Trick or Treat

So Leah is wearing 3 tutus today, one on top of the other, to be a princess. I was in the bathroom blow drying my hair when I hear a little knock at the bathroom door. I open it to find Leah holding a little green bowl. "Trick or Treat" she says. "Well I guess I better get you a treat" I answer. "Yeah, like JELLYBEANS!!!"

She is sooooo my child. :)

8 Month Eva Parties Too Hard

Little Eva is a party princess. Unfortunately Eva's posse (mom) is pretty lame and doesn't enjoy the middle of the night parties quite as much as Eva. Eva's partying is a result of waking up to nurse about 3:00 am. If mom doesn't get Eva to fall immediately back to sleep then Eva fully wakes up and hello party time for about 2 hours until Eva decides she is tired again. Tonight is a party night; I should know better than to try and squeeze in a bathroom break before nursing Eva. Usually our parties consist of watching Netflix shows and rocking until Eva falls back asleep but tonight Abi, cousin Gabby, and Leah are having a sleepover in the basement so TV watching is out.

Other than the middle of the night partying, Eva at 8 months is a joy. She continues to be a sweet and happy baby. Eva is developing well and we rejoice at each of her new tricks. She is proficient in African tongue click language and Native American war calls with the back of her hand, you know "Ah Ah Ah Ah." She continues to babble Dada but no Mama yet. She just learned to clap and wave. Eva has a whole box of toys that she loves to pull out, scatter around and scoot after but her favorite activity is exploring whatever new item her grabby hands can catch.

Eva also learned to drink from her sippy cup. She loves juice. Other favorite foods include pancakes, puffs, and smashed bananas. She has a really good pincer grasp and can feed herself little bits of stuff well. Eva is broadening her palate to enjoy some of her veggies like peas, carrots, and squash as well as her fruits.

Eva is a scooter right now but soooooo close to crawling. Currently she maneuvers about with a little half butt scoot interspersed with getting up onto one knee and one leg and pulling forward. That other knee is so close, it's just a matter of time until she's crawling. Eva is also starting to pull up on things. The other day she was enjoying pulling up on the magazine rack and pulling out all of the magazines. Oh boy watch out for the destruction that is soon to come. Eva cut her two top teeth and she has the cutest smile. Teething continues to be pretty easy for her and she has only nipped me a couple of times while nursing. Her hair keeps growing and growing, especially in the back. It is blonde and curly and I'm just waiting for when it's long enough for a little piggy tail or bow.

A Pirate Party...Argh!

Argh Mateys! Welcome to Talmage's 9th Birthday Pirate Party.

A house full of 8-9 year old boys wielding pirate swords, now that's scary. I found this cool tutorial at Sophie's World to turn regular party store swords into a safer version optimal for a pirate sword fight. Kris and Abi engineered them. The boys LOVED it! Of course we did have to referee and enforce a few rules like no tackling or hitting in the face but the boys were begging for more sword fights even before the cake and ice cream.

Next I created this treasure hunt up and down our street. The treasure was hidden on our front step where each boy received a ziploc full of candy booty.

Note our unusually warm, dry winter. Can you believe we can play outside games in mid February?

Next we played Capture the Jolly Roger. My cousin/friend Brooke helped me paint these awesome flags. This game turned into another version of pirate sword fight. Oh well.

Tal wanted a Treasure Chest for his birthday cake this year. I checked out the amazing cakes at Coolest Birthday Cakes to get some ideas. The basic engineering was easy. I frosted it with penuche icing for the color but it was not a fave of the boys. Then I stuffed it with more candy treasure. The boys just ate the ice cream and some candy. Next year I'm just going to frost and decorate a box.

For Tal's family birthday party I made ice cream cone cupcakes. Unfortunately the rainbow colored cones were not very strong and I had blowouts on nearly every one. Thank goodness for cupcake surgery and lots of frosting. The cones were fun and made for easy serving and clean-up but didn't retain their crunch so the flavor was a little off. Still a fun idea.

And now.......

10 Things About Talmage:

1. He still loves for me to rub his back at church, sing him songs at night, and listen to Leah's bedtime stories, even if he thinks he is too big for kisses.
2. He is a Video Game Fanatic. He loves to play Wii and more recently XBox. Whenever he gets a new game he plays and plays until he has it beat. ( Who did he get that from? Hint: Kris) But he is always happy to go back and play old games too. He is even breaking out his cool moves on my new Just Dance 3.
3. His new favorite color is Blue.
4. He is starting to get into reading. He just finished the first Percy Jackson book and is blazing through number 2.
5. Tal is a big tease. He loves to tell jokes, especially ones about butts, underwear or farting. He loves to play with, play tricks on and pester his sisters. My ears are specially tuned to his maniacal "I'm doing something naughty" laugh.
6. He can be a huge help. If you give him a list of chores, Tal will jump right in and get them done. Some mornings he hops out of bed, makes his bed, and is setting the table before I even get my clothes on to make breakfast.
7. He wanted Hawaiian pizza and Shasta orange creme soda for his birthday dinner.
8. He loves his new skateboard and is already begging me to go to the skate park down the street.
9. Tal loves to build and create. Currently he is building a fort in the basement to sleep in tonight. He remains a Lego maniac. He has started writing and illustrating the continuing adventures of "Mega Man" a comic book. They are filled with sound effects and explosions.
10. Tal is bursting with energy and always on the go. When he was little I used to call him "Lightening in a Bottle." Thankfully he is learning to harness some of that energy into basketball, Tae Kwon Do, school and other great activities.

I Love You, Talmage.