Light Reading at the Lochhead House

Q: How do you throw a SURPRISE birthday party?

A: Throw it three months AFTER the actual birthday.  Throws them every time.  :)

Happy June-birthday-celebrated-in-September, Taylor!  What a treat to have Taylor and Aunt Perri visit over the last weekend in September.  We had a great family dinner at S&C's followed by birthday cake for Taylor.  He was caught unaware--even though Annie and I tried (accidentally, people! we didn't know it was a surprise!) to spoil it.

 God gave us an amazing sunset for the celebration.  The icing on any Lochhead's cake...

 The three cousins.  :)  I see Lorne, Dennis, and Scott.  :)

 And I couldn't resist catching this picture-taker picture!

"Smile!  Look this way.  1-2-3! Oh, I hit the wrong button--let's try it again…"

 Grandma made a lovely flannel quilt for Taylor with outdoor colors and fabric.  It was beautiful!

Taylor's been traveling for work--a lot to Alaska--all summer and fall.  We really enjoyed catching up with him and hearing of his adventures.  It made us wish (AGAIN!) that we all lived closer.  Happy birthday, Taylor!  I bet we won't be able to sneak up on you next year...

PEEK!

Not sitting up or on hands and knees to look over, just peeking out from under the bumpers.  I think he's just trying to remind me that bumpers are hazardous in a crib.  Or so they say...

Another Mother

Micah, your sister wants to be your mother so badly!  She wants to carry you and feed you and kiss you and carry you some more… She really is a good little mother…and if she had a third arm when carrying you, maybe your real mama wouldn't cringe at her attempts to be so grown.  And just for the record, she doesn't like it when you cry.  She holds her hands over her ears when we're letting you "cry it out" at nap time.  "Mama!  Don't let him cry!" she moans.  "Poor baby."  I see you fully using this to your advantage some day.  :)

Good pick, Mom.

We don't normally celebrate half-birthdays, but it seemed as good a reason to celebrate the day as any, so…with an extra bounce in his step, Joshy and Linnea and Micah and I took a trip up to Greenbluff to let Joshy PICK on this day that was his half-birthday.  This boy amazes me with his stamina for picking.  We really had to give him a time limit near the end…he kept finding "the muvah wode!"

 Blueberries, fall gourds, pumpkins, carrots, and apples.  A great harvest.

 Picking, puzzles, popsicles, and pancakes.  Josh's favorites.

 Yes, there were 4 1/2 pancakes served for lunch.  

Tomorrow he's 4 1/2, people!

We had to get our last picture of Joshy as a plain ol' 4-year old.  Tomorrow he's four-AND-A-HALF, people! Yes, he's excited to grow up.  I keep telling them to slow this process down, but they never listen to me.  Now they taunt me by saying, "Mom, next I'm going to be five…then I'll be six…then seven!"  How blessed we are.  All sorts of prayers covering this boy as he turns HALF of a year older...

Down in the meadow, in an itty bitty pool--swam three little fishes and the mama fishy too(k pics)

These kids L.O.V.E. the water.  They could frolic like fish in the lazy river with their daddy for HOURS.  Jeff always says that it's one of his favorite things to do with the kids.  Look how they just float all over him...

Early Risers

Sleep has finally returned for this mama.  It's happened gradually, but all of a sudden I turned around and realized that I am getting full nights of sleep.  Micah had been waking at 5 for a bottle in early September, but now he's sleeping 10--sometimes 11 or 12!--hours.  Sometimes I have to wake him to leave at 7 when I work.  It feels good, folks.  Was it almost a full year of missed sleep?  Ehhh, I won't look back.  :)

Now if we could only work on the WAKING UP HAPPY procedure…Micah has no problem with this, but my two older cherubs are usually racing each other somewhere or yelling at each other to wait for the other…so they go back to bed.  But this picture marked a happy moment of snuggling…each of them like cookies fresh out of bed, still warm from the oven.

Look who started soccer this year...

Oh, yeah!

Blue Eyes. Blue Skies.

While sister's at school...

…brother reads her books!

Exersaucer Refurbishment

Mommy found out about extra parts for broken exersaucers on Ebay…yeah, it now cost twice what it's worth.  BUT, it won't fill up a landfill!  :)  The caterpillar piece arrived a week later...

Go wash your hands, Joshy.

"Why, Mom? They're kween as a wissoh!"

Oh, BABY! She's coming soon!

Ben and Kelly were due with Little Girl Moser #2 at the beginning of October, so we checked the WSU game schedule to pick a shower date.  September 14 was the date...

Millie LOVED all of the presents.

 …and even tried a few on…  :)

 So many ladies came to shower Kelly.  Family, friends, neighbors...

And little Millie got some red high heels from her Aunt Shelly--and they taught her to say, "I'm a princess, Daddy!"  They do it to torture poor Ben.  Wait until she wears these shoes with her John Deere overalls...

Soccer goals, birthday parties, and teacher dates

Who scored a goal at her soccer game this weekend…?

THIS GIRL!!!

In fact, all six girls scored goals on this particular Saturday.

Then Grace Theal had her birthday party…here's Josh with his friend, Gwennie.

And later that night, Auntie Cassie and I had a Starbuck's date to dive into our Engage New York modules.  Coffee was definitely needed.  :)

Aunt Angela…One Year Older!

We now how housefuls of cousins when we get together to celebrate birthdays.  This time around we had a very pregnant Aunt Annie and very tired schoolteachers.  :)  Happy birthday, Angela-la-la!

Let the Baby Proofing Commence!

Work Days…and Nights

 My view on work mornings--kids playing outside my bathroom door

 Jeff's view on work evenings--kids and I reading as he rocks Micah...

... (and himself) to sleep  :)

It Finally Came...

4-Year Old Preschool, here he comes!

This boy was so excited to leave summer break behind!  No sadness, only excitement in his TMNT backpack, Batman flip-flops, and Lego Movie shirt reading, "AWESOME!"

Small Group Family

This fall marks a year of sharing life with our small group friends.  It's been such a life-giving year!

 Jessica with little Mirabelle

 Kim, Sarabeth, Jessica, Shane, Joel and Jeff

 John watching Abigail…Gracie and Josh playing with Oliver and Benjamin

Life's celebrations and challenges, shared closely with these families throughout the year.  Beautiful community.  :)