Our new home!

I am SOOO excited! We found a beautiful home in Wisconsin to rent! It's a 4 bedroom, 2 bath, 2,466 sq. ft. home with a finished basement. It's located in a peaceful cul-de-sac and it backs up to a wooded lot. It's actually a conservatory, so it's a relief to know they'll never build back there!  And the best news is, we actually have the option to buy it after our home here sells! It's amazing to me how this has all worked out. I was all set on that condo that seemed so great... but would have been a huge mistake. A condo with 4 kids?? What was I thinking?? Thankfully God was doing the thinking for me, and had something better planned for us.

I was getting nervous and discouraged because I just felt we had to secure a home for our family, but nothing was working out. But everything just fell into place with this one. My testimony has grown so much about how Heavenly Father is involved in the details of our lives. This has been a huge reminder to me that when we put our trust in Him, things work out for our good. I just feel so grateful and happy! What a tremendous blessing.  I think this home is absolutely ideal for our family.
Here are a few pics of what will soon become the Hudson Haven...

Here is the living room (with a vaulted ceiling yay!) I just love the layout of this place.

Loft upstairs

Love this kitchen... especially the unique duel fireplace to keep us warm during those Wisconsin winters.

Cozy living room

Master Bedroom with a walk-in closet

Basement- so excited to make this a play/rec room for the kids!

Large room in basement.... we'll probably make this what we call the "inspiration room". It will be reserved for special family times, like family home evening, blessings, family meetings, etc. There's also a large unfinished part of the basement for Jon's tools, storage, etc.

And I really love this spacious and fenced backyard, with a slight slope for the kids to sled down in the winter.

Did I mention it's the second to the last house on a cul-de sac?!  In a great school district?!  WOO!!  I hope you all know if you ever come up our way... you'll always have a place to stay. Soo excited!!

Something to smile about...

Our little Celeste is obviously feeling much better. She lost her first tooth tonight! It's been dangling for over a week, and she has come to us everyday for the "daily wiggle" to see if it was ready. So since it was hanging by a thread, Daddy gave it a little tug before bedtime, and it was finally time for Fantasia the Toothfairy to make her first appearance at the Hudson home!

This is the little note she left behind:

I'm glad it fell out tonight because it gave her a little something to smile about. :)

Brokenhearted Graduate

Today was Celeste's last day of kindergarten. I was able to go to her little graduation celebration. It was adorable. She was so thrilled to perform the songs they learned this year, and I was pleased to see her cheering for everyone and giving high fives to all the kids as they went up to get their diplomas.

But when it was time to say goodbye... she seemed to realize that she probably wouldn't see her friends and her teacher again, and it broke her little heart. She couldn't stop sobbing, no matter how much I tried to comfort her. I think that's one of the hardest things about being a parent is a sometimes there's nothing we can say or do to make it better. :(

So after she said her goodbyes we went out to the car and had a good cry together. We're sure going to miss our wonderful friends here in Ohio.

Celeste and her very best friend

Group hug!

Here she is trying to be brave. Love this sweet tenderhearted girl.

Having the "funzies!"

I haven't had much time lately to post because we're getting ready to move and life has been really CrAzY! But it was a great day to get out of the house so I made sure to snap a few shots of my little summer sweeties at the pool...

Celeste is such a great big sister! She is so sweet and helpful to her baby brother. I just love how nurturing she is by nature.

Here's Baby Jakey who got confused and thought this was a drinking fountain.

What a fun afternoon! Thankfully, I learned my lesson from my last mortifying pool fiasco and didn't repeat the mistake!

The best medicine...

is laughter. That's one thing I haven't been doing enough of lately. I've been pretty stressed out about this move. Although the adventurous side of me is absolutely thrilled about this exciting time in our lives, the side of me that needs order and structure is trying not to completely lose it.

So the condo I was gushing about? It's probably going to be sold to someone else. :( We were all set to go, but then an offer from a buyer came in and it looks like they're probably going to take it. I don't blame them. I guess that's what I get for lusting after it anyway. :( But there goes 2 weeks when we could have been looking for another place to rent. And the homes we're currently looking at, just aren't working out for one reason or another. I'm trying to exercise patience, but I'm getting a little nervous now. Jon starts his job in less than 4 weeks, and we have no where to go! And our house is filled with boxes, we have endless projects to undertake, and just as quickly as I get stuff boxed up, the kids get into them. Then since I'm all stressed out, I end up scolding them more than usual, and at the end of the day, I feel like a complete failure. :(
Sorry for the rant, I know I have so much to be grateful for, but it's just been one of those days and I'm really worried about getting it all done. I know that "faith and worry cannot exist in the same mind at the same time" so I guess I just need to have more faith.

So anyway, in an attempt do something fun with the kids this afternoon, we made some goofy aliens, fish, and ducks for lunch. It was really silly and simple, but it seemed to help keep things more light-hearted around here...




Thankfully, my husband has an amazing outlook on life, and he helps me try to see the positive in every situation. He makes me laugh every day. I read recently that the average adult laughs an average of 15 times a day? That's pretty sad considering that the average child laughs up to 400 times a day!

But seriously, how could I not laugh when I asked the kids to get dressed this morning, and they came in wearing these ensembles...

So my goal for today... be a little more childlike and laugh a little more than I did yesterday.

Congrats Daddy!

He did it! My Master of Mathematics graduated on May 15th. And a week later, he passed that incredibly difficult exam we've been stressing about. So life is good. What a relief! Too bad there's not much time to celebrate... we've got to sell this house, then we're off to Wisconsin for our next adventure!

Love my Actuary!

He had me wear the cap for a picture too, because he said I earned it as much as he did. :) I have to say, that as difficult being a mommy is sometimes I'm glad that's my calling in life, because statistics make me barf. Here's our posterity following in her daddy's footsteps. We told her she was graduating too... (from kindergarten). But I think we confused her because when we started talking about 1st grade, her eyes got all big, and she said, "What? I thought I was all done with school!"

Daddy's biggest fans

Jon's mom came all the way from Washington to support him and watch him graduate. Thanks for the great visit Nana Jodie! We love you!

Congratulations Daddy!

One of those days...

So when I was making dinner tonight, I accidently knocked over the entire bag of flour onto the floor. (I know... aren't I graceful in the kitchen?) Benny sweetly says, "Mommy, I'll help you clean it up". So I foolishly trusted my four year-old boy to resist the temptation to play in it, and I went downstairs to get the broom. When I came back up, baby Jakey had joined the fun. Their little fists were full of flour and they were throwing it up in the air and at each other, laughing hysterically. So after a trip to the time-out, we had a much bigger clean up job than the original mess. Ugh. I need a nap- and that cookie!

Balancing Act

Crunch Time
"Tumwater High School's Jon Hudson must balance playing three sports with his work in the classroom."


I came across this article while I was packing today. It was from my hubby's senior year (1995!) and it was about how difficult it can be for student athletes to successfully balance sports and academics. It made me chuckle a little however, because although balancing the demands as a high school student may have been tough... he probably had no clue how stressful life would get as he grew up and became a family man! Here are a few things he's currently juggling...

He has 4 finals to get through and then he'll be on track to graduate this Saturday (with a 4.0!) to earn a Masters degree in Actuarial Science, he has ANOTHER exam on top of the finals that he has spent months preparing for, he's trying to get this house fixed up and ready to sell, he's running a business on the side that has allowed us to live comfortably for the last few years, he has leadership responsibilities at church, and he is a devoted father and a patient husband to a wife who has been pretty wacked out lately! (I'm not handling the stress as well as he is.)

The year this article came out, he was the student voted "most likely to succeed". I think he's certainly living up to that expectation because he knows that "no success in life can compensate for failure in the home." His greatest priority in life is his family.

Daddy and Benny '05

Actually, I think one of the reasons he has been so successful is that he realizes that he can't juggle everything, that he can't possibly handle it all on his own, and so he chooses to call on the power of a loving Heavenly Father to bless our family, and he relies on Jesus Christ to compensate for what he lacks. I am truly grateful for his faith that helps me feel secure in life both temporally and spiritually.

So who knows what more life will throw into this balancing act, but I'm confident that with a good man as the leader of our family, we'll get through it all.

Family Home Evening

In our church, we are taught to set aside one night a week for a special family night, we call family home evening. It usually consists of an opening and closing prayer, a musical number, gospel themed lesson, an activity, and a treat (of course). So here's our special rendition of "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam." The kids request this as our musical number every family night.

These are the promises we've been given if we are faithful to this divinely inspired counsel:

"If the Saints obey this counsel, we promise that great blessings will result. Love at home and obedience to parents will increase. Faith will be developed in the hearts of the youth of Israel, and they will gain power to combat the evil influence and temptations which beset them." President Joseph F. Smith

It's not always easy to make it happen every week, but I feel the love and closeness in our family growing stronger as we set aside time to be together, and I know that being true to this counsel will help strengthen and fortify our families.

Pay It Forward

I thought I'd share a wonderful site dedicated to helping people commit acts of kindness and love. It's a non-profit/anonymous organization that distributes "smile cards" to people who then commit random acts of kindness. What is a "smile card"? It's a game of kindness. You do something nice for someone and leave a card behind inviting them to pay it forward. It's a wonderful (and FUN) way to reach out to others and it might even cause a ripple effect of kindness. The cards are free and the site is full of great ideas and inspirational stories!

Go ahead! Get inspired and put a smile on someone's face today. Doing so will surely bring a smile to your face too. :)

Click here to check it out!

A Star is Born!

Our little Celeste had an amazing opportunity to be in an opera last week! My mom was the producer and put months of effort into it. I was so knocked out by all the work she put in... from the vocal coaching, to co-directing, set designing, costuming, make-up, props, etc. It was an ambitious endeavor and a great success! But once again, I'll let the pictures do the talking...

Here she is before the show- a little nervous, but super excited!

And here are some pictures onstage from the dress rehearsal. She was actually supposed to play a boy... a sad boy, named Sorrow. She didn't look much like a boy, but it didn't matter. :)

At curtain call, some of the cast members presented her and my mom with flowers...

Here she is after the show, with her Uncle Ben, who performed as well, and absolutely nailed his arias! Woo-hoo Ben!! Ben's girlfriend Sharon also did an amazing job. Way to go Sharon!!

The whole night was a pretty magical experience for a 5 year-old. What a wonderful memory this will be for her.