Family day filled with downtown & gingerbread.

The 2011 Gingerbread Village at the Sheraton, followed by strolling through Pike Place Market, eating-our-hearts-out at DragonfisH & strolling downtown.  Capping off the evening decorating our own GB house & having story-time with Gram.

Sheraton Gingerbread Village theme:  Holiday Express (with Polar Express playing in the background).

Know how to tell if someone is an out-of-towner?  They say, "Pike's Market".  
Tisk.  Tisk.  

Mesmerized by the Beechers Flagship curds separating from the liquid
(my mouth is watering as I type.)    This pic is dedicated to you MJ!  

We all equally enjoyed DragonfisH.  They do not disappoint.  

wa-la!  

Teach every child about food.

This Jamie Oliver clip is about 20 minutes & well worth your time.  Are you are a parent & need a little kick-in-the-pants to get your family eating healthy?  I know this video will inspire you to eat & cook REAL food; cut out fast food & school-made lunches; as well as make time to teach your kids about veggies, cooking, avoiding obesity etc.  All such vital life lessons.  If you know me, you know that I struggle with fun, healthy food ideas for my children.  However, seeing a clip like this reminds me of it's importance.   I will press-on!  

Life Lately.

Every now & then I fall behind with blogging so I have a "Life Lately" catch-up.  Fall has been a busy time for us.  It's involved good things like ballet, MOPS, beautiful fall leaves, girl nights & play dates.  It's also involved 2 very bad things:  L has been sick for over a month (we think allergies) & I was rear-ended.  Lame.

Mowin'

knock, knock, knock  - HOUSEKEEPING!  
I came upstairs to find my son in my room helping with the chores...
(oh what uncle Jeff would have said if he saw this...)  :) 

He rear-ended her, she rear-ended me, I rear-ended a guy in front of me...   all because a high schooler (who just got his license) was driving his Land Rover way too fast.  Now 2 of us have whip-lash & all of us have crunched up cars...

We had the ol' high chair out from a dinner party the night before so, L jumped in & they ate their entire b-fast  holding hands... 

N rocking the soccer field.  

B, L, D rocking the sidelines.   

Fun day with Ellanor at an IMAX & Science Center.

My MOPS table from 2 years ago!  We still meet a few times a year.
This hangout was so good for my soul.  

To see Halloween pics scroll on down to October 31st.  Speaking of Halloween... have you seen what my sister created???  

Ballet

Before L walked in to her new (& very first ever) ballet class she said that she was hoping a boy was in the class that could "lift her up" (I suppose like she's seen in TV ballet shows) .  Alas, there were no boys but, she LOVED the class & as you can see was a total dolly.  Yay for fun classes at our local community centers!

All the other girls had skirts to hold with their curtsies, L improvised with her leotard... 

Her form was consistently right-on with her teacher's.  Atta girl.