Gingerbread houses

We had our friends the Tippetts up the other night to put together and decorate graham crackers houses.If your thinking Noahs cheeks look kinda chubby its becuase their full of candy. He had so much fun with his buddy Isaac they were wild boys!
Theres big Sydney and little Sydney. Little Sydney got really into it into this year . She was the last one left at the table decorating. We orginally didn't make her a house to decorate so we made a little one. The rest of the night she kept asking for a big house.

Here is Sydney's house. We tried to add onto it to keep her happy but it still wasn't big enough for her. I though she'd given up on it and we cleaned everything up only to have her come back begging for a BIGGER house.

Kelsey with her house, she had a lot of fun as did everybody the kids always love getting to eat a lots of candy

This is just one of the many Christmas traditions that we do, just another reason I love Christmas.

Tree Decorating

This last weekend we got our Christmas Tree. We were all set to decorate Sunday night when the power went out. So it stayed half decorated until Family Home Evening the next night.Kelsey and Noah didn't fight near as much as they did last year about who was putting up what ornament and in my book thats progress!
The girls were really into this year and would of gladly put on all the ornaments if we let them. Of course they would of all been put on in the same spot.

For some reason we can't get Sydney to smile with teeth? Oh Well. The girls have only broken 3 ornaments so far... hopefully thats it!

Noah's been doing this same picture every year since he was really little and it never get old!

If your wondering why Noah's shirt is off and its in the teens outside its because Nate does these huge fires in the fireplace and gets the house super hot. Of course Noah also chases the twins around the house.

My Little Picaso's

A few weeks ago I was feeling brave and got paint out for the twins. They spent hours painting picture after picture. Now they want to do it all the time which is fine but kinda a pain because I have to get out the paints and the tablecloth and when their done wash out the brushes....I continue to be awed by the differences in my girls. Of course I know their two different people but just how different is fascinating.

Aubrey wanted to try out ever color and cover as much of the page as possible with seemingly random messy brush strokes.
While Sydney stuck with one or two colors and took her time meticulously painting the pictures on the page. In case your wondering this theme carryings over into their coloring as well.

So they had a great time...didn't make too much of a mess. Sydney did get some in her hair and Aubrey had some on her face but thats what soap and water are for, right?!

Noah Turns Eight

Last Friday after school Noah had his 8th Birthday Party. He invited almost all the boys in his class. Luckily only 7 of them came, plus a couple cousins. Here there playing Hullabaloo which was a big hit and a lot of fun!Noah just wanted a regular cake but I talked him into this soccer cake I think he liked how it turned out but I guess he just doesn't get excited about stuff like that. He got a lot of fun toys. Legos, games and cars. Nate and I had gotten him a pokeman DS game, unfortunately it was the wrong one so after the party was over I took him to exchange it for the right one.

When the boys first got there they made their own pizzas which they loved and we played alot of games including bingo, musical chairs, and pop the balloon. I was sure wiped out but they all had a good time.

When it was time for the boys to leave they all gave Noah hugs good bye I thought it was really sweet. I can't believe my little guy is 8 years old it makes me feel kinda old too!

Applepalooza

A couple weeks ago my step sister and I along with the help of my Dad and stepmom canned applesauce and pie filling. We worked at it off and on for a good 8 hours but we got ALOT done.My step sister is really great, she's my age and she's married to my sister-in-laws ex-boyfriend who Nate and I double dated with when we were 16. What are the chances? Here's happy Aubrey and a couple of her cousins despite the cold they played outside for hours.
Kelsey was a pretty good little helper and the applesauce turned out so yummy. My kids can't stop eating it, which is good but I'm hoping it lasts a long time.
My Sweet little Sydney was attached to me the WHOLE day which made it challenging to do very much. She was actually pretty sick with a fever and runny nose which explains the clingyness. At one point she actually fell asleep on my lap which was pretty cute.

All in all it was a pretty fruitful day! (get it)?

Halloween Hijinx

Here's my sweet little care bears at the ward Harvest Party. Kelsey and Noah wore these 5 years ago. It was easy to decide who wore which one because when I was getting them dressed Sydney was crying so she was Gryumpy Bear and Aubrey, Funshine.One of my Beehives moms made Bee costumes for me and the rest of my beehive class. (One of the girls isn't in the picture). I look strangley excited to be wearing a big bee costume? The Young Women were in charge of the Party and it was a busy but fun night!

Kelsey thought the bee idea was a winner and decided to be a bumble bee as well. It took ALOT of shopping to find those black and yellow leg warmers. The shoes and the skirt is also new. The antennas we painted and put glitter on and I taped the stripes on her shirt. The moral of the story making your own costume is more expensive, time consuming, and overall pain the rear. But Kelsey was happy, thats the important thing right?

Oh yeah, it was Nates birthday too! His parents and my mom came up for pizza, cake and trick or treating. Unfortuntely Nate's been super sick and missed almost a week of work. I cant' believe I still ate that cake after he blew on it? But look at it...yum!

BabyMoon 2009

A couple weeks ago my bookclub went to the beach for the weekend, unfortunately my preggers friend Selena couldn't go...so in an attempt to rectify her pregnant pain we had a little slumber party at my in-laws cabin this last weekend.We made a friend favorite barbeque chicken pizza for dinner it was sooo yummy! The pic of me huggin the bear in my PJ's was taken in the wee hours of the morning after a lot of sugar, a lot of giggling and NOT a lot of sleep.
We all brought goodies and it was a tasty spread, we thought it was cool how Carrie's head looked like it was coming out of the counter.

So Selena's only got a couple weeks before her baby boy joins us and while her tummy is big and very cute she really doesn't look big enough to be 9 months pregnant! We think she looks great! And I don't mind admiting that I was more than realieved her water didn't break while I was sleeping next to her that night!

Carrie's showing off her way cool snuggie I got her for birthday. She takes it with her everywhere and we can't get her to take it off. It's a great idea for a Christmas gift for family and friends also available is zebra print and assorted colors.

It was a really fun night, I guess someone else will have to get pregnant so we can do it again but I don't think that will happen anytime soon!

Potty Training Princesses

Parental advisory warning: some of the following photos contain nudity and may not be suitable for some viewers! Theres also alot of potty talk!Let me just preface this post by saying my two other children potty trained at 2 and a half. Even the boy who I thought was kinda slow due to a speech delay potty trained when he was 2and 1/2. The nice thing was once they did it they did it with very few accidents. That has not been the case with the twins.

The twins turned 3 almost 2 months ago and were still workin on it. We've been workin on it for a good 6 months! Aubrey is in the above picture and I think is finally there. But she had many accidents and I had to be the one to remind and take her to the bathroom.
For all of those out there that said or thought that twins should be easy because what one will do the other will follow, well your wrong. Potty training the both of them has been and continues to be a HUGE pain in the butt! (:

Sweet little Sydney initially took interest in the toliet but as soon as Aubrey gave it a try she was done. After many accidents and hours cleaning up puddles and washing wet clothes I gave up on her and focused on her sister.


Aubrey did good but continued to struggle with consistency, she would start then stop herself and still have accidents.

The good news is I haven't changed a #2 diaper in months they both got that down right away. Aubrey is now doing great and were trying again to put Sydney in panties. For awhile she refused to even wear panties, so the fact thats she's wearing them is a huge step. So far today she's 3 out of 5 in the toliet. We'll see how this goes but one things for sure I'm ready to be done!

Jet Boat

Kelsey's class went on a field trip Downtown to ride the Jet Boats up and down the Willamette and I went along. Luckily it was when it was when it was really hot so it felt great to be on the water.Kelsey and I got wet really wet. Kelsey ecspecially because she was on the end. The crazy thing was it was only one side of our bodies got soaked! Out driver liked to do 360's and slam on the brakes both creating huge waves.

In addition to learning lots about the various bridges and boats along the river we visited Big Foot on Sauvie Island. This is why I love Oregon, someone went to alot of trouble to build this thing, faux mink coat and all. Crazy Huh?

We had a great day it was a lot of fun!

Joseph

Gorgeous...Beautiful...Breathtaking...As it pours rain outside its a perfect time to revist one of our favorite new places we discovered this summer. I loved this sign as you entered town it made me laugh. We went during Chief Joseph days so inaddition to the cute shops in town there was also all the yummy fair food (funnel cakes, shaved ice. elephant ears) and fun booths to look through. Nate also took the big kids to the rodeo one night where there was a cow milking competition. The town is full of these beautiful statues that are made locally, Nate was very proud

of how Noah posed in this picture. One day we went on a hike up near the lake and I swear the woods smelled like flowers. Thats Sydney who had to take her baby hiking with us and everywhere else. The weather was beautiful, we wvwn got to go to two parades where the kids got lots of candy.

Our great friends the Tippetts let us stay in this 1900's farmhouse. It was surrounded by acres of land with cows and a horse, there were beautiful flowers outside and a pool table inside that the kids loved. I loved looking at all the neat antiques inside and feelin like a real country girl!

The big kids rode on go carts and we saw tons of deer we could've reached out and petted. Sydney would yell "see deer", "see more deer". She'd get almost as excited as Nate did when we saw them!

Our friends were staying with family at a house right on Wallowa Lake. It was so amazing how clear the water was, it felt so good and all the kids wanted to do was swim. It was so pretty surrounded by the mountains. Up at the house our friends hosted a big yummy BBQ, there was a trampoline and tire swing the kids loved. Noah had his buddy Isaac and the girls played with...they had so much fun!

We felt so lucky to get to go with friends to spend time with and show us around. Another family we knew was also there, they took us fishing one night and we all enjoyed the lake together.

Noah and Kelsey rode the bull, they both did good. Noah got knocked off and Kelsey stopped before she fell.

Both the big kids had to get cowboy hats. Kelsey had her hair in pigtails the whole time, it was so cute. We resisted the very strong urge to get hats for the twins. It was a wonderful trip we all had the best time.

A big thank you to our friends the Tippetts for having us, the kids are already asking when we can go back!

Saturday!

Thats me in the blue..I just ran a half marathon in 2 hours..I'm happy. I felt pretty good, the last 2 miles were hard but I did it! I'm with some of the other runners trying not to get too close because I get really gross and sweaty when I run.My mom came to run me in the last couple miles I was so excited when I saw her. Nate and kids came too the weather was great and I loved running on the Springwater trail. I was pretty sore Sunday but am feeling good today, and I got a really cool metal!
After getting cleaned up I dashed to Kelsey's soccer game. She's been playing forward this year and loves it. She even got her first goal, it didn't count because one of her teamates was off sides but it was still super exciting!

Aubrey's in the glasses, the girls are spending alot if their lives at soccer games and practices or in the car going to said games and practices. Their really good about it, I just get tired of draggin them around everywhere!

Then it was off to Noah's game, in Welches. He's having a great year and scoring lots of goals were very proud of him.