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]

menu for this week (15 nov)

the much anticipated menu is here (i know, you have been checking the blog hourly to see it)

MONDAY - red robin for dominic's birthday!!  (they have a train!)
TUESDAY - pot roast & garlic mashed potatoes
WEDNESDAY - french onion soup

i've been using my cast iron dutch oven and i'll use it again this week.  it's awesome!

lunches and snacks are the same.  drop in for chai at 3:30!

omi makes us smile

on being siblings

anything zoe does/has/sees/touches, dominic has to do/have/see/touch.  

you can convince him to do just about anything if "zoe's going to do it too!"

he wants so badly to play with her but he has not yet learned gentleness and she has learned to be a bit wary of him (look at the concern in her eyes!)

but he can make her laugh more than anyone else.  and occasionally, he does something -- like barreling into her on the couch -- that totally freaks me out, and she loves it!