Early birthday

Wow...this has gotten pathetic. It's been a very long time since I've posted. Well, here's the update on the kids, since that's the only thing of consequence to blog about :)

Allison had a birthday party last week, even though her birthday is not until Sunday. But, since it was over the Thanksgiving weekend, we decided to have it early. We had a few kids from church over as well as my family. They decorated cupcakes, ate pizza and played.

We got Allison some balloons. She was excited to say the least!

Jason got things started with a little tossing in the air. The kids never get enough. It's great!

It was hard for us to decide on what to get her. She's not really into any one thing. She doesn't like princesses, and she's not particularly attached to any one Disney, cartoon, or movie character. She's been asking for a piggy bank, but uncle Mark had already gotten that for her (which she will open on Sunday). After a lot of thinking, we decided on a fish. I got all the supplies for the beta at Pet Smart, and we let her "open" it before all her friends got there. She was enamored!

Andrew got into it too! He kept saying "fish" which I don't think I can spell it in a way that truly conveys how funny he says it. Kind of like "smvish." I don't know...something like that.

By the way, she named her fish Otto after the book illustrated by P. D. Eastman book called A Fish out of Water. Super cute!

Friends showed up around 11, and we got them all placed around the table to decorate cupcakes, which Allison insisted on calling muffins, and some sugar cookies. I had individual little things of icing and sprinkles. What a mess! But so fun! By the way, thank you to my friend Katherine for taking some great pictures!

MMmmm....

Then it was time for singing Happy Birthday. One of her favorite parts! She had picked out her candle, and I had a made a large cupcake for her to enjoy. So fun!

Friends headed out, and we spent the rest of the day with my family. The kids played with Henry, Harrison and Heath, and Leah, my mom and I headed out to do some shopping.

Looking at the cards that Henry and Harrison made. Look at Harrison's tongue. Ha!

Holding little Heath.

It was a fun day. She scored some great loot. A new bible and carrying case, Charlotte's web movie and chapter book (we've been reading chapters before bed), a movie called Paws and Tails, and more change than she could possibly spend (for the piggy bank that's still to come). She'll get to open more presents on Sunday...her actual birthday.

We had a great Thanksgiving...even though I didn't feel well enough to eat the food I had cooked. Allison and I had a touch of the stomach bug, but we're feeling better. Jason just informed me that Andrew just urped a little. His exact words were, "we need to turn the air cleaner down and be on guard tonight." He followed that by saying, "I had last night, it's your turn tonight."

Great honey...just great!! :)