Seriously - You Can't Fool Kids

Jake got home from work to find Trey watching some cartoons and started singing along.

Seriously, what a little smarty pants!

Craft Show & Santa

It is the time of year for craft shows galore -- and I jumped right in and signed up for my share. I have already had 4 and I have 2 more to go.  The biggest one being this Thursday through Saturday at Vasa Park in Bellvue.  On Saturday I did a show in Bothell.  It was an interesting one -- pets were allowed and Santa was there for families to have their picture taken for free.  The lady running the show also provided all sorts of drinks and refreshments for the vendors (most of which didn't fit my no white sugar or flour rule).    I sold more puzzles there in a day than I ever have, so I was happy with the result even if there were dogs barking all day making me jump. :)

Jake took care of the kids all day.  Tamsyn had a birthday party to go to in the early afternoon.  After that was over they all drove up to visit me and have their picture taken with Santa.  I am a little sad I didn't even think to have Jake take a picture of my booth.

Tamsyn didn't like the looks of Santa (maybe it is because he couldn't crack a smile without losing his beard or something).  I thought that was kind of funny since she had absolutely no fear of any of the characters in Disney World.  

She refused to go see him unless I got in the picture too.  

Trey was excited to get a candy cane.

Tamsyn still wasn't so sure about it.

Is it already that time of year?!

In my opinion Christmas can never really start too early.

Fashion for Furry Friends

I love when the girls play happily together and get their little creative juices flowing.  Natasha didn't have school on Veteran's Day so she and Tamsyn enjoyed the day together.

They decided to open a clothing shop for their stuffed animals.  They drew many styles of clothing on small pieces of paper and then would bring a customer in to choose an outfit they liked.  After the selection was made they made larger custom version for that stuffed animal. 

 I just had to get some pictures!

Here are their thumbnails and a few of their clients.  The snowflake design that the Koala is wearing and the paw-print dress the whale is showing off were created by Tasha, the lovely pink dress with a special hem line that purple bunny is modeling was a Tamsyn creation. (If you click on the pic you can see more of their little details).

Trey insisted on being in the picture.

The next day I found that this woodpecker had been to the shop too... Made me smile.

I love it!

No Sugar November

Soon -- very soon I will post more about our Disney World Trip.  The pictures are on a disc and on their way... but in the meantime I felt the urge to post about something that is likely very uninteresting, and unimportant to anyone else but myself.  

I have heard about people cutting sugar and white flour from their diets.  I have always thought that it sounded a bit too over the top for me.  I am a sweet tooth to the highest degree and the thought of going without sugar blows my mind... cutting white flour too?? well that just sounds crazy.  

Well, after an overindulgent October, and knowing December is coming fast, I decided November would be a great month for me to prove to myself that I am capable to go without these things for a month.  I don't plan on cutting them out of my life entirely, and that makes it easier to do in the now.   It is sort of an experiment, to see how much weight I lose, and how I feel.   

I officially started November 2nd.  Since then I have been drinking at least 100 oz. of water a day and not having any sugar or white flour.  I have been eating 5 small meals a day, instead of 3 big ones.  I also have been making sure to have protein with all my meals.  So far I have already lost 4 lbs.  I am eating tons of yummy healthy foods, and don't really feel hungry.  I put berries on my oatmeal instead of sugar, and honey on my whole wheat pancakes.  I love cottage cheese with fresh pear as a snack, and even bought peanut butter that is 100% peanuts without sugar added.  It is wonderful on toast with banana sliced on it.   I also am loving eating an egg white or two almost everyday when I need protein.  I cook the white in the microwave with pepper on it and then put a little mustard on it and it really tastes great.  It is so nice to see that there are super healthy snacks that taste great and are easy too.

Disney World

I don't have the pictures to post yet... but wanted to post a link to my sister's blog... bc she has an awesome post about our first day in DW.  I am sure I will do my own -very similar- post later....  I will need them in my blog book you know... 

But for those of you who'd rather not wait click here....

DISNEY WORLD ROCKS!

Natasha's 2nd Year of Soccer

Natasha absolutely loves soccer.  This is her second year, and it is so fun to go to games and see the improvements and watch the joy on her face when she scores a goal. 

 She has learned how to shoot the ball harder, and passes with great accuracy for a 7 year old.

She had a great coach and every game you could see improvement in all of the girls.  They learned how to stay spread and pass back and forth.

Here is a shot of a pass.

Natasha's coach complimented her on her natural ability to shield the ball from opponents... she is quite a good little dribbler -- and I hope that carries over to basketball.

Her two biggest fans -- well, besides mom and dad of course.

Her whole team being silly at half time of the last game.

Way to go Natasha! 

The Good Guys and the Villains

We had lots of fun with our Disney character themed costumes this year.  We bought the kids' costumes at Disney World and when Trey decided to be Peter Pan we thought we could throw a hook costume together for Jake, and were happy with the results.  I remembered that a friend had been the Snow White's wicked stepmother last year, and she kindly let me borrow the costume.  Tamsyn was a bit unsure that she wanted any other Snow White characters around.  I am pretty sure the reason she didn't want to be a Peter Pan character was because she always wants to be different.  In the end she was happy to let me be the villain.

This backdrop was made by my super talented neighbor for our ward party.  She basically dumpster dove and scavenged to put it together.  Turned our pretty cool huh?

The Villains

The Peter Pan cast

Watch out you codfish!

Trey was so into attacking Hook -- that he broke his sword and we had to super glue it.

Snow White Cast

Everyone wants to be with mom, even if she is the Wicked Step-mother

A few snaps from our ward party...

Tasha after throwing a pudding pie at one of the bishopric.

I don't love their guts!

Does anyone else wish you could buy seedless clean pumpkins and avoid all the gooey mess?  

Tasha saw a picture of this cat online, so we drew our own version, and I helped her cut it out.  She won 2nd place with it at our ward Halloween party.   Too bad we left her giant candy bar award behind a tombstone of the picture backdrop while we were taking photos.  Not that she needs it anyway -- with all of the trick-or-treat loot she got.
I wanted to stick to my mother and child theme... Trey kept saying it was me and him.

Tamsyn and Jake carved this lovely spider. 

Seriously - Magic Kingdom Mishaps

WAITING

So... be wary of getting into a seat that is a little on the wet side.  (I pulled out a diaper and had Tamsyn hide behind a dark corner... but I am sure not everyone does :)

Roller Coaster

Potty Training in the Happiest Place on Earth

Never mistake one of these...

For one of these...

Is it just me or do moms spend a huge percentage of their time in amusement parks looking at these with squirming little kids?  Trey decided that he had to go every time one of the girls did, mind you he has not wanted anything to do with potty training up until that moment.  One of the times that I took him in to use the toilet his diaper was a bit wet, so I threw it away and thought I would get another diaper when we went back out. I had left my bag with the stroller and didn't have an extra diaper with me.  Needless to say, I forgot to put a diaper on him and later when we were waiting for a parade, he quietly went behind a bench.  It was too late before I realized what he was doing.... Luckily the load dropped right down his shorts leg and onto the ground, with minimal mess.... 

Don't worry I discreetly hid it in a paper towel and threw it in the trash.

More than most of you wanted to know I'm sure :)

Long Line  and Bus Ride Entertainment

Justin makes everything more fun.  We were glad to have his stories to make all the waiting more enjoyable.

BELIEVE IT!

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

I am starting our Disney update with the last day since Teri brought her camera and I didn't. The only pics I have are the ones from our last day that Jake took with his cell phone -- so don't mind the quality.  Teri gets the huge job of going through the hundreds we took on the other days, which I am looking forward to seeing.

On our last morning in Disney World we went to have breakfast at the Grand Floridian.  It was a character breakfast with Mary Poppins, Alice and the Mad Hatter, and Tigger and Pooh.  We hadn't made a reservation, but because we had a different mistake that occurred with our meal plan, the manager Jake talked to got us a spot and added this fun breakfast as an extra.  It definitely made up for the earlier mistake.  

We really enjoyed the character meals.  It was fun to see the kids faces light up, and a great chance to take pictures.  It was an amazing trip -- I can't wait to go back!  

Craft Fairs and Sticker Chart

Last Tuesday night I came to the realization that the show that I thought I was doing wasn't actually that weekend, but the following weekend.  I was pretty stressed because that meant I wouldn't be able to do it without a lot of help, and it meant that all my stuff was ready and there was no show.  So after unsuccessfully trying to sleep I got up at 12:30am and looked for a different show to do.  I found that a show I had looked into earlier was that weekend.  So, expecting to get no for an answer I emailed the lady in charge and asked if she had any last minute openings.  She emailed me back at 6:30 am the next day and said if I came down between 2 and 4pm that  afternoon I could set up.  (I hadn't noticed that set up was Wednesday and that the show ran Thursday through Saturday).  I decided to go for it and thanks to my great neighbor I also have the other show worked out too.

The Show I went to this past weekend was one of the best craft shows I have seen.  They had a great variety of vendors and lots of fun stuff.  I just had to buy this for my Halloween decorations.

I did pretty well, and am signing up to do another one in November.  I will be busy with lots of shows until December.  It will be lots of work, and should be lots of fun too.  

Sticker Chart

At the beginning of the year we made this sticker chart for the kids to fill in.  We made it like a castle because the reward for finishing it is a trip to Disney World.  

We ended up with a messy variety of stickers.  I guess that happens when you need 1,000 of them--that is a lot of little jobs, reading, writing, exercising, Trey using his potty and any other bribes mom could come up with.  The girls were so excited to put the last stickers on.... and even more excited for our trip to Disney World.  I think Jake and I are almost more excited though :)

Seriously - Not a Funny One

I had to draw this to help explain it ---

Last week after we dropped Justin off at the base, we headed home.  It was around 9:30pm and very dark.  We were driving along the interstate, when we came up behind what at first looked like a tanker.  When we got closer we realized it was a truck with a giant cylinder shaped tank of some kind strapped to a trailer.  While behind it a thought crossed my mind...

What if that big thing fell off?

Well, not even a minute later a gust of wind came up and the big black circle was moving toward us.  Jake slowed down quickly and I braced myself, because I didn't know where the thing was going to go, or what was going to happen with the cars behind us.  Luckily the traffic was minimal.   If it had been heavy, I don't know if an accident could have been avoided.  The tank came a ways toward us and made a grinding noise that sounded like heavy plastic or fiber glass against the pavement, then it started rolling into the other lane, and as soon as it did that Jake sped up and passed it (which was a smart move because if a following car hadn't seen it, they might have easily hit it, or us).  

Finally the tank rolled into the median and the truck pulled over.  I was very relieved that Jake had reacted well, and that we were safe.  I definitely felt like we were blessed.

There have been lots of times that I have been driving behind a load that looks a bit precarious, and I am sure I have wondered to myself before if the load might come loose.... pretty crazy to actually have it happen.

Welcome Home Uncle Justin!

Part of Justin's demobilization included a few days in Ft. Lewis, which meant we got to see him before he flew to Cheyenne and back home to be with his family.  We met him Monday night and went out for dinner.  It was great to see him and he is always fun to have around, even if he's jet-lagged, tired and getting over being sick.  He got to fly home on Wednesday.  It is so great to know he is back home with his family safe and sound.  We are so Thankful for his service, and for Teri's.  Giving up your husband for a year is definitely not something I would ever want to have to do, but if I had to I would just hope I could handle it half as well as she did.

The Lone Pumpkin

We thought we would save a few bucks come October by planting our own pumpkins this year...

Well -- we only ended up with one not-so-large one, and were probably lucky to have that one.  The slugs really liked to eat the pumpkin flowers... I don't blame them though, I learned in Venezuela that fried pumpkin blossoms are actually quite tasty.

The Story of the Lone the Pumpkin

I am sure there is a pumpkin in there somewhere Tash, I just saw it yesterday.

"I want to pick it myself!"  I don't care if mom says it will give me slivers.

Ok, Ok, you guys can have a try.

Maybe if we all work together we can get this monstrous pumpkin off of the vine.

Meanwhile -- Mom steps in and uses her foot to break it loose..  but alas the photographer was on break.

"Are we going to eat this pumpkin Mom?"

"Yep -- if you guys don't drop it an smash it first, daddy will make it into dinner-in-a-pumpkin on Halloween."

"I not care what anybuddy say -- this IS a big bumpkin!"

"I strong, huh Mommy!?"

Looks like a trip to the pumpkin patch is still in order.... we need something that is actually big enough to carve.