Life Goes On...

Up, up and away!

2011-06-20T07:32:00.000-07:00

Math Carnival

2011-05-02T10:01:00.000-07:00

Luke's school hosted a Math Carnival Friday night. All the students paired up to create carnival games. With those games, the kids offered opportunities to win extra prizes or extra turns by having participants solve math problems. The place was bursting at the seams with people, these few pictures are only at the gym - the hallways were also filled with games and people.

Rem, Tyler and Luke in front of their booth.

Their booth was a Nerf target shoot. When I got there at 7 there was a line of kids waiting to shoot. Luke said it was like that all night.

I felt bad for the booth next to them, they barely had anybody and it seemed like it was overshadowed by the Nerf booth.

Domino's Petting Farm

2011-04-27T18:21:00.001-07:00

Today we braved the down pour and went to Domino's petting farm. It was our first time going, and Ella was a bit unsure at first. After a few encouragements though, she was so brave, petting everything she could. Unfortunately my horrible camera is dying so I had to resort to the evevn worse cell phone camera. So, only a few pictures.

The Guinea Pigs

A baby calf

She reached right in to pet without any prompting from me!

The baby donkey (is a baby donkey a foal? I should google).

The goats

The kids (baby goats, not human ones) were so cute and funny. The pens couldn't contain them, so they would wiggle through the bars and hope around the barn. Ella was delighted!

7 months!

2011-04-24T16:14:00.000-07:00

Between 6 and 7 months Thea has mastered rolling in all directions. We often have to relocate her as she is rolling down the hall to the bedrooms. And, rolling has led her to discover the dogs water dish. She is great at sitting up now, although she still occasionally faceplants. She is getting up onto her hands and knees, rocking back and forth, and, occasionally faceplants. Being a baby is painful. She loves Ella, and will giggle at her antics, reaches for her as she is falling sleep, has eyes only for her when I am taking pictures. I love it. She loves playing peek-a-boo, and will even put the cloth (blanket or wipe) back over her face by herself. She is working on her bottom teeth. You can feel them but not quite see them. She has had avocado, banana's and apples. She acts like all are poison. Well, except the apples - poison at first and then she goes to town. The best part is that she gives hugs now. Wraps her little arms over your shoulders, buries her head into your neck, and squeezes. It is AWESOME! Mostly we get hugs for picking her up.

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T16:08:00.000-07:00

6 months

2011-04-24T15:12:00.001-07:00

Thea turned 6 months while we were home for a visit. Then, when we came back, I just never got around to doing the little magnectic board pictures. Oops. But, these lovely photos by my friend, Justine, are even better. :)

Her 6 month stats...

Weight: 14lbs 3 oz (12%)

Height: 25.28" (22%)

Head: 17.2" (77%)

Thea is such an awesome baby. She loves being kissed, and being nibbled on. She snuggles in deeper when you sing "You are my sunshine" and has mastered rolling all directions.

Oops! Thea's 4 month pics

2011-03-14T14:33:00.000-07:00

When browsing through my blog I realized I missed posting Thea's 4 month pictures. She already looks so different! :(

Roller Queen

2011-03-12T08:00:00.000-08:00

On Thursday we went to preschool skate at a local skating rink. Andy was able to take some time out of his day and come join us for Ella's first time in skates!

Doing the Hokey Pokey

By the end, she was rolling back and forth between Andy and I on the carpet area, all by herself. She was practically bursting with pride that she could do it!

before my hands froze

2011-02-25T08:11:00.000-08:00

The icicle bunting!

That was all I could hang before my hands froze. :) The stars didn't work so well - the string kept wicking the water right out. We are going to try again though!

5 Months

2011-02-24T10:07:00.000-08:00

Miss Thea is 5 months old today!

She only has eyes for her sister

"Oh, hi mama!"

"I'll smile for you too"

"What's this?"

"Huh?"

She looks like she is practicing to be Vanna White here.

"Oh, hey! Look! Toes!"

"I love you magnetic chalk board"

Thea has been battling a round of bronchiolitis/rsv so we had a follow up appointment on Friday. She is getting slowly better, but we are to stay the course with the nebulizer and have added amoxicillin to the mix to treat a sinus infection.

She did get weighed though - and she is still a peanut - 12lbs, 14 oz.

Bowling

2011-02-24T09:52:00.001-08:00

Today we hosted a play group meet up at the bowling alley. It was Ella's first time bowling and she had a blast. The first thing she did was pick up a ball and go throw it down the wrong lane. Perfect!

Picking out the perfect ball

"I knocked them over!"

Intently watching the ball. I wonder if she realized she was signing "more"?

Each round ended with "I won!" I can't wait to take her again. :)

Icicles

2011-02-23T12:19:00.001-08:00

Since winter is hanging on for a while, we decided it needed some color. Our first project is making some colored icicles to hang outside*.

Gathering the supplies

Smile for Mama!

Practicing her pouring skills.

She did great, with the only concept she needs to grasp is when to stop pouring.

Adding food coloring.

While Ella stirs the food coloring in, Sparkles sneaks in to steal some water. Nevermind that she has a full water bowl right behind her.

All colored!

Kinda looks like Jell-o.

Out on the porch to freeze. We put strings in them, so the strings will freeze with the icicle and give us a way to hang them.

Tomorrow there will be pictures of icicles on display!

* Idea found here...

http://twochicksandahen.blogspot.com/2011/01/how-to-make-outdoor-ice-bunting.html

Thea, 3 months

2011-01-20T07:31:00.000-08:00

Thea 2 months

2011-01-19T08:31:00.001-08:00

Sleeping Beauties

2010-11-18T09:46:00.000-08:00

Thea's first bath at home

2010-11-17T07:19:00.000-08:00

More Thea

2010-11-14T17:25:00.001-08:00

Miss Thea, 1 and 2 days old, at the hospital.

Toledo Zoo

2010-11-04T16:39:00.000-07:00

Going backwards and doing some catch-up. We went to the Toledo Zoo in July and had a wonderful (but HOT!) time.

Luke is playing with poo!

She touched the snake! Then we found out that they didn't allow anyone under 5 to touch the snake. Oops.

Ann Arbor Treat Parade

2010-11-03T07:05:00.001-07:00

The loot

2010-11-02T15:52:00.000-07:00

Ella had a great time trick or treating. And so far, she has asked to wear her costume, "it's Halloween!" both yesterday and today. :)

Raking leaves

2010-10-31T11:34:00.000-07:00

"Ella go get me a rake and I'll make the pile higher."

"Okay Luke!"

"I get it!"

"Coming Luke!"

"I stronger!"

"Make it higher Luke?"

"Are you ready?"

"Okay Luke!"

"1,2,..."

"...3!"

"I stuck!"

"Again!"

"Here I come!"

"Ella, where are your legs?"

"Over there!"

Hard at work.

Thea, One Month

2010-10-31T11:32:00.000-07:00

Prof pics, Ella, 27 months

2010-10-29T13:45:00.001-07:00

* I made the petti-skirt she is wearing in many of the pics - its part of her halloween costume! I confess that the little girl in me covets it!

Prof pics, Ella and Thea (27 months, 1 month)

2010-10-29T13:41:00.001-07:00

Prof Pics, Thea, 1 month

2010-10-29T13:28:00.000-07:00

Prof Photo's - Thea, 2 weeks

2010-10-29T13:05:00.001-07:00

Weird formatting again, but here are the professional photo's of Thea @ 2 weeks. I made the hat and the pod thing, plus other items in exchange for the photo's. I think we scored! :)

Little Bo Peep

2010-10-26T08:03:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the weird formatting - blogger did something, I don't know what. So the pictures are kind of all out of order.

We have Little Bo Peep and her Sheep. :) All of the pics are from preschool, except the one where Ella is standing against the wall - that is at home. :)

Thea Elisabeth Jensen

2010-09-29T08:54:00.001-07:00

Thea (Tay-a) Elisabeth Jensen was born at 2:17 am, Friday, September 24th. Almost 24 hours after my water broke. She weighed 6lbs, 10 oz and was 20 1/4 inches long.

She was the star of the floor, or at least in my eyes she was. :) Keeping a long birth story short - with the help of Andy and the excellent care of my nurse and midwife, I was able to have a natural childbirth. Some (or many) might think that it is crazy to go natural, but there is nothing that can describe the feeling and high afterwards.

I have lots and lots of photo's to upload, and I will (slowly, sorry) get to them, but I thought that at least getting Thea's birthday up was a good place to start. :)

Rainbow Rice

2010-08-18T17:00:00.001-07:00

I came across directions on another blog on how to make Rainbow Rice. Now, this is for sensory play - not for eating. :)

You need a 5lb bag of white rice, vinegar and liquid food coloring.

Put a couple of tablespoons of vinegar into a ziplock bag.

Add a couple of drops of food coloring.

Pour in anwhere from 1 1/2 cups of rice to 2 cups. Since I was only doing the 4 colors that came in the box - not mixing any - I went for the 2 cups.

Seal bag and shake, shake, shake. I ended up adding more color/vinegar to make the colors brighter.

Lay out on a foil lined baking sheet.

Bake at 175 degrees for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, I took mine out, stirred it a bit and then but it back in the oven for another 10 minutes. The goal is to just get the rice dry.

Once cooled pour into a container of some kind. I had an empty bin that I used. It's just deep enough that Ella can sit at her table and play directly in the bin.

Rice on the baking sheets.

All mixed together. I left some rice plain white and tossed that in as well.

Ella and Luke playing in the rice. She was busy for a long, long time. :)

Craft hope/ConKerr Cancer

2010-08-17T19:20:00.001-07:00

One of my favorite blogs is Craft hope. Basically, they do different projects for different charities. It works out great for me - if it is something I think I can make, then I get the joy of making it, and a charity benefits!

This project teams Craft Hope up with ConKerr Cancer. ConKerr Cancer supplies the local childrens cancer units/hospitals with colorful, fun pillowcases to brighten up a childs stay during treatment.

I have never made a pillowcase before, but I followed at tutorial at littlebirdiesecrets.blogspot.com . I had fun picking out fabrics, and really had to rein myself in or I would've spent a fortune!

Penguins and Panda Bears

Fishies

Owls

Soccer!

Now I just need to get them to the coordinator at Mott's Children's Hospital here in Ann Arbor. :)

Sunday Brunch

2010-08-14T07:31:00.000-07:00

Luke's favorite is to have brunch out on the porch. Specifically, Swedish pancakes. They are almost ready when I snapped the picture so they aren't on the table yet - but the bacon is!

Andy and Luke poked quite a bit of fun at me for saying that it is a healthier breakfast then we normally eat during the week (Andy eats nothing - Luke, Ella and I eat cereal). Their point of view is that there is a whole lot of sugar involved. Mine is that there is a whole lot of fruit involved. :)

We have out there (besides bacon!) peaches, raspberries, strawberries (yes both the raspberries and strawberries were tossed with sugar!), powdered sugar, brown sugar and homemade strawberry jam. I just forgot to get some whipped cream. Oh well, next time.

Ella loves brunch too, and as soon as the table gets set she is in her highchair exclaiming "Food! Hungry!" Not understanding that we are just setting the table, that things still have to cook (I always forget that I need time to heat the ingredients up before adding flour - so it adds to the time), so you will see a small bowl of grapes out there on the table as well - that's to keep the hungry girl satisfied until the rest is ready.

We are hosting a large brunch this Sunday to celebrate the arrival of a friends baby girl - Eleanor Rose. I am going to be making Swedish pancakes for everyone - so wish me luck!

Strawberry Picking and a recipe

2010-07-31T08:45:00.000-07:00

For one of our play group meetups* we went strawberry picking. Ella loved picking the strawberries, and of course, eating them. ;)

Her little blue bucket. She would pick and put in here and then I would move them to the flat as it filled.

Quality testing.

Strawberry Bread Recipe:

4 cups fresh strawberries (2 cups cut up, 2 cups loosely pureed)

3 1/8 cups all purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 tblsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp salt

1tsp baking soda

1 1/4 cups vegetable oil (I used olive oil)

4 eggs, beaten

1 1/4 cups chopped pecans (which I didn't put in because of my nut allergy)

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour 2 9x5 inch loaf pans.

2) Slice strawberries and put in a medium bowl. Sprinkle lightly with sugar and set aside while you prepare the rest of the mixture.

3) Combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt and baking soda in a large bowl: mix well. Blend oil and eggs into the pureed strawberries. Add strawberry mixture to the flour mixture, blending until the dry ingrediants are just moistened. Stir in chopped strawberries (and the pecans if you are using them). Divide batter into pans.

4) Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until tester comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack in pans for 10 minutes, then turn out and cool completely.

Ella loved this bread so much that she stuffed her slice into her mouth, and was frantically signing "more". Delicious with cream cheese spread on top!

*if you are looking for a like minding group of people to enjoy your favorite hobby/activity with, I highly recommend meetup.com. There are tons of groups out there, with all sorts of interests.

Sprinkler fun!

2010-07-29T07:21:00.000-07:00

Nice.

A soccer game

2010-07-25T14:35:00.000-07:00

I finally remembered to bring a camera to a soccer game. :)

Coach Sara giving the boys some words of wisdom.

No, Luke isn't in this pic. He was when I pointed the camera, but then, poof he was gone!

There he is, #15.

UP Dadddy!

Again!

Mommy and Ella hiding in the shade under the umbrella.

Taking a kick.

Hey Mom! Who are you taking pictures of?

Shopping is hard work

2010-07-16T11:11:00.001-07:00

Chicago Field Museum

2010-07-11T08:03:00.000-07:00

While Laurie was here visiting us in MI, we took a trip down to Chicago to check out the Field Museum. It was a cold, drizzly, foggy day, but thats okay - we were going to be spending it inside anyways. :)

Luke being goofy.

I caught a picture of Laurie!

As always, the boy has to climb whatever he can find.

The main hall. See that large crowd to the left? That was the ticket line. Andy is a genius and purchased our tickets online the day before. We just walked right up to the will call window without any wait!

Ella looking at the taxidermy animals.

The ones on the board walk had signs to find all the different things in the display. Luke and Andy liked doing the hunt together.

More goats.

BEAR! She loved the bears.

Kitty!

We didn't go through the whole hall/display area of the taxidermy. Once we were pretty deep in, I couldn't handle the formaldehyde smell anymore (gotta love the pregnant nose!) and declared it was time to move on.

Playing around in the African section.

The next step in evolution.

Both of them are already bored posing for pictures, and we are only as far as the end of the African section. This museum is huge and could use more then one day to explore.

Looking down from the upstairs into the main hall. That T-Rex is Sue, the most complete T-rex ever found.

Laurie doing what she loves to do best - take pictures! Although I notice that her camera is around her neck, so she is either obliging somone else to take their picture or is taking pics with her phone.

Holding Daddy's hand.

Ella's favorite part was anything with a button.

Ella is waking up Luke in the Egyptian section.

All in all, the drive is not bad at all and we are hoping to make a trip out to explore the Aquarium next, we have heard great things about it. :)

Just cause

2010-04-21T09:15:00.000-07:00

Just playing outside this morning, sporting her new pigtails...

For Uncle Mark

2010-04-20T20:22:00.001-07:00

Ella has decided that what ever she is playing with when its bed time, has to go to bed with her. She has had an interesting array of bed time lovies this past week.

Tonight, she is sleeping with her accordian. :)

Let the composting begin!

2010-04-20T10:50:00.001-07:00

Sunday we bought this tumbling composter at Costco. I put it together today (truth be told, yesterday and today) and now we are ready for compost!

Major milestone!

2010-04-18T15:10:00.000-07:00

A few days ago Ella wanted my ponytail in her hair. I managed to get it in a little top pony, ala Pebbles Flinestone. It got me wondering, so today I went out and bought some baby size ponytail holders.

I am so excited to say that Ella finally has enough hair for PIGTAILS!!!

Playing outdoors

2010-04-17T09:31:00.000-07:00

I was able to score some great outdoor toys for Ella off of Craigslist. This last week has been so nice out (not so much today) and we have been playing outside as much as possible.

Playing with her playdough

Look at all the toys!

Ella and Noe on the see saw. They both weigh pretty much the same, so they completely balance each other out and one of us needs to help them rock (they can only get their toes of one foot on the ground).

Noe on the new slide.

Festifools Parade

2010-04-12T15:57:00.000-07:00

The other day I randomly heard about this little 2 block parade in Ann Arbor. It had all these cool paper mache puppets and lots of drumming. It was a fun way to spend the afternoon! :)

Noe is sitting on Ben's shoulders.

Sandbox fun!

2010-04-05T18:05:00.000-07:00

Last fall I picked up this sandbox from freecycle. It's seen better days as far as fading goes, but it is still solid! Today we went and got some sand for it and the kiddo's had a blast!

Easter!

2010-04-04T11:34:00.000-07:00

The Easter Bunny left quite the surprise!

Ella woke up and instead of coming to me for her morning snuggles, she went straight to the baskets and said 'Wow! What's this?"

Playing with her bus!

This is the face I get whenever I try to take his picture.

mmmmmm! Bunny ears!

I don't know what she thought was so funny, but she sure is cute!

Chocolate face!

Hunting Eggs!

Most of the eggs were thrown into her basket or dropped. All the eggs suffered casualties of the hunt.

After she picked up this one she yelled "I did it!" and pumped her little fist into the air.

The force is strong in this one. I have no idea how I managed to snap the picture mid drop, but it looks like its hovering mid air.

Showing Luke her eggs.

Luke did all the egg hiding for her. What a good brother!

Done hunting!

Happy Easter!

Dyeing Easter Eggs

2010-04-04T11:14:00.002-07:00

Nanie Zina came up for the Easter weekend. And while it was a whirlwind visit with many things to do, it was so lovely having her here. I am glad she was able to work it out.

On Saturday, after a long day of running from here to there, we finally got down to dying eggs. I had read on my message boards about using a whisk to help toddlers dye eggs. We gave it a shot - and let me tell you - totally brilliant! We did buy 2 packages of the basic dye kit, just in case we needed enough dye to cover the eggs when they were in the whisk. We were fine for the yellow and the blue, but the red/pink needed both to make it deep enough.

Just another cute baby!

2010-04-04T11:14:00.001-07:00

Leaving Seattle

2010-04-04T11:07:00.000-07:00

When Ella and I left Seattle I had her dressed in her jammies and ready to go. She brought her bumble bee along and walked it through the airport. The pictures are cute, but they in no way convey how stinking adorable it was.

Going a bit backward...

2010-04-04T10:47:00.000-07:00

Finally, I am feeling like I am part of the living again. So now for a barrage of posts. :)

Here is Christmas morning at Grandma Gloria and Great Grandma Audrie's house...

Ella loves her new bumblebee!

(Great) Great Grandma Audrie opening her topsy turvy tomato planter.

Luke is already planning what meals he is going to cook from his new cookbook.*

Ella can't even wait for her new laptop to come out of the box before playing with it!

It's out of the box! But, what I like the most about this picture is Luke in the background. Nice goggles!

Gotcha!

Inside that card is a basketball hoop. I know, Luke couldn't believe Grandma got it to fit in the card either!

Gratis shot of the flower butt jammies.

Ella says "Grandma, it's my toy! I want a turn to sing!"

"Lalalalalalala" **

Santa Baby

This is how the rest of the day went. No chance for me to get a good shot of Ella in her Santa dress - she was on the go!

* No, he hasn't made anything for us to eat yet. I need to get him on it!

** This toy needs volume control!!!

Then and Now

2010-02-24T15:28:00.000-08:00

Remember this picture of Ella sitting in the horseshoe pit? It was taken in November.

This is from this afternoon. I took the pic through my dog nose smudged doors, so that is why it looks, well dog nose smudged.

Do you see that little strip of wood out there in the snow? That's the top of the horseshoe pit back board. Now it is 6:30 pm and you can't see the wood at all.

Snow!

2010-01-08T08:44:00.000-08:00

At this point, we have between 6 and 10 inches.

Christmas

2010-01-02T11:11:00.001-08:00

We celebrated our family Christmas a few days early due to traveling. Here are lots of pics for you to enjoy. :)

Our tree.

Stockings I made for Luke and Ella.

Luke opening his stocking. Those are mallets he is holding.

I know what this is...

Awesome!

Testing out his mallets

Whats in Ella's stocking?

Chocolate?

What else?

Books!

Is there more?

Chocolate Santa for breakfast!

Really, mom?

Reading Curious George

More books

More books :) It was a very book-ish Christmas.

Ella wants that chocolate, wrapper or no wrapper

Giving Dad the side-eye. He better stay away from her chocolate.

My new fuzzy pink socks.

Daddy's turn to open a present

A new shirt!

Chocolate face!

This is what you get when you ask a 12 year old to pose for you.

Indie looks good in the sweatshirt too.

Mommy made a quiet book

What is it?

Oh no!

A Snuggie!

A leopard print Snuggie!

Oh Yeah!

A shirt

A girly shirt?

What are you opening?

a box

a STROLLER!

With her new dolly strapped in, Ella was off! It was a challenge to get her to open the rest of her gifts after that.

Luke is opening his video game chair from Mike and Zina there in the background.

Wearing a new shirt and playing World of Warcraft

Andy opening a gift

A book!

a bath toy!

The last gift!

a Bilibo

Christmas Tree Cutting

2010-01-02T10:59:00.001-08:00

The Sunday after Thanksgiving, we headed out to get our Christmas tree. Usually we don't do it so early, but with all of our holiday travels it seemed like the best plan. Then we could enjoy our tree as long as possible.

We found a u-cut farm (that is awesome!) not too far from our house. We got there just before the rain hit, and left just as the worse of it was coming down.

Ella in the tree wagon. This girl loves her some wagon rides!

What a great big brother Luke is!

We found our tree! While we (okay, just me) was saddened by the fact that we can no longer get a Noble Fir (they only grow in the PNW) we did find comparable trees. This is a Blue Spruce. While lovely, holy cow (!) those needles are like, well, needles!

Luke is working hard!

He almost had it done before Andy took over. The pokey needles were getting too much for Luke.

Ella is supervising.

I just got done reminding Andy that we could trim the bottom branches off at home (which means that Ella and I could be inside where it is warm and dry while he is out cutting) and he is telling me to let him have his fun. :)

I have such a wonderful family!

Cute Baby Alert!

2009-12-30T21:43:00.000-08:00

You may continue with your day now.

Lukes bathroom in progress

2009-12-30T21:36:00.000-08:00

Some updated progress on Lukes Super Mario bathroom. Right at the moment it is coming along in spurts. I will have a really good couple of days where I am on fire and then it stalls out and I don't touch it for awhile. Sigh.

Fall leaves, pt. 3

2009-12-29T16:52:00.001-08:00

The following weekend the Paxton family came over to play. Little did they know that we meant to put them to work too! ;)

Ella and Noe playing with the car

Aren't they cute?

Sprocket doing what he does best... trying to give Indie "loves"

Ben manning the fire for us.

Trying to get a family picture of the Paxtons. Noe would have none of it and the dogs said - "Hey! You are supposed to be throwing the frisbee, not taking pictures!"

Man, Ben talking and Andy scratching his head... the caption possibilities are endless...

Fall leaves pt. 2

2009-12-29T12:03:00.000-08:00

Since I am waaay behind, look for quite a few back to back posts in the next few days...

The fire pit, freshly dug and ready to be used

Andy getting the fire started

Ella looking cute

More newspaper for Andy

Luke takes over. I don't know one 12 year old boy who doesn't like to play with fire.

Before the boys start throwing leaves into the fire, they throw Ella into the leaves!

And they get to work! They are good kids! (That is Lukes friend Shawn, who lives at the end of our road)

Family pic, snapped by Shawn.

Fall Leaves Pt. 1

2009-11-25T07:33:00.000-08:00

Connect the dots

2009-11-15T14:00:00.001-08:00

On Friday I had to pick Luke up from school because he wasn't feeling well. He had a headache and an upset stomach. On Saturday he spent most of the morning complaining of a headache until I finally convinced him to take some advil. Saturday evening he was complaining of a sore throat and by Saturday night he was polka-dotted! I am 99% sure that he has Chicken Pox, but we will be calling the Dr tomorrow to make sure. In the meantime, let the stress begin - We are supposed to be leaving for Seattle on Friday! Fingers crossed that both, Luke scabs over and the Ella doesn't come down with it as well.

Trick or Treating

2009-11-15T08:37:00.000-08:00

I don't have very many pictures of trick or treating, but I will share the few that I have! If Ella's costume looks familiar, it would be(e) because it was Luke's when he was Ella's age.

We started off trick or treating on Friday in downtown Ann Arbor. The stores along Main Street handed out treats to the little ones and there was a special story time at the library.

Ella and Noe

Getting Candy. Ella thought it was great fun to pick a candy out of the bowl and placing it in her treat bag. She also became very good at signing "Please".

A quick shot of Lukes costume before heading out to go trick or treating. He is half boy, half girl. Sorry it is so dark.

Ella's words

2009-11-12T19:13:00.000-08:00

Mama
Daddy
Doggy
Indie
Kitty
Hot
Shoes
Please
Thank you
Hi!
Eye
Fish
Baby
Brrr
All done
Up

*Edited to add: Stinky. How could I have forgotten Stinky?

Pumpkin Patch

2009-11-12T18:08:00.001-08:00

After a disappointing first try to find a pumpkin patch, we headed out to Berry Hill Farm's pumpkin patch to find the perfect pumpkin. Luckily it was just down the road from Luke's soccer game so we stopped there before the game.

Luke has the wagon and is ready to go!

This pumpkin blew bubbles and had smoke coming out of the top of his head.

One of the many cute baby in the wagon shots. Editing is not my friend, I love them all!

Some witty tombstones... "I ran with scissors", "Didn't brush my teeth", "Went out without a coat, hat or mittens", "Didn't eat my veggies" and "Ate too much candy"

Ella wasn't having a photo-op at all.

Luke gets down to work right away.

Found one!

Andy pumpkin hunting

Ella with the pumpkin catch

Luke is asking Andy "How about this one?" for probably the 300th time.

Ella says "Let's Go!"

And she is off

First she tried to kick the pumpkins like soccer balls. I love this picture.

Every wagon needs its own tutu. I brought it along thinking it would work as a petticoat under her dress and make for some cute pictures, but the tutu was too large or the dress was too straight.

Ella played the drums on them

Luke found her an Ella size pumpkin

The cuteness is killing me!

More Ella sized pumpkins!

In they went!

Andy finally caught his elusive pumpkin

My pumpkin is back in the wagon. Which I am pretty sure was her favorite part.

Or maybe it was pushing the wagon. She loves to push things around.

Luke finds another last minute pumpkin.

Play time!

2009-11-10T07:10:00.000-08:00

Playing at the park near the library.

Look! She can go up with big girl steps!

She is so proud of herself!

Down the slide

"Yay!" I wish we all felt good enough to cheer for ourselves.

Peek a boo!

Lets go swing!

Ella's favorite thing is the swing.

The Yellow bathroom

2009-11-08T08:10:00.000-08:00

So I painted the guest bathroom the same yellow as the stripe in Ella's room. It came out looking like a whole different yellow and it is BRIGHT! So, I am stepping away from the bathroom for awhile so I can decide how I want to fix it.

Whitmore Lake Festival

2009-11-08T08:01:00.000-08:00

I can't remember what the name of the festival was, but around here there seems to be a community festival every weekend all summer and through October. This one focused on animal rescues and Luke was in heaven.

Ella checking out the puppies.

I don't think there was a crate that Luke didn't visit, or an animal he didn't give loves to. And there were a lot of animals there.

Can you see the greyhound? She was cold so she pulled the other dog bed onto herself, so you have a greyhound oreo.

More loves.

We almost came home with a handful of dogs. Good thing Andy wasn't with us, our we all would have turned our puppy dog eyes on him!

Outside of the house

2009-11-08T06:45:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was gorgeous out, and it looks like today will be the same. Here are the pictures of the outside of our house.

From the "street" looking at the house. I say "street" because we live on a dirt road. In fact, there are more dirt roads here then I have ever seen. I would say that they out number paved roads in our area.

From our walkway to the front door looking back at the road. The house you see there sold about a month after we moved in. They have 2 preschoolers.

Andy getting ready to start raking. Not sure if you have noticed all the leaves yet, but there are plenty. We spent the better part of yesterday raking and burning leaves and we have plenty more to do today. Also, the large spider - Halloween decorations.

Getting busy.

Sorry about the sun glare. The wood squares that are rather difficult to see on the right are horseshoe pits.

See the frisbee? Yeah, it landed on the roof. Good thing I had a rake with me. The long pipe is the drainage for the water filteration. I have no idea why the previous owners didn't bury it, we will next summer.

This corner here in the front of the picture is where I am going to put in my garden.

This side of the house gets the most sunlight, so not only will my garde be there to the left, so will my clothesline.

Our next door neighbor, Poppy and Scott. They have 3 girls and were one of our first welcomes to the neighborhood.

Looking back towards the woods. Our acre is long and narrow. Our future hammock will find its home here.

The other side of the house.

Note all the leaves on our side and the nice clean yard next door. This side is what we have left to do today.

There is one panel of a privacy fence that we are going to take down. It seems silly and really divides the side yard from the rest.

Straight across the yard, near those two trees, is where I dug a fire pit.

Luke's bathroom

2009-11-06T10:00:00.000-08:00

I almost forgot these! This is the last set of interior pictures. I will try to get some exterior ones this weekend.

Looking in. I had already started the painting process. But, everything was white, white walls, white counter, white cabinets, white floors, white shower and white toilet. Now the walls are a bright blue, the background for the Super Mario Bros mural I am painting.

Storage

2009-11-06T09:49:00.001-08:00

Kinda boring, but I wanted to show you it all. So here is the rest of the unfinished basement. It is a pretty large space.

Looking to the right from the door.

Panning left. Water softner, water filteration, and furnace

Furnace and water heater

Panning right. I have unpacked many of these boxes and the ones I haven't I have put away on the fanastic shelves that previous owners had built.

Stepping into the room and looking back towards the door.

Luke's Room

2009-11-06T09:34:00.000-08:00

Luke's room is in the basement. It is almost as large as our master bedroom, which is one of the reasons why he chose it. It did take him a while to get over sleeping downstairs by himself, but now there are no problems. His room has since been unpacked and rearranged, thanks to having room jail for a week and nothing better to do. :) We have new bedding picked out and paint, its just one more thing on my to do list.

Looking in from the door. The closet is the wall you see on the right side of the picture.

Looking left

And left some more

Standing next to his bed and looking back at the door

And panning left to see his closet.

My craft room

2009-11-06T09:14:00.000-08:00

Or maybe the craft dungeon? Or tell it like it is - the craft disaster. Unlike the basement which looks better then the pics, my craft room looks exactly the same. I unpacked boxes to try and get organized to reopen Farm Fresh Felt, and it has since taken a back burner. Note, I said un pack, not sort or put away. Sigh.

The door going in. I can at least say that the stack of broken down boxes have found a new home thanks to freecycle.
Turning right, mostly because you have too. I am not sure why the previous owners didn't go the extra 3 feet to the wall, but oh well.

Looking right again. My sewing table is in that space. The only plug in is in that corner. Not an outlet, but a surge protecter power strip that is threaded through the ceiling and plugged in an outlet in the guest bedroom.

Walking into the room and looking left. See all that folded packing paper? It is a boatload of paper that I have been offering on freecycle with no success.

And looking left again. I need to figure out how to get some direct light to the crafting table.

Looking back at the door. More packing paper, that I just don't have the energy to fold. So, yes, it is still there, and you have to walk over it to get into the room.

It needs some cheering up, instead of cinder blocks. The paxtons gave us a rug that they can't fit in their apartment that I will put down in there, but I also need some slippers to keep my feet warm. I am not sure about painting it, I am worried that paint won't let the cinder blocks breathe and then we would end up with dampness problems.

The Basement

2009-11-05T13:36:00.001-08:00

Okay, it's because I love you that I am showing you the basement. These pictures show it at the height of disaster, between boxes being everywhere and Luke searching for something through said boxes, it is a mess! Thankfully it doesn't look like this any more. :)

Going down (Ella currently says "Up" as she goes down the stairs)

The landing

Shelf

And going down again. Look at that mess!

From the stairs

Looking right

Looking left. The shelves in the corner are the ones that Uncle Mark made for the rabbit cages to sit on. They hold all our board games and I will be adding a cushion, pillows and a table in that corner for playing games.

Stepping off the stairs, looking right, Lukes room.

Lukes room and bathroom. I had already started painting it when I took these pictures.

Standing by Lukes room looking at the stairs. That door leads into unfinished storage area that I am using as a craft room.

Panning right a bit.

Panning right some more. The walls are pre fabricated panels that are kinda squishy. Unfortunately we can't hang anything on them.

Standing by the gameshelves/bench looking at the stairs. Luke's room, bathroom and the third door leads into another unfinished storage that also is home to the household electronics.

Panning left.

Panning left some more.

The Guest Bedroom

2009-11-05T13:19:00.000-08:00

At the end of the hall is the guest bedroom. I would like to say that these boxes are gone, but they aren't. Eventually this room will be tackled, and have furniture.

Looking in from the door. The books are now put away in Ella's room.

Scanning right...

The closet doors are in the basement. The previous owners used this room as an office and had a desk thing in the closet.

And looking back into the hallway. The master bedroom is at the other end. There is a linen closet just to the right of the door.

And... We're back!

2009-11-05T13:02:00.000-08:00

Andy gave me a new computer for my birthday! Yay for early birthday presents! So we are back with new posts and pictures. Look back often, because I have quite a bit to catch up on, so there might be more then one post a day until then. :0)

Leaving off on the house pictures, lets pick right back up. Note that before I was taking pictures before our boxes arrived, and these are after. And the place is a bit of a disaster. Hopefully I will be able to give you some after after pictures soon so you can see things coming together.

Here is the Guest bathroom which is next to Ella's bedroom.

Exciting, huh? The blue tape is there because I snapped these before I started painting. Um, yeah. Look for the after painting pictures, they are a bit intense.

Long time no see...

2009-10-24T19:09:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the lack of posts. My computer is down, and I haven't wanted to put photos etc on Andy's computer since it is his work one. We need to decide if it is worth sending my computer in for repairs ($$, plus 2 weeks turn around time, roughly) or just get a new one. So until then, the blog will be light on posts.

Have a wonderful Halloween everyone!

Stinky!

2009-09-19T20:59:00.000-07:00

Whenever Ella has a poopy diaper I wave my hand in front of my nose and say 'Stinky".

Lately she has taken to climbing in our laps to get our attention whenever she needs a diaper change.

Tonight she climbed into my lap, and I asked "Are you poopy?", and when I checked her diaper, she waved her hand in front of her nose. Sure enough, she was poopy! I about died laughing at our smart cookie, and I said "Stinky!" (waving my hand in front of my nose) and she does it again, and says "KEY! KEY!"

Review of Harmony VOC free paint

2009-09-19T18:28:00.001-07:00

Not my normal topic but it does have to do with the kids.

This being my first home, ever, that I could PAINT, I am gung-ho on painting everything I can get the brush on. I am sure it will eventually get old, but right now, I am quite happy walking around in paint covered jeans and paint splatters in my hair. I had heard of voc free paint, but I really didn't have any idea what it was exactly. I did a little reading, but not much. Just enough to know that it wasn't supposed to smell. Frankly, that was the best news to me! I had painted the pantry with paint the previous owners had left behind, and just that little closet stunk up the whole house for a few days! I was leary of painting Ella's room after that.

Enter Sherwin Williams Harmony paint. This is their VOC free paint (Duration is their low voc paint). And frankly, I love it. There is some odor, but not over powering in any way. Once it was dry, there was no odor at all. Better yet, no headaches while painting, no worry about getting enough ventilation, and you can use the room immediately. It is expensive, I first bought 3 gallons when it was on sale at $24 a gallon. The next 2 gallons I purchased were at the full price of $38 a gallon (for the semi-gloss). Ouch! Also, you need 2 coats. It is a bit challenging getting a completely even coat, but adding the second coat fixed any unevenness. Ella's room took a gallon and 3/4 to paint 2 coats white, ceiling included. Then I had one gallon of yellow that painted the stripes and just, just (I have about 1 1/2 cups left) covered 2 coats in the bathroom.

A couple of drawbacks (besides the expense) is that 1) you can't get it in any of the really saturated, darker colors, and 2) You can only buy it in gallons, not quarts.

All in all, I am very happy with the paint (did you know that there is no off gassing with VOC free paint? That alone rocks!), and will be the only paint I purchase. Seriously, I love this paint. I hope this helps any of you!

Big girl shoes!

2009-09-13T17:48:00.001-07:00

Ella got her first pair of big girl shoes today. She was so enthralled with them that we had to put them on for her to wear while we were still in the store. Up to this point she has worn soft soled shoes, like Robeez, so these are a whole new ball game. She walked okay in them, but had some troubles getting to a standing position. It might've been because they are hightops and not as flexible as her Robeez.

I think they are pretty darn cute!

Ella's Room

2009-09-08T12:05:00.001-07:00

I still don't have my camera functional, but here are some pics of Ella's room. Unfortunately the cell phone camera doesn't do a fantastic job of capturing the color, but it's a start. :)

From the door looking in.

From the corner.

Panning right. I need to make a mobile of sorts to go above the crib, and continue to make the rug larger. Both will have to wait until I unpack more. :)

Panning right some more. I just unpacked Ella's toys and she was very excited to play! The picture frames are actually felt boards and the images (a party dress, the letter "E", and an elephant) are all felt die cuts that I can change around, or Ella can when she is older.

Panning right... The gown on the wall was made by Grandma Dotty.

Panning, you guessed it, right. The changing table, hamper and diaper pail. The middle cubby should be filled with diapers, but they are in the dryer. I would like to add a mirror over the changing table.

Our new home...

2009-08-30T14:05:00.001-07:00

Some pictures of the inside of the house before the moving truck arrived from Seattle. Unfortunately, my camera battery died before I could get the whole house (and the outside) so the rest of the pics will have to wait until I uncover the battery charger.

The Front door and entry. The glass door is cool, but Indie goes crazy whenever she sees a car go by. And that freaks Ella out.

The hall closet

From the front door looking into the living room. Notice Ella's cheesy smile? That is her new picture taking smile.

The door on the right leads down to the basement. Maybe I can put the glass door there and get a solid front door...

A better picture, you can see the fireplace better. The bedrooms are to the left.

Standing by the hallway to the bedrooms looking into the living room. The fireplace has a gas insert, but is a functional wood burning if we need it to be.

Panning to the right. Looking at the kitchen, dining room. And our luggage. The doors you see to the left lead to the screened in porch.

Panning right again, but stepping into the living room from the hallway. There is a built in telephone cabinet/table there at the right. You can see the door to the laundry peeking out on the right also. The garage/pantry/closet are also to the right.

More laundry room and weird cabinet.

Dining room. The chandelier is brass and a bit dated. I am thinking about spray painting it a gloss white and hanging the chandelier crystals that Grandpa Kay gave me from it.

Our kitchen. Messy already. Sigh. I like the arrangement, but the cabinets weren't put in with much forethought... there are a few that we can't open all the way because they hit appliances.

This lower counter (the higher one on the other side of the "L" is bar height) is awesome. In this pic it is covered with the shelves from the pantry that I took out to wash (they had sticky foods on them) and paint the pantry. Anyhoo, I like the counter and its relation to the dining room.

The door in front of you is the garage door. The pantry is opened (bi-fold foors) to the right of the garage door. The laundry is to the left.

The doors to the screened in porch from the dining room. Watch your head - without a table we hit our head on the chandelier many times.

Looking to the left from the doors. The porch is not an all season porch, there is no glass to cover the screens. But, right now, Luke, Indie and Ella love to play out here. There is also a ceiling fan out here. I would love to put a daybed on the porch next summer. Luke has already called dibs sleeping on it. ;)

The pantry, minus the shelves.

The laundry room, already home to the litterbox and Luke's smelly soccer socks. I want to have some fun in here and paint it a blue sky mural. And maybe do something with the cabinets. Not sure yet.

The garage. Yes the car(s) will be parked in here. I have a basement for all my crap. MUHAHAHAHA! (My evil laugh).

The kitchen looking from the hallway from the garage. The stove/oven is electric, which is odd, since we have other gas features (like the fireplace, and our dryer).

More kitchen. Those glasses Zina bought for Andy while he was bach'ing it in Ann Arbor. We now have glasses coming out our ears. More reason to entertain! Now, to make some friends. :) Wanna come over?

More odd cabinet.

From the living room, looking at the hallway to the bedrooms. Ella's room is the door you see. The master is to the right behind that corner.

The master bedroom, from the entryway. We all slept in there for the first few days.

The master bath.

The flooring. While in good shape, it is a tad dated. Like the blue counters in the kitchen.

"HI!"

The same blue counters as the kitchen.

Turning around and looking at the toilet and bath/shower. The door you see on the left is a small linen closet. This house has a ton of storage (except the kitchen).

Both the toilet and shower insert are grey. Something I would love to upgrade at one point. I would love to say it is entirely because installing a low flow toilet is better eco wise, but really, I just want to do my business somewhere pretty.

The closet and the toilet. I didn't take a picture of the inside of the closet. Honestly, I haven't even opened it, aside from the first day when I was poking around the place.

The master closet. Sweet!

The hallway from the master bedroom. And Indies butt. First door on the right, Ella's room. Second door is a bathroom. At the end of the hallway is the guest bedroom. The doors to the left are another linen closet.

Ella's room.

Panning left.

In her room, panning left. Cute baby is a bonus.

So, I still need to get you pictures of the bathroom, guest room and all the downstairs. Hopefully I will uncover the charger soon! Hmmm, I wonder if I left it at Angela's and is in the stuff to be mailed...

Random

2009-08-29T06:35:00.000-07:00

Going away party

2009-08-28T08:05:00.001-07:00

Some random pictures from our going away party at Angela and Jason's. Most of the time I was eating and chatting, so, when I did bring the camera out, it was to snap a picture of miss Ella.

Going for a ride

2009-08-26T20:13:00.000-07:00

At Angela and Jason's Luke would give Ella rides on the tricycle. Ella loved it, especially when Luke would go over bumps. He is such a good big brother, he would give her ride after ride.

Something Important

2009-08-24T07:17:00.000-07:00

These people are doing great things and I thought I would share. I hope to participate in their projects as soon as I am unpacked. Maybe there is a project for you too.

http://crafthope.com/

Aquafest

2009-08-23T18:46:00.000-07:00

Lake Stevens Aquafest, July 26th, 2009

Playing with Jaden

Luke is at the top left

More babies!

2009-07-16T09:27:00.001-07:00

Babies!!!!

2009-07-15T20:35:00.000-07:00

We went and did a group shot of the babies today. If you recall, we have a picture of all of them on the couch back in January. With 2 cranky babies, we were pretty lucky to get a couple of good shots.

Jaden, Ben, Ella and Greyson (Ella just stopped crying when she took this, moments before Jaden started)

Greyson, Ben, Ella, and Jaden. You can't tell from this pic, but Jaden is crying his little heart out, and we had to give them our car keys to keep Ella and Greyson sitting.