I Wonder

I am so behind on blogging and definitely need to back up and post about some big birthday's in our house, 2 and 4 to be exact, but I had to go ahead and post this. Like most children, Hill and Baylor are sponges. On top of being a sponge, Hill has in my opinion a natural affinity for music. If she hears a song one time, she can sing it. She doesn't necessarily remember the words, but she always remembers the tune. Kind of like her daddy. Like I mentioned before, we sometimes have dance parties to help the kids burn off some energy before bed. On top of that, Kyle and I both love music, so we also look up some of our favorite artists on the computer and watch music videos as a family. Hill definitely has her favorites (usually what I like and therefore watch over and over). Anyway, her latest favorite is Leeland's I Wonder. Great choice Hill! Last night after she'd been excused from the dinner table, she brought in her guitar to serenade us. Bay joined in with his apple slice harmonica. She sang it about 3 times before I realized that I HAD to get this on video.
WARNING She insisted that we sing as a family! Please, please, please ignore my voice!!!!

and just so you can hear the real version of this awesome song

I Made It Official

Kyle's birthday was last month and I planned a surprise getaway to Atlanta the weekend before his birthday. When the actual day of his birthday rolled around, I felt kind of bad that he wouldn't have a present to open. I guess because I have a holiday birthday, it makes me sensitive to opening something on my actual birthday and not a joint birthday/Christmas gift to open on Christmas Day (writing that just made me realize how selfish and bratty that is.) Anyway, I was racking my brain to think of a thought gift a.k.a. free something I could wrap up for him. Then the perfect idea hit me! If I'd actually thought it through there is no way I would have done it, but it was PERFECT! I loaded up both the kids, got lost drove downtown, and waited for two hours at the social security administration with the rest of Birmingham's toothless finest. When they finally called my number, I went to the window with the kiddos and the SSA employee promptly congratulated me on my recent marriage, ha. I informed him that I had been married for 8 years, but had never officially changed my last name. I know, I know, shame on me. I was scolded, but I think he took it kind of easy on me since I had one child banging on the window and another telling me she had to go pee. He typed up the documents and sent us on our way. I was so excited when Kyle unwrapped the papers officially naming me Lynlee Hudlow. He didn't think it was as awesome and funny as I did (I guess that's what I deserve for waiting 8 years). At least he can't joke anymore about me not being a Hudlow. Next Step: Change Driver's License ;)

Dance Party

Don't judge: We sometimes turn on a little rap music after dinner and let the kids burn off some energy before bathtime.

First Day of School and a Question About Etiquette

Hill and Baylor started school and they are just as happy about it as I am. Hill is in the 3's and Baylor is in the MDO room. Once again, Hill is the giant in the class. It's so funny to me, because I never thought my child would be the biggest kid in the class. Baylor cries when I drop him off, but is all smiles when I pick him up. All their teachers are so sweet and it is the best feeling ever to know that they are loved on and taken care of while I'm not there. We've had A LOT of together time this summer, so some alone time will do us all some good.

On a different note, I am pretty sure that no one reads this blog anymore based on the big fat 0 comments on my last post. If anyone is still reading, I would love to know your thoughts on grocery store etiquette. Random I know, but this lady really ticked me off last week and then I started wondering if it was my crazy obsession with following social rules or if maybe, just maybe, I am the only one who thinks what she did was WRONG. Basically, I was in the checkout line after a marathon shopping trip for two weeks worth of groceries. I'd put about 5 of my items on the belt when the woman behind be in line grabbed the grocery separator thing and put it directly behind my 5 items and then began unloading her whole cart groceries onto the belt. Because she took up the whole belt with her stuff, I had to wait on the checkout girl to ring up my 5 items then reload my little space every few items. I was super annoyed and probably gave the woman a really ugly look (I do feel bad about that), but then started to wonder if I was wrong for thinking she broke a "grocery store rule," like there's such a thing. Thoughts?

Summer 2011

I needed a blogging break! No promises that I am going to start posting again on a regular basis, but I didn't want the whole summer (I've got two weeks left)to go by without posting any pictures. So here ya go, our summer in pictures:

We did lots of dressing up

Hill had her first ballet recital

Daddy said Baylor needed to play dress up in something other than a princess costume

We loved playing at the lake with Ella and Gray
Daddy did some sitting on the dock with Bay (ha! did anyone else think that was as clever? oh, never mind)
Baylor played some front door peek a boo
Hill did lots of reading to her brother

We took lots of baths after long hot sticky days

Bay perfected the smolder
Hill wore her hair in pigtails
Baylor stayed scraped, bruised and eaten up by mosquitoes
and got just a little dirty
He had snack time every day with his "wubs"
Almost every afternoon was spent at the Hudlow Country Club
but sometimes an afternoon movie was necessary
Baylor got the whole pleasing daddy and Hill costume thing down
He also perfected eating Popsicles
Hill got her first big girl bicycle for her Very Happy Un-Birthday (long story)
We took the kids to a Barons game and they loved it (before Kyle made me leave with the kids after Hill spilled her drink on the guy below us)

One morning Hill threw a pancake onto the ceiling...

and it stuck

Then she colored on the TV with a blue crayon

Baylor did some toilet paper stacking
Aunt Claire got married
to Uncle Dan

Hill did lots of dancing
I recovered my dining room chairs

and painted my kitchen

We headed to the beach for a week


Played lots of ball


and lots more, but it just took me so long to post all these pictures, I don't think I'll blog again til next summer!

Layering

I know I know, it's been forever. What a crazy week it's been; the tornado's, a royal wedding and the death of Osama Bin Laden, not to mention life in general that at moments seems to be too much handle, the good and the bad. All that to say, my brain has been very scattered (who am I kidding, it's always scattered). Why not throw a little humor into the mix of the heaviness and maybe give everyone a chuckle. It certainly made me laugh...at myself. So, I went to pick up Hill from school today and noticed a green band hanging out from underneath her shorts. I was watching her the whole time as we picked up Baylor from his class and then walked to the car. I thought she had maybe put a thick rubber band around her thigh or tied something around her leg. As I was buckling her into the car seat, I asked her what was on her leg, and took a closer look for myself. She said, "momma, you forgot to take off my pajamas!" Yep, there they were, the bright yellow pajama shorts with polka dots and green band. How did I miss those? Did I seriously pull her other shorts on top of the pajamas? I would have totally blamed it on Hill, but even in my scatterdness, I absolutely remembered that I dressed her this morning and she did not dress herself. I laughed so hard, wondering what her teacher must have thought. I guess if she really knew me at all, she probably would have given me a pat on the back for remembering to take the pajama top off. It was a little chilly today, so maybe my subconscious was telling me to layer? Nah, I don't think so either.

Future Cheerleader

So, my sweet sister in law has been keeping a secret that she has a blog. Who knew? Not me. Anyway, she always takes videos of the kids on her camera and I am so glad because she captures some of the best moments. I wish I'd had this one to share right after Auburn's big win. Better late than never. Oh, and in case you need a translation, she says "kick em in the bottom big blue." We didn't really want our two year old cheering about kicking someone in the butt. War Eagle!

New Post

So, I still don't feel like blogging, hence the title. Nothing super informative in this post except that it's new, and only because I was sick and tired of staring at my blog every time I signed on to check every one else's blogs. I have so much to catch up on and I feel guilty about not blogging about some pretty important events that have happened in the last 6 months, like my babies turning 3 and 1. It can be pretty overwhelming. Plus, does anyone else ever feel like their life is pretty boring compared to others? I have to admit though, I'm becoming more and more thankful for boring. I'll just be honest, this period of not blogging for me and simply reading about what's going on with everyone else has been very heart changing. It has helped me find joy in the things that I do have and envy less. Envy is a yucky yucky feeling and reading blogs used to make it creep in more than anything else in my life. Why don't I have a nice camera? Why don't I bake from scratch? Why don't I have a daily craft for my children? Why don't I get to travel all over the world? Why don't I get to hire someone to decorate my house? Why don't I have some awesome story to tell? I have since learned that everyone has their own story, and only a glimpse of it is ever written in to a blog post. Plus, you crafting/cooking/organizing/schooling/photographing/traveling/painting/sewing bloggers just aren't me, and that is just fine. I guess since I'm being honest, I'll just go ahead and say that I've decided that some of you are CRAZY* (did my envy just turn to judgement, oops). You would probably think that I'm crazy too, so I don't feel that guilty about saying it. Man that felt good to get that off my chest. So, back to reading blogs for me, without envy. Maybe I'll blog something of importance again soon, ha! I'll leave you with a glimpse of my life: *Ok, so maybe CRAZY was a little extreme. By crazy, I just meant different from me (we've all got some crazy in us). Their blogs are totally inspiring and actually have some really good ideas, but I have a feeling that if I actually met some of these "extreme" bloggers in real life, we probably wouldn't be best buds. Mainly because they would think I wasn't very cool and I would probably think that they were, well, extreme. P.S. I don't actually know any of these people I'm talking about, in case you were wondering.