Winter Wonderland

The snow we had the first week of January was enough to shut down the city, but not enough to really play in. We tried to sled a bit in our neighborhood, but we only got in a few snow angels before the frigid temps drove us back inside. It was nice to have several days of unexpected nothingness!

We went snow tubing today (MLK Day) at Ober Gatlinburg. So fun!! The weather was a bit different with the temperature there around 45-degrees, but the snow was still plentiful. Our "other daughter", Carley, joined us for the day.

When we got in the van to leave, you could faintly smell the aroma of propane, which is used to fuel the gas fireplaces we so enjoyed while waiting for our session to start.

Randy (to me): "I can smell the propane gas in here."

H: "That was me!"

Randy (laughing hysterically): "No, Hudson! Not THAT kind of gas!!!"

Family Planning

I know I need to update stories and pictures since Halloween ... and I will ... soon ... promise. But this little conversation happened in the car today on the way home from school, and I just had to share:

H: I just love my dog.
Me: Yes, Twitter is the sweet one. You chose well.
H: I'm going to pick another dog when I'm big to live with me at my house. I might have five dogs -- all nice ones.
Me: You need to have a farm for all those dogs. That would be fun.
H: Yes, a farm would be good ... with five dogs and a cow named Benji.
Me: A farm is a lot of work. I hope you have a good wife and several kids to help out.
H: Kids? No way! I'm not having ANY kids.
Me: None? Are you sure?
H: Yes.
Me: Why?
H: One word: they will be wild. Wild, I tell you!
Me: What about your wife? What if she wants children.
H: Wife? Who needs a wife if you don't have kids?

Nice to know I'm needed!!!

We Just Love ...

HaLlOwEeN!

Announcement

I had lunch with Hudson today like I do every week. He's currently in a cluster of desks with two little girls and another little boy. Today's lunch request was Burger King ... it's been Soup Kitchen for a while (yum!), but he went retro on me today. So, we're starting to eat and he accidentally skims his puddle of ketchup with his forearm. My instincts kick in, and I start cleaning him up. While I'm working on that, he's admiring his other - cleaner - forearm and makes the following announement:

I'm getting MAN HAIR!

His eyes lit up like a Christmas tree as he gazed in amazement at his forearm which is perched in a horizontal position as if checking the time. He looks toward the girls and states it again, with an even more convincing tone:

I'm getting MAN HAIR!

They are not amused, and I don't think they quite knew to what he was referring. He looked at his buddy, Whit, across the desk from him and - with a giggle - tried to one-up him (since Whit just announced that he's already six years old):

I'm getting MAN HAIR!

Whit just kept talking about whatever it was he was talking about. Not impressed at all. I was impressed, though, and gave Hudson a sweet squeeze. And, yes, there are little dark brown slivers of silken hair scattered over those little arms.

Randy just came home . . . I heard Hudson greet him at the door, arm poised . . .

I'm getting MAN HAIR!

Say What?

There were several reasons to laugh with the kids today. Here's a few:

While driving to school this morning:
H: I wonder if someone should tell those people they have construction paper on their house?
Me: Construction paper? Where?
H: Right there! (He points to a house that has it's front porch wrapped in that yellow crime scene tape; guess he's see it used at construction sites as well!)


While helping Hudson finish up in the shower tonight, he starts singing opera music. I don't really notice at first, I just keep soaping his little body. After a few minutes, Olivia walks in and asks if this is a "soap opera". Hudson says that it is, and he keeps doing his best tenor voice. Olivia turns to me and says, "A soap opera is an opera sung in the bath when you feel all soapy, clean and relaxed, right?" At this point I realize they are serious. Unfortunately, I burst her (soap!) bubble and let her in on the fact that a soap opera is a not-very-nice TV show that's often showing things we don't need to watch. Kind of ironic isn't it?

After baths, we made hot chocolate and watched the first few performers on Dancing with the Stars. It showed one of the dancers receiving a massage after rehearsal. Olivia, knowing how much I don't like massages, says with a smirk, "Oh, Momma. Wouldn't that feel good?" Before I could reply, Hudson -- who's studying this massage thing rather intently -- says in a complete dead-pan tone, "Yeah, that would feel great. I haven't had a massage in weeks." I just had to crack up!!!