Lake George visit

We went to camp over the Veteren's Day holiday on Thursday, Friday and part of the day on Saturday. The weather was beautiful. We took the girls for a really long (for their little legs) hike through the woods. They had a great time. Sawyer was just so excited to be walking around like such a big girl. She walks with such purpose. It is really amusing to watch. Sydney, of course, was super curious! She and I searched for treasures. Lots of white birch bark, a few pieces of dried moss and lots of leaves. We put them in our camp treasure bowl.

To say that they were exhausted that evening is a complete understatement. Sydy could barely keep her head up at the dinner table.

Soybean is really enjoying doll babies now. Excuse the bad pictures. The walls cast such a blue color and I don't feel like fixing them : )

Look who is riding the trike now! She just needs to learn to steer it!

Piece of Work

Exhausted

Coloring princess pictures all day is so exhausting! Ok, maybe it is the time change too.

Thank you Rachel!

I borrowed this idea from my friend. Dried beans, bowls, pans and cups. It really did entertain my girls for almost two hours! I sent my friend an email today thanking her for this wonderful idea.

My girls love the corn table at the their school and they love to sit down with pots and pans full of water so I got inspired to try out the dried beans. They loved it! They sat forever and played .


Remi ate a few too many of the dried beans.

Yummy muffins

I have been doing a lot of baking now that the weather has gotten cooler. The girls love to hinder...I mean...help me measure and stir! They love it and I actually enjoy watching them mixing and stirring.

We had to run to the market this morning for a few things. Sydy asked for a muffin from the bakery and I told her that they were all out and that I would make some for her today. She was very irritated and made a bit of a stink, but she got over it quickly. We got home, had lunch and then we made pumpkin muffins.

Sawyer will say "turn next" to tell me that it is her turn to stir!!

Mama, Sawyer's In Trouble

Those are the words I have been hearing from my little Mommy helper, Sydney. I won't call Sydney a tattletale, rather, she is just looking out for her baby sister. "Mama, Sawyer's in trouble" usually means that Sawyer is doing something that she has been told repeatedly (and sometimes heatedly) not to do. Things like taking all of their movies out of the CD holder or climbing on my desk and pounding on the laptop or jumping on the chair...all the Sawyer antics. Crazy little girl.

It cracks me up!

Happy Birthday Nana!

HaPpY BiThDaY MoM/NaNa!!!! We miss you and can't wait to see you at Thanksgiving! Sydney colored you lots of pictures and Sawyer kept saying "happy birth to you" after she got off the phone with you!

We love you!

Prints

To say that I am thrilled with these two enlargements would be a major understatement. I have been slowly trying to fill my walls with my own photographs. I have been craving a really nice picture of my girls. After a disastrous attempted "photoshoot" a few weeks ago, I put aside the idea of getting a nice "posed" picture of the two of them. Instead, I went to a location that they loved and got the most adorable shot of Sawyer. My friend and photo mentor, Steve, paid me the most amazing compliment today when I picked these up. He said this picture reminded him of an Edward Weston photograph. I will remember that comparison always.

The print of Sydney was taken at the beach and she was so excited to be there! The true excitement was so apparent in her expression!

I didn't get very many shots of them together, but I will be so happy to stare at these photos everyday!

Blogging slacker

I have been slacking at taking personal photos and blogging. So sorry Aunt Jen and Nana! Oct and Nov have been crazy with taking pictures of nursery school kids, family sessions and new and returning customers. My poor kids aren't getting their photos taken at all. So as I was backing up customer sessions to the external hard drive, I went back through some of Sydney's earlier photos.

Here is one of my favorites. The family might remember this one as it was the image I used on her 1st birthday invitation. How can my girls be so big already??

On another note, the snow if falling today and we are all really sick of this nasty weather. I had visions of spending the months of Oct and Nov outside playing with the girls all day long. We haven't had very nice weather at all and I am fed up!

On another note again, we had a productive couple of days. I spent the morning cleaning out the toy boxes in preparation for the new Christmas gifts. Jim and I got some work done on the house this weekend in between taking turns watching the kids....any family members want to come up for a long weekend so we can get even more done??? Takers anyone???

Jim has Thursday off for the holiday and then he is going to take Friday off. I didn't schedule any photo appointments this weekend so we are going to take the long weekend and spend it up at Lake George. Hopefully the weather will be nice so that we can take walks though the woods. It will be nice to sit down and relax the whole weekend. I plan to cook, bake and read books and take some photos of my own kids : ) I promise Aunt Jen!

Blast from the past

Sawyer was sitting down playing today and I looked over at her and realized how much of a little girl she is now. No longer a baby. Her hair has gotten so long, she has gotten so tall and she and Sydney play together like they are the best of friends.

It made me want to go back through and look at her newborn and tiny infant pictures. I found a few of my favorites.

Just a day or so after we got home from the hospital.

Sydney loved her baby sister early on too!
One of my favorite photos of Sawyer. I just wish the background wasn't full of toys!

Maybe I will keep looking back at old photos and post some more favorites....considering I haven't been taking many photos of my girls lately.

Pretty coat

Uncle Cory won this adorable coat at a silent auction a long time ago. We are so happy that it fits her this year. I had several moms stop me at preschool to ask about this handmade fleece jacket.

Thanks Cory and Jen!

To infinity and beyond...

This post is dedicated to our little buddy, Sam...I mean Buzz!

Jon, Karyn, Sammy and Sydney. Thanks Jon for pulling my girl in the wagon!

Sammy really wanted to pull Sydy in the wagon for a few minutes. It was adorable!

Sawyer didn't want to get in on this photo. I was really bummed that I couldn't get all three of them together, but the little lady was very sad and very attached to my hip. Sam and Sydy sure to look cute!

This big guy raced from house to house so fast! I think it was the Buzz costume!

Thanks for hanging out with my girls, Sammy boy!

Happy Halloween

Rain and SNOW couldn't keep us from going trick or treating! The girls and I headed to Karyn, Jon and Sammy's house at 12:30. We hit a couple of their neighbors Halloween parties. By late afternoon Daddy met up with us and we headed out to trick or treat. Sammy and Sydney ran from house to house with such excitement! Sydy couldn't keep up with Sammy as he was running so fast. After each house, Syd would come running back to me saying "I got candy" or "I got a surprise for you Mama." It was adorable. I walked her to a few house, Daddy walked her to a few house and we let her walk up with her friends by herself a couple of times. Mid-way through Sammy boy hopped in the wagon for a break. He ran hard so he was very tired. Sydy slowed down too!

Poor Mommy and Sawyer. She was exhausted and gave me a very difficult time for most of the day. She didn't have a nap and the little 20 minute snooze she took in the car wrecked her and I was pretty frazzled. Jim was at camp hunting but he made it back in time for trick or treating. We put grumpy girl in her stroller and she was happy to just watch from her toasty warm spot. She didn't make a peep the whole time we were walking around.

We got back to Karyn and Jon's before dark and the kids had a good time passing out candy to trick or treaters. That was probably Sammy's favorite part!!! Soybean's too. After a group of kids left, I told Sawyer to tell them "bye bye friends, see you later." She repeated the words as clear as day. Karyn witnessed her saying it too! Count those words everyone! That is 6 words! This kiddo is amazing. She speaks far beyond her 20 months.

Amy and Mike popped over that evening to with some other friends. Julia, Jon and Sarah were all trick or treating in the neighborhood too. It was such a fun evening. I think the parents were as tired as the kids!


My grumpy flower fairy...

Sydney was so excited to see the firetruck in the neighborhood.

The only time this little lady was happy was when she was snacking. Like I said, poor Mommy and Sawyer. Maybe next year she will have a better time.

Sydy was so excited to watch all of the kids running around.

The fire squad was handing out cider donuts. Needless to say, that was the highlight for my little girl.
We live in the cow country and don't have a "neighborhood." Jon joked that we would have had to walk many many miles just to get a few pieces of candy near our house! Many thanks to Karyn and Jon for having us over to their neighborhood for a fun day!

Great seeing Amy, Mike and the kids!