Easter Weekend!

We had a great Easter weekend and were busy busy busy!  We started off with a trip to the YMCA to "get our energy," as Hudson says.  Chris and I always partake in some sort of HIIT or power lift or Zumba class on Saturday mornings and the kids get to attend the childcare.  After our class, we walked straight over to an egg hunt that the neighboring church had organized.  There were bounce houses, games, prizes and candy, so the kids had a good time.  There was even an Easter Bunny, but both my children are still fearful of the furry guy, so I didn't torture and force a picture this year.

There were multiple egg hunts that were roped off per age group.  Adley dominated the little kids!  I was so proud.  But she may have even snatched some eggs from smaller kids; I tried my best to referee the princess.  And with 17,000 eggs, Hud had a nice collection of eggs as well.

On Sunday, we attended the "special" early church service, which meant that the kids could wear their pajamas and everyone could enjoy a mound of delicious donuts along with coffee.  Hudson thought this was amazing.  He said wearing his pjs to church was "so incredible and weird!"  We laughed.  Every week he seems to come up with a new phrase that surprises us and makes us laugh.

After church, the Easter Bunny came to the house and delivered baskets and "pooped eggs in the backyard."  (another coined phrase from Hudson).

Getting ready for the egg hunt...

I bought these pool towel/robes at Costco and the kids loved them.  Adley wore hers all day.  She even got out her vacuum at one point and would say "mama" as she cleaned the house.  It really made me reflect on how my children perceive me.  I think I need to go shopping and I think I need a live-in maid!

After nap time, we geared up for Egg Hunt #3 at LollyPops house with the cousins.  All the grands were stoked.  Any event at LollyPop's house is a good event.  There were eggs, whistles, candy, candy and more candy.

After I took a picture of the big kids, Adley noticed it and rannnn over and stood in front of the camera.  She posed and said "cheeeeese" until I clicked a ton of pics of her.  I thought that was cute.  She thinks she is a big girl now and the older kids seem to be OK with that.  I fear that the "Baby Adley" title will disappear soon.  And I have conflicting emotions about that; I'm sad that my baby is growing up but I get so excited to see her personality blossom as she gets older.

The best part of the evening was this Toilet Trouble game Lolly got the kids.  You spin the toilet paper and whatever number it lands on, you then have to flush the toilet.  At any random time, someone will get sprayed with toilet bowl water.  It's very similar to the Pie-Face game, but with less maintenance and clean up.  The kids were obsessed!  And per the usual, Hudson had he best responses when someone got squirted...

Hope everyone has a great weekend ahead.  The Kemp/Bockelman crew heads to Lake Lanier (outside Atlanta) next week to meet up with the Boone/Alam/Hoffman crew for our 3rd annual family reunion!  There will 18 adults as well as 8 children under the age of 6 years old!  Keep us in your prayers please :)

Pig tails and Sunglasses!

Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend!  I am currently working on an Easter blog so hopefully there will be another post later this week.  But I'll start off today by bragging about my little princess.  I have waited a long 20 months for this moment....her hair is FINALLY long enough for two pig-tails!!  Oh how I have dreamed of her not looking like a disheveled little boy when Chris gets her ready and off to school in the mornings.  Even though she has trouble sitting still, she always requests a "boooooww" after I fix her hair.  And she is obsessed with her new sunglasses that fit her just perfect.  We wear them on walks and even around the house.  Hudson's blue shades have gotten too small, so he gladly relinquished them to his little sis.   

And she wears her sunglasses inside as well.  Below is one of her many "mean-mug" stink-eye looks!

Lolly got Hudson and Anderson Batman sunglasses.  Chris and I agree they look slightly ridiculous, but the boys love them so of course we let him wear them whenever he wants.  Last weekend he was playing with the "big kid" neighbors, and he had to pause and run back in the house and get his Batman shades because the sun "was looking at him."  In the below pic, Hud was having a "moment" and didn't want his picture taken.  We made him go on a family walk and he said he would rather "not hang out with the family today."  LOL, I had to laugh at that one...the poor kid has a rough life taking strolls with his parents and little sis.

 Adley loves to read and imitate the people around her.  She loves to repeat any word you say and we are all obsessed with her pointing out all her body parts (my current fav is "lips" and she will pucker her mouth!).  The other day I caught her "reading" to her stuffed animals in the playroom.  She would point and babble and then raise the book up and show the pictures to the "class."  Dora the Explorer are her current favorite books to read.  She got all the hand-me-downs from cousin Hannah so I'm sure the princess-themed books will become an addiction soon. 

"Lips" and "tongue"

The weather has turned and it may be safe to say our sweaters can be stored away.  The entire crew hit up the park last week and enjoyed some fresh air and sunshine.  Adley tries her best to keep up with the big kids.  And all the children are so sweet in taking turns to hold her hand or go down the slide with her.  Can't believe she'll be two years old in just a few short months!

Hudson is the best big bro in the world.  He's always screaming, "Adley come sit in my lap!"  "Adley, come look at this flower!"  "Mama, let me push Adley in her tricycle!"  He always puts others first, even his cousins (most of the time). One day he saved some of his "basketball trash" for Claire and Anderson.  This is a game Lolly created where the kids throw the recyclables off the side of the stairs and into the trash bin.  Crazy fun for these kiddos.

Easter blog coming soon!

Adley-girl

Angela here!  So I think this may be my first post that is almost all about "Adley-girl."  That is Hudson's current name for his little sis.  The world seems to be revolving around her lately and it's not necessarily by her own demand; both my boys are obsessed with the princess.  Hudson is always showing her how to play with different toys and making sure she is content and happy.  He has accepted the fact that he must share every toy or every piece of food or even mommy's lap with her.  As for Chris, Adley has her daddy wrapped around her little finger.  She can (almost) do no wrong when he is around.  As for myself, I continue to hold my title as the most headstrong family member, but my reign may soon be challenged as a new little queen starts to find her voice.  I must admit however, that when Adley tells you "no" and struts away, it is the cutest thing to watch.  I can't help but laugh as I walk her over to time-out.

The Ohio crew still gets together almost every Friday evening for dinner and play time.  Cousin Claire has graciously taught Adley how to perfect the art of being a diva and a princess.  Lolly got out her Mardi Gras beads and the girls knew exactly what to do.  They wore all the necklaces all evening long.  And no, I did not ask how Lolly how she obtained so many beads :)

Adley is also obsessed with sunglasses.  She thinks it is hilarious to take them off and put them back on...over and over again.  Then she will want you to put them on and make a funny face.  She has four pairs of adult-sized glasses and rotates them all.  I bought her a kid-size pair but have yet to give them to her.  She will probably want to wear them to sleep and to school at the rate her obsession is going.

Evenings after school continue to calm down as Adley gets older.  The kiddos can play and entertain themselves and don't require anyone looking over their shoulder.  Since Chris gets home late from work most evenings, this has been a game-changer for me and any mom-chore that needs to be accomplished.

Hudson has a new fascination with mixing up his socks.  Totally random but he loves to come up with different matches and then tell you a story of "who he is wearing" and why.  My Paw Patrol knowledge has grown exponentially due to sock purchases from Lolly.

Adley is obsessed with Elmo and the "clicker."  She has a keen eye for always being able to find the remote and her only demand is that you turn on Sesame Street.  But once it's on, she quickly loses interest and goes for a book or a toy instead, so I'm not complaining.  Hudson, on the other hand, would watch tv all day if you let him.  If he does happen to get air time while Adley is awake, he requires that she sit on his lap.  And she does.  And it is adorable.  And yes, they are still wearing their Christmas pjs.  Hudson has made a special request that once a week, they both "become elves" while they sleep.  I fought against it at first, but now it melts my heart when I see him run into Adley's room and dig out her holiday pjs. 

Notice Hudson again in mix-matched socks.  Not exaggerating at all when I say he does this everyday! 

Chris is off to New Orleans later this week for a guys trip and the Ohio forecast is calling for rain all weekend.  So no big plans for myself and the kids.  Sometimes those end up being the best weekends - minus the part where Chris will be gone - even though the house will be cleaner due to that fact.  Hope everyone has a great week :)

Florida and Swim Lessons!

Hope everyone has had a great month since our last post!  After a week-long travel stent for Chris, we packed up the kids and headed to St. Petersburg, FL for a few days.  Chris received another Neilsen award and was "Membership Rep of the Year" for his region.  There was an award ceremony and dinner for the adults and a babysitter for the kids.  Both kids rallied until 10:30 pm that night and even walked away with goodie bags from the company.  The rest of our time was spent at the beach and the pool!

This was Hudson and Adley's first ocean experience and it was cute to watch.  Adley was fearful of the sand and waves at first, but soon warmed up after seeing her big bro run like crazy.  Hudson was fearless. We stayed at Tradewinds Island Resort, which even gives you your own beach cabana!  The ocean was too chilly to swim, but it was 80 degrees and gorgeous.  There were five outdoor pools, all of which were heated, so it was great to still be able to swim.  Hudson and Chris loved hanging out in the jacuzzi, aka the"hot pool" as Hudson calls it. 

Miss Adley is starting to discover her inner diva.  Her favorite word is "no" and she will give you the stink-eye if you tell her something she doesn't like.  If you upset her, she does this amazing lower lip curl that will make anyone laugh.  She likes to flaunt her knowledge by happily pointing to any body part you ask.  My new personal fav is when she does "elbows"...she will throw her arms back and point her elbows up to the sky.

The resort also had a putt-putt course, which Hudson loved.  Every time he made a putt, he would scream, "Mama!  I just won the champion game!"  He meant to say "championship" and I'm fairly certain he was correlating his win to his football knowledge/obsession.  Adley just liked to steal all the balls.

 

           One night, the hotel had a bonfire where we could roast marshmallows and make s'mores.  Hudson liked to roast the marshmallows, but didn't like to eat them.  Neither kid wanted to eat the chocolate.  But they did devour a ton of graham crackers.

Hudson's most favorite part was going down the 3-story water slide.  It was actually part of the resort and you could go down endless times.  I took a trip down twice before I got nauseated and called it quits.  Hudson couldn't get enough of this thing.  And then Chris wanted Adley to experience the fun, so he took her down as well.  After 3 plummeting trips, she finally pointed her finger at her father and said "No no daddy."  It was a proud moment for this mama!

That is poor little Adley in the pic below...

Once we got back from Florida, swim lessons started for both kids.  This was perfect timing after being exposed to the pool all week during vacation.  Hudson was timid at first and worried he would "go under and stay too long."  But within minutes, he turned into a little guppy and we couldn't get him out of the water.  He is no longer afraid to dunk his head and hold his breath.  Adley, on the other hand, screamed bloody-murder whenever anyone else came too close to her or when the instructor would hold her.  Have I mentioned she is starting to become a diva?!  Hoping and praying swim class goes better this week.

Hope everyone has a great week!