Posing with his presents—and in his birthday shirt—for another birthday picture!
Katie in her new party dress…with Grannie (and a gift from Grannie):
And trying to peek around me to watch TV like Owen does:
Owen’s finished (lame) Lego cakes:
The appetizer set up:
Attempting to Skype with Gramma Jean/Grandpa David and Grandma Marsha/Uncle Rob (it didn’t work too well—our network couldn’t handle it):
Most of the attendees:
Singing Happy Birthday:
Really excited about his new Xbox Sesame Street game from Grandma Marsha and Uncle Rob:
And the guitar I found on clearance for $3 (and took the batteries out ahead of time!):
He did pretty well opening presents…except he really loved the first things he opened (Lego Cars and a Ninja Lego) so he wanted to stop right then and play but we made him keep going. 🙂 We did stop about halfway through, though, because he was losing interest and really wanted to play. Which was just fine.
It took me about five hours to bake four double layer cakes for Owen’s birthday cake.
Why so many?
Well, for starters, the theme was Legos, so I wanted to make a bunch of Lego blocks (squares and rectangles) and I knew one cake certainly wouldn’t be enough so planned on two from the start. Then as I was making the second cake, I realized I left out an egg…so called dad and Lin who were at the store and had them pick up two more, just in case the minus-one-egg cake didn’t turn out plus an extra in case I had a kitchen catastrophe. 🙂
I was exhausted by this time (about 5pm) but still had to make the frosting and get the first layer on. What a mess—and I was being careful!
Facebook post, 4:49pm: Someone slap me if I decide to make Owen’s birthday cake next year. I’m 5 hours in and not even close to done. And the *hard* part is next.
Unfortunately, it was a nightmare. I didn’t love the taste of the frosting (made with Crisco and powdered sugar) and it was an absolute mess to work with. And I can’t frost a cake to save my life— which I already kinda knew but thought I could certainly do some square cakes—so that didn’t help. And trying to frost the marshmallows (what was suggested for the Lego pieces) was the absolute worst. THE WORST. Betty Crocker can kiss my ass (though, to be fair, I didn’t use their pre-made frosting). But I still don’t think it would have helped.
Facebook post, 8:55p: WHY DO I EVEN TRY? Ugh. I can NOT frost a cake. These look nothing like Legos. And there’s no red. It’s dark pink. And I don’t think I like the Crisco frosting. Too much work and frustration. /cry
Yeah, I so didn’t get the true, vibrant Lego colors I had wanted—even with my special purchase of gel food dyes. (No, I don’t even have pictures of those monstrosities.) At that point, I was tempted to just toss everything in the trash and go buy a cake. Seriously. But then I was more logical and thought since I already had HOURS and MONEY and TIME invested, we’d eat these cakes.
And the kicker is that I know Owen won’t care at all so I really shouldn’t be putting myself through the stress of it…but I honestly thought making a Lego cake would be, well, a piece of cake.
LESSON LEARNED? From now on…I will never make a birthday cake for Katie or Owen again unless it’s a 9×13 in the pan or possibly a layer cake. Nothing fancy. No designs. No themes. Ever. EVER.
Grauntie Marge sent Christmas gifts so we Skyped tonight to open them. The robotic bugs were a HUGE hit with Owen (and we think they’re cool, too). Here he is, showing them off:
And here we are having fun with them in the kitchen!
Katie’s Gund Peek A Boo Bear was super cute, too…though I don’t have a good picture of her with it (yet).
He wasn’t terribly interested in it when he opened it…got a little interested when he saw it in action…carried it around but refused to put it on…until bedtime when he HAD to have it! Fast forward 15 minutes and he was out of bed so I went in there and he didn’t want it on anymore and HAD to give it to me (versus just putting it on his dresser).
Well this morning was…not quite what I expected. I thought Owen would wake up and be super excited about Santa…but all he wanted to do was play his Xbox game. 🙁
We excitedly said “Owen, who came to visit last night?” and in the most quiet and bored voice simply said “Santa.” Not quite the response I expected. About 20 minutes later we convinced him it was time to check out what Santa left—and he was a bit more enthusiastic. Here we are coming down the stairs to find the stockings…
And then it was off to see the presents…where he got upset because Santa ate “his” (Owen’s) cookies—even though Owen didn’t want any himself last night or this morning—and then back to happy again remembering there were presents to open.
Of course, he was happy to pose with all the presents:
And smiled with one when I asked him to:
And enjoyed playing with some of the things:
But honestly, he seemed less than thrilled with most of his stuff (though I guess to be fair, it’s hard to get excited about clothes or games when they’re in a box). I mean, he enjoyed opening them (which I guess is good enough, right?) but then they were pretty much immediately tossed aside and it was on to the next present. (Yes, I know he’s three. But it was just such a change from last year when he wanted to play with everything as he opened it). He did like a few things (meaning he expressed some awe over them—like both new Xbox Lego games, his Cars cars, and his Indiana Jones minifigs)…but the biggest hit wasn’t even from us or Santa—it was a bug vacuum and fishing rod (that you put your iPhone in to pretend fish) from Tom’s mom that were both immediately turned into guns. And an activity box that was for Katie.
I guess I was expecting too much from a 3yo, right?
And less than an hour later, he was already done playing with everything new and wanted to play the stupid xbox game I had hoped would be forgotten about with the appearance of two new games. 🙁 I feel bad that I’m a little upset, but I just keep telling myself it’s not a big deal, it’s not a big deal, it’s not a big deal because I know he’ll eventually play with everything and like the games, etc…but it was just a bit disappointing because it wasn’t what I envisioned (and you think by now I’d know better).
There were lots of smiles and fun moments, though. 🙂
We Skyped with Grandma Marsha and Uncle Rob while Owen opened the presents they sent and some from Santa and mom and dad.
We had labeled everything with big name tags because Owen knows his name, so with just about every package he picked up he said “O-W-E-N spells me—Owen” and it was completely adorable. So then it was funny when we caught him opening a package for me and we said “Owen, is that yours?” YES! “Owen, whose name is on the label?” He looks for the label, sees it’s not Owen and immediately says “I’m sorry! So so sorry!” 🙂
Katie enjoyed the tags on one of her gifts:
And Charlie enjoyed a box in the middle of the floor—and watching everything from her perch:
And he was excited about this Captain America figure…
…until Tom pressed the button to make it speak and it freaked Owen out:
And he liked his trampoline…for about 15 seconds. (That was free so it may end up being gifted elsewhere because we don’t really have room for it if he’s not loving it.)
So overall I’d say it was a success, even if it didn’t go quite as we planned.
We went out for dinner tonight with the Trimbles and Mitchells and I decided to dress Katie in a very special outfit…something that was mine forever ago. Isn’t she adorable?
Prompting Owen to write an actual letter to Santa is backfiring, as he now wants stuff he’s not getting.
For the past few weeks we’ve been saying “Owen, would you maybe like ABC for Christmas?” Knowing full well it was already bought and wrapped. And of course he’d say yes because we know he’d like it. Now after a trip to Costco he’s asking for something completely new that he saw (which, on Costco trips before now, he’s NEVER wanted anything!)—and the specific color he asked for I found on ebay for pretty cheap so we added it to his pile.
So today when we’re actually writing the letter, he doesn’t want that color anymore, but a new color. Which he’s definitely not getting because Santa is DONE shopping. Sigh. I think we’re done with the whole “asking for what you want from Santa” thing…Santa will bring what Santa has already planned to bring. 🙂
We tried to go to a USMC family-oriented Christmas party tonight on base. We prepped Owen for sitting on Santa’s lap and for telling Santa what he wanted and everything. He was excited! We didn’t have high hopes of him liking the crowds, etc., so kept our fingers crossed it wouldn’t be too big or too loud.
Nope.
We were fine walking in. It hadn’t officially started yet so people were just milling around. He didn’t want to do any of the crafts except decorate a cookie.
I took him over to where Santa would be to get familiar with it…and he refused to even get near the chair.
Then as soon as the pre-party music started over the loudspeakers, he was done. 🙁 He wasn’t as freaked out as he was at Sesame Street Live (I’m guessing because it wasn’t AS loud) but he was covering his ears and asking to go home. So we packed up and left. Before the event even started. Poor kid.
And now I’m pissed we missed the EFMP (exceptional family member program) Christmas with Santa, which would have been super low-key and perfect. Next year…
Project Santa Hat Photo went better than I anticipated (considering Owen HATES wearing hats unless it’s HIS idea)… These were the two keepers from the five-minute session.
It’s not too bad for a 10-minute process!! Maggie is the only one not cooperating—well, that and the flash, since I had it set for three-pics-at-a-time and my battery was dying. But it’s still a pretty good pic!
And then when we were done, Owen wanted to take some pictures. So he took this one! (Basically he just pressed the button and the camera did the rest—but he was still proud!)
It was a really nice sunny day so it was time to put up the lights! YAY!
We had new lights this year—the icicle lights we had at this house before were long since dead—and of course, one strand wasn’t QUITE long enough (so two would have been completely too long) but as it happened, Tom had to restring them because he started with the wrong end (even though I told him so at the start!) so when he did, he adjusted them just enough to look good! I keep dreaming about lights on the second story, but Tom has said NO WAY—though if I want to hire someone to do it, go ahead. Let me tell you…I’m tempted!
Then I had to come up with something for the porch railing because the lit garland I had hung there other years had died (and Sam’s Club hasn’t had it since) so I used some colored lights that we used on the tree last year. It took a tiny bit of finagling, but I got the two strands to fit perfectly. I like the garland a lot better, but this works.
This morning we put up the tree! Owen was GIDDY with excitement as Tom got the pieces out, turned the lights on, and put everything together. The tree isn’t as wide as the last tree, so it looks A LOT smaller, but it works with the space we have so it will do for a few years.
We try to only get Christmas ornaments that are meaningful—like from vacations, colleges, traditions, or our annual family Christmas photo. Sometimes they include favorite TV shows—for example, Owen has both Little Einsteins and Cars ornaments—and this year I bought the Tardis from Doctor Who (Tom has watched it throughout the years, but I just decided to watch it and got caught up on the past six seasons on Netflix over the last month or so). Owen has watched it with me, so he knows what the Tardis is…and was SUPER excited when I opened the package. We didn’t have the tree up at that point, so he kept asking where the Tardis was. So this morning, the Tardis was the first ornament he hung and now he runs around saying “The Tardis! The Tardis!”
Owen was REALLY good at hanging ornaments on the tree, too—except he wanted to hang them all in a one-foot clump. Also, of course, they were all hung at his chest-level! I eventually started pointing out where to put ornaments and telling him to look for a bare spot—and he did pretty well.
Lastly, we had to take the traditional photo of Owen kissing the Bear (I used to kiss the Bear when it hung on Grauntie Marge’s tree).
Owen has been WAITING and WAITING for us to put up the tree.
Yesterday he helped me clean out the room to make space for it…and his second question this morning after his usual “Where’s daddy?” was “Where’s the Christmas tree?”
This was the unboxing:
And this is him trying to wake up the tree (since we told him it was sleeping):
I wonder what he’ll do when we eventually get a REAL tree?!
Owen was VERY excited to go trick-or-treating. He had told us he was going to be Thor (he has both Thor and Captain America costumes) but at the last moment, he decided he wanted to be Captain America. Which was fine, except the mask that came with the costume didn’t fit (it was the one Katie wore in earlier pictures), and the mask we bought separately was heavier than the Thor mask and didn’t fit him as well…but you can’t explain that to a toddler. So Captain America it was.
And then we were off!
And then a few houses down we ran into another Captain America—the little boy he has played with before—and it was hilarious! They saw each other, got super excited, and were running around their yard together! Owen kept saying “TWO SHIELDS! HE HAS A SHIELD!” The other kid (Andrew) is about 4.5. EEK, I know.
After we hit the few houses on our street, Owen was done with the mask—and Tom had the shield to carry as well since Owen refused to wear it on his arm and couldn’t hold it in his hand, hold his candy bag, and grab treats all at the same time.
Tom went up with him to the houses this year so I didn’t get to hear his cute version of “Trick or treat” or “Thank you” but he did really well. It wasn’t too busy or crowded when we were out, which was good—but we did skip two houses that were too loud (those cackling figures and loud music) and too scary (fog machines and lots of people). About halfway through, he kept saying how heavy his bag was and how many treats he had…so we dumped some of them in the stroller. 🙂
Katie tagged along with me…no costume, but comfy as a bug!
We made it to more houses this year, but Owen declared he was done when there were still a few houses to go. We asked if he wanted to go get more candy and he said no, he wanted to go home. Okay then.
Here he is with his stash. He wanted to sort it and find matchers…but wasn’t really that interested in eating any of it. He tried a bite of a Tootsie Roll and two Milk Duds and that was it.
How could I have forgotten these pictures? The chili pepper was borrowed from friends and I was planning on having her wear it when we went out to trick or treat—except it was a bit too small and it was a challenge just getting her in it for a few pictures!
Our little ladybug. Out of about 75 pictures, these are the best. She wasn’t totally cooperative, but there are some cute ones…and a few funny ones like the screaming and the face flop. 🙂
My birthday started out wonderful…I got to sleep in until 9:30 (thanks to Katie getting me up at 5 to eat and “wish me happy birthday!”), Owen said “Happy Birthday Mama!” all on his own (I wonder how much instruction that took!), Tom made waffles for breakfast, and I had a Facebook wall full of birthday wishes from friends and family waiting for me!
After a nice lazy day of hanging around the house with the fam (and publishing my updated blog!), my day was topped off with a rousing chorus of Happy Birthday from my niece and nephew (Gabrielle and Robert), reading my entire wall of Facebook birthday wishes, and CLEAN SHEET NIGHT! I’m a lucky girl! 🙂
Well, it’s been a long and tedious road, but the day is finally here: my blogs have been migrated, completely revamped with new themes and widgets, and now live at the main website—www.hudson2001.com—instead of a specific blog address (so change your bookmarks!). All of the content is the same, though the Blather and Owen/Katie blogs have been merged! And I’ve even added a lot from the pages that were on the website before (like Tom’s writings and photos from Iraq and our “new” house stories). However, one slight change with content is that the Recipes blog is currently locked. Long story…but they may be going away now that technology will let me compile and access them in a better fashion.
I have to give mad props to my friend, Tori, who basically did all the heavy lifting on this project—and I can honestly say it would NEVER have gotten done if it weren’t for her. Migration sounds easy, but is a total pain in the ass. That said, this blogging platform (WordPress) is a lot more involved and easier to use (behind the scenes—not for you!) so my life just got a lot easier.
Since the blogs were out of commission for about three weeks, I had A LOT of posting to do in the past two days…but I think I got completely caught up. Thanks to Tom for keeping an eye on the kids all day for almost two days so I could knock it out. There is still some tweaking going on behind the scenes, but nothing you should really notice. Let me know if you run across anything really weird or glitchy.
If you want to get emails when new posts are made, you will need to enter your address over there to the right—your old subscriptions from the old blog are no longer valid.
Oops! We were a day late…and we felt bad because we had actually been with Grannie on her birthday…but it was a busy morning as that’s when we were packing up to head back to Grayling.
was super cute, too…though I don’t have a good picture of her with it (yet).
