The End of the Season

Well, 2011 was certainly not the greatest football season for Oregon State. There was some success, however. Our girl became a true Beaver fan. She will frequently say 'Go Beavs' and she thinks any semi-athletic activity on t.v. is football. When she thinks that she automatically says 'Go Beavs.' Mark is trying to teach her about basketball now. He's hoping for a better season to enjoy as a Beaver fan. And he plans on taking her to a few games. Good thing we finally convinced her wearing her Beavers dress is a good thing, even if it isn't pink!

Holiday Season

All three of these kiddos were wearing red on this particular day so we snapped a picture, don't they look like they are ready for Christmas? I love these three and I enjoy watching how their friendships keep growing. Each time Allison plays with Logan and / or Bekah she seems to grow up a little bit. I also love the holiday season and all of the fun activities that come with it (this picture was taken just before we headed up to our snow adventure). I'm hoping to enjoy every moment of December - especially with a two-year-old around who finds it all so exciting.

Black Friday

We skipped out on the Black Friday shopping. I contemplated some online shopping but all of the items I wanted eventually sold out. Before I bought them. Instead, Allison & I spent some time that morning at the park. It was a very rare day around here; we woke up to blue skies. We couldn't stay inside. Allison loved getting to play at the park. Even if all of the equipment was wet. And we came home and enjoyed homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast. It really doesn't get any better than that, does it?

Snow!!

Last weekend we took a quick trip up to a local recreation area to capture a family Christmas photo for our friends, the Wagner's. Since we were up in the snow we decided to play for awhile. It was a much needed break from the overcast gloom we find in the valley. The sun was shining and there was a nice white cover of snow. Janelle & Logan tagged along with us since Jon was working.

All three of the kiddos did great. They enjoyed the snow as much as the adults. I don't think I heard any whining or complaining out of any of them. Even though Allison's mittens were soaking wet after the first 10 minutes. She just stripped them off and continued to play (I went out and bought some better mittens the next day). The kids loved the sledding, which was mostly done by being pulled by an adult, the snow was too wet and not deep enough for true downhill sledding.

We're hoping to get many more trips up to the snow this winter. The dose of sunshine was so worth it. And it worked out better than we expected to run up there after church, we still had plenty of time to play.

Entertainment

We decided it was time to teach Allison to play the Wii. Ours actually sits idle more than we'd like. And with the rainy weather we have through the fall and winter (and spring!) we decided we needed some active-ities we could do indoors. So far the bowling was a hit. Especially since I beat Mark! But MarioKart was her favorite. Unfortunately she tended to zone out in front of MarioKart, though, so we'll be limiting her time with that game for now. I'm hoping to track down a copy of 'Just Dance Kids' like the game Allison got to play with cousins Ella & Savannah this summer. It is pretty cute watching a 2-year-old play games!

Biking in the Rain....

This past Saturday was a bit wet, a bit cold and a bit windy. I should probably not be surprised that we found no one else at the park when Allison & I headed over. She rode her bike to the park. She was very excited to ride her bike to the park....

First she checked the swings. They were all wet. I was not really surprised....

Little Miss 'Cheese'

Contemplating if any of the playground equipment is not wet....

I guess we can pretend play 'store'.....

And then eventually head home. She has been obsessed with pockets lately and was really excited to discover her jacket had some. She did not want to ride her bike home because she wanted to keep her hands in her pockets. That meant I had to carry her bike home. With my hands outside of my pockets. It is a good thing she is cute!

How to Eat an Apple

According to my computer I took this picture on Halloween. I don't have any fun or fancy Halloween pictures. She did get to go trick-or-treating at the courthouse while she was at daycare. And at home she got an apple (a very yummy apple from the Farmer's Market). She ate it in true 2-year-old fashion, lots of little bites all over. I'll take that over candy any day, I suppose. I don't think she even knew she was missing out on anything.

Christmas Quilt Project 2011

My friend, Leslie, drove down from Seattle so that we could work on our annual Christmas quilting project for the year. We actually started these last winter, doing all of the text applique. Then we pieced them together. They are Christmas card wall hangings, each of the green branches is actually a pocket to tuck Christmas cards in. We used our (ample) collections of Nancy Halvorsen fabrics to make these....in fact we had plenty for our friend Heidi to make one with us (minus the applique). Now to just put these together and finish the binding...then perhaps mine will show up on my 'Finished in 2011' list. And what will we be working on next year? We're planning on place mats & a table runner.....

Leaf Collages

I took all of the leaves Allison & I collected on our leaf walk and 'pressed' them between the pages of a big book. I then pulled out my 'Four Seasons of Fun' book, which was a gift from my friend, Mel, and followed the instructions for making making stained 'glass' leaf collages. My friend, Leslie, happened to be visiting for the weekend so she made one, too. We dressed ours up more than the book suggested with frames made from construction paper. Here was some of our crafty fun:

First we cut out our construction paper frames, two for each collage and then cut two pieces of wax paper just smaller than the size of the frame.

Allison loved the cutting of course, especially since I had found a pair of kid safe scissors I let her use (note - they said for ages 4+ so I don't let her play with them unless I'm with her).

Then we each selected our leaves at the pile, taking turns selecting one at a time. Once we had picked all of our leaves out we placed them between two sheets of wax paper which we then placed under a towel and ironed over on high. The ironing melted the sheets together.

We glued the frames together around the collages...and I taped them in the window. They definitely brighten my day. And Allison likes to show them off to any visitors we may have.