What We're Thankful For

This week the kids and I reflected on the things we have to be thankful for...

Silas and Allie both made a Thanksgiving turkey, and each day during the week we added a few feathers that represented things the kids were thankful for. When the turkeys were finished we hung them on the board as a remembrance.  Allie chose "projects" as in craft projects, her grandparents, food, Christmas, presents, toys, her brothers, our house, and Jesus. Silas chose food, his grandparents, his mom and dad, school, his brother and sister, Ms. Jacobus (his teacher), Jesus, and friends at school. I'm hopeful that this exercise helped them think through the many blessings that God has given us this year.

"Give thanks to the Lord for He is good; His love endures forever." 

~1 Chronicles 16:34

We have so many people to thank God for...

Our family near and far, including those in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and California! 

Our neighbors and friends, especially those down the street and at church.

Silas' wonderful teachers, therapists and aides.

Our precious new nephew, Jack Francis Nespoli -----> Happy first Thanksgiving, little Jack! :)

Catch Up With Us

It's been far too long since I've put an update on here, I know. It was a busy summer with Silas home again, and in the fall Allie began homeschooling. And there's lots going on all the time. Here's a brief summary of the last few months.

We got baby chicks in June and watched them grow into hens over the summer. 

The kids were fascinated with the chicks, especially Rowan, who was  a little overzealous 

in holding them! Thankfully all the chicks survived despite being handled quite a lot. 

They just started laying eggs for us two weeks ago––hooray!

We celebrated Silas' 7th birthday in June with a party in Green Lane Park. Silas' loves to take 

boat rides, so here he's having a birthday ride with his Pop-Pop, Peba and Nate. On his actual birthday we were visiting family up in Rhode Island...his first birthday away from home. 

I'll put up more pictures of Silas' birthday on a separate blog post.

Fast forward to fall! Allie and Rowan discovered again how fun it is to jump in leaves.

Our little guy loves to help out, even if he has his own way of doing it. 

Here he's giving the plants a drink with is water gun.

No, it's not Halloween... Just a normal day where Rowan's dressing up like a fireman. 

This is far better than when he puts on Allie's princess dress.

Allie is "reading" a book to Rowan. We'd read this one so many times that she apparently had it memorized, because she recounted the story with amazing accuracy.

We visited the Lego exhibit at the Mercer Museum a couple weeks ago. The kids had a blast, 

even though none of them are avid Lego builders yet. The theme of the exhibit was 

Medieval Castles, and since then the kids have been extra interested in 

kings, queens and castles.

Our Little Guy Turns 2!

We celebrated Rowan's 2nd birthday on October 18th. Our little bubba is getting bigger every day! He's talking a lot, and we can even understand a good bit of it! His best friend is still his big sister, but he loves to hang out with his stuffed animals, little animal figures, or any other inanimate object that he imagines to life! He's so much fun at this stage, and there are days when we just want to freeze time for a moment to enjoy this time when he's still little and cute but doing more and more big boy things.

Silas' 7th Birthday!

Silas turned 7 years old in a brand new place this year––Providence, Rhode Island! We were visiting Nate's aunt and uncle at the time, and had just come from Long Island where we spent a few days with Silas' Great Grandpa and Grandma. He didn't seem to mind being away from home for his birthday. We had a party for him before the trip so he could still celebrate with his grandparents, aunt and uncle, and cousins.

Silas' Birthday Party

Since Silas loves spending time at Green Lane Park, we had his party there, 

and began the festivities with a boat ride on the water.

Silas and his Peba (Nate's dad) enjoyed reclining at the water's edge 

while we barbecued on the field nearby.

Rowan and Silas love to throw sticks in the water and watch them make ripples.

His cake was really cupcakes decorated to look like a "7" shape.

Next Silas opened his presents––he got a fireman's coat and a baseball set.

Silas' Big Day

On the morning of June 25th, Silas woke up in Long Island. Shortly after 

breakfast, we packed up and left for our trek to Rhode Island.

We drove onto a ferry that crosses the Long Island Sound from Orient Point, NY to New London, RI. After parking in our narrow spot on the ferry, we walked upstairs and enjoyed the view of the water.

We has lunch and spent a few hours at Mystic Seaport in New London.

Silas posed with the lighthouse at Mystic Seaport.

Seven candles really light up a cake!

At the end of the day, Silas opened presents and basked 

in the last few moments of his seventh birthday.

Don't Forget to Wear Your Party Hat!

Highlights from Allie's 4th birthday party

When you're four, and having a birthday party, it's important to wear a party hat. Allie was so serious about this that she wore her hat all day, and encouraged all of us to wear our hats as well. Rowan was happy to humor her request.

When it was time to open presents, Allie's approach was to speed through the process. She wasn't interested dwelling on each gift––that would come later. It was much too exciting to see what was in all the packages!

Silas and Rowan eagerly watched the gift opening.

One of Allie's gifts from us was a doctor coat (which she had asked for), 

and after the presents were opened she decided to jump into her "Dr. Allie" persona. 

As in, Dr. Allie goes to a party and plays with stickers.

Our neighbor and friend (and the owner of Snackie French) made this 

lovely butterfly cake for us in the colors Allie picked.  

Allie was basking in the attention of her proud grandparents.

Time for crafts! Pretty much all of Allie's birthday gifts were crafty in nature. 

Crafts (or "projects" as she calls them) are her absolute favorite pastime.

Rowan swapped his party hat for a crown. This kid loves to have his picture taken, 

and one of his few consistent utterances is "eesh" for cheese when getting his picture taken.

Allie's 4th Birthday!

Today is Allie's birthday, and we celebrated by decorating last night so when she woke up this morning she was surprised by balloons and signs. I put streamers and a big number "4" on her chair, along with four balloons that had number fours written all over them. She didn't seem wowed by the significance. She did, however, like the free-floating balloons, and even drew on some later in the day. (Allie will draw on pretty much anything she can get.)

It just happened to be her Little Gym day, which was perfect since it's one of her favorite activities. Her teachers knew it was her special day and wished her a happy birthday as soon as she came in. After class everyone sang "happy birthday" to her. We had made chocolate chip cookies to bring with us and give to all her classmates (and their parents and siblings)––big hit. People love free food. Especially if it's peanut-free.

The rest of the day was pretty typical, until Nate came in from work, and dinner got trumped by the fastest gift-opening ever. Allie barely even looked at each thing once the paper was ripped off before she grabbed for the next present. I didn't know whether to be amused or disturbed. Her favorite presents seemed to be a doctor's coat (her request) and a collection of washi tape (think amazing crafts). The other things––books, a dance outfit, a sketchbook––did not get a second look, at least not yet.

Lastly, we had birthday cake with singing and candles after dinner, and everyone was allowed to have a second piece! Generous, right? But no, the kids begged and cajoled and argued for a third piece. Allie described repeatedly about how much room she still had in her tummy. Finally she settled for a banana to fill the cavernous void (this is after she claimed she was too full to finish her dinner). Oh, kids are something else.

Rowan really enjoyed the cake affair, clapping his hands and shoveling cake into his mouth as fast as his little fingers could move. It was only time I remember where he voluntarily did the "more" sign after he finished. Usually I have to remind him to "show me the sign," and even then it takes a couple tries before he does the appropriate sign. Leave it to cake to bring out the language in him.

Happy Fourth Birthday Allie!

Allie's morning started off with lots of hugging from Rowan!

She opened her card right away and discovered a princess castle inside.

Nate shows Allie a sketch book during the gift opening.

This is probably her favorite gift––a doctor's coat. She asked for it weeks ago
to go with our doctor kit, and she really does love pretending to be a doctor.
Just ask the perpetual patient, Nate, how many times she's cured him.

Her second-favorite gift...washi tape in a pretty pencil case.

Doctor Allie is in the house!

Waiting for cake.

Priceless.