Summer's almost over!

I can't believe this seemingly endless summer is almost over.  I looked over our family calendar in June and said, "oh, wow, August 22 is a long way off".  Well, it's here, and I have mixed emotions.

The boys have played well together all summer, with the exception of a few "wild" moments.  Lately, they have been pushing my buttons and I was so looking forward to school starting and getting back to a structured routine. 

A thought occurred to me this morning--one that brought tears to my eyes.  I recalled a facebook post from a sweet family at our church who just took their daughter to her freshman year in college.  God blesses us with these children for such a short amount of time, then they go off to live their life.  We are charged with nurturing and teaching them to follow God's will.  It's such a humbling task.  The good thing is we don't have to do this alone.  If we turn to God, He will guide our steps. 

So, as I was getting ready for Church, I was fighting tears and sadness.  I know they will grow up, but just not wanting it to be so fast.  God is so good--all the time He is good.  Today during worship, Hayden asked me if he could sit in my lap.  I seized this opportunity.  I cherished every moment of holding my amazing, stubborn, funny, loving and caring 6 year old.  I whispered "I love you" in his ear.  He looked up at me with those awesome blue eyes and said "love you too".  My heart is so full!

Parents, love your kids.  They will grow up even if you don't want them to.  In our case, we have until August of 2026 before we have to drop Hayden off for his freshman year at Texas A&M!  Gig'em

A Big Decision

A Big Decision….

 The dictionary defines decision as

            something that somebody chooses or makes up his or her mind about, after considering it and other possible choices.

Parenting is full of decisions - some small, some big and some GIGANTIC!  Larry and I have prayed over lots of decisions, but none more than the decision we made on behalf of Hayden at the beginning of February.

We decided to retain Hayden in kindergarten. 

This decision wasn’t taken lightly.  We have labored over it and prayed about it for almost a year.  Hayden is the youngest in his class.  Most of his classmates turned 6 before he turned 5 ½.  He has most definitely taken after his daddy.  He is very smart and has had no problems keeping up with the academics of kindergarten.  Our issue is, and always has been, the maturity level.  Hayden is not quite there yet.

Another thing we took under consideration is junior high Hayden.  I’m sure we all remember our torturous junior high years.  Today’s kids have it so much harder.  We wanted to make sure we give him every opportunity to be successful in junior high—that includes giving him an extra year to grow.

A significant reason for our decision is leadership.  Even when he was younger, people always commented on Hayden’s leadership capabilities.  The thought occurred to me (I’m very sure it was a thought that was God given), if God has given Hayden this leadership quality, how can we say we are “training up the child” if we push him too hard too fast? 

Retention is a hard decision to make for parents.  It can be scary and unsettling to retain your child.  After all, you are making a decision that will affect his/her academic career.  We chose to look at the positive.  We are giving Hayden the beautiful gift of time, an extra year to “bake”. 

The gift of time was a statement we heard over and over as we told people of our plans.  Again and again, our friends and family were so supportive, letting us know that we wouldn’t regret this decision.  Hayden would be stronger in the long run – our sole intent. 

We told Hayden on his last day of school.  After explaining it to him a couple of times, he was fine with this decision.  I found out that another kindergarten from his school was also being retained.  Hayden knows this boy.  When I told him, Hayden was REALLY excited.   I’m sure he will wax and wane in emotions over the summer, but I feel so strongly that Hayden will come to see this as a positive step in his life.  Over the past two years, we’ve used Jeremiah 29:11 to show him that God has big plans for him, plans to bring him hope.  This beautiful scripture has come to comfort Hayden especially when he started to worry about who we would marry.  (That boy is something else.)  Hayden has such a wonderful heart, one that is definitely for God.  He will be fine and I am excited to see what this next year holds for him.  I also am giddy to see the growth God has in store for this little man.  He will get to mature in a safe environment.  My prayer is that God gives Hayden a wonderful year full of fun and a year that will cultivate long lasting friendships.

We would like to thank our family and friends for their support and words of encouragement. 

Sweet boys with a heart for Jesus

Ok, I know it's been a LONG time since I've posted on this blog. I promise to get better. I've wanted to share some of the beautiful things our sweet boys have been saying.

In the middle of a store, Thomas said "I want to tell you something, mommy. God made you special." He has since started to sing a song with the words "God made me special" over and over.

Hayden pointed out a tree with broken branches near his school. He told me that we should pray for the tree. Before I could say anything, the boys started praying for the tree. Hayden asked God to "just touch the tree and heal it, God."

Here's my favorite: (Just a little background knowledge for you. Hayden is small for his age.)

Hayden told Thomas: "I'm bigger than you. But, did you know that at my school, I'm the littlest." I asked Hayden how that made him feel, being the smallest in his class.

His response brought tears to my eyes.

"This is how God wants me to be. I'm not complaining because it's what God wants."

What a beautiful attitude! We have used Jeremiah 29:11 to help Hayden understand several things along the way, like when he started to question who he would marry and what he would do when he gets older.

His response reminded me of Psalm 139 13-16

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; you works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

It amazes me that before my boys were born, before they were even formed, God had chosen everything about them and their little bodies. God doesn't make any mistakes and I'm so grateful that He is in charge. I'm so grateful for these amazing young men in the making. I pray that God will give us the wisdom to help nurture these little hearts and guide them in God's truth.

Love to all!

All About Thomas

Most of my recent posts have been mostly about Hayden. So, I decided to dedicate this post to the youngest and wildest member of the Temple Texas Hutson's. That's right, Captain Destructo!

Thomas is a sweet, funny, stubborn and smart little boy. He loves to give kisses and to cuddle in the recliner after a bath. He wants to do EVERYTHING for himself and get very upset if you try to help. He's a trash compactor when it comes to eating. He speaks, at times in a deep voice, which is quite comical. When playing, he is either Buzz or Ironman. He will put his finger on his other forearm and make laser noises just like Buzz or hold up both arms to fight off attacks just like Ironman.

Thomas loves Hayden and ANYTHING Hayden likes. Hayden's big thing is Mario and Thomas is now playing Mario. "Ya-yo" is Thomas speak for Mario.

We are in the process of potty training Thomas. He's doing very well and we've even had him in underwear.

Hayden and Thomas are sharing a room now and the other room is our playroom. It's worked out well, for the most part. Thomas is usually upset during nap time because Hayden isn't in the room with him (Hayden does not nap on a regular basis) It's so sweet to see the love between these brothers.

Thomas is sneaky climber. We had to move out the changing table out of the playroom because he was climbing up and we think he got down by jumping. He's fearless when it comes to climbing but is very hesitant when it comes to the pool.

Here are some of the funny things Thomas has been saying lately.

Bye-bye tee-tee. I flush you!

Boo, I scared you!

BYE-BYE GUYS, BYE-BYE FRIENDS *(It's in caps because he always yells his bye-bye.)

Hank you Esus for our food, Amen

(growling) I love you.

---------------------------------

Love to all,

Larry, Kori, Hayden and Thomas

Oh, no! Summer! I'm not ready

Today marks the official start of the Hutson's summer. I'M NOT READY!





Reason: If it starts, it will end. When it ends, our baby will be in kindergarten. I'M NOT READY! I do concede that he will be ready for kindergarten. Hayden asked me to teach him to read earlier in the spring. We started "mommy school" where we work on handwriting, phonemic awareness, sight words and next week, what Hayden has been waiting for, reading. He is doing really well (thanks in large part to his wonderful pre-k teacher, Abbie Atkinson). Even with all his progress, I'm not ready to let go. He's still our baby. He still climbs in our lap and wants to cuddle or rock rock. How can he be old enough to be in big, big school? The reality is that he is old enough and I have to let go.





However, I am ready to fill our days with bubbles, bike rides, trips to the zoo, swimming at the pool and lots of play dates. I plan on art projects and taking a page for my friend Jamie's book, shaving cream painting (due to my OCD need to be clean, it WILL be an outdoor activity only). I am determined to treasure every moment of this all too short summer with both of our boys.





Larry and I went through a Bible Study series by Ed Young with our previous church. Ed Young said the goal of parenting is to teach and train your children to leave.


Teach: And these words which I command you today shall be in your hear; you shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise up. Deuteronomy 6:6-7


Train: Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. Proverbs 22:6

Leave: For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. Genesis 2:24

I know that kindergarten at the "big, big school" will be a wonderful adventure for Hayden. He's going to make so many new friends and make an impression on the world around him. I will let him go. But, someone would you please remind me of that come August 24th. Oh, and please send me some Kleenex!

More about Thomas on the next blog. He's hilarious.

Lots of love,

Larry, Kori, Hayden and Thomas

Disney World--Excitment and Disappointments

EXCITEMENT:


Larry and I decided in November to take the boys to Disney World in mid April. We kept it a secret from the boys and let them find out by discovering a box filled with Disney goodies 4 days before we left. At first, it seemed the toys were the only excitement to Hayden. We would say "did you hear us, we are going to Disney World?' His response was "yes, but Mommy, look at this spinner thing!" The next day, it finally started to sink in. "Mommy, I'm so excited that we are going to Disney World. I can't even stand it!" Of course, Larry and I were excited too. We've been several times and could imagine their little faces lighting up with wonder.

We flew out of Houston on the 11th. We weren't sure how Thomas was going to handle the flight and all that goes with flying. We managed to make it through security with relative ease. After a trip to get snacks, it was just a waiting game until time to board. Thomas was my airplane buddy and Hayden was Larry's. Hayden did awesome. He played his ds and snacked. Thomas was in his car seat. He did ok. He wanted to get out of his seat, but after the flight attendant brought him some milk, he fell asleep. Actually, he slept through the landing and the taxi to the gate.

Faces lighting up with wonder was exactly what we saw. I will NEVER forget the expression on Thomas' face when he saw the life size Woody in a parade. Hayden's eyes were twinkling when he saw "Disney World: aka Magic Kingdom from our hotel room.

DISAPPOINTMENTS:

Here's a picture of our new camera. We had been in the market for a new camera for quite a while. After lots of research and testing at Best Buy, we settled on this Sony cybershot. One problem. It wasn't suppose to come our until the first of April. We ordered it anyway and it was delivered on the Friday before we left.

We got precious pictures of the boys and their cousins playing before we left, pictures of excited kids in their seats on the airplane and pictures of our first night at the Magic Kingdom (including the carousel, Dumbo ride and the tea cups).

That's where our pictures end. We lost our camera somewhere between the people mover and the monorail. We called the front desk of our hotel and discovered that Disney has a central lost and found. They really think of everything. Larry filed a report and was told that it can sometimes take several days for missing items to get processed and indexed.

Tuesday--no camera found

Wednesday--no camera found

Thursday--no camera found

We decided not to go check on Friday because it was gone.

My first thoughts were of all the pictures I'd miss without my camera. I thought of the blank scrapbook pages. We did have our iphone pictures and of course, the Disney photo pass. I was just blown away by the fact that someone found the camera and decided not to turn it in. Did they look at all those precious pictures of the cousins playing? Did they think about the mom who would be missing all those photographic memories? Probably not, otherwise, they would have turned in the camera.

I had a choice to make. I could be full of anger towards that person or I could let go. I could be upset about the moments I couldn't capture with my iphone camera. OR, I could cherish my family and the memories that I camera couldn't or wouldn't be able to capture.

I chose, after some prayer, to let go. Instead of anger, I prayed for the person who found the camera and used it for themselves. I hope that they were able to capture precious memories of their vacation that they will treasure always. This was, by no means, easy for me to do. Human nature tells us to hate those who do harm to you. Jesus said "And if someone want to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well." (Matthew 5:40). It's not easy to follow God's path. The good news is that we don't have to go it alone. I've had to ask God, constantly at times, to help me forgive and give them my cloak too. After all, they may have our camera, but they don't have our memories.

With love to all,

Larry, Kori, Hayden and Thomas

Kite Day!

Our wonderful Church sponsored a kid's kite day after worship this past Sunday. When we arrived at church, there wasn't really any wind. Between worship and life groups, the wind had picked up slightly, but didn't seem like enough to fly kites. At some point during life groups, God turned on the fan. Eating hot dogs was quite a challenge since you had to hold on to your plate as well. At one point, Larry's plate went flying away, not before hitting me! After Larry, Thomas and I had finished our hot dogs and Hayden had finished his pb&j, it was time to fly kites. However, our boys LOVE to jump, so the bounce house was more appealing than holding a kite string.

We finially convinced Thomas to come fly his Buzz kite. He decided that the tail was easier and more fun to hold.

Daddy could not get him to let go. Have we mentioned that he is STUBBORN?

Thomas decided to go back to the bounce house. Yes, those are bright red crocs he is wearing. I had pulled out his "church sandles". He had other plans. In the end, there are some battles you just have to walk away from.

Poor Daddy, left all alone to fly the Buzz kite!

The boys plus a new friend decided to stop bouncing long enough to watch all the kites in the air. Then, bigger kids started coming in to the bounce house and the boys decided it was time to going kite flying.

It was a great day. The boys had a good time and where actually pretty good at flying their kites. We had one broken string followed by a runaway kite and one big kite tangle that included 3 kites.

I really love our church. I love that they are committed to families and want to work with us as we raise our boys to be men of Christ. For the first time since leaving First Baptist Luling, we feel like we are a part of a family of believers rather than just another member of a church.

Love to all,

Larry, Kori, Hayden and Thomas