Happy Halloween...

We have begun our first holiday season in our new home and we are so excited to embark on new traditions that will last the duration of our girls' young lives. I realized that yesterday as Tony and I were talking about Halloweens past. I was talking about the sadness of our first homegrown pumpkins being smashed by neighborhood naughties and I kept referring to it as last year. Tony finally said, "Athena, we were living in a trailer last Halloween." I had totally forgotten, not that it was bad at all, there just weren't any fond holiday memories in the trailer. It was a year in limbo of our life as it is to be here at Nelson's Nest (lovin' it).

Building a home and creating a slew of new expenses on the brink of an economic crisis has felt a little scary, but I am grateful that this year we are truly going to focus on the reasons for the season. Things have to shift for everyone and I am looking forward to humble holidays. I am thankful that our children are young as we are given this lesson of "not overdoing it", which we have done in the past. We are truly blessed with our shared faith and family to see us through.

Enough of the serious stuff :)
Halloween pics of the year...

New candy dish...

Nights of carving pumpkins in our dining room...



Preparing and posing for the evening travels...

Kylee's Third, Third Birthday...

The last hurrah for Kylee's birthday came in the form of a fun trip to Seattle. Our family met up with the Pitners. As soon as we arrived the boys and girls split. The boys took in the Notre Dame vs. Washington game, which the Fighting Irish dominated. The girls headed to the Cheesecake Factory for a yummy dinner and then journeyed to The Paramount Theater to watch The Backyardigans, A Knight's Tale. Both parties enjoyed the entertainment. Kylee loved the huge, huge, huge, huge, huge, huge dragon (it wasn't even really that big, but she has repeatedly described him this way).

The next morning, following an excellent continental breakfast, we went to REI. You know the REI mothership, as Tony calls it, is in Seattle... conveniently located a block from our hotel. We picked up a couple of pairs of rubber boots for the girls. We ventured to a huge (seriously large) park for a hike to the beach. Kyndra hiked three miles. Kylee made the trip on her dad's back. It was a simply beautiful weekend!

Kylee's Second, Third Birthday...

On Kylee's real birthday, October 19th, we celebrated with special friends. She wanted spaghetti and a rainbow cake. Tony was happy to oblige both of her wishes. Her day was happy, happy, happy as it should be. Tony and I both used to be opposed to friends bringing gifts for our childrens' birthdays, we just wanted their company. We didn't fuss about it for this little party and we, as if on cue after our guests left, simultaneously mentioned the spirit of giving amongst the other children. We "got it"... they enjoy bringing gifts for their friends. They were so excited to see her open her presents. We didn't plan a bunch of activities for after the meal and cake. The kids just played with the new toys and enjoyed each others company. SIMPLE & SWEET!!! And all these years I have been stressing about the "party".

Big Weekend...

The girls, Havik, Jazmyn, and I packed into the car Friday night and headed to Hillsboro. Tony had too much homework to come home, so we went to him... we were missing him sooooooooooooooooo much!

Our weekend started with a long awaited trip to Roloff farm. Kyndra and I enjoy watching their T.V. show together, so she was pretty starstruck. They were filming while we were there so we are hoping to catch a glimpse of ourselves on an episode of Little People, Big World.

There was an hour long line to get into the farm.


Our first sighting of Matt... Kyndra squealed, "He's real."


No turning back.


Almost there, these pumpkins with messages started a few miles before the farm.


We're here!


Kyndra and I got to meet Molly and grandma and grandpa in Old West Town on the tractor tour.




Heading into the patch, it was glorious.












Kylee's first, third birthday party begins. Multiple birthday parties is one of the only perks of living so far from family.








We arrived home to sad looking pumpkin vines that had frozen, so we harvested our own patch even though most of them were green. We got about twenty pumpkins... next year we'll get 'em orange. The girls had a great time setting them up on the porch, including our Potatoe Head Pirate Pumpkin. Happy Fall!

No Bully Zone...

I beg and I plead with Kyndra for details about Kindergarten and I basically get nothing. I get some bits and pieces as I watch her play or totally by accident if she gets on a roll, but none of the long conversations I envisioned. She is just ready to be done for the day and doesn't want to be bothered with the questions. But, today was different. She was really excited to tell me something for the first time. "Guess what Mommy, guess what," she kept repeating. I just as excitedly asked her to tell me about the "what". She was happy to report that bullys are not allowed at Lincoln School. She took this so seriously and I realized the power of this message to five year olds. She knew exactly what a bully was and that it was not acceptable at her school. I could tell she felt safer and more confident. I hope and pray my sweet, sensative girl never has to encounter a bully. I hope and pray her accepting ways break through the exterior of those people we call bullies, who we know have been bullied themselves at some point. I hope and pray more topics or issues will excite her enough to want to share with me.

Lion and the Lamb...

Kylee's favorite thing to talk about right now is... herself. She is just as egocentric as she should be for an almost three year old. She always says to me, "Mommy tell me my favorites." Which means ask her about her favorite things. I go through the list quite often... favorite color, favorite story, favorite food, and so on. I asked her the other day what her favorite animal is and she first answered lion, but quickly followed up with lamb. "Yes, that's it," she said, "lions and lambs are my favorites." I wanted to remember this because this is just so fitting of my youngest, most spirited child. In any given time frame we can have Kylee the lamb... sweet, cuddly, easy to please and then the switch to Kylee the lion... I don't know how else to say it other than EXTREMELY crabby, demonstrative in her words, voice, and actions, and by no means easy to please. I know this is a phase and it too shall pass. I'm going to call it the lion and the lamb phase. Kylee is teaching me all sorts of patience and resourcefulness. I know she is making me become a better mom and I love her to pieces whether she is wearing fur or wool.

Playdates & Parades...

Kyndra kicked off her weekend with a MUCH AWAITED playdate (note to self... wait to announce impending playdates) with her pals Katie and Lainey. These are her old friends, not wrinkly old, just old because she has known them for a long time, if you recall. Tony picked them up from kindergarten, fed them, made them forts, created a Shrek 3 movie theater with all the fixins, and waited, waited, waited for me to get home. He scooted promptly out the door for a bike ride when I got home. When I got home the tye-dye fest began. The neighbors joined us, as well as the Sokoloskis later in the evening. Ten tye-dyed Halloween jack-o-lantern shirts were created.

Saturday was parade day. Kyndra has been wanting to be in a parade for the last couple of years. She has seen many of her friends in the Round-Up parades and has been hoping her day would come. It just so happened that the local Kiwaniis came through for her in the form of a Pet Parade. Our dogs were troopers. Daddy joined us even though his police buddies were giggling along the route that they had to secure for 15 children and their pets. We had some rain and wind, but they were overshadowed with smiles, treats, and prizes. Havik won a prize for Most Unique and Jaz won for Shortest Tail.

More pets were on the itinerary later in the day as donkeys arrived at "Niegh"bors, the equine and owner bed and breakfast across the way from us. Tony and the girls got to go over to visit the donkeys and other horses that were at the "inn".

As evening fell Tony lit a fire in our little fire pit. The nieghbors joined us for yummy s'mores and lots of laughs.

Today will be a day to relax and sadly say good bye to Tony for two weeks as he heads to his second to last big reconstructionist training. He will be missed, but we are grateful for this fun packed weekend that we had together.