Snowman Army

Every once in a while, I do something that makes me think my time as a stay-at-home mom has been ultra-productive. I don't really count laundry or keeping the house clean, because those things would need to get done even if I worked outside of the home. And since Abby and Caleb are in school most of the day, a lot of the day I am alone. So, when I do something like make this army of snowmen for Caleb's class party, I feel ultra-cool. Wouldn't you?

Happy 6th!

Today is my little girls birthday. While going through our digital photos, I found this series of pictures that I'm going to share in honor of Abby's special day. Enjoy.Her messes aren't quite so messy anymore, but she is still as inquisitive, imaginative and I love her more than she loves her dolls!

10-year old wishes

The reason our 10 year old wants a laptop? So he can "have a facebook page, and start a blog."
At least it is for productive reasons. We are very interested to know what a 10 year old would write in a blog!
Oh, and I love that this year we get to make cinnamon rolls for Santa. Much better than regular ol' cookies, if you ask me!

A decade

A decade ago, November 22 fell on Thanksgiving Day. After much drama and delay, Caleb was born. I missed the Thanksgiving feast for this bundle of joy:
He truly spent most of the first 6 months of his life looking like this. (I have tons more where these came from!)But, he was also often known to look like this:So, that made up for the crying, and yelling, and wailing, and screaming. Really. It did. Since his birthday is so close to Thanksgiving, this year we decided to have his birthday party this past Saturday. We went to a local place, Shankz. The kids played blacklight mini golf. It's a good thing we planned an indoor activity since it snowed that morning, and rained for the rest of the day. Caleb requested a Harry Potter cake, so I did my best.

He loved his presents, and even got to put his hand print on the wall of the party room. Happy Birthday to our wonderful boy!

Halloween

In years past, there has been no dressing up of any kind for Halloween in the school. However, this year they cleverly allowed it disguised as Storybook Character dress up day. So, Caleb decided to dress up as Harry Potter.
Abby was a beautiful, (and modest) Jasmine.
Here is Caleb and his friend Zane as Harry and Ron Weasley. A duo to be reckoned with, to be sure.
And these are our pumpkins. Caleb really stuck to the HP theme. Abby expressed her love of cats, and I am responsible for the goovy pumpkin. Also, I think it odd that on Nov. 1 (when I took this picture), I have dahlia's blooming. Beautiful, just a bit out of season.

Random catch up

In September, for a friend's birthday party, we went here:(Great Wolf Lodge)

I was trying to be cool (my first mistake), jammed my toe on a kiddie slide (within the first 5 minutes of arriving), and did this:What you may or may not be able to see is a chip above the second joint of my second toe. Yes, it hurts. No, it will never fully heal. Yes, it is still purple and swollen. No, I never want to go back to Great Wolf Lodge.
A few weeks later, Dave came home from work with this beauty he found on the floor of his shop:Now that I have taken a picture of it, and documented its' place in our family history, I can finally get it off of the kitchen counter, and throw it away.

Annual Autumnal Activity

Today we had perfect weather for one of our favorite fall activities...going to one of the local pumpkin patchs. This year we went to Lattin Cider Mill. Abby walked to the far side of the field to find her perfect pumpkin.
Caleb's approach was less physical and more intellectual.
Of course Abby spent as much time as possible with all the "cute goats."
We saw lots of these...

And one of these:
I'd never seen an albino peacock before. Well, not counting Shen from Kung Fu Panda 2.


We filled our bellies with hot apple cider, and fresh apple fritters. Fun was had by all.

First Day of School - Part 2

Caleb's excitement yesterday for school starting was put to shame by his younger sister. Abby reminded me of Nemo - "first day of school, first day of school". She literally jumped out of bed and didn't slow down until we got to the school. Am I the only one who loves little kids with huge backpacks?

At our school, half the kindergarteners went yesterday, and Abby is part of the group whose first day is today. Here she is with her friend Lexi. Hopefully their friendship survives them being in the same class this year!
I can't believe both kids are now in school. I'm glad that they both enjoy it so much.

First Day of School - Part 1

Caleb was so excited to start school today. (can't you tell?) It was all I could do to make him wait for his friend Zane to start walking to school! He has a teacher who is new to the school this year, and a couple of kids who are also new to the school. It should be a great year.

(Un)Labor Day

We spent the Labor Day holiday doing nothing laborious. We drove to a park we have never been to before - Burfoot Park - and hiked down to the beach.

There we found a couple of pirates fighting valiantly on a sinking ship.

It is on days like today, and walks with this view, that make me truly love where we live.

Cat Storage

A few years ago, Dave's mom sent him the card below. It was hilarious at the time, and even more hilarious since we now own cats, and Abby like to do this with them.

Ohanapecosh

This past weekend we joined my cousins, the Dillon's, and the Campbell's, at Ohanapecosh in Mt. Rainier National Park. Our first hike was around Lake Tipsoo, where we encountered snow. A lot of snow. It was great fun to have snowball fights in August!
The "spring" flowers were just beginning to pop through in places.
It was such beautiful weather, and as always, the mountain delivered. Abby said it was the most wonderful place on earth. (Take that, Disneyland!) For your viewing pleasure, here's some of what we enjoyed.


We hiked to Silver Falls on Saturday. I know it's not just me - there is something very peaceful about a waterfall.
Now, on an entirely different note, this woman, who was in the campsite across road, cracked us up. She wore the cute little silk dress, with Teva's, and *wait for it* pearls. I'm totally taking mine next time we break out the tent!

13 Years and counting...

13 Years ago, on a day very unlike the one we're having now in Washington (it was scorching hot that day), a boy and a girl woke up at the crack of dawn and their adventures really began. Well, first there was a ceremony here, in the Bountiful, Utah Temple. And then there was this.
One of our favorite pictures taken that day.
And one from our reception. The cakes were my favorite part of the reception. There were 6 different flavored cakes, of which we each only got one lousy little bite.
I can't believe it was 13 years ago. I'm looking forward to the next 13; and the next 13 after that, and well, I think you get the idea!