....

in memory

July of 2009 brought an addition to our family. It was birthday time for a special 3 year old. She declared to her Aunt Amy that she wanted "a pig... a piggy bank" for her birthday.

And this special piggy bank joined our family.

So many memories: adding coin after coin, putting band-aids on the slot, carrying it (and hiding it) around the house.

Then there was that one time when Ana took all the money out, took it to the bank, then picked out her very own game of Chutes and Ladders.

But alas, it was not to be. Today it slipped from those loving fingers and met its demise.

We have one broken-hearted little girl.

Ana, on the subject of her broken piggy bank:

"I'm so disappointed! ... I named it Color-Pie. ... I miss it already. ... I want to put the pieces in a bag and keep it so I can look at it and remember. ... I think listening to some music will help me feel better, Primary music. ... I need to go tell Sara (our neighbor.)"

Goodbye, Color-Pie. You will be missed.

preview

Today was Halloween story time for the kids at the library. They got to wear their costumes. So this morning I whipped up a spider costume for Jack. It was really cute.

He wanted nothing to do with it.

All he would wear was a doll-sized superman cape.


We did get some use of my hard work though. Ana wore it instead. And her $5 butterfly wings stayed at home for today.

is it just me...

or has this little boy not changed much in the last 2 years?




No wonder I still call him my baby.

house of order

My new year's resolution for this year was to "establish a house of order." As the weather is getting colder and the holidays approach, I've been analyzing my progress at this point. Some things I have done well and really focused on. Others I have not.

One thing that I have really focused on when we moved is finding a place for everything. I think I've done pretty well. I read a book on homemaking a couple years ago and the one thing I remember from it was that a homemaker deserves everything required for her trade just as any other profession. Now, I haven't taken this to excess and gone out buying everything to perfectly decorate my home. But when we moved in and didn't have a coat closet, I felt it was acceptable to buy an inexpensive coat rack and hooks.

(not an accurate representation of what this wall typically looks like. but isn't it cute?)

My dishes are usually undone, and there are usually toys on the floor and laundry on my bed. But everything has a place. (The fact that I'm too lazy to put everything away is an entirely different issue.)

I wish I would have known about THIS when I started 10 months ago. I met the mom of that family at storytime at the library and I think I want to live like that. Last night as I was doing the dishes and washing 3 pots of the same size and 8 hot chocolate mugs I realized that minimizing totally fosters all of the things I've been wanting to accomplish this year. I would have to do the dishes right away because if I didn't, we wouldn't have clean dishes for the next meal. I would have to wash the pot I cooked noodles in before I made popcorn later that night. My kitchen would be cleaner. If the kids had fewer "junk" toys I wouldn't be tripping over them. I would spend less time cleaning up and less time nagging the children to clean up. If we had fewer clothes, I would have to stay on top of the laundry. It all goes along with President Uchtdorf's talk about focusing on what matters most.

I'm definitely getting better. I want to continue to get better. I don't think this will be something that ends with the year because I am beginning to see things differently. I think these minimalists are onto something.

What do you think?

on a sunday afternoon

We watched this video yesterday.



"There is no way Ana could wait 15 minutes," I said.

"I think she would surprise you," Dave answered back. "She's a pretty determined little girl."

So we tried it.

I'll tell you what - nothing is more fun than experimenting on children. I think it was the best 15 minutes of my parenting career. (I also think Dave is still a psychologist at heart.)

We decided to do only 5 minutes at first. Then we lengthened it to 15 by the promise of a third peep. I wish we would have video-taped it. Here are some pictures.

On her lap: the greatest temptation...
Watching the timer...

Licking one of them:

Boy was she happy to get her 3 peeps at the end.


It was awesome! Everyone who has a 4-year-old, you should do this as soon as possible. I want to hear your results. Video-tape it. Be sure to leave them alone in the room, too.

If you lucky, you can also walk outside and see this:


I guess we're lucky.

little big girl

Because I can't believe how quickly 4 years has gone.

Because today she pulled puppy-dog eyes and said, "You should do things that your children want."

And mostly because I think she's just so darn cute.

I thought I'd share these pictures with you:

(Ana, on her blessing day, September 2006)

(Ana, in her blessing dress, October 2010)

soup's on

Up until two years ago my soup making repertoire was limited to taco soup. And occasionally chicken noodle soup.

I suppose I had more soups than that, but its was a very planned thing if I made soup. (And most of the time they would involve cream of chicken soup in one step and I've all but sworn off the stuff.)

Then one day my sister-in-law made potato soup, and I thought "that sounds yummy." And I made it. It was yummy.

A little while after that, one of my favorite food blogs rookie-cookie came up with her "make a soup from anything" guide. So I started experimenting. Bean soup, lentil soup, beef soup, chicken and wild rice, etc. My love grew and grew and continues to grow to this day.

I now make soup at least once a week. A lot of times if I don't know what to make, I throw together a soup with whatever I have in the fridge. My recent favorite is homemade tomato soup. Served with a crusty grilled cheese sandwich and you, my friend, have ultimate comfort food.

The other day for lunch I made some corn chowder. I think the last time I had corn chowder was at my Grandma's house at least 10 years ago. It was so divine, I think I might have it again later this week.

And then tonight I made pumpkin-apple-cranberry-beef soup. The flavor was totally delicious. (The texture was a little mushy, so I need to work on that, but I totally nailed the seasonings. Delish!)

I usually like to make biscuits or french bread or have some yummy crackers on hand. Soups are like, my new favorite food.

Go make some!

i also made a pumpkin pie today.

On the first day of fall the kids and I had a fall celebration. We made pumpkin-shaped cookies, read autumn-y stories, and went for a walk to collect signs of autumn. Then we made this poster:



Since then, we have been mostly stuck inside. It has been one rainy fall.

But today Fall was in the air, the sun was shining (most of the day), and we took a walk to the park. On the way home the kids got distracted by some beautiful falling leaves.





Fall is here, and we are loving it!

*Thanks Christy for the photos. So cute!*

cool

One of my favorite places we've been so far here in Vermont has been the orchard.

Here is a refresher course for you.

*All these pics were taken the first time we went by our amazing friends and neighbors, the Morey's. We love them!*

The awesome swing.

The picturesque views. (I love this pic of us, by the way!)

The coolest slide ever.
If I could live on any land on earth I'm pretty sure I would pick that acreage. It is divine.

Friday we went back. I met one of the mom's from Ana's tumbling class there. She told me she was going to go and I thought it was a good chance to let Ana play with a girl-friend and for me to expand my circle of friends. So even though it was cold out, and I had just been there with my sis, and I needed to clean house, I felt like should go.

My friend had invited another friend too, who happens to run this non-profit organization a little south of here. I was pretty amazed. Such interesting people doing great things.

But the best thing to come out of the trip was not the great conversation or the incredible cider donuts. It was that I realized something that I love about my daughter. And those moments have been somewhat hard to come by of late.

See, while we were waiting for my friend to show up, we were swinging on the swing. And I convinced Ana to drop from the swing into the hay.

Because that's what cool people do.



And she did it. She was a little apprehensive at first, but she did it. And then she did it over and over and over. Unfortunately I left my camera at home.

See what I love about that girl? She has the perfect combo of caution and courage. She'll try anything and I can get her to do crazy things. Not just dropping out of a swing, but roller coasters, and the monkey bars. And in the moment I felt so much love for my little girl.

She really is a cool little girl, even if she has un-cool moments. And who doesn't anyway.