Happy Halloween!

Reflection

Say what you will about the man. Michael Jackson was one talented performer.

I saw "This Is It" last night at 10:30pm because I just couldn't contain my excitement anymore.

It was well worth me being tired today.

For those of you that don't know this, I was (and am) a HUGE Michael Jackson fan.

Did he turn into a freak-schmack? Yes.

Was he an amazing entertainer? Yes, and that is where my respect for him lies.

If we could all conduct with as much passion and grace that he was able to inject into his dancing, we could get so much more from our ensembles. It's effortless.

As I was watching, it brought me back to when I was 12 years old and my only care in this world was what music to listen to that day. My parents worried about paychecks and mortgages and groceries and bills so that I COULD sit and listen to Michael Jackson and collect (I'm somewhat ashamed to admit) FAR too much memorabilia. Yes, I have the Thriller doll. Don't hate.

Now, I'm the parent. And I want to worry about those things (maybe "worry" isn't the best word choice. I want to "take care of" those things) so that Hudson can enjoy whatever it is that he loves. And I cannot wait to find out what he loves and continue to see what kind of person he will become.

I have to admit that one of the things on my list was to see Michael Jackson perform live.

You know, the list of "Things to do before I die."

It never happened.

It will NOT happen.

Life is far too short to put things off until tomorrow.

Yippppeeeeee!

I found out yesterday that Harwood JH teachers are getting a bonus because of the school's high TAKS scores from last year. This means that I will be getting a check in the mail for $1,000!

Yipppppeeeee! We could really use that right now!

We're leaving for Salina on Friday morning (yes, Darrin is actually taking a day off!) and we'll be there until Sunday evening. Hudson is excited about seeing Nana and Grandad!

Darrin is excited about seeing Kansas State Football! I'm excited about all of the above and I'm really excited about getting out of town, even if just for a few days!

Update on the house

The offer we accepted fell through. They had concerns about the foundation and the plumbing (basically, I don't think they wanted a house this old).

However, out of this process, we've gained an engineer's report that says we've taken care of the drainage issues that caused the upheaval by our bedroom and that the foundation has "settled" on this soil. Basically, this means that you'll get drywall, cosmetic cracks from time to time, but the house is structurally sound.

Darrin and I are fine with it not selling yet. We're actually in a very good place because we'd like to move, but we LOVE our house and we LOVE Grapevine, too, so we're okay either way.

Our plan is to keep it on the market until Mid-November and if it hasn't sold by then, we'll take it off the market and possibly put it back on in April.

We had four showings on Sunday, one Monday and one today.

Apparently two buyers have asked our agent for the engineer's report so we'll see!

I keep praying about it. Whatever is in God's plan for us, we're fine with.

We just hope we're still and quiet enough to hear him!

Pics

New hat!

Here is Hudson's new hat! I'm not going to lie, he has matching knit "loafers" and I'm so excited.

Family pics are Sunday, so I'll post as soon as I get them!

Pics

I've decided Hudson is starting to look more and more like his mama!

Happy 5 month birthday, Hudson!

Yesterday was Hudson's 5 month birthday and here are some of his favorite things:

1) Bottles, which he now recognizes and shakes with anticipation. His whole body tenses up until it reaches his mouth.

2) Sweet potatoes. Eating them and wearing them. We're getting better at the eating part.

3) Applesauce, which we tried this morning. His eyes lit up and he smiled, but then was extremely frustrated moments later. I can't figure out if his frustration stems from me not being able to feed him fast enough or the fact that he hasn't really mastered the whole eating thing yet.

4) Baths. Kicking and smiling and laughing and splashing. Anything to do with a bath, he usually loves.

5) Standing. Now that he's learned how to straighten his legs and stand, he wants you to let him stand ALL. THE. TIME.

6) Morgan. He loves her. If he's fussy, I call Morgan over and put him next to her and he's immediately fine. **Note, OJ does NOT have the same effect**

7) This is a new one, but I've discovered he likes feathers. We went to Petco yesterday and stopped at the kitten cages. There was a feather toy on top of them so I started playing with the kittens and Hudson let out this loud belly laugh. I thought it was because of the kittens, but then realized his eyes were just watching the feather toy. He laughed every time it moved.

8) Late night chat sessions with himself. I'm going to refer to them as "Hudson Parties" because I don't think they're going to end anytime soon. It's hard to get upset, even though you're exhausted. He makes the sweetest, funniest sounds. I just would rather hear those sounds during the day, not from 2-4am.

I think back to where we were 5 months ago and I can't believe how much has changed and how much he's grown. I didn't know that I could love someone so much.

Best dog ever

Veggie cheese soup

This is in the crockpot right now.

Thought it sounded wonderful in the cold, rainy weather!

Veggie Cheese Soup

1 can (15 oz) creamed corn

4 cups potatoes, cubed

1.5 cups carrots, cubed

3/4 cup finely chopped onion

2 cans (14 oz) chicken broth

16 oz process cheese spread, cubed

Place first 5 ingredients in slow cooker. Cover and cook on low 8 to 10 hours or until vegetables are tender. Add cheese; cover and cook until melted. Makes 12 cups. (6 servings)

When it rains, it pours

Life has been crazy...haven't updated in awhile.

We accepted the 2nd offer on our house. The buyers are having a structural engineer come look at the foundation on Friday. We'll see what happens after that.

We've looked at several houses near Paschal. We like two. One of them was built in 1957 and the other was built in 1934. Darrin and I have come to the conclusion that we love old houses. We already knew that, but now we are even more sure of it. I don't know if we will ever live in a new house.

I am just excited that, on Tuesday, we should know either way. We'll either be staying here or moving. I think we'll be happy with either scenario.

Also, on Saturday, Darrin totaled the truck. He hydroplaned and hit a guardrail. He's fine, thank God, but the truck is done for. We sold it on craigslist like hotcakes. It was gone within 30 minutes of posting. Darrin also had 30 voicemails to delete. Crazy.

We bought my parents' white Ford Taurus (thank God they were here when all of this happened). My mom bought a red mini-cooper. It is AWESOME. We told her we'd trade her the Taurus, but she kept the mini. Can't blame her. It has racing stripes. Maybe Darrin could paint some racing stripes on the Taurus?

Hudson is doing great. He's eating sweet potatoes and LOVES them. Can't figure out quite how to eat, though. He just ends up wearing them.

Darrin is giving him his bedtime bottle right now and hopefully he will sleep as well as he did last night!

Guess that's about it for now!

House

We've had 3 lookers so far.

We've gotten 2 offers now.

We'll see what happens. Darrin and I are both very excited but very sad at the same time.

I know I've done my fair share of complaining about this house, but I can honestly say that I love it. I do. I love it. We've made some wonderful memories here.

We hosted our first Thanksgiving here.

I found out I was pregnant here.

We brought our son home from the hospital to this house. This home.

We've walked to downtown Grapevine for Main Street Days Festival and for Grapefest.

We've hung a hammock and fixed a shed. We've watered our flowerbed and planted flowers with a dear, dear friend.

We've had to walk home from Lazy Bones for undisclosed reasons.

We've had friends pray with us here. We've had friends party with us here.

And now, I have a feeling we'll have to say goodbye and it both lifts my heart and breaks it.

I have to step back from this and remember that it is only bricks and wood and it is not alive.

But it certainly has felt alive to us.