Turkey Trot

The Garage

She finally got to go to the Garage at the Children's Museum. Nora was so excited she didn't know where to begin!

Our Thankful Tree

We made a thankful tree. We are planning to add leaves throughout the month. Current leaves: Power Rangers, treats, coloring, Grammy...

A Real Date

Jeff took me to Raptor Ridge Winery today for a grown up date. We had a great time! We need to break free from our children more often.

Amanda Metz Photography

http://amandametz.blogspot.com/2012/11/olsen-5.html

This is the link to Amanda Metz Photography.  This is the blog post that she did for our family.  I will be posting our favorites soon!

Grammy Volunteers

Jeff's mom made a quick visit out to Portland.  It was a whirlwind of volunteering and fun!  I was able to volunteer in Nora's classroom and Kathy spent a morning volunteering in Ronan's classroom.  Grammy was also able to sneak out for a special outing with both of the big kids and even went to Clare's preschool!  We didn't let her rest for even a minute!

Fluttershy

Say "hello" to our new family member, Fluttershy, the goldfish.  We won two fish at the Cedar Hills Harvest Festival.  They survived just long enough for us to buy a real tank and all the fancy accessories.  By the time the tank was ready for the fish we had already lost one.  Within hours of placing the remaining fish in the tank he was sucked into the filter.  Ronan was able to give me a gruesome account of the incident.  Despite the tragedy, we bought another fish, one that we hope survives...

Ronan: Basketball Star

Ronan's basketball team is really good at cheering!  The kids on the team are three and four years old and they love playing- especially the game!

 

And he scores!

Halloween Fun

Mario!  Don't you just love that mustache!

These kids kept themselves entertained in the lines at the Cedar Hills Harvest Festival.  The kids had a great time!

Of course the highlight was winning TWO goldfish.  Unfortunately they didn't last long!

Fruit Loop

 

We went to a pumpkin farm and an apple farm along the fruit loop.  We had a wonderful time!  We went to Rasmussen Farm to really enjoyed all the Halloween decorations.  The kids each picked out a pumpkin.

After the pumpkin farm we went to an apple farm and picked apples.  Nora and Ronan had both done apple tastings in their classrooms and agreed that golden delicious apples were the best.  We came home with a giant box full of apples!

Nora's Birthday Celebration

This year we celebrated Nora's birthday with a sleepover with her best friend, Aubrey.  The next morning we went and got pedicures!  It was so cute to see the girls get their nails done!
We also went out to the horse races on Nora's birthday.  The kids loved viewing the horses and then waiting to see the winner!  We won two dollars too!

Yurt Camping with the Grandparents

We took Jeff's parents camping in yurts!  We have been telling them how much fun it is to camp in a yurt at the beaches in Oregon.  We stayed at Beverly State Park and LOVED it.  The yurts were very close to the beach and we spent a lot of time playing in the sand.  I am sure that Grammy and Papa will be going on many more yurt adventures with us!

Clare's First Day of Preschool

Clare started preschool this fall at A Child's Way.  She goes to school one day a week.  I stay with her in the classroom for an hour and then I leave for a brief parent meeting, before returning for snack and circle time.  It's a fantastic program and we are really enjoying it.

Nora's Kindergarten Picture

Isn't she beautiful?  There's something so "official" about this picture, yet Nora still manages to shine with her own personality.
The funny thing about this picture is that her shirt is on backwards.  And the reason I know this is because I volunteered in Nora's classroom on picture day.  And as she was standing in line, waiting for her picture, she lifted up her shirt and blew her nose.  Yes, that really did happen.

Kindergarten Halloween Party

 

 

One of the many unexpected responsibilities that I took on this Fall included party planning for Nora's Kindergarten class.  I am not the most logical choice for a role like this, but I feel so lucky to be able to be such a big part of her class.  The party was fantastic and Nora loved every minute of it.

Kindergarten Pajama Day

 

Nora loves pajama day at school more than anything else in the entire world.