Last week we had our first real snow of the season. Evie and Daddy were out first thing in snowsuits with the sled. We have a decent little slope (perfect for little kids) and she had fun being hauled around. Lily slept through the fun, so we'll just have to wait for the next snow for her to enjoy this cold, fluffy stuff!
Ever the eager ones, the Saturday after Thanksgiving we went and got our Christmas tree. This was an especially exciting event for Evie who has been asking for a Christmas tree daily for the last two months. This year we wanted a tree with a fuller look and longer needles. After a little searching we found it. It's great that we have it in our sunroom which opens off the living room. We're able to enjoy it from the living room without it cramping the space or having to remove furniture. Now on the dreary, cold, wet days (like today) the tree helps to warm up the house!
Helping Dad saw down the tree.
Enjoying our masterpiece
It's been such a long time in posting, I hesitate to rewind so far but for the sake of my blog "history" I will. Thanksgiving was a wonderful day. We spent it with Rand's family and had a big gathering. It was a bit intimidating for Evie who isn't comfortable with a lot of people but Lily did just fine. It also marked Lily's eighth month anniversary! Hard to believe that she is so big already!
Enjoying her first Thanksgiving dinner of Apple Turkey Cranberry and Sweet Potatoes with Cinnamon! As you know, Evie is a big fan of trains - especially Thomas the Tank Engine, so when we heard that Thomas was coming to a railroad near us, we had to go!
Our Day Out with Thomas was unseasonably warm which was nice since we spent so much time outside. The train ride was fun, although not very long, and Evie enjoyed seeing the locomotives. Gigi and Poppy treated her to a ridiculously overpriced Thomas balloon and we picked up a wooden train whistle and a collection of the original Thomas stories to give to her for Christmas. All in all, our Day Out was a success!
Riding the rails
Here comes Thomas!
This was the best Halloween I think I have ever had. I am not a big fan of Halloween. Never did much as a kid and we've always kept it pretty low-key with Evie. We planned on dressing Evie up and doing something but weren't really sure what. We had been talking about Halloween and dressing up with Evie, to get her used to the idea (she doesn't always do well with dressing up), but she hadn't been very excited about it (but every day she mentions getting a Christmas tree at least once). At 5pm on Halloween, after everyone was up from naps, Evie began talking about making a jack o'lantern, something she had seen on a Sesame Street Halloween special. So we dug out Rand's jab saw and paints and selected our pumpkins. Evie painted her pumpkin while Daddy carved the big pumpkin.
A hook for a hand!
We popped a little bunny hat on Lily's head for effect.
Certainly a fun time with the moon nearly full, the clouds whipping through the sky from the wind, and the warm temps made a perfect Halloween evening. Now we only need to get Evie through four more weeks and she can have her Christmas tree!If anyone who reads this doesn't yet know (and you should be able to guess from the fact I have not posted in a month!) that we have moved. We had a successful closing this past Monday and moved two weeks ago. We're getting settled although there are still boxes around (mostly filled with books) and some pictures still to be hung and some rearranging done. The biggest thing is that there is a small barn on the property that we have filled with all of our basement junk that must be gone through and gotten rid of! I'd like to get the apartment settled and enjoy the holidays and then on January 2nd, when we're bored and feeling inspired to clean up, we'll start going through it.
The new apartment is great. We're saving almost a third of our mortgage on the rent and the heat is included. We've gained about a third more square footage and we now have three bedrooms! Lily has transitioned very well to sleeping in a crib in her own room. Thankfully, she is now sleeping for longer stretches at night and we don't have to share anymore. We've got a great backyard and are basically in the country. The only downfall is that its a two family home, we're on the first floor, another family's on the second. It's not too bad but they definitely keep later hours than us, including their kids, so we're still trying to adjust to the late-night noises. But all in all, it's been a good move and hopefully things will settle down and we'll get back to normal again.
Well, it looks like its really going to happen. Our house is going to sell (fingers crossed). Everything has cleared, the house inspection went well and there are only a few small repairs to be made. The closing has been set for October 26th, which is now only 3 weeks away (and a couple days). They say that moving is the second most stressful thing in a person's life and I believe it! I am a wreck and can't wait for it all to be over. Actually the real problem is that we don't know where we're going yet. We've looked at several places, called about several more, and haven't found quite the right fit. We're looking tonight at a place that we're very hopeful about. It would be great if it works because then we could be settled on where we're going and get down to the really yucky chore of packing. Ugh! I'll be glad when this is all done.
After all my grumbling, how about enjoying a few recent pictures of my beauties!
Waiting for rain? I love this picture with just their little feet sticking out.
Smooches from the big sis
All cuddled in a heap
Busy, busy, busy
And my latest Facebook profile pic. Look at those big, blue eyes! (Lily's, not mine)Last Friday I was shopping at Walmart for just a few things and while checking out in the garden area, I noticed swingsets on clearance for $25!!! Even though we're getting ready to move, I just had to buy one. Originally $229, marked down to $25 - how could I resist the deal of the day?
Daddy and Evie had fun putting it together.
Carrying Dad's hammer
Learning how to pump her legs to keep the swing going
And finally getting to slide - after soccer practice.Saturday was also my birthday and we went to Roger Williams Zoo in Providence, RI. We'd been wanting to go all summer but wanted to wait until the weather was a little cooler. We had a great time and enjoyed seeing the animals. The weather was perfect!
We saw the elephants last and it was certainly the best!
Me and my girls
Lily was fascinated by this crested crane
Lily is now 6 months old!!!
Evie watching the kangaroosThis Saturday was Evie's first soccer practice (last week was rained out). She's playing mini micro soccer for 3 and 4 year olds. It's basically some drill work. Very low key, no competition. This is the first real activity that she's ever done and we weren't sure how she would do. She gets very shy but she did really well. It took her a little bit to get into it because she was watching everyone else, but then she started paying attention and followed directions well. We're right there and can help but once she got the hang of it, she didn't really need us.
Now we have some activities to work on through the week and next week I think she'll do even better because she'll know what to expect.
Her soccer shorts are XXS and still look huge on her. She's got cleats, shin guards and soccer socks!
The shirt that she got for soccer is a small and covers her shorts completely! It looks like a dress!
Dribble, dribble, dribble
The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt
