Time Flies!

I know it's been forever since I've updated! Almost three months have gone by!
Nicholas and Gabby are now full-fledged first graders with almost three months of first grade under their belts. They are both loving school. They love their fabulous teacher and their fabulous student teacher and are even pretty good about doing their homework every night. So far they have been working hard on math, reading and writing and have also learned a lot about BATS (can you say "echolocation"? Nick and Gabby can...and they can tell you all about it as well!) Currently, they are working on a MAGNET unit and are really enjoying it. They have swiped most of my refrigerator magnets for their magnet experiments. For Veteran's Day, the school had a little Veteran's celebration and the kids all made paper hats to wear for the event. Nicholas and Gabby enjoyed the hat making so much that they came home and spent the rest of the afternoon making more hats. 106 to be exact. We are now out of printer paper. So far, the first graders have enjoyed one field trip...to Hidden Acres pumpkin patch and apple orchard on Green Bluff. I got to go along as a chaperone and it was great fun. They picked apples, chose a pumpkin, ran through the corn maze, went on a hay ride, learned about bees and pollination and enjoyed a yummy snack of donuts and apple cider.
Mostly, our days have been filled with school and school activities. I'm the PTO president this year so have been busy working on PTO stuff. I also enjoy volunteering at school whenever I have the chance. I am the 'hot lunch' mom every first Wednesday of the month and enjoy the frantic rush of handing out pizza to about 75 kids in 20 minutes. I'm also chairing the school's fundraising auction again this year and am working on the first few details of that. Finally, through a couple of friends, I got a temporary holiday help job at Williams Sonoma, wrapping gifts. As many of you know, I LOVE gift wrapping. I've only worked one day so far, but it was pretty fun. During the week I am able to work while the kids are in school and still have time to drop them off and pick them up from school...so it's perfect! I'm also still enjoying the book club I'm in. Once a month I get to hang out with a fabulous group of women, drink wine, talk about books and eat yummy treats. It's become something I look forward to all month! I've also been able to babysit little Kate a few times, which has been great fun. She is a wonderful little baby and is so darn cute. Gabby has come with me twice and loves babysitting. She just loves babies.

During the first few weekends of Fall, Chad and I were still working on painting our house...it's still not finished but hopefully we'll " get 'er done" this Spring. (I think we've said that before...) We also went to Portland in September for cousin Katie's wedding to Erik, which was beautiful and qute fun! I enjoyed catching up with cousins, helping to cut the cake and sharing in a wonderful day. In Portland, stayed with Chad's cousin, Spencer, and his wife Kate and other cousin Josie. There, we stayed up too late drinking brewskies and playing an odd version of Clue. We also ate yummy fajitas filled with fresh veggies from their garden.
Chad is also working on turning our back porch into a pantry. I cannot wait to have the extra storage space and free up some room in the kitchen. So far, it's framed in, insulated, and mostly dry walled. Now he's working on the wall with the door in it and adjusting everything to fit correctly. It's all a ton of fun in this old, crooked house!
Last weekend, Gabby and I, participated in a 'Girls Only Craft Weekend' at Aunt Mary's house. We both had a terriffic time. Gabby loved hanging out with all the aunties and her grandma, helping with baby Henry (an exception to the girls only rule), riding Rockee the horse, playing with Hankie the dog and gathering eggs from the chicken coop each morning! I enjoyed hanging out with my aunties and mom and cousin and cuddling with baby Henry and eating and drinking and drinking and eating... I even made a couple of Christmas gifts! While we were gone, Chad and Nicholas hung out at The Farm with the Farm Grandma and Grampa and some cousins. So I think we all had a fun weekend.
Tomorrow is a 'no school' day...as is Friday...for conferences. Ours is tomorrow morning and then we have the rest of the 4 day weekend off! Yippee! The following week is another short one with the Thanksgiving holiday. And then Christmas preparations will be spurred into high gear...one of my favorite times of the year!
Here are a few photos of the last few months...enjoy!

The house...a work in progress

Gabby, enjoying a sunny September day, while Mommy and Daddy PAINT.

My perfect little niece, Kate

She's a wee thing...but she looks huge in Gabby's arms. Can you tell Gabby was THRILLED to be holding her? She's just bursting!

Katie's wedding...

The house on Halloween...I surprised the kids with the ghosts in the window that day...

Gabby as Little Red Riding Hood

Nicholas as Harry Potter

The gang...Chad the postman, Me as Mrs. Roper, Alvin as Fred Flintstone, Baby Kate the little punkin', Anne as Wilma Flintstone and Beth the Sock Monkey

Nicholas at the Green Bluff field trip...the stem of his pumpkin fell right off...

Gabby and Nicholas as the farmer and his wife...

Gabby and her buddy, Conner

Miss Richardson tries to get the whole gang in a photo

Apples...

Bus Butts...as titled by Mrs. Schierman

MMmmmmm...donuts and cider!

Nicholas at a classmates birthday party

Nicholas and Braeden ham it up at the party.

Gabby with Henry...look how much he's grown since August.

Henry

School is starting in just a few days and I haven't posted anything about our summer in over a month! I'll catch you all up as soon as I have more time...but for now...
here's Henry.
My beautiful cousin, Jenny, and her husband, Ben, welcomed Henry into the world on Friday, August 29th. He was 6 lbs, 11 ounces and was born just before 9 pm. He's absolutely perfect. Gabby, my little baby-lover, thoroughly enjoyed holding him for a few moments of just his second day. She can't wait to visit him again.

Congratulations Jenny and Ben! Jenny, you did amazing.

my Gabby Girl

She's Finally Here!

I'm a new aunt today...Katherine Elise Finch has finally arrived. She was born today, July 16th at 11:17 am. She weighed 6 lbs 13 ounces and was 22 inches long. She's absolutely perfect.

I think she looks like her Mommy.

Following is one of my favorite photos from today.
New cousins.

Like I said...absolutely perfect.

Love.

Gabby is already in love...

Even little Gracie was excited

Summer Lovin'

We've been having a great summer so far! The kids have enjoyed hanging out in Grandma Elaine's little pool. They played in it all day last Thursday and then Chad met us there for dinner. We made burgers and corn on the cob...yum! After dinner, it was back into the pool...even I got in that time. The kids didn't let me relax much, though. I was attacked by little splashing monsters!







We just hung out at home for most of the 4th of July. In the late afternoon we headed out to The Farm. On the way there Gabby spotted a moose along the river! She announced, "I saw a moose!" We didn't really believe her until she described it...then we turned around and drove back to the spot and sure enough, there was a moose! It's the first time I've ever seen a moose in person so I was pretty excited. Of course, Gabby was quite proud of herself for spotting it! Once at The Farm, we then loaded up with Grandma and Grandpa and headed to the little town of Deer Park for the Fireworks. This year is Deer Park's 100th Birthday as well so they had a big cake and lots of apple pie and ice cream! The fireworks were fun and not as scary as in years past. Sometimes it feels like you're walking through a war zone on the 4th of July in Deer Park. I'm always tempted to wear a hard hat! But there wasn't as much flying shrapnel this year.


If you look really closely...you can see the brown spot, which is the moose. You may have to click on these ones for a larger view. I only had my 50mm lens with me.














On Sunday we went to Horse Shoe Lake with the Farm Grandma and Grandpa. They were trying out their new raft things...they wanted to practice on a lake before they attempted a river. Boy! those things are a LOT harder than they look. Chad and I tried them out for a while and my elbows are still hurting! Chad and I took our canoe, which the kids seem to enjoy. We headed across the lake to the waterfall, which the kids loved! Although, they both thought it was too loud. Nicholas climbed all over the place like a little monkey. It was almost impossible to keep up with him. Luckily, Grandma and Grandpa managed to keep him pretty close. I think I need to down a bottle of Prozac before we go next time. Just watching him scurry around on those rocks makes my anxiety levels rise! We also hiked up to Devil's Punch Bowl, which is just a big huge hole carved out of rock and filled with stagnant water. Of course, Chad, the geologist, found it fascinating. It just induced nightmares of falling kids for me.
Last night we went on a little bike ride after dinner...just up to the park. I'm going to try riding a little bit at a time and see if my butt eventually gets used to it. Chad bought a soft, gel seat for me but my rear is still a little sore today. The kids just LOVE riding their bikes though and it would be nice to join them more often!
That's about it for now...