Thank you, Grandma!

Oh we surprised the kids big time yesterday!  Rob’s mom sent us some spending money as a Christmas gift and yesterday, on the way home from a birthday party, we pulled into Toys-R-Us instead of going home.  THEN we got to tell them they could actually purchase for themselves some things that have been on their wish list for a while. What a joy for all of us, Rob and I got to say “yes”and their faces were just lit up!

Zion chose a scooter and a cute basket (thanks to the scooter being on sale).  She’s been wanting one for so long.

Gideon and Elias wanted the same thing so we/they pooled their portion and got them a Batcave add-on to go with their Geotrax train set and they each got to choose a smaller item.  Gideon picked a stuffed Angry bird (a green one of course, his favorite color) and Elias chose a two-pack of Cars characters that also go with the Geotrax.  The love of trains in this house is not going away anytime soon that’s for sure.

Gabe looked and looked but didn’t find anything he’d been wanting.  He perused.  He browsed.  He checked out a lot of things but ultimately decided to shop elsewhere. So after we went home Rob and he went back out and checked out GameStop.  Ooo, we love it there!  And Gabe SCORED!  GameStop was having a sale.  Gabe got two game guides and a set that came with a game guide, a game and a Lego toy.  Wow!

You can see how happy they are.  Well, Elias may be a bit overtired but he’s happy on the inside! Thank you, Grandma Marlene!

And because I’m overdue, puppy shots:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They are HUGE and they are characters and so sweet, like giant teddy bears and they were a couple of days shy of 4 months old in these shots.  More puppy photos soon.  :)

We Did. Did You?

We supported Small Business Saturday.  In the tastiest way possible.  A local doughnut shop.  Oh they were SO yum!  I got my favorite, a maple bar with bacon.  Oh yeah baby!  The kids seemed to enjoy theirs as well.

We may have just started a new day after Thanksgiving tradition!

Thanksgiving

What a lovely Thanksgiving we had!  In addition to having so much to be grateful for we had a chance to just relax on Wednesday so Zion and I got to do some baking.  We made a pumpkin pie and pecan tarts (later I made a rosemary chicken mix for an appetizer and the next  morning a Tollhouse pie).

On Thanksgiving day we took the kids to see The Muppets.  Rob and I both were very excited that a new movie was coming out, it was just to share with them something we had loved when we were kids.  Though Elias was a bit fidgety, preferring to walk up and down the aisle giggling loudly, they all enjoyed it.  Especially the popcorn.  It is possible they enjoy the popcorn more than the movie.

After the movie we head up to my sister’s which is always fun.  It’s small and casual, fun for the kids and the food is fantastic, what more could you ask for?

A few people heading down Turkey Coma Lane.  Must be time to head for home.

A Happy Fourth

Oh what a wonderful weekend we had, and a long one at that.  Saturday was Elias’ birthday part which I will blog about but I had a stronger urge to do the 4th first. 

Let’s review the wonderfulness, with pictures.  First, it was a gorgeous day.  Days like today make all the gray days around here worthwhile.  Who am I kidding, I love gray days too though if I didn’t like to hunker down with a good book and a cup of hot tea I might feel differently.  But I digress.

We made last minute plans with a couple from our church to do the 4th at out house.  Zion just about tortured me all day asking when they would come (“How many more minutes?” every FIVE minutes) and finally they did come.  While the older kids dug into the sandbox Elias practiced his Dukes of Hazard skills completely refusing to open the door to get in his little Cozy Coupe – I mean General Lee.

Zion soon joined us on the patio regaling us with a story of … I’m not exactly sure.  She loves to tell a story but I confess that half the time I have no idea what she’s talking about.  Still, it’s entertaining, she’s downright adorable while doing it.

Rob grilled hamburgers and jerk chicken for dinner.  Our grill has been getting a lot of use already this year.  Not that I’m complaining.  Might have to let my belt out a little.  Or maybe I should throw in some more Zumba.  Probably the later, huh?  While I contemplate that I’ll just finish these Potato Skins Snack Chips. *sigh*  If only I didn’t love food SO much!

 

Meanwhile, back in the kitchen the kids convinced Tanya to set up Mousetrap.  Which took so long they didn’t really get to play. 

The kids could not handle knowing there were fireworks in the house any longer so after dinner, yes while it was still daylight, we headed out front to let ours offer.  Our display was meager but what we lacked in KABOOMS and lights we made up for with shear cuteness.  Jacob added more than his fair share by helping to keep Elias in grins and giggles.  Dashing over at random times to make silly noises for him.

Elias thinks Jacob’s the best thing since sliced bananas.

See.  Cute with a capital ‘C’.

We started with sparklers.  Come to think of it I think we always do.  Is that normal?

At some point Ross told us how they used to put smoke bombs in water and I thought “Hey, we have a bucket of water.  Why not?”  So we did.  And it was cool.  It made little smoke filled bubbles.

Zion doesn’t think to much of anything that makes noise.  Nothing we got was very loud but she still hid behind me for part of it.  Not that I’m complaining.  Sometimes it’s nice to be needed.  And cuddled.

Elias on the other hand didn’t seem bothered at all.  AT.  ALL.  Not even a little.  He even laughed at some of them.

Gideon, to start out with, was simply obsessed with the water bucket we kept on hand.  That should not surprise anyone who knows him.  This is the kid who, when we go to the zoo and wildlife park exclaims loudly “Water!!!” at EVERY habitat that has so much as a puddle, seemingly oblivious to the animals there. 

He did get a bit overwhelmed after a while, as he also has a tendency to do and told me repeatedly that he was sleepy and needed to go to bed.   At least he didn’t tell me this time that our guests needed to go home. 

Gabe was involved with everything.   How fun it is to have kids at such different stages and to have one or two that are getting old enough to enjoy these traditions (even if Gabe and Zion didn’t exactly want to hear my brief lesson on why we celebrate Independence Day). 

Am I a bad mom, though, because one of the funnest parts of the night was laughing at Gabe’s reaction to a firework that took off straight up when he wasn’t expecting it.  It was just so funny.

And since we were outside in the front I couldn’t resist taking a few shots of my roses.  ‘Cause, oooo, the pink one has open blossoms now.

Then we all went inside for doughnuts ‘cause nothing says Independence Day like deep fried dough.  With red and blue icing of course.

Later when we said goodbye to our friends the neighbors really had their fireworks going strong.  Some of them really go all out (which is one of the reasons we don’t) so we lingered and watched and I got some good (or at least I think they’re good) photos.  I strayed from my usual habit of shooting for dark sky with streaks of light and went for a lighter sky and more details in our surroundings.  I love how they turned out.  This one is my favorite.

But these aren’t so bad either.

The End!