Hudson's First Birthday Party...Part One!

Hudson's First Birthday Party was today!  Our little guy won't officially turn 1 until next Saturday, but we initially planned his party for this week because we were thinking about going to Disney World next week.  That plan changed, but we decided to keep his birthday party on the 30th!

Here is the spread in the kitchen!  Since we decided to go with a football theme, I kept the food simple - football snacks and yumminess!

 A few of our favorite guests!  I didn't know Colin knew the peace sign until I looked at this picture.  Reese and Piper are giving us their best fake smiles!

 Aunt Allison took the pictures of Hudson's first cake!  I made his little smash cake myself with a Wilton 6-inch cake pan.  I did my best to make a little football on top, too! 

 He was very dainty with the cake at first - he took a few little swipes of frosting!

 While he worked on his cake Tyler, Wyatt, Colin and Derek ate their cupcakes together.  Can you tell that three of these sweet boys are cousins? Can you tell that I let my child dress himself to run errands with Daddy this morning, and then never had time to change him before the party? Ha! Apparently there was some sort of team structure formed around who ate chocolate and who ate vanilla.  I couldn't keep up!

 You might have to look hard to find Hudson here because his face is camouflaged.  I love this little fella so much!  He's wearing the same sweet shirt his big brother wore at his first birthday party!

 The look on Tyler's face in this picture cracks me up!  The kids had the best time watching Hudson get messy while he ate his cake!

Mommy and Daddy with our birthday boy!  I can't believe he's so close to turning a year old!

After this picture Hudson was whisked away to the bathtub for a little post-cake clean up! I'll post a few more details of the party later, but I thought I'd break it up a little bit!  Thanks for taking the pictures Aunt Allison!

Guess What...

today is?!?!

pinnable me: organizing weekend!

Linking up with Stefanie again this week!

Organization is on my mind right now!  We've desperately needed to get our upstairs organized for awhile  (since we moved in)- the attic, the room over the garage, and the loft area were such a mess of unpacked boxes, random stuff, and old furniture.  Our new couch was delivered on Thursday, and Brian spent Wednesday night with Dave moving our sectional upstairs and getting it straightened up.  Then he surprised me by taking 2 days off to unpack all the boxes that were left over from our move in (yes...it's been almost 2 years.  So?)

The most exciting thing is that things are finally going in their appropriate places - which I love.  The room over the garage is going to be a boys' room/ play room/ train room/ Yankees' room.  This means that all the train stuff made its way upstairs!  Yes!

Anyway, my mind is racing with ways to get everything where it belongs - and I love these ideas!

All the laundry in one neat place?! Yes!

Source: google.com.au via Brittney on Pinterest

Once I create my desk area, I will have something like this!

Source: iheartorganizing.blogspot.com via Brittney on Pinterest

This is a genius way to back up photo files! 

Source: None via Brittney on Pinterest

If I had more jewelry I would totally do this!  How smart is it to use utensil organizers as jewelry storage?

Source: maillardvillemanor.com via Brittney on Pinterest

A way to store all those annoying pantry items?  Yes!

Source: beneathmyheart.net via Brittney on Pinterest

Have a fun and safe Halloween weekend!

Wyatt's Pumpkin Patch Parade and Party

This morning Captain America Wyatt went to school in his Halloween costume for his Pumpkin Patch Parade.

 He's really strong.  Really, really strong. See those muscles?

 His class came out and sang three little songs, and then had a "grand finale" with a younger class!

 And then they "paraded" around us!  Wyatt was very serious about his marching.

 But he was all smiles when he walked by us!

 Wyatt got right down to easting - and started with the cupcake.  I guess he has his priorities straight?  I missed the conversation, but apparently the little girl next to him (Gabby) turned to him and asked him if he was her best friend. He didn't answer her, so she asked him again and he said yes.  Her mom looked at Brian and asked if he'd heard the conversation too.  These kids crack me up! 

Wyatt was not happy about us leaving him, but fortunately Mrs. Janette scooped him up and convinced him to go outside and play.  Wyatt then told me that he spent all of his time on the play ground chasing girls.  Yikes! 

Reese's Halloween Party

Reese had her Halloween party at school today, so she got dressed up in her costume this morning.  She wanted to be Jessie from Toy Story for Halloween, and I think the back of her costume is absolutely adorable.

 We got both costumes for the big kids from the Disney Store.  Reese's Jessie costume is very sparkly, so she likes it a lot!  I tried to get her to pose for pictures before school, but she decided that she'd rather act like a dragon.

 We were surprised to find out that her class wasn't just having a party - they also "performed" three songs.  Wyatt's class didn't do this at Halloween last year, so we were excited to go and see her sing her new songs - and get a glimpse of her in her classroom environment!

 They sang three cute little songs before they sat down to have their treats!

Reese was the first kid in line to wash her hands so she could eat and she cleaned her plate!  I know most little ones are at least a little picky (including her big brother), but this little girl LOVES everything!

I learn so many interesting things when I go to her class.  I know that there is a little girl in her class named Piper - they have dance together on Tuesdays and they play together in class.  But I think that Reese sometimes confuses Piper with another little girl in her class named Porter, because they sat next to each other and had a great time!

Also, Brian and I both recognized one of the other moms in her class from soccer.  In fact, Reese played her son's team again last night.  On the way home from school, I asked Reese if there was anything she forgot to tell me about the team that she playing against yesterday and she said, "Yeah, Griffin from my class was on the other team."  She cracks me up!

A Little More Hallowscream

So after our stop visiting Elmo, we went to lunch.  We checked the show times, and knew that we needed to get to lunch early.  There seems to be a risque show where we normally eat lunch, and we needed to get in and out before 1.  Seriously - I checked their Facebook page and there were tons of complaints - but this sign was front and center outside the Festhaus.  I knew better than to take my kids to this show!

 After lunch we headed to the bumper cars.  Wyatt and Reese both took a turn on the kid cars.

 Wyatt was also tall enough to ride with Daddy, so they got to ride the big cars together.

 The kids took a ride on the carousel with Mimi and Baba.

 And then we played for a bit longer and left!  We took the train to the front of the park - and we got to ride by a roller coaster!

The kids had such a good time, and all Brian and I talked about yesterday was just how good they were while we were at the park.  If they are as well behaved at Disney World as they were at Busch Gardens yesterday, our trip will be cake!  Of course, other things always pop up, but we are hyper aware of the fact that our kids need to eat well while we're gone - not only because of last year's issue, but also because lately our kids seem to have really sensitive stomachs!

I would love to say that I think we'll make the trip to Busch Gardens before next spring, but I seriously doubt it.  They open for Christmas, but it is always packed, and it's just not fun!  I really hope Wyatt can ride a bigger coaster next year - I was able to ride the Loch Ness Monster when I was 5, and it will be so fun for his first coaster to be the same one I rode!

Hallowscream!

We planned to take advantage of our season passes by spending one last day at Busch Gardens this season.  We love going, and the kids always have a blast, especially at Halloween (and here, and well, here too).  We try to get them in and out before the scary stuff starts after dark (and honestly, we try to get there when they open on Sundays - no lines and practically empty - we get sooo much done in just a few hours!)

We always start our visits in Sesame Place - so much fun for all of these guys!

After riding the roller coaster twice each and making their way through the rest of the rides, we decided to go visit the Clydesdales. Hudson actually felt comfortable enough to pet this guy today.  I love how Wyatt has his arm around his little sister!

Me and my little guy!  He was so good today!

Reese had so much fun riding the Clydesdale ride.  She really did a lot more on her own today, and she had a blast!

She did do a bit of showing off though :)

An exciting development today was that Hudson actually started playing peekaboo with us!  He loves when we hide and play with him, and he just started saying "peekachoo" when we're playing.  But today he actually started covering his eyes to hide from us!

Wyatt also decided to take a huge step (for him) and went to visit Elmo.  He is very skeptical of all costumed characters (unless you're counting Disney characters), but he ran right up to Elmo and gave him a huge hug! 

This is only the first half of the pictures I took today!  I'll probably share a few more at some point this week! 

A Typical Saturday

This morning we woke up bright and early.

Ate breakfast, loaded up the van, and went to a 9:00 soccer game.

 For warm ups.

 And games.

 And scored goals.  6 of them.  In the first quarter.  And then he was told not to score anymore.  Yeah.  He did a great job passing the ball after that.  And then he scored 2 more.  Then we left early to go to a 10:00 baseball game. 

 The last game of baseball was today.  Soccer continues for a few more weeks.  He got some good hits.  He tried really hard.  Except when he didn't. He thought he was going to be out at first, so he stopped running.  And then the kid dropped the ball.  But he picked it up and tagged first before Wyatt got there.  Because he stopped running.

 Hudson needed to borrow some shades from Pop Pop.

 He really liked wearing them.

After the game the kids got their trophies and had some really yummy cupcakes.  Wyatt went around and said good bye to his friends.  Especially Hunter.  They're good buddies from the Dodgers!  I think he might be on the Dodgers again this spring (unless Brian decides to coach), so hopefully they'll play together again!

After the game we came home and I got ready for a Thirty-One party!  It was actually in the neighborhood, and it was a lot of fun!  I love going to the parties and chatting and showing everyone how versatile the bags and organizational items can be.

The big boys are at the Admirals game tonight - Brian was able to trade for season tickets to the games, so I think that they will get to go a lot!  I'm hoping to go myself a few times, and I know Reese wants to go too. Tonight she had a near meltdown because she wasn't able to go - but I think the promise of one last trip to Busch Gardens tomorrow made it okay!

pinnable me: november fun!

I'm linking up with Stefanie for pinnable me: friday again.  I am probably a little too interested in Pinterest.  I have the app on my phone, and I basically just pin while I sit on the couch and watch TV.  I know that we still need to "get through" Halloween, and don't get me wrong, I am very excited for the week of activities we have next week - dressing up, Halloween parades and parties at school, Halloween activities with family, Trick or Treating - but I LOVE November!  Hudson's birthday is obviously my new favorite thing about the month, but Thanksgiving is one of my very favorite days of the year!  So here are things I am looking forward to doing next month!

These look delicious!  I love caramel apples, but they're messy - these are perfect, and I would probably eat more than the equivalent of one apple!

I love pumpkin anything - pumpkin spice lattes (although I've mainly just been using pumpkin creamer in my coffee at home), pumpkin pie, pumpkin cheesecake - but this looks awesome!  I'm making this for something!

I really want to incorporate some kind of Thankful board or something for the kids (and us) this November.  This board would be fun to make - and it's really cute!  Pottery Barn Kids had something that would serve this purpose - but I guess it's sold out?

And I also really like this, but think the board is probably more practical for the kids. 

Fun Thanksgiving printables!  I know that the kids are going to talk about Thanksgiving at school, and have a feast, but I also know that they have other units that they're learning about next month, too.  In particular, my little healthy eater will be learning about nutrition in her class, and Wyatt will be discussing cowboys and the Wild West.  He is beyond excited to share with them that he has the same name as a famous cowboy.  So I think we'll be doing more fun Thanksgiving things at home :)

These look adorable - but also complicated, and I have serious doubts about whether my kids would actually eat this!  So something like this might be more appropriate!