Christmas in Wisconsin

Here are a few highlights of our trip back home. It started out with an unexpected 13 hour drive since there were no stand-by seats available.




Our annual gingerbread house contest. I crowned Sarah the winner since hers collapsed and she managed to re-create it.


All of the goodies from our annual bake-off. The chocolate covered licorice were a new addition and one I didn't care for!




The grandkids, dogs included! Mom's new puppy is behind the bulldog but she's hard to see since the bull dog is a nice round ball.


We enjoyed lots of winter activities including sledding, snowball fights......


and a snow angel! Although the only thing Avery has been talking about for the last several weeks is wanting to eat snow. That was the first thing he did when he went outside.


Fun Christmas gifts for Papa and Bama


Mom's Christmas gift- Zoey! She's teething : )


My aunt Linda gave Grandpa 2 really nice wool sweaters for Christmas. He looked sharp in them, but sadly they no longer fit. Notice the sweater Avery is wearing? That is one of the ones Linda gave Grandpa! It appears you can't even wash wool. At least Avery ended up with two nice sweaters.


It's crazy how much things change in a year.....

One proud moment

This is one of those moments that I have been waiting for as a parent. I was so proud of how much Avery's grown up. It was a lot of fun sitting in the audience watching him be a part of the Christmas program at his school. It was one of those moments I always envisioned when I had children and now that it's here I couldn't have been more thrilled! He was so happy I was there, as you can see from his smiles.

One great birthday party!

Since we are heading home next weekend, we celebrated Christmas early this year. It started out with a fabulous birthday cake.






And moved on to opening gifts. Avery loves his new train table. We just put a piece of plywood over our current sensory table and created our own train table. He played with Daddy and I on the table most of the weekend.


He also enjoyed building and creating new things with his tinkertoys. In this picture we created a crane tower. He was able to lift and lower a bucket with a rope using a winch that we made. His favorite part was watching the bucket spiral down to the ground.


Alia loved her ride on toy until she realized it was also a walker. All she wants to do all day every day is walk around holding on to something. The funny part is she's not very coordinated yet and often steps on her own feet.


See how thrilled she is that she can walk with it? She cries when I switch it back to ride on mode.

Alia and Banana 10 months

How big is Alia? So big!

Feels like Christmas in July

This is how we've always remembered our Christmas tree hunt each year. We would bundle up, trek through a foot of snow, and find and cut the perfect tree. We did find the perfect tree but our tradition was slightly different this year.



No need for bundling up since there was no snow to be found on our 60 degree day. I did miss the snow, but only for a fleeting second. I really enjoyed the warm sun and the ability to move freely without snowsuits and boots on.


We had a sleigh ride in a large sleigh with tires




Avery enjoyed his first pony ride on Poncho


Here is our Christmas tree, a leyland cypress


We also decided to decorate the front porch with garland and lights since we do have a red door!

Who wouldn't sign for an oreo?

Alia has been signing "more" for the last month but I couldn't ever convince her to do it while I was taping. I finally found her weak spot, an oreo!

Gobble them up!

brought to you by The Taste of Home magazine

Sugar cookie for the body
Kiss for the head
Mini m&m's for the wattle
Candy corns for the feathers

Fall Canoe Trip

Last weekend we went out on the lake for a beautiful fall day canoe trip. The lake was glass calm and the sun was shinning. It was almost perfect. Look at the pictures and then watch the video. Then you will realize why it was almost perfect.





It would have been perfect it she didn't do this for way too long. She didn't mind the lifejacket on land but as soon as we got in the boat she started whining. The second we got back to shore she stopped. Maybe next year she will be ready.

Alia and Banana 9 Months

Monthly update with Alia and Banana plus a Bonus story from Avery.

First the Update Picture


Alia at 9 Months


Avery at 9 Months


Now, story time. The other morning I woke up and Avery's stool was in the kitchen. I thought it was weird but it was early so I let it be. I always set my food out for work the night before and when I went to get it there was this old apple sitting where my pear had been the night before. I was confused but I went to work. When Avery got up he told Brandee that he got up in the middle of the night and was hungry so he carried a stool to the kitchen and ate my pear. He didn't want me to be without fruit so he replaced my pear with an apple. He then thought that since he was hungry that his fish would be hungry too. So he took parts of his pear and fed them to his fish. By now he was sticky and since he couldn't reach his sink with his stool in the kitchen he came to get me. I slept walked and helped him. After cleaning him up I cleaned everything else up and went to bed. Brandee called me at work the next day and asked me what I did was doing last night that took over half an hour. I had no idea what she was talking about because I didn't remember any of it. It all came together when she told me what she found in Avery's bathoom:

Pumpkin Demo Day

What's even more fun than carving a pumpkin? Having a pumpkin demolition day! Avery loved pounding in the screws, pulling them out with a screwdriver, and then using the hack saw to cut the pumpkin up into little pieces. I have to admit, I enjoyed it as much as he did! Or maybe it was the weather, it was clear blue and 70 degrees out. I can get used to Fall here.



He loved pounding the screws into the ground.




I'm not sure why he was spreading the pieces around, but Venus liked it. She was following behind him trying to eat the pumpkin.

A visit from two special people....

Grandma and Grandpa Davis! G and G Davis drove from WI to come see us. We had a great time seeing them and all miss them already.


Daddy and elephant on their way to go trick or treating.


The leopard didn't want to join in because of the weather; it was wet and cold outside.


Halloween is a big deal in our neighborhood. Our association hires a police officer to direct traffic. There were a lot of kids and I easily ran out of candy after only an hour.


Alia enjoyed playing with the pumpkin pieces.


Our pumpkins. We didn't carve them until Halloween because it's too warm and they rot quickly. The little one was already rotten and smelled awful!


Our pumpkin decided to be a pirate for Halloween.


For Avery's school treat we carved out oranges and filled them with fruit. Grandma and Grandpa helped make the treats. It was a fun family activity.


Our finished treats.


I was able to go to Avery's Halloween party at school.


Avery


Alia

Halloween Treats

If you need a fun idea for a dessert for your Halloween parties this year, here are two I came across.


This one is from my Taste of Home Simple and Delicious Magazine. If you can find black shoestring licorice, I think that would look better.


I made this one last year, it's a dirt cake. The tombstones were made from the pepperidge farm cookies and the ghost is just cool-whip I put in the freezer so it was stiff enough. I cut this idea out of a magazine while in high school so I don't remember which one it came from. It must have been from whichever one Mom subscribed to at the time.


This one I haven't made yet. I plan on making these for Avery's preschool party. I needed to be a little healthier for school! This idea and picture are from Taste of Home Simple and Delicious.