Creative Genius?

Owen seriously made up a joke tonight: 

 Q: What do you call a bee fart?

 

A: A sting-ker.

 My 4 year old made up a funny fart joke.  In his brain. Yup.

Earning Those "Gingerbread Boys"

Owen is definitely sensing that the holidays are among us.  The neighbors have inflatable reindeer in their yard, packages are starting to arrive for him that he can't open yet, and the dead giveaway - Mom is listening exclusively to Christmas music.  

In the spirit of the season, Carrie and Owen decided to make what Owen refers to as "gingerbread boys" today.  One of the best aspects of Carrie staying home with O this year is that time can be spent forming traditions the right way.  They spent the better part of the afternoon making gingerbread cookies from scratch.

Owen was running this project from the very beginning.

 He picked the gingerbread cutter spacing (with a smile, I might add).

 He got them placed on the cookie sheet with intent.

He watched them bake, adding that extra level of care truly exceptional cookies possess. 

We decorated the cookies as a family, but I'm going to give Owen the intensity award here.  There were no shenanigans whilst frosting the gingerbread boys.  He gets this way when exuding creativity.  I'm hopeful about what that could mean about his interests in the future.

The boys dabbling in Prometheus' work - but in a much more delicious medium.

The little things that serve as evidence of a mother's love.

Christmas Fort

Owen decided his fort needed a little holiday cheer.

Thanksgiving 2012

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It's fairly relaxing, full of good food, friends and family, and you are celebrating all that you are thankful for. We were fortunate to spend this Thanksgiving with Staci and Brandon and their family. We've been friends for so long that their family is our family, and vice versa.

It has become a tradition to make Thelma's rolls for the holidays. It feels good to be able to carry that tradition along and I love that I get to use her hand-written recipe card every year. Owen helped out by punching down the dough and he did great. I think I have my official bread maker helper.

  

Staci is definitely the hostest with the mostest. It runs in the family. Her mom is a great home decorator and her sister is an incredible cook. Plus, Brandon makes sure drink glasses are always full. With their powers combined, it was a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Staci's sister has three kids who were over for dinner. Owen had a great time playing with them. Mom and dad had a great time relaxing, while Owen played with them. Win-win situation.

The kids played hide-and-seek for quite some time. It was Owen's first time playing the game, so he had to learn the rules.  He thought hiding under the table was the perfect hiding spot so kept going back.  He eventually caught on that doesn't work out so well.

It was the first time Staci and Brandon hosted Thanksgiving in their home, so the bird carving was a recordable event. I believe Brandon had a few cameras filming this.

We had a very nice Thanksgiving and are so thankful for our friends, family, and health. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Suspiciously Quiet

When am I going to learn my lesson? Quietness with a toddler, and a puppy actually, is not a good thing.

 "Mom! The dog threw mud at me!"

I think both guys are guilty. Fortunately, it's nothing nice, cold hose water couldn't fix. (Hey, it's 80 degrees here. I'm not that cruel.)

Getting Crafty With the Turkey

Owen and I decided to get into the fall spirit today and make some Thanksgiving crafts.

Working in a preschool has helped me come up with simple crafts on the fly. Nice little perk. Owen decided he wanted an alien turkey with teeth and a mustache. I went a little more traditional. 

Pretty turkey-lurkey fine, dontcha think?

Garbage Trucks!

Today Owen and I went on a little field trip to tour the city's solid waste transfer station. It was the kind of trip that only a little boy could truly love.

We got to see the garbage trucks come in and dump the garbage. Then a tractor pushed the garbage into a bigger truck. Owen loved it. I started to feel bad we don't recycle more.

Looks like Owen and truck drivers have a similar sense of humor since Owen thought this was hilarious.

Posing with the abandoned gnomes.

A Ghostly Night

My mom came into town this year to celebrate Halloween with us. Owen was really into it this year. He had been going back and forth on being a Transformer and Iron Man and at the last minute, he decided to be Iron Man.

We started off the day by going to Owen's preschool. The kids could wear their costumes to school and there was a short parade where the kids could show off their costumes. I, sadly, forgot my camera, but I'm sure you believe me when I say it was a very cute parade.

Later, my mom and Owen went on a bike ride while I got the chili ready for dinner. My mom is loving the weather. It's a little different celebrating Halloween in Phoenix versus Seattle.

Here we are all dressed up and ready to trick-or-treat. Owen was pretty shy at first, but very quickly put together what a good gig trick-or-treating is and had a blast going door to door.

A ghoulish moon set the tone for the night. (See the two ghosts under the moon? At least, that's how we saw it.)