The Renaissance Festival

One of our favorite events during the year is the Renaissance Festival, which happens every weekend in May and on Memorial Day. This year, Grammy and Pop-Pop were up visiting and they went with us, along with Aunt Christina. It was Hudson's fourth trip to the festival; his first visit was when he was ust 6 weeks old!

As always, we had a blast. Hudson got his face painted and picked out a black sword and matching black and red shield (with a dragon painted on it). We sampled all kinds of food and drink - turkey legs, boiled peanuts, cinnamon & sugared cashews and almonds, strawberry shortcake, etc. We played several games too. Kristen was especially good at Bump-A-Monk, knocking off 4 out of 5 monks. Pop-Pop and Aunt Christina excelled at archery. Both of them hit the target and were "knighted" by the orders of Huey, Dewey, and Louie, and Larry, Curly, and Moe. Pop-Pop was best at knife throwing, and even tried his hand at the strong-man bell ringing thing-a-ma-jig. We watched the Birds of Prey show and then settled in for the regional championship jousting match. That was the most exciting jousting match we'd ever seen! Several lances got totally shattered and one night almost got de-horsed! With all the interesting booths and entertainment, I think people-watching was Grammy and Pop-Pop's favorite activity. This festival certainly brings out an "interesting" demographic, haha. And because this was their first Renaissance Festival, they didn't know what to expect. We hope they will come back and join us again next year!

My Little Maestro!

Hudson discovered my music stand this morning. Well, he has always seen it, but I guess he was too short to realize that sheet music was on it. For some reason he became curious today and dragged a chair over to it so he could see better. Once he climbed up and saw the sheet music, he got very excited and started waving his arms around and "directing" his own orchestra. He amazed me because I didn't realize he knew what sheet music was! Here are a few clips of his virtual concert. The first is what I've titled Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Wars because he starts off with the child's song and ends up with his own version of Darth Vader's theme from Star Wars. What a creative little guy I have!

This second clip is of Hudson directing his invisible orchestra to The Imperial March, or Darth Vader's theme. Notice that he even gets the dynamics! He directs his orchestra to play piano or pianissimo (I'm not sure which) toward the end of the clip!

The following clip is the ending of the Star Wars concert. Hudson is such a focused director that he doesn't even wait for the applause before asking, "Now what?" He's already on to the next number!

End of Year Program

Last night was Hudson's end of the year program for his school. We were so excited! Hudson performed beautifully, and was such a handsome guy up on stage. He didn't really sing the first two songs, which were performed with all the students in the preschool - he just stood there and watched the director. But he did sing all the songs that his 2 year-old class sang by alone. He didn't do many of the hand signs during the "Jesus Loves Me" song, but he sang most of the words! Mrs. Tina, the school's director, also chose Hudson to be the representative for his class. So when all the diplomas were given out to the graduating 4 year-olds, Hudson presented his teacher, Mrs. Pam, with a small boquet of flowers on behalf of his entire class. We were so proud of our little guy!

Oh and by the way, apparently Hudson thinks it's funny that Mommy dressed up for this occasion. I guess he doesn't ever remember seeing his Mom in a dress, because when I came out of my bedroom wearing a skirt, he stopped in his tracks, pointed a finger at me, and started laughing! He was like, "What. Is. THAT?!" Haha....

As we were driving home last night, Hudson was entertaining us with a singing review of the program. Here are a few clips of what he was singing (it was dark, so you can't see him - just listen). "Oh be careful little hands where you go! Oh be careful little mouth where you go! Oh be careful little feet where you go!" Apparently the "Father soup above" is very concerned with where things go...

Here is Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (Nana's favorite)....

My heart swells with pride!

Oh wow, I couldn't wait to share this little memory! Tonight at dinner, we all sat down to the table together and proceeded to bow our heads, clasp our hands, and say the blessing together. We always say the same one - "God is great, God is good. Let us thank Him for our food. Amen." Well tonight, Rob added, "...and help Aunt Christina get well" before the "Amen." The two of us said, "Amen" together and looked up. Hudson's hands were still together and his eyes were still closed...he was obviously not finished. Then he proceeded to say, "Thank you for Mari Cagle. Thank you for Atticus. Thank you for Riley. Thank you for Dada. Thank you for Mama. Amen." Oh my goodness. I thought my heart would burst. I was SO proud of my little man. (By the way, Riley is the only little girl in his class at "school," and Atticus is the most rambunctious of the other six boys.) Where did that come from?! This was the first time that he has spontaneously said a blessing or added to a blessing all on his own. I just burst into tears right there at the table. I couldn't control myself. And that, of course, prompted Hudson to pat my arm and say, "It's okay, Mama. It's okay." How did I become so blessed with such a perfect little treasure? My cup runneth over....

My Naked Cowboy

Hudson "helped" me cut the yard yesterday, and when we were done, we both jumped in the shower together. I washed him first, gave him a towel, and sent him out to dry himself off. Then I proceeded to shower myself. Before long, I heard someone clomping through the bathroom and this is what I saw....

Are these the best "blackmail photos," or what?! HAHA! I love it. My cute little nekkid cowboy!

Last Week of School

This is Hudson's last week of "school." Thursday night is his end of the year program. We're so excited and can't wait to see what he does. We hope he will be good and stand up there and sing his little heart out! (And not just make goofy faces and stick his finger up his nose, which is what he's been doing a lot lately.) His class - the youngest of the 2 year-olds - will be singing several songs including "Jesus Loves Me" (complete with sign language), "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" (Nana's favorite), "Jesus Loves the Little Children," and "Oh Be Careful." We've got the camcorder and digital camera batteries all charged and ready to go!

Take a look at some of Hudson's artwork from the past year in his Tuesday - Thursday School.