Better Late than Never - Latham's 5th Birthday

I am working at getting caught up with blog posts, so bear with me.  This and the next post will not be in chronological order; I was going to just continue on from December 2013, but then I realized I had totally forgotten to post about Latham's recent birthday which is in the middle of November.  Oops, my bad!

 Latham was the special VIP at preschool since it was his birthday.  It was our turn to bring snack, so of course I made cupcakes, and Latham picked chocolate.  We also had a special questionnaire to fill out regarding his likes and dislikes, and I was encouraged to create a photo celebration of my second son.  I love assignments like that, so I spent a fair amount of time making the collage that Teacher Sally shared with his class.

 Page One

 

 Page Two

 

 Snack time at preschool, and Finnian was excited to sit and eat cupcakes with the big kids.

 

 Latham's birthday party was that weekend at my parents' house in Abbotsford.

He made sure to bring his special birthday crown.

 

 We got a Wii system, and now the older boys are all about Mario.  He was excited that he got a couple Mario presents for his birthday.

 

 Ronan was almost as excited as Latham was, since he knew that he would undoubtedly get to play with the gifts too.

 

 Bottoms up, Auntie Delta!  She had a prior engagement, but participated via Skype like she did when she lived in Saskatoon in the past.

 

 More Mario gifts.
 

Happy Birthday, Latham!  Good growing!  I love your zest for life and peppy attitude.  You make life interesting, to say the least, and I wouldn't want it any other way - I love being your Mommy!

Christmas Concerts

Latham's preschool wrapped up the month with a Christmas program last Friday, and Ronan's school concert was today.  In his program, Latham played the part of the 1st Wiseman in a re-telling of the Christmas story.

 I went "backstage" before the program started to get him ready.  He was really excited and proud of his role.

 He wanted a picture with his best friend.

 Ronan chatted up a girl before the show started.  I figured this was a preview of what's to come when he's a teenager.

 Cutest Wiseman ever!

 A shout-out to all the Daddies and Mommies!

 Handsome mini-man #1

As mentioned above, Ronan's concert was this morning, and we got there bright and early for the 10am start.  Due to the hectic morning, Vaughn didn't quite make it out of his PJs today!

 Vaughn waiting for the concert to start.

 Ronan

 The second graders sang three songs.  Ronan is right above the music teacher's head.

His favorite song is the "Twelve Days of Christmas" that they performed today.  Tomorrow is his last day of school, and then he's out till the 6th of January.  When school resumes, the students and staff will be in their new school building!

Firehall Pancake Breakfast 2013

As I was driving by the Fire Hall on Northwest Avenue one day, I noticed an advertisement for their fund-raising Fire Hall Breakfast the following Saturday.  I am a sucker for going out for breakfast, so this was high on my list of priorities for the day!

 The firefighters served the breakfast themselves, which took place in the main part of the station were the trucks are usually parked.

 Baby Vaughn

 Three well-fed little boys with their "Junior Firefighter" helmets on.

 After eating we checked out the fire trucks outside.

The boys also liked the ambulances.

I can't wait to go again next year!

Oh, I wish I were an...

...Oscar Mayer Wiener!

Last month the boys and I stopped by Safeway in Lynden to pick up a few groceries, and we saw this bad boy in the parking lot!  Man, were we excited!

Photo op!

Halloween 2013

This year for Halloween, Auntie Delta, the boys and I attended the Harvest Party put on by our church, North County Christ the King.  We all had a great time, and it was nice to be indoors in a nice, warm building.  Collin had left earlier that day for two weeks in Japan, so Auntie Delta's help was greatly appreciated.

Finnian sharing his cotton candy with Auntie Delta.

All four boys lined up in a row, content with their sweet treats.

Latham

Ronan - aka Optimus Prime

For his first Halloween Vaughn was a pumpkin.

There were games for the children to play; here Finnian is bowling.  Every attempt earned the child a prize, which was a piece of candy.

Ronan shooting a hanging target with a nerf gun.

"Cheese!"

There was a cookie decorating station...

...and these awesome giant inflatable rings to bounce off of one another.

Ronan and Latham especially liked these.  Finnian was still a bit too young to participate in this activity.

There was also a version of the good-ol' favorite, Cake Walk.  Every child walked away with a cupcake.

The best part about the Harvest Festival was that the boys had so many games and activities to participate in versus standard trick-or-treating.  And they got some candy, but not the obscene amounts that can be collected going door-to-door.

We hope you had a Happy Halloween!

Stoney Ridge 2013

Every year in October we take a trip to Stoney Ridge Farm in nearby Everson, WA.  Stoney Ridge has a great pumpkin patch, farm animals, hay rides, corn maze, and - most importantly - fantastic mini pumpkin donuts!  The activities create a lot of photo opportunities, and here are some pictures from our recent trip this past October.

The size of our family has officially outgrown this favorite cut-out photo op.

Every year I make sure to get a photo of the boys on the saddle next to the Stoney Ridge sign.  I'm not happy that this was the best shot, but anyone with kids know, you take a million snaps, and you're still not guaranteed a good one! 

The barrel-car train is the funnest!

Daddy and Baby Boy #4

It's so tough to be a baby!

A tractor-pulled hay ride took us out to the pumpkin patch.

Finnian

Vaughn

Daddy and the older boys

Cool dude Latham

Same as every other year, they could pick out

 any pumpkin they wanted...as long as they could carry it themselves!