Visiting Santa

We went to see Santa on Saturday. She started out all smiles.
He was a little apprehensive but okay...

Then we saw Santa and it was all over! Both kids screaming hysterically and trying to escape Santa's lap. So Kevin & I got to get our pictures take with Santa yet again. Another one to add to our collection! They were giving out free puppies and lolipops which helped in the recovery from this horrible trauma we put our kids through! They should have been handing out free drinks to parents too!
Not sure what Kevin's looking at here but had to get a picture of Ben's post Santa face.
Happy as clams now that they are in their stroller with lolipops and puppies. Maybe next year will be our year!

Down Town

Since we werre already downtown we decided to enjoy the sights a bit. We attempted a family photo for the Christmas cards but didn't get any. Plus I realized I hated Lauren's outfit, not really what I want to send out to everyone!

We saw the carousel and had to ride it.

Ben was a little unsure but he liked it!

Nana even rode!

And Lauren got this fabulous sucker at the candy shop. It was hilarious looking but she loved it! Until it was gone of course. Then she decided that she didn't actually want that sucker, she wanted something else. No such luck but good try Miss Lauren.

Ben asleep on the way home. Check out those cute fish lips!

Seattle Marathon

We all met up at Memorial Stadium this morning to cheer on Ryan as he crossed the finish line of the Seattle Marathon.
There he goes!


You did it! Way to go, we are proud of you!

Lauren had to check out his medal.

(fyi- she picked out her outfit all by herself!)

Ben had to try it on too.

Future Cable Guy?

Ben LOVES plugging things in. Kevin kept our old dvd player that recently died for him to play with and he could do this for hours.
So focused. Maybe he can figure out why our Comcast doesn't work all the time?
And this lovely look pretty much explained his mood all day on Friday. He seriously whined from the moment he woke up until the moment he went to sleep. At one point Kevin & I just started laughing and decided to take some pictures of the wonderful mood.

If only there was sound you would hear, "EHHHHH, EHHHH, EHHHHH" over and over again. Lucky for him he is darling!

So much to be thankful for...

Megan got to join us because the hospital wasn't too full...both great things.

Having people you love so much they make you smile this big.

Having the sweetest girl in the world to cuddle up with at the end of the day.

Having cousins that are also your best friends.

And of course I am beyond thankful for everyone in our families and everything that we have, along with my pretty perfect husband:) Just didn't get pictures of all of them!

Turkey Making

My Grandpa Fred stayed with us the day before Thanksgiving so he joined in our turkey project. He was so serious with his crafting. Lauren on the other hand lost interest after about 2 minutes.
My grandpa made 3 turkeys. All three of them had 3 eyes and pipe cleaners coming out of their heads. Not sure where his turkey's are from but made for a good laugh later:) Once he went to take a nap I altered his turkey's a bit, I just couldn't handle putting 3 eyed turkeys on the table!

The finished products!

The table! I think my favorite part is the table set up!

Funny Boy

Ben has the funniest facial expressions. He's a tough crowd, he doesn't always give up smiles easily. But when he does, they are quite contagious! He makes a lot of serious faces and gives us a lot of funny looks. He's also been into wearing hats lately and can actually say hat! One of his only words- yay Benny! He also says hot, cheese, & hi. He says Mom sometimes but it's more like mamamamamama and he says it whenever he wants something! We love his little personality.

So Sweet

Lauren covered Honey up with her blanket so they could get cozy and watch a show together.
Lauren started to fall asleep. She laid her head down on Honey but then Honey started licking her hair (she has a thing for hair!) and woke her up! It was sweet while it lasted though.

Uh Oh

The other night Lauren said to me, "Mom I have a secret surprise for you but it's not ready yet." I waited a minute then went to see my "secret surprise" and this is what I found! Lauren had colored with ball point pen all over our giant bean bag. When she saw the look on my face her tone totally changed and she said, "Actually mom it was just an accident". Pretty sure something can't be a "secret surprise" and an "accident" at the same time. Nice try though. Lucky for her dad is a master at cleaning and he got it all out!

She's Crazy But We Love Her!

On this particular day Lauren decided she was going to Cannon Beach. She packed her bags, put on shorts and sandals and was ready for her flight (apparently she flies there instead of drives like the rest of us). She was telling me I couldn't take her picture because she wasn't there yet.
She's actually been dressing up and playing ballerina a lot lately but she refuses to let me get a normal picture of her. Everytime she sees the camera she does pulls the tutu up.

Crazy Girl. She actually told me the other day she wants to take ballet. I explained that she'd have to wear a tutu and tights when she goes and she said okay. Not sure I believe her yet but I'm a tad bit excited at the possibility of it:)

Lauren's Photos

When I upload pictures I always find a handful of randoms that Lauren took. I thought these 3 were kind of fun. This little look on Ben's face is funny.

I'm sure Kelly is going to hate me for posting this but I think she looks so pretty in this picture! Perfect hair, great skin, and the color of her shirt compliments her well.

And well, how could I not post this picture of Zach:)

Love my little photographer!

Fun Fall Day

love her to pieces.

Love him to pieces.

My little twins.

Best facial expressions.

Kid Swap

We started a little kid swap with some friends so that each set of parents gets a date night each month! The first "swap" went great, the kids had so much fun! Lauren and Braelyn decided to pretend it was Halloween again.
Then they decided they were twins and we had to pull out the trundle so they could go to sleep.

Ben climbed up here after the girls had their pictures taken because he wants to be just like them!

This is just to prove Bennett was here too! This boy is a mover and a shaker and everytime I took his picture it was blurry because he is on the go!

Next week Kev & I get to go out- yahoo!

Hummus Boy

Ben LOVES hummus. We give him bowls of it and he eats it with a spoon. It's funny because he's kind of a picky eater but he sure loves his hummus! Kevin thought it'd be funny to make him a fu-man-jou (not sure how to spell that!) with the hummus (above)!
Still so cute even with hummus dripping down his face.

Guitar Girl

She put on a show for us the other night. I see coffee shops in her future!