Sebastian's 2nd Birthday

The very next day after Maya's birthday is Sebastian's birthday! The night before he had been a bit distraught that Maya blew out the candles and not him. When he woke up on his birthday I came into his room singing "Happy Birthday to You" and the very first thing he said was, "Candles!" He understood that now it was his turn!

To celebrate turning 2, and being such a big boy, we decided to go get his first haircut. I have been loathe to part with his gorgeous baby curls! :) He wouldn't have anything to do with it until he was sitting on my lap and sucking on a sucker. Then, he was an angel the entire time!

At dinnertime Sandy and Robert came over to help us celebrate. We had the traditional french toast, strawberries and whipping cream.

We also had hot chocolate and breakfast sausage, which Sebastian couldn't get enough of and called "hot dogs." In fact, we all ate too much, so we decided to do the gifts before the cake.

Sebastian received many nice gifts. He was especially pleased with these teddy bears from Emma,

and these Handy Manny tools.

Sebastian loves fire engines, so he was very excited about his cake--even before the candles were on! The candy helped too, in fact, "candy" is one of a handful of words that he says very clearly.

We were all surprised when he waited patiently through the song and then blew all the candles out in one breath with great enthusiasm!
 
He loved it so much I lit another one on his piece of cake so he could blow a candle out again.

He enjoyed his chocolate cake and ice cream thoroughly! Afterwards everyone wanted to play "Pin the Tail on the Donkey" again. Sebastian did a great job, and then insisted on doing it again and again until it was in the right spot.

He was in such a good mood that he even let me measure how tall he is on our ruler!

Happy Birthday my sweet boy! I can't believe you are already 2. You bring so much joy to my heart, and so much fun to our family.

Maya's 8th Birthday

Maya's special day started with hot chocolate and pancakes with pink frosting gel hearts drawn on them. Also one present she was allowed to open early--new school shoes (she was VERY pleased with them because she doesn't have to try to tie them; they slip right on). She also was very excited to take fudge-dipped oreos to share with her classmates.

For her birthday, Maya had requested that we go to McDonalds (one with a playplace) for dinner. Unfortunately, Isabelle and Tristan were recovering from a 24 hour stomach flu or food poisoning episode, so we had to postpone those plans. However, when I told her we would have pizza for dinner, she pumped her fist in the air and gave a shout of glee, so I think that choice was acceptable.

For days the only thing she has been able to talk about is her birthday, especially the expected presents! It got to the point where we actually had to have a little discussion on being greedy. :)  After dinner we had her birthday cake. I made her a strawberry pink pony cake this year, and she chose chocolate moose tracks ice cream to go with it. I layered the cake with sweetened strawberries and cream cheese. The cake turned out very moist and delicious!

Finally the long anticipated moment came...presents!

Maya basked in the love and attention from her siblings as they presented her with the gifts they had prepared.

She was excited to receive her very own purple bean bag.

She also received a new placemat, craft activities and a lap harp.

 She loved staying up past her bedtime for her first lesson on the lap harp with her Daddy.

After presents we played "Pin the Tail on the Donkey." We haven't played this in a long time and everyone enjoyed it, even little Sebastian.

Happy Birthday Maya! You are such a sweetheart! I love your tender spirit.

33 weeks

This past weekend we had our first snow. It didn't last long, but it is always fun when this happens right after Thanksgiving--letting us know that Christmas is on its way. It's hard to believe that there are only about 7 weeks left to this pregnancy. We have been so busy that it truly has sped by me.

This new son of ours is a very active little guy! I just hope my body can hold up till he decides it is time to come. We are getting very excited to meet him!

Thanksgiving

Since we were eating Thanksgiving dinner at 3, we decided to feed the kids a brunch to help them make it till then. Before brunch all the kids went with their Daddy on our very own Turkey Trot. :)  After yummy homemade waffles with apple cider syrup and clementines, we all worked together to get the house in order for our company. The kids all willingly worked hard and at noon we put on a video for them to watch.

Within 5 minutes this is what we found:

I brined a 19 lb. turkey this year and used the awesome convection roast setting on my oven. The turkey was done in 80 minutes! --and it tasted moist and tender. I will definitely be doing that again next year. Since our friends were bringing most of the traditional side dishes, I made homemade stuffing for the first time. I made Cornbread Stuffing with Sausage and Apples, and it was delicious! I also made the gravy, of course, and I did Sweet-Roasted Rosemary Acorn Squash.

I had fun decorating the adult table. My kids collected the acorns for me. :)

By the time everyone brought their contributions we had a delicious feast ahead of us.

I had to wake Sebastian up from his nap (he had slept over 3 hours). Don't let his expression fool you. He was excited to see that friends were here to play!

It was 60 degrees outside, so the men took the kids outside to play after dinner, while the women (3 of which are quite pregnant!) relaxed and visited.

 I love this happy little smile!

When they all came back in we feasted again on pumpkin pie, chocolate brownie peanut butter pie and berry cheesecake.

Such wonderful food and fun company! I am so grateful to know such good people, and to be able to enjoy such plenty.

After everyone left and we were cleaning up, Emma said to me, "That was a great Thanksgiving!"
I seriously love that girl! All of our guests this year had children much younger than her, so she sat with us at the "adult" table and spent most of her time with us ladies, and still she had a fabulous time.

Soccer & Tristan's 7th Birthday

Tristan and Alex have been experiencing soccer for the first time this fall, and their amount of excitement and enthusiasm for the sport has taken me by surprise. Both of them REALLY love it and have done very well!

So when Tristan started begging for a "friend" birthday party this year, we decided to do it with a soccer theme. I made a fun sports card birthday invite and we invited all the boys in his school class and church class. Here's the front:

 And the back:

Jeff and I gave Tristan a soccer goal for his present on the big day and we had 10 little rambunctious 6 and 7-year-old boys come help us celebrate.

Luckily the day was gorgeous, so we had them play all kinds of soccer games and relays outside.

They took a break after a while to play on the play structures and have a massive wrestling match on the tramp.

For our last game, we divided them into two teams and tied balloon "soccer balls" to their ankles. Then they had to stomp out all the balloons of the opposing team. Although the balloons were way too easy to pop because we had filled them so full, the kids all enjoyed it, and it was very fun to watch.

Then we headed inside for soccer snacks, cake & ice cream!

Tristan wanted chocolate cake, so I did a German Chocolate Cake and colored the coconut-pecan frosting green to make grass for the little soccer players. The boys thought it was great!

Then it was present time! Tristan was in heaven. :)

Tristan's actual birthday was two days later. We gave him some new shoes before school, sent birthday treats to school with him, had our traditional birthday breakfast for dinner that night, followed by sibling gifts.

This little guy thoroughly soaked up all the special attention! He brings such a special, happy spirit into our family. I am truly grateful for him and for his love.