make two challenge

I am curently in the throws of making Christmas gifts for loved ones and friends this year.  I saw this on one of my favorite blogs, and knew I had to take part, and you should too!!

The idea, is to not only make a handmade gift for someone you love, but to make two of that gift, and donate the second to someone in need.

I'm excited to get the kiddos involved with this.  Making gifts for their teachers or friends, and making a second one to donate. 

I'll share later what we made,

what will you make??

Seattle's Underground Tour

My parents came to visit a few weeks ago, and their only request was to do the Underground Tour in Seattle.  Having only been here for a year now, I hadn't been, and was eager to check it out for myself.  I love Seattle, there is so much history, and I am kind in love with anything old or nostalgic.  This tour was a perfect blend of all three, because it included a history lesson on how Seattle came to be, tours of some amazing old buildings, and visiting the underground part of Seattle that still exists today. 

To read all about the history of Seattle, and the underground tours, you can go here, 

below is an exercept from Bill Speidel's Underground Tour website:

Halloween

This year I'm proud to say we only bought one costume.  Natalie wanted to be a girl pirate, so while my Mom was in town a week ago we went fabric shopping, and got all the essentials for her and Josh's costume.  She sewed Natalie's cute little skirt, and vest, and I added all the pink (did I mention that Natalie loves pink!!)

I was on my own for Josh's angry bird costume, and after thinking about it for a week, I just sat down and sewed it.  I wish I would have put the face a little higher, but he was happy with how it turned out, and he loved how warm and fuzzy the fleece was.

Daniel decided to be the Invisible Man, which was great since he already owned everything but the gauze, and bandages.  After rifling through our first aid box, he was good to go.

Caleb chose to be Optimus Prime, and as ambitious as I might be, I wasn't about to tackle that one, so that one came from the store.

We kicked off Halloween with a carnival at church on Saturday.  The carnival was so cute, and the kiddos had a blast.  They threw rubber chickens for treats and toys, pulled slingshots to knock over cans, tricycle races, fishing for treats, threw darts at balloons, had their faces painted, did a cupcake walk, and snacked on pocorn and hot apple cider.  It was perfect for the little ones, as the lines were short and they just hopped from one activity to the next.  They each came home with a bag filled with candy and treats, and it was a great start to our Halloween festivities.

Monday, after parties at school we headed to Daddy's work for some trick o' treat fun.  We hit his building first, and after four floors of candy just set out on chairs down every hallway their candy bags were heavy and up to the top.  After filling our tummies (of real food, not just candy) we decided to pack up and head home. 

Once home we took Josh, Caleb and Natalie through the neighborhood for trick or treating.  Daniel being a little too cool for us went off with a friend, and came home with a bag of full-size candy bars.  After our bags were full, and hands were cold, we decided to call it a night, and came home to hand out candy, and enjoy our treasures.