Happy Thanksgiving!

 

From my own little Butterball!

Rivaling the turkey at two months old and 15 lbs 3 oz!!

 

 

I will be munching on him all day long!

(along with pies of course)

(turkey seems like a waste of calories when there is pie to be had!)

So thankful to be next to family during the holidays,

and that I am eating with my brother and his family, who are instituting a “sweats or pjs only” rule for our dinner!

Isaac helped me make muffins, rolls, and pies yesterday-

My contacts were dry from not blinking (seriously!) so that I could catch him putting in egg shells and sprinkling some “snow” flour on the table.

But his smile and “You’re welcome!” at the end were so worth it!

 

I am SO thankful for my many, many, MANY blessings this morning,

Happy Thanksgiving!

5

 

I know that I say “I can’t believe he’s…” every year, but I really, really mean it!  I seriously have no clue how my baby got to be five years old today! But he did!

He is getting skinny, we are looking into kindergartens- its happening! He’s growing up!

And I know that I will look back on this post some day and he will look so LITTLE! Waaah!  Stop the madness!

For the record, my first conversation with 5 year old Joseph went like this, (climbing into bed with Samuel and me at 6:40 am)

“Hi Mama!”

“Good morning Joseph!  Happy Birthday!”

“Mama?  Do you think that caperpillars (Caterpillars) curl into a ball because they are afraid of humans, to protect themselves from the rain, or just to roll around and have some fun!” With a little giggle at that last part.

I said all of the above!  Because I would really like my baby to picture caterpillars rolling around and having fun for one more year.

Dear Joseph,

Happy Birthday to my sweet boy! 

You have such a kind, thoughtful heart and spirit.  Not always towards Isaac(!!!), but definitely towards your Dada and me, and now to little Samuel too!  You are so sweet and gentle with him- you have completely exceeded my expectations of what a great big brother you would be!

I love you and your quirkiness, your intelligence, and your challenges.  You have stretched me to be such a much better person by making me a mother!

Love you!

Your Mama.

 

 

 

Last Day of 4

 

A little video for you on Joseph’s last day of Four Years Old…

 

Man I love that self-conscious, slightly uncooperative kid!  Four has been lovely and I am sad to see it go…

 

.

PS

Just for fun, here is Joseph’s last day of Age 3 post/video from last year…

Halloween 2012 (a little bit late)

 

 

 

Hello everyone!  Joseph had a bang-up birthday party yesterday (he turns 5 –!!!!!- on Thursday!), but I’m not allowing myself to post about it until I knock out Halloween!

Buuut, Joseph just turned on the bedroom light where Samuel is sleeping, and Isaac put his barking/flipping dog toy right next to my keyboard, so we shall see how long this lasts…

Halloween was great!  Was it really two weeks ago?  Have I showered since then?  This three kids thing makes time go fast!

 

(cutest superman EVER!!)

.

 

I made my traditional Happy Halloweiner wraps for dinner

(weiner wraps that look like mummies)

(which my children have yet to notice ever)

and we headed out trick or treating in my parents neighborhood with my nieces, brother, and sister-in-law.

It was not raining- an Oregon Halloween miracle!!- but it was quite soggy and the kids slipped and fell a few times.

But they didn’t even care because CANDY! CANDY! CANDY!!

I am pretty sure that they would have gone all night,

but we cut them off at the end of the street. (about 20 houses?)

Wouldn’t it be fun if the boys didn’t dress up like super heroes next year?  And if they would still allow me to dress them in a theme??!

But I’m betting on at least one Batman and one ninja.

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Favorite moments of the night:

I forgot their Halloween treat buckets, and we had to use some of my parents’ pillow cases.  They were too big for Isaac and he kept yelling, “I can’t find the hole!”

When we got home and dumped out all of the candy, Isaac yelled, “Dis da most candy EBER!” (ever)

…and Joseph sorted them by style.  He is noticing that the amount of Snickers keeps decreasing…

Also, around here this year, Snickers = “Sneakers” and

Payday = “Play Day.”

 

Happy Halloween two weeks ago!!!

Election Day

 

(samuel @ 1 month.)

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My conversation today with Joseph:

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Me:  “Joseph do you remember how I talked to you about voting?  Well today is the day that they count up all the votes and tell us who is president!”

 

Joseph:  “How many votes do they have to count?”

 

Me:  “A lot because everyone in the whole country who is 21 and older can vote.  Oops! I mean 18 or older can vote!”

 

Brian (who was joining us for some pumpkin pancakes for lunch): “Yes, and next time we vote you will be EIGHT years old!”

 

Joseph: “But I won’t be able to vote, because I won’t be 18 or older!”

 

Me: “Yes, we mean that next time Mommy and Daddy can vote you will be eight.”

 

J: “And who will be my mommy when you are voting?”

 

Me: “Ummm….me.  I will be your mommy.”

 

J:  “But while you are voting, who will she be?”

 

Me:  “well…I will me your mommy.  I voted last week- was I your mommy then?”

 

J:  Shakes head.

 

Me:  “Ummmm, yes I was.”

 

J: “Oh, I thought you meant last week when I was in your tummy.”

 

And…scene.

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So, that was our little election education.

Just be glad I didn’t try to explain the Electoral College….

Happy Election Day!

…………………..

(Last presidential election voting here.)