Invitation Extended.

The cat came back the very next day. You thought she was a goner, but the cat came back, she just couldn't stay away...
Miraculously I was invited back; here is my guest post.
What's YOUR proverbial underwear?

Santa's Been Warned.

Take a look at Pea's letter to Santa and try to figure out which words she wrote and which Ty helped her with...it's a toss up to say the least. Also, Santa better watch his back; these letters sound as if she should have cut them out of a magazine and glued them with tweezers...
She would have taken this letter right to THE man himself when we got pictures taken with him, but I'm sort of glad I left this particular note in the car. I promised to send it to him ASAP. Here are the pictures we got of the Bell girls with Santa. Not the official one mind you, but this is EXACTLY what it will look like:

Seeing as how Harper had such a great time and Pea ripped a whole in her tights the size of my fist right before this; I'm thinking it was miracle a semi-decent picture was taken at all. I might note that Molly wasn't too jazzed about the old man either which surprised us all. Here are a couple more shots from the merry meet and greet...

Planes, Trains, and AutomoBELLS

Today we took an impromptu trip to old town Snoqualmie to see the Christmas train, peruse the shops (the candy shop was a hit for all including Ty who found MAPLE fudge), and stop at the brewery. Harper is officially obsessed with airplanes and today there was a helicopter holding up a key piece of the new Fred Meyer a block from our house (hallelujah! do you hear the angels singing?). Babe H gets the most excited about an airplane (or airplam as she calls it) of any girl I've experienced. Below is a shot of her face when she saw an airplam on our outing again today. The eyes say it all.
So glad we walked off the beaten path; turned out to be a little slice of heaven...
p.s. don't you love how Ty and Pea look like I'm lining them up for a mug shot below? nice.

Pea is for Perfect.

In her own special way. Everything about Pea is so funny and sweet and special to me right now. She poses like the above for every picture. It's her 1st choice pose. She says little funny things like, "him's" instead of "his." Or "Muffets" instead of "Muppets." She wears almost all 5T clothes right now, but her shoe size has remained the same since before we went to Hawaii. She LOVES her daddy and starts out many a sentence with, "My daddy..." does this, likes this, took me here, etc. When you ask her why she's beautiful she says, "Because God made me." When you ask her what she wants for Christmas you'll hear, "Barbies, Jasmine shoes (Sparkly Toms), and Bolt because my daddy and I like to watch it together."
She can count to 40, but can't seem to get past that illusive number. She writes her letters very well and asks to spell things almost every day. She still gets shy with people she doesn't know well, but is braver than I expect with other things.
She has constructed a fake house for a sticky toy gecko she got as a prize from the dentist. The "house" is a square piece of Tupperware that has a bed and plate to eat and drawings she did on post-it notes as art for his walls. I HAVE to take a picture of this. She must always have a paper towel while she eats cereal. She does NOT like to share anything barbie-related; the rest is up for grabs.
She HATES to get in trouble. She loves to wash her hands. She loves gumballs.
She likes to tell me she loves me more than I love her. Which I always state is impossible.

be merry.

This year's Christmas send out! December is here, can you fathom it?
p.s. If you did not receive one...
Please remain MERRY; I still love you.

Victory.

Hard fought, but I won. And today they are bringing a small smile to my lips...

The Hunt for Red (and green) December

I got the idea for this spin off the title from Andrea's blog; some of you may be wondering since you frequent both?
It wasn't copyrighted.
But I digress...
This year's Christmas Tree hunt felt like a vacation at a day spa compared to last year and might I add with much, MUCH better results.
A REAL tree. Full. Glorious.
We took a huge group (including 12 children under 10) to the Enchanted Winds tree farm in Hobart. There were laughs, coat throat competition, hot cider, and good company. Here are my favorite pictures from the day.
p.s. I'm secretly proud Andi used some of my photos since I steal from her quite often (see: above.) Also, funny note: Our tree almost fell off our car on the drive home, below is a picture of what Ty forced me to do for part of the ride home...hold the tree! To see more including a super cute one of Harper go here.