Real Quick . . .

So, I have three QUICK things to say before the packing must go on . . .

First is the Happy Broccoli proof . . . :)

Second, I neglected to show these fun playtime pictures with our friends before our sweet Sylvie moved to South Carolina . . .

William and Gray

And, our attempt a a group shot:

Hudson and Gray with their backs to the camera (thanks, boys); William escaping; Sylvie in the lime green top on the floor behind them; Mae striking a pose; and, Eve trying to calm Lucille . . .

Hilarious!

Third, there is NOTHING (except for a long packing list and a tired mama) stopping me from being very ready for this:

And, a brief flash back to my chubbies from last year . . . oh, how I want to eat those cheeks again!

Happy Broccoli, Mommy!

So, it’s true . . . I am another year older!  My birthday was about three weeks ago, but it has taken me this long to get my pictures together!

Poor Hudsey (have I told you that both of the boys call themselves and each other “Hudsey?” . . . we are working on this, and every now and then we get a “wee-yum” out of them!), the original, woke up with a fever and rash on my birthday, so we were pretty low key, which was actually surprisingly nice!  Despite the low key day, we still managed to do lots of celebrating!

 

All of my boys were very kind to me, and we did some fun celebrating . . . fiesta-style at our favorite Mexican place and pizza place (my AMAZING friends went to great lengths to bring me my favorite dessert at lunch—YUMMERS!) as well as in Birmingham and at a fun new (to us) restaurant downtown with our family and Nana.  It has been more like a birthday-month, which you know I just love!

AND, William has been telling me “Happy Broccoli, Mama!” for quite a while . . . but, with some hard work, both boys did learn to say “Happy Birthday, Mommy!” and they both adorned me with kisses, which, I think is the BEST. THING. EVER!

William enjoys sticking out his tongue on command . . . lovely!

Mini Me and his Dad . . . Mini Me has learned to say “cheese,” can you tell?

I love this one!

And, we cannot have a party without Mr. Precious!

. . . or uncle J and Sugie!

With my Nana (who also has a July bday, you know!)

   

More “Cheese!” . . . loving on Bumps and Sugie Here, Hudson and William are experiencing what we call a food coma . . . this was after eating fried calamari, crab cakes, chicken fingers, FRENCH FRIES!  (they always scream those words!), and sampling many a dessert . . . Party time for all!

Baking Babies!

The boys and I did quite a bit of baking last week for Cousin Kelly’s day-after-the-wedding brunch.  The boys and I talked about why we were having so many fun parties for Kelly . . . because she loves Greg, of course!  Here are some of our pictures from our baking session . . . they were really insistent on wearing their Christmas aprons!    he he he!  The boys were troopers, and we made two Blueberry Buckle Coffee cakes, a Strawberry Pound Cake, a Blueberry Pound cake, and about 75 sausage balls.  MMM!  A pregnant woman’s dream! :)

Getting Ready!

Pouring in our ingredients!

“hand mixing”  (just kidding . . . there wasn’t anything in there)

Hudsey wanted to sample the flour . . . mmm!

Mix, Mix, Mix!

We’ve had a few days inside lately (due to the heat and a tired mama) so we have been watching some “mine-stein” on tv and the boys LOVE it.  We’re BIG fans of Baby McDonald and all of the “manimals.”  Don’t worry, we are limiting the TV, but for now, it’s a big hit!  (and kind of like an air conditioned trip to the farm!  ha ha!)  This is where Hudson sits to watch his DVDs . . . he climbs up in the chair with his drink and is as happy as a clam!

William had a little spill at lunch and couldn’t decide if he was in trouble or not . . . check out the milk on the table and chair beside him and all over his face!  Whoopsie!  Rascal!

More to come!  

Granny Anne and Baby Anna!

My Granny Anne’s (my mom’s mom) birthday was on Friday, and we remembered her as we had tea at the Jefferson in honor of my cousin, Kelly, who got married this past weekend! 

Granny Anne was a really neat woman—she was so kind, very creative, and very generous.  She would take us on our birthdays to the museum and have us over for tea (with her silver, of course) when we were about to head off to college for the fall.

In honor of my sweet Granny Anne, we have decided to name our little love bug Anna!  (You may remember that Hudson Hall is named after my grandmother, Shirley Hall, and William Jeffrey is named after Hatch’s grandmother, Margaret Jeffrey!)

We’ve always loved the name Anna, and it has had some personal significance in our lives as well . . . my grandfather’s aunt was Anna Siddons;  my amigos in Nicaragua all call me “Ana” because they could not say Shannon and what came out was, well, we’ll say inappropriate--at best!;  and, lastly as a child, I was a tad bit challenging and would try to say “No, No, No, Shannon Leigh” while I was being mischievous . . . but, I couldn’t say my name either, so what came out was “No, No, No, Anna E!” . . . and my dad and Nana still call me “Anna” to date!

We are so excited to welcome our little Anna into our family later this fall!  Hatch will reveal her middle name when she is born!  :)

And, I know that everyone wants to see the turkeys, so here are two pictures from last night’s going away party for cousin Timmy who left today for his station in Hawaii with the army!  We love and miss you, Timmy!

7 Years!

Seven years ago today, Hatch and I became Mr. and Mrs.!  It is so hard to believe that seven years have passed (and that we had dated for 3 before getting married!)  It is such a JOY to be married to my love.  Hatch is a wonderful husband and father, not to mention a hilarious and very kind best friend.  We have loved looking through pictures tonight from seven years ago . . . here are a few of us on our Big Day!  I had just turned 22 two weeks before our wedding!  Wild!

 

This one was actually at our rehearsal dinner, and I think it is hilarious because we both look like we are a) 15 years old and b) sister and brother!

I love romance!

 

And, this was us two days ago at my cousin’s wedding!  What a fun way to celebrate Kelly and Greg and remember our wedding, in the same church, seven years earlier!  {More pictures to come!}

Cheap Entertainment!

The boys awoke from their Sunday nap to some FUN activities going on around here!  I tried to pull them away from the window-watching for some dinner, but there was a lot of complaining and much “NO EAT!  DA DA!  NO CHAIR!  DA DA!” . . . so, dinner was had outside on the deck, with the entertainers in view!  See why big projects are just fun for all?!

And, outside we went for our free dinner entertainment!

These boys were very interested in Daddy the Decker and Bumpa . . . and, every five seconds they would either call out the names of every tool they saw (Shovel!  Drill!  Hammer!) or they would say “HI DA DA!  HI!  HI!”

William offers his advice . . .

We were also quite interested in this dragon fly that literally stayed on the cable all night!

The boys decided to test out the deck after dinner . . .

The boys are excited about the new stairs!  {or, stairs in progress!}

 

Relaxin’!

 

This has been one of mommy’s “projects”

Tomatoes, and some really bizarre cucumbers . . .

Someone was quite excited about the tomatoes . . . 

While someone else was helping his daddy . . .

I really wish you could have heard all of W’s grunting . . . hysterical!

 

Quite pleased with himself!

Meanwhile, someone else continued to be thrilled about the tiny, red, edible balls . . . {sorry for the blur, but I couldn’t resist this one!}    

These last two may be some of my new favorites!

And, I will leave you with this . . . a strawberry blonde rascal in his favorite “toy” of the summer {yes, I bought a 10 pack and revealed them on our trip to Birmingham!}