The Hudspeth Family

Merry Christmas 2011

2011-12-18T20:02:00.001-08:00

November in Instagram

2011-11-30T20:25:00.000-08:00

A few pictures from November...

School picture day. Of course it was a drama filled morning with lots of crying. So, at breakfast I sat her school picture from last year in front of her for some motivation to turn that frown upside down.... go ahead and laugh, but I did :)

Little Rock Tailgating... visiting Tusk

We headed over to Garvan Gardens on Friday after Thanksgiving.... along with the rest of the state of Arkansas!! WOW-it was insanely crowded!!

Drew in her Cinderella wedding gown... I always get a little lump in my throat when she puts this on ;)

Getting ready for Christmas!

Drew at her 4yr/pre kindergarten check up... {sighhhh} I can't believe this is even possible

Good morning sister!! Bennett climbed on Drew and laid his little head on her chest and just hugged and hugged her... so sweet :)

**If you keep scrolling I followed through and posted on our last day in Disney. Check it out!**

ByeBye Disney

2011-11-30T19:59:00.000-08:00

For our last day in Disney we headed back over to Magic Kingdom. We wanted to try and meet some characters that we hadn't had the chance to meet yet. You have to stand in line and wait to meet the characters, so it kind of seemed like on the other days that we had to choose between that and the rides.... so we chose rides. Soooo, this was our day to play catch up!

The whole gang

Family Pic

With as many doors and hallways that we had to go through, you would've thought we were waiting in line to meet the president!! Well I guess in Disney he kinda is...
Minnie was supposed to be there too, but when we went in she wasn't there?? I asked and they told me that Minnie "comes and goes"--Now Minnie, that just isn't going to work!! We were disappointed, but we survived :( There's always next time!

Brandan was trying to get Bennett to move closer to Pluto, but he wasn't budging :)

One last reach for the whiskers

Drew holding Mary's umbrella!

It was a super fun trip! I would love to do it again, but I need about a 3yr break! haha

Back in September...

2011-11-30T19:44:00.001-08:00

I turned 31! Is that possible?! I guess so. Now I suppose that means I'm "in my 30's" blahhh :) It's funny though, but with every birthday it makes me so happy when the kids enjoy my birthday-lol- I guess that what it's all about now, right!!

They really liked my cake! haha

Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios

2011-11-13T17:03:00.000-08:00

Animal Kingdom

Day number 3 we were off to the Animal Kingdom! While, it was pretty interesting I will say it wasn't my favorite :) Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Drew had her ultimate meltdown here-lol-Momma had to put on her happy face :-)!! The first thing we went to was the Bug's Life 3D interactive show which is inside the tree of life (ya know from Lion King). And it was VERY realistic... almost too much so for Drew haha! she freaked out! It felt and smelled like a stink bug sprayed us, we could feel termites crawling under our booties on the bench and then at one point it felt like bugs were flying into our faces! Honestly, it was pretty cool but maybe a little much for Drew and Bennett?!

Waiting inside the tree to go into the Bug's life show

Next we headed over to DinoLand.... I wasn't very impressed with the goings on here... kinda state fair-ish... very unlike disney?? We didn't stay long, but of course drew loved it here...go figure!

Lunch was at Rainforest Cafe... which is a reason in itself to head over to Animal Kingdom. So neat!!

Take notice of Drew's face here... somewhat of the psycho kid face, yeah she pretty much lost it here... I was ready to feed her to the tiger to the left of our table!

The last adventure we had in the Animal Kingdom was the safari. Drew absolutely loved this! Which, I guess it kinda depends on the animals as to how well it goes, but luckily they were in a good mood for us! Poor little bennettboo was sacked out through this ride and he would have loved it. Drew was really concerned about the poachers our guide warned us about... they were "after a baby elephant"... she asked me about it the rest of the day :)

Up-side-down tree

Look at her face... she was super impressed with something!

Hollywood Studios

We ended the day at Hollywood Studios! This is one of my favorites.... I kinda wish Brandan and I could've done some things here on our own... Tower of Terror , Indiana Jones etc... BUT the BEST Toy Story Ride is here in the Pixar section of the park and we had a blast doing that with the kids!

We were lucky and just as we walked in we were able to catch a Disney Junior show! We didn't even have to wait in line! Bennett and Drew loved it!

Amy and Kevin were so nice and watched Bennett and Drew while we rode the Rockin' Roller Coaster! Such a fun roller coaster... it's Aerosmith themed!

When we got off we met them in the gift shop and Drew was decked out in true rocker fashion!

Whew... our Disney trip is coming to an end. For the last day we headed back to the Magic Kingdom to meet some of the characters we hadn't said hi to yet!

Savvy Kids

2011-11-12T12:03:00.000-08:00

Back in September Drew's buddy Hudson from preschool invited her to come and do a little Halloween photo shoot for the October issue of a local magazine called Savvy Kids. They had her a costume to wear and she loved it! I was proud of her and thought she did great! I only snapped a few pictures with my phone. All of the kids looked really cute and the spread turned out cute too. :)

Butterfly Princess

I know this isn't the greatest angle but the kids were dressed up as a bumble bee, witch, lil monster, butterfly princess and a pirate. Thanks for inviting us Hudson :)

Epcot and Bippity Boppity Boutique

2011-11-11T13:36:00.001-08:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICHAEL!! YOU ARE 2 YRS. OLD TODAY!!

On our second day in Disney we headed to Epcot for our breakfast with the princesses. This day started out a bit on the dramatic side (which involved Drew and prune juice ha!) and I actually thought we might miss our breakfast, but luckily we made it! At this breakfast the princesses went around to each individual table and visited and took pictures...the girls loved it! We met Belle, Aurora, Cinderella, Snow White and Ariel! Bennett could have cared less and his behavior showed it! I'm not gonna lie Brandan and I were pretty much totally stressed out by the end of it-between trying to make sure Drew hugged each princess and got her picture and trying to chase Bennett everywhere we were frazzled -lol :) But hey, it was Disney and worth it!

This picture somewhat shows how Bennett felt about the whole thing :)

Cinderella

Aurora

Ariel

Somehow I must have missed taking a picture with Snow White?? She was completely in character and kinda freaking me out -lol- talking in the funny Snow White voice and all!
This breakfast was a really neat experience for the girls.

After breakfast we made our way around Epcot...there is some pretty scenery for picture taking here.

Drew was a little disappointed that Jasmine wasn't at the breakfast, but look who we ran into while strolling through Epcot!! Jasmine!! Yay! The only princess we never saw was Tianna :(

Chip and Dale were also here. Drew liked them, now Bennett on the other hand...haha He had only a few characters that he would get in a semi-close proximity to and Chip and Dale weren't on that list!

Nemo is one of our favs!! Cute ride

For the last half of the day we went back to Magic Kingdom for dinner and our appointment at the Bippity Boppity Boutique!

We had dinner in Liberty Square at the Liberty Tavern. It was a yummy dinner-kinda Thanksgiving style- and we celebrated Michael's 2nd birthday with a cupcake!

While killing a little time before Drew got all decked out she and I rode the carousel... Bennett and Brandan headed back to the resort. That was a VERY good thing because Bennett would have never last through the BBB :)

Drew chose Ariel as her princess to be made into and Evie chose Sleeping Beauty aka Princess Aurora :) This is a picture of them getting dressed

Each girl gets their own "fairy godmother" that fixes them all up... hair, makeup and nails ooo la la!

That fairy godmother worked some serious magic to get Drew's hair to do this! I promise if you would've lit a match within 10 steps of her we would've all went up in flames!ha! The girls got to pick out their princess hairstyles from a little pamphlet .... Drew chose the one that requires you have enough hair to be put in a bun on top of your head! Well of course she did! The one who barely has any hair chooses this hairstyle that requires lots of hair haha! And Evie chose the hairstyle that involved some type of weave combined with a bump-it... hilarious!

Don't want any glitter getting on her face-just the hair!

Look at that masterpiece!! Oh.my.word!!

Checking each other out :)

Meet Ariel and Aurora

Then it was off to catch the fireworks... The two princesses in their carriage!

What a day! Next up- Day 3- Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios!!

Magic Kingdom

2011-11-09T12:10:00.000-08:00

On our first day in Disney World we headed straight to the Magic Kingdom! To me, this is basically the heart of Disney :) And especially with the age of our kids it was pretty much our favorite park. We spent like a day and a half here and I would say I wish we could have had 2 full days, but there is so much to do!!

First up FantasyLand...

First ride... The teacups! Momma was regretting this one a little :) Can anyone agree that the older you get the more dizzy you get?!! My tea was about to spill, if you know what I mean-lol!

Then on to Winnie the Pooh's Hunney Pot ride- I thought this ride was adorable!
**I would like to say, I know my picture taking skills aren't the greatest...I just wanted to make sure we got the picture snapped to capture the memory! :) Maybe if I had a better camera?!! haha

Flying High on Dumbo

I love this picture... look at those sweet little heads beside me. This was Snow White's ride and it was a little spooky :) Bennett jumped back with Brandan and buried his little head on daddy's shoulder... he would say "scare me, scare me"

It's a Small World- always a favorite!!

We caught the 3:00 parade!

Second stop AdventureLand...

For some reason I didn't get quite as many pictures here, but this was one of our favorites as well! This is where the Pirates of the Caribbean ride is along with the jungle cruise and Aladdin's flying carpets. We also got to meet some of the fairies...at this point I realized we needed an autograph book!! I went straight to buy one right after this haha!

Last we visited TomorrowLand...

We jumped on the Buzz Light year ride here.... really fun--not quite as fun as the Toy Story ride in MGM, but still really cute! Bennett loved it!

Drew rode up ahead of me, Brandan and Bennett in a car with Kinlee. :)

Bennett looked a little worried haha :)
This was a FULL day and I'm sure I didn't get near enough pictures! And I do want everyone to know that despite all the cute smiles and sweet poses...there were some MAJOR meltdowns and trips to the bathroom to have attitude adjustments!! For some reason in Disney World you don't sweat that type of thing too much because about 3 out of the 5 people next to you are doing the same thing L0L!! It's a fun place, but an exhausting place :)
Next up- Epcot and Bippity Boppity Boutique!

I posted some pics of our Halloween if you want to scroll to the previous post to check them out :)

Halloween 2011

2011-11-09T11:17:00.001-08:00

Drew the Cave Girl

We were definitely not short on opportunities to wear our costume and eat too much candy this year! Among our Halloween festivities were our Sunday School party, Spook City, Hunger Carnival at church, Preschool party and then of course the actual Halloween evening! Which this may sound really bah-humbug, but we didn't even actually trick or treat when the time came :( Drew's halloween bucket was filled to the rim by that time from everything else and she or Bennett did not want to put their costumes on again (Bennett was never actually willing to put his on). We were celebrating Brandan's birthday Halloween evening with his dad and Leah, so I had made a pot of chili, baked potatoes and grilled hot dogs... all the more reason to just stay in and pass out candy vs. trick or treating :) Drew and Bennett had a ton of fun-that's what it's about right?! And not to worry they got plenty of candy!

Evie was a poodle skirt girl and Finley was a peacock :)

I do want to add that Michael was Elvis to Evie's poodle skirt get up and Bennett was T-Rex to Drew's cave girl! And this may really get me the "mom of the year" award, but I don't have a picture of the boys!!!!! Terrible, terrible mom!! On my defense those boys are out.of.this.world.busy and neither one of them was too thrilled about dressing up :) Still no excuse I know. I'll try and snap a picture of them and slip it in on some post-they were very very cute ;)

Evie, Drew and Jack

After the preschool party Drew and I headed over to the nursing home to visit my grandma (my dad's mom) so she could see the girls in their costumes. Anna, Evie and my dad met us there.

Drew and Grandma Bonnie

Disney World

2011-11-08T12:47:00.000-08:00

Apparently, I'm never going to find the time to get caught up to where I would like to be on my posting. So, I'm just going to start from the present and try to squeeze in the few that I never got in there!

Last week we took a quick trip to Disney World!! Fast and furious, but tons of fun!! I still don't think we have fully recovered. These pictures are from our day of travel...oh what a long day :)

See Bennett's face in the picture above?! He was seconds away from passing smooth out! Traveling is so exhausting :)

After getting to the resort and eating some dinner it was lights out to get some rest! Next up.... Magic Kingdom

September in October Post- Horse Show

2011-10-16T13:05:00.000-07:00

Drew went with Nana to Joseph's girlfriend's horse show in Little Rock back in September. I'm not quite sure what the horse show entailed or exactly what the horse had to do, but I do know that his girlfriend was dressed something like you would imagine Barbie to be dressed if she were in a horse show. So, of course Drew thought it was great! Bennett and I hung back at home until he was finished napping and then we met them up there. When we got there I walked up to see Drew taking a stroll atop the horse! Lol! Of course when Bennett saw her that's exactly where he wanted to be too!

September in October Post- Field Trip to the Fair

2011-10-15T07:40:00.000-07:00

Drew's first field trip of 4yr old preschool was to the petting zoo at the fair. This field trip also happened to be in the same week she started school... talk about wham bam haha! We have had two more field trips since this one- to the arts center to see a play and to the pumpkin patch!Busy busy :)

Bennett tagged along too... I'm pretty sure he wanted to hop in the pen with most of the animals

Drew with the black bunny

Soooie!

Drew was the snack leader for this day... She brought cute little cookies that were decorated with different farm animals-they were a hit ;)

Drew's class minus Finley... she was a the beach
(for our sake I'm gonna list out the kids)
L to R: Hudson, Brady, Kolby, JackLandon, Easton, Jack, Drew, Caroline, AnnaBeth, Abby,
and Taylor

Drew and Jack... Jack looks thrilled to have his picture made :)

September in October Post- First Day of 4yr old Preschool

2011-10-14T13:12:00.000-07:00

Drew is having a great year at preschool! We don't have sweet Mrs Joyce this year because last year was her last, but we do have Mrs Jodi! Drew seems to really like her and has adjusted well to having a new teacher. I know she must like her when each time she sees her she hollers "Mrs. Jodi!!" and runs and gives her a big hug :). While Drew is having a great year she has had a couple of incidents where her "lively personality" has shown through... one dealing with cat poop on the playground-which I can't even go into because it just mortifies me-lol!! Here are a few pictures from her first day. Bennett's expressions in these pictures are cracking me up.

Bennett's "serious thinker" expression

Big girl :)

Bennett's "let me go now" expression

Bennett's "why is my sister grabbing me like this" expression

Bennett's "I'm up to no good" expression...I'm about to yank that camera from your hands momma!

Evie and Drew... See how tall Evie is?!!

Woo Piggies

2011-10-11T14:44:00.001-07:00

Brandan and Drew got to go to the Razorback and Auburn game last Saturday...special Daddy/daughter time :) Bennett and I stayed home because this momma can't wrangle that wild man for the duration of a televised football game :) Plus it was nice for Drew to hang out with Brandan. From what I understand it was a pretty great game! I took a few pics before they headed out

Heeelllloooo!!

2011-10-10T11:26:00.000-07:00

Yes, the Hudspeth's are still here :)... Although for the month of september I fell of the face of the blogging planet. Not, that I had nothing to blog about...actually quite the contrary! I just never had the motivation or energy to sit down and do it! So my plan is to do a few "September in October" posts. We had so much going on in September, as I'm sure most of you did as well :) Drew started 4 year old preschool and had her first field trip of the year in the same week, I had a birthday-what's the deal with continually getting older-lol?!! We went to a rodeo horse show and Drew did a little Halloween costume photo shoot for Savvy Kids! Not to mention life in general :)
BUT before I get too behind for the month of October as well, I wanted to post about how we started our month.
We got to go to the Taylor Swift Concert!! It was alot of fun, but I'm not sure that Drew is quite old enough for concerts just yet haha! Everything started (opening bands etc...) around 7pm, so of course we had to actually get there around 6pm, but Taylor didn't perform until close to 8:45!! Whew... that's like close to an hour past Drew's bed time. Now, don't get me wrong she was pumped, screaming, yelling and dancing, but about 3 songs in she was sprawled out on me telling me she was tired and ready to go home!Lol!! I made her hang in there till her favorite song was performed and then we headed out. I must be honest, I was a little disappointed to leave... T. Swift puts on a good show!! Here are a few pictures from our evening courtesy of Rachel :)

How cute are they?!

The Girls

Taylor performing "You Belong with Me" Drew's favorite song!

Drew and Finely got guitar pics from one of the stage guys as we were leaving...I'm pretty sure they thought Taylor actually used them :) Who knows maybe she did?!
Fun night Fun memories!

Fancy Nancy

2011-08-27T20:09:00.001-07:00

During Bennett's nap a couple of days ago, Drew had been playing up in her room. She later came down stairs and found me in the kitchen. She informed me, "I'm not Drew"... Oh, okay well who are you?! :) She said, "I'm Fancy Nancy!!" I literally laughed out loud because she actually does look like her! I think it's the scarf?! haha

Hello miss fancy...fancy nancy

Scrimmage and Snuggles

2011-08-20T18:19:00.000-07:00

Friday night we stopped by the maroon and gray scrimmage game. Bennett watched the football boys warm up for a little while and then we sat down by the cheerleaders and Drew got to watch them for a bit. It was fun to get out to a sporting event, but it was BLAZING hot!! I felt bad for those football guys. Due to the fact the we were all dripping with sweat we only stayed about an hour.

We got home took baths and got smelling good again :) Then we sat on the couch had a snack and cuddled for a little while before bed.

Fun Friday :)

Instagram

2011-08-13T19:29:00.000-07:00

I was playing around with the instagram app on some pictures from this month and thought I would share :)

Sneak Attack

2011-08-02T20:01:00.000-07:00

I love this video :) It perfectly shows Bennett and Drew's relationship these days! Drew being her sassy self, telling me (or whoever) what's what. Then Bennett being his little stinker self, with a sneak attack.
Bennett came into the picture from the right doing a sneaky little side step, paused for a moment, then pushed his sister right on in the pool and finally gave a little chuckle at his ornery deed. Poor Drew came up sputtering and scared. I felt sorry for her, but I had to laugh just a little too. They have been aggravating each other quite a bit lately, but I love this time we have together making memories!

Beach- All in One

2011-07-28T18:30:00.001-07:00

Okay, so I had planned on blogging our beach trip out in nice little organized posts...like starting with the departure, then going into day one etc., etc,. but, I got waaay to lazy for that haha! So, here is our beach trip all in one! I did try to give it some organization, so it isn't too overwhelming!

Beach Hats for the Boys

This picture is a little dark, but I had to post it. We would line the boys up at the front door and yell, "on your mark, get set, GO!" they would run their stumpy little legs as fast as they would go...I bet they did it a million times and it was precious every time :)

Grillin' Out

Drew hanging out sippin her Sunny D

We cooked every night of the trip except one. Mom grabbed a cookbook and planned out a menu on the drive to Destin. We were able to buy groceries for the meals she had planned out... it actually worked out really great. Bennett and Michael are about as much fun as getting sand in your crack when it comes to eating out, so we just played it safe and stayed in :)

Down by the Beach...

Showing me one of the gazillion seashells she found :)

Bennett has an apple shoved in his mouth... Apple was a popular snack for us on the beach

We had red flags most days... this day was a nice, calm water day, so we took advantage and everybody got in!

There was a sand sculpting contest down the beach one day. Mom took the girls down to check it out

Louisiana Lagniappe

One of our favorite restaurants to eat at is Louisiana Lagniappe. We try and go there every year. This was our one night to eat out. Good thing for the dock, ducks, hermit crabs and large birds...the boys had some entertainment.

The dock is always a great place for pictures

Destin Commons

Drew saw a girl painting faces, so of course she had to have hers done! I was all about it and excited for her too... then I looked at the price!! 26.00 bucks for this masterpiece!! Now, I will say this is way more detailed than your typical heart, balloons etc. but 26.00?! Of course I had already told her yes so there was no backing out, but in my mind I was thinking "in about 15min. you're going to want to go play in those fountains right behind us and this 26.00 is going to go washing down your face" And yes in about 15min it did go washing down her face, but this picture of her is totally worth 26.00 :) !!

Bennett and the Bat

Some how or another Bennett got a hold of Laci and Megan's wiffle ball bat... and became a total menace on the beach!! He would chase anyone and everyone who would run! In the picture above he had just whacked poor Michael in the head and in the picture below... well Laci's expression shows it all :)

Family Picture Night

Beach Burying

And what's a beach trip without a little burying?!

Destin, FL 2011

Beach-Departure

2011-07-20T19:12:00.001-07:00

We headed out the last week of June for Destin, FL. We typically prefer to go in "off season"...like May or the beginning of September, but we chose last minute this year for June. It was quite a bit more crowded than we are used to, but Destin is Destin and we had a great time :)

Ohhh, poor Pastor Rick haha.... he hitched a ride with the Hudspeth/Hendrix clans to meet up with his family...he may have been regretting that decision when we said "here ya go, here's a kid to entertain" haha! Hopefully we weren't too terrible to travel with :)!!

Evie giving uncle hud a play-by-play on the oh so very entertaining barbie movie :)

The boys moved around quite a bit...I'm not gonna lie, it was a little stressful at moments,but luckily it was a fairly short trip. And you may wonder, "why not strap them in carseats?" Well,
1). we needed the seat room and 2). honestly we tried that on the way back and I would much rather deal with the antsy-ness than ear piercing screams from being ticked off!! :)
p.s.-they were most certainly strapped down for take off and landing :)

White sandy beaches and beautiful blue water to come...

Swimmin' Sweeties

2011-07-16T11:51:00.000-07:00

We didn't do anything much on the 4th because Brandan was working. Our neighborhood pool was open for the holiday (it usually isn't on Monday's) so I took Bennett and Drew up there. I snapped this picture of them and thought it was pretty cute and funny. Bennett has grown and changed so much this summer.

We Love Popsicles!

2011-07-15T13:02:00.000-07:00

We can be found doing this any day of the summer, but these pictures were actually taken in June. Popsicles have become a very popular after dinner treat these days ;) I love all the silly expressions on their faces...perfectly displays the chaos that is our lives haha!

Ahhh Aspen!

2011-07-08T14:20:00.001-07:00

June 10-13 my mom and Brandan took care of Drew and Bennett and I was able to get away with some of my best girl friends to Aspen, CO! It was such a fun trip and a nice break, but I will admit by that last night I was missing my family. Here are a few pictures from our beautiful weekend!

This was my view from the plane window as we were flying in from Denver to Aspen... and I was beginning to think my maxi dresses and sandals were going to be a bit chilly for the weather

Luckily, the weather was AWESOME and we packed just right! Mid 70's during the day and a little cooler at night. Laying on a chair in the backyard, I could see the snowcapped mountains in the distance, yet feel the nice warm sun on my face....ahhh so nice!

One morning we took a bike ride which was a BLAST! We biked to a tavern for a yummy lunch and even yummier margaritas!

Holly (bride to be :) and I

In town... Apen is a really neat town....One road in one road out. Super clean and beautiful. GREAT people watching!! Rows of little shops and stores. The shopping was minimal though... Gucci, Prada-you know things of that retail- not really in my budget haha! They did have a Gap and J.Crew!

Just stuck my phone out the window and clicked...not one corner of bad scenery :)

Chapel

Taking a little rest from walking around in the Hotel Jerome

Rach, Sarah, and Holly
Dinner out one night- where we saw Trista and Ryan from the Bachelor and Bachelorette! They had their kids too, it was really cute.

Great girls trip and even greater girls!!

Finishing up June and starting July

2011-07-08T14:00:00.001-07:00

I've gotten a little behind on blogging. Pictures will be coming from June and a few from this past week of July. We have been enjoying our summer so far, but it seems to be going by pretty quickly :). Eating lots of popsicle's and swimming :)

Back in June I was able to spend a fun girls' weekend in Aspen!! We were celebrating Holly's upcoming wedding... which is in 2 weeks!! It was hands down one of the most beautiful places I have ever been and Colorado in the summertime is something everyone should try!

At the end of June we had our family trip to Destin, FL. We had a lot of fun and the kids really enjoyed it! Not too much dining out though :) A 16mo old and a 19mo old don't make for much of a relaxing dinner, so we cooked a lot. But in turn, we were able to stay on the beach (or pool) until dinner time(which was nice) and then just head up and eat! We had family pictures made this year and I hope they turn out good!

Not much went on for the 4th of July at our house... we were just returning from the beach, so we were pretty low key. Our neighborhood had a fireworks show this year for the first time and that was pretty fun. We were able to watch from our backyard. We didn't actually buy any fireworks this year-which is totally fine by me-Drew enjoyed watching them just as much :)
Hopefully I can keep on track after this little catch-up!

Oh Happy Day!

2011-06-07T20:28:00.001-07:00

-Thumbs Up-

No more cast!! Yay! That thing is gone and I couldn't be happier! It is hot and we need to swim!! I think I am/was more excited than Drew to throw that cast in the trash! I'm gonna tell you it was starting to have an aroma that was not to my liking :) plus it had gotten wet a couple of times and combined with this heat... ga.rose.

I asked Drew to show me her "I just got my cast off" pose... Sweet girl was such a trooper through this whole thing

Her poor little skin is all red,bumpy and irritated. Hopefully that will go away soon

Ahhhh, so nice to ride in the carseat with no cast

Bennett says he's happy too ;)

Taking a Break at the Lake

2011-06-02T19:24:00.000-07:00

The Hudspeth Fam needed a little break from reality, so Tuesday night we packed up and headed over to the lake house. Wednesday was Brandan's day off so we had the whole day to hang out. It was a much needed change of scenery and we actually had a really fun time. We got on the lake that morning and spent most of the day on the water. We packed an ice chest with drinks and food so we could stay on the boat. We went in around Bennett's nap time, let him sleep and then at dinner we ordered Fisherman's Wharf and went and picked it up in the boat. We laughed, played and let the wind hit our faces! As Brandan said, "Nothing is technically "relaxing" with two kids running around" (haha), but none the less we had a really great time as a family of four :)

Yes, we brought the dog (some of you may know my feelings about the dog... her name is Maggie...anybody wanting a Westie...just kidding not really) she got to hang out on the boat for a little while

Buddies

Drew and I rode in the tube for a moment... Until Drew thought it was not. fun. at. all. Then she just wanted to "float"

Bennett took a GREAT nap and then joined Drew to watch some cartoons

cheeeeese... little stinker

And last, BUT not least.... While Bennett was napping Drew and I were playing in the back yard, we walked close to the dock to see if we could spot any turtles poking their heads up. Well, we saw something a little more interesting than a turtle!! When I first saw this nasty thing it was across the cove and I was thinking to myself "what the heck kind of fish is this that I can see it from that far away and it look so big?!"
It made its way over to the side where Drew and I were and then Drew spotted it!haha! She started screaming, "ALLIGATOR, ALLIGATOR!!" (honestly I wasn't too far from screaming it myself) I told her to run and get her daddy and tell him to come look at this thing!
Mr. Fish Expert arrives and confirms that it is indeed an Alligator Garr, common to the Arkansan rivers, bays, etc.. and apparently LAKE HAMILTON!! Ewwww!
I'll just go ahead and tell you this thing was as long as Drew (you can't tell from the pics) seriously, as long as Drew and I didn't need to get up close to know that it had teeth! Go ahead and google image "Alligator Garr" people... they.are.scary!! Well needless to say Drew and I got quite a rush of excitement from the freaky fish!

This was definitely a change of scenery from Hole 11 on the ol' golf course haha!!

My fears are confirmed. I knew I was a smart girl for not wanting to swim in water where I can't see my feet ha!

Last Day of Preschool

2011-05-28T13:15:00.001-07:00

Thursday was officially Drew's last day of 3yr old preschool!! I can't believe it, the year flew by! It makes me nervous for how fast her 4yr old year is going to fly by... that means kindergarten will be here before I blink!!Ahhhh!

Okay, so I purposefully dressed her in the outfit she wore on the first day of school because I wanted to compare and see how much she changed from the beginning of the year to the end... I can tell she's grown a little (a little taller and chubbier, I think) and looks a little older too :)

This is the first day of 3yr old preschool

Her skirt and shirt were a little baggier at the beginning and her hair was definitely shorter and one thing I know that grew is her feet!!ha! The sandals in this beginning of year pic are size 8 and the sandals I put her in on the last day were 10's!:)

Bennett has for sure changed!

Drew wanted to know if I could see her through the opening haha

Oh, we LOVED Mrs. Joyce! And we are going to miss her so much :( ! Drew learned so much this year... academically and socially. It was such a wonderful experience and largely in part because of Mrs. Joyce. Everyday Drew was so excited to go (no lie everyday, never complained) and I literally had to make her leave everyday! We know Mrs. Joyce is going to enjoy this new chapter in her life, but we sure will miss her and won't ever forget her!

Lolly let us have our end of year party at her gym! It was wonderful and she did an awesome job organizing all of the activities. The kids had a lot of fun and it was a great way to end our year.

If you look closely you can see that Mrs. Joyce is holding a little red clock in her right hand. Before we ever went in the store to get her gift Drew had it in her mind that Mrs. Joyce definitely needed a clock!haha! Sooo, what do you think we bought her?! That's right, a clock! Mommy also picked out a cute little "love" plaque to go along with the awesome clock ha!
Of course, Mrs. Joyce absolutely loved them both :)

After the party we went to the play Beauty and The Beast with some friends. It was wonderful and Drew absolutely loved it (no pics). And then that night we had Joseph's high school graduation. We ended the school year with a bang! We are ready to get the cast off and start the summer fun!

**Keep scrolling down through the posts. I posted a few more of what we've been up to the last couple of weeks!**

Saturday School

2011-05-28T13:09:00.001-07:00

Saturday morning Bennett had one of his books out. I asked Drew to help him read it....

Aren't they sweet?!

It's Beginning To Look Alot Like Summer...

2011-05-28T13:01:00.000-07:00

Clear blue skies, bright bright sun and those temperatures are rising! I think summer is around the corner!

By the way, we are now to a red cast! Hopefully our last :)

Anybody wanna cruise with these two?! Looks like trouble to me!

Summer Ad

2011-05-28T12:53:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago we went out to a beautiful farm and took some pictures for the new summer ad. The kids did really good and we were so excited with how the pictures turned out.

Purple to Pink

2011-05-17T19:37:00.001-07:00

Drew had her check up today. They took some more x-rays and saw that it was healing well and told us that we will not need to do pins! Yeah!! Very glad about that! She chose to switch colors from purple to pink. I was a little partial to the purple, but the signatures will show up much better on the pink :) As Drew said, " It was purplicious now it's pinkalicious"...can't go wrong with that! We were definitely not alone in the broken arm department, there were literally like 5 other kids with casts coming in for appointments while we were there. I was getting tickled because they were all "eyeing" each other checking out their casts. Camo seemed to be quite popular :)

Bye bye purple

Drew did not care for the saw...at all! It was loud, felt hot on her arm and poor thing was scared to death they were about to cut her arm off :( She was crying and screaming at the nurse to STOP! It made me so sad.

Hello Pink! I must say she wasn't quite as excited about the cast this time. Knowing how it will have to come off made her not want another one. She was brave and tough though! Although she cried a little and was less than thrilled about the saw she smiled nearly the whole time... sweet girl ;)

Anatomy 101

2011-05-11T19:14:00.000-07:00

A little anatomy lesson --and other basic knowledge :)-- brought to you by Bennett from a pink bumbo

On another note, thank-you so much to everyone who called, came by or brought Drew little "happy's" to cheer her up ;) It means a lot that we have such sweet and caring friends and family. I realize that people break bones and get casts everyday, but it's new to our little family and we truly appreciate all the love ;)

What a Day

2011-05-10T19:39:00.001-07:00

I guess nothing officially says "I'm a preschooler" like a big purple cast and a nice FRACTURED ELBOW! Drew fell off the monkey bars at preschool today and landed right on her little elbow. And boy did she land just right because she broke it!!

The saddest part of the whole ordeal was that after she fell she seemed fine to her teachers so nothing was done! :( I know that they honestly had no idea how bad it was, but it just broke my heart to think about how much pain she must have been in. Anna picked the girls up today and the teacher let her know about the fall, but that she was okay (yeah,not so much). Anna immediately called me after she got in the car and told me something wasn't "right". She said Drew was not moving her right arm and that her elbow was very swollen. Anna also said that Drew wasn't acting quite herself. She was very tired acting and very quiet and not moving much...I immediately thought she had a concussion! I told Anna to get her to me NOW!

Once I saw Drew I knew her arm was broken and we immediately got her to the doctor's office to get it X-rayed. Thankfully she did not have a concussion, but they sent us to the Ortho office to get a better look at the X-rays. Once there, they looked closer at the x-rays, took some more pictures and then they discussed surgery and placing a pin in her elbow! What?!! After calling another ortho doc they decided we would cast it now, come back in a week, take the cast off, take more xrays and redetermine about the pins. Either way Drew will have the cast for 4 weeks...hopefully with no surgery and pins ( the outlook is good for no surgery)

All in all she has been a trooper!! She only cried when they had to really turn her arm for the x-ray, but other than that she was so brave! She has only complained a couple of times about the cast and very little about the pain.

I'm so thankful God was watching over her and that it wasn't something much worse... He protected her little head :). I'm also thankful that this happened at the beginning of the summer season and not smack in the middle of swimming and beach time. And it sure doesn't hurt that Drew has a fresh hot pink mani/pedi that go perfect with her purple cast!! ;) Brandan and I both told her that she has something that neither of us have ever had (crazy enough we've never had any broken bones!!... and Brandan has totaled 2 cars!!haha!)!

I'm praying that her adjustment to having a cast isn't too uncomfortable and that everything heals as it should.
Life happens!!

Drew goes to Prom

2011-05-05T11:40:00.001-07:00

Thank goodness not hers!! Last Saturday night was prom for Brandan's little brother Joseph. Drew and I tagged along to the "pre-prom" activities and got some pictures. It was so exciting for Drew! She was in complete awe! Of course, she was very quiet and shy, but I could tell the little wheels in her mind were going 90 to nothing. I can only imagine what all she was thinking?! One thing I know she was thinking was that she was surrounded by princes and princesses!ha! I know that because she kept asking me, " Momma, how do you know all these princesses names?!"... so sweet :)

Joseph and his date, Rose, looked absolutely beautiful! Well, I guess I should say Joseph looked handsome ;) and maybe I am bias, but he was hands down the cutest guy there (he takes after his big brother ;) Drew associated all the girls with each Disney princess... so can you guess who Rose was?? Yellow dress, brown hair... Belle! Another girl there had on a light blue dress, so of course Drew whispers in my ear "Momma there's Cinderella!" And then there is Miss Bridget with her gorgeous red hair...that's a no-brainer... Ariel!

I just want to add that going to something like this makes 30 feel old!! haha! I mean, 30 is old enough that it was actually acceptable for me to tag along and not "uncool". The teenagers actually say "yes, ma'am" to me!haha! "Yes, ma'am??!!"... hey I only went to prom like 1, 5, ....12 years ago! wow! maybe I am old?
I also know that before I blink, I will be taking pictures of Drew at her prom and that nearly brought tears to my eyes ;)
Anyway... here are some pics from the fun time :)

Nate, Joseph and Ashton

Nate and Joseph

Nate, Joseph and Carson

All the guys... those white tuxes are cracking me up! Although, I do like the fad of all black with colored tie

Drew and Miss Hannah P.

Drew and Miss Jacie

Drew and Miss Bridget with her date Tanner

Drew and Miss Mallory

Drew and Miss Hannah M.

Happy Birthday Drew!

2011-05-03T15:26:00.000-07:00

My sweet girl turned 4 years old today! I can not believe it! She requested we have her birthday dinner tonight at Larry's Pizza! So, birthday girl gets what birthday girl wants!

We actually had her party on Sunday at Party Central (the jump place) and of course she had a blast! She asked that her cake and "decor" be purple and flowers, so momma tried her best to oblige ;)! Everything turned out really cute!

I love the little girl that Drew is turning into and I pray that God continues to work on her little heart. While she can have her moments of whining and sassing... she is so outgoing, smart and perceptive (there isn't much you can get past her ha!) Drew is the prime example of a strong willed child, :) I pray that that strong will gets her through some of those tough years of peer pressure! And LOTS of prayer for me trying to discipline my strong willed child!ha!
I love you Drew Elizabeth and the sweet, loving preschooler that you are!

A few pics from her party:

Drew

One

Two

Three

Four!!

Disney Princess Date

2011-04-30T20:52:00.001-07:00

Last Saturday night Drew and I along with a group of sweet little friends and their momma's went to dinner and a show. Disney Princess on Ice to be specific and we had a wonderful time! Drew went as Princess Jasmine... I mean of course that's who she would pick-I think it's the similarity in hair-:) We had a delicious dinner at Cantina Laredo and got quite a few looks with all of the girls being in their princess get-ups!
I wish they wouldn't have put "princess" in the title of the show because I'm afraid it might have scared some boys away. It was definitely not gender specific and so entertaining for everyone! I'm so glad we did have one little prince in our group--sweet Max- -and I think he had a pretty good time with all of his princesses ;)

Back at Honey's house Bennett and Michael stayed with Honey, Nanny and PopPop. They had some dinner, bath and a little play time. We were so thankful they were able to stay at home! They would have been quite a handful on top of the other 5 preschoolers, but their time is coming when they will get to go :) From the pictures it looks like they had quite a time of their own.

Max brought a fruit roll-up for each of his princesses when he arrived. What a prince...

A princess in waiting.... for her cheese quesadilla!

Finley stepping into her Rapunzel dress

How cute is this?!

Max, Evie, Finley, Drew and Megan

This is how Drew looked most of the show :)

$12.00 cotton candy... oh don't worry the crown came with it! I think it was gold plated!

Take a close look at how Drew is devouring this snow cone like she hasn't eaten in days and also look at how everyone is staring at her like "what arrre you doing?!" Drew went a little nutty on the snow cone! Why, I'm not sure?! At one point the scoop of ice even fell on the floor and she (without a second thought) picked it right back up, plopped it back in the cup and carried on with her inhalation of the snow cone.

Oh yes, by the way, the snow cone was $15.oo haha!

Easter Pictures

2011-04-25T13:04:00.001-07:00

Easter seemed so special this year. Not that it isn't always... but, I think, this year seemed to tug at my heart strings a little more because Drew seemed to take interest and somewhat understand the Crucifixion and Resurrection. Now, not totally understand, but she seemed to soak some of it up and wanted to talk about it. And that is just so important to me because it is the basis for everything we believe :)
We also had a Good Friday service at church this year which was a very special time of reflection and worship for what Jesus did on the cross for us. I really hope we continue that each year.
And of course Sunday was a wonderful day because we got to celebrate the resurrection! Church service was great and all the beautiful banners that were carried into the sanctuary with the different names of Jesus were wonderful as always.
After church we were able to get some pictures of the fam and the weather was perrrfect for picture taking .... you know a little overcast with just the right amount of light... So excuse the overload, but I just thought they were all so good :)!

Happy Easter!
He is not here;he has risen! Luke 24:6

Happy, Happy Easter Day

2011-04-24T19:58:00.000-07:00

The Catch

2011-04-21T11:21:00.001-07:00

This past Sunday we skipped church and headed over to the lake house. It was nice to get in some good ol' QFT. We had some time to kill before lunch, so we decided to do a little bit of fishing... plus mom had just gotten the girls some new princess fishing poles and gone out and bought crickets and worms (ewww... I told her she could bait those) so that made it extra fun! We went down to the dock behind the house and honestly had no expectations of catching anything... I mean you can see right to the bottom, but we wanted to show Drew some of the fishing "basics". Well what do you know, after a few casts and a little bit of waiting we caught one!! Drew's first fish!! She was flipping out! She was both excited and freaked out at the same time haha! It was actually pretty entertaining for everyone :)

Look at her face ;)

Yelling at Teddy to come and look..."Teddyyyyyy"

We put the fish down in a bucket with some water, so everyone could get a good look... Bennett wasn't quite sure about the fish.

Say "FIIIIIISHHH"

After lunch we did a little egg hunting while the boys napped

And finally Brandan had the great idea of playing football... I say "great" because he thought we should just go ahead and play all out tackle football! Ummm Momma didn't think it was that great of an idea :). Fortunately, it didn't turn out nearly as bad as I had foreseen and it was actually kinda funny

maybe not that funny... see Drew's face haha

take er' down Drew!!

p.s. we did make it into church that evening for drew and evie's choir performance ;)

Easter Fun Meet

2011-04-18T12:37:00.001-07:00

Saturday afternoon the girls had their Easter Fun Meet at gymnastics. They were able to be one on one with an instructor, go through a check list of skills they work on during gym class and show everyone "all their moves" :)! They were introduced to the audience before they began and when they finished they also received a round of applause from all the families there. The girls really had a good time and I really liked it as well, because it was very positive, encouraging and made the kids feel very proud of their hard work.

Waiting on their turn...

Evie... Handstand- look at those pointed toes!

I had to throw this picture in of Bennett (if you can see him)... Poor thing had to sit in that stroller for over an hour while I was getting pictures of Drew and Evie. He was a trooper, but ready to GO by the end!

Evie just about broke a sweat doin' her stuff on those bars... her face was sooo serious

All done and proud!

Drew making a little photo op while her toes were on the bar... haha

I was so proud (so was Andrea) of Drew for this bridge-up! This is one of the few times she has done it this perfect!

Award Time!!

They got medals and certificates... oh and don't forget the box of candy :)

Group pic... this isn't their actual class, but all the kids that were scheduled for the 1:00 meet time

Drew, Lolly and Ava

Thanks for the great time Lolly!

Time for Tea

2011-04-16T15:52:00.000-07:00

Thursday was Drew's Tea Party at Preschool. They were to have excellent manners and be very polite during tea... that just seems funny in itself considering we are talking about preschoolers here... although Drew did come home with a "Good Manners" certificate haha! Her Daddy went to this party with her and she was so excited to have him there. Brandan said he had a really good time, although I'm not sure he knew what to think about some of the crazy 4yr olds!ha! She chose a purple (her current favorite color) dress and oh so fabulous ;) purple hat to wear, along with her pearl necklace and bracelet. I was hoping to find some little white gloves for her to wear, but never made it around to getting any. I thought she looked really sweet and ready for tea!

Giddy Up Good Time

2011-04-13T19:33:00.000-07:00

Finley's 4th birthday party was this past weekend at the horse stables. We honestly had the best time! The weather was absolutely perfect and the kids had a blast! We came for Ava's birthday a couple of years ago, but the girls weren't brave enough to ride the horses. This year they didn't even blink about getting up there and riding. They are getting so big :) Evie was especially proud of herself for riding the horse. She talked about how much fun she had all evening :)
Bennett kept calling all of the horses, "dogs", but of course he calls anything with 4 legs a dog. He thought it was quite funny when I would neigh like a horse...he would neigh back at me and then laugh. Cute ;)
Happy Birthday Finley! Drew's is coming up... I can't believe she will be 4?!!

Throwing rocks in the creek

At this point in the hayride Drew tells me "Momma I gotta go pee BAD"... wooonderful... I said, "Okay, let's go find a tree!" and I am sooo glad we did, I think she peed as much as one of those horses! HA!

Hayride

Waiting in line to rope the bull

The birthday group

Nothing like a nice wet sucker in a nice "germ free" horse stable haha

The birthday girl wasn't in the mood for a birthday hug, so Richard came to the rescue!

Gettin Cozy in the Coup

2011-04-11T15:42:00.000-07:00

I find the sticker a little humorous... hehe

Bennett's favorite outside toy, as of now, is the good ole cozy coup. As soon as we open the door to go outside he makes a beeline to it! He slings that little door open, jumps in and slams it shut! And Drew better not be botherin him!ha!Or he is telling her ALL about it! It cracks me up because he really doesn't do anything but sit in it and turn the steering wheel back and forth. Occasionally he will let Drew push him, but he really prefers to do his own thing. I must say, I am loving anything that will keep his attention for more than 5min! He is so so so BUSY!

Technically it was Drew's before Bennett came along :)

Hoopa Loopin'

2011-03-31T20:47:00.000-07:00

Otherwise known as Hula Hooping :) Not only is Drew "hoopa loopin" she is doing the "hoopa loop dance" and boy does she have some serious body rollin goin on!! If you can make it through Bennett's shrill screams it is quite entertaining :)

Second Chance Ranch

2011-03-30T19:44:00.000-07:00

In our Sunday School class, we try each month to get together with our kids and participate in a mission project. Through the initial idea by addi's momma, we are trying to teach our kids what it is to love others as God would have us to and expose them to situations in which we can do good for other people. We have done things like; caroling to shut-ins, visiting a nursing home, making cards for momma's and their kids in crisis situations, baking cookies for people at The Care Center and writing birthday cards for women at the prison in Newport.

Last Saturday we had the opportunity to volunteer at the SCR. We had planned on planting some flowers and doing a little work outside, but the weather was really nasty so we were able to help in the kitchen instead. The kitchen is recently new, so they needed some dishes and silverware washed. Drew and Evie were their girls for the job!! I was so proud of them and the great job they did. They dried and sorted silverware and even washed some (I think those dishes got somewhat clean?! ;) I was able to clean a bathroom while they worked in the kitchen. It's neat seeing the girls learn how to love others in all different ways.

What is SCR: Second Chance Ranch exists to provide abused, neglected, and at-risk youth a caring home while actively working to resolve crises in the youth’s life, restoring the individual and reunifying the family.

I recently read this quote on another blog and thought it was perfectly fitting for what we are trying to teach our children:

“Christ has no body on earth but yours. No hands but yours. No feet but yours. Yours are the eyes through which Christ’s compassion for the world is to look out; yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good; and yours are the hands with which He is to bless us now.” – Saint Teresa of Avila

Welcome to the Club

2011-03-29T10:06:00.000-07:00

Other exciting news this month is that Drew got to welcome miss Finley Grace to the Big Sister Club! Finley's new baby sister Ellis Mae came on March 7. Drew would not quit begging me to go see her so we stopped by one day. Big sister Finley had prior engagements that day (your schedule gets busy when your a big sister;) so Drew got Ellis all to herself. Drew was so proud to see and hold her! We haven't got to spend as much time as we would like with her... life just seems to get so busy, but we are going to have to make it more a priority because before you know it she will be all over the place like Bennett!

Isn't Ellis beautiful?! So sweet, I love swaddled babies :)

Bennett made his way in from the playroom... he was very polite and offered some of his toys to Ellis

This is Bennett flashing his "how can you not love me when I smile like this" smile!! He's gotten really good at it ;)

If You Give a Pig a Pancake and the park

2011-03-28T14:59:00.000-07:00

I guess this post title seems to have the letter "p" theme to it, so I may need to add the word procrastination! I have been a bad blogger for the month of March. I have pictures that I want to post, I've just been lazy about doing it. So, I think I will try to cram my average 4-5 post in these last few days of March :)

At the beginning of the month Drew had her first field trip. We went to see the play If You Give a Pig a Pancake. It was interesting...just a girl and a pig and they were really BUSY...they had to be to keep 3yr olds attention for nearly an hour! She really enjoyed it and I have to say that all of our preschool classes were on good behavior :)

We have really had some beautiful weather for the majority of the month. We went to the park one weekend and had a little picnic lunch and enjoyed playing outside.

No, it's not Elton John... it's Drew... and these are the sunglasses she chose to wear to the park. I like to call her Elton when she wears these ;)

Max

Busy Boy... I got to chase him around EVERYWHERE

Michael getting sleepy

Wrong way guys!

Dr. Drew

2011-02-28T20:17:00.000-08:00

Evie is 4!

2011-02-21T20:02:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to Evie! Today is actually Evie's birthday, but we celebrated yesterday (Sunday). She had her party at the jump place here in town... it's always fun and popular with the kids :) I can hardly believe she is 4 years old! And Drew is right behind her! We love you Evie Kate!

There's the birthday girl!

Bennett looks such like a little man in this picture :)

Bennett Booty and Michael Booty

Evie, Jax and Megan

Evie was so happy to have her cousins Kinlee, Jax and Knox at her birthday! They drove down from Springdale just to celebrate with Evie. Jax and Evie ran around holding hands while they were playing, it was so cute :)

The Cake

A little birthday hug from Finley Grace

Do you think Drew liked the cookies?! These were the cute party favors and they were soo good! Good enough that I had Maalox for dinner tonight!ha! I couldn't quit eating them!

I almost forgot... today on Evie's birthday Anna let her choose somewhere for us to eat lunch together. I would say guess where she chose, but I don't think you would be able to .... Evie chose for us to have lunch at Western Sizzlin! Evie loves her some Sizzler. She gets it honest from her Daddy. We pulled up in the parking lot and Drew said "Momma are you sure this is Evie's birthday place?"ha!

Just a little more love...

2011-02-16T07:39:00.000-08:00

Drew had her preschool Valentine Day party yesterday. It had to be rescheduled for this week due to snow last week. They did ice cream sundaes and it was adorable... my favorite party so far! They even ate their ice cream in the little glass ice cream cups, so cute!

This is the reason we had those silly huge heart sunglasses.... so we could get a group picture with the whole class :)

As we were leaving, we spotted Evie and Michael playing on the playground and we decided to join them for a minute before we left.

Evie Kate... who by the way, is turning 4 next week!!

I Only Have Eyes for You

2011-02-14T12:25:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Party Like an Animal

2011-02-10T10:23:00.000-08:00

We made it through Bennett's first birthday party!! It was fun, but simple. We opened presents (or at least attempted to) Drew and I pretty much did that for Bennett :), ate cake and ran and played in Lolly's gym! I'm pretty sure Bennett had no idea it was his birthday, but he did have a good time! I still can't believe he is a year old! He is walking more and more everyday. He still crawls the majority of the time, he is super fast so I can't blame him for taking the easy way.ha! But, randomly I will look over and he will be toddling around the room. It's so cute;)

Treat Bags

Sweet Birthday Boy

This lasted for about 2.5 seconds and he was done... it was worth a try!

Drew was very entertaining opening his presents, she had cute comments for each gift!

Finley brushing up on her big sister skills... she will be one soon!

Which one is the monkey?!

This picture cracks me up! The true party animals!

Bennett's favorite activity of the night... sliding down on his belly, he had no fear!

The cake! Which by the way, came from HARP's ! I thought they did a great job, plus it tasted sooo good!

Momma needed a taste ;)

Max kept a close eye on Bennett all night. He's such a sweetie ;)

A Year Ago

2011-02-02T20:37:00.001-08:00

Bennett Lee~ born Feb. 2nd 2010

We took Bennett for a little fun at Playtime Pizza on his big day :)

Well, it's really hard for me to believe that a year ago today my sweet Bennett came into this world! I blinked and the year was gone. Little did I realize that the day I scheduled my c-section (Feb.2nd) was Groundhog's Day (guess I never paid much attention to the holiday :)! So, this morning as I was walking upstairs to get Bennett from his crib, I passed the TV and they were waiting on that punxsutawney phil to come out and I smiled because today my little Bennett is a year old!
Having a boy has brought such a fun change to our household! Man, is he ever BUSY! As I was folding laundry the other day, I was looking at Bennett's little jeans and how he has worn holes in the knees... it made me laugh because Drew's jeans would NEVER have been that worn...seems to be the difference between my sweet girl and sweet boy!
I have grown to love searching for boy clothes and how he looks like such a little man in them. And I CAN. NOT. get over how much boys LOVE any kind of ball or something they can push around the floor! It is the cutest thing!
And I must say, mommas and their boys have something special... I can't really describe it, but it is special.
Brandan, Drew and I love our Bennettboo to the moon and back (as Drew would say); you make our family complete! Happy 1st Birthday Bennett!

It is January... right?!

2011-01-28T13:59:00.000-08:00

What a beautiful day!! I'm pretty sure the temperature got up to nearly 70! We took advantage of the nice weather went outside and soaked up a little sun. Anna and I got to run outside this morning which was great and Drew got to jump on her trampoline after lunch. Rachel and Finley came over to play for a little bit and enjoy the weather with us.

Today was also great because Bennett took TWO STEPS!!! So exciting! I knew he was getting close because he is just all over the place climbing, standing, reaching and transferring from one piece of furniture to the other. It's just a matter of him getting brave. Maybe (doubt it) but maybe he will be walking by his birthday next week. That would be so fun!

Mean face

Bennett looks happy :)

Doin' the monkey hang

Helping Drew with the monkey hang

Annnnd.... drum roll please..... I caught him in action!

A little animal cracker never hurt for motivation

He is going to be a year old this coming Wednesday! That is just crazy to me! It seems like we just got home from the hospital. Time flies...

Little Helper

2011-01-25T19:37:00.001-08:00

So thankful to have a handy little helper while I'm cleaning the kitchen :)

"This is Amazing"

2011-01-09T15:07:00.001-08:00

"This is amazing"... is what Drew said as she walked around in the snow today. This is truly Drew's first REAL snow that she has gone out and played in. Last year we had some snowy weather, but the stuff that is coming down today is some kinda snow! And boy is it really coming down!

Momma I'm ready to get out there

Catching snow on her tongue

Of course she had to make snow angels ... and I must say they were quite good :)

FIRST SNOW 2011
(Bennett was napping, plus he has an ear infection so I don't think he will be doing much playing in the snow :)

Twenty Ten - A Look Back

2011-01-06T15:15:00.001-08:00

I can't even believe it's 2011, but here it is and another year has literally flown by! Why is it the older you get the faster time goes... I don't like that :) Here are a few pictures to reflect our year.

Well, January started our year with preparing for Bennett to come and me being large and in charge. February came fast!

February

On my defense I did have some stuff strapped on my belly under that gown, but dang.... I was big!

Bennett Lee~ born Feb. 2nd 2010

March

Drew 2yrs and 10 mos. Bennett 6wks

April

Easter- Family of four

May

Drew turns 3!!

Summertime- June & July

August

Destin, FL

September

Drew starts 3yr old preschool and I turn 30!

October

November

Brandan turns 30!

December

The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy! Psalm 26:3

What an Acheivement!

2011-01-04T13:43:00.000-08:00

As of yesterday, Everett Buick GMC is the number one GMC dealership in the NATION!! We beat a dealership in Houston for the most 2010 year end sales. This wouldn't be possible without the wonderful sales team and staff and most of all a supportive community of customers that has made this dealership what it is...... number 1!! I mean if you think about it, it seems impossible that a dealership in a small town like Benton/Bryant beat out every dealership in the entire country. Wow! Normally, I wouldn't post something like this on the blog, but our family and friends are very excited and I wanted to document and share this accomplishment.

I pulled this pic from Arkansas Business in an article that ran back in April 2010. The hard copy had a picture of mom, dad, Brandan, Chad and my cousin, but the website didn't have the same picture. It was a good article about the dealership.

Christmas with the Hudspeth's

2011-01-03T14:09:00.000-08:00

Well, of course I wanted to get this post done in December, but obviously that didn't happen so better late than never right?! We had a great Christmas this year. The girls are at a really fun age and the boys were so cute too! By the way this was Bennett's first Christmas! We had a busy holiday like I'm sure everyone else did, but it's always nice to enjoy family, reflect on Christ's birth and remember how blessed we are.
On Christmas Eve we enjoyed a nice service at church and then headed over to Gram and Pop's to open presents with Brandan's moms family. Christmas morning my family came over to our house and we had a yummy breakfast. Christmas afternoon we went to Brandan's mom's house and then Christmas evening we made our way to Brandan's dads. Whewww, okay I'm tired just thinking about it all again...here goes the picture breakdown:)

To start off Christmas Lainie came over and took pictures of all the Hudspeth grandkids (very entertaining;) and thanks to her I was able to get out last minute Christmas cards!

Bennettboo's first Christmas!!!

Enjoying some of his loot and looking super cute in his little man pajamas

I must say Drew has some killer bed head;)

Poppop playing in the floor with the boys... pretty impressive that he can still get down there

Honey and Teddy got Drew and Evie American Dolls this year... they loved them

Bennett is giving that rocking horse some kinda look!

Michael and Bennett got big boy chairs this year... here is Michael sitting in his

Christmas afternoon at Nana's

Drew waiting on Joseph to get Belle out of the box... notice the hand on the hip

Bennett riding his V-tech zebra

Christmas evening at Papa and Lolly's

Drew, Truly, Ava and Emery

sweet girl

Truly Jo and Bennett Lee's first Christmas

....then we went home and crashed!

Merry Christmas 2010

2010-12-19T19:12:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas from our family to yours

Preschool Christmas Party

2010-12-16T16:17:00.000-08:00

Today was Drew's Christmas party at preschool. I must say this party was much more relaxed than the Halloween party. I think I learned the hard way that it is MUCH easier for me to get a babysitter for Bennett than to try and take him. So, Bennett stayed with Nana this time and Drew and I went to the party. We had fun! We had a "breakfast with santa" meal, sat on santa's lap, played pin the nose on rudolph and gave Mrs. Joyce her gift. Here are some pics of the party.

Group shot

Drew eating her breakfast with santa

"What do you want for Christmas Finley?"

Drew just sat and smiled at santa... she wouldn't tell him a thing!

Look what santa gave me!

Pretty sure Drew didn't close her eyes...

We walked over to Mrs. Susan's room to see Evie

and Addi

Mrs. Joyce opening her presents, with a little help :)

Wordless Wednesday

2010-12-15T11:58:00.001-08:00

Sweet Singin'

2010-12-10T15:38:00.000-08:00

Wednesday night Drew had her little music program at church and it was the most adorable thing I've ever seen! They sang the sweetest songs, the motions were precious and their little voices just melted my heart. I wasn't sure how she would do up on stage, but she did so good! I was one proud mommy! I was definitely in full nerd mom mode.... you know, waving like a lunatic, thumbs up, the whole bit... you get the picture. I didn't care one bit because when Drew's eyes met mine her face lit up and I'm pretty sure mine did the same! My pictures didn't turn out all that great because I wasn't nearly as close as I would have liked, but I still got a few good ones.:)

Walk This Way

2010-12-05T19:13:00.001-08:00

I found these two pictures of Bennett and Drew in the same poses. I really don't think they look that much alike?? I see glimpses of similarities... cute little stinkers ;)

Bennett Lee ~ December 2010 ~ 10 mos.

Flashback... Drew Elizabeth ~ December 2007 ~ 7mos.

And just for fun....

she looks so old to me in this picture... maybe it's the pose, ha!

snaggle tooth

Preschool Pictures

2010-12-02T08:45:00.001-08:00

I was so excited and proud of how well Drew's preschool pictures turned out that I had to share. We had to preorder the package and of course I got the biggest package... so either I was going to have alot of bad pictures and a funny memory OR lots of really great pictures to share with everyone!! I will definitely be sharing these! I am so proud of her :)

Drew Elizabeth
Preschool Picture 2010

We're Thankful!

2010-11-30T19:47:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving was good this year! Lots to be thankful for... Here are just a few random pics from our thankful day! One thing I am NOT thankful for is the stomach bug!!! Which has put the hurt on each on of us here at the Hudspeth household....horrible! On the other hand I am soooo thankful it is gone.

Bennett eats with his shirt off...like a real man :)
Look at that face?!

Apparently Bennett spent most of Thanksgiving with no clothes on... oh well

This picture will make Evie so happy :) Look at that pocahontas hair! If anyone ever loved their long hair, it's Evie Kate!

Happy Thanksgiving

Rapunzel, Rapunzel

2010-11-24T21:13:00.001-08:00

...Let down your hair! Drew's Nana bought her this hilarious Rapunzel braid. Drew thinks it is wonderful! She has worn it everyday since she got it and slept with it in her bed. These pictures are from breakfast on Tuesday before preshcool when she had asked me if she could "eat breakfast in her wig" ha! She has also let me know that she will be wearing it when we go to see the movie Tangled. I'm sure we will get some looks :)

Picture day, it's picture day!

2010-11-13T15:12:00.000-08:00

Thursday was picture day for Drew and Evie at preschool. We had a few minutes before school to get some practice shots in.

Drew had to hold her new fashion fairy tale barbie

Just a few more...

2010-10-30T21:15:00.001-07:00

These were just before we left the house to go trick or treating

my favorite :)

Halloween Festivities

2010-10-29T19:33:00.001-07:00

Thursday Drew had her Halloween parade at preschool and her party after. The parade was through downtown Benton. We went to different businesses, paraded through and they passed out candy to all the kids. It was quite a sight with nearly 50 3year olds and all their entourage making our way across streets and through buildings. We were glad to be back at the preschool by the end, it took us nearly an hour! Drew was in a funky mood that morning and didn't like me taking her picture. Despite that, all the girls looked really cute!

Drew's class picture... As I said she was in a "mood" and I couldn't get her to get in the group picture... grrrr-"pick your battles"

Finley-Spider Witch Evie- Dorothy Drew- Witch

Momma with one earring... Thank you Bennett

Not the greatest picture, but I'll take what I can get and this is what I got

Later that evening we had our Sunday school party. I dressed Bennett up for this one. He cracks me up in his costume. I call him the blind pumpkin because his little hat ends up completely covering his eyes and yet it doesn't slow him down at all.

My little Pumpkin Patch... see the patches on his legs and sleeves :)

Michael is the cowardly lion to go with Evie's Dorothy costume... this is the best shot I got of him. He and Bennett have the same problem with their hats :)

Happy Halloween

Busy Squirrel

2010-10-27T20:22:00.000-07:00

Tuesday during Bennett's nap, Drew and I went outside to play and Drew was very excited to find an abundant supply of acorns in the backyard. She began gathering as many as she could and kept saying, "Look more!" She thought we should gather them up and bring them in the house... I convinced her we'd better leave them outside for the squirrels. After her acorn gathering she let me take a few pictures.

Counting the acorns