The Wolfley's: November 2010

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

SO much to be thankful for!

Last weekend we enjoyed a fabulous Thanksgiving holiday with my sweet sister Natalie and her family! Because we both live out of state, we don’t get to see each other really other than Christmas, so it was so fun to spend time with them. They invited us to their new home in Moscow Idaho, which is supposed to be about 7 ½ hours away. Unfortunately the weather picked Wednesday (the day we drove out there) to be super cold and snowy. Our 7 ½ hour drive turned into a 10 ½ hour drive, but thankfully we arrived safely (and miraculously with two still pretty happy girls!). We had a great time with them and it was so fun for the kids to get in some awesome cousin time. Makenna and Noah entertained each other all day, which made it a very relaxing vacation! We had a tasty traditional Thanksgiving dinner, played cards, watched football (kind of a bummer when Auburn won & Boise lost – that’s almost enough to ruin your day!) and even fit in some sledding. (Guess if you have to drive in the snow, you might as well have fun in it, too!) Thanks so much to Nat & Ammon for having us over, we love you guys!

Our awesome dinner!

Makenna (2) and Noah (3)...best buds!

Elizabeth and Sage. These two are only 2 weeks apart and I can already tell they are going to be trouble! :)

Nate playing ball with Noah while the girls played with toys. I think Nate was enjoying some "boy" playtime!

All bundled up

Four very warm (and padded) kiddos!

The Pitt family!
Ammon, Natalie, Noah, Elizabeth

Our family!

Sledding with Daddy

At this time of year I also like to remember all the things I am thankful for...here are a few:
1. My wonderful husband and best friend (especially how hard he works at school but still finds lots of time to spend with us!)
2. My two beautiful daughters, they are the light of my life!
3. The gospel - the knowledge of which brings me amazing peace and happiness.
4. My FAMILY! (both mine and Nate's - we are SO blessed to have such supportive family members who we LOVE spending time with.)
5. Wonderful friends and neighbors who make living away from family SO much easier!
6. A job that I enjoy and still allows me to feel like a stay-at-home-mom.
7. The beautiful Oregon outdoors (and the rain!!).
8. Our health
9. Financial stability in a financially unstable world
10. My home!

This list could go on and on...we have so much to be thankful for and are truly BLESSED!

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

We Did It!!

Who said potty training had to be a miserable, drawn out, difficult experience? A couple of weekends ago we started the down the dreaded road and it wasn’t bad at all! In fact, we had a lot of fun with it! Kenna had been ready for months (and had been using the potty on and off for a while), but we were a little hesitant to actually commit and make the diaper-free jump. Now I’m thinking WHY DIDN’T WE START THIS EARLIER!! She did SO great and has never looked back. Mostly thanks to the program “3DayPottyTraining.com” (which I would recommend to anyone!) Kenna was nearly completely potty trained in 3 days. It is a wonderful and very positive program based solely off of positive reinforcement and praise. (A lot more fun than getting mad every time they have an accident.) Now she is officially a BIG GIRL and we are SO proud!! Way to go Makenna. :)

Gotta have the Tinkerbell underwear!

Stickers + Charts + Prizes + M&M's = 1 happily potty trained girl (and 2 tired parents!)

Her last official jump to the "big kid" title: a new booster seat! She couldn't be happier!

Snow in Eugene!

It only snows once every couple years here, but today Eugene decided to make us feel a little more at home! I can’t say I've missed the snow very much, in fact going a whole winter without shoveling once last year was pretty darn nice. But I will take it (and enjoy it!) when it does come. Nate and I just laugh because on the news they have had huge “Winter Weather Advisories” warning people that they are about to receive 2 INCHES OF SNOW!!! :) Most public schools were closed today (except the University of course…dang it!) and everyone is afraid to leave their homes. Now I do have to give people a small break because it has been terribly icy, but I also just smile at what a big deal winter weather is around here. Gotta love Oregon!

Compared to Utah, this looks like just a dusting!

In their defense, Eugene has no effective snow removal so the roads were pretty bad.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Halloween Fun!

Forget Halloween day, we had a Halloween week! Last week was so crazy, and while we had a lot of fun, I’m kind of relieved it is over! :) We literally had a party every day for six days straight. Tuesday was our Mom & Tot party, Wednesday I worked and the girls went to my friend’s ward party with her, then Thursday we had a party with the J. Reuben Clark Association (basically all the LDS law students and their families), Friday was U of O trick-or-treating, Saturday we had a Trunk or Treat with our ward (and a football game party, of course!), and Sunday we got together with some of our friends to celebrate actual Halloween! Whew! Think we’ve had enough sugar to last the rest of the year?! I think the girls were in heaven…or just on sugar highs. Oh well, that’s what Halloween is all about anyway, right – candy and dressing up?! Because we had so many parties, we thought we’d mix things up a little bit and we did two separate costumes for both girls. When Nate & I wanted to dress up, the girls were cheerleaders and we were fans. When we didn’t, they were fairy princesses! :) It worked out great and I think they looked really cute. (Plus with two of them, we were able to represent both of our schools!) On top of all the partying, we also went to the farm (twice!) as a family to go on a hayride and get pumpkins. What a fun (and overwhelming) week!