here is a "sneak peak" into our new home.

wide open terrain for my two year old to let loose and potty train his heart out! this little venture has been impossible in our current house, what with all the lovely wall to wall carpeting.

you may recall our previous adventures in potty training. so keeping that in mind, we are VERY excited about these hardwood floors!

I'm also quite excited to have an ACTUAL "laundry room"!

if you've ever had to do laundry for five people out of a hallway closet, you can sypathize with me. when we first walked through this house, I almost peed my pants at the sight of this laundry room! how sad has my existance become, that I get all hot and bothered over a designated room for pre-spotting, cleaning, drying and folding my family's clothes?

and yet, there it is. my life. in a nutshell. it'swhat I do. Jason keeps our family clothed. I launder the clothes!

but in between the loads upon loads of laundry and (let's not forget).....

I will have my new retreat.

complete with sewing machine, worktable and even a quaint little seating area, where I will blog the day away on my new laptop that Jason doesn't know he's getting me, yet.

I will post more snippets later. for now, I'll just leave you with this.....

the three z's..., originally uploaded by kalurah.

We really do have 3 of the greatest children. This was taken the other day on one of our walks in the local cemetery. They grow up so fast as Kalurah has pointed out on previous postings but I just wanted to say how proud I am of my 3 Z's and how much I love them.

what can I say? it's hard keeping up on two blogs simultaneously. especially when I generally just end up blogging on and on about my kids over at whiletheyplay.com and that leaves nothing to post here! this is, after all, their blog!

a prediciment, we have ourselves here. a pickle. a jam.

I had toyed with the notion of doing away with this blog, here. and sticking with whiletheyplay all by it's cute little self. I quite like blogger and really feel at home over there.

I feel quite awkward at times on wordpress, not knowing my way around, stumbling over things, losing posts, deleting posts. I pride myself on being a quick learner and wordpress just leaves me feeling like a huge loser! plus, blogger automatically back up your work! (hallelujuah!) this is definitely a biggy in a house where, you just get up from the computer chair and walk away for 5 seconds and a small child has clung on to it by the time you get back!

I am still toying with this notion. give me your feed back, guys. whatdayathink? of course, that is, if you still check back here after my month long hiatus!

if I DO banish the wordpress blog, here, what shall I do to back it all up? transfer it all over to blogger?

or, I also have the option of printing it out and creating a lovely scrap book, of sorts! I don't know, I'm grasping at straws, here. please, give me your feedback guys. let me know what YOU think!

she said she spent the whole first day there with him.

then for day two, in which she tried to keep hold of him as long as she possibly could. until finally the dear bus driver slammed the door shut between her and her "baby".

she said she cried the whole way home.

he, on the other hand, arrived home, waiving excitedly back to the bus driver,"bye! see ya tomorrow!" jumping up and down with glee over the great adventures he'd had at school that day.

she said she eventually got over it. over letting her boy go on without her.

it took her son......probably a matter of minutes.

kids. they're so fickle!

I know I'll get over it, too. but I can't believe what an emotional leper I have been, lately!

all it takes is a commercial involving a small child or going to the kitchen and finding that I'm out of milk.

I just......weep.

there's no reason for it. there's no excuse for it. I just stand there with the fridge door hanging open or on the couch, wiping my eyes with the nearest pillow......sobbing.

I've boiled it down to the fact that not long after we've moved, I will be sending my little girl off. I feel like a horrible person, subjecting my kids to so many changes! they'll be in a strange new place and then 2 months later Zoe will have to spend the entire day away from her family. and the boys will no longer have their big sister to play with during the day.

how horrible!

but when ya gotta move, ya gotta move. we can't pass up this great house just because Zoe is growing up.

or can we?

nah!

yay! the time has finally arrived. we've found a house that is big enough for our full time monkey house operation. it even has lovely refinished wood floors that I will be able to hose down after the eminent poo flinging occurrences!

we looked at this house 2 weeks ago and the second I set my eyes on those floors, I melted into a pool of goo right over the top of them. and they welcomed me gladly, tongue and groove.

I don't know what special breed of moron thought it would be a wise idea to carpet a dining room floor, but you can bet your sore knees that they weren't a mother of three, feeding children 3 to 4 times a day. all the stars in the heavens can't amount to the times I've had to scrape mashed potatoes from my carpet. and don't get me started on rice!

our current residence is around 1000 square feet. and this house, including the full basement, adds up to about 1600. it has two full baths, 4 bedrooms, a sunroom, laundry room and rec room. it comes with a 1 car garage with storage inside and has a partially fenced backyard. we are supposed to be getting estimates on the fencing before we move in. the landlord said they will pay for it and hopefully we will get it in not long after we've moved in.

the biggest appeal for me, besides all the space, is the fact that we are not going to have to share a wall with someone. I enjoy music as much as the next person. but really, are your teeth supposed to rattle inside your head, when you turn your stereo on? or worse yet, when your neighbor turns their stereo on?

I will also NOT miss our current parking situation. five college kids living beside us and parking 4-5 vehicles outside our unit. is this a drive way or "pimp my ride"?

all negative things aside, I will miss this place. help! where is the nearest u-haul, take everything and pack it up now!

we raised three wonderful children here and I was pregnant here with the last one. so it does hold some very special and fond memories. where's that packing tape?

I can't wait for moving day! the kids are all excited and mommy is absolutely ecstatic! I just hope moving day isn't too full of tears and I hope I don't have to scrape anymore mashed potatoes out of the carpet on our last day here.

I just took Zoe in last week, to sign her up for kindergarten. we've been inseparable, her and I, for the last 5+ years of her life. she's helped me with the boys, including diaper (dootie) and keeping them busy while I do chores. she makes me smile when I don't want to. and she makes me cry when I don't want to. she tells me "mommy, don't worry.", when I start showing signs of "frazzle-ment". and she inherited her father's most beautiful attribute.....she tells me she loves me 5 to 10 times each and every day.
she is my first, my oldest and my only girl. I don't know how I'll cope without her, when she starts school. but it's my gift to her....go out and enjoy, explore, learn, play, find yourself, be yourself and remember how hard this time was for me......because I love you SO very much.

to my beautiful girl:

Apron strings
Hanging empty crazy things
My body tells me
I want someone to tie to my
Apron strings

Apron strings
Waiting for you pretty things
That I could call you
I want someone to tie to my
Lonely apron strings.

Your baby looks just like you when you were young
And he looks at me with eyes that shine
And I wish that he were mine
Then I go home
To my
Apron strings
Cold and lonely,
For time brings
thoughts that only
Will be quiet when someone clings
to my apron strings.

And I'll be perfect in my own way
When you cry I will be there
I'll sing to you and comb your hair
All your troubles I will share

For apron strings
Can be used for other things
Than what they're meant for
and you'd be happy wrapped in my
Apron strings

You'd be happy wrapped in my
Apron strings

by Tracey Thorn

Zachary: "They're in the bathroom.............they're going potty."

Zander does not waste any time at all, quickly repeating what his siblings have just said.  this was his most current annouance until just recently......

now, we've reached the dreaded "third degree" treatment.

"Zander, go get your shoes, please."

"why?" 

"because we're going for a walk."

"why?"

"because, it's a nice day out and we've been inside all morning."

"why?"

"because mommy has to get out of the house before she totally loses her mind!"

"oh." 

I don't recall either Zachary or Zoe doing this quite as early as Zander has started it. I think Zoe did it around 2 1/2, and about 3 for Zachary. at any rate.....it's kind of a tick of his, these days. as if he means to say, "oh really.", "is that so?" but instead, out comes the annoying question, "why?".

I guess it could be alot worse. we could be dealing with the dreaded, "where do babies come from?". quite honestly, I think that would be a cake walk compared to the "why?" every other time you say something to him.

I know this is just a stage he is in and it will all too soon be replaced by the silent treatment once he's reached his teens. (oh, gosh....we won't even go there.) I just have to keep reminding myself of that, though....that these are the days I will look back on and envy, one day. innocent, pure and short-lived moments of youth. before time and the world take hold of my little babies and they develop their own individualities. the very thought just saddens me.

"why?" 

Today, is Jason and my anniversary. Seven years! So we are dropping the kids off with my parents for the day and heading down the gorge for a day alone, hitting the Multnomah Falls, Vista house and Maryhill Museum. Maybe we'll take a small hike as well, it doesn't really matter what we do, the point is, it will just be the two of us for a change. (ahhhhhh)

Hope everyone enjoys their weekend!

 this Sunday, we picked up a brand new toy....we searched high and low for a week before, looking for this thing. My folks already have one and every time we're over there, the kids have a blast on it. And to tell you the truth, Jason and I were getting hooked as well.

This thing is like a rare metal, that only a select few can manage to stumble upon. I thought, after a while, that I was going to have to steal the first one I saw sitting in somebodies cart at the store. when the guy at the local Walmart told us the next shipment was expected midnight on Saturday night, we knew what we had to do.......be one of those people. yes, just like one of those nerdy low-life's that pitches a tent in line for the latest and greatest game system......but Jason went into the store, (10 minutes 'till midnight) walked over to electronics, and low and behold, (choir music playing) there it was, as if it were a dream, there sat the Nintendo wii, in it's proper place, on the Walmart shelf, next to it's obscene pricetag!

so, finally, after a long  (okay, so it was only a week) journey in and out of every department store imaginable, we found and purchased our brand new "wii".

this thing is craziness. you can play basically any previous Nintendo game on this thing....Donkey Kong original, Donkey Kong Country, Super Mario Brothers (I, II,III, Mario's World, Mario Kart), Legend of Zelda (any of them), Excite Bike, Sonic the Hedgehog, the list goes on......

the system came with a sports game and we've bought 3 other games for the "kids" to play. yeah,...that's right, for the "kids"......not "us". but, seriously, this thing can be a workout! especially, if you're playing any of the sports like boxing, tennis, bowling, baseball, golf (golf is still arguable!)

Zoe plays just about the best out of anyone in our family, when it comes to the sports. the only problem is, if she doesn't have the wrist strap on, that's attached to the wii-mote, she will fling that thing like no ones business straight across the room and back behind the television! it was hilarious the first time she did it,......but then you remember how much the thing costs,(no longer funny).

so , if the Hudson Family Blog seems a little deserted over the next few weeks or even months, you'll know why.......      and "wii" apologize!

basically, life at the Hudson home looks very similar to the monkey cages you see at the zoo. and don't think we haven't seen our share of flinging poo, either!

after 3 years of sippy cups full of milk and juice and 3 potty training children(two of which have built in power hoses), we finally decided to have our carpets cleaned. Yowza!! I don't remember the carpet being this clean before. It was like exploring a newfound planet. I almost lost my way as I walked through the living room to get to the kitchen! this isn't OUR carpet. OUR carpet had stains that resembled constellations on a clear night. you could entertain yourself for hours just peering into the vast galaxy of previous "potty mishaps and sippy cup spills!

needless to say, sippy cups have now been banned from the entire house as well as shoes. even Daddy has to knicks the shoes at the front door. and daddy NEVER likes to remove his shoes!

now, we can welcome people into our nice clean monkey house with our heads held high.....but watch out for the flinging poo!