Arr... it's a birthday

 My sweet nephew Nicholas was not nearly as jolly as his name implies when we got together to celebrate his second birthday.  Here he is crying on his dad's lap while we sing!  He perked up later, though.   Cara made a super fun pirate birthday for him. 

 How do you carve up a pirate ship?

 The kids were all fascinated by whatever fascinated my nephew Joseph.

Happy Birthday, Nicholas!

Busy

 The first week of school was fun, but busy!  To turn our minds back to the "quieter" days of summer, we decided to invite over friends & fill up the pool.  Splasherific.

Auntie Cara came over with the boys & Teresa had a blast with them.  Jonathan kept looking around for Andrew & Rebecca... he just couldn't believe they weren't there!  Cara brought along some fabulous cookies she made as a gift.  Such a sweetheart! 

 Here's Teresa showing off her high heels.  I guess fancy clothes don't automatically make you ladylike.  :P 

 Andrew (& Darren) started up Cub Scouts already, too. 

Here's my Wolf Cub!

***

Between the craziness of starting school, Mom's Group, Birthright, Art Club, Little Flowers, Cub Scouts, my grad class, Bible Study, GodTeens, & general momming/wifing, I might be a little MIA around here for a while.  Please, say a prayer for me!  Know that you are in mine.  :)

Hooray for rain!

 My dad is a farmer.  As a kid it felt like our lives really revolved around the cornfield... because they more or less did!  Just like then, I am grateful for rain, not only because it is good for the crops but because it also means Dad can't easily be out in the field. 

So, last Thursday when it rained an inch & a half, Mom & Dad took the chance to venture to town to help Fr. Jon celebrate the anniversary of his Ordination to the priesthood.  It was such a nice surprise!  We met up with Cara's family & all went out to dinner that night.

 The next day we celebrated the last day (two hours really) of school & set out for the park with the whole crowd.  We had a fabulous time looking at the animals, hiking the trails, picnic-ing & jungle-gyming.

 These girls aren't afraid to touch anything!  The boys (& the adults) were more hesitant.  ;)

Red Grandpa taught Andrew how to throw tiny pieces of stick (or spit... lovely) into the water & the fish will jump up to nibble it because they think it's a bug.  Somethings only grandpas can teach.  ;)

Thanks for a great time, Mom & Dad! 

Happy Anniversary, Fr. Jon!

Christmas Eve

Day #2 at the farm added Melissa & Cara's families into the mix. With more people, more noise, & more excitement, taking photos barely crossed my mind! Then all families but ours & my parents headed out to the children's Mass. We helped Mom prep for our Christmas Eve dinner.Though we usually go disposable for sanity's sake, on Christmas Eve we dress it up a bit. Here's the little kids' table.

The big kids' table

The adults' table

& yumminess. We've had soup & hors d'oeuvres for Christmas Eve for as long as I can remember. "The usual" never gets old!The new tree in the new sunroom that my Dad built was surrounded by gifts for our cousins' exchange & adults' exchange.

The tree in the family room (besides being surrounded by Chris' family) was surrounded by the rest of the gifts. I couldn't believe the abundance! But when you have that many people together, even frugal gift-giving looks overflowing!

Dinner was fabulous & jolly. Thanks, Mom! Teresa was most interested in getting Nicholas to laugh. "Tickle, tickle, Nichol."

It's a party!

Happy 1st Birthday, Nicholas!

Your Mommy is cake baker extraordinnaire!

Teresa started us off with a little simple music.

Your other cousins the enthusiastic entertainment.

She learns quickly.

Then it was on to wearing party hats in unique style. This is called "The Rhino".

And here's "The Pteranodon".

You liked your cake!

Cousins & big brother were very helpful with opening your presents... & playing with your toys.

Glad we could celebrate with you!

Happy feet

My beautiful mother came to town a couple of weeks ago while Dad was out skiing. My little sister & I took her for her first pedicure ever. Look at those happy feet. :) It was a great time!We enjoyed some fun time with cousins a few days later as we welcomed Grandpa & uncles home.
Look at how that handsome little Nicholas is growing!