Happy Birthday Theo and Lily!

Good gracious they're 3. Where does the time go?

We're trying to keep our stuff at a minimum so we picked out one toy each we knew they would love: a dress for Lily's elephant (complete with wand and tiara) and for Theo, a fire engine. As you can see from his shirt, he's already a little fire engine crazy - this was a hit and a half :)

Mom frosting the cake after Dad and the kids baked them. Ellie watched avidly almost the whole time.

Final product :) We asked what kind of cake the kids wanted: Lily said cherry, Theo said "RED!" so... et voila!

Theo loved being sung to.

Lily is just plotting that cake's destruction.

I missed the shot, but Theo had cake in one hand, ice cream in the other, and both in his mouth at the same time for a moment there.

Lily is bathing in the crumbs of her enemy!

A landmark: Dave said this cake was actually too sweet for him. I blame him though, he wouldn't let me add less sugar to the frosting :P Each cake was sliced in half long-wise with chopped cherries, cherry syrup, and ganache in the middle. It was a giant candy bar.

Lying on Dan, reading on Dan, he's just a cushion really :)

Painting ornaments

Helpers and we love having a dog

I have helpers - I was changing Theo and when I turned around Avy was helping Lily reach the sink. Heh.

More helping - the littles really wanted to carry the basket while the girls figured out how to spend their allowance.

Dan definitely loves being one of the pack :)

Avy made a map of our neighborhood! She even drew our round-about.

At the dog park

Or in dog terms - heaven.

Avy made a friend :)

Dan tolerates his bathes but he loves the littles'

Two kinds of baths! Water and tongue :P

Oh boy do they want snow

New Thanksgiving tradition: while some people cook, the others can set up the tree. This was a wonderful activity while Dad and Mom threw together a little food (or rather, a lot), and it made dinner that much more festive.

Dad really wants to take the girls skiing, so they bought some second hand skis and... there was no snow. So they practiced in the wet backyard!

Looking like a pro there Ellie!

Avy was totally game for going wet-skiing.

Although ultimately grass has slightly higher friction than snow ;)

Thanksgiving!

We didn't get a shot of the feast unfortunately but here's some of the surrounding festivities.

Here's Lily about to go out into the cold dark. Let's take a moment to appreciate her outfit: snowboots, leggings with one leg rolled up, a rainjacket with a vest over it, gloves, and a sun hat. 

Making cranberries!

"Mom, stop picturing and help me get my gloves on!"

Nana Evers reading to Theo :)

It looked like too much fun: Lily joined

Balloons are the best!

Nana gave everyone piano lessons! I was cooking so only caught a couple of them, but they all had a blast :)

Avy practicing for her shampoo commercial.