Celebrating Paul's Birthday

Paul's birthday fell on Thanksgiving this year, so we celebrated while we were at Harmony's. Paul wanted brownies instead of cake which worked out nicely since we had Juliana's cake from the night before. He enjoyed the day relaxing, watching football and eating Thanksgiving dinner. And yes, he really is 42!

Celebrating Juliana's Birthday Part II

Every other year we spend Thanksgiving at my mom's. My brother Jaan comes to visit and we drive to Harmony's. And since Juliana's (and Paul's) birthday is so close to Thanksgiving, every other year she gets to celebrate twice. Once at home with her friends and family, then again at Harmony's. Juliana enjoys helping in the kitchen and she was happy when I told her she could decorate the cake herself (well, after she asked). I frosted it and she added the designs and sprinkles. Who ever thought that letting a child decorate a cake would make them so happy?

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There are very few mature trees in our neighborhood, so Juliana was excited to see leaves on the ground. Unfortunately, Harmony already raked her yard so we had to borrow some from the neighbors yard. She was very eager to rake them together and Andrew conveniently showed up afterward to play in the pile. That's a big brother for ya!
*The music is an homage to one of my all time favorite 80's movies...do you know it?

Celebrating Juliana's Birthday

Since Juliana's birthday is so close to Thanksgiving, we try to celebrate her birthday a little early. Though we have never tried, I would image the attendance would be pretty low if the party was the weekend after Thanksgiving. This year she turned six and she chose to invite a few friends over for a sleepover instead of a bunch of friends for a party. Her guests arrived Friday after school. After some pizza, they had birthday cupcakes and ice cream. They ended the night with popcorn and a movie before falling asleep.
The next day after lunch we all headed to the movie theater to see Bolt before taking everyone home. It was a really cute movie and a great choice for either boys or girls, which was a good thing since Juliana chose to invite two boys. And if you know Juliana, that shouldn't be too much of a surprise. She is definitely not a girly girl and I just hope she will meet some similar girl friends next year because I don't think we can get away with a co-ed sleepover for her next birthday. There is a certain awareness that happens around first grade...you know what I mean, when they become aware that "boys are dumb" or "girls are gross".

H-A-Double L-O-W-Double E-N Spells Halloween!

What does one do when both her children are off at school? Scrub the house spotless? Organize every space possible? NO! Make an elaborate Halloween costume! And watch the occasional Project Runway marathon. Here is the dress I have been working on, with most of it getting done in the 3 days prior to Halloween (that shouldn't be a surprise to those who really know me). I felt like a contestant on Project Runway! Especially when I was hemming it on Halloween morning in the back of the van in the parking lot of Cedar Hill Farm waiting for Juliana's bus to arrive for her field trip. It was complicated, but not hard and I really enjoyed seeing it come together. Just wearing it made me understand alot about that time period. You know how royalty would have ladies in waiting? Well, that would be because you physically can't lift your arms because of the design of the sleeves. And don't get me started on the waistline! Enough about my little projects...

Juliana was a witch and Andrew was just one of the many thousands of Clone Troopers shamelessly marketed to boys ages 5-10 this year.

The Heinze family joined us since they just moved into a new neighborhood. Can you guess which one is Andrew?If you said the one with no shoes on with the feet hanging inward about 6 inches above his real feet, you win!
Hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween!

FYI: the title of the blog is actually part of a song I learned in second grade to teach us how to spell Halloween!