Hudson's Birthday

For Hudson's birthday, we went to Mac Daddy's in Cape Carteret. They have a driving range, putter golf, go karts, an indoor arcade, and bowling. Being winter time, only the driving range, arcade and bowling were open. So we tried all three!

Happy Birthday Hudson! Still can't believe you are 10 years old already!



Opening presents! And thank you, Nini and Pops!

Almost ready for the pros!

Isn't he handsome?!

Lily girl, taking a swing!

Hudson is a pretty good bowler, even though he did get to use the bumpers! That was until he tried the "granny shot"!

And Lily, well, she put those bumpers to good use!

A snow day in NC!

Yes, you heard that right! In January, we had two snow days! And lucky Hudson, he ended getting a five day birthday weekend out of it! I am a bit behind in posting, but what else is new?!

My neighbor's boys, Artie and Jack. Jack was hilarious crawling around in the snow!

Lily trying out our make-shift sleds, boogie boards! Hudson, about to pound me with a snowball!



What a good brother, pushing Lily down the hill in our front yard!

Lily, giving it a run on her own! Oh, and in case you were wondering, I tried out the "sleds" first. I had to make sure they would work!

The motorcross awards banquet for District 29, which is all of NC and some of SC, December 13, 2008.

We all got a little bored while the speaker dragged on and on and on and on and ........

Wake up Randy, you're missing the excitement! Oh wait, we are all missing the excitement!

Okay, let's get serious!

Yay Hudson! First place in the 65 7-9yr olds and 65 7-11 olds. That means he got all this stuff twice! We are so proud of you, Hudson! Great job!


"What? Two trophies taller than my brother? Can I have one?"

"Not yet, Lily. Maybe next year!" Just kidding, this was during the oh-so-exciting speaker!

Here are a few pictures from a field trip with Lily's class, to Mike's Farm. Of course, it was over a month ago, but hey, I've been busy!

Lily and Cowboy Earl, and yes that really is his name! He even has a radio show!

Lily in the back with her friend Nia, kind of doing the dance to some crazy honky-tonk song!

And again, Lily and her friend, or as they say, her BFF, in the back behind some classmates. Little trouble-makers!

A quiet Thanksgiving

Hudson and Lily spent Thanksgiving with their mother, so Randy and I had a quiet day, I cooked and Randy watched. Hahaha! He's a good re-heater, but as far as cooking, I'd rather do it alone! So all in all, we had a nice peaceful day, with just enough food for the two of us! I forgot to take a picture of my homemade cheesecakes! It was scrumptious! And we still have one left!

Say hello to Tom, or goodbye really. He was delicious! I'll be honest, while I have roasted plenty of whole chickens, I knew Tom here would be completely different. But after watching the Food Network the weekend before, I found what makes the turkey keep its moisture and flavor! It's called brining. And if you ever cook a turkey, please take the time to brine the silly bird! You won't be sorry!

Here's our spread! Just enough for the two of us! And it was quite tasty! The only pre-made thing we ate were the brown-and-serve dinner rolls. Some herb bread would've been nice, but I have no clue (Mom!) how to make that stuff! Anyways, I had a great time trying new recipes and enjoying myself in the kitchen. I even made the stuffing from scratch! So, our menu was: turkey, corn, rolls, butternut squash, stuffing, and cream potatoes (for you northerners, cream potatoes are really just mashed potatoes with cream, butter, cheese, and I throw in a secret ingredient along with some herbs). And of course the cheesecake for dessert!

School Parties

The day before Thanksgiving Hudson and Lily's classes each had parties. Lily's class had a feast of all different foods, even sushi, yummo! And Hudson's class had a pie bash. Hudson ate six different pieces of pie! Yikes! But we all had a fun time!


Lily decided to tell me the morning of the party that she needed a pilgrim costume! Oh the joys of motherhood! I knew I at least had to make a hat! Couldn't let her be the only one without! So what did I do, you wonder? Grabbed some elmer's glue, some construction paper, and yarn, and headed to work to look up directions on how to make a pilgrim hat! Well, I suppose it turned out all right, you tell me! And in case you were wondering, not many kids dressed up, and Lily was the only one with a hat!

After five minutes of coaxing, she finally made a half-way serious face!

Lily and one of her girlfriends.

Hudson and his boys trying to wait patiently for their pie!

Clearly this was after the pie! Can you say sugar buzz?!

Our field trip to the goat ranch and apiary

On Friday, I went with the kids on their field trip to Whispering Dove Goat Ranch and Apiary. We had such a great time, and it was a rare treat to have both their classes going together! We saw tons of animals, free range, all organic and healthy animals. They even had bees! Hudson, who is normally scared to death of goats, actually pet two of them! I was so surprised! And Lily, of course, was not afraid of anything, and would have taken them all home had I allowed it! We went to the park after the ranch tour, where we ate lunch and played for quite awhile. I even ventured out with about 30 kids on the nature trail! Talk about chaos! But we had a great day! It was gorgeous outside, sunny and 75!

Hudson and his boys with their collections of feathers from the free range chickens and hens.

Lily petting the baby rabbit she would have put in her pocket if no one was paying attention!

This rooster gave us all a scare as he darted around the corner just a few feet away!

Hudson petting a goat! A first for him!

Lily on the swings at the park after lunch.