Merry Christmas 2012!

Merry Christmas 2012!, a photo by erinkk on Flickr.

We're getting ready for the holiday, trying to get everything done a little early so we can spend time with family we haven't seen for quite some time.

There will be more pictures to come once the festivities begin, so check back later!

Wishing you and your family a wonderful, magical Christmas and an amazing New Year.

2012 FLL Robotics Competition

At the competition table, a photo by erinkk on Flickr.

On November 17th, we headed to our second FLL Robotics Competition. Henry did such a great job this year. It's fun to watch him mature year to year and see him take on more and more responsibility in the team. He's got great mentors in his older teammates, and helps the newer team members learn the ropes.

To see more pictures:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinkk/archives/date-taken/2012/11/17/

Halloween 2012

Halloween 2012, a photo by erinkk on Flickr.

We had fun with homemade costumes again this year!
Henry was a Propeller Block Mario from Super Mario 3D Land, and Holly was Trixie, the Halloween Fairy from one of her favorite books about fairies. Yep, she's got orange hair!
I've had to change how I post photos (again) because Blogger is telling me I'm out of room.  So the pictures will be hosted on Flickr, but you won't need to be a "friend" or anything.  Try this out for me and let me know if you have any problems:  Use this link to see more of our Halloween photos!  http://www.flickr.com/photos/erinkk/archives/date-taken/2012/10/31/

Holly's Eighth

She turned eight yesterday.  My baby.  Eight.  I still think of her as being six! 

Holly has become such a fun person to be with.  She loves crafts, colors, the outdoors, animals, sewing, knitting and...

her new American Girl Doll.  She's been aching for one for years now, so everyone chipped in and Holly was able to go to the American Girl Store at the Mall of America to pick out her Girl.

Here are pictures from her big day (yesterday).  Holly will be doing a post to introduce you to her new friend!

Birthday Morning!  Complete with Grandma!!

Rides at the Mall

Henry, too!

Here it is!!

One of the cool displays at the store.  Look how big the horses are!!

The Bistro in the store, where your doll gets served food too.  We will be going here someday...

She's HOME!  :)

Holly's first (machine) sewing project!

Holly tackled a pillowcase for Halloween as her first machine-sewn project.  It was fun for both of us, and she gets to use an awesome pillowcase (that GLOWS in the dark!) for the month of October.  We're already planning more of these easy, fun, great-looking pillowcases for the future.

Did I mention it had French seams? 

Great job, Holly!  Next up is some cozy pajama pants from some wild flannel she picked out...

P.S. Check out her work apron!  We bought that this summer at a local farmer's/artisan's market.  So cute!

It's coming...

Well, coming back, really.

We're going to re-boot the blog this week.  New name, new posts, new bloggers!

Look out world!  (Or at least friends and family.)

2012 Twin Cities Celiac Walk/Run!

We had such a good time today!  The weather was great, the walk was fun, we had lots of fun, and ate yummy food!

The shirts we created.  Go Team Holly!!

Henry, Kelly, Goldy the Gopher, and Brian!

Getting high-fives from Goldy

This was hilarious.  A giant colon (inflatable) with different diseases (sadly, no celiac, since that's the small intestine).

Kelly, Brian and Todd IN the colon.

"Exiting" the colon!  Ok, being pooped out.  Brian's not so sure about the whole thing.

Cherry Dilly Bar from DQ!  Mmmmm!  (Also, FREE)

Chocolate Dilly Bar!  Yummy!!

Holly and Kelly getting their faces painted!

Team Holly 2012!  Go Team!

Showing off the pretty face paint--complete with glitter!

Can't wait for next year!

It's that time of year again

The Twin Cities Celiac Walk/Run is on Saturday (the 19th) already!  I can't believe it's been a year.  We've been a little lax about getting the word out this year, but we do have some friends and family joining us.  It should be lots of fun!

If you are interested in joining us or just donating (the proceeds go to celiac research--hopefully a cure will be found one day!), here is the link.

http://www.twincitiesceliacwalk.org/register.html

On behalf of our family, and especially Holly, thanks for your support.  It means so much to us and millions of other people all over the world! 

Shepherd's Harvest 2012

The festival:

HUGE Lincoln Rams.  Huge.  Never seen sheep this big!

You should see what I bought!
http://erinkknits.blogspot.com/2012/05/shepherds-harvest-2012-spoils.html

Fun with pets and a silk hankie

This.  This is what makes having pets worthwhile.

Fun with Marble Rollercoasters and a 3DS

By the way...

Just a quick note--I've increased my blog total to THREE.  Yes, I am crazy (see title of blog above).  But it's for a good reason.  This new one is for work (I'm teaching knitting!), and if you're at all interested in seeing it, you can go here:  http://erinkknits.wordpress.com/  and check it out!  I'm always looking for students, so if you're interested or you know someone who is, let me know!

(Oh, and for those of you who follow both of my personal blogs, sorry for the repeat post...)

Habitats

Holly's been studying animal habitats a lot lately.  She's our resident naturalist, specializing mostly in birds.  She also loves art and color, so there are naturally a lot of projects that come out of her studies.

There has been some self-directed diorama making:

Also a food chain project that is currently hanging across her bedroom window!