Lights!!!!!

We have Christmas lights on our house!!!!!! I am so very excited!!!! I've always loved Christmas lights. When I was younger we used to always drive around and look at the lights. I still do it with my family when we go back to California to visit over the holidays. This is the first time Papa Bear has put lights up on our house. When we lived in California he got out of doing it by saying that it wasn't our house (we rented) so he didn't want to put lights up. Then we moved and got our own house but we were gone a lot the first two years over the holidays and then when we were home, just didn't get around to it. So the other day Papa Bear had a day off and he said we could go see what lights they had left and he'd put them up. I was giddy!!! Off to Lowe's we went for the 50% off of all holiday decorations. Let's just say there wasn't much left to pick from. Across the street we went to Home Depot. Side note: it has gotten a little chilly here. Sister Bear and I are fascinated with the Weather Channel. She loves to watch the maps and I love seeing what the temperature is. Must come from all those years in California without seasons. According to the weather I have set for Brother Bears school it was 45 degrees with a feels like temperature of 38 and it was raining sideways. But there was my Papa Bear out there on the ladder hanging up the lights for me. Since he hung the lights up with pelting sideways rain, I think that asking him to paint the bedroom for me now might be pushing it a little bit.

Chocolate Hands

We had a Christmas party on Sunday evening and pulled out the chocolate fondue fountain. Well, there was a lot of chocolate leftover, so I dipped a bunch of items and put them in the refrigerator overnight. The next day I let Sister Bear sit in her high-chair and have a chocolate covered graham cracker. She really liked it but not the mess on her hands.....which she proceeded to wipe on her face.

Elf Dances

I tried to get the dances all on one post, but I couldn't get them to work that way. We've got the Disco, Charleston and Country Elf Dances.

Disco Elf

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Charleston Dance

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

My Turkey

The following was written by Brother Bear (grade 3) for school on how to prepare a turkey.

This is how I make a turkey. First, I go to Safeway and buy a large 20 pound turkey. I also buy stuffing for the turkey. Next, when I get home I wash my hands. Then I stuff the turkey with the stuffing and pull out the wishbone and make a wish. Finally I put the turkey in the oven and cook it for 30 minutes at 90 degrees. Then I take it out of the oven and put it on the table and then I eat it. That is how I make a turkey. The End.

So Sweet

For the most part Brother and Sister Bear get along pretty good. Sister loves Big Bird and Elmo. I let her watch Sesame Street the other day while I was making dinner and it was really quiet in the other room. I went in and found her and Brother just sitting in the middle of the floor watching Sesame Street. He was talking to her about what was on. They were going over the letter "Y". Then later they came in and laid on the floor and colored....well he colored and she made some marks on his paper.

If only they could be so sweet all of the time......

Soccer Slide Show

Soccer season has ended for Brother Bear and now the wait begins for baseball practice to start. We had great weather this year for soccer. Only two rainy games this season and not too cold. I think we had a colder season for baseball. Brother scored 21 goals this season. He has quite the skills on the soccer field. And I'm not just the proud mom. I've had parents from other teams tell me that he's a good player.

Happy Halloween

Hard to believe that it is already Halloween. Seems like it was just Labor Day and back to school. The Halloween decorations are on their way out at the stores and the shelves are getting stocked with Christmas decorations. Some stores even started putting out Christmas stuff before Halloween, which is just wrong. However, once Halloween in over they bring out the mint flavored M & M's. My favorite!!!! I put them in the freezer (usually without anyone knowing I have them) and they are pretty tasty!
So this year for Halloween, Brother Bear was his favorite college football player Jake Locker and Sister Bear was.....well she just didn't want to cooperate. Since it was cold I was going to have her wear her pumpkin costume from last year. Only she didn't quite care for it. Instead she wore a festive Halloween t-shirt.

I Got Tagged

I got tagged by my sister-in-law Nicole, aka Gidget @ http://gidgetgoeshome.com , so I thought I would play along.
Here are the rules:
1. Link to the person or persons who tagged you. 2. Post the rules on your blog or if you don't have a blog just email the person back with the answers. 3. Write six random things about yourself. 4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them. 5. Let each person know they've been tagged and leave a comment on their blog 6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

So here it goes......6 Random Things about Mama Bear

1. I have to sleep with socks on. It can be 100 degrees, but I can't fall asleep unless I have socks on. I've tried to go to sleep without them, but eventually I have to get up and put them on so I can go to sleep.
2. In the sixth grade I was on the safety patrol. We had the stop signs that we used in the crosswalk, had a whole marching routine and did the whole putting and taking down of the American Flag. Our school safety patrol competed in a marching competition.
3. I have been escorted out of a building by the secret service. I'm going to leave it at that. If you really want to know what happened you can email me.
4. Considering the amount of time my family spends around and watching sports, I am pretty un-athletic. Actually, I'm just uncoordinated.
5. I do not like seafood!!!
6. I sleep with a teddy bear.

OK….now you’re tagged! If you're too busy, no worries, but I thought it would be fun if you’d like to play along! I did more than 6 people.

Connie
Jen R.
Cherie
Shannon C.
Shannon W.
Carly
Janelle
Sarah @ http://www.featherfam.blogspot.com/
Amy
Niki
Carey
Stephanie
Lisa
Betsi
Jodi

Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Sunday Papa Bear called on his way home from work to see if we wanted to go to the pumpkin patch after lunch or run to Lowe's. We need to buy a new kitchen sink. As much as I would have liked to go to Lowe's, I figured we had better hit the pumpkin patch. It was a nice day and who knows if we would have a nice sunny day the following Sunday.

So after Sister Bear woke up from her nap, we piled in the car and headed out to the pumpkin patch. It is a huge pumpkin patch with a corn maze, hayrides, pig races, a goat walk and of course pumpkins. We had a front row seat for the pig races. There were some baby cows which we had to keep telling Sister Bear they were cows, not goats. After we watched the pig races and the goats we went on a hay ride. Then off to find the perfect pumpkin. Once Sister figured out she could sit on the pumpkins, she wanted to sit on all of them.

It was a nice family day at the pumpkin patch. I think the two little bears probably enjoyed it a lot more than they would have a trip to Lowe's. Maybe next weekend for the kitchen sink.

Gramma and Granddad Visit

Gramma and Granddad came to visit for the week. We had a nice time. Brother Bear even had two days off of school! Papa Bear had to go out of town for work for the weekend so I was glad they were here to keep me company. Sometimes I turn into a chicken at night when Papa Bear is gone. Before we got married I used to check in my roommates closet and under her bed when she wasn't home at night before I went to bed (Niki, if you are reading this that roommate was you).

Gramma really enjoyed our weather. It has been way to hot for her down in So. Cal. It was probably in the high 50's but sunny for the most part while they were here. We went up to Seattle one day and went to the aquarium and to Pike's Market. Then we did the zoo. I had my mom make some of the dinners that just taste so much better when she makes them and we froze them for me to pull out and pretend I made them. One night when Papa Bear was gone, Brother Bear and I went and spent some quality time together while sister stayed behind. It was nice because as much as he loves his sister I could tell he really liked just the two of us going out to do something.

On Saturday Brother had a soccer game. It was the first game in which he didn't score a goal. He probably had about 7 shots on goal though. Unlucky day. I love this soccer picture of him. He had just kicked the ball and there was another kid coming toward him.

Sister Bear is just like how her brother was at that age. She doesn't want to miss a thing. The day we were out in Seattle at the aquarium and Pikes Market she never fell asleep. She's like the energizer bunny and just keeps going and going. However, this week she has taken some really good naps for me.

Fall

It is so nice living where there are actual seasons. I love the fall when the leaves change color. Even the air smells different. When we moved here from California, Brother Bear was 5 years old. I remember he commented on the amount of all the big GREEN trees. Something we didn't have a lot of in smoggy So. Cal. We have some really tall trees in our neighborhood and it is kind of nice just to sit and watch them sway in the wind. And then I start to think if it gets really windy and the trees fall over, will they hit our house. Brother Bear likes to help Papa Bear when he rakes up the leaves in the backyard. It is always nice to watch the two of them out there doing the yard.

Shark Eating Octopus

My parents came to visit us from California. While they were here visiting, Brother Bear had two days off of school (teacher in-service days). So Gramma and Granddad took us up to the Seattle Aquarium on one of those days. Brother Bear was very excited to be going. He has been wanting to go to the aquarium since we moved up to the Pacific Northwest. In kindergarten when they were doing the letter "O" one of the words they used was octopus. Well, his teacher told them all about an octopus at the Seattle Aquarium who ate a shark. Needless to say Brother Bear was FASCINATED with this story. He told everyone about it and if a computer was nearby he would show you the video. Here is a link to the video http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7004909622962894202 for you to see it, in case you missed it, or just really want to watch it again. So three years later, Brother Bear finally got to see the octopus. It was a pretty active octopus and quite fast too! Sister Bear really liked looking at the fish. She would tell us"fishy"and"waaater". There was one exhibit with waves in it and she would get very excited when she saw the bubbles and ask for more. We had a good time at the aquarium.

The Best Team in Baseball!!!!

Since I am the writer of this blog I get to put this post up. Lets go Angels!!!! Our household is 3 Red and 1 Blue(Dodgers). A guy I used to work with at Chapman would call Papa Bear "blue". Well, the blue team managed to pull it off and make it into the playoffs. It could get ugly in our house if Red and Blue play each other in the world series. Haha lets get serious now, Blue won't make it that far. We have the MLB package, so basically we have watched baseball every night on tv since April. What will we watch until Wednesday night when the playoffs begin?

California Visitors

Granny, Grandpa and Aunt Carly came to visit us over the weekend. We had a nice time just hanging out and relaxing. Carly and I did some shopping, staying up late watching episodes of House which of course then being tired the next day means having some Starbucks. I got to see all of the things Carly is planning for her wedding so that was fun. Brother Bear showed off his soccer skills for the family by scoring a few goals at his game. After his soccer game he took Grandpa over to the university for the football game Papa Bear was working. Us girls decided to pass on another rainy game and stayed at home. Granny made chicken and dumplings for dinner which Brother Bear really likes so he was pretty excited. Sister Bear took quite a liking to her Aunt Carly. It wasn't crummy weather the whole weekend. Sunday we got 4 cords of firewood delivered. Granny and Grandpa helped Papa Bear carry some of the wood (we still have 2 cords sitting in our driveway) out to the shed and stack it while Carly and I enjoyed our Starbucks on the playset with the little bears. We went out for a good mexican dinner that night. After dinner Granny made her yummy chocolate sheet cake. Which even though we weren't hungry, Carly and I indulged in a piece. Monday night we bundled up and went up to Seattle to watch the Angels play. It was the first time going to the ballpark there that Brother Bear hasn't gotten a ball. At one game he ended up getting four baseballs. His shelf is getting a little full. Tuesday morning it was time for everyone to pack up and head to the airport.

Rainy Day Fun

I think I jinxed myself talking about the nice weather we were having.

Sure enough, when our family came to visit the weather got a little chilly (compared to how nice it had been) and RAINY!! Brother Bear had a soccer game and we stood out there under the umbrellas and cheered him on. It didn't seem to bother the boys much, just a few slips on the grass. I think what was harder on them was the 9am start time. Not sure if they were all awake yet. Usually they don't play until 11.

It's still nice!

You can't say that it always rains up here in the Pacific Northwest. We've had about 20 days with no rain! We have sunshine and blue skies. It is 82 degrees here today, according to my weather page. Of course, we have family coming to visit this weekend and the weather is supposed to cool down and possibly have a few showers.

First Day of School

Summertime fun has come to an end. School supplies and a new lunch box have been purchased. The house is quiet.....well, I should say quieter.

We were up bright and early on Wednesday morning to get Brother ready for the first day of school. I heard him get up at 6:45. I usually don't wake him up until 7:45, but he was excited. Brother even told me when he wanted to leave for school. He wanted to get to school extra early. Let's see how long he stays excited for school. Now, it's no t.v. in the morning and only an hour (usually 2 - 1/2hour shows) of tv after homework and reading have been done. But unless he's really bored, he usually won't watch t.v. because he hasn't been able to play outside very much.

The 3rd grade!!! I can hardly believe it. Seems like just the other day he started kindergarten. He looks so small in the kindergarten picture.

Dancing Girl

Sorry for the sideways view. I couldn't figure out how to flip the video so it's right side up, but you'll still enjoy the sweet dance moves.

Here is a video of some of Sister Bears pretty sweet dance moves. She loves this song by Coldplay. When it is over she signs "more." When the song comes on in the car she really gets her head rocking.