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.

Pumpkin Patch - The Farm

Last week Natalie's preschool class made a fieldtrip to The Farm in Snohomish just down the road from us.  After a week of beautiful sunny skies, that morning it decided to rain, and the poor little kids were drizzled on the entire time.  They visited the farm animals, ran through a hay maze (that was indoors), and then taken to a special patch filled with small pumpkins just their size.  They had their choice of any of them, and Natalie found the perfect one and picked it off the vine before the tractor ride picked us all up to take us back to the entrance. (picture of her and some of her classmates at the end)

After a few days of rain the skies cleared and the entire family decided to visit The Farm to pick pumpkins.  It was such a beautiful crisp fall day.  The kiddos ran through the pumpkin patches looking for the perfect one.   After pumpkins we walked around and looked at the animals, and saw the brand new baby pigs that were born the day before.  We feasted on caramel apples, and cider doughnuts.  With full tummies we finished up, and headed home.  I love fall here!!

Daniel's Bed

I made a desk for Daniel awhile ago, and now it was time to give him a matching bed.  I made the headboard using these plans, however I wanted to have a trundle under his bed, and there were no plans for siderails or a footboard, so Daniel's headboard rested against his wall while I figured out how I wanted to do build them. 

I finally decided to just wing it, and here you have the finished product.

I mimicked the design in the headboard for the footboard, and did simple rails with supports made from 2"x6"'s.  I used Rockler side rail fasteners to attach the side rails to the headboard and footboard.

I stained it using Minwax Honey Oak.

For the trundle (not pictured) I used plywood and casters with 1x3's on the edges, stained to match the bed.

I'm so happy with how it all turned out, and Daniel is happy to have a finished bed (me too!!)

Girls Weekend

My best friend Trish flew in last weekend, so we could continue in our annual girls weekend getaway, so I bring you..

Tash 'n Trish's Excellent Adventure #3

After picking up Trish from the airport with little miss, we made our way back to my new neighborhood, and stopped to have a screw taken out of my tire (and no, it wasn't one of mine).  We had lunch, and visited Molbaks (think Canterbury Gardens but better) which has all it's beautiful Christmas trees out on display.

We then made our way back to my house to figure out plans for the weekend.  I had been feverishly trying to finish up a few projects (which I'll share tomorrow) and hadn't even made plans for our weekend.  But for two spontaneous girls that isn't really a problem.  Trish threw out the idea of Forks, and doing some Twilight stuff, and had never rode on a ferry.  So we booked a hotel and off we went.  We took the ferry from Edmonds to Kingston, and stopped in Port Gamble at Mike's 4 Star BBQ.  It was delicious!! A fun, casual spot where everyone was so friendly.  From there we made our way to Sequim to spend the night.

 

After a free breakfast (the very best kind) we packed our bags and got in the car to continue on our journey.  Our first stop was Forks, where we visited local "twilight" spots, and had so much fun taking pics, and again meeting the nicest people. 

We then journeyed to the shore, and La Push.  We visited First Beach sprinkled with driftwood, and extremely large trees that had washed ashore, and then farther down to Rialto Beach.  The views were amazing, and the sun peeked through the clouds to make it a truly beautful day.

After the coast we ventured east to Port Angeles.  They just happened to be having their Dungeness Crab Festival that weekend, we stumble on the greatest things!!  We enjoyed the "crab feast", and it was delish.  With full tummies we wandered around Port Angeles.  As the sun was setting on another fun day we boarded the ferry and made our way back to my house for a good nights sleep.

The next day we decided to be really adventurous and head into Seattle for the first annual Geek Girl Con.  We barely got in as they were completely sold out.  We attended a bunch of different panels, met some fun people, and concluded with a sing along of the movie Labyrinth in the EMP Auditiorium. It was classic!! 

Afterwards we filled our tummies at the Old Spaghetti Factory, and even got to sit in the train car.  What a fun day!!

Our last day together was short and sweet, as Trish was catching her plane out that afternoon.  We had a delicious ginormous breakfast at the Maltby Cafe, just around the corner from me.  Then it was time for the airport and to say goodbye to my Trish.  I love our friendship so much, that we can pick up at anytime, and it's exactly how we left it.  What a fun weekend with the bestest friend ever!!

spills, fresh produce, and inside projects..

What a crazy week it's been (is it ever not crazy?)



Last Friday I got a call from the health office that Caleb had took a spill at school, and had some awesome road rash on his face and hands.
..Monday another call from the health office but this time Josh had fallen on his back and got the wind knocked out of him.
..Later that same day while watching Josh at soccer practice Natalie slid down the slide only to collide with a little girl sitting on the end.  She used her eye to stop her, and within seconds had a big puffy purple and blue eye.
..not twently minutes later another spill and a big goose egg on her forehead..there were very few tears from either incident, such a toughie!!
I'm hoping we've filled our quota for injuries for awhile (thank goodness they were all minor)



On a happier note, my neighbor does group buys, and I was fortunate enough to be added to the list.  We currently have over 50 lbs of pears waiting to be canned next week, fresh peaches, pears, and apples that we are feasting on daily, and farm fresh eggs.

I currently have five unfinished projects, that I'm hoping to wrap up this weekend.

Here's a little sneak peek...

I've also finished a project!! Woo hoo, yay me right!!

In the den/playroom/computer room/toy room the boys were in desperate need of a desk.  I built these for our last house, but this room was set up differently, and little miss is nipping at their heels to have computer space of her own.  So I decided on a long desk built into the wall.  The plans made a few changes along the way as Dave brought up a need to house components (xbox, kinect, and two computer systems).  So this is the final product..(sorry the pictures aren't that great)

I decided to stain it to match the baseboard, and trim.  It's simple and very functional, and yes there is room for little miss (when daddy gets around to building her a computer too) 

The room is super bare, and I'd love to stay around and decorate it, but remember those other five unfinished projects? Well, they are a little higher on the list right now.  I've put the bookcases that I built in to house the toys, and some seating for movie watching or play, so for now, it's functional..


We've got a busy weekend filled with soccer games, and finishing projects..hope you all have a great weekend.