apple orchard tradition

Yes it is that time again. Or WAS I should say. This post probably should have been done about 3 weeks ago. We made our annual trip to Helene's again this year. It wasn't as nice a day as last year when we went with friends, but we made the most of it. I couldn't hardly get a picture of the girls picking apples. They were so excited they were all over the place. I did get them to pose for a couple though. So far we have made apple crisp, apple cake, and just had plain apples (dipped in peanut butter or caramel). We gave a bunch of apples away, and I still have about a 1/4 of a bag left. I guess I will have to find a couple more recipes to try. Any ideas?

diva in the making

Yes I make my 2 year old vacuum...don't you??!! Haha..just kidding...most of the time she begs to vacuum. What better way to do it, but with sunglasses on!! If you're going to clean, might as well look good doing it!!

So proud

This girl made me very proud today. A note was sent home by a teacher telling me that Marissa was selected (1 of 2 kids in her 2nd grade class) to participate in a new social group helping out special needs kids...doing activities with them during her Monday morning recess. Her teacher chose her because she thinks Marissa is a responsible student. It is times like this that makes parenting worth all the battles. We are so proud of you Marissa!!

The Big 0-2!!

Today Kristen turned 2!! Officially at 6:18 p.m. We had a big day today. This morning we went and had her pictures taken. I watched in amazement at how well she did. Anytime the photographer posed her, she stayed very still and smiled (mostly) on cue. I can't believe she is 2 already. It seemed like yesterday that Craig and I, after MANY long years of trying, we were blessed with the news of a second child. Almost ready to give up, but God obviously had the plans all mapped out. She is a true blessing...both our girls are. I couldn't have asked for anything more (even on those not-so-good days!).

At two...Kristen can:

-say the ABC's
-count to 15 (almost 20, but she skips from 15-18, then to 20)
-can pretty much tell me anything that she needs
-terrible 2 tantrums have set in (mostly when she can't do what Marissa does)
-on our way to being potty trained (2-3 accidents per day...mostly when she is in the middle of an activity and doesn't want to take the time to go to the potty...ugh)
-loves to sing all kinds of songs (Taylor Swift is her favorite)
-loves the Nemo movie...as well as many others
-loves to be outside..no matter what the weather
-finally figured out how to climb out of her crib...big girl bed coming soon
-wants to be like Marissa all the time
-loves stickers and coloring books
-likes to sleep in mama's bed way too much
-still likes to be a big helper

We love you Kristen...you keep us on our toes everyday. You have the funniest comments. You make it very hard for us to punish you when you do bad. You are always so quick to say sorry.

Maybe she will never get sassy...well I can dream right??

pumpkins and freaky cows

This weekend was the harvest fest downtown. Since we were headed that way for lunch, we decided to check out the activities going on. They had a "pumpkin patch" for the kids to pick out a free pumpkin..gotta love that! Kristen picked hers out and wouldn't let go. (Thank God I brought my dad along to carry it around:). They also had a petting zoo, with all kinds of animals for the kids to hold and pet. Kristen really liked the minature cows that they had...I have to admit though, they kind of freaked me out. They were just really weird looking.

Craig and Marissa got to spend the day together. Craig took our new dog hunting for the first time, so Marissa wanted to walk along. Craig said he did good (which meant he didn't run away). They did manage to shoot one bird, or as Marissa said, "dad blew its head off", nice. Of course, no pictures from that end. I don't know why I even ask.

Catch of the day

Here are Craig and his friend Loren with just HALF of what they caught a couple of weekends ago. All Salmon...and they were all good!!

I got Five!!

Kristen always wants to play Wii just like Marissa. We usually let her pitch when we play baseball and she likes the bowling, although she isn't that good with the release. She decided she wanted to try her hand at boxing, so I let her go at. It was so funny to watch. Every time they said "Fight" she thought they said "five", so she would yell, "I got Five, I got Five!!" Hey at least she thought she was winning and she was having such a good time!!