for my mom and dad...mostly :O)

A TON....

and I mean

A TON of Pictures......so enjoy!
ps...remember, this is mainly for my ma and pa, so if you actually stick around and read all of this and look at all of the pictures...don't blame me if you get bored! :O)
I warned you .....
also...I wrote a ton about most of the pictures you will be seeing at the bottom. Therefore, if you would like an explanation for the pics...you'll have to go to the end :O)

directly below are a few of our halloween pictures...not all of them, but some :O)

Then even more below, are the December pictures:O)

ok...here's' the thing...

it was taking way too long to update all of my pictures on this one post. So I have posted a bunch from december....but there are still quite a bit more.

I've put the remaining on slide shows, so we'll see how it works.

This is going to be very unorganized....but at least my family can see what we're up to.

I'll try my best to make this function properly ;O)

SLY

Ok folks,

Betty Boop is really cute (I've always thought so....) BUUUUUUUUT~ I am really really REALLY tired of looking at her cute little picture.

Therefore, I realize it is time to UPDATE!

So here I go...and this is going to be a long one folks, so sit yourselves back and hold on tight :O)

And just as the Title implied...this is mostly for my ma and pa...if I don't get them their "pic-fix" quick....they just may dis-own me :O)

Ok...let's see...where should I begin.

I'm going to have to start clear back in October....because I never posted Halloween pictures of our kids :O)

Eliza had two costumes, the first being "the princess bride/Princess Buttercup". This all came about because Oliver LOVES LOVES LOVES the movie "Princess Bride"... and if you could guess, he really loves the sword fighting part (or as he says "swort fight" :O). Therefore, he was "The Dread Pirate Roberts...and yes, they of course made a DELICIOUS duo! The costumes turned out really cute. I didn't make them from scratch, but I did transform them from other articles of clothing :O)
Oliver loves his "swort" and still is always asking to play with it.
Eliza's second costume (due to weather and messy food) was a big cozy, and yet again, VERY DELICIOUS Lady bug!
This costume was also for my mother, who pretty much IS a lady bug herself :O)

So that is that! OH wait...I FORGOT! Aaron and I dressed up too :O) I was a very friendly witch :O), and Aar was, drum roll please............... A NERD!
Next year I think we're all going to dress up as "The Ghost Busters"....Oliver is really into that movie lately (I promise he doesn't watch movies all day :O).....
But he really wants to wear the proton pack ( he calls it a proton "tack" :0), so if he is still interested....we just might do that :O)

Anyway, let's see....

November was an interesting month. It seems so long ago now, and I can't remember too much that happened. It rained A LOT, which made for a TON of fun playing in mud puddles, a tiny creek that we run by, and the mud that once was our playground!
We also had a really fun Thanksgiving with our friends!
This was also the month that I heard about Nursing school. I definitely will not be starting in January, but April already seems to be coming fast...so I am grateful for the delay :O)

December has been a fun month. I won't lie...Oliver has been really REALLY tricky! I've considered buying ONE plane ticket and heading southwest for the winter....(HAWAII!)
However, I think I'll be able to manage, but sometimes that seems like the best idea for me....and for the kids :O)
My sis also came to visit! This was really fun. She helped me organize our upstairs living quarters...and that was really really REALLY heaven sent. I must have order in my life or I quickly fall apart at the seams :O) ( you would have never guessed that if you'd have seen my bedroom growing up....ps. Sorry mom :O)
We stayed up REALLLY REALLY late talking, and even going for a "coke" run. That was fun :O)
We also spent a LOT of time looking at my new-found FAVORITE FAVORITE MAGAZINE! I have never been a "magazine-looker"....until this one came along, and now I am having anxiety attacks waiting for the next months edition to come out! (It should be soon...YAY!)
Are you ready for the name of the Magazine................ ATHLETA
If you have never heard of it before, you have to check it out. I love pretty much everything in the whole magazine. The models are really pretty...especially one in particular who is now hanging on my fridge to give me Hope and encouragement... (that, or make me feel really bad about myself :O)
Just kidding, these models aren't string beans....THEY ARE TOUGH! Especially the one that I really like.
Anyway, enough about that.
You can check it out for yourself....here is the link: http://www.athleta.com/
(Ps..aar was just looking over my shoulder and said "Don't tell me your going to put a picture of that model on your blog..." Ah, that's funny :O)

This month was also very historic in our lives because we FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY got real grass in our courtyard! HOORAY!
Ever since we've been here in this apartment (June of 2005), the grass out back where kids play has been not really grass at all. It's been mud with a few little greenish, but mostly brownish STUBS scattered here and there....not fun to play in AT ALL!
They did a TON of construction, and in the end we got Green - luscious - BEAUTIFUL Grass. It really is all very exciting. December also brought a REALLY FUN CHRISTMAS holiday break! It started with the hanging of our VERY fun christmas stockings, and then setting up the tree. Oliver loved decorating it, and did a really really great job! Eliza loved it too!
The night our tree was decorated and all lit up....Santa paid us a very nice visit!
After the kids had gone up to get ready for bed, Santa slipped in and put a very nice little package under the tree.
I quickly ran upstairs and told oliver of the NEWS...and we all scrambled down stairs to see what Mr. santa had left.
Of course we let oliver open it...... and guess what it was????? A book.... "CHILLLY BILLY!!!!" This was a gift from Santa mainly to Oliver and daddy! It was a book that daddy had gotten for his fifth birthday from his grandma katz...The VERY BOOK! Aaron had just been telling oliver stories from this book that he could rememer off the top of his head at bed time every night. Oliver loved the stories so much....and always wanted more! Well...Aaron knew he had the book somewhere, but he could never find it..... Luckily~ I'm pretty good at being sneaky, so I found the book, and hid it. I waited for the perfect time to let oliver and daddy unwrap it....It was very fun, and they loved it SO MUCH! After this, when we asked oliver if he wanted to sit on Santa's lap...the first thing he said is that he wanted to tell Santa thank you for the chilly billy book!... He really does have a sweet spirit....sometimes he just likes to hide it :O)


We planned a FUN stay-cation, as we did not travel anywhere for the holidays.
Our "stay-cation" started on December 22nd with a hike at Arastadaro. Our friends joined us and we had a really fun time! The kids looked for "critters and animals" under old logs....but we didn't find much. It was really fun and most importantly Oliver had a great time. We really wanted this "stay-cation" to be geared towards things we thought he would just go crazy for....and hiking was a good choice. He was at the head of our excursion nearly the whole time. He never tired once, and he was very happy the whole time.....that was a good pick :O)
We also planned to have a fire that night and sleep outside in a tent. The tent part didn't quite work out as it was rainy and very cold.
However, the Fire was a blast. We tell stories to Oliver every night at bed time, and one of his favorite stories is how I used to go camping with my grandparents and we'd make hot dogs and S'mores by the camp fire.....
Therefore we did just that! He loved having the hot dog, and he really loved eating the S'mores! We also decided to let the kids roll out and bake their own cookies! So we came in, got warm, turned on a cute little christmas show... and let the kids do their cookies! It was fun; They did a really good job.
That was our longest "stay-cation" day :O)
The second day included a walk to the park, but oliver was going to ride his bike all the way there!
He and his friend made it all of the way to the "train park" on their bikes, and it was very impressive!
We played for a while, and then it got REALLY cold! We stayed and had a picnic of a fresh salad bar (Aaron and I's new favorite :O), then also: cheese, crackers and oranges!!!!

On the day of Christmas Eve we went and flew Oliver's new Airplane kite that he received from somebody he really ADMIRES!!!! Britton! A few sunday's back, Brittion told oliver that he had a christmas present for him. Oliver couldn't believe it when he saw it...it was in a realllly long case, and beautifully wrapped. He couldn't wait to open it, so we opened it as soon as we got home. And it couldn't have made him happier. It was too wet and rainy at the time to go fly it....so we waited for the perfect timing....and Christmas Eve morning was it! We took it to a big field and flew it for quite some time! Oliver thought it was so cool!!!!

Christmas day was a huge success. Oliver's gift from Santa was a Really COOOL tree house bed tent...and he LOVES it SO MUCH! He can't wait to sleep in it at night, and we also read "chilly billy" in there by the light of our lantern! Oliver just loves it. Eliza's gift from Santa was a "tea party set"...this included: pots, pans, utensils, dishes, and cookie making supplies. It's really cute. However, I knew this would be the case, but Oliver is definitely more into it than she is...so she'll have to "grow" into it!
Oliver's stocking included something also that was a big hit... SCISSORS!!!!!! Oh my goodness, I have never seen a person look so cute cutting paper into tiny pieces! This is seriously what we spent most of our time doing on christmas day....cutting cutting cutting! He worked so hard to get it down, and I was so proud of him when he could do it all by himself.
The kids also got "wood people" that I made for them. It wasn't a HUGE hit...but I think eliza will like them more when she gets a little older (hopefully :O).
Christmas day was just really really fun! I loved seeing oliver get so excited. He loves Santa so much, and he is always wanting to tell him thank you....he really is a sweet kid.
We also "accidently" started a new and really fun tradition in our family.... every night before bed, the kids put baby Jesus to sleep on his manger under the christmas tree.....
Oliver would wrap him up (very strategically) in his blanket, and give him a kiss and a squeeze, and then hand him over to eliza so she could give him a kiss and a squeeze too...then he would take him from her (sometimes nicely, sometimes not :O) and lay him on his manger (that he made) and put him under the christmas tree! They would tell him good night and that they loved him on their way up to bed (oliver mostly :O)
It was very sweet.

We also continued our stay-cation and went to another fun hiking place called "Huddart-Park". We really love this place because not only is it absolutely beautiful...LUSCIOUS green...but also because it is full of fun critters to spy on! You can lift up nearly any log and find something really cool hiding underneath it! It also has banana slugs which are really cool too! They are huge, Yellow, and really slimy!

Ok folks, I think I'm going to be done now with all of this typing... enough is enough, right :O)?

I hope you enjoyed all of the pictures...and we'll just be in touch!
sly,
joni ann