Hallie's Explorations

Here are a few of the places I've found Hallie recently. My favorite is the corner cabinet. She was really stuck in there!

Christmas Tree Decorating

I did not get any pictures of Thanksgiving, as I hosted my parents, Matt's parents, Katy and Jesse, Mary, and the Peless' here for dinner. The kids and I made a hand turkey for each person to designate their place at the table. The feast, as Carson likes to call it, was good! On Friday I did early morning shopping with my friend Rhonda and then we headed to Anchorage to share a two room hotel suite with Grandma and Grandpa Howard. Matt went to the Shootout and I took the kids swimming at the hotel pool. Staying at a hotel with a baby is difficult! When we got home on Sunday, we put up the tree.

Hallie's Predicament

Daddy's Girl

 

More than the other two did, Hallie really has a thing for her daddy. She runs to him when he gets home and cries when he leaves. This is very sweet to see and a real ego booster for Dad!

Halloween

Pumpkin Carving

Matt enjoyed playing the photographer during this sequence. I left out a lot of really stupid pictures. I guess we didn't get a picture of the finished product, but he turned out good!

Our Visitor

In case you can't tell by the photo this is an enormous (the picture doesn't do it justice) brown bear on our deck licking our grill. Matt and I had a special up close encounter with one of God's special animal creations this fall. I think what drew him in was Matt's deep fryer full of grease sitting on that ledge in the photo. I guess that was a bad idea to leave that there. I just hate having food fried in the house, it really stinks! Well, we won't be doing any deep frying any time soon. That fryer was totaled. I was literally nose to nose with this bear, with our bedroom window between us.

Although Carson used to be Daddy's helper, he has been reluctant as of late. Montana, on the other hand, still likes to go to work with Dad. Matt was disappointed, though, when she said she needed pink Carhartts.

Our Big Back Yard

So we finally got our lawn planted and it's awesome! And we were able to buy an awesome playset from our friend who sadly moved to Texas. We surprised the kids by setting it up over Labor Day weekend while Hallie and I were visiting Katy in Juneau and the other two were staying with grandparents. It has been a lot of fun. I can't wait until next summer.

Tana Turns Three

Do you see Mom smiling in all the pictures? I found the secret to a happy, stress-free 3 year old's birthday. Get the cake from Safeway and have the party at the park! Thank you, Jaime, for suggesting something that should have been so obvious! Now why didn't I think to have Carson and Hallie in the summer? (This party took place at the end of August.) It was quite windy and we could not get the candles lit. I had to ask Tana to pretend she was blowing out her candles after the song. She did it without thinking twice! (Matt and I looked at each other and said that would never fly with Carson. :)

Birthday Party Meltdown

Montana had to give the boys a turn on her favorite, the tire swing. Doesn't Carson look triumphant?

Hallie Walking

Hallie Walking

Click on the pic to see the video of Hallie walking! You'll have to click on it again in the album.

Hallie Slide Show

Here are some of my favorite pictures of Hallie recently.

Big Girl Hallie

Naughty Hallie! I was flabbergasted when I caught her standing on the windowsill. Her bravery continues to amaze us, although, after a few tumbles down the stairs, she is wary of coming down on her own even though she has figured out how to do it. If she is upstairs playing, or has climbed halfway up the stairs and realized no one is there to keep her company, she will shriek and squeal until I notice her in her apparent distress and come accompany her back down. The problem here is that she doesn't usually make it all the way down before she decides to go the other direction again.

Fun in the Sun

Fun in th Sun

Although today is another gloomy day, I believe we've had more sun than last summer. It's easy to complain about the bad, but the good days, have been good! Thanks, Lord, for the glorious sunshine! Keep sending more our way...

Grandma's Camper

Grandma's Camper

Grandma has been kind enough to share her motorhome with us over the summer and we've enjoyed it. We use it at the jobsite where Matt is building a house and we went camping overnight one time. It is very handy and fun. Thanks Grandma Pam!

Happy Fourth of July

Summer So Far

Scroll down to read about our summer so far in chronological order. Then click on the picture above to see a few more pictures of the kids.

On the Fourth of July we enjoyed our small town parade and then came home for a nap. It started out dreary and overcast, but then the sun came out for most of the parade. We finished off the day with an indoor BBQ at Fischers as the weather decided to finish off the day with rain.

The Lake

We were invited to join some friends at Scout Lake one sunny afternoon and it was so lovely. The kids played in the water and sand on the shore, catching fish and "shrimp." The weather has been a good balance between sun and rain this summer, I feel.

Little Miss Mobile

Six month old Hallie has learned how to crawl! I was not expecting, nor prepared to deal with her newfound mobility this summer. The first thing she heads for is the DVD player/Satellite receiver, then she heads towards this little table.

She is growing up too fast! She is delightful.

Clamming

The beach was just brimming with clam enthusiasts and their SUVs on this, the last good clam tide of the season. I am not a clam enthusiast, but I do enjoy a sunny day at the beach. After walking down through the mud to snap a few pics, Tana, Hallie and I trudged our way back up to the dry sand to play and catch some rays. Carson got his share of clamming with Aunt Mary, Aunt Karen, Uncle Kenny, and cousins Christina, Kevin, Keith, Kyle, and Kaden.

The Deck

At the beginning of the summer, I convinced Matt that a deck was more important to me than a lawn right now. The kids enjoy playing in the dirt, but I did not enjoy the four foot step to get out the door, which made grilling difficult, etc. So, we put on the deck and I love it. I still deal with a lot of dirt....and the neighbors will have to suffer a while longer looking at our ugly dirt yard.

Roller Skating

Roller Skating

We went roller skating with the Sunday school department yesterday and had a lot of fun. It was good to do something all together. I wish I had grabbed the camera from Matt so you could see him on skates. What a stallion...now I remember why I married him. :)

MAKING MUD

Mud Play With Neighbors

There's just no point in telling your kids not to add water to dirt. Mud happens to be one of the more enjoyable things in life for a kid. I know from experience. I did ask them not to squirt the hose into this tub, which already had water left over from our lawn smoothing apperatus. I also asked them not to put dirt into the tub. I think I knew these instructions were futile as I was giving them. It took one to start it, and I won't say which one. :) Be sure to click on the picture to view the slideshow.

Carson Feelin' the Love

When the moon hits your eye...

Pizza Making

I had a hankerin' for pizza. It was drive to Papa Murphys or try our hand at making our own. I was very worried, because I had given up trying to work with yeast dough since a failed attempt in Tyonek. We gave it a shot though and it turned out beautiful! Our first ever homemade pizza -- crust and sauce -- was delicious. Click on the picture above to see the results. :)

Montana's Grass Skirt

Montana's Grass Skirt

Okay, so I wasn't prepared for this aspect of parenting. The part where my child has a few very impractical pieces of clothing that she wants to wear everyday, everywhere. Besides this lovely pink grass skirt, she discovered the Little Mermaid nightgown (very frilly) that she got for Christmas from Uncle Dave and Aunt Andrea (thanks, guys). I insist that she wears pants under the "Mermaid dress" when we go out because it is just a bit too short. Somehow I haven't taken any pics of her in the mermaid, but enjoy her Hawaiian dance moves by clicking on the picture above and playing the slideshow.

Hallie's First Food

When Hallie turned 4 months she got her first taste of rice cereal. She didn't really care about it. Since then she has tried applesauce and prunes (since she rarely ever poops anymore), but doesn't really eat it when I offer. She had her 4 month well-child check and is a healthy 14 pounds and 26.5 inches, 81st percentile for length and 50th percentile for weight. Despite her constant, smelly gas, she is happy most of the time and has the best smile!

Hallie and Her Lion

Hallie loves this lion she was given by our neighbors! The day after I shot the wrestling match I posted below, I took some pics while playing with the features of our camera. I thought the color effect was neat.

Wrestling Match

Hallie and Her Lion

Breakup

Our Blog

So I am trying out the blog method of posting pictures and stories about our family in an effort to make pictures of our rapidly changing children more frequent and up-to-date. I can't promise that I'll be good at it, but I am going to give it a try. I am rewinding a month to the last interesting photo shoot. (In my opinion.) Click on the picture above to be taken to a web album in which you can view the photos in a slide show (at a really fast speed for those of you with very little time on your hands :). Enjoy.

ps - you can also leave comments by clicking on the comments link after each posting.