Winter fun - pre-holidays

We started off the holiday season by visiting one of my favorites, Wolfe's Neck Farm, for an event called the Winter Tree where we were treated to a story and then made edible ornaments to hang on trees just like the characters in the book. Our friends the Kramers came along, and it was great to see them to do such a fun activity after not seeing them for a long time!

Leah and Payson decorating our edible ornaments.

After a short hike, hanging them on the tree!

The following day we had our first of what were to be many snowfalls this winter. It wasn't very cold, so we took Payson and Zoe outside to try to get some Christmas card photos. What a blast!

Looking for Santa?


Catching snowflakes.

Payson really got into decorating the tree this year, and wasn't interested in destroying anything, which was a pleasant suprise for us. In fact, she loved the tree so much we left it up until the weekend after Christmas.

I know I posted some shots on Payson's birthday, but here's another one of her playing with her cool new monster bowling set, compliments of Auntie Alicia.

We got Payson all gussied up to go see Santa, which she was excited about... until we actually got up close to him. Then she was terrified! But afterwards she told us, "I was a little scared of Santa. He gave me a book." We are hoping she won't be permanently traumatized. This is the shot that made this year's Christmas card! Kudos to Matt!

The days before and after Christmas we got to enjoy Gorham's open gym - pretty much a large space for little ones to run around filled with mats, tubes, balls, etc. It was awesome! We had a great time, and the Smiths joined us both days, and the Haniskos one day. It was great to see them all and for the little ones (big ones too) to let off some steam in a big gym.

Getting bundled up for outside fun! Poor Zoe, what a trooper.

Someday I'll be caught up... more later!

Catching up - the remainder of Fall

Hey folks, it's time for some super blogging. I am going to attempt to catch you all up on our lives over the past couple months. And I am no longer making any promises about how frequently I can blog. Life's just too busy!

So, in my attempt to "super blog," (aka super fast with limited details, humor, or anecdotes) my details are going to be sparse. I know most of you just check out the blog for the pictures, anyways, and there are lots of those to share.

Below are some pictures from around early November through Thanksgiving weekend. Things sure don't look like this around here anymore! We've had a ton of snow lately, with over a foot just coming yesterday.

People say having a kiddo changes your life. Bingo! Our Friday nights look something like this nowadays. It's pretty darn entertaining. As a sidenote, those cowboy boots were Matt's dads, Matt's and his sister's, and now Payson's!

A fun trip to Wolfe's Neck Farm with Braydon & Jami.

Yep, we definitely live in Maine!

A fall day with the Smiths...

We took a walk around the neighboorhood, complete with lots of...

puddle jumping! So much fun!

Payson still loves to help us cook. She's always stationed at the counter helping us do something, or munching away. And getting dirty, for sure!

Alison joined us one evening while Ed & Stacy took their dog, Milo, to the vet. The girls had an absolute blast in the bath - Payson still talks about it!

Thanksgiving eve. As many of you know, we hosted 15 people on Thanksgiving! It was chaotic, but fun. We spent the better part of the day before T-day cooking - here's my favorite pie and a turkey I made for the day. Each feather has everyone's name and says, for example, "Sarah's thankful for..." and then each person wrote in their answer. It was great! Wrapping that much yarn was not so great, but at least we can use it every year.

The Smiths were some of our guests on Thanksgiving. Their dog, Milo, had a suspected ACL tear in his knee so they couldn't travel. They came over early to help us out, and the girls quickly got to work entertaining us!

Payson "smiling" with our turkey.


Our living room transformed into a dining room.

Thanksgiving weekend, we started getting in the holiday spirit. Payson made some great wrapping paper this year!

I hope to be back to continue my updates soon, but I'm not making any promises! Enjoy Obama's inauguration tomorrow! Woohoo!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Payson!

Unbelievably, today is Payson's second birthday. Hard to believe the time has passed so quickly. Below are some pictures of Payson's actual birth day, her first birthday, and her second birthday (as well as some cute recent pics).

Happy December!

We're alive, but extremely busy. I hope to make a more thorough blog update in late December, but for now, we've been busy working, going to daycare, planning for second birthdays, holiday parties, Christmas, and thirtieth birthdays (eeek!).

Here's a picture from this year's holiday photo shoot:

Caption: Don't lose your head this holiday season!

We hope you are enjoying the little moments that make December such a special month... we certainly are! We look forward to celebrating Payson's second birthday in a week and Christmas soon thereafter. Happy holidays to you and yours!

Leaves & Pumpkins Galore!

Things just don't slow down 'round here! We've been having such a fun fall, although as I write this it feels like the "leaves & pumpkins" part of fall is behind us - now on to turkey and holiday shopping! As you'll see, we soaked up every last bit of our New England fall, enjoying pumpkin festivals, hayrides, and the crunchy, colorful leaves.

We headed to Wolfe's Neck Farm with Christine and her two girls, Delaney & Allie, for a great pumpkin festival, complete with lots of animals, as always, as well as face painting, an oceanside hayride, pumpkin decorating, and more! It was a gorgeous day and tons of fun.

The hayride stopped at a pumpkin patch, where all the kids could get out and pick their own pumpkin. I love Wolfe's Neck Farm!!!

Payson's been getting very interested in reading to Zoe, and tucking her in with a blanket. She even jumps in from time to time - poor Zoe. First Payson comes and takes all her attention, and now she has to share her dog bed. She puts up with it suprisingly well.

This would have definitely been our 2008 Christmas card picture if only Payson's stubborn streak didn't emerge. She would NOT lay down to partake in this photo (maybe I can't really blame her...)

A couple of weekends ago Stacy and I went on our first ever girls' day trip since the girls were born - a promised birthday gift for Stacy from last April! We only got to it 6 months late, not bad. We went to North Conway for some shopping, lunch, and a little sight-seeing - and it was fantastic. The girls and daddies had fun all day, too! We'll try it again soon since it was such a rousing success.

You know you're a Mainer (read: Redneck?) when... your daughter thinks it's just about the coolest thing in the world to play in the back of daddy's one ton! This is just about a daily event. Who needs toys?

After working his keester off for so many weekends in a row, Matt took a Monday off to spend with us girls. We decided to go apple picking... but got to the orchard to find they were closed = picked out! What a bummer - but they were great, and told us to walk around and enjoy ourselves. So we had an absolute blast playing in the leaves of a big ole sugar maple!

We all got buried...

(love this pic of Matt!)

Zoe trying to catch the leaves.

We went on a (freakin' FREEZING) trip to Pumpkinland with Payson's daycare. Apparently every year they go it is freakin' freezing. This year was no exception, and although we had a little fun, Payson was freakin' freezing and just not herself. We went on another hayride (that's 3 this fall!) and got to pick out another pumpkin in the pumpkin patch! As you can see, Payson's running towards me because it was so freakin' FREEZING.

Jami & Braydon in the patch, after Braydon tripped over a pumpkin and log-rolled across the row of muddy pumpkin, laughing the entire way.

Did I mention Pumpkinland was freakin' freezing?! Payson looks cold, even in this picture! Poor kiddo. Pumpkinland itself was really cool (pun unintended) and we'll look forward to returning next year in hopefully warmer conditions.

My dad and his partner, Pixie, came to visit a couple weeks ago and we headed to another pumpkin festival (who knew they were all the rage?) in Saco and had a blast. Carved and painted pumkins lined the street, and there was a dog costume contest, petting zoo area, kids all over in costumes, food, and a band - a great way for dad and Pixie to soak up New England in the fall.

One of the many displays of pumpkins. I wish we could have stayed later when they lit them all up! Maybe next year.

Know you already marveled over Payson's Halloween costume. Alright, alright, I know it wasn't all that elaborate, but I failed to mention before that Matt and I made the tail and horns. Matt did the tail and sewed it on to Payson's pants, and yes, I - meaning ME - sewed those horns by hand. So there. Aren't you impressed, or a little more, at least?

We'll end with this cute picture from last weekend - after Payson covered up Zoe, she rushed into her room to bring back books to read to Zoe. This one's "Down by the Bay," which she sang. She's been really into singing lately - she now does the ABCs without skipping any letters, and also has "Baa, baa black sheep" down pat. Pretty cute!