December part 1

Andrew's faces these days... He sure can make us laugh. But now that he is 13 months he is more often scowling than looking surprised. 

 Our hand made gift exchange on Ryan's side of the family was fun this year. I made a family tree watercolor for Katrina. I had so much fun doing it, I might go into mass production and open up an etsy shop. I wanted to add leaves with their kids names on them to symbolize new growth vs. old. But I wasn't too confident in my leaf painting yet and didn't want to ruin it. Maybe I will have to add them later after some experimenting.

 Dennis was so excited to make these guns for Myer that he even made some more for his neighbor friend's birthday. They are marshmallow guns.

 Andrew looks so cute in the play mat that he made *cough*. We included a lego set that we searched out the pieces for from a tub of legos bought on craigslist- Homemade enough, right? And Zola actually helped me push the pj pants through the sewing machine. The shirt has a picture of Zola and Holland together and it says, "best friends". Zola Loves Holland and talks about her often. She keeps wanting to invite her to her birthday party. Unfortunately, she lives too far away.

 Andrew's favorite chair in the house is the one that Grandpa is sitting in.... wherever he might be.

 Zola kept asking if she could make ginger bread men... so we finally did. And, they were so delicious.

 Accidents happen when you are having fun... I don't even remember what happened. He was over it after 5 minutes.

 ... grandma's lap isn't too shabby either.

 Andrew was so proud that he was standing on the rocking chair. He thought that he was so big.

 He is getting pretty mobile these days, climbing onto things and getting pretty good at walking.

November

Zola's imaginative play this morning. We are playing Halloween. I'm a stick and Zola is a white bean. LOL. She cracks me up. 

 A day at the park on this beautiful fall day. Notice... Andrew is still bare foot. His cute surprised face is a permanent feature these days.

 Short sleeved shirts in November!? We will take it.

 Our 3 mile (one way) walk to school was the perfect hurrah before our long winter ahead. I wore pants and wished that I hadn't. I was sweating. They were doing construction on the Douglass trail with a big semi blocking the path- so for a ways we had to do some off roading down the snowmobile trail that got quite muddy. It was not ideal. but I was stuck there until we hit another road. Luckily, they were done by the time I turned around to head home.

 Grandma sent Andrew a present in the mail for his birthday. He LOVED it... more than we thought he would.

 ... But even with a toy made for walking with... he prefers the upside down bench for walking. LOL.

 ... nothing cuter than a baby in a "more on" hat.

 With Ryan working so hard at work, I am left to do most of the yard work. Lucky for me, Braden and Dennis were looking to earn some money and offered to rake the yard for $5! YES. That was a great deal. They worked hard for two days after school and earned $8 because I had to dump out all the bags half way through in attempt to find my lost phone... if you are wondering... it wasn't in the leaves, it was in the car.

 unlike Zola, who hated being in a leaf pile when she was a baby, Andrew was sooooo excited to be in the leaves. He thought it was the coolest thing and kept going in for more.

 Zola likes the piles of leaves now.

 I don't know what I would have done without those boys.

 Zola doing the job of returning books at the library all by herself for the first time.

 We can't be happy all the time...

 The best entertainment here in Pine Island is the car wash!

Andrew has found a new hobby... that I am not very fond of.

 ... some days playing the piano is harder than others...

 If you want Andrew to sit still just put him in a wagon. He will never move.

 These two were apparently exhausted at 6pm.

 I love spending time with my girl.

 The only time that Andrew throws a real tantrum is when you take him away from a wagon.

 It was a little too quiet... and where did Andrew go? Guilty... with the crackers.

 My mom with her brother and sisters at the burial of my grandma's ashes. It was good to say goodbye one last time. We love her.

 Dennis... the interior decorator.

Andrew's Birthday

This cutie turned one!!! 

 He is so cute. His face is most often a surprised look these days.

 My favorite picture ever. check out his legs.