Santa Face Cookies

Grandma Kathy has a Christmas tradition that started when she was a little girl, her Aunt Joene used to make "Santa Face Cookies" every year. When Mike was in kindergarden Kathy started her yearly "Santa Face Cookie" extravaganza. Last Saturday she started cutting cookies at 7:30. We got out the door at 9 and still arrived in time to help cut out the Santas. Mia is becoming quite the helper, she made the eyes, mouths, sprinkled the hats and put most of the coconut on the beards. I am so glad we can be a part of this tradition, I know it is something that Mia will remember forever.

Christmas Countdown

Only two weeks until Christmas Eve already. I thought I was doing good starting my Christmas shopping the day after Thanksgiving (not something I normally do). We put our tree up last weekend (last year I think we got a tree the weekend before Christmas) and even got it decorated. We decided to use Nickie's artificial tree this year, it fits in the little space we have perfectly. I didn't want to put the tree in the living room this year because I'm afraid Gabriel would try to climb it. One thing I wanted to find this year was a Christmas countdown something, I found one in a magazine that I wanted to make but guess what, NO TIME. But I did find one at Target on sale for $20 that I love.

A Letter

Last night when I went to bed I found this on my pillow.

"Hi mommy, gabey Baby Is screming
and me and Him
want to thank
You for every thing
yove done for us
Love you lots,

gabey Baby and
Mia Pia Pricess

XO XO XO XO XO XO"

First Birthday!

That's right, Gabriel will be ONE on Wednesday!

Today we had a Luau Birthday Party at Grandma Teresa's house to celebrate. I made the cake a "beach" with blue frosting for the ocean and graham crackers for the sand. Mia greeted everyone at the door with a lei and she also made a Hawaiian mixed CD from some songs on her iTunes (she is such a good helper). Gabriel got a lot of fun "big boy" toys and much needed new clothes. And he dug right into the cake!

Spaghetti

Thought I would share some pictures from dinner last Thursday.

Nine

Last Sunday Mia turned NINE! I still can't believe that I am the mother of a nine year old.

On Saturday we had a super fun "Backwards Party" at Grandma Chloe and Papa's house. The party "ended" at 1 and "started" at 4. When the guests arrived Mia greeted them with a "Goodbye I am glad you could come." The best part of the whole backwards theme, we got to eat cake FIRST. We forgot to take our camera to the party but I know there are pictures out there. I will ask around and post some later.

On Sunday we had a relaxing day at home with not much to do. (Hold on is this my birthday or Mia's?) She wanted to go to Red Lobster for dinner so she could get her favorite... crab legs. 

3 months old

Nine years old

Halloween Fun

I know this post has taken FOREVER for me to get to. Sorry for that but here it is.

This year Mia decided she didn't want to go "Trick-or-treating". I of course put up no argument and jumped at the chance to hit the high road and skip all the "in town" Halloween madness. So we decided to go have a quiet fun Halloween at Ron & Chloe's (Mia's dad's parents for those of you who might not know the Douglass family tree). She didn't miss out on candy entirely, she had no school on Halloween so we went to Grandma Kathy's school and Grandma Teresa's work and they both had treats for the kids.

Peter (Mia's dad), Mia, Gabe, Mike, and I went to Grandma and Papa's around 5. We had a LOT of fun cooking hot dogs on the fire. We also had a flashlight scavenger hunt, we had to find something for every letter of the alphabet (bonus points for halloween items). I made a super yummy brain to bring (made out of a watermelon). 

I didn't get many good pictures of the kids in there costumes. Mia was a princess and Gabriel was her knight in shining armor. But here is what I did get...

Pumpkins

A few weekends ago we made it out to finally get our pumpkins! The kids had so much fun and I got some very cute pictures. Not only did they get to ride around in a wagon but Gabriel crawled thought almost the entire patch.

Wednesday Veggies

Grandma Kathy takes part in a CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture) at Adams Farm Market in Hanover. It is where people get an assortment of farm fresh foods throughout the season. You pay at the beginning of the season and the money helps with costs the farmers have. Grandma Kathy gets so much stuff that she gives more than half of it to us every week! Wednesday is our veggie day and we are always excited to see what we get. So far this year I have canned tomatoes, dilly beans, dill pickles, made 2 batches of chili, eaten about 4 whole watermelons (myself), and we have some very yummy corn in the freezer for the winter. We also get 3 pumpkins this year as part of the share and Mia is very excited to go pick them out. 

Fall Festival

On Saturday we had our very first playdate (that we could make it to) with the Mom & Tot group that I joined back in April. My friend LeeAnn is a member and she is the one that got me interested. Anyway it started at 10:30 and guess what, I didn't leave the house until almost 11:20. Gabriel had a lot of fun for the hour he lasted (cutting into nap time mom!). 

After the playdate we went to Grandma Kathy's to go to the Fall Festival in Hanover. Mike had a conference call so he stayed behind and was going to meet us. The best part was Gabriel got to take his first tractor pulled wagon ride. The festival is held at Heritage Park a plot of 82+ acres of farmland that the Hanover-Horton community raised funds to buy. The tractor pulled us around the fields of corn and soy beans, Gabriel loved every minute of it.

Flavor Fruit Farm

Now that it is fall and officially apple season, we will be making lots of trips to Flavor Fruit Farm. Not that I have not already been out there but I am still looking forward to the next trip. Two weeks ago I took the first trip out of the year. And Gabriel's first of his life! It was a Wednesday afternoon so there where not a lot of people there and we got to spend a lot of time watching the animals. 

Just posting about it is making me want to go tomorrow! I think we just might. :)

Classes

I have so much to post about! the past few weeks have been super busy...

The kids are both taking swimming lessons at the YMCA and they both love it. We go two times a week and are there from 5:30 - 7:10. 

Mia and Gabriel are not the only ones going to the YMCA these days. I have been taking a few classes with Nickie, and I think we have found a schedule that works great.

Monday ~ Yoga @ 8:30.

Wednesday ~ Shallow H2O aerobics @ 1:30 (our old lady class :) ).

Friday  ~ more Shallow H2O aerobics @ 1:30.

Gabriel loves going to the child watch and is always so happy when I come to pick him up after class.

Speaking of taking classes Nickie and I also have taken a few classes at JoAnn's. (Remember Mia's crochet class) The same person that taught that teaches knitting. We took knitting 101 and to tell you the truth I like crocheting a lot more. Maybe it is because I don't have to think about crocheting as much but knitting seems a lot harder. I guess if I want to get better I have to keep trying.  We also took Sewing 101, now this I loved. It just so happens that my cousin Jessica was taking the sewing class too (it is alway more fun to take a class with people you know). We are taking sewing 201 in October and are making a wrap skirt. I already have the fabric and everything! 

Big Boy!

We took Gabriel to his check up last Thursday and he is growing! He is not as heavy as I thought, but he now weighs 19.5 pounds and is 28 inches long. He also had his first dental appointment last week, I know it seems early but he has 8 teeth. Oh ya, he got a new tooth about two weeks ago. The dentist said they all look great and that he will get a break and the next few teeth that come in should be his first molars (that should be fun!) 

So for a week or so Gabriel has shown "signs" that he wanted to try using a spoon. By "signs" I mean grabbing the spoon anytime it came anywhere near his mouth. The first try was very cute, once he figured out he could fling food with his spoon it was all over (and all over the room). He was so proud. 

Daddy is Home!

Mike had a wonderful time in Europe he did lots of fun things including climbing to the top of the Cologne Cathedral (that was Mia's favorite part of her trip to Germany last summer) and sneaking into a Hungarian rock concert! I will have to get more details to you on that later along with some of the million pictures he took. Don't worry there is NO WAY I am posting any of the hundred pictures he took of a presentation slide show???

Mia got her ears pierced. We are using a behavior reward system that we got from Mike's brother Brian. Mia has a pebble jar and earns pebbles for good behavior and looses pebbles for bad behavior. When the jar is full she gets a prize. She asked me if she could get her ears pierced about a month ago, I told her she had to ask her daddy and Mike what they thought about it first. She asked them and we decided that could be her next pebble prize. Well she filled up the jar and on Tuesday last week we went shopping for new shoes and to get her ears pierced. She is doing a great job taking care of them and they look super cute.

9 Months

That's right, 9 months already. With Mike being gone this week, I scheduled Gabriel's 9 month check up for next Thursday. I will let you know all the fun height and weight stuff then. My guess is he weighs at least 21 pounds. But for now here are a few updates on what's new with Mr. Gabe.

* He is a talker~he has been very vocal all along but now he is starting say some words along with all the babble. His first was "mama" but he only said it twice so I am not even sure it was real. For sure he is saying "dada" and "bye-bye" although bye-bye comes most often after whoever has already walked out of the door. I noticed today he was making a sound that kind of sounded like when I am calling Mia down from her room. He did it every time I would call her. He stopped whatever he was doing, looked around, and kind of listened for her to come down the stairs. Somewhat like this:

Koleen: "MEE-ah"

Gabriel: "deeee-ah"

Anyway, it was very cute.

* He is starting to pull himself up with whatever he can grab onto. The crib rail was the first thing. It will not be long until he is trying to climb the stairs.

*He likes playing in the dog's water...Ewww! Anytime he gets a chance he is heading for it. He tipped it over once and got soaked. Now he just splashes in it for as long as he can before I pick him up and take him back into the other room. Then he is off again.

Trying to corral Gabriel while folding laundry. (This picture reminds me, I need to get online and order some diapers.)

Dog water, fun!

So true :)

Green Girl

We try to be a health conscious ~ earth friendly family. I guess we are doing a good job because today shopping for school supplies Mia picked the Earth Friendly pencils (made from sustained yield forests) and Recycled paper and folder. She also reads the ingredients list on almost every thing she eats looking for the "Bad Partially Hydrogenated Word" or High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Jackson County Fair

Almost a month ago we took the kids to the County Fair with Grandma Teresa. This was the first time I have gone in a long time but Mike and Mia have made sure to go every year for the last 3 years. Mia and Gabriel both loved seeing the animals. It even got Mia a little interested in 4-H, she would love to have a bunny!