Happy Halloween!

Joe had way too much fun carving his pumpkin tonight!  He didn't really have a plan when he started, but it ended up looking a lot like Toothless from 'How To Train Your Dragon'.  Needless to say, the kids LOVED it!!!



Christmas Cards

Trying to take a 'good' Christmas card picture can be quite the challange when you have two children, one of whom is 4 years old and would rather make silly faces than a nice 'picture smile'! Here are a couple of the interesting ones we got...

And this one almost made the cut - I was just experimenting with my camera & didn't know it would turn out so cute or I would have had them in their Christmas PJs...

And so here's what we ended up with:



Ornament Wreath

So I was inspired by this post I decided I needed to make one of these wreaths.  It just looked too easy for such an amazing result.  And the best part - IT REALLY IS THAT EASY!!!  I had a friend over and we knocked this one out in about an hour and I totally love it!

Peppernut Time!!!

Christmas has not officially started in our family until we have made our peppernuts! Now that the kids are older, they are allowed to help (mommy can't stand to waste even a crumb of dough!) and really look forward to helping roll out the little balls of dough.

Such concentration!  And quite a bit of improvement in ball-rolling skills since last year :o)  We just made these two days ago, and there's already quide a dent in the bowl...  I just might end up making two batches this year (One batch makes ~20 dozen bite sized cookies)

Christmas Tree Time

So this year, we decided to stay local and cut a tree down from a lot rather than head up into the mountains.  We started off the day with the kids opening up the drawer on the advent box and there were actually two activities in there - get a tree and go to a Christmas concert!

So, we got everyone loaded into the car and headed out!  Unfortunately, mommy didn't really realize how COLD it was outside, so after a short time of wandering around the tree farm, the kids both started complaining about cold toes.  We pushed them as long as we could trying to find the 'perfect' tree which daddy cut down and the employees at the lot carted it back to our car for us!

While daddy carried Janika back to the car :o)

We got home and got it in the stand right away before changing clothes and heading out to a choral Christmas concert - with both kids actually enjoyed and sat relatively still through!  The next day, we moved the tree into the house in preperation for decorating - those pictures will come soon :o)

Janika's 'New' Hat

So, a couple of years ago I made a basic knit hat using red homespun yarn.  When I got a notice from Janika's school that she needed to wear a stocking cap for her upcoming Christmas concert I decided to 're-new' her old hat.  It was a little too short now, so I added a single crochet boarder using some white homespun yarn I had leftover from another project.  Then I happened to see this pin and decided to make a snowflake embelishment to add - I love it!!!  Turned out super cute, and took less than an hour.  Best part of all, Janika loves it and won't take the hat off :o)

Thanksgiving Mantel

So it's been a while since I posted anything to my blog, and I've been wanting to start it up again.  I guess there's no time like the present.  I'll start off with my Thanksgiving mantel decoration, since I was so happy with how it turned out!

We bought some accent moulding at Home Depot, spray painted it and used some removable adhesive to attach it to the front of the mantel.  I was inspired by this pin to make some dried/pressed leaf candles.  I found some wheat stalks at the Goodwill and used empty cleaned glass jars to display it.  Add in some leftover halloween pumpkins and green candles and... Done!  I love the way it turned out, and have gotten lots of compliments which always feels good :o)

Advent Has Arrived!

I had a great time last weekend making one of these super cute advent boxes with some friends, and last night realized it was time to fill the drawers!  Some of them just got some candy, while others got slips of paper with activities to do as a family, such as:
Get a Christmas Tree
Make Paper Snowflakes
Take a Family Picture
Visit Snowflake Lane
Drive around and Look at Christmas Lights
Skype with Family to wish them a Merry Christmas
etc.

I can't wait for the kids to start opening the drawers and for Christmas to start it's countdown!

Christmas Tree Hunt

Well, this weekend was the date of our annual Christmas Tree Hunt! Overall I would say it was successful. We had a group of 13 people pile into 4 vehicles and head up into the mountains to attempt to hunt down 6 Christmas trees :o)



Conditions were good - we were able to drive all the way up to the end of the road without any snow on the road... A little ice and actually lots of dust, but no snow...



Parked the cars, got out, geared up and started hiking. Now the idea was to put the kids in the sled and drag them along the trail. This worked for a while, but what the pictures don't show is that due to some warmer weather, followed by a dry COLD spell, all the snow was frozen solid. So every bump was a major bump (to a 2 & 4 year old) and everywhere that someone had post-holed last week was a very dangerous ankle breaker of a hole.



But off we went, kids in the sled down the trail... Until the kids started complaining bitterly about the extremly bumpy and very tippy sled ride. Time to get them out and have them start walking... Ya right! They both initially found the snow far to icy and slick - even with good tread on your boots, if you don't have any weight behind you they might as well be ice skates :o)


So at this point the only option is to carry both the kids down the trail. We kept trading kids back and forth, switching arms, trying to get them to walk on their own... Eventually Janika discovered that she could actually walk on the snow and had a great time manuvering over the big holes and letting us know when one of them was small enough that she could step in it with her long legs :o)


Joe took several jaunts up the side of the trail into patches of potential Christmas trees while we (mostly Janika) tried to coach him from the road... "That one Daddy! Over that way! No, THAT way! No, that one's too skinny - go over THAT way!" Anyway, he kept returning to the road empty handed and eventually we decided to turn around and head back to the cars since the kids were starting to complain about cold noses and fingers.


Upon arriving back at the cars we started up the Jeep, cranked up the heat, let the little ones warm up, and broke out the camp stove to cook up some hot cocoa before Joe headed out in the other direction to see if he could have more success solo. Sure enough after not too long he came back with a beautiful tree! Success!

Both kids zonked out in the back seat on the way back into North Bend, but we were able to wake them up to enjoy a wonderful dinner with friends back at the North Bend Bar & Grill. Next mission - to get the tree into the house and decorated!

When Keldon came up to me with his foot through this toy I was expecting him to tell me that he was stuck, implying that he has accidentally gotten his foot stuck in the toy. Instead what did he say? 'It fits!' Which to me sounds like he had been trying to get his foot through the toy and came to tell me of his success. Boys...

Bathroom etiquette

Janika has been doing really good lately at using the bathroom all by herself. We recently bought her a big step stool so she could more easily reach the sink to wash and dry her hands.

Down side: she likes to use every towel in the bathroom she can reach to dry her hands

Up side: at least she hangs them all up when she is finished!

Preschool Performance

There is nothing cuter than a bunch of 3 & 4 year olds getting up to sing in front of their parents!

I think my favorite part was when, during the 'Tom the Turkey' song, one little girl stated that she wanted to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star - and so she did! Loud and proud she sang her solo right over the top of the rest of the class, and don't worry, she remembered to take a big bow when she was finished - way too cute!

Happy Halloween!!!

Well, overall I would say this year's halloween was a success!

Janika started the day with a pajama party at preschool, and they decorated the pumpkins they got on their pumpkin patch field trip last week.

Later we were off to 'Trick-or-Trucks' at the Maple Valley Community Center. Both kids had lots of fun checking out all the big trucks, getting to sit in them, and of course... getting candy!

It amazed me how quickly Keldon caught on to the whole concept. And let me tell you - I couldn't pry that candy bucket out of his little hand for anything!

After the trucks we came home for a nice healthy dinner (Here, eat more veggies, I know what's coming later!!!) and then it was off with Daddy to visit all the neighbors.

Let me just say something here --- when a cute little toddler comes up to your door, PLEASE no matter how cute they are, they really only need one tiny piece of candy! Joe and the kids only went to the end of our block and back (couldn't have been more that 15 houses total), yet Joe had to empty out Keldon's bucket into his coat pocket because Keldon couldn't carry it all. That's right, the little guy was actually dragging the bucket allong the sidewalk!

Okay, rant over :o)

After putting a very tired Keldon to bed, mommy daddy and Janika turned off the lights in her bedroom and played with the glowstick for a LONG time. Way too much fun for all of us!

You've got to be kidding me!

In the craziest case of sibling rivalry I've ever heard of, Keldon decided that if Janika had a bump on her head, then he needed one too...

Yes, one day after Janika got her goose egg, Keldon fell and got a matching goose egg!!!

Pumpkin Patch

Last Friday the kids and I had a great time visiting a local pumpkin patch as a field trip with Janika's preschool class.

We were running a little bit late (Mommy had to stop for coffee) so we were rushed right through the first stop and straight to the corn box.

Janika wasn't sure she wanted to get in at first, but after some coaxing she was tromping through the corn with everyone else.

At first Keldon didn't know what to think of this strange new experience, but soon he was playing around and trying to walk in it with the big kids!

Next stop on the tour was a climb up some hay bales, and down a slide into a hay maze.

So up Janika went climbing to the top of the stack and down into the maze.

She wandered her way through to the end - when you're 3 you don't feel obligated to stay on the ground... you can just as easily go over the bale 'walls' as around them!

The next highlight of the trip was visiting with the animals - Keldon got the first one right, it was a horse, but then everything after that was a horse too :o) Of course Janika enjoyed looking at the donkey, cows, pigs, bunnies, and kittens also.

Then we got to take a hay ride back down to the kids corral where the kids got some ice cream and got to pick out a small pumpkin to take home.

At this point the 'official' tour was over and we were free to get our lunch out of the car (which Janika had been very upset about leaving in the car when we first arrived) and sit down to eat.

After lunch we headed back up into the corral which we had had to skip earlier.

The kids had a great time riding the 'horses'

At this point disaster struck! I was showing Keldon the water pumps when I heard Janika start to cry. I headed over to see what had happened, and another mom told me that she had fallen. Okay, I've got this under control... uh-oh she also had an accident when she fell. Again, no problem, I brought a change of clothes, we just have to head back to the car to get them. At this point I try to get her to stop crying, you know, it's okay, we've got dry clothes, you don't need to cry, etc. but when I take a closer look at her - !!! OKAY go ahead and cry!!! Yikes!!! Off we go to find ice first, dry clothes second!

So, other than a nice goose egg on her head, the day was a success. We brought home 3 pumpkins, and both kids had lots of fun!

Where do they come up with this?

A couple of cute things have come out of Janika's mouth the last week or so, and I just had to share them with everyone!

After thunder and lightening the other night we woke up with no power. So I'm feeding Keldon and Janika comes in and gets in bed with me saying she wants to go downstairs and watch TV. Without even thinking I say 'Okay, I'll be down in a minute.' Next thing we hear is a little voice calling up the stairs "Mommy, the TV needs new batteries!!!"

When being naughty, I'll ask her if I need to smack her bottom. She says no, but graciously offers her hand and tells me I can smack that instead.

The morning after Keldon's first birthday party I go in to get Janika out of bed and ask her if she knows what today is. Of course she doesn't... When I tell her that it's Keldon's birthday today she responds with a very exasperated sounding 'Again???'

Okay, I'll admit it - I'm addicted to the Olympics. But I get a good laugh when watching beach vollyball. There are two players on each side, with the numbers 1 and 2. Janika refers to them as 'thing 1' and 'thing 2'.

And on the 'ohhh how sweet' side of things, I've had strep throat this past week and Janika would come up to me randomly and say "I'm sorry you no feel good mommy" awwwwww :o)

Happy Birthday Keldon!!!

So our baby boy turned one today!!! We celebrated yesterday with a party, and I'd like to think that he had a fun time. We decided on a 'bug' theme, and had a couple of really cute cakes decorated at a local bakery. They turned out really cute! And I made up a bunch of 'antenna' for guests of all ages to wear to help them get in the spirit. What I found to be the most interesting thing, was his absolute refusal of his birthday cake! We couldn't force a bite between his lips no matter how hard we tried - once he got that initial taste, he was DONE with it except to mush all the frosting between his fingers.

However towards the end of the day he was starting to feel kinda warm and not looking so well, so when I got him home I took his temperature - 104.4! Yikes! Poor little guy! So he has been pretty much sleeping all day today and just waking up every few hours to eat, fuss, and maybe play a little bit.

Janika's getting married!!??!!

So Janika tells me today that she needs to get dressed up in her princess dress because she is getting married. Curious. So I start asking questions and get the whole story. Apparently she is getting married to a Care Bear. He wants to marry her so that he can kiss her and become a King. I should note that the particular princess dress she was wearing is the one that she wears when she becomes Princess Fiona.

Happy Birthday Janika!!!

Well, Janika turned three yesterday, and we had a small party at our house to celebrate. She got to invite a few of her friends over for snacks, playing and cake. I had given her the choice of a few different 'themes' and she chose Curious George :o)

Then today we got a card in the mail from some good friends which we opened together and I read it to her. Afterwords she looked at me with a questioning look and asked "Is it my birthday again?" Too Cute!

Daddy must be proud of himself

Today Joe left early in the morning to catch a flight to Tucson. When Janika got up she asked where daddy was, and so I told her that he was in Tucson to which she replied "Daddy fly to Tucson on an airplane?". Fast forward a few hours and we're heading out to run some errands. As we're in the driveway Janika again comments that Daddy's in Tucson and he flew there on an airplane, to which I agree with her. She thought about it for a minute or two then said "Probably daddy drive to Tucson." "No, daddy flew." "Where daddy's Jeep?" So I explained to her how rather than us getting up early and driving daddy to the airport, he drove his jeep, parked it, then got on an airplane and flew. Fast forward a few more hours when we're getting home from all our running around - Janika asked if daddy was home yet... no his Jeep's not back yet... and then she says "Daddy drive himself to airport, Daddy learn how!"