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.

Riding and Racing

We took our annual visit to the Plymouth Meeting Mall last month to ride the carousel and enjoy the fountain, and discovered a fun new activity called Slot Car Racing! The kids had a blast, including Rowan, who was old enough this year to play and participate in everything. We ended our visit with a stop at Chick-Fil-A––always a favorite.

Our first stop was the carousel––Allie's favorite activity! She looks forward to this all winter. Everyone chose their animal, and off we went!

Allie obviously liked this more than Silas, but at least he was willing to get on a horse tolerate the experience.

Rowan really wasn't sure what to make of this. He seemed to like it, but wasn't certain enough to give a big smile to the camera.

We let all three kids run around in the indoor play area for a while, where there are things to climb and slide on. Perfect for Rowan's level.

Silas had some directions for how everyone was to play on the equipment.

The fountain is exciting no matter how many times we see it. We managed to get the kids to pose for a quick picture, but mostly they were hanging over the edge watching the water swirl and squirt, and marveling at all the pennies on the bottom.

Silas and Allie had done Slot Car Racing once before, so when Nate set up their car, they knew just what to do. Silas was a cautious driver, but Allie was a lead thumb and kept crashing the car on the turn. She soon learned how to slow down around the curve and keep her car on the track.

Silas gave the car a gentle ride around the track.

To see photos from our mall visit from last year, click here.

Photo Catch Up

Here are some photos from the last month. Read the captions for more detail on each picture. (Rowan is 16 months, Allie is almost 4, and Silas is 6-1/2.)

We celebrated Nate's birthday on a snowy day in February. 

The kids enjoyed making Nate's birthday cake. Here they were using a mixer to make real whipped cream for the icing. Afterwards they got to lick the beaters. Yum!

There were many mornings where Nate was outside snow-blowing and Rowan watched from inside.

Allie's absolute favorite thing these days is drawing. She occupies herself for long periods of time drawing, coloring, cutting and gluing different creations. The other day she cut out various shapes from construction paper and taped them together to make a sailboat, completely by herself! Our playroom wall is filled with her colorful artwork. 

The Awana Grand Prix race is coming up at our church, and Silas and Allie have been preparing their stock cars for the race. The first step here was to paint the cars (each chose their favorite color).

Silas and Rowan chatting over breakfast cereal.

Nate's been into drones ever since he got one for Christmas, and this small one is just perfect for Rowan to help with. He likes to let it lift off from his hand or his head. Below he was getting a turn flying it (with a lot of help!).

Allie sure brings out the sweet in this pepper! (To be fair, Rowan was the one who came up with the idea of putting a sweet pepper on his thumb one night while I was making dinner, then the other kids took a turn.)

Tunnel Play

The kids got a tunnel for Christmas from their Uncle Matt and Aunt Elise, and it has been a lot of fun to watch them play in it. One day while Allie and Rowan took turns crawling through, I took out the camera and snapped a few pictures.