Snow adventure

For the week of 1/14-1/20

 This is what happens when Reid gets his own bread...

 Miles and I went to Twos Together at the library! He loved it.

 Then we built some puzzles. Too bad we were missing one piece.

 Reid made a sign, it says, "Reid's restront."

 Hahaha

 Here's what winter looks like in Oregon. Miles and I played outside in the mud, then when Ru and Reid came home from school, they joined us!

 It was very cold after a while, so we went inside to make some homemade hot chocolate.

Aftermath.

 

I went in for some allergy testing. It turns out I do in fact have a pistachio allergy. So sad. I also had a reaction to peanuts and cashews, so the allergist says to keep eating those in case I develop an allergy some day. Apparently if you stop eating something you have a propensity to becoming allergic to, that could trigger an allergy. So interesting, because I hadn't had any pistachios for a long time before the one time I had that bad reaction. So cashews and peanuts it is for me! He also did a grass allergy test and that one was the worst! So itchy! I definitely have hay fever. So now I have an epipen and carry that and benadryl with me just in case.

 Andy and I took Miles out for a date at Starbucks since we had a gift card.

 Reid painted this at school.

 Laying on the tiny doll bed. Hah!

 Reid found a worm! Our kids really love worms.

 We busted out the wood and lit a fire. It was soooo lovely.

 The kids all got a bath, then we settled around the fire while I read The Long Winter. Best evening ever.

 Reid had the idea for this cool butterfly art. I helped him pull it off.

 Ruby wanted to wake Miles up from his nap, which was so sweet. We really don't need a baby monitor anymore, but it's still cute/fun to have.

 On Monday it was MLK day, so no school. We woke up early in the morning, got in the car...

 ...and headed up Mount Hood! We got there nice and early. The snow was a little icy, but just the top layer. There was this fun igloo there that someone had built the day before. The kids had lots of fun playing in it.

 Building a tiny snowman. The snow was decently soft below the top ice crust.

 Miles kept following Ruby, then I had to follow Miles. I kept going hip deep in the snow though!

 We did some sledding, not a lot. It was super fun though! We went to an old sled hill called Snow Bunny. They used to operate it and you had to rent tubes, etc, but now it's just a free for all. Perfect.

 We had gotten new boots and gloves for Reid, and he stayed super toasty warm. So opposite of when we went to the snow with him as a baby when he screamed for a few hours.

 <3 Andy looks so handsome and distinguished with the gray in his beard.

 I love my family. We brought some hot chocolate and that was a big hit.

 Then Andy and the kids dug a snow tunnel!

 Kicking through to the other side.

 He was pretending the Bilibo was his puppy.

 We left Snow Bunny at around lunch time and went to a nearby ski lodge to eat our packed lunch! It worked out perfectly. And we ran into Ruby's teacher Mrs. Wick there skiing with her kids!

 Trying not to fall asleep on the way home. Miles took a nice nap.

The wet snow clothes pile that took two days to dry out. Haha!

Ruby gets her ears pierced

For the week of 1/7-1/13

Ruby decided she wanted to get her ears pierced for her birthday! We did it a little early, on the 10th, because she also wanted to do spring soccer. It turned out they recommended she still not take them out by the time soccer would have started, but she wanted to pierce them anyway. I'm glad she did, because soccer is cancelled this year after all.

Funny story... we got Reid a Brio train car with this remote for his 4th birthday, so a year and a half ago. Shortly afterward, we lost the remote part. The train still had buttons on it, so it worked and was a lot of fun. We couldn't figure out for the life of us where the remote was though! I figured someone accidentally threw it away or something. So in January I started cleaning out the linen closet and reorganizing because we were changing the kids' beds and no longer needed crib sheets. Lo and behold, I found this way at the back at the bottom of the sheets we never use!! Mystery solved.

 We get so much rain in January. I took Miles to church to kick a ball around in the big mostly unused gym.

 And, of course, he wanted to run down the tunnel too.

 Helping Mommy clean the mirrors.

 Time to start with the undies! He got some for Christmas. He didn't do so well in them at first, but they sure were cute. He's doing much better now though!

 Throwing sticks and pinecones on a walk. Hah!

 Train time!

 Drawing time!

 Ruby's unpierced ears. She was mostly excited, only a little nervous.

 Getting too big for his crib. He was just constantly climbing out. But he's so sweet when he's asleep.

 Ruby made this hat at school!

 Friday after school I picked Ruby up and headed downtown to a piercing studio! She was so excited.

 She did so so so well. She was hardly scared. The guy was super great and gave her great instructions, including to not touch them at all!

 Reid and his friend Caleb. They're in the same class at school, and he lives down the street, so they spend a lot of time together!

 We got Ruby's new mattress in the mail! We got her a full size bed so Miles could have her twin. The neighbor kids were all over playing in the yard, and they all wanted to come in to see the mattress be opened. Hah!

 Ruby had to soak her ears in salt water twice a day, and she did really good with it! They never got red or crusty at all, and they've healed really well now.

 Reid set up a picnic for Baby Pluto.

 They like to play that these pool noodles are leaf blowers! Haha

 Playing on the new mattress. It was supposed to sit for 48 hours before use. 

 Reid got all of the banana bread ready for everyone.

 He shoved a macaroni noodle up his nose!!!! Thankfully it came right out. This kid...

 Last nap in his crib!

 We changed the beds all around on Saturday. He was so excited.

 And Ruby loves her new big bed!

 Frances came over to play for a little bit on Sunday!

 Concentration...

 Fran also came over on Monday for a bit too! She and Miles get along so well. I got some play ideas from MOPs, so we did pipe cleaners in this colander for a while.

 And they played horses.

 And then played with shaving cream and food coloring inside ziplocks.

 He was trying to change his diaper. Hah!

Then we did a shaving cream cloud experiment when the big kids got home! So fun.