Happy Birthday Hudson

For Hudson's birthday we took him to Hop 2 It. It's an indoor bounce house place (aka: germ factory, don't worry I made them all come home and shower!) (weird mom!) They had a blast!!! They played for about 2 hours, then we came home so we could get ready for the family party!

 

 

We had Nachos with all the fixings including my homemade salsa!! It's yummy, it feeds a crowd and it's kid friendly. Win, Win, Win!

6 years old!

 

 

YAY!!

There's nothing like a birthday with tons of people you love around!!

 

 

 

Happy Birthday Huddo!

Christmas Eve

For Christmas Eve we went out to my parents' house for hors d'oeuvres and Christmas Eve activities.

The kids colored pictures of the nativity. Some didn't last very long.

 

 

They opened their Christmas jammies from Grandma and Grandpa

 

 

These guys know the routine now, they would say things like, "I wonder what our pajamas will be like this year." or "I can't wait to open our pajamas from Grandma."  Little stinkers. ;)

 

Back at home we had to get our yearly pics in front of the tree.

Ready for Santa to come:

Catmull Christmas Party

This year the theme for the Catmull Christmas party was The Polar Express! We came in our pajamas and had breakfast for dinner. Now that's my kind of party!!! Nate's cousin did an amazing job, there was every kind of cereal imaginable on the cereal bar, as well as all the traditional breakfast foods.  I really do need to take better pictures of her work. We got our tickets punched and boarded the "train" headed for the North Pole, and guess what? Santa was there!!

Braiden:

 

Santa should have brought one of these for all the kids so they don't fight over it during church. ;)

 

Hudson:

All things Ninja Turtle for this kid!

 

Brody:

 

Brody got a Boise State football.

 

No tears this year!!

 

 

Joslyn is saying, "I wanted this!"

 

Such a fun evening, and a fun tradition!

Trick-or-Treat

 

How did August turn in to November??? I feel bad that I have neglected my blog for so long. 

I've been working on Hudson's baby scrapbook lately (when I can find the time) and I realized something, this blog is very valuable!! There is a ton of journaling to do but he was born 5 almost 6 years ago!! There's a lot that I don't remember, little details you know (which is sad.) So I turn to my blog, I love, love, love, looking back and reading and watching my little munchkins grow and change!

 

We made it through football season, 3 boys on 3 different football teams, it was pretty wild! They love it, and I love it when it is over...I mean when it is over I can look back and say, that was fun! :) My 11 year old knows more about the sport than I do. He knows the calls the refs on TV are going to make before they make them!! eiyiyi! I'm glad they love it and I'm glad that they can share that with their dad.

 

I am enjoying my new calling, I am learning so much! It really makes me study and rely on the spirit.  2 weeks ago my lesson was on How Can I Develop Christlike Love?  I fell in love with the talk by President Uchtdorf The Merciful Obtain Mercy I read that talk over and over I even made handouts to go with the lesson.  Well, Saturday night rolled around and I was putting together my lesson, organizing all of my thoughts and not one part of that talk made it into my lesson, I even threw the handouts away. I ended up doing my whole lesson on President Monson's talk: Charity Never Faileth.  It was the Lord's way of telling me, "Yes, you needed to hear, The Merciful Obtain Mercy. But the girls need, Charity Never Faileth. I am so grateful for the spirit to guide me though this, I could not do it with out!! I showed this video, I bawl and bawl every time I watch it.  This Church is amazing!!!

 

Little Joslyn is in dance and she is loving it!! Her first performance is tomorrow!! I can't wait to watch her. She asks me just about every day if she has dance. If I say no she gets mad at me and says "you always say no dance today!!"

 

Hudson is in kindergarten and is doing so great! I am amazed at the stuff they are learning!! WOWEE! But they get it, those young minds are little sponges soaking it all in.  I help in his class on Tuesdays for 30 min.  It is so funny to see those little kids, they are always excited to see me (I'm not sure why... ;) ) "Hi, Mrs. Catmull!!!" They say, so cute!

 

 

Here are my kiddos on Halloween:

 

 

I made Hudson be Peter Pan, he was OK with it in the end.  Joslyn was Tinkerbell & we had that awesome costume from when Braiden was Peter Pan hmmm 6 years ago (?) When he was 5.  So he had to! At first he'd say everyone is going to think it's dumb! :( But when it all boils down, all they want to do is dress up! Mom and I bought Brody's costume the day before at Target, it's pretty much all they had left. He is out growing the cartoon character or super hero costumes, so this was our choice.  I don't care for the disgusting mask but there again, all they really want to do it dress up & he thought it was fabulous! Braiden was a Hobo. He is at the age where you have to be creative with costumes.  He came up with the idea, I made it happen! I'm all about that!! I guess on Halloween his school is on the 1:00 bell schedule and then at 1:00 they have a Halloween dance in the gym.  Imagine my relief when he told me that he forgot his activity card and $2.00 and didn't really care to go.  So he and his best friends went to his Advisory teachers room and watched The Croods. Fewsh!! I'm glad we're not there yet!

After school we went over to Nate's grandma's to trick-or-treat and the kids found her GIANT leaf pile! I've never seen them have so much fun!! I love this pic of them smiling so big and having fun together! Brody is off to the side raking the leaves into a bigger pile.

Here I think Tinkerbell is throwing leaves at the two boys.  She really is a rotten little stinker in the movie.  In the Tinkerbell movies she is sweet and creative and friendly but in Peter Pan she is a naughty little fairy.  We're going Secret of the Wings here! :)

Happy Fall Y'all!!

More in June

The kids begged to set up the tent in the basement:



 

Braiden earned his Arrow of Light:

June= baseball every night of the week.:

And swimming every morning. Braiden and Brody were on the swim team, it was a great routine to be in, and they really improved their swimming. Hudson and Joslyn each did 2, 2 week sessions of lessons. I was one happy mama when they were done! Swim Team practice continued every morning (M-F) through July!

Here's Hudson:

I finally joined the 21 century and got a smart phone. The first app I downloaded was Instagram, LOVE IT! Maybe Instagram is to blame for my absence here. :}

Playing catch with dad in the back yard.

 

Hudson's t-ball game:

I snapped this picture of the outside temp on the way to a baseball game. GAG! That is too hot!!

Finishing up with baseball (the week after the 4th) Braiden's first year in live pitch baseball.

Brody's team played in the championship game and they got creamed! It was a hard loss. They were undefeated all season. :(

 Second Place:

 

 

Somehow in between all of that I managed to find time to read. (I can always find time to read)



 

 

Son was the last book in Lois Lowry's Giver series and it was such a good book!!! Loved it!

 

The best day of the month:

♥♥ June 30th- Nate and I celebrated our 13th anniversary! ♥♥

 

First Days of Summer Break

 

Here are Hudson's hands after 4 days:

 

 

Those blisters are huge! I put Silvadene on them and bandage them morning and night.  One night after I got done fixing him up he started to sing, "I feel better, so much better, thank you Doc for taking all the ouchies away." It's the little song they sing on Doc McStuffins. So cute! It made me tear up!

 

Here's his hands after 7 days! Looking much better!

 

He missed his first T-ball game, we didn't think that would be very fun for him, swinging a bat and such.

 

Baseball starts full force this week, so for the next 4-5 weeks we will be at the ball park every night of the week! Braiden and Brody's games are Mon/Wed and Hudson's games are on Tues/Thurs.  It should be an interesting year, it will be Brody's first year of pitching machine (and that takes some getting used to) and Braiden's first year of Live Pitch, so we will see how it goes.

 

So if our evenings are spent at the ball park our mornings might as well be spent at the pool.  I signed the older 2 boys up for swim team this year. They are not quite sure about it yet, so far it has been pretty chilly at 8:00 a.m. low to mid 50's , good thing the pool is heated right? It will be SO good for them!!

 

We got signed up for the summer reading program at the library and have already checked out a good stack of books.  Joslyn picked Barbie and Disney Princess, go figure. :) It is part of their daily routine after swimming it's home, shower, chores, reading, lunch then free time.  Mean ole mom!

 

 

 

This is the tree,

This is the tree that Joslyn looks out the window and says, "OH CUTE!"

This is the tree that Braiden says is "infested with bees."

This is the tree that STINKS to high heaven!!

Every year for the first few days it's in bloom I walk around the house and I wonder what is that smell? Then I realize it's coming from the tree which is surprising because a tree that is that "cute" should not smell like that! :)

 

Only 5 days until the relay!!! Holy Smokes!!!

We got our start time the other day...2:45 a.m. It's gonna be a party!!!

Our shirts came in on Friday, you just wait until you see them, they are awesome!!

The forecast is looking very promising (knock on wood) YAY!

I've revamped my playlist a bit. (it's about time) It needed it bad.

I am running the down hill portion of the race. Lets see... I loose 1,401 feet in elevation and gain 0 ft. in 6.02 miles, YIKES! I had my mother in law drive me up Pomerelle mountain 6 miles then I ran down to the car, just to see how I'd do. I think down hill is my thing!?!  I think I should do fine, time will tell. My second leg should be easy, that is if I can move after my first leg. 

Wish me luck! On the bottom of the page I put up a playlist of a few of my favorite running songs, what do you think? What's your favorite workout song?

 

 

Memorial Weekend

As soon as the kids got home from school on the last day and they showed me their report cards which always kills me...
Brody is officially a third grader!
Braiden is officially a sixth grader!
We loaded up and left for Challis, the kids have been looking forward to this for months!
We met up with all of my family 19 of us there!! My Dad had to stay home and work so we missed him, Joslyn kept asking where grandpa was. :( It was the last day of school for all of the kids so it was a PARTY!
I love my family we have a great time together and the kids all get along SO well with each other! James and Joslyn had a minor disagreement on how to say "pillow" and it was quite funny actually
James: Piddow
Joslyn: no! Piwwow
James: no! Piddow
Joslyn: no! Piwwow
So funny! In their own little minds, they were the one that was right.
We did all of the fun Challis things, went to the Hot Springs, fished in the pond, bike rides, fires, and this time we discovered a fun park!
I got started on Hudson's scrapbook and made a little dent in his first year book:

Look at that baby! Don't you just want to kiss his little face! mmmmm!

I am loving Project Life! Even my nieces were pretty interested in what I was doing, they were enthralled with the corner rounder. :) So I had great little helpers, they rounded a lot of corners for me and even picked out some filler cards! I still have a LOT of journaling to do which is a daunting task, well because that was 5 years ago!!

Last Sunday night everyone else went on a walk up to the fish pond Hudson, Joslyn and I stayed behind because Joslyn was having a little fit (read: royal melt down) so she was in time out. Huddo and I were sitting by the fire.  After little miss calmed down a little she needed to go potty so I took her in the house and Hudson stayed out by the fire.  Just as Joslyn was finishing up I heard Hudson SCREAMING outside!! I ran to the door and he was yelling "it's hot, it's hot, it's hot!" He had tipped forward in his camp chair and caught himself on the fire ring and burned the palms of his hands.  :( I immediately put them under cold running water for a while then wet a towel and filled it with ice so he could hold it between his hands.  My poor little boy was in so much pain it just broke my heart! Soon everyone returned from their walk and mom and Kristy ran up to the drug store to find something that might help.  Nate had to go home late Saturday night so he could be to church on Sunday so he was not there but Christopher and Casey gave Hudson a blessing. I was so grateful to have them there! Mom and Kristy came back with some burn cream, gauze, etc. The burn cream had some Lidocaine in it so it helped take some of the pain away.  He still needed to have the ice on it though and he kept the ice for the rest of the night, we kept him loaded up with Tylenol and Ibuprofen, and after a few hours he was feeling a little better!

My poor boy! Between the two of us we almost used up a box of Kleenex.

The sweetest thing though, Scott had recently discovered the boys' collection on Ninja turtles and decided he needed a few of his own, so he bought 3 or 4 and took them to the cabin so he could show the boys.  Well after Hudson got burned he felt so bad for him that he let Hudson pick one of HIS turtles.  (makes me tear up) It really helped to lift Hudson's mood!!

I am grateful that Heavenly Father was watching over my boy because it could have been much worse! I am grateful for my two brothers who are worthy priesthood holders, who gave my boy a blessing, I know it helped him! And I am grateful for my family who rallied around us and helped make him feel better.

I thought the night was going to be rough but he did great, I set my phone every three hours to give him more medicine so other than that he slept like a log! The next morning he was ready to play, didn't even need the ice anymore.

Kristy and I took the kids to the park

Who needs a slide when you have a skateboard ramp?

Happy to see a smiling face!

After that we went home and packed up some of our stuff and hit up the hot springs one last time and headed for home. I was a fun trip...for the most part.

We now have a serious first aid kit in the works for up there! Good thing!

Hudson's Preschool Graduation

If I could choose to freeze my kids at any age I would freeze Hudson right ... about... NOW!

He is just so darn sweet, and loving, and he doesn't talk back, and he thinks Ninja Turtles are super cool but so is Iron Man and he can't quite decide which one to get a toy of when  he fills up his chore chart. He gives his mama hugs every 2 min. He says to  his sister, "Come on Jozzie, lets go see if Mickey Mouse is on." When he asks me what for dinner and I say "Shepard's Pie" he doesn't say, "uh gross, why do we have to have that?" And when he is trying really hard not to cry he rubs his eyes really hard.

Which is just what he was doing when He was standing up there with his little preschool class and they were singing their songs that they have learned this year.  And that made me cry. Or maybe I was crying when I saw him up there and he saw me so he started crying hmmm...one will never know.

His ABC book that he has worked so hard on all year! He finally got to bring it home and show off his work!

He is a sweetheart and he has loved preschool this year and his teacher, we are so lucky to have Miss. Andrea, LOVE HER!!