Hooray for Being Thrifty!

Right after Hudson was born Dave and I went to a great big baby sale out our community center. We were able to get a bedding set there that included the bumpers, a mobile, dust ruffle and even some coordinating wall paper for $10. The mobile wouldn't attach to the crib we bought and I wasn't going to put the wall paper up but I got creative and found uses for them.



I cut out the little cars from the wall paper and bought a papier mache H, canvases, coordinating scrapbook paper and paint and with Aubrey's help made things to hang on the wall.

Then I used the fabric and cars from the mobile to add trim to his curtain. So I was able to do his room for about $30!

Now I just need to convince Dave to let me get the really cool painting of a Hudson Hornet I found. I am still working on that one.

On the Road Again

I am officially out of excuses, Hudson is sleeping through the night (more or less), and it is warm enough and light enough in the mornings. I started running last week (if you consider run two, walk one to be running), but started having the "I need new shoes" pains in my knees and shins. Now I have new shoes too, so I can't use that excuse either. Time to get skinny again.

Celebrate Me!

The kindergartners each get a day to bring their families and a few things to share from home for a "Celebrate Me" day. After some pretty intense negotiating and a little help from the January weather, we were able to celebrate Cam when the grandparents were here. He was very excited to bring his "big group" to school. Here are some of the things we learned about Cam:

Favorite Book: Biscuit
Collections: Baseball cards and Transformers
Favorite Animal: Tiger
Height: 46 3/4 inches
Weight: 51 pounds.
He is smaller than his mom and the refrigerator, but bigger than Hudson and the kitchen stool.
When he was a baby he was really chubby and when he grows up he wants to be a policeman.
He likes to play tag and help his friends, play in the snow and play Wii with his family.

Sharing his "big group" and box o' things with his friends

Audrey and Braxton were thrilled with the excuse to get of class and tried to make it last as long as they could.

Cutting out his body to hang on the wall

The body, hanging on the wall

More Baptism Day Fun

My pictures ended up out of order again, Grr! Anyway, after Braxton's baptism we went to Cici's for pizza with everyone. The highlight for the kids was blowing grandpa's money in the arcade. We all went home to rest for a bit and then hooked up the rest of the Smith gang again for bowling...and more pizza.

Bowling lane pizza, yum! It tasted about as good as it sounds!

Cam took his bowling very seriously and waited anxiously for his turn. Ella had a strict routine that she stuck with every time. It involved tossing the ball between her legs, prancing and twirling her hair. :-)

Cam in action

Playing games at Cici's

Braxton's Big Day

I am playing catch up a bit here because we have had several events go un-blogged that need to be blogged, the most significant being Braxton's baptism. We were lucky to have both sets of grandparents and Uncle Todd and Aunt Aubrey here to celebrate with us. Everyone got to participate in some capacity. Grandma Madsen said the opening prayer, Grandma Smith gave a talk, the Grandpas were the witnesses and the Granpas and Uncle Todd participated in the confirmation, Aunt Aubrey also helped by playing the piano. It was a little crazy in the days leading up to the baptism as we were trying to plan with and around some other families in the ward, but when the day arrived everything went well and the most important part got done, yay for Braxton!