To have a brother

My wonderful Sister-in-law, Jennifer, took a few family pictures for us after Thanksgiving. I wanted some fall ones. She was kind enough to agree. The following series of pictures delights me more than I can express.

"Give kisses:"

Cormac gets it. Azure kisses the air. Close enough.

Here the adults swoon. So sweet.

Rather pleased with themselves. They know how to work us over. But wait...I think an idea is forming.

"CORMAC! Don't Lick Your Sister!"

I love Cormac's expression, but even more, I love Azure's.

A triumphant brother and a grossed out sister.

And that, my friends, sums up very nicely what it's like to have a brother.

Dance Party

Trunk or Treat

 Last night the youth of our ward put on a Trunk or Treat. I loved these growing up. This is the first one that has happened in this ward in the 4 years that we've been here (and I doubt they've had one for a while before that). We had a wonderful time.

First we had to get prepped for the event. Cormac did an amazing job getting all the stuff out and helping me carve. We did these during Azure's naptime, so she didn't get to help. And Ammon is sort of a scrooge, so he was fine to miss the action. We still love him though, and he did humor me by dressing up, so I guess he's not too bad.

Then it was time to start getting ready. Cormac was so excited to get his makeup on. I wasn't so excited with how easy it came off on everything.

Howling like a wolf.

Here he is. Our fierce, Big, Bad Wolf. He wasn't too happy about being a "scary wolf" at first. Anytime anyone would say that he'd say, "Not scary. I'm a cool wolf." Fair enough. Eventually he did embrace his role as being "scary."

He was a big hit last night, but so was Little Red.

She wasn't a big fan of her hood though.

I found that leotard at DI and just added a bit of black ribbon lacing to the front. The cape was an Amazon find, and I made the skirt. It got a little crazy. The white was supposed to lay down more and look like an apron. Either way she was adorable.

At last it was time for the big event. Out trunk wasn't as awesome as my dad always created growing up, but with what I had lying around it worked fine.

And here we are. The woodsman, Granny, Red Riding Hood, and of course, The Wolf.

Happy Halloween!

Small Spaces

If there is one thing Azure is really good at it's finding little places for a girl to hide. She's a pro. And usually she can find a place for two.

I sure love these two.

Party Time

I posted these pictures on Facebook right after the party, but honestly, they need a home here on the blog as well. Who knows, maybe one of these days I'll actually get ambitious enough to print this thing. It does have an awful lot of our little family history on it. So I want to make sure to include this as well.

On Monday right after Cormac's birthday we had a party for him. We all met at the fire station (Station 5) just a few blocks from our house.

A big highlight for all the kids was getting to hold the big fire hose.

Hang on boys, that's a lot of pressure.

Cormac was a bit shy at first but warmed up as his buddies arrived.

Milo getting to work. Milo was a bit camera shy, so he isn't in many of these, but we were glad to have him.

And the never shy Ethan.

Cole was a bit cautious as well, but warmed up over time. He sure looks the part.

After the hose and once everyone was there we started the big tour. They kids got to sit up in the fire truck, see what goes in all the compartments, listen to the loud horn, and see the lights. The firemen were awesome. The kids had a blast.

It's pretty big for these 2 still.

Marshall and Maggie may have been the most excited about everything out of all the kids.

I can't tell you how sad we are that Ethan and Dakota are no longer our next door neighbors. But we are glad they haven't gone far and could still make it to the party.

Ethan and Cormac ready to get to any emergency.

Azure adopted this scowl that she wore the entire time. She didn't want anyone to know she was having fun I guess. But this girl loves to be behind the wheel of anything she can, and she really loved this fire truck.

We tried to get a group shot of everyone, this is as much as we got. Marshall was off exploring, Maggie got lost behind, and some of the kids were already out the other side. 

Grant was so excited to be in the big truck. I love this kid.

The boys really liked the big saws.

Maggie found a friend. She grabbed this fireman's hand and led him over to the truck. Then she had him help her in and then jumped. This went on for a while. It was awesome.

A few of the kids saw the ambulance as well. There's Seth ready to go in the doctor's chair.

I told Ethan and Cormac to smile and  Ethan posed. Cracks me up.

Most of the group. Seth, Grant, Cormac, Ethan, Cole, Maggie, and Marshall. Milo, Azure, and Dakota aren't pictured.

After our time at the fire station we headed back to my yoga studio for the rest of the party. Nancee ran to Costco for the pizza for me since I hadn't gotten lunch made that morning. She's my hero. I had set up an obstacle course for the kids. The biggest hit was by far the "Fire Extinguisher" part. Silly string. A poor unsuspecting spider that had decided to make that box his home got a rude awakening when 7 boys started putting out the "fire."

It's hard to tell but that box is "on fire" and they are trying to spray it out.

The awards/present table.

I forgot to get many pictures, but this is the spread. The obstacle course is along the back.

The kids would come in from outside, climb the structure, go down the slide, go under the burning table on the back wall, stop, drop, and roll, grab an extinguisher and put out the fire, then walk through the rungs of the ladder on the ground, crawl under another table, then climb up the ladder, grab the "kitty" that was helplessly stranded there, and escape out the side door. Cormac had so much fun with it while we were setting up and after when we were taking down. He'd be outside on his "fire truck" (his bike) and he'd yell, "Save yourself." Then he'd peddle over to the door and yell, "I'm a fireman. I'll save the kitty." Then he'd do the whole thing and rush out the door telling me he'd done it and the kitty was safe. He's a funny kid.

I had set out Cormac's fire trucks to decorate, but these two decided to put them to better use.

I had run to the store to get Cormac's cake before Ammon had even left for work. I didn't have the courage to make one. Then I forgot to take a picture of it, but it was awesome. Cormac asked me all morning if he could eat that cake. He was so excited for it.

Finally, time for cake.

My handsome birthday boy.

 

And of course presents.

They boys were all very excited to bring their present over to Cormac to be opened. It was a lot of fun. It was a wonderful, special day. Now if you ask Cormac how old he is he'll say, "I'm turning 4." Trying to drag out that birthday fun a bit longer I think.

Four Days of Birthday Celebrations

On Sunday our dear Mr. Cormac turned 4. We spent the entire weekend commemorating this grand occasion. As per our tradition, Cormac got to go out with just Mom and Dad on Friday night. We went and saw Turbo. It was cute. Surprised me. Cormac was actually very distraught that he didn't get to stay with the babysitter, but despite that, he cheered up and we had a wonderful time.

Saturday we loaded up in the car and headed north. We were able to have lunch with Ammon's parents. Cormac got to open the wonderful gift they gave him; a new fire engine. Then we made our annual trip to the zoo. It was a gloriously beautiful fall day.

My favorite story of the day: Cormac was rather distraught that we told him he had to wait until later to ride the carousel. We were trying to distract him. The rhinoceros was right up against the glass eating. It was the perfect view of his face. I told Cormac, "Look at that rhinoceros!" To which he passionately said, "That's not a rhinoceros, that's a monster." It was pretty funny. Then later he was telling me that the rhino was scary. Not going to lie, they are a bit scary. I agree.

That morning when we were having lunch with Mark and Coralee someone asked Cormac which animal he was the most excited to see at the zoo. He said the giraffe. They are fantastic aren't they?

Azure was pretty sure that one of the big cats was going to want to be her friend and let her love on it. This girls truly loves animals. I was pretty sure one of those big cats would think she wasn't more than just a light snack.

Finally!

On the way home I asked Cormac if he'd liked seeing the animals. He said, "NO! The rhinoceros was scary. He's a monster. He eats kids." Now we know what those nightmares are about that he's been having.

The next day was Cormac's actual birthday. So day 3 of the festivities began with homemade pumpkin bread for breakfast and presents.

Cormac opened his cards first. This one was from his cousin Marcos who had drawn him a train. I love this look of pure joy on his face. He has the best cousins.

Not her big birthday, but on the same day this gorgeous little thing turned 20 months. I can't believe how grown up she's getting (though not in stature, she's still so tiny).

My favorite picture. Cormac was posing with his new book and Azure walked in front of the camera and said, "Chee." Best photo bomb ever.

Spoiled is a good word for this weekend. Fire truck from Grandma and Grandpa Dahl, helicopter from Mom and Dad, and an awesome Jake the Pirate set from Grammie and Grandpa Garrison.

Since we had Cormac's party the day after his birthday I went ahead and just did cupcakes. So after church where they gave him a super cool mirror that says, "I'm a child of God," we had a yummy dinner and cupcakes. It was a great day.