Joe's 8th Birthday

Dear Joe,

Me:  You have turned out to be the greatest 8 year old I know.

Joe:  Did you think I wouldn't?

Your 8th birthday invitations...

I made these "official membership cards" and after you filled them out I had them laminated...

You helped me make this sign and we hung it in the front yard...

I made these nets out of tulle on my serger...

and used fabric to cover some composition notebooks I got for fifty cents each to make "field journals."

Your cake...

You don't like frosting, so this was a lemon buttermilk cake, layered with raspberry whipped cream and lemon curd, with a butter/sugar icing of sorts on the top to help the berries stick...  and those are last year's candles (plus one.)

The nets were assembled using a coat hanger, a hose clamp, a wooden dowel and some tape...

We also had a station where you could hammer holes into a mason jar lid to make a bug jar...

And James got to taste cake for the first time...

But the whole party started off with Dan, "The Creature Man"...




Your birthday gift...

You're in love...

And so are we...

Cake/Eagle

James and I made a cake...

 

And Matthew and I frosted it...

We spotted this Bald Eagle on our drive home from school...

 

Bald eagles always look irritated to me.

Images from December

Dear Boys,

Here are some pictures of how we spent our December days, they were very busy indeed...

In my effort to start some family traditions, I picked out this German candle pyramid to bring out after Thanksgiving.  You were all charmed.  The apple candle holder is from Joseph's Advent spiral at school.

Matthew, I also finished embroidering your stocking, which took me two years to finish.  And I also made one for Danny, embroidering to appear in 1-2 years.

We ate the world's smallest clementine on a surprise, and in my opinion, not very well deserved (there really wasn't THAT much snow) snow day.  Even though it was kind of an over-reaction, it was still exciting to have a snow day and it felt very old-fashioned.

My super awesome neighbor Ann introduced me to Rose Windows, so fun!

We also made our fair share of Christmas cookies...

Matthew, I was expecting mayhem with the sprinkles.  Cookies with piles and piles of sprinkles.  But look how carefully you decorated these gingerbread men...

A careful line of buttons down the front and ONE shake of sprinkles on each limb.  Very loving and tender.  I think you did that tree one there at the top center of the picture, because it looks pretty similar to the men.

These little houses were for Matthew for Christmas, but I accidentally sent them to our old house, then assumed they were lost in the mail, but they arrived!