Moving along!

Things are continuing to be busy and fun around here. As of just this week(Aug 21) Fletcher has finally started to walk!!!!! This big boy is my latest walker, at 15 months. It has been so funny watching F try to get the courage and motivation to walk. Mostly, he just has been too lazy to care-heehee. For the last 4 months, F has been doing the most hilarious bear walk, and even though I am so glad my boy can walk, it is sad to see that funny walk go! F has been doing it so long, and has now become obsessed with cars. Fletcher will bear crawl with the car in his hand , then start to spin out as the car gets him moving too fast haha. Fletchie has just been so much fun to get to know this summer. He just figured out how to come down the stairs, so he feels so independent. He loves to crawl up to the playroom and find his brothers and play with cars, then when he is done, he will crawl back down and find me. He is such a happy fun boy and especially loves laughing at his big bro Hudson!

Just in the past couple of days he has started to say Mama! Wheewhooo!!!!! FINALLY:)

F is such an easy going guy, He will wake up and just chill in his crib and play. He loves playing with toys, and loves Mommy and Daddy. Shane likes to pretend to sleep on the ground, and every time F will come and slap him in the face. It makes the bigger boys crack up every time! Since Cass has been staying with us, he has shown a great interest in her as well. He is always looking up at her after he makes any move to see if she is smiling or looking at him.

Cooper is my lovey dovey separation anxiety boy. This kid does not want to leave my side. He sleeps with me every night, and has recently been leaving Primary as he "misses me"-argh! I am flattered, and secretly don't mind it, but I don't want it to limit him. Every night he and Hudson come and beg me to snuggle them to the point of exhaustion, when I give in and snuggle them. Then they leach themselves to me and demand that I rub their backs! One night I told Cooper I was not going to snuggle him, which caused him to beg more and more. After about thirty minutes he finally started saying, your breaking my heart Mama, your breaking my heart. At that, I decided to give in(cuz who wants a "bwoken heawted" adorable three year old right?) When I got up to to go and snuggle him, he started telling me I was pretty haha! He is really such a funny boy! He just started swimming lessons and the first day I had to literally sit on the side of the pool so he would stay in his class. Today he did much better, which makes me so happy, because I can see that he is really starting to enjoy himself! Beaumont has a great little pool, and the swimming lessons have been great. The boys are having lots of fun, and it gives us a lot of chances to snoop on our house. Cooper especially loves checking out the house. Today I got to meet my neighbour and I was thrilled to find out he had a three year old little boy as well! Yay for little buddies!

Cooper recently gave his first talk in Primary. What an experience. He sat in the "Talk" chair, then when it was his turn to speak he hid inside the pulpit and grunted in the microphone as he punched me. It was a glorious moment! Cooper LOOOOOOVES his big brother. It is my favourite to see them playing together. I just know my boy is going to be gutted when his big brother goes to all day school! Cooper loves to make Hudson laugh. The other night during night time prayers, Cooper asked to bless President "Monster" instead of President Monson, which had us all in an immediate laugh attack. Cooper loves to sit and watch America's Funniest Home Videos. He just cackles and cackles!

I just can't believe my big boy is off to full day school- waaaaaahhhhhh:( I am just going to miss this sweet boy of mine so stinkin much. Hudson is enrolled in French Immersion, so I am just praying that it will go well and that Hudsters will enjoy his new school. I sure hope he will click with his teacher. After last year, I have learned a great teacher can make such a difference. We have Hudson in swimming lessons as well, and he is doing great! With Cass being here, the boys have been off to the park, launchpad, Treehouse or elsewhere everyday. That and swimming lessons have totally tired the boys out! We went and got all of Hudson's school supplies and labelled them all up. So cute. Hudson still blows me away with his wit and smarts. He loves to do mazes and puzzles. I bought him a Maze book with 7 mazes in it, and he finished the entire book in about 30 minutes-ha! Really, Hudson's whole life right now revolves around video games. He loves, them, which provides us with currency, to get him to do when he needs to be doing...ie. eating his meals, reading, cleaning up, ect. ect. ect.

On to our house. Things are moving forward quickly. The main floor is already framed up! This week I went to Park lighting and got to pick out all of the lights in my house. It was FUN! They have so many cute lights, and had everything that I wanted. It really got me even more excited! Now we have everything all picked out. We truly feel so blessed. Being able to have such a beautiful home is a dream of mine, and really, we just feel so so thankful!

Change

(July)I have always had a difficult time with  change. I found it very annoying to start being a school Mom. I was also a new mom to three, and getting used to my new schedule a bit irritating. Over the past year, as we do, I got used to the pick ups and the drop offs, and our new schedule became my norm. I loved hearing all of the neat things Hudson was learning and I had fun getting to know all of his cute school mates. Being a school Mama became really fun and rewarding.
Then, it came time for change again. I had such a super hard time with the end of the school year. I am so sad about not seeing Mrs. Nikolau any more, or all of the little cuties in Hudson's class. I miss hearing about Hudson's adventures. I say that knowing that Having my boy in full day school will be an equally difficult challenge. I know I will miss him, and hate the early mornings.

A. Blair McPherson is now familiar to me, and Hudson, so it will be a bit challenging to get my boy off to a new school next year as well.

At the beginning of June, we received our miracle and were able to sell our condo. Freakishly, many things aligned for us, and that same week we signed with a builder to build a home in Beaumont.
We are so so excited to live in our forever home, but again, all of the change stresses me out a bit.
We have always loved the community feel of Beaumont, and feel it is a great fir for our family. Hudson will start grade one at the Colonial Estates school, in French Immersion. Our new home will not be completed until the end of January, so I will be driving Hudson to his new school each day.

Just this past week we finished all of the selections for our house and it has been so much fun. Pinterest has been my best friend and worst enemy. I have known what I would pick for a while, but definitely had a hard time with the fireplace and some of the kitchen choices. Yesterday when we got our final tally, I realized I miscalculated our budget by 10k and accidentally went over by that amount. I was so surprised we were doing so well with our budget haha, oops.. Too late to change anything now:)

The designer, Cheryl who we worked with was just the absolute best. Shane took the back seat to most of the design stuff, so Cheryl and I became buds! Yesterday, we asked Cheryl when she thought they would start digging, when she looked up our file, she thought we already had a hole, so we went by and we DID! It was so exciting! I made Shane get out and take a picture with the hole-haha. Our house is already a bit a head of schedule, so we may be in before the end of the year-ahhhhhh!

Shane had this past week off so we decided to take the boys down to Drumheller and the Calgary Zoo. Travelling with kids, is fun, but crazy at the same time. We stayed at the Sheraton Cavalier water slide hotel with the boys and between all of us, no one got very much sleep. With Fletcher still being young, we have just tried to do Staycation stuff, close to home, but next year we are hoping to do a bigger trip. I loved being at the Zoo with the boys. The weather was perfect, and the Zoo really is world class. We snacked on lots of popcorn and treats, learned about animals and enjoyed the perfect weather. We really have had so many wonderful nice hot days this summer it has been great!

Earlier on in the week, I also took the boys to the Dinosaur Exhibit at the Telus World of Science. Cooper was so adorable talking to all of the dinosaurs, and digging for fossils. Hudson preferred the ore hands on body exhibit, and was pretty stuck on getting his own lab coat and safety glasses from the gift shop. At the end of the day Hudson whipped out a dinosaur bone or tooth of some sort from his pocket. I gasped, as I thought he took it from one of the skeletons on display. I told him we had to return it and we boogied back to where he "found" it. He kept assuring me that "no one was using it" so it was fine! When we returned, there were a couple of girls at the table he took it from. Hudson showed them the tooth, and they literally yelped with joy! The girl shouted "You found the missing Veloceraptor tooth"!!!! They were so happy and treated him like a King, until they asked him where he found it, realizing, he found it exactly where it was supposed to be! How embarrassing!!! It was a good teaching moment I suppose!

The boys have also enjoyed going out to some movies:) We have taken them to see the Minion movie and the "Feelings" movie-I forget what it is really called haha!
They have enjoyed multiple park visits, The trampoline park, swimming, and playing on our water slide in our backyard. To be fully honest it has been a lot of work  to keep these guys busy. Cooper would be happy doing whatever, playing lego, playing with playdough, coloring, watching shows... whatever, and Hudson, would be content to play video games ALL DAY LONG!

Between my etsy shop, Shane's contract, and meetings with our builder, we have been busy!
At the beginning of July, the boys got to go to Auntie Jodie's house, then to Grandma and Grandpa's place for a day. Fletcher stayed home with me, but when we picked the kids up, Fletcher got a terrible flu. The next week, that flu passed through each of us! It was a nasty one! Thank goodness it was fast and everyone felt better quickly:)

We have just been doing our best this summer to stay busy(keep Hudson from playing video games all day) and spend time together! My heart has truly been touched watching my boys become better friends. We sure love summer!!

June

Time continues to fly by. So much happens in our lives, and I wish I had time and energy to document it all. Sometimes I worry that I am living my prime right now and I need to somehow try to remember everything. I panic about it. I felt this way as a missionary as well. I just love being a Mommy so much and my kids are at such fun ages, I don't want to forget anything. I always worry about the pictures on my posts, but I should just write more, and then add the pictures when I have more time.

Last post was about February. Since then, we Shane has continued his contract with Heath Therapies. It has been such a great blessing. Financially it is much better than hospital work, and he has so much more time with us.
Fletcher totally favors Dad right now, as Shane spends so much time with him. It is so awesome. They play together so much, and Fletch is even saying Dad. That is the only word he says:( I am working on getting him to say Mama!!! He also loves to wave at his Daddy. They definitely have a special bond.
Etsy has stayed super busy, so with Shane being off more I have been able to somewhat keep up with things, and May 2nd I attended my first Craft Fair. It was A LOT of work, but also a ton of fun. Kennedy and Leanne came and helped me with it. The biggest surprise of the Day was Rory and Caitlyn coming by to see my booth. It was so nice of them!

We have been exercising our faith and waiting for the past few months, and FINALLY our condo sold. It is such a relief to have it gone. We are now finally in a position to move. We are working on figuring out Mortgage stuff, and have decided we will either build a home or purchase a home in Beaumont. We feel very sure that that is what we are looking for. I am hoping we can get things figured out quickly as I would like Hudson to start grade 1 in french immersion out there.
Shane and I celebrated our 8th Anniversary. It feels like 5 minutes, yet sometimes I can't imagine life without him and our boys.

We got tickets to one of our favorite bands' One Republic, and had a serious blast at their concert. I listened to them for at least a couple weeks straight after the show. So stinkin good!

Fletcher, our sweet little baby turned one on the 16th of May. We had a little party with him, on the 17th, and let him have cake, ect. He is such a great little boy. He is adored by all of us, and totally completes our family. He sleeps well, eats well, plays with toys, and is such a happy good boy. He has 5 teeth(almost 6) and crawls around like a boss! He just figured out stairs and cackles as he crawls up to the playroom and finds his brothers.The stairs are still a bit problematic, as he is unable to get down from them. Fletcher just had a round of immunizations, and he was 50th for weight(22 lbs) and 50th for height. I was so shocked as he seems so squishy and chubby. I love to smooch is sweet dimples and kiss his rolls. He LOVES to crawl into the bathrooms, which are usually disgusting, so we all have to be very aware of keeping the bathroom closed. Fletchy is also loving all types of foods. We let him feed himself a lot of the time and he eats pretty much everything we eat. His faves are goldfish and applesauce:) He is also a lot like his older brother Cooper(and his mama) as he is a serious food mooch. If you are in his vicinity and eating anything, he promptly approaches with his mouth wide open. Fletchy still swan dives into his crib at night and sleeps 12-13 hours. He sometimes wakes up and sits and plays all by himself for a long time before wanting out. Fletcher is starting to stand all by himself, but is a bit of a scardey cat. He loves to walk along furniture and cabinets. Our big boy has even graduated to a big boy car seat, so he is now turned around. He loves to be facing the rest of us.

Our Cooper Coopula, continues to be an amazingly sweet little boy. He went through a phase for about 3 weeks, where he would tell me several HUNDRED times a day that he loved me. Like no exaggeration, non stop. I tried so hard to be patient and tell him I loved him back every time, as I could not figure out why he felt he needed to tell me so much. He also started to wake up screaming each night, and really the only thing that will settle him is me snuggling him in my bed. So right now he is a Mamas boy, and I really don't mind it. He is a real sweetheart. I just love him to bits. If he hears a bang, or any noise, he will always yell out...Are you okay Mom... He makes Fletcher laugh a lot, and adores Hudson. Often while Hudson is at school, he will ask me to go and pick Hudson up because he misses him. Cooper LOVES, and I mean LOVES playing with toys. He will sit for hours and play with Magnetix, Lego or other toys. He has full conversations with them. I love his imagination. One day I knew I had a ton of work to get done, so I made Cooper a fresh batch of Playdough.  Hudson was there too and played for maybe 45 minutes, but Cooper played with his playdough all day. and night. It was literally dried out and crumbled by the end of the day. He barely left his bar stool. He is such a fun and neat kid. Cooper does not have quite the social life that Hudson had at his age, so he was so excited to go to his first Birthday Party.(Jake Siakuluk). The poor boys both got Pneumonias  in April so he was not able to go. It was so sad and scary seeing them so sick. I did not mind all of the snuggles I got though!
Just this past weekend Shane found an IPhone at a garage sale for 7 dollars. We gave it to Cooper, who is now obsessed with his phone. It is so funny to see him think he is so fancy! Cooper is my best eater and must be growing a lot. He out eats Hudson by double and but does not have as much of a sweet tooth. He loves fruit and vegetables.
Cooper has also just recently decided he enjoys coloring. He draws cute little detailed pictures and loves to tell me all about his creations. Again, his imagination is so funny. He comes up with the funniest stories. Not too long ago Cooper told Shane that he does not like coconuts. When Shane inquired as to why,Cooper told him a coconut fell on his head at the park??? He is a bit of a story teller and often Hudson is doing bad things in his stories. We love our Coopy, he is such a great boy.

With it being the middle of June I can not even believe that our Hudson Boy is almost all done his first year of school. I almost start to cry thinking about how much my boy has learned and changed this year. I really do owe Mrs. Nikoloau for life. She has been the greatest teacher we could have ever asked for, She has cared for Hudson so much. I love her with all of my heart. Hudson is a very very smart little boy. He does really well in school and has an amazing memory. Hudson reads like a mad man. I love that he can now sound out anything and that he is enjoying reading more and more. Hudson is also a math man. He loves numbers and figures out math problems on his own all of the time. If I am 13, then Cooper will be 10 and Fletcher will be 7, right mom?? 800 plus 800 is 1600 right mom? Mom, how can 50 be an even number is 5 is an odd number? It really never ends. He is so lucky to have a keen mind. A couple weeks ago Hudson had his spring concert called go fish. It was a concert for all Kindergarden kids to Grade 2. Hudson was so funny on stage. He knew all of the words, but was not very enthusiastic about the dance moves. Hudson has learned so many neat things at school! One day his class baked bread, and he even brought home a loaf of warm yummy bread. Another time, he cam home and showed me the downward facing dog, and other moves he learned in his Yoga class. I love seeing all of the neat things he is learning.
Hudson has been a real champ as we have tried to figure out the proper medication for him. He has lost a bit of weight on adderall. It worries me a lot, but I am hopeful we will get him a medication that will really help him out. Hudson has a mental health therapist that he visits a couple times a month and it has been great working with her.
Hudson has a great love of video games. He loves a game called Destiny. If he reads a certain amount, then he can play it for an hour. Using this method of if, then, has really helped Hudson become a great reader. Hudson is really interested in learning to Golf and playing T ball. We are planning on getting him into some sport camps this summer as well as some swimming lessons.
Hudson loves to "go out" so we have already been to the zoo a few times this spring, and out to multiple parks. It has been so wonderful having the school park so close. Hudson also loves riding his bike to school each day.
 He really is getting so big. He takes great care of "his baby" and is becoming kinder and more patient with Cooper. Hudson really loves his primary teacher Sister Jessica Evanston. He has a very kind heart and loves a lot of the primary hymns. If Fletcher gets hurt, or is upset, Hudson immediately starts singing hymns to him. He is such a good boy. A few weeks ago we were learning about Faith for Family Home Evening, and each of the boys got to go pick out seeds and plant them. t has been so fun watching them grow and Hudson reminding me that the plants are like faith,
We have been very very blessed to have a beautiful May/June forecast, so we surprised our boys with a new water slide. It has been so much fun watching them play on it. Fletcher is not super fond of it, but I think next year it will be a hit with him.

Fantastic February

This month has been busy and so much fun!
We have been able to spend a lot of time with friends and family and celebrate some fun occasions!

The boys continue to fill our lives with so much craziness, fun, laughter and joy. They are truly our world. I often tell Hudson the only thing that matters to me is that he is happy. Really, that is how I feel. I just want my sweethearts to have a wonderful life.

Besties and Twinners

handsome clowns!

Hudson continues to do well with reading and school. Every once in a while he gets in to trouble for things like not wearing his shirt or getting into fights on the playground, but we work on those things and try  to move forward.
Hudson had some neat activities this month at school. First he had his 100 day project for the 100th day of school. We printed out 100 pictures of Hudson and glued them in the shape of 100.  Other kids we knew dressed up like they were 100, which was so so funny!

That same week was Valentines day. We worked on Valentines cards for Hudson's classmates and he came home with a pouch full of goodies. His class had a party and he had a great day. I set up some Valentines treats for the boys on Valentines Day(Sat) and Shane gave me the greatest gift ever....sleeping in:)

The following week we celebrated Hudson's 6th birthday. I am so proud of my big boy and sure love him so much. He still calls me Mama, and LOVES snuggles from his Mom and Dad. He is getting much more patient with Cooper, and loves to wrestle him. He is the sweetest big brother to Baby Fletch, and I think it is safe to say he is obsessed with all babies in general, especially baby girls! Hudson has a very special place in his heart fro his sister Piper, and never misses a chance to talk about her, draw her a picture or say a prayer for her.

I think he likes it:)

My sweet 6 year old!

On Sat. Feb 21st,we let Hudson open his gift from us(lego) and I baked him a special chocolate cake. He wanted a special cake, so I slaved over it. He proceeded to take one bite and say that he kind of liked it but also kind of hated it...grrrrrrrrrr.

The delicious cake

Cooper stealing some thunder

Zero girlfriends!

We then took the boys to Treehouse, a play center place and let the boys go nuts. It was a really fun, great day.

Cooper our sweet and sassy 3 year old is still rocking his potty training. I am so thankful!!!
We have a lot of fun with Cooper. He always has his head in the clouds and is super flighty. We love to quiz him on colors and numbers. About 100 percent of the time he gets his colors wrong. It has turned quite comical!

Cooper and his Amazing nursery leaders, Ber"NARD" and Diane

Cooper wakes up every night demanding snuggles from his Mommy, and still wants me to kiss all of his owies if he gets hurt. He is full of "I love yous" and although he loves to play with his baby, he is still quite rough with him.
Cooper still loves his toys and will sit and play by himself for hours! He will often yell out .."Wait for it..."Game Over"... and other hilarious phrases out of the blue.
Cooper is loving being a sunbeam and does quite well  in primary.

On to Baby Fletchy!
Good Grief we LOVE LOVE LOVE this guy. I often tell the boys that he is my favorite(they all are, but he is just soooooooo good!!)

I am obsessed . Look at his new teeth.

This baby is the perfect child. He really is so good. So laid back and such a nice temperament.
Fletcher has had a big month!!
He started sitting up, crawling, and can now pull himself up on furniture and he will even sometimes let go and stand(and he is super proud)

On the Move!!!

Sitting Up!!!

Fletchy has also cut both of his big front teeth. He is looking so different. He is still squishy and lovable.He is a rock star sleeper. He goes to bed at 630-7 and sleeps a full 12 hours. WE ARE SERIOUSLY OBSESSED with this happy, fun, super easy baby!

Shane and I have also had a big month. We finished the condo and listed it!!!!! Eeek. We are so proud, and I think it turned out so great. We have had a bit of interest, but things are quite slow, so it has yet to sell. I am so excited for when it does. Shane and I fasted today, and we are hoping that it wont be too much longer. It really was so much work, but we learned a lot along the process.

Heath Therapies continues to do well. Shane has worked out a great contract he is working on that will keep him very busy for the next few months. It is a lot of work, but offers many benefits as well.

We have loved being able to visit family and friends this month. Jodie and Cassidy came down for a soccer tournament, and Rudi and baby Sadie came just this last week and stayed over for a couple nights.
I also got to see one of my longest bffs Carlee, and her super adorable girls.

Love this girl!

We have had a couple family dinners with everyone, and just this weekend we went out with Shane's sister and brothers and spouses as Joel and Amy and their kids are moving up to Grande Prairie. We are so sad to see them and their kids go.

We really are a blessed little family. Things are busy but great. We have ups and downs but are a strong team and we do our best to help each other out. We are so thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ to give up perspective in this crazy world.

Family Pics

Yeesh, These are from September! I LOVE getting family pictures done, and feel better when some of the pictures are posted online, so that heaven forbid something happen to all of my photos(like my parents) than I will have some.

Shane and I love these pictures, they capture our squirts so well!

I died laughing at this one of Hudson!!!!(he was supposed to be coming to tickle us-hahahaha)

Catch up

It is January! I think I blinked and missed November and December,so I will attempt to catch up. I have been meaning to post about Cooper's birthday, Halloween and Christmas, but things have been crazy, so I guess I will catch up on those events now.

Coopy's third birthday.

This boy is so dang cute. Cooper turned three, and I have to be honest, we did not really do much for him.I had planned a couple things, but poor Cooper really does not have a lot of friends. Hudson is by far his best friend, and when we asked him who he wanted at his birthday party, the only person he wanted was Huds.I feel so bad about this, as I was so much more social when Hudson was young and he always had play dates and friends. When it came down to Cooper's birthday, I thought maybe we could keep it low key and take the boys to dinner and to Chuck e Cheese. The week of Cooper's birthday Hudson was having major struggles with stealing at school, so he had to stay home and Dad took poor Cooper out for his birthday solo. It was so sad. Hudson missed out on the ward Halloween party, carving pumpkins and Cooper's birthday. I pretty much wanted to die(since he was even stealing from his teacher's desk) and was ready to pull him from Kindergarden, but thankfully since it has now been 2 months, he seems to understand that he can't steal. Gahhhhh. Cooper is a kind boy, and enjoyed going out with Daddy all by himself. I am so thankful for my rainbow baby. He really is such a sweet boy(even though right no he is a sass who refuses to potty train-grrrrrr)

Sadie.

Potty training. He is almost there!!!

My crazy three year old

A couple of days after Cooper's birthday, my baby sister had her first daughter and baby Sadie joined our family. My boys(mostly Hudson) are obsessed with her. We are so proud of Rudi and love having another baby in the family. 

Gorgeous New Mama and Baby

Pretty Lady Sadie

Halloween
As usual Dad knocked it out of the park with carving our Pumpkin. 

Spider Pumpkin

On Halloween we dressed up and went to Hudson's school for his Halloween parade. Gosh it was cute. After we headed to the hospital to visit baby Sadie and Dad in our costumes. 

That night Trick or Treating with no snow was great! The kids get so spoiled. Only a block of trick or treating provided us all with WAY too many treats. 

Halloween is so much fun with kids. It was neat seeing Cooper get it. Fletchy stayed home with me and helped me hand out candy. He got so many oooohs and ahhhs...

All three-Happy Halloween!

Arrrrrrr!

Loot!!!

November.

November proved to be a pretty busy month. I am ashamed to admit that I was a bit of a grinch this year in regards to Christmas prep and planning. One reason our month was so busy was we have been working a lot on our Condo, as we are going to try to sell it as soon as it is all updated. It has been a lot of work. We have pretty much done an entire reno, with most of the work being done in the kitchen and bathroom.  We installed a new kitchen, bathroom vanity and toilet, as well as new closet doors, painted the whole condo, new plumbing and other odds and ends. We are not finished yet, but since oil prices dropped so significantly and interest rates are probably going to rise in the next few months, it is causing me some serious anxiety. In another life I would probably love to flip houses. I love designing them and spending time with Shane, and don't even mind the work, but finding people to watch our kids and being away from them has been hard.. Having the condo sold will provide me and Shane great relief. It has been mismanaged in the past, costing us a ton of money, so it will just be great to have it gone. Once it is sold we can start t look for our "forever" home, which we think will be in Beaumont. We are all very ready for this to happen, but still want to be careful and not overextend ourselves. 

November also brought a few big changes to our life professionally (mostly Shane). Shane started up his own private OT company Heath Therapies, and temporarily reduced his hospital position to .4 to do a large contract doing work place job demands analysis. he has also been busy doing ergonomic workplace assessments. It has been so busy trying to start things up but I am suuuuper proud of him. He is guilty of selling himself a bit short, so it is nice to see him be so successful and see his plans come to life. As far as my etsy shop goes, I just had my 3000th sale(crazy, right?) and I have been trying to get my facebook page up and going. It is a lot of work, so I can only do what I can do. I was also approached by a local shop that sells handmade goods to sell some of my items in their shop. It is located in Camrose, AB, and is the cutest little shop ever. Everything there is handmade. I am honored really that I am able to be included. This new year I would really like to try to do a couple Craft shows. I am considering doing one in May, then a couple in the fall. Again, pending all of the other things going on....we will see. I am just so thankful that I get do do something creative, and most importantly from home, that helps us out financially. I TRULY feel BLESSED!

At the end of November Shane and his brothers also were able to take another trip to Arizona to go golfing. They had a great time and made a ton of memories. Shane was able to miss out on a major snow storm as well(same as last year) so I was quite jealous and when I am no longer "attached" to a baby, I am so planning my own get away:)

Throughout the fall Hudson has had many neat events at his school. I loved seeing him learn about Remembrance Day at school. One day, he could barely breathe as he told me a "real soldier" came to his class to talk to him. He was so excited. He spent an entire week drawing and coloring poppies. So darling.

Hudson with one of his amazing Poppies.

Each Friday, Mrs. Nikolau's class has a performance, reciting a poem(or pom as Hudson calls them). They memorize a poem about a different color and all dress up in those colors. It  is so fun to go and listen to the kids. At the end they all take a bow and blow us kisses. I love seeing Hudson love school so much. 

Hudson has really excelled at reading. He is lucky not to struggle with it at all. I love doing his home reading with him and seeing his progress. Hudson and I also read Charlotte's Web together. I loved every minute of snuggle reading that sweet book with my boy. It was neat to see him pick out words like "Zuckerman's" and "Wilbur".

 Hudson worries a lot about what the other kids think of him. They had both "mustache" day and "pajama" day, and Hudson refused to participate. He let me do a crazy hair style to him on Crazy Hair Day, but said he did not like it when the kids called him Rainbow hair. I will have to wait for Cooper to get excited for these fun days.

December.

Shane and I have a few "traditions" that we like to do every December. One thing is our elf Charly coming(elf on the shelf). We don't really do too many funny elaborate things with Charly yet, but it was super fun to have Cooper get in on the "he's watching me" motivation. The first day Charly came was so funny. Hudson kept telling me that he could see Charly blinking,so he knew that he was real. haha. I can not count the amount of times the boys would stop doing something they knew they were not supposed to do, when they heard the words"Charly is watching"haha. Now that Charly is gone, I am sure missing him:)

Charlie Returns

Another thing that we love to do is get our picture taken with Santa. I hope I will never forget the excitement of Cooper as we were  getting out of our van in the Sherwood Park Mall parking lot. He seriously could hardly breathe. My kids are definitely not the scared of Santa" type. The Santa was seriously so awesome and even asked Hudson about his Elf Charly. It was magical. Miraculously we even got an amazing family photo( all wearing out "Merry Christmas Ya Filthy Animal" shirts)- Amazing, that we were all looking:)

Merry Christmas Ya Filthy Animals!!!

We decorated gingerbread houses again this year. I love doing this. Surprise Surprise. I looooove Candy. Shane is always shocked at how much candy I can fit onto one gingerbread house.  Sadly, my kids also looove candy, so our house only lasted a couple days before I found it disemboweled under our Christmas tree. 

The loaded Gingerbread house.

I also tried to do a couple of advent calenders. These also were unsuccessful. Within hours of getting the chocolate calenders, they were shredded, and the felt nativity advent calender I bought, was missing pieces within minutes(thanks Cooper).

This was day one

 Last year we were gifted a binder that had a scripture, song and story for each day in December, and the boys LOOOOOVED reading and singing with their Dad each night before bed. Hudson particularly loved the hymn Angels We Have Heard on High. He asked Shane to sing it for him several times throughout the Christmas season. In Primary Hudson also learned a few nice Christmas hymns, one called Samuel tells of Jesus. Hudson sings this song constantly. He has really learned to love the hymns, and his special teacher Sister Jessica Tavernini. I have really seen huge improvements in Hudson's behavior at church since he started his medication. Hudson will walk around and sing songs to Fletcher to the tune of the primary songs, and make up his own words. It is adorable. Hudson was very proud to sing with the Primary kids both in sacrament, as well as at our ward Christmas party.

Like I mentioned before, I was a bit grinchy this year, especially with decorating.I have been feeling quite claustrophobic with all of the baby stuff in our small home, so I only decorated our bonus room. I usually go crazy decorating outside and have 2 full Christmas trees, but this year I just let the boys decorate upstairs. Looking back, with everything that we had going on, it was a good choice. I purchased a couple new decorations as well as made a couple new signs, but I will have to wait for next year to go all out again:)

Hudson's school is quite crowded, so in lieu of a traditional Christmas concert, the 2 afternoon kindergarden classes had an afternoon Christmas program where they dressed up fancy and sang some songs. It was incredibly adorable. Shane was able to come with us. They had "happy" playing, then all of the kids came in and sang some cuuuute songs, while Miss Savage played her guitar. The other Kinder teacher Mrs. W was hilarious dancing to all of the songs with a garland headband on her head. It really was cute. Hudson also was so so proud to give me a special plate he made and painted in school for Christmas. Anyone who knows me well knows I love handmade gifts:)

My handsome boy all ready for his Christmas concert:)

All of the school festivities were a lot of fun,but I loved having the break from our routine. We had a great time spending time together and having a very low key Christmas. 

Always a highlight of the Christmas season for me is to look at all of the tender mercies and Christmas miracles that constantly happen to bless our familys' lives. The Sunday before Christmas, Shane had to leave early for church as he had joined the choir. I got the boys all ready and we made it to church on time and even got a decent picture. It might seem dumb, but it was a Christmas miracle to me.

Christmas Sunday!

Another Christmas miracle was feeling our sweet Piper with us. After Piper passed away we were gifted a beautiful african violet plant. Usually we have one or two flowers in bloom, but the week before our girls' 4th birthday there was over 30 blooms. To most people this would be nothing, but Hudson is seriously seriously obsessed with Piper. Shane told him that when a flower blooms on her plant it is her way of saying hi to us. Hudson talks non stop about how much he loves Piper. He prays for her every single day. It honestly is heart melting. He literally prays for her to have a good day in Heaven, and asks that she will know how much he loves her. He asks me about 10 times a day if I know how much he loves Piper(the answer is always infinity times infinity plus 100) He comments that we all should love Fletcher, Sadie and Piper the same. It was such a sweet Christmas Miracle seeing all of those blooms.

On Piper's birthday we loaded the boys up to go and visit our girl at her grave. I did not plan it very well, as when we got out and sang to her Hudson was furious with me that we did not bring her flowers. Hudson literally went around to other graves trying to steal flowers to give to her. We had to stop him, but he was ticked and demanded that we bring her some the next day(which we didn't, but will next time). I am thankful for our baby's birthday as it serves as a wonderful reason for me to recommit to change the things in my life that need to be changed so we can be together again one day. I am so thankful that Hudson feels so deeply for his sister. I don't know why he does, but he keeps her a very real part of our family. We love our Piper and our family will not feel complete until we are reunited with her.

As a tradition we go down Candy Cane Lane after we visit Piper. The boys loved every minute of it. We picked our favorite houses and drove it twice, as the kids enjoyed it so much:) Maybe next year we will go on the horse sleigh.

Due to our renovations we were sadly not able to go to the live nativity with the boys in Spruce Grove, but we did try to show them a video of the Nativity.

Christmas Eve, Shane gave me the most wonderful gift of taking the boys to the Movie(Big Hero 6) so I could organize the basement(I am lame, I know). The kids loved it, and watched the whole show without incident(another miracle). When the boys returned home Charly had gifts for them(pj's and a movie). We snacked and watched the show and then snuggled our babies to sleep. Shane and I then got busy finishing up wrapping and filing stockings. Shane went crazy spoiling the boys this year. 

Christmas morning was as cute and adorable as you could ever imagine. Hudson was up first and went through his stocking. The teeniest toys(like a lego guy) he was screaming over. He was so pumped. When the rest of us got up it was a lot of screaming and joy. Cooper was obsessed with his"sock" and the oranges in it-haha.

The boys ripped through their gifts and really loved them all. Fletcher was so adorable and just enjoyed munching on wrapping paper. It was so fun. After, the house was so peaceful. The boys played with their toys and everyone just hung out. The Best Dad ever was busy building lego, putting batteries in toys, assembling things and playing. We had our "Big Bill's" style breakfast/brunch  and then got showered and ready then pigged out at Clint and Cherie's house. It really was just a wonderful Christmas Day.

The rest of Christmas break was spent playing with toys, visiting family and of course doing more renovations on the Condo. One of the biggest highlights of the season for me was when Auntie Jodie, Cassidy and Camille came to visit. We had gotten quite used to monthly visits with them, but it has been a few months, and we were so excited to have them come. We did the usual, eat, laugh and hang out. They were here for New Years. We did not do much, but on New Years Eve the girls all helped me out and came to help me paint at the condo for a couple hours. We sure love the Greens!

Since the New Year, life has continued to be nuts. We are busy but happy. My "word" for this year is going to be "blessed". Our little family has been so so blessed and I need to remember to count my blessings.
My little Fletcher continues to be such a dream and huge blessing in all of our lives everyday. Today he is 8 months old. The time has flown. He has such a nice temperament. He loves his jolly jumper and is getting so so close to crawling. He gets up on his knees, but has not conquered the forward motion aspect, and constantly finds himself "stuck" under chairs and our ottoman:) Fletch sleeps pretty well, and dependent on naps sleeps from 7-6:30 a lot of nights. Any attention is welcomed by this sweet boy. He loves to laugh and smile at his brothers. Fletcher has a special bond with Hudson. Hudson takes wonderful care of his brother, and advocates for him all of the time. If I am on the phone and baby is crying, I get a swift lecture. It is unacceptable to Hudson to hear his baby cry:) Fletchy has also started to take an interest in his toys. He loves to chew on different toys and will literally spend hours in his jumperoo.  Fletchy continues to suck his thumb when he goes to bed(which is so super cute) and occasionally his feet. I am amazed at this boys flexability. His hair still grows like a weed so have a lot of fun giving Fletcher new hairstyles:) This family LOVES their baby.

Now I will spam this post with his gorgeous mug!!!!

Looking adorable in the outfit Cousin Sadie gave him:)

Momma's little model

such an adorable boy

ladies man

jumping is hard work

Testing out new hairstyles