Christmas fun...

A fun evening at the Bellevue Botanical Gardens with hot cocoa and lights!



Snowflake lane and some shopping at the mall for gifts...

Hannah, Eliza, and Isaiah had all fallen asleep on the drive to Bellevue, so they woke up to the music, lights, chaos, and snow of Snowflake Lane!  Isaiah wasn't quite sure about it all, but enjoyed the lollipops they were handing out!

Clara got pulled out to dance with the princesses and was a good sport about it (although she was pretty embarrassed!) but Hannah and Lizzie just hid behind me so they wouldn't get noticed!



Monkey Boy!

Clara gave me the title for this post....it's her favorite nickname for her wild little brother!  He's been up to some mischief lately.....talking on his cellphone while driving....

 and climbing to new heights!

He mastered climbing out of his crib and opening up doors (including the dead bolt and the front door) all in one afternoon, creating some new challenges!  We've traded his bedroom doorknob with the bathroom one that can lock from the outside, and he's fallen asleep on the floor while knocking on the door a few times.  Last night, he put himself back to bed, though, so hopefully he's getting used to this new set-up!  He's also gone poop on the potty a few times, and been very excited about it, and then took off his diaper and brought me some poop, too......He's keeping us on our toes!!

O, Christmas Tree...

Sweet Hannah was still so sick, but we had a great deal on a Christmas tree that expired on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, so we packed our warm coats and headed to the tree farm in North Bend.  The kids had fun wandering around looking for the perfect tree (Hannah was mostly carried)

We were able to get a couple pictures of our whole family!

Found our perfect tree, and everyone had a turn using the saw...

We even got some hot cider and cookies for the drive home!

Monday evening was tree decorating, and while mommy and daddy were busy stringing the lights, Isaiah stayed busy with the carton of eggs on the kitchen floor!

Here is the cute culprit!  He loves wearing Hannah's cowboy boots

  He was cracking us all up with the ornaments.....he grabbed this nutcracker ornament with the crazy hair, ran to the bathroom and got a brush, and came out brushing the ornament's hair!

Then he found Santa in a kayak, sat down on it and tried to scoot across the floor, riding in the kayak with Santa!

He loved hanging ornaments on the tree, but would take FOREVER to find the perfect spot for his ornament.....Here he is saying "Ummmmm"......

Here?.....no......

Here?.....No.......

Way up here!!!!

I forgot how long it takes to decorate the tree (especially when Daddy has to run to Fred Meyer because half the lights didn't turn on!)  The kids were up late decorating...

Lizzy got the honor of placing the angel on top again this year.  She made sure to claim that job right away!

Isaiah loves rearranging the nativity....usually putting everyone up on the roof or having them all climb up the ladder....up, up, up, up :)

This advent scene was hanging just out of his reach last year....wow, he has grown!!

Hannah is six!

Our sweet Hannah got over the flu just in time for her birthday!  Unfortunately, the rest of the family had it, so most of the birthday plans had to wait, but Hannah and Daddy took a special trip to the pet store together and came home with "Bear Bear"....

We call Hannah the "animal whisperer".  She ADORES all animals (including bugs!)  She will curl up on the floor and snuggle Aunt Julie's dog, Te, and worries about animals if she sees them out in the cold or if she sees a sign for a missing animal.  She has desperately wanted a pet for a long time, so she was ecstatic to get to choose a pet on her birthday!  This little hamster has been played with non-stop and has been a really good sport about it!  Hannah gets him out of the cage early in the morning, makes him mazes with her blocks, puts him in little purses, in the toy airplane, in a bucket to attach to a riding toy and pulls him around the house.....I really hope he survives all her love!!!  Hannah still has a strong-willed, stubborn side, but we don't see it come out in a negative way as often.  She is very protective of her siblings and loves to play with both Clara and Eliza.  Being the middle sister has proven to give her two amazing playmates, and she is adored by Isaiah as a second Mommy.  She starts games with him and makes him laugh harder than any of us!  She is so sweet to him and often holds his hand during diaper changes (which calms him down immediately if he is fighting it) and holds his hand in the car to help him go to sleep.  She is an intense little thing, with pretty major reactions when she is excited or mad.  At dinner, she is known to say "I am NOT eating that", then after trying a bite, " This is my favorite food EVER.  Make this for dinner every night!!!"  And doing school work, she will often put up a huge fight to get started on something, then when she decides to start working, she flies through her work at record speed, grasping the concepts so easily and asks to do more.  It seems that she likes things on her terms ;)  She is showing so much growth in this area, though, and often is making the choice to do what she was asked right away.  She loved her soccer camp this summer, but decided not to play on a team this fall and loves practicing gymnastics all over the house...we often find her upside down, and she has perfected a flip in Isaiah's crib!  She has become pretty silly lately, and keeps us laughing.  We adore this strong, sweet, loving little girl!!!

Thanksgiving fun in Bend

We had a fun Thanksgiving at Nonna and Boppa's house, 10 adults and 14 kids made for a busy Thanksgiving dinner with many people to be thankful for!  We found an indoor play area to run off some of the kids' energy one morning.  I was taking these pictures through the glass, while holding a sick Hannah on my lap, so they didn't turn out very clear, but I LOVED watching Isaiah play football with his Daddy and Boppa!!  He is SO obsessed with anything "ball" and had such a fun time playing keep-away and throwing and catching the ball!

 The girls stayed busy climbing around in this huge structure!

 The annual gingerbread house with cousins...

 Isaiah LOVES his DD :)  It's a bonus that she shares her phone with him!

 Sweet Hannah was so sick, but was able to hang out for a while to help with the gingerbread house.  The kids each worked on a different side and Chloe made the tree....I think Eliza and Isaiah mostly just ate candy and frosting!

 Nonna and Hannah celebrated their end of November birthdays together!

We had a great time relaxing with family, and unfortunately left them all with our virus :(  We got two rounds of the flu and basically had sick kids and sleepless nights for 14 days straight....not a great start to December, but we are hoping for good health the rest of the month!
A couple of pics of our sickies :(