Grocery Girl

Oh, I only wish I'd had my camera, but you'll just have to imagine little H pushing around one of those little kid sized grocery carts at Central Market today. It was TOOOO sweet. We had time with Q at school, and you should have seen the look of pure joy on her face. She was SO proud. Of course, she also attempted to load up on all sorts of random items at her level: cookie dough, sour cream, wine, ya know all the necessities for a 16 month old! I don't know if there was a store employee or customer in the place that didn't "awww" at her. So, if you need a personal grocery shopper, H is your gal!

The Season Begins!

A little guy in my home is just about bursting with joy that the Holiday season is upon us! He was so cute this morn wearing a Santa hat to preschool. I should have gotten a pic, it was so cute with his little green sweatshirt. We've been unpacking the Christmas tubs slowly, but today we really went to town and now Gigi's home is feeling more and more festive. This past Sunday Q and Papa worked on creating this cute little Gingerbread House:I picked up some fun Christmas books at the Library today for our quiet time reading, and I'll be bringing out a few new holiday/seasonal books from our vast collection every day of advent, which starts tomorrow, oh joy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

From The Beach

Tough Guy in Legwarmers

When Q doned his awesome plaid shorts this chilly November day I gave him a choice, would he like to change into pants or add legwarmers? So, as you can see he chose H's baby legs! Yep, that's my sharp little dresser Q, shall we call him "GQ"?
He added his boots and later rain jacket before we went out (which thankfully covered most of this lovely combo).That's right we went out and the world got to enjoy Quin's style! Well the world of the Goodwill bins and REI downtown. (Oh my gosh that's another story in itself, who in their right mind takes two kids on their own to REI during a sale on a rainy Sunday this time of year???? What was I thinking?!)
So, not to be outdone by her brother's wackiness today, H decided to do some swimming on the kitchen floor tonight, what fun!

Hmmm...that blog title change is seeming more eminent these days...

Game Season

With the dreary weather we've had this week we did a fair amount of game playing, and by that I mean, getting out a board game and exploring it's contents:Or creating your own method of playing as Q did with battleship,

and with Nami and his Sequence for Kids game. Yep, it's board game season for sure, and with a 3 and 1 year old it's anything but boring!

Benefits of Being Little

And cute:2009
2008
Oh, and having good friends! ;)

Knifty Knitting

The kids have been "helping" me learn how to knit hats this past week! I finally whipped out this handy little "knifty knitter" thing Santa brought me last year for Christmas and have been eagerly crafting little hats.

Uh, perhaps a few too many hats all at onceIn the meantime the kids are like kittens:

Hazel Cooks!

It was one of those moments when I realized that "Baby Hazel" isn't SO much a baby anymore (sorry Ivy and Sara ;)). Q was distracted with a computer game, and I realized that H really ought to get a chance to "help" bake some (much needed!) cookies with me. Q and I often bake or cook together while H is napping, but today her nap was short and I was still craving cookies. So, she got her first baking with Mama time, full of sticky floury messiness and chocolate chip tasting. Fortunately, I hadn't even mentioned the idea to Q, so when he finished his game and we offered him some of the oatmeal chocolate chip yumminess we'd made just for him, he was pretty pleased. Ah...little sisters are so sweet!

The Music Of Our Lives

Music has a way of intertwining itself through our days and I often find myself humming or singing so many songs to the kids in play, in routine, or in an effort to gain a sense of calm. Some of the common ones these days:
This is the way we _(brush teeth, get dressed, eat our food, etc. etc.)
The Itsy Bitsy Spider
Circle Song at Preschool + various others there
Preschool's Over tune
Twinkle, Twinkle
Amazing Grace
Rock a bye Baby
Hush Little Baby
In this Heart
And we have been really addicted to using Pandora, which many of you have loved forever, but we've just started using for the kids tunes.
So, what music has been winding though your days?

Kiva!

My friend Teresa just reminded me that I would love to recommend another non profit, Kiva to all of you out there who are trying to decide where to donate this season, or what to give that person on your list who has everything! Our family made a loan donation back when Quin was a little guy, it's since been completely repaid and we just got to reloan that same money! It was great to get updates on our loans throughout the years, and now get to help more people around the world. So, go out there and donate, Kiva and Heifer Interenational are some good places to start. Later, this season I'll have to give you all my thoughts on more local organizations (umm, besides my coop preschool...;)) whom we really love and value supporting!

Solo Sib Time

Solo Girl Discovers Her Shadow
H got some time being our solo girl while Q was off on Vashon today. We actually dropped him off yesterday so she had the whole afternoon and eve yesterday of alone time as well. And she IS really becoming her own girl lately. She's full on running now, especially right after her bath and before I can get a diaper on her. She's talking more and more and interacting and playing with Q more and more. Tonight they were both happy to see each other again, and were very into playing train together (the "train" being the sleeping bag pulled all around the house by Mama or Papa), and making quite a concert with their instruments.
Marshmallow Puff H down in Edmonds

Martin Family Time

This past weekend we had a lovely visit with the Martin side of the fam. It was a bit like an early Thanksgiving all of us gathered together over food. We took a chilly walk to the beach with the Aunties, played and visited with cousins, and indeed had some tasty food. I'm so thankful for our extended family! I hope we can make this reunion an annual event.
H mooching ice cream:
Q posing for the cuz's cell phones:
Mom and My Aunties (plus a cute short dude):Little Reds H and Cassie:

Photog Craze for the Gparents

I did some serious photo sorting today for the gparents, and mom's with time on their hands ;). So, you can go back in time with the Zackey's today if you check out these posts:
August Pics
September Pics
October Pics
Or perhaps you'll have to spread them out for the next few days. I am a bit of a photog wanna be nut!

Leaf Princess

Wacky Zackey's

My kids are of a particular breed, we all know. The "Wacky Zackey's" are really emerging lately.
Q, being a "bat" in the tree: Basket face, basket head H:

I'm thinking I ought to change my blog title, agreed?

Noodle Head

Hazel has been really into noodles lately, and when she says "noodle" she has to show off her Angelina Jolie lips (inherited from moi ;)). Though this lip move isn't restricted to "noddle" it's also on display for "no" or a variety of other words that need extra enunciation. She's also obsessed with saying, "I need da Mama" (she sounds oh so Italian), putting the lids on and off water bottles or Snapple bottles as Gigi taught her.

Fire Fightin' Fun!

Our preschool field trip this week was over to the Fire Safety Center, just like last year!

Like A Whole New Place

We hadn't been to the Children's Museum in quite a while, so when we went down this morn it was like a whole new place for the kids. It was fairly quiet, and H loved following Q wherever he went and he loved showing her how to do things.H loves to paint:
It was the first time we'd been to the Sesame Street Body exhibit:It was such a lovely fall day, so we had a great time outside at the fountain as well, which also seemed like a whole new place, through their eyes:

From Quin's View

Quin has been taking some photos with my camera the last few days. It's so interesting to see his perspective:

Shabby Apple Dare to Design Lawn Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Shabby Apple Dare to Design Lawn Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Halloween Recap

The Zackey's were the mideval family this year for Halloween. We had a little dragon, a queen, and two bold knights! Obviously the knights were the most impressive with costumes handmade by Gigi. They got heaps of compliments and were pretty darn handsome.
We went out trick or treating at our friend's the Fly's in their decked out neighborhood. The kids were all pretty sweet in their getups. And of course we all loved the treats. Though the icing on the cake for Todd and I was that after we were back home, the little dragon and knight tucked in tight, we sneaked off through the woods to our friend's the Robert's, for a shindig of our own. Though Will nearly scared the pants off me when we were almost to their house, it was a blast getting to play cards and hang out. So, here you are, a little more of a photo story: