Little Bo Peep and her Sheep

Happy Halloween! This year Savannah and Bella went as Little Bo Peep and her Sheep! I started working on the costumes the end of September and I don't want to brag, but I have to admit they turned out pretty cute. I also made Savannah a staff to carry, but it didn't make it into any of the pictures. This might be the last year that I have a say into what Savannah is for Halloween. She already informed me she wants to be a witch next year. We shall see.

I just love these girls!!


This little Sheep is ready to go!!


We had a fun time carving pumpkins this year. Savannah's(with my help) is the front one and Seth did the one in the back. The light area is thin enough that the candle would make it glow. We didn't get any good pictures of it lit.


Cooperstown has a Halloween parade that we participated in. The high school marching band led the parade with all the kids (and parents) followed behind. Lots of fun. We also went trick-or-treating to all the shops on main street and some of the neighborhood homes. Savannah had a blast trick-or-treating and did not want to stop. We lucked out and had some great temperatures with no snow.

This is a cute video of Bella laughing. If you watch her mouth closely you will be able to catch a glimpse of her teeth. She has three teeth. Two on top and one of the bottom. Not too different except that the two on top are the side teeth and the bottom tooth is one of the middle teeth, so we have our own Jack-O-lantern smile. Very fitting for Halloween. We are doing our best to get a picture of it. This is all we have so far.

Oh, the first snow fall of the winter...

I find it to be a little crazy to have a nice fall day one day and then full on winter the next day. Yesterday we went from rain to slushy snow to snow and now we have winter. I do love a good snow storm, but I just don't like it to come before Halloween. I am not quite ready for winter to set in. Because the snow was so wet and heavy all the branches are really hanging down. We have one branch that is hanging down onto the roof and somehow is wedged right where the roof and side of the house meet. So now as the wind blows the branch scrapes on the side of the house making a horrible creaking sounds. It sounds like the house is under too much pressure and is going to collapse any second. The branch is right outside Savannah room and woke her up in the middle of the night. She came running into our room so scared. Poor girl. Like I said before I am not quite ready for winter. They say we will have great weather and temp. for Halloween. Hopefully that really happens.

Yesterday around 3:00 p.m.

This is what we woke up to.

Bread

I LOVE Bread. I love making bread. I love the smell of fresh bread. I love eating bread. There is not much better than a warm, fresh slice of homemade wheat bread. My Grandma makes the best homemade bread. Eating her bread is one of the many reason why I love going to Grandma's House. I have always had a goal to make bread like Grandma. I realized that Grandma had probably been making bread her whole life so I decided I better get started. Back when I started college (1998) I decided to make all my bread. No more buying bread. The beginning was rough. I had a lot of very short, dense bread that didn't rise very well. I would have some turn out which gave me hope. After many dense loaves of bread, many questions to Grandma, learning I had the wrong size pans, buying the right pans, getting a new recipe that rises in the oven (thanks Grandma), and 10 years of practice I think it is going pretty well. I really enjoy making the bread for my family. I have now started trying new types of bread - branching out as Seth would say.

This is our whole wheat bread that I make regularly. It makes the house smell so good.

English Muffin Bread - YUMMY


Focaccia Bread. This one still needs some practice, but it is fun to have.

The next one I want to try is sour dough bread. My mom also just gave me an Artisan Breads cook book. I am so excited to start using it.

This one goes to Bella

Our sweet little Bella is growing up so fast. She is already well into 12 mo. size clothes, which just blows my mind, because she is only 7 mo. old. She loves to sit and play with her toys. She is very mello and cuddly - so fun. It is so fun to go through all the new baby stages and watch her learn and explore her world. Life is pretty crazy with two kids, but I am doing my best to enjoy it along the way. I do have to say that she just might be a mama's girl.

Bella loves to play outside while her sister rides her bike around.



I love her smile.


Out for the day at the fair. (I will post about the county fair later)



Bella's favorite thing is to drink from my water bottle. I just think it is so cute.

Where did the summer go?

This summer has gone by so fast. I can't believe how fast this summer has gone by. We have really been enjoying living in Cooperstown. It has been a great place for our family so far. We have been doing a lot of fun stuff that I have been wanting to post, but life with two kids gets a little busy some time. I am going to do my best to get everything posted over the next few days, one for our sake and also to get one more thing crossed off my never ending to do list.

The first post goes to Savannah. She turned 3 years old on Aug. 5th. I am so proud of my little girl. She is growing up so fast and loving having more independence, more than I want sometimes, and learning so much everyday. Sometimes I just watch her and wonder when my baby turned into a little girl. For her birthday we did a little family celebration. We were going to go to a county fair, but the rain came and changed our plans. We were able to go to a Children's museum in Utica, NY. It was ok. Let's just say they are trying to have a children's musuem, but still have a long way to go. She liked it well enough so that is what counts. Savannah also got her hair cut for the first time. She was quite excited. The first day we went, they closed about an hour before we got there. She was devasted. Who knew they would close at 3 pm on a Sat. So first thing Monday morning we were there for the big event. I think it turned out great.

Before

After


Our little family celebration!!

I couldn't resist putting this picture on. Just too cute.


Her first time on the bike.


This is at the lake by our house. There is a little beach area we love to go to.


What is a trip to the beach without being buried!

Nantucket Weekend GIVEAWAY!!!!

Nantucket Weekend GIVEAWAY!!!!
This is from a great blog, Grosgrain done by someone very talented. She does amazing giveaways.

Good old family fun

Here are some pictures of some fun things we have been doing lately. We are doing our best to take advantage of all the fun things we can do since we will only be here one year.

Daddy came home from work one day holding a baby bird that must have fallen out of its nest, into the road. Savannah was so excited. She couldn't wait to hold it. The moved it from the road to the trees. We hope it found its mother.

We go on a lot of walks and we love it. We bought an attachment to our bike trailer that turn it into a double jogger. Very handy. Luckily Bella loves it and so does Savannah.


THE 4th of JULY

We went to a small town parade. It was great. Some nice lady let us borrow her umbrella which was heaven sent.

I would love to own a car like this someday.

What small town parade is complete without a trailer full of kids pulled by a tractor?

One the 5th of July we went to the Farmers Museum here in Cooperstown. It is a 19th century town and farm, complete with a state fair carousel.


Savannah meet Daisy the sheep.

Savannah was able to help feed the new calf. This reminded me of when I use to go to Rupert, ID to my grandparents dairy farm and wake up at 5 am just to feed the calves their bottles. So fun.