Happy 7th Birthday to My Amazing HUDSON!

Hudson turned 7 on Sept. 13.  I still like to tell the story of how CRAZY I was when I was pregnant with him. (Yes, even crazier than normal!)  I was so nuts that I convinced myself that I would simply die if the child was born on an even numbered day.  Evan, Eric and myself all have odd birthdays, so I desperately wanted this to be the case for this little guy.  Luckily, my doctor didn't even bat an eye when I told him of my NEED to have him on an odd day.  And again, luckily, the doctor was on call on the 13th, and we had already chosen to induce.  And that's how Hudson got his odd numbered birth date!

Even cooler, I later realized, is that the boys in the family all have the number 3 in their birth date: Evan 3rd, Hudson 13th, and Eric 23rd.  I am 11th.  Yes, I am still slightly off kilter, but I just love the coincidence of the dates!

Hudson got to celebrate for three days this year.  It is a tradition at school to wear free dress on your birthday, but it isn't allowed on Fridays because of Mass.  (Hudson's birthday was Saturday.)  So we bumped the free dress back to Thursday, and he chose to have his cupcakes brought to school on Thursday as well.  The class sang to him, Sr. Monica waved his arms around, the kids had a cupcake, and he got to read the spelling sentences for the test later that day!  Big stuff!

I cracked up for a couple reasons.  1. Sr. Monica gave him a birthday certificate with four pencils attached that had the name "Austin" on them.  I'm not sure if she figured, eh, close enough, or if she is true to nun form in not wasting and giving away what is extra.  Hudson never noticed, but it made me chuckle.  2. A kid later that day told me my cupcakes were good, but they tasted a like olive oil.  Um, okay kid, even though no olive oil was used in making them.  I blamed Hudson!  3.  Another kid ate a few bites, declared he didn't like his cupcake and said he wanted to take it home to his mom!  Oh the joys of 2nd graders!

I didn't get any pictures of Hudson on Thursday with his classroom cupcakes.  Had other stuff to worry about that day.  The beginning of this year is keeping me hopping!

However, on Friday, it was all about the Rat House...AKA Chuck E. Cheese.

 Hudson wanted to celebrate at Chuck E. Cheese, his favorite place in the world, apparently.

 He chose John and Sam to come home from school with us to play and then head to pizza.

 John is in 4th grade, but we are good friends with the family and Hudson ADORES him!  I always say that John is Hudson's best friend, but I'm not sure it goes the other way around!  John is always very good to Hudson in any case.

 You can see how excited Eric is to be there!

 Opening presents.

 Such excitement!  This toy flies far in to the air!

 Very cool gift from John.

 Whatever do we buy with 1000 tickets?

 Fake teeth.  Sam got Hudson a gift card to Target.  The kid has more money than I do right now!

 Birthday donuts on your birthday.  It has become a tradition of ours.

 I can't believe he is 7.

 We let him open one present before heading to his soccer game.

 A new soccer ball!

 It's the ball they used for the final World Cup game this past summer.  Dad pumped up the ball and we headed to his match.

 The kids won their game, and Hudson played great defense!

 Little boys are funny, but they are also a lot of fun!

 Evan's team had a game as well, so we were out at the field from 9 a.m. until almost 2 p.m.  I was a bit tired.  We headed to Deli Delicious for lunch.

 Bad picture with the sun from the window, but I told Evan to take a birthday shot with his brother.

I hope little man enjoyed his three days of fun.  He still will get a bit more attention from my side of the family and he gets to go on a major shopping spree with his birthday money!

Here are some facts about Hudson.
1. He is brave.  Evan often uses him for comfort!
2. He is very smart, but doesn't care all that much about performing in school.  I think he figures, I know this, why do I have to prove it to you?!
3. That being said, he loves taking AR tests at school!
4. He wiggles.
5. He wiggles a lot!
6. He loves playing on his tablet.
7. He is a soccer defender like his brother.
8. He likes to cook.
9. He seems to be popular at school.  All the kid say hi and bye to him.
10. He likes playing with the older kids.
11. He loves candy like his mom.
12. He likes his dogs.
13. He still wants me to help him get dressed in the morning.
14. He is FUNNY!
15. He learned to swim in the deep end this summer.
16. He is reading chapter books.
17, He does not like homework.
18. He is tough.
19. He is loving.
20. He is my favorite 7-year-old!