Thankful for Cousins

We had a fun Thanksgiving, with a lot to be thankful for.  The girls each gave a performance at school and had a Thanksgiving party.  We traveled to NY and had fun with Gran, and also enjoyed spending time with  Auntie Rhonda and Ki-Jana who were visiting from North Carolina.  We had Thanksgiving dinner at Nana and Papa's among friends and family.  Traveling to NY is so much fun.  It is thrilling for the girls, and also completely exhausting for everyone.  I took my camera everywhere we went, and did not manage to take even one photo.  Thankfully Uncle Matt & Aunt Jill did a fabulous job of capturing the "cousin's day" that took place on Saturday.

We started off with arts & crafts

Leah calls her cousin, "My Penny," and Eliana corrects her and says, "Our Penny"

 

Sara, working on her gorgeous Tinkerbell puzzle

The finished product!

Eliana working on her Stellaluna puzzle

Stellaluna! Love the detail of the bats and birds

Life is good when playing with cousins!

Everyone enjoyed pizza for lunch.

These two could wash hands for hours.

The girls snuggled on the couch for a movie.

So much sweetness!

Nana Nancy and her four great-grandchildren

Closer to Five than Four

I have a confession:  I think I like half birthdays more than regular birthdays.  They are one of my favorite traditions.   Birthdays only come once a year, and when you are a small child a year feels like a decade.  There is a lot of pressure to get it right and make it special.  But half birthdays don't come with any pressure because there is nothing mandatory about them. Eliana woke up this morning and was four-and-a-half!  But, it was just a regular day.  Here are the girls as we were leaving for school this morning.

 

 

I think Eli may look a little older, now that she is four-and-a-half . . . .

I've always liked half-birthdays, but last year Eliana wanted so badly to be four I decided to make an especially big fuss about turning three-and-a-half.  We had a cake, and she got one special present, a game called Caribou Island.  We all had a lot of fun.  Who doesn't like an extra celebration? 

Last year's half birthday.  (Look how little Leah is with her short hair and binky!)

This year Eliana got to pick her half-birthday dinner, and got her choice of "happy cake."  She chose macaroni & cheese (homemade of course!) with a turkey dog and raw carrots.  We had carrot cake with cream cheese frosting for dessert.

She wanted Leah to help blow out the candles, but not Daddy.

Don't they look proud?  They blew 'em all out.

The Happy Cake & gift

A Happy Girl with her gift.  (The new Tinkerbell DVD!)

Yup, I like half birthdays.  Maybe a year is too long to wait for me too.  I find my kids ask for things all the time (sweets! treats! toys! more toys!), and so I have to say "no" a lot.  It is fun to have a day to say YES to cake and YES to a special gift and most of all Thank You Lord for my daughters' precious lives, they are treasured and cherished!