Historic snow storm 2008

Fun in the Snow!

Well, it's been SNOWING! The snow first fell on Saturday, but it's been really coming down hard since last night. In fact, it's snowed pretty much all day today, just dumping snow. I think the wind is pretty strong too, the snow is coming down sideways, it's like a blizzard out there at the moment (as I watch the snow swirls outside).

Kira got to go sledding for the first time this year. She absolutely loved it. We got these new sleds from Costco a couple of months ago, and they worked a lot better then the old ones we had. The boys always have fun sledding. Plus, since schools are closed, all the neighborhood kids were out. I was brave enough to take them today by myself, it was quite a bit of work to get all 3 of them ready in snow gear, but we were out there for a good hour before lunch and everyone had a blast.

Picture of our street this morning - sorry, I'm NOT going to drive on that :)
Getting ready to go sledding.
Kids playing, staying warm indoors.

This is Kira's first time sledding on Saturday. Note the "wee.." all the way down.


Kira sledding today - since I was by myself my only option was to point the camera at her as we come down the hill. I thought it turned out OK.

The boys sledding today.

I dragged Kira home on the sled today. I didn't feel safe enough to carry her or have her walk on the slippery icy road. I think she liked it even though she tried to hide it - I had a hard time asking her to get off the sled once we got home.

Christmas Prep

We finally got a tree!!! Usually, every year, we'd go to Home Depot to get a Noble Fir. However, this year, when we went, all the trees were really brown and dry looking. So, we got a beautiful pre-lit tree from Costco - yay! The tree looks perfect and took way less time to set up, plus there not a whole bunch of pine needles to clean up and step on. The boys helped decorate the tree while little Kira tried.

Basketball game and rollerskates!

Jake had his first basketball game of the season on Saturday! I wasn't able to go because I was finally letting myself be sick and resting at home. I'm glad that he's giving basketball another try this year, since I know he didn't enjoy playing it last year. This year, enrollment was down, so the teams got shuffled and we also asked for him to be placed on one of his best friends' team, so things worked out perfectly. I think he's more comfortable on his new team, since most of his teammates are his friends from school.

Jake attended a rollerskating birthday party on Sunday for one of his good friends, Tiffany. I guess he really likes to skate. This was only his second time rollerskating, the first being at summer camp. I've told him that we've got to try ice skating - I remember that being funner than rollerskating, so we'll see whenever we get a chance to go.

Snowflake Lane at Bellevue Square

We took the kids to Bellevue last Thursday to visit Santa and to see the Snowflake Lane. We chose to go Thursday night because I wanted to avoid as much crowds as possible and Jake had Friday off from school. Luckily, I was able to get off work early that day so I had an extra couple of hours to get things in order.

We visited Santa at Nordstrom's. Kira was a bit scared, so she sat in a little red chair right in front of Santa for the picture. They were really well prepared, they have her hold little stuff animals to distract her. I haven't seen the photo yet, but I'm sure it'll be great. Then we had a quite bite to eat at Nordstrom, because it was close. Then we walked to Snowflake Lane and enjoyed the show.

Waiting to see Santa

Kira Using a Spoon!

Cheerios are one of Kira's all time favorite things to eat, however, she's only eaten it dry...until yesterday morning. So, as usual, I gave the boys some cerel in the morning and Kira a little bowl of cheerios for her to snack on. Out of nowhere, Kira wanted a little bit of milk in her bowl, so I let her (if you know me, you'd know that I can't really deal with eating messes, so I've never really let her try to use a spoon before), but I was brave and I let her try to use a spoon. She's such a smart little girl, she figured it out right away! I had to tape it because it was so cute. My little girl is growing up more and more everyday.

Thanksgiving 2008

We had a great Thanksgiving this year. It was my first year cooking Thanksgiving dinner on the actual Thanksgiving day! We had lots of food, way too much really - turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, salad, corn, roasted brussel sprouts...oh and pumpkin cheesecake for dessert, yum!

Seahawks Game and more

Mike took Jake to the Seahawks game the last Sunday. Originally the tickets were "sold" to someone else, but at the last minute they couldn't go, so Mike ended up taking Jake to the game. As always, Jake had a lot of fun, even though the Hawks lost in a very upsetting way.

I found this picture on the camera, not remembering taking it, maybe Mike did. I just thought it was so funny and silly looking.

Tired Kiddies

Tonight when I came home from hot yoga, I found the boys snuggled in Jake's twin-sized bed with the lights to both of their rooms on. They fell asleep waiting for daddy to read bed time story and daddy fell asleep with Kira while putting her to sleep, so this is what happened.

It's kind of cute but also sad at the same time. I've been doing hot yoga twice a week for about a month now. Since yoga class is at 8:15pm, on the days that I do yoga, Mike is left with the daunting task of putting all 3 kids to bed. He's such a good daddy, he usually read a bed time story to Kira, give her some milk and lay down with her until she falls asleep (which is a really annoying problem that I created since I sorta babies her). Meanwhile the boys gets themselves ready for bedtime by brushing their teeth and doing their nightly routines. Then Mike reads the boys a story and tuck them into their separate beds.

Halloween 2008

This year was Kira's first year trick-or-treating. Needless to say, she had a blast. We've been really busy this last week so we didn't get to carve our pumpkins until Thursday night after dinner (as it is apparent by Jonah's dirty face). The boys were more into it this year and Jake even did some actual carving. They designed their own Jack-O-Lanterns this year and I thought both pumpkins came out great.

On Friday, Mike took the kids trick-or-treating. Mike said that Kira was a little bit scared for the first couple of houses, but once she figured out that she could go to every house and get candy she was as excited as ever. I guess she was also miss independent. She wanted to do everything herself, despite the fact that her basket was too heavy and all she could do was to drag it on the ground. They were out for over an hour and they came home with their pumpkin baskets full - we'll have to limit their sugar intake for at least a couple of months.

Jonah gutting his pumpkin.

Jake waiting to gut his pumpkin.

Didn't they turned out great?

The force is strong with this punkin :)

Kira trick-or-treating.

Waiting for her turn.

Mike took this video to demonstrate what was going on while they were walking around. He said he must've tried to help her 10 times, but she's a stubborn girl, like her mama. Sorry it's so dark, there weren't light around so the resolution and the lighting are suboptimal.

Kira Q&A

Here's a clip of miss little Kira. She's getting older and more verbally expressive. It's been fun having little talks with her. But I have to say it's funner to watch her learn new things everyday. Lately I've been teaching her animal sounds, since we have Wicket she pretty much only knew what doggies said. We're still working on more animals, but I think she's got a pretty good start.

Pictures of Kira

Harvest Festival at MLE

Tonight we attended the harvest festival at Jake's school. It's basically an after school event just prior to Halloween for the kids to show off their costumes, since I guess it's not OK to dress in costumes during regular school hours - whatever... The boys didn't want to go in their costumes, Jake thought it wasn't worth while to go as Darth Vader when he couldn't wear his mask and Jonah pretty much does whatever his brother does. Kira, on the other hand, went as a charming little lady bug. It wasn't a good night for her though, I think she gets overstimulated or something in a large crowd.

I also participated in the bake sale - since Jake made me feel guilty about not helping out with the PTA more like the moms of his friends a while ago. I baked and baked, OMG - I made 4 dozen brownies and individually wrapped them, 4-5 dozens of sugar cookies and wrapped them in groups of 3's, and finally nearly 100 chocolate chip cookies (that I'm thankful I didn't wrap). I was going to bake more, but I got lazy, and thank goodness I didn't continue. The bake sale table was full of goodies that they had to give them away at the end of the event.

My little lady bug.

Jake playing a game while Jonah anxiously awaits.
Jake with Frankenstein.