Thursday, October 29, 2009

Pirate Girl

This past weekend, Sadie's friend had a pirate birthday party. Pirate costumes were optional (pirate gear would be provided at the party) and Sadie didn't express much interest in a pirate costume until the day of the party. However, with the party approaching rapidly, she decided she did want to wear pirate clothes.

Luckily, we have lots of dress-up gear and were able to rig together a Pirate Girl/Pirate Princess type outfit.

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Outfit components:
black t-shirt and tights
2 tutus (I picked the ones that were ripped for a tattered pirate look)
sleeve puffs from Sleeping Beauty costume
lots of dress-up box necklaces
Mommy's brocade belt
Mommy's scarf as pirate headdress
Rainboots

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Sadie was delighted, the costume got lots of attention at the party and the party was super fun!

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Homecoming Fun

Bad weather didn't stop us from enjoying Dartmouth's Homecoming this past weekend.
Bonfire night:
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The next day, Grandma and Grandpa came up to visit. The men went to the game and Dartmouth actually won! The ladies went to the birthday party of one of Sadie's friends.

Sunday was good weather and we said goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa, ran into friends in Hanover and walked around Occum Pond with other friends. Sadie walked the whole way with very minimal complaints...1 mile!

It was a really nice weekend.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Hello again!

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Sorry for the lack of posts! We have been busy here. Since the last post, we had a great visit from Liz and Mike from California. We had such a good time with them. We also all had Flu shots and Sadie went on a field trip to the pumpkin patch with her class. Her insight from the trip, "Next time, I will remember to hold my pumpkin from the bottom because I held it by the stem and the stem fell off, but don't worry, I still love my pumpkin with no stem."

Nellie continues to eagerly copy Sadie's every action. She is very, very interested in all of Sadie's art supplies, drawings and written work from school. So, we decided to let her try drawing with crayons. She had a lot of fun.
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Then, she decided to climb onto the table:
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So pleased with herself!
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Monday, October 12, 2009

Science

Sadie and Helena check out the leafcutter ants at the Montshire.
Discovery
The new dinosaur exhibit is up. Dan and I thought it was awesome, Sadie was a little freaked out and Nellie was not interested. We'll go back...I think Sadie will like it better the second time.

Tuesday, October 06, 2009

15 Months


Helena, Mt. Kearsarge
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann
Helena is growing up. She had her 15 month check-up yesterday and was 50%ile for height, 30%ile for weight. Everything looks good and she is meeting all her milestones. Poor baby got 5 vaccinations and was very grouchy yesterday evening, but slept 12+ hours last night and woke up in a great mood.

Our favorite development lately is her language. It is so fun to watch her learn new words and also show that she understands us. If you ask her to get something and bring it to you, she will usually do it. Sadie especially loves this.

Sunday, October 04, 2009

Field Trip

On Friday, Sadie's class took a field trip to Poverty Lane Orchard. We had a great time picking apples and seeing how cider is made.
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Lots more pictures of our fun on Flickr.

Thursday, October 01, 2009

First Conversation

This morning, in the car, as we're about to drop Helena off at daycare:

Sadie: Bye-bye my little cutie darling!
Helena: Bah, Ay-dee! (and waved)

Sadie was totally and completely thrilled.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Exciting Friday

Tree on house

It was a cool and windy day yesterday. Helena was napping and Sadie was relaxing on the couch with an after-lunch movie, when we heard a very loud sound and all the power went out. Our willow tree had blown over, hit the roof of the house and rolled down the roof, landing in front of/on the house.

Tree on house

Tree on house

Nellie slept right through most of the excitement, including the arrival of the firemen and police, with sirens. Sadie was startled by the loud noise from the tree falling and then quite worried when the firemen came into the house to check for damage and inspect the powerlines. Fireman Dan was extremely nice to her and soon put her at ease.

It was quite a scene for a while as we had police cars, firemen with their trucks, two trucks from the power company and a guy from the tree company all checking it out.

The sheriff came by later to make sure all was well. Luckily, everything is fine. Our insurance will cover all the tree removal costs and the pretty superficial scratch damage to my car.

Tree on house

A tree crew arrived within two hours of the fall and cut up and chipped the entire tree. It was pretty fun to watch them at work. They gave Sadie a branch of the tree and a slice of the trunk to bring it to school for Sharing Time.

Power was restored, as was cable. The phone is working, although the phone line is drooping down over the driveway and won't be fixed until early next week. The rest of the tree will need to come down within the next week or so.

Tree on house

And that was our exciting Friday.

Friday, September 18, 2009

Sweet New Year

Kiss
Happy Rosh Ha'shanah! Many good wishes for a sweet year, from two sweet sisters.
Snuggle

Monday, September 14, 2009

First Day of School

Sadie started Montessori school today. She is in Pre-K and has been so excited about starting school for the past few weeks.
Sadie's 1st Day of School

In the car, ready and eager to go:
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Running towards the building:
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Quick pause for a photo:
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So eager to get inside her new school:
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Ms. Wanda and Ms. Brendita's Class:
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Sadie reported she had a great day and Ms. Wanda confirmed it. We are so proud of our girl. Love you, Miss Sadie!

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Playground

The girls had a fun time at the CCBA playground on Friday. This is a good playground for them because there is equipment that both girls can enjoy. Many of the playgrounds that Sadie likes don't have anything low for Helena and the littler playgrounds with baby equipment don't hold Sadie's interest. This playground has a little slide and a long twisty slide, plus lots for both girls to climb on.

Tic Tac Toe

Dangle

Cute

Slide

Down the slide

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Riverview Farm

Other Labor Day weekend activity was visiting Riverview Farm where we picked raspberries...
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Sadie picked blueberries...
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We lost and then Sadie found Helena's hat...
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We posed in funny faces...
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And we walked in the corn maze...
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We had a lot of fun!
(Since Dan had Helena on his back in the backpack and he was carrying the camera, we don't have any pics of them...next time for sure!)

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

Sunflowers


giant sunflowers
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann
Sadie wanted to plant sunflowers in our garden and chose a package of seeds labelled "Giant Champion Sunflowers". They certainly are very, very tall and they are beautiful. Dan and I were both surprised how big these are.

She was so patient watching them and waiting and waiting and waiting for them to bloom. Now, we are all enjoying the flowers.

Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Labor Day Hike


mountain kids
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann
Our Labor Day activity was a family hike up Mount Kearsarge, following delicious breakfast at the Foothills Diner. This is an ideal hike for kids because you drive almost the whole way up the mountain and the hike to the top is only half a mile. It's a fairly rocky climb up and Sadie had a great time pretending she was a mountain goat....lots of goat sound-effects as she climbed! Helena had a great time riding up in the backpack and then walking around at the summit.

The "bocanbulary"* words of the day were Summit, Vista and Cairn.

*Sadie can say vocabulary, but she likes to say bocanbulary because it's funnier.

Monday, August 31, 2009

Congratulations Kara and Kyle!

Congratulations to Kara and Kyle and welcome to the family, Uncle Kyle. We love you both. We know your marriage will be filled with happiness and so much love.
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We had a wonderful time at your beautiful wedding. The bride was gorgeous, the groom handsome and so in love. Every detail was so carefully thought out, you made everyone feel so welcome and happy. Thank you for everything and have a fabulous honeymoon!
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Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Happy Birthday, Bob-Bob!


Lake in the evening
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann
Happy (one day belated) birthday to Bob-Bob! We love you a lot. We are looking forward to celebrating the big day with you when we see you tomorrow.
Love,
Sadie and Nellie

3 more days until the big wedding...so excited!

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Peekaboo!


Peekaboo
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann
Helena learned to play peekaboo when we were in Maine. Here, she's watching Sadie play.

I love this picture because it captures how much Helena loves to watch Sadie and how happy Sadie makes her. Her big sister is definitely her favorite!

Monday, August 24, 2009

Congratulations Jenny and Andy!


So happy
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann
Jenny and Andy are engaged!
We're so happy for you two...we know you have so much happiness ahead of you.
Love,
Ann, Dan, Sadie and Helena

Lots of Maine pics up on Flickr and I'll post some this week. We had a great time.

Friday, August 14, 2009

Last Year in Maine

Sadie and especially Nellie are A LOT bigger now and we're all looking forward to a great time this year in Maine. We're going to relax and swim and go on "nature walks" and eat yummy food. When we get home, it'll be almost time for Kara and Kyle's wedding...

Lots of fun is on the way!

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Getting a ride


"Where to, Helena?"
Originally uploaded by redjar
At a recent birthday party for her friends Georgia and Zachary, Nellie climbed into Georgia's birthday present and waited patiently for someone to push her around. Her friend Oliver was happy to oblige.

(Thanks for the pic!, Corin)