Handprint Art

Every year I do one piece of Handprint Art. This is just such a visual way to see how your child has grown. I love looking at little ones hands and how tiny they are. The side by side comparisons of years can be striking. I am sad for the day when "A" will be too old/big to do our art tradition. His hand is already getting dangerously close to the edges of the paper. This year we did something different with the handprint ornaments, but here are some different handprint/footprint art from years past.

Max our Scout Elf

With the boys being sick my Christmas festivities have not gone quite as planned. That being said one thing I have been able to keep up with is our Christmas Elf, which came to live us for the first time this year. I think the Elf on the Shelf is one of the funnest way to introduce a Christmas tradition I have seen. We are having so much fun with him in our house. Here are some of greatest memories of Max so far!

Stealing my Supreme Hot Cocoa

Ready for take-off

Composing a new Christmas Carol

Hanging from the chandelier

Doing some caroling

Reading "A Child's Christmas in Wales" by Dylan Thomas with his pal

Going down the firehouse pole!

Practicing snow angel making

Going Fishing!

The Pumpkin Patch

I long for every October so that I can visit all the local pumpkin patches, harvest festivals, and corn mazes. It is one of my favorite family traditions. I am kind of grieving not having my husband here to share it with us or what October will look like next year in Anchorage where Harvest Festivals don't really happen because most likely we will be under a few inches of snow. BUT, I am going to live in the moment and love every second of it.

Apple Dumplings-YUMMO!!!

At Or So She Says I found the most simple and delicious apple dumpling recipe ever. This will be a fall tradition from here on out-I am hooked! At the blog above she has a great tutorial with prettier pictures than mine, but I will give the simplified recipe.

The picture was an after thought so sorry it isn't very pretty

Step One:

2-Granny Smith Apples

2-Crescent Roll Dough ( I used Reduce Fat Pillsbury)

Put a peeled slice of apple in a crescent triangle and roll it up. Put the crescent rolls seem side down in a PAM sprayed pan/dish.

Step Two:

2 Sticks of Butter

1 1/2 Cup of Sugar (this is what she says but I think you could cut this in half)

1 tsp of vanilla

Melt sticks of butter and then stir in vanilla and sugar. Then pour over crescent rolls.

Step Three:

12 oz can of Mt. Dew (don't ask/just do)

Cinnamon

Pour Mt Dew over the crescent rolls with the butter on it. It will look gooey and gross, that is okay. Next sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.

Step Four:

Vanilla Ice Cream

Let dumplings cool a bit, but serve warm with a scoop of ice cream on top. Prepare to be amazed!

Labor Day Harvest Festival

Yesterday we went to The Pumpkin Patch as to celebrate their annual harvest festival and opening of their huge corn maze. The Pumpkin Patch is a cute farm that is on Sauvie Island, a small island full of agricultural farms on the Willamette River, about 15 mins. from downtown Portland. We normally have a slew of farms we frequent during the harvest season but just got turned on to the Pumpkin Patch last year when my mom told me about it. This year I fell in love with them a little more when I discovered that every year they go to Rwanda and teach locals how to farm and provide feed for the orphanages. That is something I am willing to support! This is the second year going with my mom to celebrate the holiday. It was a much needed distraction for our first weekend away from Daddy. I think it made Daddy more homesick though!

I originally got the idea of the gourd birdhouses from this farm. Here are some beautiful ones they made!

This is next to a display about their Rwanda visits, with a Rwanda basket!

Happy Harvest Season everyone! It's my favorite time of the year!

Fair = Family Fun

Where I live in Clark County, Washington there is a HUGE fair every year. It is always fun but we rarely go. My husband hates large crowds and it is very expensive. Although we don't hit this fair we have gone to another fair every year since "A" was born. An hour east on the Washington side of the Columbia Gorge is a small town called Stevenson. The Skamania County fair is held during the same time as the Clark County one but a) it's free to park and enter, b) way less crowded, c) has views to kill for, and d)is from a more rural community so it seems more authentic!

 This was one of the funnest years so far. Even though they didn't have the petting zoo (which totally stinks!) it was the first time taking baby. Also it was such a joy to go with "A" now that he is five! He actually looked in the arts/crafts exhibit hall rather than rush me through. As of last year he was the recommended 42 inches (yes he is extremely tall) so he got to ride big kid rides, which he loved! This year I got to go with him for his first ferris wheel experience~hooray for making memories.

Although we had an amazing night it was also extremely bittersweet. This will be our last year at the Skamania County Fair along with many of our family traditions here in the Pacific Northwest. My husband got a job in Anchorage, Alaska and he moves up in three weeks. Since I am already assigned a school (my school that I taught in the library) for my student teaching we won't be joining him until April. This October I will be taking boys to harvest festivals without the hubby and next year we will be at a different fair. We are excited for the move and new chapter in our lives. We also know that this is a great opportunity for the entire family, but it is hard to leave behind family, friends, and traditions. I wonder what new traditions we will make in our new home.

Good Bye Skamania County Fair-we'll miss you...

But I think we will miss Daddy most of all (April can't come soon enough!)