1st Mani/Pedi

 Emily got her very first manicure/pedicure.  She was a little apprehensive, but was excited to have a girly-girl day!  Emily, Mommy, and Grammy all got matching toe nail paint with Christmasy red and green nail polish.  It was a fun afternoon at the salon.

Christmas with Great-Grandma Tess

One of our most-cherished moments was spending the evening with Great-Grandma Tess.  We all had a delicious Christmas Dinner, and the kids opened presents from Great-Grandma Tess, Aunt Dorothy, Uncle Tony and Tina. They both loved all of the toys they received, and they were adorable as they stood for pictures with Grandma.  It was a fun evening and I know that Grandma really enjoyed seeing those two little angels.

Welcome to Cali

Well, it wasn't easy leaving the season of snow for the warm weather of California...I know that sounds weird, but nothing feels more like Christmas than snow!

As most of you already know, our travels to California on the airplanes were a nightmare.  Ethan was NOT a good flyer.  We even had a stewardess pass out earplugs to the airplane passengers because Ethan was screaming consistently...and when our flight was over, that same stewardess suggested that we see if a place in the airport sold Benedryl or Dramamine so that we could drug the poor boy.  Ya, to say the least, it was a rough flight getting to the sunny-state!

We were looking forward to the exciting time and adventures to share with our family and friends.  We were fortunate to have many visitors this summer, and we were glad to see everyone again for the holidays!

Snowing in Kodiak

I'm kind of back-logged on blog posts, so this topic seems like a mute point...but it's snowing in Kodiak!  Our first snowfall of the season came on November 1st.  The kids have really enjoyed playing in the snow...building snowmen, throwing snowballs, making snow angels, sledding, shoveling the snow, etc. It's just been a lot of fun!

Here are some pics of all that white stuff...


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Turning Two!

Ethan is now 2!

Good-bye with the 1's and the "baby" - this guy is now a Big Boy!

We started the celebration with a Birthday Party for him and a few of his friends from school. Of the 8 kids we invited, we had only 3 show up...oh well, 4 2-year olds was PLENTY for a party!

The party was scheduled to be a simple pizza party at our Base Pizza Parlor, but when I arrived there about an hour before the party started to begin to set up and decorate I was SHOCKED to learn that they booked a back-to-back party right before our party & I wouldn't get to set up until the exact time my party was supposed to start!


I freaked out, of course, and yelled at the staff there...then I was desperate to find another last minute party location! I drove over to the Bowling Alley and ran inside to ask if they had any parties scheduled. "Can I have a birthday party here in, like, an hour?!?" I was surprised to learn that their party area was available! I rushed to park the car and begin setup; Emily came along to help setup, and she was surprisingly, a BIG help! I texted Chris and told him to contact all the people that were coming to tell them that the venue switched. FRUSTRATING!

But, when the party started, it was WONDERFUL! The little-tykes LOVED bowling, and running around after each other. The cupcakes were wonderful & Ethan blew out his candles! It ended up being the PERFECT birthday party!

On November 17th, his actual birthday, we celebrated at home. We had a nice family dinner, and sang again with more cupcakes and more candles. Ethan opened all the presents that were sent here from our family back home. Thank you to all of you who helped to make Ethan's birthday special!

Here are some pictures from the event:

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Posts to Come

A quick post to notify all my followers of Posts to Come...

• Snowing in Kodiak
• Emily's new Closet Playhouse
• Proud Tool Bench Owner
• School Pictures
• Summer Visitors
• The House is A MESS!
• Ethan's 2nd Birthday Party
• Ethan's 2nd Birthday!

We've been deep-cleaning the house to begin to prepare for our BIG MOVE next year...so, I will get back to blogging all of the above stories, and new stories, as soon as we've cleaned up a little more.

Hang in there and STAY TUNED for more adventures!!

Happy Halloween!

Monday was Halloween and the entire family participated!

Emily & her Handsome Prince

Back in September I started asking Emily what she wanted to be for Halloween.  As you can imagine, she named off various people and things over the following few days, but one person was consistent...Sleeping Beauty.  Sleeping Beauty is her favorite princess...not because she's watched the movie over and over again, and not because she has a favorite toy or something...Sleeping Beauty is her favorite for the mere fact that Sleeping Beauty has a pink dress.  After all, pink is Emily's favorite color!

So, the minute she said she wanted to be Sleeping Beauty, the next thing out of her mouth was that she wanted her daddy to be her Prince Charming.  (How can you resist something so cute!)

I immediately started searching for costumes so that they would arrive to the island in time.  I found both a Sleeping Beauty costume, as well as a Prince Charming outfit for her Daddy.


The Incredibles

But, I couldn't let Chris dress up alone and me miss out on all the fun.  So, I got the idea for Ethan to be Mr. Incredible and I would be his Mrs. Incredible!  He looks just like Dash (the boy) from the movie, so it was a great fit!

Monday morning both kids wore their costumes to school; Emily won a "Best Princess Costume" award in class.  They looked adorable!

Chris picked them up early and we all went trick-or-treating through the downtown Kodiak retail stores.  The weather was beautiful, so the place was packed with kids and their parents!  (Not too many parents are as cool as we are though, because hardly any of them dressed up!)

We spent about an hour downtown before coming home to trick-or-treat at our neighbors' houses.  We did the rounds here and then handed out candy for the rest of the night.  I think the kids have more candy then mom & dad will let them eat!  They scored a good-sized bag FULL of treats!

Daddy is Awesome!

Overall it was a FUN Halloween...for all four of us!!!



Happy Halloween!







Decorate Your Own Cupcake!









Tired Candy Coma

CANDY!