Downtown Christmastime

This afternoon when N woke up from this nap we shuffled the kids into the van, drove downtown to find a parking spot and did our yearly Christmas outing. It was just us, and we had a really nice few hours. N even wore underwear the entire time without an accident! We didn't do everything I had on our list; we forgot about the giant gingerbread houses until we were already back in our seat on the monorail, we skipped ice skating on purpose because neither D nor I wanted to wait on the sidelines with a 2-year-old rubber ball bouncing off the walls. But the miniature train was pure magic for N, the aforementioned monorail offered a lovely view, and the carousel is a must. This year we also stopped in for a scheduled snow flurry inside a mall (not much to write home about, but now we've done it). All in all it was a really nice time with my family.

Stilts

It's been really fun to see N take a few of the same classes E did when all those years ago. The 1 1/2 hour Fun Factory class with Teacher Tracey has/was great for both. It's basically preschool time with parents. Art, songs, snack, sensory table, parachute play, and large motor play. E especially loved the stilts back then and N is getting the hang of them too.

Little Boy(s) Blue

As I mentioned yesterday, N has finally flipped that all important "use the potty, not my diaper" switch. And apparently, so has Kola his side-kick puppy, both in their blue undies this morning.

He Makes Chocolate Look Good

N surprised us all today by using the potty all day! We rewarded him with a trip out for ice cream.

Vacuum

N has really been into using scissors lately and is making a royal confetti mess at the art table. Every few days I haul out the vacuum and have him clean up. (click on picture to watch video)

I feel like there should be an overdub of Julie Andrews as Marry Poppins saying "In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun and SNAP the job's a game!"

"Op-Ti-Cus"

N talks a lot about octopus's since our last visit to the aquarium a month and a half ago. Today he drew one, showing off his new talent of lovely circle making! They're not connected, but all the 'pieces' there; body, and long legs and in the same color as the real thing!

Throw Your Teddy Bear

Here's N in his gymnastics class, you can also see cousin Inger in the pink shirt and piggy tails.

Tech Candy

I think I may love my new iPhone cover as much as my new phone. I had a first generation iPhone that was giving up the fight. D sweetly ordered me a new one and it was delivered recently. But, I'm one of those people that try as I might, I drop my phone. So I was on the look out for something a little special. This cover comes with 2 interchangeable soft cases that protect it from bumps and bruises and a hard little snap on filigree that looks so sweet. Check the site out.

love.

My Christmas Decidedly Just Got Merrier.

I love Tuesday mornings, we wake up to find all the delightful things I ordered the day before from our milkman. Most every other morning it's, well, milk, sour cream, the occasional muffin 4-pack, loaf of bread or bag of coffee and since N can't stomach (literally) the cow variety, Almond milk. But when the holiday's come round their seasonal offering's are mouth watering! Today's splurge was Alki Bakery's Chocolate Crinkle cookies, they're dipped in peppermint white chocolate and then topped with crushed candy cane. Yu-Um. So perfect with my afternoon cup of coffee.

A Noun is a Person

Today we began working on identifying people as nouns. E's workbook requested that on a separate page she draw a person and then write a sentence about that person and underline the noun, she choose Kaela, her best friend:

Tree, 2, 1, GO!

We were in and out of the tree lot in less than 5 minutes this year. It had to be a team effort with everyone hustling this year; we had to get Daddy back on a plane for the second half of tour (he kindly flew home to celebrate Thanksgiving with us). E picked it out, D carried it to the cashier, and N followed everyone to the car with the twine to strap it to the top of our van.

11:05:18am :: 6 1/2 foot Nobel Fir tree located

11:05:53am :: tree carried to counter

11:06:38am :: fresh cut on bottom with chainsaw

11:09:03am :: tie to top of car

11:21:04am :: home

Bodkins are a Girls Best Friend

Don't worry, I didn't know what a 'bodkin' was until today either. My family has this accumulating stack of gym pants/shorts and hoodies, where the drawstring has been pulled out. Some drawstrings have gone missing so I made a trip over to the fabric store to buy a few yards or cording and offhandedly asked the woman at the cutting counter if she has any magic tricks for reinserting the buggers.  Her eyes lit up and she said "Follow me!" A Bodkin! This little miracle worker costs less than $2, and I had all of our clothes restrung in less than 5 minutes! This little metal needle has pincher's on one end instead of an eye, and a ring that clamps it shut; it's genius.

Swanson's

 We hit Swanson's for the Reindeer Festival every year with Asher, Mini, and Eileen. Now with most of the brood synced up with school hours we braved the crowds this weekend to snap a few quick pic's before heading back to their house for some cookie decorating.

Season's First Snow

E was at a slumber party last night, so when the boy and I rolled out of bed this morning we had our own little snowy surprise! He looked out the window for a long time, and then decided to pull his parka over his jammies, and chunk on his snow boots for some crunching and digging.

 

...cue the Christmas music.

Friends

 
 

N has 2 very special boys in his life, Sawyer (middle) and Jesse (left). Lucky boy.

She MADE that!

E has been teasing me with the small details of a surprise she has been diligently working on in her pottery/metals class. She finally presented me with these very cool earrings!  GET OUT! And I'll actually use them!

Leaves

This autumn has been exemplary. Yes, we have moved into the cooler days and a few have been drizzly, but the leaves have really shown their colors this year. They'd hung on as long as possible; until the last few days of chilly blowing winds. When we went out for some air this afternoon we were all so pleasantly surprised to find the pavement littered with colorful leafy confetti!

Gifts

It's The Great Pumpkin!

Happy Halloween everyone! Our family really went all out this year, and we had sooo much fun! There were a lot of really late nights and long hours poured into the papier-mâché heads, but didn't they turn out great? And isn't our little Woodstock the cutest?

Carve It Up!

Somewhere between trips to the store, heating up the hot glue gun and sitting at my sewing machine for costume making we managed to get our pumpkins to the table for some slice and dice fun. E was set on using a skull template that came with our carving kit, but in the end decided she wanted to just go free style and she did the entire jack-o-lantern herself, knife-work and all! N just wanted something happy, but he was determined to use these little pink tongs from his play kitchen to clean it out. E sketched something on our blackboard that he willingly approved. I tweaked it a bit, so the missing teeth coordinated with E's little jack-o-lantern smile she's been sporting this month.

The chickens and Molly also got to celebrate with grated pumpkin in their bowls! We thought we'd be carving up our very own home grown pumpkins this year, but try as we might not one pumpkin grew from our vine! Tons of flowers (all male apparently) no fruit...next year, I guess.

"I learned how to do a big boy!"

N has graduated to the status of Big Boy. The other day I installed a Good Behavior Chart in the hall; each time we catch him obeying or listening the first time something is asked of him we offer him a sticker to place on his chart. When all the spaces filled we drove down to our sweet shop with the promise of a treat. Wouldn't you know it, without any guidance from us he chose the exact same suckers his sister did at that age!

Pitter-Patter

E is just growing up so quickly.  It's so amazing to see how she's learning and changing each day.This is one of the true benefits of homeschooling your child; you see the development in every aspect of their life. Here are a few things that she's done recently that I just couldn't pass up on posting:

This was a reflective assignment she completed for World History in our co-op. They were instructed to look around outside for what a cave person would use or need. Then she drew a picture of the Stone Age...hilarious!

This was the result of her and I having a discussion about what time her dad would be picking her up from her YMCA class. I told here that she would be dismissed from the pool at 4:05 and that would give her 10 minutes to rinse off, get into clothes and meet her dad at 4:15 in the lobby. We talked about what the clock would look like, and this was her reminder note she made for herself. 4 for the hour and 3 for the 15 minutes.

What May or May Not Have Happened

 

 I got a call on Friday morning saying E and N had been selected from a drawing (which, ahem, may or may not have been so random) of raffle tickets (which, ahem, we may or may not have padded the purchase of) to pick out a pumpkin over at our Rubberneck Farms. What I do know is, that this afternoon we went for a walk so the children could get their beautiful pumpkins. And it was a relatively strenuous walk back home for me with 2 pumpkins and N in the jogger, Molly on leash and E gliding along (not so gracefully) in her new roller skates. Thank you Mike & Melissa!