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.