Neal's Birthday! Nila dzimšanas diena!

So, Neal's 4th birthday. What a big day! The party was at 2 PM. We had 3 little visitors, fourth one's mom (you know who you are... Ha ha ha!) forgot about the party and two more couldn't make it. And Grandma and Grandpa were late, like 2 hours late. So we had a lot of meatballs left over. Neal had fabulos fun. It was a Kipper themed party - we printed Kipper coloring pages, boys colored and hung them up around the house as decorations. I made a lovely Kipper cake that Sirius chewed about a quarter off of while we were gone this morning. So Kevin had to run to get another cake from a store right before the party. (Sirius spent most of the party outside all by his lonesome self. After I had a good short cry about the cake being ruined I decided he had had his own party and would have to miss ours. He was deeply hurt. Mostly probably because he had no clue why he was being punished. Dogs... I let him in just in time to clean the crumbs off the floor, though.) Other refreshments included fruit and veggie trays. Keepin' it simple. Neal was a perfect little guy all through the day and loved his presents. When he unwrapped the apron, though... he first guessed it was a blanket. Then, after we suggested he guess again, he exclaimed: "Cape!" Well, close enough, Neal! :) We'll try it out next time we cook. Happy Birtday and may you have a great year!

Tātad- Nila 4. dzimšanas diena! Svinības sākās jau no rīta, bet ciemiņi ieradās divos. Ciemos atnāca trīs stalti puiši, no pārējiem uzaicinātajiem divi nevarēja atnākt un trešā mammai pavisam aizmirsās. Vecmamma un vectēvs drusku nokavējās. Apmēram pāris stundas. :) Tā nu mums palika pāri diezgan daudz kotlešu. Bet Nilam gan bija prieki. Mums te ir tāds raidījums "Kipper", Nilam ļoti patīk. Mēs no interneta izprintējam un izkrāsojām Kipperu un draugus, un puikas visur izlīmēja paštaisītās dekorācijas. Es pat uzcepu skaistu torti ar Kipperu virsū. Diemžēl, kamēr mēs šorīt nebijam mājās, Siriuss tai kādu ceturdaļu nograuza. Tā nu Kevinam bija jādiebj uz veikalu pēc jaunas tortes tieši pirms ciemiņu ierašanās. Es drusku apraudājos un izlēmu, ka Siriuss jau dabuja pats savas svinības, un izliku viņu laukā aukstumā, kamēr mēs ar ciemiņiem tusojām pa māju. Siriuss jutās ļoti aizskarts. Droši vien tāpēc, ka bija jau aizmirsis, par ko tiek tik nežēlīgi sodīts. Es gan viņu ielaidu iekšā tieši ap to laiku, kad bija vajadzīgs kāds, kas savāc tortes drupačas no grīdas. Nils visu dienu uzvedās ļoti labi un bija priecīgs saņemt dzimumdienas dāvaniņas. Smieklīgākais moments bija tad, kad viņš izsaiņoja manis šūto priekšautiņu. Vispirms viņam likās, ka tā ir sedziņa. Mēs ieteicām minēt vēlreiz. Tad viņš priecīgi izsaucās: "apmetnis!" (domāts tāds, kā supervaroņiem). Gan jau mēs izmeģināsim tavu apmetni, kad nākošreiz taisīsim ēst, Niluci! :) Daudz laimes, un audz liels un gudrs!

Look what big boy I am! Skat, kāds es jau esmu liels!

Everyone wants to help with this part! Visiem prieks palīdzēt jubilāram izsaiņot dāvanas!

Hmm, kas tas par brīnumu? I wonder what this is?

Look what I made for my big almost-four-year-old's birthday! Do you think he will like it? Maybe now we won't need to change all our clothes after helping mommy cook, huh?! :) Neal is a very willing helper in the kitchen, so I had this brilliant idea to get him an apron. After a quick consultation with the computer (scary, I know) I realized these things are awfully easy to make. One trip to JoAnne's fabrics and about 30 minutes at the sewing machine and (as Ben would say)- voila! I hope Neal likes it! It is still quite manly, don't you think? :)

Lūk, ko es uzšuvu savam lielajam gandrīz-četrgadniekam dzimšanas dienā! Kā jums liekas, vai viņam patiks? Varbūt mums vairs nevajadzēs pārģērbt visas drēbes katru reizi, kad esam palīdzējuši mammai gatavot ēst, ko?! :) Nils labprāt palīdz virtuvē, tādēļ es iedomajos viņam dzimšanas dienā uzdāvināt priekšautu. Pameklēju idejas internetā (traki, vai ne) un sapratu, ka varētu pavisam vienkārši pati tādu uzšūt. Aizbraucu uz "Džoannas audumi" veikalu, pusstundu padarbojos ar šujmašīnu, un, kā teiktu Benijs - voila! Ceru, ka Nilam patiks! Starp citu, priekšauts izskatās diezgan vīrišķīgs, vai ne? :)

Let's decorate graham cracker houses!

This was our mommy playgroup activity last week.

Ben's first private conversation with Santa Claus

Ben was feeling so brave this year, he actually talked to Santa and sat on his lap. Still a little reserved, as you can see. Maybe next year we will get Neal somewhere near the lap, who knows. :)

Snow!!!

I was taking pictures from inside the house, but I didn't last long and just had to get out myself and play in the snow! The best things in life are free...

The Lamanites Were Mean

It was finally brought home to me how mean the Lamanites really were. Ben yesterday wanted some ice cream, but I told him he needed to wait until after dinner. Heg got a bit dramatic, as he is wont to do. He said, "Dad, you're treating me like a Lamanite!" I, somewhat incredulous, asked for clarification. "You know, when they were holding those guys in jail and didn't give them any food, that's how you're treating me!" We had read recently the story of Aaron who was held in prison in the land of Midian (I think that was it, somewhere in Lamanite land, anyway). I knew the Lamanites were mean, but refusing to give ice cream! I gave in right away at that point, of course (your sarcasm meter should have spiked on that last sentence).

Christmas Lists

We made our Christmas lists this week. Ben's has pictures of a transformer, a hula hoop, legos, star wars lego game, a toy phone, and a tie. Then me and Ben were going to help Neal with his list. Ben explained that you have to have a Christmas list because otherwise Santa won't know what to bring you and he'll just bring you whatever he wants. After some questioning, Neal's list has the following: snakes, numbers, scissors, and space. After "scissors," Ben said: "Neal, you're not picking very fun things." Then after "space," Ben says: "Well, ok, but if you get space for Christmas it will destroy the earth." (Ben was the scribe, by the way.) I'm not sure Neal really understands the purpose of making a Christmas list.