A Catch-up/Thankful Post

I am SO far behind posting pictures.  I’m finally done my photo book, so I might have a little more time for blogging.  I do still have 3 young kids, so we’ll see!  As today is American Thanksgiving, I figured I would make this into a thankful post while catching up on posting pictures from August when we took the kids to a place with rides.  It was Blake’s first time and it was great that Kiera always had someone to ride with.  Yes, I should be posting pictures with snow in them, but instead, I’ll post pictures of when it was super hot + sunny!  Remember those days?  I do have some faint memories of them.  So, with a little twist on my regular thankful posts, here are some things that my kids were/are thankful for:

Big statues

Fish

Helicopters (Jared pretty much forced Blake to go on, since he didn’t want to, and he was perfectly fine)

Little cars

Airplanes

Blake almost fell asleep as it was his nap time.

Carousels

Blake was too scared the first 2 times to go on a horse, so I rode with him on the bench.

Ladybugs

Swings

Big bouncy things (yes, I’m pretty sure that’s the technical name)

Sand

Big, tall slides, which Kiera went on ALL BY HERSELF.  Yes, my 4-year-old at the time was fearless!

I was thankful that Blake conquered his fear and went on a horse!

Blake was obsessed with this beaver fountain while we were waiting for Jared + Kiera to go on a ride.

Kiera conquered her big fear of ferris wheels and asked Jared to go on with her!

They were on it for so long that I think she got bored.

Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends and family and to my Canadian friends and family, every day is a day for giving thanks!

A Look Back at Fall

I feel like so many of my posts these days are long overdue.  My main focus the past few weeks when I sit down at the computer has been working on my photo book.  I have 13 more pages out of 80 and then I’m finished it!  That’s what happens when I have to think about which pictures I want, how many pictures on a page, what do I want the layout to be, do I want borders, what color background, do I add any embellishments, etc.  I love working on it but it will also be good to get it finished! 

A month and a half ago, the 5 of us went on a 4.4 km walk (2 miles) to sign me and Kiera up for dance at our church.  We left the house and 2 blocks later, I realized that I had forgotten my camera.  The fall colors were practically screaming at me to have their picture taken and I knew it might be my last chance before the leaves started falling off of the trees.  So, I ran back home and got it and I do not regret that!  Here they are in all of their splendor:

This is down our street

The spot where I realized I had forgotten my camera

Close to the library, one of my favorite places in town :)

At the library…when I saw this, I wanted to shout, “Glory, glory to God!”  I might have actually later during our walk.

Even the little plants were displaying amazing colors

Blake points out these horses EVERY. SINGLE. Sunday on our way to church

The beauty had me at a loss for words…I can’t even imagine what heaven will be like!

Our yard

Our neighbor’s trees, some of which hang over into our yard

Close-up of same tree

Haley enjoying the leaves, sticks + the unusually warm fall day

And they were calling to one another, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” Isaiah 6:3

Blake Turns 3!

On Tuesday, Blake celebrated his 3rd birthday.  He had his party last week Friday, which I will post pictures of hopefully soon.  I’m very happy that there are more boy toys in the house now, which he is LOVING!  We didn’t have very many before.  He got a very noisy loader truck, a fire truck, a car that shoots off a stick by air power, each kid got a Nerf gun and Blake got tool set from us which has a noisy drill in it.  Now he doesn’t have to play with ponies and toy food all the time, ha ha! 

Here’s a look back at how much he has grown:

1st birthday

I saved this suit that he wore on his first birthday to my sister-in-law’s wedding and put it in his memory box.  I think it is one of the most adorable boy outfits ever!

2nd birthday

3rd birthday (haven’t gotten his professional photos back yet)

He adds so much laughter to our family with his crazy facial expressions, dance moves and his part “New York” accent and part “Filipino” accent, as he can’t say his “r’s” or his “l’s.”  I’m SO thankful that I have the privilege of raising a son and that God chose him for our family.  Happy 3rd birthday, Blake!

Kiera’s Birthday Party

This was the first year where I had a “drop off your kids” party.  In the past, I have always done combined birthdays parties for Kiera + Blake, since their birthdays are 8 days apart, and then I’ve invited all the kids of a family + their Moms.  I went to town on the streamers.  I always do balloons, so I wanted to try streamers this year, since I am really bad at tying balloons.  I found out that streamers are a lot more work!

Opening presents

I wanted Kiera to wear her nice new Christmas dress (which I found in the States for $22…sweet!) so she did

I was going to say “all the pretty girls” but then I realized Blake was in there, too

Haley liked the presents as well

I found this tablecloth either at Target or Wal-Mart when I was in the States on my birthday week-end

Once again, I made a gluten-free chocolate cake (love that cake mix) with buttercream icing and it tasted good!  Kiera wanted a frog and a sun, so that wasn’t too hard.  It wouldn’t win any awards, but I was happy with the finished product.

I made candy apples instead of doing goody bags.  Very good but very sticky!

It turned out well.  Sometimes I feel bad that I don’t do theme parties, but I sort of had a color scheme with the decorations + cake, so I figured that was good enough.  They had fun, so it was a success.  Hats off to all you Moms who do fabulous theme parties and are great at decorating cakes!  My giftings are different and I’m realizing that’s ok! :)