Nothing says, “Christmas is comin’,” like a crate of clementines…at least at our house. I bought a crate of these today (on sale - only $3.99!) and I’m not sure if they’ll survive the evening here! Mmmm…yummy.
Well, we pulled it off! We had Elijah and Ethan’s birthday party this weekend, and it was a blast! I love the banter and rough-and-tumbleness of boys! Dave is working on a short video…watch for that later this week, but here are just a few photo’s of all the fun!
Above is a photo of the pirate ship cake. Cathleen (Ethan’s mom) is a seasoned cake decorator…I would never have endeavored to do such a cake! But it was a lot of fun to do it together!
And this was no ordinary game of musical chairs! When each boy got out, they were then sent to walk the plank. And of course, at the bottom of the “ocean” was pirate treasure! (The perfect way to avoid the disapointment of getting out!)
Elijah got a lot of money this year for his birthday and decided to buy himself a new bike!
Mummy and Daddy were happy with this purchase for two reasons: 1. It’s a toy that stays outside, and 2) It’s a toy that can actually be used and enjoyed for years! (Can you tell I’m a mom of three boys, who wants to declutter before our fourth arrives?)
We love you Elijah, and we’re glad you were born seven years ago!
Check out our pilgrim/feather-trimmed tu-tu attired turkey. A very convincing disguise, I’d say. In my opinion, the red waddle gives it away, but Elijah and Zeke didn’t want to color it any other color.
“Waddles are red!” protested Zeke.
“Well, maybe we could make it purple for him as part of the disguise.” I said. (By the way, if you have no idea why we’ve disguised a turkery, it’s because it’s Thanksgiving here, and this particular turkey wants to avoid being eaten!)
But no, the waddle had to be red, said Elijah and Zeke.
“Fine then,” I said, “I wash my hands of this. If he gets eaten it’s not my fault!”
Elijah and Zeke play basketball at the YMCA on Saturdays. It’s really some great entertainment to go and watch them! There are always a couple of children who excel at whatever sport we happen to be participating in (probably thanks to diligent parent tutoring), but for the most part, at this age, many of them have no idea what they’re doing - my kids fit right in!
Elijah and Zeke always ask to practice after the games, but we haven’t had much opportunity to do so lately. This week Zeke found this little net at the Sally Ann (our campus second hand store…only everything is free) and had an innovative idea. He brought it home, cut the bottom out of it so a ball could fall through, and then went to work at taping it to the wall.
“There,” he said proudly, “now we can practice playing basketball.” Daddy has sunk the most balls so far.
Hooray! Today officially marks the end of my first trimester! I’ve been gradually feeling better over the past couple weeks, and today I had so much energy, I actually did laundry! (Don’t worry though, my kids did have clean clothes to wear for the past couple months, thanks to their Daddy.) It’s nice to not suffer my way through getting meals for my family, or even a shower for that matter (the smell of our shampoo really bothered me!)
There’s not really anything more exciting than that going on around here, but I thought I’d share some photo’s from Grammie and Grampie Horsman’s visit…
Elijah and Grammie played a game or two of Chutes and Ladders during an informal supper of pancakes and sausages. Halfway through one game Elijah declared, “Grammie’s kickin’ my butt!”
Grampie and Zeke.
Grampie and Elijah.
Not sure why there is no photo of Noah…I think he’d already gone to bed for the night. It doesn’t matter how hard you try, or how much you determine that your third child will be different…there are always less photos of him!
Here’s a cute photo of Elijah and Zeke with their cousin Claire. Last night they went to the Underwater Adventures Aquarium with Grammie and Grampie Horsman. Fun was had by all.
But this morning, Elijah’s face did not reflect the fun of last night! With a scowl, he said, “Do I have the Chicken Pox?” One glace at his back was proof enough that he most certainly does! A few days ago, a notice came home in Elijah’s backpack about a case of the virus being identified in his class. But since Zeke had it when he was a toddler, and Elijah didn’t come down with it at that time, we thought he was immune! Wierd!
Anyway, now we have to figure out what to do about the birthday party. I guess we’ll have to call around, and let parents decide…I suspect most kids have had the vaccine! I guess above all I should be thankful that he did finally get the virus. I friend of mine eluded the virus until she was eight-teen, and then she was a very sick girl!
P.S. I’m curious…did everyone out there with kids have them vaccinated?