Twin Day

For Red Ribbon Week the school has different themed days. Today was twin day. I kinda hate when they have twin day, because it's a pain sometimes to coordinate with other kids, and I'm always afraid of excluding someone. But, so far, it's been fine. 

Carson and his best friend wore "Caring for the Cranes" shirts (along with a ton of other kids they knew!) That worked out perfectly. (These two boys crack me up- they just love being friends.)

Jensen's was a little harder for me, because I don't actually know any of the other parents in his kindergarden class. So I made a few of these silly little shirts, packaged them in a bag with a note to their parents explaining what it was and left my email address. (Then I hoped that no one was going to think I was a big weirdo.) But pleasantly, all 3 of the other boys Jensen wanted to be "twins" with wore their shirts! I even had several of the moms email me, excited to have been included. In case you're wondering, the shirts have a corn stalk + a dog. His teacher is Ms. Corn and she calls her kids her "corn dogs."

 And this is a picture of Jensen's class pet, a hedge hog named Chester. Mason loves when we occasionally walk Jensen to class because then we get to see Chester. Today we could actually see his face!

Baby Trick

Hudson has been cracking me up with this little lip popping trick. I wanted to get a video of him doing it before he stopped!

Cookie Painting Party

One of my very favorite traditions in October in our Annual Halloween Cookie Painting Party. Even though it's a good deal of work for me, my kids love it, my friends look forward to it, and I enjoy the fun morning of decorating (and eating) yummy sugar cookies. This year we just had Mason's little friends and moms come. 

 Seriously, how cute is this little guy's hat? He had an adorable apron that went with it, but much to his mother's displeasure, he refused to wear it and chose to wear the "paint" instead.

 And I gotta thank my friend Michelle for taking the pictures of us. I go to all the work of making cookies, frosting paint, snacks, cleaning my house, etc, and then I never remember to take pictures!

And I'll say that this group of friends were the cleanest kids we've ever had! Normally there are crushed up cookies and drops of paint all over my kitchen floor by the time we're done, but there was hardly a mess when we were finished. Bonus for me!

Fall Festival

 Like I said before, in Kindergarten, they are constantly having events and special days. This past Friday was the annual Fall Festival. This happened to be one of the few activities that I did with Carson when he was in Kinder. The kids get to have an hour of playing, doing experiments, and eating treats. I helped with Jensen's class's table where they made "Monster Goo" out of cornstarch and green water. The kids got a big kick out of mixing that mess with their fingers and watching it go from liquid to solid to liquid again.

I think Jensen's favorite activity was bowling. He stood in the long line for that one a couple of times. This is Jensen and his cute friend Ash (or Sebastian) standing in line. (Ash is one of the Crane kids- it always cracks me up to see him standing next to Jensen. Can you guess who is the older of the two?)

Jensen guessed how big around that pumpkin was and totally nailed it! He was excited to put his string up on the board under "Just Right."

These are a couple of other kids in Jensen's class. The little girl actually gets babysat by her grandparents who happen to live 3 houses down from us. They are the sweetest neighbors, and lately the boys have had fun playing with Olivia.

I took Mason and Hudson with me when we went to the Fall Festival. Mason was so good about letting the big kids do their stuff, but he was excited about going on the hay ride (which didn't have any hay.) He also got to do a cookie walk with Jensen and left with plenty of chocolate smeared on his cute little face.

And this little cutie was so good for me! I'll admit, I wasn't the biggest helper at the class table, but we had more than our fair share of parents, so I don't think anyone cared. 

And we have been loving our cooling weather! It's kinda refreshing to wear a jacket.

I'm in a hurry to get things done...

Sometimes I feel like I'm living my life in that song, "I'm in a hurry to get things done, I rush and rush until life's no fun. All I gotta do is live and die, but I'm in a hurry and don't know why."

Carson and Jensen started taking a 6 week course of Art Lessons with some friends. Their teacher is a super cute, highly talented girl who lives in our ward. They had lots of fun at their first class.

 Mason and Hudson decided to play happily on the floor with some blocks the other day. It was precious.

Last Sunday I had to go visit another ward in our stake, and I left Hudson with Dustin at church. When I got back Dustin didn't have the baby, and I discovered that Hudson went home with Grandpa and Grandma Brudnicki and Uncle Jason and Aunt Jen. Grandpa thought it would be fun to spend Sunday afternoon teaching Hudson the fine art of casting.

 Kindergarden is full of activities - all the time. This week it was a pet parade. Since we have children instead of pets, Jensen took his beloved monkey, Nanners to be in the parade as his "pet."

 Jensen has also gotten some loose front teeth. Both of his top teeth are all loose and wonky. It looks a little scary in his mouth right now!

I play Bunco with friends every month and this month we did "Couples Bunco" and since it was October, we had to dress up. Dustin and I went as PB&J. 

Our friends pulled out all the stops. There were some seriously hilarious costumes. We had a fabulous time.

 Today is my good friend's birthday, so late last night after Bunco, Dustin and I  plastered her house and yard with a bunch of Justin Beiber cards. She almost caught us in the act. But it was an awesome birthday surprise. Her reaction made it all worth it.

6 months, a little late

Guess who turned 6 months old AND decided to get his first 2 teeth?

THIS GUY!

Hudson weighs in at 15 lbs, 14 oz. He's a little light weight (18th percentile), but he's doing just great on his height at 27 inches (63%) and he's got a nice big noggin at 45 cm (90%!). 

Aside from the two little teeth that have come in together, he has also learned to sit by himself. He's still a little wobbly, and the boys are always so disappointed when he falls over! He still loves all those big brothers of his, and has become increasingly attached to his mama. He loves playing "peek-a-boo," "patty cake," and "this little piggie." His laugh gets better everyday.

He is still on medication for acid reflux, but it seems to be much better managed now. He has also really enjoyed trying new foods (except for those banana's we gave him last week that made him super constipated) and he likes sitting up at the table in his new high chair. 

If it weren't for the fact that this 6 month old still sleeps like a 6 week old, we would be doing super great. So for now, we're just doing great…and we're tired. Really tired.