Post-Valentine's Day wrap up.

We celebrated Valentine's Day in style with our homeschool group. They takes in more candy at our event than they did at Halloween.

We've been having fun painting a lot. So much so that I need to go get more paint. I'm starting to make mosaic pieces. It's a lot of fun. And the kids can make them too.

Nicholas and I started karate. Tae Kwon Do actually. It's going well. I'm sore on a regular basis. I guess that is good.

Jon just had 5 days off so we put together the trampoline. Now my kids jump all morning. Nicholas wants to take the hose onto it and jump in water. I'm not so sure about that.

Now if only I'd get to work planting.

Oakland Zoo

We went to the Oakland Zoo this weekend with our friends Annie and Chris and their kids. it was a blast.

They have a great kids area with lots of animals and play areas. Our kids loved that. The giraffes were cool. The elephants were great. The lions and tigers were just hiding and relaxing.

The best part of the whole day was when the giraffe peed and the other giraffe tried to drink it. Nicholas laughed so hard. And then the face the giraffe made was so neat. It was hilarious.

It was a good time with the friends. It was hilly, so pushing the stroller with 2 kids was not fun. We got lunch there and it wasn't too outrageous. A goo time was had by all.

Christmas wrap up.

We went to the free Sacramento Zoo and Fairytale Town on Christmas Eve. We were there 20 minutes before it opened, and there was still a line. However, we had a blast. We were in and out of the zoo in about an hour, and Fairytale Town took 2 hours. It was a blast and it wasn't too crowded when we were there. Cold, yes. Crowded no.

Okay. Well, it's not Valentine's Day yet, so I can still write our Christmas post. My kids were cute at Christmas. I was totally expecting them to wake up at 4a, but they slept in until 7a. So that was nice. Then they waited patiently while we did the opening of presents: At our house one person opens one present at a time, and you go in order from youngest to oldest. Then once all the presents were opened, we did the stockings.

My mom and my sister came later that day and hung out for lunch and play time. My kids had a blast with all the toys from Grandma and Aunt Debby. They are still playing with all of them. I have to, daily, navigate around the obstacles that are created for the remote-controlled Lightening McQueen race course. And feed the pony. We have to feed the rocking pony that Abby got everyday. Her name is Ina, and she also gets fed food from their play kitchen - once again - every day.

I did make this dress for Abby. I used the 4T pattern and it is waaaaaay too long. I made another dress with a different 4T pattern and it is not too long. So I will have to work on that a little bit.

In other news this year:

Abby has started ballet lessons at Hawkins in Folsom. She really likes her class. Miss Robin - her teacher - gets all 10 girls in line and doing ballet properly. At least as properly as it gets at this age. Abby follows her directions really well.

Nicholas is continuing with riding lessons. He's doing pretty well. He manages to trot on the lunge line - so he doesn't have to steer while trotting. It is the goal of his instructor to have him enter a walk class in shows come the spring. It is my new goal to make it through a horse show without going broke. 

Jon and I are doing great. Nothing new to report. We are still married :) He and I still love playing games - he generally wins if there is any element of luck involved. 

I promise to post more often now in the New Year. 

Did I mention - Abby turned 2 last month

Oh goodness. I'm just now realizing how far behind I've gotten on the family blog. Abby turned 2 in November. And now I just saw I never posted anything.

Thanks to our friends at Stuck in the Middle she got amazing Minnie cupcakes. They were gluten-free (so I could eat them) and you would never even know. They even put a lot of frosting on them to make them messy for her - since the bakers know Abby and know she loves a mess.

Abby got a new bed and a bed tent for her birthday. The tent has Minnie on it. I put the bed on the ground because Nicholas got a real bed and never slept in it. He just slept on the ground. For Abby's birthday, Jon and I got a month of sleepless nights. She's just now sleeping in her room - in her bed is optional. I'm just going for in her bed.

Here are the best pictures from her birthday here and from the one at my mom's house.

Apple HIll trip

So about 2 weeks ago we went to Apple Hill with one of our homeschool co-op groups. We signed up to make pies.




We got there a little early and it was cold. The kids decided that their hats and jackets had to be on. It was the only time that I have had no fuss about wearing a jacket.

We went to Denver Dan's. They did a pie making class. It was great fun. The instructions to the parents were to stand back and they would help all the kids - even Abby! So I stood back. It took the teacher approximately 6 minutes to realize that with a bunch of kids under 10, a 2 year old needed her mom to help.

They had a great time making little personal pies. And the store tempted me into spending extra money on some very amazing vinegar. they even had some left over dough to make a big rolled cookie. They baked everything right there!

While the pies were baking, they told us we could go pick apples for free. For free?! Who knew. So the kids went on an apple picking adventure. They had a lot of fun throwing the rotten ones down the hill as far as they could. They just had fun running around. We went with a friend of mine who homeschools her son too. He's 8, but he had Nicholas had a blast. It was a great trip.

And yes, I got a pie and apple cider made from fresh apples. Now if I could only use all the apples we picked. That would be nice.

My favorite pictures of the Fall.

So we went to Dave's Pumpkin Patch with the groupon deal and we got some great pictures. Here they are!

Nicholas' first riding lesson.

Nichols had his first rising lesson last week. I thought it was going to be a disaster but it went so well. Thank you to Kim at Nighthorse Farms for making it such a great lesson. She just had him help tack up and brush, then put him on the horse and made him do everything. It was awesome!

She even let Abby on at the end. It was a great lesson and I'm so happy he wants to continue with it.