November happenings...

Hmmm...what did we do in November? This catching up bit is tough. My brain is taxed...

We have some strange characters show up at our home some days...This one is called Blue Beetle. And all he did was cover his face with a Cinderella skirt and drone, "I am Blue Beetle."

At Jonathan's school, the children take turns with Show and Share. On that day, their mommy brings the snack. Several years ago, about 11-12, Michael bought Kayla a cool elephant mask. It is made of that cool craft foam stuff and has a string you pull to make the trunk swing up. (I should note here that he bought himself a horse head with a string to open the jaw! Very funny, especially when you hear him whinny!). Well, Kayla has grown up, moved on, moved out, moved back, and the mask was in a box of stuff she was giving to the kids. This is what Jonathan chose to take to Show and Share.

I brought zucchini bread, per Jonathan's request. Yes, I know, weird. But that's what he wants every time. He doesn't even ask for something like chocolate chip cookies! But this day, we were there for snack and show and share. Do you know how many of the kids took one bite and tossed the rest of their WARM zucchini bread?! Aaaahhh! Guess what I do now? I throw in a handful of mini chocolate chips, just enough to fool the little kiddos into thinking they are getting chocolate!! Mwaahhaahha!

Well, it looks like Jonathan and Annisia had some days outside. Annisia is into being a baby lately, so Jonathan is carrying her across the lawn here. Silly kids!

One thing we do most Novembers is go to my parents for Thanksgiving. It's about the only time I see the rest of my family. Aaron, my nephew, developed a soft spot for Annisia, ear tugging and all! They cuddled on the couch with all the rest of the hubbub going on around them.

Jonathan is really into showing his muscles. Is that a normal 5 year old boy thing, or am I talking too much after my boot camp class?! Anyways, here he's showing Uncle Duane his big muscles, and Aunt Vicky is probably egging him on to pop his uncle!

See the raised eyebrows on Duane? I think Jonathan challenged him and Duane is confirming! It's fun to see how comfortable my children are around their uncles and aunties they rarely see. Click on the pic below to make it bigger then look at the expression on Jonathan's face...

Then a grin for Uncle Paul too!

Grandpa O got some cuddle time (and ear tugging time!) with Annisia. We really have to break that habit of her toying with our ears...

Aunty Janice and Uncle Paul brought their dog, Tiny, with them. He's a nervous little poodle, especially around children. He'd bark and the kids would get scared and scream, then run away. Tiny would chase them making them scream more...what chaos! Neither party seemed to learn how to just chill around each other. So Janice brought out the treats and let the kids feed him treats. He LOVES to play ball, so then they got to throw the little ball for him too. That made everyone a little calmer with each other...good for Mommy's blood pressure too!!

Uncle Alan lives just over a block, so we always find our way over there. Jonathan really enjoyed riding Cassie's scooter. Now he wants one...I wonder how many years we can hold out on that?!

The kids share a bed at Mom and Dad's. So, up we go, we say our prayers, we sit with them for a little bit, and then it's time for them to just go to sleep. So I went downstairs and did some more visiting. Here's where we found Annisia...sound asleep at the top of the stairs, with all the pound puppies Mom and Dad have lining the steps in a sort of fence or something! I laughed out loud. She cracks me up!

My Sleeping Beauties...

These are taken at my mom and dad's too. This was the first morning we were there. Annisia snuck into our bed in the early morning. She was so sound asleep, when I kissed her she didn't even budge. But she's my happy waker. She opens her eyes wide and says, "Mommy!" when I wake her!
Jonathan and Annisia shared a bed at Mom and Dad's. It was nice. It seems like they sleep better that way. This was so cute, though. I went in to check on them one night before we went into our room, and this is how I found them. Annisia's little hand on Jonathan...kind of like she was checking to make sure he was still there. It was sweet.

To the lake...

We went out to the lake a couple of times this summer. This one is memorable because Jonathan rode on the tube. In the video, you can't hear him, but Jonathan says, "Faster, Jon, faster!" to his Uncle Jon.


And then they crashed...asleep on the boat. Jonathan fell asleep just as you see him. Michael was sitting where Annisia is in the bottom photo. I was in the back of the boat holding her. I laid her down in the front of the boat on the seat and we went up on shore while they slept.

Thermopolis Hot Springs...

We packed up one Saturday morning a couple weeks ago and headed over the mountain to the hot springs in Thermopolis. The kids had a blast! I have had them both in a parent/tot swim class, so they have been exposed to pools. And they were both wearing life vests (although they were too big!). Finally, Jonathan allowed us to let go of him and he paddled around. THEN, he didn't want anything to do with us!

And this was about 15 minutes after pulling out of the Star Plunge parking lot! Hee Hee! That's one way to get them to nap!



This is at Powder River Pass on the way home. It was a cold day, but beautiful and sunny.

Grandpa & Grandma O visit

Then Grandma and Grandpa came to visit. They brought Annisia her 6 month gift...

...a shiny new tractor and trailer! Wow! Now she doesn't have to use her brother's. Jonathan got a new Volvo semi truck too. He thinks it's pretty cool.

Grandpa and Jonathan went to the sandbox and Grandpa built a "sandapple" with an apple sandbox toy.

Then Jonathan stomped it! Was Grandpa surprised!

Grandma and Jonathan built a castle. Jonathan did most of the work. Then he got out his play jigsaw and cut it down one Lego at a time.

I left Annisia with Grandma and Grandpa one morning and took Jonathan to library hour. I think it is the first time since Annisia's birth that Jonathan and I have done something alone. Annisia is a bit of a Momma's girl, so it was with a little trepidation that I walked out the door. I came home to a soundly sleeping Grandpa's girl. Isn't she sweet?!

Time to catch up!

Whoa! I haven't posted anything for a long time. We got kind of busy I guess. My Mom and Dad came for a visit from April 19 to April 27, so the few days before that I was CLEANING! Ha! Just kidding, Mom! I did spend some time cleaning, but that's just so I wouldn't have to do any while they were here. I also did a little blurb on scrapbooking for our MOPS meeting, so I was preparing that too. What were the kids doing during all that?

Well, Annisia took her first "big bath" with Daddy and Jonathan. She loved it! She splashed and squealed and watched her big brother play. Jonathan and Daddy love the big bath too. It has lots of jets on both sides so you can't help but get clean! When I get a chance, I love it too.

Jonathan loaded up his loader tractor into his trailer and we hooked it up to his bike. He's quite enthralled with all the hooking up he sees his Papa, uncles and Daddy doing. Jonathan has quite an imagination. It is so fun to watch him play.


Who's who?! Here's our sweet kiddles. One is Jonathan, one is Annisia. Who is who? Really not a tough question, but fun nonetheless. Jonathan was wearing this sleeper when he was 14 months old in the pic. Annisia is only 9 months old.

Coffee, and sleep, and books, oh my!

Every day, I see yet another occupation in Jonathan's future. Monday, it was a Barista, although I am not sure if this "espresso machine" is up to Starbucks' standards. Can you tell we like coffee in this house?!










Annisia is just happy doing most anything. She likes the music (and the string) from the Poppity-Pop Elephant.

We're getting frustrated here...Annisia slept through the night at 10 weeks. Then at about 16 weeks, she stopped. Now, she can be sleeping soundly when I lay her down, and anywhere from 15 min to 1.5 hours later, she'll wake up screaming. And it's almost impossible to just soothe her without picking her up. So, we've been doing the easy thing and she makes it into our bed where she sleeps on Daddy's chest. I distinctly do not like co-sleeping, so that is annoying, but in the middle of the night, I am for anything that lets me go back to sleep. Any ideas?




Jonathan loves to read. A current favorite is Richard Scarry's (or Scary Richard according to Jonathan)"Cars and Trucks and Things That Go". On Tuesday, he was wandering around the house saying, "Who is that making a mess of the line? (the road workers were painting the dividing lines) "Is that Goldbug? No it isn't Goldbug. He wouldn't do a thing like that. It must be Maniacbug."(pg 37) This is almost a direct quote from the book! Can you tell we read it a lot? Then I got this picture of him reading about SOME ACCIDENT and that it would take Mistress Mouse a MILLION YEARS to fix everything.(pg 64)

Today, he wanted me to sing some songs from a patriotic soft book my parents gave him. It has teddy bears in it, dressed in red, white, and blue. I sang through it and when I sang "America, America", he pointed to each teddy bear and said, "That one's America, and that one's God, and that one's Brotherhood."