Late Night

Last night was a long night for Kellen, Aaron and I. Kellen's cough is back and it got worse when he laid down last night. The cough got barky sounding. Aaron and I did our best to get Kellen comfortable and to sleep. Kellen finally fell asleep close to 1am! He woke up at 7am, so needless to say he is a bit clingy and easily agitated today. He is down for a nap right now. :)

Before that night time issue, our evening was good. The kids played. Kellen got out the tunnel to crawl through. He has a lot of fun with that. We had the Penguins game on... they lost. :(

Tonight we are headed to a Winterhawks hockey game that starts at 5pm. Aaron's work has a suite! Ooo La La! We got enough tickets that we were able to invite our friends Megan, Steve and Parker. It should be a lot of fun.

Happy New Years to everyone! We look forward to a great 2009!

Semi Normal Schedule

Today we were back to pretty much a normal week schedule. Aaron went to work and the kids went to daycare. Of course, Kristin is still on break from Kindergarten this week. My office is shut down this week. So, instead of going to the office I took care of some things at home and ran some errands. The Christmas decorations, except for the outside lights, came down today. It was too rainy to get up on a ladder today. The kids had a lot of fun seeing all of their friends today. Almost everyone was back at daycare from the Christmas holiday. I picked up Kellen early to take him to a re-check on his ear tubes. The right ear tube has fallen out, yeah! He still has the one in the left ear and that is okay. No ear infections and he is getting along just fine. Kristin and Kellen both did a good job of playing peacefully tonight. They each played separate from one another, which is nice! No picking on each other. I think they both had enough interaction with other kids at daycare and needed some alone playtime. Kellen also decided he wanted popcorn tonight. He went to the cabinet where we keep the popcorn popper and he got it out saying "popcorn." He was not to happy when we told him no. Maybe later this week. :)

Happy 35th Anniversary Mom and Dad!!!

Elmo

Today we went shopping for another Elmo-related item. Any guesses? Did you guess potty seat? Yep, Kellen is transitioning to the potty seat. He's sits on the potty at daycare a couple times each day and we decided to continue the trend at home. No success as yet, but Kellen doesn't seem to mind sitting on it, so it's another step in the right direction. He wakes up dry in in the morning and after nap, and he usually tells us when he is wet or dirty, so we're headed in the right direction.

Here's a photo of Kellen with the new racecar that he likes to play with. He likes to push the button to make it go forward and then he chases it across the room. The other photo is Kristin sporting her new Iowa State gear.

Kristin and I have been reading new books at bedtime that she got for Christmas. It's been a welcome change from Magic School Bus and Curious George, at least for me. :-)

Thawing

Yesterday and today we have been thawing out. :) This makes getting around easier. I drove my car today for the first time in about a week. The kids went to daycare for the morning on Friday while I got groceries and some things done around the house. The afternoon was spent playing with all the new toys. We got a suprise by UPS last night at about 8:30pm with a package from my brother. UPS is working some major long hours to catch up for all the days that they couldn't deliver due to the road conditions. Aaron and I put the presents under the tree for the morning since the kids were already in bed.

Kristin and Kellen saw those presents right away this morning. HA! They have eyes for that. Aaron had to put them up until I was up and we were ready for present opening. After we were all ready for the day we headed to Target. We had a couple of returns to do and a little shopping to do. We got there early enough to beat the crowds. During Kellen's nap Kristin and I played a couple games of Sorry. After Kellen's nap I took the kids to get their hair cut and Aaron went to Lowe's for a few things. The evening was filled with more playing with new toys. Kellen's new favorite is the car from Uncle Brett. He loves to make it go (it has buttons you can push on top for different sounds or to have the car go forward or backward). Tons of fun!

Here is a picture from Christmas day. Yes, the wrapping paper was flying!

Play the video to see Kellen with his new Elmo doll that talks.

Merry Christmas!

HO HO HO! as Kellen says. We had a wonderful Christmas day today. It started with a tap on my shoulder at 7am. Kristin slept till 7am! On Christmas! Both of the kids had a great time with the toys under the tree from Santa, as well as unwrapping the presents from extended family. Thank you everyone for the very generous gifts!

As you can imagine, we spent most of the day exploring the new toys with the kids. Danelle's uncle John got to come over and play with the kids too. We're glad he could make it. We weren't sure how accommodating the roads were going to be, but he said the main roads were fine, it's just a matter of getting in and out of the neighborhoods still.

Danelle made a great lunch of roast, potatoes, and carrots Delicious! Kristin had fun after lunch making necklaces out of beads with John. I think Kristin had three or four necklaces by the time they were done.

Kristin and I made it outside in the afternoon while Kellen was napping to make a snowman. The rain/sleet that had been falling stopped just as we were getting bundled up. We had lot's of fun making the snowman and looking around the yard for things to use for his face. Kristin named it Frosty. We then made snowballs and took turns seeing how far we could throw them.

After Kellen got up from his nap, Danelle took him outside to see the snowman, and then they took a short walk around the block. Kellen loves to be outside, even in the snow. He did not want to come inside again.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Twas The Night Before Christmas...

...And Kristin is stirring. She is very excited to see what Santa brings. We exchanged gifts tonight between our family and will have our marathon gift opening tomorrow. :-) Our kids sure are taken care of by there extended family! Kellen's favorite toy so far is a little remote control car that Danelle got him. It only has one button. The first push makes it go forward. Second push turns it in circles, then next push goes forward and so on. Kellen is still figuring it out. He tried to pick it up when it was turning in circles - he still had his finger on the button. Kristin got a Barbie-style Cinderella doll with a pony and has already named the pony 'Sparkle'.

A relatively uneventful day for us today, at least as far as the weather is concerned. We got more snow overnight, but then it turned to rain so the latest snow didn't stick around for very long. We've probably still got 6"-8" on the ground though. The main streets are down to bare pavement, but when you turn off onto a neighborhood street you have to go up onto about 6" of snowpack.

Danelle made my favorite meal for dinner tonight, cheddar chowder. It was great. Kellen liked it too. Kristin isn't so sure yet.

Chances are, you are reading this on Christmas day. Merry Christmas from our house to yours!

Dinner Out

Today we were back to a semi-normal routine. Daycare was open, but not until 8:30am. Aaron and I took the kids to daycare along with the gifts to the teachers. The parking lot was fun as it had not really been driven or parked in yet. The kids had fun today with their friends.

Aaron stayed home and worked from his work laptop. I headed into work to finish up a few tasks. There were only 3 of us in today. It was like a ghost town in our business park area. However, when I was leaving the parking lot was getting plowed. After I left work I ran a few errands. Wow was there a lot of traffic and with all the snow it was slow going. After I got home, Aaron headed out for an errand and I went to work on shoveling our sidewalks. I also got to our neighbor's sidewalk and a path to her front door. I now fondly refer to shoveling as my workout for the day. Now we wait for morning... we are to get more snow tonight and early morning.

Tonight we got to have a fun dinner out with our friends! We just headed over to Shari's and had dinner/breakfast and exchanged gifts for the kids. We all had fun. Kellen was pretty excited for his new toy and book. Kristin got a craft potholder maker (I had one when I was a little girl) and a Hello Kitty book of games. Our friend Parker was very excited with his new Knex... I think he wanted to go home and start building. :) The next couple of days will be fun and exciting. A White Christmas for the Isenhart's this year.

WOW

Another 4-5" of snow here overnight. Daycare was closed and Danelle stayed home with the kids. I adventured my way into work after waiting for daylight. The truck did great with chains and 4 wheel drive, but it was slow going. I passed through a couple neighborhoods in SW Portland that didn't have any electricity. We've been very fortunate so far in that regard, knock wood.

I left the office at lunch time and made my way home after helping folks get unstuck. the snow stopped around mid day. Not supposed to get any more tomorrow, but the snow isn't going anywhere soon, so I'll work from home, probably for the rest of the week. It was a very vibrant winter wonderland on the way home. The two neighborhoods without power in the morning had their electricity back and people were walking everywhere. In the road. Guess it was easier for them to walk in the packed snow than on the sidewalks with 1' + drifts. Some on skis and snowshoes too.

Back at the house, Kristin and Kellen are really enjoying playing in the snow. We went out for a while this afternoon. They each investigate the snow in their own way. Kristin dives right in and enjoys measuring the depth with a wooden ruler. Kellen is more passive in his approach, though he did really enjoy 'sledding' down the top of the snow pile at the side of the driveway that we created from shoveling. Most people here don't even own shovels since it only snows usually once a year and then melts fast. I think we're the only house on the block with a shoveled driveway.

Danelle escaped to the grocery store in the truck after I got home from work. She'd been stuck home for several days and needed to get out. She was able to get us set up for Christmas dinner later this week. I think she enjoys driving the truck as much as I do. She commented on the 'moguls' in the road. They're large ice-bumps on top of the sewer manholes. The snow melts because the sewer is warmer, but then the water freezes into big bumps. Since only the highways get plowed, our streets are filled with moguls.

Dusk was very pretty tonight. Snow everywhere, on the trees, yards, houses, roads. Kind of glowed in the end-of-day light.

Looks like the midwest is getting hit with a nasty cold spell. We hope everyone is staying warm!

The Kind That Sticks to the Shovel

Snow and ice today. About 1/4" of ice on 8" of snow. Kristin and I measured with a ruler. We all guessed before hand, and Kristin got the closest. I guessed a lot higher but didn't account for for the freezing rain melting a bit of the snow that had already fallen.

Kristin and I went out in the snow/ice this morning. Kellen would have gone out too but he had a pretty good 'I don't feel good' fit right before we got ready and he just could calm down enough to get his snow clothes on. Kristin played in the snow while I did some shoveling and put chains on the truck. Kristin had a really good time stomping through the ice layer into the snow. We then went inside for lunch. By then Kellen had calmed down and was back to his normal self. Outside of the crying fit, he had a much better day today. Much less sneazing and runny nose and hardly any coughing.

After lunch I test drove the truck with the chains on around the block. They worked pretty good. Also did a bit more shoveling. While Kellen was taking a nap, Danelle and Kristin baked gingerbread men, er 'girl', cookies.

Later in the afternoon Kristin went back outside, this time with Danelle. Danelle did more shoveling while Kristin bounced about. Danelle managed to get most of the driveway cleared off. It was a challenge since the ice was heavy and the snow wanted to stick to the shovel. We decided to keep Kellen inside because of his cold, so he and I palled around inside. He likes to say 'ho ho ho' whenever he sees a Santa on TV, and you can ask him 'What does Santa say?' and he'll give you the answer.

During inside play the kids got out the princess tent and had a good time with that.

Snow and Lots of It

7 inches of snow and counting. That is definately a record amount of snow that we have seen in the past 10 years in this part of Oregon. It has been snowing all day and is to snow for a few more hours and then turn to freezing rain. Oh joy!

Before the snow got too bad Aaron and Kristin made it down to Kristin's ice skating lessons. The rest of the day we were all home. I guess you could say we all got restless. The snow is beautiful and the kids like watching it. We also had fun watching all the birds at the bird feeder today. I even went out to fill it this afternoon.

Kellen has a cold with a cough and very runny nose. He took a pretty short nap this afternoon because he woke up coughing. We hope for a better night. Kellen has had some cough suppressent and the vaporizer is on.

Tomorrow we will be home since the roads will be a mess. We will get the kids out to play in all of our snow if it is not too icy.

Snow Day? Snow Week!

We had a dusting of snow this morning, but temperature was hovering around 32 degrees and threatening to ice up. No kindergarten for Kristin as a result. She'll have been off school for three weeks when she goes back after the new year. No ice today though. And daycare was open too so both Danelle and I were able to make it to work.

Kristin had fun playing in the snow with her friends at daycare. This photo was taken by one of the teachers there yesterday. The photo of Kellen is from when Santa came to daycare earlier this month.

Nothing too exciting at the house this evening after work and daycare. We were all tired from the long week. Kristin and I watched Imagination Movers, a show on the Disney Channel, while Danelle and Kellen colored at the table. Kristin enjoyed reading her Curious George early ready book at bedtime. It was called 'Costumes', and featured the long u sound. It was book ten in the series, only two more new ones to go, and then we'll start back at the beginning.

Lot's of snow predicted later in the day tomorrow. There thinking 6 inches or more. Thankfully it's supposed to warm back up into the upper 30's early next week.

Potty!

Again no school today, which was crazy since the roads were fine. It got up to 40 degrees today, but they called off school last night. UGH!

Kellen sat on the potty for the first time today at daycare! We need to go shopping for a new potty seat for at home. :)

Kristin had a good day at daycare and got to see her friend Emilie that is in full day Kindergarten. Since there was no school today, she was at daycare.

Tonight the kids wanted to play with the tunnel again. Kristin was having fun standing in it and Kellen thought it was pretty neat too.

More Snow

Yes, more snow. However, the snow did not stick for long. The temps got above freezing and now we have slushy roads. It is raining for now. They are thinking we will drop below freezing tonight, so that will make the roads nice and icy.

Daycare was open today, but no Kindergarten again. Kristin got to go on a last minute field trip to the pizza place (Papa Murphy's) upstairs from daycare and make her own pizza. She made a pepperoni pizza. Kellen was grumpy this morning with going to bed late. He also woke up really early for some reason, but he was able to go back to sleep. :)

Tonight we played with the tunnel and other toys in the living room. Kellen did a little coloring. Kristin was interested in the bills (nice!) and helped Aaron sort them by date due. WOW... we are fun sometimes. HA! Kellen kept going around saying ho, ho, ho. Very cute!

Ho! Ho! Ho!

That's right, tonight we went to see Santa Claus at Washington Square Mall. I stopped at a tire shop on my way home and waited in line for an hour for chains for the truck. We're supposed to get more snow tomorrow, and chains are legal in Oregon. They were all out of chains that fit Danelle's car, so she'll stop into another shop tomorrow morning before the storm hits. The tire store that I went to is right across the street from the mall so Danelle and the kids met me there after they had dinner. Thankfully there wasn't much of a line to see Santa so we really didn't have to wait very long at all.

I think both of the kids really enjoyed the experience. Kristin clammed up a bit when Santa asked her what she wanted for Christmas, but she was all smiles. Kellen didn't want to sit in his lap at first, but he warmed up when Santa smiled and he could see that his sister was smiling too. Kellen didn't go so far as to give us a big smile for the photo op, but he wasn't screaming either so we'll take it. Kellen also enjoyed watching the glass-walled elevator in the mall go up and down. He kept pointing and saying 'wow'.

No kindergarten again today for Kristin. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if she got her Christmas break a week early this year. With more snow on the way and no plows, I don't think she'll be back in Kindergarten until the new year. Daycare was opened late today, but at least they were open.

The second photo is of Kristin writing a letter to Santa Claus at Macy's.

Snow Day

Today we had a snow day. Kristin didn't have school and daycare was closed. 3-4 inches of snow pretty well shuts down the Portland region. Lack of snow plows and salt. The only thing put down on local main roads is sand and the plows only really work on the highways and interstates. Aaron made it to work and back safely today. The kids and I made it up to the grocery store for a few things. We played outside for awhile this morning and I got salt down on the driveway and sidewalk (shoveled last night). Kristin got to go play with a friend during Kellen's nap time so I got a little quiet time to get things done, like wrapping some presents. Tonight we stayed in out of the cold and tried to keep the kids entertained.

Tomorrow... still cold and no Kindergarten. Daycare is open, but late. We are in for a long week of cold temps for the area and more precip on Wednesday and Sunday. What fun! The snow is actually not going to melt right away. Maybe we are in for a White Christmas.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

We got to play in the snow today. It started about 7:30 am and by 10am we had plenty to play in the yard with. I'd guess it snowed 4-5 inches total. Pretty remarkable for the Willamette Valley. The news channels are callling it 'Arctic Blast' and such. It really does shut down the city though. What few snow plows exist around town belong to the DOT and they're out trying to keep the highways open.

Kristin had a blast playing in the snow. I think it was Kellen's first time. He did not like getting all bundled up. He fought and fought getting his snow pants and boots on. Once we were outside he was a lot better though. Kristin did snow angles, tried a little sledding, and made snowballs to throw at dad. Kellen mostly enjoyed watching and using a beach shovel and pale to fill the pale with snow.

I managed to make it down to Sherwood for my hockey game. There weren't very many people out so with driving slow and the 4-wheel drive I did fine. Good thing I went since we ended up without any subs so I got to skate the whole game.

Yesterday was filled with errands and fighting traffic. Everyone was out because of the snow forcast and also because of the shopping season. Kristin and I went to the mall. It was a crazy mad house experience, but we survived.

No kindergarten for Kristin tomorrow. We won't find out until tomorrow morning if daycare is going to be open. It's supposed to be cold all week with more snow in the forecast.

Jingle Bell Rock

Kristin got to do a Christmas related craft today at Kinergarten. Danelle got to see what was, and even help since she was there volunteering. But Kristin wouldn't tell me anything about it. She says it's supposed to be a surprise. She also got to do a sing-a-long that was led by the mom of her friend Madison.

Her Curious George early reader book set arrived earlier in the week. We were up to book 3 tonight. Kristin really enjoys figuring out the new words. I can tell when she gets tired though.

Kellen painted a piano that had been cut out of construction paper today at daycare, which was a continuation of the music theme in his room this week. He must still be pushing those molars because he was very tempermental again this evening.

Kristin wanted me to take the attached picture so she could show off her jingle bell earrings.

It's supposed to be really cold here this weekend. At least as far as Portland goes. It may even snow. Hopefully not, since there are always plenty of errands to run this time of year.

Idea Racing

Kristin learned about Kwanzaa today at kindergarten. I didn't know much about Kwanzaa, apparently it focuses on the important values and gifts around us. So Kristin got to talk about her family and draw a picture of something she does at home. She chose to draw a picture of her playing on the computer, Danelle vacuuming, and me watching Kellen. I was curious about the scene since rarely plays on the computer at home and we have wood floors, so there's not much vacuuming to be done. I asked her what made her think of that and she said 'there were a couple of ideas having a race into my brain and that one was the winner'.

Kellen is showing more signs of being ready for potty training. He has been saying 'poopy' and 'ewww' after the fact. Today at daycare he told his teacher 'poopy, ewww'. She checked, but he hadn't gone yet. A few minutes later though, he wasn't crying wolf anymore, so we're thinking he was trying to say that he had to go. He's growing up fast!

The photos are from last night. I didn't manage to get a good one yet of Kellen looking into the camera with the antlers on. Kristin lights right up for the camera of course.

Reindeer

Kellen got to see Santa today at daycare! He was the only one in his class that didn't scream. The Director got a pretty good picture and is planning to email it to us soon. We will try to post that. Kristin got to learn about Hanukkah today at Kindergarten and made a menorah. She also learned how to play the dreidel game. Today at daycare Kristin learned about sundails.

Tonight Aaron had a late meeting, so the kids and I did a little shopping after dinner. Kellen found a reindeer headband (really 2 headbands) at the Dollar Tree and loves wearing it. Kellen was very cranky tonight. :( Seems to be teething with those upper 2 year molars. I can't wait for those 2 teeth to come in... then we will have a break from teething!!!! HOORAY!

Photo is from last Saturday at Kristin's skating lessons.

Flashcard Fun

Kellen was doing flashcards at daycare today when I picked up the kids. Flashcards are a big hit with the kids in his room. Kellen was not interested in leaving until he was done with the flashcards. His teacher shows them the cards and the kids identify the objects. Then the teach was telling the kids the color of the object and they would repeat after her. we continued the theme at home this evening.

Kristin guessed the pattern right yesterday - it was the gingerbread today. She also learned about Christmas traditions in Mexico at kindergarted today. Her class got to rotate into a different teacher's room to learn about Las Posadas and make craft poinsetias. She also came home singing Feliz Navidad. José Feliciano has nothing on Kristin. :-)

Sometimes the Red Eye Just Works

Not sure why, but I really like this photo. I usually take the red eye out of the photos before I post them, but this time is just works. :-)Danelle and Kellen were coloring and Kristin sat down to join them. Kellen has been very territorial lately. He was sitting next to me on the couch earlier and Kristin came up to sit on the on the couch too, only on the other side of me. Kellen went to the trouble of getting down off the couch, walking around the coffee table and back to the couch where Kristin sat down and then started pulling on her and telling her 'no'. Kristin has been good and has been taking it like a champ.

The other photo is from yesterday - Kristin got a big kick out of putting the angel on the tree.

Kristin is learning about time this week at daycare. Today she brought home a clock fashoned from construction paper and a clip of some sort that allows the hands to move around the face of the clock. She did a great job with it. At kindergarten she is learning about patterns. Today's pattern involved gingerbread men and presents. The kids had to guess what the next thing in the pattern is and they'll find out if they were right tomorrow.

Take 2

Another busy day for us. Kristin attended a birthday party at Pump It Up for her freind Samantha, who used to be in Kristin's daycare a couple years ago. They're now in the same kindergarten class. Kristin came home pretty excited. She had two balloons, and Kellen was pretty excited to play with them. Danelle and Kristin managed to put a few ornaments on the tree as well. So far they just have soft, craft-stlye ornaments up. We'll see how Kellen does before we put up more. I managed to sneak in a haircut this afternoon adn Danelle has been working on baking peanut butter blossoms this evening.

More photos from our trip to see the zoo lights. Boy was that a good time. No rain at all and it wasn't too chilly either. The zoo really does a good job with everything. The elephant photo is just a tad blurry since we had the camera set up for the lights.

Wow busy!

Wow were we busy today! This morning Kellen got up at normal time, much to my dismay. I thought with being up late last night he would sleep in. NOPE! Kristin did sleep in. Kellen and I went to get gas in the car and pick up our Christmas photo cards (being looking for them in the mail). Aaron took Kristin to ice skating lessons shortly after Kellen and I left. Once Kristin got home from ice skating and ate some lunch, she and I were back out the door to get her hair cut and pick some things up from a friends house. Kristin was tired enough that she fell asleep on the way home. She got a 15 to 20 minute nap. When we got home she woke up and spent some time in front of the television while I headed outside to put down some weed control in the planters. When I came in Aaron and Kristin headed out to do some shopping. Kellen helped me put the tree together. He also played with stickers while I got all the photo cards ready for the mail. After dinner Kellen was very cranky and just wanting to hit everyone, so it was time for an early bath and bedtime. After the kids went to bed I worked on getting lights on the tree. Kristin and I will have to try to get it decorated tomorrow. Wow... I am tired. The picture is from a couple of days ago, when the kids thought it would be fun to play with the pots and pans.

Kleenex Robot and Zoo Lights

Last night Kristin and I made a 'robot' out of an empty kleenex box, toilet paper rolls, and a brown paper bag. We both had fun with it.

Kristin brought home her book order books yesterday. They were temporarily out of a set of Curious George books that we ordered, but everything else made it home ok. We read Hello Kitty Ice Skating Princess last night.

Tonight we went to the zoo after dinner for zoo lights. It's something the zoo does every year between Thanksgiving and New Years. We got there around 6pm and there wasn't a parking spot to be found, so we had to drive a couple miles back to the shuttle lot. The kids got a kick out of riding the school bus back to the zoo. Kellen was especially enthralled with all of the windows on the bus. The lights at the zoo were a hit too. Kristin had a big smile plastered on her face the whole time we were there and Kellen kept saying 'wow, wow'. Kristin said that the swan in the photo was her favorite exhibit. They also had the baby elephant display open as well. We'll have to post a picture of that later, as well as more zoo light photos. Last year our photos didn't turn out so well, but this year Danelle did some research on how to adjust the manual settings and they turned out much better.

No Binky Makes Kellen Unhappy

Kellen was binky-less at nap time today and didn't really sleep much. as a result, he was on the cranky side this evening and was breakdown city after bathtime. Didn't take him long to fall asleep tonight. He was out by the time Kristin and I started her bedtime stories. He usually tries to stay awake long enough to listen from his crib to Kristin and I reading.

Apparently Kristin has a Christmas tree project in the works at kindergarten. She told us a little bit about it today. She did the journal portion of her project today and is looking forward to doing the craft part of the project tomorrow. At daycare, they continued the theme of careers in uniform, learning about the post office. They mocked up a mailbox and got to write letters, put them in evelopes, and then put them in the mailbox.

Danelle donated blood today. Usually it goes pretty well for her but this time not so much. It bruised her pretty good and she's on the sore side this evening.

Back to School

Kristin was back to Kindergarten today. She was happy to see her friends again. She came home with her December calendar, which is always fun to see. Kristin got to have a police officer come to talk to her daycare class this afternoon. This week they are talking about careers with uniforms. They will also get to visit an animal hospital that is across the street from daycare on Thursday and have a visit from the fire department (next week). She was excited to have a badge sticker and they made their own badges with cardboard, foil and a marker. Cute!

Kellen had a good day today. We had popcorn tonight and he really enjoys that. He also had fun tackling Aaron tonight.

Wet Hair & Jammies

Danelle had the camera out tonight in full force. :-)

A quite evening at home after long days for all of us. Kristin didn't have kindergarten today due to a teacher in-service day, so her daycare took her class to Out of This World. Imagine a McDonalds play structure times 10, with additional bounce-house type play structures. She was wore out when she got home.

Kellen was a little tired too after playing with his little friends all day after a four day break. He
colored while sitting on Danelle's lap for about 45 minutes before bath time. Kristin worked on some art projects at the table while Kellen colored.

The top photo is Kristin watching 'Imagination Movers' while Danelle was trying to get her attention for a picture, which explains why she's not looking at the camera.

In the photo of Kellen, he's showing off after climbing up on the couch all by himself.

Heat

We have working heat in the master bedroom! Aaron was able to get the wall heater installed today. A friend came over and helped some. While Aaron worked on that project I worked on putting up Christmas lights outside. They turned out pretty nice. Nothing overboard, but the kids like them. Kristin got to play with Parker a little this afternoon too! They were both great inside while Aaron was working on the heat and outside with me while I was up and down on the ladder. Our driveway is highly decorated with chalk drawings. Aaron had hockey tonight. I took the kids to run a couple more errands while he was out. After dinner we were able to get a few of the Christmas decorations out.

Busy Day

Busy day today. Lot's of errands. This morning we went over to the flooring store again to get more samples and then we went across the street to Home Depot. Danelle wanted to pick up a wreath for the front door, and I got a bit extender for the drill.

After lunch, Kristin and I went to a public skate at the Sherwood Ice Arena. Kristin did very well, especially since she hadn't skated since September. She's also pretty well outgrown her skates. So we went into the pro shop after we were done skating to try on a bigger pair of skates. Kristin now has new ice skates on her Christmas list.

After we got back from Sherwood, I mowed the lawn (hopefully for the last time this season) while Danelle took the kids on another errand to Ace Hardware and Fred Meyer. After dinner we hung out in the living room and played with legos and also the kids' fire trucks while switcing back and forth between the OU vs OSU football game and the Penguins hockey game. The Penguins won, but the Beavers couldn't hold keep up with the Ducks tonight. A win would have sent them to the Rose Bowl. Oh well.

Sometimes they play nice

When they are not terrorizing each other, sometimes they do indeed get along. Here are Kristin and Kellen sharing a toy earlier today.

Kristin was excited this morning to see if the tooth fairly left any money... she wasn't disapointed. She was real proud, probably because she managed not to swallow it this time!

Mostly errands this afternoon. We stayed at the house this morning to avoid all the traffic with the door buster sales. We went to a different flooring store today. This one is newer and equipped to handle kid - they even had a little play room. Kellen actually didn't want to leave when it was time to go.

I'm not sure what Kellen ws looking for, or if he ever found it, but he seemed to have fun looking!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone from the Isenhart household! We had a good day with lots of yummy food. I cooked up a lot of things and the turkey turned out great. I love this time of year because the house smells so good. Uncle John came over for dinner tonight. It is always good to see him and the kids really enjoy playing with him. Kellen was a little terror tonight. He just wanted to be in the kitchen while I was cooking. He also has this high pitch scream thing he does. All in all it was a good day.

Kristin lost her 2nd tooth tonight! I mentioned to her that it might help to wiggle it some, so she did and out it came. She was so excited. This time we got to put it in the tooth fairy pillow instead of it being in her tummy! Hooray!!! Kristin is very excited that the Tooth Fairy is coming tonight. This picture shows her pointing at her small tooth.

Stickers

Thanksgiving stickers were a hit tonight. After dinner the kids were a little wound up and picking on each other. So, I got Kristin at the table to fix a turkey she made at Kindergarten. She decided she also wanted to add stickers to the turkey. The turkey is now all decorated and to me it looks like the turkey has sticker "pox". HA! I got some more stickers out for Kellen. He sat in my lap and happily played with the stickers. Aaron caught a picture of Kellen with 2 stickers on his fingers.

Kellen Loves His Baby Pooh

Sure is a funny name for a doll. Baby Pooh. As if we don't get enough poo. :)

So, this is a picture from earlier in the month. And yes, Kellen does wear that shirt alot. We like it and so does he. Sometimes we let him point to a shirt to weaer in his closest before getting him dressed for the day. This one is a favorite for sure. Anyway, Kellen has really taken to the baby Pooh Bear. It's a hand-me down from Kristin that was actually a Christmas gift from Grandma and Grandpa J one year. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

This evening Kristin and I read a book that she brought home from her library at school called Happy Thanksgiving. It's a little advanced for her to make out all the words, but she did a great job trying. We finished the evening with a book called Houses that she was able to read to me with no problems.

We think we've got the photo issue solved. There's a little bug with blogger that prevents double clicking on photos when we insert them justified to the center. So we'll just put them in with left justification and you'll be able to right click to do a 'save target as' without image degradation.

Birthday Party

This morning Kristin and I went to JoAnn's Fabrics to get some fabric, etc. for some Christmas crafts. This afternoon we all headed over to SE Portland for a birthday party for our friend Rowan who just turned 1 year old! It was a fun party with a lot of kids. All the kids had fun and Kristin and Kellen both liked playing on their piano. Aaron and I also enjoyed the party as we were able to catch up with our friends Teresa and Scott and meet a lot of parents. It got pretty windy here today, which made it feel really cold. It was a hot chocolate day for me, which is nice that I made a new batch yesterday for gifts. :)

The picture is from the party today with Kristin on Rowan's walker/bike toy, Rowan on her tail and Kellen in the background checking out some toys.

Play Date

A good day today. Kellen had his last swim lesson for this session today. He had fun and enjoyed sliding down the little slide at the end of the class. Danelle would catch him before he went into the water.

Kristin had a play date today. Her friend Courtney came over this afternoon. They play together really well and the time just flew by for both of them. They made bracelets out of beads and pipe cleaners. They also played quite a bit My Little Ponies in Kristin's room, as well listening to some princess stories on CD while following along in the books.

The pictures are from Pump It Up Junior last night. We forgot the camera, so I had to take these with my cell phone. Elmo was a big hit, of course.

Busy Nights

Last night we all went over to Kristin's school for the event for One School One Book (The Trumpet of the Swan). Aaron met us there as he had to work late. Kristin made a beautiful swan (Serena) out of paper, pipe cleaner and a dixie cup. Kellen colored and had fun with that. We sang some songs, listened to a trumpet over the loud speakers (this was supposed to be Louis the swan with his trumpet). Aaron took Kellen home for bath and bedtime and Kristin and I stayed a little longer. I read a book to her and we discussed it. Then we headed home for the night.

Tonight we went to Pump It Up Jr. to see Elmo. We did finally see Elmo, but he was quite late. The kids had fun none-the-less. An hour of bouncing, climbing and sliding. At least we all should sleep well tonight. :) Kellen liked seeing Elmo and didn't seem scared at all by big Elmo. Elmo even gave Kellen a goodbye hug. AWWW! Now for some sleep.

Cake

German Chocolate Cake anyone?! Both Kristin and Kellen helped me mix up the batter for cake tonight. I am taking a cake to work tomorrow, but I have a feeling I should save a couple pieces for home. :)

Kristin got invited to a birthday party today in the mail. She is excited as the party is at Pump It Up.

Both kids had good days. Kellen ate 2 big spoonfuls of raisins today. So now we know he likes raisins. Not sure we like diaper duty right now though. ;)

Book Order Bananza Part II

Tonight Danelle helped Kristin to narrow her choices on the book order. Kristin must have had 60+ titles selected between the five different catalogs. It's now down to a more managable list, and I'll place the order here in a few minutes.

Another quiet evening at home. Both of the kids did well with their dinners. Kristin had pudding for dessert and Kellen got to have a couple pieces of candy corn left over from Halloween. I think he's got a sweet tooth like me; they were a big hit.

More pictures from raking leaves on Saturday. Both of the kids really had a great time with it.

Speaking of pictures, is everyone able to right click and 'save target as'? Seems like that used to be an option, but it doesn't seem to be working right now. Also used to be able to click on the photo and have it open in a new window, but no luck lately. Just wondering what you might be experiencing.

Fall

Back to our normal schedule today... work and school. Both kids had good days. Kellen is learning about leaves this week. It looked like he did some finger painting today. Kristin had a good day all around. At Kindergarten they are continuing to talk about fall and leaves. At daycare they started up a more scholastic program today. They are focusing on Ms. A (Letter People) and archeology (digging things up). Kristin made a skeleton today out of Q-tips and a cotton ball. What fun!

Tonight we just played inside. More legos. We also listened the music CD of the Letter People, since Kristin is back into that program and wanted to hear the songs. Kristin and I also finished The Trumpet of the Swan tonight! Hooray! Shortly after we finished, she asked if we could start over and read it again. :) I said we could read it again, but wait a little while first. Maybe we will have to find another chapter book to read. Thursday night the school has a function to discuss, do art, etc. relating to the book. Should be fun.

Book Orders!

Kristin brought home some book order catalogues from kindergarten on Friday. She has been browsing at the table and circling the books she wants. Later, we'll go through her wish list with her and pare it down to reason a bit. It's been fun watching her browse. Her reading skills are advancing, and she can make out quite a few of the titles. This morning, Kellen climbed up in the chair with her and 'helped' her pick out some books.

The kids went with Danelle and I to sears this morning. We picked up some things for the lawn mower, and Kristin picked out a few long sleeve shirts for the winter. Kristin had better luck than I did, since I never did get the lawn mower to start. I think I've got it narrowed down to the carburetor, but that's will be a project for another day.

Kristin had swim lessons today. I think it was her last class since she'll miss the finale next weekend since we have something else going on. It sounds like she'll get to move up to the next level. Way to go, Kristin!

Danelle caught the great photo below of the kids having fun in the leaves yesterday.