finally!

It's finally acceptable to break out all the decorations, flip the Christmas tunes on and go get a tree! I know a certain someone (*cough* Katie) who starts sometimes before December but I can't bring myself to do it- yet anyways. We headed over to our local nursery and got a real tree this year. We normally just use this doinky 3 foot fake tree since we are usually gone for the holidays but this year Siena and I convinced B that we needed a real tree. We told Siena to pick any tree she wanted and this was the winner....

seriously she picked 1 needle.

We decided the go with a whole tree just to keep her off her game.The best part- putting the angel on top!

thanksgiving

In my book Thanksgiving isn't officially over until ALL the leftovers are out of the fridge. I'm happy to report the last of the potatoes are gone and if I never hear the word "tur-duck-en" again I will be a happy girl. The whole affair was sort of a blur with the move and everything else going on in the middle of it all.

So on to some pics to recap:

Anyone curious what a tur-duck-en looks like when you slice it up????

Slim and I didn't think it looked too hot but the boys were fascinated (it's the little things).

It tasted fine but I'm an old fashioned kinda girl and I missed my plain turkey leftovers... a tur-duck-en sandwich with cranberry sauce does NOT have the same appeal.

Now that the house is sorta put together here are some shots of the new digs (only a few since these were the only rooms that were clean enough for photos!!!)

Master bedroom

Little room in the master called a master suite- what you are suppose to use if for was beyond us so the craft stuff and computer found a home here.Master bath. It will probably never be this clutter free again. Brandon will make sure of that!

Siena's crazy pink room. It's growing on me and I no longer feel the need for sunglasses every time I enter (it's really that pink). She's pretty much in heaven so it was worth it.Kitchen. Pretty much the greatest room in the whole house!Pic of the family room and dining room. Terrible photo but as good as it gets today...

Mud

Playing in mud is important. And really fun. And something all kids should do.

Especially when you have really cute galoshes!

homework???

Is it just me or does it seem a little crazy that Siena comes home from preschool with homework????

Funny story. Siena comes home from school the other day with a packet of "homework". It's each letter of the alphabet on a worksheet and they have to practice writing it 10 times uppercase and 10 time lowercase (hang in there I'm getting to the funny part). So doing the math that is writing 520 letters to do the whole thing. We had about a week to do it but I forgot about it.... until an hour before bed the night before. So now I have to get a 4 year old to sit still long enough to practice writing every letter of the alphabet 20 times!!!! I ended up bribing her with a marshmallow for every page she finished. By the time we were done it was past bedtime and I had a kid on a complete sugar high running around the house.... moral of story.... I don't know but I do know that now we sit and do whatever she brings home as soon as we walk in the door...

Air show

I know postings have been few and far between these days, but honestly with all the craziness going on around here, I was lucky to even find the camera cord (and that was purely by accident). Onto other news...

We had a big air show out here over the weekend. We heard about it really last minute so it was sort of a nice surprise break from all the packing and organizing that's been going on for the last few weeks. Siena loved checking out all the helicopters...and after the walking tired her out she hitched a ride...
I completely forgot how much I love going to them! It brought back all kinds of memories going as a kid with my dad and grampa (who knows everything you would ever want to know about all the planes). Definitely made me want to start going every year and Siena had such a blast. Next time we will bring her some ear plugs though because it was really loud- but overall the day was perfect!

Halloween activites

Now that all the Halloween craziness is over around here I can finally sit down and post some pics. For some reason this year seemed really busy with activities- we had about 4 halloween parties by the time it was all said and done and I'm so glad it's all over!!!!

For one party Siena was a bee...

The real costumes: Peter Pan and Captain Hook.... and a random black cat they found in an alleyWe went to the pumpkin patchWe made some creepy foodWe went trick-or-treating
Siena had such a great time and didn't want it all to be over. Luckily Thanksgiving is just around the corner (or I'm not sure I could have convinced her that all the spooky decorations need to come down to make room for the next ones...)!

Suprise!

So the waiting is finally over.... we are having a girl!!! Most of you are not surprised since we've sort of had a hunch along those lines for awhile. I was secretly hoping for the total shock of a boy but I am a firm believer that every girl needs a sister so I think it worked out.

Meet the little peanut! Here she is yawning...and waving...and here is Siena and I... (Katie this belly shot is for you!)

spooooky

October is finally here and we decided the house needed a revamp for halloween. Since I didn't really own any decorations (due to boycotting/hating halloween in my former life ) we thought some homemade stuff would be even better.

We made some spiders...and some happy ghosts.

Add a ridiculous amount of fake cobwebs everywhere and you have one spooky house!

Sundays

Sundays have now been unofficially renamed "family project day"! All this really means is doing a random activity I think up (and don't really have the energy or motivation to accomplish on my own) and I use the ruse of "family time" to rope Brandon into helping me..."

We started off with something super easy- a huge floor puzzle. Siena had a great time and it convinced Brandon that this wasn't a terrible idea...

The next week we decided to be pirates- complete with a ship, hats, swords, and eye patches. I'm not gonna lie- the best part was watching Brandon try to squeeze into the laundry basket... and I can only say that because once I got in he had to help me get out.Why didn't anyone teach me how to make one of these hats when I was a kid? Is it just a boy thing- you know like learning how to make gun noises?

Blast from the past

In honor of my lil sis's birthday today I was digging around in some old photos. Nothing like someone else getting older to make you think about the fact that you are also no longer a kid. For the record I have always really liked being the oldest- it meant no hand me downs, first dibs on pretty much anything, and nobody being too surprised when I'd get bossy (I mean the oldest are suppose to be that way). However, it definitely also come with a price. You have this crazy desire to protect your younger siblings, help them, and the thought of what your life would be like without them is un-imaginable. Luckily, you don't realize all this until you get older or else we'd miss out on all the fun torturing and teasing we do to them growing up.

So to my Sis-

I will always want to protect you

to have fun with you

to be silly and share inside jokes

and to have you as my best friend.

My life would not be the same without you.

And who else could you count on to put a picture of you rocking PeeWee Herman shorts on the internet. Big sisters are good for that sort of thing...

I love you!

Siena has the sniffles and for some reason whenever she is sick I feel the need to make her soup. I can't lie- I love soup any time, in any weather so it was a good excuse:) I didn't make it exactly by the recipe since I didn't have a few things, but it still came out great. Who knew a recipe from a kid's cookbook would be so good!

Alphabet soup

3 green onions

2 carrots

2 stalks celery

handful green beans

2 tbsp veggie oil

1 can (15oz) stewed diced tomatoes

4 small bouillon cubes

4 cups water

1/2 cup alphabet noodles

1 can cannelloni beans

garlic

*you can substitute 4 cups chicken or veggie stock for the water and bouillon cubes*

1. Heat oil in soup pot over med heat. Chop and add veggies and garlic. Saute until tender (about 10 min). Add tomatoes, beans, water, bullion, and noodles. Cover and turn to low- cook 30 min stirring every once in a while. Salt and pepper to taste. Delish!

Intelli-what?

Ever heard of IntelliGender? Me neither until lil sis told me about it this weekend. Apparently it is suppose to be able to determine the sex of your baby as early as 10 weeks. The 90% accuracy claim had me a little skeptical but we decided it might be kinda fun to try anyway. Brandon picked one up at the drugstore this weekend and the results are in...anyone care to guess? We are keeping it a secret until we can do the 20 week ultrasound and get the "real" results... it's only 6 weeks away. Come on- you can wait a little longer right? Brandon thinks I'm evil. I agree.

Lazy days

We finally had a day cool enough to actually leave the house and enjoy the outdoors!
We took a picnic lunch and Siena's "soccer ball" to kick around a bit.

We had such a great time...and Siena burned up so much energy (yeah for us)!

Her face cracks me up in this one! And her little "orphan Annie" pig tails!

Bump

Baby bump at 13 weeks! I was definitely not already showing at this point with Siena. The other thing that is "showing" earlier this time around if the disaster of a house we've been living in (as if you didn't notice in the picture). Last time around around I don't think it looked like this until month 8! This may be a long 9 months....

First day

Thursday was Siena's first day of school! Granted it's just preschool, but I am still convinced this is the beginning of the end. She wasn't too sure about the whole idea at first... this is the "fake

smile because mom told me to look happy" face right before we left.Once we got there and she saw all the other kids she started to get excited.

After I got back to the car I called Brandon and blubbered like an idiot about how the next thing we know she will be getting married, and moving away, and we will hear from her once a week (if we are lucky). He was a little more level headed about the situation and convinced me that this is just the next exciting chapter for us... I agree but I can still cry if I want to.