Thanksgiving

I'm still talking about Thanksgiving and we just celebrated Christmas this week?  I know, I'm way behind.  We have lots to be thankful for this year and also had many occasions to reflect on all that's been given to us.  We started with a Thanksgiving lunch at Matthew's school the week before the holiday.  The whole family went!  And honestly, his school makes an awesome pumpkin pie.
The next day, Will had his Thanksgiving feast and little performance at his school.  It was fun to watch him sing his songs and goof with his friends.

So artistic!

Then, the day before Thanksgiving Matthew helped me bake a pumpkin roll cake and an apple pie.  Complete with Star Wars apron.  He really was helpful.  I love sweet moments like that when I can really devote all my attention to one child.  It was a great afternoon of baking, and it also really made me miss my mom.  I always think of her when I bake.

Thanksgiving day we went to Tim & Pam's for a delightful feast.  I love that Johnny is going for the ball in this one.

Dear Steven had to go to work from 3-10 that day so he missed pretty much everything.  Lame.  There were lots of great leftovers for him.  But the man I am most thankful for was very much missed at our Thanksgiving table.

This picture cracks me up.  Will was not in the mood to be photographed, Matt was making faces and insisted the football be in the picture, and Johnny kept wiggling and reaching for the football.  

Steven did have Thanksgiving weekend off work so we went to the Woodlands to celebrate a late Thanksgiving with Dad, Ann, and Bryan and his family.

We walked into their house, and Ann had it all decked out for Christmas already!  The house was beautiful, and the kids really enjoyed all the fun Christmas decor about.  Caroline, Mary Claire, Matt & Will all got sleep in sleeping bags in the same room together, and they were beyond excited to get to do such a thing.  There was much, much giggling.  Ann and Dad gifted us all with coordinating sweaters, shirts and dresses so that we could take a family photo.  It was something I know Steven & I would probably never do ourselves, so it was really nice that Ann set it all up for us.  It was fun to get a family photo of our little family along with everyone else.  And, I promise they turned out better than this pose...

The boys did their own photo shoot by the tree with some sticks, of course.

Little John did amazingly well during our photo session.  He was such a happy guy and did a great job.

They look like cousins, don't they?

Ann worked super hard and made us a delicious Thanksgiving meal with all the trimmings.  It was a huge spread.  I'm thankful we were all able to gather around the table together this year.

Matt looking like a prince with his goblet, pastoral scene backdrop, flowers, and argyle sweater.  He was in heaven.

While the food was being prepared, Bryan was delighted to show Matt how to play Risk, the board game Matt got from Dad and Ann for his birthday.  Matt took right to it and loved it, which is no surprise.  His quote of the game, "stubborn Middle East..."  And, no surprise, Bryan won.  I tried to explain to Matt that that's what he did to me growing up.

And, one last shot of my handsome husband in his festive red sweater.  It really was a great time all together celebrating one of my favorite holidays.  I am so thankful for this family.

6, no wait, 7 months!!

It's funny, I just put all these photos on here and I notice that Johnathan is wearing stripes in every single picture.  He's in a clothing rut.  Oh well, he looks super cute though!  So, obviously I missed the 6 month update.  And this is terrible, but from what I remember about his check up that month was that he was 16 lb. 5 oz. and 50%ile across the board for everything.

We did try and take his monthly picture in front of the tree.  But all he wanted to do was stare at the grass and pull it out in chunks, completely ignoring the camera.

So his daddy grabbed him so we could see his face.

This baby keeps growing and changing.  It's all going so, so fast.  I'd say the biggest change for him over the past 2 months would be the addition of solid foods into his life.  He was definitely ready for it because weeks leading up to it he was smacking his lips when he saw us eating.  Namely when I would eat my yogurt in front of him.  It took a little practice, but he took to it pretty quick.  I'd love to say that I homemade all his baby food like I did for Will, but that is simply not the case.  It's unfortunate that he has arrived at this stage at the busiest time of year for me---the oldest son's birthday/Thanksgiving/Christmas whirlwind that leaves precious little spare time.  Sorry Johnny.  But, packaged baby food has come a long way---they make all these amazing, tasty food combinations that I could never replicate at home.  This kid is getting the good stuff, and he loves it.  He slurps it up everyday.

At the gym a few weeks ago he had fallen asleep in the swing.  He used to do that every time I would go exercise, but lately he's only been wanting to nap in his bed at home.  This particular day he gave it up.  He looks so big in that swing now.  They said he just talked himself right to sleep.

Another notable milestone for little J is that he's a sitter!  Within the course of a week he was sitting up strong and not toppling over anymore.  He's quite enjoying himself now and seems to be a much happier kid now that he can sit and pick up toys all by himself.  Straight to the mouth!

And his sitting came just in time to terrorize the Little People nativity scene.  His favorite is the angel.  And, he's figured out how to make the music play on the manger.

I got this adorable knit owl hat at the Jr. League Christmas market last year when I was pregnant and didn't know yet if I was having a girl or a boy.  I trended toward the more boyish looking one because somehow I already knew.  It looks so cute on Johnathan.

Once J hit 7 months I attempted another photo by the tree.  Matt jumped right in.  Poor baby can't even be photographed without a brother trying to hog the spotlight.

And then they did this...

7 years

   

Our first boy turned 7 recently.  Somehow he keeps getting bigger and older--AND less dependent upon me.  It's good, it's exciting, but it's also sad at the same time.  How did 7 years go by so fast?

Matt got the Lego Police Station for his birthday--he's been asking (begging) for it for nearly a year now, so he was ecstatic to open it up on his birthday.  He and his father quickly set to work on it and had it finished before his birthday party the following morning.

Did I mention Matt loves Legos?  Well he does.  And that was his chosen theme for his party.  With a bounce house of course.  It arrived early that Sat. morning, and Matt & Will began bouncing immediately.

A month or so prior to his party I had sworn to myself that I wasn't going to make his cake and get all crazy making stuff because I just didn't have the time...or energy.  Well, sure enough, it got closer to the date, and baby Johnathan decided to sleep on his own, and I found myself better rested and inspired enough to make his cake.  So this is what I came up with.  You see, it's supposed to look like the whole cake is made of Legos, and they're covered by a big sheet of fondant--the Lego guy and his truck are about to unroll another sheet of fondant to cover up that corner spot.  See?

Another vow I made to myself was to not invite his entire school class again this year.  I didn't.  We just invited the boys, and a handful of them came.  So, the bounce house was not nearly as crazy and violent as it was last year!

It was still a great group, and Matt was thrilled to have every one of his guests there.  The Brown family came all the way from Dallas to join us and celebrate.  They are special friends, y'all, and we are so thankful they could be here.

At cake time everyone crowded inside, and I did my best to keep the stinky boys from man-handling the cake.

SEVEN!!!  What??

Another pinata!  After the little kids had a turn, the thing was busted up after the 4th or 5th boy.  But, everyone got some good stuff.

It was a fun party, and after everyone left and things calmed down a little, Matt opened his gifts.  For some reason he wanted to wear the bowling medal he'd received at another kid's birthday party.  Goofball.

One of his school friends gave him Pokemon cards, and he has really enjoyed them.  I had no idea he was interested in such a thing.

Caroline and Josh stuck around and continued to play and play long after the party guests had left.

Matt & Josh took their bikes down to the park behind our house and had race after race.  Caroline scooted along on the Razor scooter.  They had a blast...until Caroline scraped up her knee.

As if all that wasn't enough, we finished the day with dinner at Phil's Icehouse with the Browns and Nicole.  Such a silly group of boys.  It was another great celebration of our biggest boy.  Happy Birthday Matthew!

Halloween

Halloween fell on a weekday this year, so we couldn't get too wild and crazy.  But we made the most of it.  Joy invited tons of us over for a chili dinner and trick or treating.  Posing the kids for pictures was tough.  Johnny refused to look up.  Grass is so enchanting.

Fly, Superman, fly!!!

Joy MADE these unbelievably awesome Star Wars costumes for Ava & Henry.  Man, I wish I had such skills.  They looked amazing.  Seriously, a terrific job.  So, so cute.

Matt & Ava Halloween 2012:

Matt & Ava Halloween 2006:

The Moran family was there for the fun as well, so all the cousins got to be together.  They had SO much fun running the streets together and sprinting from house to house.  Caroline was dressed as a 50's car hop and spent the entire evening on her roller skates.  Impressive.  I'd say Mary Claire & Matt were in the front of the herd for most of the night.  They took trick or treating very seriously.  They didn't care that some houses didn't have porch lights on, they were going to knock on every door by golly.

The kids had quite the entourage...parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles...we were all there for the spectacle.  Some of us more sassy than others.  Oops.

Will & Henry.  Peas in a pod, those two.  They kept up really well until the very end.  Will declared he was all done and wanted to go to bed.  Steven carried him for maybe 2 houses, and then he was back at it again.  Little John stayed back at the Rener's happily snug in bed under the watch care of Bebe and Grandma.  He missed all the action, poor guy.

We made it back finally, and the kids had a great time taking inventory of their spoils and making trades when necessary.  I had fun picking out the Butterfingers.

And now we have not one, but TWO plastic pumpkins filled to the very rim with candy.  It's ridiculous.

the carving

 

The day before Halloween we finally got around to carving a pumpkin.  I almost had forgotten to buy one.  Thank goodness for good old HEB...they had pumpkins-a-plenty at $3.88 each.  Can't beat that.  It was a beautiful afternoon for a pumpkin gutting.

The boys enjoyed looking at the grossness inside but weren't too keen on scooping it out.  Because that meant they had to get dirty and slimy and roll up their sleeves.  I wonder about them sometimes, but then all their other behaviors confirm without a doubt that they are 100% boy.

Johnny watched from the sidelines on the lap of his Grandma.

Matt went with a simple, pleasant smiling pumpkin design this year.  He drew it on paper before the carving began.  And he was named Champion.