Thanksgiving

We had a great thanksgiving! We headed back to Graettinger on Wednesday night. That night after the kids went to bed, Jarren and I went into town with Jeff and Lina. It was nice to get to hang out just the four of us and see some of the cousins in town. Thursday morning we woke up and Jarren, Dad and Jeff went hunting while the woman and children stayed home :) The picture is of Jarren next to a tree that was uprooted. Grandma Pat was busy making Thanksgiving dinner. Hudsen found the drum set and the horse tumbleweed. Lina and Eleanor spent a lot of the morning rolling around the floor playing. Thursday night family came out to Mom and Dad for dinner. It is always so nice to see everyone and how big the family is growing with all the kids. Hudsen had a great time throwing the football to everyone and then falling on the floor. He likes to be the center of attention some time :) That night Mom, Lina, Missy and I went Black Friday shopping at Wal-mart. It was Lina's first Black Friday experience. She was a little scared at times of the ladies throughing elbows, but we all made it out of there with out getting tackled : The kids got to slumber party in Grandma and Grandpa's room in the pack n plays. We are lucky that Hudsen will still sleep in a pack n play. He was pretty excited to get to slumber party although them taking naps at the same time did not really work out that well. They both just wanted to talk to each other :) Friday was a good relaxing day. In the afternoon, Hudsen, Jarren and I went over to see Grandpa at the landfill. It was fun to see where Grandpa worked and the AlJon. Saturday we heading back to Waukee after watching the ISU football game. Sunday has been a day full of laundry and getting ready to go back to work/school. This week will be a busy one but I think that is the time of the year. Next thing is Hudsen's birthday party on December 10th. He's pretty excited about it!

On the 21st Eleanor was 7 months old! She rolls all over the place, is scooting and loves sitting up and playing silly town. Her brother likes to help her play too. Charley gets in the action as much as he possibly can. She is eating fruit in the morning, veggies in the afternoon and a 2nd food meal at night. She talks/squeals all the time. I think when she does start talking, we may never get her to be quite. She goes to bed at 6:30 and stays in her crib til 7, but wakes up around 6:15 and just “talks” until we get her up to get her ready for Amy’s. She smiles all the time! Such a happy girl.
Tonight Hudsen and Jarren are going to the ISU basketball game. The game starts at 7 so the boys will not get back until around 10. This will be way past Hudsen’s bed time, but he is so excited to go to the basketball game and I’m sure they will have a great time. He went to one basketball game with us last year and loved it. He is pretty excited to see CY and to watch the basketball players.

Living History Farms Race & Decorating for Christmas

This weekend was full of fun! Saturday morning was the Living History Farms race. It was about 48 degrees out and was a lot nicer weather wise than what has been in the past. Mom, Jeff and I ran it this year. Jeff dressed up as Ronald McDonald and got a lot of comments when he ran. It was pretty funny. The race went really well and mom and I only fell a few times in the creek. We were all really muddy when we got done. The kids were at the finish line with Dad, Jarren, and Lina.

Sunday we decorated for Christmas. Hudsen loved putting the ornaments on the tree. He also really liked all the snowman. Eleanor liked jumping around in her jumper and watching us put up the decorations. Aunt Morgan, Uncle Kasey, and Isabella stopped by to see us for a little bit after church. It was great to see them!

Back from Jamaica Man

Jarren and I made it back from Jamaica! I was so much fun! We missed the kids so much but we knew they were in good hands with Grandma and Grandpa Swanson. We were gone for a week and both happy to get back home last night at 9 pm. Below is a short summary of what we did each day.
11th got to the resort at 7. Ate some dinner and headed to the room to relax.
12th slept in and went for lunch at 11. Met up with a couple (Lisa & Jesse) and sat and had drinks until 6 then went back and got ready for a nice dinner.
13th lazy day. Laid out.
14th golf day. Then laid out and went out to a nice dinner
15th boat day, waterfalls, and Jarren snorkeling. Jarren and Jesse went snorkeling while Lisa and I hung out on the boat.
16th relaxing day. Laid out, spent some time doing some water sports.
17th full day of travel. We got home at 9 last night.
Hudsen was very excited to see us this morning when we got him up. We got some really good hugs and he showed us his new train set. Eleanor was full of smiles too. I think both kids were happy to have us back!

First snow of the year! Hudsen was pretty excited to see it this morning and he wanted to build a snowman. Eleanor was pretty happy too, but she is always happy in the mornings. Jarren and I were not too excited to see it. We only got 2 to 3 inches but it still was pretty slipper. We brought Hudsen’s snow pants and snow boots to school today but hopefully it is all melted before he even goes outside. I’m not quit ready for snow yet!

Last night we got back out silly town. Hard to believe that Eleanor is ready to start playing with these toys. Hudsen was having fun playing with it too. It was pretty cute to see the 2 kids playing together. Charley wanted to of course get in the action too. Jarren had to work a little late last night so I was trying to keep Eleanor up for a little bit. Hudsen and I turned on some music and he danced around the living room for baby Ella. She LOVED it and he loved that she was laughing at him. It was pretty good entertainment for me too :) It is so fun to watch the kids interact with each other. Hudsen is a great older brother!

It was an ISU weekend for the Hummel family. On Saturday Jarren took Hudsen to the ISU vs Kansas football game. They left at 9:30 am and tailgated for about an hour before the game. Aunt Lina gave Hudsen a donut that he would NOT share with his dad. Hudsen had a great time at the game. They stayed until the very end. The highlights for the game for Hudsen were “watching the football players, seeing CY, and going to the bathroom”. Jarren said Hudsen was pretty excited about the bathroom  Eleanor and I stayed home and had a Mother and Daughter day of playing and cleaning. We both got in a pretty good nap and had a good relaxing day. Saturday night Greg came over for a little bit since he was home from San Fran. Hudsen was very excited to tell Greg all about his day!

Sunday was daylight savings. I half expected both kids to want to get up at 5:30 or 6:00 put both kids did a great job and didn’t get up until 7. I on the other hand was very much ready to get up at 5. We went to church at 8 and then came home and got ourselves ready to head to Ames. Jarren and I went to the basketball game while Hudsen and Eleanor stayed with Jeff and Lina. Now I’m not sure who had more fun, Jeff or Hudsen. They built forts and watched Cars 2. The basketball game was really fun too and it was great to know the kids were having a good time with their Aunt and Uncle. Both kids must have really got worn out b/c Sunday night Eleanor was in bed at 6:15 and Hudsen followed shortly at 7. Jarren had his Sunday night basketball league game at 7:30. All in all it was a great weekend!

Today is picture day for Hudsen at his school! I must say, that he looks a lot older than an almost 3 year old to me. I don’t like it! I’m not ready for my little guy to be a big little guy  Starting on Monday Hudsen will be consider a junior at school full time. Right now he is with the sophmores in the mornings and the juniors in the afternoon for the transition period. He is doing really well and very excited to be with the big kids. We hear about his friends that he plays with a night. His favorite color is green and Brady’s is blue and Coen’s is red. They each have a train with their favorite color that they play with. Sometimes I wish I could go there for a day and just play!

Eleanor is having a great week. I’m a little nervous about day light savings time this weekend. She already goes to bed at 6:30, I don’t want her to fall asleep at 5:30! I would never get to see her. During dinner time she has started sitting in her highchair while we eat. She loves being high up so she can see us. She has been really chewing on her sophie giraffe and drooling a lot which makes me think she is getting teeth. Nothing has poked through yet, but maybe in the next few weeks. Hudsen didn’t get teeth until 13 months.

This weekend, depending on the weather, Jarren and Hudsen are going to go to the ISU football game. Right now the weather does not look too bad for Saturday. Hudsen is pretty excited about it, so hopefully it all works out. Then on Sunday Hudsen and Eleanor are going to hang out with Jeff and Lina while Jarren and I go to the ISU basketball game. The kids and Jeff and Lina are all very excited for their day together.