well, the birthdays were a lot of fun! we sailed through on sugar highs and clouds of tissue paper and gift wrap. isabelle tried to give some things back, because she was worried that people had “left [them] here.” she let her brother open a lot of gifts. when he asked her if he could open one more, she’d say, “yeah, sure wyatt.” soooo cute! and now that the madness is over, there is a nice little stash of newness to explore. here are some of the crowd favorites:

the baby cradle cris and i made together. we decided to use really thick wood in case the kids tried to rock each other in it. yeah, it happened that morning!

this children’s size ergo backbapck, which we call a kangaroo (i know, pouch in the front). both of the kids love this and it is so sweet to see them bouncing around the house (literally) trying to get their baby to sleep.

nana’s hand knits were a huge hit! it’s so funny for a child to love a hat and mittens so much, but it also makes me so proud! i think the children see me knitting all the time for our family, and it’s just a part of their lives. they really value it (as much as they can, at least) and are so interested.  i love when they “help” me to knit by holding the yarn or one of the needles. so what if it takes 20 minutes to knit a few stitches?!

most of all, it was just fun to have our family all together.

walking with uncle wes.

reading with pop.

we got to go exploring with cris. he did some chainsawing…

wyatt tried to do some chainsawing too.

and isabelle showed us her fort.

what a wonderful weekend! i love planning and hosting parties! speaking of which…the fun will continue! i’ve got a small knitting project for my brother’s birthday in a couple of weeks, cris and wyatt have birthdays in april, and i’m also planning a baby shower for a friend! horray for parties!