Clifford's Kindergarten Pic

Tricia and Riley Visit!!

My sister-in-law Tricia and two-month-old Riley flew up from California for a week and a half visit. They stayed with us for four days before heading down to Yakima to visit the rest of the family. It was a very enjoyable visit. And Riley is so adorable! I loved every minute holding him, feeding him, changing him. Clifford and Kristjan still had school to go to, but Pete and I were able to show Tricia around a little bit. We took a trip to the mall. We spent some time at the Science Center and Seattle Center before going out to dinner. Friday we packed up and headed down to Yakima for an early Thanksgiving dinner, and for Tricia and Riley to stay down in there for the remainder of their trip.

Playing with Scissors

A few weekends ago, during a conversation with Kristjan, I found out that him and Clifford had cut each other's hair with their craft scissors. "It was just a little bit" according to Kristjan. I warned them, with Clifford in ear-shot, that if Pete or I caught them cutting their hair again, they would be in big trouble! Well, an hour after this conversation, after the boys finished taking their bath and got themselves dressed, Pete calls me into the their bathroom to take a look at the boys. Even after my warning, they decided to cut each other's hair-and this time it wasn't 'just a little'. It was very noticeable. I was furious, especially after I had JUST finished talking to them about this. So as punishment, I made Pete buzz their hair off. Clifford was not happy with me at all! And Kristjan was frustrated because now his hair is too short to play with. Maybe next time they will think twice before deciding to give each other a haircut. Hopefully.

BEFORE

Clifford realizing his 'punishment'
AFTER

Turkey Song

I still can't upload video onto my blog. But check out the link to the video on my Facebook. Kristjan is singing the "Turkey Song" he learned in preschool today :)
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1676045788474

Tooth Fairy

Wednesday night after Clifford lost his first tooth, he was excited and anxious to get to bed as soon as he could so the tooth fairy would come visit him. Pete and I ended up putting the boys to bed early that night. Typically when the boys are in bed early, we leave the light on and they can read books until they get sleepy. Clifford, however, made it clear to Kristjan that he could only read one book, then the lights would go off because he wanted the tooth fairy to come now. Also, he made Kristjan sleep with his head at the foot of their bed so the tooth fairy wouldn't have any problems reaching under his pillow for his tooth (they have bunk beds, but Kristjan and Clifford always sleep down below with each other). Clifford also had me write a note to the tooth fairy, letting her know that his tooth was indeed under his pillow for her.

The next morning, Clifford excitedly showed me what the tooth fairy left him: a whole $1!! I asked Clifford if he saw the tooth fairy during the night, since he told us he was going to try to wake up when she came so he could see what she looks like. Clifford said "No, but Kristjan did!" Oh, really?!

Me: Kristjan, you saw the tooth fairy last night?
Kristjan: (eyes get big and excited) Yes!
Me: What did she look like?
Kristjan: (he holds up his thumb and forefinger, barely apart) She was so tiny!! And I saw her make the dollar!!

I just smiled and held in my laugh until I could get away with the phone and call Pete to share this conversation. We had a good laugh at what Kristjan said.

How exciting to have our firstborn lose his first tooth. Wasn't he just a toddler yesterday?! :)

Clifford's First Tooth

Clifford lost his first tooth tonight at dinner!! He's anxious to see what the tooth fairy brings him tonight!

Clifford's Hair

One morning before school, this is what I found Clifford doing after his bath. It was too cute. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to take a few pictures. Anyone who knows Clifford knows that he is all boy: plays in the dirt, always has holes at the knees of jeans, usually has a juice mustache left over on him, etc. So it's a little surprising to me lately that he cares so much about how his hair looks. Every morning he'll spend about 10 minutes in front of the bathroom mirror brushing his hair just the right way. He does not like it when a piece of hair is sticking up. This drove him crazy before his last hair cut since he has curly hair like me, and as it gets longer, it gets curlier. He would be so frustrated, he'd ask me to cut the piece of hair off so it wouldn't stick up anymore! I love looking at these pictures, though. It's another side of Clifford that's fun to see :)

Advance Notice

Official invites will be mailed out in a few months, but just a little heads up that I have set the date for Clifford and Kristjan's combined birthday party. Doing this for the first time last year was a success and it makes it much easier for family to only travel to our place once. The party will be Saturday, February 5th. Save the date!

Trick-or-Treat

We ended our Halloween weekend with a bang! Pete and I headed over to Daniel and Jessica's in Tacoma, since they were watching our boys for us while we went out to Freak Night. From there, we all headed over to Olympia to Devon and Erin's house (best friends of Daniel and Jessica). We had pizza for dinner before getting all the kiddos dressed up in their costumes to go trick-or-treating. This was actually Clifford and Kristjan's very first time to go trick-or-treating. In the past, we took them to either a church or community function for Halloween. So this year they were going to experience a true traditional Halloween. We started first going around Devon and Erin's neighborhood. As we were halfway down the street, Clifford and Kristjan (and even Damien) kept asking if we were done and if they could go back home because they were getting tired!! They pushed through and finished up the neighborhood. From there, we all drove down to Devon and Erin's old neighborhood from which they had just moved from. By this time, it's already past 8pm. Pete, me, and kids are all ready to just go to bed. But we pushed through and stopped at a few houses before hitting up our final destination-the Haunted House!! It was pretty good. I love it when families show their Halloween spirit and go all-out on decorating. I was seriously a bit scared, because half the time I couldn't tell what was a prop and who was an actual person in costume, waiting to jump out at me! After all was said and done, we headed home. We made it home after 11pm!! and both boys were passed out in the car, so they didn't get a chance that night to look in their bag at all the candy they collected, which was perfectly fine with Pete and me. We had a blast though. We may make this our new Halloween tradition.


Standing out in the cold, trying to look 'chipper'




This pic is awesome. Right as the camera flashed, Clifford scared Kristjan, who didn't want to stand next to the puppet in the first place.
This was the look on Kristjan's face after the 'prop' (guy in costume) in the electrocution chair popped up at the boys, scaring the bejezus out of them!

This pic was staged by me, but honestly, I did jump a bit when the guy popped up at me. He was freaky!

Kristjan didn't want his pic taken next to the devil unless Pete was with him. The devil let Kristjan hold his cane to make him feel more at ease

Freak Night

Freak Night was AWESOME!!! It's Seattle's biggest Halloween rave they put on every year, and it was my very first concert I've ever attended. I had a blast! For over eight hours that night, I was just 'Sarah' on a date with 'Pete'-no little ones yelling "mom" every five minutes, no responsibilities (thank you Daniel and Jessica for watching the boys for us!). We double-dated with Gordon and Michelle. Our theme costumes were Scary Clowns, and Gordon spent the entire night on stilts. We looked pretty good; we were constantly getting our pictures taken. Gordon, Michelle and Pete entered the costume contest there and made it in the top 20 (I had lost my ticket inside the venue and couldn't sign up to compete with them). I actually ran into my old childhood friend Felicia there; that was exciting. Every act that was playing were good, but I really was there to see Infected Mushroom, who were the last act to play at 2am. I told Pete my goal was to make my way to the very front of the main stage by the time they started playing. And I did!! I was seriously giddy with excitement being in the very front row to see my favorite band perform. And they put on a fantastic performance. We left just before the show was over so we could beat the huge crowd out (there were 10,000 people in attendance!), and I rode in my very first taxi! Yes, I'm a dork; I was very excited about this. After a little snack, we finally made it to bed at 5am. It's funny though because during the night, Pete and I would occasionally tell each other "I'm too old to be doing this!"; we were tired from being up past our 'bedtime', and our bodies ached from all the dancing. But it was worth it. I definitely want to go again next year. I'm already thinking of our next Halloween costume :)







Infected Mushroom!!!!




The morning after at breakfast, looking like our normal selves.