Dad & his boys
Joshua's bug prize
Hello, lovely lady!
This actually isn't a grumpy face. He is looking very diligently for a bug to catch.
The boys have their birthdays within two weeks of each other, so I decided to do one party for on Friday. We went swimming before the party. The weather was bad, so Monette didn't take her kids, and was kind enough to keep Liza for me. It was very windy, but in the water was fine. It was when we tried to get out and dry off that it was super chilly. We are looking forward to many days at the pool this summer!
We had some unexpected guests arrive in time for the party: Grandma, Daniel, Mohammed (the last weekend we'll see him before he heads back to Yemen), Marleis, & RaAnna. They were heading through to Rexburg, and provided a fabulous surprise for the boys. It's a good thing they came because only Monette & her kids came besides them.
Grandma Nanay gave the boys these goggles that look like insects. They love them, especially since they are taken with the TV show Wild Kratts, where the guys get 'creature power suits,' so these help the boys make-believe that.
The loot. Not a bad haul if you ask me...
I made both of the cakes. Caleb's is a crocodile cake. I have no idea why that was so important, but he insisted on it for weeks. I've never made a crocodile cake, so I made a rice-krispie-like cake, then made some marshmallow fondant. It turned out quite well if I do say so myself. I like the number 3 better, though. The cute polka dots were made with an icing tip (the side you would put in a bag or decorator), and it was perfect.
Joshua insisted on having a flame cake. He got an Optimus Prime on his birthday, so that was his cake topper. Again, I experimented with the frosting, and made a sturdy whipped cream frosting. It was pretty good, but didn't hold the detail in the decorations how I hoped. To get the flames on it, I found a clip art of flames online, printed it, cut out the shape to make a stencil, then used cinnamon to transfer the pattern.
Happy birthday, boys! We love you so much!
I am nowhere near 'moved in', but I wanted to share some pictures of what our new place looks like. My family is coming tonight, so I have a good deadline to work toward with that, and we have 'clean checks' in April, so I'll have to be totally done by then. I am down to the boxes that I don't want to go through, the random, 'do-I-REALLY-need-these?' boxes.
The kids have acclimated very well. I think it helps that they have cousins 150 feet down the road. We are just happy being happy!
Lucas has started working up in Sun Valley now, and enjoys the work he does. He has long days, but feels rewarded by the work.
Enjoy some pics!
Liza starting to stand up, eating a rock. Yum.
The big day has come: Lucas got a job and we are MOVING! Even better, it is very close to where my brother lives, so we are trying to move into the same apartment duplexes they live in! Lucas starts on March 7th, so now we are in hustle mode trying to get everything ready. Add to that the fact that we are performing in a Musical Review, Lucas is still wrapping up a couple of projects, and the kids and I are recovering from being sick, and there is a recipe for an interesting couple of weeks.
But it is a relief. A massive grin has been slipping through every once in a while, and I love it.
I have fallen off the blogging bandwagon as I was very frustrated with my photo and video editing software. I am working on that still, but thought I should get this update down before I forgot.
Liza Jane has broken her first teeth. Yes, TEETH. Two popped through Friday morning, January 21st, and there they sit! It is sort of indicative of her progression. Wait, learn, wait some more, then...POW! Big leap in ability (or shooting two teeth up in one day).
Farewell, toothless grin.
Our little porcelain doll!
My brother took these pictures, then added the effects. She is not quite 6 months old here. And no, she's not already standing by herself. She is just balanced in the corner for a brief shot.
Joshua is becoming quite the bike master. He has been trying to ride sans training wheels, but we don't have enough straight riding space here. So, we took the boys and the bikes to the park. Joshua was wheelin' with just one training wheel (the other one broke), so I think he's ready to move on to two-wheelers forever!
They had just been drawing pictures on the cement, and paused for a smile and a hug.
My sister-in-law had their baby yesterday, and our kids just wanted to say:
And this is what Liza had to say...er...I mean EAT!
Here we are dressed up. Lucas & I went to a Masquerade Murder Mystery, so we had characters to dress up as. Lucas was 'Ryan Seafoam' and I was 'Blondie Fawn'. Funny, eh?
Neither of us were 'killed' and neither of us 'did it', but it was very fun, and the food was DELISH!
The boys went Trunk or Treating on Saturday, and it was utter chaos. Somebody needs to coordinate! We did a 'trunk' by parking the van sideways and using the sliding door on the passenger's side. We put a big cheap tablecloth over the door, then cut a half-circle hand hole, with a sign that said "Stick your hand in if you dare!", then we would put a piece of candy in their hand. It was fun, but you couldn't see the fun costumes and talk to people because it was totally hidden. Pretty much everybody ran out of candy, and the soup bar went dry because there were something like 500 trick or treaters there. The only thing leftover were doughnuts because they couldn't cook them fast enough.
Yes, Joshua's shirt says 'I do all my own stunts' and it's true. Caleb's superman is two sizes too small, but he loved it! (and he was super proud of his hair!)
