A Cute Mary Photo Dump

Mary hasn't been featured in many of the recent blogs, so I thought I would include a few collages of her in all her cuteness.  I don't know if I mentioned her recent walking milestone in a previous blog, so now's a great time!  Mary took her first 2 steps on October 18th, and then another 3 steps on the 21st.  On October 23rd she took 12 steps from the middle of the living room to the couch.  A day or two after that she was officially walking as her primary mode of transportation.  Now she just kind of wanders around the house following everyone around and grabbing toys.

This is not related to Mary, but I just have to share it.  It's kind of an unofficial milestone in a way.  Jack decided that he wanted to put up a sign on his door to tell Owen and Mary not to come into his room.  It says "Do not come in my room or bed   -Jackson."  I guess 5 years old is when you become territorial against your siblings :).

Now I'm caught up for Christmas preparation and the holiday!

Thanksgiving with Family

We had a really great Thanksgiving with family again this year.  It's the second year in a row we've hosted anyone in the family who is able to make it out to Oklahoma.  Grandma and Grandpa Brink arrived first, and they had the opportunity to do a little belated birthday celebration for the boys.  They gave the boys fishing poles and walkie talkies, and both boys were super excited.

 After presents we went to a local bakery to have birthday donuts.  Even Mary got in on the celebration.

Auntie Amy and Grammy and Grampy Nichols arrived two days later, and we had a really relaxing time with some small outings and a lot of food.  Auntie Amy got juggling balls for Jack, but Owen definitely seemed the most interested in them.  He kept talking about how good he is at 'ruggling.'

One of our little adventures was to take the fishing poles on a test run at our neighborhood lake.

Grampy Nichols used his fish whisperer skills and helped both boys catch their first fish ever.

You couldn't ask for a better fishing day than to have both boys get their own fish reeling experience.

Later in the week, on a cold, rainy day, Grandma and Grandpa Brink took the boys to the local bowling alley/arcade to play arcade games.

The boys are obsessed with this place and love to play ski ball, whack a mole, etc.  Mary didn't go, but she got a welcome home picture with Grandma.

We attempted to get a picture of the boys with the Grandpas before they headed out, but Jack was not a willing participant.  He's been very hard to photograph recently.

Then we tried the kids with the Grandmas.

And the Grandmas and Auntie Amy.

Auntie Amy stayed a few days after the grandparents left.  She was kind enough to watch the kids one night while Jonathan and I went to dinner by ourselves.  We tried to get a picture of Auntie Amy and the kids her last night with us, but Owen decided he didn't want to participate this time.

We had such a great time, and we were sad to see everyone go.  

Owen's 3rd Birthday!

Owen turned 3 on the 20th, and we started the day off with a special birthday donut.  After dropping Jack off at school we stopped by a donut shop that makes decorated donuts.  Owen chose a snowman, because he said it was cold outside.  He inhaled this donut!

When we went to the store to get cupcakes for his preschool class he decided he wanted to get M&M cookies instead.  He brought them to school on the 19th since he didn't have school on his actual birthday.  He was so excited to bring these to school, and it was so fun to see him as excited as he was.  On the way to school he was holding his cookies and said, "my friends gonna love me.  My friends be so happy.  I give them hug.  Ms. Megan said I can give hugs."  When I dropped him off, all of the kids were sitting on the floor and he was standing in the middle of them just holding his cookies…so sweet.

In the evening we had our own family birthday party for Owen where we had cupcakes and gave him presents from us.

This is not related to his birthday, but it's been so fun seeing all of the crafts that Owen brings home from school.  He has really adjusted to school, and he talks about his friends and how much he loves painting.  Here are a couple of his adorable crafts from the past two weeks.

We also went to MOPS a couple of weeks ago, and they painted and stuck popcorn to the paint.  He was so excited about his craft, and he carefully carried it out to the car talking about how much he loved painting.

I did a birthday survey with Owen as well this year.

Owen's 3rd birthday survey:
1. What is your favorite color? Blue
2. What is your favorite toy? Monster Truck toy
3. What is your favorite fruit? Pear
4. What is your favorite show? Monster Truck one Blaze and the Monster Machines
5. What is your favorite lunch? Apples and Carrots
6. What is your favorite outfit? Blue Jacket  I don't know what he's talking about.  I don't even think he has a blue jacket.  I do know that he does NOT like jeans or shirts where the sleeves are too long :)
7. What is your favorite game? Sneaky Snacky Squirrel game
8. What is your favorite snack? Larabar
9. What is your favorite animal? Cow
10. What is your favorite song? Monster Truck song I don't know what he means, but he's just obsessed with anything monster truck
11. What is your favorite book? Batman one I also don't know what he means on this one.  He actually likes an book involving transportation vehicles
12. Who is your best friend? Beckham a boy in his class
13. What is your favorite breakfast? Bananas and Bagels
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Scooting His scooter
15. What is your favorite drink? Juice He specified Apple Juice
16. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas
17. What do you bring to bed with you? Blankies- Tiny one and Big one He has small soothing blankies and large blankets from Aden and Anais that he is still very attached to
18. What are you good at? Scooting
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Cupcakes
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? Big Enough.  Hammering Job He said he wants to do a job where he gets to "fix stuff."