November 2011

After Halloween I remembered about this Witch Hat...oh well, Ellia still had fun wearing it around for a few days.  Here she is playing with my old Tupperware stencils...she is getting very good at them.

On November 6th I ran my first half marathon. I felt pretty good the whole time and finished about what I expected to, 2.11.

Jeremy and the grisl were SO supportive, they didn't even get mad when I spent about an hour in the finishers village to eat breakfast and get a massage.

Ok, well I guess they had their moments.

I deserved to take teh rest of the day off right?  Nope, I guess the girls missed me enough that they thought I needed some medical attention - I ended up playing Dr.

The next morning Jer and Lia made Ashlyn a special birthday pancake. I am always so impressed by Jeremy's unconventional methods of food decorating!

She loved it.

For lunch we met a few friends at one of Ashlyn's favorite places...Chuck E Cheese.  Then we had some families over for a little party that night.

Not everyone was as energetic as Ashlyn.

A few days later we got to celebrate another birthday party at MyGym...the girls always have a blast there.

Put your nose on something blue.

First snow of the year! Took a little hike near Tehachapi and got to play in the snow a little. 

At one point we were all walking in a line holding hands and Jeremy said, "Do you think there is room in this family for more kids?" Ellia, at one end, responded, "There;s room over here."

Gotta love this silly face.

Didn't quite make it to the end.

A playdate before thanksgiving where we made hats and went on a scavenger hunt down the street, looking for fall leaves, pumpkins, scarecrows and other festive stuff.

I am becoming more willing to try little crafts since I joined Pinterest...here is my Thanksgiving friend treat.

Chevron sponsered an event at NOR called Robots for Tots.  I took Ella and Nicholas and let Ashlyn play at the Reynolds.  The event was so much cooler than I ever imagined! All for free!

It started with a free shirt and two robot story readings. Then the kids had tables full of recyclables to make their robots however they want to, and a table full of bling to decorate.

We met Danny there (SO grateful for his mom who helped me with the three kids I had!) Danny's Robot ended up being in the top three!

Ellia's

Nicholas would have nothing to do with bling.

Ella had a fun name for her Robot, Sparkle Star girl or something.

Some of my favorites.

Besides free lunch, Ellia got two brand new hardcover robot books, the shirt, and two packages of legos.

We had such a blast, I sure hope it works out for us to go next year.

This year our Thanksgiving trip was to Monticeto Lodge in Sequioa National Park.

I didn't realize how much we'd be in the snow and poor Ashlyn didn't have great boots...once Ellia realized what her winter boots actually WERE, she plomped and plodded through as much snow as she could find.

We looked back on one of our hikes and caught the girls doing this little number!

The lodge was all inclusive which was SO fun!  The girls LOVED the bunk beds, but I think throughout the night everyone but me played musical beds and ended up trying out each one. "This bed is too high, this one too low, ah, just right!"

The activities were included so the night before Thanksgiving we had a bonfire in the snow and made s'mores.  In the morning we went sledding with a 'guide.' He lead us to a fun place on the other side of their lake.  We had to walk past the people doing archery and I SO wanted to try that, but alas not enough time.

The lodge, complete with outdoor hot tub, which also would have been fun but SO freezing...the fire was much nicer!

Our quarters, before we left we played some games in the lodge and the girls got to do a beading craft.  It really was so fun, even down to the buffet style meals and family seating.  Lot's of fun people to talk to.

Our thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant near the visitors center...Jeremy said it was the best one we've had, the girls weren't as enthusiastic and didn't eat much.

They must have had enough to eat though because it wasn't long after that they konked out in the car. Another VERY memorable Thanksgiving.

That night I met a friend to line up at Kohls for Black Friday deals.  It was my first time shopping on Black Friday and I LOVED IT. I think the fact that this year most stores opened at midnight rather than 5am made it more appealing to me.  I got everything I wanted...well execpt that I went again the next morning to a few places and missed out on a $25 Little Tikes Picnic table I have been wanting. Boo. I did get a bedding set at Kohls for $160, originally around $500!!