Christmas Recap

Our community Christmas event calendar was a bit lacking this year, but oh well. We did take the girls to the Nutcracker, which was the highlight- theirs and ours. Being the penny pincher that I am, we drove clear to Enumclaw for the performance- about an hour away. It was a fraction of the price of tickets closer to town. Of course it wasn't the level of performance we would have seen in the city, but a 3 yr old and 5 yr old really don't care. The best part was watching their mesmerized faces as they sat on their knees in their seats and watched all the ballerinas. They know the Nutcracker story well, so that helped.
Other holiday notables: I had my first annual Favorite Things Christmas Party with about 15 ladies. We all picked our favorite thing under $5 and bought 3 of them. Then we drew numbers and swapped at the party- lots of fun.
The girls got to see a darn good Santa at the primary Christmas party- they loved telling him what they wanted for Christmas.

After the party, we went up into the mountains with another family in the ward to cut down our $10 Christmas tree (turns out being cheap is not always the best idea) and due to the amazing amount of snow, the blizzard conditions and the stuck nature of many vehicles surrounding our friend's truck, we were there for hours and I decided a nice Christmas tree farm is maybe the way to go next year. I had to chuckle that our friend with his small truck and chains on his tires pulled out huge truck after truck who hadn't planned and then gotten themselves in all kinds of pickles. It was fun to watch the Jeep Wranglers who were outfitted to seriously do major off-roading drive up and over huge drifts and then orchestrate all the towing and manuevering of vehicles to get us all down the mountain with trees. Stephen had to practically army crawl across the snow to pick out our tree- the mountain was so steep and the snow so deep. Not our finest tree ever, but everyone was just so happy to get out alive, we didn't care what our trees looked like one bit. Here are a few photos of the house- we have loved decorating with the pine boughs and holly from the trees in the backyard.


We attended a lovely dinner party with about 50 other people at a gorgeous home in West Seattle . . . whew- such a fine house and such fine food! And we finally hit downtown on Christmas Eve and saw the gingerbread houses at the Sheraton hotel (I almost passed out waiting in line- that was fun). The girls and I did the Seattle Center one day without dad- we breezed through the main building with Christmas stuff and spent most of our time at the Pacific Science Center.

Christmas Eve they opened pillow cases and PJs, then we headed up to Everett for a super fun night spent at the Romneys.
Lots and lots of favorite foods and got to meet some new friends too.


Christmas morning looked like this:
I got a dollhouse at a thrift store and decided I would like to furnish it with Playmobil furniture, so all the grandparents and aunts and uncles who bought for our family pitched in and purchased one or two rooms to the tune of 7 furnished rooms for the girls! They opened each room separately and we put them all together afterward. All the pieces are adorable- moving parts, lots of tiny details- note the sink full of dishes already. LOL
The other favorite gift was the long-coveted music/jewelry boxes with dancing ballerinas. However, I have listened to the same 3 bars of Swan Lake SO MANY TIMES it's kind of going to drive me nuts . . .

Christmas night we had take and bake pizzas and about 4 billion other foods with 2 other families in the ward and the missionaries- we seriously should have tried to get the whole mission zone in there to clean it up- thankfully everyone took leftovers and we were able to give the other food to a family who needed it.
Because . . . . Sunday night we had our good friends from our previous ward over for a formal dinner! Whew. It was a great dinner- they are kind of our "Seattle grandparents" and also we had our friend and real estate agent over- it's so fun to show your home improvements to the person who saw your house and yard at it's very lowest points. lol
They all spoiled us rotten with side dishes and presents- the girls got some coveted books! Hooray! To finish off the weekend we got to see our friend Hermes for a long over due visit. And that was the whirlwind that was Christmas weekend. I was DREADING this morning- Stephen going back to work and me starting my work projects again as well, but it hasn't been as bad as I thought and we have my parents visit to look forward to this week. Plus I am still listening to Christmas music- the season lives on!

All I ever need to know I learned from PBS Kids

(Ada HATES having her hair combed, hates ponytails and her super fine hair was always tangling, so last Saturday, I whacked off more than 6 inches. She loves it- she could pull off a pixie,
but maybe when she's older : )

We've had seriously horrible periods of time when my kids watch altogether too much PBS kids. Pregnancy nausea, moves, overloaded with new stay at home job . . . etc.

I've got "those kids" who will sit riveted to a TV as long as you let them- sometimes you can't get them to blink, let alone respond to you if it's on. Dangerous, I know. So thankfully, I am glad PBS tries to make their stuff educational and this is my tribute to them . . . . . and my bad parenting skills.

Stephen is often surprised by something the girls tell him at dinner or when he gets home and he used to ask me "how do they know about that?" and my response was always "PBS Kids, where do you think they learned it?"
I can't tell you how many explanations begin with me saying "remember how on Curious George/Sid the Science Kid . . . this and that happened and so that's why . . . . "
Plus I attribute Odessa's ease in picking up reading and writing comprehension to many of their literature programs.

Some funny moments that led Stephen and I to surmise that all we really need to know we learn from PBS Kids:
Odessa started using words from The Electric Company appropriately at the dinner table such as "dubious" and "fatigued". While we knew she could probably copy cat a sentence she heard, we were surprised she could also tell us the definition.
She and Ada took a tumbling class and promptly informed their teacher that the tumbling wedge was an inclined plane and made it easy to move things up and down an area- thank you Sid the Science kid.
Ada spent 15 minutes in the car the other day explaining to me that we have rubber tires and why they are so much better than the wooden wheels they used to make.
But it was after Odessa identified some Cirrus clouds while we were all driving somewhere that Stephen pounded the wheel in excitement and declared: "Our kids don't need to go to school! They learn enough from PBS kids, who needs public school?!"

What a deal!

We needed curtains for our living room- big purchase, big decision, big deal. We also have big leaks in our 33 yr old windows that needed to be blocked. Plastic on the windows needed to be covered despite the excellent plastic-ing job Stephen always does . . . .

Small business Saturday (after black Friday): Went to IKEA to check out curtains (don't judge, also visited small businesses later) - the curtains I wanted were all sold out.
Cyber Monday: Get ads from JC Penney- window treatments 60% off! Find some online I like. Stephen wisely suggests we go in and look in person.
Monday night: Fall in love with a totally different curtain: Studio Trilby design in Huckleberry color. Love. But it's only Buy one, get one 50% off- nothing like the online sale.
Tuesday morning: Check online- Huckleberry all sold out and discontinued online. Boooooo.
Tuesday afternoon: Return to Penneys to buy curtains. I am told if I wait until Wed, I can open a Penney's account and save another 20%. I put them on hold.
Wednesday night: Return to Penneys, FINALLY buy curtains. Hip hip horray.
Saturday morning: Buy curtain rod and hang curtains. Love curtains.
Sunday: Decide we would love them even more if there were 2 more panels- 4 is just a little skimpy and they are too flat.
Monday morning: Call Penneys to see if they have 2 more Huckleberry panels and if they are still on sale.

Sales person: No, they are not on that sale, but they are on a better sale now.
Me: Really? I bought 4 last week, any chance I can get the better price on those?
Sales person: Yes, if it was within 7 days we can make the change.
Me: Really? I also applied for the Penney's card to get the 20% off, any chance that would also apply? (I learned these skills from my mother. If you don't ask, you never know)
Sales Person: Umm, yes that should be ok.

Monday night: Take receipt to Penneys to buy two more panels. Turns out the new sale is 50% off! Saleswoman returns the previous four panels, rings up all six, gives me the 20% off (on ALL of them- which I was not expecting) and says: "I now owe you $.07- that will have to go back on your card."

I walk out the door with two new panels and a $.07 credit. Oh, what a joyful, joyful season.

We're having a baby . . . .

. . . . BOY!

We are excited- I don't think either of us knew how strongly we felt about it either way until she told us and we saw for ourselves- a NUMBER of times that it was a boy.
Frankly, I had been gearing up for a girl. I just thought it would easier- I have all the clothes and toys and even a name picked out this time around. But shifting gears is A-OK and I really wanted a son for Stephen to teach all his cool "guy" stuff too like scouting and hunting and building stuff . . .

Ultrasound went well today- I got more choked up about the fact that all 4 chambers of the heart were there and 2 legs and 2 arms, etc, etc. This pregnancy has been so unlike the other 2 that I just couldn't relax and not worry that something might be wrong. There are no guarantees, but at least seeing what looked like a healthy baby was reassuring. I just wanted to get this out there in case people didn't see on Facebook what we were
having : )

Newest member of the family

SIKE! The ultrasound isn't until tomorrow. Even then, don't know that I will have pictures of the future little Hunt to post. Meet Ella Lilly- our new cat. We got her totally randomly- let's just say her owner couldn't take care of her anymore. It just so happened we were planning on getting a cat the same week Ella came to us. We had promised one for Odessa's birthday since she has been asking for a pet since she was . . . . hmmm . . . . able to say "doggie"? A cat was the compromise. Much less work and stink than a dog. Ella has been a very skitterish, very good cat- she's a teenager by cat standards we think. Need to get her spayed and checked out and then she can go outside more. Going to be a great mouser we hope. Very good with the girls.

The girls got an art easel and they have been painting nonstop. This is "Ella" by Odessa

She likes to cuddle- sometimes

Snow last week was such fun for the girls and wreaked havoc on the roads. It took some people 8 hrs to commute home, cars were abandoned. Stephen walked the 6 miles home from work because all the buses were stuck behind cars that couldn't go over the bridges. Being Stephen, he didn't walk though- he jogged.

It's fun that we have a few inclines in the yard that made great sledding trails

On a different note:
Stephen's Grandpa Fife passed away 2 weeks ago and the funeral was Nov 27th, which just happened to fall on Odessa's birthday. Stephen flew to Boise Friday after Thanksgiving, so we celebrated Odessa's birthday early on Wed before Thanksgiving. It's been nice to hear all about Grandpa's life from stories and things that Stephen shared from the services. Although all will miss him, especially Grandma Dove- he has been ill for a while and it was a blessing I think that his suffering came to an end.

Odessa's birthday:

She got her coveted ballet slippers

An umbrella from Ada

She finally got to open the package that came from Grandma and Grandpa- it was a raincoat with horses. I think she would have been just as excited if it had been an educational book- she just LOVES getting packages and mail!

She wanted the "fruit cake" like mom got on her birthday. Little does she know they come from Chinese bakeries in the International District near Stephen's work LOL. She loved it . . .
On her actual birthday, the "girls" went out for fun. IKEA playland for them, IKEA shopping for me. Lunch was Odessa's choice- Chinese food. She got to take her birthday money from Grandma and Grandpa to the $1 store and get crafting supplies- yippee!

And finally, the Thanksgiving feast that I promptly refused to eat leftovers of. I am definitely going to do something different than turkey next year! We had a nice meal with a friend away from his family. Hope yours was joyful!

So behind

So, it's been a busy few weeks since Halloween. I have been working on some projects for work, Ada was really sick . . . . after Odessa got better . . . .
I am just updating with photos for now.View from the computer room, all of our Japanese maples turned colors- but yellow or red, not all the same- so that was really pretty. We have 3 of them.

Odessa lost her other bottom tooth, and the left tooth started growing in

Then a couple weeks later she lost the other top tooth- now she has all 4 front teeth missing

Odessa made hair bows for Ada that made her look like Nellie from Little House . . . .
(note the "smiley eyes" in this photo)

Ada was REALLY sick for a few days, and her smiley eyes definitely were frownie eyes those days- hard for me and her

These pics were actually when she was on the mend, but whining about something because she'd gotten so used to me doing everything for her. She even had me holding up her sippy cups of juice for her a couple of days. A world of difference between her and Odessa as patients!



A little while ago we cleaned out the garden, this was our "big haul" - next year we will start earlier with the warm crops . . .

We did get a ton of carrots

While Ada helped me in the garden, Odessa helped dad keep the chickens happy while he finished the coop and we moved it to the garden spot


The chickens are getting so big, bigger than this photo. One was killed by a falcon last Sunday. We have been letting them out sometimes when we are home, but everyone was napping and a falcon swooped in and got one. We did get the chicken away from the falcon and buried it for Odessa's sake and because we don't want the birds thinking there is a free meal at our house.

I heart Halloween

Someday I will really get back into the swing of Halloween. My house will be spookier, my costume more thought-out . . .
When I was too tall to trick-or-treat, I turned all my efforts into pumpkin carving, creating spooky porches at my house (for trick or treaters that never showed up) and collecting Halloween decorations.
I've also decided that someone out there should start selling the Ultimate Bag of Halloween Candy. They would have to get the cooperation of all the candy companies, but think of how awesome this would sell! (keep in mind, some of these candies no one likes, but they are a Halloween tradition!)
You would have your standard 3 mini candy bars of all the classics:
Milky Way
3 Musketeers
Snickers
Butterfingers
Kit Kats
100 Grand
Hersheys
Reese Pnt Butter Cups
Reeses Pieces
Crunch Bar
Mr Goodbar, etc.
then a handful of the following:
M&Ms, all kinds
Skittles
Starbursts
Tootsie Pops and Tootsie Rolls
Dots
Sugar babies and a Sugar daddy just to rip your teeth out
Smarties
mini boxes of Nerds
mini Twizzlers- red
some Gobstoppers
Double Bubble
Sweet Tarts
Bit O Honey
those weird black and orange wrapped peanut flavored taffy things that your mom made you throw away because it came from "that house" down the street . . .
Am I missing anything??

We had a great Halloween Party at the church Friday night and a fabulous Mystery Dinner at friends Saturday night. The menu was full of things like Festering Sores, Moldy Scabs, Buzzard Brains and Monster Mush and we had no idea what we were ordering. Odessa and Ada somehow got the bread, jello dessert, brownie and punch on their first try- way to go kids! You get to order as many times as you like, but have to eat what you got first. SO MUCH FUN and we are totally doing it next year. Sunday took a turn for the worse as Odessa got a stomach bug and we have been staying in ever since.

Lining up for the costume contest, there was trick or treating in the halls, jack-o-lantern contest and games for the kids, dinner and cupcakes

Can you see Ada's shoes? They had ribbon ties to make them look like pointe shoes.

Odessa wore my wig, so I could not be Elphaba this year. lol. She was Pocahontas.

Odessa drew the picture she wanted on her pumpkin, Ada requested an upside down crazy face.

Stephen won the jack-o-lantern contest with his pumpkin on the left. The girls were really bummed we didn't all get ribbons! lol

Pumpkin Farm

Last weekend we went up to Snohomish to a pumpkin farm. No arguing that the weather forecast was for bad storms, we had a Groupon to use and by George, we were going!!

We got on a list of about 4oo people willing to adopt one of these kittens. Think we will get called?

The rabbits were also a huge hit

Then it was time to pick out a pumpkin. We ended up walking to 4 different fields to find just the right ones.

Despite the rain, dad wanted to teach the girls mini-golf, so we golfed! They were hilarious.

Hay ride out to the corn maze. We listened to the drivers description, looked at the map, talked our friends the Coles who we had just run in to and decided to avoid the mud and just ride back to the start. Good choice.

The kids enjoyed the hay maze in the barn instead- look at that slide! Made Odessa go flying.

"COOOLLLLDDDD" sitting in a puddle just to enjoy the cow train.

We had a great time, even better that we ran into our friends. I guess the crowds were a lot smaller than on days when they have better weather. It was not much like a farm, more like a fair! But a good time was had by all.