Marker anyone?

Caught red-handed or shall we say orange-faced?!?  We have a budding artist (Allie), who loves to draw, color, and write on ANY piece of paper around the house.  She sometimes forgets to pick up her markers after she's doodled or drawn a masterpiece.  Obviously, Owen found her orange marker, and thought it looked delicious.  He drew on his face, and then bit the end right off.  I didn't know whether or not to laugh or get mad...  So, I grabbed the camera instead! 

Allie's Love Note

This made me laugh out loud.  We had a few late nights, and long days - so I told all the kids today everyone was going to nap.  This is what I got  from my eldest (along with a small dose of sass and attidtude of course).  It was pretty funny- I laughed out loud, then wondered how did she become so sassy?  Unfortunately, she inherited Dan's flair for the dramatic and my attitude.  So together, she is pretty over the top!  Sorry Allie, you're still napping today!

Words, Words, Words

This is a game Dan and Owen play with each other.  Dan lays down with Owen on the floor and loudly says a word "puppy" "doorbell", etc.  Owen then repeats them.  It's fun to hear him attempt to say new words, or to work on the ones he says, but needs an interpreter.  He loves his pacifier WAY too much, and we've been horrible parents and letting him have it during the day.  He can say a lot of words, but they are a bit hard to understand if you don't speak Owenese.  He is such a cool little kid!

Grammy and Papa's Visit to Washington

We had visitors again!!!  We genuinely love having visitors and Dan's parents, Joe and Carol, came to visit us the weekend before Halloween.  We had a lot of fun showing them around our little town.  We took them to a few of our favorite local stops, such as: Bohem's Chocolates(their delicious handmade chocolates are divine), XXX Root Beer - for a delicious burger and homemade root beer, downtown Issaquah Railroad statons and park, etc. 

Dan took them to explore Pike Place Market and other Seattle icons like the Space Needle.  One afternoon, the girls went shopping in Bellevue, while the Boys headed to the Museum of Flight - and we all had a blast!

The kids were spoiled rotten from their grandparents.  They loved the attention, coloring, treats, toys, etc they so willingly received from them.  It was sad to see their trip come to an end.  Thanks for coming Joe and Carol, we love you guys!

Beautiful flowers from Pike's - they are SOOO cheap there.  Beautiful bouquets starting at $5. 

Drew went on a nature walk with Grammy and Papa.  They explored the trails behind our house.  Drew also got a chance to be the photographer - and took pictures along his adventure.

Losing Teeth...

Allie has another loose tooth!..She's been wiggling it and twisting it all week, so it is almost ready to come out.  Lucky for me, Dan likes to pull them out - that is one job I DO NOT like to do.  It's been hanging on by a few small threads, so it's made it awkward to bit directly into anything hard - like apples or chips.   Allie wants it out, but doesn't want to pull it too soon! 

These pics are of Allie posing in fron of her Let's Play Music teacher's house.  Drew has his class first, so we wait in the car until he is done, and then Allie's class is next.  When the weather is nice, we go for a walk, or to a nearby park, or sometimes just hang out in the front yard.  Allie enjoys climbing this tree in Ms. Erin's front yard.  It has low branches that are perfect to climb on.  BUT...  it has some thorns and rough branches, so it's a feat to climb the tree without getting poked! 

Drew's Sports Class

Our sweet Drew has such a love for sports.  He took a sports class at the Gilbert Rec Center in AZ, and LOVED every minute of it.  We found a sports sampler class here in Issaquah and he's learned to play soccer, basketball, and baseball.  Drew is so serious and tries his very best each and every week.  It is so fun to watch him stare down the ball as he dribbles intently down the court, or kick a soccer ball and trap it with his little foot, or hit the baseball and pump thos arms as he runs so hard to first base.

But he is such a good sport and is so kind to the other kids.  When he would catch a couple balls, he would scoop them up and give them to the kids nearest him.  Some of the other kids would grab him ball from his hand, and he would shrug it off and go find another one. 

He is such a sweet boy - I love everything about him.  From his squeaks and noises, to the adorable way he says is "l's" like "pway-doh" for play-doh, to his love to share his treats with others.  I have a tender spot in my heart for this sweet boy.

While Drew did his sports class, Owen and I would play in the toddler area.  Owen has such a fun personality - he always wants to have fun.  His latest thing is he does something he thinks is funny, (like a funny noise with his mouth), and will laugh and say "is funny?"  He keeps our house hopping.  He is stingy with his hugs and kisses, but when he gives them - they are so sweet and tender.

Why My Sisters Need to Visit Next Fall...

I'm a little behind on my postings.  I typed this up in October, but have been neglectful to post anything.

I missed my sisters this past week.  I had 100 lbs. of apples to can, freeze, peel, make applesauce, etc. all by myself - Dan did help me one night :) .  Canning sure is more fun less paindul with others!  I missed getting all our kids together to play all day while we can and chat, and can and can some more. 

Drew and Owen were great little helpers and would try to help me peel the apples with the apple peeler.  But it felt like the apples in the box weren't getting any lower in spite of our best efforts!

We've been enjoying the delicious homemade applesauce and apples in our smoothies, on our waffles, apple cobbler, or just plain eating a delicious apple.  There is nothing better than the wonderful smells of apples and cinnamon cooking in the kitchen.  It was the epitome of fall.  Cold and crisp outside, delicious smells brewing inside, fireplace constanly on with a warm fire, cozy in our sweats and sweatshirts.  Fall really is one of  my favorite times of the year!

I had two big boxes full of apples. 

After two days, this box was almost to the bottom.  The second one was still a taunting me... 

Treehouse of Horrors

We decided to go for a walk on the Sunday that daylight savings ended, so we had an extra hour in our day. And of course our kids woke up at the same time as usual... so the afternoon seemed like an eternity!

Because there was little cloud clover, it was extra cold that afternoon.  So we all bundled up to enjoy the cold outdoors to a cool treehouse our neighbors had raved about.  After hiking down the longest hill ever we finally found the trail and hiked further down a slippery, muddy path.  Of course, Owen insisted on walking the whole way himself, and Allie was begging to get carried :).  Allie collected many treasures along the way, including VERY large leafs, and some cool rocks.

By the time we made it down the trail and into the forest to find the treehouse, it was starting to get dark.  The woods were a bit eerie when they were that dark.  Luckily, we found the treehouse and it was a HUGE dissapointment to our kids.  They were expecting something much cooler and something to play in/on.  What we found was a large platform on the edge of a dropoff.  It had a bench for you to sit and enjoy the trees.  It would be a pretty cool view during the daytime on a sunny day.  But alas, it was NOT what they had pictured in their minds. 

We started our trek back up the trail and out of the woods before it was completely dark.  It was an uphill trek the entire way.  As you can imagine, the kids did not want to make the trek.  Their litte legs were burning by the time we made it to the top.  It was a fun adventure, despite the treehouse disapointment. 

Dan - trying to find the right trail to the treehouse.  We were a little lost!

It was so dark in the woods.

(This is the treehouse platform)