Happy Birthday Mr E!!!

I am blogging by the fire tonight. It really doesn't ever get old. We've lit so many fires and it's been sooo much fun each time. Tonight we watched The Jungle Book and cuddled up together with the wings Daddy brought from Buffalo Wild Wings... and it was plain awesome.

But yesterday! Yesterday was Mr E's birthday!! We had SO MUCH FUN!!! Early last week I started asking him what he wanted and got a few answers. The first time I asked him, he answered "Cake!" What else? "Presents!" and the third time I asked, he said "Watch TV!" So that's what we decided we were doing. Plus donuts and hot chocolate (chocolate Abuelita) for breakfast  

We talked to the grandparents and the abuelitos over breakfast. 
Nana and Grandpa sent a family heirloom for his birthday. He loves the train! Always has.

How old are you??

This is him last December! At the grandparent' home :)

Miss E might have taken over the conversation with Abuelita and Abuelito. She took her around the house and showed her I don't know what. But she was very excited :P

Then, we got ready to go eat lunch. We decided "Chick Ballet" was the place to go. 

After that it was gift picking time at the toy store! We bought him a motorized "Cars" theemed jeep (more about that later) and Miss E picked out a cheap sticker book of earrings. Uncle P and Aunt S also sent him the shirt that he wore that day and some dinosaur pajamas. Theirs was the first official birthday gift he received this year! I am so glad it was clothes because I have been so terrible at updating closets this year. My mom's gift was the alligator you see below and some movies (they will be so useful on the way down to J!). The alligator has been a great parenting tool for Quijote since he discovered that he can give it a voice and Mr E will go along with almost anything the alligator says jajajaja!

Here they are watching TV while Daddy puts together the jeep

Vrooom!!

 

We soon realized we needed more space. There is a church around the corner from our house that has a couple parking lots, and it was Saturday, so we decided to head out there. It was windy, but lucky for us the entire day was a weirdly warm day (it was COLD the days before and again today!).

 

We were out there a long while! It took some convincing, and then some very awkward bending and "driving" for the kid for a good block or two!- but we did eventually go home. Daddy made pasta for dinner because the kids like it. As we sat down to (finally!) get some actual TV watching. I realized we had managed to get so much fun that day and was so glad that it was such an adventure for Mr E. Whenever we go out as a family, it is usually just one outing, but that day we had gone out to eat, to the toy store, back home only to go right back outside for a good hour at least of driving around in the parking lot... I was relishing the down time when Mr E asked if he could help make the cake. Yup, turn off that TV. It was cake time!

It was absolutely wonderful! And exhausting. Haha!

Thanksgiving 2016

So grateful for family!

We had a great time together and cooked/ate lots of great food. Family came from all over to visit with the kids (and to see us too, we like to think haha) and we got to show off the new home and even went on a kid-free dinner with P and S, courtesy of my in-laws. Quijote made that cheesy lasagna soup from pinterest as a welcome meal for the first round of family and I made lamb on Thursday. Our official Thanksgiving dinner was on Friday, and my in-laws made the turkey, Uncle R made the potatoes, S&P made dessert, and I believe Q made side dishes? We tried to help around as much as possible. I could not help myself and had fun tablescaping and such. My mother in law also brought her famous chocolate cake and some delicious bread, all of which disappeared before I could take a picture! I should have known that would happen.

I certainly worried about lots of things before family came. I had a fun fun diagnosis that I'm still in denial about, my grandmother passed away the week before, and I have of late had conflicting feelings about the history of the holiday, plus the house wasn't quite as ready as I wanted it to be. However, once our family was here it was so easy to enjoy the holiday, and I was so grateful for their company and the opportunity to celebrate. The kids were super excited to have them here as well (maybe a little bit too excited, they drive me coo coo sometimes) but I am also very surprised that they gave us adults some time to do things, that they did well with quiet time and sleep time, and that they are themselves so grown up these days. They know their family well by now and are getting to really enjoy the company, the conversations, and the play time. And of course they got gifts. Birthday gifts for Mr E from P&S, a family heirloom, and Christmas gifts for both from everyone. Because Thanksgiving is the winter holiday that we spend with Q's side of the family each year, I am so glad that we have been able to preserve it, and that we even got to host this year. It is very much a Winter Holiday, and feels like it really isn't Thanksgiving alone but a sort of Christmas-TDay mix, and well... I very very much love that about it. Perhaps the necessary revisionism to this wonderful holiday is happening quite organically in real life while my mind agonizes about the abstract issues around its objectionable origin. There is beauty in the imperfection (of a home, of a holiday, of parenting, of a dish you've never made before) and the grace that is required by it. And that beauty was so very obvious and perceivable to me this year. I am grateful for beauty and grace. This world needs it. It was wonderful to experience it and celebrate it. 

And now, as per usual, an egregious amount of pictures ;)