Mommy Daughter Cookie Tradition

This year was our second annual mommy daughter cookie making adventure. You were so excited to get started. This year I decided I better make my cookie dough from scratch versus the store bought cookies (HA). You loved every minute of our morning from rolling the cookie dough all by yourself to putting the largest cookie cutter in the middle so we would have to roll the dough out again to your favorite part...SPRINKLES! If it were up to you each cookie would have an entire bottle of sprinkles on it, the more the merrier is your attitude when it comes to sprinkles.

I love starting our own traditions and this is going to be one of my favorites . . . just me and you! I love you....

Pictures to come....

Crack Crack is Back

Well it is that time of year again . . . Crack Crack the elf is back! We knew Kallie would be so excited to see him. This year he brought her a pair of Santa jammies on his first visit.

On top of the elf excitement we also decided to take a trip on the trolley with Cooper to visit Santa. Kallie and Coop were so excited they could not stop jumping up and down. A great time was had by all. Kallie even decided to write Santa and Crack Crack a letter when we got home. Let the holidays begin....

Oh Christmas Tree Oh Christmas Tree

On Sunday the Bates, Boatman(s) & Kelsey families set out on our third annual Christmas tree hunt. It is such a fun way to kick off the holiday season with family. The kids have so much fun running from tree to tree with excitement. Eventually we all found our trees and we ended our adventure with hot cocoa by the fire and of course a few trips on the train.

Kallie was so excited when we got home to get out the Christmas boxes so we could decorate the house. I decided to bring all of the Christmas boxes upstairs and let her explore. It was so fun to watch her take out the decorations one by one with a huge smile on her face. With holiday music in the background we had a great time decorating our tree. Kalie wanted to look at each and every ornament and ask “Is this one mine?”. . . And anytime she would see one she really like she would say “look how magical this ornament is”.

The holidays are off to a great start and watching Kallie's eyes light up is truly magical.

Thanksgiving 2013

This year we hosted our 2nd annual Thanksgiving dinner. We had a big group this year . . . 20 people. It was an extra special Thanksgiving because Ric and Thalene were here. It was a great night with lots of great food (thanks to eveyone) and wonderful family.

There are so many things I am thankful for it is hard to just share a few so I will sum it up by saying I feel very thankful to have an amazing husband and partner by my side, an amazing - smart- spicy - funny - healthy baby girl, our first baby Coho Monkey Bubbs Bates, supportive families and the best friends anyone could ask for . . . Wow I am one lucky girl!

Here are a few pictures from Thanksgiving and our time with Mimi and Papa - Kallie can't wait to see them again!!!

The Perfect Date With My Girl

On Saturday I planned a special mommy/daughter date with my girl. We started our morning with a trip to Starbucks for some special milk (AKA chocolate milk) and coffee. Then we made our way to the big show - Disney on Ice. This was not just any Disney on Ice it was Disney Princesses on Ice. We met a few of our PEPS friends at the show and the grils were all dressed in princess gear ready for the show.

Kallie's eyes literally lit up when she saw the first princess. She made sure to tell me the name of each character; yes she knew them ALL. I thought the show was great but watching my girl have such a great time was truly the best part.

Tonight at dinner Eric asked Kallie what her favorite part of the weekend was and she said princess on ice with mommy . . . my heart is full!

Fish On!

This weekend we took a little road trip to Eric’s buddy’s house in Cle Elum. Eric goes up there here and there to go fishing/hunting and has wanted to take Kallie up there ever since. Saturday was a sunny so we decided to make a day out of it. Kallie (and Coho) loved every minute of it especially fishing. Eric would cast and Kallie would help him reel it in. In fact, she caught the biggest fish out of everyone and made sure we all knew it.

Overall it was a fun morning adventure for all – I am excited to head over there in the snow. Here are a few pics from our adventure.

Happy Halloween 2013

We have been talking about Halloween ever since Kallie's Super Girl costume arrived three weeks ago. Kallie was so excited for the daycare parade and or course trick-or-treading in our neighborhood. We get hundreds of kiddos each year which is really fun and quite a change from zero trick or treaters when we lived in West Seattle.

Unfortunately Kallie came down with croup two days before Halloween so she was out of school resting up for the big day. We decided to send her to school on Halloween so she would not miss the parade (she and let's be honest I would be so sad if she missed it). She was a trooper that day but a bit tired/emotional during the parade but she did it.

When we got home she was done . . . she did not want to put a costume on or go trick-or-treating, it was just too much after a long day at school and still recouping from being sick. I will admit the thought of her not wearing a costume and not tricker or treating was so sad to me. As a parent you want your child to enjoy every holiday as much as you have envisioned it in your head but unfortunately that does not always happen.

At the end of the day she did go trick or treating for a bit and had a great time (no she did not have her costume on) but her favorite part was answering the door and passing out candy. I will admit watching her get excited each time someone knocked at the door and then snuggling on my lap until the next kiddos arrived was fine by me!

Pumpkin Party

Last weekend we went to the Wilson's house for a little Halloween fun. Kallie was so excited to go to a Halloween party and even more excited to wear her Super Girl costume. All of the kiddos had a great time carving pumpkins. Kallie was not so sure about taking the "guts" out so she decided to take every pumpkin seed out one by one! She chose triangle eyes, a triangle nose and a smiley face . . . that is literally the face I carved every year which made me smile.