R House Christmas Program

Isla and Drew's daycare, R House, put on their Christmas program last week and it was a big hit! The kids got to sing songs, eat cookies and get a gift from Santa himself. What could be better?

Isla was very excited to get dressed up:

Drew, or Mr. Snaggletooth as we like to call him now, got to wear his Christmas-y sweater:

Isla was very excited to hang out with Payton:

To our surprise, Drew actually participated in the singing part of the program. Ryan and I were shocked that he sat there the whole time and didn't move.  They even put a vest and reindeer antlers on him:

Poor Miss Isla got a bum pair of reindeer antlers and they were in her face the whole time.  It didn't stop her from singing every song though - Ryan and I were very proud of her.  I couldn't stop laughing every time I looked at her:

Here is a little video clip I managed to get.  I couldn't get a good shot of Isla due to my vantage point and her silly antlers, but she's in there if you can spot her:

After singing, Santa came and gave every single kid a gift!  Ryan and I are so impressed with the show that R House puts on, they do such a great job.  Isla actually sat on Santa's lap, but she is still a little leery of him:

Better get used to him sweetie, we will be seeing him again soon.  Drew just stared at him:

And here is the shot at the end of the night - Isla looks like she is on the verge of tears and Drew has no idea what is going on.  Pretty typical:

Third Annual Pub Crawl

So I think I am just now recovering from our wild third annual pub crawl this past weekend. Due to my lack of camera (see previous posts) I didn't have any pictures of the trip. Ryan did manage to take some late night ones with his iPhone, but I think I'll spare our fellow pub crawlers potential embarrassment. I did steal a couple from Molly's blog who in turn got them from our good friend Brooke (thanks Brooke & Molly).

Molly, Amy and I at the beginning of the night:

All of us pub crawlers getting ready to enjoy the finer bars of Meridian and Kuna:

Such a fun night . . . just wish I could remember the last hour.

Oh (tiny) Christmas Tree

Due to this one:

and his mischievous, yet cute ways we made the tough decision of not getting a big Christmas tree this year. I love my Christmas trees and can't wait to get a real one next year. The pre-lit three footer just isn't doing it for me. On the other hand, this three footer was pretty cute decorating the tiny tree:

Thanksgiving 2011

The rest of the Thanksgiving weekend was filled with lots of food and family time. I got Isla and Drew outside in the sled:

We went up to Ketchum to visit the new Starbucks and I was very impressed with the remodel (they have toys for kids and iPads and TV's for the adults AND they serve beer and wine in the afternoon!). I know we will be spending a lot of time here during Christmas:

Poor Mr. Drew cut two bottom teeth while we were there, but he wasn't too fussy and slept fairly well. I think the wine helped:

Hanky had a good time too:

I didn't get any pictures of dinner as I was too busy feeding kids and trying to eat myself. I can tell you that Drew thoroughly enjoyed his mashed potatoes, at least the ones that didn't end up all over his clothes.

Isla Skiing!

For Thanksgiving we went up to Sun Valley to stay with Grandma and Papa Randy. Grandma and Papa Randy were not only busy preparing our Thanksgiving meal, they were also busy getting everything ready for Isla's first time on skis! It was quite the process getting Isla prepared for her first time on the snow hill. We didn't want to rush her nor were we expecting much as she is only three years old. Isla is a thinker and doesn't like to be surprised so we prepared her as best we could. We first introduced her to her new skis so she could get a good look at them:

She seemed to like them:

The next day we went up to Dollar mountain so Isla could watch all the little skiers go up the magic carpet and ski down. She was very interested in what was going on. When we got back to Grandma's house we put Isla in her snow boots so she could get used to walking around in them:

So far so good. We waited a couple more days and then took her up to Dollar so she could try it out herself. Getting ready with Papa Randy:

Finally we make it outside on the snow and we manage to get a smile from her:

Getting her skis on:

And off she goes:

We were so proud of her! She probably was out there for a total of ten minutes before we went into the lodge for hot chocolate. I know we may have went a little over the top getting her prepared, but at least it worked. We are so excited to get her back out there over Christmas!

Capitol Christmas Tree Lighting

Last night Isla and I went down the lighting of the Capitol Christmas tree. Isla got to enjoy some hot chocolate and a cookie while we waited for the tree to light up. It was worth the wait:

Isla loved it! She told me all of the colors that she saw on the Christmas tree in between bites of her cookie. After the lighting we went into the Capitol building and Isla enjoyed looking at all the decorations, going up and down the stairs and pointing to the stars on the ceiling. I managed to sneak in a picture of her by the poinsettias:

Can't wait to go back next year with the whole family!

Drew's First Haircut

For a couple of weeks I have been complaining to Ryan that Drew's hair was getting too long. He would roll his eyes at me every time I mentioned it, but his hair was starting to grow over his ears and it was a little long in the back and I really wasn't excited about my son having a mullet. So I finally scheduled a hair appointment for him and Isla this past weekend. Here is the little man before his haircut:

I was just hoping he would get a little trim and I guess I should have communicated this to the hairdresser because before I knew it she was buzzing him:

I know this picture looks like he wasn't enjoying the haircut, but he actually did. He would lean into the clippers as she was cutting his hair. This didn't come as a shock to me as he loves it when I brush his hair, but I was totally shocked about the buzz cut! I have now decided I like it (what else can I do?) and I know his hair will grow back soon! He looks so old to me now:

Okay, I know that I am his Mom, but he is just the cutest little man ever! Even with his buzz cut:

Trouble

Ryan and I have decided that Drew has a new name . . . Trouble. The past month he has become more mobile by the minute and is getting into everything! We are quickly realizing the difference between boys and girls and boys are definitely more active. If he isn't in the dog's water bowl, he's playing with his night light and if he isn't playing with his night light he is trying to get into the cat box. Awesome. He just started pulling up on everything and has quickly moved on to cruising around on the furniture. I'm hoping that he doesn't walk for a while as I can only imagine how much more trouble he will get in.

His vocabulary is also increasing, but he still doesn't say as many words as Isla did at this age. Apparently that is common with boys. He does like to say his sister's name, mama and dada. He also loves to say "row, row" while we are playing "row, row your boat". Lately he has been into practicing his yoga moves as evidenced by this downward dog move:

He cracks us up and definitely keeps us on our toes, but I wouldn't change it for the world. I love my little man more than life itself!

Oh and Two

The past two weekends I was able to attend my first two college football games of the season and sadly I am 0 and 2.

Two weekends ago my sister and I flew out to Seattle to attend the UW and UO game with my Dad, cousin and family friends. We had fun drinking at the tailgate trying to stay awake for the 7:30 game:

Although she is a Duck, we still love our cousin Krista:

While the Huskies didn't win, I was able to score some of the most gawd awful gloves I came across at the Husky bookstore. They were sooo ugly I had to have them:

I love their name too - spirit fingers. Makes me love them even more.

This past weekend Ryan and I were able to go to the Boise State - TCU game while Grandma watched the kiddos. Yeah, I think this picture of Ryan says it all:

I don't think I should be allowed back to another college football game this year because clearly I am bad luck. Better luck next year I guess.

Halloween 2011

So my Halloween pictures leave a lot to be desired. I attribute the poor pictures to our lack of camera, the crazy Halloween goers along Harrison Blvd and the fact that it's hard to take pictures when you have a drink in one hand (believe me the drink is needed in order to deal with the Halloween madness along Harrison Blvd.).

I was able to get one picture of our little lion:

Doesn't he look thrilled? Poor thing was a bit fussy which I eventually discovered was due to his first tooth coming in. But it's not one of his bottom teeth, it's one of his top front teeth - weird. I thought the bottom teeth were usually the first ones to appear. I guess we now have a little snaggle tooth on our hands!

I tried to get a picture of Isla with her tiara on, but this was the best I could do:

I didn't have high expectations before we went trick-or-treating with Isla due to the three tantrums that she threw before we even left the house. But she surprised me - she went up to every house and said her trick-or-treat's and thank you's (making me a proud Mama) all by herself. I guess this shy girl will do anything for some candy!

She also got to meet up with her partner in crime and fellow Cinderella, Payton Bordner, on Harrison Blvd to do some trick-or-treating. Unfortunately I have no pictures of these two due to the aforementioned reasons, but they definitely had a great time!

Fall Pictures of the Kiddos

This past weekend we were able to capture some great moment with the kiddos. We had Isla and Drew out playing in the leaves:

Drew enjoyed some time in the swing:

And Hank got to go fishing with Ryan and chew on sticks - one of his favorite things to do:

And we actually caught Drew pulling up to the standing position for the first time:

Miss Isla got to make cookies with GiGi:

and have a pre-Halloween dress rehearsal:

I still can't get over her smiles - love them! Stay tuned for more Halloween pictures . . .

Pumpkin Patch - Take Two

So back we went to the Pumpkin Patch with GiGi in order to get our pumpkins. We decided to go out on Friday afternoon and it was the perfect time - absolutely no one was there. We quickly got onto the hay ride to go and find our pumpkins:

It didn't take Isla too long to find the perfect little pumpkins for her and Drew:

There weren't a whole lot of pumpkins left, but we managed to find a couple and we quickly hopped back on the hay ride back to the rides:

I love that Isla is finally giving good smiles for the camera and showing of her dimples! I couldn't take enough pictures of this beautiful girl:

We did manage to get in a couple more rides too on our second trip back: