Ronan's New Glasses

At Ronan's parent/teacher conference I was informed by his teacher, Mrs. Sytsma, that Ronan failed his vision exam that they do at the school.  She suggested that he be examined by an optometrist, so the first week in December we had an appointment for him.  Turns out, he needs glasses.  We ordered him some and a week later they came in.  He was so excited to get them.

 

Such a handsome boy! 



Luckily, the glasses came with a year warranty, because less than 24 hours after getting them, Finnian got his hands on them and pulled off one of the arms.  Luckily, it was fixable by the place where we purchased them, and Ronan got a second stern talking to about taking care of and responsibility for his new eyewear.

Gingerbread House

Every year the boys and I make a gingerbread house. This year we were a little late due to the fact that I've not been feeling well lately, but today we got it finished. I baked up the pieces a few days ago, and the decorating was done today while Finnian was having his afternoon nap.

 

The boys wanted to lick the beaters as usual.

In the middle of making their masterpieces.  Notice Ronan's new glasses!

This is Latham's side (roof, end and side piece).

This is Ronan's side (roof, end and side piece).

 

Now we finally have our centerpiece for Christmas dinner, which I am hosting here at our home.

Latham's 4th Birthday - Family Party

The day after his friend party, we had a family party to celebrate Latham's birthday.  I made a big dinnner - roast, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn and coleslaw and we had both sides of the family over to celebrate.

 

An auto-timer picture of the whole group.



One of the favorite parts of a birthday party - the cupcakes!  According to the boys, the best part of it being your birthday is that you get the cupcake that is on the very top!  The pirate headband was part of a present he got at his friend party and he wore it the whole day.



Gift-opening, another favorite part of a party.

 

No matter who's birthday it is they help each other open presents.

 

Hope you had a great day, Latham!  Good growing!

 



Latham's 4th Birthday - Friend Party

On his actual birthday - November 16th - we had a birthday party for Latham and his friends.  Althogether we had 20 children and 8 adults over to celebrate!

 

Some of the party-goers and the birthday boy enjoying the food.


Latham had wanted a "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" party, and I had an idea for a craft the kids could create that incorporated the pirates/treasure theme.  I got some wooden picture frames, spray painted them metallic gold, and then the children glued on big fake gemstones.  The girls in the group especially loved the activity.


Working diligently on their craft projects.

Of course there was unstructured playtime as well.


Playtime concluded when I announced, "Time for cupcakes!"  The cupcakes were decorated with "gold doubloons". 



Then came time to open presents.

 

Thank you to everyone who came for helping us celebrate Latham's 4th birthday!

Better Late than Never - Halloween 2012

This year for Halloween we went trick-or-treating around Fairhaven, a cute little historic district in Bellingham.  Daddy came with us and the boys had a great time.

 

Finnian was a little confused at first, but he quickly got the hang of it after a few shops.  He couldn't quite say "trick-or-treat", instead he would just walk up to the shopkeeper and yell "Treat!".

 

Ronan was excited to be Mario.



Finnian was the dragon.



And Latham was a cow.

 

We hope you had a happy and safe Halloween!

Better Late than Never - Pumpkin Carving

The day Daddy got home from his business trip we carved our pumpkins. Each of the older boys chose a design from the jack-o-latern design book that came with the carving tools.  It was a good family activity since we hadn't seen Daddy in a while.

 

Latham chose the ghost and Ronan (who currently has an obsession for the game "Plants vs Zombies") chose a zombie hand.  He made the observation, "Look Mom there's a gravy."  He meant the gravestone behind the hand.

Better Late than Never - Stoney Ridge 2012

The boys and I did our annual trip out to Stoney Ridge Farm in October. Unfortunately Daddy was on a business trip (Argentina or Japan, I can't remember which) and he couldn't come with us.

The hayride out to the pumpkin patch.

 



 

The giant piggy

 

Finnian among all the pumpkins.

 



We ventured into the corn maze and eventually found our way out.

 



Next up was a trip to the mini cider donut shop - the boys favorite!

 



Yum, yum, Mommy!



This year we finally filled up all three faces.

 



I love this picture - a definite contender for the 2012 Christmas letter!

 



Finnian loved the chickens and rooster.

 



Love the direction that Latham is giving Finnian!

 



My only rule regarding picking a pumpkin is that they can have any pumpkin that they can carry!

 



Nope, this isn't the one that Ronan came home with.



Collin's Hunting Trip 2012

Collin, his dad, Uncle Shane and his dad's care aid went on a hunting trip in October. They were gone for a week and a half, and although they didn't get the moose that they were hoping for, they did get a kill. This post contains some graphic pics so consider this your warning!

Ooops, I did it again!

Tonight was bath night, so I thought that I would also trim the boys' hair with the buzzer. My plan was to just clean up the lower parts of their heads because I want their tops to get longer instead of being buzzed all over.

Ronan went first. He is very particular about feeling itchy/scratchy from all the hair that falls on him, so I completely wrapped him up in a garbage bag and he was relatively un-wimpy (not totally un-wimpy but decent enough) during his haircut. Right at the end I took the guard off and cleaned up around his ears. I carefully unwrapped him from his plastic cocoon and went upstairs with him to start the bath. When I came back downstairs it was Latham's turn...
 

...and I completely forgot that I had taken the guard off! Zip! Right up the side of Latham's head!  I stared in shock and horror that I had done it AGAIN!  I did something very similar to Finnian at the end of spring, and thought I had learned a valuable lesson....apparently not!  I double check that I have the right number guard when I snap it on, now I need to remember to check if there is even a guard on before I start.
 

Latham was okay with my mistake and really could care less.  I decided not to shave his whole head since it'll be his birthday next month and I always get professional pics of the boys on their birthdays - I want him to have cute little boy pictures as opposed to neo-nazi ones.  The photographer will just have to avoid photographing the side of his head which I think will be relatively easy to do since the majority of shots are frontal shots anyways.
 

Ronan saw the mistake and said, "We have to stop doing that!"  Collin and I are raising a little diplomat! 



As I write this the boys are happily splashing around in the tub. At least it'll grow back, and with Latham being a happy-go-lucky little boy, he won't be embarrased since he'll forget it's even back there.

 

Perhaps I've finally learned my lesson!