Countdown to Christmas

 Can you spot them on the tree?

I've been saving empty toilet paper rolls since the beginning of November, and for our countdown to Christmas this year, I bought some $1 items, and some things the kids need, like gloves and socks and stuffed them into the little tubes and wrapped them all pretty. I tied them all together and hung them on the Christmas tree. Aren't they pretty? It was a little time consuming, but FREE because I had all the supplies already. I'm super excited!

Paris Giveaway

Oh Happy Day is giving away a trip to Paris! Can you believe it? She is giving away airfare and hotel for two for a week. And you +1 get to tour The lover's city with her for two days. Get over there and enter her contest!

Read Kiddo Read

Have you seen this site?! It's called Read Kiddo Read, and it is the most amazing, award winning site. It's amazing. I don't know about you, but I have lists of book lists around, that I forget to pay attention to. But this site is specifically focused on getting kids to want to read more. I'm so excited to reserve a bunch of titles at my library and start exploring with the kiddos!

Neighbor Gifts 2010

Have yourself a merry little Christmas. Wouldn't you enjoy one of these cute little jars of goodness?

Tulip Festival

We drove two hours north to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. It was gorgeous, there was fields and fields of all shades of tulips. The kids really enjoyed it. Devin was treated to an ice cream earlier in the day. You can see it all down his shirt. I wish I could include all the pictures. It was just beautiful.

Our attempts at a family picture

Birthdays and Beets

Brooklyn turned 5. I can't believe it.

She kept requesting pink frosting and a tinkerbell cake for her birthday. And since I've developed a strong mistrust of food dyes (especially red 40, WARNING: do not feed this to your kids!) I colored her cupcakes and frosting with beet juice. The cupcake frosting was the most hideous pink color. But when I made the tinkerbell cake, I diluted the beet juice with cream, and it turned out the most delicious pink color. I found the idea of Tink on a mushroom on the web, and loved it. You know how I go for simple.

I didn't send out a family update with our Christmas card this year.

But if I would have, it would have said something like:

Damon's mom moved in with us this year and is working in downtown Seattle.

Damon is still with Wells Fargo.

Rachel ran a half marathon in 2 hours and 22 minutes.

Brooklyn will be 5 in January, (still unbelievable to me). She is in preschool and dance. She loves to color, ride her bike, play with her friends, and alternately help and torture her younger brother.

Devin turned 3 in October, and we're pretty sure he is now taller than Brooklyn ( I don't see it all the time, but I've seen it in a couple pictures). He is also in Dance, and he will be a sunbeam this year.

We are wrapped up in our kid's lives. We visited Utah a couple times, but other than that, we stayed around here exploring the area.

This Christmas was hard for a lot of my loved ones. A lot of folks I know are either not working or under great stress about the way things are going at work. My heart goes out to them. We are not free of this stress. It is a scary and unpredictable time. God bless us all with peace in our hearts and minds.