Saturday, December 23, 2006

quick fix...

It has been CRAZY since the last post. More to come later... We are in California for Christmas and New Year. One of the highlights over the last few weeks is the purchase of a new camera. We love our new camera (Canon EOS Rebel XTi). We decided to replace our old camera due to the amount of time between shots and opted for a much faster digital SLR. It is GREAT. Here are a few of our test shots that helped us decide to keep the camera (remember our kids are constantly in motion). Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Joelle's 1st birthday!

Our birthday girl in her birthday suit!
(isn't she cute!)

This is the picture that we used for her birthday invitation. Princess was the basic theme for the party. The crown fits a little too well...hmmm....

Nathaniel helped set the table with plates, forks, napkins and even helped bring the drinks to the table.

It was a "brunch" and Janice presented a real feast! We enjoyed a Cheddar and Bacon Quiche and a (turkey) Ham and Swiss Quiche. Janice also served her signature dish, a layered French Toast Casserole with a caramelized praline topping. On the side we had yogurt and fresh cut pineapple and strawberries. To top everything off Sylvie made hot cappuccinos, what a treat! Certainly an entree fit for a Princess!!!

Joelle left the opening of her presents to the boys. She was content with simply receiving the unwrapped gifts and playing with them. Seems fitting for a princess. :)

Janice made two amazing cakes one for everyone and one just for Joelle. It tasted even better than it looks!


The boys helped us add the candles to the cakes and even blew them out for Joelle.

Ben and Nathaniel pulled up a chair and wanted to make sure Joelle's every need was being met. Ben even went so far as to blow out her birthday candle and feed her some cake.

Ben fed himself some cake too.

This was an attempt at a cake coated kiss which Joelle narrowly avoided.

Cake is so good!

A true princess has her "cake eating outfit" and her "after cake eating outfit". This is a wonderful dress as the number 1 applique actually comes off and can be replaced by a star or a heart.

We had many birthday wishes come over the phone and Joelle loved everyone of them.

At the end of a busy day it is time for a nap. What a wonderful day. Thank you everyone that played a part in our celebration.

Saturday, November 11, 2006

Halloween 2006

First things first....The winner is...
Judge's prize:
1st place - Gene Simmons (Kiss)
2nd place - Penguin Pumpkin
3rd
place - Oscar the Grouch
Popular Building Vote - Penguin Pumpkin
The boys were soo excited! We are not sure what we will do with the prize money. We are just happy to tell the kids that they won a prize against all those other well decorated pumpkins.After we all saw the Pumpkin Penguin at Carter's we drove home to enjoy Halloween night. It is so much fun to dress up and see all the people from our neighborhood. I took the boys out and we walked from house to house. It did not take long for Nathaniel to realize if there were lights it meant candy. He also learned that a single lit window on the second floor of an otherwise dark house did not mean candy even though it did fit within the definition of a "house with a light on". Ben was just happy to be there and followed his brother's lead at just about every stop. We saw Superman, Mr Incredible, a couple Darth Vaders and even Albert Einstein as we rambled about the neighborhood.

Nathaniel sported a bright yellow plastic construction helmet just above a mom-made neon orange vest over a warm plaid shirt. A tough canvas utility belt packed tight with thick shiny hammers, flat head screwdrivers, pliers, a level or two and a wrench. The utility belt was also mom-made. Denim pants and brown shoes finished off the look. Ben clomped around in his big yellow rain boots which made for a slow trip, his bright yellow jacket and an entirely unstable red shield encrusted hat. At every house and to every soul they met came a loud explanation "IMMA CONNSTRUKSHUN-MAN!!!" and "IMMA FIE-ER-MAN PUT OUT FIE-ERS!!!"

As the evening progressed the boys were introduced to the more labor intensive side of greed and were more than grateful to hand off their bags of candy. To my surprise the most exciting part of the evening was standing at the front door doling out the candy. Nathaniel would spot an approaching customer at 3 houses away and excitedly announce their pending arrival relaying their every movement as though he were announcing the final minutes of the Superbowl. We only had under an hour until the event was officially over as the HOA declared curfew at 8pm - dinner had to wait. Each costumed arrival got a loud greeting, a single piece of candy from both Ben and Nathaniel with a loud "your welcome" to each thank you as they departed. At some point each boy started giving out hand fulls of candy - we nearly ran out! Joelle just watched with amusement as the door flew open and slammed closed and smiled as the boys ran around laughing and screaming about the next distant arrival.

We soon joined the other dark houses and somehow convinced the boys to come and eat dinner. Nathaniel recanted the evening for us as he ate and Ben echoed each of Nathaniel's words. It was a grand time.

Last Halloween this little one was not here yet and Janice's picture looked a bit different! Click here to see last Halloween.

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Total Pumpkin Coolness!!!!!!!

WHAT IS THAT!!!???

Janice did a GREAT job working with the boys to put this together. She only had one day to complete the project and worked hard all day resulting in the perfect penguin. The boys did the painting, Janice cleaned up the edges and managed the boys! I got the easy part and came up with the "beach tourist" idea.

The competition:

There were 2 contests:

A general building competition where the each person within a particular business votes and the most popular vote becomes the company vote for the building prize ($50).


A "panel of judges" competition for a 1st ($100), 2nd ($50) and 3rd ($25) place prize.

And the winner is? Patience is a virtue.... :)