this could take all day

Molly & Lexie vs. Michael Myers

There's this guy in a house on the corner of my sisters block that probably lives for Halloween. Every year he decorates his yard, sets up his music, dons black and a Michael Myersmask, and stands on his porch daring every teen and pre-teen brave enough to walk around him and knock on the door.

This year my sister offered my 12-year-old niece and her friend $2 each to do it. Darin shot some video while a bunch of us continued on to hit some more houses and keep Daisy from getting too freaked out.

Here's part 1 of the struggle for $2 and probably some really good candy:

Part 2, in which Lexie is a bit brave and Debbie, Michelle, and Darin cheer her on.

It gets even freakier when he moves. (Yes, he doesn't just stand there. I've seen him slowly walk behind kids as they try to run away. It's pretty hilarious how something so simple as a man in a mask walking slowly behind you can be so terrifying.)

Part 4, in which he takes a few steps closer, Lexie loses her candy bag, and fashions a weapon out of her belt. Oh yeah, and talk of the Halloween movies where "everyone dies".

And the final installment, Part 5, in which Lexie gets trapped inside the house.

If you made it this far I congratulate you. If you gave up already, well, I don't blame you. You probably had to be there. I wasn't even there so I can't tell you how it ended. Eventually the girls caught up with us and commenced to attempt to hit as many houses as they possibly could before coming back home.

Happy Halloween.

A princess and a penguin (and a tigger)...

...go trick or treating.

(Sorry for the blog absence. No excuses. Please don't leave.)

After naps on Halloween we loaded up our kiddos and drove the 45 minutes to my sister's house in Spanaway. Even though I still miss Bellingham, I am thankful to be living closer to my sisters again because of days like this. We invited Darin's sister and her little guy to join us for some fun, and my other sister showed up too! It was a real party.

We had a delicious dinner (thanks again, Jason) and then prepared for the fun of trick-or-treating in Michelle's development neighborhood.

Thank goodness for warm baby costumes!

 
 

Dani wasn't so thrilled with the stroller, so I promptly handed off the camera and carried her in the front-pack for a while. Problem? My sister had told me her camera battery was dead, and I didn't get ANY pictures of her kiddos in costume. Maybe we'll have to do a staged photoshoot sometime this month?

Here are a few pictures I think Darin took.

 

(Hey, it looks like we've got some blurry cousins in these next few shots!)

 
 
 

 

Maya and Macey did a great job at helping Daisy up the steps to the houses for about the first 20 or so houses. And then the novelty of waiting for a two-year-old wore off. I was proud they lasted as long as they did. So Michelle, Darin & I took turns helping her up to houses and we hit a few more. But by then it was getting really dark, and Daisy was getting freaked out when groups of kids would come running up behind her. She also wasn't such a huge fan of the scary costumes and after a big meltdown we decided to call it a night.

Looks like these two were done as well.

  
  
Daisy kept talking about the "scary stuff" as Darin carried her all the way home, but was sure excited to dump out her candy once we arrived! And now she wants Halloween every day.

Darin took a little video of the trick-or-treating action as well. Really cool to contrast with last year.

Check back tomorrow for Halloween Part 2: Molly & Lexie vs. Mike Myers.

pumpkin carving

This annual fall activity is so not my thing. But Darin loves it and was looking forward to beginning the tradition with the kiddos (or atleast the big one) this year. So earlier this October he busted out the carving tools and got to work.

Daisy helping carve the top.

 

Time to ditch the dress and check out the innards.

  

Scraping off the top.

 
  

And cleaning out the insides.

 
  

And then it was time for me to leave and take a little shopping excursion to Target. I came home just in time to see Darin put the finishing touches on the Mickey Mouse as requested by Miss Daisy.

 
  
 Later in the week Darin also took some time to carve out three more smaller pumpkins.

His "two-headed" monster, of course.

 

 Something simple. (Daisy drew on this one.)

 

And a goofy one.

 

Not a bad looking bunch.

 
 
 

the princess & the penguin....

get their pictures taken!

 

 

 

 

 

 


  

 

 

Thanks to Darin, for the shots of the princess, and the ones of the girls together. Thanks to Miss Karen Russell for the amazing photoshop file so I can round my photo edges. (Karen also taught the online photo class I took last year.) Thanks to Gran for the adorable penguin costume. And thanks to JoAnn fabrics, for putting your halloween costumes on sale two weeks before Halloween!

And one behind-the-scenes shot for your enjoyment.

 

 
 

Happy Halloween!

 

Our day began with really yummy jack-o-lantern pancakes. I think this is a sign it's gonna be a good one.

 
 

a penguin and a princess...

go to a Halloween party.

How wonderful to get to dress up and go play with friends at Round Table! We had a great time at a little mom's group party last Saturday. Daisy has not stopped talking about it since.

 

It was quite a lot for the penguin to take in, she couldn't quite manage to stay awake the whole time.

Going...

 

going...

 
 
gone!

 

 So gone.

 

But the Princess sure had fun playing with friends, (does the pregnant nun thing ever get old? I hope not.)

 

eating pizza (reading the menu aloud to us: "pizza, pizza, pizza, and sum mo pizza")

 

and getting her face painted.

 

 

And we all enjoyed the delicious treats.

 

 
 
 What? Your princess doesn't wear lovely green bibs with her pretty princess dress? Well, ours does.

Look for more adventures of the penguin and the princess soon.

 

Happy Birthday Roomie!

My dear husband turns 29 today. That means two things: (1) he's beginning his final-year as a 20-something, and (2) I'll be doing the same thing in a couple weeks.

Last year we spent his birthday weekend in Lewiston to help celebrate Amy's baby shower. And on his actual birthday we spent the morning at the Kaufman farm and the rest of the day driving home.

This year he's spending his birthday weekend in Spokane helping the Eddy's remodel their bathroom. And on his actual birthday he'll work all day, and spend the evening driving home.

I think he must like these guys or something.

In college Jen, Amy & I called Darin our "fourth roomie". Not only because he spent so much time in our aprartment that he often would chip in for food; but because we all really loved the guy and liked having him around. I'm just the lucky one who got to marry him, probably 'cuz I saw him first.

Fortunately enough, it seems Darin gets along pretty well with the other husbands of the group too.

But he gets the three of us girls in ways that Joe & Kevin never quite will.

I love you babe. I love being your wife. I love that you are the father to our kids. I love that we get to spend our last year as twenty-somethings together.

And no, you can't come to Mexico with us girls next year. (If you weren't married to one of us, we'd probably let you!)

pumpkin patch

Last week we packed up our beautiful girls and took them to a small family farm in Silverdale. We had a lovely time wandering around the gardens, visiting the animals, and picking out some pumpkins.

Here are some of my favorite shots.

 

 

 

 
  

Darin liked this pumpkin and is gonna try to carve a two-headed monster with it.

 

 

 

Daisy had such a hard time picking one out, we finally had to do it for her!

  

Next up...carving...

cookies and milk, and beans

Last weekend my niece Molly came over to help watch Daisy. I was busy speaking at camp (4 talks, which went well, thanks for asking) and Daisy LOVED having her cousin's full attention.

I only took 1 picture during the weekend, a Saturday afternoon snack at Daisy's table.

 

(And Daisy really loves playing with her beans. Lately it's all about pretend cooking. Two weeks ago we got a steal of a play kitchen on Craigslist and I can't wait to give it to her and her sister for Christmas. You can add play food or dishes to your Christmas list if you're the gift-buying-for-Daisy-type readers here.)
 

Happy Independence Day!

We had a great day: camp staff, games, and treats at the beach in the morning. A long afternoon nap. And a great BBQ at my sister's house in the evening. We skipped the fireworks, but did see some being shot at the Purdy beach as we drove home.

Hope your day was just as fun!

 

(I'll share more photos later this week, but this was quick and fun.)

I was reminded this morning that we have many people to thank for the freedoms we enjoy, but as a Christian there is no greater freedom than the freedom found in Christ through his sacrifice for us. And for that, I am truly grateful.

2nd Birthday

It began with singing "Happy Birthday" to a sweet kid in her big-girl bed. She loved it, smiled hugely the whole time. And begged "again" at least 3 more times before getting up and running around her room during the last rendition.

After some breakfast at home we headed out for drinks and pastries at Starbucks where Daisy got her first "coffee" (aka Kid's vanilla steamer). She was so thrilled with her own special drink.

 

We then took our treats down to Gig Harbor for the Maritime Festival and parade. Despite arriving about 10 minutes before the parade reached us, we had a pretty decent spot for viewing.

 

Even with the grey skies, the rain misting on our heads, and the fact that Daisy spilled about half of her coffee, we weren't letting anything ruin our parade moods.

 

 

Daisy has been obsessed with chapsticks lately so was pretty thrilled when one group threw out 5 new chapsticks in our direction.

 

And Ronald McDonald came by.

 

 

One little girl was just about as happy with a lollipop as she was with the chapstick!

 

 

One of our favorite entries was the "Pierce County Library Cart Drill Team" and they were hilarious. We even got to see our favorite children's librarian: Miss Holly!

 

After the parade Darin waited in the longest line ever for lunch while Daisy and I waited in the longest line ever for the bounce house. Luckily, there were fun kids in line to play with, and she did enjoy her 3 minutes of crazyness (I was a little worried she'd stress out).

 

 

The festival had a great children's area full of free activities. So we crafted a pirate eye patch together (since the theme was pirates) and practiced saying "argh".

 

 

And Darin got to help her color a tile.

 

 

We then met the tooth fairy, checked out a magic act, and touched some sea life in touch tanks before sensing naptime was long overdue. We kept Daisy awake in the car by playing the voice mail "Happy Birthday" from her cousins about 15 times.

During naptime I sorted the parade loot. We had brought a small bag expecting to collect a bit of candy, but apparently in Gig Harbor candy just isn't gonna cut it. We got t-shirts, hats, balls, pirate treasure, chapstick, a frisbee, a pinwheel, and more...

 

After nap we played outside for a while, eagerly anticipating the arrival of Papa Ty & Mama Stace. When they did arrive it was time for pizza! and presents! and tuptates! (cupcakes).

 

 

 

 

We had a wonderful day celebrating our little girl.

it's official!

We now have a two-year-old on our hands.

 

Lots of pictures and stories to come tomorrow.

what a difference a year makes!

 

 

My baby girl turns 2 today!

 

I just don't have the words. My heart is full with how delightful and fun this age is. We play together and laugh together, sing songs in the car and are getting close to having actual conversations. But sometimes I still miss the baby...

 

Some of my favorite things about her right now:

• The way she says "AMEN" with such enthusiasm after praying.

• How she is beginning to say phrases. I was shocked the other day to her "Open de door, peas Mama".

• Her hugs and kisses. And our new eskimo kisses where she just holds still and lets me rub my nose on hers.

• How she can't say her c's or k's and usually replaces them with t's. The best is when she gets so excited about the "tids ah tamp" or "kids at camp".

• How she asks for her "vi-a-min" every morning.

• How well she remembers people's names and can identify people in pictures. (Last week we were looking at my friend Sasha's blog and she got so excited to see a little girl. So I told Daisy her name was Ava and we scrolled through looking at more pictures. Yesterday I had the blog up again and Daisy pointed right at Ava and said her name.)

• The "Naked Daisy dance". (You have to see it to understand, right Debbie?)

• Her sweet tooth and how she knows when Mama goes to the grocery store Daisy gets a cookie and when Papa gets a coffee Daisy gets a lollipop.

• How she is learning things from us. Like me saying "bye-bye, be safe" as she runs off and "you're back! I missed you!" when she returns. She says those things to me now. (Or tells others to be safe as they are leaving.)

• Her singing! You can now recognize when she is singing "wheels on the bus," "baa ,baa black sheep" and "row, row, row your boat." She has also really started enjoying "I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart" and you'd laugh if you could see our family singing times in the car with this song!

• Her sensitivity to others and how she always tells me when she hears a baby crying. Or asks me "ittle boy, sad?"

• Her infectious laugh.

 

Baby Girl, we love you more than words can say and our so proud of the sweet and fun kid you're becoming. We can't wait to celebrate with you today!
Love,
Mama, Papa & Spud

Easter Egg Hunt, take 2

(Time to get around to posting these...)

The first "official" egg hunt for Daisy was held at the Arlington Airport. It was a lot colder that morning than we expected.

But a free cookie made the wait a little easier.

 

 

The 0-3 area was pretty much fenced-off grass with eggs strewn about. We waited about 30 minutes for the hunt to begin and watched as hundreds of people gathered with their babies and toddlers around the fence. We knew the eggs would go fast.

  

 

 

Poor kid looks so cold. We were waiting for the fire engine wail to signal our "go" and finally heard it at about 11:08.

 

We knew the eggs were gonna go quick, and boy did they ever! Luckily, Daisy had a nice little patch she was able to pick up before there were no more to be had.

 

 

 

 

When the hunt had ended, it was time to take stock. We had to open our eggs before we left to make sure none contained a coupon for a special basket. (Honestly, we were pretty glad ours were coupon-free and we could return to the warmth of the car ride home.)

As we were examining our winnings, a sweet lady came by and "dropped" a few more eggs for Daisy to retrieve. We really appreciated her kindness.

 

 

And some quick fun with depth of field before we go.

 

And here's a bunch of clips I shot to give you a good feeling about the chaos we experienced! (And our sweet kiddo, who was just so enthralled watching other kids pick up eggs, she missed getting more of her own.)

Happy Easter

From our adorable Easter bunny.

 

And for those of you who want the unedited version, here you go. Click and save away! (Someday I will have a better lighting setup in my house. Someday...)

 

(We LOVED the dress from Aunt Tiffany and Uncle Trevor!)

Our Easter was lovely. We woke up in Lakewood and made it to church in Gig Harbor by 10:30. The service was awesome and then we spent the rest of the day relaxing, cleaning and playing. The day ended with a wonderful traditional meal shared with some camp friends and I got to use my china!

Hope your day was just as nice.

Easter Egg Hunt practice

Darin's wonderful Mom left us these fun Noah's Ark eggs when she was here a few weeks ago. Already pre-filled with coins and Daisy-friendly candies, I pulled them out today so we could do a practice hunt before the "real" thing in Arlington tomorrow. (We're going north to Gran's for the weekend.) I set a few around the yard during naptime, and when Daisy woke up we got on our boots and grabbed the basket and headed outside. She caught on to the concept right away and was so excited that the eggs made noise when she shook them!

I took a ton of photos and should really make a collage, but I've got lots of chores to accomplish before we can leave tonight, so instead I'll just upload photo by photo in between work. Here are a bunch of my favorites.

 

 

Tomorrow we'll have to do some video as it was adorable her verbal excitement over every new find.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daisy had so much fun collecting her first batch that I asked her if she wanted to do it again. She was definitely game so we went inside where I set her up with a snack and grabbed the rest of the eggs. I also called Darin and told him he had to come home for a few minutes to witness our sweet girl and her first egg hunt. Another perk of living 2 minutes from work!

 

 

And the money shot:

Happy Valentines Day!

I wanted to get something cute in the mail this year, but I fell woefully behind being sick.

Hope your day is loverly!

an update--big winnings

We had a great time at the annual Gemmer family superbowl event. And I walked away with $20! Not too shabby. Daisy was the big winner, though, adding $25 to her college fund.

And it wasn't just a superbowl party, it was a superbowl weekend.

Started out Saturday morning with a family trip to the Children's Museum of Tacoma. (I'll share photos tomorrow.)

Darin and I enjoyed a date at Applebees and the amazing "Slumdog Millionaire." (So, so, so worth it. That movie was awesome. And I'm not always a fan of those "oscar buzz" films, but I'm telling everyone to go see this one. Darin loved it too.)

Learning how to play Killer Bunnies with Darin's cousin, his sister, her roommate, and her boyfriend. Lots of laughs with that one.

Yummy pancakes and pizza and brownies and other goodies provided by Darin's mom.

Daisy well loved by all those around her.

Way Back Wednesday, Christmas memories

I realized as I was organizing our December photos that I never shared with you one of my favorite Christmas memories from 2008.

On Saturday, December 12 Miracle Ranch hosted an event called "Down Home Country Christmas" that included a delicious dinner and entertainment by The Konzelman Family. While Darin had to work the event, Daisy and I were invited to participate. It was a late night, and she wasn't excited to sit through dinner, but I knew once the music started she wouldn't be dissapointed. And I wasn't wrong.

Our little dancer LOVED it.

She held my hand and danced and danced and danced. She laughed and giggled the whole time too. And every time the band stopped playing she would look up at me and as for "more?"

It got even better when two little girls came to the back of the room to do some dancing and us clever parents got them together in a little ring. I think Daisy loved dancing with her new friends even more than she enjoyed dancing with me!

How old does she have to be before we can sign her up for dance class? :)

one more

I can't believe I forgot this one in my video post from Saturday!

My original plan was to bring in the kiddie pool and make a ball bin with the big bag of balls from Target that Daisy got for Christmas. Darin had a better idea: the porta crib. Daisy and I both thought that was brilliant.

We had it out for a few days, and then hid the balls away. I think we're ready for a reappearance on the next rainy day.

If you already have a porta-crib, this is a pretty cheap and very entertaining toy. Now Darin just thinks we need one more bag of balls...