Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

We've had snow on the ground since Saturday night and I'm loving every minute of it! What's not to love about snow? Just a great aspects of our recent weather...

An extra week of vacation because school is canceled (well, technically we had 3 days of late starts, but if you teach morning kindergarten you luck out and don't have school at all!).

Time at home to snuggle Eli, bake cookies, mail cards, wrap presents, clean house, catch up on Professional Certification homework, read Twilight, and blog.

Shane having to work from home for a day.

Playing with Eli in the snow (he enjoyed more each time we went out), building snowmen, shoveling snow (yes, I actually like shoveling snow!).

Getting to enjoy beautiful landscapes, sunrises, and sunsets!

Just to name a few!

Eli's first time in the snow. (These pictures are from Sunday). The poor kid was so bundled up, Shane called him the Michelin Man. "Not really sure why I'm sitting here in this cold stuff, or what exactly I'm supposed to do with it..."
"This is NOT funny! I do NOT like snow!" (Poor Eli stumbled (probably due in part to resembling the Michelin Man) and fell face first in the snow. Poor guy!
Try getting a dog and a toddler to hold still for a picture!

(The following pictures are from yesterday and today.)

I haven't quite gotten used to snowmobiles racing up and down our road....
I couldn't resist! I waited until Eli went down for a nap on Wednesday (given his prior face-plant) and snuck out and built a snowman. He looks like he's toppling over because he almost did as a result of the 6 inches or so of snow that piled up on him Wednesday night.
Look closely and you'll see the 3 deer that were out in the field this morning (and the neighbors lovely storage box...) Beautiful!

And the husband of the year award goes to....Shane!

Last Thursday Shane called me wondering what I had planned for Saturday the 20th. I was fully expecting to hear plans for one last late season hunt, so my response was, "That all depends...what are you planning?" "A special day for you" was the answer I got! Instant husband points! Since he couldn't keep it underwraps due to planning and arrangements he shared the details when he got home.

Shane pulled out all the stops on this one! He knows I've been longing for a little "girl time." He also knows that my all time favorite movie is Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (it's a great old musical). So, he made arrangements for my sister, Sara, to meet me in Seattle where we get to hang out for the day and then see Seven Brides for Seven Brothers at the 5th Avenue Theater.

Merry Christmas to me! Yep, pretty sure I have the best husband ever!

The Lights of Christmas

My mom sent me this clip...it's pretty cool! I can't even begin to imagine the kind of time and money it takes to decorate your house like this for Christmas!

When I Grow Up...

When I grow up, I think I might want to be a ....

Dog trainer (or perhaps rodeo cowboy?)...

Race car driver...
Mountain climber....

Or maybe I'll just be a jack-of-all trades and wear many different hats? You just never now!

That's what friends are for!

We had such a nice Thanksgiving at Rod and Carolyn's in Lake Chelan (Manson, technically). Eli had such a fun time playing with all of the toys and especially his good friend Kaylee.

The Latest and Greatest in Phone Techonology...

Who needs the new iphone when you've got this? (Can you tell that Eli loves playing phone? Even though he has lots of play cell phones and phones, he likes to find his own phones!)

14 months

Eli,

It seems like we've been saying, "Whoa! Look what Eli is doing!" so much lately. Everyday you amaze us with what you've discovered and learned to do. Yesterday, as I was washing dishes, I heard the kitchen door open. Knowing it was to early for Daddy to be home, I peeked over just in time to see you starting to walk out the door! You've got places to go and people to see! I can't believe that you're already big enough to want to venture out on your own. Mommy was first terrified at the thought of you falling of the porch, then later petrified at the realization that all too soon you will be able to walk out that door on your own and decide where you are going in life. It makes me realize I need to slow down, stop worrying about all the little things that don't really matter and just play with you while I can.

The door is only one of your many discoveries lately. Currently, your favorite hobby is emptying things....drawers, toy boxes, baskets, cupboards, Mommy's purse...if it's in your reach and unlocked, it will be cleared out.. It's so much fun to watch you take out each object, examine it, dump it on the floor and move on to the next item of interest. I love watching you explore, but on the days when I've put everything back in the bathroom drawer for what seems like the 10th time, I do hope that you'll soon go through a stage where you like to put everything back into the drawers!

Last week, you mastered the fine art of waving! Though you've tried out the casual wave here and there, you are a full-fledge waver now. Everyday, we stand at the window and wave bye-bye to Maddy. You also love to wave bye-bye to yourself in the mirror as we get ready for bed. Today you really wowed us all when you waved to Maddy during meeting. Then you proceeded to wave at Mary, Wally, and Riley. It was pretty hard for me to keep a straight face! This week you also had a fourth, then fifth haircut. We tried a new stylist for the fourth haircut, and Mommy realized we should have stuck with the stylist, Sara, that we'd used before! I felt terrible for you...first she tried to use clippers, which terrified you, then she gave you the ugliest haircut I've ever seen! You were a champ through it all and sat so nicely while Sara fixed it the next day. Daddy keeps wondering when you will be big enough to have a haircut like him...not for a while I hope!

Every night after dinner we have a new ritual. It's called "chase!" You love it when Mommy and Daddy chase you around the kitchen, through the living room, dining room and back. Best of all is when we hide around the corner and jump out and "scare" you. You squeal and giggle, then take off in the other direction, peeking behind you to be sure we're still hot on your tail.
Eli, you bring so much joy into our lives and I can't to see what you will do tomorrow! I love you, little man!

Love, Mommy

"I can do it by myself! (Never mind that not much food actually ends up in my mouth...)

Best toy in the house...

Makes me feel better knowing ourbed isn't the only one that gets hogged by this little guy!

"Is this how you help make cookies?" (Don't worry it's not cookie dough- just peanut butter, which happens to be Eli absolute favorite food right now...can you tell?)

Ouch! While Eli was walking around the bathroom pretending to "drink" from his plastic bath cup he slipped and fell head first on the rim. Poor guy got a nasty egg and a scratch right in the middle of his head!Luckily a warm bath with lots of bubbles seemed to ease the pain...

What's Cookin'?

Amy inspired me with her weekly menu posts, so I'm going to give it a shot. The only problem is we usually eat left overs 2-3 nights a week. It makes for way less cooking and cheaper grocery bills, but it also makes for a rather boring post. So instead of a "weekly menu" I decided to just post the last 7 meals that we've had...

1. Lasagna, green salad, and green beans
2. Vegetable Beef Soup and Baking Powder Biscuits (substitute 1/4 c. oil for the shortening-way healthier and way, way faster to make)
3. Fettuccine Alfredo (with with sauteed prawns, sun dried tomatoes, and spinach) and a green salad
4. Easy chicken pot pie (cooked chicken, 1 bag frozen veggies, 1 can cream chicken soup; make Baking Powder biscuits but don't roll, just drop on top) and green salad
5. Pizza (Boubelli (sp?) crust with pepperoni, bell peppers, etc)... Shane's night to cook! :-)
6. Hawaiian Chicken (1 bottle BBQ sauce, 1 can crushed pineapple, 1 chopped bell pepper + chicken...toss in crock pot for the afternoon) steamed rice, green salad
7. Spaghetti and green salad

(Looks like I'm a little boring in the side dish department...green salad anyone?)

All's Well That Ends Well...

I guess we had a few things to be thankful for this week...

-The exterminator was able to come out the afternoon after we found the yellow jackets' nest. He was able to keep the spray contained to the inside of the hive, so it kept the house pesticide free. We slept downstairs one more night, cleaned up some dead yellow jackets on the floor and were back in business.
-Eli recovered quickly from his sting. His hand was still pretty swollen the next day, but it went down by the end of the day and he didn't seem to notice. However, he did suffer from one seriously bad haircut on Friday...luckily it was able to be repaired. Eli also (finally!) cut his first molar and is sleeping much better again.
-Turns out the leaky sink faucet can be fixed with a new cartridge that just drops in the top...no need to remove and re-install the 200 lb farmhouse sink.
-The moldy smell in the downstairs bathroom ended up being caused by water that was trapped between the shower pan and the door frame...some serious bleaching and a solid coat of caulk were all it took to repair.(Unfortunately, Shane discovered this after he disassembled the shower walls, cut into the sheet rock and removed the wainscott on one wall. At least the bathroom doesn't stink anymore!)

So, I guess it is true what they say-all's well that ends well!
(I'll try to get some updated pictures up this week, but it's conference week at school, so no promises!)

Couldn't Get Any Creepier....

How's this for creepy?

Over the past few weeks, we've been getting random yellow jackets upstairs. At first we figured they were just getting in through open doors, etc. However, over the last week, we've been finding 4-5 yellow jackets upstairs in a day. We should have been clued in that we had a real problem, but I guess we've just gotten used to this old house and it's bugs. It took Eli getting stung yesterday for us to get serious. He picked up a yellow jacket and got a nasty sting on his thumb. He was uncomfortable and very grumpy, but luckily had no reaction...a call to the doctor informed me that it's the second sting, not the first, that will yield an allergic reaction if there's going to be one.
When Shane got home, he took a flashlight and started checking the dormer spaces. When he came downstairs whitefaced, I knew it had to be bad. This picture is off the internet (because there is no way I'm going to try to take a picture of our yellow jacket nest) and is actually smaller than the nest in our dormer. Shane said it is about 3 feet across and hangs from the rafters to the floor (about 4 feet high). Worst of all, it's in the dormer right next to Eli's bedroom!


Of course, we totally freaked out and called an exterminator. They should be here this afternoon, but I have no idea how they get rid of something this BIG! I did a little research and found that freakishly large nests are becoming more prevalent and scientists aren't sure why, though they speculate it has something to do with warm winters.

So, here we sit...yellow jacket infestation, leaking kitchen faucet, and molding bathroom wall wondering, "Why did we buy an old house?!" (Can you tell it's been one of those days?!)

Halloween Fun

Is that a monkey in our living room?

Seems to be the cutest monkey I've ever seen! (Trying out Eli's costume before the big night...)

On Friday night Jeff, Rebekah, Chloe, Ryan, Mandy, Brenna, Bella, Randy, Amy, Tessa, Trevon, Kaylee, Uncle Ernie, Aunt Linda, Grandma Kitchen, and Jeanne all came over for dinner. I actually had more pictures, but for some reason, they wouldn't load! After Trick-or-Treating (We took the little kids to 7 houses, while the 'big kids' managed a few more) we all met back here for hot apple cider and dessert. Definitely a fun way to spend Halloween!

It's Tinker Bell, Beauty, Little Monkey, and a Pirate Princess (aka Bella, Brenna, Eli, and Chloe) Uncle Jeff and Eli
This is what the boys did while the girls Trick-or-Treated...
Chloe's first ever Trick-or-Treating experience...she especially liked ringing the doorbell!

Saturday night we had Jeff, Rebekah, Chloe, Troy, Lisa, Brenna, and Bella over. (Ryan and Mandy got to go out on a little 'date night') Brenna and Chloe kept us entertained with numerous rounds of the "ABC" song and multiple re-readings of the same book. They made quite a pair and actually sat and read like this for over a half hour.

Eli's To Do List

Mommy tried to clean out the garden yesterday. Here's what I did to keep busy...

1. Find old cherry tomato. Squish. Try to taste, but Mommy says, "No, no."
2. Follow Bailey to her water dish.
3. Play in water dish. Make Mommy run over and pick up water dish.
4. Pick up rock. Sample rock. Make Mommy run over and say, "Yucky Eli! No, no."
5. Crawl in dirt. Try to eat dirt. Ditto on Mommy's response.
6. Meet a new friend named Mr. Worm. Hold Mr. Worm. Decide Mr. Worm is so much fun, make 2 Mr. Worms. Try to eat Mr. Worm. Cause Mommy to rush over and say, "Ahh! Eli, yucky!"
7. Try to push the wheelbarrow.
8. Try to catch a bug.
9. Try to eat a mushroom. Make Mommy really say "NO, NO!"
10. Take a bath.
11. Take a nap.
*Mommy finishes cleaning out the garden.

Professional Photos

***Thanks for all of the comments! We had them taken at JC Penney's at Alderwood by a photographer named Megan. We had her last time and requested her again because she was awesome. ***

We went in last week for Eli's one year photos and for our first professional family pictures. As always, they took a million cute shots and I spent way too much money.... Here's some of the shots they took...