what samantha is up to

The one thing the girls never seem to tire of is cooking! Since Samantha is in to everything, Anna Kate has moved her cooktop to her bed!
Even Samantha has great fun putting things in to the pot, stirring! and putting the lid on!
She has decided she really likes this rocking chair. I thought it was an affinity for the chair, but, in fact, we now find her climbed onto just about anything, including the ottoman in the living room. 
Here she is showing off her moves . . .

Anna Kate sings again!

Anna Kate is learning two songs for her school's Christmas play and some lines! Hopefully, we'll be able to video and upload that, but, for now, here she is singing to me at the bar in the kitchen!

thanksgiving, and a bit more

Every year, we spend the weekend before Thanksgiving at the Camp of the Woods in Speculator, NY, with all the Campus Crusade for Christ staff in the Northeast. This year was our third year, and even we, being relatively new, can see the growth in the region, not the least of which happens to be through offspring. Lots and lots of little people! The Camp is fantastic. It was so life-giving to be with old, good friends. Of course, among our girls' favorite people were the Betts boys! Those same boys we camped with this summer. Here is Jack, Anna Kate, and Lucy . . . sorry, Josiah, Titus and Samantha didn't make it in!

After a great weekend, we headed home on Tuesday. Laundry! Grocery shopping - yes, I bought my turkey on the day before Thanksgiving, and it was okay! :) And Gramma Maggy arrived on Wednesday! Yea!
We were thankful! I love the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, and I'm trying to instill this in my children. So it was on all morning, followed by the National Dog Show. Good, holiday TV. Accompanied by pumpkin and cranberry scones. Mmmm . . . Even Daddy watched.

Thanksgiving Day, November 27, also was cousin Decker's 16th birthday! Oh my! I was 16 when he was born - the day after Thanksgiving that year. We had to talk to him and his mother - travelling from Phoenix to CA for a great birthday celebration! Here's Lucy talking to him . . . Samantha wanted to talk to Decker, but since she either eats the phone or pushes buttons and inevitably hangs up, we wouldn't let her. (Oh yeah, and that's our great, new fireplace insert behind her. Not only do we have continual fires now that it is cold, but there is a fan that uses the heat to actually heat our home! Brilliant! Thanks, Dave!!!)"Holiday Lunch"
Finally, Thanksgiving dinner! This picture does not tell the true story: My mom did lots of the prep, but here she's taking the picture. I learned how to make stuffing and stuff a turkey this year! And, when it was time to "finish up" to get to the table, the girls had to watch Daddy carve the turkey. Good thing we have that handy bar! It's just as I imagined, when I kept asking for that bar (without the broken collarbone, of course!). You can, by the way, also see the valences our friend Myra helped me make for the kitchen and our new kitchen blinds (cellular - insulating!!!). There's a new pantry curtain which coordinates, too, and I'm totally inspired to get the office done, but my sewing machine is getting fixed (drat!) . . .

Daddy did an expert job carving that turkey.

The girls waited patiently.

Of course, we had pie! The girls helped make the whipped cream; they love licking the beaters (when we're finished). Then, I looked over and saw Lucy take the newly licked clean beater and scoop out another beater full of whipped cream!
Anna Kate had to try it too!

We tried the wishbone, but it wouldn't break. It's still drying on our windowsill. I think we'll still try to break it, just for fun.

a ladybug, an elephant, and cinderella

Every year, we have a "party" in the living room, helping hand out candy in our costumes. But, this year, Anna Kate planned to trick-or-treat. So, there we were, time to head out for some trick-or-treating. When the girls realized they had to go to the doors and say, "trick-or-treat" and "thank you," the plan changed. No thanks, we'll stay home, maybe next year. We had a great time!

My little ladybug ~ oh my! she was Q-ute! My elephant, posing for a picture.

And, Cinderella. Anna Kate had a party at school, which she went back for in the afternoon.

Thanks, Aunt Heather, for presents! We love the books, and everyone loves Samantha's new safari truck.

Earlier in the week (on the day it was supposed to snow!), we decorated fall cookies - pumpkins and leaves. It was SO fun! (Thanks, Aunt Hillery for our matching dresses! You know how we love to match!)

Samantha's FIRST Birthday!!!

Here is the birthday girl! We started celebrating at breakfast. Grampa was still here (yea!), and we had waffles. Samantha ate half of a Belgium waffle! Wow!

After taking Grampa to the airport we had a couple of presents for Samantha to open. We like giving presents early in the day so that the girls can enjoy their new toys on their birthdays! (Daddy discovered that Samantha's shirt was soaking wet, but she didn't wait for him to return with a shirt before beginning to explore her presents! Before opening them, she stood, climbed, and even carried them!)

She didn't need a lot of help opening!

It was only 7 o'clock (an hour past her bedtime, oops!) when we offered her a cupcake (white cake, strawberry frosting), but she was done! We'll try a cupcake today, I think.

I love this pic of Anna Kate. So I had to include it.

Grampa Bill visits

Grampa Bill visited from the Turks & Caicos Islands this past week. We had a great time - doing daily stuff, like running errands and going to gymnastics, and some fun stuff too, like lunch at Indian Ladder Farms and the park! Here are some photos from the week.

Playing in the leaves outside the house!

Celebrating Grampa's birthday, just a couple of weeks early. I made a chocolate chip dutch baby (think puffed pancake) with sauteed bananas in a kahlua sauce - mmmm.

family movie night

We had a family movie night on Friday and we watched Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: The Best of Both Worlds. The girls liked it. Everyone danced, and Anna Kate tried to sing along. Here's Samantha in her chair, dancing. Even when she was done eating and out of her high chair, she was dancing. It was so cute!

Pumpkin-Picking Field Trip

We all had a great time on Anna Kate's class field trip pumpkin-picking.

On the hay ride - it was sunny, chilly and so much fun!
Outside the hay maze.
Anna Kate - just landed - out of the hay slide. The kids sailed down these black tubes and in to huge piles of hay, laughing!
Picking pumpkins in the patch! It was challenging for each of the girls to choose a pumpkin (and kind of difficult for Mommy to actually get it off the vine!), but in the end, we came home with lovely pumpkins!

Samantha and the buzzy bee

Samantha is walking - running, really - all over the place. Here's a video - it's not very good :) - of her with the buzzy bee. She is really enjoying the pull toys.

Apple Picking - kind of

Again this year, we were foiled in an attempt to pick apples. Our friend Myra and I loaded the girls up this morning and drove to a local orchard. We discovered, though, that there is no picking on weekdays! Surprising, but we made the best of it with yummy snacks (apple cider, apple cider doughnuts, and candy!) and still came home with loads of apples. Pumpkins are out, of course. And right by the parking lot there are pallets full of them. So, I was able to get a couple of quick pictures.