Will turns 5!!

My sweet baby boy is five.  FIVE.  

We were thrilled to get daddy home from the hospital just in time to celebrate.

Birthday morning donuts.

Waking up to this :).

This boy still loves his trains.

 Bashful boy while his classmates sang happy birthday.  I got to co-op that day - we celebrated with ice cream.

That evening the O'Connell family joined us to celebrate.

A train on top of Georgetown Cupcakes = a very happy boy.

Opening presents.  Aunt Ginnie, the engineer, helps us assemble the plasma car.

Thanks Grandpa Jack and Grandma Kathy - all three boy LOVE this!

Just a few days later, ready to party, spiderman style.

We had his party at "On the Mat Sports" in Bethesda.  With our crazy week, I'm so thankful we had decided to outsource this year (and thankful to Certifikid for making that possible).  Spiderman Will was up front and ready for action :).

Lined up and ready to learn.

Cake time!

Cutting the cake with a real sword.

The party scene.

Crazy fun friends.

William Walker, you bring so much JOY to everyone around you.  We are so incredibly thankful for the gift of you.  We love watching you grow, learn, and bounce through life, and pray that in this coming year you will discover more of how much you are loved by your Creator.  We love you!!!

November Blur

November was a blur.  Daddy was in serious abdominal pain most of the month, finally landing in the hospital for 5 days (more detail below).

Colder weather brought our first fire.

Will enjoyed a field trip to the zoo with his class.

Thumbs up.

With his sweet carpool buddies.

Caden's final soccer game against the other Westbrook team!  We played on the school field, such a fun day.

Caden's WONDERFUL teacher Ms. Nguyen made a surprise visit to the after party at Chipotle.

Becoming junior webelos.

Fun after study - Mathematician Amy can do impressive work with magna tiles.

The annual ycf Turkey Bowl!  Will got in on the action this year too.

Andrew made a new little furry friend at the O'Halloran's -their new puppy is adorable!

A beautiful Thanksgiving floral arrangement sent by a sweet family at our church.

Our 2014 Thanksgiving Tree!

Some of the things we're thankful for:

Jesus, each other, new friends, Will's new bed, Addy, our wonderful family, our church, our fish Bubba, toys, magnets (Andrew's - because without them there would be no tv, phones, or computers), art, music, minecraft, spunky, stuffed animals, trains, God's word, coffee, beer, chocolate, and many more.  God is good.

three little turkeys...

The only pic I managed to take on Thanksgiving day.  Dave was not well.  I managed to run the Turkey Chase with a few preschool moms, but sadly we weren't able to make it to service this year.  We spoke to our GI practice on Thanksgiving evening, and they made the decision to have Dave hospitalized.  With the holiday weekend, we decided to wait until Sunday (the docs agreed he'd be waiting in a bed most of the weekend).

This is how our boys talked to Dad most of the week.

Getting to visit one afternoon.

It was a long, frustrating week.  We were eager for answers, and they never came.  The good news was that the most serious issues were ruled out.  And as much as we wanted to know what was causing such problems, we were given the opportunity to trust our Creator more fully.  Dave is now feeling completely better, and we hope and pray that it stays that way.  The doctor's best hypothesis was that his colon either twisted and then untwisted, causing the severe pain and subsequent shut down of his bowels, or a severe viral infection caused everything to shut down.

For now, we're just incredibly grateful that he's finally feeling better!

Halloween and more birthday fun

 Halloween 2014

The fun started two days early at Will's sweet preschool parade.  Walking with his good buddy Alice.

Performing with his precious class.

Buddies and fellow Spidermen

The next day it was time for fun at Westbrook.

Andrew with a buddy and his teacher Ms. O'Connell

Caden parading!

So much love in first grade.

No clue what he's doing here.

Andrew was mummified by a few classmates.

Thursday was also Daddy's birthday - Caden set the table that night, and wanted to make sure it was extra special.

Sweet boy.

Will was good at helping him open presents :).

It was also the night of our annual YCF pumpkin carving party!

Fun with Dad's costume -RG Will

Ready to trick or treat!

We had a trick of our own this year - we offered veggies first, and then pulled out the candy.  Some priceless reactions!

How FUN that our buddy and neighbor was wearing the same costume!!

Halloween felt so different this year actually knowing people in our neighborhood.

This crew of littles had so much fun running around together.  Some of our favorite new buddies.

Caden's friend Max stopped by!

Will with his loot.

Andrew had two buddies over for a sleepover that night in place of a bigger birthday party.  

They had SO. MUCH. FUN.

Presents.

Fresh in from trick or treating, and ready to eat candy.  They went to sleep...eventually.

Andrew, you have grown up so much this year, and I have loved getting to watch and discover the boy that you are becoming.  I've loved watching you fall in love with piano, and sports, and rainbow loom.  I see in you such strength and courage, and I pray that the Lord will continue to shape and mold your heart into one that is tender toward him, and kind to others -  that you might be used mightily for his glory. Thanks for the joy of doing live with you - I love you more than words can say, and love being your mom.