Kids Pictures

I am embarrassed to say it but we have not had a family picture taken since before Hudson was born. I didn't want to the first couple of months after he was born because I felt like I still looked kind of pregnant. I know that is a selfish reason and really when my kids are 50 they aren't going to care if that family photo from who knows when has mom looking a little flabby. But then once school started, Ike has been so busy, it has just been really hard to find a time to do them. Well my really awesome really cool and really talented photography friend Laura asked if I wanted any photos for Hudson's one year and of course I said yes! I have also decided that as soon as school is out, Ike is coming and we are taking some family photos!

I usually have very low expectations with my kids pictures simply because neither Brady nor Jackson really know how to smile on demand. In fact, Jackson's "picture smile" is more of a disgusted pained look than a smile. But she was miraculously able to get some good ones all the same!


So there are a lot more of Hudson than of the other boys but honestly, when you are the most cooperative child and your smile is adorable, that is just what happens.

I actually really love this one.

On the go in April.

I feel we have had something going on almost every day in April. The weather is finally warming up. We have had some days in the 70s but today was in the 40s again. Lots to catch up on. Jackson and my birthday's are both in April and it just so happened that they lined up with Easter break! One thing I love about where we live is that almost all the schools around here give you the Friday before Easter and the Monday after off. They never did that where I grew up but I love it! So Ike got to be home on my birthday and Jackson's. It was awesome!

So what has been going on in April?

Soccer!
Saturdays have been all about Soccer here. Brady LOVES playing. He isn't the fastest but I would say is the most enthusiastic on his team!

Sometimes you have to make sacrifices for family and sometimes that means watching a four year old's soccer game in 30 degree temperatures.

Hudson is 11 months!

Yes I should have probably put  clothes on but I happened to remember right before a bath and the lighting was good in the living room so I took advantage!

Jackson's Birthday:
We had a family party for Jackson's birthday and it was so fun!

We played Pin the Mask on the Turtle.

We had a water balloon toss.

We did a scavenger hunt to find all of Jackson's presents but I forgot to take any pictures from it. Jackson wanted a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. This kid loves chocolate. 

He also loves making goofy faces when I am trying to take a good picture!!!

My Birthday!

I now only have one year left in my 20s so I better make it good!

The boys made me breakfast in bed. It consisted of Reeses Puffs cereal, two uncooked english muffins, yogurt, a snickers bar and an ice cream sandwich. It's the thought that counts right?

 Look at that handsome man!

 Hudson enjoyed some of my cake!

 Brady got me flip flops and Jackson got me a hose sprayer! I actually did want both of those things so it was great! Ike got me a few other fancier gifts but I like when the boys pick stuff out for me too.

Easter:

This year we actually dyed eggs!

 Hudson desperately wanted in on the egg dying action. He stayed there pretty much the whole time.

 Some of the finished products.

 Central City does an Easter egg hunt every year and we love going.

Three handsome boys on Easter Morning!

That pretty much sums April up so far. We did have some pictures of the boys taken last weekend but I think I'll save those for another post. We leave this Thursday for my sister's wedding, then only a few weeks until another wedding! We are also counting down the days to summer vacation!

Just a sneak peak. We didn't really get any good group shots but I thought this one was cute all the same.

The Kitchen Floor

We have known since we bought the house in 2015 that we would need to redo the kitchen floor. It didn't look terrible but it had several squishy spots that made us nervous. We had some other pressing things that  needed to be taken care of first (new roof, chimney removed and a few others.) but finally, after almost three years of living here, we had the floor done. What was supposed to be a 4 day job ended up lasting two weeks. I know that for any kind of home renovation, that really isn't that bad. But two weeks without a kitchen was not fun. It turned out that the floor was squishy because of some major water damage in the kitchen and adjoining bathroom. It was a great thing that we ripped everything out down to the subfloor because of how much moisture there was. We even had to replace parts of the subfloor in the bathroom, which also ended up being a blessing because the workers noticed some major plumbing issues that needed to be fixed as well.

After the first week, when we were all pretty tired of eating microwave dinners and doing dishes in the upstairs bath tub, Ike had the best idea ever. We decided to go to a hotel just for the weekend. We needed a break from the mess in the house and I wanted some real food! So we had a mini vacation not so far from home. It was awesome. I think it gave us enough of a break that we were able to come back and deal with a whole other week of construction and it didn't even bother us (too badly).




Before:

During:

 Tile but no grout:

 All done and back to its normal messy kitchen self:

At the hotel:

Honestly, I told Ike that I wish we had just paid another couple of thousand and had them redo the whole kitchen. All that work to rip stuff out only to put the same old cupboards back in just seems like a waste. But I figure little by little. The kitchen is slowly on  its way to being my dream kitchen.