Happy fifth birthday to Joseph! He is smart, loving, considerate, curious, and upbeat, and we're so glad to have be able to celebrate with him today!

It was still below freezing when we woke up this morning, but the sun came out and warmed things up just in time for a get-together at our neighborhood park with a few friends!



Joseph lead us on a walk around the nearby nature trail...



and then it was time for cupcakes and presents!

After getting back home, Joseph couldn't wait to play his new 3D Candy Land game. He did a great job setting it up!



Before dinner tonight, Joseph opened his family gifts! He even helped Rosalie feel included by letting her pick out each gift for him to open!







Here he is opening a couple of gifts from Grandma and Grandpa Allison...





and here are a couple things from Grandma and Grandpa Gedlaman as well! He is so excited about everything!

After dinner tonight, he blew out all five candles on his specially-requested marble cake at the same time...

and here we are before bed cramming in a few minutes to play together! It's been a fun and busy birthday for our fun and busy boy!

One of Tim's coworkers invited us to join them downtown tonight to watch the Holiday River Parade and Lighting Ceremony. Here we are eating dinner before it all gets going!

It is supposed to get down below freezing tonight, and the temperature is already plummeting! We brought Rosalie's coat and hat, but she was still feeling a bit nippy, so we were grateful when someone at another table offered us this blanket to wrap around her as well. She's quite toasty now and providing me with enough warmth that I don't even need my coat! We're still waiting for the parade to get to our section of the Riverwalk, but I'm sure it will be a great show!

Happy Thanksgiving! Although we had hoped to get together with some friends today, the kids still seem a bit under the weather, so we're having a more quiet, but equally pleasant, day together here at home. So far, our day has consisted of cooking, play, the Macy's parade, and the dog show. Now it's time to eat!

The kids got to skip out on their usual afternoon quiet time, and here is the result! Tim tucked Rosalie into bed and sent me in to wish her goodnight, but by the time I got to her room, she was already snoozing like this! It sure has been a great Thanksgiving Day!

Here are a few more of the recent artistic creations around our house! Joseph was really proud of how neatly he colored this star!

He seems to like to use a lot of colors, and this sun is no exception!

This picture actually has a funny story. The last time we had Joy School at our house, we took the kids for a walk at our neighborhood nature trail. Unfortunately, one of the boys got sick along the way, and although the other kids were concerned, they were fascinated as well. When we got back home, Joseph drew this picture of the walk, with a tree in orange, grass in gray and yellow, two teachers and seven kids above, and poor William below with his stomach contents in purple. Luckily he got better quickly!





Here are three colorful scribble sessions by Rosalie...

and a joint project, featuring shapes colored and cut by Joseph, and arranged and pasted by Rosalie!

Joseph has really been into writing notes lately. Here's one he wrote after getting back from the doctor last week. He was quite interested by the whole experience!



Here are two examples of a game Joseph made up for us last Mon, and which he has recreated several times since. It basically involves taking turns deciding how far along the winding path of numbers you want to go, then extending your line to that number. I think the finished games are lovely!

It's pretty obvious what is on his mind today! This says "JOSEPH'S 5'TH BRTHAY N27S 2010" and he told me the N27S stands for November 27th. His powers of inference are quite keen!

One of Joseph's favorite cereals is Alpha-Bits, and just recently we made a homemade alphabet soup that he really enjoyed. Seeing all those letters and numbers in his food really got his creative juices flowing, and here is the result: a play pot full of his own letter and number bits!

Here he is telling Daddy all about them...

and here he is with Rosalie pretending to serve and eat them. What a fun, imaginative project!

I got Rosalie's hair up in a ponytail for the very first time today! When it's wet, it hangs down to the middle of her back, but when it's dry, those curls pull it right up to her neck. Now it's barely long enough that not too much falls out as she runs around and plays. She looks so much more grown up with it pulled out of her face!

As usual, she thought it was neat to see her hair styled in a different way. No matter how her hair is done, she is one beautiful girl!

Poor Joseph has had a pretty bad cough for a few days now, so yesterday morning I scheduled an appointment with his pediatrician. A few hours later, he started showing the symptoms of pink eye, and once we got to the doctor, she told us he was developing a double ear infection as well! This morning he is actually looking much better, even with those giant bags under his eyes. I'm so glad he's on the mend now!

Rosalie and I had fun working together to build this tall tower this afternoon, and we're both pretty proud of it, too!

Here's just a short video of Rosalie playing with two of her favorite things, books and Baby Stella! She has most of The Very Hungry Caterpillar memorized and just being silly with some of her favorite parts. The declaration that "Baby Stella is crying" is one we hear a lot around here lately! We are required to respond with a question along the lines of "so, what are you going to do?" at which point Rosalie will inform us whether Baby Stella needs a ride in the stroller, a bath, quiet time, lunch, time out, etc. I love seeing her imagination at work!