Pumpkin Patch!

Last weekend we went to the Leaf Festival followed by a trip to the pumpkin patch! Anastasia has been BEGGING me to go to a farm, ride the hayride and get a pumpkin so it was great to finally make her dream come true (atleast one dream anyway!). She had a blast! And Isabel had fun too.

We enjoyed picking grass for the horses. I used to be a bit aprehensive of horses, but I guess living in the country really helped me warm up to them! And maybe the fantasy novels I have been indulging in has helped me see horses in a whole new light. Since Anastasia LOVES horses and ponies, this was very exciting for her. We had a neighbor move in a few months ago who I think has ponies, or is getting some. I wanted to bake her some pumpkin bread the other day, but it was really dry and not sweet enough and I would be ahamed to make it for her. Maybe next week we will bake something, and introduce ourselves and apologize for my husbands loud gunshots that she will forever endure living down the street from us! lol.

Anastasia LOVED the hayride. Last time we went on a hayride, she was scared and cried most of the way... this time she LOVED it. And we picked our own pumpkins and picked an apple from some barrels under their apple trees!

It was very atmospheric sitting on hay bales pulled by a tractor, seeing the mountains in the distance and gnarly apple trees, with apples in our mouths as well.

Mmm Fall. I loved you that day at the pumpkin patch. I hate you on this cold, cold, rainy day as I am stuck inside with two grumpy children who thought that 6am was a good time to get up today. Maybe for them it was a fine time to get up. 4 hours later they are little grumpmeisters. And I was up until 1am MAKING A FAIRY COSTUME!!! Hooray I am finished!! Well, 92% finished anyway. I need to make the flower crown, a flower wand and adjust the straps a bit. And let me give some words of wisdom to any of you talented (or not) seamstresses who are considering sewing a costume for your child: STAY AWAY FROM CHEAP COSTUME SATIN!!!!!! The stuff is EVIL. It frays in every direction, and then makes up new directions just so it can fray in those ways too!! I hate Hate HATE it. Ok, I feel better now.

Other than dealing with that stuff, the costume turned out well. It fits her really snug, which is really cute, but I will probably have to add some stips of fabric down the sides to widen it a bit in a couple of months. And it is hard to get on and off, which is not really ideal for the dress-up box. Alas, she only has to look perfect for 1 night right? I think we can pull that off.

Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens

Yesterday my mom and I took the girls to Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens in Richmond. I wish they were closer, but a stop at my mom's made the 2 1/2 hour drive more doable. They had a really nice butterfly room with all kinds of exotic butterflies.

I have never seen Anastasia so excited about a butterfly room, and we have been to several since she was a baby. 2 1/2 is a good age! And she isn't as scared of flying butterflies as she was 2 months ago. Isabel enjoyed them too, and tried to touch each one and giggled when they flew away. *sigh* babies are so stinking cute! Here she is looking at a pond from the children's tree house: I don't know why I love that picture. I guess I just love kissing the back of that big baby head. There was a little cottage in the greenhouse. It was so cute, like out of a fairy tale. I want it in my backyard.

And Anastasia has had definate tastes in the clothes she wears. It saddens me that I can't put her in everything I want... but I am also excited to move into this new stage of style. There was an awesome tree for climbing:

And many bridges.

And I just love the fall lighting. I have this love-hate relationship with fall. It is such a beautiful season with apples, changing leaves and pumpkins. BUT it is such a trickster because it beckons you on with all its lovliness and then leaves you in the middle of yucky cold winter. It is a very sneaky season. One minute you are jumping in leaves and the next you are freezing your toes off. I love-hate fall, and I dread winter.

Housekeeping!

Ugh, so I wish I had my camera at storytime today, because this happened to be Fire safety week, and Anastasia got to get in a firetruck!! How exciting is that? She was a little scared of the fireman in his complete garb, but she warmed up a little when he gave her a sticker and a bag of goodies. Anyone who gives out stickers and candy must be awesome! :)

So, the real point of this post? To let you know that if your blog is in my sidebar and you haven't updated in 6 months or more then I am kicking you off! I am not trying to be mean, but I am going to add some buttons, some more blogs and a list of labels, etc, so I am trying to clean everything up a bit. So if you are one of those blogs in question... you have 1 week to update or you are gone. Sorry! :) Also, if you are a blogger who reads my blog and would like to be added to my sidebar, let me know! Email me: marmalejo@gmail.com .

Hope your day is as fall-esque as mine!

"...we'll fill our mouths with Cinnamon..."

I keep getting "Sons and Daughters" by the Decemberists stuck in my head. Its so anti-war that I really hope our enemies are jammin' out to it, getting it stuck in their heads and taking it to heart. And look at the new little cook in the family: She started standing up... alone yesterday! And, she can say some words. She says "nigh nigh" and waves her hand before bed. She also says "kittykittykitty" to cats, and her new red panda stuffed animal that does in fact, resemble a cat. She sometimes repeats things I say, and even says "mo" for more, and waves her hands. I have been trying to teach her a little sign language but she pretty much just waves her hands for everything she wants that I taught her a sign for. I also decided to start trying to potty train her using the lame-titled "Elimination Communication" method. I originally thought it was crazy and a little over-the-top. But now I know the real crazies are the people with 2 CHILDREN IN DIAPERS. Cloth or disposables... all I do, all day is change diapers. Anastasia wants nothing to do with the potty unless it involves washing her hands so Isabel is my only hope. So basically I just try and get Isabel to go after her naps, first thing in the morning, when it looks like she is pooping, and 10-15 minutes after nursing. Maybe it is a little crazy... but it actually works!!!!! And she loves using the potty! I thought I had to try with her because she keeps getting rashes within minutes after she poops (and I really do mean minutes) thanks to her sensative, ginger fair-skin. And she HATES having poopy diapers so I hope I am not really going insane, and that this actually is working. haha.

I love how angelic my girls look in the above picture! haha. If only they were as sweet as they look! :) Today Anastasia bit Isabel in the back while they were in the sandbox... Isabel has not been happy since! Sibling rivalry starts way to early doesn't it? ;) So everyday Anastasia asks multiple times about getting a new cat for Christmas. Oh how I want to get her a new cat... so bad. But I do not want an indoor cat (ok, Nick doesn't want an indoor cat) so it would have to be a porch/outdoor/sometimes indoor cat and I am so worried for another Figaro-like fate. I can't take the sadness again but I mean, one of Isabel's first words was "kitty" and Anastasia keeps telling me she will "hold it nice, like a baby" if I get her a cat. *sigh* how my heart does melt for those big brown eyes. And if I get a cat from a shelter, it would be like saving it from death-row anyway right? I miss Figaro. It would be perfect if he were still here.

Nick is coming home late, the girls are cranky and I am hungry. Time to cook some lentils and rice. Yum!

Isabel's Party

Isabel really enjoyed her party. She fell asleep just before everyone came over, had a nice nap and was ready to rock by the time the party started. She is wearing Anastasia's first birthday hat that Nick's mom bought her in the above picture. When Anastasia was a little baby, my aunt's friend gave Anastasia this huge hand-me-down angry dog ball pit:

Despite the fact that it looks like he wants to eat little children while puking balls, the girls really loved it... for a little while. And since I was going with a polka-dot theme, this just took it to the next level.

And while we were hanging out on the porch, Anastasia found some presents. Here she is under arrest with proof stuck to her dress:

It was really nice that we used the porch for almost the entire party! It was so perfect because we finally can see the mountain from our porch now that the leaves are falling off the trees in the way.

Anastasia is OBSESSED with cupcakes, and has been asking to make them for Isabel's birthday for a while now. Then of course, when I asked her if she wanted to help me, she was too busy playing and could care less that I was making her badly wanted cupcakes. Instead, the morning of the party, she broke into the fridge and licked the frosting off of a bunch of them. These remained and are the prettiest cupcakes I have ever made.

Usually my cupcakes turn out very ugly and globby. After we at lasagna, bread, and salad for dinner, we opened gifts. Isabel had so much fun with the paper! We were glad she only had a few gifts because she was done unwrapping after the first few. She also made a point to throw all the clothes right on the ground... so we all know how she feels about clothes as presents. Here she is putting paper on her head like the little funnyface she is:And here is the really cute cake my mom made for Isabel! I love all the dots! I still have a bunch left. Yum. She made Isabel her own tiny cake which she devoured:

I also made these really cute cupcake pops from Bakerella . They were really, really, yummy though a bit time consuming. They are very addicting and I want to make more for halloween shaped like pumpkins!

I think if you make these 2-3 days before a party they would be great! Otherwise it is a lot of work if you wait until the last minute. Like me. I meant to give them out as favors for everyone and I completely forgot!!! Oops. So we have had to eat them. It has been so horrible, let me tell you. ;)

2 cups of coffee down, I better go hang laundry and start my day!

Good sad fun

Isabel's party was perfect for her. She seemed to have such a perfect day! (Pictures to come). That being said, it has been somewhat a sad week and weekend with regards to people we know (or people we know of) losing a child or loved one. Almost everyone I invited to Isabel's party didn't come. Some cancelled the day of. I nearly cried the morning of her party because of how hard I worked to make it so nice and how prepared I was to accommodate all the people who I thought were coming. Thankfully my parents, my aunt, uncle and cousin (who had a friend die the night before), and Ben and Anna and their 3 sweet girls (all of whom Anastasia adores) came. It ended up being a very nice, relaxed party, with TONS of food and good company. Isabel loved all the attention and liked ripping up the paper, and eating lasagna and cake. It was a perfect day for her.

All the death that seems to be happening around us, really started me thinking about faith, and how when the times are good people seem to lose faith in God or anything beyond themselves. I think people feel as though they actually have control over their own lives and destiny, and the lives of others. Death is a reminder that we really don't. There was once a time when people had to fear for their children's lives on a daily basis, and generally lost several children to disease, infection and injuries. We are all so protected from these harsh realities thanks to modern technology and medicine that we don't have to see death all that often. And compared to our ancestors we live very long lives. To believe in a God who is in control is considered a crutch to some. The truth is, the human spirit longs for continuity of life after death. We allow those we love to live on in our memories and in our hearts and often still feel connected to them, as if they are always a part of us. How else can one cope when a loved one dies? How can one have hope at all if we are born, doomed to die? At one time people had faith because they couldn't rely on all the things we rely on so heavily now. Now people turn their hearts from a loving God because they believe they do not need Him. Someday we will all have to face death ourselves. It could be tomorrow. Where is your hope? In all the things you have on earth that will mean nothing, or in the things of Heaven? Maybe in uncertain times, these are the questions we should be asking and seeking the truth out before it is too late.

Sorry for an unusually deep blog tonight. My heart has been so heavy this week for others who have been hurting. But Isabel did indeed have nice, little party.

One.

Now:About a year ago:

Isabel is turning one today. The lasagnas are made, the cupcakes are baked, and the house is still semi-clean. It is so hard to believe how fast this year has gone by. Last fall in our new home with our new baby was such a cozy time. Isabel was such a happy baby in her little basket by the woodstove. Although she is not as content with everything that comes her way like she used to be, she is still a total sweetheart (with attitude when she doesn't get her way). She is a total social bee and loves being the center of attention (meaning tomorrow should be a very good day for her). She loves making people laugh and will repeat activities over and over until we stop laughing. She just started carrying on conversations with us, in little grunts or blabs when we wait for an answer. She is also starting to want everything her sister has, gets or does. She spends her free time looking for trouble, going through cabnets, finding and eating crayons, and making really big messes. She has 4 teeth and looks really goofy-cute with one big tooth on top, and the other top tooth barely poking through. She is still in every way, completely a baby. My baby. I can't believe she is turning one.