Happy Birthday Party

Since Neil and Havens birthdays are so close, we do celebrate them together. I dont foresee this always happening, but for now it works. So we did the usual of having just family over. Haven had birthday cake (that I picked out - thus my favorite kind) with Kitties on it. She loved it and called it her kitty cake. Neil always gets birthday cookie. it took me a few years to figure this out. Hes not a huge fan of cake but LOVES cookies so its cookie for him.

After cake, ice cream and cookie, we sat down to open gifts. Haven got a shopping cart, bracelets, play shoes, a play camera, a trike with helmet, fancy stroller, backpack and dollhouse with accessories. She made out like a bandit!! WOW!!! Oh and my mom did get her curtains which of course matter lots to me but very little to Haven. Thanks Mom!! So she sent some stickers with the card.

Neil got stuff.

It was a great party and its so nice to have our family to share these great memories with!

Happy 2nd Birthday Haven!

I love birthdays. They are such milestones!!!! Having Haven turn 2 just solidifies for me that babies are no part of my life. Which, those who know me well know, makes me very happy. I love this stage. I love going to the park, the pumpkin patch, the fair all the fun places you can go and not needing a stroller, not needing a booster seat, not needing anything special. Just fun times with my kids. And even recently, my whole feeding schedule is starting to disappear. It seems that I can wait til noon thirty to feed my kids lunch and its no problem. I really think Haven could go without a nap. But of course, Mommy needs nap time, so it continues.

Havens milestones: Ummm...so many where do I start. She talks very well, she knows her letters, numbers and shapes. She can count up to at least 10. She is very opinionated especially when it comes to her clothes and shoes. The other day it took us an additional 15+ min to get out of the house cause she didnt want to wear her jacket. Crazy! But even with the fits and all that, this sure is fun for me! I love it and I love my little girl!!

I think I could start potty training her right now, but Im not ready. She tells me when she poops and loves to sit on the toilet. Wow! Im so glad its looking so promising!!

What a big girl! Happy 2nd Birthday Haven!!

Halloween Party for our Sunday School Class

Tonight we had a Halloween party and it was such fun! Everyone wanted to do costumes so we decided to dress up. Neil and I went as Mustard and Ketchup Bottles. Other classmates came as President and Mrs. Obama, Little Bo Peep and her sheep, Mr. Rainman, Charlie Brown and Lucy and Dad and Mom with Baby.

Thanks to Mr. Rainman, we played some fun games. We had a pumpkin toss with the candy pumpkins, a Mummy Wrap contest and Halloween Pictionary - guys vs girls. Girls rocked it!!

Lucy brought homemade stuffed shells for dinner. Yummy! We also had all the mandatory side items and drinks and brownies for dessert. Always good times with food involved!

Toward the end, Justus and Haven even got to get in on the action.

It was loads of fun!!

Lovin the Rain

Today was our first rain of the season. The weather has cooled off some and its so nice. Haven (and probably Justus) doesnt remember rain from last year. So all day, she kept saying things like "All wet, Mom" or "Look at the water" So tonight after dinner I thought it would be fun to go out on our porch and check it out. The wind was blowing so you could see the rain being blown by it. Very cool! Plus lots of cars were going by as they came home from work or wherever. Justus really wanted to go play in it so of course we let him. It was fun to watch him. Haven wasnt so sure about getting herself all wet so she only stood part way in the rain and only for a little bit. Then of course inside for some Hot cocoa to warm up. They were Lovin the Rain!

The BIG Fresno Fair 2009

This year our experience was wonderful! Both kids are old enough to enjoy it, I didnt feel like I had to get back for naps, it was perfect! We had amazing weather - not hot like last year. Nice cool breeze without being chilly. We also did something new this year - we tried out the carnival. Haven is way more daring than Justus, can I just say. J didnt even want to go on the rides at all, I had to make him. Haven started to cry when we werent going to go on the Ferris Wheel cause Justus didnt want to go. Luckily, friend Ashley was there with Reece and Merrick and Cliff. So she hung out with Merrick while Cliff, Reece, Haven and I rode the Ferris Wheel. She loved it! Then we watched Reece ride a roller coaster, then off to find the rides J and H could do. We found some trucks and I knew J would want to do that, so he and Haven rode those and several others. In fact, the Semi trucks were the only ride we rode twice!

We also had corn dogs and cotton candy for a treat. We went into the Mineral and Gem exhibit and spun the wheel for a prize. That is one of my personal favorite things to do. Then we went and saw our clothes glow in the black light display and then each got a bag of polished rocks. Oh, the fun of the fair!! The only other exhibit we went into was the Ag one. Its always fun to see the Ginormous pumpkins!

We went to see the livestock also. Saw the cows and pigs and sheep. Saw the baby lambs. So precious. Saw the baby chicks, baby pigs and the goat. Then they had an area for the kids to try to rope a calf that was made of hay. It was fun cause the kids got to sit in a real saddle.

It was such a fun day. We all really enjoyed the Big Fresno Fair!!

Halloween Party

Today we had a little Halloween party for the kids in our Sunday School class. We had a fun time cutting out, cooking and decorating cookies, making a fun pumpkin craft and eating our "spooky" lunch of Spiders, Mummy fingers and cut up apples. The adults had homemade tortilla soup thanks to Ashley. It sure was fun and yummy!!