Here is Hudson, aka Rudolf, in his Sunday suit... he's quite excited to go to Sunbeams. I am too, kindof, even though it means that he's such a big boy... :)

Yum! Candy Canes! (He got this one for a day with no potty accidents, even during nap and preschool!)

This is a song I've never heard before today...it makes me a little sad that Hudson knows things I haven't taught him... but it's a cute song so I'm not too broken up... it goes like this... "6 candy canes in a candy shop, red and white with sugar on top! Along came a boy with a penny one day, paid one penny and took one away! 5... ect... I love how he screams it ... this is the case against hyper active sugary christmas candy...

Here are the pics from the cookies! :)

I've pictures for this one, but they are at home...

Hudson and I made christmas cookies last night! I was feeling very "motherly" (this is the only way I can think of discribe it, as I have been working alot and been very busy and have felt really sad and guilty about all the time away from my little guy, so it was nice to feel motherly, like those stay at home moms that I envy so much.... but I digress...) and I Hudson helped me put all the cookies on the cookie sheet. The OCD kicked in again (I think it's an age thing) and he had me rearrange the cookies like a million times so they were evenly spaced...

I imagined us a few years from now when I offer to help him on an art project for school or something and he gives me an appologetic look, "um, no thanks mom..." because I'm not meticulous enough and he'd end up redoing it anyway...

But it was alot of fun. He didn't wait for me to frost the first one before showering it generously with red and green sprinkles... I turned off that voice in my head that says don't let him spill, and he had a great time... "See mommy, I'm creative!" he said, wildly shaking the sprinkles, "I used two colors, I'm creative!!"

The end results were kinda pretty, and he had a really good time.

Later I had trouble getting him to bed, but finally closed the door and let him whine himself to sleep, but when it finally got quiet, I went to go check on him and opened the door right on his head because he was laying on the floor by the door. Poor little guy! :( So I tucked him in and he was fine the rest of the night... *sigh* That's all for now, I'll post cookie pictures when I get home!

Hudson cracks me up. He's very sage for one so small, sometimes he says the funniest things. Like, for example, the other day when it snowed really hard, I drove Hudson very slooowly to day care. When I get him inside and he had shed his many layers of coats and gloves and snowy boots he give me a kiss on the cheek with his cold little lips and said very seriously, "Be careful, mommy". He has said it to me every day since, and it melts my heart. What a sweet kid.

Also, the other day when I was picking him up from day care and strapping him into his car seat he looks at me and smiles and says, "I'm so proud of you, mommy!" I laughed, "Why?" "Because, it's my job!" Hudson said. That little coot.

He is getting so independent and a little OCD I think...Everything needs to be done in a certain order or he gets mad! And he's got a very strong sense of justice, if you say he can do something, you had better let him or he'll let you know about it!

Here is Hudson's visit to Santa this year, he told him that he "needs" a train set. He was pretty disappointed when we left the mall without one. In fact, Santa came to our ward party this saturday too, and gave Hudson a little brown paper bag. Hudson raced over to us elated, "I got a train set I got a train set in here!" and he shakes the bag and looks a little skeptical all of the sudden... Jason opened the bag to reveal, no train, only candy. Hudson was pretty excited still. He figures the elves must still be making the train set because it's really really big... we'll have to see what the elves come up with!

Jason took Hudson to one of his SKILLS USA meetings and was talking to one of the advisors when he heard some one gasp loudly... He turned and saw Hudson with a black dry erase marker giving himself a new look. When they showed up to pick me up, Jason said look at your son... I didn't know what to think, was it dirt? was it poo? Had he been in some kind of an explosion?

Hudson says in the clip that he was very naughty and that he needs to wipe it off... what a goon.

We woke up on Saturday morning and it looked like this... But, Jason, brave Canadian that he is, decided we should go out for breakfast. So he shoveled a path to the car and we all hurried in, Hudson clinging to Jason as he ran to pack him in the car... it was -6 F. or so. We made it to breakfast and to the mall for some last minute shopping for christmas, (nothing big or expensive) and when we got home, Jason had to shovel another path back to the house because it was still snowing... I guess I shouldn't expect this to melt like the last few times, and should be grateful that it waited as long as it did instead of dumping on us in late October... still... I am such a weenie in winter weather, we'll see if I can make it to work or if I'll call in sick until March...

This post has no pictures. I am at work right now, and by some fluke, blogspot isn't blocked. Knock on wood, it may stay that way. I will post some new pics soon, but I thought I'd fill you all in on how things are going in Montana.

Hudson went to go see Santa at the mall on Saturday, which was fun. He told Santa that he "needs" a train set for Christmas, as he got Emily, James, and Gordon for his birthday and they don't have enough room on the tracks and keep bumping eachother... So Santa said he'd see what he could do and gave Hudson a Candy Cane. It was all well and good until we tried loading him into the car to go home. "NO!!! MY TRAIN SET!!!! I NEED TO GET MY TRAIN TRACKS FROM SANTA!!!"
We had to explain to him that it took some time for Santa to tell his elves in the North Pole to start making it...

Besides that, Hudson's been riding a thin line on the naughty list lately. He's been throwing tantrums like you wouldn't believe and it has us all on edge. I would simply let him "Cry it out" and "ignore" it but I just don't have that option. He always does it right before I have to leave for work. and I have been late for the last few days...

Plus, it's snowy finally here and the roads aren't so good and it doesn't help...

Anyway, Hudson is really excited about Christmas! More posts soon...

This photo was taken at Karina's birthday last Saturday. She's the one in the tou-tou. It cracks me up because when we first got there he was extra shy. He warmed up in a minute or two, but the photo gives me what can imagine the furture to look like.. Ha ha... girls have cooties...

Hudson is such a goon! :)

Here are some really late pictures of Halloween. Hudson was Thomas the Tank Engine. His friend Karina was tinkerbell. Hudson loves the missionaries, he says the teach the "gospitol" and sometimes he pretends to be a missionary, but I think he adds alot my Kung-Fu than missionaries have to use. He also told me what shapes to make on the jack-o-lantern!

A Hudson-ism

Yesterday at Church, Jason went to pick Hudson up from nursery. Jason said, "Hudson give me five!" And Hudson ran across the room to give his daddy five, but he tripped and his hands hit the carpet. "Oh, are you ok?" Jason asked, scooping him up, as he left the room.

Hudson began to whine sadly. "It's ok" I said, "you're ok."

"NO! I left my five in Nursery! I left my five!"

It took us a minute to figure out what he wanted. I guess he thought he dropped his five on the floor when he fell down and wouldn't be satisfied until we walked back to the nursery. Hudson went to where he fell, "picked up" his five and slapped daddy's hand. We thought it was pretty funny.

Some pictures from Hudson's birthday at the Rainforest Cafe. He was so excited to see Britton, (he calls her his best girl!) they got to run around and have fun, it was such a good day!

We had a new member of our ward get baptized last night, and Hudson and I went. This morning in church they confirmed him, I told Hudson that this is when he gets the gift of the holy ghost.

I don't know if it's because halloween is coming up and we've been talking about ghosts or what, but during the confirmation Hudson stands up on his chair.
"Where is the holy ghost mommy? Is the holy ghost here yet?"

I get him to sit down and whisper to him that you can't see the holy ghost, but you can feel him, and I patted his chest, and told him that that's where you can feel the holy ghost.
Hudson pulls up his shirt and looks at his tummy.
He's got the softess tummy so I reach out to pat it because I couldn't help it
"Don't touch the holy ghost Mommy!" he says and hides his tummy.

Tonight as we were getting ready for bed I asked Hudson about what he learned in Nursey.
"About Heavenly Father and Jesus. They made a town for me. I love Heavenly Father and Jesus! Hurray Hurray Hurray! (This while he's jumping up and down making buttoning up his jammies rather difficult.)

Just some church funnies for ya!

Hudson attacking mommy. There are three posts today, not just this one, look at all of them!

Yes, I know this is a really unflattering picture, but we were having fun... (See previous post)... Besides, I don't waste time trying to be someone I'm not... World, eat your heart out!! I figure most of my family and friends will remember me just this way... but hopefully not ONLY this way... oh well...

When I woke up this morning it looked like the trees had barfed on my lawn, literally every leaf gone. I thought it'd be a good chance to give Hudson is first pile of leaves to play in. (In Seattle it was always too soggy, and in Ellensburg the CWU grounds crew did a good job blowing them away before we got the chance. Plus, it's so dry and crisp here I couldn't resist. It is my own lawn afterall... So we raked up a big pile and Hudson let loose, even kicking leaves all over me! We had so much fun, but it was getting dark and it was time to go in for dinner. Tonight we have a ward party, I'm excited, I made rice krispee treats. :)

So I go to Sharon's house after Hudson's first day at his new day care and he greets me happily. Sharon says, "I know what Hudson wants for his birthday."

I turn to Hudson, "What do you want for your birthday?"

"A BUFFALO A BUFFALO A BUFFALO!!!" He shouts, jumping up and down, "and a train," he adds almost as an after thought.

This morning, I asked what kind of Buffalo he wants for his birthday and he said

"the teeny tinest one I ever saw!"

"Well, good," I reply, "because you're not getting a full sized one."

Tonight at dinner Jason asked what Hudson would do with a Buffalo if he got one for his birthday.

"I dunno." Hudson said, "just play with it, I think."

What a hoot!

Things are going well here. We really like Havre, it's a cute little town. Hudson is in a new day care, it's a home day care, and it's smaller so I think it will be better for him. He's also still going to the big day care for preschool twice a week, and he's going to go on Fridays when I'm there too, so it all works out nicely. :) I'm still enjoying my job so that's good. Well, I've got to go get ready for general conference!

Check out the cute video of Hudson!

Hudson thinks he's raffi. He's pretty good at the guitar!

Hudson with his new backpack and with Stephanie when she came to visit!

Hudson and Grandma Griffin on her Birthday! It was nice to have her visit!

I feel so spaghetti-brained the last few days. I've been riding my bike to and from the two different jobs that I've been juggling like so many weighted balls. The plus side is that I'm losing weight and I fit in my "skinny" pants again. But I'm also EXHAUSTED and forget things alot. Hopefully next week will be better. I will have the car and I will be working only the one job during the week and the other only on Friday. (We'll see how long that lasts now that they won't give me the $1/hr daycare unless I'm physically there working) I am shopping around for other daycares. I really like the preschool there, so maybe I'll keep Hudson in on Tuesdays and Thursdays for a while... Bah

The good news is I love my ISS job. It's nice. I've read The Host by Stephanie Meyer and done a few scrapbook layouts this week... AND GOT PAID FOR IT!!! Ain't life grand?

Hudson is cute as a bug, as usual. He's got a new backpack with wheels that has Spiderman on it. He ADORES it, takes it everywhere with him. He's such a cook! :)

I don't know what's up with my layout, I'll fix it later!

So, lots and lots has happened in the last two weeks. For starters, I am not longer attending MSUN to get my teaching certificate. :( They screwed up on my WUE scholarship and are requiring me to pay out of state tuition, which I can't afford and don't want to go into THAT much debt. So I withdrew...

I've had the stomach flu (norwalk virus) 2 weeks ago and strep throat today. I am hoping my immune system picks up here pretty quick.

Also, I got another job! I'm a parapro at Havre, Highschool and I'll work 9 hrs a day Monday through Thursday and work at the Daycare on Friday. That way I'll still get the $1/hr day care and discount on Hudson's preschool.

Hudson really enjoys preschool. His teacher says he's hyper. I think it's mostly because his nap is usually 1-3 so he's running on fumes by the time he's out of preschool. I hope he can handle it, if not I'll have to pull him out and wait until next year. (He is only 2 still so they had to make an exception for him. He may not be emotionally ready, or the time slot may just be really bad for him...) He knows all the stuff she's going over this year with them, ABC's, colors, and opposites. So I'm not worried about him falling behind. Yesterday he found a national geographic in the waiting room of the social security office and he told the nice little old lady next to us all about it. "These are hydropipics, in egypt, and the little einsteins went there in rocket! It is in the desert and very dry." The lady was impressed, and I felt some "mommy pride". I don't want to be the bragging type of mom....but.... HE IS SO SMART! And cute.

The Swensons invited us over for dinner a few weeks ago and we played a dice game called "Farkel". It was so much fun that I went out and bought 6 cute dice from the local toy store (a whopping .25 each) and made my own farkel tin from some scraps I had in my hoard... :) I'm thinking of making another for the swensons as a thank you. :) Anyway, there's my crafty project for the week!

Our only relief from the muggy heat here in Montana is the occasional cloudburst. This one broke over us for just a few minutes last week. Boy was it welcomed. It took Hudson some pursuading, but I finally convinced him to run out in the rain with me. He wanted to put on his "shoo shoos and rain coat" but I said just a diaper was ok. So off he went. The saddest part was when the puddles began to shrink (mere minutes after) and we had to go in. He sure had alot of fun though...

Don't mind me splashing with him, I look absolutely horrid. Kinda frumpy actually, which is odd because I've lost 10 lbs... but really I think it's because of my bad posture due to my white shirt and being caught in the rain... Besides my half naked little cutie pie will be the center of attention. I hope....

Here is Hudson hanging out on our back steps. He's ready for bed, which is why he isn't wearing any pants. It stays pretty warm here though the night. And what with the sun setting so late, he doesn't seem to mind staying up! (not as much as we mind him staying up.... that's for sure.)

Ha Ha, so I thought I'd be posting more since getting the internet, but I've gotten kinda busy. I got a job at a day care center. They're really flexable with hours and I get $1/hr day care for Hudson. And this way, I can spend more time with him! :)

I'm excited about that. My classes start Sept. 3rd! I'm pretty nervous, I am just going to have to get into the swing of things again.

More to come... I hope... with pictures!

We have the internet in our home again!! Whoo hoo! This means more posts more frequently. It also means that I can get back into the freelance writing with Work at Home Mom outsource. (I'm trying to find some income, and I know I can do the writing thing on the side while I look for something more steady.) I think I'll be trying to do alot more from home while I'm a student. I'm reviving my wilting at-home scrapbook company too. We'll see how that goes. So far my scrapbooker status has made me a few new friends and they seem excited to host some parties. :)
So I'll update again soon!

Hudson on his very first fair ride. All by himself. :) It was a proud momma moment for me. He saw the cars when we were walking by and told me that he wanted to ride in the cars, please. We stood in line, Hudson bought one ticket, stood in another line, Hudson gave the man his ticket and he picked out the fast blule car... reminds me of Jason... :) He seemed to have alot of fun, as I watched on from outside the gate, ready to jump over the railing if he got scared...

We went to the tractor pull at the fair last Saturday. It was a lot of fun, but very noisy. Once Hudson got over the noise factor, he really enjoyed it!

UPDATES!!!!

We're into our new house in Havre. It's very spacious and clean and I enjoy it very much. There is a front and back yard, and a full basement, so that means LOTS of storage! My favorite part so far is the covered porch, where we've eaten dinner every night so far, at least until we clear the dining room of boxes. This weekend we travled up to Canada to visit Jason's family. It was nice to only have to drive 2 hours instead of 2 days. We'll be driving home today some time. Enjoy the pictures! I'll update again soon, I hope!

A bit blurry, and it's not the best photo I had, but it's the one on my flash drive, and until we have regular internet, it'll have to do. This is Jason's grandparents 50th wedding anniversary BBQ in McGrath Alberta. Hudson is making a funny face... oh well.

Jason riding a tricycle and Hudson pushing. I really don't know why they were doing this, but it was pretty funny. And (Below) Hudson playing on the swings at a local park. The had a good time.

Hudson posing for the camera and arm wrestling Michael.

Jason got to show off his mad unicycle skills at the family BBQ this weekend. He's still learning, but I think that he's really good at it. (I can't even get one one...) Stephanie wanted to learn how to too, she was getting the hang of it pretty good. Apparently, a unicycle is easier to ride on smooth pavement or gym floors...

One from the 4th. It was stormy and cold, Hudson wasn't so sure about the thunder and the fireworks. He did get his first sparkler with some help from Daddy. Doesn't he look thrilled? We had a good 4th though. (I guess in Havre, where we just moved, they had to cancle the firework show altogether because it was so stormy.)

Some cute pictures of Hudson playing outside in the pool before we left Ellensburg. He really enjoys the sunshine!

Hello everyone!
The move is almost complete. Jason drove the moving van and car trailer all the way to Montana and unloaded it with the help of his parents and uncle and then took the train back to Seattle. Jason got some bad bug bites, but seems to be getting better now. He's pretty tired of traveling. I guess it's my job to do all the unpacking once we get there. We're going to be packing up our car and travling there soon. :) For now we're visiting some good friends for the 4th of July. I promise to post some photos of Hudson and the rest of us soon.

I am thinking of adapting the blog to include the whole family a bit more. Of course, Hudson is still the star of the show! So I'll be updating it more often so I can keep in better touch with the dear friends I've made along the way... I really miss all my friends in Ellensburg, and I am hoping this blog will be a good way to keep in touch.

PS all your comments are welcomed, as this is a good way to tell if anyone is reading. :) Of course I'd post anyway because it is the writer in me.

I hate moving. This is the seventh move we've done in the last 5 years. I AM SO TIRED of the routine. I should have learned my lesson this time and just KEPT every thing in boxes... Bah... And Hudson is at that delightful stage where he wants to be helpful, but really only succeeds in undoing my hard work. :( He's also having a hard time understanding that we're packing his things away so that they don't get lost in the move to Montana (or Bontanya as Hudson pronounces it).

In other Hudson news, he's OBSESSED with Kung-Fu Panda. For the last three weeks, he has been kung-fuing everything in sight. He will only answer to "Kung Fu Tiger" apparently I'm Monkey and Jason is Bear. He does all these cute poses ( I will get pictures to show you soon or better yet video.) He even sings "Evey body Kung fu fighting da da da da da da da daaaa." It's funny...

But I have wasted time blogging when I should be cramming stuff in boxes... Blech... Back to work.

My litte tree hugger! It was fun to watch him climb his first tree all by himself, even though it was about a foot off the ground! :)