Thanksgiving Tree

This year we had our first annual Thanksgiving Tree...

We put the tree up November 1st and every day, through Thanksgiving weekend, we added a leaf to the tree. On the leaf we wrote something we were thankful for. Abby and I did a leaf for everyday. Jim and Kera did a leaf when they were able to. I tried to allow the girls to say whatever they wanted and not prompt them. Abby did really good with this...she only has a couple of repeats. Kera, on the other hand, was very repetitive but...what can you expect for a 2 year old. Here are our thankful lists for this year (in no particular order)...

Jim

1.       Trees

2.       My 3 girls

3.       Imagination…

4.       Taste buds and nasal turbinate olfactory senses

5.       Gainful employment

6.       BOY! Halloween movies (Phantasm)

7.       The Gene

8.       Naps

9.       -OH group

10.   Weekends

11.   The change of seasons

12.   Sleep…what is that

13.   Modern medicine

 Amy

1.       Safe air travel (Jim has been traveling a lot)

2.       Abby

3.       Freedom

4.       Crisp Fall Days

5.       Kera

6.       Good Health of my family & friends

7.       Even though I don’t like how early Kera gets up…I do love our morning snuggles

8.       Pumpkin & eggnog

9.       Wine (but not too much)

10.   For Kera waking-up at 6 today! Much better than 4!

11.   Animal & Bennett

12.   Being able to stay home with my girls

13.   Billy & Chewy

14.   Giggles

15.   Homemade goodies

16.   That Abby likes school so much!

17.   Thanksgiving

18.   The Steelers getting a W against KC! Barely.

19.   The weekend

20.   My parents

21.   Birthdays!

22.   Jim!

23.   Evening walks with Chewy

24.   Coffee

25.   New friends

 Abby

1.       Singing

2.       New friends

3.       Kera

4.       Our house in Maryland

5.       Jake & the Never land Pirate

6.       Family

7.       Grandma & Grandpa

8.       Papa & Mommy

9.       Chewy being silly and playing with me

10.   Bubble baths

11.   Night night

12.   The birds that come to the bird feeder

13.   Stars on the Christmas tree

14.   Smiles

15.   My sister

16.   Iris (New friend in our new neighborhood)

17.   My toys

18.   Chewy & Billy

19.   Vegas friends

20.   Pepe & Burrs

21.   Boxes

22.   Old & new friends

23.   For my Papa that I will miss while he is away

24.   Baby doll

25.   Vegas Swim Pool

 Kera

1.       Meow Meow & Chew Chew

2.       Meow Meows

3.       Chew Chew

4.       Chew Chew

5.       Chew Chew & Meow Meow

6.       Bubble bath

7.       Baby doll

8.       Mac-n-cheese

9.       Papa

10.   Baby doll

11.   Bubble bath

12.   Bubble bath

13.   Bubble bath

14.   tutu

 The Thanksgiving tree not only was a great decoration but it really helped Abby think about things that she was happy about. Today as we were taking down the tree together she wanted to re-read every leaf. This is definitely a tradition we will be continuing!

 

Also, if you look at the picture of the Thanksgiving tree you will see 4 turkeys at the bottom. The girls and I made these turkeys out of our hand and foot prints. There is a turkey for each of us, me, Abby, Jim, and Kera...a whole turkey family!

Fun in the Park

On Monday, November 12th Jim had the day off of work to observe Veterans Day. It was another beautiful day so, we decided to take the girls to one of our favorite playgrounds, Wheaton Regional Park. The girls love this playground and Jim and I love to see the girls having so much fun! Here are some pictures form their playground adventures...

The girls LOVE to swing...especially Kera!

Rope Climb

Kera was all about climbing up the slides on this trip.

Purple dinosaur...what could be better?

Princesses of the mountain

Happy girl!

Lunch time

Kera Turns 2!

On Sunday, 11/11 out little Kera turned 2. It is CRAZY I can't believe she is 2 already but, I can't believe she is only 2...I feel like she has always been with us.

The birthday celebrations started on the evening of the 10th with Kera assisting me in making her birthday cake...

The morning started with a home video...

Then it was time for breakfast. Her favorite...pumpkin pancakes and yogurt.

After a morning snuggle with Abby...

...it was off to Centennial Park for a nice family walk on a beautiful fall morning.

After our walk we headed to a store called Play N' Learn. Play N' Learn sells outdoor play equipment but for a small fee the kids can play on the displays...what a great idea! The girls had fun swinging, sliding, and jumping!

While Kera napped Abby helped me make the icing for Kera's cake. No big surprise she chose purple, her favorite color.

Once Kera woke-up from her nap it was out to our local playground for some more playtime. Then, it was in for dinner. On the menu, more of Kera's favorites, mac-n-cheese, chicken nuggets, and peas.

While the girls waited for dinner Kera opened up her present from Abby, a stuffed kitty cat that looks a lot like our Billy.

A GREAT present from her big sister.

After dinner it was finally time for cake, YUM!!

After cake Kera opened the rest of her presents and played for a bit before it was off to bed. It was a very low key birthday this year but equally as special!

On Tuesday the 13th we had Kera's 2 year well check and here are her stats...

Height: 36 inches (90-95%)
Weight: 31.4 lbs (90-95%)*
Head: 19.25 inches (75-90%)

*I am going to have to redo this measurement. They weighed her with all of her clothes on and a full diaper.

The updated weight is 30.12 lbs, not as far off as I thought but it does chance her percentile to 75-90%.

Claude Moore Colonial Farm

On Sunday, November 4th we were searching for something to do with the girls so I went to our book shelf and pulled out our copy of, "Around Washington D.C. with Kids". In the book we found Claude Moore Colonial Farm and decided to check it out. This farm was such a fun experience! As they say on their brochure, when you walk on to the farm:

"You are stepping back in time to the year 1771, which is 3 years before the American Revolution began."

There are actors on the farm dresses as they would have been in 1771. The actors actively work the farm as if it belonged to them. When they were there they were building new root cellar and the actors were the ones doing the building. You get to interact with the people and they even ask you to help. The girls helped to collect kindling and Abby and I helped to make yarn out of wool. Kera had a great time chasing the farm cat.

Another fun thing about our visit is that we were the only guests there. We had the actors full attention. We learned so many things from them like, how tobacco was used as currency, how they weather proofed their house, and why they built their fences the way they did. Also, that the animal on the farm today (geese, turkey, pigs, chickens, and cows) are actually ancestors of the animals that were on the farm in 1771.

Here are a few picture from the farm (I should have taken more)...

The Claude Moore Colonial Farm was a GREAT find! We had so much fun that we want to go back every season to see how the farm is different.

Random side note: The farm's neighbor...the CIA in Langley Virginia.

Birthdays and Parades

Thursday, November 1st is Grandma Gwen's birthday and the girls continued their tradition of making their loved ones birthday videos. Here is their special video to their Grandma...

Thursday was also Abby's rescheduled Halloween party at her school. Abby was very excited to wear her costume again...

...and to have a party with her friends.

 Jim was able to go into work a bit late so that he could see Abby's Halloween parade. We were all happy that he got to be there. Also, Abby got to lead the parade and, as you can imagine, she was very excited!

I asked Abby later that day which costume she liked the best at her Halloween party and she said, "the witch".  Hers. That one little comment made all the stress over making their costumes completely worth it!

Abby says that next year she wants to be a mermaid. I wonder if she with stick with this decision like she did with the witch...we will see.

Haloween!

Even with all the craziness of hurricane Sandy, Halloween night was beautiful! The night was cool and crisp with a good amount of fallen leaves on the ground. Abby was beyond excited to go trick-or-treating and Kera was excited because Abby was.

First step...the outfit! I am surprised by this but, Jim and Abby made the decision last Halloween that Abby would be a witch this year and she stuck with it. I have heard of other kids changing their mind a million or 2 times but, not Abby. As usual I stressed over the costumes but, I think, they turned out great.

After the girls were dressed we went to meet other families in the neighborhood. There are so many kids in our neighborhood that I couldn't get them all in one picture so, I took a picture of the two most important...

Next, it was back to the house to light our pumpkins and put out our candy.

Jim and I both wanted to go out trick-or-treating with the girls so we decided to leave our bowl of candy at the door. Unfortunately, we found out from our neighbor, that all of our candy was taken by the first 2 visitors. We were not surprised by this but, we were definitely disappointed!

Kera was a bit tentative at first, she wanted me to carry her to every door...

I told her that if she did not walk to the door herself she then she would not get the candy. She quickly got the hang of it with the help of her sister.

It didn't take long before Abby and Kera were saying "next house" as soon as the people shut the door.

 This is Abby's 3rd year trick-or-treating so, she is a pro but, it is still so much fun to see how excited they get. As soon as she would get a treat she would turn to Jim and I and say, "look what I got", so funny.

On the other hand, this is Kera's first real trick-or-treating experience. Last year, I was pushing her around in a stroller. Kera learned to like getting treats VERY quickly. Our little candy monger would not wait for the people to give her candy. When a person would open the door she would quickly grab for the candy and grab as much as her little hands could carry. Thankfully, people were good about it. But Kera came home with about a third more candy than Abby.

Here are their there candy treasures...

We are not big candy eaters around here so on Halloween evening we asked the girls if they wanted to make a trade...they could keep 5 pieces of their candy and then if they gave the rest to us then we could go to the store and pick out a new toy. They happily agreed to the trade. Since all of our candy was taken so quickly, I used the girls candy to open our door back up to trick-or-treaters.

The following day I took the girls to the store for their new  toy. Kera came home with a Belle doll and Abby decided on an Ariel doll. I purchased a gallon of milk and 2 dolls for $24, I think this was a great trade and  hopefully they will agree to it next year too.

We were worried that we would miss Halloween this year due to hurricane Sandy, we are so happy that this Halloween happened and that it was as great as it was.

Art By Abby

Abby is getting really good at drawing! Here is her first ever attempt of a butterfly...

 

 

Here is another picture Abby did while we were at the cabin in Ohiopyle...

 

 

It is a mountain with a mountain climber holding a walking stick.

 

I hope both of the girls continue to like to draw and do crafts,,,I know I do.