A visit to Storybook Land

 Ethan's Preschool had a field trip to Storybook Land. It was very fun for the kids to see all their favorite characters in action.

The trains were a big hit.  I'm pretty sure Ethan would love to have it in our home!

 Lily had no worries about jumping up on Santa's lap. She knew there was a candy cane as a prize.

Ethan, on the other hand, had no intention of getting anywhere near Santa! Thankfully Baby Sister  shared her candy cane with him.

Merry Christmas!

First Oregon Christmas Tree

We are finally feeling settled here in Oregon! 

We had a wonderful summer filled with travel, family, sun and chickens.

 In August we moved to a farm about a half hour away from Corvallis. We love the area and we are enjoying the change in seasons. 

Even before we moved here I have been thinking about our first Christmas in Oregon. I knew we would be getting our very first real Christmas Tree! 

Luckily we have a Christmas Tree Farm just a short drive from our farm.

As we walked around the Tree Farm I asked Ethan what tree he wanted to take home. This is the one he picked out. I think he has watched Charlie Brown's Christmas Movie one too many times. I promised him we would put a small one (fake) up in his room.

Miss Lily had a good time hiding in the trees, collecting twigs and leaves and digging in the dirt.

Eli said when he was little his family would spend a good hour debating over what tree was the best. This year was no different. Here he is with the tree he wanted but I would not agree to. He wasn't too sad, though. We did finally find one we both loved.

This is the one!!

Good job Brother!

We are ready for the presents!

Strawberries Everywhere!

When I first wrote this post we were in full Strawberry Season. The kids and I pretty much over did it on Strawberries!

There were 3 strawberry plants in pots when we moved into our rent house. We have had such a good time watching them grown and get strawberries.

Our harvest was around 20 strawberries in total and we enjoyed picking and eating every singe one!

Lily is a Strawberry Addict. 

U-Pick is really big here in Oregon. At the Farmers Market you can buy a box of Strawberries for $20. At the pick-your-own we paid around $8 for over 8lbs!  

Escaping into the Blueberry Fields. Don't worry, kids, we will come back to pick our own soon!

Lily ate so many Strawberries that we offered to pay some extra. The guy just laughed and said it's all part of the experience.

We Love Oregon!!

First Visit to the Dentist

Ethan and Lily had their first visit to the Dentist and they both did great! Ethan got to sit in the big chair and got to play with all kinds of medical equipment. 

They both got new toothbrushes and got the okay to use fluoride children's toothpaste. 

Ethan really thought he was hot stuff!

Hope they do this good every time we go! 

Nature Walk....

Lunch on the Back Porch

Handy Helper

We rented our house off of Craigslist before moving to Oregon. One of our necessities was a fenced in yard. When we got here we found a piece of the fence missing. The previous renters had removed it to get to the side yard where they had a garden and were keeping a calf. 

Yes, that's right. They had a cow. 

Anyway, the owner didn't replace it before we moved in so he brought us wood and we thought it was a good excuse to buy a table saw!

Eli built a gate and put it in with the help of the little boy.

Measuring is key to getting things right.

Ethan with the new, painted gate.

We bought a ton of stuff off Craigslist when we first got here and one of the things I got was a vintage red cabinet. The lady graciously offered her husband to bring it to our house for free. As he was backing up to drop it off he hit our fence, damaging 5 of the pickets. He then gave me a $20 and left as quickly as he could.