Fall Favorites

There are so many things that I love about Fall that make it my favorite season. I love the weather, the scent of the air, the changing of the leaves, the raking & crunching of leaves on the ground, and more. With such nice weather it's been great getting the kids outside. We've been weeding flowerbeds, planting bulbs, raking leaves, picking up sappy pineones (ok - NOT my favorite), removing ivy from the side of the house, etc.

I also love Fall because it means it's CANNING season, which I love. For whatever reason, canning makes me feel like the domestic diva that I'm really not. I wasn't sure I'd get around to canning peaches this year just having moved and all, but Ryan's sister invited me to help can peaches from her Father-in-Laws tree, so last Tuesday I went down to Orem with the kids. Not only did they turn out great, but it got me wanting to can more. So last Friday, I packed the kids into the car and drove up to Perry (Brigham City) to pick up some pickling cucumbers for a batch of Ryan's mom's German pickles. These were such a hit last year that I knew I had to do more. Seriously, once you've had these German pickles, you'll never want grocery store pickles again. With Peaches & Pickles now done, I'm hoping to get around to doing some home-made applesauce using the apples from our apple tree. And if I'm reallly ambitious (and if I can find the fruit) I really want to do some Pears. All I can say is THREE CHEERS FOR FALL!!!

First Day of Preschool

Today was Finley's first day of preschool. Well, it was actually the "Meet & Greet" where he met his 3 teachers, but to him, it was the first day of school. There was a cute little treasure hunt that he and Ryan went on to help familiarize themselves with the layout of the classroom, meet the class frog, explore the activity stations, and find his little cubby. He was pretty shy in meeting everyone, but warmed up when he saw the books, blocks & toys. In fact, he liked it so much that he cried when it was time to leave. Hopefully that's a good sign that this will be a great year of preschool. His first official day is next Tues - no mom or dad allowed! I can't believe this guy is old enough for preschool - so sad, yet so glad all at the same time.

Here he is discovering the "dramatic play" area (aka - play kitchen, baby station, and table, etc.). Can you just feel his excitement? I love this kid!!! And this is Finn while getting his picture taken by his teacher, Mrs. Moyle. No, I don't know what that pose is all about.

Playing catch-up

I have no idea where the time has gone, but here are some pics from the last 4 weeks of our lives. We've been at Bear Lake for 2 weeks (and had a friend and 2 of her girls come keep me company for a couple days), went to Hogle Zoo, the Children's museum, played in Park City (shopped at the outlets & played at the parks mostly), did the SLC downtown scene at Temple Square and the Farmer's Market, walked the grounds of the Logan Temple, and more. And during this time Berlin decided it was ok for me to put her hair in piggies, thus, the gratuitous (but so dang cute) pics of her new hairstyle that she sports most days.

It's kinda strange to think that summer is officially over and Fall is here. But hey, HOORAY for Fall!!! It's my favorite season and the leaves are already changing up the canyons - which I just love. Of course, Fall means that soccer season is back and Finley had his first game last night (Go Panthers!). He wanted nothing to do with playing the first half because the sun was in his eyes. But then he perked up once the field was shaded and played the entire 2nd half of the game. They even won! (he's #6 in the bottom pic).

Celebrity Sighting

Ok, maybe not starstruck, but impressed none-the-less. This morning Ryan and I got the kids ready to go to the farmer's market downtown and were riding the tiny elevator (with our empty stroller) down to the lobby (we are staying in the Hotel Monaco) when it stopped and 3 women came jumped in with us. One woman was so friendly and just chatted with us about our kids. Here's the conversation (not exact - but pretty close):

Woman: Oh look how cute your kids are. She is so little. She doesn't even look like she should be walking. How old is she?

Me: She's 18 months old.

Woman: Oh, she's just a tiny thing then.

Me: yep. She's our itty bitty. Her brother on the other hand - he's 3, was always tall for his age. But that's the way it should be right - tall guys and little girls.

Woman talking to one of her friends/assistants: She's little like you.

Woman again: Look how cute her pigtails are.

Me: See Berlin, if you had ridden in the stroller instead of walking we wouldn't have been so squished.

Woman smiling: Cause she's really taking up so much room as is.

All of us: (Laugh)

Elevator stops and we all get off in the lobby. As they are walking in front of us I'm about to say "That's Cindy Crawfords long lost sister Susan," but Ryan beats me to the punch saying, "How about Susan Crawford there." (we are so on the same wavelength). But as we get to the lobby I turn and look at him and say, it IS Cindy Crawford. She was picked up in an escalade by some RC Willey reps. When I saw them, I knew it was her since she has her home line with them. Apparently, she was doing a store appearance at the RC Willey in SLC from 1-2pm.

Funny thing is that as we were all getting off we let the women go first and Finley cut off Cindy Crawford and of course I say, "buddy, we should let the women get out first." So he cuts her off again trying to get back into the elevator. Pretty funny.

I have to say that I was so impressed with how nice and sincere she was in chatting with us on the elevator. Another thing I noticed, she is UBER skinny & tall. More so than I thought she was. As Napolean Dynamite would say, "LUCKY!"

I'm BACK!!!!!

It's official - the house sold & officially closed 2 weeks ago. I have been at Bear Lake the past 2 weeks with the kids and finally got back in town today (pics of our stay to come later). However, the painting, carpeting, and bathroom re-surfacing are still not done in the old house, we are still unable to reside there. Well, Ryan has been there the past 2 weeks on a mattress in the basement (aka Bat Cave). All I can say is I'm glad that Ryan doesn't have a job that requires him to be gone from the home. Two weeks without him was TORTURE!!!

It feels so good to be home, even if home right now is the Hotel Monaco in downtown SLC where we will be thru Sunday a.m. and then it's off to Park City for 3 more nights at a cheap hotel. Hopefully, come Wednesday we'll be able to move into the house - despite Finley's tears and not wanting to live at daddy's house. He isn't digging the whole new home thing. I'm hoping it will be better once we are moved in and he is in his bedroom (painted the same Silver Sage color as his old room) with familiar toys and his bed. Here's to hoping right.

Ryan has been working his little tale off at the house and I saw it this afternoon and it looks amazing different - in a very wonderful way I must add. The paint colors we picked turned out beautiful on the walls and the house just feels so much cleaner - sterile. I can't wait to post the before & after pics on the blog later this week.