Apple and Pumpkin Picking

I am embarrassed to admit this but I have NEVER gone apple picking--NEVER. It is something that I have always wanted to do, and have attempted to do, but never got to the orchard. Since Dylan's soccer game was cancelled yesterday afternoon, my favorite family, the Siegels, invited us to pumpkin and apple picking with them in New Paltz. The sun was shining and I had plans of cleaning the house all day but I literally ditched the broom and vacuum, hopped in to the shower and dressed my clan...we were finally going to get to the orchard!

I had so much fun and I don't think I put my camera down much. Emily was hysterical eating all the apples she could pull off of the tree. Dylan and Will were giggling running around the orchard chasing each other and Brynn and Jessica, the princesses of our group just enjoyed checking out the beauty of the orchard. It really was beautiful.

After trekking through a very muddy corn maze, picking 60 pounds of pumpkins and paying, we tailgated for a bit and went to the Gilded Otter for a late lunch/early dinner. My kids were EXHAUSTED but thanked us at least 20x on the way home. It was a lot of fun and now definitely part of our Fall plans every year.

Pumpkin Party 2010

The day of the Pumpkin Party finally arrived! Oh how excited my children have been to put their costumes on--I attempt every year to buy costumes for the kids that are warm since you can never anticipate Halloween weather in Sullivan County. Against my better judgment I gave in to Brynnie's request to be a mermaid and attempted at the last minute to dress her up as a Pumpkin (of course did NOT fly).

Dylan has been obessed with the medeival era for the last year so he was a knight again this year. Brynn wanted to dress up like Ariel (the little mermaid) so she was a beautiful (but yet cold) mermaid. I wanted to dress Emme up as a peacock in the worst way this year but unfortunately the costume has been backordered and I was not able to purchase it in time for the party this past Saturday. I found a butterfly costume at Children's Place and I have to say she was a very cute little 'bug'.

The day was goregous and you could not have asked for a better Fall weekend...

Lunch with your child

I'm undecided how I feel about Brynnie's school. It has good aspects and there are somethings that truly irk me. The one thing I do like is that they have a special day once a month when one of the parents get to have lunch with the student. I remember when I was in school this happened once a year but at Brynnie's private school, they think that it's great for parents and children to do this monthly. I liked the fact that I could check out the cafeteria and see where she goes after she leaves her classroom. Brynn liked the fact that mommy was there with her eating lunch. We even adopted her little friend for the lunch period and she ate lunch with us since her parents couldn't be there. Next month is daddy's turn---can't wait to hear what he thinks about the food....

Homework....

I cannot begin to explain how busy I am these days. It seems like I'm being pulled in a million directions but thankfully I am a good planner and have great organization skills so the days fly by. Last night was a preview of my future. Practice homework has begun. The teacher this year is wonderful because you get the week's homework clipped together on Monday and you have to return it on Friday--theres no pressure how much needs to be completed each day.

When the girls heard me tell Dylan to have a seat and start homework, they wanted to be a part of the action-- I have a preschool workbook in the kitchen drawer and gave Brynn an assignment of coloring all the squares she could find on her paper and I have Emily the assignment to NOT peel the papers off of the crayons--

I think it's going to take us a while to get into the homework swing of things....

Dance class

The day arrived--tap and ballet!!! I have been looking forward to this day since I found out I was having a little girl. I found the tu-tu, the leotard and the tights in the beginning of August. I put the dance outfit in a pretty bag and told Brynn how she was going to love being a dancer. She was not happy after school yesterday when I picked her up and told her it was time for her very first dance class. After I got her dressed and she put her ballet slippers on she was excited to get in the room and participate with all of the other 3 year old girls. It had to be the cutest thing I have seen in a long time AND right up my little princess' alley!

SCORE!!

Soccer practices began about a month ago but this past Sunday, soccer games started. I was one very proud mama when Dylan made the first goal of the season! He surprised himself I think and I wish I had my camera ready to capture his expression. I enjoy watching him play and I think this season is going to be a great one, especially since he has a wonderful coach and great teammates.

Back to School

Our morning went off without a hitch! Dylan was very excited about getting on the school bus and going to Kindergarten and Brynnie was beaming with joy that she is finally a Pre K student and going to big girl school! I cannot wait to hear how their first day went (but dreading the word homework)