....And a Happy New Year!

The Hudson Family is currently recovering from an Upper Respiratory Infection. Yes, this is a self-diagnosis, but to just call what ever this is a "cold" does not do us any justice. Our house sounds like the Tuberculosis Ward of a Southern California hospital. Everyone one of us can be sent into a sneezing frenzy at any moment, which sends me running for the box of tissues to try and catch the green and yellow carnage before it stains a clean sleeve. I've had chills for four straight days. The kids get hot, then cold, hot again, etc. Our throats look like hot lava with puss pockets floating on top of each tonsil. Sorry if you're trying to eat breakfast while reading this, I'm just trying to paint the picture most accurately so you can fully understand why I refuse to simply call this a cold. I went to bed at 7:00 last night, and I think Bert had already put most of the kids in their beds by that point. I honestly don't remember. I'm feeling waaaay better this morning, so hopefully everyone else is slowly on the mend too. My husky 11 year old -who stayed up all night at a spend the night party- voice is finally back to normal. Funny how when you're 11 years old, that's the coolest thing in the world, to lose your voice. Fast forward 17 years and it's just annoying. You try to holler at one of your children who just rode their bike down the drive way and into the street without checking for traffic, and all that comes out is, "Lu-- com- h---!" She doesn't even hear you, which means you now have to march down in full view of all your neighbors, in your pj's (it's only 4 pm) with crazy hair and a nose as red as Rudolph's, to explain what could have happened if there had been any traffic in the street. Lucy nods, all your neighbors wave and then holler from their yards, "How are you guys? Are you feeling okay? How was Christmas? etc." Again, the loss of your voice becomes annoying as they have to make their way closer and closer just to read your lips and figure out what in the world you are saying.
All part of the fun. Onto happier thoughts...


Christmas was wonderful. This year our children (except for Hank) were all old enough to really get excited at the anticipation of Santa. They were super cute about it. We were up and out in the cul-de-sac riding the new bikes and Gator that Santa delivered before 6am. I'm sure our neighbors loved that! They were squealing and laughing all morning.


The night before we ate our Christmas dinner (pancakes and sausage, a Hudson kid fave) in the dinning room, just to make it fancy. We were still eating on paper plates, but we did drink out of wine glasses... Chocolate milk of course! I considered slipping a little hard stuff in with their chocolate milks though, so they would calm down and go to sleep before midnight. Ty cracked us up half way through dinner. He raised his glass and said in his voice (which is always husky, sick or not) "Momma, wet's do dis!" And he clinked our glasses together. "Now, wet's ALL do dis!" So, the entire family joined in, toasting Santa and Baby Jesus. Bert and I have tried all Season to explain to our kids that Christmas is much more than Santa and presents. Lucy proved that she's been the only one listening to these talks. As we were finishing up our royal sausages and pancakes, Bert says, "Now, who can tell me the Story of Christmas?" Lucy eagerly raises her hand, as if she were in a classroom and waits patiently for Bert to call on her. She then states, "Mary and Joseph were riding on a donkey when Baby Jesus was Born in a Barn!" Jack fills in the blanks with, "Oh, and SANTA! Santa was born too." We all roll our eyes, and Lucy continues, "Then, the three wise men brought him presents." Jack again, "YEA! Presents!!" Bert, ignoring our borderline ADD son says to Lucy, "Very good! Do you know what those gifts were?" He then tries to explain each gift and gives a little pre-school definition for them to understand. They totally could relate to Gold, these kids love money. Bert tried to explain Frankincense & Myrrh, but Jack couldn't get over the fact that Frankincense sounded like Frankenstein. Lucy finally interrupted Jack's babble and asked what those were. Bert, who was growing frustrated at this point said, "It's like a candle that helps make things smell better." Lucy, holding her nose, was right on cue with, "We need some of that stuff around here!"
What can I say, we tried.


I have no idea where my camera is this morning. I do plan to post some pics of our fun morning.


Christmas is super fun with four little ones. I'm sure it will only get better in the years to come. We love our little family. And we're happy that you can be a part of it. We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas too. We welcome 2009 and look forward to all GOD has in store for us!