February- Picture Overload!!

Here are some of our many doings this last month.

It SNOWED! We were pretty excited and while Charlotte took a nap went out and made our friend the snowman. We had to get creative with the decorating- there were no rocks around.

Had to make a snow angel!

A fort made a few days later to conquer the feeling of cabin fever. If I recall, after it snowed it rained and rained and rained for many days. So we had to think of something!!

Jesse doing one of his "chores."

And switching over the magnet. He has always been such a good helper but now he can feel like it is worth it. We tally up his doings for a week and if he gets enough full days of getting chores done he gets a treat. Lets see if we can stick with it!

FHE one night- we decided to play mouse-trap and Jesse was pretty excited!

OOH it's not raining, quick- run outside and play!

My goofs in the bathtub- they are both so silly and I am often soaked when we are finished.

Charlotte loves to copy what her brother does. So here she is, being the little lemming that she is....

Jesse at his third dentist appointment. Just a cleaning but he was still scared. The dentist came around after the cleaning to check out his teeth and when he went to put the mirror in Jesse's mouth Jesse closed his mouth around it so he couldn't get it back out again. It took a little coaxing to get him settled down but he survived! And so did I :)

Being goofy with my little ham

Jesse loves to draw his family now. He is so darn cute and puts in the cutest details!

At the Doctor's for a four year old wellness check. He is growing great! He is in the 95th percentile for his height, and the 85th for his weight! At least he is proportional! And they did an eye check for the first time which he did well at, thank goodness. You could probably hear him at the other end of the office shout the shapes out. Here he is "getting a hug" from the blood pressure machine.

Some blueberry scones I made one morning for breakfast. They turned out so yummy, so if you want to try the recipe it is here

Jesse playing at photographer.

Charlotte playing at photographer. Typical girl- only wants to stare at herself. :)

Our canning for the month. We found some yummy peaches and blackberries that we had to use and here they are. This was just the first night and second night filled up the whole counter. We also made some chicken stock that we use for soups and gravies and various things.

I get in these baking moods and another morning I made lemon blueberry muffins. I think they were a hit and they turned out super delicious. Another recipe found here

Jesse being goofy...I love this crinkly smile :)

AND most recently I was able to take a mini vacation with a group of ladies from my ward relief society. We rented out a cabin owned by a lady in the stake and it was LOVELY! Here is the view out to the Oysterville bay.

And a (not so good) shot of the actual cabin. It was quaint and cozy.

And one of my favorite parts was riding a scooter on the small-town back roads. It was too much fun and made me want to go out and buy one!!

We passed through Astoria on the way home so had to make a stop at the Astoria Column to get some exercise. It was super foggy. I was with Delaine Smith, Amy Duvall, Brittania Anderson, and Shana Harper (who wasn't pictured). Such a fun group!

We also stopped for lunch where a few of us braved oysters. Not me. This picture was followed by gagging and spitting out of the slimy appetizer. UUGH!

So my month has varied between busy and lazy. Both are welcome at the times they come. I look forward to March with not much planned besides moving into a new home which will be another new adventure!

Can't believe it is a new year!

So we have entered a new year! So here are a lot of pictures from since Christmas.

We went to my parents to house for Christmas eve and here was the try after Santa came. It was fun to have Jesse there to have the magic of Santa in our home. We also had a really need talk with the adults about memories and some lovely stories were shared. I LOVE Christmas Eve!

Jesse got some little parachuter men. And my parents landing has always been perfect for this kind of thing. So him and his Aunt Katie had a good time doing this.

Matt, my brother in law, making his famous rolls. It's a must during the holidays and I could have a meal alone of these rolls. We call them one-hour- rolls.

The Christmas goodies. There are layers to this. It was pretty ridiculous really. But what can you expect when everyone likes to bake?

Jesse got a new bike and his Uncle Paul helped him ride it around outside. He was in heaven!

The Christmas loot we brought home. A little ridiculous.

Jesse developed Croup the day before Christmas Eve and he was ok for a little while but it worsened the day after Christmas. We all got to be a little lethargic for a day. It was kinda nice to be lazy!

Charlotte's first time eating yogurt on her own.

not too successful.

Jesse turned 4 on January 5th. We tried to make the day special for him so it started out with balloons all over his room (blown up and put in there while he was sleeping). I woke up to him in the crib with Charlotte playing with balloons. :)

He also woke up to the house decorated.

And insisted on wearing his doggy costume.

AND we had some delicious monkey bread for breakfast. Yes, it is as good as it looks

Riding his bike some more.

Going for a walk/bike ride together.

We let Jesse open a present from his grandma and grandpa Summers on his birthday. The rest he'll open today (Sunday) when family comes around.

Jesse helped me make his cupcakes.

Andy was sleeping for his graveyard shift. Charlotte was in bed as well so Jesse and I sang happy birthday and he got to blow out some candles. It was quiet but he liked it.

And that was our last couple of weeks. Loads of fun! What a great year we are looking forward to.

December

So I'm a little behind. It seems when I try really hard to do well at one thing, the other things suffer. In this case I was trying to eat well, drink all my water, stay in my calorie intake, and exercise. So everything else seemed to go to pot. I have not given it up this week but am trying better to manage my time :)

So here are a few pictures from the last couple of weeks:

Jesse is really into costumes right now so here is one he favors

Playing outside on one of the "nicer" days. Charlotte always wants to ride what Jesse is riding so this is the compromise.

For one Christmas Party I made mincemeat pies. Very fun! And sort of traditional in the family. These ones were a little big for my taste so I borrowed a small tart pan and am going to make them again for my family :)

I have started letting Charlotte eat on her own. It is always a big step for myself to do this because I HATE messes and especially when our dinner table is over carpet. But I let go and let her eat her cereal with a spoon each morning. She actually ends up eating more with her hands but it is practice AND it keeps her entertained more than anything else! This morning she went through two bowls of cereal.

Sunday we had Andy's cousin and his wife and daughter over. This is Grayden and Sophie. Such a fun couple and an ADORABLE little girl!

Monday morning we decided to do another family tradition of sorts- eggs and soldiers. Jesse has never been a fan of eggs so we thought we would try this. He only ate one but it was progress!

My smart little man playing a rolling marble video game. Andy and I are always amazed at how he thinks and how coordinated he is in these things. Hopefully we can mold that cleverness into something more....productive? :)

Jesse is always the big helper and here he is helping me separate the red beads from the rest. After a while he told me: "Mom, it's okay that the black is with the red." And I looked in the bowl and apparently he was sick of the task and started just putting whatever beads wherever. hmmm...

And here is the finished project! That is right- I only get three Christmas cards! Hahah. I am sure that when I start getting on the ball enough to send out Christmas cards then I will get more in return. But I am happy for those that remember me :)

I will not be updating again until after Christmas, so Happy Christmas everyone!