Turkey Time

The week before Thanksgiving Mel's playgroup did a puppet show and craft. Mel loves getting together with all of her friends and ran into the room jumping and saying yay! She had so much fun!

The Friday before Thanksgiving Mel and I ran all over town shopping and gathering supplies for our Thanksgiving feast. Mel loves shopping and we had a very fun day.

Unfortunately late Sunday night Mel got sick. It was a nasty little bug the didn't let up. We spent most of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday just cuddling. I love my cuddles but her sick eyes just broke my heart. Also we were going to have one of Mel's friends and her mom over for Thanksgiving dinner but didn't want to spread the sickness so we had to cancel.

Luckily Thanksgiving morning Mel finally started to feel better. Still not 100% but those sick eyes had brightened up and let me know she was feeling better.

We cooked and played all day and enjoyed our fabulous feast with all of our favorite Thanksgiving foods. One of Meric's coworkers (whose wife had to work Thanksgiving) joined us for our feast.

Another successful Thanksgiving meal done and leftovers aplenty to enjoy. Thanksgiving is a great way to kick off the holiday season!

Building a Sandbox

Mel loves digging in the sand. When she is outside playing, Mel is usually sitting in a sandy spot of the yard with her shovel. We knew we had to build her a sandbox. I showed Meric a homemade sandbox idea I found online and the next day he went out and got the supplies.

After cutting the pieces to size we decided to paint the sandbox. Since this was for Mel we decided to make this a true family project and had Mel help us paint. She LOVED painting the wood pieces. And surprisingly she kept most of the paint on the boards.

Once the paint dried it was time to build the box. Meric would drill the holes for the screws then Mel would put the screw in the hole. She loves to help daddy, especially when tools are involved.

The sandbox design had a lid that opened up to create two benches. Sounds a little complicated but was really pretty easy for Meric and I to figure out and put together.

After we got it all built Meric went out and picked up some sand. Mel was so excited to see her sandbox all completed and full of sand. (On a sided note I had read that cinnamon was a good way to keep out ants. Haven't seen any ants yet and she has one great smelling sandbox!)

It was fun building the sandbox and I love that Mel got to be a part of the project.

Happy Halloween!

When I was a kid I loved Halloween. Dressing up, parties and CANDY! What isn't there to love? As I got older dressing up lost its appeal, the parties have stopped and well I can always buy candy if I really want some. Honestly I would probably be one of those people who kept the curtain drawn and the porch light off on Halloween and just let the holiday go by without much thought.

But we have Mel and Mel makes every holiday worth celebrating. She makes everything way more fun.

The first thing we did to celebrate the holiday was something I have not done in years. We carved pumpkins. Mel loved helping scoop out the slimy seeds. She was also very eager to help carve the pumpkin.

I asked Mel what she wanted to be for Halloween and I never got a real answer from her. She hasn't gotten into playing dress up so I don't think she quite understood what I was asking. I think next year she might be able to decide her own costume. After looking at a few costume options I decided to have her be a bee for Halloween this year. Since her name is Portuguese for honey I figured it was a fitting choice.

At Halloween I look for every opportunity for her to wear her costume. The first time she got to wear her costume was for her playgroup. When getting ready she initially refused to put it on. I actually was chasing her around the house. I wasn't sure what I was going to do if she wouldn't wear her costume. But then I mentioned the wings and she got all excited and happy to dress up. It was so cute to see all of her friends at playgroup all dressed up in their costumes too. At the end the kids got a goody bag and to trick or treat a little. Mel loved it!

The next day she got to wear her costume again at the library story time. All the kids dressed in their costumes and they read Halloween books. At the end the kids paraded around the library and got another goody bag.

Friday night Meric's work did a trunk or treat activity. It was put on by/for the hospital unit and two other units on post. They had a parking lot lined with cars decorated and full of treats. Mel loved going trunk to trunk. She really loved the people that just let her take a hand full of candy from the bowl. It is amazing how big those little hands can get when reaching for candy. There was also a tent set up as a haunted house. We could hear kids screaming inside and we weren't sure if Mel would like it or be scared. As we entered the tent a kid (probably 10 years old) jumped out and screamed to scare us. Mel started laughing. Another kid would run up to people screaming to scare them. Again Mel just laughed. She loved running around in the dimly lit tent having kids jump out from behind decorations to scare her. We walked out of the tent and Mel immediately turned around and went right back in. We watched her for a little as she ran around laughing and being scared by the kids. Eventually Meric had to go in and make her come out. Mel had a blast.

On Sunday we went to a local Halloween event. There was a train ride, horse rides, a petting zoo, games, candy, food, balloons, face painting, and bouncy castles. It was so much fun. Mel had an absolute blast!

On Halloween we stayed home and handed out candy. We dressed Mel up one last time in her bee costume and set up outside to greet trick or treaters. Mel loved handing candy out and was calling down the street for kids to come. She even went trick or treating at the neighbor's house.

All in all it was a very fun and successful Halloween. I can't wait to to it again next year.

Little Miss Mel Turns 2!

I can't believe my baby is already two years old! Meric took time off and we spent Mel's birthday doing her favorite things and spoiling her rotten. For breakfast we had pumpkin bread "cake" with frosting. Basically she just ate frosting for breakfast which she didn't mind at all. After breakfast we took her to the park. Mel LOVES the park.

She spent an hour running around and going down the slide. She laughed and played with the other kids at the park and had a great time. I love watching her run and play. Her laugh is my most favorite sound in the world.

We spent rest of the day playing and snacking on Mel's favorite foods. She loves the gourmet popcorn at Costco so Meric and I got her a few bags on our last trip there.

When it comes to sweets and candy nothing beats m&ms or as Mel calls them "Ms". I decided that an m&m cheesecake was the way to go. The look on Mel's face when she saw the cake I knew I had made the right choice.

She loved it! Now everytime she sees it she says "happy birthday to Mel!".

I love this kid! I hate that she is getting so big so fast but I love watching her grow.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Like I said before I have really been looking forward to this Christmas. I love Christmas time. All the goodies, presents, decorations, lights, and family (even if it is just over Skype). I love all of the sights, songs and smells that go with Christmas. This year was even better because Mel is a little older and can enjoy it all even more.

Christmas goodies: I love the food you only get at Christmas time. Eggnog is one of our favorites. This year we decided to experiment with homemade eggnog. I must say it is really easy to make and very delicious. I am looking forward to making more next year and perfecting our own recipe.

Christmas dinner was another experiment. I have never made lamb before and the few times I have tried it I really didn't like it. But good ol' Costco made me want to try and make it. After enjoying a sample (or two) I decided to give it a go. It is by far the easiest protein I have ever made for dinner. All I did was season it and then stick it in the crock pot and not touch it for a few hours. That leg of lamb was falling apart delicious and I will probably opt to do it again next year.

Of course no Christmas would be complete without some cookies and candies. My favorite to make at Christmas is pumpkin fudge and nut clusters. We decided that it had been WAY too long since we have made gingersnaps, so we included them in our baking. Meric and Mel were in charge of making the cookies.

With her stool up to the counter Mel was very focused and intent on helping her daddy.

She was very curious and patient throughout the whole process. (Daddy was very patient too.)

Mel stood there from start to finish helping daddy with every step. She was very happy to enjoy the spoils of her hard work at the end too.

Christmas fun: Mel had a lot of fun with all the Christmas activities. My previous blog is all about the Christmas tree and decorating. This year we also pulled out Meric's childhood toy train.

Mel loves trains and was very excited to watch the train go round the track.

Christmas presents: Mel did a great job of not really messing too much with the tree.

Occasionally she would pull down an ornament but for the most part she left it alone and just enjoyed looking at it. On Christmas eve when we brought out all the presents that was a big temptation for her. She would shuffle right up to the edge of the presents and then stand there.

It was almost like she was saying "I'm not touching them."

On Christmas morning, when she could touch them, she had a ball unwrapping presents. Mel is a great kid to give present to because she gets so excited. Her gasps and "ooh cool" were so enjoyable.

She was very intent to get every scrap of wrapping paper off of the box before she would open them.

Mel enjoyed Christmas which made it so much more fun for us. The best thing really is having kids on Christmas! I can't wait until next year!

Jasper's favorite spot when presents aren't in the way

Oh Christmas Tree

When we moved into out house in July, I was very excited for Christmas.  Being in the trailer meant no room for a real tree or a lot of decorations. We always had a small tree with lights draped around it but no room for ornaments. I couldn't wait until we could pull out all of the Christmas decorations we hadn't used in years.

After a quick search Meric and I discovered a Christmas tree farm just down the road from us. We hopped in the truck and headed down the road. It wasn't too long before we saw the sign for the tree farm. It looked like a residential driveway with a private home. We followed the sign and saw that just behind the house was rows and rows of beautiful Christmas trees. The farm looks like a cute little family run business. The signs lead to a parking lot next to a ginormous snowman.

Of course we needed to get a picture with the ginormous snowman.

There was a small building that they used as a store. There was free hot chocolate and a variety of items for sale. They also were making homemade wreaths from bits of branches. There were free hay rides around the farm.

The tree farm grew 3 kinds of Cyprus trees and had fir trees trucked in from North Carolina. The fir trees were the type of trees that Meric and I were use to with the needles and branches. We decided to stroll through the rows of trees and check out something new. There were so many beautiful trees, all perfectly shaped.

Mel loved running through the rows of trees.

After looking through a few rows of trees we finally found the perfect one.

We had them cut it down for us (they also give you the option to do it yourself) and after shaking the loose needles off they wrap it for you and help you take it to your vehicle all as part of their service. They were very nice and the whole experience was fun. If we are still here next year we will visit them again.

We got the tree home and into position. The next day we got to work decorating. After draping the lights around the tree I pulled out all of our ornaments. It has been years since we have seen any of our ornaments.

It was fun pulling them out and reminiscing about how we came to get some of them. Mel loved the whole process. She kept saying "ooh pretty" over and over and over again. It was so much fun seeing the glee in her eyes.

Mel really didn't know what to think about the Nutcracker

I am so glad we are able to do a full size Christmas tree and all the decorations this year. Meric and I love being able to share in the holiday delight with Mel.