Glen Turns 1

On December 30th, Glen turned 1.  However, we held his party on the 16th (yes, he shared a party with Grace.  It was a nice set up and I hope that we can do this a few more years!)

Glen, you got a red plate for his cupcake.  You even got an Elmo one year old topper for your cake.

You would not let Elmo go. 

 At the party we had pigs in a blanket, macaroni and cheese, applesauce, grapes, many other types of food, and cupcakes!

 At the party was Mamaw, Papaw, Carol, Eamon, Shannon, Daddy, Mommy, Grace, Amy, and Seamus (Eamon's friend).

 You really enjoyed the cupcake, but you still would not let go of Elmo.

 I have a feeling that you thought that the cupcake was pretty good.  At least the parts that did not go down the front of your bibs.

 Here are the birthday kids, together.

 Opening presents.  You still needed a bit of help with that.

 One of your presents was a Mickey Mouse bowl, another was Mommy's brown bear that she had since she was 1 (it was her favorite bear!)  But you did not care about the presents, you just wanted to play with the balls.

Happy birthday!  I can not wait to see what the next year brings.

Grace Turns 3

On December 19th Grace turned 3 years old.  Where did the years go?  We had a party for her on the 16th of December.

 We had most of her favorite foods...pigs in a blanket, macaroni and cheese, grapes, apples, applesauce, and much much more. 

 She was pretty happy to be three, get to blow out a candle, and also get the red plate for the first time.

 Yes, in speaking of food we must not forget the cupcakes!

 At the party was Papaw and Mamaw, Carol, Eamon, Shannon, and Eamon's friend Seamus, and Amy.  Mike was home with Austin and Adam who were sick at the time.  We were sorry that they were not able to attend.

 Oh yeah, Glen was there too.  He was also celebrating his birthday at the same party.

 The unwrapping of the presents was a highlight of the night.

 Grace got a glowing orb :)  No it is really just a rubber ball that lights up when you bounce it.  However it was one of the favorite toys of the night.

 Grace also got a jewelry box.  It used to be her Great Grandmother's.  Now it holds Grace's treasures of plastic necklaces, rubber bracelets, and Minnie Mouse rings and earrings.  Oh, she loves her treasure box.

 She also got a tea set for her kitchen.  At which she promptly said, we need to have a tea party.

Only a sweet little three year old girl can convince teenage (and almost teenage) boys to join her for a tea party.

It was a good day.

20 Birthday Questions

1.  How old are you?  3
2.  Who is your best friend?  Grandma Sue
3.  What is your favorite thing to do?  Build
4.  What is your favorite color?  Purple
5.  What is your favorite food?  Cheese
6.  What do you like to do with your family?  Read books
7.  What is your favorite toy?  Books
8.  What do you want to be when you grow up?  I be a daddy
9.  What makes you happy?  Toys
10. What makes you sad? 
11. What is your favorite show to watch? Between The Lions
12. What is your favorite book?  Mouse Paint
13. What do you love to learn about? Trains
14.What was the best part of your birthday?  Presents
15. Where do you like to go? Amy's House
16. Who was your teacher?
17.What is your favorite treat? Candy cane
18. What do you think about before you fall asleep? I am in bed looking at my balloon
19. If you could meet anyone famous who would it be?  A Princess
20. What was your favorite birthday present? Jewelry Box

Grace Reading The Bible

Grace got her first Bible from Bonsack United Methodist Church, the church that we attended as both of our children were born.  She has loved looking at this book and has recently decided to start reading it to me.  I do not know if you can understand but each page of the Bible is the same
"God loves me"
I like her version of the Bible, simple and very true!
I just wish Glen had also gotten a first Bible too, I will need to start to be on the look out for one for him.  Maybe that will help him learn that God loves him too :)

This Week In Pictures

Grace decided that she wanted to pretend to be a dog.  So she needed slippers for her four "paws."  Fortunately we had four Pooh Bear slippers that she could use.  Silly Girl!

 This past weekend Grace discovered the wonders of the same Light Bright that I used when I was young.  I still remember playing with this exact Light Bright when I was 10 and had chicken pox.

While Grace was playing with the Light Bright, Glen was enjoying the wonders of a nap on the other Glen in the family.

Here Glen is trying to "help" with the laundry.  At least he is happy.

 He is quite possessive of his pacifier.

We have a set of these cute little books that have maybe 6 pages and one word on each page.  He will sit and look at, hold and look through these books for the longest time.  One night while getting ready for bed he needed to escape me in order to look through his book.  Silly Boy!

Pumpkin Donuts

One day while searching the internet I discovered a recipe for pumpkin donuts.  I waited with this information till the right time came (which happened to be last week).  One morning we were not rushed, we were not busy, we were in a good mood, so we baked.  We make the batter of the donuts.  Then Grace (and I helped a bit) piped them out onto the pans.  We made letters, either she made them or told me how to make them.

 We filled two pans of yummy donuts that soon afterward headed to the oven to cook while we made the icing.

Once the icing was made I put it in a squirt bottle and Grace got to decorate the donuts with the icing by going all "Jackson Pollock" on them.  She loved the activity.  I enjoyed the time and creativity with her, and Glen loved the donuts.  It was a good event all around :)

Apple Orchard

In October we decided to meet up with a few friends of ours that we knew from Roanoke who had moved to Northern VA.  We decided that a fun activity would be to go to an apple orchard/pumpkin patch that is located in Winchester (that is a halfway mark between both of us).

  

Grace loved playing checkers on the very large mat.

She also loved the playground that was located at the farm.  It was hard to get her away from the boat, swings, slides, and other fun play things in order to get some apples.

But all was good because she had her new great friend with her Vitaly.  They had a grand time together.

He had her reach for the apples up top.

They chased each other through the rows of trees.

I did get her to stop for just long enough to take some family pictures.  Here is one of the girls.

The whole family.

And the boys.

While Grace was have a fun time with Vitaly, Glen was stalking and attacking apples that were laying on the ground and completely unaware of the danger that was ahead for them.

Heading down the rows of trees with a bag of apples that continued to get heavier and heavier as we kept finding wonderful apples that could not be left behind.

Soon, Grace gave up the shopping bag and got a ride back to the barn to pay and get our car.

 

But not before one for photo shoot.  

Happy Fall Everyone!

Happy Halloween

With the storm making its way up the east coast, and planning on hitting us hard right around the 31st I was unsure if we would be able to have trick or treating plans for Halloween this year.  So I made sure to be able to take the kids out on Saturday for Trick or Treating on the Square (downtown Harrisonburg).  It was a lot of fun and the kids seemed to have a great time getting candy and being dressed up.

 Our house was a zoo or maybe a safari with a giraffe and a cheetah.  However, they were the cutest little wild animals that I have ever seen!

 Below is a lesson in camouflage.  Can you see Grace?

 Grace loved her costume so much that on Sunday she decided she needed to wear it while helping Matt install new faucets in the bathrooms.

While trick or treating on Saturday we passed by a parking lot where there were three young ladies dressed in what could be prom dresses.  Grace just stood there and stared, pointed at them and said "princess!"  So Amy and Grace went to talk to the princesses.  It turns out that they were doing a photo shoot of some kind.  And while Grace was in awe of the beautiful princesses, they were commenting on how adorable the little girl in the giraffe costume was.

It has been a good Halloween so far.  I do hope that we can get out and dress up once again for Wednesday.  We shall see if Sandy lets us.