Merry Christmas!

A few photos from our Christmas week: finding the right tree, decorating the tree, building a snowman and snow-puppy on Christmas Eve, finding goodies in the stocking this morning (while wearing new jammies).

Hope you've had a wonderful Christmas thus far...enjoy time with family and stay warm!

Quote of the Week

"I'm plot-less". -Steve (in reference to his latest book idea)

Don't we all feel this way sometimes?

Snowing...again!

It's officially coming down...maybe it will stick!

*Grandma and Grandpa, scroll down for more photos.

Catching Up (long post with many photos)

Phew. It's been a BUSY few weeks! Here are the highlights:

1. Steve finished classes and finals for the term.

2. Christopher and I walked downtown Ashland (while Steve took a final)...fed some ducks, did some shopping, and explored Lithia Park (first time for me in at least 6 years).

3. Mom and Dad are in Hawaii...maybe not a highlight for us as we're still in Oregon...but we're jealous! ;)

4. It snowed this morning!!! Weird, huh? I don't remember it ever doing that here in December...usually not in the valley until March or even April

5. Craft and ornament exchanges. Fun to see grown women so giddy over white elephant type games. Ended up with a seriously sweet Santa ornament.

6. Having ALL (but one) pharmacy school applications done and in! Congrats, Steve!

What I managed to get done: Christmas cards are mailed, all but two packages have been mailed, I've read two of my many library books, we finished our shopping, I am finishing the last baby hat (until the rest of you tell me what you're having!), and we have practiced passing the pigs enough to potentially beat my brother over break. (As silly as Pass the Pigs may be, it's addictive.)

*Catching up on my photo posting. Photos: opening birthday presents, dancing with Curious George (hence the blurry photo), driving the truck (he was scared if it came toward him, but got over it), grasshopper pie, at the doctor's office (this is for Aunt Katelyn- You see what you've done? He knows about reflexes now!) stockings are for wearing, feeding ducks at Lithia Park, enjoying the dusting of snow this morning.

Friday Morning Mouse Hunts

We have mice. Yuck. Dad thinks they are under the oven...he caught one this morning. Apparently these mice are VERY good at licking the peanut butter off the traps without getting caught. He and Steve are currently coming up with ways to get the last one...their plan involves a cane. I'll let you know how it goes. For now, I'm just an observer. :)

To Do

My "to do" list is getting LONG! I'm posting it here in the hopes that it will motivate me to get some of it done...tonight. To be fair (to myself), I've been "helping" (as much as possible) with Steve's applications, trying to calm the beast (Kiffer is the KING of nonsensical tantrums.) and comforting Tiggy with her Mommy gone.

1. Finish all those baby hats on my list (I know a LOT of expecting women. That's a good thing!)
2. Edit and post the photos of Kiffer's birthday. Hope to salvage a few...the light was AWFUL.
3. Get Susan's challenge done for Tally...which means I get to write a Christmas wish list for the first time in several years. Should be fun.
4. Clean the kitchen...that includes all the cups that Kiffer suddenly "needs" to have...one sip from each.
5. Finish collecting addresses for Christmas cards...there are a few of you who have failed to e-mail me back...I'm trying not to be offended. (Then again, you all read this and NEVER comment. Again, not offended.)
6. Cook dinner for real. This means we went out last night, had frozen pizza the night before, and made spaghetti (the easy way) tonight.
7. Take a large load of packages and cards to the post office.
8. Fold the laundry that I did over the weekend.
9. Finish going through the clothes Kiffer has outgrown. There are way too many.
10. Get some serious scrapping done so my Christmas album will be ready to go.
11. Finish the gifts for the grandparents. We're making most of our gifts this year.
12. Find and rent an available copy of Prince Caspian. I've waited since June to see it again.

There are MANY more little things to do, but these are the ones I thought about the most today. I'm off to the dishes before NCIS...and then I'll be folding laundry.

*Kiffer had his check up yesterday and is 36 inches tall (!!!) and only 27 lbs. I could have sworn he was heavier. Seriously, he eats like a horse. He certainly doesn't have my genes!

Happy Birthday to Grandpa!

We love you...even when you fall asleep reading to Kiffer after eating turkey. :)

Happy Birthday to Kiffer!

He turns 2 today. Yay! We'll post photos as soon as we have some...birthday pie/presents, etc.

*Happy Birthday to Josh (Christopher's twin) as well. :)

What are you thankful for?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today I am thankful for:

1. Cold weather. Keeps us all inside together.
2. Adult siblings who still like to play games. (Yay for pirates on the high seas!)
3. My almost 2 year old and his crazy/scrunchy grin.
4. My parents.
5. Warm socks.
6. The smell of turkey in the oven.
7. A decent camera.
8. Steve and his baking skills (among other things).
9. The chance to get some exercise in before filling up on cranberry sauce and stuffing.
10. Good music and good books.

These 2 Months

We've been in Oregon for 2 months now and I've realized that I don't have to much to say! It's been relatively busy for Steve. He's been volunteering at a local pharmacy, going to classes, and filling out applications for Pharmacy school, nearly had a job at Harry and David (they cancelled the evening shifts for his job and his classes/finals are in the way of the morning shift). He's also been called as the Assistant Scout Master for the 12 year old Scouts in our ward. Which means he will be camping one night a month until we move as well as helping with merit badges during the week.

What have I been doing? Hmm...excellent question! I ran into a friend (well, a classmate and study buddy) from high school last night and I really didn't have a clue what to say when he asked what I was up to. Where did I begin? Turns out I didn't need to answer because Christopher took that moment to knock some things over in the store, thus ensuring that my friend knew exactly how I spent my days.

For your benefit: I knit. I clean. I read. I still do some CFD stuff for Fiskars. I get down and dirty with glitter and ink. I play the "beep-beep" game at least once a day...we make "ucks" (trucks) go up and down our tummies and say "bee-bee". I help (at least I hope so) my mother. I've done a little computer work for my Dad. I have a Visiting Teaching assignment. I change diapers. I do laundry. I cook dinner occasionally. I take out the recycling. I watch too many episodes of The Backyardigans. I take too many photos. I edit most of those photos. I finish my scrapbooking assignments on time. I read books with chickens and "ucks" in them to keep my favorite son super happy. I dog sit for my parents when they are out of town. I plan.

And we're speaking in church on Sunday. Seriously thought the first counselor was going to give me a calling, not just ask us to speak. I'm okay with that...but it's strange not to have a calling after having several at once for years. What's a girl to do without a book group calling, a RS Enrichment calling, and a Nursery Leader calling? ;)

Ready for Thanksgiving

I finally found the motivation to get this turkey headband done. We started them last year in craft group and I left all the pieces in a bag until this week. I guess sometimes being sick is a good thing...you can get a LOT done!

I did a fair amount of knitting and reading as well. If you haven't read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, maybe you should head to the library tonight. Seriously. Don't you love books written in correspondence style?

All the hats we knit are packaged up to send to new babies, but I'm hoping to finish a green and white striped hat for Christopher tonight. That's the plan anyway...we'll see how that goes.

Sickies

We've been ill. That's my only excuse for no new posts this last week. Hoping to find the energy to do something worth blogging about.

Halloween Report

Our little frog had quite a lot of fun at the ward Trick-or-Treat. He didn't want to leave and then got mad when we tried to get him to take a bath and leave his candy with us. Smart kid! And now we have to give him raisins and call them "candy" so he won't beg for chocolate all day.

*Had to get a photo while we were all in orange!

Weird Link of the Day

Cheddar Vision

Enjoy! ;)

Ribbit!

Finished the costume today! Thanks, Grandma, for all the help. Notice the cute pom-poms on the toes!

The Farm

Photos from our super-quick visit to the farm. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Pickin'

Monday afternoon we spent some time searching for perfect pumpkins at White's. Every time Christopher sees his pumpkin on the front step he says, "my". Guess he's particular about his pumpkins!

Words

Christopher's vocabulary just exploded this last week or so...I assume the move/change sparked some interest in communication. Here are a few of his words:

ocks= socks or rocks
uck= truck
thank you (VERY clear!)
doggy/dog
Tiggy (the dog's name...she's important to him)
mama (yay!)
bees= please (He used to say "pete".)
inky/tinky= stinky (when he needs a change...and then says "thank you" when we're finished)
shoes
bye
no!
shh=fish
baby (every time he sees his own photos)
prayer (and has to fold his arms and kneel)
hot (and blows on whatever)
jssh= juice
me/my
uppy= pick me up/it's up there
there (when he gives us or the dog something)

He still signs, but he is quickly replacing them with words. He asks several times a day for a cookie...but he means a dog biscuit, so he signs "dog" and "cookie". Pretty funny!

Happy Birthday, Lindsay!

Wish we lived closer so we could "party"!
Love, Christopher

Home Again

We made it! It was a LONG five days...but we did it. I'll post photos and more tomorrow. We are taking a break from moving stuff and driving...at least for tonight!

Thanks to everyone who helped us out last week! (And to U-Haul for making a tiny trailer.)

Heading West

We're headed out to Oregon for the year! Most of you know this...but I thought since I had several e-mails with questions I'd better post an "official" answer. We will be living in the town I went to high school in for the year while Superman takes some courses he needs in order to apply to Pharmacy school for next year.

I am sure the year will be filled with Grandma and Baby photo shoots as well as a trip or two to the beautiful coast...and also a visit (or more!) to see my own Grandparents. We plan to take advantage of everything the lovely state of Oregon has to offer.

We are VERY sad to be leaving A2 so soon, but it is simply time to move on. Goodbye U of M, big blue bus, community playgrounds, Morning Out at various A2 parks, ducks and geese at Gallup Park, AADL (best library system EVER!), and AAU ward. We will certainly miss you!

Just a Thought

As we're preparing to leave, we've tried to sell a few of the "bigger" items in our house. We just met the nicest/coolest couple who bought our dishwasher. REALLY wish we'd met them sooner. Have a feeling their 2 year old daughter and Christopher would have played so well together! Plus, the Dad was a Scout and the Mom is getting her Masters in Social Work...maybe we'll meet again someday/somewhere.

Changes Coming!

Lots to do and decisions to finalize...exciting changes are coming! ;)

Bad Photographer

Okay, I may not be the best photographer...ever. BUT, this month I haven't even managed to take many bad photos...because I've only taken 3 photos total. Really. I didn't take a single photo in August until the 19th. Sad, huh?

Guess I need to start doing more than a morning walk, some playtime in the basement, laundry, and cooking. Not many fun photo moments these days. Hoping September will be better and more exciting. Summer is ending and we're BORED.

*Photo from yesterday's boredom busting pool time. ;)

Camping

Photos from our one night camping trip at the Pinckney Rec Area. Christopher really enjoyed collecting rock and throwing them in the lake.

Nothing Much

We aren't actually camping anymore. I had forgotten that was my last post and had several people call and ask if we were really gone the whole week. :) We were gone one night only...it was a LONG night due to a little boy who thought it would be more fun to wiggle and crawl around the tent until 1am and then wake up at 6am. I'll post photos later.

Away Message

Gone campin'. :)

A Few Words

I realized today that I haven't really written much this summer...too much fun in the sun! (Or in the basement if it's too hot.)

Steve has a couple promising leads on a PhD lab, so we're a bit less nervous about this coming school year. He will be working with worms...or not...I'll let him fill you in. Something about chromatin and worms. He's also writing a book in his down time (on the bus or while waiting for worms to hatch). It's really good and it's hard to wait for the next page to be written! (No pressure, Superman.)

Christopher is finally catching up with kids his age when it comes to teething. He's sprouting them like crazy and will hopefully be feeling better when it's all over with. He's also learning new words nearly every day. Words he likes: cheese, please, Josh, bubble, baby, ball, shoes.

I am keeping busy with nursery and getting into better shape. I can't tell you how many miles I've walked in the last week, but it feels GOOD! Nursery (kids age 2 1/2 to 3) keeps me on my toes. And those kids have the brightest smiles and most clever minds! I've read at least a dozen books this summer...and can't get enough. Being out of school is getting to my mind...I need the nourishment!

Our apartment feels like a home now that we have a basement with carpet and lighting. Christopher enjoys the slide/play structure, we exercise or read, we all dance, do the laundry, and peruse the food storage for dinner ideas. Christopher likes to pick out boxes of pudding and send them down the slide. *Note to self: Take more videos!

We miss our grandmas, grandpas, aunts, and uncles. We really wish we could win the lottery and travel to see you all this summer! (Especially those of you in Oregon.)

July

July is a HOT month here in MI. So, we spend a lot of time inside keeping ourselves distracted or outside in the pool. Here are a few shots to make you smile. Enjoy!

1. Enjoying a little chocolate fondue.
2. Splashing with Josh.
3. Eating a lime Otter Pop- there's a star sticker on his face from the day before/he wouldn't let us take it off!
4. Wearing Mommy's new pink shoes.
5. Riding the Blue Bus (U of M) back from the Ann Arbor Art Fair.

26

Today I turn 26. Not much to say about that...but it's certainly a nice number! No big plans, just the hope that it will be cooler than yesterday so we can spend some time outside.

Our July 4th (LOTS of photos)

Our weekend was fabulous! We went to a parade, to the lake, and the zoo. And we even played on the trampoline at Grandma and Grandpa's. Whew! I think Christopher really enjoyed having a playmate all to himself. Thanks, Cousin Lindsay, for letting a rowdy boy follow you around. ;)