Happy Birthday, Nathan!

The month of November is a month of many blessings. Two of my three children were born this month, and two of my brother's three children were also born this month. It is truly a month for thanksgiving!

Today is Nathan's 3rd birthday. We had such a fun morning going to Build-A-Bear at the mall where Nathan got to pick out which furry animal he wanted and watch it be stuffed, and then pick out its attire and give it a name. Nathan had a little trouble with the concept of what he was doing, so with a little direction from Mommy and Daddy, he went with a white and brown dog. Then, despite Daddy's efforts to convince him he needed a soccer uniform and big brother Alex's recommendation of a superhero costume, Nathan stuck with his own choice and went with the doctor scrubs. Then, upon Nathan's complete lack of interest in naming his new friend, Bill suggested the name "Doc" and that was that. Nathan's white and brown doctor dog named Doc was completed. Alex is already anxious for his birthday so that he can go to Build-A-Bear, too, and make a superhero animal! After Build-A-Bear we had lunch at Chick-fil-A at the mall and then went home for leftover birthday cake and ice cream, then presents. Bill had to leave for work shortly after presents, so the remainder of today we have been relaxing at home.



Last Saturday was the big party. Nathan loves Blues Clues, so that became the theme for the party. For the last couple weeks I had been using construction paper to create the various Blues Clues characters. I tried to make enough of Blue to put her in most rooms downstairs. Bill printed out pawprints and the night before the party he taped them in a long path along the walls and ceiling. Then he taped smaller paws in other areas around the house, including around the front door outside. For the cake, I baked three boxes of cake mix so that I had six 9-inch round cakes from which to cut out a large paw print. It wasn't hard to cut out, but it was definitely hard to decorate! At the party we served hot dogs (what else) with chips, cheese cubes and fruit. We played two games: the first was a bean bag toss game where the kids used a shovel (made to look like "Shovel") and tossed the bean bags into a pail (made to look like "Pail"); the second was a game of Blues Clues. Bill, being the sweetie and great father that he is, dressed the part of "Steve" for the party and led the game of Blues Clues. The kids had to look for the clues to find out what Blue wanted to give Nathan for his birthday. We gave each child a notebook and crayon in which to draw their clues. From the three clues of musical notes, string, and the letter "G", and with some help from the parents, the kids figured out that Blue wanted to give Nathan a guitar for his birthday. Then "Steve" had them follow the path of pawprints to where Blue hid Nathan's present, which happend to be the garage. And sure enough, it was a guitar! And oh, how Nathan loves his guitar!!! He plays it all the time while he sings the "ABC song". So cute! For party favors, I found these cute little wooden mailboxes at Michael's all ready to be painted. So I painted them to look like "Mailbox" and had one for each family. I put their party favors inside their mailbox and they took the whole thing home with them.



It was such a fun party to put together. Nathan seemed to really enjoy himself and his cousin Caden stayed the night with us that night, making the whole day even more special. I'm finished with planning birthday parties until May, and though that is somewhat a relief because I'm really tired, it's also a little disappointing. I love to plan their parties and look forward to seeing what Alex wants to do for his 5th birthday so I can start planning away!

Thanksgiving Recipe Swap

If there is one thing that comes to mind when I think of Thanksgiving it is good food! Lots and lots of delicious, high calorie, high fat content food. And oh, how I love it! :) My mom always makes lots and lots of delicious recipes for Thanksgiving dinner. By the time you get a small sample of each item, you have completely filled your plate (sometimes you still don't have room for everything). And of course, no matter how stuffed you are after you've polished off that last bite of candied sweet potatoes or last remnant of warm yeast roll, you can still make room for a slice of pumpkin pie (or chocolate, apple, cherry or pecan - my mom always has a variety!). Thanksgiving dinner is something I look forward to every year because it is the one time a year I allow myself to over-indulge; it is also the only time we cook so many rich recipes!

I thought it would be fun if we shared one of our favorite recipes from our own traditional Thanksgiving menu. I've debated on what item to share, because though I love every menu item from my family's traditional meal, I wanted to offer a recipe that is a bit more unique to our meal (not the green bean casserole that every one serves). I finally decided on a simple recipe that my mom has made for both Thanksgiving and Christmas for as long as I can remember. It's possible you have all made this before as it isn't anything that special or out of the ordinary. But it is one of my all time favorites and a must at our Thanksgiving dinner. So here it is:

Pistachio Salad

Mix together 1 small box of instant pistachio pudding mix, 1 16-oz. can of crushed pineapple, 1 9-oz cool whip, 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts or pecans and 1 cup marshmallows. Spread into a serving dish, then decorate top with halved marachino cherries (lovely for Christmas). Put in refrigerator until serving time. So delicious!!!

If you want to share, please feel free to post your recipe in a comment to my post, or you can post it to your own blog. I just thought this would be a fun way to acquire new favorite recipes - and maybe add a little variation to our own traditional Thanksgiving menus!

Our Turn

I've noticed so many of my blogger friends experiencing illnesses in their families lately and my heart has gone out to them. It's never fun to be sick or helplessly watch our sick little ones. So now our turn has come. Bill has been spared so far. But the rest of us have been sick in one way or another for the past couple of weeks. Alex appears to be over it, and I no longer have a fever but still don't feel well. Nathan is still sick with fever (although after a dose of Tylenol, you would never know it!). And on top of that, I was informed yesterday that there is a terrible stomach bug going around Alex's school (any chance I can send him to school in a bubble?). I'm so worried that we aren't going to be able to shake this thing (or prevent something new) before the weekend and this Saturday is Nathan's birthday party. As I plan and prepare each day, I keep wondering if there will even be a party this Saturday. With the holidays coming up, I don't know when we'd have it if not this weekend. Nathan has been looking forward to this party for months. Please keep us in your prayers that we may all be well soon!

Blog Shopping

As Thanksgiving and Christmas approach, my mind is already racing to determine what gifts to buy all of our family and friends. I prefer to get my shopping done early, else face the mad rush of people right before Christmas. Of course, there are the usual places to research gifts: store ads, the internet (Amazon.com in particular), all those thousands of commercials on television. But who would have thought to use others blogsites to aid in making their Christmas shopping lists? Thank you so much Melissa, Celeste, and Crafty Mom for your wonderful book and music recommendations! Keep 'em coming!!!

Somehow They Know

Somehow our little ones always know just what to say...

Amy has decided to go on a nursing strike today. At one point this afternoon after another failed attempt to nurse her, Nathan must have sensed my worry and frustration because out of the blue he said to me, "Amy loves you, Mommy."

Confessions of a Spoiled Housewife

I have to make a confession. I think I am the world's worst wife. I know that many women are blessed with husbands who go to work each day and earn a living while they stay home and faithfully take care of home and family. I am one of those women. At least, I am blessed with a husband who selflessly goes to work each day so that I might stay home. But I am selfish and do not appreciate my role the way I should. I am selfish when it comes to wanting time with my husband. I expect him to work as few hours as possible and to travel as little as possible. I want him home for every holiday and to be able to take off when I want him to. I want him to be able to stay home on his children's birthdays so that we might be able to spend the day as a family and celebrate. But all these expectations are too much; they come from a selfish, greedy heart. I know that God wants me to "bring him good, not harm, all the days of my life" and when I do not respond cheerfully to him, then I am failing in that assignment.

I was filled with disappointed today when Bill told me that he'd have to work the week of Thanksgiving; he was originally going to take off that whole week. To make things worse, he'll be working a late shift and will have to work on Nathan's birthday. My response to this news was not good. I was upset and let him know it. But when I got off the phone and had time to think about my actions, I realized the terrible way I'd responded. "When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise." Proverbs 10:19. Sin was ever present in my rash response to my husband's news. I am embarrassed and so disappointed in myself. My husband is the dearest man and is always so considerate of his family's needs - my needs. It is not his choice to work the week of Thanksgiving; it is his job and he is doing it out of love for us. May the Lord continue to show me my shortcomings so that I may be a better wife, mother, and Christian.

Amy's Party

Last Saturday we had Amy's first birthday party at home with family and friends. Since she's too young to tell me what theme to do her party in, I went as girly as I could and did flowers and butterflies. I found really cute first birthday party supplies that fit the theme perfectly; I had so much fun making decorations and decorating the cake to match!

We bought the Giant Sub (6 feet of sandwich!!!) from Subway. When Bill brought it home, having had to put the seat down in our Explorer to make it fit, we thought we'd be eating Subway for a week! But suprisingly, there was little left when the party was over.

Amy wouldn't wear her party hat - it was much more fun to eat it. :) But Alex and Nathan proudly wore their pink "1st Birthday Girl" party hats (Bill just loved that).

When it came time to do the cake, Amy had the help of her brothers to blow out the candle.

She was somewhat apprehensive when it came to her cake. She barely picked at the icing and I had to put her fingers into her mouth to show her how yummy that colorful goo on her fingers really was. Once she got the hang of it, she sat there and dipped her fingers into the icing and happily licked for awhile. But it was also nap time, so she was tired and didn't get into the cake all that much. In the end, I think she pushed most of her piece onto the floor for the dog - who greatly appreciated it! At least Amy (and Shelby) left little mess to clean up!

It was a fun day for all of us - tiring, but fun. After all our guests had left, I only half cleaned up. I was much more interested in relaxing on the couch with a nice cup of coffee. Nathan's 3rd birthday is coming, so there will be more party fun in the very near future!

Happy Birthday, Amy

Today is Amy's Birthday - one year old. It's so hard to believe. It seems like she was just born! How quickly they grow up...

Bill took the day off work today so that we could have a special family day. Sadly, I woke up sick. Thank goodness for Tylenol! After a couple hours I was good to go. We took the kids over to a local park that has a nice nature trail. The weather was cool and the sun was shining. It was a beautiful day! The boys each had a ziploc bag to fill with whatever goodies they wanted from the trail (pinecones and leaves were the most popular). We had to rush the hike quite a bit, though, because the mosquitoes were out in full force. Even with their long pants and sweatshirts, you could just see the mosquitoes swarming around the kids.



After lunch Bill took all three kids to the park. I stayed home and rested - and baked cookies for Alex's school party tomorrow and made decorations for Amy's party on Saturday. As you can see by the pictures, the kids had so much fun out at the park. They played on the playsets, blew bubbles, flew kites and had a picnic snack. What a fun time with Daddy!

This evening we let Amy open up her presents from us. The boys were more interested in opening her presents than she was; she just wanted the bows. She appeared to love her gifts though. She got her own set of sippy cups similar to her brothers, only Disney Princess cups. Hopefully this will encourage her to drink from her own cup instead of drinking from her brothers' cups. Her favorite thing was this light up toy with moving gears that plays music. She and her brothers had lots of fun with that!



Amy, what a beautiful, precious girl you are. You're walking and talking - still no teeth but I'm sure they're not far off! We love you so much. Happy Birthday, Baby Angel!!!

Halloween

The much anticipated day finally arrived. Alex and Nathan had patiently waited to wear their costumes for well over a month now. I'd ordered them and the boys were so excited when they saw their costumes. I explained that they couldn't wear them until Halloween. I was surprised by how easily they accepted this. Amy was supposed to be Pebbles from the Flintstones; I bought the fabric to make her costume and had even made a little bone for her to wear in her hair. But my sewing experience is limited and as Halloween approached, I did not have the confidence to try and make her costume. I just knew her costume wouldn't turn out and no one would ever figure out who she was supposed to be. So, I lazily went out and bought her a costume. I say "lazily", but after the many Walmarts and Targets visited in search for a costume, I don't know if that is quite the right word for it. But in the end, the costume we found was perfect.

After a nutritious hot dog dinner, we quickly helped the kids get into their costumes: Alex as Batman, Nathan as Scooby Doo (the settlement since I couldn't find the "white puppy" costume he wanted) and Amy as Minnie Mouse. We then trick-or-treated at several houses on our street before heading over to their granny and paw-paw's neighborhood for more trick-or-treating.

Alex seemed to enjoy seeing all the other trick-or-treaters' costumes the best. He especially liked the "bad guy" costumes, which were basically anything out of the ordinary. He'd do a few fancy fight maneuvers as we'd walk by them and then he'd happily exclaim that he got the bad guys. Nathan had fun, but he was a little bit more timid; he didn't really like the houses with lots of scary decorations. Amy was fascinated by it all. We'd stand her up by her brothers when they rang the door bell and she just watched intently at the whole process. Occasionally, she was handed a piece of candy and she'd just hold it happily. After visiting many houses and obtaining lots of candy, we went back to Granny and Paw-Paw's and surveyed the loot. I think they made out pretty well. We let them eat way more candy than we probably should have, but that's all part of the fun. Then after some playtime with the grandparents, we took them home and put them to bed. As was inevitable, they woke a little grumpy this morning. But I'm glad they had such a fun Halloween experience. They've been wearing their costumes around this morning and are already asking when they get to go trick-or-treating again!