First Christmas

Evan was mesmerized by the Christmas tree and I was completely mesmerized watching him. It was quiet and peaceful in the house, with everyone else in bed. Evan just looked up at the tree for several minutes taking it all in. The sparkles, colors and lights. Seeing Christmas through the eyes of a child is quite special indeed.



I am so looking forward to the next several weeks. Much of the planning is behind me. The gifts will mostly be experience oriented as I can't think of one thing the kids need or even want. I know they want something under the tree, a surprise, but I asked them to tell me what things we've done in the past that they most love about Christmas. Some of the things they said were decorating a tree outside full of goodies for the birds, squirrels, rabbits, etc like we've done the past couple of years (The Night Tree). They look forward to getting their ornaments and begged me to do the advent calendar with different ideas/activities each day. They just love the idea that there is something special (even if very simple) planned for each day leading up to Christmas. Decorating cookies, seeing the Botanical Garden lit up, looking at lights, making ornaments, and delivering homemade goodies to neighbors are some of their favorite activities. I had planned on each of those, but I have a few new ideas up my sleeve this year. Let the magic begin!

Thanksgiving at the Sleeping Lady

We had such a great time at The Sleeping Lady last year that we decided to go back again on Thanksgiving. Zig's Mom, Tina, and younger brother, Clement, drove up from San Diego and were able to come with us. The drive was gorgeous and Thanksgiving Dinner was so delicious. Fresh, local and beautifully presented. It was quite a nice feeling to be at the grocery store on Tuesday morning with just a few items knowing my Thanksgiving Feast would be stress free this year. I do love to cook, but my thoughts about Thanksgiving are a big crowd or go somewhere fun! And not many people are dying to visit Seattle in November so I have a feeling this could be a trend. Friday the weather was gorgeous, sunny and cool. We spent a couple hours in Leavenworth and then headed home to set up the Christmas tree!!


One of my little moutain goats

Clement hauling the girls in the luggage carts

He's got the "cheese" pose down

Nina with one of the painted salmon

Thanksgiving Dinner at Kingfisher Lodge

Evan enjoyed the squash soup and being held

A little post-turkey dancing with the stars routine

Sela and Nina enjoyed tossing things down at us from the loft and giggling all night long.

Leavenworth

Snow baby

Thankful tree

There is much to be thankful for each and every day, but it's so wonderful we also have a holiday to further celebrate and give thanks for the blessings we have in our lives. This year we made a little thankful tree with some branches from a cherry tree in the yard. The kids and even some visitors wrote the things they were thankful for on the tree. It's been a great visual reminder every time we sit down to eat, do homework, or visit that there is so much goodness in our lives. Interesting that not one leaf on the tree mentions toys or things or stuff, but instead people, animals, nature, life, loved ones, friends and God. Now the goal is to try and keep the Spirit of giving, thankfulness, and simplicity in Christmas as well.

Sela's Auction

Sela is inspired by anything and everything and I just adore that about her! She found a little strip of red tickets, and about two hours later she was hosting her own auction.

Up for grabs:

1 Packet of very original handmade cards. A different card for every occasion.

Sela's silkscreen turtle art piece.

A bouquet of cabbage, herbs,and other things she found in the garden. Love it!

A "kids go to bed early" ticket or "parents go to bed and kids stay up" depending on who gets it.

One Make- a- Wish card with the promise of a 90% chance the wish will come true. This one had a disclaimer that the wish can't be alive.














The goods
























Sela's lovely bouquet

















Time for the drawings
















Nina won first! (Excuse the couch in the background...it was halfway to its new spot in the basement)














The proud owner of the silkscreen turtle!




What fun! We all received two tickets to deposit in front of the items we most wanted. Nina won the silk turtle and the get out of bedtime certificate(like they need it!), Zig won the "wish" card, and I won the cards and bouquet. I divided the cards with Nina. We all went away happy! Thanks Sela!

On the road

Evan had a little accident on the road to Sleeping Lady this weekend. While I was waiting for Zig to find his bag, I had to take a picture of this him in all his chubby glory. Again. I just can't get enough of this little Michelin man.

Come to the Races!

It's amazing how creative and happy the kids become right before bedtime. Rollin and Nina totally worked up a sweat galloping their way around the house and over the bowling pin "jumps." I was the official timer and they kept this going for over an hour...delaying their bedtimes, of course. Even Sela couldn't remain a bystander and had to take a lap or two around the "arena."

Mothering...it's no cakewalk

Evan really wants to crawl. You can see it in his eyes. But the only thing he can do to make his little body move at all is roll. It does get him places. But it's not super accurate and he often ends up further away from the desired destination because he rolls the opposite direction. Sometimes I put a toy a few inches in front of him and he gets all excited, starts breathing heavily and then up go the legs and arms. He moves about as far as a turtle on its back. It can be frustrating for the little guy, but he keeps trying.



















And boy do I know how you feel, little buddy. I wake up in the morning with big plans for the day. Plans for peace and harmony and no sibling bickering. For calmness with Rollin when he doesn't listen for the fiftieth time. And composure when I spend all morning getting the girls' Reflections entries matted at two separate frame shops only to have Rollin bolt into the car and step on Sela's most prized piece, in an attempt to hide the Pez dispenser he just STOLE from the craft store (we took it back).

I also make plans for carving out time to prepare simple healthy meals. Plans to find a chunk of time to catch up on emails, projects, and a school program I'm in charge of. Time to think about birthdays and Christmas. I have this goal to have everything ordered and done by December 1. I want to enjoy and experience the Christmas season. Just the thought of running to the mall or Target or any store in December to get some lame last minute gift makes me cringe. But I have made little headway on my goals. The kids are nuts. We are eating a rotation of our three go-to meals (salmon burgers, fish tacos, and homemade pizzas) so much that even I'm sick of them. And I'm tired. So tired.

I go to bed defeated every night. I know it's only Tuesday, but I'm exhausted. My kids have humbled me so much, it's almost laughable. It's so interesting how one day or week I can feel like things are going incredibly well, like I'm the mother I want to be. And then the next I'm ready tho throw in the towel.

Thankfully I have tennis tonight. I'm going to wack the heck out of that ball :)

My Baby

Evan, little sweetie, you're six months old and I can't imagine life without you. I love you with every ounce of my being. In just a few short months, you have brought me enough joy for a lifetime. Now please don't grow so quick. Please don't lose your chubby, squishy little body. Never stop snuggling Mama and trying to suck on my chin. Keep your sweet disposition and keep those belly laughs coming. I love you. I love you. I LOVE YOU.



And I'm not the only one!

Here Comes the SUN!

And I say YEA!!!! Never go away!

I'm a believer!

Mom came down with the flu (presumably the swine flu) a couple days after she arrived...which is no suprise since she had been on planes back and forth to Florida the week before they were here. It was bound to happen. And actually, it was kind of a relief. I almost can't take the paranoia anymore. Seriously, people are going nuts! Anyway, Mom was pretty much down for three days and then Nina caught it. I was more on top of it than I have ever been. From the very first sign of sickness, I put her in bed and started with all the natural medicine, tons of Emergen-C, juice, and herbal teas. It felt very, very good to be prepared. I thought we were in for a long sickness by the second day. She was feeling terrible with a high fever, blurry vision, headache, cough. And no energy. Nina has the weakest constitution of all the kids and usually stays sick the longest. Sela has only been sick for more than one day once in her life.

Anyway, long story short, she recovered almost completely after two days. I kept her home all week and she rested, hung out with Mom and Dad, and watched movies. But other than some occasional coughing she bounced back fast. We kept going with the Elderberry and Vit-C and all I can say is I'm a huge believer in natural medicine. Several ground-breaking scientific studies have come out this year touting the benefits of Elderberry in fighting the flu. And also one saying Pro-Biotics shorten the duration and severity of most sickness by 60%. I just wish more people would give it a try. I am so tired of the ridiculous panic frenzy associated with the flu this year. It's just too much.

They're here!

And these pictures capture exactly why we love them!