We ate cake

Four years ago today I, Mom, hastily prepared a cake for what turned out to be Nathan's only birthday party. Jared, age 3, has been itching to make cake over the past few days, and so I figured today would be a good day to do it. I somehow managed not to have eggs in the house, but the mix ended up turning out all right anyway; thank goodness for mixes! I baked it in my big glass bowl after Jared stirred it up in the same bowl. After it cooled a bit, I turned it upside down onto a baking sheet. I then frosted it with chocolate pudding. It actually looked pretty good, and the kids enjoyed eating it. Amanda wanted to know if we were having it for a birthday. I hedged around the question. I'm glad I made the cake, though. Happy Birthday, Nathan.

Earlier in the day, Lydia was fussing. When I came in the room to see what was wrong, I found the other three hovering around her attentively. They'd made her a little bed, tucked her in with Nathan's blanket, and Amanda was singing lullabies to her. I was glad they used Nathan's blanket, since it seemed like he got to be in on helping baby sister, too. Note Curtis's baseball outfit: it's one that Nathan wore. Another stand-in. :)

Thanksgiving and November with Nathan 2006

As I hunt through our digital archives, it seems that November 2006 was virtually nonexistent. Fortunately, Grandma and Grandpa came to visit that month and took this picture of Nathan:

The caption they put on the picture when they sent it via email said that he was wearing his new jammies. As I type, that same set of jammies is on a 19 month old little boy. Nathan was getting close to 6 months old in this picture. Yeah. Nathan was big . . . and Curtis is small. I consider Nathan's bigness a blessing in that I got to see him "older" than I otherwise would have during his short time with us. I consider Curtis's smallness a blessing, since I get to savor it longer. Lots to be thankful for. Speaking of gratitude, back to the Thanksgiving story.

This year (2010), we have four children, and I am VERY grateful to be going to have our dinner with friends who live just a mile away; I've even walked there with the aforementioned children. Back in 2006, though, it was our first real Thanksgiving as a family with just us, no one visiting from out of town, and us staying put. I very much wanted to make it a good Thanksgiving, and so I went to Aldi to find supplies that fit our student budget. We decided to get a chicken instead of a turkey, since we just had two grownups and two very small children. That chicken was the first whole bird I ever cooked, and I'm pleased to say that with the help of the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook that Dad (i.e. Nathan's dad) got me for our first Valentine's Day, the chicken turned out remarkably well, and the side dishes turned out well, too. A very pleasant feast indeed. We waited until Amanda was exactly six months old to give her solid food, but Thanksgiving 2006 was just a couple of days before Nathan's half birthday, so I'm pretty sure we let him try some food. He may have had other solid food before then, for all I know, but it makes a better story to say he had his first solid food at Thanksgiving. ;)

A hug from big brother

This is Nathan's newest sibling, a little sister. Because Nathan was once covered in the blanket she is wrapped in, I like to think of it as Nathan giving her a hug. (Don't worry, though, she gets plenty of hugs and kisses from the big brothers she can see, too.)