Santa 2010

we went to the mall today and saw santa. we usually get a picture, but the prices were uch more then last year and i knew we would have another chance at some point this holiday season. abra enjoyed visiting with the big guy and told him what she really wanted for christmas.

charlie brown thanksgiving

we love to watch charlie brown videos associated with the holiday. i was talking with rich about having chicken since it was just us, and abra suggested we have a charlie brown thanksgiving...so we did for lunch. popcorn, pretzels, jellybeans and toast. i made her add some lunch meat to her toast. she loved our special lunch. rick joined us for dinner where we had ham, sweet potatoes, corn, apple pie and pumpkin pie. i think abra ate more than all of us. it was a nice, relaxing day that rich didnt have to go into work which has been rare lately.

santa advent calendar

i saw a calendar on the pottery barn kids website and thought to myself, i can make the for much less then they are selling it for. twenty dollars later i have one santa and enoough leftovers to make more with the exception of of the list felt, that i need to get more of, but still far less then buying them. i think the next ones will look much better because i have made one and have an idea how to do it.

the wall

we had another productive weekend. rich fixed the dryer, we played with abra, and we stated building the wall. my shelves are on hold again, but it will be nice to get the front yard finished. here is the vision, three blocks high all the way from the fence to the driveway. then we will fill with dirt to make the yard level/ gradual slope. on top will be grass with plants along the house and the fence. abra even wanted in on the fun.

halloween

Halloween fell on reformation sunday this year, so we had a busy day. abra and i went to church and had potluck afterwards, then we stopped and got a pumpkin because we hadn't done that yet, followed by a trip to walmart to pick up some groceries, finally home to carve the pumpkin and get ready to trick or treat.abra dressed up this year as barbie mariposa/butterfly fairy. when rich got home he took abra to the college and trick or treated around the dorms, then worked their way home.i got to stay home for the first time ever and pass out candy, do laundry, wash dishes, make dinner, you know, the things that you are grateful when everyone is out of the house so you can just get them done.overall, it was a huge success and abra has more than enough candy.

more trees gone

rich felt ambitious and cut down the remaining trees we were thinking about replacing. he cut eight more tree clusters down. all that remains to be taken out is the juniper and the rotting cedar in the back. might take one of the cedars out that is next to the shop, but that will be later determined. for all you tree lovers, i am planning on planting two apple trees in the backyard and some other bushes and shrubs. we are spending our outside time ripping out the front yard so we can work on the curb appeal. slowly but surely, it will get done

new truck

abra's 5th birthday

it just dawned on me that i never posted birthday pictures from a month ago.

erin's visit

my dearest college roommate visited this weekend. it was a short, but good weekend. saturday started with a quick lesson in pancake making, then we hit up hillsboro farmers market and scored tons of fruit ansd veggies plus a box of apples for five dollars. in the afternoon, we went wine tasting around forest grove then home for dinner and campfire.we spent sunday hanging around watching football and chatting until her conference. i cant wait to go visit phoenix, or when she moves to portland

side note

I have many things to update from the past few weeks. some things are on the camera and some on the phone. the next few entries will not be in chronological order. enjoy nonetheless

Abra's helper

i had to stop abra from playing to do her chores, i guess the novelty has worn off. chris wanted to help so he helped put her clothes away, make her bed and even brush her teeth. yes, chris is moving abras arm for her while she held the toothbrush in place.

Projects

I haven't been super motivated to do much in the way of projects and crafts since returning home from Iowa. I have a LONG list of things to make and finally it has hit me, the urge to get somethings done! I made decorative soap for the bathroom last weekend with the Abra.





I saw a magnetic chore chart on a U create and really wanted to make one for Abra. The thing is, I was too cheap to by the $5 sheet of metal at the store when I knew that there could be a cheaper way! Well, after a week of searching, I thought it is going to hang on the refrigerator and that is magnetic, and I really don't want to mess with wood to make it pretty, so why not just use scrapbook paper and contact paper it to the refrigerator! 30 minutes later, project complete. If any of my dear local friends are interested in doing this or similar, I have PLENTY of gems left and tons of paper, so let me know:)

Snacktime fun!

Today, we had snack and art together!! I remember doing this as a kid, but we got the cookie cutters out, cut shapes out of bread and "painted" the bread using colored milk, and then into the toaster. The toaster, not the best choice, but it worked. I put homemade strawberry jam on their plate to dip the extra bread and their toast.

Children's museum with 3

I am watching two BOYS (rowdy, energetic, literally climbing the walls boys) and they are done playing at my house. Understandable considering it is too cold for pool (which has a hole courtesy of Shia), and most of the toys are girlie. I reserved the Children's museum pass from the library and thought we would give it a go. It is perfect ZOO weather, so the museum shouldn't be too packed...WRONG!!! After two days of rain, at the end of summer, MANY other families felt the Children's museum would be a GREAT idea! None the less, other than occasionally misplacing a kid (he thought it would be funny to hide from me in every exhibit), mission was accomplished. Chris fell asleep in the car and not a peep or movement during quiet time from Abra and Carl. I don't know why I bother with the right side of the museum because my favorite (and the kids) is the water and the big multi-space grocery store/pet hospital/ship/building thing. That is great!!

Cabelas

Okay, alittle behind, but better late then never right? Rich needed some supplies for his upcoming hunting trip, so we headed up to Washington to Cabela's! I wasn't too sure how Abra was going to handle the time in the store, but we kept pretty entertained!! It was a special "women and children in the outdoors" weekend, so she got to shoot with a real bow, and joined in the elk calling contest! It was great fun plus Rich's things were on sale, so we were able to sneak in a few decorative pieces for the Richard room on the CHEAP!!!

OMSI

(aka Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) Today was day one of the free weekend pass so the Hyppsters and us took the drive into Portland. Once there, our hyped up children had a blast. We did too until we started to lose the kids because there were so many people!

There is this battle of nature vs. nurture that amazes me! Rich LOVES lizards-me not so much. They stink and are gross (not to mention that I am the only one who feels pets need to be cleaned up after considering no dog poop was picked while I was gone, or other things cleaned up!!) WE WILL NOT (probably in the VERY FAR FUTURE) BE GETTING A REPTILE!

I very well might be mistaken, but I think that this might have been the first time I have ever seen a real T-Rex skeleton! Wait, there might have been one in Chicago, but I don't really remember much about my 8th grade field trip and I didn't take the time to go while in school...bummer. Anyway, I think that I was more interested in it than anyone else in the group!

They had this fabulous green screen that went with a weather program. Abra REALLY enjoyed seeing herself on tv!!

They had some space things and this cut-out was super cute. Does NASA need a rockstar?

Yard work

We are back and have the house somewhat clean. I still need to put the clothes away, but what is the hurry right:) Well, Friday was Rich's birthday and since he had to work, we went out last night and celebrated after nap time!

Today, however, was very labor intensive. Rich split logs to get them ready for firewood and even Abra helped! After all the hard work was done...POOL TIME!!!

I was minding my own business when a certain Juniper bush attacked me, so it had to go!!! Only one more left!

Floods

For any of you who have heard, I get to experience the yearly flood on the river. This year was very eventful. The dam north of town broke, had record levels (24.5 ft flood stage is 14 ft) and the Dam south of town broke. Most places just have basement damage, but there are a few places that are probably rethinking building along a river! I have some pictures, but I am a little lazy to put them on the blog tonight. Maybe tomorrow. We are not stranded and there really wasn't anyone hurt, which is great, but Hardee's sure sounded good and now it is under water. Yes, Hardees and Carl's Jr are the same company, but Hardees does taste better in my opinion.

Field of dreams

After many years of trying to make it to Dyersville to visit the field of dreams. Today, that was our mission!! We packed a lunch and had to eat it on the benches and watched a few random families do a pick-up game of baseball. It was great fun!!

After everyone left, we had the field to ourselves to hit a few balls

Practice running the bases.

Hid in the corn.