turkey puppet

cute paper bag turkey from school.  it is saying "eat more pumpkin pie."

bowie's turn

i hesitated to post this, even though my blog is only seen by a handful of close family and friends.  but this is such a controversial time and topic.  i know everyone will make a decision for what is right for their family.  however, this is a slice of life.  we have lived almost two years in the pandemic.  i was so overcome with emotion when i received my first covid vaccine and watching this brave girl get her first dose, i am filled with so much gratitude for science!  with winter and holidays quickly approaching, the timing couldn't come fast enough.  we have been passing around a nasty cold back and forth for the last month, so having an added layer of protection in our house is something to be excited about.  

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas...

the best part about a fake tree is pulling it from the garage the day after thanksgiving.  we spent the majority of the day decorating for christmas!  i love the glow from the lights on the tree and will be glad to put them away come new years day!

happy thanksgiving! 2021

feeling so incredibly grateful and a full heart.  this used to be my favorite holiday, it combines my two favorite things; family and food.  but then once we moved away, i realized that any holiday spent with family is my favorite and seeing the magic of the holidays through the eyes of the kids is the BEST!  

this is our second year starting our own thanksgiving tradition of a "snack dinner" for thanksgiving.  it is extra special for the kids to make their own plate, pick out a favorite treat and eat as much or as little as they want.  we all went shopping last weekend and everyone picked out something, and it was a clear winner that doritos were a fan favorite of everyone but me.  we had fancy cheeses, meats, crackers, chips, popcorn, nuts, dried fruit, fresh fruit, licorice, brownies, hot dog roll ups and chicken nuggets.  

luckily we got to celebrate with grandma and grandpa during their visit last month and mimi and papa are coming in two weeks, so we will do a combined late thanksgiving/early christmas with them.  and keeping traditions alive from when jarad and i first started dating, we did our pre-thanksgiving hike yesterday.  it was a short and easy one, but we all got outside for a walk and fresh air.  

we are ending this night with getting cozy by the fire for a christmas movie and getting the house decorated for christmas tomorrow! bring on the holiday season!

fall play dough sharing tray

one of the last times we will play with this for the year before going into full christmas mode.  

place mat

bowie brought home this treasure from school today, it is a thanksgiving place mat.  i love artwork made from their handprints!

ryder preschool art

ryder's backpack came home full of some cute artwork.  i love anything that they make with their handprints, like the R for rudolph's antlers and the turkey made out of his hand.  so cute!

feed the turkey

this activity from "busy toddler" is going strong for the 3rd year in a row, although the turkey has undergone some repairs.  this year we are feeding him with some acrylic pumpkins and acorns from our fall playdough kit and using a variety of tools to put our fine motor skills to the test.

decorating

the kids got a head start on decorating for christmas (at least in their rooms).  they used some window clings and mini trees to get in the spirit!

kids quest museum

today we spent the morning at kids quest museum in bellevue.  we had never been before, but it made for a fun morning exploring and playing.  the kids loved the water room, making colored shadows, playing with clay in the art room, climbing the jungle gym structure and playing with lots of awesome open ended toys there!

preschool

oh how i adore the kids preschool and their teacher!  i am so lucky to have found such a gem!

thankful turkey banner

this isn't quite how i envisioned it going, but we made a thankful turkey banner for thanksgiving.  we drew turkeys and in their feathers we wrote things we are thankful and grateful for.

after school picnic

bowie is off school early for the next six days for conferences.  so we picked her up and went on an arboretum lunch picnic on this frigid but dry afternoon.

color mixing candy kit

we have been working on some color mixing with ryder lately and after dinner we did a candy kit as a family.  it was a really cool one, where you got to mix colors to make your own gummy candies!

family pics

getting family pics taken today, of course it is rainy and windy.  ryder broke one of bowie's toys right before we left, making her cry and getting her face all red.  then as soon as we got there, bowie tripped on a rock and was on the verge of tears the whole time cause her knee hurt.  fingers crossed we get a few frame worthy pics, or at least one good enough for holiday cards.  i snapped a few pics before we left while the kids were still clean, dry and happy.