one of those days

here's a list of some of the things that have happened today (all happened before noon):

• maria spilled her cereal all over the floor and herself.
• about a half-hour later hudson also spilled his cereal all over the floor and himself.
• hudson took libby's diaper off of her while she was in her bed and she peed all over her blankets.
• one of the kids (i will not name names) threw a major tantrum including kicking, screaming (the banshee kind) and hitting when i asked them to make their bed.
• i watched all our money fly away as i payed the bills.
• i stepped on gum in the parking lot.

i am really looking forward to nap time.

bear lake pictures

finally, here are some bear lake pictures.

cousin cole pulling maria and hudson in the raft.

cute little beach babe. she really liked the water.

hudson was ready for a hike through the cave which we didn't end up doing because the wait to get in was so long, but he still looked cool.

cousin jenna and hudson. i love this picture.

this was at maria's birthday dinner. we had just finished the fried ice cream and hudson sat there, almost in a trance, with his tongue going around and around his spoon.

maria, libby, cousin sarah and cousin maddi.

hudson really liked when we had pancakes and sausage for breakfast.

bear lake

this is my favorite bear lake picture.  i don't have a lot of time right now so i will post more pictures later but i really wanted to get this picture posted because it is so cute!

ethan says she's a "babe".  i sure think she was the cutest thing on the beach that day.

maria is five!

we just got back from a fun weekend at bear lake!  we left with a four-year-old and came back with a five-year-old.  maria didn't mind in the slightest that we happened to be at bear lake for a family gathering during her birthday - what kid wouldn't like a birthday at the beach in a cabin with all her cousins and some aunts and uncles and grandparents?  

"i'm five now!"

what a beautiful five-year-old.

we took maria to cafe sabor in garden city for her birthday dinner.  they gave her fried ice cream for her birthday.  that scoop of ice cream was as big as her head!  after the waiter sat it in front of her she said thoughtfully, "uh, i think i can eat this by myself."  i said, "i don't think so!" we all enjoyed it.  it was delicious!

ready to be five.

i will post more bear lake pictures within the next couple of days.  we had so much fun!

funny buddy

today while driving in a hot van i suddenly heard from the backseat:

hudson (sounding bewildered):  mom, my hair is wet!  mom, my hair is wet!

mom (trying not to laugh):  hudson, you're just sweating.

hudson (still bewildered):  mom?  mom?  my hair is wet!  my hair is wet!  and my neck, too!

mom (laughing):  it's okay, bud.

when hudson wants me to tuck him in at night he says, "mom, will you buckle me?"

one of my most favorite things is that hudson calls his grandpa hawkins "bawkins".  and not even "grandpa bawkins" but just "bawkins".  it's like this:  "hi, bawkins!"  or "bye, bawkins!"  i love it.

sisters?

libby about 5 months

maria about six months

squibbers

you know a nickname is permanent when the two-year-old uses it.  yes, we call libby squibbers most of the time.  it started out like this:  ethan started calling her libby-squibby.  i said, "squibby . . . hey, i like that!"  so then i called her squibby.  squibby somehow evolved into squibbers.  i knew that had become her nickname when, a few months ago, i heard hudson say, "mom, where's gwobers?"

here are some very recent (i just took them 30 minutes ago) pictures of squibbers.

prettiest girl on the planet!

uh . . . i guess this is her chubby face.