He played them well.

Funny story:

We recently went to a family funeral. That isn't the funny part. That was sad. At the graveside, Hudson began to wander off, and I tagged along. He found chimes on a grave several yards away. I couldn't hear the ceremony, so I figured they couldn't hear us. So, I let Hudson play away.

Later, we heard a few ladies mention how beautiful the chimes sounded during the service. No one was sure where they were coming from....

I guess I can tell Hudson that he played the chimes at his great great uncle's funeral. He played them well.

Lately

We are back in our normal "soccer" routine around here! We are so spoiled by having Will home tons in the summer, and then, every afternoon in the fall. We even get him for two whole weeks during Christmas break. By the time soccer season arrives in January, I am unprepared for the long days.

I love being a stay at home mom. I know that conversations can get really heated on this subject, and I in no way believe that this is what every family should do. I am grateful for these days. I love the flexibility it give us. I cherish being Hudson's teacher.

Of course, I deal with insecurities with my "occupation." I sometimes don't want to answer the "what do you do?" question. I wonder if I should have a talent or trade that helps my family. I get insecure when I realize how much money I spend and worry that we will be really poor because of me. I am pretty sure all this is normal.

Being a stay at home mom sometimes gets rough this time of year. It is usually to cold or rainy to go outside. We are often stuck indoors, and Will doesn't get home til Hudson's bedtime. We both crave interaction with people.

So, we go out lots! I know this will change when more kiddos come in the picture, but as for know, it works great for both of us. In addition to Hudson helping me grocery shop and run errands, we attend playgroup, Bible Study, (Hud's goes to nursery) and story time every week. We also try to set up play dates every week either at our house or someone else's house. We usually have a weekly Chick-fil-a date on Friday. As the weather permits, we will start visiting Will and his soccer guys some too.

He learns when he is out. He meets people. He gets energy out. I love being the one introducing this little guy to the world.

He is a big guy too. 20 months old! He is talking more. He isn't stringing words together, but he is getting there! He knows how to climb the Chick-fil-a tunnel. He loves to play at the park, and he has become an expert of taking the stairs to the slide. Which he will do over and over and over. He is interacting with his peers more. I love to watch him play and interact. I think it has hit me that he is a real person. He has a personality. He needs friends. So weird.

As for the rest of us, Will and I are joining a church plant in Helena this Sunday. We are excited to be involved in our community through a local church. We have loved attending and are thrilled to become members!

Will has been snapping pictures on his phone lately. I wanted to share a few:

2012 Goals

Last year we made a few resolutions. As a family, we wanted to pray together everyday and memorize scripture. My personal goal was to read the Bible in a year, do a little gardening, and invite people over more often. Will's goals included limiting his complaining and reading two books. Hudson by far had the most goals this time last year. He planned to walk, talk, run, dance, and be off the bottle by the year 2012.

I'm happy to say we did great on our goals. As a family, we failed to pray together each day, but having it as a goal helped us to pray more. We ended up memorizing two chunks of scripture together. Will read a couple books...including all 3 of the Hunger Games. He also learned lots of self-control with trying not to complain, and in the process, he has encouraged me to watch my complaining spirit. I read the Bible, planted tomatoes, and tried to invite people over more. Of course, Hudson beat us all. He mastered all of his goals way before the end of the year.

As for this next year, I think our main goal as a family is to have family time every night at dinner. This will include a little scripture and prayer. We may throw in some songs or scripture memory. Some nights we may only get in one of these, and we know that sometimes it won't be possible at all. Nevertheless, we know it is important. We want to intentionally seek God together as a family. I don't want Hudson to remember a time that we didn't read, pray, and sing with him.

Personally, we want to be diligent in reading God's Word, praying, and being with God's people. We decided that we would limit our "goals" this year, and rather, we could keep our focus on this! As for Hudson, I really just want to be more intentional with him. There are so many opportunities to teach him. I just want to maximize our time.

As I write this, I really want to check my heart and discover why I am sharing this. I don't want to attempt to appear that we have it all figured out. We are simply trying to raise a family on the foundation of Jesus. I blog for several reasons. Mainly, I want this to be a journal for my family. Secondly, I want this be an avenue to encourage others. This being said, lots goes on in between blog posts. I have days that I simply fail as a wife and mother. We argue. We spend an entire week without having one intentional conversation with each other, let alone praying together. Yet, by the grace of Jesus, we continue pressing forward. We walk in the truth that we are dearly loved the by one that created us.

6 Christmases

This is such an overwhelming post. I want to capture the sweet moments of our Christmas together. This will be how Hudson remembers his 2nd Christmas. I never take enough pictures, and my words fall short.


It is with tremendous joy that we attempt to comprehend God becoming flesh for us. While we stay busy enjoying family, we make time each year to celebrate the birth of our Savior!

We started out the holiday festivities with my parents. Hudson got the hang of opening gifts rather quickly.



He had to show Granny every one of them.



Of course, he got into a few shenanigans.






The whole next day was just the three of us. We played with Hudson's new gifts, read the Christmas story, and had our "Happy Birthday, Jesus" party. Hudson is a fan of blowing out candles.





This year we made ice cream in a bag... thank you pinterest! All you need is a gallon sized zip lock bag, a pint sized zip lock bag, vanilla extract, ice, half and half, and sugar. It was so easy and tasty!




Afterwards, we attended our church's candlelight service. It was one of my favorite parts of the whole weekend. Then, we headed to Will's parents for our annual Christmas dinner.

Hudson even had a place card.



Of course, I didn't get any pictures of him in his cute little Christmas Eve outfit. You can kinda see how cute he looks in the one picture I snapped of the evening:



Then, it was Christmas morning! We spent the first couple of hours just us again. This is when we finally get to light the white candle of our Advent wreath! We spent time reading our Advent book and opening our Christmas presents from each other. Of course, Huds was an expert by then.



My hubby wrapped my gift in the Harbor Freight catalog.




Then, it was back to Will's parents for breakfast and gifts.












Afterwards, we went home for nap time. Will and I ordered Chinese. This may be a tradition in the making! After naps, we piled in the car and headed to my family's big Christmas.







Hudson was rather interested in his cousin's disco ball.



The next morning we did a small little Christmas with my sister and her kiddos. I didn't take any pictures. :) Then, we headed home. It took us a few days to recover, and since then, we have been enjoying time with Will before soccer season starts.

Zoo Light Safari

Hudson is obsessed with lights and candles. So, we figured Zoo Light Safari would make his day. As it turned out, he seemed more interested in the spotlights and sidewalk lights rather than the sparkling colors that filled the trees. I had to literally pry him away from a sidewalk light, and all the while, there are red and green dancing snowmen in front of him!












He did discover a deep love for hot chocolate.






Hudson has been making phrases lately. I love that he is learning to communicate with me. This weekend he said, "Milk all gone."

Every night, he pretends like he is reading from his books. He just sits and jabbers. We let him do this for 10 minutes at bed time, and I really think this is his favorite time of the day! He always reads his potty book and afterwards, he goes to look at the potty! So stinking cute!

He has been waking up and singing the ABC songs until we come get him! It is his new favorite.

Looking Forward to Christmas

I have been reading Charles Spurgeon's Morning and Evening Devotional on and off for the past few months. I didn't start the devotional on the day I was supposed to start it, so I am off by X amount of days. It currently has me reading through the days leading up to Easter. It has been a real blessing to read about the last days of Jesus life here on earth while at the same time reading the Advent devotional with my family.

It has quite a different pull on my heart and it has further helped me to understand that Jesus, my sweet Jesus, was born, as John the Baptist says, "to take away the sins of the world. Our "Agnus Dei," our spotless lamb who now intercedes for me.

In the Advent Season we are looking forward to Christmas and the celebration of the birth of our Savior. Moreover, we are further looking towards to the City of the Most High, "for soon, when thy time has come, thou shalt rise up where thy Jesus sits, and reign at his right hand; and all this because the divine Lord 'was made to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him'" (Spurgeon).

I am thankful for this. I am thankful for my family; my sweet wife who fights so hard to be holy. You cannot put a wage or salary for what she does day-in and day-out. I am thankful for her commitment to the Lord, myself, and Hudson. She is of great value to me and she is far more precious than jewels.

Love You H,

Hubs

Advent

I love the Advent season! If you have read my blog long enough, you know that I love traditions. The Advent season is a wonderful time to start traditions in your family. The things you do now could continue for generations to come! How exciting.

Most of our Christmas traditions are intertwined with our dinner meal.



We light our advent candle at night and read from this devotional.



I must say that reading at dinner is hard. It is hard with just one baby. I don't really soak in what we read most nights. As our children grow, our conversations will deepen. It has to smart small. The most important thing is that we are making it a priority. Hudson sees us reading and praying and that is important! We are learning.

Our Jesse Tree is beside the advent candle. There are tons of devotionals to do with this tree, and we may start that as our children grow. For now, it is simply something we talk about during dinner. It is more for children, but we wanted to do it now simply because we know if we don't start it we never will, ya know?

In the mornings, Hudson and I usually open a door from our Advent calendar. We purchased this one at Target, and I hope it lasts for years. Hudson loves opening the doors.



Inside, is a little piece of paper with something to read and something to do. I don't stress myself out if we can't do it. I wrote these when Hudson was tiny, and I will change them to fit with the needs of our family.



I also found this wooden manger scene at a thrift store. It lives on our coffee table during December, and it mainly for Hudson to play with and slowly learn from it.



Above all, we simply want Christmas to be about Christ. Yeah, we have some Santa's on our tree, and we will "pretend" Santa is coming. I say "pretend" because Hudson will know that Santa is not real. I know some parents gasp at that, but this is a decision we made. We don't want to deceive him, and in any way hinder him understanding that Jesus is real. That being said, I don't criticize parents that do tell their children Santa is real. I think there is so much criticism that comes with parenting, and it is pointless!

I am always open to new ideas and twists on the traditions we have. I would love to hear some of yours too!