Boat Day

Daddy took the day off today and we loaded the kids and the boat gear and headed to Sacandaga Lake. We used to boat on Sacandaga all the time before we built our camp in Lake George. We always loved the lake and we always stopped at Sport Island Pub while we were out boating. Bethany and Jared spent a ton of time with us on that lake during their summer visits. It will always hold a special place in our hearts. We are heading to Lake George on Sunday morning so the boat will stay there for the season.

Can I just tell you that in the usual "B girl" style, my little ladies were awesome on the boat. Sydney loves the boat and water so I had no doubt that she would have a great time, and she did. Last summer Sawyer was just a wee little baby when she was on the boat. I didn't know what her reaction would be today. To say that we were so happy about her reaction is an understatement. The kid could barely contain her excitement and screamed to get out of the truck. Lifejackets were put on, kids were loaded in the boat and they were ready to go. Sawyer was so happy and couldn't stop smiling.

We got on the boat and immediately headed to Sport Island for lunch. Sydney kept saying she wanted to get back on the boat. We told her that we would go back after lunch. Needless to say, she repeated this statement all through lunch!

No pictures from today...I know, shocking. I was going to bring my old camera, but forgot it. Didn't want to take the good camera as I am shooting another wedding tomorrow with Steve. Didn't want the good one to land at the bottom of the lake and leave Steve hanging all by himself. Especially after his help with my wedding shoot last weekend!

I will have lots of pictures from our Sunday/Monday visit to "George."

Best Buddies

Sydney's best buddy came for a visit tonight. Karyn and Sammy came over tonight to hang out while his daddy is out of town. We had a blast. Karyn took the kids for a ride in the golf cart. I was teasing her because she was driving too slow. I took Sammy on a much faster ride...he told me to slow down!

We munched on pulled pork, potato salad, garden salad and a yummy brownie for dessert. The perfect summer meal!

Sydney and Sammy and Sawyer had fun running around the yard. The girls took him over to our neighbors house to visit the chickens.

Soybean was having so much fun running around the yard. Her poor little gums are very sore. She is just chomping on those fingers.

Serious monkey...little lady

This is the best we could get out of them! They wanted to go inside for brownies...who can blame them.

Then all of the babies got their jammies on and crashed on the floor to watch an Imagination Movers.

Warm weather and tired babies

The girls and I spent a ton of time outside yesterday afternoon. It was beautiful. Nothing says summer more than little kids lathered in sunscreen and smelling so sweet.

Daddy got home and we found a turtle in the yard. Sydney was very sad when it was time to go inside for dinner. She didn't want her turtle friend to go back in the creek. We promised her that we would try to find it in the morning!

A quick trip to BJ's for household stuff and diapers and then two grumpy and very tired babies went to bed.

No pictures. My memory cards are full of weddings and family sessions...promise to get some pictures posted of the girls playing outside.

Jumpin' Jack's

We had a great night at Jumpin' Jack's tonight! Gotta love a good soft serve ice cream!!! Sydney asked for the "pink kind." We love living just a few minutes from this famous place. We spent a lot of time there last year while I was on maternity leave. Sydney loves to watch the ducks in the river and we love to watch the water skiers.

Tonight we had the stroller with us and decided a walk through the park would be fun. Sydney loved putting her feet in the pond and Sawyer just loved hanging out watching all of the people and dogs running around.
She loves the water. Look at this face! Hysterical.

Poor Soybean is getting a few more teeth so she is sucking her fingers all of the time! She loved watching Sydney playing in the water. There were two dogs playing in the water and she kept a close eye on them.

Sitting so pretty.

I have no idea what she was scowling at, but she looks so funny.

Nothing better than soft serve ice cream on a warm night. Sydney wants "the pink kind" any time we get ice cream. She takes about two bites and then she is done! Wasted, but she loves it. Sawyer loves to steal my ice cream.

Ah, beautiful girl. She finally had a nice expression for a picture!

Cool Picture, Part 2

I am dying for a macro lens....I mean really dying for one. I am trying to convince myself that I have no time to play around with a lens that wouldn't work too much for my business, but I can only imagine the art work that I can create for my walls. Now that I think of it...it would certainly be good for business. Close ups of babies and wedding rings...but more importantly...for fun!!

Jimmy, don't forget that next month is our 10 year wedding anniversary and 15 year anniversary of being together....hhhmmm...macro lens.....

I saw this photo composition online and I thought it was so cool. I tried it myself this morning (after our trip to Target for the colored pencils) and thought it came out pretty well. It would be even better with a macro. I think I will enlarge it and put it on the wall in the girls' playroom.

Me

I can't remember when the whole "Me" thing started, but it makes me laugh every time I hear it. I will tell the girls it is time for lunch or it is time for a bath or it is time for something and I hear Sydney say "me, me, me." It cracks me up. Now I know to phrase my comments differently. "Who wants lunch?" Then comes her excited reply, "Me."

Know what is even more special about this? Sawyer just started to do it too!!! I hear her say, clear as can be, "me, me, me" in response to my comment.

So fun. It is so fun having them so close together and so fun watching them become better friends every day.

Random Adorableness

Adorable little lady...

Chef Sydney

Sydney helped me make choc chip cookies for Grandma and Papa. She is really into helping me bake these days. She sees me doing something in the kitchen and will drag the chair over to the counter to help me out. She especially likes to help me make pizza. I think most of the cheese ends up in her mouth!

Here she is stirring the cooking dough. Thankfully I made her wash her hands before helping me because I caught her hands in the cookie dough a couple of times.

Visit with Grandma and Papa

Grandma and Papa came for a quick visit this weekend. The girls were so excited. Sawyer took a moment to warm up to Papa. Papa got his usual summer haircut and trimmed beard, so I don't think she recognized him right away. She kept walking around him looking at him and then the next moment I turned around, she was in his lap hanging out on the kitchen floor!

Grandma is looking at the blog in this picture. She enjoyed seeing the recent pictures of the girls.


Papa playing with Soybean. She is enthralled with him. She kept tugging on his beard...probably wondering where the rest of it went!

One more...

Still part of the movie state of mind. Love her

Evening at the park

The girls spent a lot of time doing un-fun things today. Sawyer had to go to the doctor for her 15 month check up. She is 75 th percentile for her weight, 90 th percentile for her height and 96 th percentile for her head size!!! Tall and chubby like her mommy. She also got 3 shots. Poor thing. Dr. Karen also gave Sydney a shot while we were there. Let me tell you how much she protected that bandaged thigh while we were shopping and then when we got home. It was hysterical! She seemed to forget about her boo-boo while we were at the park!

After the doctors, we raced to the mall in search of a pair of shoes. I am heading out of town for a day trip for work and I have no casual shoes. I have searched high and low for something casual. My feet have changed since having babies and size 10.5 - 11 is not readily available.

Needless to say, the girls spent a lot of time in the stroller and confined. After daddy got home and after dinner, we decided to head out to the park. There is a beautiful park at the elementary school that Sydney and Sawyer will be attending. It is opened to the public after school hours, so we wanted to check it out. It is beautiful and there is a small section for younger kids so Sawyer had fun too. Sydney loved climbing all of the steps and sliding down the two slides.

Finding the light

A common phrase in photography speak is "finding the light." I found the light in this picture. I am so in love with the warm evening light (7:30 ish tonight) that was glowing on her beautiful little face.

New Movie

Sydney is a movie buff. She loves to watch movies. I limit the amount of TV she watches because otherwise, she would watch it all day. When we travel to PA to visit my family she watches "the donkey movie and Mickey Mouse" over and over again. The movie Small One and two other Disney Christmas specials all on the same DVD! She loves it. Aunt Jen sent Sydney a little surprise and it arrived in the mail today!!!!! Here is a photo of Sydney in a "donkey movie" state of mind!

Thanks Aunt Jen. She loves it and was so excited when she opened up the package!!

Holy Crap

I heard it! I really heard it. Sydney told Sawyer "I love you." Just a moment ago.

They were bickering (what's new) and not doing nice hands. I told them nice hands so they hugged and I really heard it!

My heart melted...then they pinched eachother...oh well...

15 Months Old Today

My baby girl turns 15 months old in an hour. How can she be 15 months old already? In honor of this special occasion, I am making a list of 15 things that I love about this special lady. There are a million more reasons, but 15 is a good number.

1. I love her expressive face. She has some of the funniest and cutest expressions ever.
2. I love how fiesty she can be. She holds her own and stands up for herself.
3. I love her fake cry...it is hysterical. She usually winds up giggling after pretending to cry.
4. I love that she is talking so much and so advanced in her speech. bye bye da...she tells daddy every morning as she waves to him while he walks out the door.
5. I love her random hugs. She will wrap her arms around me and tap her fingers against my neck. It melts my heart.
6. I love her excitement when Daddy comes home at night. Her face lights up and she squeals with happiness.
7. I love how she can stare out the window watching the world go by for so long.
8. I love how she thinks she is a big girl...bigger than she really is...but I will give it to her.
9. I love that she is always smiling. Rarely will we hear a cry from her.
10. I love her kisses. Even when I get slobber on my face.
11. I love that she runs to the stroller and says "wa wa" because she wants to take a walk.
12. I love that she loves books. She can't get enough of them. She is also very opinionated about which ones she wants to read and which ones she doesn't!
13. I love how she watches her big sister and tries to emulate her.
14. I love how she came into the world in such a surprising manner and how she continues to surprise us everyday with her happy spirit.
15. I just love her!

Jim's been looking for strippers....

Oops, I mean stripers...as in Striped Bass fish...people!

'Tis the season for striped bass fishing on the Hudson River. Jim's been out several times with friends and each time he comes home empty handed while his buddies have caught one. He says it doesn't matter since the captain of the boat gets the credit! Ha.

He and his coworker went out yesterday morning and Ed caught a nice looking one. Jim brought it home and cleaned it. The girls were so enthralled with the fish. They watched him from the window as he cleaned the fish. Can't wait for the fish fry!!!!!

So if any of you GE Research and Development staff were looking for Jim and Ed, they took a much needed vacation day to spend on the river.
Ick! I don't mind eating it, I just don't like touching unprocessed fish. That is Jimmy's job.
Look at the girls keeping a close eye on the fish...it was so funny to watch them looking at it so closely.

Here are the girls watching Daddy from the dining room window. You can see Jim ever so slightly in between the tree branches.

Lollipops

I have a major sweet tooth....if you can't tell...hahaha. In an attempt to keep my kids from falling in that trap, I limit the amount of sweets that I give them (I know, mean mommy). But it seems to be working as Sydney rarely asks for anything sweet (except yogurt gogurts- which are our summer treat). Today at snack time, I treated them to a lollipop. I buy dum dums and keep some in the car or in my bag to use when we shop. Mouths stay busy and kids stay in the cart!

They looked so cute eating their lollipops this afternoon. Love these little ladies...

Double Trouble

That's what I call the girls these days...double trouble...

They crack me up. We were upstairs today playing and they decided they wanted to hang out in the guest room. Not sure why, but they had fun climbing on the beds. Poor Sawyer is teething again. She gets a runny nose, a fever and rosy cheeks. Poor thing. She handles it well. Here she is looking so sad but still trying to have fun while climbing on the guest beds.

Sydy loves to be tucked in so she raced to her room and grabbed a bunch of quilts so I could tuck her in. So funny.

Double trouble (in the sweetest way possible). They got tired of playing in the guest room so they raced away and started digging through our bathroom. Ugh. Why do they like to rummage through our bath products? I quickly gathered them up and go them out of here before they tore the place up! Double trouble, I tell you what.

Happy Mother's Day

We had a quiet Mother's Day. Neither Jim nor I felt much like doing anything as we were both so tired. I wanted to get a nice picture of the girls and I (yes, I actually was going to sit for a picture), but the weather was awful! It was so cold and windy. I didn't want to put the three of us through the misery of being outside in nice outfits. It would have been a disaster. Jim promised he would take a picture of the girls and I in the next few days. I am going to forget how fat I look and just capture a picture of my babies and I together. They won't care what I look like.

Jim left me a cute message on the girls' magnadoodle...and he made a really nice breakfast of homemade french toast with strawberries and whip cream. Yum!

Sail Away

My friend passes down so many adorable clothes to me. This sailor outfit still had the tags on it and it is so adorable. I had to get a picture of Sydney in it. The first picture was my little uncooperative child. The second picture I begged her to sit still for just a minute and I promised her a chocolate chip. That worked for about two seconds! Oh well, at least I got something! She looks adorable in the outfit.

Fresh Eggs

Our neighbors sent over a bunch of fresh eggs the other day! They were so delicious. I need to be sure to send Sydney over to visit the hens to thank them for their wonderful treat... of course we will thank Tom and Lisa too!!!!

Daddy joked that the eggs tasted like dandelions since that is what the girls like to feed the hens!

Aren't they beautiful? They were so delicious too. I will never enjoy store bought eggs again after having fresh eggs : ( What a huge difference in taste.

Calico Critters

I have decided to start a collection of the Calico Critters for Sydney. She loves imaginary play so much and spends a ton of time playing with Little People. I saw the Calico Critters in the store one day and it reminded me of something I used to play with. Mine were just the fuzzy bears, not all of the fancy accessories.

As I thought, she loves them. This is an activity that she does while Sawyer naps. The parts are too small to play with while Sawyer is awake. Here she is playing with her new Critters.

Aren't they the cutest things ever? So adorable. Can't wait to expand our collection.

After Bathtime Funnies

My girls get a second wind after bathtime. Why? Just like the doggies get an energy burst after their baths. We hung out in Sydney's room after their bath since Daddy was downstairs cleaning the kitchen up. We read books, played with babies and kept Sawyer from falling off the chairs!

This little lady is such a daredevil. She thinks that standing on the chair is a good idea...Mommy told her "Sit Down" lots of times last night : )

Sydy loves to read books at night. Her new favorite is the Creepy Crawlies book about bugs and critters (thanks Aunt Jen).

Pretty Flowers

More pretty flowers are a bloom in the flower beds. I love them all. Wish I knew what half of them were. This beautiful flower is right outside of our mudroom. I have told Sydney on countless occasions to stop picking them, but everytime I turn around, another one is in her hand! Now they are in a vase on my kitchen table.

Anyone know what kind of flower it is??? Do tell, please. I have no idea.