Fall Fun

The past few weekends have been so nice outside so I took advantage of it. I dressed Isabella and headed outside for some pictures. Isaac wasn't interested until he heard Isabella knocking on the window for him. I was chasing Isabella around the yard with camera. That girl does not stay still for than one minute. She is just so curious. And thankfully, nothing went up her nose or in her mouth while we were outside. Isaac and I, with a little help from Isabella, made a pile of leaves to jump in.



This is about as good as I could get of the both of them together. Isabella doesn't like Isaac touching her and Isaac loves to touch her.

Isaac gets this silly little fake smile and squints at the camera.

I laid Isabella down tihe leaves for this shot. Most of the photos came back with her trying to get up.

I like the angle of this one and I did some sort of photo editing to it. I don't remember what it was called.

I just love this picute of her!

And, last but not least, here is a picture of Isaac jumping in the pile of leaves. I kept trying to convince him to wait until it got bigger, but he just could not wait!

Rick and I have the two best kids in the world. Seriously. There's no better feeling for a tired and weary heart than when I walk in the door, and Isabella says, "Mommy!" and starts running toward me with her arms wide open. Isaac's bright eyes and big smile melts me, along with all the random stuff he remembers.

I Did It!

After having my hair long since Isaac was born, I decided I was tired of the up keep of long hair. So, I decided in the spring to grow my hair long enough to donate. On Thursday, I cut off 9" and am donating it to the Pantene Beautiful Lenghts program. This program takes donated hair and uses it to make wigs for women who are struggling with cancer. I have been ultra fortunate that no one super close to me has battled cancer, but I know friends & family whose friends & family have struggled with this terrible disease. If I ever get cancer, I would still want stylish hair.



I really like my new hair cut. It is super easy and it only took 5-6 minutes to blow dry instead of 20-30 minutes with my long hair. And I like to see all the suprised faces when people see my new hair cut.



The first picture is me holding my hair that will be donated and the second picture is just me with my new do.

Here is the website for more information: http://www.pantene.com/en-US/beautiful_lengths.jspx

Silly Songs with Isaac

And now here is the newest VeggieTales star, Isaac, singing the classic tune, "Where is my hairbrush?". (Note: Bob the Tomato's understudy, Mr. Apple, is playing Bob's part.)

A New England Tradition

One of the best things to do here in New England is to go apple picking in the fall. We discovered this farm last fall and decided to go back again this year. The weather was just perfect in my not so humble opinion- sunny and mid 60s. There is supposed to be a bumper crop of apples this year. We got our bag and headed up to the orchards. Pushing a stroller on a bumpy, rocky dirt path can be a challenge. We all had a fun time and it was great to be together.





I just love this picture of Isaac. We had to remind him several times to get the red apples that are big.

Here is Rick holding up him up so he could get some high in the tree. It took a few minutes of coaxing him to get him up there. He's not a big fan of heights.

Here is Rick finding some winners deep in the tree.

Rick and the two best apple pickers...

Isabella loved it, but she might love her sippy cup more...

It was such a good day for photos.

Isabella isn't the most cooperative girl ever. She just doesn't sit still long enough.

Look who I found in the apple tree!

Rick and Isabella enjoying a nice apple.

Here is that sippy cup again. She really wouldn't put it down.

The farm also had a pumpkin patch that Isabella and I visited while Rick and Isaac went to the bouncy rides.

Again, she doesn't sit still. I had visions of this super cute photo to be used for Christmas cards... Oh well...

As soon as I sat her in the little box, she was climbing out. Doesn't that girl know that I want to take a picture??

Here's a little video of Isabella helping us.

And so far, I've made baked caramel creme apples and apple crisp. I have one more recipe to try, but I might make some more apple crisp because that is almost gone already.

Have a terrific autumn!

September So Far

September has been a bit of a busy month with lots of things kicking into gear. We are preparing for a community picnic that is sponsored by our church, getting ready to participate in a dear friends' wedding (as everyone but Isabella is involved), Isaac started pre-school 4, Midweek Ministries started again, and Small Groups starting up as well. Yikes, but God has been faithful and I think I've handled the stresses pretty well so far.

Nonna bought this truck for the boys, but I think Isabella will be driving it soon!

I took the kids to a nice park by the river and used the wagon to pull them. It was a lot of fun and we stopped for some apple pie ice cream.

Here is Isaac on his first day of new class.

I just love his silly faces!

We Survived Florida

Here are some much anticipated photographs from our infamous trip to Florida. If you have not heard about our numerous misadventures, here is a quick synopsis:



1. Bella was getting over some sort of rotovirus on our way down. She would not take soy milk.

2. Our flight was delayed for two hours. Bella screamed for nearly the entire flight. She calmed down when I walked the isle with her. With the late flight, grabbing our luggage like a bunch of Sherpas, obtaining the rental van and car seat, packing the van, kids, and luggage, driving to the super nice/new house, stopping at 7-11 at 1am for dairy milk, it was around 2am when we got to bed.

3. Arriving at Disney World during the hottest month of the year, not knowing where the pre-school appropriate rides were, being hot, sweaty, tired, grumpy, and the worst mistake we made for Disney World--not renting a stroller for Isaac.

4. TV and upstairs air conditioner not working at house. So we cranked up the air downstairs which was like an ice box so we could sleep upstairs.

5. I got Bella's forementioned virus on Wed.

6. Getting 2hrs of sleep before we left to come home Saturday morning.

7. Getting really sick again early Saturday morning.

8. Missing original airplane and Rick having do to double Sherpa duty while I visited the bathroom numerous times.



But, there were some redeeming moments as well (which is what I think God wanted us down there for):



1. Rick being able to get ministered to during General Council.

2. Hearing a wonderful and timely message on Leah. Oh, how did Dr. Wood know I (little ole' me) needed to hear that? And being prayed for by a pastor I knew back home who the Holy Spirit used to minister to me.

3. Spending time with the kiddos! Even if it was chasing Isabella b/c the house wasn't baby proof. Plus, I found out she liked Italian Wedding Soup.

4. Connecting with dear friends, like Melody and Pastor & Pam. My favorite part of the trip was the Friday night we spent at Pastor and Pam's fabulous home. We spent the evening sharing our hearts and hurts. I so needed that.

5. Being inspired by the total service that Disney provides so that we can put some of those things into practice at the church.

6. Experiencing God's healing in my body and being comforted by the prayers of friends and family.




Enjoy the photos.

We rented a stroller for Isaac during our visit to Animal Kingdom and that made our day so much more enjoyable.

Isaac wanted to see hippos on the safari ride.

This picture doesn't do this tree justice. There was this huge tree that had all these amazing carvings in it.

Downtown Disney was a big hit for our family as it had shopping for adults and play areas for kids. Isaac loved the Lego store b/c they had six areas just to play with Legos.





These next pictures were taken at Pastor and Pam's house.

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

(Note: I started this post before our trip and am just now getting out of my head an onto this blog. Florida trip details to come- maybe.)

If you have any contact with pre-schoolers, then you have probably heard about this book, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. It is a super cute story about a mouse asking a boy for cookie. It starts off as innocent as giving the mouse that cookie, but then the mouse asks for milk and then this and then that and then this and then that…And by end of story, the mouse is so far off task that he ends up right where he started.

My life feels like that story right now. It’s as if one task melds into another into another and into another- like when Play-doh starts out as different colors, but by the end of day, its all one big pile of ugly brown. Example: I don’t have any clean jeans to wear. So, I transfer the dirty clothes out of the laundry hamper and into the basket. Then I notice that Isaac’s dirty clothes hamper is full. So, I empty his. Oh, there’s that cup we’ve been looking for in his bedroom. I pick up the cup, go to kitchen, and open the dishwasher. It’s full. So I empty the dishwasher and so I can put his cup in there. I put the other dishes that were in the sink in there as well. But wait, I can’t leave Isabella’s bottles in there b/c she’ll need them before we run the dishwasher again. I wash the bottles. And now that I’m in the kitchen, I need a snack. So I get a snack out and then my kids want snacks, too. We eat our snacks. Then I have to go to the bathroom. While I’m in there, I notice the toilet and sink need to be cleaned and the bath toys put away. Might as well do it while I’m thinking about it, right? I do a quick clean-up. Then I remember something that I need to pack for the next day. I gather it up and put by the front door. I notice the mail still setting there. I take it downstairs to the desk. Argh- I stepped on a Lincoln Log. I put the Lincoln Logs back in the can. Hmm, I should probably start packing the kids’ bags for tomorrow. I head back upstairs and into Isabella’s room for her diaper bag. I look thru it and decide to change the spare outfit that is in there. I rummage thru her drawers and wonder where that cute little pink shirt is. Oh yeah, it’s probably dirty. Then it reminds me of the one task I started out to do two hours earlier…laundry.

I dunno. Maybe its just me. I have always thought that multi-tasking was a good thing. The more, the better, right? Well, that is until I have twenty projects going on and no noticeable progress has made on anything except a bunch of stress for me. Why do I do that to myself? I’ve realized that the space between what my mind says I can and should get done and the reality of what actually does gets done is huge. And that, my friends, causes stress and grief.

I blogged in a previous post about being resolved. I also thought that God was telling me to “Simplify” this year. That’s good b/c I have never felt Him telling me anything specific about any year before. I was always secretly envious of people with “Life Verses” or yearly themes. Great, so now I have theme for 2009. The only part I didn’t know (and still don’t) was how or what to do to simplify. And now it is August and I still don’t know what it means or how to accomplish it. I know I haven’t been asking God about it as much as I should, but somehow I guess I just thought it would come to me. Does it mean cutting things out of my schedule? If so, what do I cut? Does it mean purging the house of unnecessary clothes, things, books, craft supplies (gasp), toys? Does it mean just doing the bare minimum to get by? Does it mean giving up time wasters- like TV, Facebook, blogging? The agony!! For me, ‘simplify’ does not mean ‘simple.’

I have started to try to stick to one thing as much as possible before moving on to the next. It’s been going alright and amazingly things have still been getting done in a somewhat timely manner. So, I think the thing for me to do is pray and get a regular time with God. Now, I want to wait to the perfect time- get the Jason Upton music on (no music calms my busy soul as his does), get my Bible out, notepad, pen… Okay, so when is that time? ‘Cause I never seem to find it. I get up early and somehow I still leave later than my target time. I try at night, but after making dinner, packing bags, picking out clothes (and you saw that goes), I’m just too tired to think. Well, maybe I’ll pray in the car, on my way to work. That lasts about two minutes. What is with me?

These are the lyrics to “From the Inside Out” from Hillsong that have been ruminating in my mind for the past few days:

A thousand times I've failed
Still your mercy remains
And should I stumble again
Still I'm caught in your grace



Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame
My heart and my soul, Lord I give you control
Consume me from the inside out Lord
Let justice and praise become my embrace
To love You from the inside out

Your will above all else, my purpose remains
The art of losing myself in bringing you praise


Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame
In my heart, in my soul, Lord I give you control
Consume me from the inside out Lord
Let justice and praise become my embrace
To love You from the inside out



Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame
And the cry of my heart is to bring You praise
From the inside out Lord, my soul cries out

And the part I struggle with the most is : The art of losing myself in bringing you praise. And so I guess this is where faith comes into play. Faith that God is who is says He is; faith that God cares about me; faith that He is able. Faith that my life won't always be like this.

The Best Twelve Years

Last night we went out to celebrate our 12th wedding anniversary. The weather was perfect, the food delicious, and the company even better. We went into downtown Boston and walked around the Public Gardens for a bit. I had no idea how many beautiful flowers and trees there were there. It's really quite amazing to see such vibrant color in the middle of the city. Then we went to Davio's for dinner. The restraunt was amazing. I had tomatoes and mozzerella, a fabulous pasta dish with shrimp, peppers, and tomatoes, and a creme brulee type dessert. Rick ordered the filet mignon which was super tasty. The waiter was great. When he was bringing out my dessert, he came out with tiramisu as well. Our friend who works at the Four Seasons (we had stopped by earlier to say hello) had called over and sent us that dessert. It was so nice. Over the course of the evening, we had fun remembering and recalling numerous events that occured during the past twelve years. From our honeymoon in Tahoe, to the apartment at GCTS, buying a house, having children, totalling a car, mulitple lay-offs, we were able to see God's hand with us. It's quite amazing to see how we have evolved as a couple and how we really aren't complete unless we are together. So, thank you Rick, for being my best friend.