The Solar System

One of the gifts Orion got this year was a kid of various things relating to space.  There is a neat rocket, a light up planetarium and a solar system model to build.  He really liked the model, and it opened up a discussion about what a day and a year actually is.  Being able to explain it with the model was really cool, and it seemed to totally blow his mind!

Is it a Tower?

No! Akasha called this a very tall cucumber sandwich lol!

The Jolly Old Elf Strikes Again

Just a peek at our Christmas morning. :)  Here is Orion's side of the room:

And here is Akasha's side of the room:

This Hello Kitty that dispenses little figurines in balls was the biggest hit of the day.  The kids played with it for HOURS.  The rest of the stuff barely got looked at!

Here are a couple of the little dudes:

Foolin' Around!

Later that day, the kids were fooling around on the couch, and Akasha took some of her first pictures!  Just a heck of alot of cuteness here.

Cooooooookies v.2011

We didn't decorate cookies until Christmas eve this year. Maybe that could be a neat tradition! The first two are before and after, so to speak.

Make sure to notice the bottom row in the above picture.  Akasha insisted they go this way because they are not bells, they are acorns!!!

Hard at work.

The face of concentration.

Wanna taste?

I was impressed with Orion's careful outlining skills!

Snack break...

I really liked this one too!

I swear the cookies taste better than this face!

And yes, I made her wash her hands before going back to the batter lol!

Solstice Happenins

Had a quiet Solstice this year. I didn't originally think of this one as a Solstice photo, but when I was getting ready to add things and noticed the date, I realized how appropriate it  was because these kinda look like ice crystals.  This is actually a sort of accidental science experiment!  I had dissolved some epsom salts in warm water to make a spray with, but not all of it fit in the bottle.  I left the pan on the stove with a thin layer of liquid in it and forgot about it.  When the water had evaporated, this is what was left!  They were really quite pretty!

Here are some seeded pine cones we made to decorate the tree outside with.

And this year's candles for the light and dark ceremony. Orion wanted his blank this year.

I made special foods to represent the light and dark half of the year as well, as I have done in the past, but didn't get any pictures this year.

What a Find!!!

We discovered this little local shop thanks to Richardson Rock Ranch. They gave me the number for a guy who cuts and polishes geodes, and it turns out he runs a store out of his garage! It is amazing, with semi precious stones from all over the world, many that I had never heard of. And he knows them all by site and has books about their properties. This guy is the real deal! Just a tiny sampling...

I Got My Crafty on This Year!

I went kinda nuts this year with crafts, but it was so much fun as I haven't done that in years!

Solstice trees from popsicle sticks.  The eyes were Orion's idea and the puff balls Akasha's.  :)

This was my masterpiece of the season!  Countdown snowman!  I did everything from scratch.  The bottom of the wood sits in a big bowl filled with plaster of Paris.  I feel so handy!

Beanbag gingerbread cookies!  Just felt, hot glue, puff paint and rice!

These were a blast!  They are just sheets of beeswax pressed together. 

Another Winter, Another Seussical Tree!

We have gotten our tree several times now from our friends at Corner Crest Farm. Orion didn't want to come this year, so I went up with just Akasha. It was a coooold day! Just by luck, my friend Amy was there at the same time! We went out together to pick our trees, and here is studly Tanya carrying them both back to the cars!I just love this picture because it looks like she has a big peacock tail!

Here we are with our trees! Amy went with the more noble Noble, but I love the natural and quirky look of the Douglas Firs.
And here is the quirky tree all decorated.
Even the crooked topper kinda fits the theme lol. It actually looked better from the front, but I couldn't get a decent photo with the glare of the window behind it.

A Winter Walk

Our whole family went on a walk today, which is a really unusual happening.
The kids like to look for nature things when we go walking, and Orion was intrigued by this "little tree".

He found a spot later in the walk to "plant" it.
Akasha, on the other hand, was determined to stomp in every puddle she found.


It was a cooooold day, so the walk didn't last long, but it was nice to be out for a little bit. :)

Put Pajamas on Your Head...

...put a rabbit on your head,
put some taffy on your head.
Not sure why Akasha is so fascinated with putting things on her head! But as I was writing this, I kept thinking of that Eddie Murphy song, Boogie in your Butt hahahaha! Does anybody else remember that one? And on a humorous side note, Ron thought he sent the last picture to his Facebook page, but it ended up on the wall of a group we are both on!

Christmas Ships Cruise!

I have always wanted to see the boat parade that happens every December in Portland, but Ron is not so much into the whole hanging out in the cold thing. So at first I started looking at restaurants that were on the course, but we ended up springing for a cruise on the Portland Spirit, which is something else I have always wanted to do! I only got a bunch of crappy pictures, which don't do the evening justice at all. Here is a blurry picture of the ship just before we boarded:
And then much to our delight, we discovered we had a window seat! We had the option to pay an extra 50 bucks to guarantee one, but I had no idea how many people actually do. I guess we totally lucked out!
Our neighbors offered to get a shot of us together.
And then I started wondering if we got that side because the ships pass on the other side lol, but I should have known - they have it down to a science. I guess they work it out with the boats ahead of time, because near the end of dinner, they actually circle the ship, and they do it for long enough that you can go up on the top deck to watch! The whole evening was great. I had no idea there was also music, with singing waiters, and they were GOOD. The food was good as well! But the most amazing thing (for December) was that the night was crystal clear, and it was even a full moon. Seriously, it couldn't have been more perfect!

Another terrible picture of the floating homes, but you can see how big and clear the moon was!
The boats were also really hard to capture, but this was probably the best shot of the night.
And just a couple more fun boats...