Andi Brushing Her Teeth

Andi is very much wanting to copy everything Arlie does. Especially tooth brushing. Papa Don should be proud of his two cleanest-teeth girls in the Seattle metro area.

She's got her technique down pretty good, eh?

And yes, her hair is in a faux-hawk. That would be Arlie's doing. When I hear giggling coming from the bathroom, I know it's probably not good. But in this case, it was just a funny 'do.

Halloween 2011 (Uh, Belated)

I realize it's almost Christmas but I can't believe I forgot to do a Halloween post! Since Andrew did something to the computer that erased all the pictures that were saved, I just stole this post from my other blog. Heh. And Heather, I know you're still waiting for part 2 of the pumpkin patch. I'll work on that!

This first pic was taken after we went trick-or-treating in downtown Gig Harbor and Andi had had enough. She wasn't about to let me put her down for some alone pictures!

I'm a . . . witch. You probably figured that out. Really, the costume is always more of an excuse for me to wear drag levels of eyeshadow. I love crazy eye color.

Most people thought she was a nerdy chicken. Worked for me.

Arlie picked their Halloween costumes this year. She announced Andi was going to be Chicken Little.

 I ended up buying a pair of orange womens tights from Target and cutting them up to make her tights, comb, and foot covers. I bought the glasses from Goodwill, poked out the lenses, and painted the frame green with nailpolish. Her tail was a Trader Joe's brown bag cut into feathers. I think it ended up pretty good. And I was surprised she kept the glasses and headband on the whole time!

Arlie wanted to be Hello Kitty which I thought would be pretty easy. Did you know that no store in Gig Harbor sells white cat ears on a headband? Now you do. I wish I had a better picture but my mom came over with white felt and her hot glue gun and made plush cat ear barrettes for my little kitty. Combined with a bit of makeup and a pink dress from the clearance rack at Target, and she was Hello Kitty!  Arlie loved it, she was fascinated by her reflection in the mirror.

One more picture of beautiful Gig Harbor, we were lucky to have such a great afternoon for trick-or-treating.

Leavenworth 2011

For the second day off together, we decided to head to Leavenworth for the Christmas Tree lighting ceremony. We've never had a bad time in Leavenworth and this year was no exception! There was a lot less people than usual, I'm not sure if it was the day we were there (Sunday) or if the economy is keeping more people home this year.

This first picture accomplishes two things: A) You can see the outfit that Arlie picked out for herself. I'm starting to think the love of clashing patterns in genetic. It's amazing how it all works! And B) you can see the amazing parking spot Andrew managed to find. He was very, very proud of it. There were triumphant whoops pulling in AND out of the space.

I'm such a jerk for publishing this next picture but it cracks me up how ALL THREE are doing something awkward with their mouths. I love them soooo much!

Also cracking me up? Random nutcracker sightings. . .

Here's one way to use stale pretzels:

Our nutcracker sighting turned into a nutcracker meeting!

Part of the main street lit up for Christmas:

Andi's pointer finger got a workout - there was so many things to look at!

I know I say this all the time, but she is such a poser!

We're already making plans to return next year!

Family Photo

Ed Johnson - Practicing Photographer, took a nice candid photo the other night during the Tree Lighting Ceremony in Key Center. Since we rarely have photos of the four of us together, I was excited that he shared.

Our Day Together

This holiday season I received two of the best gifts I possibly could - two Sundays off. That means we get to be together, as a family, for TWO WHOLE DAYS. It's amazing! Today we went and picked out our Christmas tree:

Andi picked out this bottle of honey (she's obsessed with bears!) and insisted on carrying it around with her until she finally got too tired.