Let it Snow!

Boy, I'm happy to be in Idaho at this time of year. It seems like we haven't had a real winter in a long time where we can go out and build a snowman or go sledding. This is our second snowfall this winter but the first time Zora's been able to go out and play in it. She built a snowman with her dad and enjoyed being pulled in the sled by him too. Here's the pics


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Halloween!

Can you guess who we are? Isaac's the cowardly lion which was perfect for him. He was terrified of most of the masks he saw on people and cried when his cousins put on a kitty costume.
Zora made a perfect Dorothy with Toto too! Unfortunately some people thought she was a cabbage patch doll because her wig was made out of yarn.
And I was the scarecrow without a brain, which I was frequently reminded of and John was the tin man. Everyone said we were the best dressed at our Halloween carnival. It's fun to have a family theme. John's costume turned out to be the most challenging but it paid off. We got so many comments about his pants. Can you tell what we used to make them? I'll give you a hint...duct tape! Gotta love it. It comes in so many colors now including silver!

I also made a little decoration for our window that the kids loved to light up when it got dark. I used recylced jars, tissue paper, and modge podge! It was so easy!

Three Years Old

So Zora just turned 3 and I'm convinced that since her birthday, she has gotten into twice as much trouble. She's already cut her hair with my scissors, dumped out dirt from a potted plant and threw it all over her younger brother, and now this.

Isaac was sleeping and I'd left Zora downstairs to play. After a while I realized it was too quiet and I'd enjoyed this peace and quiet too much. I went to the stairs to call Zora and ask her what she was doing. No response. I called again but heard nothing so I headed down to see if she had falled asleep. I found her on the floor with her face in the carpet. I again called her name and she didn't respond. Something told me she was guilty of something. I go over to her and lift her up to see her face and that's when it all makes sense. I just started laughing and Zora was so shocked she didn't know what to do. Luckily they were markers for her Doodle Bear so they easily washed off and no harm done. It just made me laugh to see how Zora tried to hide it from me. I wonder what she'll do tomorrow?

Zora's haircut!

So Isaac was down for a nap and after getting very little sleep the night before I decided to take a nap too. I got out some toys for Zora and foolishly thought she would be able to entertain herself. I did get my nap but when I finally woke up I found Zora looking like this-



Often when kids do this, there is a way to fix it, even if it means cutting the kids hair a little shorter. For Zora, the only way to even it out is buzzing her head which we won't be doing so I've tried the comb over method and it's a little better. Her head looks like half of it has a mullet. It's really bad, but I should have known better than to take a nap.

Zora's Birthday # 3

We did a Halloween party for Zora's birthday. She had a lot of fun with cousins and friends!
We had a cake that looked like a cat and here's Zora trying to blow out trick candles.

And she had fun opening presents with her best friend Russell.

Here's Zora trying out her new glasses from a gift she got. Isaac is scared of them and cries if either John or I puts them on. He also cried when his younger cousin was wearing a cute cat costume at the party.

Let's Play Dress Up!

One day it was really chilly but Zora wanted to go outside to play. After a minute of being outside with the wind, she comes back in asking for a coat. After that's on, she digs out her hat from her dress up box which I also help her put on. That's when she thinks the sunglasses will keep her warm too. When she's all ready, I have to take a picture because she looks so cute.
At this point, she thinks it's so fun to dress up and model for the camera that she pulls out all her clothes and tries them on while I take pictures. This is what we came up with.

And I couldn't leave Isaac out. He looked so cute with his hoodie cuddled next to his puppy!
The last one shows what a sweet princess I have. The other day, John asked her if she was a fairy and she responds back, "No, I'm not a fairy! I'm a PRINCESS!"

Going to the Fair!

Blackfoot has the fair going on right now, and to kick off this year's celebration, they had a parade which we went to. The kids were very pleased, including John, because they were thrown plenty of candy.

After the parade we went to the fair which had a huge walk-in petting zoo that the kids loved. There were baby goats everywhere that the kids got to feed. They also saw puppies, emus, chickens, llamas, ducks, and bunnies.




We also paid to have the kids go on this ride. At first Isaac wasn't enjoying the ride because he kept bonking his head against the metal back of his seat. So eventually he stands up while it's going and John has to run after him to sit him down. The driver saw what was happening and stopped the 4-wheeler only to have to restart it again to finish the ride. By the time Isaac was back, he'd realized the ride was supposed to be fun and didn't want to get off. Too bad!
At least someone knows how to have fun!

Summer is fun but BUSY

NOTE: So a friend encouraged me to update my blog and after 2 unsuccessful tries, I finally downloaded the right pictures and got my camera to do what I wanted it to.

Here's what we've been up to but not in this order.
We went to Yellowstone with some of John's family. The kids loved it. Here's Zora feeding a very friendly chipmunk who would take cheese right out of our hands.

John's taking a nap while holding Isaac (above) and Uncle Luke and Zora are giving their best smiles for the camera (below).

And this is my charming husband and me at a waterfall.


In Yakima, we had a little strawberry patch. This is how much we got on our first picking. P.S. Zora loves strawberries if you haven't already guessed.

And in our new home, we planted a garden and this is how it gets watered. John believes in child labor.

And I can't forget our trip to the beach in San Diego while John stayed home and studied for Medical Boards.

Zora loved the water so much that she couldn't stay out of it even though she was turning blue from the cold so she borrowed a wet suit. Just a little big!

We also had a family reunino. Isaac enjoyed the pool outside. O.K. not really, but he looks cute anyway.

KIDS!

Ugh, my kids are wearing me out! Isaac has started getting up at 5:45 a.m. every morning. I'm so tired that I'll give him a bottle and stick him in front of the T.V. with a movie going and go back to bed. Then he'll usually come find me once his bottle is empty and he has a messy diaper for me to change. He hates to get his diaper changed, though, so I've started to wonder if he comes in with a messy diaper to wake me up or just make life more miserable. (: Anyways, even that hasn't been working to get me out of bed lately because I have a cold and I can't smell a thing, so today he tried a different approach. While I was peacefully sleeping in bed, Isaac whacks me in the face with my own alarm clock. It left a mark and I've had a head ache all morning. Needless to say, even that didn't get me out of bed. It just made me more cranky. Maybe this new way to use your alarm clock will work for you, but I wouldn't recommend it.

Here's some cute kid pictures. Yah, I still love them despite all they put me through. What would I do with my time if I didn't have two toddlers to chase around.

The first two pictures are of Isaac's haircut. His hair was getting quite long and I didn't want anyone thinking he's a girl, so I started snipping with the scissors. He wouldn't hold still enough to make it even, so I finally got John's buzzer out and used a longer attachment so he wouldn't be bald when I was finished. This is what he looks like now. If you haven't seen him for a while, it probably doesn't look any different.


This picture is of Isaac and Zora in their matching bear pajamas. It is impossible to get a decent picture these days because my kids can't hold still until Elmo is on.

One night, I had been up a lot with a sick Isaac so I took a long morning nap. Zora was sweet and entertained herself. When I woke up I heard her jabbering to herself so I went to see what she was up to. She shows me what she was working on. "Look Mommy, I made a castle." I think she got the idea from a nickelodeon show called Max and Ruby, but I still thought she was very creative.
This last one is just showing off how cute my two year old is.