Thanksgiving

We drove up to Royal City for Thanksgiving this year. Here are some of our photos!

The kids helped me make the fruit salad. I didn't have to do much but cut up the apples! Nathan was a great helper cutting up bananas and throwing in other fruits. Elizabeth put the fruit in the bowl. 

Papa Norm is making Pippa a dog house. Here is Elizabeth trying to use a hammer. 

Papa Norm and Elizabeth riding on the baby Kubota. 

Both kids danced the traditional "Olive Dance." 

I tried to make friends with Pippa. She looks a bit bewildered. 

Auntie Laura brought a fun activity! The kids got to decorate trees with stickers. After some initial typical issues, everyone had a fun time decorating! 

He decorates paper trees just as well as real trees! 

Christmas decorating

Nathan decorated the whole tree! He did a great job. Only a few ornaments were broken. 

Jeremy put up the lights! The house already had all the hooks in place so it wasn't too hard for him. The kids love it! 

Funnel-Dome-Whistle Disease

Nathan was playing with his engines today. He said Percy was sick and couldn't deliver the mail. Thomas had to substitute. I asked him what Percy was sick with. Nathan said, "He has Funnel-Dome-Whistle Disease. It's like Hand-Foot-Mouth disease for engines."

He still remembers that horrible virus we all had about a year ago.

Oct/Nov Videos

 

The Cardboard Whale

Nathan is always designing and building things. Here is the cardboard whale he built. He's holding up the tail fin which actually flaps. He also glued on side fins and the dorsal fin. Right now, he's really into whales and squids. 

Rocking with Dad

These kids love to hang out with Dad!

Seesaw

Photos of the Day

A large tower. 

A cute girl eating her noodles. 

Little Girl, Big Pushes

Nathan wanted Elizabeth to push him yesterday. It worked (except for the times she got knocked backwards...and cried). 

Crayons

We like to melt down old crayons and make new ones. It's fun! (Although they don't really like using the "new" crayons.) 

Raisins...

Look, the kids found raisins growing on the withered grape vines! They don't taste good though as you can see from Elizabeth's face. 

The Mountain Climbing Machine

Nathan constructed this "Mountain Climbing Machine" for Uncle Brian. Here are the nifty features. 

1. Four large tires for getting down muddy roads near the mountain.

2. A comfortable seat that pivots.

3. Once you get close enough to the mountain, you turn on your helicopter blades so you can just fly up to the top. No climbing actually required.

4. You also have 16 guns (8 on each side) in case any large, scary animals try to attack you. Or if you just get hungry and need to hunt. 

5. And finally, when you hover at the top of the mountain, all you have to do is walk across the ramp (the long yellow sticks) to reach the top. It's that easy!

Fall Play

Papa and Gram brought Pippa down to play! They are dogsitting while Auntie Laura is on vacation. Pippa had a lot of fun playing out in the yard while the kids played and Jeremy raked leaves. 

Raking leaves. Kids AND dogs like to play in leaves. 

Dogs wish they could swing. 

This seems to be Gram's permanent spot when she comes to visit. And yes, Elizabeth is still wearing her monkey costume. 

Pippa had to stay outside at lunch time. She was very smelly and kept trying to take food from the little people. Gram is probably going to be giving her a bath. At least Pippa is quite cute! 

Pasco Pippa

We got to see Auntie Laura's dog Pippa today. Pippa likes to eat crumbs off the floor.

After dinner tonight, Elizabeth was eating her dessert (wafer cookies). Crumbs dropped all over the floor so Elizabeth decided that she could just be like Pippa.

They got to jump on the bed!

It was time for us to get a new mattress. We'd had ours for 10 years. The kids had a GREAT day. 

First, I let them jump on our old mattress as much as they wanted. Why not? 

Nathan was thrilled to hear a delivery truck would be showing up. He just loves big trucks that deliver things. He kept running to the window looking for the truck. 

When our new mattress arrived, the mattress guys told us (and we knew) that to break in our new mattress, it would be a good idea to have the kids walk all over the mattress. So they even got to jump on the new mattress. The new mattress is a foam one though, so they can't really get big jumps on it. 

The mattress a Serta iComfort. So far it seems really comfortable. It's always so scary making a decision that's supposed to last for 10 years! 

Nathan posing on the new mattress. 

Walking on the mattress. And using curtain rods as oars. Yes, the bed is a boat of course. Often, a shark will appear on the floor, swim around, and jump up on the boat to eat a little monkey. 

Too Much Monkey Ballerina

Someone was watching her pre-nap TV show to calm her down and get her tired.

It worked too well today. She couldn't even make it to her crib.

I guess running around being a Monkey Ballerina all morning can tire a girl out!

The shark is still going strong though.

Jeremy's Birthday Bonfire

We went to Grandma Pam's to celebrate Jeremy's birthday. Jeremy wanted a big bonfire with roasted marshmallows and hot dogs. The weather cooperated and it worked out perfectly to be a great day! Grandma Pam's is a fun place to visit. 

Here is Nathan feeding some pineapple to the chickens. 

Found some eggs in there! 

Grandma Pam and Nathan finding rocks to throw in the pond. 

Throwing rocks in Grandma's pond. 

We're out of rocks Mom. 

The bonfire! 

Throwing rocks in the creek. 

Our best family photo. 

This photo try was just funny. 

All the kids. 

A photo for next year's calendar! 

State Cross Country

Lucky for us, the state cross country meet is in Pasco every year. Very handy! Every race from B to 4A is run throughout the day. 

The kids favorite babysitter Sofie from Spokane was running in the 1A girls race. Of course we went to see her run! 

The 1A race gave us a lot of teams to cheer for! The Royal girls team was running so we got to cheer them on. We cheered on the Montesano girls even though we didn't know any of them. And of course we cheered on Sofie and the Lakeside girls. 

Sofie ended up getting 6th overall! It was awesome to watch her do so well. They've missed her and Nathan talks about Sofie and her races all the time. 

After the race, Elizabeth kept saying "Sofie got sick" because she can't say (and doesn't understand) what sixth means. 

The kids chatting with Sofie after her race. Great job Sofie! 

Elizabeth was not such a big fan. She mostly wanted to snack and we had some bathroom issues. Yup, not going to discuss that here. 

Nathan; however, watched with great interest. 

Happy 33rd Birthday Jeremy!

Fall Videos

 

Posing

I was a bit sad when I saw how Nathan looked in this photo. He looks about 10! I think his baby looks are going away. 

However, Elizabeth definitely still looks little. Who else but a 2 year old would stand in her undies wearing boots stuffed with pretend corn, a hairbrush, and a few other toys? Plus, a cowgirl hat is a nice bonus. 

The day after Halloween

I'm pretty sure I've been hearing the kids' teeth crying. 

So we've been doing a lot of extra tooth brushing the last few days. 

It's always cute when Nathan volunteers to do something to help out Elizabeth.