The Grahams

I love the holidays - especially being able to experience them through Callie's eyes. I have learned more about the area we live in these past few months than I ever have. We have been trying to take advantage of as much as we can and this weekend we stayed very busy. We started out at the reindeer festival at a local zoo - which was SO much fun. I think Preston and I enjoyed it as much as Callie did. Since it is a local zoo, it is very small and never crowded. We were able to get up close to the animals and let the reindeer sniff our fingers. What a great experience! We were a bit tentative at first when she realized that they were able to work their antlers through the gate but very soon she didn't mind at all (I think that one was Rudolph) Letting them sniff her hand We then took a tour of the rest of the zoo to see what other animals we could find. We were able to see the tigers pretty close up, which she loved! The cougars also came over to us to say hello (I...

So, Callie has come down with a case of croup (good ol'daycare) and we had a VERY rough night on Sunday. She was up every 20 mins - hour coughing. Luckily Preston was home and we took turns with her - eventually I ended up sleeping with her in the chair (although she still woke up coughing every hour) because I didn't have to work on Monday. Needless to say, we were not a very exciting family Monday night. We were all in bed by 8 and Callie continued to get up a bit but not nearly as much as the night before. The last time I went in to see her was about 11 - the next thing I knew it was time for me to get up for work. When Preston got up, I made the comment "she slept better than on Sunday" and he just looked at me and laughed. Apparently, she got up a bunch in the middle in the night and I was just too exhausted to realize it. He said I was so out of it that one time I told him it was the rain, not Callie crying.....I'm going to choose my version of the story and...

So Lindsey and I were missing our weekly Saturday get togethers and Blake and Callie were missing their weekly play date so we decided to head to Tacoma to check out the children's museum. Besides parking a million miles away...and totally up hill (and no, I am not exaggerating)....and walking through a complete down pour, the kids had a blast. The highlight was by far the slide, although we didn't get any pictures of that (Lindsey had to be at the top of the slide and I had to catch them - it was a fast moving slide!). It was very fun to see Taylor in her element which allowed Lindsey and I to chase around Blake and Callie. I didn't get many good pictures - every picture I took had either Callie, Blake, or Taylor moving. Here's what I could catch. Besides the slide, Callie's favorite was the water table (plus they stayed still at the water table - ha!). She doesn't look super happy but I promise she had a blast! Lindsey was smart enough to bring extra ...

Callie is an absolute love - she gives the absolute best hugs, she is always concerned when another kid is crying, and her giggle can light up your whole day. She is also a bit of a kook - I think she takes after her dad. Here's some documentation (that I know she will eventually kill me for posting): Look very closely - first it is November and she is wearing Santa pajamas (okay, that is my fault), two different shoes - one boot and one running shoe (NOT my fault, she pulls her shoes out of her basket and brings them to me. I've finally given in to just putting them on when she asks - not a battle that's worth fighting), and she is sitting on her new obsession, the potty. She LOVES to do this, over and over and over and over.....day after day after day.....

This weekend was a perfect weekend! Full of family, football, and food. It's been a while since I have posted so this post is going to include a lot! This weekend started off with a lovely time with family at the Knowles household. It was wonderful and chaotic all at once. We decided to head over early to hang out with Grandma and Grandpa before all the cousins made it. Callie got there early enough to help grandpa stuff the turkey - a bit timid at first but then "helped" grandpa put the stuffing into the turkey...one piece at a time...very helpful Clara is an adorable little girl full of silly facial expressions - here's one  And another....  Hanging with our cousin Clara    Coloring with Laurel Callie gets very focused when she is coloring  Reading books with Grandpa - a much needed down time Next, we headed over to our place in Hoodsport for some much needed R and R. The apple cup was on Friday. We, of course, had to sho...

We are so happy for the new addition to the Wagner family - you are so lucky to have such great big brothers!

This year we headed over to Amy's to celebrate Halloween. She has the perfect neighborhood for trick or treating. Callie loved being around all the other kids and was very content to be outside walking around. I didn't take her up to the houses at the beginning but she started to complain when all the other kids were leaving her. She she started up to the houses with the other kids - although she had some pretty weird looks for the people who were trying to give her candy - needless to say - very happy we didn't come home with any candy. Overall it was a pretty good night, diaper rash and all! (She just recently found a love for oranges, and I didn't think too much about giving her them everyday that is until she came home from daycare on Halloween with raging diaper rash. A bit whiny that night, but really, who wouldn't be?!) I forgot my camera, so Shauna ended up being the photographer for the night - sorry forgot to tell you Shauna! Callie's favorite books ...