Life As We Know It

Thursday, October 15, 2009

So Happy and So Proud

So one of the ladies that I work with retired last week and I was put in charge of decorations for her party...Here are the parts that I did:

My boss requested a money tree, so I put this one together (one of my co-workers gathered sticks for me since I don't have an appropriate tree). Maeli helped me put the circles on the pot, and the clothespins were spray painted green with glitter. It was pretty cute.

Marlene, the retiree, loves twinkies, so that was our theme...we used the colors for this balloon arch over the cake table.

And I drew this poster and then we all painted it.

The party went well, and we even had a surprise visit from Elvis!

The Pumpkin Dash 2009

We decided to "run" again in the pumpkin dash this year. The entrance fee goes to charity, and everyone under 12 who crosses the finish line gets a pumpkin. We did the one-mile stroller run and didn't come in last, so we think of it as a success. Considering we were a little late and barley had our numbers one when the gun went off to start the race. I had Tucker in the stroller, and Jeremy had Maeli in the back-pack. It was pretty fun, and not quite as chilly as last year. Here are some of the highlights.
Maeli's prize

Then we picked one out for Tucker, since he "ran so fast" too

Jeremy got asked to fill in for a relay team that was short one man. Considering he wasn't really dressed for running, nor is he a runner, he did great. Coming in second for his leg of the relay.

Maeli and I killed some time on the swings while we were waiting for Daddy's team to win.

A little rest, and we're ready to hit the road...what a fun morning!

~Sigh

Just another example of what happens when a two-year old has a few minutes while mom is distracted!

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Rub-a-Dub-Dub...

Pretty self-explanatory, but they're just so cute!

Salsa

Ingredients from our garden.

Our new canning system

The finished product!

The taste test.

The results

Its actually really good, I just thought that was a funny picture. Jeremy ate a whole jar in one sitting...which actually might not make it cost effective to make our own, but it was a fun thing to do together.

Grandpa Leo

We stopped in Ione on our way home from the Fair to see Jeremy's Grandpa Leo. He had never met Tucker, and Jeremy's uncle loaned us a chain saw for a project at our house. Grandpa seemed to be in good spirits and was moving around very well. It was a nice visit.

Oregon State Fair

For our Labor Day weekend adventure, we were invited to go to the Oregon State Fair with some of Jeremy's family. We started off by heading to Vancouver to spend the night with Glenna, Jeremy's sister, and her family. Maeli loved cousin Kaitlyn's room.

Tucker had an ear infection and had all kinds of the yuckies, but he still thought Grandpa Dan was pretty fun.

First step: Fair food--ice cream! Tucker was feeling pretty yucky at this point.

We were all excited to partake of the fair food.

Jeremy got hypnotized, as did Glenna, and was totally out and snuggling with his new best friend. The guy didn't make him do anything too crazy, but he did a nice "Lord of the Dance" and "The twist."

Maeli wasn't tall enough to ride on any of the rides, but she did win a (stuffed) snake!

We convinced the guy at this ride to let Maeli try even though she was actually too short. You had to climb a rope latter and then cross a little bridge to a slide that spit you out into a ball pit.