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!