Outside Improvement #1

We had our first outdoor improvement installed this morning. Carson could not be more excited!

Jensen is making some pretty good shots out there. 

 
The boys can lower and raise the hoop by themselves, so even Mason can get in on the action. (He totally made this one.)

I'm pretty sure that with 4 boys, this will be an investment that will be paid off in hours and hours of activity. (P.S. To all my basketball playing brothers, is this enough incentive to come and visit yet?)

We also discovered today that Hudson can open the door and get outside. My life is officially over, because all he wants to do all the time is go outside, and if he can find an unlocked door, I'm toast.

Cinco de Mayo

We don't usually do anything worthy of notation on Cinco de Mayo, but hey, we live in Texas, and many Mexican traditions run deep here. So tonight we did a little piñata smacking after our Family Home Evening. Someone who Dustin knows from work gave this to him today, so we stuffed it full of leftover Easter candy and the boys had a grand time hitting it. And I love the good piñatas from Mexico (apparently the guy that gave it to Dustin just got back from a weekend trip there) because they are super heavy duty. It took us a long time to finally break into it.

Mason got a couple of good hits on his turn.

I love Jensen's face. I think he considered this batting practice for his game tomorrow night.

 Carson, of course, did a fair amount of damage.

 Hudson really wanted in on the action, so we let him take some swings. :) I got down and helped him hit the piñata with the bat and he was just grinning the whole time. Can he please just stay little…please? 

Sometimes it hits me, much like a bat to a piñata, that all these little boys are mine. I love spending time with them, together as a family. They may not remember this Family Home Evening when we hit a piñata outside after filling out a pedigree chart together, but I hope that someday they look back and remember that we spent time together as a family, and that we were happy.

Walnut Palooza and Stuff

First of all, I was brave enough to make another attempt to cut Hudson's hair. It turned out much better this time. I just used the clippers on the back and then I had to blend it with scissors. That part wasn't so much fun, but I learned that if I sat him on the bathroom counter in front of the mirror and gave him a bunch of Q-tips to play with, he was still enough for me to use the scissors without taking a chunk out of his ear.

The boys had a school fundraiser last night called "Walnut Palooza." (They go to Walnut Springs.) It was quite the event, and the boys had fun. I helped out by donating a cake for the cake walk. It's a peanut butter cake with chocolate buttercream and a tiger stripe (because their mascot is a tiger) design made out of Reeses Pieces. Little hard to give that one up without cutting into it and taking a big ol' bite!

Jensen and Carson tried and tried their hand at the cake walk, but they didn't win anything. Maybe next year... 

 They had tons of games for the kids to play. Jensen was the only one with enough patience to wait 15 minutes in line to have a go in the human hamster ball. By the end of his run, he got the hang of it.

 They also had some pretty cool bouncy slides and stuff. My boys had a great time on the super slide- it had quite the steep drop! I was surprised to see Carson go down!

 Poor Hudson had to stay strapped into his stroller the whole time. We did feed him popcorn and cookies and he was entertained by everything going on around him, but by the end of the night he was done. 

Easter Time

We started off Easter bright and early this morning. Actually, it was still dark out at 6:20am, so it wasn't very bright. But by the warm glow of the Disney Channel on TV, the boys were able to find their hidden baskets. 

 After a long morning of eating way too much of their candy we got ready to go to church (which starts at 2pm. Go ahead, be jealous…not.) I am amazed any time I can get a decent picture of all 4 boys. It's like a circus trying to take a picture without anyone crying, moving, looking off in a different direction, hitting, turning around…you get the picture. This one turned out really well for my standards!

 After church Grandma and Grandpa Brudnicki and Jen and Jason came to have Easter dinner with us. They also hid some eggs out in the backyard. Hudson could have cared less about those eggs.

The other boys had a great time.

It was a lovely Easter. We had a nice program at church, a nice visit with our family, and because I'm super organized, we're having our Resurrection FHE tomorrow night! There is no wrong time to celebrate the risen Savior of the World. 

Our First Ever Cub Scout Pinewood Derby

 Carson participated in his first Pinewood Derby last night. He had fun making his car and enjoyed the great races that our ward held.

Carson didn't want anything too fancy. He kept his design simple and knew exactly how he wanted to paint it. Blue sides, and a white top adorned with a BYU "Y."

 The funniest thing was that when his buddy saw Carson's car at their early weigh-in, he had to have a BYU car, too. They are both adorable!

Aside from looking great, Carson's car, dubbed "The Cougar," performed very well. He came in 2nd during most of his heats. (His is the white blur on the track!)

I think this was the race where his car came in 1st. He was so excited- he was dancing and frolicking spastically across the gym. I sure hope the gal acting as the ward "paparazzi" got some shots of that!

I spent the evening starting the races (which was the best job) while my amazing MIL chased my little guys around and even managed to get the above pictures. Since I was starting the races, Carson attempted to take a video of his car racing. In hindsight, I should have gotten someone to record it who wasn't so excited about the outcome! After a couple of tries, he finally got this video. It was the one race where he came in 3rd. Anywho- it was a fun evening!

Hey Batter, Batter!

My big boys have been playing baseball for a couple of weeks now. They both seem to like it, although they really wanted to play basketball (which isn't in season right now). This is the first team sports experience Jensen has had. He was slated to play soccer a year and a half ago, but broke his finger right before the season started, so we didn't have him play due to his cast. So far, he's had a fun time, and he has a very enthusiastic coach.

This is Carson's 2nd season playing baseball, but he had a year off in between. He likes it, but it's definitely not "his sport." While he does fine hitting and throwing the ball (when he remembers he's supposed to throw it instead of running with it in his hand) he still struggles with catching. But he has shown some improvement in this area, especially since the last time he played baseball.

I know it's fun for my kids and its good for them to participate in team sports, but all in all, I'm not much of a fan. Mostly because I'm the one getting everything and everyone ready to get out the door on time, including everyone who has to go who is not playing. And it has been our experience so far, that I am the adult doing all the practices/games, while dragging the younger ones along, AND doing it solo. It kinda sucks all the fun out of it when I'm forced to do it this way. Hope these boys appreciate it someday.

Hello Again

So I realize it's been a few months since I posted on my blog. Yeah, sorry. Life happened. So here's a run down of what's been going on.

In December:

We had Christmas.

3 days after Christmas, we moved from our beloved home in Kyle... 

…to our new home in Driftwood.

 In January:

We got some snow, which meant snow days for the boys! This also means we're going to have to have a bunch of make up days in the months to come… 

 In February:

I got to go on a girls cruise- and I don't have any pictures.

While I was cruising, Grandma and Grandpa Jensen came to visit! (Also no pictures)

And Jensen turned 6! 

 In March:

Hudson turned 1!!!!!!!

And, Hudson also learned to walk! I tried to post a video of him walking, but blogger wasn't cooperating in a timely fashion.

In conclusion: 

 We are really loving our new home. The boys (big and small) have plenty of space to play inside and out.

And as we continue to get settled, I hope I can post a little more regularly. :)