Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice and MORE!

Snakes and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails - That's what BOYS are made of - NOT!!!! That would better describe my little girl! Sophia has been in critter paradise here in Washington. As soon as we moved in she spotted a little garter snake in the garage trying to stay cool. From that moment on, she has been on a mission to catch herself one. Well, she has caught several - I am hoping that they are the same ones each time, probably wishful thinking on my part.
She, along with Benjamin and several neighborhood friends, comb the woods in back of our house for all critters great and small.
We are still waiting to catch a glimpse of the couple of bears that have been spotted this summer. The coyotes can be heard at night time. She is truly in paradise here! She tells me every day how much she loves Washington!

Catching up!

View from the airplane window - beautiful, amazing Mt. Ranier!

I have been putting off my blog for so long because I was so far behind. I have decided to skip a few months and post from the present considering we have had considerable changes in our life/home/location over the past month.

On July 13th the packers showed up at our door and completely packed us out of our home in Chesapeake. On Sunday morning, July 19th the kids and I flew off to the Pacific Northwest - next stop Seattle-Tacoma Airport! We were fortunate enough to still have a dear friend in the area who dropped us off in August 2002 to move to Virginia - we were lucky enough to have her pick us up on our return to what I call "God's country". It was the most beautiful flight in. Grand views of Mt. Ranier, Mount St. Helens and numerous snow covered mountains. The kids were on the edge of the airplane seats! After a joyous reunion, Melissa drove us to our new home in beautiful Silverdale, Washington on the Kitsap Peninsula. I had only seen pictures of the house. A wonderful friend found and photographed the house in detail so that I could decide if it would be our home for the next 3 years. No question, it was the one! We love it and feel so blessed! It is more than I could have asked for and I have promised Pete that we will not grow into it like all the others. I actually have kitchen cabinets that are empty!

The past few weeks (wow! has it really been that long?) have been full of work unpacking boxes (over 250 of them) but lots of fun as well! My mom visited for a week to help me unpack and hang the heavy stuff up. It was so nice to have her here. I always have a wonderful time with her. We have made several trips out to Scenic Beach State Park in Seabeck (only 10 minutes away) to let the kids look for sealife at low tide. Last week the kids attended a Vacation Bible School at the church where William will attend preschool. They had a blast! Daily they have been enjoying all of the wildlife and nature that our backyard has to offer. I am sure I will have more of that to post about at a later date.

Mixed in with all of the fun and excitement there have been some not-so-fun times as well. We had to say goodbye to dear friends who moved one week after we moved here. We will miss the Fullers, but are so thankful for having a week and a half with them!

Sad but funny as I look back - William had a meltdown one day after getting in trouble for something he did. He had recently bought a cactus in a plant pot at Home Depot - this cactus had a little plastic handle on it. Well, after getting in trouble I hear the front door open and out walks William, down over the front porch, carrying his little cactus by the little plastic handle, sobbing his little heart out. I asked him where he was going and his reply was "I am going home, I have had it with this place!!". I can laugh about it now but at the time my heart just broke for the little guy. All three kids have been emotional at times and I am sure a big part of it is because Pete has also been gone since March - lots of changes at our house. It will be a joyous reunion in September when he returns!

I will post a few pictures for now of the past month. We miss all of our friends in Virginia but we are only a phone call, email or facebook away. No news on when Pete will take command of his submarine yet but we will keep everyone posted. This year is going to be a very eventful year for us!


We will miss our house of 5 years in Chesapeake, lots of good memories there!

One enormous truck that was almost entirely packed! 18,700 pounds of "stuff"!




William mighty relieved that the driver stopped in time with van at the tippy top of the truck!

Seattle Bound!











Benjamin with his girls - Rachel and Lauren Fuller


Vacation Bible School

Easter 2009

We had a wonderful Easter as usual! Pete was the only thing missing! The week before was filled with fun Easter/Spring activities - parties, egg coloring etc. Easter morning the kids woke up to their Easter baskets and enjoyed the egg hunt that the Easter bunny left them downstairs. I think the bunny was a little tired out since the hunt was isolated to the downstairs :-). We got ready and went to church like we usually do every Sunday morning. After church we went with our dear friends the Smiths to the Founder's Inn for a very delicious buffet complete with a visit from the Easter bunny himself. The kids were so excited for the bunny to get to our table. When he finally arrived I turned around to round them all up and William was missing. He was sitting in the very center - underneath the big round table. He wasn't coming out for the bunny! We finally convinced him to take a quick picture. It was a wonderful day spent with wonderful friends.




William at his preschool Easter party with his number one girl Hannah! He is quite the little Romeo!

My Busy Little Tiger Cub

Lots of catching up to do! Never a dull moment at the Hudson home! Benjamin had a very fun February and March with the Tiger Cubs. He spent the night with Pete at the Aquarium tankside. He told me he had a difficult time sleeping because he just wanted to watch the fish all night. Pete was thankful he thought of the air mattress - the tile floors in the aquarium get mighty uncomfortable, not to mention cold on the back.

The next weekend Pete took them to the Harlem Globetrotters! This fulfilled one of the scout requirements somehow. I just know the kids laughed for days when recollecting the Globetrotters and their silly antics. Just had to share this "grumpy" photo of Benjamin when he had to leave without a signed basketball.
Next was the Pinewood Derby - carving, sanding, painting, strategizing! I think Pete has more fun with these events than Benjamin does!

At the derby Benjamin was presented with his Tiger Cub badge. We are so proud of our little cub!

Attention on Deck! Benjamin turned 7!

Benjamin wanted his first sleepover Birthday party this year! I was a little intimidated at the thought of adding more little boys to an already crazy household but it ended up being a breeze and a very fun birthday party. We started the night with pizza, spicy hot Doritos (Ben's favorite) and lots of m&ms. During pizza we had a special appearance from Gunnery Sergeant Hudson! Pete surprised Benjamin and all with his head to toe camouflage marine gear. I think at first the kids were a little shocked as he yelled orders out but quickly they all realized that it was all for fun! Pete made a really cool obstacle course in the "muddy" back yard that they conquered and then they played Nerf tag. When they were finished they came inside and we topped off the sugar rush with a very yummy Carvel ice cream cake. Benjamin opened his gifts and they set up camp in the living room. Popcorn and a movie and they were all sleeping by 11:00. Unfortunately, after crawling into bed myself I heard Benjamin desparately call out my name - all of the junk food had taken hold and he had thrown up all over his sleeping bag. I managed to clean him up and the camp up without waking up the others. They were up bright and early and we had a wonderful m&m pancake breakfast. It was a memorable birthday for Benjamin!

Momma's Boy!

Can I just say that I adore this child?! I think you all know that! I adore all three of my children. The difference is William is truly a "momma's boy" in a good way. He knows just how to get on my sweet side! He knows when I need a kiss or a hug or to hear those magical words "I love you!". I also know he is the baby and always will be - I have always referred to him as my "Grand Finale" - and that is exactly what he is! He is 100% Pure Joy!!!!

Snow Day - Finally!

Monday we had a pleasant surprise! We woke up to the ground covered in snow! The kids already had off due to President's day so we knew we could enjoy the fresh covering. The ground was completely covered at our house, you could barely see the grass, unusual for this area. We bundled up and headed out at 8 a.m.! Pete and the kids built two beautiful (might be questioned) snow people. I think by the time they had finished the back yard was void of snow but we sure did get some great sized snowmen!



Poor snowman - he only lived for about 2 minutes - those are boys for you!!!