The Big 6

Hudson turned 6 years old last week. It's hard to believe that I've been a mommy for that long but at the same time, it seems like I've always been one. Hudson has brought smiles, hugs, and happiness into our home every day since he was born. His birthday this year wasn't any different...

We started with his class field trip to a local farm. When the flyer/permission slip came home from school weeks ago, the first thing he asked was that I go with him on the field trip since it was his birthday. I was planning on going anyway but I pretended like I was going just because it was his special day. I was assigned to manage a group of three boys and once at the farm, joined forces with another mom/friend and together we corralled our six kids throughout the trip. The kids loved playing on the bus on the way there, seeing all the animals, climbing on an old tractor and a giant box elder tree, and generally keeping us on our toes.

Hudson's birthday evening was much more low key. We went to dinner at one of Hudson's favorite restaurants, Tepanyaki (Japanese steak house much like Benihana), where Hudson happily wolfed down his friend rice and steak. A little later on we had Max's parents up for dessert along with one of his sisters and a couple of her kids (currently living with his parents while their family is in limbo between 2 states). Hudson was thrilled with the rainbow chip cake I baked up for him...complete with white frosting, rainbow sprinkles, and a polka-dotted "6" candle. You can see how incredibly ecstatic he was in the one picture below... He was a happy camper opening his gifts and was most excited about a treasure hunt that lead him up and down the stairs again and again, ending with his getting Super Paper Mario for the Wii (weird game but he loves it).

Over the weekend we had his first "friend" party. It was a nice little group with a total of 9 kids including Hudson. We kept it simple with a pizza lunch, a treasure hunt with activities at each stop, a pinata, cake & ice cream, and lots of time to just run around and play.

To finish up, here's a list of 6 things that I'm really loving or enjoying about Hudson right now:

1. He still loves to hug, snuggle, and hold hands (usually)...I know it's not going to last so I'm relishing it while it does.
2. He is really great about entertaining, playing with, and helping take care of Claire.
3. He's a great helper and often comes to me with a "what next?" after finishing a chore.
4. His two front teeth are fairly loose and the one is starting to slide more to the center leaving him with a bit of a gap on the one side. Makes me smile every time I see it.
5. He has a great excitement for life - everything is worth checking out, everything needs to be talked about, and everything is cool.
6. He accepts people for who they are and doesn't let gender, age, or anything else stop him from wanting to be a person's friend.

Happy Birthday to my all time favorite

6-year-old boy!