Horse Lessons and a Send-off to Germany

Angela here!  Hope everyone had an excellent weekend.  Hudson is officially our little equestrian.  Well, that might be a slight exaggeration...he had one 30-minute riding lesson so far.  But he LOVED it and has requested to continue riding and learning all about his pony, Brownie.  He was timid at first, but quickly warmed up and was eager to learn how to make the pony stop and go, and then turn left and right.  Saying "whoa" and pulling on the reins were also a favorite.  My favorite part was probably the cute riding helmet he wore!

We had our last visit with the Wilson crew last week before they headed off to Germany.  The kids were adorable.  As the two played together for hours, Hannah decided that Hudson needed to learn how to VOGUE....he could not have been more delighted.

And Hannah requested to make one more craft...a birthday hat for Adley.  Before I could even agree, she had already yanked Hudson upstairs and the two were in the process of figuring out my craft machine.  Luckily, no art supplies were destroyed.  But I did have a large amount of permanent markers and pen markings to clean up.  As Hudson now says, "It's OK mama, it happens."  The kid really has a handle on managing stress these days.

Miss Adley joined in on cousin bath time.  Not sure if she enjoyed it, but she didn't break out into hysterics so I'm calling it a win.  Hannah loved being in charge of all the little ones...

And we couldn't have a proper send off without a cookie cake.  Hudson has fancied the sweet tastings of cakes, cookies, cupcakes and ice cream every weekend during the month of July.  He now firmly believes that when you have a birthday, you get four weeks of celebrating.

Can you tell which two kids were excited and which two could have cared less?!...

We have also discovered that Hudson's top priority in sweets is the icing.  He ate it by the handful....

Uncle Brandon with Hudson and Hannah

And we relished in another sunny day at the pool...

Aunt Sam and Adley.

The weather was HOT (so hot that I think a new tree we planted last spring has died) and usually we take Adley back to the house for a nap.  But my perfect princess had no problem passing out in the stroller under some shade.  She slept for over an hour!

I couldn't stop taking pictures of these kiddos!  We are definitely going to miss this crew but we are cheering them on as the Wilson clan embarks on a thrilling European adventure.  The Kemps plan on visiting them next spring!  And luckily, they have a booked flight back to the states to visit around the holidays.  Hudson is already counting down the days.  He will say, " Hannah come back when Damien the Elf come back.  She needs to meet Damien!"

Hope everyone has a great week ahead.  Two weeks to go before my baby girl turns one!!

Hudson is THREE!

We have had a fantastic week of nonstop excitement lately.  Hudson is officially THREE!  Oh how time flies and how much he has grown.  He knows all of his colors and can recite the days of the week.  Wednesday is called Hump Day and Friday is called Candy Friday, as daycare has a treasure chest packed with candy that the kids can chose from on Friday afternoons.  He only skips a couple numbers when he counts (usually 7 and 13, so random).  He loves to color and he is obsessed with stickers.  Reading is still a must.  Every night, he will declare, "Hudson pick a book, mommy pick a book!"  We had to limit bedtime to only two books since some are sooo long.  It's over a 30 minute process to get the boy to sleep.  

And Hudson has been an incredible big cousin to Claire.  Claire recently moved up to Hud's room and she had a rough couple first days.  I was able to see Hudson in action as he took on the role of protector and friend to his sweet cousin.  All the daycare rooms have video monitors that allow you to stalk your children from work at any moment of the day.  Awesome stuff!  So as I was watching, I witnessed Claire being dropped off in the new room and immediately breaking down into tears.  Three seconds later, I witnessed Hudson dart from across the room, hold her hand and gently walk her around the room, showing her all the new toys in the new room.  My heart melted.  All day long they were side-by-side.  When I picked him up that day, he got special candy bracelets for being so sweet!!

The neighborhood had their annual pool party.  Adley got to play with her neighbor, Emma, who graciously pushed her around the baby pool.  We have been lucky with nice weather lately and have spent every weekend soaking up the sun.  And both kids always end up napping over 2 hours after a pool session, so it's a win for everyone.

During the pool party, Chris entered a hula hoop contest and won!  It was a contest between dads and I'm being generous when I say he lasted 6 seconds....but the other dads were even worse.  So now we have four free oil changes!  Adley was so exhausted after the party, she fell asleep...bottle in mouth, as we took our two minute drive back home.

The princess hit the 11 month mark as well (and per her pictures below, she has mixed emotions about it)!  She is basically in run-mode and moving all over the house.  She loves to belly laugh, clap and wave "hi" and "bye."  Her favorite foods are string cheese, bananas and strawberries, but she will still scarf down veggies better than most adults.  She continues to sleep 12 hours through the night.  And as long as Hudson is near her, she is content playing with trucks, balls and other boy stuff.  She has two dolls and one stroller and Chris is on a mission to get more girl toys.  Meanwhile, Hudson keeps asking to "paint nails, like mama."  

 

Hudson completed his first round of swim lessons.  He has graduated as an Inia and will move on to become a Pike, followed by an Eel once we sign him up again.  He can now blow bubbles, jump in by himself and "scoop the ball" like a pro.  He still gets nervous about floating on his back so we practice on the weekends.

And then we had the official birthday celebration.  The Elf on the Shelf, Damien, visited our house (in a cupcake suit) and decorated a birthday chair for the birthday boy.  The special birthday doughnut is another tradition we started; this year it was a blue star with sprinkles.

Hudson's elf always brings him books around the holidays, so it was only appropriate that Damien brought him new books for his new bookcase in his bedroom.  If anyone is a history buff, Gene Barretta is a children's book author who wrote some amazing kid-friend history books.  I have been learning a lot about Ben Franklin, Thomas Edison and Leonardo DaVinci lately.

Next up was a second round of celebrating, this time with the Kemp/Bockelman crew.  The kids got to play with Hudson's new water toys.  

The wiggly water sprinkler from Mimi and Pop Wilson was a hit...

Our neighborhood gets frequent stops from the ice cream truck, and Lolly has yet to skip a visit with the kiddos.  So as soon as the kids heard the music playing, they all rushed to the street.  Popsicles and ice cream before birthday cake; these kids don't know how lucky they are!

Claire continues to do a great job at helping take care of Baby Adley.  She still wants to help feed her and walk with her.  They continue to play quietly and perfect with each other.

Present time!

Hudson got a ninja turtle shell, complete with two ninja sais and nunchucks.  Thanks to plan-ahead Shannon, Anderson got a set as well so the boys were able to battle...

We ended the evening with silly string, sparklers and smoke bombs.  Below is a cute video of Hudson and his new Elefun toy he got for his birthday from LolliPop.

https://youtu.be/5tdyB39iGKM

And since poor Adley doesn't get mentioned nearly enough as her big bro, here is a cute video of her at the pool, showing off her clapping skills.

https://youtu.be/WOmrf11Q_Sw

Hope everyone has a great rest of the week!  Another big weekend is in store for the Kemps.  We get one last visit from the Wilsons before they head off to Heidelberg, Germany.  Hudson also gets to embark on his very first horseback riding lesson!  Fingers crossed he doesn't ask for a horse for his next birthday.  And only a couple more weeks before Adley turns ONE...eek!

Potty-Trained and July 4th!

It's been a HUGE week of accomplishments in the Kemp household.  Hudson is potty-trained!!  And I had nothing to do with it.  Last week while Chris was traveling, Hudson's teacher pulled me aside and said "Please don't be offended, but Hudson needs to stop wearing Pullups.  We start tomorrow, bring extra clothes."  My heart sank; I was not ready.  Call it lazy, call it not wanting to clean up endless messes, call it being exhausted from a husband traveling all week.   I WAS NOT ready.  But the teachers are so wonderful and know my children better than I do, so I behaved, obeyed and followed my instructions.  Hudson sported Paw Patrol "big boy underwear" all day Thursday and Friday and was mess-free!  I was stunned and at a loss for words.  I felt terrible for selling him short.  He will even get up during a nap and go to the bathroom without being prompted...baffling for this mama!!  I am so proud of my almost three year old little man.  And he was so pleased to pose in his new undies so show everyone.  And he tells every dad he sees: " I wear big boy underwear like you!"

 Daycare always has a July 4th parade to celebrate Independence Day.  The big kids work hard all week on making crafts, learning about the nation and the presidents.  The babies got to tie-dye shirts.  Since it was raining, the shindig was moved inside and all the kids made four laps around the facility.  Music blared, kids chanted and the babies were star-struck.  It was a darling affair....until all the mamas and daddies had to leave.  I think every child then fell apart and broke down in tears....

 

Hudson and his schoolmates Tyler and Camden.  He's finally starting to understand friendships and is always inquiring about what his buddies are doing when he's not around.  Such a fun age!

On Saturday, my brother and his crew came to visit.  They are currently homeless as they prep to move to Germany next month.  I'm hoping I can get another visit out of them soon.  Hudson was so so excited to see his cousin Hannah.  He adores her!  She is 8 years old and Hud is her little shadow whenever she is in town.  The two were inseparable for 72 hours.  They ate together, played with bubbles together, walked the dog together, you name it.  Cousin Nate is a few months older than Hudson and could not be bothered by the other two.  As long as he had a popsicle or a truck in hand, he was content.

And it is becoming a tradition that after a group bath, everyone must jump into bed and watch a little TV before bedtime.

Hannah had a fun time watching over Baby Adley as well.  Adley wasn't sure what to think of all the commotion and chaos.  She never cried, but she was bug-eyed and always watching everyone and everything...with an expression of both inquisition and mild fear.  But it kept her busy so much so that she took awesome naps and even slept for 13 hours straight!

We had three birthday boys to celebrate.  All the girls went out Sunday morning to get the essentials...cake and balloons.  Hannah picked out special balloons for each person, including Diesel the dog.  He also has a July birthday and even got doggie ice cream.

Everyone enjoyed burgers and brats and Hudson's current favorite dish, mac-n-cheese.

The birthday boys: Hudson, Pop Wilson and Uncle Brandon. 

Pop Wilson and Mimi with their grand-babies...

Hudson got a ton of cool presents...a slip-n-slide, GINORMOUS water soakers, books, bubbles and clothes to name a few.  Miss Adley even got her birthday gifts early (she's almost 11 months, eek!).  A pink princess car for my little princess.

The water soakers were as big as these two boys!

Hannah also discovered my craft room.  I think I found my new partner-in-crime.  She wanted to craft all weekend, which I had no objection to.  It was even a good excuse to make the dads watch the boys for a bit.  We made bookmarks, paper flowers, boxes and even a sign for Hudson's room.  I was so proud of my sweet niece!

It was a fun-filled, crazy weekend with no dull moment in site.  It's always wonderful to see the kids grow up and play together; it reminds you of the important things in life.  Family, friends, laughter and love.  Hope everyone has a great weekend in store.  Hudson turns three next week, eek!