christmas eve rocks

the polar express

And that's the way they do it on the Polar Express . . .
We watch The Polar Express every year. While at first I found the annimation creepy, I've grown to love it and actually WATCH with the kids rather than knit or read like usual. So this year we took a trip up to Hood River for a ride on the Polar Express. It was all jammies and cocoa and Santa. Emme got VERY shy when Santa came but said she loved him anyway.

happy birthday to our sweet boy

Emme ran into my closet this morning and said in a very serious voice, "Mama, Evan is 8 today." Yes! I love birthdays and my kids birthdays are a great way for me to express to them how much I love them. I didn't feel complete as a person until I gave birth to Evan. He is my very best boy - I am quite googly about him.
He started the day with pumpkin waffles and Harry Potter - then ended the day with Salted Carmel Vanilla Apple Pie and a movie party with his boys to see Tron Legacy. Happy Birthday Evan!

zoo lights

Another year with dear family and friends at Zoo Lights - and this year was the best yet - we scored the back of the caboose - all the sweet kidlets bundled in together. We shared cocoa for the kids and a special "coffee" for the adults. The train got stuck half way through so we got an extra 15 minutes to singing and goofing around while it tried to chug us up the hill. It was a perfect evening!

visions of sugar plums

Ems and her best friend

Ems and her best friend had a date at the zoo. They are almost like brother and sister - equally at home hugging or telling each other what to do. E is still very close to his preschool best friend - I am so grateful my kids have developed these close relationships so early.

back blogging - pictures from Thanksgiving

christmas outtakes and a finished product

What a time I had getting a good picture for the Christmas card this year. Here are some outakes plus the finished product.

happy thanksgiving

I couldn't be more thankful today than for my sweet children.













There is just nothing in this world that compares to them - they give me such joy and love. For laughter, see the last picture.

country girl

Ems is embracing the country life. I heard her exclaiming, "Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee" all the way down a hill when she was out riding on the four wheeler with Jonesie. She loves to go fast and doesn't mind the cold at all. What a girl!

we've landed in the snow

We've landed in Wisconsin and the snow! While I've committed to wearing my pajamas all day, Evan hit the snow with Jonesie.

hogwarts project

I have to admit, I was as excited as Evan to get the Lego Hogwarts set. We put together a couple pieces each night for a week. Evan was the builder and I was the "sorter". Emme was the mess maker :) We've got big plans to decorate it for Christmas. Yeah, Harry!

a little sibling love

E and Ems are at odds more than they are in line with each other. But every so often we catch a little love between them . . . . and we revel in it!

domestic arts

Neither of my kids really love the things I knit for them. I definitely knit more for myself or for my taste than theirs. So I asked E what I could knit for him that he would really wear and love. He picked out the official WWII watch cap - made by the hundreds of thousands for soldiers in Europe. We got some great burnt orange alpaca yarn at the farm we visited a couple of weekends back.

And boom - I whipped it up quickly. It's soft, squishy, and stretchy. E gives it a great review.

Ems doesn't really like wearing the things I knit for her either. When I present an outfit to her to put on, she'll ask, "Did you knit this?" If I answer yes, then she refuses to wear it! So I just finished this super cute tunic dress - it took forever with it's intricate honeycomb pattern and cabled skirt. She agreed to wear it for the photo shoot - that's it. She stripped if off ten seconds after I said we were done. pooh.

So I am moving on to a very involved hexagonal blanket that should take months. I love making kids clothes - but our taste does not seem to match up. If only I could a tacky hot pink t-shirt with a glittery Dora on front - but sorry Em, I just can't do it.

halloween happiness

Army Specialist E and Belle Em - both loved, loved, loved Halloween night.