thanksgiving to christmas

Happy Thanksgiving! We had a great day hosting all the family. Izza even helped me make these cute lil turkey cupcakes that was a recipe of our dear Cali friend Cheryl. Auntie Lisa was going to try and make these instead which we may have to try next year too.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mamakimi/2056437398/

Of course if we make these new turkeys next year we will have to use double stuff oreos!
Lala poses with baby Liam (who we needed to be pictured in the blog cause his blog doesn't get updated very often).

Lala poses with baby Ellie (who needed to be pictured because her blog doesn't get updated to often either).

A special treat of living here is that Great Grandpa's piano will now be housed here....Claudia gives it a try. She is the one who loves to sing and dance.

The cooks of the great Thanksgiving feast.

And out with Thanksgiving and on with Christmas. The girls were put to work on the family farm but Izza had to take a break to tell Santa she wanted MORE dolls!

Family pic.

Isabel poses to see how tall she is by the elf.

Claudia hopes she gets some big presents like this.

Ellie, did anything get in your mouth?

After a hard day at the farm, Liam and Ellie gets bathed. My kids were dirty too. How come no one bathed them?

Random pics on the camera. Claudia has gotten into climbing the walls lately. It is one of her favorite things to do when she is passing the time.

A couple of weeks ago a local kids Teddy Bear Band was playing at the local elementary school. Izzy got up close to dance with the bear.

Claudia also got into the dancing.

The local firemen came to visit Izza's school. Claudia got to check out the truck too.

And a great farewell to the in-laws who headed home today. We hope they have safe travels and hope they return soon. Thanks for all the meals, dog walking, babysitting and good times.

This is for Aunt Katie.

We just got an e-mail from Aunt Katie that she is at work and bored. She wants an update in the blog to give her something to do and pass along the day. So here is a quick update. These are pics that Isabel took with the camera. She wants to take pics all the time now. Of course you need a pic of Elmo!

Isabel's attempt of Claudia and Elmo in motion.

Elmo and doll. Aren't you glad you asked for an update Katie? Hope you didn't go back to work and you are actually looking at the pics. Better yet, why not update your babe's blog?

http://thehartleyfamilyalbum.blogspot.com/

The End!

Claudia turns 2!

We had a blast celebrating Claudia's 2 birthday. It was a beautiful day and we had lots of fun with friends and family. Here Isabel and Claudia bond with baby Noelle. Talonna, Noelle and Auntie Reyna and baby Liam hang out.

Momma gets one photo shot with the birthday girl.

Claudia and her friends, minus Ellie who was being fed.

We had lots of Elmo entertainment for the big event. Here the girls are playing pin the nose on Elmo. If you look closely you will see that Claudia is wearing her red ladybug headband (compliments of Cali friend Emily) as a belt around her waist. She insisted on wearing it as a belt all day long.

The cutest Elmo cake.

Family photo (smile Isabel).

Birthday girl eating a birthday Elmo cupcake.

Left over remnants of Elmo cupcake.

The Elmo pinata.

Connor really tackled the pinata for us. You can tell someone has had baseball practice.

But Margo was focused and willing go after Elmo too.

Claudia also wanted to tackle Elmo for all the candy inside of it.

Eden had to reach for Elmo to give it a whack.

Finally someone had to show the kids how to do it (but Connor was the one who finally brought Elmo down).

After the party when everyone went home, we went outside to enjoy the day and ran into this horse and buggy that was on our street going for a ride.

Isabel was able to pet the horses and we watched them head home. It was a great birthday for Claudia and we hope she enjoys being 2.

Thank you Aunt Jane!

Claudia turns 2 tomorrow! Why did my lil baby grow up so fast? Aunt Jane offered to let Claudia open her gifts early. Much to Adam's distress, we took her up on her offer and Claudia knew just how to rip open her gifts. Thank you Aunt Jane and Uncle Jim! The best part of the night was watching Grandpa try to put together the ladybug tent from Aunt Jane. Yes, Grandpa is in the tent somewhere.

Then daddy to the rescue but we still needed Grandpa's help.

The girls LOVE playing in the tent.

Halloween day we went to Adam's cousin for a huge Halloween party. The girls loved the jumpy house. Here is what a pink horse looks like as it jumps. Claudia is as cute as a pink cheetah.

Our cowgirl and pink horse and her pink cheetah sidekick.

Halloween Day.

But the night before we did some pumpkins. Isabel insisted on wearing rubber gloves to pull out the guts.

The pumpkin carvers.

Baby Ellie was over that night too and she got her first taste of applesauce and rice cereal.

I am behind!

I should be putting Halloween pictures on the blog but we are behind on our updates. Claudia and Isabel ended their swimming lessons last week. I think we will wait to rejoin until the spring time. Izzy struggled through this session but kept going and trying so we are proud of her. Claudia proved to be a little fish or frog and she is ready to leap in with no fear. A couple weeks ago we all gathered to see lil Ellie baptised.

She did great and was a happy camper to have a party in her honor.

We have spent a lot of time clearing the backyard. I wish i had a "before and after" pic but i always forget. Pa has been man of the fire and we constantly are burning all the brush and trees that we cut. I have learned how to use the chainsaw, I just want to paint it pink so it can be nice and girlie.