Very thankful

We turned our Thanksgiving into a mini vacation by hooking up the trailer, climbing in the truck and heading out of town.

We had fun spending our time with family and people we just met.

The weather was wet and cold but what can you really expect at the end of November?!
The kids were able to get out and ride bikes or go putt putting most days. But when the rain was coming down and the wind was blowing we were stuck inside. We watched WAY too much TV and now we are on a much needed TV diet.
Some of our time inside was spent playing games and drawing.

If The Little Lady finds a pen she will then be on a mission to find some paper. She just loves to draw. If no paper is found she might just start drawing on her belly.
On Thanksgiving morning The Little Lady even decided to leave a little turkey hand print on the trailer window.

It reminds me of this little hand print from a few years back.

My two little monkeys

I know that it is a week an a half passed Halloween but I guess I better post about Halloween now or I never will.
The Littles dressed up as monkeys.

They were the two cutest monkeys that I have ever seen.
The costume was so fitting for The Little Lady since she is such a little monkey. She just loves to climb, hang and swing. When you pick her up she wraps her legs around you and hold on tight.

The Little Man liked his monkey costume until he saw his friends at the harvest party wearing cooler costumes like cops, rockstars and super hero's. I tried to tell him that he gets to be those cool things everyday but only on Halloween he gets to be a monkey. It helped a little.
I also told him that next year we can work together and make him whatever costume he wants. He liked that idea and wanted to start right away. So to hold him off a little I made him a t-shirt with the COPS logo on it.

I just cant believe how big my biggest little monkey is getting.

I have really started thinking about him starting Kindergarten a lot lately. I am really up in the air about want I am going to do. Not only with myself but with him. Do I put him in school like most do or do I sigh up for a virtual or online academy? I just dont know. I am just glad that I have a few more months to think about this before I have to make a decision.

Even though the monkey costume was so fitting for The Little Lady she was not all that happy to be wearing it.

Even if you dont want to wear the costume Little lady you are still my littlest little monkey.

I dont know if next year I will be able to get The Littles in matching or 'themed' costumes but either way I just love the amazing memories we are creating together.

Last year they had themed costumes of a cowboy and a horse. Here is The Little Man sporting last years costume this year.

He decided to wear it a month ago to a friends wedding. They got married in a barn so the costume was very appropriate. I just love his creativity.
I wonder what he will choose to be for Halloween next year?

A pumpkin afternoon

On this beautiful fall afternoon our house was filled with three pizzas, one grandpa, one grandma, two great grandmas, an aunt, an uncle, a cousin, our family of four and 3 pumpkins.

This is the first time that the little man has carved a pumpkin. He said that he wanted to carve it into a trailer but than changed his mind and drew a face or three on his pumpkin.

When the pumpkins were carved and the seeds were roasted I tried to take a picture of the littles on the front porch with the pumpkin but tried was the key word.
Take one-

 Take two-

 Take three-

Today was a wonderful day filled full of amazing memories.

Welcome fall

The signs of fall are all around.

Fall is...

Bike rides in the fallen leaves and making it home before it gets to dark, which comes way to early at 7:30

Homemade treats for teachers

Riding the little yellow school bus to school and being the big man in school

Wearing long sleeves and leg warmers and learning the joys of pockets

Pulling out the almost forgotten needles and starting a fall hat (in an amazing shade of orange)

Finding ways to bring nature in

Hunting for your favorite leaf and having a hard time finding just the right one.

Canning and enjoying your harvest all season long

Welcome fall.. I have missed you.

Turkey day 2010

We started off our Turkey day with the breakfast of champions.

Turkey hand print cookies.

I came across this hand print cookie cutter at a garage sale this summer and I thought that it would make some cute turkeys. Mini chocolate chips for the eyes, M&M's for the beak and waddle and a little colored coconut flakes as the feathers.
Then we were off to my dads house for the family dinner.
The little man watched Toy Story 3 while the guys watched football.
My mom and I worked together in the kitchen and it would not be Thanksgiving with out a little mishap. This year it was just a few burnt marshmallows.

The little lady enjoyed her first Thanksgiving dinner also.

The little man did not want to eat a thing.

I am so thankful.

Rainy day fun

The little man informed me today that he does not like the rain. I am sorry kid but it rains a lot here.
But the rain is good for this...

We have been trying to keep our rain filled days full and busy.
The little man is really getting into learning about letters so I picked up a alphabet poster today at the dollar store.
He has learned that every word starts with a letter. So after most words he will stop and ask me what letter does it start with. 'What letter does blanket start with?' What letter does car start with?' What letter does poo start with?'
He has also learned how to spell his name. He is still working on writing it but that will come soon.
We have been playing games together. We have a number of 'kid' games and he is just now getting the idea of taking turns and following directions.

It is so amazing to watch him learn.
** I had a couple of you ask what park we were at back in this post and it was Steel Lake park in Federal way. Sorry it took me so long to answer your questions.

A few more pictures from Halloween

I finally got around to uploading the pictures from Halloween.
We spent our Halloween night up at our churches harvest party and the littles had a great time.

I picked up a roll of stickers at the dollar store for the little man to use as 'tickets' to give to his friends. He had fun passing them out and showing his friends his costume. It was not long before he noticed the games.

He started out with only wanting to do was play the 'gun' games but he soon started playing all of them.

He ended up with a good amount of candy and prizes. He was excited to get some Toy Story cards and we have played with them every night this week.

The little lady enjoyed watching all of the kids and was able to spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa O and Great Grandma P while I spent some time helping the little man with the games.

I tried for attempt number two to get a picture of the littles together in their costumes but this was the best that I could do.

Cute, right?
I think that I might have to dress them up one more time and try it again.
The little lady also enjoyed her first piece of candy when I was not watching. It was a piece of a round peppermint that she found on the ground at church. She was super mad at me when I took that out of her mouth.

Goodbye October and hello November.

Green Halloween

We got together one night this week to have a green Halloween party. There were crafts, games, plenty of baked goods to share and you cant have a Halloween party without apple cider. The little man was very excited to dress up in his cowboy costume (but he would not put on his hat).

This is an improvement over last year when he would not even wear his costume.
The little man came up with is costume idea all on his own. It all started with the brown cowboy boots my mom bought him a year or so ago. The yellow shirt he had hanging in his closet and the pants were borrowed from his friend 'Row'. 'Row' also let us borrow his belt and buckle but it was just a little to big so we had to make do with a cheap fake leather one.
I made him the cow print vest to look like 'Woodys'. It is lined with brown fleece and even added a sheriff badge to it.

I think that he really like his costume.

I tried to get a picture of both kids sitting on the hay but the little man wanted nothing to do with it until the little lady was already out of her costume and all most asleep in the Ergo, so I had to settle for one of the cowboy with out his horse.

Thats right the little lady is a horse this year for Halloween.

Her costume is made up of a tan shirt, brown shoes, tan corduroy pants complete with braided brown tail and a mama knitted tan hat with ears, a brown mane and  braided ties were added to help keep it on

I did not have a pattern for the hat so I just kind of made it up as I knitted. It did not really turn out the exact way that I wanted but I looks very cute on her (when she leaves it on).
Our pumpkins this year even decided to join in on the green festivities by staying green. We moved them into the house earlier this week and it has seemed to bring out there orange side. Maybe in the next week or two we will paint/ carve them.

Have a great Halloween

The Children's Museum

We took a little trip down town to the Children's Museum.
We have been here many times before but this was the first time that we rode the light rail there.

I was expecting the rain (we do live in Washington) but I was not expecting it to be that cold. We did not have to wait very long before the light rail showed up and than we were nice and warm inside.

We rode all the way to the end of the track and then it was time to go inside and start playing.

The littles had a great time playing together but once the little mans friend 'Row' got there the boys went off to explore leaving the little lady by herself but she did not seem to mind.

The boys always enjoy playing with each other. This time they fixed the roof on the house, explored with balls and pipes and they even built a large fort out of over sized blocks.
The little lady did lots of exploring also. She even found some one just her size to play with.

The little man was very sad to leave his friend and all the fun that he was having but I could only find three hour parking. He was excited to be able to ride the light rail again.

Now that I know how easy it is to get down town using the light rail I see us doing this more and hopefully the little mans friend can meet us there again soon.