Boxed Gift

Here is our little one year old, all boxed up

Harvest Festival 2011

The girls got to get dressed up twice this year since our church threw a Harvest Festival. Our three Sleeping Beauty Fairies (Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather) were thrilled at all the games. Lizzie especially enjoyed the cookie walk, and ended up convincing us to take part more times than I can count (mostly because we all had won a cookie but her and she desperately wanted to win). We probably could have opened up our own bakery with the combined total of cookies we had all won.

Trick or Treating at the Zoo

Last year we started a new tradition of going to the zoo rather than trick-or-treating

Pumpkin Carving 2011

So we carved pumpkins in 2011 :-) Here is us carving away.

Sera provided the music

Gracie the cheesy grins

Lizzie the focus to get the job done

Ellie the comedy to lighten the mood

3 of our pumpkins with their pumpkins

Bet You Thought This Blogger was Done

Well I must admit, I did consider it, but the reality is when you have a camera full of pictures, and want to share them, this is the fastest and simplest way. So much has happened since the last post, and yet so little that I can think to write about. Some of us have been cutting teeth,


others losing them like mad and still others grateful not to be doing either of those options. Over the course of the next few weeks I plan to get caught up on my pictures. Hope you enjoy the stroll back in time since I have pictures from pumpkin carving to Christmas and into this "New" year.

New Bed

Gracie recently transitioned into a "big-girl" bed. It has been fun to see her becoming such an independent kiddo. This was the bed-christening event :-)

Caramel Apples

My Mom was always big on traditions. One of her favorites was caramel apples. I think it is quickly becoming one of my favorites too. So much fun and so yummy.

1st Day of School

So behind again. We have been pretty busy with school, and colds and life, but I wanted to at least post the pictures I have been taking.

These are from our first day of school. Lizzie and Ellie are doing first grade this year (though Ellie's is a bit modified since she doesn't quite have the hand control for writing yet that Lizzie has). Gracie is "tagging along" now and then based on mood, etc.

Caught Pink Handed

I guess this is what I get for trying to cover the kitchen table with paper (pre-pumpkin carving) and leaving a 2 year old alone in a room with markers.




Before you jump to conclusions, she did not technically write on herself (as she has been disciplined for that offense more times than I can count). No, no, no, this time she simply took the marker apart and squeezed out every drop of marker ink from the marker-spongy-insides. She is clever, but still lost marker privileges :-)

Jack of the Latern

As I was looking for the best way(s) to cook pumpkin seeds (in prep for our pumpkin carving), I stumble across this little bit of info.

The History Behind the Jack O' Lantern

"The story of the Jack o'Lantern comes from Irish folklore. Jack was a crafty farmer who tricked the Devil into climbing a tall tree. When the Devil reached the highest branch, Jack carved a large cross in the trunk, making it impossible for the Devil to climb down.

In exchange for help getting out of the tree, the Devil promised never to tempt Jack with evil again. When Jack died, he was turned away from Heaven for his sins and turned away from Hell because of his trickery. Condemned to wander the earth without rest, Jack carved out one of his turnips, took an ember from the devil, and used it for a lantern to light his way. He became known as 'Jack of the Lantern.'" (taken from allrecipes.com).

Despite this disturbing tale, we chose to carve away at our pumpkins anyway.