Our house, is a very very fine house...with frosting in the yard..

Drum roll please.... Ladies & Gentleman.. Our 2011 annual Gingerbread house.. Please refrain from applause(for the moment). She is a beauty to behold isn't she?

 This is my favorite house so far, and I think it is because both kiddos worked so wonderfully together to decorate it. They both had equal amounts of candy to work with and (almost) free rein of the icing.

 We get these from a gingerbread shop. They are actually nummy and don't taste like cardboard. Fieldin can second this since he ate 3 or 4.  He would only eat the "Little Fieldins" I was lucky to get a pic of one. So, of course, the girl is Greta and othe other is Fieldin with the white curl and blue eyes and as Greta stated" it's just like Fieldin, it's not wearing pants". So true.. so true.

 making their own gingerbread men

sturdy construction and decorative flair..

 lots of laughing

 The backside. That is Greta and Fieldin holding hands by the tree:) They put the girl cookies on top because they are their angels. They covered the "backyard" with shredded coconut for snow.

Their favorite parts: Greta liked playing with the frosting bags and Fieldin liked frosting with a knife. I would have guessed decorating with the candy would be the best, but today it was all about the frosting.

Good job guys! Looove it!



A Glance Around Here

 Once again, I am a little shocked at my lack of photos, especially since it is the holiday season. I've been just enjoying the days and forget to pull my camera out. Life is getting back in the swing of things here. Fieldy is done with soccer until after the New Year and ditto for Greta's swimming. Winter break is here! Yesterday I wanted to pull my hair out a bit, I will admit. Hours of errands and some craziness made yesterday rough but today we had a great time and in the holiday spirit!

 My friend, Wendy and I, had a cookie exchange for some of our neighbors. I really enjoyed it. My claim of cookies has long passed been munched away by the four of us. Wendy did a great job making it pretty. I hope we can do it again next year!

 The morning scramble to the advent calendars.

 Another late drive thru at the Christmas light story land. Man, I look tired here. Jeff was yawning. The kids were hopped up with excitement.

Last day before Winter break party. I was helping kids decorate cookies and I look over and see Greta using the candy cane ornament she just made as an earring. She cracks me up. She is all about bling and sparkle and tells me it is just sad that I love the color brown. "Brown is gross..it is the color of poop". Very true Greta.. maybe one day you can teach me to accessorize my love of poop brown with gold sequins.

Besides this, just listening to Christmas music, ALL day. Keeping busy. Greta lost her 6th tooth, a bottom one, and looks a bit more Jack o' Lantern than she ever has, but yet she pulls it off. Got my yearly dose of watching White Christmas and waiting to watch our other favs. Reading piles of Christmas books with the kids and feeling very blessed. :)



About Them

I haven't wrote much just about the kids lately so here is what I know about Greta at 6 1/2( I am always reminded about the 1/2 part!) :

She loves water, she is an excellent reader and she did very well on her report card(good job!) She is very girly(pink is first), she likes running and soccer. She is funny and says random things all the time like" Mister Roger's (on pbs) sounds like Huckleberry Hound" her randomness is a trait she gets from me(sorry kiddo)..., she wants to be a fashionista, a rock star, to be a plum fairy ballet dancer in the nutcracker, an elephant vet, a teacher.. but what she wants to be most since she was three is a doctor. She doesn't like to throw ANYTHING away and her room is proof of that, she is a bit, that's putting it mildly..she is messy, she has a type A personality and extremely responsible when it comes to school but is mellow and unfocused at home unless she is competing at wii...then she is scary competitive, she loooooves her cat and her brother. She adores her friends, she could eat spaghetti everday, she likes tetherball, she loves art projects, flowers and parties. She still believes :), she loves music and recently told us she wants to learn the flute. She loves to explore and go on adventures as long as it isn't too hot and sticky, she is a gatherer(finding shells, money, leaves, gross stuff....and it all ends up in her room..sigh.)She likes routines and lots of downtime but not too much or she gets bored.What I know most about Greta is that I enjoy her very much. She is at a fun interesting age and I know more and more about her everyday.

Here is what I know about Fieldin at 3 years old:

He is affecionate..especially to Greta. He loves to hug her, give her kisses..pertend he is chewing on her and then giggles "tasty sister", He also, at random times says"Greta I am glad you are my sister". He loves his cat and talks about him all the time, he is all boy, he loves dancing especially to the nutcracker, he loves to sing and memorizes lyrics quickly, his favorite food is chocolate..then grapes and yogurt, he is always talking about his daddy and his grandpa, he loves puzzles and imaginative play, he likes to color and cut paper, he loves holidays and traditions, he loves soccer, he doesn't like naps and is done taking them, he doesn't like the dark or spiders, he is sensitive, he has an evil laugh, he likes to mess with people, he has a temper, he is toilet trained, he is very very funny, he giggles alot. He is fun and I enjoy my days with him. 

Two Big Red Noses: Video of Kids Singing Rudolph

The story of this video: We were on vacation and heading up to see the volcano. The kids had taken flashlights from the cabin since we would be there in the nighttime to see lava. Jeff and I were talking and the kids were singing Rudolph. I glanced back to find them using flashlights as Rudolph's nose. Of course I had to record it.

The Real Santa

The kids took a quick pic with Santa before we left Hawaii... I love their smiles here. True happy smiles.  The kids know that The Big Boss Santa has many Santa helpers... but this guy, he was the real Santa. When we were heading out Santa hollared" Have a safe trip back to Oregon....See you soon!" Greta's eyes got HUGE. She quickly looked over our shirts...no trace of Oregon written anywhere. She didn't say where we were from! How did he know??? Only the real Santa would, right? Greta grabbed my hand and whispered to me" Mommy, I  think he is the REAL santa!" She kept glancing back at him with a look of awe. What a sweet memory.

Aloha: Leg three

 

 He loves to dance

 jumping on his bed

 a visit to the botanical garden

 Hiking to a waterfall nearby the cabin

 An evening at the Nutcracker ballet

 chicken chaser

 airport duo



Aloha: Leg Two

 On the rainy side if the island we stayed in a little cabin. We left just in time days later, the cabin owner emailed and said after we left their were flash flood warnings. The kids loved it here. We could see the ocean, chase chickens, yell at a rooster, visit with horses and cows and stay away from mongoose. There were tangerine and plumeria trees for the kids to pick at and of course fun patches of sleeping grass. We found a couple geckos living inside and the kids named one Dink.

 Another thing off  the bucket list.. standing on an active volcano. We took a hike and saw the sulphur and steam vents.

 Black lava rock everywhere.

 Walking through a lava tube.

 A rainbow on the volcano..amazing

 I loove them so much!

 Walking in shallow ocean water to find petroglyphs

 petroglyph

 The volcano from a hike

Boiling pot of lava at night.