Last night we went to the 236th Navy & Marine Corps Birthday Ball. It is so fun that we have 1 night a year guaranteed that we get to dress up all fancy.

This year Brian was one of the Ball coordinators. Though as the ceremony went on, I am pretty sure that he would rather not have that credited to him.... :)

The Ball was held at the Shilshole Bay Beach Club in Ballard. It really was a beautiful venue for the ball.
Anyone recognize that dress?? It my bridesmaid dress from Jenae and Leif's wedding! I am so, so, so excited that I fit in it again!
As always I loved the Commandant's Birthday Message.
The Hubster designed the programs! They turned out great!
I am so bummed that I forgot to take a picture of my food because it was Ah-May-ZING! I ordered the vegetarian entree and it was zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, herbed goat cheese, and garlic infused chickpeas. Seriously.... best vegetarian entree of my life?! I need to start experimenting on how to make garlic infused chickpeas because they were bomb!

Hubs sure is handsome in his blues!
I don't dance. I am awkward..... But a big part of the ball is the dancing that follows the ceremony and dinner. Hubster participated in a surprise choreographed dance to Party Rock... I did not partake in the dancing this year but I did shake and pinky swear on the fact that next year I will dance.... so I have a year to work on some moves... YIKES!

Happy 236th Birthday Marine Corps!

Perfect!

Ten months and 0%

Our sweet Claire Louise is 10 months!
She is still the most mellow baby I have ever met! She isn't quite crawling but she is getting really close. She has two bottom teeth and I know it won't be long before those top ones pop through. She is so happy all the time and she loves when Kenley is around. Kenley has the ability to make Claire absolutely roar with belly laughs!

She is starting to like food more but she still isn't crazy about it. I let her try some Kamut Puffs the other day and she really seemed to enjoy feeding herself!




Claire had a Dr. appointment on Monday. She weighed in at 14 pounds 7 ounces which is 0%, 26.25 inches for length which is 3rd %, and 44.5 centimeters for head circumference which is 50th %. So she is little like her sister with a big head :).

I am not concerned about her weight! We just have small kids, and quite frankly, I don't think that it is the worst thing in the world to be small!

I am just too "hippie" for mainstream doctors :) but I have learned that it is just best to bite my tongue and listen to "Condescending Collins" (The Pediatrician) as she talks about formula and switching Claire to cows milk (even though I have told her that Claire gets super sick when I eat cow dairy) and chemicals to put on her cradle cap and blah blah blah :).

She still did have to do a blood test.
She has such tiny veins that the corpsmen on base couldn't find them so we had to go over to Providence for them to take her blood. The nurses there couldn't find her veins either so 2 hours later a pediatric specialist finally came to take her blood. Waste of a day!

I can't believe that just 10 months ago we were looking at our tiny baby lying in an incubator just longing to hold her! What an amazing blessing Claire is!

Happy Birthday Nate!!

Plum District

I don't know about you but I am sick and tired of planning something with my friends only to realize that I already had something scheduled and then having to be a jerk and cancel on my friends! I have tried using the calendar on my phone but I haven't kept up with it. I really do best with writing things down on paper. So... I just bought this deal on Plum District for Erin Condren, and I thought you might be interested in it, too.

$25 for $50 Worth of Personalized Erin Condren Holiday Photo Cards, Calendars, Customized Labels, and More...

I think that I am going to go with this style..

But I also like the idea of a photo one instead...

Using this family picture...

Bonus: For signing up Plum District gives you a $5 credit and if you enter the code: fabulous you get an additional 10% off! So you will really get $50 worth of planning goodness for $17.50!

Which option do you think I should go with?

Need a new soup recipe?

Click here for my Vegetable Verde Soup Recipe!

Bath time coloring!

Kenley's loves her bathtub crayons! I love them too (except for the purple one... That one stains)!

This age is so fun, she is actually starting to tell me what she draws now! This was her cow!

Pictures of the kids eating...

Yep... It's exactly what the title says :)

How to eat cucumbers according to Kenley

Last Sunday...

The Pumpkins!

Last year Mom, Kimberly, and I carved and painted pumpkins to look like lanterns.

This year we decided to build a fire!

Figuring out pumpkin placement...

Figuring out flame placement...
Halfway done!
We only made it through 3 pumpkins the first night.
Mom and I (mainly me cutting and Mom doing the gunky part) finished a few nights later.
Unlit...
and lit!
I love how it turned out!

Mom and I with our finished pumpkins...
And we were dorks and thought it would be funny to take pictures of us roasting marshmallows over our fire. :)
Now we have 12 months to decide what we will tackle next year!

Happy Pumpkin Season!

A Day at the Pumpkin Farm

This year we went to Craven Pumpkin Farm in Snohomish. It is an awesome pumpkin farm because in addition to having tons of pumpkins, there is also a lot of stuff to see and a lot of stuff for kiddos to climb on!

Auntie was home from college!





Kenley did not want to be held by Mommy for a picture, she only wanted Grammy.

Claire still loves her Mommy :)




We will definitely be going back to Craven Farm next year!