Artic Blast!

Well we are news hounds here at 1420 NE Centurion Drive. Always speculating what they will name the new storm. We have had lots of weather to talk about. First the FREEZING cold. It was so cold we had to limit the kids time out. Then a little more manageable temperatures, but no snow. Now we are back to a blizzard and freezing temperatures. Here are a few pictures taken over the past week of the kids enjoying the snow.






Molly in the snow suit mommy used to wear :)

Poor Otto!

If you have been to our house you have met Gavin's fish Otto. Yesterday morning I noticed Otto was no longer swimming in the proper direction. A little sideways, around in circles, definitely not the alert Otto we are used to. I told Gavin that Otto was sick. He told me "Don't worry mommy, he will get better." The conversation continued with me telling Gavin actually Otto wasn't going to get better and that soon he was going to die and go live with God in heaven. Gavin wanted to make sure I knew that God lived way up in the clouds in outer space. He then said "Mommy, God has a big hand. He will come down and get Otto when it is time." Where he got that idea I'm not too sure, but I went with it. He told me when he gets old he will go live with God and Otto in heaven. The deep conversation ended with "Don't worry mommy. We can get a new fish!" Phew!

While the kids were watching a movie "God's hand" came down and got Otto. So for now our bowl is empty. Maybe Santa will bring a new fish.

Tree #2

So Sunday comes along and the blue sky has disappeared. That is okay though, we are from Oregon. We head up the mountain bright and early in search of a second tree. This time packing along a Christmas feast for the animals. While the men cut down the selected trees, my friend Cyndi and I facilitated the tree decorating. A couple nights prior we helped the kids make pine cone bird feeders, and a cranberry string. The kids were very excited to leave these treats for the animals along with some yummy apples. I hope to make this a tradition for the years we find our tree on the mountain. The idea came from the book Night Tree by Eve Bunting.

So we brought home the second tree. It has found a home down stairs and is now decorated with colored lights and has a train BLARING around the bottom of it. Mike put the house lights up and I can finally sing . . .

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Now let's see if the snow forecast comes through!

Christmas decorating - Tree #1

As I have been SUPER busy with photography stuff the decorating for the Christmas season got off to a slow start. The kids have loved the advent tree my mom bought a few years ago. It isn't so much used as the countdown as much as just a game.



I live for tree hunting. We have found the BEST selection up at Mt. Hood Tree Farm. We have gone the last four or so years. Every tree is a perfect tree. The hunt is over in a few seconds. Mike wanted to up challenge this year. Well he begs me to go the woods every year. This year I conceded. We set the day for Sunday. We invited another family to come with us, however I had an afternoon shoot scheduled so we were going to be on a TIGHT time frame. Mike decided he would take the kids up Saturday to scout. (now I have heard of scouting for animals, but trees :) He then decided he wanted two trees this year so he and the kids had an incredible day with gorgeous views and brought back a lovely noble.





The kids couldn't wait to get it in the house and decorated.

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. It started on Wednesday with a feast at Gavin's preschool. The feast was scheduled for the same time as Molly's class in the other room. No worries though, she informed me that "I do tass by mysef wit my teachor Sarah!" Molly is in love with her teacher. She was great and I got to help serve juice in Gavin's class. The preschool day ended with a little performance which was adorable. I will have to work with Gavin on his performance skills as Mike and I seem to have the wriggly kid on "stage". Surprise, surprise :)



Thursday we headed to Mike's folks and had a WONDERFUL, RELAXING Thanksgiving dinner. Yes, I am aware I just used all those words together in the same sentence and I have a four and two year old. But when there are ten or so other little and bigger ones running around we didn't even see the kids all day.

I braved the crowds for Black Friday on getting a couple of the things I was after. Too bad I didn't have my Spokane crew to divvy out the tasks. Something to look forward to next year.

And now on to the Christmas festivities!

Fun at the Children's Museum

One of the best parts of staying home with the kids is getting to take them to all the child centered places in the area. The Children's Museum is one of their favorite places and somewhere we tend to frequent more in the rainy season. Bob the Builder has been a big hit. Here are a couple snaps from our last visit.

Taking notice

Gavin is really starting to take in his surroundings. Yesterday we hopped into the car just as the Beavers were finishing up their game. I eagerly tuned in and a few minutes later Gavin says "Mommy, they're talking about the Beavers. I think they are playing a football game." I didn't know he listened to talk radio.

Today driving the car he sees a guy standing on the street corner with a mowhawk. He says to me "Mommy, why does that guy have crazy hair." I replied that it was called a mohawk. He then wanted to know where the hair went. I told him the guy had shaved it off the sides. To this he replies "But mommy, doesn't he know he looks like a dinosaur?" I was laughing so hard I almost had to pull over. He was so serious though!

Fall Fun

I haven't been taking the rain well, and neither have the kids for that matter. It is always quite an adjustment rearranging the activity options when the rain comes. However, the last few days the BEAUTIFUL weather has graced us again! I have been taking full advantage of it heading outside as much as possible. Yesterday the kids had a great day at one of our favorite parks. They ran their little hearts out with their best friends and were so happy the entire time. It was hard to pull them away. Here are a couple of captures from the slide.

Seattle/BC

I had a training up in Vancouver BC, so we decided to make a QUICK trip of it. We left Sunday mid morning and made it up to Federal Way where we visited with Mike's college roommate and his family. Then we headed up to Birch Bay where we enjoyed staying at the Worldmark resort. My brother joined us up there. The kids loved the hot tub on our deck and their own room. They each had a twin bed. But the most exciting part of their room was the bathroom. They couldn't believe they had their own toilet and shower. Gavin was excited to help daddy fill up the car with gas, since we don't get to do that here in Oregon.

Monday I headed into Canada and Mike and the kids headed back to Seattle with Derek. On the way they met up with my cousin Micheal at McDonald's for lunch. Back in the Seattle area Gavin finally got to enjoy the ferry boat ride he has been looking forward to for many months. Unfortunately I forgot to leave the camera with Mike so there is no documentation of that :(

Change

We have met the fork in the road. An important fork for those of us that have our children in the forefront of our minds. Watching the coverage of this historical election, one dad summed it up best. Although I can't remember the quote exactly his message was profound. An African-American himself said that he was glad when he told his child that he could grow up to be anything he wanted, even President of the United States, it wouldn't be a lie anymore. For the children of our country, including you Gavin and Molly, I hope this new road proves advantageous, beginning with a new light for education, being more capable to attain your hopes and dreams!

~From a proud mom in America today!

More Halloween

We had a great time at a kid Halloween party. The first two pictures are of cookie decorating at the party.

The final picture is of Halloween night. We have started a nice tradition of Grammie, Poppie, Nana and Papa joining us Halloween afternoon when we finish carving pumpkins and have dinner together. Then we head out for trick or treating and while some of the guests stay home and answer the door. After the kids have had enough we head home and enjoy warm cider and doughnuts. This year the weather was fantastic! No wind, fairly warm and dry. Are we in Oregon??? Oh yes, the rain has arrived!

And beings that I am a few days late in posting this. Happy Election Day!

Halloween Festivities

We have had a fun time partaking in all the Halloween festivities. Here is a run down. It started with a trip to the pumpkin patch (see previous post). Since then kids have picked pumpkins out of the garden at Grandma and Grandpa's farm. We have been to cousin Brenda's Halloween party where the kid's bobbed for apples, carved pumpkins, and dug in the hay for candy. Last night we carved pumpkins with the Smith family, and today we are headed to a Halloween party at Isabelle and Athena's. The kids have already been on a sugar high for a week. We have two more pumpkins to carve and Grammie and Poppie will visit us on Halloween night to enjoy the trick or treaters. Here is a peak at the first round of pumpkins created last night.

Pumpkin Patch part 2

Because I have so many pictures to share this trip needed two posts . . . and because I am not savvy enough to get it right they are backwards :)

After the brother and sister moment was over we were off to wait for the boat ride back.






This year uncle Derek was in town for the trip. Gavin couldn't get enough of uncle Derek and is still asking everyday if we can go visit. November is a long time for him to wait.



The scenery at this patch is wonderful. Since we went on a weekday we practically had the place to ourselves. Just the way we like it :)

Pumpkin Patch part 1

Many of my favorite festivities happen in the fall. The pumpkin patch is definitely one of them. For the second year in a row we went to Lake View Farms in North Plains. Last year we braved the rain, however this year we enjoyed sunshine!

The pumpkin patch is fairly small, but has lots to offer. A short train ride delivers you to the patch where wheelbarrows wait.



What kid doesn't love being hauled around by daddy in the wheelbarrow.



Each of the kids found their pumpkins right away.






Then it was time for a little photo shoot. This never goes as smoothly as I want it to, but out of the 25 shots there was at least one keeper.

Turning 30!

I have now joined the ranks of most of my friends. The dreaded thirties. Definitely the hardest milestone yet. To be honest,I have never viewed birthdays as getting older . . . until now. I just seems so old :) Thanks for all the well wishes and happy birthdays. I enjoyed my night out on 23rd, pumpkin pie with my family and all the birthday celebrations in between. Thank You!

Well to accompany my new decade, I have a new do!

Thanks to my son for snapping this picture. Also I have to tell you about the incredible dessert I had at Gustav's. It is quite possible the best I have ever had. The chocolate peanut butter mouse in the peanut brittle cup is to die for! Now to figure out how to justify going back.

A funny from Gavin

Apparently I don't tuck in his shirts enough. He chose a HUGE t-shirt to wear today. His favorite blue shirt from his preschool. I decided to tuck it in so it wasn't hanging so low. It was quite an effort. I got it in, buttoned the pants and he yanked one side out. I said "Stop." He kept pulling and got it all out. I asked what he was doing and he said "I pulled it out. My shirt was in my pants crazy mommy. That's not where it goes."

Maybe you had to be there, but he had me cracking up. Of course he didn't understand why :)

Gymstars preschool

It is fire safety week at Gavin's preschool. He was pretty excited about his goody bag of things he brought home. He was very proud to stand next to the truck letting all his classmates know that "my Uncle Bob drives a truck like this one to go help people."













Molly felt very left out with Gavin getting to go to preschool so we enrolled her in the 18 mos-2 year class at the same school that meets on Wednesdays while Gavin is in school. She loves going to class. She listens to her teacher VERY well. I wish she would listen to me that well :)

The new bedroom

I have promised to paint Gavin's room since we moved into this house . . . three years ago. Well last week I got CRAZY and had the kids help me paint Gavin's room. We chose a shade of his favorite color and now he has a beautiful blue room. I have also been eying those really cool loft beds with the slide and fort. They pop up on craigslist all the time, but it is next to impossible to get your hands on one. Well yesterday was our lucky day. We braved the wind, rain, and traffic and trecked up to Vancouver to load up the bed we scored. After a late night of assembling and an early morning trip to the mattress store Gavin is now napping in his new bed. Here are a couple pictures from earlier in the day. Wow he is excited. Now to get the rest of the furniture in the house rearranged to accommodate the new room.

Here we go

Like I need another something to do and keep up on. I just can't resist. There are a few personal blogs I love to check so I thought I would start one of my own. Why not just update the MySpace and Facebook more often??? Who knows . . . I think I just like to do it this way better.

So here is a little introduction. We are the Eisele's. Mike, Brigett, Gavin and Molly. The kids wouldn't want me to forget "Koder Doggie" (that is Dakota to everyone else) and Otto the fish.

Welcome to our little corner of the web. I hope you visit often!