Happy Saturday

Who knew that Superman needed to practice casting his fishing pole...

Maggie is talking to the goose down there...she talked to him or her for about a good 10 minutes. She even sang Jesus Loves Me, Mary Had a Little Lamb, and the ABC song to him (or her).

Maggie just being cute!

Owen and Maggie checking out the green algae in the water, the bugs, and whatever else that was crawling around down there...

I took the above photos yesterday....I am not a "stay at home" kinda gal - so I was really glad to convince Owen that we should get out of town for a few hours (I couldn't even convince him to go to Hyvee for chocolate milk and freezee pops the other day. He seems to be really enjoying staying at home with me now that school is out.)...so we went down to a state park and practiced casting his fishing pole.

Maggie enjoying the sprinkler park (I think sometime last week). I sat in front of this sprinkler...the cool mist was awesome!

Our "Ode to Michael Jackson." Kids are boppin around to "Beat It." Getting the "Thriller" tape when it came out in '82/'83 was the highlight of my 3rd grade school year!

Happy Father's Day!

Our friends, Mike and Emily and adorable Quinton came over last weekend to visit...awesome grilling weather, sunny, not too hot...the brats and burgers were pretty near perfect.

Maggie and Quinton, I think he'll be 1 in September.

Despite not napping, Owen pulled off his Superman abilities...jumping and leaping...he could have used his Superman cape a few days ago....(he jumped off our neighbor's waterslide...about 5 1/2 feet tall, landed on his bum; chipping his top & bottom teeth and gashing up the gum behind his bottom teeth...there was lots of blood. Of course I was the only adult around, me and my queasy tummy got him all fixed up, though. I was glad when Dave got home to take over consoling Owen, he (Owen) was really worried about his teeth)

Hmmm....can you guess why the Superman video is Owen's favorite? (Owen would be Superman every day if I washed his outfit that often somehow it only gets washed once week). I thought it was fitting to post a Superman video on Father's Day, since I know so many Super Men!

Happy Father's Day: Dave, Dad, Dan, Jeff, Toby, and all my friends!

Yikes!! May 31st! Really??

Flowers from my yard....tons of daisies this year....the chives are also doing well...they were also really yummy in some potato salad I made this last weekend.

Owen and Maggie really wanted to nap together last weekend...they are trying to fake us out...What do you think? I think they're a little too smiley and cute to be sleeping...

Owen has the opportunity at his preschool to take dance and tumbling lessons. They had a little "thing" a few weeks ago. (I wouldn't really call it a recital...it was more of a "thing.") It actually was really cute. I was a little worried at first that we wasted the extra bucks for him to participate because the first 5 minutes he just stood there with the group with the deer in the headlights look. Apparantly he hadn't napped and then got a little stage fright. He eventually figured out where he was what he was supposed to be doing....he got around to "shakin his booty," as he refers to dancing.

Here's a little snippet of one of the songs. I think he's supposed to be flapping his arms like a bird. But then move on to something else. His arms have got to be getting tired with all that flapping!

Here's Owen and our neighbor girl doing a somersault together.

That's pretty much our month of May. School got out down here on May 21st...I know a lot of area schools are still going strong. I've always been a firm believer in start the school year break, have a few short breaks, and end the year as early as possible.

Looking forward to a long, leisurly summer with the kids. (I especially like nap time!)

I'll have more pics from the garden next post. I've got tomatoes up, squash going, lots of radishes and potatoes and other stuff...

Happy Mother's Day

Well, Happy Mother's Day to all the moms who read this blog. After having Maggie meltdown for about an hour this afternoon (no nap) I decided that yesterday was my Mother's Day. The sun was warm, I got a lot of seeds put in the ground, and the whole family went to a state park to the south of us for some hiking and fresh air.

Yesterday (Sat) was such a great day...took the kids and a picnic basket full of food down to "Owen Landing." Owen brought his fishing pole and practiced his casting skills....he's getting pretty good. Won't be long before he really bugs us to take him fishing for "real."

Owen patiently waiting for a bite.

Owen and Maggie being silly on a Saturday afternoon after their nap.

This is what they do when they're bored. (Or raining, as the case was last week).

Music Composing Software Question...

So I e-mailed a bunch of musically inclined friends recently...asking if they could recommend a music writing software program-which I could install on my Mac laptop and then plug into an older style Clavinova up at the church. Is there a program out there that I can just plug everything together, then play the song on the Clav, have it record into the computer software and then be able to go back in and type in the lyrics? (So I can do something with this song I've been gifted with....see earlier post) I got a response, but not what I had hoped.

So I pose the above question out to bloggerland...

PS, I would like the software to be dirt cheap; or better yet-free.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions anyone may have.

Time Consuming Application....

I have been working in my spare time on my application to UNK for admission to a graduate program in Education....(I'm hoping to begin working on my Master's in Education - in the area of Reading Specialist).

Two words to describe it - painfully tedious.
May I also add Not Fun...

You see, I have to put together a portfolio. I am not a portfolio type of a person...
In the end, it will be worthwhile....I keep telling myself "I Will Survive"...

Whattda weekend!

Here's Maggie....boy did she have fun playing in the dirt with me! We discovered so many things under all the leaves in our flower beds. If you zoom in on the picture, you can tell how much dirt she got in her hair! She really didn't mind the dirt - she especially liked all the crawly things, not sure how many times I heard her say, "What dat, Mommy?" Every time we cleared away the leaves, we discovered a new plant that was coming back to join us - it was almost like unwrapping Christmas presents to discover what all was underneath the winter blanket of leaves and brush. Here's some pictures of some of the plants we found:

We of course had to dye Easter eggs this weekend. We found so many new forms of life this weekend that it was quite befitting that it was also Easter weekend.

My favorite egg is the blue one.

Enjoy your Easter weekend. Enjoy new life as it comes to you in whatever form God gifts it to you -birds singing, tulips popping up, a new song in your heart, spring scents in the air...

Opening Day Win for the Cubbies!

Woo-Hoo!!

The Big Z got his first Opening Day "W!"

Your Hands

Your hands, reaching for mine.
Your arms, circle me with holy love.
Your eyes, smiling for me.

I want to breathe the air you breathe,
all consuming, love for me.

Your nail scarred hands, show the world Your love.
Arms stretched to the east and west,
proclaiming love for all.

piano interlude

Your hands, bleeding for me.
Your life, given for mine.
Your crown falls for me.

For me.

(copyright Shari Hudson, 2009)

I'M SO EXCITED!

Can you tell? I'm excited! I wrote an entire song this evening! I've started a few songs before that come into my head, but have never finished them. This time was different; I got the beginning, middle, and end...all in one shot!

It's called "Your Hands."

I was walking over to the church this evening, planning just to go over the music for tomorrow. I was thinking about my Grandma Hadenfeldt, and Easter, and everything going on in my little world, and words just came into my head. So I wrote them down, picked out a key (easy D, in case you were wondering), and started playing...it just all kind of flowed together.

I don't know why I was thinking about my grandma. Sometimes I have dreams that I'm looking in her cabinets for something. What it is I'm looking for, I never find out. (She had great cupboards full of yummy stuff.) The image of me and my mom being with her when she breathed her last breaths came to me and I started think of the words: "Your hands, reaching for mine. Your arms circle round me...Your eyes smile for me..." and it that's where it started.

I left the song in my music bag, and I forgot it at the church. I'll post the rest of it tomorrow.
I hope I can sleep!

Spring Training Almost Over

Just in case you were wondering....15 days til the Cubs first Official Game of the 2009 Season.

The Mom Song

I found this to be really funny! (And kind of true!) Hopefully you'll laugh, also!
Thanks, Dawn for sending it my way! :)

Old Habits Die Hard

It's officially my Spring Break, so I have a little extra time to complete some "blogging." Here's a picture of me and Maggie-playing "tea party."

Owen is practicing his "standing on his head skills." (He's getting a little bit of help from me in the top picture, but not the one directly above.)

Maggie really enjoys playing dressup. Here's our little princess all gussied up. She even wanted me to comb her hair (normally she hates that because she's got baby fine hair and it tangles easily).

With it being our Spring Break I plan to do lots of sleeping. I've already taken several naps and today the kids and I slept in until 7! I love to sleep.

Editor's note...this blog entry originally started March 5....it's now March 16...

Habits...

Every morning I take one or both of the kids to daycare and/or preschool. Each time I go to start our Escape, my left foot goes down and my right hand moves over to move the gear shifter into reverse. Except there's nothing under my left foot anymore. The gear shifter goes straight back, not back and to the right.

It's been 3 full months and a couple of days that I haven't been driving the Ford Focus daily. (It had a manual transmission). I've been driving a stick shift forever. With the exception of one car - most of the cars I've driven high school through now have been stick shifts. So it's no wonder that my foot still hunts for a clutch, my right hand wants to throw the shifter back, and my ears want to hear the small rev of an engine...it's like there's a manual transmission ghost in my feet and hands.

It is hard to break habits. However, sometimes your life has a change-like getting a different car, and that changes allows for your brain to change the "daily route" it takes.

I've always believed that change is good, especially if it's for the betterment of one's self, or family. I'd like to take some time to tell you about another habit I have. Praying.

The first topic in a Lenton sermon series that our pastor talked about was prayer. I immediatley was reminded about the "Examen" reflective prayer (from the Exercises of St. Ignatius). I think I originally learned about these back in my college days...(I went to a Presbyterian college, where you had to take a few religion classes. Not a bad thing, of course..probably would have been wiser to pay more attention back then, then trying to recall information now from memory.) Anyways, I again read about the reflective prayer in a publication of "Alive Now." I thought to myself, "Aha! I have been doing something GOOD that I learned way back when..." I would say about a year and a half ago I started to take time time to reflect on the previous 24 hours. Then give thanks and praise to God for the times and places I've been aware of His presence. Then, ask for forgiveness for the times I have "missed the mark." Finally, I think ahead to the next 24 hours of my life and ask for guidance in the experiences to come. It's a simple exercise. It really sets my head for what I need to accomplish. I can't go to sleep without doing that simple exercise, though. I've gotten into the habit of doing that exercise every evening.

The manual transmission ghost may die away eventually; but not my Examen reflection.

Snow Pics

Wow. Two posts in one day. I'm sure we'll get another half-foot of snow tomorrow because of me. :)

This picture is right before we go sledding (for the second time today). What beautiful faces.

Maggie and I. Maggie really doesn't like to sled by herself - she'll go as many times as I'll take her.

My beautiful snow angel!

Here's Owen at the end of his "run." You can kind of see our new Escape behind the swingset. Have I posted a picture of it? We got an '06 Ford Escape to replace the Ford Ranger which met its fate a few months ago on ice...

Owen, mid-hill. Not sure why the sled stopped in the middle. Dave came along to give him another push.

We finally have some "typical" Nebraska weather. I find myself daydreaming of white beaches and tropical islands more and more. Coronado Beach, come and get me! I am patiently awaiting my vegetable and flower seed catalogs...makes the winter months pass by a tad quicker if I have something springy to think about...what shall I plant this spring?

Colds, Coughs, now Snow, Oh My

Maggie's beautiful curls. This was a few weeks ago, her hair is now long enough for piggy-tails, so it's starting to straighten out. The "piggies" are just about as cute as the curls, though...



Here's Owen and Maggie in their Rocket Ship.

Another snowy day had to be spent inside their makeshift "tent."

Who new we had a talking tent?

Well, I've finally posted a few pics AND a video. January always seems to be rough. Somebody in our family has been sick since before Christmas. We now have gone 4 days without someone being sick. We've all had everything. You name it, we got it.

Let's see, what happened in January? Not much. We went through a lot of kleenex. I had another birthday. My students took great care of me-had a big cake delivered, fresh flowers, cards from lots of friends and family. A great day!

The week before Dave and I celebrated by going to Gran Torino and I got my piano tuned! It had been about 4 years since the old '38 Baldwin had been tuned, it really wasn't that bad...but it needed it a tune up!

January was a big month for writing. My students all completed a soon-to-be published, hard-bound book. (each student wrote their own book of memoirs, most of them wrote about 20 pages!) So I did A LOT of reading and editing. It was a great project to lead up to the big State Writing test. Which we got done and out of the way, thank goodness! Only 45 more assessments left to give!

Well, we got about 7 inches of snow today. I actually got "the call" this morning at 5:45 AM, and there wasn't even a snowflake in the air, yet! I think we could have had school. I had 2 tests to give, plus the Valentine's Day party. Poor kids had a snow day the day before Christmas break and had to cancel their Christmas party. Oh well, me and Maggie made cupcakes (from scratch-gotta teach her right from the start!) Owen wanted to go to "school," (pre-school) so he went and had a blast, as usual. I got a great nap with Maggie.

I'm sure tomorrow will be spent making snowmen and women. Better go take some aspirin in preparation for the snow fun awaiting me in the morning.

Getting back into routine...

The week after Christmas break....it's soo hard to get back into routine. Work was great-I reviewed procedures and routines with my 4th graders-they're like a well-oiled machine. And Maggie goes with the flow...usually. Owen, on the other hand...let's just say it was a very long week for him. Monday through Friday we couldn't get him out of bed with a cattle prod. (We didn't really use one, but the thought crossed my mind!) And then on Saturday, he was up before 6. Ugh.

To get a little peace, I took my little girl grocery shopping late Saturday afternoon and on the way home she started talking about the "petty pink ky." (pretty pink sky) I then noticed what a beautiful sunset she was talking about. Then she started singing along to the song on K-love, "Shine," by the Newsboys. It WAS a gorgeous sunset...my favorite kind-with bursts bright pink and orange and the prettiest robin's eggshell blue all around it. I'm so glad SHE had the sense to call my attention to it. The next song that came on the air was Chirs Tomlin's, "Amazing Grace, My Chains Are Gone." What a great song to sing in the car with your little girl. My favorite part of the song are the last two verses:

The Lord has promised good to me. His word my hope secures. He will my shield and portion be, as long as life endures.

My chains are gone, I've been set free. My God, my Savior has ransomed me, and like a flood His mercy rains, Unending love, Amazing grace.

The The earth shall soon dissolve like snow, the sun forbear to shine, but God, Who called me here below, will be forever mine. Will be forever mine. You are forever mine.

The second week of January is turning out better than it started.
Owen and Maggie are still napping, too. :)

All is well.

Maggie the Talker

I'm not sure why we ever worried that Maggie lagged behind Owen in her communication skills. She just turned 2 a few weeks ago and she spouts off the ABC song about 10,000 times a day, talks back to Owen, and can say up to an 8 word sentence. At bedtime and naptime we often have to tell her that her "babies" (she has 7 of them) are sleeping and we have to stop talking now so we don't wake them up in order to get her to stop talking so she can fall asleep.

It's also really cute how she's starting to recognize more of our neighborhood, landmarks in town and the people on our street. There's a wonderful couple down the west side of our street (we'll call them Joan and Allen). We stop to talk to Joan when we happen to be outside at the same time. On Sunday we took an afternoon stroll around the block, we were on the east side of the block where Joan and Allen live. As we got close to Joan and Allen's house she started talking about Joan. She said, "There Joan house-ee. Joan nice-ee. I'm cold. Let's go home." And then as we passed another great family's house (Lisa and Greg and Leo and Claire) she stated, "Claire and Leo not home. Claire has nice toys. I'm cold. Carry me, pease."

What manners.

What was all that noise last night?

I heard lots of noise last night. Woke me up right around the stroke of midnight. I think it was Joan and Allen from down the street setting off fireworks (illegally) again.

I've never been much of a New Year's Eve partier. Mostly because I don't like to interrupt my sleep schedule. I think the last time I stayed up past midnight on New Year's Eve was in 1999. Just to make sure nothing went wrong....If someone were to hand me a ticket to Sydney or Tokyo, or London, or NYC to watch the big fireworks and events, sure-I'd go. But I was quite content to go to bed last night at a respectable hour.

We did end the year on a good food note, however. We hosted a few friends over at our house...I'm quite proud of the spread I put out...homemade everything: French Onion Soup, (we used up onions from the in-laws garden, plus garlic from my garden); a pork dish I call "Piggy Goodness," (pork tenderloin butterflied and stuffed with sun-dried tomatoes and basil pesto, and then drench it in a honey mustard soy sauce dressing). I also made nut brittle and a New York style cheesecake. And a few veggies on the side.

I do have to admit that I fell asleep during a game of Trivial Pursuit. I have never been in pursuit of trivial knowledge, so that game bores me to snores.

So I guess it's the first day of 2009. It doesn't matter what year it is, I still have to think every now and then about what year it is. I still sometimes write 1988 (the year I got my checking account-7th grade! The first check I ever wrote was to the school's library for overdue books).

What's going to be different about this year, than the last one? Not sure. I try to tackle change as it needs to happen. There are things that I changed last year that I want to continue....like always practicing with a metronome. When in a small group, listening before I speak. Listening to the music inside my head. And just always be open to change. You never know what great things can happen if you aren't willing to take a risk.

Christmas in Gothenburg

After a day and a half in Phillips for the Spiehs Christmas, we headed further west to Gothenburg for the Hudson Christmas. It was a little bit quieter for this part of the holiday...it was us, Dave's brother Darin, and of course, Dave's parents, Dan and Karen.

Here's Maggie excited to have a new blankie.

By now, Maggie is getting pretty good at opening up boxes!

Darin, Dan, and Karen watching the kids opening their presents....probably amazed at the enthusiasm they have for opening gifts.

Owen...note he's still in his Batman jammies and it's around 5 PM. He's going through a big comic book hero stage the last few months. I just hope he grows out of it by the time he goes to kindergarten!

We also had an extended Hudson Christmas that weekend at Dave's Aunt Ramona's house.

Christmas in Phillips

After Christmas in Springfield, we loaded up the new wheels and headed west to Phillips, for our "Spiehs Christmas." Owen and Maggie have 3 great Spiehs cousins: Hannah (3 1/2, she's exactly 2 months older than Owen) and Jack (1 1/2) go with my big brother, Jeff (and his lovely wife, Mindy); and Emma (1) is the daughter of my little brother, Toby (and his lovely wife, Cynthia). This first picture is of Owen and Jack playing with Barbies....

Here's Hannah, Jack, and Owen with Uncle Jeff.

Maggie just hanging back to checking out everything going on.

Cynthia and Toby helping Emma open her gifts.

Cynthia and Emma.

Hannah and Owen, Jack is in the background.

Jack, the big boy opening all his presents by himself!

There's Grandma and Grandpa having a blast with all the grandkids.
It's always a fun (and loud) time when the whole crew gets together. I really don't remember the last time my whole family was together on Christmas Day. Somehow all 13 of us (and the food) managed to fit around the dining room table. I don't think I'd ever since the old table stretched out that long...it was like a banquet table for a diplomat with all the food and people around it.