Noviembre

November was filled with hugs, friends, and winter sunshine.  We took our annual T-day excursion to Backbone State Park.  If I ever build my own house, it will look exactly like this (except maybe with a hottub).

Have you ever seen a happier camper?

The Good Reverend Gubbins in a thoughtful moment.  Actually... it looks like he may be calling out the BS I just layed on him.

We got the jumbo cabin this year since our numbers have grown.  It did not disappoint.

Basket caring figurines were sacrificed.  (Lincoln Log ramp action shots available upon request)

 Emelia getting her cute on.

Team Martinson suited up for a deep woods adventure.  That river in the background froze overnight!

Katie and I recently celebrated our 7th anniversary.  We love each other.

Simon and Isabel complete with ye old hiking stick.

If you hadn't guessed, Katie got a new fancy-shmancy DSLR camera for Xmas/Bday.  As a side note - mums may be the best gosh darn flowers evah.

I love kids.

We have a book from Grandma called "Winter is the Warmest Season" and indeed it has been.   Warmest wishes to you all this holiday season.

 

-Alex

Stitches

Well, five years and three kids later, we finally fell prey to needing stitches. Our girls are pretty darn active and I've been surprised that we have made it this far. Abbie once fell and bit her tongue pretty deep and we went to the ER but they said we could squeak by - more trouble than it was worth, I guess. Tonight Isabel wasn't looking where she was going and ran into a corner on the stairs and split her chin open. Big huge gaping cut...so I took her to the pediatric ER and they were fantastic. Not a tear was shed!! Oh, except for me ;) They actually did say she was really brave and she got a popsicle...so...all was good. Four neat stitches in her little chinny chin chin. Oh baby girl....

Another chair at the table...

Well folks, in true spirit of the third child (never wants to be left behind, always wants to be doing everything her sisters are doing!) Emelia refuses her high chair and insists on sitting at the big table. So, for the past two weeks, we have had a new chair with a very little person around the table. Isabel kindly passed down her booster chair and graduated to a cushion. Emelia goes over to her chair when I tell her it's time to eat and waits (not always patiently!) for a pair of hands to help her up!

Oh, and she also insists on her own bowl, spoon and cup too...here is evidence of how THAT is going!

Peek

I put on Sesame Street so I could quick get a few things done around the house when everyone was cranky one night and here is how I found them watching! Betcha it doesn't take Emelia long to find a spot in that snuggle...she seems to be taking notes!

Katherine Anne Fletcher M., IBCLC

Congrats to our Mamalou, now an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant!! 3 months we've waited patiently for the test results and today we find that (as we all predicted) she passed with flying colors! Nice work Mama.

Oct the 31th

Ah the last day of October... and what a fine October it's been.  Festivities below:

Q:  Hmm... will this be tasty?

 A:  Yep.

Uncle D, cruzin the loop.

Mama now has mad hair skills.  Swing by if you're looking for a new style.

So wish I had thought of this first.

Silly business.

 Nice work G.

A nice fall morning with Nana Anne.

 Papa with a happy lapful.

 Abbie's B-day turned out out to be choice kite flying from a nearby hilltop.  You can even see the Sear's tower (seriously).

 Team Candy, mentally preparing for the big game.

 Honestly, it's been the best fall I can recount and fall is my favorite season.  Signing off till the snow flies...

Daddio 

Happy 5th Birthday Abbie!

Happy Birthday to our Baby Girl! Can't believe how five years has flown...and how you have changed our lives. We love you so much!

B-day girl!

Happy B-day our baby girl!  Can't believe you're one!  We love you!

One of those days

We had one of the those days... in the best sense.  One that I'll never forget.  No pictures necessary:

Isabel:  "Hey Mama, is Grandpa allergic to fairies?"
Mama: "Um, no Isabel, I don't think Grandpa is allergic to fairies."
Isabel (all excited):  "Then can we get a FAIRY?"
(The background on this one is that months ago we used Grandpa as our excuse not to get a cat.)
Anyone know of a reputable place with fairies for purchase???

Emelia:  We all turned from the table after dinner to find our precocious one-year old smiling at her reflection in the mirror.  After the baby in the mirror returned Emelia's smile she proceeds to give her a big wet smooch on the lips. She then turns and grins at us and goes back for a second huge kiss.  Yes, she's never been shy...

Abbie:  (Watching the city worker flush the fire hydrant outside our house) "But HOW can it hold THAT much water?"
Mama:  "Oh, there are pipes underground that carry the water to the tiny fire hydrant, it doesn't really hold all that water, it just comes out through the hydrant."
Abbie: (awestruck) "Yes, but HOW can it hold SO much water, Mama?!"
Mama: "Yeah, it's pretty amazing..." (realizing sometimes you just have to appreciate the awesomeness of things as they look through a child's eyes)

We love you babies,

M&D

Fall Camping!

Well, we have returned from our first annual Fall Camping Excursion. It was a success and we will be repeating...YES, it was in the 40's at night and YES it drizzled all day on Saturday and was only in the 60's....and NO, we didn't actually catch any fish....BUT! It was still fun! And the inauguration of our brand new tent was awesome - we didn't get wet when it rained, which was a plus after our last rainy-leaky-tent-camping experience :)

S'mores...yum...Emelia wants some...



Fishin' in the rain....just fiiiiisssshing in the rain....what a gloooorious feeeeeelin....I was sort of clinging to Iz and Em because the dock was wet and slippery. Abbie held her own like a champ.


The rowboat was great for Emelia b/c the sides were too tall for her to go overboard so she could actually creep around. Although, she didn't really have her sea legs, so she spent the second half of the trip napping in the wrap snuggled next to me. It was VERY windy and we got all the way across the lake ...fished...and started back, only to realize rowing was MUCH more difficult. Since I had a sleeping baby on me, Alex rowed us all back across the lake. Against the wind. He got a nice backrub for his sore muscles later. Although, his chivalry was top notch, as he claimed his broad shoulders hardly felt the effort of rowing his girls that whole way and he wasn't sore at all...:)


Anybody seen that SNL skit "I'm On A Boat?" Yes....this crew made me wanna sing that.


Come on fishy...wishing very hard for a fish. Abbie insisted we were going to cook it over the fire and eat it for dinner. Good thing we had a back-up plan...and lots of s'mores instead.

Packin' the Babe
Setting up camp the first night...yes, it was dark. yes it was cold. No we hadn't fed the kids anything. yes they were starving and dinner was going to be cooked over the fire....but spirits were running high because it was soooooooo exciting!

Things were so exciting, in fact, that bedtime was a snap. Three sleeping beauties, snoozing in a blink; Mama and Daddy by the fire having a nice drink...

Fishin' ladies. For some reason, Abbie wanted to stick with Daddy's fishing skills over mine... she didn't even ask me to stick the worm on the hook. Not that I wouldn't have...but...she let Iz and I (apparently the amateurs) stick together at the front of the boat while she and Daddy (the pros) fished off the back. Emelia hung out (out of hooking distance...?) in the middle.

Anyone wanna sleep in this tent? Comes complete with your own sleeping bag warmers (disclaimer: said 'warmers' may be SLIGHTLY squirmy) Turns out, if you zip two sleeping bags together all five of us can fit in! Nothing beats body heat and snuggles.

Bunch of random photos

The color I painted our bathroom....until I thought better of it. Why did this color look so good at Home Depot? they must do something with their lighting :) It's now bright yellow instead. Still bright, but a better color for the room!

Slip'n'slide fun with Simon.

Zoo fun with Simon and Theodore (not pictured!)