One Of My Favorite Places

I took Tommy on a picnic Monday. To a local historic farmstead close(ish) to where we live.

When I was trying to get pregnant, I would go there sometimes to walk the trails. Its a quiet, beautiful place that you can lose yourself in while you do some soul searching. Whenever I am there, I feel calm, restful, and happy. It's just THAT kind of place for me. I would love to live in the community surrounding Barclay Farmstead...maybe someday we will.

I've been wanting to visit the farmstead and take Tommy to see it for some time now...but there never seems to be enough time to see and do everything one Wants to do...time goes by so fast. The weather was so beautiful Monday morning that I knew I had to "seize the day!" And so I packed us a little lunch, and we headed over. Aside from a few farmers tending their plots of land (you can rent plots in an area of the farmstead to grow flowers, veggies, whatever...some plots are truly breathtaking in the late summer/early fall), there was no one around. We sat on an autumn inspired tablecloth I have, and shared our lunch. Then we stowed our things back in the car and walked around exploring. We had an absolute blast with the bonding experience. I know how lucky I am to have Mondays off and to be able to do something just to two of us. The day was filled with love and laughter, it is a memory I will always cherish.

I highly encourage any and all parents to look into their local history. It's a fun and cheap way to have an adventure with your kids. Have a picnic, or just stop by somewhere and explore!

http://www.barclayfarmstead.org/

Everything, All The Time

Some weekends we think we have "nothing to do" and the weekend ends up going by in a blur. Then there are the weekends where we have so much going on that it seems we don't have a moment to sit still. This past weekend was like that.

On Saturday we attended Tommy's school friend's first birthday party at Johnson's Farm, in Medford, NJ. Neither Tony or I had every been there before, but we had expected a small farm with maybe a picnic table or two and a couple farm animals. We were WAY off. Johnson's Farm is HUGE, and bustling with activity. There was a large animal farm feeding area, the party pavilion (which had about 5 other parties taking place during the two hour time slot we were there), tractor/hay rides, fields and fields of produce - you can pick your own apples, a huge market area, and even a little rag-time band. Seriously, the place is enormous.

We had a great time celebrating the birthday, and were excited to participate in the hayride, pumpkin picking, and animal farm activities. I especially loved watching how much fun Tony and Tommy had picking out Tommy's pumpkin, and snapping pictures of the beautiful fields. Before leaving we stopped in at the market for the ever-popular apple-cider donuts. Somehow, even with the wafting smell of cider and spices filling the car, we somehow managed to wait until we returned home to munch of the delicious confections. Seriously - they are melt-in-your-mouth good. If you find yourself at Johnson's farm you HAVE to buy one...or buy the half dozen, they come in a convenient bag all ready for you! http://www.johnsonsfarm.com/

As if that wasn't enough activity for the day, we decided to catch a local high school marching band competition that evening. Tony and I were both involved in our high school's marching bands (he played quad drums, I was in the colorguard - colorguard and rifle captain my jr and sr years). Tommy really loves music, and the competition was about five minutes down the road from where we live...so we bundled up, grabbed an umbrella, and headed over to watch for an hour. Tommy LOVED it. He was clapping and dancing! We had a great time, and even had a chance to stop and say hello to our Pastor and his wife who were there to support their daughter's marching band. A great time was had by all.

On Sunday we were up WAY too early because the munchkin is teething...seems those pesky molars have finally decided to make an appearance. I have been told that if adults had to go through the pain of our molars coming in, we'd have to be on morphine. Needless to say, the little guy is having a bit of a rough time. He's cranky crank cranky, and we don't blame him...after all, anyone who's going through that pain may be a bit of a bear. So instead of being on time for our friends' twins' baptism, we arrived in time for the celebration afterwards. Our poor lil guy was a bit of a handful, but we were able to catch up with some friends we haven't seen for a while, so that was nice. Afterwards, we arrived back home to an astonishing site...there was a brief break in the rainy weekend, and a lovely rainbow appeared in the dusk sky. A magical way to end a busy busy weekend.

Feeling Berry Orange

Although I can hardly believe October has arrived, it is finally starting to feel like autumn. The leaves have begun to change, and we’ve starting working on new display decorations for our Christmas lights. I’m anxious to delve into some “fall” recipes – including a tasty looking one I found for butternut squash soup. (I’ll post pics and the recipe next week.) I love when October arrives. It is the first of three full months of themes! I love when events, etc, are themed. I already have my planner all set up with a ton of cute Halloween and autumn art projects to do this month with the little ones I’ve been watching in my daycare. I even decorated the playroom a little, just to get myself, the kids, and their families into the excitement. I made leaves for the tree using the kids hands! This week’s theme was leaves (I may repeat the theme in November, since we had such a good time with it.) I took the boys outside and we picked a bunch of leaves. I pressed them in one of my cook books overnight, and then we made wreathes using the pressed leaves, construction paper, and with a bit of sparkly glue (I watered down school glue and added some glitter – we used paint brushes to adhere the leaves to the construction paper, and brushed on extra of the glue/glitter mix to add sparkle and longevity). I think they turned out really cute! Very toddler-friendly - perfect! I enjoy looking through decoration magazines. When I see something I think I could recreate…I challenge myself to do it. With a toddler running around touching everything, trying to stick things in his mouth and up his nose, and pulling things down (he can reach the stove now – scary!!), I decided to only set out a few country-chic decorations this year. I found fall berry vines at the craft store, and they became the “theme” for all decorations in the kitchen, dining, and family rooms. Here are a couple things I came up with. The little jars of berries are set in threes all over the kitchen. They are small so I have them set out of the way and not using up counter space. The Vase with flowers and berries, etc. is on a table in the dining area. The fall basket is in the family room, and the broom I made and attached to the front door. Also – We decided to make our own Halloween decorations this year. I didn’t want to make anything scary or gruesome…so instead I came up with these. They were easy to make. I drew out the figures on plywood and Tony cut them out with a handsaw. Next I painted them using paints we already had (from our Christmas collection), and polyurethaned them so they’ll stand up to the rain and wind, and we’ll be able to use them again. We haven’t finished setting up the front yard yet…Tony is going to attach stakes to the back of these, and along with some mums, and some corn stalks…well…you’ll see once we’re all finished.

Down By The Bay

Last weekend we had a wonderful time down the shore (LBI, NJ) with friends of ours. We did some shopping, some sight seeing, and most of the time we spent laughing and truly enjoying their company. The picturesque landscape was enhanced with lingering stormy weather, and it was beautiful. Thanks again T, F, and A! We heart you!

See you in September

Hi, we're back! Had a brief hiatus, and a broken computer, and so I decided to take the summer off. I think it's nice to take a break once-in-a-while.

The summer went by in a flash. Suddenly it's September! While we've been encountering cooler weather and rainy days for most of August...the date (and the return of the kids to school) really seems to finalize yet another seemingly short summer's end.

Being the parents of a toddler is fun. Tommy is such a clown. He likes to do things just to get Tony and I laugh. And once we're laughing he does them over and over again....just to keep us going. He's our little comedian.

Tommy is such a big boy now. He's begun to use the kid potty (or "Pot Pot" as he calls it). He's doing surprisingly well with it. We're taking it slowly though since it is rather early - what with him being a boy and boys having a reputation of starting later and taking longer with their potty training. I have been sending text messages to my family whenever he "goes" not only because I'm so proud of his progress, but also because I can't quite believe we're into that stage! It seems like only yesterday I changed his diaper for the first time, and now I can almost see an inkling of the 'end of diapers' light at the end of the tunnel. He's been doing quite well with feeding himself, at least with a fork. He's still working on using a spoon, but he'll get there.

He talks and babbles more and more every day, and also repeats (or tries too) everything Tony and I say. I can't wait to have a real conversation with him. It's still frustrating when we try to get him to understand why he can't do something, or why we want him to do as we ask...but we know this is a stage they all go through, and some day he'll get it. His favorite saying is "uh oh" and he likes to sometimes say this right before he gets into mischief.

Tommy is very affectionate with us. He likes to play games and sing songs with me, and is doing really well with sharing his toys with his daycare friends. We still don't let him watch a lot of television, but he does watch Spongebob with Tony. He yells "BobBob" every time that little yellow square pops onto the screen...and it's funny to see how animated he gets about the show. I like watching the two of them sitting together while watching their show. Tommy is usually hugging Tony or sitting on his daddy's lap while they share in a half hour of fun and laughter.