Sarah's First Thanksgiving!

We had a happy Thanksgiving! How about you?

My sister and her family headed out of town for the holiday so we headed over to my Mom's for the day. The girls got to help Nana baste the turkey before she put it in the roaster.
Nana's helpers.
Later, she read them some books.
Love that cheesy grin.
Abby and I before eating turkey.
What it will look like after we eat the turkey.
We made a little craft project inspired by the Salsa Twins.
Abby said she wanted to eat one of the drumsticks.
We made hats for both the girls.
Side view of the drumsticks.
Abby took this picture of the family ready for dinner.
Sarah is ready for her first Thanksgiving dinner!
That turkey leg was delish! She made a pretty good dent in it, but couldn't quite finish it.
Sarah fed Papa some of her food. He was more than happy to eat it!
Since Abby was gnawing on her drumstick, Sarah wanted to try it too.
Papa and Nana modeling the drumstick hats.
It was a nice relaxing day. Great food, a couple of kid-friendly games, and good company. Just how we like it.

Road Trip!

At the end of October, my sister and I took a little trip to see her daughter at college. The original intent was to watch her last home soccer match. Billy was a great sport by keeping the girls all weekend! Thanks, Honey.

On our way down, we picked up our SIL at the airport and a friend of my niece at her college and then made the last leg of the trip to Marietta. We got there in time to watch "Belle" sit on the sidelines and then carry all the soccer balls back to the girls locker room at the end of the game. Oh well, the real fun was about to begin.

We went out for Mexican food (YUM!) and then drove to a friend's house to spend the night. The next day dawned with rain in the forecast but our spirits were still bright and sunny.

Belle gave us a tour of the campus and then the downtown shopping area.

Trying on hats. Let's not think about all the other people that have tried on these exact hats.
Cool walking bridge... we didn't go all the way across.
She really wanted to climb that tree.
We ate at the local brewery. The food was OK. Not nearly as good as the brewery by Union Station.
The look-out point where you can see the whole city... and all the people who are taking pictures!
All of us together.
Next, we all played some racquetball at her school rec center. My sister beamed me with a ball at point-blank range. Man! That hurt! But I think I got her back later. We played for two hours and I think all of us got hit at least once by the ball. Thankfully no one was hit with a racket!
After all that exercise, we went back to the friend's house and ate lots of ice cream and popcorn.

It was great fun to spend time with the big girls, but I was glad to get home to my little girls!

We've Come A Long Way, Baby

It's time for the annual trampoline video shoot and subsequent blog post.

You can see the past entries of Abby here:
2005 and 2006 These are still my all-time favorites.
2007
2008

This year, of course we're adding Sarah in. She does love to jump on the trampoline but she gives her mother a bigger scare as she is not as careful to stay away from the edges as her older sister. No surprise there.

Abby likes to run around the edges singing "Ring Around The Rosy."

And this is what happens when "they all fall down."
Some action shots.
I don't usually let them both jump at the same time, but for the sake of pictures...
Good thing she's flying towards the middle.
Some sort of disco move?
Lots of sisterly affection.
And now for Sarah's trampoline video debut. You can really see her personality shine through when she stops jumping for a second to get rid of the leaf on the trampoline.

Abby sure has grown since the first video. It seems she's all legs now. When did that happen?

Random Fall Pictures

The girls at the apple orchard.
Picking apples. These were Melrose apples and they were wonderful. They made a couple of good apple crisps!
This was as close as Sarah was willing to get to the pumpkin. She was not thrilled.
Borrowing a neighbor's fall display. Sarah loves her cousins!
I love the way the leaves from this maple look on our yard: like rose petals.
The dogs do not like to sit for a portrait.
Pretty girl. Pretty leaves.
Silly faces.
We love playing a pile of leaves!
The dog loves the pile too, thankyouverymuch!
"Why are you always taking pictures, Mama?"
Ready to go outside. Yes, I really let them go like this! :)

Church Harvest Party

Our annual church Harvest Party was in October. I think it was the coldest night in October! It was supposed to snow, but thankfully it didn't. Our hay ride was canceled because the fields were too soggy. So we ate our hot chili and tried to warm up.

The kids climbed on the hay.
Then they got to ride horses in the indoor arena. Abby is riding Abby.
I wasn't sure if Sarah would want to ride given her apprehension around new things, especially large animals. But she hopped right on and away she went!
Abby's love for a good sandpile is replaced by sawdust. The kids dug in it, threw it in the air and buried themselves in it. I think they brought half of this pile home with them in their clothes! Sarah had on SEVERAL layers that night, and it was still in her diaper. Amazing.
We capped off the night warming ourselves by the fire. And a great fire it was.

This Fall Was GORGEOUS!

See for yourself!!
The colors peaked around October 24 or so.

A neighbor's beautiful porch display.
Love, love, love that autumn blue sky!
Burning Bush
Love the contrast.
And just so we don't have one post without one of our beauties...

... my hydrangeas even looked good for the fall. I had no idea they would turn this beautiful color.

Playgroup Pictures

We try to get together with our internationally adopted friends about once a month. We've really gotten to know each other pretty well over the past year-and-a-half. I think the moms have just as much fun as the girls.
We usually try to get the girls together to take a picture. It is not easy. One or more of them don't want to cooperate or are being silly. This one turned out good.
Then we just let them be silly!
Moms hanging out. This playdate was at the beginning of October and it was COLD.
The girls LOVED this tire swing. They were all singing a song one of them knew and taught the others.
Poor Sarah.
Yeah! They let her on!
"Now who's queen of the swing??!"

Apple Orchard Field Trip

Last week, I accompanied Abby's Kindergarten class to a local apple orchard. It was a bright, sunny day - wonderful to be outside! We all brought a sack lunch. The bees were swarming!
Time for a hay ride. Abby's teacher told them all to say, "Apple Orchard!" which is why their mouths are all open.
Riding along, wind swept and squinting.
Searching for the perfect pumpkin.
She found it, but doesn't look too happy about it.
Now, here's the winner!
After touring the apple packing plant, they watched the cider making process. I would NOT want to eat what's left over after squeezing all the juice out. They sell it to farmers for livestock feed.
Here's what the boys were really interested in!
Next, it was time to pick some apples. Do you think we'll be able to find any to pick?
Those branches were LOADED!
And definately within reach
And tasty, too!
Abby's wonderful teacher, Mrs. C.
Her class, four boys and two girls.
Being silly
Riding the tricyles through the hay maze.
Those things were hard to pedal. They kept having to push them.
Fun times at the orchard. We may have to bring Sarah back here pretty soon.

Field Trip

A couple of weeks ago, I went with my sister when she took her sons on a field trip to a local nature preserve. We walked around observing the wildlife and took lots of pictures (what else?).

"Little Buddy" is happy there is someone smaller than him in the family now.
Look!!!
Trying to do the sign for "bird" but she doesn't have it quite right.
The path ended up at Lake Erie.
Trying to get close enough to touch the water

If you want to see pictures of the wildlife we saw, click here.

Really, This Is The Last Of The Summer Pictures (maybe)

On Labor Day weekend, we decided to hit one of the local festivals. We've lived in our town for over seven years and this is the first time we attended this particular festival. It was pretty entertaining.

Sarah LOVED the swing ride. In fact, she rode it twice.

Here comes Abby
Third time's a charm for the carousel. Sarah finally relaxed and had a good time.
Billy rode the spinning ride with the girls, NOT ME!! They had fun posing for pics before the ride started.
Once the ride started, I barely saw them they were spinning so fast! They all loved it!
Enjoying a smoothie before the parade started.
Abby resting in the stroller with the prize she won at one of the games... a gold fish. I am still waiting for him to die, but he has proved himself hardy. We named him "Phineas" or "Finny" for short.
Self-portrait
Here comes the marching band in the parade!
The Festival Court of Princesses and the Queen The Melon Man... don't ask. Just bizarre!
After all the fun of the festival, we took Sarah home for her nap. Later we went for a bike ride and ended the evening by setting up a tent in the backyard... and sleeping all night in it. How fun! But, I woke up with a sore throat. Yuck.

All in all, a great way to end the summer.

This Made My Day

Boots, Bows and Baby

I like alliteration. What can I say.

Sarah has been stomping around the house lately in Abby's boots. I don't think they quite fit either of them right now. But Sarah sure does have fun...
even if they're on the wrong feet.

And her other new favorites are these tennis shoes - another hand-me-down from Abby. She loves to try to tie them herself.
Here she is accessorizing her baby in the stroller.
She even wears the shoes with her jammies.
My cutie!!! Love that girl!

First Day of Kindergarten

You know I took lots of pictures for this milestone! I even warned her the day before that I would be taking pictures of the event.

"How many?" she asked. "At least a hundred! So don't have an attitude!" I replied.

Starting off the day with a good breakfast!
Yes, I took a picture of her lunch! It's the first one I've ever had to pack. I'm still not used to doing it. BTW, she didn't eat all of this.
On the front porch. Sarah wanted to go too. She had her back pack on as well.
She looks so grown up!
Off she goes. Her back pack was stuffed with all those back-to-school supplies the teacher requested.
No, she doesn't really walk to school, but I thought these would be cute. Am I right?
Outside her new school. Her face is wearing the look that says, "I'm really done with you taking pictures now, Mama!"

Thankfully, it wasn't the tear-jerker I expected it to be. I have been taking her to pre-school for the past two years, so dropping her off at Kindergarten didn't seem to be a big deal. Then, around 11:30, when I would normally be going to pick her up, I started missing her big time. I was so glad when 3:15 arrived so I could go get her!

Swingset Fun

Enjoying each other is one of the best parts of having a sister!

Soccer

Soccer has started again for the fall. Abby is doing better this year. She seems to have a better grasp on the idea of the game: get the ball in the goal and block the other team from getting a goal. She has played several games and these pictures were taken at a couple of them.

Abby and her cousin

Going after it!
Pack soccer at its best. If you look closely, you can see all eight players on the field in this one frame (four yellow and four purple shirts).
She does have grace and style!
Sarah is intently watching!
A friend from pre-school and swimming class is on her team.