Cake

This past weekend we celebrated her almost birthday with my parents.  She wore the dress I wore on my first birthday (although it fit Henni more like a shirt than a dress) and she devoured her cake...

 

I don't want to be strapped in!

Wait, this might be interesting.

Let me try this...

Just another taste...

Is this okay?

Seriously, this is okay?

I am just going to have a bit more...

I might have had a bit too much.

Henni seems to be getting a lot of attention...

A new stroller!

Oliver using my old stroller for Mark.

Fast asleep - note the worm fishing lure (named "Peter") in his left hand.

Still partying

Doing work

So happy

Party rock

We like a good party - and we've been turning most every day into a party as of late.  The party rock lifestyle which we have been embracing is largely due to Miss. Henni who wants her top 40 blasting all the time so that she can dance, dance, and dance a bit more.  Oliver, Davis and I have been warming up to the top 40 and we've been shaking our booty a bit more (and probably a bit more appropriately as we'd previously been doing much of our dancing to the Wurzel's "Combine Harvester").
Last weekend we had a super fun birthday party for Frankie.  Frankie turned one and her mom and dad threw her a big party that included a bouncy house and swimming.  Oliver spent a good two hours in the bouncy house and Henni probably spent a good hour in the house.  While we willingly popped Oliver in the house on our arrival, it took a bit more coaxing from Henni for us to let her in - the house was filled with bigger kids and Henni is well, not quite one.  But after watching Henni repeatedly throw herself at house and repeatedly try to climb into the house herself we decided to give it a go.  I think there were many who thought we were a bit crazy, but Henni thought we were crazy every time we tried to pull her out to give her a break - the little Badger did everything possible to get herself back to bouncing.

Two forks, necessary to maintain the physique

Henni is insistent on feeding herself now - because of this we need to invest in Tyvek suits

When the bouncing was over Henni was literally falling asleep standing up, so I went to try to put her down for a nap.  In a rookie move I walked past the swimming pool - the very pool Oliver was just about to jump in.  Henni suddenly was wide awake and wiggled herself into her suit and got herself into the pool with amazing speed.

As of late we've been breaking out the glow sticks for bath time -- glow sticks glowing, lights out...super fun bath time.  Well, this morning Oliver woke up and said that he dreamed of having a glow stick party.  One where all the kids from the neighborhood come over, "get all crazy like," and then follow a trail of glow sticks to some cookies.  Party on dude.  Tonight we had our little glow stick party and it was great fun.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to capture the glowing glow sticks, but hopefully you get the idea - good times

 A little side note about our party rock lifestyle.  We start partying when we get up which is around the 5:30/6:00 hour and because only the littlest one in our house takes a couple (short) naps we end our days pretty early - as in the wee ones in bed by 6:30 or 7:30 at the latest and Davis and I are out by 10.  While some might argue that these hours are not party hours- I invite those people to join us for a day...we do party, hard.

Snow

Last weekend, as in - still October - we had snow.  Not just a little dusting, but the real deal - snow that stuck - snow that allowed most children to make snowmen, but enabled our little Rocket to make a snow chicken. 




Snow means winter and winter means Christmas.  Since last weekend Oliver has been very interested in what Santa is up to and has begun to generate his Christmas list (as of now - a pair of red Converse sneakers (with laces), a pair of Puma's (white with blue light-up pumas), a bag of snakes (thankfully plastic), and a new plane). 

The other afternoon Oliver and I were raking leaves and he suddenly stopped the following conversation ensured:

Oliver: So, Santa can only bring me so many presents, right?
Me: Yes.
Oliver: But Papa and Le Le and you and Daddy also give me Christmas presents, right?
Me: Yes.
Oliver: So I can actually have three Christmas lists, right?
Me: I guess that is correct.
Oliver: How does Henni make her Christmas list since she can only say a couple words?
Me: Maybe you could help her.  What do you think she would like?
Oliver:  She would probably like shoes too. Maybe new Puma's.

Another conversation occurred later, one I am not so proud of.  The day got crazy, Oliver got crazy, mommy got a bit exasperated and somehow I got crazy -- I somehow said that the little spiders that have made their way into the house for winter are actually Santa's helpers - that they report back to Santa and let him know if Oliver and Henni are being good (it had been a long day).  For a week now Oliver has been talking about the spiders and has been worried about the spiders.  To be honest it is not a horrible thing in that Oliver is trying to be super good on account of the spiders, but - the poor child - definitely something he can talk to a therapist about later in life.

Lions and tigers (no bears)

This year Oliver embraced Halloween.  Previous years he refused to wear a costume (or at least a costume that was not some hacked together job) and was opposed to pumpkin carving.  This year he decided, many weeks before the big day, that he wanted to be a lion "that scares people and has a golden tail."  He declared Henni should be a badger, but when I was unable to locate a badger costume he said a tiger would do.  As for the pumpkins, Oliver laid down ground rules - all pumpkins must have smiles.

Davis has suddenly become a neat freak.  He spent forever preparing the table for pumpkin carving,

only to have Henni immediately rip his work to shreds (Henni 1, Daddy 0).

And Henni, she had no fear of the pumpkin.

Recall Oliver's pumpkin face.

Pumpkins carved, costume time.

Raiding the fridge

Taking another gander at what goodies there might be (note the silver purse)

Isn't this what tigers eat?

Pirate lion in a box (of course)

What do you mean we can't trick or treat our house?

Roarrrrr!

Oliver really got in to treat or treating this year.  He mapped out his route, it included all the streets he knows in town (which is a ridiculous number), but we managed to contain the wildlife to our little neighborhood.  After a couple houses Henni realized that if she went up to the door she would get something.  So she toddled her way up walk ways and climbed to the top of steps and would clutch her prize ever so tightly.

Happy halloween!