7.

Calling all Super Heroes!

We've had one more birthday in the house! 

It wasn't really planned, but somehow we were blessed with a Winter baby (Ella), a Spring baby (Evelyn), a Summer baby (Nathan), and a Fall baby (Addie).  So, 'tis the season to celebrate Nathan's birthday!

Nathan just turned the  big 7.  This fall he will be starting 2nd grade...yikes!

His original party theme was Avengers.  Upon going to Target, he changed it to Justice League, and then later that night decided it would be both Justice League and Avengers.  I believe his actual words that night were, "Mom, I hate to tell you this, but I've changed my mind..."  Oh well, this was a good chance for me to actually learn who was an Avenger or Justice League member...valuable information I'm sure!

 

We did a simple, yet multiple tiered cake featuring Justice League members.  When it comes to cake I do all the baking, designing, making of frosting, frosting the cake...and then it's midnight and I can't make the Superman symbol to save my life.  Thus enters Matt.  Matt's super power is doing anything he puts his mind to.  In this case it was making a Superman and a Batman symbol.  I did the Green Lantern.

 

 

For Nathan's birthday we've always grilled.  So simple and fun for hot July days.  This year we tried to do a little bit of a theme, but the food doesn't change much year to year (hamburgers, hot dogs, watermelon, chips, veggies, etc.).

 

These were a big hit with the kids:  Thor's hammers.

 



 

We also had a lot of "Super" foods! 

(mainly in the form of berries & carrots)

 

 

Here's the spread:



 

This is what you get when you ask a 7 year old to stand by his cake for a picture.  Super Hero pose of course.

 

 

I can't believe how grown-up looking Nathan is getting.  I look at him and it makes me want to stop time for a little bit...can't he just stay little!  At the same time I am amazed at the person he is becoming.  Nathan is kind, brilliant, and still ever so passionate.  I'm so excited to see what God has in store for him!

 



 

 

Lunch time!  It was extra special this year because the Klein cousins made it!

 

The kids were put to task in the morning to decorate.  Well done.

 

Following lunch we of course sang and then devoured the cake.

 



 

Then present time!

Nathan really loves to receive gifts, like any time anywhere.  So, his birthday is especially exciting.  He talks for months about what he wants for his birthday.  He had a few Lego requests this year.  Here he is with a Lone Ranger set from Grammy (Matt's mom).  He also got some "cool" clothes (like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles t-shirt), a disc golf set, Darth Vader slippers, Target $, Star Wars water bottle, and other things I'm forgetting about.

 

We love you Nathan, our first born.  You are still our baby boy, and yet we see you ever-changing before our eyes.  You often say and do things that simply amaze us-we know you are special, and God has great things planned for you.  We are thankful for the privilege we have to call you our son!



Evelyn Jane Lucille

Another milestone birthday in the house!  Today marks the 3 month anniversary of Evelyn's first birthday and also her Daddy's 33rd birthday...cause for celebration right?

 

Here are some highlights of the big day!

 

I could probably say this for every child's birthday, "Oh, I can't believe_______is already ________years old!  But it still holds true!  I can't believe my baby is 1 year old!

 

Here she is the morning of of party day!

 

 

The theme:  Rainbow!

How did I ever decide on such an amazing theme you wonder?  Well, it went down like this:  We went to Target and they had a bunch of rainbow party accessories and I said "Let's do a rainbow party.",  and the kids said something along the lines of "Yes, what a great idea...". 

I know, the creativity in this house is mind-blowing!

Here's the rainbow cake:

 



 

Before mentioned rainbow accessories:

 

 

Eat your rainbow:

 

 

Fun times!

 

 

Cake and candle time!

 

 

Evelyn had been denied any and all sweets the entire first year of her life.  But, by the way she responded to them and wanted them when they were around, I knew she was going to be all about the cake.

She did not disappoint.  Evelyn  loves cake! 

 

She didn't have to be showed what to do or encouraged along, but sat there happily and contently eating away at her cake.

 

 

She at the whole thing... even the scoop of ice-cream!

When she was finished she picked up the plate and started to lick it.

 

 

It's worth saying again, Evelyn loves cake!

She is also our only child who required a bath at her first birthday party.

 

 

Moving along to present time!

She was not as into this, but not to worry because she had a lot of help!

 



The traditional first birthday gift from my parents is a riding toy.  Papa did not disappoint.  We now have a truck, rocket car, giraffe, and a pink scooter.  (confession: we actually sold the giraffe to Once Upon a Child, it was my personal fave but the one the children voted to get rid of.  We still do have 3 riding toys in the house however).
 



 

 

We love you Evelyn Jane Lucille! 

 I can't imagine our family without you in it.  It' been an emotional year as I experience many "last firsts" as a mother, and many firsts without my own mother, but we have been richly blessed by God, and I pray I never take it for granted. 

 

Ella Grace.

So, last time I blogged it was about our April snow.  If I wanted to give a weather update now, it would be about hot and muggy July.  Oops, I guess the blog fell by the wayside, though not for lack of things going on.  We have been occupied by birthdays (3 out of 6 of us with another next week), finishing up school, summer activities, removing wall paper, and putting up paint. 

My reasons for beginning this blog was to archive our lives as a resource for myself, (and maybe it can be a blessing to someone else as well). So, time to carry on...

 

Since it's a milestone event, I'll share some events from Ella's 5th  birthday...and next post I'll catch up on Evie's first.  (The 3rd birthday in our family was my own, which this year I decided to ignore so no post necessary :)

 

Here is sweet Ella Grace!

 

 

Big 5 year old!

 

Since she could talk, or maybe since she has had a little sister, Ella has been our peace-maker. Ella is our gentle, thoughtful, sweet little girl.  Don't get me wrong she can wine with the best of them, but if there is someone else who wants a toy, a piece of candy, the last piece of pizza (you get the idea), Ella will give up what she has so the other person will be happy.  It is amazing to see how God has blessed her and works through her.

 



 

Ella loves to sing and dance, though never for a crowd, would love to do gymnastics, and has consistently stated for the past year that she would like to be a dentist when she grows up.  Overall, she is our laid back, goofy girl.

 

Sadly Ella's birthday fell the same week that my mom passed away.  Everyone was still in a state of shock, and it was difficult to get out of bed let alone plan a birthday party.  But, we didn't want her to feel forgotten, so the day of her birthday, Mar 13, we celebrated with dinner at McDonalds and cupcakes.

 

 

We waited a week and celebrated again with a pizza and pool party at a local hotel.  It honestly was what Ella requested and it meant I didn't have to cook, clean my house, or plan activities.

 

Ella's chosen theme was princesses! 

 The guess list included uncles, aunties, cousins, Papa, and Grandpa and Grandpa Thompson.

 



So cliche' but it's hard to believe our baby girl is 5!

(Ella's trademark since birth has been her dimple on her left cheek, you can see it a little in this picture...still makes my heart melt.)

 

It was a crazy time, keeping everyone corralled.  For me personally the party was a little emotional, but Ella had a blast.  I remember Matt and I were trying to serve cake and ice cream and kids were running around (were were just in the lobby).  Matt looked at me and said, "Why is no one helping us?"  My first thought was because Mom's not here.  Mom is the one who takes charge, finds what needs to be done, and does it.

 



 

But, all in all it was a successful party, and I think Ella will remember the fun stuff.

 

We're so thankful to God for our  Ella Grace. We love you baby girl!

Bring on the snow.

It's a lovely winter we are having this spring...

Following lots of ice, the snow hit us.  Different areas of Sioux Falls got between 7 and 12 inches of snow.  We are thankful though.   We have had power throughout, which about 40,00+ other people cannot say. It's a little crazy...I read a portion an article today that turkey vultures are falling out of they sky.  They are literally freezing and falling out of the sky, poor little guys.

But, enough of that.  We have ourselves a little mess. 

We are not alone, it is region-wide.  Matt took most of the afternoon off today to start hacking up branches.

 

 

Uff-da!

(I should mention that he is working in the rain/snow mix with ice falling around him)

 

 

Here is our front tree.

 

 

Our little bird bath birdies got covered up.

 

Here's another look down the street.

They have cancelled school for the 3rd day in a row.  Tomorrow it is because of falling ice dangers.  It is falling down in shards...so now playing outside today!

 



 

Yesterday day I was aware of our tree smashing the neighbor's chain link fence.  Apparently the branch that fell on our fence did some damage as well...It even hit on the post.  Tree branches covered in ice are HEAVY!

This is a different section.  Broken plank, not as big of deal.

Spring Storm 2013 :: Ice, Ice, Baby!

We are having a bit of winter spring storm here in SD.  Not your typical blizzard, just lots and lots of sleet...which in turn means lots and lots of ice.

 

If it's not moving (and I'm sure maybe if it is), it's covered in about an inch of ice.

 

Here is a photo of a tree in our backyard on Tuesday afternoon.  I called Matt at work and told him we had a large branch down.  No alarm though, the kids thought it was kind of exciting and it was only one branch.

 

Then another fell down, so I took a photo of the backyard.  I didn't want to go outside, but you can kind of see the branch on the right side of the photo.

 

 

Unfortunately, this is our tree on Wednesday morning.  It had 4 main branches, all of which have now fallen.

 

 

The tree that had only lost the smaller branch also had a similar fate, though maybe not quite as bad.

 

However it is near the neighbor's chain-link fence, which did not survive.

 

 

Our privacy fence had some damage also.  It's not obvious in the photo, but I wasn't brave enough to get closer.  As I was taking these photos on Wednesday morning I could hear shovels scraping, chainsaws roaring, sirens blaring, and tree branches crashing to the ground.  Under the tree was not the place to be!

 

This is our front tree earlier on Wednesday morning.  This one cased Matt the most grief on Tuesday night because of the menacing branch hanging over the house (much to Matt's dismay, I was actually singing "Another One Bites the Dust" while listening to all the branches breaking off and fall).    Thankfully, though much of the end of the branch fell off, the main branch stayed intact.

 



 

Here is the tree Wednesday afternoon. 

 

 

A few more branches fell down, and (after a trip to ACE Hardware) Matt was able to cut down much of the branch hanging over the house.  We are thinking we will probably lose this entire tree, as well as the two in the backyard (there was a third in the backyard that looks okay).

We thought it was such a good idea to be in an established neighborhood with beautiful mature trees.

Ha!

 

Here's a quick shot down the street.  It actually looks pretty good now because the branches were cleared.  But you can see how low the trees are hanging.

 



And just in case you didn't get it...

 



 

 We got ice, baby.

 

 



Easter.

All the little things of Easter seemed kind of, well, meaningless this year.  It's been 3 weeks since Mom passed away...which like everything else seems like both yesterday and forever ago.  Despite it all we are doing okay-and fully relying on the sweet truth that Christ has defeated death and whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.  He is Risen!

 

I started what I hope is a new tradition this year. On Maundy Thursday Matt and I hosted a Christian Passover Meal with our small group.  It includes many of the same elements of a Jewish Seder, but focuses on Christ as our Passover Lamb and as our Messiah who has come and will come again.  I think it went well, but blast it I forgot my camera at home (we had it at the church). 

 

Last minute Saturday night I mixed together some food coloring, water, and vinegar.  I used my Wilton coloring that is for cake decorating.  It worked pretty well, but we all had colorful hands when we were finished. :)

 

We also went to a nearby church for a carnival on Saturday(pardon my mood, but I wanted to scream at them for making Easter into a carnival...but still we went...).  The kids had fun, won some candy and small trinkets, and had their faces painted:

 



 (after taking the above photo of Nathan, he said "oh yeah, you captured it!"...He was very upset to have to wash Spidey off for church).

 

Sunday morning we went to church (which I forgot about outfits until the night before, apparently Nathan cannot wear the same Easter outfit three years in a row...everyone still looked good but I didn't get a group photo.  I'll have to get Nathan a new shirt (and pants) and stage something in the future), then we drove to my oldest sister Brenda's home in Canby, MN.  We decided to just have a small gathering with my dad and my sisters (minus Amy who was at her in-laws).

 

I managed to get a couple photos of Evelyn's First Easter!

(Her last first holiday)

 

Afternoon story time with Papa. 

Ella especially has been so sensitive to others during this time.  I half-think she snuggled up with Papa because she thought he would like it (though I know she enjoyed it too).

 

 

Though I didn't think about it much, I assumed our kids wouldn't get Easter baskets this year.  It's not something Matt and I have ever done, and usually they come from Nana (and Grammy if we are in AZ).  Sweetly though my dad went shopping at bought gifts for each of the kids, and even put them inside their own sand bucket that he put their names on (with a label maker, which is totally something my dad would do).  I didn't get any photos of them, but all the kids were excited about their gifts.  Nathan got a rocket that launches when you put it vinegar and baking soda, Ella got clothes for her Barbie, Addie and Evelyn got books, and of course everyone got candy!

 

This year we also went through our Resurrection Eggs.  It is great that even Addie now can recite the Easter story.  (I think I might switch them to a new carton so we don't have to look at "fight bac" again next year. :)

 

 

I hope you had a blessed Easter focused on Christ as your Risen Savior!