Big day

So....today is a big day! Miss Elise sleeps in her "big girl" bed! She's been talking about it for awhile, and we finally did it! It took a bit to get her to bed, but she's asleep ;-) Hoping for a good night (fingers crossed!) XOXO

Sunshine Day

Brian and I always laugh that with little kids, you can tell what kind of a day you're all going to have within the first five minutes of the wee ones waking up.  Somedays, the fuss overtakes you immediately - other days, the sass is remenicint of when you yourself were a teenager (and then you secretly feel sorry for your own parents for this type of treatment you dished out).  

But other days, days like today - you all wake up - and each one of you in the household just feels in synch with the other.  There are smiles all around, the coffee is just right, everyone says "please" and "thank You" without being reminded, you can just tell it's going to be a good day! 

I got to wake up this morning to the sound of Elise laughing with Brian - which is one of my favorite sounds! As I turned over towards Brian's side of the bed, it was Owen who was sleeping next to me.  That is always a pleasant surprise, Owen sleeping - because most of the time when he joins us in our bed, he kicks and takes over! How someone 42 inches tall (or thereabouts) can take over a king sized bed I do not know, but it happens! 

Now, we're planning on going to a farm to find apples because Owen is begging me to make him applesauce with cinnamon....sounds like a good day to me! During all of this, Elise is just smiling at her brother and following me around, laughing and making new noises that she hopes I'll repeat to her! "Peep"

Off to the farm! 

Where has the time gone?

Well - there is too much to report for the months I've missed - so we'll just be starting from now - hope that works for you all!

My husband (among other members of our family(Karen!)) have been pretty vocal about how they miss this - so with the arrival of my new toy (June 19th) I figured I'd better get started again with the updates and photos! 

Currently I'm tending to my little sickie, Owen - and watching Elise practice in her squeak squeak shoes - amazing how smart she is at 13 months! I showed her once how to stomp her little feet to make the shoes work - she's been having fun ever since!

Be back soon with more!

Snow Suit, Hannah Anderson.....$16 on clearance

Hat and mittens set....$8.99

Multiple blankets.....$20 approx

The look on our Daughters face the FIRST time she went out in the snow.....Priceless

We're pretty lucky! 

Oh the weather outside is frightful

But as usual, this fire is soooooo delightful! (Thanks Hot Brian - you really have lived up to your name!!!) 

What a day - I think I woke up about 4 times last night like a 16 year old praying there was no school tomorrow - disappointed each time to see bare pavement and dark skies! When I woke up (the final time since I was up a couple of times with cutie) I knew we were in for some fun when it was super bright behind the blinds in our room!!! Love this! Snow storms are very special to Brian and I, in case you didn't know....so anytime the local news goes in to overdrive "storm watch" I feel like I'm 26 again! 

Our day of course included sledding - walking - hot soup - laughing - visiting neighbors - playing with neighbor kids - lots and lots of pictures - snow angels - cold fingers - happy dogs - and a warm fire....just to name a few! =) But the best part is now - kiddos asleep - dogs chewing LOUDLY - and Brian and I, sitting - watching the best Christmas moving ever - Love Actually. I could blog forever about this movie, how beautiful it is - but that would take all night! 

It looks like we get an additional day all together tomorrow! Yippee, we all love when Daddy is home! It seems that the week ahead, when we are of course supposed to be Christmas shopping, should be interesting as well weather wise! 

Can't wait to share stories and pictures...and pretty soon, cookies and fudge and muffins and laughs and movies!!!

Remember, Love Actually is All Around

The beautiful moments in life

This time of year - it's nice to reflect on happy thoughts, fun times and smiles that stick with you. The weather has certainly been favorable (albeit a few days) to daydream out the windows - take a drive, a walk, a run and just enjoy the scenery, the birds and the squirrels in the park.  

It's been nice to open the mailbox every day and be greeted with holiday cards from friends and family - to get the random knock on the door from neighbors who are just stopping by to say hello (note to self, try and keep house cleaner) - get invites to Christmas gatherings and to spend lots of time in front of the fireplace with loved ones and just each other.  It's all even better, with a Santa hat and a smile!

17 days and counting....we're off to mail a letter to the North Pole! 

The best city to live in the world

We are lucky enough to live in quite possibly one of the most family friendly, gorgeous, progressive cities in our state! So many people talk about where they grow up and the great things they remember from childhood - I think that both Owen and Elise will have stories that will make their kids smile and laugh...but that's way in the future! 

The day after Thanksgiving, we of course wanted to go to a tree lighting...seeing that we have a 7 month old, we missed the parade (we were bummed) but will for sure be there next year.  We decided to check out the Lake Oswego tree lighting...we were semi skeptical, but went with it! Not only did we join a very large gathering in a local parking lot to witness the large sequoia tree which has been coined "the cities christmas tree" lit with beautiful snowflake lights, our mayor helped with the countdown, there were high school choir groups singing Christmas music, Starbucks donated free coffee and hot chocolate (yum).....and then, Santa was there - in a fire truck headed down to Millenium  Park...the street was closed off and we were all encouraged to follow him and the truck to ANOTHER tree lighting where the kids would get to see many Christmas characters and of course, get some candy! I mean really - how many cities do you know of that seem to really encourage their main street shut down for hundreds of people to walk down (some with their dogs) multiple times a year....we're pretty lucky! 

We all made our way down to the park - Elise was beside herself with the lights, the sounds, up in Mommy's arms so she could get the full range of holiday offerings....mostly though, to see her brother super excited and laughing! We ran in to old friends, new friends....Owen's teacher - I don't think I've ever seen him so captivated before - his teacher, out in the real world - giving out hugs regardless of not being in a classroom....he was all smiles! He met Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph and the Nutcracker - all in costume, none of whom he was afraid (candy canes???)....big change from last year!  We thought our night was made...we were on our way home.  

And then, down the staircase - there it was - the fire truck, with REAL fireman standing outside the truck just waiting for Santa to come back.....we were only going to take Owen's picture next to the truck, until....Fireman (I don't know his name) Nice guy came up to Owen - and offered to not only show him how the levers and computers work...but to let him get IN the truck, try on THE REAL HAT (the one with the lights and everything) and get his picture taken then!!! (See above)...it was like Owen was the only kid in the world....many kids began to line up, but for 5 minutes, he was the only one who was around - See what I mean, the BEST city in the world...especially when you're 4 and those are almost all the things that matter! How many people can say they got to go to their tree lighting (with the same living tree used every year) where their mayor did a countdown, saw Santa in their local fire trucks, saw their teacher in a crowd, met local fireman, tried on a real fire hat....the list goes on! I think we've all got one more thing to add on to our "what we're thankful for" list!

Oh - and did I mention the police stopped traffic in BOTH directions to let us cross the street...WOW! 

(PS, the top photo I meant to add, is of Owen and our shadows as we walked down the driveway at some possible clients of Brian's to pick out a tree!)