Austin for the holidays

Family time!  Austin for Thanksgiving was fabulous.  After we got there, that is.  You can see here in Ezra's face how at least Ezra, Mark and I felt about the plane ride.

But then there was happiness!

So much fun time with cousins!

And grandparents, aunts, uncles and ..... presents!

 Ezra, the littlest, tried so hard to walk all week.  He made great strides (almost :), and it was fun seeing his sweet effort.

We had a great week and will miss our Texas family!

Party party party

So naturally Carlton's wish was for a dinosaur birthday party this year. 

 

 

He invited five friends,

 

and they had a blast digging out dinosaur fossils,

 

 

creating their own geometric dinosaurs,

 

and chowing down on dino snacks and cake.

Mark rounded out the dino extravaganza with a rousing reading of a cute kids' dinosaur story, which enthralled all the children,

and even the littlest loved!  Ezra could not have been happier to celebrate his big brother's big day!

Five Years Old

Our big boy is five!  Full of life and spunk, Carlton is a fun five-year-old.  He's never met a stranger and is always up for anything.  Loves music, games, telling stories, biking, playing soccer, tennis and golf.  He's recently started to read on his own and do basic math, and is always full of fascinating/hilarious questions and comments.  He is a responsible big brother (most of the time) and loves to help his little siblings.  He loves Jesus and is growing in his character all the time.  He is a joy to be around!

 Carlton has been highly interested in dinosaurs for some time now, and had been asking to go to the dinosaur museum (Fernbank) for almost a year...... so on his birthday we went!  And actually got annual passes, so we will pass many an hour more there this year.  He was thrilled.

For his special birthday dinner that night, he requested quesadillas, macaroni and cheese, and.... kale, his third favorite food.  The kale is cooked into the quesadillas, so not highly visible here, but he loved it :)

November fun

Snapshots from the first part of this month.  Outdoor fun with best friends,

 

 brothers building,

art museum outing with cousin Gigi,

 

first wintry day of the season,

 and our happy little clan.

 

Another first haircut

Clara finally had her first haircut, too, on the heels of Ezra's.  Since she's a big girl, we took her to see our neighbor who has a home salon.  Clara was a little unsure at first about the trappings of an official salon, but she warmed up to it.  And she loved the complimentary nail painting that comes with her first cut :)  The before shots:

 During:

 And after!