Something Special

So, we took a weekend off and didn't go to any festivals. We did have something special, though. Sunday was the kids' Primary program at church. It is their chance to show us what they have been learning all year long. They sang songs, and each kid had a little speaking part. John answered questions about keeping the commandments. Here is a transcript:

Teacher: What is one of the commandments Heavenly Father has given us?

John: (yelling into the microphone) PRAY!

Teacher: Do you pray with your family?

John: YES!

Teacher: How does that make you feel?

John: HAPPY!

He also kept whispering to the teacher before it was his turn, asking to hold the microphone. It was pretty darn cute.

Rose actually got to give a little talk. She was very excited about it, and did a great job. She talked about miracles, and how we still see them in our lives today. It was sweet.

I was proud of both of them, and I am very grateful for the leaders, teachers, and music leaders that help teach them such important things. We are really blessed to have so many great examples in our lives, not just at church, but also among friends and family. Thank you all for being a bit of a miracle in our lives.

Pumpkin Guts are Fun

On Columbus Day, Rose went apple picking with a friend. John, of course, was insanely jealous, so we decided it was time for our own special activity. He picked pumpkin carving, and the boys and I headed out to the store to pick out a couple of likely gourds. John spent some time trying out different designs, and this is what he finally settled on. Seth's was so small, we could barely squeeze a face on it, but we managed to pull it off. Both boys really liked sticking their arms into the pumpkins and pulling out the guts. Guess which one tried to eat them...either way you will be right.

Yet Another Fun Festival

This weekend our festival of choice was the Harvest Festival. So after we finished with Birthday-Palooza we hopped on the train and headed back up to Washington Heights. The festival was super cute, with lots of games and crafts. We got there too late to get a pumpkin, but we did go fishing, toss bean-bags, get crafty, decorate leaves for the Thanksgiving tree, and finish up with a sack race. It was up in our neck of the woods too, so we saw lots of friends. It was a great way to spend an afternoon. The highlight? When John got a medal after coming in dead last in the sack race and shouted "Look Mom, I'm a winner!"

Birthday-Palooza, Day 3 Part 2, Build-a-Bear!

For the culmination of birthday-palooza, we took Seth to Build-a-Bear, so the kids could make him a buddy. At first we were afraid it was pointless, because he didn't care for any of the animals in particular. After a lot of toy-skin waving and "isn't this cute-ing" we were about ready to just pick for him. But then he found the toy of his dreams. A big blue pteranadon. (Apparently we know it isn't a pterodactyl because it doesn't have teeth.) He shoved the other toys away and grabbed onto his new friend. Finally! An opinion! The big kids helped pick sounds for him, stuff him and bathe him (really blowing air on him and scrubbing him). In the end, Seth had a sweet new friend. After much serious discussion we decided on a name for the dino. We wanted it to be something Seth would be able to say, so we went with "Bubbasaurus" or "Bubba" for short. It is definitely safe to say that Seth loves his new friend Bubba. Especially the chewy parts of him.

Birthday-Palooza, Day 3 Part 1, Bryant Park

Our grand birthday plans took us downtown. While we were there, we stopped by Bryant Park to ride the carousel and enjoy their "reading room." We also hit a street fair, but Seth slept through that, so I don't have any adorable pictures. He did wake up in time to try a deep-fried oreo. (Tasty, but not necessarily something I will need to try again. I am holding out for a deep-fried Snickers bar.) The best part? A suprise visit from Aunt Suzie and Uncle Jacob! They drove down from Connecticut and met us at the street fair. They were even more exciting than the oreos.

Birthday-Palooza, Day 2, Friend Party!

In our family, the rule for birthday parties is that you get to invite the same number of kids as the number of years you will be. The big kids insisted that this meant Seth had to have a party, and he had to invite one friend. Luckily, we were already planning on having a friend over on Friday. Tada! Instant party! We played with bows and blowers, had some tasty snacks, and made our own ball pit in the pack and play. It was a lot of fun. In fact, we left the ball pit up, since he is still enjoying it tremendously. Hooray for friends!

Birthday-Palooza, Day 1 Part 3, Cake!

Here are some fun shots of the birthday boy enjoying his pumpkin cream cheese cake. He even licked the plate clean!

Birthday-Palooza, Day 1 Part 2, Presents!

Seth loved all his presents. As usual, it was hard to get him to stop playing with one in order to open another. The big kids loved all his presents too. They didn't want to stop playing with them either. I am hoping that the picture of him opening the book from his grandparents will turn out. He has the biggest smile on his face. I love that he loves books!

First-Birthday-Palooza, Day 1, Part 1

Well, the big day is finally here. Our little guy is officially one year old. Today we had our family dinner (Seth chowed down on his favorite foods, quesadillas, avocado and watermelon), followed by presents and cake. The big kids had a lot of fun helping with the cake. And yes, Rose is dressed like Wonderwoman and John is in his underpants. And no, that's not unusual.

We still have fun birthday plans for the next couple of days. More adventures and more pictures coming soon.

So Darn Cute

Just some fun shots of my fun family.

Little Red Lighthouse Festival

'Tis the season for awesome festivals. (Check out our adventures at Raptor Fest last weekend.) A couple of weeks ago it was time for the annual Little Red Lighthouse celebration. We went fishing (and caught some seaweed), decorated little red lighthouse cookies, got a photography lesson, watched some performers, and finally managed to get up in the lighthouse thanks to an awesome friend who got there early and got us tickets. It was a little claustrophobic climbing up to the top, but a great view once we got up there. And now we can say that we have done it, and cross it off of our list of iconic NYC experiences.

Raptorfest 2010!

Spent some time at Raptorfest in Central Park this weekend. The kids were in heaven. They got to pick through owl pellets, watch a flight show, and meet lots of birds of prey. We even have some new favorites. There was a cute spectacled owl. We didn't even know those existed! (They are from South America, which explains the gap in our education. We have been very North America-centric.) And our friend Ranger Rob had an adorable saw-whet owl. So tiny! The weather was perfect, we had good friends to play with, and delicious snacks from the farmer's market. Lovely.