Alea is SEVEN!!!

Our good friend, Alea, turned SEVEN last week!  This year she got to have a friend birthday party at her house.  Heidi said that when she was listing the friends that she wanted to invite, Gracie was high on the list.  Heidi asked her if she thought Gracie could do the party activities that her first grade friends could do, "because remember, Gracie is three."  Alea looked at her mom and cried, "MOM!  We're talking about GRACIE, here!  She has to come!"  She and Kalei are so sweet to our girl!  Gracie was thrilled to join the house filled with TWELVE 1st graders!

And Alea was so sweet to let her be right next to her for most moments of the party--they even shared a chair at the party table.  :)

Alea had an Under the Sea party...the kids drew an underwater mural along the kitchen walls, they had a scavenger hunt that led to a dolphin piñata, and they feasted on goldfish and dolphin cake!

Happy Birthday, Sweet Alea!  We love you and can't wait to be part of your SEVENTH year!

Happy Birthday, Granny!

Granny's birthday was on January 26.  The kids and I made cupcakes and took flowers over to see her.  Gracie insisted on star sprinkles for Granny's cupcakes and the little balloon to go with the flowers.  :)

Granny, of course, is the best person to take gifts to...she always shares!  After playing with Perri's Barbies from the basement and the game with colored ping-pong balls, we settled at the counter for birthday cupcakes.

Josh taught Pappy the name of all the Toy Story characters.

We love you, Granny!  What a fun day to shower YOU with love!

It's February!

This means the red and pink decor comes out...  This year Gracie helped me unload the tub of decorations.  She kept taking things from the kitchen table into the living room.  When I came in to see where she put them, she showed me her nice display.  :)

February also means wrestling in RED.  :)  From blog pictures you'd probably think that all we do is wrestle.  This thought is fairly accurate.  :)

90 Years Young

Can you believe these lovely people are ninety years old?  Tomorrow is officially Auntie 'Nette's 90th birthday, and her MUCH older husband, Uncle Bob, turned ninety on November 6.  Last weekend we traveled to Wilbur to celebrate their joint birthday party at the Senior Citizen Center.

'Nette is G'ma Bonnie's older sister, and she and her husband Bob have adopted all of their nieces and nephews (and great-nieces and great-nephews) as their own children.

Here is 'Nette with Bonnie and her dangerous walker.  :)  She was scooting around the room as fast as the great-grandchildren were running, bumping into people--on purpose!--and socializing with everyone.  She told me all about the store that she and Bob once owned and all the people there that they served.  She said, "I just love people!"  Seeing her make the rounds, it was easy to believe.

"Will she really do it?" Henry and Kevin watch to see just how close Jen's teeth get to that cute little baby fist...

A lot of people came to honor 'Nette and Bob.  I had no idea who all the locals were, but you could tell that they all knew each other.

Cousins...they checked out every inch of that room.  And they approved the cake and frosting--the proof was on their faces, hands, and clothes...and table, and chairs, and carpet...

Who is that girl, tall enough to sneak a mint...?

 Colleen with her cousins, Dave and Dan, and their wives, Linda and Joan

We have such a wonderful time with this family.  We don't get to see them very often, but each time we do, they make us feel so appreciated and important to them.   Those small town farm families...love them!

BOWLING with the Templins

We love our friends, Joel and Sarabeth--and we love that they thought of us when they got a Groupon deal at North Bowl!  We had such a fun night with them--from spaghetti dinner at their house to the kids' first experience with POP at the bowling alley, we were spoiled!

Gracie  couldn't nap that day because she was bubbling with excitement.

 Look at those shoes!  She's a natural.

Josh loves balls.  We were slightly concerned that he'd end up with a broken toe because at our house the only thing we "FRO!" (throw) are balls.

 He's giggling, watching the ball crawl down the lane.

 He loved being eye-level with the ball and pins...he was cracking us up.

That's his STRIKE dance.

And Jeff's STRIKE look.

 Joel's "Sweep the leg, Johnny!"

And just when you think they're normal, the Lochhead genes rear their silly heads... :)

 "C'mon, ball--go, go, get the pin!"

 So, Sarabeth!  She was wearing Gracie's favorite color--icing on the cake of Grace's perfect day.

 Josh is so interested in how things work.  The ball return was the highlight of this outing.  As soon as the ball was out of his hand, he was waiting at the return to see it pop out.  He laughed and laughed...

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Thanks for a fun night, Templins!  We love spending time with you!  What fun memories for our family.

24-Hour Fingernail Polish...

...if we're lucky!  What is in little girls' nails that makes nail polish disappear?  We'll put polish on Grace's nails and that same day after naps she'll wake up and it's rubbed off.  It's the craziest thing.  I think there must be little nap fairies that come and kiss it off of her fingers while she sleeps.  :)

Notice the clear table cover I am trying out.  Mom gave it to me for Christmas and told me to put a table cloth and the placemats underneath it for low maintenance and easy clean-up.  So far, I like it!  I miss the warmth of the wood table, but I do NOT miss the grooves in it that I have to wipe out after every meal!  Fun for a change!

Cousin Basketball Weekend

Over MLK Jr. Weekend we went to the farm to watch Brooke and Abby play basketball.  Brooke's game was at Pullman High.  She's doing really well on the freshman team this year--usually scoring in the double-digits.  In fact, at one of her games in Spokane she was close to a triple-double.  Brag, brag--aunties can do that, you know.

At half time, the restless natives got to show their stuff...  Notice Abby's french braids that I had to do RIGHT when I entered the gym...

And that Megan's getting so smart! (Did we think this was possible?)  She brought Josh-bait:  a little stuffed kitty.  You'd think it had catnip in it or something--he was wild about chasing her!

Uncle Tom and Aunt Diane came up to the game--and George and Connie were there for a spell, too.  Brady had to work that day, but Katie kept him up-to-date with texts.

DS = also great Josh-bait.

Abby's game was next in Clarkston.  She's so aggressive and confident!  So fun to watch.

 After the games G'ma Joan took us to Arby's for (an eventful) lunch!  Then back to the farm for NAPS!  Sheeesh!  A morning of games--I don't know if I'd been more tired if I'd PLAYED them!  :)

And here is Josh with Felix, Papa Greg's cat.  Going to the shop to see the kitties is Josh's favorite farm activity...besides watching "Annie."  When we talk about going to the farm he replies, "Annie!  Kitties!"  In that order.  Sometimes "Papa!" makes it in third place on that list.  :)

We had such a great, relaxing time at the farm.  The other highlight was getting to spend the evening with Kelly and Ben at their house after we put the kids down to bed on Saturday night.  We had a great time visiting, seeing the nursery progress, and hearing about the birthing class they attended that day.  Ha!  Can't wait for Baby Girl Moser to join our crazy family!

Happy Grandparents Day!

Actually, I think G'parents Day is in September...but I had to find some new decor for my kitchen windowsill and this is my latest ensemble--grandparents!  Won't they look good with hearts next to them?  February is just around the bend! (And like documenting well-behaved children in public, one must also document pictures of one's sink when it's clean!)