More from Joseph's School Thanksgiving

I forgot to post these pics last week.

 Posing with our little pilgrim.

weekend cuteness

Joseph has a front tooth that is almost out.  After school on Friday he came downstairs equipped to pull it.  (It didn't work.  Tooth is still attached.)

And a couple pics of our little cuties after church on Sunday.

Thanksgiving Skit

Here is the link to Joseph's Thanksgiving Play

Pilgrim Preacher

Today Daddy & Mama (and Denbigh) attended the Thanksgiving Lunch at Joseph's school.  Before the lunch began Joseph's class entertained us with several skits and songs.  Joseph's self-confidence has come a long way in the last year and he did a great job with his part as a pilgrim in a skit.  He was also one of the three students chosen to read from their journals about "If I Were A Turkey."  But our favorite moment was when it was his turn to read "What I Am Thankful For."

Unfortunately Mama had a technical difficulty with the camera at this crucial moment and all she recorded was the parents' response to what he said.  But here is the transcript:

"What I am thankful for: I am thankful that Jesus died on the cross for our sins."

Daddy and Mama agreed that is was our proudest moment of the day.  When we sat down at lunch the people at our table thanked Joseph for bringing the sermon and later one of the other moms stopped me in the hall and told me that her husband referred to Joseph as the "Pilgrim Preacher."

What Daddy & Mama are thankful for this season? That our sweet babies love Jesus.

School pictures

Both boys have brought their fall school pictures home.  I know I am biased. . . but they're pretty awesome.  

Sunday

On Sunday the high temp was 80!  Mama had to dig through the attic in search of shorts for the boys to wear to church since their summer clothes had all been put up for winter. Fortunately I have not gotten to Denbigh's closet yet and she had the perfect dress to complement the boys' outfits (thanks to Nana).

 Sunday morning ritual - saying good-bye to the fish on the way out of church.

Jacob's musical performance

On the final day of my Bloom Bible Study each semester the kiddos come out and sing us a couple of songs they've learned in music class.  Music class is Jacob's favorite part of going to church on Tuesday mornings.  Last year he wasn't the best at following directions on stage but this year he did an amazing job at singing and doing all the motions - with lots of emotion. Not surprising with his flair for the dramatic.

Here's a link to a video of one of the songs they sang.

Cub Scouts and Volleyball

A couple Saturday mornings ago Joseph had his Raingutter Regatta event for Cub Scouts.  He spent some time with daddy getting his boat ready for competition.

 He picked out a green color scheme and painted stripes on the floats and the sail.

 The day of the competition Daddy was involved in an all-day volleyball tournament so Mama made sure to take lots of pictures.  

It was pretty chilly so Denbigh got bundled up and took a good/long morning nap.

 The boys enjoyed some pre-race donuts and hot cocoa.

 Joseph's boat is the white/green striped catamaran in the middle.

 Jacob having a dramatic pouting moment when he wasn't allowed to race the boats.

 Let the racing begin! Joseph won all four of his races.

 Jacob cheered up and decided to have fun on the playground.

 After the Raingutter Regatta we loaded back up and went to watch Daddy play volleyball for awhile.  His team won the tournament.

 We even got to have lunch with Daddy during his break and then Mama and the kiddos headed home for some much needed naps.

Denbigh's Baby Video

I have finally finished a video with pics from Denbigh's birth and the last few months.  Here is the link!

Denbigh's Baby Video

some tidbits . . .

Joseph -
Joseph has started making our coffee in the mornings.  How awesome is that??!!  He gets our favorite mugs out of the dishwasher, starts the Keurig, loads the pods and makes us each a steaming cup of Morning Joe.  He doesn't quite have the balance to bring it to us in bed but we will work on that. I love the joy he has in serving us this way.  What a sweetheart!

Jacob -
Jacob missed the last day of soccer and so a friend picked up his medal and brought it to us today.  He was so excited about getting his medal and proudly showed it off to his big brother.  Joseph immediately asked why he didn't receive a medal when he played soccer.  I explained that it was a different league and that his league didn't hand out medals.  This didn't make him any happier.  Jacob, without hesitating, took off his medal and handed it to his brother and said "I will share with you Joe!" This is a HUGE milestone for Jacob and I gave him a very big hug and told him how proud I was that he wanted to share with his brother.

Denbigh -
well she's just precious.  what more is there to say??!!

4 months old!!!

Denbigh celebrated her 4-month birthday N'Awlins' style.  At this rate she'll be spending her first birthday in Vegas! Well - probably not.  

She had her well-visit this morning and weighs 13. lbs. 12 oz  and is 24.5 inches long.  Both put her squarely in the 50th percentile.  She's our "little" girl! (edited to add: I just checked the boys' baby books and they were both 4 lbs. heavier than her at 4 months - Joseph was 17 lbs. 13 oz and Jacob was 17 lbs. 12 oz.)

Denbigh is rolling over from front to back and is trying hard to roll from her back to front.  No more leaving her unattended on the bed.  She loves to jabber and giggle and makes the most awesome expressions.  

 Joseph was reading his book to her last evening.  I thought it was so precious.  Her brothers really love her.

 She also tried Rice Cereal for the first time.  She did great at opening her mouth when the spoon was presented but needs to work on actually swallowing it.  She loved the taste of it though and was really excited about it until the frustration won out.

We also need to buy some "girl" bibs.

Here are a couple of out-takes from our photo shoot.

Little giggler.

 The first day she rolled over - frustrated with mama for making her do it one more time.

Halloween Baskets

So pictures of these super cute Halloween baskets have been floating around on Facebook and I was so tempted to buy them for the kiddos.  And then I decided that I could probably make something similar.  I do love how they turned out.  I also found a cute "Pumpkin Pie" font which I downloaded for the names.  The only thing I didn't like was that they had trouble staying open at the top so I think I'm going to open them up and put in some boning.  I used a metal hoop for the bottom to keep its shape.

A Crazy Week + - Friday - Sunday

On Friday morning we hit the road again - driving this time - and headed to New Orleans. We stopped off in Jackson, MS for a couple of hours to enjoy lunch with Steve & Cindy Burton.  Steve officiated at our wedding and it was so fun catching up with them.  It was evening until we got to our hotel and so Daddy grabbed some creole take-out for Mama and the kiddos and he headed out for some fun on the town with his friends.

The next morning we enjoyed a walk to Cafe DuMonde and indulged in beignets and hot chocolate/chocolate milk.  We also met up with Aunt Alissa & Jodi and headed to the aquarium afterwards.

 The boys were extremely fascinated by the Street Cars so, after grabbing some lunch, Mama & Denbigh headed back to the hotel and Daddy and the boys rode a street car uptown.

 Denbigh enjoyed a little break from her stroller and had some playtime on the bed.

In the evening we bathed all the kiddos and put them to bed.  Then Aunt Alissa and Jodi came to the hotel and watched them while Mama & Daddy headed to dinner at Jacque-Imo's for our friend Mark's birthday.  

Dinner was wonderful and we were so glad we made the trip.  

We were also glad to be headed home (Starbucks in hand) the following morning after a very busy week.