This year, we all went as different characters from the Wizard of Oz. Amelya was Dorothy, complete with Toto in a basket, Molly was the Wicked Witch of the West, Norah was the Cowardly Lion (with her Badge of Courage), Sean was the Scarecrow, and I was Glinda (using Amelya's wig from 2 years ago when SHE was Glinda).
We had a great time, and Norah enjoyed walking around this year. She would NOT let go of her trick-or-treat bag! The weather was actually, well, comfortable! Our neighbors claim it was the nicest weather for a Halloween they could remember! Usually, we're bundled up underneath costumes, and we even had to wear jackets OVER our costumes one year!
After trick-or-treating, we returned home for our annual lasagna dinner! YUM! We hope everyone had a wonderful and safe Halloween!
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Trip to the Pumpkin Patch
When we moved here, we were driving around one autumn afternoon looking to purchase trees for our backyard. We came upon a farm selling a large variety of pumpkins from their front yard. We had so much fun looking at all of the different kinds of pumpkins and purchasing them at such an inexpensive price, that we have returned every year. This year, Norah was able to be more involved, and the weather was great!!
Daddy and the girls enjoyed carving the pumpkins with witches, ghosts and cats. Momma will use the pie pumpkins the girls picked for pies for the holidays!
Daddy and the girls enjoyed carving the pumpkins with witches, ghosts and cats. Momma will use the pie pumpkins the girls picked for pies for the holidays!
Monday, October 6, 2008
Norah's Birthday Party
Norah's 1st birthday party was a Princess theme to go along with her nursery (just like Amelya had a fairy theme and Molly had a mermaid theme). I know all three girls will have fond memories of their first birthdays!! :) We kept the party to just family members this time. Grammy and Grampy, Grandma, Uncle Mark, Aunt Kathy & Uncle Paul, and Aunt Lesley and Katie all flew in for the festivities.
Norah received lots of great gifts and toys. She LOVED smashing into her cake - no hesitation! At one point, she must have felt like she wasn't getting ALL of the cake, because she decided to pick up the cardboard bakery "plate" the cake was on and lick the cake off. Too funny.
We assume she had a delightful day!! We sure did!
Norah's 1st Birthday
It's official - our baby has turned One! It was an exciting day, yet I must say that I'm sad. Her first year seems to have flown by. It seemed like she stayed a baby for so long - since she was content to lie on her back to play all day long. If she needed to see something, she just did a tummy crunch and lifted her head up off the floor - abs of steel. She didn't roll around until almost 9 1/2 months; literally, she was completely immobile. Shortly after mastering the roll, she'd roll over to the couch or a table, hook her feet underneath and do a sit up. Really, abs of steel. Then, at 10 months, she started crawling, 2 days later, she was pulling herself to stand. And, now she's walking. She did the monkey arm walk at first, but now she's cruising along pretty steadily. It all happened so fast; she's trying to keep up with her sisters, and she already tries to play dress-up with them. She loves big beaded necklaces and sunglasses.
Anyway, her actual birthday was a success. We gave her cake on the 22nd, but saved the big "dig in" for her party that weekend. I'll try to get to those pictures up soon; there are a ton! She seems to know that her new toys are actually hers and that they never belonged to one of her sisters. She's not saying words yet, but like her big sister Molly, somehow you know what she wants. Our sweet Norah Jane...
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Apple Picking
So, for those of you who don't know, we decided (for several reasons) to homeschool Amelya for Kindergarten. Crazy...you ask? Perhaps, but what would my life be like if I wasn't up to my eyebrows in stuff? Molly also enjoys doing her "school work," and wants to join in, so I'm trying to incorporate Preschool as well. Anyway, we are going to take it one year at a time to see how it goes. I can't screw them up too bad this early, right? I mean, how hard can it be to teach reading, writing and arithmetic (ask me at the end of the year!)?
That being said, this week we prepared for our "field trip" to an apple orchard with other homeschoolers (we joined a "group"). We studied about apples, learned their five parts, learned a few apple songs (yes, there are apple songs), learned about orchards and apple blossoms. We were totally ready for our outing and fortunately, the weather cooperated. The girls picked tons of apples and had a blast. Even Norah enjoyed trying to bite into a little apple.
I'll let you know how the apple crisp and fresh, hot apple pie turns out! Enjoy the photos!
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Molly Clare - Birthday Girl Extraordinare
Molly is officially a 3-year-old! We went to the Brookfield Zoo yesterday to begin the festivities. Molly's favorite exhibit was the giraffes (big surprise), followed closely by the dolphin show (also Amelya's favorite) and the seasonal butterfly exhibit (Momma's favorite). It was a perfect day to be at the zoo - a nice surprise given that it's August and usually quite warm and humid. After the zoo visit, we found a great little Italian restaurant where Uncle Mark treated us to pizza. We ate out on the patio and enjoyed ice cream and cannoli for dessert. They sang Happy Birthday to Sweet Molly.
This morning, we opened Molly's presents from Momma & Daddy, as well as several cards that had come in during the week. She enjoyed playing with her MagNeatos set (Molly loves puzzles, blocks, legos, bristle blocks, etc) and a giant floor puzzle of a barn and animals. She also received a horn and basket for the front of her new bike.
After naps, we took a quick trip over to My Party Palace in downtown Plainfield (this is where Amelya is going to have her 6th birthday party - don't we plan ahead!). The store was celebrating it's 1st birthday, so we joined them. Jasmine and Sleeping Beauty were there and they did Amelya and Molly's hair, nails and make-up. After a royal crowning and pictures, it was time to return home to frost the birthday cake, which, as you'll see, we enjoyed after a dinner of meatball subs and peas (Molly's choice).
We have had a wonderful couple of days celebrating; we are so proud of Molly and all she has accomplished this year. She can count to 20, recite her ABCs, recognize all uppercase letters out of order and recite the months of the year. She knows her shapes and colors and can write her name (with a little help on the "y."). She took her first dance class and performed in her first dance recital. She continues to amaze us and make us laugh - her facial expressions and the way she uses her eyes can be hysterical. Needless to say, we can't wait to watch what she does next!!
Monday, August 4, 2008
Molly's Birthday Party
Molly's 3rd Birthday party was on Saturday, and the Candy Land theme was a HUGE success! Everyone loved the decorations and the kids all had a blast! They loved the playhouse and the bounce house.
The cake came out great (thanks to my bakery - I brought them all of the candy, and they built the cake according to a magazine picture I had), and the special treat for Princess Frostine was a hit. I bought a soft serve ice cream maker with 3 mix-in compartments. I even found rainbow ice cream cones. But, I just realized, we forgot to take pictures of that element of the party. Oh well!
Molly received many great gifts, including a toddler cookbook, a mermaid felt book, a special candy bracelet, LEGOs and a new big girl jewelry box. We also gave her a 12" bike, so she no longer has to pedal like a mad-thing on a little tricycle keep up with her big sister!
The children were all exhausted by the end of the night, and they were anxious to open their treat bags full of unicorn lollipops, licorice, Candy Land stickers & tattoos, pencils, crayons and swirl soaps.
Now, we have to deal with the reality that NEXT Saturday, she'll actually be 3!!! Where does the time go!?!?
Friday, July 18, 2008
Building Candy Land
This year, Molly's 3rd Birthday party is a Candy Land theme. I figured it would be fun to have all of the colors and try to decorate the yard like parts of the game.
A couple of months ago, I began collecting items for treat bags and searching for decorating ideas. I decided on the invitation style (cutting out gumdrops and placing them in a clear "candy bag") and got those out in plenty of time. Then, apparently time slipped away from me as I realized this week that her party is 2 weeks away! We had no Candy Land "land" decorations and no menu, but that's beside the point. So, frantically, the girls and I began to piece together a pseudo-life-sized game on Tuesday. Lots of fun with Sean out of town until Saturday and Norah deciding that naps are overrated.
So, here's what we've done. The girls have enjoyed painting and watching me spread glitter glue around (OK, so they would have preferred to do that themselves, but we are under time constraints and still had to make it to swim lessons, ideally without their fingers glued together). They helped me put the patterns for the game "trail" together and put the special pink squares in the right spots according to the game.
I think, barring rain and wind, the outdoor party will be really cute. I'm going to fill jars with licorice, gumdrops and candy canes for additional decorations, along with the traditional Fox streamers and balloons. The lollipops we made will go around our Birch trees, the gumdrops will sit around the base of a Maple (or will hang from the branches, not sure yet). I found 26-inch plastic candy canes to place around/hang in our Pine trees, and I'm going to make the playhouse into Gramma Nuts house (with giant peanuts somehow). If I can pull it off, I'm going to add the pink square with the ice cream cone to the last "trail" and have a special pit-stop for Princess Frostine, possibly with ice cream for the kids. I may put like candies in each area for the kids to add to their treat bags (bags of gumdrops, candy canes and unicorn lollipops), or I'll just already have them in the bags - not sure yet.
Wish us luck as the party draws near!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Wolf Lake, MI for 4th of July
Last Thursday, July 3, we decided at 2:00 PM to drive to Aunt Georgia and Uncle Jon's cottage at Wolf Lake in Michigan. It's a 5 hour drive, and by the time we ran to the store for supplies, packed, ate and got out the door it was 8:00 PM. This wasn't so bad, because the girls could sleep on the way, right?? Right, until it took us 3 hours, yes, I said 3, to go a mere 100 miles. The construction traffic through Indiana was ridiculous! So, needless to say, we arrived in Michigan at 3:00 AM, only to discover that there is a 1 hour time difference - it was 4:00 AM. Ah, who needs sleep!
Despite the ordeal to get there, we had a WONDERFUL time. The cottage was great and the lake was beautiful. We had purchased fireworks on our way back from the Dells in Wisconsin, so Sean (my little firebug) was in heaven setting them off from the dock.
We all rode the jet ski (the girls LOVED that), as well as used the paddle boat. We went out on the "party barge" the night of the fireworks and watched everyone setting them off around the lake. We had a great time and will probably go back in mid-August for another get-away. Two family weekends with no errands, no phones, no TV. What a thought!
Trip to Wisconsin Dells
As some of you may know, Sean's 40th birthday gift from the girls and I was a family vacation to the Wisconsin Dells. This area is, apparently, world renowned for its waterparks, supposedly home to many of the "world's largest" parks and slides.
We stayed at the Great Wolf Lodge which has an indoor and outdoor waterpark for year-round fun (yes, even in the freezing cold winter, the indoor waterpark maintains a warm 85 degree atmosphere). We especially enjoyed the indoor park, as it contains great activities for children 5 and younger with a 0-depth wave pool and several small waterslides plus a water-spout activity area. In addition, indoors means NO SUNBLOCK!!
We did take a break from the waterpark to go on an Original Wisconsin Duck tour. The Ducks were used in WWII and the Korean conflict. They are amphibious - drive on land right into the water. Some of the river scenery pictures are from that tour, as well as another Duck riding by us on the water. Also, Amelya and I took a go-cart ride, and then so did Amelya and Daddy. She loved it, as did we.
We had a wonderful, no stress, family get-away weekend. We plan to go again next year (maybe even in the winter!).
First Attempt at Blogging
OK, since several people have been after us to start up a blog and share photos of the girls, I've decided to give it a try.
Anyway, we'll give this a shot and practice with a picture. If successful, I will share pictures of our recent family trips to Wisconsin and Michigan.
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