At the Market.

There was lots of nice weather here for the holidays. We were outside a lot and made it down to the Seattle Art Museum with our new membership. Stopped by the Pike Place Market for a Christmas bouquet.

Scenes from Christmas Eve.

Ruby and Silas dressed up and their friends came over to jump in the crib!

Fun with Mumu.

Lots of nice weather over Christmas. Fun with Auntie and cruisin' with Silas on his new bike.

For Papa

We visited a sweet camel.

Spotted Close By...

Blitzen (or maybe, Donner?)

We put the tree up and managed not to break any ornaments (so far).

A Milestone.

That's Silas on the bottom right. He is a moose. He gave a report about his "beast" and sang some songs along with his classmates. Ruby clapped and cheered for her brother. Then we had cookies and juice. The End.

Recovery.

Thanksgiving was spent with friends and pomegranate martinis. The kids tore the house down (luckily not ours), and everyones needs seemed to get met. Back to the routine this week and J is in Detroit. Yuck. My helpers today:

Unhappy to be running errands:

A good, but not FANTASTIC macadamia/chocolate tart:

Just the Two of Us.

Silas is out of school all week and we are trying to stay sane (Ruby and Mama). Lots of drawing, coloring and practicing our words. Not to mention videos, yelling, bribing, and drive-thru french fries! Parent teacher conference tomorrow and meal prep this week for Thursday. I am not of fan of the feast of giving. There are no presents- what's to love???

XYandZ...

Some shots of the last few days...


p.s. nothing beats cupcake happy hour

Say Hello to Albert.

Albert is our new friend, bought to help us get over the winter blues. Rain filled weekend, but we managed to have breakfast out, have friends over, organize, explore the cemetery, and research the MOOSE for Silas's first school project-"The Beastly Feast". The little beast below is caught stealing oranges...

Racin'.

Silas had Wednesday off of school, so we had a playdate and lunch with friends. After nap, we headed down to the park and the kids raced their cars as the sun went down.



Sweet Lindsey is coming to babysit tonight and J and I are off to a rock 'n roll show. WOOT WOOT!

Love is a warm croissant.

Sometimes these two just make me smile, and this morning we had one of those moments. It quickly passed, but I was able to capture it...

New Markers.

Supplies to help pass the time with the rainy days ahead...

Random.

Our new extended family (thanks to Nana):

Dinner (can you guess what it is, J?):

Cuteness:

We are experiencing CRAZY weather here in the PNW. Thunderstorms (!?!)-very unusual out here, hail, and then sunshine. The brightest flash of lightning and the loudest clap of thunder woke us up last night. Orson quickly jumped in our bed and hunkered down. Hello, global warming!!!

New fun.

Found a new application for the iphone and am totally loving it! It takes great pictures and entertains the kids. I sent so many pictures to J at work, I think he may have blocked my emails.

Same old, same old.

All our company is gone and we are getting back to the old routine. Settling in for a long rainy season and getting to know Ruby's new friend "Monster". Her new friend is blue with red hair and she is a girl. At first, Ruby was afraid of Monster, but now she seems to be living happily in the bathtub (Monster, that is, not Ruby).

Trick or Treat.

Not many pictures of the events of Halloween. It's getting dark earlier and harder to get good pictures. We made it down and back up the block before the temptation to dump out his candy bag won Silas over.

Pumpkin carving:

The loot:

Sunday.

On Sunday, we made our way to the farmers market. Silas and I stopped by a local pastry shop, that usually has a line out the door, and finally got to taste the croissants that everyone in the city talks about. Silas agreed; they are the best (and he would know, trust me). Now we feel like official Ballardites.
At the farmers market, the kids ate tasty carrots and then made their "yummy carrot" faces.


After the market, Silas and I made our way downtown on the bus for the first time from the new neighborhood. Easy peasy. We found new boots for Silas and then went to a Japanese dollar store. I am slightly obsessed.
On the way home, Silas taught me a Halloween song. Once I learned it, we sang it loud and proud in the back of the bus ALL the way home. One little, two little, three little witches...

Harvest Howl.

Saturday night was the Harvest Howl at Silas's school. There was a haunted house, cupcake walk, fairieland, giant inflatable bouncy things, and all you can eat popcorn.
Silas dressed up as a knight and Ruby dressed like a princess/fairy/queen.

Silas and his best friend, John:


Me and Rubes FINALLY winning the cupcake walk: