Summer Wrap Up

I've been MIA from the blogging world for a couple of weeks now. Partly because my hormones are raging. In one moment I'll feel a super heart felt post that needs to be written to my children, so someday when they hopefully come back and read this, they'll understand just how much I loved and adored them.. even if I was squawking like a chicken over the mundane things that needed to be done, like picking up their toys and sweeping up the crushed snacks all over the floor. In the next moment, I feel as though they owe me a heart felt blog post, apologizing for causing much of my insanity. On top of the crazy mood swings pregnancy brings, I just simply haven't had time. When I try to blog during the day, it takes three hours, because I keep having to stop for obvious reasons. I used to blog late at night, when the house was quiet. Now I fall asleep before the kids most nights.

And then on top of the mood swings, lack of time, and exhaustion... Blogger is driving me NUTS and has been as annoying as the temper tantrums my monkeys are known to throw when it's time to clean up.

We've been cramming as much summer fun as we possibly could into these last couple of weeks. And since Blogger has decided to enter the Terrible Two's phase along with Flash Flood, all of my pictures are out of order. Just as I do with Flash Flood when he's pitching a hissy fit in the middle of the living room floor, I'm going to step around Blogger, and completely ignore this tantrum, instead of trying to rearrange all the pics below.

~A quick recap of our Summer 2011~

Sunday afternoon we took the kids skating with some super fun friends. They all had a blast. As did all of us moms watching them learn to skate. Flash Flood hung out with me in the cheering section. Though he did enjoy running a few laps around the rink and dancing to the "moosik."

All the kids fell approximately 87 times each, but somehow we got away with no broken bones and minimal bruises...

...though I'm not exactly sure how.

We made a quick trip to see my big brother and his precious family....

While there, the kids got to swim in a "REAL RIVER." These semi-city kids don't get to do things like that too often, so this was probably the highlight of our trip for them...

The following pictures made me laugh. When eating at a restaurant, Her Highness ordered a salad. I was going to snap a pic of her, because it reminded me so much of my sister Kelly, when she was a little girl, and when The Storm heard me saying, "Say cheese! I want to text a pic of you eating that to Aunt Kell-Bell.." they all turned around and faked a pose, making fun of Her Highness' girly poses she's always striking for the camera...

While on our tour of the south, we got to spend a couple of days with Cookie and Grandy. They treated us to Smurfs in 3D. This was our first 3D experience. I was shocked at the price for seven of us to see the movie, but decided a few minutes in it was totally worth it (especially since I wasn't paying. Thanks, DADDY!) when I saw how much the kids LOVED it. Lightning especially. Every single scene, he would do his husky old man belly laugh that he's known for, then repeat the last line, laugh again, then say, "Awww, man! Dat's SO FUNNY!"

Cookie, Grandy and Kell-Bell also threw me a birf-day party, since I turned 31 while there. Most of the presents were tiny pink baby girl clothes, bedding, and accessories. Her Highness and I were tickled PINK once again...

Sleepovers with cousins are simply the BEST...

A trip to the Children's Science Museum was also a treat The Storm thoroughly enjoyed.

Well that's just typical... I had 84 more pictures for this post, and somehow they're all gone. We also visited with my sweet Granny, met Rick & Bubba (the radio talk show hosts) and got to spend some time with our dear friends the Alford's. Uggggh! Is anyone else having this much trouble with Blogger? Or is it just me?? Sigh. I've got to finish this up anyway. School starts tomorrow, and I've promised my kids a super fun last day of Summer.

Thanks to everyone who hosted us on our last hoo-rah for the summer. We had a ton of fun and will always cherish our memories made with each of you.

Happy end of Summer to you, whenever that may be!

Love, Big Momma

"Avoidance, that is the first lesson in self-defense."

~Steve Geller, Kung Fu: The Legend Continues

I have confessed before, our house stays a complete and total wreck much of the time. Occasionally, I'll get the energy and desire to clean it. Five minutes later, the mess returns. The kids hate cleaning, as much as I do, and will do nearly anything to get out of it.

Me: All right, everybody get in here RIGHT NOW and start picking up.... HELLO?? Turn the TV off and get to work... Guys?? NOW!!

Her Highness, quickly grabs a calculator off the kitchen counter: Awww, come on Momma!! I was hoping to do some Math problems!

Same song different day....

Me: Get out back and start cleaning that porch off right now. I want all the toys, food wrappers, cups, shirts, shoes, EVERYTHING cleaned up and put away... and I want y'all to sweep it off. Got it??

The Storm (on their way out the door): grumble, grumble, grumble... It's not fair... It's hot... I hate cleaning...

A few minutes later--

Neighbor Kid: Hey! Can y'all come over and play??

Thunder, enthusiastically: Well, we're cleaning our porch right now. It's really FUN. Wanna come help??

All I can say to that is, I have taught you well, young grasshoppers.

Tickled PINK

To say Her Highness is excited about finally having a baby SISTER would be a huge understatement. More like, beside herself. The child has been praying for a baby sister, after all, for nearly four years. I have two sisters, and I know what a strong bond we share. So I am thrilled for Her Highness to be able to experience life with a Bitty Princess along her side.

The moment Thunder announced, "It's a GIRL!" we all started squealing and screaming. I was just so surprised to see the word "girl" written on the card Her Highness had designed for the special occasion.

The back of the card read, "Ethier way, well love a boy or a girl!"

And it's true... "Ethier" way, we would have loved a boy or a girl. But for Her Highness' sake, I am thrilled she's finally getting a sister.

Her Highness spent the first couple of days in complete shock. Randomly, she would come up and hug me and say, "Momma, I never saw it coming! I just can't believe it! I never even saw it coming!"

Other quotes from Her Highness...

"YES! Now I've got somebody I can train!"

"Can you buy us matching sundresses and headbands?!"

"SHE'S SLEEPING IN MY ROOM!!"

"Can we name her Bridgette?... Victoria?... Kat?...." (All after some of her favorite Disney and Nickelodeon stars.)

"I'm SO HAPPY we are finally getting another QUIET GIRL in this house!" (said when The Storm was competing in a loud wrestling match in the middle of our living room, while she was trying to watch tv.)

"Momma, would you have screamed that loud if that card had said B-O-Y?" To which I honestly replied, "Well, no. But, only because I wouldn't have been as surprised if it had been a boy. I was expecting it to say boy. But, I would have loved another little boy just as much!"

And my most favorite was last night, when Her Highness and I were watching a "Say Yes to the Dress" marathon on TLC, our Friday night ritual. There was an older sister who teared up at the sight of her baby sister trying on wedding gowns. Her Highness said, "That's gonna be me with my sister when it's her turn to finally get married.... Hey, I bet my little girl will be her flower girl someday!" I teared up then, because MY little girl had once been the flower girl for MY baby sister.

Those are the moments I've longed for Her Highness to experience.

And before anyone asks... NO. We haven't been "trying for a girl" all this time. We've been trying for a loving, strong, wonderful, silly, super fun, God-fearing FAMILY. And I think we've got just that.

Well, color me PINK...

Our ultrasound appointment went well this afternoon. Everything with Half-Dozen Hudson looks great. Bert and I were elated to learn all the baby's organs were healthy, and growing right on schedule. Just like last time, we asked the ultrasound tech to write down the baby's gender and seal it in an envelope, to be opened later when Her Highness and The Storm were present.

The moment we walked in the door, all the kids immediately swarmed us for the envelope. Thunder had the honor of reading the results this time....

Her Highness was on the phone with my Momma, Cookie, giving a play by play...

We immediately started SCREAMING AND SQUEALING....

...because we were all in disbelief!

Her Highness is finally getting a baby SISTER!! Another Princess to join our Storm!!!

And Flash Flood was all, "Wait... What?? I'm not going to be the baby anymore??"

We are so excited. In shock, really. What in the world will we do with a baby GIRL after all these boys??!! We're just thrilled SHE'S healthy.

Hudson Half-Dozen Predictions

We have an ultrasound appointment scheduled for later this afternoon. Seeing our precious baby, hearing the heartbeat, and hopefully finding out if we're getting another Princess or Storm Member are all reasons for us to be super excited this morning. No matter how many times you do it, it's still just as fun as the first time. When The Storm woke up this morning, I took a quick poll to see what they all thought. Here are the results....





Please excuse the quality of the video. Using my phone is much easier and quicker to upload than our actual video camera because my dinosaur com-pooter doesn't like updated technology. Hopefully we'll be back later today with news!

Marilyn Monroe meets Mary Katherine Gallagher

It's summer in the south. Daily temperatures are reaching the upper 90's with heat indexes of 105 (in the shade) and humidity levels are hovering at 60%.

Every time a door gets opened in our house, even if it's shut immediately, our air-conditioning unit cuts on, trying it's best to combat the cloud of heat and humidity that's just been let in by a Storm member, no doubt, along with at least three more flies.

Being outside for more than five minutes will gives your skin the same results as a facial.

Swimming between the hours of 11-4 isn't even an option because everyone agrees, including the children, it's just too hot to swim. And if we don't get a daily rain shower, the pool feels like bath water by the evening, and who wants to swim in that??

Along with the heat brings wardrobe challenges. I don't want any more layers than are absolutely necessary clinging to my half-heat stroked body. So that means the lighter, more flowy the dress, the better. Especially on Sunday mornings, when I'm having to chase/carry/drag our little Storm, and all their necessities into the church building.

Just walking from the parking lot to the building, toting Hail or Flash Flood on my hip (because one or both are usually shoeless) and a giant diaper bag stocked to the brim with crayons, books, toys that don't make (much) noise, snacks, sippy cups, Flash Flood's blankie(s), diapers, wipes, more snacks, and more toys, and of course our Bible, can cause heat exhaustion.

It's often said that "southern women don't sweat, they glisten." Well, that's not entirely true. Because I sweat. Like a boy. And feeling sweat drip down your back is never fun. Especially when you're in a place like church, where you're not supposed to sweat. Unless you've got something to be worried about. Ahem.

For these reasons, I've always appreciated that our church building's thermostat is kept very low. The unit runs non-stop during operating hours. And for me, that's a good thing. Or it was. Until this past Sunday...

The sermon hadn't even begun when Flash Flood had out worn his welcome in "Big Church" as the Storm refers to it. He'd already flipped through every board book, scribbled on several coloring pages (and hymnal pages), and munched on all the pretzels his tummy could handle. During a scripture reading, Flash Flood squealed repeatedly, "I wanna PWAY! PWAY! I WANNA PWAY WIF KAY! Gooooo! Pway wif Kay, pwease?! PWEASE! PWAY!! GOOOO!" (Kay is what Flash Flood calls his girlfriend, and he knew she was in the nursery playing.)

I quickly gathered the squealer, and his blankie, threw him up on my hip and tried to exit the pew before anymore pleas interrupted fellow worshipers. As I stepped into the aisle, I felt a cool breeze, and remembered all too late that a floor vent was blowing, full blast. My dress flew up, Marilyn Monroe style. Though I'm certain I looked much more like Mary Katherine Gallagher as I awkwardly tried to push my dress back over my four month pregnant body (and maternity panties), all while holding on to a squealing 1 1/2 year old.

I threw Flash Flood through the nursery drop-off window to be with his true love, Kay, then ran to the bathroom, where I had a good belly laugh at my own expense. And the expense of other's breakfasts, which were probably all on the verge of coming back up.

I nearly went forward at the end of the sermon, to issue a public apology to all who were unfortunate enough to witness my Marilyn Monroe/Mary Katherine Gallagher crisis.

Embarrassing moments... The story of my life.

What in the world??

I'm com-pooter illiterate. Anybody know what's up with my design? Why is my sidebar suddenly down out the bottom of all my posts?? I didn't touch it. And when I view it from the Design Elements page, where you can click and drag things into the place you want them, it shows everything normal like it's supposed to be. Somebody HEEEEELLLLPPP me. I'm clueless. Uggggh.