More drawings

No, I'm not quite ready to update about Christmas but I do have some new scans of a few of Clara's recent drawings.

Guy in a boat

Eli with his food and water bowls

Clara and her Papa playing frisbee with Eli

Let it snow

Clara's wreath

She put on all the greens and accessories. Mommy helped with the bow.

Christmas Parties

It was a jam packed day today. The girls went to a party this morning with Bryan at BCIU. Then I took them to a party in the afternoon at my mom's work. They loaded up on sugar all day, got to see Santa twice, they each got a stuffed animal and a new baby doll and a few treats to take home.



Clara got to get her face painted for the first time. She requested a light pink fairy. I didn't know if Hazel could handle face painting yet so we opted for a temperary tatoo. She picked a hello kitty and it was done in orange, green and purple glitter (her favs.)



After all the partying we went along with my parents to get their tree. Clara actually picked it out and we look forward to seeing it all decorated on the 26th. I think it's safe to say we are all a little anxious/excited about Christmas this year.

Thought for the day

My favorite thing about Hazel right now: When I pick her up, hug her and pat her back, she will pat my back too.

Excited for the Holidays

The girls have been loving all of our holiday prep. Clara practically jumped out of her skin when we told her we were going to decorate the Christmas tree. We've been making Christmas crafts, decorating the house, baking cookies, reading Christmas books, watching holiday specials, making Christmas cards and countless Christmas drawings. Clara even drew a picture of Santa in his sleigh, complete with reindeer. She cut it out and placed it above the doll house. It does make the holidays extra special having little kids running around so excited about everything. It makes up for all the crazy drivers, shoppers and just plain holiday craze.

Clara's Dictionary

Clara is the queen of making up new words. An example from today. Crail - the trail ones fingers leave when rubbed against textured fabric. "My fingers left a crail on the sofa."

My poor Clara

She's having a rough week. On Monday she fell at the grocery store and got a serious, sore fat lip. Then before bed she scratched her cheek and it left a huge scab. Now she's sick and has red eyes and a runny nose to accompany the rest. What a mess.

Beach in November

Beaches in November = Awesome.

We packed up the kids and headed to SC for a little quality family time. We normally try to go north, specifically Acadia, however we could not get a vacation in the books until November. It was too cold and no campgrounds were open in November in Maine so we headed south. Bryan and I aren't really beach people, the sand, extreme heat and sun don't work well with us. But let me tell you the beach in November, not so bad. We wore our pants and sweatshirts and felt fine. The girls could still hike up their leggings and wade in the tide pools and we didn't have to worry about lathering 95% of there bodies in sunscreen. Maybe only 10%. Awesome.



So, traveling with a four year old and a two year old is a little crazy but we had fun too. I loved walking down the beach looking for shells with the girls and watching them draw in the sand. We saw more living beach critters on this trip then I think I've ever seen all at once. Little crabs, big crabs, jellyfish, horseshoe crabs, hermit crabs, mussels, scallops, sand dollars, a starfish and tons of birds all right out in their natural habitat. We even got to touch the starfish before I safely returned him to the ocean. Clara was on a mission to collect anything and everything possible. We came home with a nice collection of seashells and pinecones. In addition to our beach exploration we saw the local lighthouse, visitors center, nature center, marsh observation boadwalk, you know pretty much anything and everything to keep the girls busy. At night we snuggled up in our camper and played countless rounds of crazy eights and read the same 7 books over and over. ( Next time mommy bring more books.) All in all it was a very nice campground, the beach was beautiful and we had a great time. It was nice to get away for a little while and I wouldn't have a problem returning sometime in the future.






Here's a link if you would like to check out some more of our vacation photos

Take two

Take two took. Our little Hazelbug-Hazmat has been in underwear and doing good for a few weeks now, including on vacation. YAY!!!!!

More Clara Drawings

I love all the special pictures Clara draws. Here are a few I scanned today. Two portraits of Mommy and one of a jack-o-lantern.

Halloween girls

Costume ideas were decided by both girls on there own. A blue flower and a blue butterfly, hand crafted by mama.

Hazel trying her best to grow straight.

We had a lot of fun trick or treating this year. We skipped last year so this was really the first time Hazel got to go. Bryan and I took them out twice, once to a special Costumes on the Corridor in West Reading on Thursday and then on Halloween just on our street. We have an insanely large amount of candy that needs to disappear fast.

And next comes the carving.

Clara selected a design for our big pumpkin and I got to work.


Hazel worked on scooping out the seeds of our little one we grew this summer. She did an excellent job. Much less complaining from her about the slimy stuff.



And the end results. Clara drew a face for our little one and I cut it out for her. The mouth was one big mass of scribbles so I improvised on that a little, just cutting around the scribble.




And best of all roasted pumpkin seeds to snack on. Yummy!

Happy Halloween!!!

Pumpkin Picking

Took our yearly trip to the pumpkin patch today. We are cutting it a little close with Halloween being tomorrow but hey, you can't beat 50% off pumpkins.

I don't remember why such a pouty face on Hazel, she's been pulling those out a lot lately.

Jasper James and his entourage of ladies.

Worlds End State Park

We just got back from a long weekend at Worlds End State Park. It was nice to spend some time with the whole Deemer clan. It doesn't get much better then camping in the fall with family. We had campfires, took walks, ran through the leaves, threw stones in the river, read, slept, ate and ate some more :)

The girls were having a particularly nice time hanging out with their cousins. We've all been a little busy lately and they hadn't been getting as much playtime together. So it was nice that they could be together and keep each other busy, well most of the time.

Clara already seems to really look forward to our camping trips. She LOVED it outside and honestly just wanted to stay out all day digging, gathering sticks and stones, taking walks etc. I think as much fun as it was for her outside it was equally fun for both of them inside on their bunk when it was time for sleep. Though they share a room with bunk-beds at home this was their first time sleeping right next to each other. I didn't realize they could stay up so late! Hopefully, they can work things out a little better when we go to SC in a few weeks.