A month in pictures

I cannot seem to get this post to format the way I want it to...sorry for the weird spacing! These first couple of pictures are from when we visited Grandpa and Grandma Beutel on his birthday. Nora was playing with this tiny little doll toilet, and I wasn't really paying attention to her. All of a sudden, I noticed she had gone to the bathroom and come back out carrying some toilet paper. She proceeded to stuff it in the miniature potty and play with it...I guess it doesn't sound that cute/funny when I write it, but it was good enough that night that we took pictures. Maybe I really should think about starting potty training with her?

Nora and her Great-Grandpa Beutel Other family showed up, too, including Rustin and Sharon...and Grace was more than happy to pose for the camera.

Cheese!

After leaving Grandpa and Grandma Beutel's, we stopped at home, picked up some clothes, and went to the cabin to 'camp out' for the night.

Nora refused to sleep in the pack n play...she wanted to sleep by Max on the floor!

Slumber party!

Well, it was an interesting night, to say the least. Max and Nora (believe it or not) DID finally fall asleep, but Max had had a cough and it was getting worse. Greg and I both fell asleep, but I was woken up by Max coughing. Eventually, around 2:30 in the morning I took Max home.

Greg took this picture on Sunday morning....sometime during the night, Nora woke up and he brought her into bed.

Max and I came back to the cabin in the morning to eat breakfast with Greg and Nora and to take them back home. It was a fun experiment, despite the interrupted sleep. :)

Tax season is always tough with the kids, just having Greg leave the house early and get home late...so Sundays are particularly refreshing because my awesome hubby will get up and make breakfast with the kids while I take my shower. Even though our current food of choice has been Malt-O-Meal (see previous post), sometimes he makes pancakes or waffles. The kids LOVE them with thickened blueberries.

A sweet blueberry face...

...and another one. Earlier this year, I was blessed to be a part of a Bible study called Apples of Gold. There were several (nine or so?) women from church who were the mentors and cooking instructors for the Bible study and six of us young moms who were the students. As a thank you for all the work they did over the six weeks, we invited them to a luncheon at the cabin. Because I'm a bad picture taker, I don't have any pictures with people in them...but I do have some of the food and decorations.

Each mentor/instructor took home a teacup with flowers and an apple.

The table (and pretty cabin...love all the light!)

More teacups as centerpieces

The food: chicken crescents, frozen fruit cups, chips, relishes and dip (not pictured), and blackberries with sweet cream for dessert.

Now, on to the birthdays! The night that we celebrated March bdays at Dad and Mom Rassi's, Nora thought she was such a big girl when she got to play dress-up with Elisabeth and Hope.

The three princesses

For Greg's birthday, I attempted my first ever Black Forest Cake, something that A. JoAnn usually makes. She helped by making the cherry sauce for me, and I made the cakes and put the whole thing together. It was probably not the best Black Forest Cake ever made, but it was okay for a beginner. :)

The kids and I brought lunch for Greg and the cake up to the office on his birthday.

Eating chips with Daddy

Excited for the cake! Unfortunately, I forgot to bring candles, so we didn't get to do that. :) I don't think Greg minded.

Yum. On my birthday, my mom had us for supper (I had kind of invited us over, actually). When I walked in, she had the dining room set all pretty and some super BLT salads on the plates.

Lovely.

I meant to take a picture of my plate, but forgot...she also made Greek chicken and fettucine alfredo, bacon wrapped green beans, the Jello that I don't know what it's called but I love, and dinner rolls. I'm probably forgetting something...it was a fantastic meal, is what I really remember! The dessert was a big hit with the kids: chocolate mousse!

Nora thoroughly enjoyed hers.

Clearly.

All the way to the laaaaaast little bit.

So now our birthdays are done for another year, and Max is anxiously awaiting for his turn! I keep telling him that his birthday is after the baby comes...(I hope!)...