A Thankful Heart

Thanksgiving....a time to give thanks, to reflect on every blessing, to spend time with those we love the most. Oh how I love this time of year! I cannot even begin to put into words how grateful we are, how abundantly blessed we are, how full our hearts are here at the Bird House! This time last year I was an extremely pregnant and cranky wife...anxious for the twins' big arrival yet still fearful of being a mommy to 2 babies and a sweet little toddler...savoring every moment with my little man with before his life would be turned upside down with the itty bitty sisters invading his turf. My how time has flown by...really flown...in what seems like, literally, the blink of an eye. This year has been such an amazing adventure. We became a family of 7...3 kids, 2 dogs, a mommy and daddy. Hudson has been a champ with his sisters and takes the role of Big Brother and Mommy's Helper seriously. He is all boy, still loves tractors and the outdoors, would rather "work" with GoGo and Daddy rather than play, and is always game to help. Isabelle and Sophia adore Hudson and constantly want to play with him and his stuff, are highly mobile, like to climb, love to be outside, would rather play with pots and pans inside my kitchen cabinets over toys, and will do just about anything to get their hands on any sort of portable electronic device. Daddy works so very hard...6 days a week...so I can be a stay-at-home mommy....Yay!!! I love every minute of it...the chaos, the mess, the meltdowns, the snuggling, the chasing, the giggles and grins, the pure joy that these little Birds bring to each and every day!!!

Just an ordinary morning...

Hudson with his newest sidekicks

 Their new favorite hideout!

Bath time is always tons of fun!

 

 Sophia has taken over his chair...Hudson is sweet enough to let her:)

 Sister love!

Isabelle snuggling with her GoGo

 Hudson and Miss Alexa Jayne

It's not a toolbelt....it's her newest accessory

 Faster!!!

 

Hudson on his cousin's scooter...he loved it!!!

 We ran with Quinn and baby Grace in the Turkey Trot...then we indulged in the yummy food!

Flume Thanksgiving with some cousins

Life is good!!!

Sleep Over Success

Now that YaYa and GoGo have moved back from their "city house" (the second floor of one of the commercial buildings in the fabulous Gruene Lake Village) to their "country house" (the house across the street from us), Hudson watches like a hawk out the windows for them so he can go play and of course "work"!!! Well, this past weekend Daddy had to work late so Hudson got to go across the street for dinner and fun while I did the bedtime routine with the twins. As bedtime for little man drew near, YaYa came over to tell me that Hudson decided he was going to spend the night with them so she needed some jammies. Oh boy, this should be interesting seeing as how they didn't move the guest bed from the city house. Sooooo, you guessed it, Hudson was going to sleep in their bed. Well he got showered, got his jammies on, and made himself comfy in their bed. YaYa called to tell me that it looked like he was really going to stay....so lights out. He was a champ and did great....no midnight phone call that he was coming home. The next morning he was so excited to tell me all about sleeping in YaYa's bed. He also informed me that GoGo snores and he had to tell him to be quiet. The little bed hog snuggled right in the middle which made for little sleep for the poor, sweet grandparents, but oh how he loved his first sleep over....so much so that he was ready to do it again tonight!!!

Pumpkin Patch

The little Birds and I ventured downtown to meet up with Meme and Papa at the pumpkin patch. Here is a glimpse of our attempt at capturing some Halloween smiles of the kids with their great-grandparents...not too shabby considering it was bright, hot, and close to dinner time!

 Isabelle playing with Papa's beard and Sophia trying to get big brother

 Isabelle was ready to get down and play....Hudson was too busy with his cookie...Meme just kept on smiling!

Busy, busy, busy Birds

You want me to do what?

Isabelle and her signature "I'm a little stinker" face

Ready to hit the road...better luck next year:)

Halloween Fun

Halloween was definitely a hit for Hudson this year. The kid loved trick-or-treating, driving his tractor, playing with YaYa's fog and bubble machine, running around with Sam and Liv, and scaring people with the ghost his GoGo rigged up over the street in front of our houses. It was craziness as usual. Hudson also picked his Halloween attire for this year...he wanted to be his GoGo (his grandpa).So mommy got creative and we made him a GoGo outfit. He already has plenty of GoGo shirts as we call them, so that part was easy. For those of you who know my father, you know he sports the Hawaiian shirts year round and has smaller versions made for little man. I took an old pair of khaki pants, cut some holes, splattered some paint, rubbed cinnamon to make "rust" stains. I took the finished product over to show my mom and compare with my dad's...right on the money. We got him dressed, strapped on his tool belt, clipped his tape measure to his pants, "crazied" up his hair, put his glasses on, got his tractor ready to ride....he was set and loving life! Who needs a treat bag? We just hooked his little trailor to his tractor to haul all his goodies. We hit a handful of houses in the neighborhood with the twins and Liv in their matching drindels, Sam the man in his super cool soccer outfit, and cousin Millie Mouse. Trick-or-treating was tons of fun for all the kids and all of our neighbors were so sweet.

 "GoGo" ready to "work"!

Cheerios please:)

Liv and Lucy ready to roll

Millie Mouse

First stop....Kendrick's house!

 Hudson and his Mr. Wille

Hudson, Sam, and Liv with Mrs. Wille

Hitting the jackpot at Ms. Melissa's house

Not just candy at this house...

Cupcakes too...score!

Hauling the candy home!

After the candy and cookie and cupcake overload, we headed to YaYa and GoGo's house for dinner and some outdoor spooktacular fun with family and friends.

A few days ago, Hudson realized all the Halloween candy was gone. He looked at me ever so seriously and said "Mommy, I guess we'll just have to get ready and go trick-or-treating for some more!"