Hudson, right now

The rest of the week

I know the vacation week isn't completely over, but that doesn't mean it's not a good time to catch up on my pictures!

Tuesday morning we went to the outlet mall and to Niagara Falls. I didn't go to see the Falls, though, because Hudson needed some out-of-the-Moby snuggle time. But he was fine again when we went to the zoo for the Members Appreciation Night!

feeding the giraffe...the girls weren't afraid to get right up there!



and free carousel rides are always welcome :D



Thursday we met my friend Joanna and her two beautiful girls at Strong Museum of Play.




Yesterday we went to African Lion Safari! The lens I used doesn't have zoom, so that tells you how close we get to the animals :)


Jasmine couldn't wait to see the "niroscerous."This ostrich thought we'd give him food through the closed window. He kept tapping his beak against the window and then chewing.
We almost hit one of the zebras with the rearview mirror; that's how close they were! No fear!
We had a baboon on our car, too, but the pictures didn't come out well because of the windows in the way. We're just thankful that no baby baboons came up, because they're the ones that do all the damage. We saw one pulling off trim from the minivan in front of us, so we didn't stop at that point!

We also rode a little train around another area of the park and saw quieter animals (llamas, turtles, reindeer...)




Today:

And then today we hit the garage sales. Here's some of our loot!
We also got a little bike for Jasmine with training wheels, a bunch of clothes for her, crowns for both girls, and a doorknob for dad!

Wednesday

I didn't get Tuesday's pictures done yet, but today's are! (I know, but it's because I finally got a good Hudson smile!!)

Showing off her new dress:

Enjoying their new slickers (they have new boots too, but I cut 'em off when I took the shot):

At the park:


And at Explore And More, an awesome place for kids to learn through play, my international child (Mexican dress, Dutch shoes and a Vietnamese instrument!)

And the long-awaited smile:

Having a great time; wish you were here!

And it's only Monday!

Two Months?!

It's crazy to realize that Hudson was born two months ago tomorrow. He's such a part of our lives, I can't picture life without him. But at the same time, how is it possible that his birth was two whole months ago?

He is so sweet-natured and easy. He loves to watch the world go by, doesn't mind the girls "looking at" him (which means trying to hold him, with my help), and he is by far my best sleeper. I am so thankful for him. He brings me so much joy each day. I can't believe God loved me enough to give me this child to nurture.
Mom and I were talking yesterday about "to whom much is given, much is required." I guess that means He's requiring a lot of me, because he has blessed me with three healthy, bright, beautiful children. I just hope I'm up to it!

Here are a few pictures I got this afternoon. I still haven't gotten a big smile picture, but hopefully that will happen soon!



I'm two months? Already??
this one started out as an "oops" but ended up being my favorite shot:

How important is excellence, really?

When I was in college, I had a musician friend who hated it when people said we should "make a joyful noise." He said, "as musicians, shouldn't we try for better than that?" I couldn't help but agree, though I think that we shouldn't have to be perfect in order to make music for the Lord.
When I was a senior in college, taking calligraphy to fulfill my art requirement, I chose Psalm 33:1-3 for my final project (side-note: Josh got a frame for it for Mother's Day! We just need to put it all together so it can hang on the wall, 10 years after I made it!) The part I really liked was the end: play skillfully. As a music major, I did strive to do better than merely a joyful noise, though learning all the other instruments the best I could hope for was a noise...and prayed it was somewhat joyful to the Lord, since it was painful to others!
People who know me know that I tend to be picky. I guess there are areas where I'm not as low-maintenance as in others. I like "real" things. I got it from my mom: she hates 10 karat gold and created jewels. I can tell a difference in the quality between Legos and brands that work with legos, between Crayola crayons and anything else, and between Elmer's chocolates and Godiva.
(funny story: Benjamin has always been very literal and more that a little trusting. When he was 2 or 3 and Kenny and I worked at Wendy's, we "taught" him that Wendy's had "real, yummy chicken nuggets" and McDonald's had "yucky processed chicken nuggets." All was fine until mom took him to McD's. He was eating his nuggets, crying "yucky processed chicken nuggets!" so we had to untrain him)

This tendency of mine is showing itself more readily with things for my kids. Apparently I've made people afraid to buy things for them (sorry!) because of my high standards/pickiness.

Does it really matter?
I tell myself it does. I tell myself I want the girls to appreciate the quality of things by trying to keep away the lower-quality. But Jasmine has fallen in love with a few things that I can't stand. She's learning good things from it, but I feel like there must be better ways to introduce it.

Then I wonder if I'm just being a complete snob.

I love Veggie Tales. I love the quality of the music, the animation, the humor...though I'm extremely disappointed in their newest movie (Abe) since they are now being produced by someone who didn't understand the double-layer of humor. Much like when Jim Henson died and the Muppets were no longer funny to adults, and Disney totally missed the humor of A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh. So does it mean I don't let them watch Abe or Winnie-the-Pooh? No, they watch them; I just don't watch with them, and sigh about how much the creators missed.

I should come up with a proper conclusion but I'm completely stuck, so I guess I'll just leave ya hanging. I'd love to know what you think! Is it okay to pick and choose, or is mediocrity okay as long as they're learning?

New Hudson pictures

I want to scrap these, but I need to wait until I can get my hands on one or more of the adorable Baby Kits at TDC :) And I can't post them on Facebook because it's giving me an error message. But I can and should post them here :)

Doing the thing Josh does with his eyebrows:

And almost smiling:


I'm going to have to do this again, having one of us getting him to smile and the other one snapping the picture. He makes funny faces at me when I try to get him to smile while I'm behind the camera. He's so funny!

Funnies

Bekah has been very entertaining lately. I've been putting them on Twitter (which puts them in my Facebook status), but I'll try to go collect them here so I can see them down the road and for people who aren't on those two things :)

Bekah: (mumble, mumble) Me: What? Bekah: Yes or no? Me: Can you say it again? You were quiet. B: I was loud. You heard me! (*walks away*)

Josh: "Bekah, why are you shredding that crayon?" Bekah: "Because I'm two."

And her version of encouragement: "You can do it!! Maybe..."

Bekah brought her farm book to me. I’m asking her what each thing is. The first page is two tractors. She tells me what they are, she counts them, and then I ask her what “this” is, pointing to the tire. She says, “I just telled you!” Then we get to the goose. When I tell her what it is, she says, ‘Betta not a doose like dat. I’m not a doose!’

Jasmine: Stop arguing! Bekah: I'm not arguing!

It's not only things she says, either. Last Wednesday, they chose a bunch of books from Josh's mom's library. Jasmine's book choice: Bible Animal Friends (w/googly eyes) Bekah's: Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ.(written1685)


And Jasmine's been entertaining, too.

Josh was trying on an outfit from his BIL. Jasmine said it's "perfect for you." But the pants were too big. Jasmine's conclusion: "When you're 18, they'll fit you. Because 18 is very big." funny: at 18 they would have fit!

and a sweet one: Jasmine (to me): Do you know why I got you books from the library? Me: why? Jasmine: Because I love you.

Here's a picture I got of Hudson yesterday:
and surprise, surprise, it's already in a layout!
Have a great Monday!

Song Impressions

I listen to Air1. They're incredible. Awesome, fun music. They're not afraid of talking about how Jesus actually affects their lives. I love the DJs and follow most of them on Twitter.

But there are a few songs I just don't quite "get."

And no, I won't name names. Because I'm sure people would disagree with me...but that's why I'm writing in my blog..so I'm allowed to have my own opinion!

There's the "I'm too bored to move my lips on this song." It doesn't help that it has no melody in the chorus. The same two notes for the whole thing. (maybe they were eating ice cream first, so their lips were actually too numb to work right).

Then there's one that I keep hearing how awesome it is. The lyrics really are incredible. Powerful. Awesome. But I think he needs to hire a new melody-writer, because the song does not have a melody. I usually turn off the radio (i.e. close the tab) for that song. It just irritates me, and then I feel guilty for not listening since the lyrics really are so awesome.

The rest of the other songs, I love. I've gotten hooked on some new bands (Addison Road and Downhere) and a whole bunch of incredible songs. It's just those two...

And totally unrelated, here's my new layout for my Vacation Mini-Album challenge!

Disney World Layout Month

I'm leading a challenge at The DigiChick this month. I'm going to give templates each Tuesday and Thursday, and then people will (hopefully!) use them for layouts about a vacation. I have a couple hundred pictures from Disney World and really want to make sure to use the good ones (i.e. the bulk of them!) and make a book for the girls. I want them to remember the trip, and since they're pretty young, this is the best way I can think of to help that happen!

I decided to make all the layouts' journaling as though I'm telling them their stories. I think I'm going to go back and do that with the layouts I've made from the trip over the past few months so there's some continuity. I'll get them all done and put in a hardcover book when I'm done and satisfied, and they'll have a book they can look over as they grow up.

So here's the first layout! If you aren't familiar with LOLcats, the stuff written on the pictures may not mean much to you (and I'm sure mom wishes I hadn't done the captions because she likes the funny pictures to stand on their own) but it cracked me up the whole time I worked on it!