Trick or Treat 2009

This year (like last year) Alice & Dumbo headed to their friends Finnigan & Huxley's house for a preschool family parade. The kids shook their noise maker instruments loudly as Sorcerer Mickey (Dadda) pushed them down the parade route in the stroller! It was great fun and lots of their friends were there also. We then headed downtown to trick or treat to the local businesses for yummy candy goodness! Bryce opened EVERY piece of candy as he went-he'd say "tick teat", get his candy and say the gosh darn CUTEST "tank you" and toddle off shoveling sweets in his little mouth! Emma RAN from store to store singing "trick or treat, trick or treat"-she was so excited and loved every minute of being Alice In Wonderland & getting candy for it! They explored the Haunted Coldwell Banker Real Estate office, and Emma was even brave enough to trick or treat at the local mortuary-complete with a real spooky hearse in front and everything....ewwww! About an hour later, both kids were completely tuckered out so we headed home for our traditional Pizza Hut dinner & Disney Hocus Pocus movie watching! Poor Bryce didn't even make it to dinner tonight-little man was stuck in a sugar coma I think-he fell asleep before the pizza hit his plate at 6:15pm! I think Emma's favorite part of the night though was hearing the door bell ring and running to open it & hand out candy for the other kiddies in town! Our munchkins couldn't be happier-what a fun holiday full of make-believe for them!

Ellensburg's New Dog Park

It was a beautiful halloween morning outside, so we decided to take our puppies to the new off leash dog park in Ellensburg. It is located down by the Yakima river near the Canyon, so we knew it would be a place our dogs would LOVE! Sure enough, when we got there, they shot out of the truck and made a be-line for the river! Mike had a moment of panic when it seemed as if the dogs were struggling to swim in the slight current, keys went flying and he was pretty much IN that river-ready to dive in for his baby Brinkley-luckily her doggie instincts kicked in and she made it to shore-only to jump back in 27 more times with her brother Peyton right alongside her! It was so fun to watch them splash around and swim, dodge in and out of the tall grass, follow us along the trails, retrieve sticks and just be....dogs! The kids were completely content too-sitting along the banks of the river skipping rocks, laughing at the puppies, being splashed when one of the dogs would run by, and dipping their feet in the water (shoes on and all-who cares)! We stayed for almost 2 hours, just watching the puppies have the time of their lives. It made our hearts happy to see them enjoy life so much. We'll definately do it more often-they LOVE being off leash!

Family Spook Party at The Zimny's

Our friends, The Zimny's, invited us over for a family Halloween party tonight. Emma had great fun! There was Jack-O-Lantern Grilled Cheese sandwiches and Tomato soup for dinner, bubbling witch potion to drink & cookie decorating for dessert! The best part for Emma was that she got to borrow a fun BAT costume and search for candy, which was hidden in piles of straw inside the spook house (a covered tent with fun ghostie christmas lights & pumpkin lanterns hanging all over). All the kids were preschool age and younger so Em was in heaven! Unlike his sister who pays great attention to the little details in things, Bryce on the other hand enjoys the simple pleasures in life-like "are there animals at this party"? Yes? Ok-he's there! When we pulled up he immediately went and showed Dadda where the bunnies, chickens and dog were on the property! Such a funny kid! He could care less about hunting for candy-putting on a costume, decorating cookies....he just wanted to EAT the cookies and the candy and make sure the dog was somewhere nearby! Who cares about anything else-right? :) At the end of the night, Adrienne did the "5 little pumpkins" poem with the kids and gave all the kids a book called "Twas The Night Before Halloween" as parting gifts. It was a fun night spent as a family amongst great friends.

Frivolous & Frightening Fun!

Today was the Stepping Stones Academy Preschool Halloween Party! Boy it was a lot of work, but worth it-SOOOOO much fun! Check out some of the festivities we had going on....

This is my take on the previous post (where I found the ideas I wanted to use...)

Mummy Cups-Witches Brew-Dog Bone stamping Skeletons and Baby Food Jar Pumpkin Votives....

We started our day with the FUNNEST thing that I found just by chance at Fred Meyer last night! COLOR CHANGING CHEETOS!!! Who would have thought. I pretended to cast a spell on them and said "Bibbity-bobbity-BOO...Change their tounges to BLUE!" I passed out the seemingly normal looking and tasting cheetos and the kids proceeded to eat them merrily...and then.....BLUE TONGUES galore! It was great fun! Marissa is still asking me how I did it! Ha, ha, ha-I'll never tell!

Stations were set up all over the classroom and the students rotated to each one-by the end of the morning they were able to complete every project available to them-as you can see, they were quite content completing the tasks themselves...

 I made each of the kids a "Gunny Bag" monster to share with their families. It was something my little sisters did at "Joyschool" when they were younger. Cute idea for helping the kiddos to remember to pick up their toys or else.... the little song that goes with it was put in the package too-because I KNOW every parent just wants to go around singing the "Gunny Bag" song all day! Gunny is a monster who eats toys-so I thought it went well with the halloween thing we had going on!

We brewed some bubbling Goblin Goo (Green Hawaiian Punch & dry ice) in my witches cauldron and then the kids drank it out of Science Beaker glasses containing floating ice cubes with eye balls & skeleton bones frozen in the middle-decorated Candy Corn Star cupcakes (there were layers of Orange and Yellow cake & the kids decorated with White frosting & sugar sparkles topped with spider rings!)-snacked on Donut Hole FORKED eyeballs- made Homemade moon sand (one of the kids made a handprint in theirs..too cute!)

I was stared at by some students, made others giggle with delight, and thought to look completely normal in my Maleficent Dragon cotume-I admit-I CAN be dragon-like at times but gesh! Emma was thrilled to get to be Alice again, and Dumbo could care less....I had wonderful parent helpers come in and make my life easier too!

All of the activities were totally kid friendly and I would do it all again in a heartbeat-some GREAT projects-which are my students FAVORITE part of preschool according to every poll I ever give them!

We ended our day by adding Mint Mentos Candy to a 2 liter bottle of Coke! The kids watched in amazement as the gyser of sugary goodness shot out like a rocket! A GREAT morning and beginning to the halloween madness we enjoy every October 31st! Happy Halloween Everyone!

My Girls Fall Scrapbook Day

Twice a year my friends and I get together for a craft/potluck day. We make a double scrapbook layout (the ambitious ones make 2 sets-so each of their kiddos get pages)! That is a lot of work! Here are some pictures of the project I put together for us to work on. It was a blast! Special thanks to my wonderful husband for making our house nice & cozy with a fire in the fireplace (on the cold & rainy fall morning we were having), spending the morning rounding up the kids & keeping them away from the paper mess in the dining room! When all was said & done-the pages turned out super cute, the brunch snacks everyone brought to share were divine, and the kids had a blast playing with dad. Can't wait to do it again next month-the theme....GRINCHmas! Should be great!

Halloween Portraits

We had the kids pictures done in their halloween costumes (like every year) and I just thought I'd share a couple of my favorites...crazy hair & all-getting them to sit still without poking each other was more of my concern...Plus they had Emma dancing and doing jumping jacks so her hair went crazy in most of the shots...oh well-memories right? Emma LOVED being Alice in Wonderland more than anything in the world and Dumbo (much like the real one) wanted nothing to do with his big ears...

Sibling Rivalry

Months ago my doctor told me things would start to get a little "easier" once Em & Bryce were old enough to play together....hmmmmm......

Although I don't think I am any less entertainment than I was before-I admit, it has been fun to watch them interact lately. They have silly conversations and like to play back and forth between what they call the "playhouse room" and the "pirate room" (known to the rest of us as their bedrooms). Last night they dug out all the "treasures" they could find in the various toy boxes and filled up one of EmmaLee's purses with them. Apparently burying the treasure didn't seem appealing so, Em slept with it instead. She hasn't let go of this jewel filled bag in 16 hours. This morning I found her counting her inventory with her brother. He didn't give a hoot about wearing the necklaces or "oohing" and "ahhing" over their shimmer....he just kept grabbing handfuls and threw them around the room (really irritating Emma) to which he thought was fantastic! She instructed him that you were supposed to be gentle with them and showed him how to pick them back up and place them in her purse....He listened and watched her, then he picked up a bracelet and snapped it as hard as he could with this evil cackle in his voice! It was kind of funny to watch-well to everyone except Emma of course. She started crying that Bryce was being naughty and she wanted him to leave her "purs-ket" alone (I think that is her word for Purse and Basket combined????) Without my telling him to, he went over and gave her a hug, put his head on her chest and then kissed her. She hugged him back, said "I love you", and he bent over and picked up her pretties and promptly put them away in her pursket for her. Then they skipped on to their next adventure together as if nothing ever happened. Awwwww....sibling love and war.

Nummy Ghetti!

My kids all too often eat CHOCOLATE as a main course in their daily diets-but coming in at a close 2nd favorite is .....Ghetti! They slurp the stuff down like it is pure happiness....when in life is it ok to look like this during a meal???? Only during childhood....

BEE's.....a pain in the....BUTT!

This problem actually started in the mid-90's. I was a teenager at Girls Camp in Belfair, WA-and being new to the area (having just moved to WA from Virginia) I wasn't feeling all that happy about spending a week with people I didn't know, in a setting I was unfamiliar with, and then the worst thing happened....we found out the hard way that I was VERY allergic to bees! My leg was stung on one of the first days there, and by the 4th day I couldn't walk due to the fact that my ENTIRE leg was swollen, red and causing an intense amount of pain! Well-up to this day in my life I had no idea that bees would have this affect on me-so I had no quick remedy like an epipen on hand, etc. (Although you would think SOMEONE at that camp would have called my parents at these signs, or at the very least administered some Benadryl????) Nope! So needless to say, when my parents picked me up on the last day, I was taken to the hospital-thrown on a table, depanced, my parents holding me down on each side and multiple nurses giving me 4 shots (2 in each butt cheek) while I screamed bloody murder! NOT FUN-NOT FUN AT ALL!!!! A memory that lives on with me to this day! Very scary. I have been very cogniscent of the buzzing creatures ever since and lucky enough to have not been stung after that terrible encounter.....that was until our "memorable" trip to the San Diego Wild Animal Park this last summer!

I have been to this park a thousand times and again-never had a problem. Someone should have said "not so fast Kristi-today is your LUCKY day!" because right when we walked through the front gates on this particularly hot and humid Escondido day, BUZZZZZZ-OUCH! It all happened so fast that I didn't even have time to think before I reacted. I didn't hear the bee, didn't see the bee-but I sure as heck FELT the dang thing! A wasp had a quick attack of my neck (which I admit is awfully meaty these days-that must have been the attraction I guess) and I swatted it. Too bad that didn't work, because it stung me 3 more times! Until I finally smashed it on my neck....this all happened in a milli-second and I screamed bloody murder during the process. It was like someone overtook my body and I was hysterical. Flashbacks of the hospital as a teen and needles, the pain, etc. flew through my mind and I freaked! A park ranger quickly came over, looked at my neck, said the stinger was still inside and sent me to the medic on site. I was given anti-venom ointment (which was another unpleasant feeling) and sent on my merry way. ALL I WANTED TO DO WAS LEAVE THE STINKING PARK! Then.... I saw EmmaLee. Poor baby-the look of terror in her eyes was unbearable for me. She was in complete shock from what she just saw happen to me and my reaction to it (having no basis for comparison as to what a bee IS let alone it's bite) and you could see it written all over her face-she would NEVER forget it now. She clung to me as if she could remedy the situation and the shooting pain in my neck and arm kept me from picking her up and just loving on her. I tried as best as I could to reassure her as we walked through the rest of the park looking at the various wild animals, but everywhere we went there were more and more of the nasty little things. Apparently the bee population has grown immensely since the big fires they had down there-the bees are looking for water and have decided to make the "forest like atmosphere" of the park-their new home....ALL OF THEM! How nice. Needless to say-we finally left, all in bad moods and chalked it up to just bad timing.
Well-since we've been home from SoCal Emma has looked at every bug and crawling creature as a terrifying BEE! Flies, gnats, ants-you name it. We have told her time and time again that they are not bees and everything is ok. I've shown her pictures of bee's and compared them to what she THOUGHT was a bee....nope-the girl is convinced she is surrounded by killer bees!
Last night just about broke my heart though. At about 2 a.m. Mike and I were startled by an alarming sound of a terrified Emma screaming "HELP MOMMA HELP-I NEED HELP" from her sleep in her room. I ran in there to find her still sleeping but in hysterics. She was desperately trying to swat a "bee" away from her and claimed she had been stung in the eye. I turned on the light and calmly tried to wake her up from this night terror, only to make matters worse for her. She woke up and saw a piece of black string/fluff on her pillow and had a complete conniption-there it was..."THE BEE"! She screamed and slid down the stairs to the bed faster than lighting and rushed into bed with her dad. Her little body was shaking, tears streaming down her face as she screamed "BEE, BEE, BEE-HELP ME...PLEASE....". I got into bed, Em in the middle and we both just held her tight, kissed her little forehead and stroked her hair....what could I say or do to rectify how I reacted that day at the park? It was one of the worst feelings I had as a parent-I had done something-though indirectly-and it has affected her to this extent???? What am I going to do? Bee's...they just continue to be a pain in MY butt!

Mr Pumpkin Head-"Carving" toddler style!

It's that time of year again when the kids get excited to pull out the Mr. Pumpkin Head parts. We came across these nifty things at Target a couple years ago. They are Mr. Potato Head parts that are made for Halloween pumpkins. Too cute! Emma has a witch set and Bryce has a pirate (what else would he have?). They only get to play with these parts during "pumpkin carving time" so they are pretty special to the kids. Lots of ooooh's, aaaahhh's and excited gasps are heard when the bag of Mr. Pumpkin Head parts come out!





As you can see-it was fun for all. Emma decided she "needed" to dress as Tinkerbell (with her tink hair pretties and all) for the occasion-so she told Bryce he could be a pirate (how nice of her-especially considering all he has is a Gymboree shirt...) but he LOVE LOVE LOVES it! So-there they were-Tink & Captain hook for yet another year of "pumpkin designing"-when they are a little older, they'll "carve" with real tools like Dadda, but for now-Mr. Pumpkin head is a hit!

Sundays in the Park

Today was a beautiful day outside-crisp fall air, colorful leaves on the trees and on the ground, sun shining...perfect day to take a family trip to the park. Emma chose to go to the "bridge park" here in town. There are willow trees, a rock wall & steps as well as a wooden bridge that crosses over a little creek which runs alongside the playground. We've been to this park many times to enjoy the play structure, but last week Emma discovered one of the simpler things in life...nature. She is in LOVE with this creek-she will lean on the rock wall and listen to the water trickling over the stones as it flows through the creek and watch the branches of the willow tree sway in the wind. It is obviously very calming to her.
There is also a strange rock structure sitting in the middle of the creek which she has named "Mr. Dragon"-she talks to him and throws rocks for him to "catch" and even says "bye c-ya" when she leaves. Bryce is just as fascinated by the sound of the water-and wants more to go in it than anything-it makes me so nervous that I end up irritating him by holding him back. I can't help it-I know he is a boy, but he doesn't realize he is a BABY also!  Sorry bud! The kids had so much fun walking around the creek and over the bridge that they didn't even really notice the slide & swings that were available for their entertainment also. It's nice to see that even at their age they can appreciate the beauty that our Heavenly Father created.