this weeks menu...

oops!

tonight we already had turkey rice soup.

tomorrow night chicken fajitas!  (yum)

wednesday night sausage linguini.

saturday night fondue and 'elf.'  (new christmas tradition?)

the end of the binky

we really should have done this a long time ago.  but i kept putting it off.  it's like ripping off a band-aid - you just have to do it!

well, dominic forced me to do it because he bit holes in all his binkies and i wasn't going to get him a new one.  we had been talking about the binky fairy for a long time and now we had to just DO IT.  i wrote a letter for him to the binky fairy (which he started writing and i finished):

and we left them in the mail box.

the next morning he got this and was very excited about it!

he still asked for it for a while but now it's forgotten.  whew!  now to get his teeth fixed...  

birthday celebration #2

on dominic's actual birthday, we had a small family dinner - just us with Omi and Auntie Melissa.  he loves mac-n-cheese, so i made this gourmet mac with white cheddar and smoked gouda (not to mention prosciutto)... and he did not like it.  ha!  i guess i'll have to use cheaper cheese next time.  

we just had cupcakes (which he helped me make) because we were having another party in a few days.  

here he is waiting for his birthday parade.  doesn't he look excited?  he actually was.  

by far his favorite present:  mack (from the movie cars) from auntie melissa.  

it was a fun evening and a good day.

dominic's birthday prayer

i've asked dominic before if he wants to pray for the meal.  he never does.  tonight was his birthday dinner and i said, "ok, papa is going to pray."  he replies, "i want to pray."

oh well, ok, of course you can pray.

this was his prayer:

dear God, please help me to not be scared.  

[peeks at me. i say, thank you for the food.]  thank you for the food.  

[peeks again; thank you for my birthday.]  thank you for my birthday.  

amen.

i taught him to pray that at night when he's scared.  (mostly, i think he says he's scared so i'll come into his room.)  so when he prays, that's what he knows how to say!  so funny.

happy 3, dominic

man, i love this kid

my nieces are photographers

when we went to the park in tacoma, i let my nieces takes some cool pictures for me.  here are the highlights.

tovah's pictures first (starting with her nature snaps):

i think this is where lami's pictures start:

tacoma!

it was so awesome to see family in tacoma that we haven't seen in so long!  unfortunately, dominic did not take to having a sleepover with his cousins so he did not sleep well on friday night and as a result, zoned out into a world of his own on saturday.  but it was fun for me.  =)

uncle davis reading to the kids:

 playing with the awesome train tracks.  there were 8 kids between us cousins!  i can't believe it.  

 hot tub!

 a movie for the kids gave the adults a moment of peace after dinner.  whew.  (thanks Anne)

menu for this week (22 nov)

a light menu for thanksgiving week...

MONDAY - cream of broccoli soup (soup night!)
TUESDAY - beef tacos
WEDNESDAY - omelettes
THURSDAY - american thanksgiving in canada!  (whoa, we're so crazy)

yummy!

medicine

dominic says to me while snuggling in bed this morning, "my tummy hurts." a moment later: "i want some medicine."

"oh, well, when we go up for breakfast i'll give you some of your 'medicine,'" [actually probiotics] i say.

"no i want the other kind of medicine."

"but that medicine is not for tummies," i say.

"what is it for?" he asks.

"it's for headaches and fevers," i reply.

pause.

"i have a fever."

psalm 16:5-6

⁵ LORD, you alone are my portion and my cup; 
   you make my lot secure. 
⁶ The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; 
   surely I have a delightful inheritance. 

birthday celebration #1

dominic's going to have a whole season of birthday celebration!  last night we went out to red robin for dinner before opa goes to malawi (tomorrow).  we had a good time at RR, in spite of their short-handedness (or so they said).  i was disappointed that they "didn't have enough staff" to sing happy birthday to him.  what is up with that?!  but dominic didn't notice.  

he loves to see the train there and he enjoyed his mac-n-cheese.  i tried not to mention the mac-n-cheese because i wanted him to get something else, but he recognized the picture right away.  when the server came to take our order, he quickly announced (with no prompting), "i was macaroni-cheese."  later, when the mac-n-cheese arrived, he said, "where's my cheeseburger?"  haha, what a kid.  

and he loved his birthday ice cream.  i had to ask for a balloon and the server begrudgingly brought one.  

everyone else had fun too...

then we went home and omi & opa gave him their present.  oh, what an exciting moment it was!  with the perfect gift bag...

what is it?  what is it?  it's... a...

TRAIN!!!

this gorgeous train was made by an amish toymaker in pennsylvania and carefully hidden by omi all these months.

i was surprised it took him a full five minutes to ask where the train tracks were.

omi told him it was a magic train that didn't need tracks.  oooooooh.

he likes to take the cars apart and line them up "in the changing station"

then he attaches them again and circles them before driving again.  what a funny guy.  

thanks, omi and opa!!

then mathias got goofy with the balloon... hilarity ensued...

[click any picture to enlarge]