It's Winter Break!

You know me, I'm totally type 'A' and this week found myself a little bit crazed by the holiday. Preparing the gifts, making the grocery list, cleaning the house, meal planning, laundry and mentally gearing up to have our little angels home with us for 11 days. I am embracing the 11 days because its the only time of year where things eventually slow down. Lila woke up early today, Scott was out for a run, and so she crawled in bed with me at 5:41am and we got to just snuggle and chit chat until we decided to get out of bed. It was so nice. No rush, just being present. This was the PERFECT way to start our stay-cation. Here are our (really my) goals for 2011 Holiday Break as posted on our fridge. Again, totally, admittedly, obnoxiously type 'A'.

Salt Dough Ornaments

Eva and Lila made salt dough ornaments to give as gifts this holiday. It was a 3-day process making the dough, cutting, baking and painting. The results; super cute, handmade ornaments. Thanks to Anne for the idea!

Nap Protesting

Eva has been nap protesting and while she's NOT sleeping she keeps herself busy by making her room a mess. Here she unloaded several drawers in her closet and her book shelf. Lucky for me she had to pick this mess up and thankfully has not made this big of a mess since.

Scrooge the Musical & Girls Day

7 of us girls went to se Scrooge the Musical on Saturday. It was Eva's first play experience and you can see from the photos that she was perfectly behaved. After the play we got a little tour and we were able to get up on stage for a photo. 

Eva the Plumber?

Eva has had us laughing for a week. She must have lost weight or perhaps lost her some of her non-existent belly because her pants have been falling down. Pants that she has been wearing for months no longer will stay up. Last week I tried three different pairs of pants and three days in a row Eva had a wardrobe malfunction. I think she will be wearing dresses until we can get this resolved!

Four and a Half

Our biggest princess turned 4 1/2 on December 12th.

The Nutcracker

Lila and I went to see the Nutcracker this year. It was her first time seeing the play and she seems to have really enjoyed it. Every time I have music from the Nutcracker playing she starts dancing and twirling around the house. I can't wait to go again! My cousin Mahkaea joined us and we also had the good fortune of running into Anne and Ryan Bruce and got to sit by them. Lila however sat in my lap the whole time.

Our Perfect Tree

We visited a new tree farm in Ridgefield, WA called Tree Wiseman. It has an enormous selection of tree's and we actually had a hard time deciding which one to get. This year we selected a little bit shorter tree so that it can sit in our front window. I'm loving the tree in the front window and look forward to a cozy Christmas morning around our tree. More photos to come!

Visiting Santa

We had a wonderful visit with Santa this year. Lila was pretty confident visiting with Santa and told him that she wanted a "rainbow, princess, Barbie house" for Christmas. Eva wasn't going anywhere near Santa without me and proceeded to tell him that she wanted a "motorcycle". What! A motorcycle? We have no idea where she got this idea.

Thanksgiving ~ Yum!

"Honey" This and That

The Thanksgiving weekend aftermath = groceries to be put away on the counter, laundry in the wash, a house that needs to be picked up, leftovers in the fridge and a tree waiting to be put in it's stand. Grateful  for everything.

The kids are in the playroom playing "House" together for the first time that I can remember. They seem to be playing well too so maybe I can take a stab at the above list. I'm eating lunch at the counter and I can overhear the kids playing. This is what they are saying;

"Honey, do you want to go grocery shopping?"
"Honey, look what the mailman brought us."
"You go in the castle honey."
"I'm going home honey and the mailman will deliver the mail."
"Did you get my coffee honey?"
"Honey it's Thanksgiving time today."
"Our turkey is all ready honey."

So apparently I use the word "honey" a lot. It's true, I do call Scott honey. I had no idea that I did it so much until Eva announced at dinner recently with Scott's family, "That's honey!" She was pointing to Scott. Te-he. This is exhibit #2. Literally EVERY sentence in the game of house includes the word "honey". Cute? Cute.

Lila's First Haircut!

Lila got her first haircut! At 4 1/2 years old she had a trim at Little Snippers in Vancouver. She was pretty excited to go there because they have Barbie cars to sit in and they sprinkle fairy dust (glitter) onto the girls' hair. Her hair is in a little bob that she can wear curly or straight. I love it!

Going Green: Our Holiday Card

Some of you will be saying, "It's about time." Other's of you I can hear saying, "Nooooooooooo!" Every year we send a holiday card out to our closest, dearest friends. The list started 11 years ago; it was derived from our wedding invitation list. Since then we've added friends. Added children to the many families we already send cards to. We've even had to painstakingly delete those friends and family who have passed on from the list. All that said, our list has grown and each year Scott asks me, "Why do we mail these again?" Last year we decided that in 2011 we would "Go Green" and send an e-greeting.

So here we are. The e-greeting is almost complete; I'm putting some finishing touches on it and plan to send it electronically shortly after Thanksgiving.

As I'm updating my list and I realize that I don't have email addresses for everyone on this list. I hope that I don't miss anyone in the transition. If you want to be included please send me your preferred email address. amy@mcgeachyconsulting.com.

Family Visit to Seattle

We're really getting out lately...overnight trip to Tacoma in October, Palm Springs in October and now an overnight trip to Seattle. This next weekend might top them all...stay tuned!

We have never been to Seattle as a family in fact I think the last time Lila was in Seattle was when she was 2 months old. Can that be right? Last I remember it was the Cougar Football Game at Quest Field and I made a solo trip to Seattle to stay with our friends Katherine and Lowell. Eva and I made the trip last year for a day trip. This time we ventured North for a bridal shower. My friend Regan is getting married in December and this weekend was her bridal shower. We stayed with Katherine, Lowell, Anna 4 and Emily 1. All of the little girls had such a fun time playing. Lila and Anna even had a slumber party in Anna's room where they amazingly slept all night long. Hooray right? Thank you Katherine and Lowell for your hospitality!

Below photos from the Woodland Park Zoo. Scott, Lila, Eva, Lowell and Anna.

Look at this giant bear trying to decide who's for lunch. I swear they were smiling at us!

See! Is that a smiling brown bear or what?

The bridal shower at the Sorrento Hotel. Regan and her sister Taylor.

We had a tea party! It was a fantastic shower, great conversation with good friends. 7 of these amazing women were in my sorority at WSU. It seems like we've been friends forever - love this!

The after party at the Dier's house.

Allison and Mateo, he looks exactly like his dad!

Allison trusted Lila to hold Mateo for the group photo. Lila seemed to be surprised and excited about the responsibility. In this photo she's watching Allison I think looking for approval/direction. And look what a GIANT Mateo is! He's a chunk for 3 months isn't he?

The whole crew...Eva, Mateo, Lila, Elena, Anna and Emily.

Lila obsessed with Anna's iPad. 

Halloween Festivities

Halloween this year was full of excitement and I'm happy to say that both of our girls are "experts" when it comes to the holiday. Eva and Lila understand the phenomena that on one day per year you can knock on someone's door, say "trick-or-treat" and they in turn provide you with candy. It doesn't take long for kids to figure out exactly how this works. They even learn to say "thank you" and on special occasions "Happy Halloween". I love this fun holiday and this year was again filled with many fun activities. At last count the kids wore their costumes 4 times. Eva was "Dora" 3 out of 4 times and a Fairy Princess once. Lila was Ariel, as planned, for all of the events.

Boo Bash in Camas. Notice that I edited the photo and wrote Boo Bash 2012. I guess I'm ready for the new year? Really though, it was Boo Bash 2011. 

Getting ready for the Spooktacular Event at The Goddard School

Lila with her buddy Kevin at Goddard School

Carving pumpkins

It's finally Halloween! Lila and Eva ready to scare the neighborhood. Boo!

Lila, Thad, Ethan and Eva

Neighborhood kiddos with Dave and Margaret. Their whole family dressed up as The Wizard of Oz - it was fantastic!

Eva and I trick-or-treated with several of her buddies from school. The two year old pace is generally much slower than the 4, 5 and 6 year old pace of the group Lila was in (with neighbors). It was perfect...two year olds really enjoy the moment and every second of the experience. Here is Eva returning home and trick-or-treating. You can see Lila's surprise when she answered the door and Eva was there. So precious!

Eva with 5 of her friends from school.

Trick-or-Treating at the Griffiths.

More time in Palm Springs

We went to the zoo in Palm Springs called "The Living Desert". It was certainly different than our Pacific Northwest Zoo and we loved it. The girls got to feed a giraffe! 

We visited a pumpkin patch in So. Cal which was a new, fun experience. The best part was it was beautiful and sunny - hooray!

And we hiked! We hiked in the Indian Canyon on the Murray Canyon trail on our way to the Seven Sisters waterfall. With two kids on our backs we didn't make it all the way to the waterfall...this time. :)

The pool at the complex we stayed at was perfect. Here Lila swimming and Eva sunbathing and playing on Scott's iPhone. Eva was much more interested in sitting on the lounge chairs than swimming. I'm convinced she was disinterested only because we were encouraging her to get into the pool - 2!

Our lovely ladies shared a room in Palm Springs which isn't unusual because they share a room at home. What was new is that they shared a bed. Scott and I watched them all nestled up often; aren't they so cute all snuggled up? 

The End. Family vacation #1 = Success!