Ellie Visits

Ellie has come to visit!  She came in to town on Friday night.  The kids where so excited all week.  On Friday we had dinner and early bath/shower time and headed to the airport.  We met Aaron there, since he has a deadline he is working on at work.  Ellie was surprised to see us all.

Yesterday we went to the NW 23rd neighborhood in Portland... a trendy shopping area.  We had lunch at McMenamins and walked up and down 23rd stopping at the toy store and doggy store.  After resting at home for awhile we headed to the zoo for zoolights. It was rainy and busy, but we still got to see the lights.  Kellen was determined to ride the train, so Aaron and Kellen waited in line while Ellie, Kristin and I walked around the zoo looking at lights.  We rejoined the boys in line and all rode the train.

Today, Kristin had a futsal game.  We met Uncle John there and had fun watching the game.  Kristin ended up getting a goal at the end of the game and almost had another prior to that goal, but it bounced off the post.

Indoor Soccer Practice

Yesterday was a normal day with school and soccer practice for Kristin.  I am thankful practice has moved indoors for the season.  The weather has not been so nice. At this practice they had a running coach come in.  They ran a bunch of drills and even ran lines... made me think of basketball practice.  :) 

Kellen stayed home with Aaron.  Kellen came home from school happy and very excited to say that he got an A+!  He got a sticker on his homework from the previous week that had A+ on it.  He was very proud.

This afternoon, Kristin's friend came home with us for a playdate.  They had fun playing in Kristin's room.  Kellen got to tell me about his day with a substitute teacher and how he got to Eagle Eyes and a pencil.  The pencil is a Christmas pencil, so he was excited.  Good job Kellen on the Eagle Eyes!  These are little pieces of paper that teachers can give to the students for being responsible, respectful, safe or other.  Not sure exactly what he got them for... he didn't share and they didn't come home today.  Today was pretty nice and sunny for most of the day.  Bella and I got a walk in and I even opened up the house for a bit.

No School Day

Today was a no school day for the kids... grading day for the teachers.  The kids and I ran some errands and worked on cleaning up the house.  We are getting ready for Aunt Ellie to visit.  We are excited to see her! 

There was enough breaks in the rain today, so we also got Bella out for a walk.  Kellen rode his bike and Kristin rode on her scooter.  Bella could use a bath about every day right now as our backyard is a big wet and muddy mess.  One running lap and she is covered in mud.  I gave her a bath yesterday for this and now she is a mess again.  Baby wet wipes seem to do an okay job.

Christmas Preparations

We have gotten the house decorated for Christmas inside and outside.  The kid did a great job decorating the tree.  I just had to put a few ornaments at the top where they can't reach yet. 

On Friday night we took the kids to see Santa at the mall.  They both put in their requests and ended up with a magazine (National Geographic Kids) and a small candy cane.  Wow!  They already got things from Santa.

Visit with Santa.

Saturday was a day to watch football and play inside.  Kellen also delcared this day as pajama day for him. In the afternoon, Kristin and I went to Canfield Place (assisted living) with our Girl Scout troop to decorate the Christmas tree in their dining hall.  The girls made some ornaments at an earlier troop meeting to place on the tree.  They also got to help put on one of the resident's collection of ornaments from the White House!  These ornaments are supper cool and very detailed.  The girls got to go around and share them with the residents and then put them on the tree.  The girls also served the residents cookies and punch.  The residents always look forward to seeing us and we always have fun.  Oh, the girls actually decided to sing a couple songs too!  They sang Jingle Bells and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. 

Kristin with ornament from the White House collection.

On Sunday, Kristin had 2 soccer games.  The first game was to help out a team that was short handed.  The second game was the game she was originally scheduled for.  In the second game Kristin had some great plays and passed for some goals (assists).  Good job Kristin!

Halloween Photos

Laura Ingalls Wilder

Spidey

Spidey and Laura Together

Kiddos Update

Kellen has taken a real interest in helping me with projects lately.  A couple weekends ago I was mowing the lawn (for what I hoped was the last time this fall, but we'll see) and Kellen wanted to push it.  I let him 'push' it in front of me for a quick straight flat stretch while I had one hand on the handle and the other around his waist.  He thought that was pretty great.  Little does he know what's in store for him when he's 12.  :-)

This evening he helped me with another project.  We're in the process of replacing the oven since ours died.  It is a drop in so last night I had a friend come by and we lifted the old one out and took it to the garage.  This particular friend is pretty handy with projects and made a good suggestion that I take the wiring from the back of the old oven in case I need it for the connection on the new oven.  So this evening Kellen helped me unscrew the paneling.  He was pretty excited about that.  Before I offered that he could help, he was wanting to play with his train set.  After I said he could help, he had his shoes and coat on in no time flat (we worked in the garage).

Kristin had a busy weeked.  She played 4 outdoor soccer games in a 'premier level' tournament for her age bracket.  She played well and had fun, Then on Monday she had a futsol game.  She scored the game-icer with just a few seconds remaining to secure a 3-1 win.  Ear-to-ear smiles after that.  And to top of the day, she then went to a birthday part at a glass-blowing shop.  We're all excited to see what she made.  She wasn't able to take it home right away.

Futsol

Kristin started futsol (indoor soccer) season again today.  Kristin played well and scored two goals.  Her team won 3-0.  Futsol is so fun to watch as it is such a fast paced game.

Tonight I took the kids to Aaron's hockey game.  They had fun and it had been awhile since we had been able to make it to one of his games.