November Fun

All Miss E wants for Christmas is her two front teeth.  Actually, she has a giant list of completely unattainable toys that cost like $100 each.  Haha

In November Baby C learned how to climb up on the table.  Now we keep the chairs far from the table.  However, Baby C is now trying to shove chairs over to the table to climb up.  She also learned how to climb up to the piano in a vain attempt to reach the tv.

Baby C carefully strewing leftover Halloween candy around the master bedroom.  

Baby C cut 4 teeth in November!

We spent Thanksgiving with three other families whose extended families were far away.  Lots of children and lots of babies!  We all had fun.

M's 4th Birthday

M requested an airplane cake.  I did my best.  He did not care how it looked - he loved it!  So did all the kids at his party.  This was his first friend party.  Four of his friends from church came to celebrate.

Here are three of M's friends.  One was too busy crying in the other room waiting for his mom to come back.  Haha  

They ran around and played for a while in the backyard.  Then we had cake & ice cream.  Then more playing.  Then presents & goody bags and everyone went home happy.  (The crying boy was fine once his mom returned to hang out.) The party was just an hour and there were no organized games.  M is the oldest of his friends so I just didn't think the little ones would be up to it.  They were perfectly content to run around.

The theme was chosen by M - airplane cake, volcano & dinosaur centerpiece & plates, and colorful decorations.  My children can never stick to one thing for a theme - they love to have a bit of this and that.

There is some video too, of the actual birthday song, and blowing out the candles and that.  I'll post it when I get around to uploading it.  Which may be never.

Baby C's Blessing

Baby C was blessed at our church on September 25. Both sets of grandparents were able to attend, as well as Mr N's brother J and his beautiful family. Here's everyone:

Here's a picture of the cousins:

Mr N did a lovely job blessing the baby. She had the hiccups the entire time; it was hard not to laugh! She wore the blessing dress my mother made after Miss E was born. It was a beautiful, happy day!

Grandparents' Visit

My mom has been here for the month of September. She actually leaves tomorrow (boo!). My dad was able to come out too, for a long weekend when Baby C was blessed. Here are a few pictures of the festivities (pictures of Baby C's blessing day in another post).

Grandma doesn't like to be photographed.

Mr N harvested his pumpkins. He got a very impressive crop this year. The children were very excited.

Look at M's face! So cute.

Miss E quickly figured out that Grandpa is a big teaser. She had great fun bossing all her grandparents around!

Bonesteele's Birthday Pics

I made Bonesteele's cake from scratch and decorated it like one of his current obsessions.

For Bonesteele's birthday, as he was turning 2, we decided to have an intimate family party.

This was Bonesteele's expression the entire time we sang to him: utter amazement.

Blowing out the candles.

Belle very nicely agreed to attend the party.

Bonesteele attempting to shove an enormous piece of cake into his mouth.

Fingers assist in getting every last bit in!

Belle felt the full effects of all that icing.

Bonesteele got some little trucks from his paternal grandparents (technically left from Christmas that he never opened then!) and some Toy Story gear from his maternal grandparents. My friend and her children gave him a soccer ball-shaped basket (which Miss E promptly took control of). It's escaping my mind at the moment what Mr N & I gave him! But I'm sure he loved it. Ha ha

Wow this recap is really late. Oops.

Miss E Turns Three!

Miss E shows off her awesome loot: baby doll, color-changing ducks, and glow sticks!

Miss E's party was a raging success. (I hope I don't hear you complaining over there that Miss E's party was a month ago.) There was a brief but severe thunderstorm ten minutes before her party began. Luckily Mother Nature is our pal, the storm blew through and Miss E's friends E & V were able to attend. They all had a great time decorating crowns and eating cupcakes.




I believe Mr N's instruction to E was, "Smile!"

Here is V, Miss E's other guest, who knows how to pose for a camera!

Miss E in the act of crown decoration.

Bonesteele was happy to observe the proceedings once he had a delicious cupcake in hand.

With Mr N as cameraman. I think the actual birthday cake-candles thing is on the video camera somewhere...

Bonesteele's Blessing

Bonesteele hangin' out with his big sister.

"Yeah, I'm MAN enough to sit in a pink bouncy seat!"

Bonesteele was blessed June 1 by Mr N at our church service. Lots of family was able to attend - it was so nice to see everyone! Mr N said Bonesteele would be a happy baby and that is certainly true so far. Bonesteele has started smiling and cooing a lot in the past week. He is a sweet baby, and very low maintenance. He is easy to put to sleep, though he is still waking every 3-4 hours at night.

Isn't Uncle B's hair so pretty? (hee hee)

Saturday most of the family went to the coast. Grandma N, Bonesteele and I stayed behind. We had a nice relaxing day and went for a long walk around the neighborhood. The Ns at the coast went to Pacific City. They ate at The Pelican (highly recommended) and played on the beach. Miss E got totally soaked, as she is impervious to the cold! She had a great time running in the frigid waves of the Oregon Coast.

Sunday morning was the blessing. As I was dressing Bonesteele for church, I discovered to my dismay that his adorable christening outfit was too small - it didn't even fit over his head! So we had to quickly improvise. He wore a white onesie and the little white shorts from his christening outfit. With a hand-crocheted blanket wrapped around him, no one was the wiser.

After sacrament, everyone headed over to our house. We all chatted and had a good time. Some uncles earned their keep by playing with cousins M & E in the backyard until they were all exhausted. I made the crowd homemade chili and cornbread. It was weird but fun to make such massive batches of food. Since it was the Ns eating, there were barely any leftovers. Ha ha By Sunday evening, everyone had left, and it felt awfully quiet in our house! We had a great weekend and I'm really glad so many could make it for Bonesteele's blessing.

Mr N and Miss E's Trip to Eastern Oregon

For a recap of their weekend, go here.

Mrs N Is On Her Own!

This morning Mr N and Miss E took off for eastern Oregon. Magical is getting married! And Jewell is getting blessed! Mr N and Miss E are the lucky kids who get to go have fun with the family. My back said, No you are not going on a 5-hour road trip, so I am here by myself and still trying to wrap my head around the fact that my family is gone for four days. Naturally I teared up when they left, especially since Miss E was adorably waving bye-bye to me as Mr N drove away. Don't worry about me, Mr N gave me gun instructions, namely, "Don't say anything to an intruder, just shoot them. There are 16 bullets in that gun. Use them all." I think that is beautiful proof of his love. Ha ha

Look for pictures of their weekend later!