Life captured.

Twas the Night Before Christmas...

...and all through Nonnee's house, EVERY creature was stirring, forget that old mouse. (But I'll get to that part in just a minute.)

Well, I can't believe Christmas has come and gone already. Sean's family came to spend the holiday with us, traveling from Seattle, L.A., and Charlotte, NC. Sean's younger brother Troy was the first to arrive on the 20th, and Sean William could not be more excited. He remembered nothing but fun with Uncle Troy from his last few visits. Troy was a big help as we finished our Christmas shopping and prepared for the rest of our guests.

Sean's mom and his older brother arrived on the 22nd, and we had a good time visiting that weekend. It was fun to break in the fine china and crystal for the first time on Sunday night, christening it with roasted turkey and all the trimmings. (Yes, it's scary that we've had that china for ten years and are just now using it! Truth be told though, it has a lot to do with the fact that we did not have a true dining room with actual furniture until very recently.)

The kids had a great time with their Grandma Sue and their uncles. The kids got lots of roughhousing, playmates to play with their trains/tractors/trucks and some much needed running around time outside. Oh, and let's not forget Uncle Troy introducing Sean William to the wonderful world of hair care products.

And here is Uncle Steve giving Sean William some spills and thrills as he throws him up in the air:

And Grandma Sue's lap is always a favorite for the boys to climb onto and look through books:

The Troutner boys, big and small.

On Christmas Eve we all feasted at mom's house (aka Nonnee's house) and with five little ones among the group, you can imagine the excitement level in the house. Here's a view of the "kids' table:"

Sammy insisted on feeding Sean William his green beans that evening.

After we completely stuffed ourselves on chicken and dumplings and all of the trimmings, the kids made their way to the gifts (as if there was any doubt?)

The most sought after toy of the evening seemed to be the push n' ride airplane that Jack received. Even the big boys were found riding it though the hallways throughout the evening.

And just look at sweet Maddie in her little Santa Claus outfit!

This one has to be my favorite shot from the evening. The delight and wonder on their faces pretty much says it all:

Mama and Jack. (This could quite possibly be the only shot of Mama during the holidays? And that's quite okay with me! There just needs to be at least one to prove I was present -- haha.)

Daddy reading one of Jack's new books to him.

Gram's 83rd Christmas. I thought this was a great picture of her.

Gingerbread Party

The week before Christmas was a very relaxing one. Sean William was off from preschool for a few weeks, Daddy was on vacation, and the only thing we had scheduled was a delightful little gingerbread house decorating party given by one of our playgroup mommies. She asked that we bring as many adults as we could to assist the gingerbread decorating, so Sean got a rare glimpse at one of our playgroup functions (I think he made history -- first man to attend!).

There were 14 kids invited (4 and under) and the gingerbread workshop was set up in the garage. She had pre-assembled the graham cracker houses, and the kids got to spread the "snow" (white frosting) themselves, and decorate the houses with a whole host of candies. I was mingling about taking lots of pictures, so I give Sean William 100 percent credit for his little creation!

And of course we couldn't escape a few nibbles on those tempting decorations!

After the houses were done, we headed inside for some playtime and iced gingerbread cookies.

Daddy took Maddie off of Deanna's hands for a little while, and Jack wasn't so sure he liked that idea.

But later he got some private Daddy cuddles.

The hostess gave the kids the cutest little party favors: a Christmas straw, a bag of candy and a gingerbread cup.

Here is a shot of her striking "stained glass" window (handmade out of paper). It was so pretty with the morning light streaming through.

The kids had a great time. I tell ya, my three year old has led quite a charmed life in the last six months with all of the wonderful parties and outings he's been invited to!

Jungle Safari Party

Well, I'll say it once more -- I can't believe that my baby is a one-year old already! I posted earlier about our trip to Chuck E. Cheese on Jack's birthday, and I wanted to share a few photos from his actual party the following Saturday.

We decided to keep the party to just family, since that included a good number of people as it was. Not to mention, other than his cousin Maddie, Jack doesn't have too many playmates his own age yet -- just some of Sean William's three-year old friends -- and I wanted to make sure that this didn't turn into a party for the three year olds, keeping it all about Jack.

I wanted to do something with an animal theme since that seems to be Jack's love at the moment, and settled on a Jungle Safari theme. I found some cute plates/napkins/cups and vowed to make the party fairly simple. However, (as things usually go with me), once I got into it I had so much fun working with the theme that I just kept building on it and went a little crazy.  I decorated the breakfast nook with cut out jungle leaves and balloons, and set up a big green tub with oversized stuffed jungle animals in it. Being the snuggler that he is, Jack attacked them right away. With the help of itunes, I also made a CD of kids' "safari party" music, so the guests arrived to "In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight..." (Told ya I went a little overboard.)

We started the party with some games. First we went on a monkey hunt! I made some very simple (and cheap) sets of binoculars for all of the kids out of cardboard toilet paper rolls, and hid a barrel's full of monkeys (from the actual game) around the room.

   

They searched high...

and low.

The next game was similar to charades. I pasted a picture of a different jungle animal on several different index cards and passed them out. Everyone took turns acting out their animal and the rest of the group tried to guess what they were.

Next we let our birthday boy open his gifts.

Sean William and the other boys had no problem showing Jack how to properly attack a gift.

Jack got quite a haul. The hot item of the day seemed to be the "busy gears."

After all of the activities, we had some very hungry jungle safari explorers, so we got the grub ready. We made safari burgers and fried worms (hot dogs cut into lengthwise strips and boiled until they curl). The rest of the meal was a pot luck complete with baked beans, fruit salad, deviled eggs, veggies, and the "safari snicky-snacks" you see here in the red bowls.

 

The cake was one of those projects that had a big "wow factor" for minimal effort.

Basically, I just baked a 2 layer cake and used vanilla frosting mixed with peanut butter for the tan face (which was as tasty as it was functional!). Next I frosted the rest of the cake with chocolate, and sprinkled some Cocoa Krispies over it for a "fur" effect. I created eyes with upside down Hershey's Kisses, and piped on the nose and mouth with leftover chocolate frosting. The ears are two halves of a large sugar cookie. Super duper easy.

We also had "jungle leaf" cupcakes with banana runts on the top.

The Fastest 12 Months in History

I can hardly believe that my baby turned one already! Where did this year go? It seems like Jack's first 12 months went by so much faster than Sean William's did. But then again, I'm twice as busy now as I was when Sean William was my only child! It's been a challenging year with two little ones (and Sean William not even 2 1/2 when Jack was born), but as Jack moves into toddlerhood it has gotten easier (yes, even with him being in the "getting-into-everything" stage). He eats just about anything we eat for meals, and is on cow's milk and on his way to phasing out his bottles completely. His schedule is synched up with Sean William's on most days (in terms of naps, meals, baths, etc.) and all three of us can actually get out of the house a lot more together and do things! Jack is such a sweet little doll baby, and I can't imagine our family without him.

Jack's birthday was on November 28th, and Sean took a personal day in honor of the special day. We spent the morning at Chuck E. Cheese with the playgroup to celebrate, and the kids had a blast playing with/on all of the rides, games and play equipment. (Being that we went on a Wednesday, our group (which included about 7 kids) practically had the place to ourselves, which was great!)

Being the shy and sometimes pensive guy that he is, Jack was a bit overwhelmed when we first arrived (who wouldn't be in a place like that?), but it didn't take long for him to warm up and enjoy himself. His favorite ride was the little red sportscar with Chuck sitting as a passenger. If you put in a token, the car would gyrate a little, and a built in camera would snap a shot and spit out a photo at the end of the ride. Jack didn't seem to care if the ride was in motion or not...he just enjoyed sitting there and playing with the steering wheel and making car noises (which I'm convinced is just inherent to boys -- they both did that as babies and we never taught them that!). Jack loved that ride so much that we literally had to pry his little fingers off of the wheel when it was finally time to give someone else a turn!

We also enjoyed the signature show while having some pizza, and I brought some cupcakes to share with the group.

And last but least, I decided to have some fun with another mommy in the group, and we tried our hand at race cars, ski racers, and a dance game (which we never quite figured out, but man were we panting like dogs afterwards -- talk about an aerobic workout! Not to mention we laughed our heads off through everything we were doing which is not terribly conducive to playing anything correctly!)

We had a full morning, but the kids had a ball and slept on the way home (it was a 45 minute drive). We dropped Sean William at MeeMaw's house and took Jack back home with us so he could get some one-on-one Mommy and Daddy time. He had fun at Chuck E. Cheese, but I almost think that he had even more fun having us all to himself!

We had the official party for him the following Saturday, and I'll be posting those pictures soon!

Retro Post #3

Well folks, I think I'm almost up to date on all of my posts. Please bear with me -- life is happening faster than I can blog! (For those of you missed them, I previously did a Retro Post #1 & 2)

Retro Post #3 is from a birthday party back in September for one of Sean William's playmates that was turning three. God bless her mother -- she was seven months pregnant at the time and pulled off a good-sized party for a bunch of active 3 and 4 year olds (with other family members and cousins there as well).

The party started in the late afternoon, and before we could even make it to the backyard, Sean William spotted the horses near where we parked. Sean William wasn't the least bit intimated, and went right up and pet their noses. He was especially fond of the little pony (I'm assuming that's what it was?). We're not what I would call "horse people," (although I have nothing against them), so his growing interest in horses has really surprised me.  He is *still* talking about riding that horse at a friend's birthday party back in August.

Next, it was off to join the party. The kids had a blast playing in the backyard climbing on the play system, digging in the sandbox, and bouncing in the inflatable.

After working up a big appetite, it was time for the kids to enjoy some pizza and cake (and a Dora cake at that -- Sean William was enamored with that big purple Dora cake!)

After that it was time for the birthday girl to open her gifts. Now let me just say that she is a very calm, gentle child -- well, in other words -- a girl! And this being the case, her parents have no reason to worry about things getting broken on a daily basis, and therefore they are able to freely decorate their home as they want to (which is only a pipe dream for the rest of us for the time being!). As we all packed into a family room of wall to wall kids, we mothers of boys got very nervous when we noticed a curio cabinet made of solid glass full of delicate Precious Moments figurines. There were even some balancing on top of the cabinet as well. Needless to say, I put the camera away and concentrated on one thing, and one thing only -- making sure that Sean William didn't break anything! The other mothers were thinking the same thing, and we were joking about how we were all lined up against the wall,  jaws set, sweating and up on our knees ready to pounce on our offspring if necessary, nervously shouting commands here and there ("Come back on this side of the room....careful Honey!....let's move this way, babe"...). If we would have each had megaphones in our hands, the image would have been complete.

Fortunately, everything turned out fine and no one threatened the safety of the figurines. I had one major stress headache after that, though!

All in all, it was a great party, the kids had a wonderful time, and my little social butterfly got yet another party experience!

Only two more retro birthday party posts and then I think I'm caught up (but uh-oh, two more birthday parties coming in December to backlog me again -- hehe.)

Halloween '07 (Part 2)

The Halloween festivities continued after the big party that morning. After the kids' naps, I gave them a very early supper and slipped them into their costumes. Gram came by to help (since it looked like Sean would have to work late), and I *tried* to get some photos, but the kids were bouncing off the walls with excitement (and these are the PRE-sugar photos!). I posted some preview pics of their costumes before Halloween, and here are a few more before we headed out for the evening:

We headed out for our church's Trunk or Treat party. Now, I fully assumed that this was a universal thing because I see this done at churches all over the area, but Deanna informed me that they did not have these in North Carolina when they lived there, and they were new to her. Basically, a Trunk or Treat party is a big Halloween tailgate party. Church members decorate their trunks with a theme (and sometimes dress to match the theme) and hand out candy from their trunks as the kids walk around and collect candy. The premise is that it's a contained, much safer experience for the kids rather than just knocking on random doors (not to mention that having it through the church removed anything that might be considered more...shall we say...from the darker side of Halloween? if you know what I mean). Plus, it incorporated so much more than gathering candy. There were actual carnival trailers with games and prizes, food trailers with lemon shake ups, pretzels, nachos, etc., hayrides around the property and other fun activities.

I met Deanna there with her kids, and with Gram in tow, we figured that three adults for the five kids would be fine. Henry joined us later, and Sean stopped by on a break. It was SO crowded and busy and loud that we were happy to have as many adult hands keeping tabs on our kids as we could get. The kids seemed to have a ball though, and enjoyed the sights and sounds and (of course) the candy. With all of the chaos, I fell down on my photographer's duties and didn't get many photos of the event. It was all I could do to keep my eyes glued on the kids as we weaved through the masses of people and visited each display.

Isaiah decided to try a dancing game (a glorified dancing Twister game, if you will) and did a great job.

After that, we joined the actual PARTY inside the church. After some free hot dogs, chips and drinks we let the kids jump on the big inflatables. There were also craft stations set up, a Veggie Tales movie playing on the jumbo screen, and a some other activities for older kids. Can we say Kid Heaven?

Unfortunately, by 7:00 we needed to stick a fork in Jack, because he was officially done and ready for his bottle and his bed. We headed out, and Deanna took Sean William with her crew and let him trick or treat a little on Nonnee and Papa's street before he called it a night.

Talk about one fun day! Here are a few more pictures on Deanna's blog from the evening.

Halloween '07 (Part 1)

Halloween turned out to be one big, eventful day for the kiddos.  It started in the morning with a party at the home of one of the mommies in our playgroup. And let me say that Miss Terra did an AMAZING job with this party. There were probably 14 kids under 4 years of age there, and I'm sure that it is no small feat to pull off a party like this! When we got to the house, she had a very cute display of hay bales, corn stalks and pumpkins on her front porch, and she took photos of each child in their costumes sitting on the hay bales as they came into the house.

Next, it was excitement central in the house, as the kids got to play either in the inflatable ball pit, or with the huge assortment of Thomas trains and the train table (which Sean William and most of the other boys were found drooling over), or doing various crafts and games.

Next it was time for some goodies. Yummm....

The kids played for a while and then had some pizza.

The grand finale was the pinata. This one broke open by having the kids each pull on strings at the bottom (sooo much better for preschoolers than the old school beat-it-to-death type of pinata).

The kids had such a great time! And the day was only beginning....(stay tuned for Part 2!)

Dinner and a Movie

Deanna and I combined forces (and children) to create the first official Monthly Family Fun Night last night. In the hopes of getting the kids interested in cooking, we let them make their own pizzas. I created a toppings bar complete with tomato sauce, pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, yellow peppers, green peppers, olives, pineapple, broccoli and cheese and let the kids go to town on their own individual kid-sized pizza crusts.

The kids enjoyed "cleaning up" the leftover toppings.

Success!

Jack enjoyed some of the toppings as well.

DJ Mad-DEE (aka Madeline Rose) rocked the DJ booth and enjoyed the action.

And the film presentation of the night...

The kids went to their chosen bean bags and chairs and settled in as the movie began.

What movie would be complete without popcorn?

Certain parts required closer viewing.

Well, the kids never made it through the whole movie (which we fully expected at this age), but they did have a good time. Honestly, this was only the second real "movie" Sean William has ever seen (Finding Nemo being the first one he saw that he watched on his birthday).

We hope to do another Family Fun Night next month!

My favorite time of the year...

I'm not much on Halloween (although I try and facilitate the whole candy/costume experience for the kids), but I do love fall. I would have to say that October is my favorite month of the year by a mile. Sean proposed to me in October of 1996, and we waited an entire year to get married just so I could have an October wedding!

I love the weather, the colors, the food, the leaves...the whole atmosphere in general. Chili pots are simmering on the stove, colorful knit sweaters and hats begin to make their way out of the closet, and the neighborhood porches are dotted with plump orange pumpkins and bright golden mums. There's even a crisp smell about the air that I love. September is usually still hot and steamy, and November starts to get bittery cold and ugly, but October is just right.

I've got quite a few fall photos of the kids to post from the last month, but as usual, I haven't found the time to sift through them all just yet. Coming soon!...

$6.50 will buy a whole lot of cuteness

The boys put their Halloween costumes on this morning, and I pulled out the camera, hoping for a few pre-Halloween shots. They were wiggly and giggly and very wound up, so I didn't get much, but here is a quick sneak peek of their costumes for you:

I bought Jack's dalmation costume on ebay for $6.50 -- how CUTE does he look? -- and Seanie's fireman costume on clearance at Gymboree -- and again, cute, cute, cute!

They were both invited to a costume party at one of their playmate's houses from their playgroup on Wednesday morning, and that night we're going to our church's Trunk or Treat party. Everyone pulls into the parking lot and opens up their trunks full of candy (and some people go all out and decorate the trunk with a theme) and the kids go from trunk to trunk collecting candy. After that, there's a BIG party inside with inflatables, games, food, etc. They will have one BIG day!