Christmas Gift Preview

This year I've managed to make homemade gifts for almost everybody again, and I'm REALLY excited about them. Since Annie won't be reading the blog, I think I can share what I've done with hers already. :)

Three (?) years ago for Christmas, my mom bought me and my sisters Cabbage Patch dolls; her reason was because she could never afford them when we were little girls. I kept mine in the box for the day I would have my own little girl to play with it. So for Christmas this year, Annie is receiving her very first doll (and yes my mom is totally fine with it). Annie has become very interested in babies and dolls during the last couple of months, so I think she will be thrilled. I also have my old doll cradle that my great-grandpa made me; I will give it a fresh coat of paint and Annie will receive that as well. The final touch is a blankie and pillow that I made for her doll. These were such a simple little project, but I thought she'd enjoy having a doll blankie to match one her baby brother will have. (A friend gave me the fabric for that specific use, so that's what I'm making my nursing cover out of.)

By Remote

Experimenting with the camera's remote again...

I LOVE this picture...now I just need to learn how to edit out the junk in the background. :)

More Preschool Prattle

The other day, I was teasing Logan about his slang (see post from November 13th) and it gave him new ideas for it. Now he says, "Mom, will you turn on the light in the bath (bathroom) so I can go pod (potty) on the toy (toilet)?"

Baking With Babes

What do you do when your husband has to spend all of his evenings studying at school? You make cookies of course! (Then you blog about it.)

The other night we were missing Daddy and feeling a little (maybe a lot) bored. So, I decided to do something that is often too messy and complicated for my patience. I let BOTH children help make gingerbread cookies. I even gave them their own dough. AMAZING.

Annie is ready to go. Notice how neat and clean her appearance is.

Logan is also ready.

Logan's cookies were in the oven (Annie's were in her tummy-unbaked) and I stepped away to wash my hands. What can I say? I wasn't thinking. When I returned I discovered Annie happily grabbing handfuls of flour and dumping them on the rolling mat we'd been using. I removed flour and mat (which thankfully contained most of the flour) and the next obvious step was to take a picture! Then I had a triumphant moment in mommy-hood. I LET HER CONTINUE PLAYING IN IT! This would have totally unnerved me a few years ago, but what's a little flour on the carpet now that I have two busy kids?

Since the cookie cutters cannot go in the dishwasher, we had an unusual holiday: a sink full of soapy water! Logan insisted on washing everything himself; what a great helper! Annie helped by eating soap bubbles. Logan also managed to drip soapy water on top of Annie's head because he was holding his soapy washcloth away from the dishes he was trying to rinse.

Meticulously decorating her cookie. After she'd put the sprinkles on one-by-one, she took them off and ate them one-by-one.

Also being meticulous with his sprinkles.

The end result. She's looking a little bit wilder, although most of the flour was washed away by the soap feast.

A mouthful and a smile. I can't deny it; he did a pretty good job making those cookies!

A Request

I love the things Logan says to me. He's had a frequent request since Halloween that makes me laugh; sometimes I grant it, sometimes I don't.

"Mommy, can I have a piece of candy just because you love me?"

Isn't that a great reason? I love his logic!

Ben's Court of Honor

On Saturday we went to Ben's (Jim's youngest brother) court of honor where he earned his Eagle. Congratulations Ben!

When he received the award and his parents went up with him, Annie HAD to be with grandma.

Pinning his mom

Pinning his dad


Dessert and clip on earrings

Most of Jim's family (only Elisa was missing because she was having a surgery, but all went well and she is home now): Cami, Terrance with Logan, Audrey, Jim Sr., Ben, Jim with Annie, Becky

The "New" Zoo

On Wednesday the Denver Zoo had their last free day for this year and I decided we needed to go. (FYI- If you live in Colorado, there are several free admissions days for the zoo, museum, and botanic gardens all year...awesome opportunities.) Because this isn't "our" zoo, I had to tell Logan it was a "new" zoo so he'd understand this was more exciting than usual, and he was very excited. We know "our" zoo inside and out because we have a membership; it's still fun every time we go, but it's not quite as much an adventure. That morning, I almost disappointed Logan and backed out of going. My friend that was going to come with us couldn't make it and I was a little nervous to drive to Denver by myself. BUT we were already in the car and I thought I'd be brave. I'm so glad we went! The parking was insane when I drove in, and I had to park a pretty good distance from the main entrance, but the zoo is so big that it really didn't feel crowded despite the thousands of people roaming around.

This was my attempt to get the kids to look at me...they weren't very interested.

I really enjoyed seeing different animals and exhibits, so I took pictures of a few that fascinated me (that we don't have at "our" zoo). This was a king cobra. It was as big around as my calf muscle...at least.

This was a really creepy looking viper; doesn't its head look scary? It's widest area was at least as big around as my thigh.

The same building that held the creepy snakes had Komodo dragons, crocodiles, and BIG fish. I think the kids would have stayed in that building for hours. I literally had to peel Annie away from each fish tank; they were her favorite thing. We're thinking a trip to the Denver Aquarium is on the horizon...

Anyway, in this picture they are looking at a Komodo dragon (which we do have at "our" zoo, but the kids were enthralled anyway) and I think Annie was getting a little nervous about all the kids around her. She walked up to Logan, put her arm around him, and laid her head on his shoulder! It was unbelievably sweet! I only wish I'd thought to take the picture before she looked up again.

Sea lions...this was a cool exhibit with a below-ground area that you could watch them swimming in their pool. The lack of smiling is only because the kids weren't at all interested in ME.

MY favorite: the camels. I have this vague memory of seeing a camel at a zoo when I was a little girl, and it fascinated me. It also left an impression on me because every time I see one I just want to stare.

Buffalo

One UGLY warthog! The kids around us were talking about "The Lion King" and it occurred to me that my kids have never seen that movie...I'm thinking that'll be a good one to borrow from the library.

There were two swans and they were so pretty! I couldn't seem to get Logan to look at me at the same time the swan had its head up.


Logan was very excited to find the rhinocerous, but hardly looked at it when we did find it. Funny kid.
After four hours, we saw almost everything and I was pooped from pushing that double-stroller. I pretty much didn't sit down the entire day. I walked VERY SLOWLY back to our far-away parking spot and it felt so good to get in the car! We really had a lot of fun, and I'm determined we have to do it again WITH Jim.

Sew-So

For my latest sewing project, I decided to make Annie a basic jean skirt. She'd received some fun hand-me-down tights and I already had the fabric, so I decided it was the perfect project to match all of those colorful tights. I created my own pattern and made it in no time. I made my very first attempt ever at a ruffle along the bottom which I thought turned out okay. Once I put it on Annie, however, I wasn't totally pleased with what I made.

The final product.

Annie girl

Just a cute picture

The front view is what I'm not so happy about. The skirt is too poofy, and I know why. That's what I get for creating my own pattern.
My next sewing project: Learn to use a pre-made pattern.

Preschool Prattle

Logan has created his own slang recently. He thinks it's really fun to leave the ends off of words. For example, he just said to me, "I need to go pod." (potty)

Earlier he said, "I want a piece of cand." (candy) When told no, he asked for a "cook". (cookie)

It's totally on purpose, and funny.

Recent Tales

Every picture has a story right? So here's a few recent short stories.

Yesterday Logan laid under the table during lunch, and after a few minutes I noticed he was holding very still. Notice how his foot is on a chair. I especially love the bib he thought he needed to wear backwards for the lunch he didn't eat.

This picture is for my sister Sarah. She requested that I put a pregnant picture on my blog. Here you go Sarah! (It was also an experiment. I discovered that our camera has a remote control which I am unsuccessfully hiding behind my back, so I had to try it out.) 20 weeks.

I've been having fun dressing Annie up lately because she received a couple new outfits, and some fun hand-me-downs. On this particular day I'd dressed her in a brand new outfit and she decided she needed to accessorize. (The hat almost made it to the YMCA with us that day. :)

One morning just after I'd dressed the kids, I walked into the bathroom to discover Annie on the toilet...it was open and she was attempting to sit on it like she sees everyone else do. I'm pretty sure I caught her just in time; she was ready to fall all the way in. I took her down to cries of, "Potty! Potty!" Hence she earned the chance to sit on the potty with the little seat. Now she's obsessed with it. She has yet to actually deposit anything in the toilet, but she'd happily sit there for hours, and I have to be doubly careful that she stays out of the bathroom when I'm not looking.

This is a little late, but we carved it a little late. I bought the pumpkin the week before Halloween, got sick, and carved it the week after Halloween. Logan chose to do Mickey Mouse, and I thought it turned out fairly well considering the pumpkin had started to rot and was too soft to thoroughly clean. That also made it difficult to cut because I had to be very gently.

This was just cute. Annie was very tired and Jim is always very tired. They make a great snuggle pair.

A Duck, A Train, and a Firefighter

The kids have had a lot of fun wearing their costumes this week. They went to two carnivals, the ward party, and trick-or-treating last night. I couldn't get enough of seeing them in their costumes, even though I missed most of their fun. (I did watch the trick-or-treating last night, though...I followed them with the car and felt totally justified.) Annie figured out the candy thing really quick. The first time they wore costumes was for a carnival at the college on Wednesday night. Annie eventually figured out that she could get candy without playing the games. She would just walk up to any of the college students holding a candy bucket and look at them. They couldn't resist, and she came home with twice the candy Logan did. Last night there were several houses that were very enthusiastic about our kids' costumes and had to call everyone who was home to the front door to see; there was even one old lady that wanted to keep them. I have to admit, my kids were pretty cute.


I don't know how this happened, but this is the only picture I took of Logan.

My mom had found the kids' costumes at Goodwill for $5 each, but Annie's only had the duck body. So I made the pants and hat. After I was done, Jim informed me that a duckbill is round and a chicken's is pointed...oops. I suppose I will fix it when I have another child to wear that costume.

Just before it was time to go trick-or-treating Annie decided she wanted to be a firefighter instead. She put on the hat, grabbed her trick-or-treat bag, went to the front door, and said, "Go!"

Digging through the loot afterwards.