Apple Picking

On Sunday afternoon we made our annual trip to the apple orchard. This year we went to Wasem's Fruit Farm on Judd Rd. I guess everyone else had the same idea...the orchard was packed. We were surprised at how far we had to walk down the row to find any trees that weren't already picked over. The girls were troopers and did their best to help Bob fill the half- bushel bag. And of course, we couldn't leave without waiting in line for some fresh donuts and cider. Boy, that brought back a lot of memories of my donut-making days. I can't believe it's been 16 years since I worked at Ken and Roy's cider mill.

Happy Birthdays!

Happy Birthday today to Joyce and Aunt Jenny. I'm hoping your day is joyful and sweet. And I can't forget a belated wish from Friday for Uncle Brad, too. Only one more year until he's a thirty-something.

   

        

Our Saturday Afternoon

While Bob was tailgating before the Michigan game, the girls, Grammy and I decided to head downtown for something fun to do. Saline was holding their annual "Harvest of the Arts" festival. We walked around a bit, stopped for face-painting and a Sprite at the "Oktoberfest" tent and went to the Saline Puppetry Arts festival. We watched a performance of "The Country Mouse The City Mouse" and Ella and Sophie were able to make their own puppet.  The older two were intrigued by the show, while Lucy was busy "shhshhing" the little boy behind us. She did enjoy the end of the show and was very excited to provide her applause. It was a nice event and I think the girls had a good time. 

I hope you're enjoying your weekend, too!

Isn't She Cute?

Heidi stopped by with the girls today to show us Avery's new glasses. Doesn't she look great? I think Kaleigh is hoping for a pair of her own. I don't think she removed her sunglasses once while she was here.

"Sopie's Seeping"

Lucy made the announcement this afternoon. I guess Sophie had a long day. Yes, she is actually sleeping on a table.

"There's Fairy Dust On My Pillow"

Ella lost her second tooth yesterday. She was very delighted when she woke up this morning to find a silver, glittery-like substance next to her pillow. She and Sophie classified it as "fairy dust." Ella was also very excited to find a five dollar bill under her pillow. That's up from the $2 she received for her first tooth. I guess that's the smallest bill the tooth fairy had last night. I hope Ella's not too disappointed when her third tooth goes back to the original rate.

Lucy continues to crack us up with her vocabulary. Yesterday, she correctly used the word "actually." She's also getting into the election, like the rest of us. When asked who's going to be the next president, she either says "me" or "daddy." Bob also has gotten a kick out of teaching her to say "No Barack Obama." It's pretty funny.  Don't worry, Andy, I'm not letting him brainwash her too much.

In other news, Sophie got a pebble stuck deep in her ear today at school. Don't ask me how or why. Luckily, Bob was able to extract it with his tweezers.

Happy Friday, everybody!

Blogger's Block

I'm having a hard time thinking of something interesting to post. I'll work on it for tomorrow...

She Did It

Sophie did great at school today. I had to nudge her a bit to join the group for circle time, but after that everything was smooth sailing. No tears...no accidents. I'm very proud of her. I tried to make a quiet exit, but Lucy kept shouting "See ya, Sophie."

Pre-nudge

 

Post-nudge

(Sorry for the blurriness; I was trying to make my quick exit.)

I think a week of full days of school has finally caught up with Ella. She woke up quite crabby and irrational this morning. By the time she got on the bus, though, she was fine. She has started to receive homework this week, and has been pretty enthusiastic to complete it. I'm anticipating that the enthusiasm won't last too long, though.

Unfortunately, I must report that Lucy is confirmed to have entered the terrible two phase. Two weeks ago, I could sing the "clean up" song and get her to immediately cooperate. Not anymore. Two weeks ago, I could get her dressed without a fuss. Not anymore. Two weeks ago, she would wait patiently for a snack. Not anymore. And, if that weren't enough, her new favorite phrase is "No mother!" I didn't even know she knew the word "mother." She has proven that she is now eligible for the time-out chair.

Sophie's Turn

Today was Sophie's first day of school. She and I got to spend one hour with Ms. Bonnie and a few of her classmates. Unfortunately, she clung to me the whole time. She even shed a few tears at one point. Please pray that she gains some confidence before Wednesday, when she will have to go without me. 

We had a really nice weekend. On Saturday, the girls and I and their Aunt Joanie went to the Saline Fair Parade, while Bob was at the football game. Sophie, Lucy, Kaleigh, Joanie and I marched with the preschool float, while Ella went with Scott and the others in the church float. I believe the two floats tied for first place.

After the parade, we headed home for Sophie and Lucy's birthday party.  I hope everyone had a good time, despite the delay in the meal. We miscalculated the temperature to cook 30 lbs. of pork, so it didn't "pull" at the expected time. Maybe we'll just get pizza next time:)

Here are the birthday girls at the party. I'll try to post more pictures tomorrow. 

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Young at Art

I got a call this week from the Art's Center that Ella took a class from this summer. Her art has been selected to be on display at the Saline District Library in September. She's pretty excited. Here's a flyer from the center. Ella made the owl at the top and that's the side of her head in the center picture. She really enjoys art...I guess she must take after her Aunt Heidi.

Have a Happy Friday!

Terrible Two?

Is it possible to turn into a terrible two overnight? Lucy didn't have such a good day today. I'm hoping she was just missing Ella and not starting a whole new phase. She did perk up after she saw Ella get off the bus this afternoon.

Sophie didn't have any problems with Ella being gone all day. I think the extra attention she's going to get everyday will do her some good. I missed Ella, but also enjoyed being able to spend some one-on-one time with Soph while Lucy was napping.

Ella seemed to have a great time at school. I expected her to be exhausted when she got home, but she was so excited that she didn't settle down until late evening. 

We'll see what tomorrow brings...

Little Lu Turns Two!

We first started using the quote "We plan...God laughs" when we found out I was pregnant with Lucy.  As you may know, she was our big surprise. I didn't realize, then, how appropriate that phrase would be for Lucy. I don't think there's been a day in the last year when she hasn't made us laugh. I thank God every day for sending us our little comedian.

In other news, Ella had her first day of school today, if you can call it that. She was in and out in less than an hour so that she could meet her teacher and see her classroom. Even though the real event isn't until tomorrow, I thought I'd follow Aunt Mary's example by taking her picture on our front steps. I hope to continue that every year as Mary did with Melissa.

By the way, today also marks two happy years of knowing Christie.

So Long Summer

This being the last "unofficial" day of summer, I thought I'd post some of my favorite pictures of the season. 

Sophie at Lake Huron in May

Lucy and Aunt Jenny on Father's Day 

(note how different Lu looks before her hair was "styled")

The girl's first tube outing on Rainy Lake

The crew in Frankfort

Ella at Lake Michigan

Bob and Lu at Lake Michigan

Ella and Quinn in Frankfort