November

Thankfully, November was much less stressful/ busy than October.

I started the month by going to Portland for the Time Out For Women conference.  I was able to connect with a friend/ former roommate and had a great time - listening to the speakers, catching up on everything, and being kid free for over 24-hrs.

The girls learned a new song at school for Veteran's Day, and I thought it was too cute not to share.

I love it when babysitters come prepared to play.  Maddi made turkey headbands with the girls; Ken is modeling Maddi's that she made and left behind.

I spent the month posting things I am grateful for on Instagram.  Two of my favorite things are Amelia

 and Sophia.

And the girls helped me decorate the wall all month with things we were all thankful for.

Thanksgiving is always a quiet affair at our house and this year Ken had to work, so dinner wasn't until later, but it was all good.  Ken made his "caterpillar" again this year, otherwise known as turkey porchetta.  It was great, especially because I didn't have to cook it.

We followed our family tradition of getting a Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving.  I love living in the Pacific NW where fresh trees are abundant and cheap.  Who wouldn't love that?

And even better, we found one that we all liked, without too much whining!

When it comes to decorating, we each have our own style.  Thank goodness, Ken's style is "patience" because he let the girls not only help him decorate but put the lights on too.  I tried a new technique too - let the girls decorate, and then re-shuffle ornaments when they were done to make sure the entire tree had ornaments, not just the bottom half that they could reach.

And it turned out really well. 

The girls also decorated "their" tree in the playroom.

I love that Amelia put her favorite seashell on top for the star.

On Saturday, we went to Portland to visit Ken's mom.  The girls were worried that they would be bored, but Diane was prepared with crafts and the girls were in heaven.  They crafted almost the whole time we were there.

I've slowly been putting up the rest of our Christmas decorations.  My favorite ones are always the nativities, including this one, that is tiny, but kid-friendly.  I had it arranged the way I typically do, but Sophie came home that afternoon and arranged it the way she likes it.  I think I'll leave it that way - to remind myself to keep Christ at the center of my focus.

Birthday, Field Trip, and Halloween

October just flew by . . . kind of like this duck . . . Amelia drew this picture in art class and her teacher selected it as one of the 5 from her school that was submit to the nationwide Junior Duck Stamp Contest.  Go Amelia!  She didn't get her drawing talent from me.

Sophia's 5th birthday was a fun event, even if I took horrible pictures and didn't even get one of her by herself.  The girls colored, played games, ate brownies, opened presents, and broke open a piñata - the true hit of the party ;)

Almost before we knew it, it was the night before Halloween and we didn't have our pumpkins carved yet.  The girls each drew a picture of what they wanted their pumpkins to look like, Sophia helped clean out the "guts" . . 

  . . . Amelia supervised, and Ken carved all 3 pumpkins!  Yeah!

 Yes - there really were 3 pumpkins - I'm not sure why I didn't get a picture of the 3rd one.

On Halloween, I got to be a chaperone with Amelia's class for a field trip to the pumpkin patch.  It wasn't as organized as Sophia's pumpkin patch field trip (not the school's fault), but we were all grateful that we got a break from the rain and had a windy, but dry event.

 Me and my girl eating our lunch together!

And then after school, it was time to get ready for Trunk-or-Treat.  Sophia wanted to be a ghost - a simple costume, I thought, but I spent much more time on it than I expected trying to make sure it fit just right . . . and stayed on.  Cutting the holes was the scariest part - I was so afraid she'd end up looking like Charlie Brown's ghost costume :)  And of course, Amelia wanted to be Elsa - super easy costume, since she already had the dress - yeah!

I hope there are no tricks in November - just plenty of time to eat all the Halloween treats!

Field Trips

Ken had a conference in Portland for a week in Sept, and the girls got out of school early one day that week, so I was brave and the girls and I made a field trip to the WA State Fair.  We've lived in WA for nearly 6 years and I've never been, so I figured now was as good a time as any.  

The girls rode on rides. . . 

(Sophia is on the far right of the slide) 

 Saw baby pigs that were only 1 day old . . .

 Watched the clydesdales . . .

 Petted sheep . . .

and had fair food and got faces painted.  All in all a successful outing . . . and even better, we made it home in time for our normal bedtime.  Wahoo!

 Sophia had her first field trip to Hunter Family Farms on Oct. 6, and I got to come as a chaperone.  She wanted her picture taken next to a few of the silly scarecrows.

 So excited to be on the wagon heading out to the pumpkin patch.

 Holding the "chosen" one :)

The next day, I got to be a chaperone for Amelia's field trip to the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge.  I've always thought that was a cool place to go, but the field trip was so educational and fun; I think even the chaperones had fun and learned a few things :)

 Amelia and some of her friends being tree huggers, ha-ha

One of many tree frogs that we saw.  I don't think I've ever seen one before.  They're only about the size of a quarter or smaller, and mostly bright green.

One of 2 snakes we saw . . . in the trees . . . waiting for the tree frogs.  We weren't that close to the snakes, but I was still grateful they were only about 1/2" around.

And now I take a breather for 2 weeks, while we gear up/ prepare for Sophia's birthday and Halloween.  But as Ken said to me this morning, "there's always something going on". . . so stay tuned for more.

Wahoo! It's September!

In August, I finally found a day when the sun and my schedule coordinated to allow this - water play in front of the Children's Museum.  The girls were pretending to be mermaids ;)

Amelia and Sophia took a community class called "Stop, Drop, and Roll".  It was all about firefighters, fires, etc.  Despite Amelia's immense fear of fire, she loved this class and actually asked if she could take it again.

On Aug. 30, Amelia had her adenoids removed.  The poor girl has been breathing through her mouth for probably over a year and her parents finally got around to doing something about it.  She was a trooper and now she can breathe easy.

Over Labor Day weekend, we all went to Portland to visit the Grandparents.  We went to the Dahlia Festival in Canby - which the girls love.  They don't mind that they can't pick the flowers, they're just as happy to pick up flower petals . . .

. . . and broken flowers that have fallen in the mud.  I love the variety of the flowers . . . and the funny/ creative names that they all.

On Sunday, we headed out to Lincoln City for some fun in the sun.  The temp. was only 63F, but there was minimal wind (just enough to fly a kite) and it felt wonderful.  No one minds not being in a swimsuit and we bring a change of clothes instead of trying to get all the sand out of the current outfit.

Sophia has been asking for her own kite for awhile now, and was thrilled to get one from her uncle at the family reunion.  And even more excited that she was able to get it up on her own and keep it up.

Of course, no trip to the beach would be complete without wave jumping with Daddy.  He's so good to stand in the frigid water with the girls, while I stay high and dry on the sand.  We even saw seals feasting on the fish so close to shore.

School started on Sept. 7 for Amelia . . . this was at the Open House the night before when she found her classroom and her seat.

First day of school - 1st grade!  Go Amelia!

Ken had an unexpected free Saturday and spent the day working in the yard.  The girls LOVE helping him in the yard.  He was grateful for the help and they made good progress.

By the end of the day, this beautiful rock garden was all done in our yard.  I wish I could get things on my to-do list done in a day, ha-ha.

Despite not quite being 5, Sophia got to start Kindergarten this year.  We found her classroom and met her teacher a few days before school started.

Sophia started on Sept. 12.  She was so excited she could barely sleep the night before.

And rode the bus to school like a pro.  No looking back for this girl.  Go Sophia!