Birthday Dessert

These three all have their birthday in the same week.

So last Monday (Rocket's actual birthday) we gathered for birthday dessert to celebrate them getting older.

Here's Rock eating his requested yellow icing cupcakes. Yes, Juju made dessert just for him even though it's not his birthday.**See story below**

The Hathaway kiddies before the dug into their treats.

And fabulous mud pie made by Judy for the adults!
**The week before Rocket's birthday Juju was talking with Rock about this dessert 'party.' Rock asked her what type of cake we would be having. She explained that Rocket had requested pumpkin pie instead of cake so there would be no cake. Rock replied "I don't want to come to Rocket's party." Apparently, it's just not the same without cake. But Juju loves her grandson so much she told Rocket he'd have to wait until Thanksgiving for his pumpkin pie and then she made cupcakes for the kids! **

Comments

Me: Rock, what do you think we should name your baby sister?
Rock: My favorite girls name.
Me: What name is that?
Rock: Shin. (said with look that says "Duh Mom.")
Me: Shin?
Rock: Yes, that is my favorite girls name.
In several conversations since this one, he has continued to confirm that "Shin"' is his favorite girls name. I don't know where it comes from as he doesn't even know that he has a body part called a shin. I've told him "Shin" would be a great nickname.

At Juju's house the other day, I was in one room while Juju and Rock were playing in another. When I went in to ask Rock what he was doing he pointed to the door and said "Mom, please give me some privacy."

Me: Rock did you have any dreams last night?
Rock: Yes.
Me: What did you dream about?
Rock: BANANAS!!!

Driving home late one night...
Me: Rock, when we get home you have to go right to bed.
Rock: Why Mommy?
Me: Because it's late and you need your sleep.
Rock: I don't want to go to bed. I want to play for a few minutes.
Me: Rock, who's in charge of making this decision?
Rock: Mommy.
Me: So if I say that you are going to go right to bed, you will go right to bed. End of discussion.
Rock: I want to be in charge too.

Thanksgiving Dinner

Sunday night our church gathered to eat an early Thanksgiving dinner together.

Since Fix was out of town, Rock and I brought along Nana and Papa. The food was delicious.

And the dessert was clearly fabulous for all the empty pie plates and the mess we made on the dessert table!

After dinner and dessert, the 1st and 2nd graders recited Psalm 100.

And Ralph shared his impressive knowledge of the history of Thanksgiving.

During this time, Rock and Violet tuned Ralph out and colored instead.
But then WILLIAM BRADFORD SHOWED UP! Papa John William Bradford was so engaging even the kids paid attention.
He was interviewed by WRPCB's Andy Gravatt and told us all sorts of interesting information about the pilgrims, their voyage across the Atlantic, their settling in the new land, and the Harvest Home feast that has been referred to as the first Thanksgiving. Most importantly he shared how the pilgrims faith in God helped them through really hard times.

Then the Choir sang a beautiful rendition of "Come Ye Thankful People." See Linnea in the front row? She isn't really a member of the choir yet as she hasn't learned to leave her pacifier at her seat when they perform.

When the official program was over, Linus wanted to take his picture with "that funny guy."

So did Rock.

And William.

And Lucy, although she insisted that her mom hold her to keep a safe distance from Mr. Bradford. Taking these pictures I got a sense of what it must be like for those people who photograph Santa at the mall.
Finally, a cute picture of the McGoverns and Mr. Bradford. If only that little boy in the left corner hadn't jumped in to distract Zeke.

Rock thought he was REALLY funny for trying to get into their picture.

And one of just Alethea. Isn't she adorable? I think it's because she was born on the best day of the year.* Thank you William Bradford for coming to RPCB to share your story with us! And thank you to my fellow church members for putting together such a FABULOUS potluck dinner! Happy Thanksgiving to all!
*The best day of the year is of course, February 12th. This is the date that Abraham Lincoln, Arsenio Hall, Christina Ricci, Rachel Fix and countless other fabulous people were born.

Grilled Cheese Party!

Last Saturday, I co-hosted a Grilled Cheese Party with my friends Lynn and Nancy. We invited all the preschoolers from church and their families.

For the adults we made three types of gourmet grilled cheese: Gorgonzola and Honey on Whole Wheat, Cheddar and Mango Chutney on Whole Wheat, and Mozzarella, Prosciutto, and Basil on Italian. I recommend them all very highly.
We also made regular old American and White bread sandwiches for the kids.

There was plenty of Trader Joe's Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato soup and veggies and apple slices to go around. For dessert we had Pumpkin Cake and Chocolate Truffle Cheesecake.

We held the event at Lynn's house since she decorates for every season and her Fall decor was very festive.

Thank you Lynn and Nancy for helping to throw a fabulous, yummy party!

Story Hour

Rock and I love to go to Story Hour at Pottery Barn Kids. He gets a little card that they stamp each time we attend. Five stamps = $10 off our next PBK purchase. I don't want to ruin any surprises, so I'll just say that I may or may not have bought him a few Christmas gifts with the last two cards we filled out.
The best part about going last week, was that Fix came with us. I decided to take a picture where they both looked really awkward to document the event. After the tales were told, Rock introduced his dad to Stacie our favorite story lady.

Then we let Rock use up a bunch of energy at the playground. Here he is singing into the microphone. Also known as a mast.

Adeline and Camille

We recently had the privilege of nannying for Rock's friends Adeline and Camille. I've watched the three of them together before. Usually, Rock and Adeline spend most of their time concentrating on the hate aspect of their love-hate relationship.

This time it was all love. They got along like peas and carrots. They shared a chair and read to each other.

They did puzzles together. They also sang together and played a lot of Ring Around the Rosies.

Then Camille, Adeline's sister woke up from her nap and the fun really began.

Rock really wanted to "cuddle in Camille's soft blanket." So I decided to try a photo shoot of the two of them, but Camille was more interested in Rock's cup than in flashing her priceless smile.

Even when Rock shot her the evil eye, she still kept up her pursuit.

She even tried to offer her pacifier as a trade.

He just laughed.

When Adeline tried to get in on the action...

Rock was done. Perhaps too much pink?

Still I got him to hug Camille. Then she was done.

Really done. So the photography ended and we moved on to more fun. Thanks again to Adeline, Camille and Rock for a delightful day of play!

I WON!!!

While these guys were busy schmoozing and socializing at Calvin in the Capitol, I filled out a card for a door prize provided by White Horse Inn. If you aren't familiar with the White Horse Inn radio show, you should be. I have been a listener for a few years and can truly confirm that they have helped me understand "what I believe and why I believe it." I'm a big fan.
So, I was totally pumped when this package arrived in the mail. I WON THE DRAWING! The last time I won something fabulous was in a coloring contest about 22 years ago. This time around, I won an MP3 disc of some classic White Horse Inn episodes, and..... and.... and....

An IPOD SHUFFLE!!! I am still pinching myself -- I just can't believe that I won something! This is just the pick-me-up I needed and now I can listen while I work on my never-ending list of projects. I already downloaded a bunch of White Horse Inn shows and a bunch of songs.

Isn't that awesome how they engraved it? Thank you thank you thank you White Horse Inn!

Recognizable

The other night Rock was coloring and started talking about drawing a train track. So, I decided to teach him how to draw them. With just a little direction from me, he produced the track above.

Then recreated it on the top of the page on his own. I think it'll be awhile before we get to drawing trains on the track, but it's a start!

Calvin in the Capitol

Last Thursday we went downtown to attend the final session of Calvin in the Capitol, a speaker series put on by Christ Reformed Church in DC. We had been to a few of the other sessions, but Fix and I were extra excited about that night's speaker.

Dr. Robert Godfrey, president of Westminster Seminary, is quite the church historian (believe me, his Ancient Church History class was the only one I audited while Fix was in Seminary and it was great!) and quite the speaker.

Since Travis wanted to get into the last picture so badly, I decided to take an official alumni picture.

We decided to bring Rock with us and he couldn't have been better during the talk. He sat quiet as a mouse, coloring and playing with his trucks and cars.
He then proceeded into super-spazz mode during the reception. But an hour past his bedtime, who could blame him?

Be Sure to Appreciate the Chucks

My Sunday morning model.

Too bad when you ask him to smile you get this face...

Or this one.

There we go. It's still not his real smile, but it'll do.
p.s. Thank you Juju for the adorable outfit!

Bedtime

Rock is all smiles until we mention the b-word. BEDTIME.

Then there is a lot of sadness...

And eye-rubbing.

Followed by a clothes and diaper change.

Okay so this particular night we only changed his pants. But the shirt was still 'clean' and the Rock Star pj pants matched the Born To Rock shirt fine enough to bypass the full wardrobe change.

Final stop before bed is the comfy rocking chair in his room. A few stories, a discussion of our day to focus Rock on all we have to be grateful for, a prayer to thank the Lord for his many blessings, and a few songs in bed before the lights are turned out. And bedtime is done.

Monkey George's Halloween.

You may or may not recall that last year Rock was a monkey for Halloween.

Since his costume was big last year (pictured above), I thought I'd try it on him again. When I brought it out a few weeks ago, he was incredibly thrilled and acted as though he had never seen it before. So it was settled. He was to be a monkey again this year.
But (mostly out of guilt for not making or buying him something) I wanted to make it a little different this time around. Thus, on Halloween night Rock was "Monkey George" (his name for Curious George) and his Daddy was "The Man in the Yellow Hat."

We gathered at the Osbornes to do a joint trick-or-treating trip with some friends. Although we didn't plan it, there were a lot of monkeys at this get-together. After a yummy dinner, and a bunch of awkward group shots, we headed out to collect candy!

Now there is a picture of a man who loves his son. I don't think that the real Man In the Yellow Hat wore Harley Davidson boots, but the costume was thrown together that afternoon.

In case you wanted to know, I was a blurry pregnant firefighter.

After walking just a few blocks Rock proclaimed "My pumpkin is SO FULL! I can hardly carry it!" Since a few of the other kids were already in meltdown mode, we headed back to the Osbornes...

Where most of the kids (and all of the adults) indulged in a piece of candy.

That night, as I was putting him to bed, Rock prayed "Dear God, Thank you that I say trick or treat and the ladies will bring me candy."

Fashion is Art

IT'S A GIRL!

Well, we were RIGHT! Fetus Fix #2 is most definitely a GIRL! And praise the Lord the doctors say that she looks "perfect." We are so so so excited! Looking at this picture you might wonder how the doctor could tell the baby's gender.

But from this side, it's clear! Not only does she like pink, she apparently likes to sleep on the placenta.

When the nurse told us the news, she asked Rock if he knew any good names for a girl. He replied "Boy." Then he started calling her "Skeleton Baby." Hmmmm... might take someone a little while to get used to this idea.First picture of the four of us! Too bad we all wore blue... from here on out it's gonna be pink, pink, pink.
Although for the record (and for all you grandmothers who are already purchasing outfits) I prefer my favorite color red over pink.

UPDATE: Just to clarify the comment above. I love pink and I love it on little girls. I know that Fetus Fix #2 will be wearing mostly pink for the first few years of her life and I am pumped about that. But I just wanted to throw it out there that I like red too.

PA Dutch Farmers Market

Last Friday we did a little shopping in Annapolis with BOTH of Rock's grandmothers.
Rock was beside himself with delight. We ended our morning with a yummy lunch at the Pennsylvania Dutch Farmers Market at Harbour Center.

Rock really wanted me to take a picture of our check. Here it is.