mama Genie used to do where they hide eggs for each kid and they have numbers inside and then they get prizes that correspond to the numbers! So fun! I have no pictures of this, but I'm hoping Grandma does and I can get some from her! After the fun, we came home and napped and then off to the ball field again for a 4:00 t-ball game. Clay and Hope, and Aunt Bevo and Emma Julia came to this one and I was the dug-out Mom...so I spent the game in the dug-out getting the kids lined up for batting and helping them get ready to go back in the field. After the game, we played on the playground for a while and had sno-cones...that Ski Bob is a nice guy! After sno-cones there was dinner and then coloring eggs. We wanted to go to the early service at church, but we also knew that if we were going to the early service, it would mean we would need to be extra early to get everyone in, to their places and us to a seat on Easter Sunday. We woke up Sunday morning and I came down and made cinnamon rolls for breakfast, then we had the kids come down and they were so excited to see their baskets. We hadn't talked a lot about the Easter bunny...lots more about Jesus and how he died on the cross for us, so the night before when we sat out the baskets, there was not a lot of hoopla with it! After baskets and cinnamon rolls, we dressed and got in the car, later than I had wanted, but we had gotten lots ready Saturday night and we made it by 9:10 on Sunday! There were still lots of spaces in the parking lot! I told Tony we needed to high five over that...what an accomplishment! Church was great, and there were over 1000 people at the first service! What a cool thing to praise and worship our risen savior! Grandma took a few pictures of the crew on one of the sofas at church and then we rushed off to Commerce. My Daddy had left me instructions to start some things for lunch, so I immediately started those when we got there. Two minutes later, my parents got home from church. We had a nice lunch, then the kids took naps and after naps, we made rice krispie treats as well as bunny sugar cookies. We were waiting on Aunt Bevo for the egg hunt. As soon as she got there, Uncle Fred and Tony went outside to hide eggs. The kids had so much fun. (On a side note, and something that I want to remember is that my Mama had found random eggs that she had...totalling to like 11. She had them in a basket by the piano and Hudson found them, came out on the porch where we were sitting and announced to Grandmama that her eggs did not have any candy in them...he had shaken them all!...thus ensued a talk about why there was no candy...Walker suggested they might be "magic eggs" and as soon as those kids started napping, Grandmama went to work on figuring out what to fill those eggs with and decided she was not a very prepared Grandmama...we laughed and laughed about this one!)

After the egg hunt, we went to the field across the street to play some t-ball. Uncle Fred, Tony and Daddy let Walker learn to bat from the tee and Hudson got some practice in! (It paid off too...at his game Tuesday, he hit two balls down the third base line! Previously, they've all gone down the first base line or right to the pitcher!) Then, we rushed to take a bath, ate some dinner, threw everything in the car and came home, off to bed and then I had to work two more days at the beginning of this week because I switched some days around. Needless to say the Dudish house is T-I-R-E-D! But that good kinda tired where you were busy with fun stuff!