Happy 5th Birthday Elliott

This weekend we made up for all the past birthdays we let pass by without much fanfare.  In the past we've had small family gatherings, but no major parties.  We've also been known to 'forget' to buy gifts for our own children's birthdays which is easy to do with Aunts and Grandmas who spoil them rotten. But with Elliott turning 5 this year (or 1.25 depending on your calculations), he had a pretty good idea of what birthdays are supposed to include....cupcakes, balloons, gifts of course!

And oh yeah....4 of his favorite friends who were dropped off for a few hours of fun.

With lots of energy to burn, we headed outside for a giant lightsaber fight. The pictures tell who won.

 Boy was it muddy! (and other things too...but that was cleaned off with toothbrushes)

And very exciting, thoughtful presents that delighted Elliott.

Delicious StarWars cupcakes...decorated with a greeting card from his grandma that happened to arrive the day I was trying to figure out an easy way to decorate the cupcakes according to the requested StarWars theme.

And the big event of the night was watching StarWars...lots of smiles and snuggles.

Followed a little pre-bedtime coloring.

Definitely birthday success.

Cleaning Day

This morning I desperately needed to catch up on cleaning and chores around the home.  I was scrubbing the sink when I noticed how peacefully the boys were playing together.  I should have known better.

Minutes later Batman and Batman visited:

Thankfully, they were there to protect me while I cleaned.

But later, this little batman decided that the house was much too clean for him and insisted on painting time.

Little Gymnast

Emerson wore himself out at a friend's fun birthday party.  No fear in this boy.

Fire Safety

Elliott's been learning about fire safety in school and has taken it very seriously. We've made a diagram of our house and identified all of our escape routes...which made it very obvious that our options are limited from our bedrooms.  So we've been researching fire escape ladders and have decided on something like this:

Fire Escape Ladder

When I showed Elliott the picture of the mother and son climbing down the ladder in their pajamas, he thought it was a very safe idea. But he had one question that was concerning him:

"When will they eat breakfast?"

Elliott is beyond hungry these days, eating multiple breakfasts and dinners.  Forget the scary dangers of fire- Elliott is just worried about food.

Emerson wanted to show off some of his artwork too: His carefully painted snowman.

Emerson has been going through an I-just-love-mommy phase. And I don't mind at all!

Pacific Science Center

 Yesterday my mom took us on an adventure to the Pacific Science Center.  Cousin Klaire joined us and seemed to have a great time too although we kept her busy with chasing around the 2 little guys.

We enjoyed it all but Elliott was really interested in the insects, naked mole rats, spiders and snakes! (and no we are not going to get any pets, especially those sorts!)

The butterfly house was a huge hit, especially for Emerson who was very meticulous about identifying all the butterflies on his info sheet.

We tried to pose for a group photo, but the butterflies kept trying to join in and they'd scare everyone away!

Thanks for the fun trip, Mom!

Where is the snow!?

We are ready for the snow. After we got a taste of the winter wonderland of Leavenworth, we have been  impatiently waiting for snow of our own.  We've been digging out our winter clothes, searching for big-kid winter gloves and finally, yes, buying sleds.  (This is a serious upgrade from last year's cardboard sled).

Our "santa" picture

Yesterday we set out to get our Christmas tree. We started with our traditional breakfast & treats at Starbucks. Our kids won the "make-the-biggest-mess" award and then headed out to find a tree.

Usually we go to a favorite Christmas Tree Farm, but on a whim we decided to check out the Adopt a Stream foundation near our house because we saw a sign that said "Live Christmas Tree Rentals."  We headed there and found a crowd of people scouting out there picks for the perfect tree - one that is potted and can be returned or planted in your own yard.  The official shopping didn't start till 10 am so we had a few minutes to check out the trees. There were several small ones, and about 30 tall spruce trees which everyone was eyeing.  

We decided we were going to get in line (the 2nd people in line!) and wait for the big go.  While standing in line, I plotted with Jason how to get the kids quickly to our tree and decided I would carry Emerson and Jay would walk quickly with Elliott.

 Finally, at 10 am, they released us with our tags to basically run to your desired tree and tag it for yourself. Although we were 2nd in line, other people took off toward the trees (it was not nearly as orderly as I had imagined), and so Elliott and Jason picked up the pace a bit. 

Jay guided Elliott and told him to pick whatever tree he wanted. As soon as Jay said that, Elliott immediately stopped and said "this one". We were like, are you sure?  Yep, he was. He was totally happy. We tagged our tree, then went inside for coffee, cider, candy canes and of course to meet Sammy the Christmas Salmon.

Emerson wasn't so sure about Sammy. 

 We didn't have far to go home (maybe 2 minutes), so we just plopped our tree in the van and took off.

Now the trick is keeping our little tree alive for the next couple weeks!  We accidentally watered it like you would water a regular cut tree and pretty much drowned it. But we have adjusted and are learning how to take care of our little tree. I think we should plant it and dig it up to use again next year! How frugal is that?! Jay suggested getting a tree every year there and then planting them behind our deck and gradually increasing our privacy barrier over the years....it would be so slow and subtle the HOA probably wouldn't notice....