monday. santa.

this popped up on our computer screen this morning when taylor was getting ready to log into starfall.com ...

watch here.

apparently, the elves have been studying up on their iMovie skills.

tuesday. tummy tub update.

cutest baby boy in his favorite tub. he's fallen asleep several times in it.

for those that were curious ... i won't ever buy anyone another baby tub again. worth every penny.

monday. tree hunting.

sometimes, life gets in the way of being online ... which, by the way, i am totally ok with. love it, in fact. but every once in awhile, i look at my poor little blog and think about how i really should keep up a bit more than i do.

that being said, several things have happened, most importantly, on 10.10.11 we welcomed another baby boy into our family, barrett. he's wonderful, mellow, happy, and sleeps like a dream. he's smiling, almost giggling, and his brother and sister think he's the coolest. even just two months in, we forget what it was like without him.

last weekend we went christmas tree hunting in northern idaho with the family—always a blast.

... always an event trying to get everyone to look at the camera. no luck yet!

... can't go christmas tree hunting without hot chocolate (and irish cream with coffee for the adults, of course)!

... barrett's first christmas tree hunt, and apparently, he's not impressed.

... grandma gayl and the littlest munchkin

... the whole lot of us!

... miss taylor dragging her find back to the truck.
... daddy and barrett.

... even trying to get TWO kids to look at the camera is just about impossible.
... grandma, kim, and taylor!

watch out for the blog blast that's heading this direction in the next couple days ...

saturday. little women, part deux.

taylor and i had the opportunity to watch little women, put on by the local children's theater tonight with a good friend and her oldest daughter—many thanks to another great friend who's always supporting the local arts. it was the perfect gift and it couldn't have come at a more perfect time!

not only was it a great play, it was so nice to get out of the house with friends and my oldest daughter for the night. it seems more and more i'm realizing that she's growing up ... even when I tell her not to. she cried at the saddest part of the play, which made me cry because i realized she's old enough to truly understand the depth of the story.

*sigh. why can't they stay little forever?

friday. ketch-up.

so many things to say, so little time to write:

august ... 7 1/2 months pregnant, nursery-finishing, outdoor fun, kidney infection (not part of the fun), 2 kidney stones, surgery, week-long stay at the ever-so-hospitable hospital. don't remember half of it. all i know is my husband is the best.

september ... 8 1/2 months pregnant, indian summer, first day of 2nd grade, cranky, tired, attempting to recover from previous excursion, getting no sleep and feeling awful as a mother and wife to the kiddos and husband. would indeed like to forget september ever happened.

october ... walking, stairs, jogging, corn-maze-ing, yoga-ing, labor-balling, baby-time! baby's first halloween, brennan's first spiderman costume, grandma makes taylor's lalaloopsy costume, finally time to start recovering.

november ... baby's first smile, thanksgiving with family—complete with wild turkey, 4x5 whitetail, and the end of hunting season!

december ... finally have a wonderful (happy!) husband home after hunting season, first trip to seattle as a family of five, tree hunting, baby sleeping six hour stints, and the promise of a sense of normalcy in the near future!

more to come ...

thursday. books.

thank goodness for my elementary school librarian auntie. i ran into quite a predicament in the last month or so. taylor, being the little reader she is, is excelling in the reading and comprehension department ... good thing, right?

kinda-sorta. while she may be ready for more challenging reading material, the content of these more challenging materials are most definitely not appropriate for a 7-year old. at least not mine!

'ahem ... dork diaries, anyone?'

so, for those of you with a need for more challenging reading, minus the middle school drama, here are a few pretty good places to start. just click each title to view the book and author information on amazon:

the penderwicks

betsy-tacy

the moffats

caddie woodlawn

ginger pye

the saturdays

ruby lu, brave and true

misty of chincoteague

harriet the spy

mrs. piggle-wiggle

pippi longstocking

there are so many great books out there for every age, and it's unfortunate that so many schools aren't paying attention to WHAT the kids are reading, and simply looking at their reading level. that being said, there are hundreds of amazing books at every level—we just have to help our kids find them!