4 going on 16!

 

Before

 

 

After!

 

 

Doesn't she look so grown up?!

Fun pictures that capture the last few days!

 

Lily on one of the bounce houses at our last Newell playdate.

 

Awww, no more balls?!?  Wait, Jadyn has one!

 

Wheee, Adysen and Lily!

 

One of my best friends, Hayley, came to visit us!!!

 

Lily started swimming lessons!

 

Lily has enjoyed playing with her cars lately, even on Hudson's tummy.  But, he likes it!!!

 

I made Lily duct tape roads to drive her cars on.  She used the coasters for: school, airport, McDonalds, library, and Subway.  ha ha!  This kept her entertained a long time and still is!

 

My kids!!!  With essential Cheetos ;)

 

Fun night at the lake for Colby and Ashley Clevenger's wedding reception.

I love Hayley and Cassie.  It was soooo nice catching up!

 

 

Hudson and Cash playing at the lake.

 

The big kids at the lake.

Carson, Colin, Lily

 

Lily's first time on the tube!

Happy 40th Anniversary Mom and Dad

My parents, Brad and Nancy, have been married for 40 years on June 18th, 2012.  Us kids planned (with Mom and Dad's help) a party for them on June 16th.  We had an absolutely beautiful day!  Mom lined up family pictures with Jennifer Urbanski (cousin) on Saturday morning.  I am sooo excited to see them!  Our colors were brown, orange, white, and khaki.  We took them in the yard, in front of the house, in front of windmill, by an old tree, in the cornfield, and on a grain bin.  I am assuming there will be way too many to pick from.  Thank you Jennifer for being patient with us!  Hudson screamed for most of them, so we will see! ha ha

 Fun before the party!

 Hudson got a lot of love!

 

Isn't that just the cutest face ever?!?!

 

The happy couple!

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

We had 6 round tables set up, a bouncy house, food and dessert in the house, margarita machine and drinks in the garage . . . it was a great party!

 

We sat them down in the front for Eliza's speech and our special gift!!

 

Us kids got them their car from when they were first married.  It is a 1969 Chevelle SS.  John had asked Uncle Russ to be looking for Mom and Dad's car, and he found it!  He also did some work on it and stored it for us.  This was the BEST kept secret for almost a year!

  I would say they like it! :)

 

Everyone had to check out the car and of course it was taken on a few joy rides!!!  The black tire marks on the pavement are proof of that! :)

 

Marcy and I with our little ones.

 

The party had to end sometime!  Some of us tuckered out before everyone even left.

The party was a success!  Thank you to everyone that came.  Mom and Dad are very special and 40 years together is awesome!

Mom said it best "The only way it could've been better is if Mullen was here."  I couldn't agree more.  

Summer To Do's

I have been trying to get some things done on my summer to do list. 

* Lily and Hudson's baby books (almost done)
* Put all 4 years of Lily's pictures into Shutterfly books (year 1 is done!)
* Shutterfly book for Mom and Dad (Done!)
* Read at least 4 books (I have finished 2!!! "The Help" and "Summer Secrets")
* 2 Pinterest projects (I have the things bought, just need to do it!)
* Decorate basement (hmmmmm, any ideas??)
* Organize closets and drawers (Yessiree, done!)
* Blog (I am trying to post in a timely manner, but these Shutterfly books take a lot of time!)
* Mini family vacation (still thinking of a location!!! ha ha)
* Start selling Origami Owl (still on waiting list, but can't wait to sell the beautiful living lockets)

Although its not on my list, I am trying to do more fun things with Lily.  It is hard with Hudson because he doesn't want to stay out and about for too long and its so darn hot!  I just don't want her to look back on the summer and think we didn't do anything fun. :( 

Aphasia

Some of you may remember the "Little scare" I had in March.  It turned out it was a migraine and that is all I was told.  No one seemed too sure and never said they had seen it before.  So, as I was watching Good Morning America on Tuesday (6-19-12) morning, I got to hear it happening to someone else.  Dave Barnett is a baseball announcer and he had the same thing I did during the baseball game.  If you haven't heard about this, check it out.

Texas Ranger's announcer "Dave Barnett"

So, this worried a lot of people and everyone thought he was having a stroke.  I was told that also and that is why I had an MRI.  So, this actually has a name APHASIA.

Dr. J Mocco said that in the medical community, it's called "word salad" -- like a tossed salad but with words. "There are different types of aphasia, where you have slurred speech. Then there are aphasias like he (Dave Barnett) had, where you substitute words that don't make sense. His brain is thinking of the right words, but they come out wrong," Mocco said.

It is so weird hearing from other people exactly what I was experiencing.  I thought I was crazy!  It also happened to a reporter before the 2011 Grammy's.  It is almost scary how just watching her brings it all back and how scared I felt at that time.  I don't know if my students realized what I was saying, but one of my colleagues, Danita, heard it all first hand.

2011 Grammy's "Serene Branson"

I hope this doesn't happen to me again, but at least I know now that I am not alone. 

Fun at the River

(Prepare yourself for lots of pictures)

On Friday night all the Widdowsons (minus Laurie) and Edie had supper on the River!  It was a beautiful day.  Mom had the evening planned and took the kids in the back of the pick up.  When we arrived we saw them already having fun!

 

The water was just right and not too strong for the little girls.

 

The boys instantly got their poles ready to fish.  There were some REALLY huge fish in there.

The entrance to the river was really rocky and steep.  I wasn't sure if I wanted to take Hudson down there!  But.....I didn't want us to miss out on all the fun!

 

Should we go down, Hudson???

 

Lily was having fun!

 

So, with the help from his Aunts, Hudson made it down.

 

The woman behind all the fun!  Thanks mom!  Love you!

 

Lily and Sydney wrote their names in the sand.

 

Between holding Hudson and taking pictures, I finally made it into the water with Lily.

 

Best Buds!

 

The big kids were determined to get a fish.  They moved from the poles to spears. ha ha!

 

Aunt Gigi and the girls looking of firewood!

 

Caden fished the ENTIRE time.  The water was so peaceful!

 

The men FINALLY arrived.  They went to town for firewood and drinks.  I think they found other things to do! 

 

Getting things down and up was the hard part.  It took teamwork!

 

The boys found a dead fish with teeth!  Everyone had to check it out.  I love to see them all laughing!

 

Maguire is still trying to catch fish.  Good thing he got his cast wrapped with syran wrap!

 

Waiting to roast hotdogs!

 

Uncle John was teaching them the best way to cook their hotdogs.

 

Fun times!!

 

Hudson chilling with Uncle John.  He did a great job for being only 6 weeks old and spending a few hours on a sandbar in the middle of the river.  He cried a few times, but there were enough people that wanted to snuggle with him.

 

Daddy finally arrived!  I have plenty of pictures I could have posted of his entrance, but I didn't want to embarrass him.  He had nice clothes on, so he stripped down to his boxers and carried his jeans across the river.  

 

Matt wrapped Hudson in his dress shirt.  Aunt Eliza was comforting him. :)

 

Lily enjoying her Smore.  I thought she would love it, but she didn't like getting messy.  This was Lily's FIRST time swimming in the river and FIRST time roasting hot dogs.  I used to do this a lot when I was little.  I hope we can bring Lily and Hudson here more often.

 

Uncle Matt and the boys trying to catch fish!

 

Delaney and Scott trying it too!

 

40 Wonderful Years!!!

4 kids

3 in-laws

and 8 Grandkids

Later!

 

We love you Mom and Dad!

Grandma and Grandpa!

We were all together to celebrate their 40 years together.  Us kids with help from mom and dad planned an Anniversary party on Saturday night.  This river night was fun to be just us as a family!

 

Grandpa and Hudson were the last to leave the 'island'.

What a fun night!