Dress up time

Annabelle got a bunch of new stuff at Christmas time for playing dress up...she decided to wear it all at once. Perhaps she had a little help. And maybe she should have gotten a dress too...or at least a diaper cover. Haha!

Isn't she cute!

Beach Glassing with Gammyana

Today we decided to try a new location to collect beach glass. We mostly found beach glass shards. But it was a great way to spend the afternoon. The weather was so mild and the kids really enjoyed getting out and running around.

We dressed Annabelle in her most fashionable clothes! She really loves this hat though.Odge enjoyed throwing rocks into the water.

And Belly was contemplating something while sitting on a log.

The train passed by and freaked the kids out. They found comfort with Gammyana!

I love this "Cheese!" face!

Annabelle enjoyed throwing rocks too.

We finally gave up on the one beach and went into Seattle for a new beach and some great food. Thanks Mom!

Monster Jammin'!

MJ has introduced our family to the world of Monster Trucks. He loves them. Swears he's going to drive them one day. And so today I had the pleasure of taking him to his third show, my first. I actually loved it. I had a fantastic time as did MJ. It didn't hurt that it was a great chance to take pictures, which I love to do. So here they are, a billion Monster Jam photos.

This Airborne Ranger is actually driven by a wheelchair bound driver. He's paralyzed in his legs so his truck is modified for him. Just thought that was really cool

Our self portrait in our seats before I switched to the Big Mama lens and couldn't take close-ups.

Mommy and Odge decked out in Digger apparel!

MJ's weird mean face.

These things are huge!

Charlie Pauken, he won both the racing and freestyle events. MJ knows him from the videos but was way to shy to even try saying hello. Shocking, but true.

Jumping out after parking on the big jump at the end of his winning freestyle.

And now for a ton of truck shots. I'm planning on printing a few of these nice and big for MJ and framing them for his birthday.

This Jurassic Attack is actually driven by a woman...MJ did manage to get her autograph on his plush replica of her truck.

Kristi, sorry for all of the non-kid pictures! haha! Mike, sorry you aren't in any of them!

Christmas Miscellany

I realized after I posted my last blog that I never put up the pics of the kids when we went to have breakfast with Santa. It was the one and only time Annabelle wore her Christmas dress. I never even got a great pic of her in it. She kept that cute bow in her hair until we got in the car. Then it was back to her typical troll hair. :)

Before Santa arrived the set up for pictures with him was available for us to pose the kids and take pics on our own. Oh, I forgot to mention this is at the church where MJ goes to preschool.

Annabelle enjoying her pancakes. When does Annabelle not look happy to be eating??

He loved that Santa hat. I think he wore it the entire day. He however did not love Santa and had to be convinced to sit in his lap. Smart kid. Weird tradition.

If I could put a thought bubble above Annabelle's head it would say something like, "I'm Annabelle, who the hell are you?"

Definitely not Santa's biggest fan. At this point I am cheering her on hoping for the famous down turned lip picture with Santa.

And boy does she have some lips to turn down. "Come get me Daddy!"

MJ's only in Santa's lap to tell him he wants some Monster Truck stuff..if he didn't really want it there is no way he would have gotten up there. And Annabelle still not happy.

Ok, I told him, I'm done. Can I get down now?

I'd rather admire him from afar...and watch him hike up his beard. Seriously there are plenty of bearded people around here, why couldn't one of them be Santa?

Check out the kids both on their toes looking for goodies in the Advent calendar. This is what they did every morning.

Annabelle had been crying for some reason. I just love her nightgown.

MJ was ready to go outside. This was the beginning of the snow fall we got here.

Annabelle got the bright hat this time.

It was barely enough snow to sled in but she had a great time. This was in our backyard.

Awww, a natural smile from Annabelle. Far different from her cheese face!

Odge worked really hard on his snowman.

There's the Frosty that Annabelle is constantly worrying about. Every time it rains or snows Frosty ends up folded in half or laying on his back. Annabelle panics and goes to Daddy to help Frosty. As a matter of fact, if we have gone out for a while, as soon as the car gets into the neighborhood Annabelle is saying "Hep, Eassie!" (Help Frosty)

The snowman stood for about 20 minutes before his head fell off. The carrot became a great snow gauge until the accumulation covered it up entirely.

MJ's preschool had a Christmas performance. Pictured here is his class, they were joined by the 3 year old class. MJ didn't cooperate at all. You'll notice he annoyed the boy next to him so much by the last pictures he isn't anywhere near MJ!

Look at those 7 children not following directions. Clearly this was the time to stick your tongue out!

What a poorly behaved bunch. I ordered a DVD of the performance. Too bad they didn't have MJ on the screen the whole time. If he was someone else's kid I would have been able to laugh. Although I'm not sure anyone found him all that funny (besides me!)

Annabelle decided to put on a little show of her own.

Hey, look at that. All the children are finally behaving!

This is MJ's new preschool teacher. It is a coop preschool so the other teachers in the class are parents

OK, so now you have seen the pre-Christmas festivities. We're pretty much caught up I think. Gotta run and watch some football with my family now.