Santa's Here!

 Something I truly enjoy about JP is that Santa visits the local toy store.  Izzy has been talking about him for awhile asking for gum.  When we finally saw him she didn't want to sit in his lap but never left him either.  She enjoyed showing him all sorts toys there.  Unfortunately, on the way home my car was T-boned.  I guess I should have sat on his lap and asked for a new car as well.  Luckily no one was hurt.

On the Farm

 Izzy and I were able to stay a bit longer on the farm after Thanksgiving.  Originally she wasn't too excited about the tractor.  However, after moving a few piles of dirt she really got into helping Opa work the tractor.  Maybe next year we won't have any crying at all.

 Still a delight, Izzy loves putting things on her fingers.  This time it was raspberries.

Izzy loved playing picnic with Opa.  It was so neat to see our childhood toys having a new life.

Pre-Christmas Presents

We decided to open a few gifts after Thanksgiving for fun.  These silly octopi were the first and a huge hit with all the grandkids.  Avery would wind-up and throw his like a baseball, Amelia would help the younger ones get there's going, Izzy would just giggle and Audrey would scream.  It was mass chaos. 

Izzy & Audrey had identical presents.  In our haste, I forgot to pack a pair of PJs so this was perfect for here to sleep in. 

 Izzy & Audrey then got all worked up and spent a good portion dancing for us.  It was so fun to see these two together.  I can't wait for more gatherings were they have someone their own age to play with.

 The adults were not left out.  We opened our gift exchange after the kids went to bed.  This year we decided to do a theme… "as see on TV".  Abe was super excited to get his snuggie.  We'll have to see what next year's theme will be.  Diane's already asking if we want to do an "ugly Christmas sweater" theme!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This was the first in several years when the whole family was able to get together for a holiday.  As mom & dad's new house on the farm was completed, this was it's inaugural celebration.  Though many generations were there, it never felt crowded allowing for a fun time for all.

Initially we were planning on flying on Thanksgiving.  Our original tickets were changed having us arrive at close to midnight.  We thought we could manage that one.  However, once at the airport our flight was cancelled so back home we went only to get up early the next day and reattempt this trip.  We make it on our first flight only to find they put us on a flight with two seats left.  While deciding if only 2 of us should continue, a lady gave up her seat and so we all made it.  Needless to say we were a bit exhausted.  But that didn't stop us from enjoying a wonderful turkey dinner.

Happy Halloween

 Despite having snow this weekend, Halloween was still schedule here in Boston.  JP's annual Trick-or-Treat down Centre Street at the local businesses was held again.  As we live only 2 blocks from this street, this makes for an easy Halloween.  It is always fun to see what others dress up as.  I was sure Izzy would be the only Tin Man but found out I was wrong when a family of 4 came as the whole Wizard of Oz group.

 Izzy's daycare also had their annual Halloween party at the local park.  Izzy is sitting next to two friends, Liam & Bonnie.  Good thing they feed us as we headed straight for Trick-or-Treating.

Just to give you an idea, store owners hand out candy to those Trick-or-Treating on the street.  Izzy managed to pick out almost every sucker she could find.

Lantern Festival

Typically the weekend before Halloween, JP hosts the Lantern Festival at the JP Pond.  Hundreds of people come with lanterns made or bought on location.  There is live music & hot apple cider.  It is also a time for many young ones to show case their costumes.  Then everyone marches off walking around the pond.  Even the boats are set to said lit by their lanterns.  It was quite a beautiful sight to see tine orange dots encircling the pond.

This year Izzy & I took to making her own lantern.  She wanted "princesses".  Instead of a candle, we lit hers with a flashing light that you put into your trick-or-treating bag which she loved because of the changing of colors.

These are just a few of the beautiful lanterns you could purchase.

Pumpkin Festival

Today the local YMCA held their pumpkin festival which was free to all who attended.  Ironically this was held in a local cemetery which has a beautiful nature preserve.  I guess perfect for the halloween spirit.  We asked on of Izzy's daycare friends, Bonnie, if she would like to come.  They both were willing to get their faces painted as kitty-cats.

Surprisingly, Izzy sat very still to get her kitty nose & whiskers.

 Pumplin bowling was one activity.  Rolling your pumpkin down the lane was a bit challenging.

 No problem… Bonnie & Izzy just carried theirs to the pins and threw them until they were all knocked down.

While standing in line, a juggler came by which was so entertaining for the girls.  He asked for a volunteer to do a juggling act.  Totally caught off guard, Izzy walked right up.  He proceeded to juggle 2 balls in either hand while flipping Izzy back-n-forth from each arm. 

The highlight was the moonwalks.  There were 3 sizes.  The biggest had a height restriction on it.  Bonnie didn't want to do either.  Izzy climbed into the middle size, got pushed & then someone fell on her making her cry & want to leave.  But she got into the smaller one anyway and had fun.  It was a bit more her size.

Apple Picking

 This Columbus Day weekend, we were blessed with a wonderful Indian summer with temperatures in the 80s.  What a great weekend to get out and enjoy the New England fall.  We decided to go apple picking.  We did this the first fall with Izzy when she was only 5 months old.  This time around was alot more fun for all of us.

 Many of the apple trees had been picked over leaving us with good apples hard to find.  Leave it to Izzy to be an active member reaching those ripe apples no one else could.

 While I stood in line, Izzy & Abe picked out a pumpkin.  However, the stem broke and we forgot about it (hid it while we picked apples) so now we have to go get her another one.

 Izzy wanted to ride the 'ponies'.  The actual pony was resting by the time Izzy was 1st in line.  The pony kicked over his water leaving us to wait until more came.  No one there knew where to get more.  Izzy then decided she was brave to ride the 'big pony'.  She had a smile on her face the whole ride.

We ended our visit by becoming scarecrows.  We have the same picture when she was a baby ;-)

Liz's 34th B-day

 Today was my 34th birthday.  We celebrated by enjoying an awesome ice cream cake from our local ice cream store, JP Licks.  We were both entertained by Izzy being unable to wait to cut the cake before eating it.  Thank you to all for the wonderful b-day wishes!

Clay's Food

Following lunch today, I needed to empty the dishwasher in order to fill it.  Typically if I'm working in the kitchen Izzy will be with me 'working' on something as well.  Her project today was to fill our containers with Clay's dry food & put lids on them.  She's done this occasionally in the past so I didn't take much notice of her activity.  However, when she was done she neatly stacked them, picked them up & said "refrigerator".  So we walked over & opened the door.  Izzy made room for her containers with Clay's food.  Their minds are just sponges absorbing our every move.

Bath Friends

These are what Izzy calls her 'friends'.  When she gets into bath, she sometimes calls for her 'friends' in a sweet voice and then throws them into the tub to play with.  However, recently she's been stacking them on the ledge working very hard on getting them all to fit.  When she was done the 1st time, I was so impressed by her resilience, I grabbed the camera and took a picture of them.  I then wanted a picture of her with her friends to capture the moment.

Here Izzy is pointing and saying 'CHEESE' for the camera.

The next night, even before getting wet she quickly put her friends back on the ledge & then turned to me asking 'cheese'.  So, like a good mom, I went & got the camera.

The 3rd night, she again place her friends in their spot & asked 'cheese'.

The 4th night, she just turned & said 'cheese' even before getting her friends ready.  You can imagine how the 5th, 6th, 7th and so on has gone.  The only way of knowing these are different pics at times is to look at the location of placement of her friends.  They are always different.

Band-Aids

 Every  parents has that 'ah ha' moment when they realize it has been way to quite dreading what their child has been up to in the other room.  For me, it was attack of the band-aids.  Izzy found her Sesame Street band-aids and decided to put them all over the TV stand.  When I asked her to clean up she proceeded to put them all over herself.  We got some funny looks later that day when we went out side.  She wanted to have Lucy in the picture showing her band-aids.  However, Lucy has had her band-aids for quite some time.

Izzy wanted to make sure you saw her Elmo band-aid as well.

Happy Labor Day Weekend

 Since this is a three day weekend for most of us including Izzy, we decided to get out of the house and enjoy the lovely weather before the winter sets in up here in Boston.  Abe is unfortunately working so that leaves Izzy & I to have some adventures together.  One thing we have not done is visit the Boston Harbor Islands, one of the national parks.  It was a short ferry to the islands where we enjoyed picking up all sorts of sea shells.  On our way back, we stopped to enjoy one of the many cooling centers in Boston.  This is one thing I find most fun as they are everywhere allowing all ages to cool off and have some fun.  At first Izzy stood on the edge.  But by the end she was running straight into the water.  She conked out almost as soon as I started driving home.  Too much fun can be exhausting!  Hope you all have a safe & fun labor day weekend.

Bath Foam Fun

Last week Izzy experienced her 1st UTI.  This has left bath time less than pleasurable.  Since she has recovered, instead of any type of bubble bath we are playing with color fizz tabs & bath foam.  She got a kick out of having the foam on all her fingers & toes.  Bath time is once again a fun time.

Hurricane Irene

Today is the day after Hurricane Irene headed north.  By the time she arrived, she was downgraded to a tropical storm.  She headed inland with the majority of the storming hitting western Massachusetts, New Hampshire & Vermont.  Boston received relatively little rain (<2 inches) but we got the majority of the wind.  Today has been a clean up day for all the downed tree branches and other things damaged by the wind.  Abe had to work that day and so Izzy & I braved the storm at home.  After her nap, the storm had cleared allowing us to walk around outside and see what happened.  Thanks to all who thought of us and prayed for our safety.  An earthquake last week and a hurricane this week… makes me wonder what this all means.

Earthquake!

As many of you may have heard, there was an earthquake in Virginia yesterday.  Ironically I also saw there was one in Colorado.  Most of the time I don't pay much attention to these unless they cause significant damage and are covered by the news.  However, this one was different in that we felt the after shock all the way up in Boston.  I have to say, I never thought I'd be saying I experience an earthquake especially where we live.  I was working at a computer and then felt this odd high fequency vibration.  I thought someone was either hitting my chair from behind or I was really needed to eat my lunch because I had low blood suger (this was ~2pm).  When I turned around, no one was there and then I thought I'm hallucinating.  Once it was over and everyone started to talk about what just happened, I knew that there was nothing wrong with me.  Luckily nothing serious happened up here.  I can only imagine how scary a larger event might be.

How to eat a tomato… by Izzy

Step 2:  Decide which tomato you want to eat and pull him off.

Step 3:  Hold your tomato trying to contain the excitement of eating it.

Step 4:  Forget about the knife & plate… just take a bite out of it.

Step 1:  While daddy goes & gets the camera to document this story, pull off two small green tomatoes because you want several to eat.