Can we eat it?

We spent part of the morning decorating this fabulous gingerbread house. I debated whether or not to buy two totally separate houses to avoid the fighting but thankfully there was pretty much equal amounts. I gave each kid a piece of the roof and a person to decorate. They used most of the candy on the roof so the rest of the house is a little bare but overall, not a shabby house! Owen was a little sad in the picture as he had just hit his knee after running around the house. What do you know? We learned a lesson about running in the house AND built a gingerbread house all in one day!

Promise, not staged and they aren't fighting. I will treasure this picture for a long time!

Of course...Emma had to taste the goodies...maybe that's why the house is so bare???

Christmas Party #1

We celebrated with the very large Lawler clan at the University Place City Hall. Yep, our family is so big we have to rent a hall. It worked out rather perfect. There was an area for the kids to run around in and not get hurt or knock over the food, a long table to set the food up, tables for everyone to sit at, and lots of room to walk around and visit with family we haven't seen in a while. It was a lovely night. My cousin Jenny made this fabulous cape for Owen which I am sure will become a dress up favorite and the kids got a lot of wonderful presents from the family. One down and three to go!

It was so hot and Owen was running around so much that we took off his shirt. Merry Christmas! The sweat in his armpits collected little pieces of the black sweater and it looked like he had armpit hair, very funny!!

My cousin Rachel has a cast on her foot and uses this lovely contraption to get around...that is, until the kids found it!

Santa Train at Mineral

Today we took a train ride to visit Santa. It was a present from Mom and Dad Wren last year but we had all that snow and had to reschedule it for this year. The kids have never been on a big train before and were very excited. We left a little early and arrived about 45 minutes before boarding and the train was a little delayed. So, waiting for the train in the cold the kids threw rocks and used a stick to try and break ice that had formed over puddles. It was like 18 degrees and we were very cold.

The ride was a little slow so the kids, and I include Scott in that term, made faces and played silly games.

One great surprise for me was that both the kids sat on Santa's lap and I think decided that he isn't all the bad. Owen asked for cars and magically Santa had some cars to give him, Emma asked for Webkinz clothes but I don't think Santa knew what that meant because he gave her a card trick game instead. Oh well, maybe next year he'll get it right!

Tree Hunting

Every year we go to the Snowshoe Tree Farm in Orting for our tree huntin' experience. This year we went on a cold and blustery day, hunted down the perfect tree (although it was hard to find as they had slim pickings), and Daddy cut it down. Owen complained the entire time about the cold, Emma ran off and hide causing lots of worry for me, and Scott's shoulder hurt when cutting down the tree. It was a tremendous experience!

Windy Fun!

We had the great opportunity to head to Ocean Shores this weekend and spent some time with Grammie and Grandpa at a timeshare they were staying in. It was VERY windy and rainy and at one point it was so windy that the wind we like little bullets on our skin and it HURT! We say a bald eagle take a duck for dinner, played a little on the beach, swam in the pool (although we forgot our towels. I shared Emma's and Scott had to share Owen little hulk towel=)), played games and ate great food. It was a fun relaxing weekend and even though we didn't sleep well, it was fun to get away!

Here are some pics!

It was windy...

This was a puddle we happened across, how cool!

Halloween Fun!!

As usual we had our Halloween party for the kids at daycare and a few we spend a lot of time with at the Centre. All-in-all, we had around 13 kids and roughly that number of parents. We had a lot of princess, a tide box, a diva, some ninja turtles, and much more. As always, it was a blast and the kids got a lot of candy and worn out.

I am not sure why but this year I decided to make Emma's costume and for some delusional reason I thought Ariel would be cake. I mean...it's like following a recipe right? Okay, so it's not even close but with the help of my mother and about 16 hours of work we pulled it off. She loved it and wore it 4 days in a row. Needless to say, it is rather worn but she really enjoyed it and I got a new sewing machine out of it. Bonus for us all!!

Scott working his magic. He went simple this year so as to save his back (and some time).

Big boy bed!

Due to the constraints of a small toddler bed on a growing boy, we bit the bullet and got Owen his big boy bed this weekend. We start with just the mattresses on the floor to get them used to being up off the ground. He decided on Wolverine for this bedding which is totally against the sports theme we have going on in his room, but oh well, he likes it.

Update Time!

I have had a hard time keeping up with the blog since school started so this will be a quick update of all the fun we have been having. I will do my best to keep up with it regularly so that you all know we are alive! Life is very busy. Emma is loving first grade and doing very well. She is also progressing in swimming and loving watercolor. Her current project is a horse. Owen has started Sunday School and while Scott and I have been worried for his teacher's sake, she reports he is doing well and a great participator in song time (he sings all the time now!)

We had fun at the Puyallup Fair riding the rides and clowning around!!

We went to Salmon Days with Papa, Nana and Aunt Bonnie and enjoyed the salmon, toys, and ice cream with chocolate as Owen is demonstrating in the picture.

My partner in crime at school, Jean, and I won a state wide award for our program the Academic Success Academy that we started last year to get seniors who are so far behind in credits to graduation on time. We figured out that we monitor over 560 semesters worth of credit retrieval in addition to teaching two senior level classes. No wonder we are tired! We won the award from the WSASCD (look it up it takes to long to write out) and were honored at a great luncheon to which we were able to invite our spouses. It is important to note that it is a STATE WIDE organization!!! Cool huh!

First Day of First Grade!

We can hardly believe that our little girl is in first grade and attending school all day long now. We talked a lot about the first day of school and being in first grade and she was very excited. Owen also wanted to know where he was going to preschool (he gets lessons from Mary at daycare). Her goal right now is to be the first girl to get Tiger Club which is given to students who demonstrate positive behaviors. So, Emma has decided she will be the best person she can. Good goal, huh?

Next to her is William a boy she hadn't met before. Her favorite boy, Tristen, moved so who knows, maybe William will be the new boy in her life...although chasing the boys is still the main activity at school recess.

Becca and Morgan (the girls in the middle) started 2nd grade.

Because we value education so much and want our children to as well, we make it a priority to have a celebratory dinner on the first day of school and talk about all the wonderful things our children have experienced. We went to Red Robin again this year and celebrated with a hot fudge sundae after dinner.

I am afraid for his teachers...

Emma the Artist!

We have known for years that our Emma was a talented girl, so we decided to put her into a watercolor class at the Centre (actually the only art class offered nearby for kids her age...weird huh?). Anyway, she loves it and she has produced a tremendous portfolio of beautiful materpieces. Here are a few to enjoy...

Remlinger Farms

With the sun shining and great company we head out to Remlinger Farm in Carnation today for animals, trains, and rides. It was a great way to end our summer field trips with Papa and Nana and while the kids didn't have naps they were generally enjoyable today...and that can't be said about every day without a nap!