Happy Third Birthday!

Carolina is three years old (six days ago). I wanted to get in a short little birthday entry for her before the craziness of Christmas. We celebrated with my little sister Mary and her husband Andrew. Pizza Hut, cake, and presents. Nice and simple for everyone. In celebration of three years old, here are three things that I love about my little girl:

1) she loves to be my little helper, she puts on an apron and helps me cook and bake
2) she is a definitely a girly-girl: her favorite colors are pink and purple and she wears skirts/dresses nearly every day
3) she is so super-sweet (except when she's not) and gives the best Carolina-hugs!

Happy Birthday, Lina!!

Christmas Party 2009

We had a good time at the ward party tonight. Santa was awesome and the older kids did well on his nap. Joseph was very reluctant to join them. Carolina asked for "a princess" and Timmy wants "a dump truck." A couple hours earlier, their answers were going to be "a dolly" and "a jet." Makes us wonder how they make these decisions.

There was a simple nativity play after dinner and we were encouraged to have the kids dress the part. From the start, Timmy made it clear that he would "sit in the audience." He had friends that were shepherds, but I couldn't convince him to join them. Carolina loved being an angel. I made the dress yesterday afternoon and it worked out well. She insisted on the wings. She was the smallest angel and played the part perfectly.

Fun Snow

Joe (14 months old) had major issues with his socks, shoes, mittens, coat, hat -- basically his entire winter wardrobe. That was until we stepped outside. He could not get enough of the snow. When he tried to walk in his timberlands inside, he would refuse and just fall over. He's been wearing soft shoes for months. Then, outside he literally ran off down the sidewalk. Not so hard to walk now, huh, buddy?

Also, I love hand-me-downs. He's wearing all of Tim's stuff. He's kind of on the small side, so even though they were born in different seasons, he wears smaller sizes and it all works out. Carolina is enjoying Tim's clothes too. His snowpants from the last two years fit her perfectly and she wore the mittens I knit him last year. Poor Tim, he was stuck wearing my gloves. I'll have to knit him a pair of mittens when I get a couple of other projects finished first.

Thanksgiving

Okay, no pictures of the festivities, but here are a few of us with Ben's grandparents in North Carolina. Definitely a nice visit.

The Farm

It had been about four years since I last visited "the farm." This is a house with 50 acres that has been in the Morrison family for nearly forty years in western Maryland. It is truly an experience. No running water, no electricity, enough said. There was a crowd up there. My brother Jim and his wife and 2 year old son, my brother Greg, my dad, my sister Mary and her husband and his dad, and me and my three kids. Ben had to work, but next time we'll make sure he's there. We had nice weather and nice company and everything really went well. We were there two nights. Mary took these pictures -- she did something to touch-up the second photo and Carolina's eyes look blue. Her eyes are actually the exact color as her hair.

Here's Mary and her favorite neice:

Joseph loves, I mean LOVES, his crocheted blanket. Don't worry, it received a really nice bath when we got back home.

Halloween 2009

Random pictures. Fall Festival at the church last night. Ben had/has pink eye, so he's sporting his nerdy glasses.

Joseph was super-cute in his hand-me-down lion costume. Tim repeated his costume from last year. I tried to talk him into something else (not sure why I did), but he said that "it still fits." It will still fit for at least a couple more years, so we'll see what happens. Carolina wanted to be a butterfly.

Joseph and Timmy came home with me a little early from trick-or-treating. I think Tim was a little worn out. Carolina continued a little longer with her dad. Timmy helped me pass out some candy. See the jack-o-lantern on the right? His name is "Carvey Hopscotch." Tim picked his first name and Carolina gave him his second name. Every time they walk by, they say, "Hi, Carvey Hopscotch."

Just a phase?

So my one child that would actually look at the camera and pose is starting to show a little bit of stubborness. As tribute to his once camera-ready grins, I've included this collage taken a couple weeks ago. Here Joseph is, so sweet and cooperative:




Still very loveable, but driving me crazy and running the other way:

Fall colors

Who doesn't love fall? Especially the colors. We have these trees that are really stunning. They change colors earlier than the rest of the area, so it's really neat.

Here is what the trees on our little street looked like Oct 4th:



And here they are Oct 13th:

Here they are a couple of years ago.

Pumpkin Patch

Wednesday we met a bunch of my family in the afternoon for a trip to the pumpkin patch. It was cold and wet, but we had a ton of fun. There were seven cousins, grandma, and two aunts and an uncle.



They have this thing called the "jumping pillow." It is huge and was Carolina's favorite.

Here are six of the cousins. At least a couple of you are a little bit familiar with the extended family, so here's the run-down:
Tim, Carolina, Katie (Jen's oldest, nearly 9), Sophia (Rick's oldest, age 3), Danny (Jen's son, age 3), and Joseph.

Carolina is helping us out in the corn maze:

Free day with the trains

We had a blast on Tuesday at the B&O Railroad Museum enjoying Free Fall Baltimore. This was a field trip for 2 of the 3 preschool co-op kids. The trains were great. The weather was awesome (unlike today!!). And the price was perfect.

First soccer game

A couple weeks ago -- It was drizzly and chilly, but we sure had fun watching Timmy play in his first soccer game. It's really cute watching all those little guys. Tim is enjoying soccer, but like a lot of kids his age he lacks a little in focus. It's really humorous watching him spinning and dancing

More Joseph

He had his one-year appointment today. We switched doctors to Ben's practice. Much closer to home and discounted co-pays. Can't beat that. They figure he's measuring in the 25th percentile. Definitely my little shrimp.

We took these pictures at a little birthday party we had for him last Sunday. Joseph has a "thing" for crochet. My mom made him a couple of mini-blankets that he immediately latched on to.